Work Text:
Melissa [11:43 A.M]: Hi Cade! It’s Melissa, are we still on for our study sesh? I bought us Subway, I hope the italian meatball sub is okay!
Cade [11:47 A.M]: yep we’re still on and that’s fine
It wasn’t fine.
Melissa, a tall, pretty, ‘more makeup than skin’ type of girl, had been pestering Cade for weeks, saying they should hang out and study for their Commercial Music course. Cade had a sneaking suspicion that she had more–romantic intentions, but he had ultimately decided not to mention his boyfriend; it wasn’t any of her business as far he was concerned. But now his main concern was her latest text. A meatball sub? No way. He knew that was going to absolutely wreck his stomach. But it wasn’t like he could just tell this girl, ‘no, because if I eat that I’ll be a disgusting bloated mess and won’t be able to do anything for literal hours’. After all, she had gone out of her way to buy the sandwich anyways.
A few bites couldn’t hurt.
His hand twitched towards his phone as a light ping! sounded, and he glanced at the screen, disappointed to see another message from Melissa.
Melissa [11:51 A.M]: I’m leaving for the study hall now, I’m excited to see you! ;)
Cade [11:51 A.M]: im leaving too, see u there
He sighed in aggravation, running his fingers through his soft bangs and adjusting his beanie. If he didn’t leave now, he would be late. Bradley, knowing how much his boyfriend didn’t want to go, gave him a reassuring kiss and lightly ushered him out the door, hoping it didn’t go too badly.
Cade walked out of the apartment and set off to start this afternoon in hell.
X
If Melissa had an ounce of natural skin showing on her face today, Cade was yet to see it. He couldn’t help but notice she looked a little–dressed up? For the occasion. He’d just thrown on a sweater and some joggers, and here she was decked out with a little sun dress…in February. He wasn’t a total asshole, so of course he didn’t say anything, and instead opted for a monotone, ‘you look pretty fancy.’ Melissa took it as a compliment, blushing sweetly and giving a fake sounding giggled. Cade fought not to roll his eyes.
“Oh! I forgot I got you this!” Melissa exclaimed, pushing one half of a footlong meatball sub towards him. It looked warm and gooey and altogether fucking delicious, but Cade was all too aware how he was going to suffer for this in the coming hours.
“Wow, thanks. You really didn’t have to do that, you know.” Cade chuckled awkwardly, feeling entirely out of his element. Sure, he was attracted to women, but the only one he had ever really been friends with was his twin sister.
“Well we can’t have fun discussions if we’re hungry, right?” She winked. “So, what do you want to talk about?”
Cade furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at his textbook before realizing Melissa didn’t have one with her. “Uhm…where’s your book?” He pointed out, feeling uneasy.
Melissa’s pink lips formed an ‘o’, and then she giggled again. “Oops, looks like I forgot mine!” She exclaimed. “We can share!” She grinned, and without a word from Cade, she stood up from her seat across from him and nestled into his side.
What. The. Fuck.
What was this girl’s problem? Discomfort seeped through every fiber of Cade’s being and he tried to slowly shift away, but she persisted.
Whatever. He just had to last an hour or so, and then he could leave. He reached for his sandwich with a lack of better things to do with his hands, and hesitantly bit into it, wanting to moan at the richness of the flavor and the spicy pepperoni. The stuff he had to eat to not feel like death every day was so bland and flavorless; this was actual fucking heaven in comparison.
X
Fifteen minutes of studying passed, and Cade regretted wolfing down that sub so quickly, because now it felt like it was sluggishly moving up and down in his esophagus, the spices burning it. Not only that, but the words he heard next made him draw a total blank.
“You know I didn’t invite you out to actually study, right? I just wanna get closer to you.”
Not fucking cool. If Cade had been unsure before, he knew now he wanted nothing to do with this bitch and her deception.
“Uhm, actually, I didn’t. You could have just asked me to lunch or some shit.” He growled, pissed off, and he moved away from her, crossing his arms.
“What, you don’t like me? I was under the impression you were as into me as I am into you.” She hissed, making puppy eyes and grabbing his bicep.
A ghost of a burp made itself present, and Cade pressed it into his fist, ignoring Melissa’s judgmental look and sitting up straighter.
