The Diner

“I would feel a lot better if we were just flying to Chicago,” Alan said as he finished packing his suitcase.

“The point is to turn this into a vacation,” Scott responded, not for the first time. “Your job’s got you wound really tight right now.” Even then, Alan’s mind was running through the speech he would be giving at the conference in a few days. Scott was proud of Alan, but ever since the most recent promotion, Alan had been completely obsessed with work. In Scott’s mind, taking some time off and combining this business trip with a vacation was exactly what Alan needed.

Alan turned to look at Scott, who hadn’t yet put on a shirt. “You’re getting a little pudgy,” he remarked. Scott blushed. “Maybe I do need to get away from work more,” Alan continued. “If I was still cooking healthy meals for you, that wouldn’t have happened.”

Scott didn’t want to respond, so he just continued silently getting ready for the trip. At one point he and Alan ended up in the bathroom together, and Alan looked him up and down. “You’re getting a little hairy, too,” Alan said. “When did you stop shaving?”

“You haven’t exactly been around that much to notice,” Scott retorted. In truth, he had been thinking for a few months that he was tired of shaving his body, but he knew his meticulous partner wouldn’t approve. Scott had been shaving for so long that he wasn’t even sure how hairy the patch of dark fur on his chest would get if he stopped shaving completely.

“So you’re saying that just because I’m putting a lot of energy into my job you can just let yourself go?” Alan asked.

“That’s completely unfair! How do you think I feel never getting to see the man I live with?”

“So you planned a 14 hour car ride to make up for that. Is that it?”

Scott shifted uncomfortably. He supposed if he was honest that really did sum it up. He wished Alan could just loosen up a little. Scott didn’t really mind the weight he had gained. After all, he was 34 now. Not everyone could have Alan’s metabolism. Scott swore Alan hadn’t gained a pound since he started college. Alan had always been a beautiful blue-eyed blond waif. Scott had trimmed his unruly body hair and kept a sharp eye on his weight to fit into Alan’s life, but he was growing more and more uncomfortable with that.

The beginning of the car ride was pretty uncomfortable. As they headed out of Washington, DC, they instantly got stuck in Baltimore morning rush hour. Alan reminded Scott several times that they could be in business class on a plane instead of in stop and go traffic on the highway. Scott stopped himself from lashing out about Alan’s obsession with work several times, making him unusually silent. Scott was getting a very bad feeling that his plan had backfired. He wondered where things had gone wrong.

Scott and Alan had met back in college, and everyone had pegged them as the couple that would last. Girls thought they were the cutest couple ever, and other couples envied their natural chemistry. They had always been so supportive of each other. Then Alan had gotten an amazing job opportunity, and they had moved to DC. Starting then, Scott was always giving things up so Alan could go farther in his job, but Alan never seemed to give anything up for Scott.

In the middle of driving on the interstate, Scott suddenly blurted, “You have never given anything up for me.”

“Excuse me?” Alan responded.

Suddenly Scott realized he had spoken out loud. “Every time you’ve had a chance to advance in your job you’ve asked me to sacrifice a little more, and I keep quietly sacrificing, but you’re not giving anything back to me. Everything is always about you.”

“Look at the car we’re in right now,” Alan said. “We couldn’t have gotten such a nice car off of your paycheck. And what about our apartment? Not many people could afford such a nice place in DC.”

“When did you only start caring about things? I don’t really care about all that stuff. I just want to be happy living with you. And right now I’m not really happy.” Scott couldn’t believe what he had just said. Alan didn’t respond. He just sat there with storm clouds in his eyes. Scott awkwardly turned the radio up a notch.

By the evening, things were tense but not unbearable. Scott was driving through middle of nowhere Ohio, and he was getting pretty hungry. “Oh shit!” he exclaimed. “We’re running low on gas.”

“How low?” Alan asked. “The next rest stop isn’t for a while still.”

Scott did some quick thinking. “We’ll just get off at the next exit,” he replied. “I’m sure there will be a gas station. And I’m getting a little hungry. We can find a diner to get some dinner.”

Alan looked at Scott skeptically. “A grubby little diner?” he asked.

