~BBW, Romance, Feeding, ~SWG - Lynn and Tony share a moment of truth and begin to explore their relationship.
It took three weeks before Lynn decided to say anything. This was largely the result of the fact that she and Tony had continued to date during this period without actually entering into a relationship. Both of them took their time to make sure that it was the right move, and that process involved extensive and continued interaction with one another. Since it was Lynn’s first relationship, she was still learning the rules and protocols involved with dating. Tony, coming off a hard breakup of a long relationship, was making sure that his feelings for Lynn weren’t just a passing crush. Each date, nay, each time they saw each other, cemented their growing relationship little by little. In fact, it was so gradual that it was entirely possible to not even see it occurring. But it was indeed happening.
The gang noticed, but not all at once. Kei had been the first to figure it out. In fact, it wasn’t too long after the day they went to ice cream parlor after Lynn’s game. She quickly picked up on the tension that existed between Lynn and Tony, the glances they stole when they thought nobody was looking. However, Kei would have missed all of that had she not been prey to a similar passion, but one that she could only cry about by day, fulfillment coming only in her dreams. Jeanine noticed about a week after Kei. After all, girls are usually very adept at such things. She noticed how Tony and Lynn would jump back (but not too quickly) if they happened to touch hands reaching for a salt shaker at dinner or that Lynn colored ever so slightly if Tony held a door open for her. She too began to see certain looks that were now not quite so covert as they had been before. David even realized what was going on after he realized that Kei and Jeanine were always hurrying him off at the end of their outings, always leaving Lynn and Tony alone. Though they never answered his questions as to why they had to leave so quickly, he soon put two and two together.
All of this aside, Lynn had continued to feel out Tony on his true feelings about her weight without actually asking him. Every meal was another opportunity to try and see whether or not she could draw more conclusive proof from Tony through his actions and manner. Over time her efforts started paying off. On their third date, Lynn noticed that now paid slightly more attention to her while she was eating than he had before—and he didn’t seem to be repulsed or disgusted by her increased appetite. At the end of the evening they shared their first kiss, the taste of triple chocolate cake still on Lynn’s lips. At the next date Lynn purposefully didn’t finish her meal, claiming she was too full.
“Are you sure?” Tony said with a hint of disappointment in his voice, “There’s not that much left. I bet you could finish.”
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“Oh, but I want to save room for dessert,” Lynn replied.
“It’s just a bit. I’m sure you can still have dessert even after that,” Tony said.
When Lynn hesitantly assented, Tony actually smiled, the boldest communication of his thoughts on the matter to date. When Lynn then said she was sure that she couldn’t have dessert, Tony replied that the desserts were really small at that restaurant and it was such a good way to end a meal. While he was certainly stuffed himself, he just knew that she wanted some dessert.
“After all, you could be hit by a bus tomorrow, heaven forbid,” Tony said, “And then you’d be sorry you didn’t have any dessert tonight.”
Lynn had to agree to the logic of Tony’s argument and happily ordered profiteroles for dessert without a moment’s hesitation.
It should be noted that Lynn’s continued investigations produced not only more clues that confirmed the suspicion that she’d entertained since lunch with Lizzie, but also more pounds on the Vietnamese girl’s growing frame. The result of all of her “investigative” dinners was that she was now eating much more than she usually did. The first few dates with Tony had awakened Lynn from an epicurean hibernation. Having starved herself at meals so long—albeit with mindless snacks at other times that had undermined her aims—it only took a few good meals to awaken Lynn’s appetite once more. Had Lynn abandoned her continual testing of Tony, she might have been able to rein in her appetite. Unfortunately, her continued indulgences at dinner with him prevented her from returning to her disciplined ways.
She had unconsciously started eating more at family meals now as well. It need not be said that Mrs. Phan rejoiced to see that her daughter had “stopped starving herself” and was “finally eating right for a change”. Mrs. Phan first noticed when Lynn helped herself to seconds at a meal that was not one of her favorite dishes, a real rarity for her eldest daughter. Mrs. Phan said nothing, but only watched the closer when it happened the next night, and the night after that. From that point onward, Mrs. Phan ceased to press her daughter to eat more. Lynn was doing so all by herself now, and that was all that Lynn’s mother wanted. Mrs. Phan had no desire to awake any sleeping dog that might be slumbering within Lynn that would reverse this trend, and so she made no mention of the phenomenon one way or the other.
Had Lynn realized the effect of all these new calories on her body, she might have been tempted to swear off the completion of her investigation. She had climbed above 146 pounds, which was a new high for Lynn, but she had no idea of her newfound girth. Lynn was always thinking about Tony or water polo or homework these days, and the last thing on her mind was weighing herself. This was despite the fact that she’d been forced to go up a size in her pants the old ones had just become so tight that they were unfeasible. Lynn was used to her weight fluctuating, so she figured it was nothing out of the ordinary. Even though she now had more room in them Lynn’s hip hugging jeans gave her a very noticeable muffin top that popped above the waist of her jeans, jiggling whenever she walked. Most of her old shirts were unable to cover her belly anymore, which had resulted in her buying some new shirts to bridge the gap. Lynn’s butt used all of the room it had in the seat of all her pants, curving lusciously. Her chubby thighs also filled her pant legs snugly, though not yet tightly. Her breasts might have been a bit bigger, but not too much so. When it came to a more general classification, Lynn had certainly exceeded chubby but certainly wasn’t fat. Plump was the most apt word to describe Lynn, for there is a happiness and visual aesthetic implied by plump. The more Lynn saw Tony, the fatter she got and the happier she was.
Like most of the important moments in life, Lynn didn’t plan out bringing up the subject with Tony. The two had just seen a movie with one another. Lynn had been eating plenty of popcorn for most of the movie, but when she’d finally had her fill (and that was a more than decent amount of highly buttered popcorn), she soon became aware of precisely how lonely her free hand probably seemed. If she put it up onto the armrest, she wasn’t sure if Tony would try to hold it or not. And though they’d already kissed, somehow she was unsure about whether or not they should be holding hands. After all, if she put her arm on the armrest, Tony might think that she expected him to hold her hand. If she didn’t, he could assume that she didn’t want her hand held. Somehow holding hands seemed like a very big step to Lynn.
