With the money she made with the shoot, Alexandre had all she needed to prepare her little surprise celebration. It wouldn’t be easy, she knew, but oh, would it be worth it!
The very next day Alexandre popped the question: “Shouldn’t we celebrate this new phase of your life?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Nataly tilted her head, confused.
“I know dropping out of college might not be the best thing to celebrate, but how many people have a hard time figuring out what they want to do with their lives? You got that sorted out, and now you can get started on that. I think it’s worth celebrating.”
“Well, when you put it like this…” Nataly smiled. “... it’s hard to argue with you.”
“Of course, because I am ALWAYS right.” Alexandre flashed that smug smile of hers, which always amused Nataly.
“What do you have in mind?” Nataly asked, excitedly curious.
“Well, it’s all about food, right?”
Alexandre accompanied Nataly to the campus to deliver her papers and officialize that she was dropping out. As it turns out, Alexandre WAS right, and it felt like such a relief instead of a heavy guilt - she felt strangely free, as if her potential had been released from a prison. True, they would have to look for a new gym… but hopefully they would have the money to do so now.
“Hey, focus, girlie!” Alexandre said, tip-toeing on one leg and waving her hand in front of the clearly distracted Nataly.
“Oh. Well, that’s taken care of. But I assume there’s more to your celebration plans?”
“You know it!” Alexandre snapped her fingers, and as if by magic, a limousine pulled up on the street in front of them, and she opened the door for her friend. It was a bit comical watching the huge Nataly struggle to get in through the door, but it certainly was nice to have the space to spread her legs once inside. Alexandre followed in.
“Well, I sure wasn’t expecting that!” Nataly admitted.
“Oh, there’s much you are not expecting,” Alexandre said, pouring some pomegranate juice for Nataly - her favorite, “as this is just the beginning.”
The limousine would proceed to take them to a very impressive Italian food hall - it was a large building that was a mix of several markets that sold high-end ingredients as well as a variety of restaurants. Nataly could not believe her eyes. Everywhere she looked, there were super nice-looking stores that had this old world aesthetic: products in wood barrels and booths, all kinds of produce and specialty items she had only heard of before. And before the wonder even fully settled in, Alexandre handed her a cash card.
“You got a couple thousand bucks in here. Go crazy, get ingredients so you can make a, uh, a three course dinner for, let’s say… twelve people?”
Nataly’s eyes were shining like stars, her smile slowly widening as she ran ahead and started carefully exploring all possibilities. Alexandre also smiled, but hers was so much more subdued. The same could not be said about the ball of happiness that was glowing inside her chest. Little did her roommate suspect that this number she threw was not random at all.
Alexandre followed Nataly like a parent trying to handle their child in a toy store. She had to occasionally reel her in so she spent in a controlled way - but Nataly did come up with a plan of what she wanted to do.
“Do you have any requests?” Nataly added, as she finished her own planning.
“Well, that fig dessert you made at the graduation ceremony? I certainly wouldn’t mind having that once again.”
“Way ahead of you,” Nataly said, as she finished the list of what she needed to get on her phone’s note-taking app.
“Well, this will probably take some time, why don’t we stop for lunch at the top floor before we start shopping? I’m sure we can fit it in the budget, right?” Alexandre suggested, pointing towards the floor above them, “maybe it even might inspire you a bit?”
“You don’t have to say that twice!”
The food court was unlike anything Nataly had seen before. All kinds of options, mostly focused on Italian cuisine, but from street stall food to full sit down luxury restaurants. It actually gave her a bit of choice paralysis for a bit, but it didn’t take long for her to see the pistachio cannolis at this one corner restaurant, which also happened to serve porcini gnocchi. “How about this place?” Nataly pointed out, and Alexandre was immediately sold.
They got a table, and the waiter offered them a list of their wines.
“Oh, I don’t drink!” Nataly said, but Alexandre interrupted: “Well, let ME have a look.”
Alexandre ordered a bottle of sparkling rosé. “You could join me, I’m not going to push it, but this one isn’t all that strong.”
Nataly hesitated a bit. She had some hang-ups with alcohol, but at the same time, she really wanted to join in the celebration with her best friend. So she caved, and had one glass.
“It tickles in my nose!” she laughed, “But it does taste great!”
“Well, that’s what you get for not drinking carbonated stuff. In fact, maybe you want some carbonated water with your meal.”
They ordered their food, and ate very slowly as they talked about their childhood, and everything that led to this moment. Nataly spoke of her nervous school days, of wanting to fit in despite being ‘weird’ in the eyes of others. Alexandre talked about her rebellious phase, how she spedrun through being punk, gothic, political activist… before she figured she was also into girls.
“But you still like boys?” Nataly asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Hey, what can I say? I don’t discriminate. I have a thing for big, toned bodies. That’s what got me into lifting weights after that. The gym turned out to be a nice place to check the pool… once you are in good shape, at least.”
Nataly blushed at that comment. Truth is, she started thinking if she could remember a single time Alexandre was hitting on anyone, man or woman, while they trained together. She couldn’t think of even one example.
“What about you?” Alexandre asked, taking a sip of her rosé, while never breaking eye contact with Nataly.
“Oh, I mean, you saw when I turned down Todd… I’m not sure the gym is the best place for me to flirt, frankly.”
“No, I mean…” Alexandre wanted to be very careful how she broached the subject, “... what are you into? What do you look for in a potential partner?” She was very good at dancing around the subject.
“Ah! That is kinda weird but… I don’t think much about it. You know, I kinda grew up assuming no one would be interested in a freak like me…”
Alexandre slammed her hand on the table, almost tipping Nataly’s glass.