“Is that any worse than McDonalds at a rest stop?” Scott shot back. “Just try to think of this as a little adventure. We used to always make adventures out of new things.”

Alan sighed. “Fine. But don’t blame me when we stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of a bunch of hicks. Whoa, here’s the exit already. Don’t miss it.”

Scott was a little confused. He didn’t remember seeing any signs that an exit was coming up. That wasn’t important, though. What mattered was getting gas in the car and getting some food. Scott was surprised to find that there was basically nothing near the exit. There was one signpost saying that the town of Murrayville was two miles away, and under it was a sign for a gas station.

“I guess we’re going to Murrayville,” Scott said mostly to himself. Two miles later, they were entering a typical Midwestern small town. The gas station was easy to spot, and the local diner was right next door. A few 18-wheelers were in the parking lot. Alan’s little sports car really stood out. Alan had been right about the diner. A larger lady with hair from the 80’s stood behind the bar. All of the truckers at the bar seemed to be spilling over their stools. Scott was kind of amazed none of the stools had broken. There weren’t many people in the booths, but they were all pretty overweight. Flannel dominated the diner. Unsurprisingly, Scott and Alan created a stir when they walked in. A pair of lanky men wearing designer clothes and obviously looking like a couple would do that in a small town diner.

Scott and Alan just quietly sat in a booth and tried to ignore the stares of the other customers. Oddly, Scott felt like the older waitress had a shrewd look in her eyes, like she was weighing them. He tried to ignore it, but soon she was standing right next to the table handing them menus.

“I’m Angie, boys, anytime you need anything just call for me,” she said. Again, she had that piercing look in her eyes. “I’d recommend the Lumberjack’s Lunch Platter for you,” she said to Scott. She turned to Alan. “Hmm, I think I’d recommend the Porker Platter for you.” Scott’s eyebrows rose at the names of the dishes. Alan had a look of fear in his eyes.

“We’ve already filled up on gas,” Alan whispered as soon as Angie had walked away. “We could just wait to eat until we get to the next rest stop.”

Scott had been thinking along similar lines, but his stomach growled. And then the smells of the diner caught his attention. He started salivating right away. “Come on,” he said, “we’re already here, and I’m really hungry.” He gave Alan his best puppy dog eyes. Alan sighed and started perusing the menu.

The menu didn’t actually describe the dishes very well. The one thing that came across clearly was that every entrée was very large and extremely unhealthy. The Lumberjack’s Lunch seemed to include a bacon and egg sandwich along with sloppy joe sliders. Scott had never even heard of sloppy joe sliders. He glanced at the one that Angie had recommended for Alan. The Porker Platter included a pulled pork sandwich, pork rinds, and ribs. Every menu item seemed to be two or three normal meals put together. In the end, Scott and Alan just decided to go with Angie’s suggestions. There would be a lot of leftovers, but it seemed that that was unavoidable.

As Scott and Alan waited for their food, they talked a little. “I want you to know that I came very close to insisting on leaving,” Alan said. “What you said about everything being about me really upset me, so when you said you wanted to stay, I didn’t push it.”

Scott lowered his eyes. He wished things would stop being so tense. They chatted a bit until the food came, and then they just stared at their plates. Scott had not one but two bacon and egg sandwiches on his plate. The sloppy joe sliders were nowhere to be found, which made Scott wonder just how many courses this meal would have. Alan’s plate had a massive pulled pork sandwich and a huge mound of pork rinds. The men looked at each other, and then they each took a tentative bite.

Scott couldn’t believe a bacon and egg sandwich could taste so good. It was like he was experiencing food in a way he never had before. He looked down and was astonished to see that he had already eaten half the sandwich. It seemed like he had only taken a bite. Somehow Scott felt even hungrier than he had before the meal. Scott kept munching, and soon he found that he was halfway through his second sandwich. He looked up to see Angie replacing his plate with a plate of sloppy joe sliders and fries. Angie also had a plate piled high with ribs for Alan. When Scott looked at Alan, something seemed to be different, but he couldn’t quite place it.

