Ever since the night of the break-in by Rani's abusive ex, the four of you had been on high alert. Colby had been super serious about making sure at least one person was with Rani at all times, even insisting on accompanying Rani on her painting trips into the forest to her initial protests. While she was very appreciative of your efforts to keep her safe, she also didn't appreciate how you were all treating her like a child or fragile object. And you did have to admit that Colby was probably overdoing it. He'd arranged a rotating schedule so you, George and him could keep watch over the house overnight while everyone else slept. "You can never be too careful" he would say whenever you questioned him. "That kid looked manic, and a little interruption by a few men won't keep him away for long".
Meanwhile, it wasn't just Colby and Rani affected by the break-in. You were so pumped up on adrenaline, not to mention partially intoxicated, while you were in the moment that night. It wasn't until the next day that the full impact of what had occurred, and how close you came to being shot or even killed by a crazed man, really struck you. Every small noise made you feel anxious and there was that constant feeling that he hadn't left the grounds, possibly lurking behind any of the trees in the woods. Even your usual relaxing spot by the lake couldn't qualm your mind. You were experiencing a lack of sleep as you were paranoid over what could happen while you were so defenceless, not to mention a nightmare or two. While you were already a gluttonous eater for these past few weeks, you'd begun to stress eat as well. Especially when it was your turn to keep watch throughout the night. You would find yourself wandering to the kitchen to grab a pint of ice cream, eating straight from the tub. Or you'd devour a full bag of treat sized chocolate bars. Anything to keep your mind occupied and to keep yourself awake. It's no wonder that your waistline managed to further increase throughout the week to the point that even your sweatpants were beginning to feel too tight. Your hairy stomach was lacking its usual round, taut shape as it had started to unappealingly bulge and sag over your waistband. Your face was subtly getting rounder as you gained that dreaded second chin, thankfully somewhat hidden by your increasingly shaggier beard. Your pecs were looking plumper than usual, while your arms and legs were looking less toned by the day. On a related note, you could be imagining things but it felt like your hair was actually getting even thinner. You could swear you were finding more hairs scattered across your pillow than usual and every brush over with your hand led to stray hairs on your palm. Between the break in, the increase in weight gain, and your possible hair loss, you had felt nothing but stress all week. To think you came to this cabin to relax!
The only person who seemed to be unaffected by the break-in was George. He'd kept up his high spirits, tried to make things lighter for everyone, and was still that gloating, persuadable thorn in your backside. On the Saturday morning after the break-in, you were sat in the kitchen with a bowl of granola, trying to eat something healthy for once, when he came into the room and said "Check out what I got for you yesterday!". He reached into the fridge and pulled out a giant box from a plastic bag. Inside was a large chocolate cake, covered with chocolate frosting, various gummy sweets, and the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" neatly swirled with white icing. It looked big enough to serve 15 people, at least.
You view it with unease, knowing exactly what George had planned for this. "Thanks but my birthday isn't for another 5 months".
He grinned, his lips stretching from ear to ear. "I challenge you to eat this entire cake"
You groan loudly. "You can't be serious, why do you keep doing this?"
"Come on, I've seen you pack away more than that. If you do it, I'll spend another week in this body"
"I doubt I'd even fi-"
"The rest of the summer!"
"Even if I were going to do that, and I'm not, that's not even a punishment for you. You like being this construction worker guy"
"While I agree that there are some benefits to this body", you grimace as he motions towards his groin, "that doesn't mean I want to stay like this for the next 2 months. There are still a few bodies I want to try. Like that pretty guy with the long hair. I bet I could attract plenty of women with a bod like that. I can't let Colby have all the fun after all"
"Colby?" You shake your head in confusion. "He spends almost his whole time here. If he were seeing anyone, I think we'd notice"
"Hello, isn't it obvious? Rani!"
Now you knew he was winding you up. "They're not together! He even told you as such at the pub last week! For one thing, he's old enough to be her dad. Or young enough that they'd get into some trouble if they did anything. It's a complicated matter..."
"It may be, but the matter of the fact is, he's crushing on her. Hard."
"I think you're just seeing things that aren't there"
"He's always trying to find a reason to spend time with her, impress her, talk with her. And honestly, I think she's falling for him too"
"It seems more like he's a protective father figure if anything"
"Nah, you're blind if you can't see it"
"And you're mad if you can see it"
There was silence for a good minute, aside from you scraping your bowl of cereal with a spoon, until George says "Alright, if you manage to eat this entire birthday cake by the end of the day, I'll let you decide what shoes I'll have to wear for the next week".
You groan and slap your stomach, feeling it quiver under your palm. "I've been putting too much weight on as it is. Sure it'll go away by the end of the summer but that still leaves it here now!"
"2 weeks?"
Rani entered the kitchen before you could argue, carrying a backpack in one hand and her easel in the other. You use this interruption to your advantage. "Hey Rani! What are you up to?"
"I was just about to head into the forest to paint and needed some snacks." She puts her backpack on the table and dug through one of the cabinets for a bag of trail mix. "Have either of you seen Colby anywhere?"
George nudges you in the arm, but you roll your eyes and ignore him. "He went into town to get some supplies about 20 minutes ago."
Rani slouched slightly, looking disappointed at the news "Oh, alright. Will he be back soon?"