“You are not a freak! You are so fucking sexy, Nataly - why do you think you got paid so well for that photo shoot?” She was actually irritated, almost angry, which scared Nataly for a second. “Fuck, if I were to describe my ideal woman, I’m not sure she would be as hot as you!”
Nataly grabbed her glass of rosé, which she had just been taking small sips of so far, and downed the entire thing, blushing even redder, before pouring herself another dose. Alexandre couldn’t resist and breaking into laughter at her reaction, trying to hide behind the glass.
“Waiter, can you bring us a bottle of sparkling water, please?” Alexandre ordered.
“You really think so?” Nataly asked.
“What will it take for me to convince you? For me to fall to my knees and worship your body? Because I will do it!”
“You mean here, now?!?”
“No, silly. At home. First I’d dress you in something a lot less modest, obviously.” Alexandre grinned, and Nataly could not tell if she was joking or not.
“Anyway, that does not answer my question,” Ale said, pouring herself more wine, “what are YOU into?”
Nataly blinked fast, still surprised by the curveball. “Well, it is true that Todd looks great, and I guess I am also into muscles like you, there IS something quite appealing about a well-built body. But…”
“But?” Alexandre knew just how and when to push without getting Nataly off her comfort zone too much.
“Uh, I dunno, but Todd… and the other muscular guys at the gym don’t quite do it for me. But when I started lifting I… uh… I started looking at other female weightlifters online, you know, for inspiration and stuff…”
“Uh huh.”
“... and I guess… I don’t even know how to explain, but it did things to me. I felt things I am not sure I had ever felt before. And I could foster that feeling in the gym. I can’t control these things that erupt when I see my progress, when I push myself and witness my own body… it’s kind of intoxicating.”
“Oh… and does THIS make you feel these things?” Alexandre said, grabbing Nataly’s hand from under the table and placing it on her flexed thigh. Again, Nataly blushed, before pulling her hand away.
“I mean, you’re my FRIEND, Alexandre…” Nataly couldn’t keep eye contact as she spoke. “It’s different, you know?”
“But does it have to be?” Alexandre looked deep into Nataly’s eyes, placing her hand over her roommates.
And just then, the sparkling water arrived. “Oh, that’s for me, thank you!” Nataly said, “We are ready to order now.”
You aren’t escaping so easily, Alexandre thought to herself.
They proceeded to spend the next two hours shopping for ingredients, with Alexandre carrying the basket as Nataly looked for everything in her list. Thankfully, it wasn’t just Nataly who was incredibly strong, and Alexandre carried that purse on the crook of her arm, making her biceps pop wonderfully, which was always a plus. She also once again realized she loved enabling Nataly, just being there for support - even if they didn’t talk. Just being behind her, allowing her to be her best self, was enough for her. And it allowed her this glimpse into this softer and child-like side of that giant of a woman. She was filled with an innocent wonder that was downright contagious, but she also knew, very fragile. Nataly was easy to upset, and despite Alexandre having always gone for low-maintenance partners, she now felt like she had missed the point entirely.
As Nataly finally crossed off the last item on her list, Alexandre helped carry all the loot back to the limousine. She snuck another bottle of the rosé in the mix without Nataly noticing. And so they returned to the apartment, where Alexandre started organizing all the ingredients on their sink.
“Wait, you were thinking of doing the banquet right now?” Nataly was beyond confused.
“Of course. And for very good reason…” Alexandre had sent a sneak message when they left the place, and now grabbed her phone to shoot a follow up. In a matter of seconds, there was a knock at the door. Alexandre, once again with that mischievous smile, went to answer it.
“SURPRISE!!!”
And there it was. Nataly’s parents, her board game friends, Todd, his new girlfriend, and a couple of friends Nataly made in her classes.
“ALEXANDRE!!! YOU DIDN’T!?!”
“Sorry, but I guess you have to grab that apron I gave you and get to work. I’ll help you with anything I can, and make sure everyone is taken care of here. Anyone want a beer?”
Nataly was on the verge of tears as she saw everyone coming in and congratulating her.
What followed would forever be one of Nataly’s most cherished memories. There she was, with the most important people in her entire life, making what she loved most. True, her mother was snooping a bit around the apartment, showing some concern about Alexandre’s mess, but other than that, everyone got along and had a wonderful time. Nataly’s dad exchanged stories about his golden days in his college football team with Todd, the board game crew helped with what they could, and Nataly’s mom was happy to see some other old faces. It was a wonderful time.
When dinner was finally served, Alexandre forced Nataly into making a speech. She complained a lot, but in the end acquiesced to the pressure, because she knew better than to argue with her roommate.
“Wow. I don’t even know what to say,” Nataly started, looking at the served table with all these precious people in front of her. “It has not been an easy journey, and I know it’s not easy for parents to learn that their kid is dropping out of college…”
“Poppycock!” her father shouted from his seat, “I am not even sure if what they are teaching these days is any good. Besides, how many millionaire dropouts are there out there?” He completed, before chugging his beer as everyone laughed.
“T-thanks… I guess it’s good to know you are not disappointed in me. I… my entire life I felt like I was doing something wrong. Like I didn’t belong, like I was, I dunno, born wrong.” She could feel the tears welling up behind her eyes. “But then I came to college, and Alexandre was there to support me, and somehow things started feeling right for the first time ever.” Alexandre reached for the box in her pocket, feeling the felted exterior with her fingers, trying to work up the courage she lacked last time. “And now everyone I love is here, and it gives me the courage to go ahead. Well, it will, after you eat and tell me if this grub is any good! So… dig in, I guess!”