Soon Scott was ready to start his second plate. First, he reached down to rub his bloated stomach. It felt oddly round under his shirt, even rounder than he would have expected. When Scott looked back at the table, his mind went into a haze, and he could only think of how delicious his food looked. Scott began to devour the mini sloppy joes one by one. As he finished his last one, he heard a loud pop. He looked up to see his beautiful partner with a sheepish grin on his face. Barbeque sauce from the ribs was all over his mouth.

“That was the button on my pants,” Alan informed him. “I guess I should slow down.” But by the look on Alan’s face, Scott didn’t think Alan actually had any desire to slow down. Scott had never seen Alan indulge himself like this. Scott realized his own midsection was feeling a lot of pressure, and he reached down to unbutton his own pants. He was stunned by the amount of belly he had to reach past. It seemed too round and a little too soft. Then he saw his lover happily stuffing his face, and he saw the delicious looking fries that were still untouched, and he put aside all other thoughts.

By the time Scott finished his fries, he was feeling stuffed but still strangely hungry. Just as he finished his last fry, Angie appeared with a double decker burger and a mound of curly fries. He excused himself to go to the bathroom before he started his third plate. Somehow the thought of starting a third plate of greasy food didn’t seem odd at all. What did seem odd was Scott’s sense of balance when he stood up. His belly stuck out far in front of him, but the change wasn’t as simple as that. His backside was clearly larger, and his normally flat chest stuck out a little over his belly. Even his arms felt wrong.

Scott moved his strangely bulky body to the bathroom and was met with a shock when he saw his reflection. His jeans clung to his legs and butt like a second skin, and his open fly had no chance of closing. His shirt clung to his belly, exposing and inch or two at the bottom. Scott was too stunned to notice the thick treasure trail that had appeared. He instinctively pulled his shirt down, but it barely covered the sphere. It was even threatening to start sagging over his waist. And a small pair of moobs was clearly visible through the shirt. It looked like he had gained a huge amount of weight. 40 pounds? 50? 60? When Scott looked back at his face, he realized he had heavy stubble, far heavier than just a five o’clock shadow. This was all insane and completely impossible.

Scott’s bladder suddenly reminded him why he was in the bathroom. With his tight clothes, it was very difficult to get to his junk so he could relieve himself. In that brief moment as he relieved himself, something changed. Scott zipped up his fly and turned back around to the mirror. His relaxed fit jeans looked good on his think frame. Scott examined his stubble in the mirror. He wondered if Alan would be okay with him trying to grow a full beard. Scott thought it would frame his face nicely.

Scott walked out with some swagger in his step, and at first he didn’t see his table. It took a minute for him to realize that the somewhat chunky blond sitting by himself was Alan. For some reason, he had an image in his mind of a very skinny Alan. That was ridiculous though; Scott wasn’t really into twinks. Alan was starting his second pulled pork sandwich, and his wardrobe was failing him. Just as Scott sat down, a button flew off of Alan’s impossibly tight shirt. It looked like one had already popped off while Scott was in the restroom.

Alan grinned at Scott. “I hope you don’t mind that I’m making such a pig of myself in public,” he said.

“You seem happier than you’ve been in a while,” Scott replied, “and that makes me happy. You should probably clean up a little in the bathroom though.” Scott frowned to himself as Alan stood up. It seemed like Alan had been pretty stressed and unhappy lately, but Scott couldn’t remember why. In fact, Scott couldn’t think of anything that would make Alan very stressed. He always said that life was an adventure waiting to happen.

Scott had already finished most of his burger when Alan came back. Alan’s jeans nicely showed off his round ass, and his t-shirt showed off his soft belly. Alan’s beautiful blue eyes twinkled, and he smiled at Scott as if they were the only people in the room. Why did that make Scott nostalgic? It seemed like so long since Alan had smiled like that.

Angie just kept coming back with more food. Scott knew he should have been full long ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had a corned beef sandwich, hash browns, a ham and egg sandwich, and fried potato skins. Somehow he felt like he was taking up more and more of the booth, but that was ridiculous. His belly pushed into the table just the slightest bit, and he started spreading his legs farther and farther apart. His moobs rested on his belly, and they obstructed the movement of his flabby arms just a little.