“You should know that I’m happily taken, Melissa. I don’t see you like that.” He said coolly, trying to keep calm even though he was stressed and really agitated.
Melissa scooted away, looking uncomfortable. “I’m sorry Cade…I really thought you liked me the way I like you, I’m sorry if you’re angry with me…”
Cade suddenly felt incredibly guilty, but his facial expression didn’t change to one of shame. Rather, he suddenly winced and squeezed his eyes shut as a burning sensation traveled up his throat and an embarrassingly loud belch erupted from him without warning. His hand flew to his mouth and a rush of scarlet bloomed across his face.
But he couldn’t excuse himself when he was so preoccupied with breathing through the pain of stomach acid singing his throat and the rancid taste it left on his tongue.
Melissa put a delicate hand on his shoulder, frowning.
“Uhm, are you…okay?” She tried, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
He quickly nodded, straightening his posture and recovering.
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to do that.” He murmured and pressed a closed fist to his mouth as another burp sounded softly in his throat.
“It’s okay, just as long as you aren’t feeling sick or anything.” She smiled, and Cade was grateful for how quickly she’d backed off.
“I’m really sorry if it seemed like I was leading you on, Melissa. That definitely wasn’t my intention.” He felt bad now. The girl was clearly nice, she had just misunderstood his kindness.
Melissa blushed, humiliated. “No, I just misunderstood. I’m sorry. But are you sure you’re feeling alright, Cade? You look paler than usual.”
Cade furrowed his brows; now was a good opportunity to make an excuse to go home. “Actually, I’m not feeling my best. Do you mind if we cut this short? My roommate is probably worried.”
Melissa agreed, and after an incredibly awkward hug, they went their separate ways.
X
Cade couldn’t even make it 50 feet before he made a beeline for the nearest restroom. Nobody was in there, and he clutched his bloated stomach in both hands, letting several rumbly belches roll up from his gut.
By the time he made it back to the apartment, the burning sensation was unbearable. He stumbled through the apartment door and was confronted by the smell of his boyfriend making instant ramen, but the only thing on Cade’s mind was how the stench made him ‘instantly’ nauseous. Before Bradley could even say hi, Cade retched deeply, bringing up a thick slop of melted cheese and meatballs all over his sweater and the floor in front of him.
“Shit!” Bradley yelled, catching Cade by the shoulders to stop him from swaying.
“Let it out Cade, you’ll feel better afterwards, I promise.” Bradley frowned, patting a rhythm between the other boy’s broad shoulders. The smell was overpowering, and he was tempted to give into his own nausea, but he persisted, standing as far as possible from the line of fire. Cade couldn’t hold back even if he wanted to. Hands braced on his thighs, he hunched over, panting, before his chest jumped with a sickly hiccup and a long stream of sick splashed over his growing puddle of sick. Catching his breath, he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth and belched, before standing up straight.
“How’s your day?” He panted.
Bradley’s face blanked, and he debated the merits of shoving Cade into the nearest wall. “It was great until you said hi by puking all over our floor, Cade.” He snapped. “Scared the shit out of me, are you okay?”
Cade did feel marginally better, if not bloated. He held up a finger and burped loudly, the noise gurgling up his chest. “I think so. The chick got meatball subs and it was really—heavy…” He groaned. “I’ll clean up my mess, just let me clean myself up first.” He dragged a hand down his face. It wasn’t like him being sick was at all uncommon, but he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about his outburst.
Bradley’s narrow eyes glared at him and he scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous; you go get cleaned up, I’ll take care of this.” He watched his boyfriend’s back closely as he headed for the bathroom, rolling his eyes as the shorter boy burped again.
X
Mess cleaned, clothes changed, and hair washed, Cade and Bradley settled on the dingy couch. Cade’s stomach was still distended and puffy, bloated with gas and whatever was left in his belly. Bradley palmed lazily at his boyfriend’s belly, and Cade keened softly, belching into Bradley’s shoulder and mumbling an apology.
“Shh, just let it out, you know it helps.” Bradley snuffled, exhausted and warm. Cade didn’t need to be told twice, and he let out a series of gurgly burps that stung his throat.
“Learn to take yourself, you big dumb idiot.”