For his part, Tony was trying to figure out whether or not he should take Lynn’s hand if she offered it up on that armrest altar. If she was just putting it there because she wanted to use the armrest—a very probable circumstance—she might awkwardly withdraw her hand in confusion and embarrassment. Tony had no desire to be the cause of either in Lynn. Likewise, if he didn’t take her hand when he had the chance, she might think he didn’t like her as much as she thought he did, and Tony did like her that much. Tony really did want to hold her hand because his instinct told him that he should. After all, they’d been dating for close to a month now. But relationships aren’t about what you want as much as it is about what the other person wants, and Tony figured that he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
As it turned out, they never did come to it. Lynn didn’t put her hand up on the armrest, deciding to err on the side of caution, even though she had to admit she did want her hand held. When the movie was over they filed out of the theater and idled outside, unsure of whether to do anything else since it was getting late, but unwilling to leave one another just yet.
After the frustrating uncertainty of the handholding issue, Tony once again decided to follow his gut. “Lynn, I have a question for you,” he said, looking from the ground to her eyes.
“Okay,” Lynn said.
“We’ve been dating each other for a while now and I was just wondering…would you…would you like to…you know, be my girlfriend?” Tony asked, finding the question wasn’t coming out as easily or romantically as it would have in the romantic comedy movie that they’d just watched.
“Of course!” Lynn blurted out without a second’s thought. She immediately gave Tony a big hug. “You know you didn’t even have to ask.”
“Well, I know, but I thought, as awkward as it is, I should still ask you anyways,” Tony said as he cradled Lynn’s plump body in his arms.
Lynn kissed Tony on the cheek. “I’m so glad you did. This means we’ll have to tell everyone now.”
“I think the gang already knows. They’ve been making sure that we’ve been left alone after hanging out for the last three weeks,” Tony said.
“Well that’s considerate of them,” Lynn said, “Now we’re going to be that annoying awkward couple who’s always holding hands and fawning over one another while all their friends roll their eyes.”
“There’s no one I’d rather be awkward with than you,” Tony said.
There was a short silence before Lynn said, “It seems like we should do something to celebrate, but I don’t know what.”
“Hmmm…” Tony thought for a moment. “Well, maybe we should go to Venezia Gelato. I mean, the first time we really got to know each other socially we went there after a movie, so we could come full circle.”
“Gelato sounds amazing right now,” Lynn said.
Tony took Lynn’s hand, now without fear of reproach and the two walked towards the gelato shop, but not too quickly. Each of them basked in the official birth of their relationship. It was at this time that Lynn decided to pop the question.
“So now that we’re officially dating,” Lynn said, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but wasn’t sure if I should.”
“What is it?” Tony asked.
“Well…see…” Lynn started, still somewhat embarrassed and unsure of how one went about a conversation like this, even though you were dating someone. She looked around and ascertained that they were relatively alone. “I’ve been wondering for a while…do you like me fat?” Lynn thought that the question sounded so blunt and harsh when put out into the open like that.
“Well, you’re not really that fat,” Tony said, coloring a bit, “I mean, Tara Kelly is much fatter than you.”
“Fine, chubby, plump, big boned, husky, whatever you want to call it,” Lynn said with slight annoyance that Tony had evaded the question, “Do you think I’m beautiful?”
“Of course!” Tony said, as if there had never been any doubt about that, “I think you’re one of the prettiest girls in school. And I mean that. I really do. You’re much better looking than Leah. She was way too thin. You’ve got some great curves on you that she doesn’t.”
“Really?” Lynn said brightening up a bit. Leah Salonga was a willowy girl who most people would call beautiful. To hear from Tony that she beat out Leah (and because of her “curves”!) was exciting. [/br]
“Even though you’re my girlfriend—” Lynn thrilled at hearing that, “—that doesn’t mean I’d just tell you what you want to hear,” Tony said, “I really think so. Let me prove it.”
Tony swept Lynn up into a wonderful kiss that seemed like it lasted forever. Charged with such sudden passion and force, Lynn couldn’t help but to grab hold of Tony in response—partially so she wouldn’t feel like her knees were going to buckle underneath her.
When they broke apart, their faces remained close. “That’s enough proof for me. I don’t know if I could take much more. At least right now, anyways.”
“Let me know if you’d ever like some more,” Tony said.
“Tony, you have no idea how wonderful it was to hear you say that you like me…chubby. I thought you did, but I couldn’t be totally sure. You certainly seem to like it when I eat,” Lynn said.
“Yeah,” Tony said, blushing a bit, “It’s pretty hot if you ask me.”
That was what Lynn had been waiting to hear all along. She gave Tony another kiss on his cheek. “It makes me so happy to hear you say that.” The fact that all her eating had actually made Tony happy, that he found it sexy, rocked Lynn’s world in the best way possible. It validated the person inside of her that she’d been trying to deny existed, the fat girl she’d been trying to starve. That fat girl was who Lynn really was, but, until now, never wanted to own up to being. The only reason Lynn had ever watched what she ate was because she believed that fat and beauty were polar opposites. Suddenly it was okay to be that girl, and to not be ashamed of it because fat and beauty were complimentary words.
Lynn had four scoops of gelato that night.
***
Lynn’s announcement that she was “officially” seeing Tony as his girlfriend was greeted with warm congratulations from her parents. Mrs. Phan was so happy for her daughter that she barely knew what to say. She saw her daughter the brightest and most upbeat she’d been since she began high school and that alone made her so happy that she couldn’t put it into words. She also saw that Lynn had continued to keep her appetite on much less of a tight leash than she had when the school year had begun. Mrs. Phan was sure that this wasn’t just idle coincidence. Though she wasn’t looking to intentionally fatten up her daughter, Mrs. Phan figured that a few extra pounds didn’t hurt at all. The more important thing was that Lynn was happy with who she was and was enjoying life to the fullest extent.
When Lynn and Tony jointly broke the news to David, Jeanine, and Kei, they were all extremely happy for them. Though they’d all seen this coming, their enthusiasm wasn’t diminished in the slightest. In fact, the three were privately relieved that they didn’t have to tiptoe around anymore Lynn and Tony in the “better than friends, but not quite a couple” state in which they had existed for the past few weeks. Besides, as Jeanine said, “They’re just soooo cute together!”