The guys immediately went for the food, as the girls applauded and some got teary-eyed themselves. Alexandre, who sat next to Nat, who was at the head of the table, put a hand on her rounded shoulder.
“You did great, babe. But not as great as this food, I bet.”
Nataly laughed.
It was a very good dinner for everyone. The food was, as expected, outstanding, and people talked with glee and excitement, this small group of very different people somehow coming together because of Nataly - and it brought her infinite joy. It just proved that she had made the right choice - and that a lot of her insecurity was, perhaps, unfounded. It made it a lot easier for her to go ahead and dive headfirst into this journey.
“Thank you, Alexandre. I don’t know how you did it… but it’s perfect.”
“Yeah, well, I set the bar high. What can I say?”
As everyone left, Nataly said a very emotional goodbye to her parents, who had a redeye flight back home. It was a long day - wonderful, for sure, but very tiring - and the buzz was starting to wear off.
“Did you enjoy your gift?” Alexandre asked, as she started massaging Nataly’s back.
“I don’t think you need to ask, you know me too well.”
“That’s true,” Alexandre thought, feeling the lump in her pocket, but still incapable of following up with her plan.
“I can’t imagine it was easy, gathering everyone, making it a surprise, keeping it all a secret…”
“Well, the last part is the easiest, you are pretty oblivious and gullible, you know?”
“Hey, you don’t need to rub it in…”
“No, but I do get to rub these powerful and wonderful muscles…”
“That you do,” Nataly said with a moan. Still, that was far from what Alexandre actually wanted to do to her roommate…
With college out of the way, Nataly now had a lot more free time. But as the new school year started, and Alexandre had started putting more effort, news started getting out of an economic recession. Things tightened up, and jobs vanished. That didn’t mean Nataly did anything below her best looking for a job in the restaurant industry - but for now she had to settle with an online store Alexandre helped her set up and sell premade meals and sweets to other poor students. It didn’t bring much money and it was a lot of work to keep costs down, but between the two of them, it was possible.
On the upside, Alexandre found a great gym - it was this hole in the wall hardcore place - sure, the equipment was nowhere nearly as new or nice as the campus gym, but it more than made up for it in the sheer amount of weight. And as was typical of Alexandre, she negotiated a discount with the owner as long as Nataly spend a certain amount of time there (which, frankly, he didn’t even need to ask) as an unofficial ‘mascot’ - because, seriously, anyone who saw someone her size would automatically think the gym had to be great.
And so they carried on for another grueling semester. Alexandre tried her best to make things more intimate with Nataly - she got more physical and playful, jumping on her back with hugs and letting her friend carry her around the house, and when they watched old films on her tablet, she would lean her head on Nataly’s lap. Every time Nataly cooked, Alexandre would kiss her as she said ‘thank you for dinner’. Still, it felt pretty one sided, as Nataly absolutely treated her with a lot of care… but never with much intimacy.
One night, when they were about to go watch a movie, Alexandre noticed Nataly moving her neck around, probably sore from the gym. She quickly went in for her usual massaging moves, which were both a treat for her roommate, but also her secret way to fully appreciate Nataly’s constant gains. But this time, she did it with a slightly different preamble:
Nataly took her shirt off, to give Ale better access. It felt natural to both of them, but it still made the smaller girl smile to see her do it without any hesitation. Nat just stripped down to her mostly non-functional bra. “Here, let me help you,” Ale added as she unhooked the bra straps. “There!”
She went in hard, her strong fingers probing into the rigid muscles and releasing the tension. It hurt a bit, making Nataly gasp. “I know,” Ale said, “but it will be worth it, trust me.” It certainly was for her, as she once again got treated to Nataly’s wonderfully muscular back. It was a sight to see (and in this case, to feel).
“Oh, I know.”
She sat down to help her reach, and Alexandre did her magic as she gave a voice command for the tablet on the desk to play some relaxing music. Nataly did her moaning, which only helped to turn her on more as she pressed her strong fingers against an even stronger back. Heck, how was she still improving? Alexandre could swear her back was firmer and wider than the last time she massaged her but a few days ago.
As she finished the massage, she jumped over the sofa and laid her head on Nataly’s lap, as they had been doing when watching movies. “Hey, would you mind playing with my hair a bit?” Ale asked.
“Of course.”
Alexandre loved that. She had always enjoyed when people ran their fingers through her hair, which she told Nataly as she let out a satisfied sigh.
“Oh, really? How come we lived together for almost three years and I never knew that?”
“There’s so much you still have to find out,” Alexandre thought about the box in her room. “But that’s what makes this fun, am I right?”
“You always are.”
Alexandre had to resist the urge to just sit up and kiss those lips. But the last thing she wanted was to ruin that moment. Still, she put a hand on Nataly’s amazing thigh, just gently letting her fingers glide over the silky skin that covered the firm muscles. And once again, she let out a satisfied sigh. She knew the exact words she wanted to say, but it was like her throat just closed and refused to let her do it.
Alexandre would fall asleep in her lap, dreaming of sharing a bed with her roommate, and fully exploring that marvel of a body she had constructed. She let out a few pleasure moans, which amused the otherwise unaware Nataly, who just easily lifted her friend in her arms, bringing her to her own bed, where she tucked her in and kissed her forehead before going back to her own room.
