Chapter 4 - ch 3. running more and more slowly from fate

Ben stood in front of the wide bathroom mirror, slowly lifting his shirt with dread as his heartbeat quickened. Something he never previously possessed had found it's way under his shirt, something soft and squishy. Eyeing his stomach in disbelief Ben pushed his index finger into the softness around his stomach. To his horror the finger sank into his middle's recently developed softness, causing a slight depression to occur in his skin. Taking his finger away his fat pushed the poked area back out to it's natural state of roundness and wobbled just slightly. Ben shuddered, feeling his newly acquired belly shift and jiggle just slightly with the movement. Ben placed his palm on his stomach and pressed tenderly, like he would a water balloon, though to his disbelief this balloon was attached. While no one would call his recent development a pot belly, it definitely rounded outward more than it ever had. For someone like Ben who had never even been close to chubby his recent gain was shocking. Ben shook his head and thought to himself bitterly, "Guess it wasn't a tapeworm after all..."

It had been one month since Ben had devoured his monolithic breakfast at The All-American, and ever since then he had been dogged by a never ending hunger. It wasn't a typical missed breakfast hunger either, it truly felt at times that if he didn't eat something then and there Ben would faint from lack of calories. The hunger distracted him constantly and would put him into a foul mood if he didn't take care of it, but that wasn't the biggest problem. Eating only relieved him of the hunger for an all too brief period of time. Even after a huge meal Ben would feel the pangs return only after an hour or so, at full intensity.

Ben had seen a few different doctors about the issue, all of whom had basically laughed him out of their office. The doctors felt the issue was that he just wasn't done growing yet. At 5'9 Ben could theoretically get taller, but most of his family was already around his height. Ben was more worried more about growing in a different direction, a trait the rest of his clan did not possess. He had tried ignoring the mysterious void in his stomach for as long as he could, but he found it simply impossible to get anything done. Homework, studying, sports, even watching TV became excruciating when he was constantly wracked with hunger pains. Ben didn't want to let himself get unhealthy, but his grades were quickly slipping and something needed to be done.

After the first week of the affliction Ben had given up, and made the assumption that he had a tapeworm eating all his meals. He ate with abandon, plowing through anything he could get his hands on to try and quell his voracious appetite. Burgers, lasagna, eggs, basically anything that was filling would quickly find it's way into Ben's bottomless pit. At first he figured the tapeworm was a sure bet, all the meals seemingly bounced off his bony figure. To Ben's horror that had all come crashing down a little over a week ago. Suddenly his once roomy jeans had made themselves snug, and now he could no longer ignore the softness creeping over his once hard frame. He had scheduled with a doctor to get an xray to check for a tapeworm in another month, but as Ben patted his softer middle he figured that was just a waste now. It seemed he was just hungrier than he ever had been before, and he didn't know how to stop it.

"What the hell is going on?" Ben grumbled as he lifted his constraining shirt over his head. Ben had avoided the mirror and scale the last week or so, knowing he would not like the result. Looking over himself, Ben let out a depressed sigh. At the start of the year Sarah would poke all of Ben's visible bones in bed, and would even playfully chide him on being such a skeleton. That wasn't the body in the mirror anymore. Ben couldn't see anymore bones, all he could see was pale skin and flesh. All of him seemed just a bit softer than it did before, and while it wasn't a huge amount it made a massive difference for someone so thin. Ben turned in profile to examine himself. He definitely looked a bit wider than usual, especially around the middle, though so far no one had noticed.
Ben had dutifully sucked in in public, and other than a few 'aren't you hungry today?' comments he had managed to get this far without letting anyone see his slide.

A sudden knock on the door prompted Ben to grab for a towel. "Ben?" He heard Sarah coo from her bedroom. "I know you've been busy but mama has needs, now come to bed!" The blood drained from Ben's face, his jaw slack. "Shit" He thought, he figured he could get at least one more day before revealing his small gain to Sarah. Ben had avoided her for the last week or so, unsure how she would react to the bit of chub that had taken residence on him. His stomach growled menacingly. 'Dammit' he thought, 'I guess I'll try and get out of here quick-"

As Ben tried to think of a way out of Sarah's apartment the door suddenly flew open, his athletic girlfriend bursting through the door jam with ease. Ben tried to spin and cover himself, but he only managed to leave his hand hanging on his newly convex belly. "Shouldn't have tried keeping away from-" Sarah's smile quickly turned to confusion as she looked over her boyfriend. Without a word Sarah reached out and pinched the small amount of flesh that had gathered on Ben's side. He blushed profusely, his entire body growing red, mortified his love was seeing him in such a compromising position.

"Heh" Sarah chuckled. "I've never seen anyone gain the senior 15, but I suppose your metabolism had to slow down eventually..." Sarah gave Ben's belly another poke as he looked away in embarrassment, unable to speak. Sensing his dread Sarah smiled and grabbed the sides of Ben's shorts, pulling down the elastic band and the boxers beneath. She grabbed his flaccid penis firmly and dragged Ben to the bed, where she rode him enthusiastically. Both of them were quickly out of breath and sweaty, Ben more so than Sarah, and after she had finished with him they lay in spoon. Sarah had insisted on being the bigger spoon, and let Ben know exactly what was on her mind. She groped his newly formed roundness with a sick fascination. Ben had assumed his gain would have completely turned her off, but maybe her recent passion proved otherwise.

"I have to admit..." Sarah began, exhausted. "I like that you're not a complete bag of bones anymore." She said with a grin. "You're much more comfortable in bed this way." Ben grunted, distracted by surprisingly nice feeling of hands kneading his middle. "So you really don't mind? I don't know what's been going on with me lately. I just can't stop eating..." Ben said dejectedly. Sarah scoffed. "Honey, this little gain of your just brought you inline with normal people, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You've been really stressed!" Ben sighed briefly, before Sarah continued. "Just make sure it doesn't go much further, kay? A little softness is fun, but a real pot-" She shriveled her nose in disgust. "That's gross."

Ben looked forward, incredibly anxious. "OK hun, no problem." He said in monotone. He could do this, he thought, he could beat this mysterious hunger. All he needed was some motivation, and he could do anything. Right? Ben stomach reminded him how empty it was, growling and sending shooting pains through his lower body. Clutching in pain Ben's mental pep-talk was cut off, replaced by a parade of all the delicious things he could be eating. He pictured fried chicken, flapjacks piled high, burgers, sushi, pizza. His stomach continued it's tortured rumble, and Ben became increasingly worried.