It was true: Tony and Lynn did make a rather nice couple. Tony wasn’t extremely tall, which kept him from towering over the “vertically challenged” Lynn. While Tony was pretty lean and fit from playing water polo himself, he didn’t look out of place dating the plump Lynn. Somehow they seemed matched with one another (even though the still bitter Leah Salonga told her friends she thought Tony had “definitely traded down” with regards to Lynn) and RFK High generally thought they were well matched with one another. Most everyone on the women’s water polo team already knew Tony since he played on the men’s team, but he was still introduced all around when he started eating lunch with Lynn, joining Liam and Tom as official water polo boyfriends.
Their relationship blossomed with every new day. Tony knew roughly what course the relationship would take from his prior experience with Leah, but it was just as wonderful—if not more so—as that had been. Lynn, on the other hand, having never dated anyone, reveled in the experience. It seemed every day brought a new experience, a new “first”, or just more incredibly wonderful moments with Tony. The whole experience was euphoric for Lynn. There were days that she pinched herself to think that one of her wildest dreams, one which she had not even dared to think was possible, had come true: Lynn had a boyfriend who loved her for who she was. In fact, he loved her because of, rather than despite, her “faults”.
In fact, Tony’s admission that he liked Lynn and her plump body had actually transformed Lynn. She no longer saw her curves as a negative thing—in fact she rather enjoyed them now. Though Lynn had never hid her curves underneath baggy sweatshirts and loose sweatpants, following popular fashions that often involved garments that clung to her frame, she’d always done so with some degree of displeasure that they’d displayed her less-than-perfect body. Now Lynn gladly wore her hip hugger jeans and tight t-shirts that clung to every roll, emphasized the inviting, heavy melons that bounced in front of her as she walked, and often falling just short of covering the burgeoning pot belly she was now sporting. This conscious display was done for Tony’s benefit, and Lynn knew from his passionate kisses and warm embraces that he definitely appreciated her efforts. At the same time, Lynn now actually enjoyed showing off her body as well. For the first time in her life, she felt sexy. Validated by Tony’s affection, Lynn thought herself as beautiful as a supermodel. Lynn’s idea of beauty had finally become unshackled from the unattainable waif-like frame that she’d previously held in reverence. That liberation had made Lynn happier than she could have possibly dreamed.
So, in short, Lynn and Tony’s relationship was quite typical.
Except for one thing.
Lynn’s “testing” of Tony’s feelings regarding her size had resulted in a curious circumstance. Lynn had come to associate eating with her dates with Tony. Most of them had involved food in one way or another, even if that wasn’t the main focus of the outing. Lynn had completely given up her previous aversion to eating in the pursuit of romance. In fact, she now enjoyed eating quite a bit. It was no longer an unconscious pleasure, but rather an acknowledged one. One reason was because Tony had openly admitted that he enjoyed watching Lynn eat for the very fact that it put precious pounds onto her plump profile bit by bit. However, Lynn had discovered that she enjoyed it just as much as Tony professed he did—perhaps even a little more.
As a result, Lynn was now constantly stuffing herself whenever the opportunity presented itself. At family dinners Lynn ate her fill, often going for hefty third helpings, much to the approval of Mrs. Phan. In fact, one night Mrs. Phan had taken the bold step of gingerly asking her daughter if she wanted any more, hoping the comment wouldn’t shatter any fragile state of affairs. She was relieved when her daughter’s instant and enthusiastic reply was, “Yes please!” When out with Tony at dinner, Lynn ordered as much as she felt like eating (including a second dessert if she was still hungry at the first), much to her boyfriend’s pleasure. They often fought about splitting the check, as Lynn felt badly about the prospect of Tony always paying the large bills that resulted from her large appetite. Tony for his part was more than happy to pay the bill of a girl with such an attractive appetite as Lynn. Eventually, to keep from making it a big deal, they decided to split the check every other date so they were both satisfied.
Tony certainly did enjoy Lynn’s gastronomic indulgences. He tracked every morsel that passed between Lynn’s lush lips with glee, which he was finding harder and harder to contain. Tony’s obvious pleasure only further encouraged Lynn to consume more and more tasty dishes, which in turn caused Tony to be even more excited. It was a vicious cycle.
The natural result of these events came to pass roughly two months after Tony and Lynn’s relationship had become official. The pair had retired one day after Lynn’s practice to Tony’s house, where Lynn was now a frequent visitor, especially around dinner (it should be noted that Mrs. Tran was more than happy to host Lynn as it meant she no longer had to find room in the fridge for leftovers from dinner).
“I have a surprise for you,” Tony said to Lynn after they’d gone up to his room for a bit of privacy.
“Really?” Lynn said excitedly, “What is it?”
“Close your eyes,” Tony said.
Lynn did as she was told. However, her nose quickly picked up a very familiar and delicious scent.
“Cookies!” Lynn said, her eyes snapping open automatically.
Sure enough, Tony was holding an entire bowl of chocolate chip cookies in front of her. Lynn could tell they were homemade they looked to be soft and chewy with just enough body so as not to fall apart. The chocolate chips glistened, promising heavenly bliss that melted in your mouth. Lynn couldn’t resist reaching out and taking one.
“They’re still warm!” Lynn exclaimed.
“I made them myself this afternoon,” Tony said bashfully, “I thought you might like some after a hard day at practice.”
“Well you definitely know the way to a girl’s heart!” Lynn said. She gave Tony a big kiss on his cheek and then proceeded to devour the cookie. It tasted just as heavenly as she expected them to be. “I don’t know if my mother even makes cookies this good!”
Tony blushed. “Well, I did have some help from my Mom. She does make some mean chocolate chip cookies.”
“I’ll say,” Lynn said as she bit into a second one, having easily devoured the first, “But I think you added a little something that’s extra good in them.”
“I’m glad you like them.”
“Tony, you can make cookies for me any time,” Lynn said sincerely, “Really, these hit the spot right now.”
“Good, I’m glad,” Tony said.