Scott’s heavy lover sat across from him, stuffing his round face with ham, ribs, and bacon. Had Alan always had such a pronounced double chin? Something seemed off about Alan’s appearance, but Scott couldn’t imagine Alan looking any other way. Finally Angie didn’t bring out any more plates. Instead, she brought a dessert menu.

“Ugh, I’m pretty full,” Alan moaned, glancing at the dessert menu.

Scott couldn’t explain it, but he still felt like he needed more even after his impossible meal. “I’d really like to stay for dessert,” he told Alan.

Alan looked at his watch. “We still need to get to our hotel,” he pointed out. “We were supposed to get to Indiana today.” Scott was ashamed to realize he had gotten so caught up in eating that he had forgotten about getting to Chicago tomorrow. Although he couldn’t quite remember why they were going to Chicago.

“But the food is so good here,” Scott said. “And I’m a big boy. I’ve gotta fill this belly up.”

“You’ve filled that belly up plenty tonight,” Alan retorted. But he didn’t say anything else. Instead he grabbed the menu. “Well, if you’re not full, I guess we can’t leave yet.”

And so Alan ordered the pie sampler for dessert. Like everything else, it was very vague, but it promised to deliver a whole lot of amazing food. As they waited, Scott returned to the bathroom. As he stood up, he became aware that seams were torn all over his jeans. His shirt left half of his hairy belly exposed. Some part of him knew that he should be very embarrassed, but he just waddled to the bathroom as if nothing was wrong. And after Scott relieved himself it seemed as if nothing had been wrong in the first place.

Scott assessed himself in the mirror. His thick beard framed his face very nicely. A heavy patch of dark fur showed through the unbuttoned top of his flannel shirt. His spherical belly sagged a bit, but the suspenders he had recently started wearing contained it nicely. The suspenders actually looked really great on him. They had been a birthday gift from Alan. Alan had been extra thoughtful lately, as if he was trying to make up for something he had done wrong. Scott strutted confidently back to the table where his lover waited. Alan looked especially large in his wife beater, his belly spilling into his lap. Just as Scott sat down, Angie showed up with the their dessert.

Angie set down a full pie tray along with two plates. Instead of having a whole pie, the tray contained quartered slices of four different pies—apple, cherry, blueberry, and peach. Angie loaded each slice with whipped cream before she left. Scott and Alan each reached for the blueberry pie first.

A sly grin appeared on Alan’s round face. “Alright, you can have the blueberry pie, but on one condition. You have to eat the entire pie.” Scott’s eyes widened, but he was up for the challenge. Still, he offered Alan a change to take it back.

“Are you sure you don’t want any dessert?” Scott asked.

Alan patted his huge paunch. “Of course I want dessert,” he replied. “But I also want to see you eat a whole pie. And I know you want to see if you can do it.” And so Alan leaned forward to watch as Scott dug into the blueberry pie. And then he was eating the apple pie. Suddenly the pie seemed a lot more filling, though. It seemed like each bite was packing on a couple more pounds, but of course that was ridiculous. By the time Scott got to the cherry pie, has was slowing down considerably.

“Need some help?” Alan asked as Scott stared at the peach pie. Scott could feel his belly digging into the table in front of him. It seemed like his ass took up the entire bench. Even his arms felt weighed down, as if they were just too big to move. Alan picked up a fork and dug it into the pie. “Open up,” he said. Bit by bit, Alan fed Scott the pie, the lust in Alan’s eyes growing with every bite. Finally Scott ate the last bite, and he just sat there rubbing his belly.

“How’s my big bear doing?” Alan asked. For a split second, Scott imagined a skinny Alan who hated bears and only cared about moving up in management. And then that outlandish thought was gone. The Alan Scott knew had found happiness with Scott and never looked back. And Scott couldn’t imagine himself happier than when he was with Alan. Alan slowly got out of the booth and walked around to help Scott up. Finally on his feet, Scott lumbered toward the cash register by the door, his huge belly leading the way.

“How did you big boys like the meal?” Angie asked as she took their payment.

“It was amazing!” Scott enthused. “We’ll have to come back on our way home.”

“Oh, I doubt you’ll find this place again,” Angie said. “Some people say you don’t find this place, it finds you.”