chapter 1

Quinn had never felt luckier in his life. He'd gotten into the school of his dreams, he had a great room mate that was barely ever home and he'd managed to find a group of friends that were pretty amazing.

Johnny was a theatre major that just wouldn't allow Quinn to miss out on fun. Maybe he felt bad for him, Quinn wasn't sure, but as an introverted photographer that had moved states for school, he was forever grateful. Johnny's girlfriend Pippa had her own place, so Johnny was usually there over the weekend, giving Quinn more than enough time to himself. Unless they invited him out, that was.

The rest of the group consisted of Chloe, Pippa's best friend and housemate; her boyfriend Josh who was usually at the gym and Jessica and Steve, the inseparable new couple.

Quinn was invited to everything Johnny was by default: the occasional party, trips to the beach or, most often, trips to local restaurants and bars.

Quinn spent the first few months of school trying to juggle his suddenly active social life with getting his assignments done. He tried to keep up with his nightly runs, something he was used to having been on the lacrosse team in highschool, but something had to give. Nightly runs turned into weekly, then they fell away all together.

Just before Halloween, whilst it was still warm enough, he got invited to the beach with everyone. He barely had time to pack a towel before Johnny had him in the back of his car. Pippa was in the front, with Chloe sandwiched between him and Josh.

The mood was beyond elevated; everyone was excited to make the most of the last of the warm weather.

“We're going to have to find something else to do when the temperature drops,” Josh said sadly. “You guys got any ideas?”

“Well we usually just head out to eat,” Chloe said. “That might have to take the front seat until it warms up a little.”

“That's great babe,” Josh said. “But we can't just go out to eat every night. Not unless you want me to lose this eight pack!”

Chloe chuckled as Josh gestured down to his shirtless body. Quinn had never seen him in a shirt unless the situation demanded it. His body looked like carved marble. Quinn didn't know how anyone had time to look like that, let alone the determination. Even with regular work outs, he'd never been that muscular. His body had always been lean, though.

“How about lazer tag?” Pippa asked. “It would keep us inside but still give us something active to do together.”

“There's plenty of indoor pools around here if you just want to go swimming too,” Johnny said.

“I guess...” Josh said forlornly. “It's not the same as the beach though...”

The conversation turned onto what they were going to do when they got there. If it was their last trip of the year, they had to make the most of it. Quinn stared out the window, watching the built up city fade away, as it got replaced by the suburbs and then, a little later, beach houses and tourist traps.

He regretted not getting changed at home. Quinn looked around when they got there for somewhere he could go and was happy to see that they weren't too far from some public bathrooms. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“I'm going to go change,” he said. “Where are you guys going to be, just straight down?”

“Yeah, looks like there's a good spot down there,” Chloe said, pointing to an empty spot not far from the car.

Quinn walked into the bathrooms and locked himself in the only stall. They weren't too filthy but he didn't want to put his bag on the floor either. He struggled to get himself out of his clothes in the tight stall but he managed it.

Quinn grabbed his shorts out of his bag and looked at them warily. He'd only worn them three times since he'd come to school and they'd been tight the last time. He'd had them for years and had never really gotten much use out of them back home but they were definitely a little snug.

He stepped into them and pulled them up. He breathed out. The waistband was a little tighter than he'd like but they weren't too bad. He was just acutely aware of the fact that he'd had no problem wearing them a few months before.

Quinn stuffed everything into his bag and unlocked the stall. He cringed when he caught himself in the mirror. His sides were definitely looking a little soft, just above the top of his waistband.

He needed to start running again. Or he at least needed to stop eating out all of the time.

As soon as he made it to his friends, though, Chloe pushed a beer into his hands and he didn't refuse it.


*


Two weeks later, Quinn came to the realisation that he needed to do something. He hadn't made it out for any exercise and he was falling further and further behind on his assignments. It was just so hard to resist when Johnny invited him somewhere fun. Or, more so, when he had the opportunity to go out to eat.

Quinn hated to say it but he had very little experience with resisting good food. He'd never really had to before. Being on the lacrosse team had allowed him to eat whatever he wanted and time was never really and issue for him in high school.

When his alternative was staying in and eating a grilled cheese or picking up something pretty gross from the gas station, how could he say no?

“Get your shoes on, we're heading to Casey's,” Johnny said as he walked into their room that night.

“I can't,” Quinn said. “I've gotta focus on this assignment.”

“What?” Johnny asked. “Don't be stupid, you've gotta eat, man.”

“No seriously, I'm so behind, I'm actually a little worried I'm not going to be able to get it done before the deadline.”

“Dude... come on. Josh isn't coming tonight, it's a gym night. You know what Pippa and Chloe are like when he's not around. You can't leave me to deal with that!”

Quinn laughed. It was true, whenever Josh wasn't around, Pippa and Chloe would usually get talking about a topic and Johnny would just sit there bored. That's if they didn't end up getting each other drunk.

“I don't want to fail!” Quinn said.

“Come, talk to Chloe,” Johnny said. “She took that class last year, she'll probably be able to help you out.”

Quinn hated that he was that easy to convince. He doubted that she could even help him but he was starving and Johnny was looking at him like a kicked puppy.

“Please..?” Johnny said. “I'll pay for your food...”

Quinn sighed, locked his laptop and started to pull his shoes on. He couldn't say no to free food.

Johnny drove them the short distance over to Casey's. It was Quinn's favourite place by far. Decent chicken, even better burgers and the best curly fries he'd ever eaten. Sure, it wasn't the healthiest place by a long shot but everything there was just so good.

They were the last to arrive so Quinn sat himself down next to Chloe as Johnny took the only other chair next to Pippa.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Chloe asked.

“Okay, I guess,” Quinn said.

“Johnny texted me and said you might need some help with an assignment?” Chloe asked. “Which one is it?”

Quinn went into detail about his ideas and the work he'd already done. It wasn't much. He couldn't decide on where he wanted to go with the project.

“You want me to come over tomorrow?” Chloe said. “I have a lot of work I didn't use last year, I think it could give you a kick start.”

“That would be amazing, thank you so much,” Quinn said. “Are you sure you don't mind?”

Chloe shook her head as the waitress arrived to take their order. Quinn decided to take it easy, knowing that he had to cut back. He was going to start running tomorrow, for sure.

He ordered three pieces of chicken and some curly fries.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked quietly as the waitress took everyone else's orders.

“Yeah, why?” Quinn asked.

“You usually order more than that,” Chloe said. “Are you that nervous about the assignment?”

Quinn felt his face flush. Was the amount of food he ordered really that obvious? She was right, he'd usually go for one of Casey's huge burgers. If not, though, he'd at least go for loaded curly fries. Or an extra order of mozzarella sticks. And a milkshake.

“No... I'm just not that hungry, I guess.”

It was a lie. Quinn already knew he wouldn't be full after the chicken and curly fries. He'd been so used to eating until he was overly full that it had become a habit.