“So, are we doing Thanksgiving with your folks again this year?” Alexandre asked, rather excited. That brought a sad expression to Nataly’s face, however.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you. My mom is spending Thanksgiving with her sister - she invited me to come along, but I don’t think that included you, so I turned it down. I should have told you earlier.”
“Don’t you dare worry about that. I’m sure we can make something here - maybe even invite some people for a friendsgiving? I mean, you’d be the one cooking, so it’s your call, obviously.”
Nataly hadn’t given it any thought, actually, but the idea seemed quite nice. “That’s a lot of cooking though, can we afford it?”
“Hey, why don’t we invite some people, and ask if they can chip in? They know what you do in the kitchen, I’m pretty sure if they are around, they’d be more than happy to fork over some cash to be able to taste your delicious cooking.”
“Oh, that’s a really great idea! I’ll start working on a menu, can I leave you in charge of calling people?”
“My pleasure! Just give me an idea of how much each person would have to pay.”
They spent the next two hours working on a menu and a guest list, and both were reminded just how well they did when they joined forces to work together. The dynamic of it was particularly pleasant for both of them, because they completed each other - while Alexandre was better at planning, Nataly always thought of every small detail; Ale had tons of tricks up her sleeve to deal with unexpected issues, and Nataly was good at thinking outside of the box when everything else failed. Alexandre was mindful of everyone’s issues, like remembering about food allergies, while Nataly would invariably come up with the perfect way to accommodate everything she brought up. They were the very definition of the total being greater than the sum of the parts, and made their joint efforts a delight for both.
And so they managed to get the plans together for a small event, to be hosted at their apartment, and people would also bring some friends - they expected to have some 25 people all in all, and Alexandre would organize a small party on the roof. The idea was truly exciting. And the best part: the old lady wasn’t going to be there to spoil their fun, as she was going to travel for Thanksgiving. They couldn’t ask for a better solution.
What Nataly didn’t realize is how much work it was cooking for 25 people. Even though everyone paid in advance, she had to organize herself and soon it became apparent that she would need to work for three days to get everything ready in time. Thankfully, Britt volunteered to help, and Alexandre also had some time to do a few favors as well (though Nataly knew better than to let her in the kitchen).
It was an interesting dynamic, having Britt there. The three girls had their work cut out for them, but having a so to speak third wheel made it even more obvious that what Nataly and Alexandre shared was special - Britt wasn’t nearly as in sync with them - which she immediately brought up:
“Wow, it’s like you guys have a telepathic link, it seems like you don’t even need to speak to know what the other wants!” She gushed as Alexandre brought in ice from the fridge before Nataly said anything.
“Oh, we certainly have some systems in place…” Nataly said dismissively, “I guess it’s only natural when you live together.”
“Still, it’s like watching a dance recital, the way you two go through the stuff without saying anything!”
Alexandre then slapped Nataly’s ass, which made quite a bit of noise and caused the large woman to jump with surprise, in turn shaking the apartment. “Ouch!”
“Sorry, I don’t think she can read my mind quite yet,” Alexandre said with that impish grin, “which allows me to tease her like that.”
“You two are so funny together,” Britt giggled, “I love the dynamic you two have.”
Nataly wanted to get back at Alexandre, but she lacked the proper tools to handle this kind of situation. So she just went and pulled her roommate’s pants down, assuming that was the proportional response. It sent Britt in a fit of laughter.
“What, can’t get enough of these gams?” Alexandre said, using her flexibility to stretch her leg and gracefully place her ankles on the high surface behind the sink. Nataly was bothered and embarrassed by the natural way in which Alexandre just knew the right thing to do… except for the fact she apparently forgot she still had her pants down, which meant she got them stuck on her shoe when she lifted her free leg, causing it to bunch awkwardly around her ankles, and she lost her balance and fell backwards.
“ARE YOU OKAY?” Nataly dropped everything to check on her friend, concerned about what she had done.
“Oh, it will take more than this for you to get rid of me, babe.” She said, pulling her pants up while still on the ground. “Though I feel like you need some training on how to prank people. Pulling pants down? Are we in the third grade again?”
It was a gruesome couple of days as the preparations for the party continued, but everything was more or less following the plan, they were just a bit behind overall. Michael offered to set up a music system on the roof, and he was going to set up a projector so they could play videogames there. Nataly was getting so excited, because this kind of proximity to other people was something she always wished for, but never truly got growing up. All of a sudden it was all coming together, and she felt the weight of the responsibility of making sure everyone had a great time. On one hand, it felt great sharing some of these tasks with others, but she still kind of wanted to micromanage EVERYTHING because she expected every last detail to be just flawless. And the stress was getting to her over time.
Alexandre, on the other hand, just wanted to shield her, so she insisted on trying to perhaps cut a few things off the menu, change some of the plans to keep things simple - in her head, it was the perfect solution, since they were already going way over what anyone would expect. But that’s not how Nataly saw it. And it started causing some stress between the two.
Alexandre insisted they could simplify and edit, and Nataly insisted on doing everything and perhaps even more. It confused Ale and made Nataly get aggressive in her combative efforts to stand her ground. So Alexandre had Todd come to help, assuming it would take some weight off of Nataly’s shoulders, but again, it just stressed her more as she felt it was only another person to micromanage.
It all blew up the day before the party, as Nataly accidentally dropped the tray of her apple soufflé pudding, which shattered the tempered glass, made a mess, and left her without her main dessert. She started to panic, and Alexandre stepped in, saying they still had enough dessert options between the other two dishes, and it should be enough for everyone, so why bother?
“You don’t understand, Alexandre! Thanksgiving is about abundance! You can’t just ‘just enough’ food. Besides, the soufflé was the star of that course!”
