STUFFED

Prague

Courtney gently places a warm hand on Harlow's back.

When he doesn't stir, she starts moving her hand back and forth.

His bed looks so warm and inviting and she's tempted to just crawl straight in but she wants to at least say hi to him first before she snuggles herself under the covers beside him. Courtney slides her hand under the covers a little bit and rubs his back more tenderly.

Harlow stirs. He turns over onto his back but doesn't wake up. Part of his belly is already hanging out of the bottom of his shirt so Courtney slides her hand up the bottom of his shirt to rub his belly. The feel of his soft skin is so comforting. She grabs a handful of his gut and shakes it, watching the waves ripple up the rest of his torso. She pokes her middle finger into his belly button and watches as her finger disappears up to the middle knuckle.

"Courtney?"

She doesn't respond, she just gives him a kiss on the cheek and crawls into bed with him.

Harlow's body heat makes it easy to fall asleep almost immediately but Courtney doesn't get to rest for long. A sharp beeping noise stings her ears and she rushes her hands up to the sides of her head to try and stifle the sound. 

"Harlow!?" Courtney is jolted awake.

She realizes that she was at home the entire time, sleeping in her own bed, not Harlow's. 

Her eyes sting and large plumes of smokey haze are seeping through the crack under the door. Courtney jumps out of bed, half conscious, to her bedroom door and makes the mistake of opening it. The entire house screams in unison, signalling the presence of fire. Courtney's face is met by an intense blanket of heat. She can't see even a meter in front of her as the staircase has been engolfed by flames. She slams the door shut and runs back to her nightstand to grab her phone. 

She crawls under her bed in an attempt to get away from the smoke and she dials the number for the first responders.

She feels like they can probably barely hear her over the sound of the fire alarms but she gets all the information out anyway. Now she just has to wait. The smoke going into her lungs almost renders her unconscious but she stays awake long enough to watch three people in suits that make them look like the CDA hazardous material disposal team from Monsters Inc. Someone scoops her up from under the bed and they head over to the window. She's surprised to see that a ladder is already extended all the way to the ground; not that she would have heard it over the sound of her childhood home smoldering to pieces.

Once she's safely out of the house, they give her an oxygen mask and wrap her in a blanket.

Courtney sits on the curb, watching her childhood home burn to the ground.

____________________________________

It didn't take her long to gain the weight back.

After her family's house burnt down, Courtney decided to take her inheritance and move to Prague. There wasn't anything keeping her in her hometown anymore. Her friends had graduated and the friend group disipated, Bradyn had moved on, her parents had probably already forgotten that they even had the house, and Harlow never ended up getting back to her.

It was time for a fresh start.

For the most part, Courtney stayed inside instead of going out and exploring her new city. 

There's a bakery down the street from her new flat and she's almost on a first name basis with everyone who works there. It was getting embarrasing so she gets her pastries delivered right to the house now. Walking back and forth out of the house to go get food was her only source of excercise; now her walk has been shortened to walking to the door and then back to her bed. 

Courtney sits in bed to devour an entire sleeve of warm, overbuttered croissants. They slide down her throat, dropping into her stomach, making her feel nice and warm inside. She should probably go outside at some point and get to know her new community; maybe make some friends but the comfort of food is just too strong.

A month goes by and Courtney still hasn't gained any new friends or new experiences. The only thing she's gained is more weight. She can feel her body reverting to where it feels most comfortable, love handles and all. She gets out of breath now walking up a flight of stairs and breakfast, lunch, and dinner have all blended into one big feast. 

Courtney sits in her bed moaning and whimpering from the meal she just ate. She's been putting off getting new clothes and nothing fits her anymore. She's sitting there in a t shirt that has turned into a crop top and a pair of sweat shorts that look like underwear. 

Courtney reaches into the box of strudel laying next to her and when her hand comes out empty she decides to waddle her way downstairs to find something else.

When she opens the fridge there's almost nothing in there.

At the very back is a box of what looks like old take out. She pulls the box out and places it on the counter, opening the lid to inspect its contents.

The noodles look alright but some of the chicken is probably going to be a bit sketchy. Nevertheless, Courtney begins shovelling food into her face anyway. Maybe if she took a second to think about what she was doing she would have realized it was a bad idea to eat old food but she just couldn't help herself.