The pair retired to Tony’s bed where they both lay next to each other. Lynn eagerly packed away another four or five cookies—nobody was really keeping count—as Tony looked on in a state of rapture. Nestling her two favorite things to her—decadent, tasty food and Tony—Lynn was in paradise on earth. Things couldn’t be better. One comment was going to show her how wrong she was.
“Lynn?” Tony asked.
“Yeah?” Lynn said through a mouthful of gooey cookie.
“Can I, can I…feed you a cookie” Tony asked hesitantly.
Lynn’s heart jumped, though whether it was with excitement or surprise she didn’t know. “Sure,” she said softly.
Tony took a cookie and slowly lifted it up to Lynn’s mouth, which she opened on cue. He gently put it between her teeth and Lynn bit down and chewed. She opened her mouth when she had swallowed and took the rest of the cookie into her mouth. When she’d finished she and Tony looked at each other slightly uncertainly, neither one sure what to make of the experience.
“So…” Lynn said, not sure of how to put her thoughts into words, “…did you enjoy that as much as I did?”
“If by that you mean immensely, then yes,” Tony said breathlessly.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Lynn said with a smile, “Now hurry up lover boy! I’m hungry and those cookies you’ve got there look lonely. I think they need to join their friends.”
Tony needed no further prompting. He eagerly began supplying cookie after cookie for Lynn’s waiting lips. They disappeared in an instant, each new cookie arriving just in time to be received. Lynn didn’t find the process monotonous at all—far from it, in fact. Each cookie brought greater and greater pleasure as her belly swelled with the chocolaty delights.
Suddenly Tony’s hand felt the bottom of the bowl of cookies. He groped around, but found nothing. In surprise, he tore his eyes from his beautiful girlfriend and looked in the bowl. It was empty. But yet that was impossible! There must have been at least two dozen chocolate chip cookies in there, probably more. And they hadn’t been going that long…had Lynn really eaten them all?
The pause naturally drew Lynn’s attentions as well. She’d closed her eyes for the process, allowing herself to fall into a dream like haze as cookie after cookie had been presented to her ever eager mouth. Now they were open and looking longingly at the bowl. “We’re done already?” she asked with unconcealed disappointment.
“Yeah…doesn’t seem like it took that long either,” Tony said with more than a note of sadness himself.
“Awww…I really enjoyed that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! That was a lot of fun,” Lynn replied.
“Don’t move a muscle,” Tony said, jumping up and darting out of the room, leaving Lynn to look quizzically at the doorway. Very soon afterwards Tony reappeared. In his arms were a bag of potato chips, bottle of soda, and a glass. “I told my Mom we needed a bit of a snack,” Tony said as he closed the door.
“I hope by we you mean me,” Lynn said excitedly with a smile.
“Who else?” Tony replied.
Tony tore open the bag of fresh potato chips and immediately pulled out a handful and fed Lynn one by one. The salty chips disappeared even quicker than the cookies had. Lynn paused periodically to wash her snack down with some sweet, sugary soda. The bubbly carbonated beverage blended perfectly with the flaky, crisp potato chips. Pretty soon one potato chip at a time wasn’t enough to satisfy Lynn and her burgeoning belly and two, then three were required. She greedily gobbled up every offered handful from her loving boyfriend. It was hard to tell which of them was enjoying the process more.
“Let me take over, Tony,” Lynn said after a healthy swig of soda.
Tony acquiesced without a moment’s hesitation. In fact, he had a feeling that Lynn would only stuff herself more if she controlled the flow of food to her lips. Tony’s intuition was proven correct as Lynn immediately began shoveling large handfuls of potato chips into the gaping maw of her mouth, eager for more and more of the deliciously greasy chips to make their way to her tummy. She alternated with swift gulps of soda and Tony took it upon himself to make sure that Lynn’s glass had plenty of soda in it for whenever she might want it.
Their shared pleasure seemed just as fleeting as with the chocolate chip cookies. Both Tony and Lynn were astonished when Lynn felt around the bottom of the bag and found there were no more potato chips to be gone.
“They can’t all be gone!” Lynn said in surprise, “I’m not even full!”
“Just goes to show you don’t know your true potential,” Tony said, giving Lynn’s belly a gentle, loving pat.
“Mmmmm,” Lynn sighed, “I just love the feel of your hands on my body.” As little as a month ago if someone had told Lynn she’d enjoy being stuffed and then having a boy lovingly caress her rolls, she would have been utterly scandalized and shocked. If you’d told Tony at that same time he’d be the one doing the caressing, he would have disavowed any attraction to the idea so as not to acknowledge that he’d secretly come to adore and love Lynn’s plump, curvy body. Now the pair had moved well past their embarrassment and didn’t think twice about openly displaying their like for Lynn’s plump, jiggling form.
“Well if you love that, then you’ll go crazy over this,” Tony replied.
He proceeded to massage Lynn’s belly gently and rhythmically. Lynn moaned with soft delight as Tony did so, closing her eyes and abandoning herself to another new world of pleasure. Tony nestled closer to Lynn, making her feel safe and warm. He’d lifted up Lynn’s shirt, exposing the yellow roll of flab that had developed as a result of her continual indulgences over the past few months. It was soft and malleable, but still heavy and somewhat full from Lynn’s most recent snack—though by virtue of its size, snack hardly seemed the appropriate word. Tony’s fingers worked over Lynn’s doughy belly gently, working to ease it in its partially stuffed state. The constant sensation of her boyfriend’s fingers on her tummy caused Lynn to writhe with delight. She threw one arm around Tony to draw his body in closer to hers, heightening the experience.
Though he felt like he could go on forever, Tony stopped after what seemed like an age of working over Lynn’s belly, reveling in her rolls. “How’d you like that?” Tony asked.
“That was wonderful,” Lynn said. She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek, “More importantly, how did you like that?”
“I thought it was pretty hot if you ask me,” Tony said, “I’m just sad that you obviously didn’t realize your true potential.”
“What do you mean?” Lynn asked.
“Well, you said you weren’t full,” Tony replied, “I would have liked to have seen just how much you could pack away.”
“Oh,” Lynn simply stated. She thought about that a while as she lay there with Tony. “Sounds like you were disappointed yourself.”
“Yeah. It would have been fun to see how much you could eat when you put your mind to it.”
Lynn was silent for a moment. “Well, I’ve got a bit of an idea about that.”