“I get it,” Alexandre said as she tried to clean the mess, putting everything in the trash as she continued to argue, “but you are already behind and stressed, and having to start this over is just going to make things worse. Let’s quit while we are still ahead!”
At this point both were raising their voices, and Britt started cowering into a corner, giving them space.
“Why don’t we just cut out everything else, since no one cares?” Nataly shouted, throwing her hands into the air.
“You don’t need to act like a seven year old just because you are not getting your way, Nat. Alright, let’s start another tray of the soufflé, I will go get more apples at the store. Do you need anything else?”
“Well, why bother, right?”
“Oh, come on, Nataly, don’t give me that shit. I told you, I’m on board, alright? Do you need anything other than apples? How many, what type?”
Nataly just huffed and walked to the sofa, oven mittens still on her hands, and crossed her arms, pissed. Britt excused herself to go to the bathroom, and left the two alone. Alexandre sighed deeply, and went behind Nataly, starting to give her a massage. Nataly just shrugged her off with a quick turn of her back.
“Just leave me alone.”
“Nat… come on. Look, I’m trying to help you, I don’t like seeing you this stressed.”
“So just help me!”
“What do you think I’m doing?”
“But all you want to do is cut stuff out of the planning.”
“First, that’s not true. Second, yes, I’m trying to edit because you keep adding stuff that you clearly can’t handle. I understand you want to carry the weight of the world on your back, but even you have limits, you know? And it hurts me to see you so stressed.”
Nataly sighed. “This has got to be perfect.”
“I know. And it will be, even if you don’t get your soufflé. But you will. Now just give me the ingredients, I don’t know how late stores will be open the day before Thanksgiving.”
Nataly was reluctant, but listed all she needed. Alexandre just nodded, wrote it all down, and she was off.
As soon as she was out the door, Nataly cried. Britt came out of the bathroom to see her in tears, but her general stance of frustration was so intimidating that she slightly hesitated before approaching her to ask if she wanted to talk.
“Nah, I’m fine. Let’s get back to work.”
The remaining few hours of work were stressful and messy, with that tension now making everyone work in silence. Alexandre tried putting on some festive music, but it just made it more obvious that everyone was on edge. Without knowing what else to do, she just relegated herself to finishing her part for the day, and going to bed exhausted and stressed, knowing she would have to wake up early the next day to make sure everything was ready.
With her alarm set to 7am, Alexandre jumped out of bed and got dressed, only to find Nataly already hard at work on the huge turkey. As she finished the preparations, Ale said she was going to start bringing the furniture to the roof, and Todd should show up at 10am to help set up there.
Being away at the roof wasn’t really any easier, as Alexandre could not stop thinking about the frustrated Nataly. She’d always been bad at dealing with stress, but this was getting out of hand. When she came back down, she found her crying in front of the oven, the turkey on the tray on the ground.
“Hey, what’s wrong, babe?”
“The turkey doesn’t fit in the oven.”
Ale told her to move - because her large body really didn’t leave much space to navigate around - and while she resisted, after some witty arguments from Ale she relented. Alexandre put on the oven mitts and removed all internal tray from the oven, finding just enough space for the turkey.
“There. Now you can keep going.”
Nataly still sobbed a bit. “Thanks. It’s going to be hard to baste it that way, but at least I didn’t ruin Thanksgiving for everyone.”
And that was when Alexandre snapped.
“Oh, will you shut up, Nataly? You did not ruin anything. You are giving 120% of yourself to this, and even if we had to eat turkey sandwiches again, people would still enjoy themselves. Don’t you remember what happened that time? Was it really that bad?”
“The sandwiches were pretty crappy.”
“Yes, yes they were,” Alexandre let out a frustrated laugh. “But the company more than made up for it. And people are not coming because of your food. They are coming to be thankful for the blessings they had this year - and that includes our amazing friends. Like you.”
“Fuck you, Ale. How do you always know what to say?” She wiped a tear from her eye.
“Because I’m fucking awesome. And I’d like to get back to being awesome decorating the roof, but are you going to be okay here by yourself? Promise to call me if you need anything? I have my phone on me.”
“Sure. Now go.”
Alexandre hugged Nataly, who had finally gotten up from the ground.
The next few hours were a lot of work, but at least that awkward silence was finally gone. As things ramped up before the guests arrived, Nat, Ale and Todd were all over, asking and shouting as they tried to get ready. Michael and Britt were the first to arrive, bringing some wine with them, and helping with the final details as Mike set up his projector on the roof. For the first time, Nat felt like she could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Alexandre, however, while feeling glad Nataly had calmed down, decided to put away the box in her closet once again. Now really wasn’t the time for any distractions.
The party itself was one to remember. Michael set up the projector so they had the side of the neighboring building as a giant screen as they played a bunch of four player competitive games all afternoon and night, Britt and Todd handled bringing the food up as Nataly finished up, and everyone was having a blast. It wasn’t until she came up with the second soufflé pudding she had just finished that everyone clapped to welcome her.
Nataly was actually a bit nervous - she had never been around so many people at a party before, many of which she didn’t know personally. But many of her friend's friends were not only nice, but very interested in her large physique, asking all kinds of questions. She showed her shy side once again, trying to stay humble - but having a really hard time, because it only made people push more. And the result was what anyone would expect: Nataly ended up being cajoled into performing for the crowd to display her strength. At first they suggested she give piggyback rides, but she just skipped the easy stuff and immediately decided to show off properly - she grabbed a couple of girls, sitting them down on her boulder shoulders, and walking around with them. That just opened the floodgates: they had a cheerleader there, and she asked if Nataly would be willing to try and lift her on her hand - which she immediately agreed to. The girl stood on one leg, raising her other foot over her head in a nifty gymnastic display.