You shrug your shoulders. "He could be a while. Say, why don't I join you instead? I'd love to see what's so special about this place".
She didn't look enthusiastic at the idea, however she gave it a bit of thought and answered "Alright, you can come this time. But I have to warn you that it's a bit of a trek. I hope you still have it in you".
She taps your belly and it jiggles a little, making you laugh. "I'm sure I'll survive. Let me just grab a couple of things and we can leave".
Rani wasn't exaggerating about the journey. It took you both over an hour of climbing steep hills, traversing rocky pathways and stumbling through overgrown foliage to reach your destination. Usually you would have felt a bit winded after such a trek, having persevered to the end. This time though, You had to stop three times to catch your breath and rehydrate. If your shirt wasn't already stretched taut across your large gut, it would still be clinging to you from the amount of sweat you'd released. Once you reached the top of the look-out that Rani had chosen, all your complaints and troubles seemed to melt away. The view over the sea of luscious green flora took your breath away. Rani caught you gawking at this hidden treasure of a landscape and chuckled. "I know right? I don't even think a photograph could capture the intense majesty you feel just being here in person". You nodded slowly as you continued to take in the view.
After a few minutes for you to process your location, you turn to see Rani had already set up her easel and was attempting to paint one of the distant rock formations with mixed results. Writing was definitely more her forte but painting was also therapeutic for her. While she painted, you decided to strip out of your sweaty clothing down to your boxers. Your thick body hair was matted against your skin and your belly looked even larger without your pants somewhat squeezing it in. However, this didn't bother you as much as it would have done earlier. Something about this place made you feel better about yourself. You opened up a bottle of sun cream, careful to apply it all over your body this time around, and laid back against a rock to read a book. Whether it was the lack of sleep these past few days or the peaceful calm that exuded from your location, but it only took a few moments for you to fall into a deep sleep.
Several hours later, you awake with a fright after Rani nudged you in the belly with her foot. "Come on sleepyhead, it's time to start heading back". You look around to see that the sun was hanging low in the sky. Rani had already packed up her art supplies and was holding a bottle of water out to you. You grab it with a thankful grunt and down the bottle in minutes. You stand up and wipe away the dust that clung to your exposed skin before getting dressed and grabbing some trail mix from the bag you'd brought. Normally you would have had brunch, lunch, and snacks by this time and you were starving, your stomach growling loudly. The trek back to the cabin was shorter and less strenuous than the one to the look-out point as a lot of it was downhill. Still, with a lot of your weight now focussed on your gut instead of evenly spread, you ended up clinging to a lot of trees to stop yourself from toppling over. Once you arrived back at the cabin, you could see that Colby had returned from town. He was sat in the den waiting for the two of you, whereas George had gone into town for a beer run. He beamed as you both entered the room and stood up to greet you.
"You're back! Sorry I couldn't make it out with you today"
Rani replied "Oh it wasn't such a big deal. This guy was a great replacement. He wasn't as talkative as you, unless you count his snoring, but it was nice to think things through by myself"
Colby's brow furrowed and he spoke to you sternly "You fell asleep? We're supposed to be keeping an eye on her. What if that lunatic came back while you napped?"
Rani grabbed him by the shoulder and shushed to calm him down. "Hey, I told you I can look after myself! Besides, he snores just like a bear, anyone hearing that would run in the opposite direction!"
"I'm sorry, it's just, I worry about you, and what your ex is capable of doing"
"Oh OK, dad" Rani said, stressing that last word comically. "I promise you that I'm fine. We're both fine".
Colby smiled wearily at her words, then brightened up again."Oh hey, I got a few things for you while I was out". He grabbed a bulging bag and presented it to her. Inside were several pairs of woman's shoes of various sizes, along with a small, black notebook. Rani, and especially you, were perplexed at the offering. "You remember the talk we had about the socks a few days ago?". He went on to explain, mainly for your sake, that he and Rani discussed the power of the socks while at the look-out point. She used to be hesitant about the socks, not really sure if she'd like becoming another person. But after reluctantly using them the night her ex-boyfriend appeared, she came to see that they weren't as overpowering as she thought they'd be. She even thought they would be a great way to help her to create relatable characters with realistic quirks and emotions. But she still wasn't enthusiastic about becoming a man again. "So while I was in town, I came across a second hand store and bought you some pairs of woman shoes so you could have that opportunity again. Plus this notebook can help you keep track of everything while you're in different bodies".
You never expected Colby of all people to go to such lengths to make a woman happy, yet he clearly succeeded. Rani was tearing up at his thoughtfulness. Her voice quivered as she said "You didn't have to go to such trouble just to help me!".
He shrugged his shoulders. "It was no trouble at all, really".
Rani chucked the bag onto the sofa, a blood red pair of high heels falling out of it, and gave Colby a great big hug. He looked surprised at first, then reciprocated the hug with a smile. As she released him from her grip, she cried "Thank you so much for this!" and gave him a quick kiss on the top of his shiny dome before leaving the den to get rid of her art supplies. Colby lightly rubbed the spot on his head and you could see him blush right through his neatly trimmed beard, making it look even redder than it probably was before he started to grey. He spotted you staring, coughed into his hands and excused himself from the room, leaving you alone. Damn, maybe George really was right about them... Your stomach growled loudly and you turned to see the chocolate cake left out on the kitchen counter. And maybe he was right about what you could achieve as well.