"Why didn’t you do something!?" That was the first and last thing Darren said to him that night. Without even stopping Darren headed straight for his room and slammed the door.

After a few wordless minutes, Charles went to his own room and went to bed, his heart heavy.

* * *

The next two days, Charles didn’t even see Darren at all. Every time he knocked on Darren’s door, all he said was to leave him alone.

On the morning, of the third day, Charles woke up to the familiar smells of breakfast, which meant that Darren had finally come out of his room. Without even doing his usual morning routines, he went straight out into the kitchen, where a large feast sat on the table.

"Morning." Darren said as he placed a plate piled with eggs onto the table.

"Darren!" Charles said, staring at the large amounts of food. "Are you- I mean,"

"I’m fine." Darren said as he sat down. "I’ve had a lot of time to think things over, and I figured that guy was right: I don’t belong in the gym."

"But Darren…" Charles started, but Darren only looked the other way. "I’m…I’m sorry. I was….I was…"

"Scared?" Darren finished. Reluctantly, Charles nodded. "Well, it’s okay. I forgive you. Now eat up! I went through a lot of trouble cooking all of this."

"This really is a lot of food." Charles remarked. There was piles of eggs, sausages, toast, and all other kinds of food on the table. "I’m not sure we can really eat all this."

"You mean if YOU can eat all this." Darren corrected. "I’ve already eaten my share."

Charles gawked at him. Eat all of it!? There was no way he could cram all of this food down his throat. Yet, if Darren went through all this trouble, then he had no choice in the matter.

"Bottoms up…" He said reluctantly, and began to eat. After a few mouthfuls, he noticed a difference in taste from his previous meals. "Did you do something new?" He asked after swallowing some toast. "It tastes…a little different."

"Are you saying it tastes bad?" Darren asked, his hand clenching his glass of juice tightly.

"Oh nonono!" Charles said quickly. "Actually, it’s even better!" And it was the truth. There was a new flavor with each bite he took. It was so good, that he had ate everything without once slowing down.

"Ohhh….." Charles moaned as he opened his pants. His stomach was visibly bloated from the amounts of food he had eaten. "I’m…so…..FULL!"

"Glad you like it." Darren said with a smile. "After all, I worked hard on it."

"I’ll say!" Charles smiled as he patted his belly. "I’ll have to spend hours at the gym to work THIS off."

Darren only smiled. •