It all Started with a Second Coffee Ch 8
Hughie is a hyena who has noticed that he's a bit larger than he used to be. However, he enjoys the perks of his job too much to make any changes to his diet. Meanwhile, his best friend Gary, a red fox, would prefer to see a few more pounds added to Hughie's growing frame.
Another three weeks of dieting comes to a head with the number on the scale. Will Hughie and Gary and their relationship survive the news?
If week three Hughie was cranky and irritable, then week four Hughie was prickly and snappy. At work, he was beyond stressed at trying to make sure all of the food was prepared by the time he left in the early afternoon. His feet cried out in pain by the middle of the morning, both from rushing around the kitchen and from his early morning walks. Those walks, which he had grown to despise with every fiber of his being, caused nothing but pain in his shins after just a few feet down the road. He had stopped walking the entire time with the weights in his paws, opting to instead use his phone as he ambled about town in the early morning.
His morning exercise, while annoying and loathsome, was a piece of cake when compared to going to the gym. His first day there had been embarrassing, and he knew how bouncy his moobs were and how much his belly peeked out of the bottom of his workout shirt, but he also thought that since he wasn't trying to join at the beginning of the year, the other gym goers would ignore him and think that he had been to a gym before and was just getting back into it. It was a naïve thought and couldn't be further from reality.
While he was fortunate to be able to join with little more than a basic interaction with the staff member at the counter, once he stepped back into the locker room, he realized just how out of his depth he was and how ill-prepared his mindset had been from the start. Furs with six packs and tight bodies showed off as they changed. Others who were less muscular but just as thin followed suit. Even the more average looking ones had little more than holiday fat or just dirty bulking to hide their impressive forms.
Hughie went into a bathroom stall to change the first three weeks, and tried to hide in the corners of the floor when he went back out to use the equipment, but he knew that all eyes were on his ample back and humongous ass. By the beginning of the fourth week, Hughie started to show up later to the gym and began to leave earlier, often choosing to skip the machines that were near crowds or even just one other fur. Half-hour sessions every day became twenty-minute sessions, where the hyena hid in the changing room and only used a single machine before packing up and leaving.
His exercise routine was only half of the problem. His mind was constantly ensnared by thoughts of food and he could barely think in the hour or so before his next meal. Gary's portions were barely enough to satisfy him, and they became less and less appetizing as they became less varied. The fox, while imaginative and creative with alcohol, lacked creativity when it came to cooking food. It hurt Hughie's soul a little each time he saw grilled chicken on the plate, with steamed vegetables and brown rice. If he was not doubled over in hunger by the time he sat down at the kitchen table, he probably would have quit eating the meals. Alas, his body was craving anything that would satisfy, and he was left with little choice and no snacks in the pantry to supplement his pathetic and bland meals.
The hyena wished he could change his situation, or his behavior, but this was what he had asked for when he agreed to Gary's plan. And the poor fox was on the receiving end of frequent snaps and temper tantrums from the hyena. Their relationship continued to strain, and the two seemed to prefer to avoid any heavy subjects that would cause a fight. Eventually, they resigned themselves to silence around the other, filling the void with the sound of the television.
They had tried many times to be intimate around each other, but Hughie's mood often turned off the fox and they had progressed very little from their first night together. The fox had stopped walking around their apartment in just his boxers, opting to don a more traditional shirt and shorts. He avoided touching the hyena when they sat together on the couch, and felt a wall forming between them.
It was particularly tough for Gary, who felt responsible for how miserable the hyena felt all the time. He felt guilty that he lacked the knowledge of cooking to be able to provide a healthy meal that still tasted amazing. He was saddened that Hughie was short with him over every little inconvenience or question. Worst of all, he couldn't escape the feeling that the hyena hated him or, at the very least, loathed him.
He tried to push down how he was feeling. He tried to ignore the frowns and scowls and eye rolling. He tried to bite his tongue when Hughie made sarcastic rebuttals and talked behind his back. He was trying his best to help Hughie get to where he wanted to be, so why was he being treated like dirt? He considered giving the hyena smaller portions to teach him a lesson, but quickly gave that idea up when he thought about an even more furious hyena living with him.
Weeks five and six came and went, and the relationship between the two only continued to deteriorate. By the end of the week, they barely spoke to each other and had returned to their normal working hours to avoid being around each other. They had become strangers who lived together.
The first time they spoke to each other in two days came when Hughie went to weigh himself again. Gary didn't know what the number was going to read on the scale, but he knew the hyena had been slacking on his exercise. He had stopped getting up early in the morning for his walks, of that he was certain. He was uncertain if Hughie still went to the gym, as he had stopped coming home before the fox left for work.
Gary was more than a bit nervous to weigh Hughie. If something had gone wrong in their plans, then he failed to see how Hughie would stick to his goal. If he was a pound or two heavier, or even if he was back to his weight from six weeks ago, he would be afraid of what the hyena would do, either to himself or to Gary.
As Gary watched Hughie strip down to his boxers for the scale, he was able to see that his body looked almost exactly the same as it did three weeks ago. The hyena didn't appear any heavier, but he certainly didn't appear to have lost any weight, either.
