chapter 4

Over the next five days, Delilah managed to help him hit the 5000 calorie goal consistently. Every day, he started out with his increasingly tight clothes fully on but by the evening, or sometimes earlier, he had to unbutton his shorts. He only had three outfits and none of them really fit any more.

He'd asked Delilah to help him with that early in the week but she'd told him that she wasn't allowed to get him new clothes until the man in the mask told her to. It was all part of his entertainment.

He was learning to live with it, wondering how long it would be until he was gifted with a new wardrobe.

Delilah brought him breakfast almost as soon as he'd gotten out of the shower. He'd only just managed to get his clothes on; his shorts were impossible to button without sucking his softening belly in. His abs were almost completely gone and there was a tiny bit of puffy flesh spilling over his waistband.

"Morning!" she said brightly.

He appreciated her slightly transparent attempts at keeping his morale out but he couldn't bring himself to give her more than a slight smile.

"Hey... what's up?" she asked.

"Nothing..." he said. "I'm just... well I've definitely gained weight."

"That's good!" she said.

He got it. It was good, for both of them but he hated it. He was going to get out and he'd have to lose weight again. Especially if he ever wanted to get laid.

"Not really," he said. "I look awful."

He could see just how tight his clothes were, how they were cutting into him all over. His abs were gone, the definition in his arms that he'd worked hard for was slowly disappearing. Even his jawline looked a little softer.

"No you don't," Delilah said, handing him his breakfast. "You look fine."

"I'm not going to for long if I keep this up," Dylan said, between mouthfuls of pancake and sausage.

Delilah didn't look at him but Dylan could see her blushing.

"What?" he asked.

"Uh... well... I know this situation is terrible but..." she started. "Well you're cute and I think you're going to look cuter with a little belly."

Dylan's heart leapt. She thought he was cute? She didn't mind that he was gaining weight?

Dylan gave her a smile, a genuine one, and finished eating his breakfast.

"Sorry if I was a bit weird earlier," he said. "This is all still a little crazy."

"That's okay," she said. "Do you want me to stay with you a bit more today?"

He nodded. They spent a few hours playing video games. For some of it he just played and she watched whilst feeding her snacks.

After a while, the familiar sensation of his shorts getting much too tight crept up on him again. He tried to ignore it. They were having a nice time and he didn't want to ruin it by having to unbutton his clothes.

Dylan focused on the game and the feeling of Delilah's fingers brushing against his lips as she fed him.

Eventually, his waist just started to feel numb as he ignored it. He kept eating, with Delilah softly encouraging him until -

POP

The button on his shorts pinged across the room. Dylan's eyes widened. He was mortified.

"Oh my god..." he muttered.

Delilah gasped beside him.

"I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

"Why?" she asked. "If you're gaining weight, you're bound to need new clothes."

"Yeah, but I'm not allowed new clothes, right?" he asked.

Dylan didn't even mention how weird it was to him that the idea of him gaining weight had become so normalised.

"I'm pretty sure he was waiting for you to outgrow them. I'll see how it goes tomorrow."

Dylan paused the game and stood up. He hadn't even realised how full he was. He glanced into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. There was an angry red mark around his middle and his stomach was rounded more than he'd ever seen. Even his vest was struggling: it was wrinkled and rolled up around his belly button.

Later, the two of them ate dinner together. It was the first time he'd even seen Delilah eat. It helped him feel like they were actually in this together. After she was finished, she had to help him finish his much larger meal of a 10 piece bucket of chicken with fries and a large soda.

"Do you mind if I touch you?" she asked.

"Huh?" he asked. "No, I guess not?"

When Delilah's fingers connected with his tender skin, it sent sparks through his body. She slowly rubbed his belly, helping him to burp and settle his stomach. He hated how good it felt. She smelled so good.

Before he knew it, he'd finished his food.

Dylan got up quickly, worried that if Delilah kept touching him, he was going get hard and that would have been hard to hide.

He shuffled over to the scale. His rival's screen only read 164.2. He was slowing down. Dylan stepped onto the X and waited for the beep. He looked up and was conflicted to see 163.1.

It was good. He was catching up, but he'd never been above 160 before. He'd been at 159.9 the night before, when he'd been fully stuffed. Now he was three pounds heavier. Overnight.

"Wow!" Delilah said.

She pulled him into a hug, taking care not to put any pressure on his tender stomach.

Dylan felt like his world was spinning. Everything was so mixed up. He felt like a bloated beachball but he was hugging Delilah.

She smiled at him and her eyes were so bright that he didn't care any more.

She kissed him and then pulled away quickly. Her eyes were asking him if that was okay and he couldn't help but kiss her back.

She hurried away quickly after that but she was smiling all of the way.