(Click here for next installment)
It took three weeks before Lynn decided to say anything. This was largely the result of the fact that she and Tony had continued to date during this period without actually entering into a relationship. Both of them took their time to make sure that it was the right move, and that process involved extensive and continued interaction with one another. Since it was Lynn’s first relationship, she was still learning the rules and protocols involved with dating. Tony, coming off a hard breakup of a long relationship, was making sure that his feelings for Lynn weren’t just a passing crush. Each date, nay, each time they saw each other, cemented their growing relationship little by little. In fact, it was so gradual that it was entirely possible to not even see it occurring. But it was indeed happening.
The gang noticed, but not all at once. Kei had been the first to figure it out. In fact, it wasn’t too long after the day they went to ice cream parlor after Lynn’s game. She quickly picked up on the tension that existed between Lynn and Tony, the glances they stole when they thought nobody was looking. However, Kei would have missed all of that had she not been prey to a similar passion, but one that she could only cry about by day, fulfillment coming only in her dreams. Jeanine noticed about a week after Kei. After all, girls are usually very adept at such things. She noticed how Tony and Lynn would jump back (but not too quickly) if they happened to touch hands reaching for a salt shaker at dinner or that Lynn colored ever so slightly if Tony held a door open for her. She too began to see certain looks that were now not quite so covert as they had been before. David even realized what was going on after he realized that Kei and Jeanine were always hurrying him off at the end of their outings, always leaving Lynn and Tony alone. Though they never answered his questions as to why they had to leave so quickly, he soon put two and two together.
All of this aside, Lynn had continued to feel out Tony on his true feelings about her weight without actually asking him. Every meal was another opportunity to try and see whether or not she could draw more conclusive proof from Tony through his actions and manner. Over time her efforts started paying off. On their third date, Lynn noticed that now paid slightly more attention to her while she was eating than he had before—and he didn’t seem to be repulsed or disgusted by her increased appetite. At the end of the evening they shared their first kiss, the taste of triple chocolate cake still on Lynn’s lips. At the next date Lynn purposefully didn’t finish her meal, claiming she was too full.
“Are you sure?” Tony said with a hint of disappointment in his voice, “There’s not that much left. I bet you could finish.”
(Click here for next installment)
“Oh, but I want to save room for dessert,” Lynn replied.
“It’s just a bit. I’m sure you can still have dessert even after that,” Tony said.
When Lynn hesitantly assented, Tony actually smiled, the boldest communication of his thoughts on the matter to date. When Lynn then said she was sure that she couldn’t have dessert, Tony replied that the desserts were really small at that restaurant and it was such a good way to end a meal. While he was certainly stuffed himself, he just knew that she wanted some dessert.
“After all, you could be hit by a bus tomorrow, heaven forbid,” Tony said, “And then you’d be sorry you didn’t have any dessert tonight.”
Lynn had to agree to the logic of Tony’s argument and happily ordered profiteroles for dessert without a moment’s hesitation.
It should be noted that Lynn’s continued investigations produced not only more clues that confirmed the suspicion that she’d entertained since lunch with Lizzie, but also more pounds on the Vietnamese girl’s growing frame. The result of all of her “investigative” dinners was that she was now eating much more than she usually did. The first few dates with Tony had awakened Lynn from an epicurean hibernation. Having starved herself at meals so long—albeit with mindless snacks at other times that had undermined her aims—it only took a few good meals to awaken Lynn’s appetite once more. Had Lynn abandoned her continual testing of Tony, she might have been able to rein in her appetite. Unfortunately, her continued indulgences at dinner with him prevented her from returning to her disciplined ways.
She had unconsciously started eating more at family meals now as well. It need not be said that Mrs. Phan rejoiced to see that her daughter had “stopped starving herself” and was “finally eating right for a change”. Mrs. Phan first noticed when Lynn helped herself to seconds at a meal that was not one of her favorite dishes, a real rarity for her eldest daughter. Mrs. Phan said nothing, but only watched the closer when it happened the next night, and the night after that. From that point onward, Mrs. Phan ceased to press her daughter to eat more. Lynn was doing so all by herself now, and that was all that Lynn’s mother wanted. Mrs. Phan had no desire to awake any sleeping dog that might be slumbering within Lynn that would reverse this trend, and so she made no mention of the phenomenon one way or the other.
Had Lynn realized the effect of all these new calories on her body, she might have been tempted to swear off the completion of her investigation. She had climbed above 146 pounds, which was a new high for Lynn, but she had no idea of her newfound girth. Lynn was always thinking about Tony or water polo or homework these days, and the last thing on her mind was weighing herself. This was despite the fact that she’d been forced to go up a size in her pants the old ones had just become so tight that they were unfeasible. Lynn was used to her weight fluctuating, so she figured it was nothing out of the ordinary. Even though she now had more room in them Lynn’s hip hugging jeans gave her a very noticeable muffin top that popped above the waist of her jeans, jiggling whenever she walked. Most of her old shirts were unable to cover her belly anymore, which had resulted in her buying some new shirts to bridge the gap. Lynn’s butt used all of the room it had in the seat of all her pants, curving lusciously. Her chubby thighs also filled her pant legs snugly, though not yet tightly. Her breasts might have been a bit bigger, but not too much so. When it came to a more general classification, Lynn had certainly exceeded chubby but certainly wasn’t fat. Plump was the most apt word to describe Lynn, for there is a happiness and visual aesthetic implied by plump. The more Lynn saw Tony, the fatter she got and the happier she was.
Like most of the important moments in life, Lynn didn’t plan out bringing up the subject with Tony. The two had just seen a movie with one another. Lynn had been eating plenty of popcorn for most of the movie, but when she’d finally had her fill (and that was a more than decent amount of highly buttered popcorn), she soon became aware of precisely how lonely her free hand probably seemed. If she put it up onto the armrest, she wasn’t sure if Tony would try to hold it or not. And though they’d already kissed, somehow she was unsure about whether or not they should be holding hands. After all, if she put her arm on the armrest, Tony might think that she expected him to hold her hand. If she didn’t, he could assume that she didn’t want her hand held. Somehow holding hands seemed like a very big step to Lynn.