“Hey, I can see the campus from here!”
And the requests just kept coming: Nataly did push ups with two guys on her back, then one armed push ups with a girl on her back… at this point everyone got together trying to find some challenge she wouldn’t be able to complete.
“Oh, this is going to be fun!” Nataly proclaimed, finally breaking the ice of her shyness.
After lifting the barbecue grill with one arm, doing handstand push ups, cracked a loose brick with her hands… the challenges kept coming, and she just blew through them. Until…
“Oh, there’s a leftover steel pipe back here - looks old. Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” A guy suggested, waving the pipe with some difficulty.
“I gotcha!” Nataly said, springing to action and taking it. “I assume you want this bent?” She didn’t even hesitate or wonder if she could, just assuming it. Alexandre was a bit concerned, she didn’t want her friend hurting herself - but everyone egged her on.
“Alright, let’s do this!” Nataly put each hand on one end of the pipe, trying to exert pressure. Her fists tightened and she bared her teeth, revealing those large canines that gave her a somewhat savage appearance, like there was a wolf emerging from inside her. And from her grunting and straining, it wasn’t hard to believe she was actually turning into a werewolf or something. It soon became clear she would need SOME leverage if she were to stand a chance to accomplish the task, so she lifted one knee and used it as a lever while pushing down on both ends of the pipe.
Everyone kept on shouting, and Alexandre noticed veins popping up on her neck and arms as she applied more and more force, her muscles getting incredibly pumped in the process. Even with her current fluff, the muscles now stood out so clear one could see each line of separation, even if rounded out. No matter what, it was like she was hulking out in front of them, stretching her dress a bit too close to its limit.
Alexandre wasn’t sure if she was going to manage, as the thick pipe seemed to hold steady… but then Nataly opened her mouth and let out a hoarse exhale, like a dragon about to breath fire, and then grunted so loud everyone took a step back… as the pipe creaked and started to bend.
Despite everyone being all excited, they were still surprised (and even a bit scared) as they realized she was about to do it. The ends started moving down as the creaking continued, and little by little as the middle squeezed against Nataly’s knee, the bending accelerated, from slow progress to smooth bending, ending with a last push where she managed to get both ends to touch below her leg… and now she had to balance herself so she could remove the metal loop as if it was a huge ring on her lower limb.
She presented the metal pipe, now bent in half, back to her adoring fans. Everyone took turns trying (unsuccessfully) to unbend it, as they made all kinds of jokes. Nataly just wiped her hands against each other, removing the dust and metal particles, and feeling great about herself. People were as impressed with all those displays of strength as they were with her cooking. Alexandre just sat on the corner, watching her friend bloom. She thought to herself that this was definitely worth all that stress.
With Thanksgiving behind them, Christmas was the last leg before they finished the year. But there was a little unexpected problem: Nataly’s family had promised to spend it with her maternal grandmother, and so Alexandre stayed behind by herself in the apartment while her friend was gone. Nataly insisted several times that she could stay with her, but Ale knew how important family was to her, and told her over and over she would be fine. It was a bit of a white lie, but a worthy one.
And so for that week, Alexandre just entertained herself with some wine, a marathon of old movies, and plenty of cheesecake on her computer screen to get her rocks off. Everything she did was in the name of self-pleasure, but it felt weirdly empty. She hadn’t done any camwork since the photoshoot, since they weren’t that strapped for cash, but she found herself needing the affirmation - someone telling her how hot she was. She even forgot to charge some of her clients.
But eventually Christmas itself came around. Nataly actually left a frozen meal just for the occasion, and as she opened the lid, she found a little note along the instructions:
Alexandre,
No one is an island. I know you probably manage to be alone better than me, as you have that independent wolf spirit, but I know I’m gonna be missing you even though I’ll be surrounded by family.
If it helps any, I’ll definitely be thinking of you. So heat this grub up, as you say, and think that I’m there preparing it for you… because I most certainly would if I could.
Yours truly,
Nataly.
“Motherfucker!” Alexandre said out loud as she wiped a tear from her eye.
But Nataly was back just in time for New Year’s Eve, with plenty of funny stories about her time with the family. Alexandre just sat down, her head leaning against her forehead, listening to an excited Nataly talking about her adventures over the last week while she cooked their dinner. She could do that all night - listening about crazy relatives, awkward conversations, people she hadn’t seen in ages… and the incredible reactions she got when they saw how big she got. As it turns out, Nataly had been a huge (ha ha) hit with the kids, who used her as a playground attraction - she talked about having three kids hanging from each of her stretched arms, which she would lug around, or sometimes flex with them wrapping their arms around her biceps, bouncing them around like little monkeys. They would climb over her back and sit on her neck and shoulders… or she’d lay down and lift them up on her large feet… Nataly explained she had lots of fun being the cool aunt, but it was also nice to see her cousins, uncles and aunts she hadn’t seen in years.
So she told stories about how they asked what she’d been doing… and how she got so big. She loved telling them about moving out because of college, dropping out to pursue a career as a chef, but also her newfound love of lifting weights. The guys asked how much she could lift, the girls asked about how hard it was to find clothes… and the uncles made stupid jokes while the aunts and her grandma insisted she had to eat more, which she was happy to oblige. And oh so many requests for her to flex and show off.