As he continued to stare, his inappropriate thoughts returned and he found himself hoping for a setback. He hoped that Hughie would step on the scale and be bigger than he was at the beginning of his diet. He wanted the hyena to go crazy and drive to the closest fast food restaurant and buy one of everything on the menu and stuff himself until he threw up. He wanted the hyena to quit his job and just sit on his ass and eat and grow fatter and heavier.
His cock was erect by the time the scale creaked under the hyena's body. It had been so long since he had the energy to masturbate, particularly as he was hoping to wait until he could with Hughie. It didn't take much for his hornier side to take over and drive his thoughts.
"294.6 pounds..."
They both went silent after Gary read the number aloud. Three whole weeks had gone by and it had all been for little more than a pound. Gary had no idea what to say. Anything he felt like he could say to the hyena might result in another yelling session. The tension was evident on his roommate's face and he had no desire to be on the receiving end of his fury.
Instead, he saw tears forming in the eyes of the hyena. It hurt his heart to see his best friend, or boyfriend, or whatever label they were operating under, in tears and in distress.
"Hugh... are you...?"
"Of course I'm not okay! How could I be okay right now! I've been starving myself, exercising, and sleeping like shit for over a month now! And for what? To have not even lost ten pounds?"
The hyena cried out as more tears formed and streamed down his muzzle.
"But it's probably muscle that's building underneath you--"
Hughie grabbed his gut and bounced it. "What muscle!? I'm still a mountain of dough! No matter what I do, this gut refuses to go away... Although you're probably glad about that, aren't you?"
While Gary knew that Hughie was just lashing out in anger, he was still deeply hurt by the hyena's accusation. "I'd never do anything like that, Hugh, and you know it!" His red fur began to bristle. "I've done nothing but help you and be there for you!"
"Sure you have," came the sarcastic reply. "You've been in charge of my meals, my exercise plan, and everything else. So, why haven't I lost more weight?" He bared his fangs.
"If you have something to say, then say it!"
"You're sabotaging me, aren't you!? You want me to fail! You want me to get fatter!" Snot was dripping into his muzzle as it mixed with the tears streaming down the hyena's cheeks.
He cried. All the pain and all the stress of the last six weeks came cascading like a torrential downpour in a hurricane. Standing on the scale in just his boxers and socks, the hyena cried. The soreness of his body was let out in his tears. The hunger that kept him awake for hours at night mixed with the heartache that he felt as he feared his new boyfriend would drift further away from him and he felt there was nothing he could do to fix it. Hughie buried his face in his paws and sobbed as his life, what he had given up, crashed around him.
Gary was frozen in place. Stunned at the emotional rollercoaster of the last thirty seconds, he could only watch his friend as he fell into despair. He didn't know what to do. He was furious that Hughie had accused him of sabotaging him, but his heart wept as he saw just how much Hughie had put into his diet, only to feel like he was failing.
Without much thought to any potential consequences, Gary wrapped himself around his boyfriend, squeezing him tightly. It took only a split second for the hyena to return the gesture, grabbing tightly to the fox's shirt. The two held each other as Hughie's sobs turned into hiccups and his body stopped shaking. It was their first real intimacy in weeks, and Gary fought whatever intrusive thoughts dared to try and ruin this moment. He even refused to squeeze the hyena's doughy sides, knowing full well that his affection would be taken the wrong way.
The silence stretched from seconds to minutes, as both wondered how they were going to move forward. Hughie knew he needed to apologize, but he didn't know if Gary would forgive him. He had been horrible to him just then, not to mention how snappy he had been for the past couple of weeks. How could he begin to take back the things he said?
Gary didn't know how to approach Hughie's diet. Clearly, some things weren't sticking, or he wasn't adhering to the plan, or... something. But, that had to be a conversation for a later date, once Hughie was ready to hear a harsh truth. He was going to need to put in more effort if he wanted to continue to lose weight. And the fox was uncertain if the hyena would be able to hear that and take it as constructive feedback rather than a personal attack. And the last thing he wanted was to push the hyena away from him completely.
So, the two remained in a tense silence. Each knew they needed to be the first one to say something. If they didn't, then they probably never would.
"Uhm..." A voice broke the silence.
"Hmm?"
"I... just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I've been treating you." Hughie found his voice first, releasing Gary and taking a step down off the scale. "I just... I've been so..." He shook his head. "It's not fair to you, and I don't-- can't lose you."
Tears began to form in the hyena's eyes again, but he held his composure as he stared into the fox's eyes. He wasn't going to let this end badly. He refused. He knew that he'd never be able to survive the aftermath.
Gary, for his part, felt awash in his renewed emotional attachment to Hughie. Hearing those words and holding the hyena had done more for his heart than nearly anything in the past six weeks.
There was no magic wand that was going to take back all the tension, anger, and hurt, but they knew they still wanted to be in each other's lives. Together. As a couple. And that counted for more than either had realized. The first thing they needed to resolve was the barriers they had set up between, both intentionally and unintentionally. That could wait, however, and all Gary wanted to do was bask in the renewed relationship he had with his boyfriend.