For his part, Tony was trying to figure out whether or not he should take Lynn’s hand if she offered it up on that armrest altar. If she was just putting it there because she wanted to use the armrest—a very probable circumstance—she might awkwardly withdraw her hand in confusion and embarrassment. Tony had no desire to be the cause of either in Lynn. Likewise, if he didn’t take her hand when he had the chance, she might think he didn’t like her as much as she thought he did, and Tony did like her that much. Tony really did want to hold her hand because his instinct told him that he should. After all, they’d been dating for close to a month now. But relationships aren’t about what you want as much as it is about what the other person wants, and Tony figured that he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
As it turned out, they never did come to it. Lynn didn’t put her hand up on the armrest, deciding to err on the side of caution, even though she had to admit she did want her hand held. When the movie was over they filed out of the theater and idled outside, unsure of whether to do anything else since it was getting late, but unwilling to leave one another just yet.
After the frustrating uncertainty of the handholding issue, Tony once again decided to follow his gut. “Lynn, I have a question for you,” he said, looking from the ground to her eyes.
“Okay,” Lynn said.
“We’ve been dating each other for a while now and I was just wondering…would you…would you like to…you know, be my girlfriend?” Tony asked, finding the question wasn’t coming out as easily or romantically as it would have in the romantic comedy movie that they’d just watched.
“Of course!” Lynn blurted out without a second’s thought. She immediately gave Tony a big hug. “You know you didn’t even have to ask.”
“Well, I know, but I thought, as awkward as it is, I should still ask you anyways,” Tony said as he cradled Lynn’s plump body in his arms.
Lynn kissed Tony on the cheek. “I’m so glad you did. This means we’ll have to tell everyone now.”
“I think the gang already knows. They’ve been making sure that we’ve been left alone after hanging out for the last three weeks,” Tony said.
“Well that’s considerate of them,” Lynn said, “Now we’re going to be that annoying awkward couple who’s always holding hands and fawning over one another while all their friends roll their eyes.”
“There’s no one I’d rather be awkward with than you,” Tony said.
There was a short silence before Lynn said, “It seems like we should do something to celebrate, but I don’t know what.”
“Hmmm…” Tony thought for a moment. “Well, maybe we should go to Venezia Gelato. I mean, the first time we really got to know each other socially we went there after a movie, so we could come full circle.”
“Gelato sounds amazing right now,” Lynn said.
Tony took Lynn’s hand, now without fear of reproach and the two walked towards the gelato shop, but not too quickly. Each of them basked in the official birth of their relationship. It was at this time that Lynn decided to pop the question.
“So now that we’re officially dating,” Lynn said, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but wasn’t sure if I should.”
“What is it?” Tony asked.
“Well…see…” Lynn started, still somewhat embarrassed and unsure of how one went about a conversation like this, even though you were dating someone. She looked around and ascertained that they were relatively alone. “I’ve been wondering for a while…do you like me fat?” Lynn thought that the question sounded so blunt and harsh when put out into the open like that.
“Well, you’re not really that fat,” Tony said, coloring a bit, “I mean, Tara Kelly is much fatter than you.”
“Fine, chubby, plump, big boned, husky, whatever you want to call it,” Lynn said with slight annoyance that Tony had evaded the question, “Do you think I’m beautiful?”
“Of course!” Tony said, as if there had never been any doubt about that, “I think you’re one of the prettiest girls in school. And I mean that. I really do. You’re much better looking than Leah. She was way too thin. You’ve got some great curves on you that she doesn’t.”
“Really?” Lynn said brightening up a bit. Leah Salonga was a willowy girl who most people would call beautiful. To hear from Tony that she beat out Leah (and because of her “curves”!) was exciting. [/br]
“Even though you’re my girlfriend—” Lynn thrilled at hearing that, “—that doesn’t mean I’d just tell you what you want to hear,” Tony said, “I really think so. Let me prove it.”
Tony swept Lynn up into a wonderful kiss that seemed like it lasted forever. Charged with such sudden passion and force, Lynn couldn’t help but to grab hold of Tony in response—partially so she wouldn’t feel like her knees were going to buckle underneath her.
When they broke apart, their faces remained close. “That’s enough proof for me. I don’t know if I could take much more. At least right now, anyways.”
“Let me know if you’d ever like some more,” Tony said.
“Tony, you have no idea how wonderful it was to hear you say that you like me…chubby. I thought you did, but I couldn’t be totally sure. You certainly seem to like it when I eat,” Lynn said.
“Yeah,” Tony said, blushing a bit, “It’s pretty hot if you ask me.”
That was what Lynn had been waiting to hear all along. She gave Tony another kiss on his cheek. “It makes me so happy to hear you say that.” The fact that all her eating had actually made Tony happy, that he found it sexy, rocked Lynn’s world in the best way possible. It validated the person inside of her that she’d been trying to deny existed, the fat girl she’d been trying to starve. That fat girl was who Lynn really was, but, until now, never wanted to own up to being. The only reason Lynn had ever watched what she ate was because she believed that fat and beauty were polar opposites. Suddenly it was okay to be that girl, and to not be ashamed of it because fat and beauty were complimentary words.
Lynn had four scoops of gelato that night.
***
Lynn’s announcement that she was “officially” seeing Tony as his girlfriend was greeted with warm congratulations from her parents. Mrs. Phan was so happy for her daughter that she barely knew what to say. She saw her daughter the brightest and most upbeat she’d been since she began high school and that alone made her so happy that she couldn’t put it into words. She also saw that Lynn had continued to keep her appetite on much less of a tight leash than she had when the school year had begun. Mrs. Phan was sure that this wasn’t just idle coincidence. Though she wasn’t looking to intentionally fatten up her daughter, Mrs. Phan figured that a few extra pounds didn’t hurt at all. The more important thing was that Lynn was happy with who she was and was enjoying life to the fullest extent.
When Lynn and Tony jointly broke the news to David, Jeanine, and Kei, they were all extremely happy for them. Though they’d all seen this coming, their enthusiasm wasn’t diminished in the slightest. In fact, the three were privately relieved that they didn’t have to tiptoe around anymore Lynn and Tony in the “better than friends, but not quite a couple” state in which they had existed for the past few weeks. Besides, as Jeanine said, “They’re just soooo cute together!”