Alexandre liked hearing about these stories, even if it was only to live vicariously through her roommate. She missed her so much these last few days, and she wanted to drown in her presence as much as she could.
“How was it, you know, all these days without access to a gym?” Alexandre asked, curious.
“Oh, well, I guess I got a bit lucky. My uncle’s neighbor was redoing his deck, so he had a lot of lumber he needed to bring up a hill on the back of the house - I volunteered to do the work, if he allowed me to use the wood for some lifts. It was far from ideal, but at least it was enough to challenge me a bit so I wasn’t totally idle.”
And with that, Nataly flexed her traps, making her shoulders pop and her neck almost disappear in a mountain of muscle, before raising a flexed arm for added effect.
“Oh, may I?” Alexandre practically begged. Nataly just smiled and nodded, happy to oblige.
Ale’s fingers quickly reached for Nataly’s pumped arm, which was incredibly bloated with muscle - her smaller hand barely able to encircle even a third of its circumference. It was an impressive mound, but still much less lean than it used to be when she first exploded in size. Still, Alexandre loved to see a single protruding vein snaking to feed that powerful arm. Not only that, she couldn’t control herself, and squeezed that muscle with all her might - despite the smooth and healthy skin, the monolith under it felt like a ball of marble, so hard and dense that it could break through concrete.
“Damn, girl… on vibes alone you feel like you are still getting stronger every time I blink.”
Nataly bit her lips, her knees bopping up and down with excitement, “Isn’t it cool?!?”
“Yeah, I’m kinda looking forward to actually having some quality time at this new gym, I want to break my bench press record and train these puppies so I can bounce my pecs like crazy…” Alexandre explained, activating her chest muscles, one at a time, to make her large mammaries jump up. While she clearly had a very strong set of pectoral sinew, the large amount of fatty tissue was so large that they barely moved as she flexed.
“My dream is to get these puppies to REALLY bounce. But I guess I need to really put in the work.”
Nataly giggled, but put her hand over her own chest, which was certainly much stronger, but lacked the large breasts her roommate did even with this higher body fat, and sighed.
“Oh, don’t be disheartened, Nat! Your pecs are AWESOME. I think I can stick a pencil between them and you can keep it held there!”
Nataly held her hands together and flexed her chest, watching the mighty blocks tighten into an impressive shelf of striations, the separation between them becoming as clear as Alexandre implied, the fibers visible in the middle of her chest.
Without thinking, Alexandre just brought her hand up and placed her palm over the edge of the muscles, her index finger almost getting stuck between the two blocks of meat - that same firmness from the arm, but here you could actually feel the individual fibers as tiny bumps…
Alexandre was so lost that she didn’t even notice Nataly’s surprised expression. They were both confused for a second, but Ale was quick on her feet, taking her hand off and bringing Nataly’s to cup her own breast from below.
“I bet these are light for you, but man, if they aren’t a handful, huh?” Alexandre tried to keep things casual, but the mere act of having Nataly’s fingers on her breasts was making her all wet below. “Sorry, guess they aren’t as hard as yours, though!”
Nataly was actually too amazed to be embarrassed at that moment. She let her fingers probe the bulbous mammaries, which to her was surprisingly novel - Nataly had gone from extremely skinny to super muscular in a matter of weeks. And she never was very touchy-feely, even with her family. There was something almost hypnotic to her in those breasts, and she very carefully gave her left breast a small squeeze, and her brain couldn’t even properly process the feeling. It wasn’t just like a water balloon as she imagined, but slightly firmer. And alive, somehow. But more than that, it sparked something she never quite knew in her brain, something that made her breathing shallower, her chest heat up and her mouth to get dry.
Nataly did not know, but that was lust.
Alexandre wasn’t faring much better, the powerful fingers making her abdomen shake as she climaxed, trying very hard not to let it show as she bit her tongue and squinted, a puff of air flaring her nostrils. Part of her brain just wanted to pull Nataly’s hand over her nipples, while the other wanted to break off the contact so she could get back to breathing normally.
But then Alexandre’s phone rang. It was one of her classmates, sending a message about the new year’s eve party they had organized, and to bring beer. Lots of beer. The two girls decoupled, and Alexandre asked if Nataly was up for a little college party.
“Sure, it would be nice to celebrate this new year - after all, I think we all have big changes coming, right?”
The party was your run of the mill college celebration - that is, a bunch of rowdy and inebriated people messing around in a fairly messy hall. That wasn’t really Nataly’s scene, but Alexandre fit right in, and the bigger woman just followed all the cues. Alexandre played a bit of beer pong - and got to get a bit tipsy - why Nataly cheered her on. They danced a bit to the music, and when a slower song started, Alexandre wrapped her arms around Nataly's quite thick torso, leaning her head against the solid torso, between her navel and pecs. With her ear against it, she was distracted by Nataly’s loudly beating heart and the warmth of her skin, which could be felt through her shirt. They stepped around slowly as Nataly held one of Alexandre’s hands, which was so comparatively small it was practically enveloped within her fingers. But they swayed to and fro merrily, just enjoying each other’s presence there…
The two got lost in each other at that moment, forgetting the rest of the party. It was a nice way to finish that year after so many trials and tribulations, and wait for what was to come next.
Suddenly, other people started the countdown, shouting “TEN! NINE! EIGHT!” and the two women slowly were pulled back to reality, though still dancing around in the messy hall. They looked at each other longingly, and both mouthed a silent “thank you” to each other as the count approached its end:
“THREE! TWO… ONE!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”
As some started opening champagne bottles, whooping and drinking, a lot went around hugging and kissing each other, and Nataly was still in chameleon mode and - she just acted without thinking, and placed her lips on Alexandre’s, a little loving peck before wishing her roommate a happy new year. But as both opened their eyes, they were both aware of what just transpired, and just stared at each other for a few seconds, unsure on what to do next.