It was true: Tony and Lynn did make a rather nice couple. Tony wasn’t extremely tall, which kept him from towering over the “vertically challenged” Lynn. While Tony was pretty lean and fit from playing water polo himself, he didn’t look out of place dating the plump Lynn. Somehow they seemed matched with one another (even though the still bitter Leah Salonga told her friends she thought Tony had “definitely traded down” with regards to Lynn) and RFK High generally thought they were well matched with one another. Most everyone on the women’s water polo team already knew Tony since he played on the men’s team, but he was still introduced all around when he started eating lunch with Lynn, joining Liam and Tom as official water polo boyfriends.
Their relationship blossomed with every new day. Tony knew roughly what course the relationship would take from his prior experience with Leah, but it was just as wonderful—if not more so—as that had been. Lynn, on the other hand, having never dated anyone, reveled in the experience. It seemed every day brought a new experience, a new “first”, or just more incredibly wonderful moments with Tony. The whole experience was euphoric for Lynn. There were days that she pinched herself to think that one of her wildest dreams, one which she had not even dared to think was possible, had come true: Lynn had a boyfriend who loved her for who she was. In fact, he loved her because of, rather than despite, her “faults”.
In fact, Tony’s admission that he liked Lynn and her plump body had actually transformed Lynn. She no longer saw her curves as a negative thing—in fact she rather enjoyed them now. Though Lynn had never hid her curves underneath baggy sweatshirts and loose sweatpants, following popular fashions that often involved garments that clung to her frame, she’d always done so with some degree of displeasure that they’d displayed her less-than-perfect body. Now Lynn gladly wore her hip hugger jeans and tight t-shirts that clung to every roll, emphasized the inviting, heavy melons that bounced in front of her as she walked, and often falling just short of covering the burgeoning pot belly she was now sporting. This conscious display was done for Tony’s benefit, and Lynn knew from his passionate kisses and warm embraces that he definitely appreciated her efforts. At the same time, Lynn now actually enjoyed showing off her body as well. For the first time in her life, she felt sexy. Validated by Tony’s affection, Lynn thought herself as beautiful as a supermodel. Lynn’s idea of beauty had finally become unshackled from the unattainable waif-like frame that she’d previously held in reverence. That liberation had made Lynn happier than she could have possibly dreamed.
So, in short, Lynn and Tony’s relationship was quite typical.
Except for one thing.
Lynn’s “testing” of Tony’s feelings regarding her size had resulted in a curious circumstance. Lynn had come to associate eating with her dates with Tony. Most of them had involved food in one way or another, even if that wasn’t the main focus of the outing. Lynn had completely given up her previous aversion to eating in the pursuit of romance. In fact, she now enjoyed eating quite a bit. It was no longer an unconscious pleasure, but rather an acknowledged one. One reason was because Tony had openly admitted that he enjoyed watching Lynn eat for the very fact that it put precious pounds onto her plump profile bit by bit. However, Lynn had discovered that she enjoyed it just as much as Tony professed he did—perhaps even a little more.
As a result, Lynn was now constantly stuffing herself whenever the opportunity presented itself. At family dinners Lynn ate her fill, often going for hefty third helpings, much to the approval of Mrs. Phan. In fact, one night Mrs. Phan had taken the bold step of gingerly asking her daughter if she wanted any more, hoping the comment wouldn’t shatter any fragile state of affairs. She was relieved when her daughter’s instant and enthusiastic reply was, “Yes please!” When out with Tony at dinner, Lynn ordered as much as she felt like eating (including a second dessert if she was still hungry at the first), much to her boyfriend’s pleasure. They often fought about splitting the check, as Lynn felt badly about the prospect of Tony always paying the large bills that resulted from her large appetite. Tony for his part was more than happy to pay the bill of a girl with such an attractive appetite as Lynn. Eventually, to keep from making it a big deal, they decided to split the check every other date so they were both satisfied.
Tony certainly did enjoy Lynn’s gastronomic indulgences. He tracked every morsel that passed between Lynn’s lush lips with glee, which he was finding harder and harder to contain. Tony’s obvious pleasure only further encouraged Lynn to consume more and more tasty dishes, which in turn caused Tony to be even more excited. It was a vicious cycle.
The natural result of these events came to pass roughly two months after Tony and Lynn’s relationship had become official. The pair had retired one day after Lynn’s practice to Tony’s house, where Lynn was now a frequent visitor, especially around dinner (it should be noted that Mrs. Tran was more than happy to host Lynn as it meant she no longer had to find room in the fridge for leftovers from dinner).
“I have a surprise for you,” Tony said to Lynn after they’d gone up to his room for a bit of privacy.
“Really?” Lynn said excitedly, “What is it?”
“Close your eyes,” Tony said.
Lynn did as she was told. However, her nose quickly picked up a very familiar and delicious scent.
“Cookies!” Lynn said, her eyes snapping open automatically.
Sure enough, Tony was holding an entire bowl of chocolate chip cookies in front of her. Lynn could tell they were homemade they looked to be soft and chewy with just enough body so as not to fall apart. The chocolate chips glistened, promising heavenly bliss that melted in your mouth. Lynn couldn’t resist reaching out and taking one.
“They’re still warm!” Lynn exclaimed.
“I made them myself this afternoon,” Tony said bashfully, “I thought you might like some after a hard day at practice.”
“Well you definitely know the way to a girl’s heart!” Lynn said. She gave Tony a big kiss on his cheek and then proceeded to devour the cookie. It tasted just as heavenly as she expected them to be. “I don’t know if my mother even makes cookies this good!”
Tony blushed. “Well, I did have some help from my Mom. She does make some mean chocolate chip cookies.”
“I’ll say,” Lynn said as she bit into a second one, having easily devoured the first, “But I think you added a little something that’s extra good in them.”
“I’m glad you like them.”
“Tony, you can make cookies for me any time,” Lynn said sincerely, “Really, these hit the spot right now.”
“Good, I’m glad,” Tony said.
The pair retired to Tony’s bed where they both lay next to each other. Lynn eagerly packed away another four or five cookies—nobody was really keeping count—as Tony looked on in a state of rapture. Nestling her two favorite things to her—decadent, tasty food and Tony—Lynn was in paradise on earth. Things couldn’t be better. One comment was going to show her how wrong she was.
“Lynn?” Tony asked.
“Yeah?” Lynn said through a mouthful of gooey cookie.
“Can I, can I…feed you a cookie” Tony asked hesitantly.
Lynn’s heart jumped, though whether it was with excitement or surprise she didn’t know. “Sure,” she said softly.
Tony took a cookie and slowly lifted it up to Lynn’s mouth, which she opened on cue. He gently put it between her teeth and Lynn bit down and chewed. She opened her mouth when she had swallowed and took the rest of the cookie into her mouth. When she’d finished she and Tony looked at each other slightly uncertainly, neither one sure what to make of the experience.
“So…” Lynn said, not sure of how to put her thoughts into words, “…did you enjoy that as much as I did?”
“If by that you mean immensely, then yes,” Tony said breathlessly.
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Lynn said with a smile, “Now hurry up lover boy! I’m hungry and those cookies you’ve got there look lonely. I think they need to join their friends.”
Tony needed no further prompting. He eagerly began supplying cookie after cookie for Lynn’s waiting lips. They disappeared in an instant, each new cookie arriving just in time to be received. Lynn didn’t find the process monotonous at all—far from it, in fact. Each cookie brought greater and greater pleasure as her belly swelled with the chocolaty delights.
Suddenly Tony’s hand felt the bottom of the bowl of cookies. He groped around, but found nothing. In surprise, he tore his eyes from his beautiful girlfriend and looked in the bowl. It was empty. But yet that was impossible! There must have been at least two dozen chocolate chip cookies in there, probably more. And they hadn’t been going that long…had Lynn really eaten them all?
The pause naturally drew Lynn’s attentions as well. She’d closed her eyes for the process, allowing herself to fall into a dream like haze as cookie after cookie had been presented to her ever eager mouth. Now they were open and looking longingly at the bowl. “We’re done already?” she asked with unconcealed disappointment.
“Yeah…doesn’t seem like it took that long either,” Tony said with more than a note of sadness himself.
“Awww…I really enjoyed that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! That was a lot of fun,” Lynn replied.
“Don’t move a muscle,” Tony said, jumping up and darting out of the room, leaving Lynn to look quizzically at the doorway. Very soon afterwards Tony reappeared. In his arms were a bag of potato chips, bottle of soda, and a glass. “I told my Mom we needed a bit of a snack,” Tony said as he closed the door.
“I hope by we you mean me,” Lynn said excitedly with a smile.
“Who else?” Tony replied.
Tony tore open the bag of fresh potato chips and immediately pulled out a handful and fed Lynn one by one. The salty chips disappeared even quicker than the cookies had. Lynn paused periodically to wash her snack down with some sweet, sugary soda. The bubbly carbonated beverage blended perfectly with the flaky, crisp potato chips. Pretty soon one potato chip at a time wasn’t enough to satisfy Lynn and her burgeoning belly and two, then three were required. She greedily gobbled up every offered handful from her loving boyfriend. It was hard to tell which of them was enjoying the process more.
“Let me take over, Tony,” Lynn said after a healthy swig of soda.
Tony acquiesced without a moment’s hesitation. In fact, he had a feeling that Lynn would only stuff herself more if she controlled the flow of food to her lips. Tony’s intuition was proven correct as Lynn immediately began shoveling large handfuls of potato chips into the gaping maw of her mouth, eager for more and more of the deliciously greasy chips to make their way to her tummy. She alternated with swift gulps of soda and Tony took it upon himself to make sure that Lynn’s glass had plenty of soda in it for whenever she might want it.
Their shared pleasure seemed just as fleeting as with the chocolate chip cookies. Both Tony and Lynn were astonished when Lynn felt around the bottom of the bag and found there were no more potato chips to be gone.
“They can’t all be gone!” Lynn said in surprise, “I’m not even full!”
“Just goes to show you don’t know your true potential,” Tony said, giving Lynn’s belly a gentle, loving pat.
“Mmmmm,” Lynn sighed, “I just love the feel of your hands on my body.” As little as a month ago if someone had told Lynn she’d enjoy being stuffed and then having a boy lovingly caress her rolls, she would have been utterly scandalized and shocked. If you’d told Tony at that same time he’d be the one doing the caressing, he would have disavowed any attraction to the idea so as not to acknowledge that he’d secretly come to adore and love Lynn’s plump, curvy body. Now the pair had moved well past their embarrassment and didn’t think twice about openly displaying their like for Lynn’s plump, jiggling form.
“Well if you love that, then you’ll go crazy over this,” Tony replied.
He proceeded to massage Lynn’s belly gently and rhythmically. Lynn moaned with soft delight as Tony did so, closing her eyes and abandoning herself to another new world of pleasure. Tony nestled closer to Lynn, making her feel safe and warm. He’d lifted up Lynn’s shirt, exposing the yellow roll of flab that had developed as a result of her continual indulgences over the past few months. It was soft and malleable, but still heavy and somewhat full from Lynn’s most recent snack—though by virtue of its size, snack hardly seemed the appropriate word. Tony’s fingers worked over Lynn’s doughy belly gently, working to ease it in its partially stuffed state. The constant sensation of her boyfriend’s fingers on her tummy caused Lynn to writhe with delight. She threw one arm around Tony to draw his body in closer to hers, heightening the experience.
Though he felt like he could go on forever, Tony stopped after what seemed like an age of working over Lynn’s belly, reveling in her rolls. “How’d you like that?” Tony asked.
“That was wonderful,” Lynn said. She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek, “More importantly, how did you like that?”
“I thought it was pretty hot if you ask me,” Tony said, “I’m just sad that you obviously didn’t realize your true potential.”
“What do you mean?” Lynn asked.
“Well, you said you weren’t full,” Tony replied, “I would have liked to have seen just how much you could pack away.”
“Oh,” Lynn simply stated. She thought about that a while as she lay there with Tony. “Sounds like you were disappointed yourself.”
“Yeah. It would have been fun to see how much you could eat when you put your mind to it.”
Lynn was silent for a moment. “Well, I’ve got a bit of an idea about that.”
(Click here for next installment)