Alexandre finally let out a long exhale, looking away with a hand on her neck, as she wished a happy new year back. Nataly gesticulated a bit, and offered to get some bubbly for both of them, leaving before Ale could say anything. As she left, Alexandre hyperventilated a bit, not sure if Nataly was trying to say something with that gesture or not.
When she came back with the drinks, both were acting awkward, hanging on to small talk.
“So, new year, huh?” Alexandre said tentatively before drinking the entire flute of bubbly in a single turn.
“Yeah, wow, time sure flies.”
“Any goals?”
“Oh, well, maybe get an actual job at a restaurant? For sure break all my PRs at the new gym, I’ve been sort of plateauing lately.”
“True, true.”
“You?”
“Well, gotta graduate at some point, right? This next semester is going to be a bitch…”
Nataly looked a bit down, like she had failed for dropping out, especially when Alexandre made it all look so easy.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I think you did the right thing, I truly think you are going to soar now. I’ve seen how happy this makes you, and how miserable you were with college life.”
“You mean it?” Nataly said, staring into Alexandre’s eyes.
“Nataly, you keep surprising me with your potential. You got this! And I got you, I’ll be your safety net.”
Nataly smiled.
“Not that I could carry you around - let alone as easily as you could carry me…” Alexandre joked. But Nataly just smiled, scooping her up with one arm so she was sitting on her forearm - the tipsy Ale hardly able to resist (not that she wanted to) as Nataly went back to get some more bubbly.
With the new year ahead of them, Nataly woke up extra early eager to hit the new gym for real. She put on her winter exercise gear, and prepared a huge breakfast for both of them, with eggs and bacon and some porridge.
Alexandre came out of her room, still sleepy, but completely taken over by the great smells of food - like a cartoon hypnotized by the wafting aroma.
“Up for an early workout?” Nataly said, serving a plate.
“Well, since we are still on break? Sure, why not? Perhaps we’ll have the gym all for ourselves. Who else would be going in at this god-forsaken hour?”
Turns out Alexandre was very wrong. Unlike the other gym, which was almost entirely frequented by college students and athletes, this one was as hardcore as their initial impression had implied: there were a couple dozens of huge bodybuilders, people grunting and posing - though not a single person posting on social media. It was a far cry, and while Alexandre would not admit it, she felt a bit intimidated - the place REEKED of testosterone (even with the other women there). But while she stuck out like a sore thumb despite being in excellent shape, Nataly couldn’t be more at home: none of those tiny starting weights that were practically invisible for her, and just people pumping iron like there was no tomorrow.
Alexandre got her start with her usual mobility exercises, which once again made her feel like an alien. Nataly, on the other hand, saw a woman doing crunches with her legs wrapped around a punching bag, and decided to try those. Alexandre heard the chains groaning with her weight and got legitimately worried - but thankfully, the setup held firm as she proceeded to crank several reps, the workout bringing several drops of sweat to her brow.
Once they were done warming up, both got together to do squats. Nataly loaded the bar with the usual 275 pounds, and proceeded to do her first set. Nataly decided to use the rack so they didn’t have to keep changing plates since that would take a while - even with her pushing herself, it still was somewhat exciting seeing how much more Nat could lift.
But before Nataly could start her second set, a large man asked if he could also use the bar for squatting. Nataly nodded, and watched as the guy added another 50 pounds to the setup, totalling 325 pounds. She watched as the large man, his thighs stretching his shorts to the point of stretching, as he pulled 12 great reps. The guy wasn’t nearly as chatty as the people from the campus gym, and just started taking the plates he added off, when Nataly stopped him, placing her arm in front of him. She just looked at the bar and set herself up for another set. It was a lot of weight, but she told herself she could do it. And so she grabbed the metal and unracked it, immediately feeling the stress on her back and legs. But that voice in her head kept telling her that she had it, and so she started.
Nataly could feel the burn right away, and Alexandre stopped her set in the middle of it, reracking the weight, as she watched her roommate pull her third rep, her legs and glutes getting even more pumped. Somehow, this woman kept getting stronger and stronger, the muscles certainly looked like it. She finished the set, her form faltering a bit as she went along, but certainly well enough to make it count. The large guy wasn’t too keen on being upstaged by the new girl, however, and just tacked another 25 pounds to the bar, and proceeded to do his second set. Alexandre knew immediately that it was a mistake.
As Nataly went for the third and final set, she actually added an extra 25 pounds, bringing the total on the bar to 375 pounds. The guy scoffed, assuming that it was some kind of joke, but Nataly’s serious face quickly dismissed any impression that it might have been the case. She unracked the weight, and her legs immediately trembled, almost making her fall down. But she gritted her teeth and tightened her fists around the bar on her shoulders, her movements slow and pained, but consistent as she pulled her first rep.
Alexandre left her own rack behind and went there, ready to spot a weight she had very little hope of holding. But she stood behind Nataly, whispering to her that she was there. Almost as if magically, Nataly felt more stable, and proceeded to go for slower and slower but very controlled reps - albeit shaking occasionally. Alexandre’s heart was beating out of her chest, as if she was about to witness a car crash. But her friend held strong, that fierce face betraying how hard it was… because otherwise, you’d never guess how much load she was squatting.
And so Nataly completed her 10th rep, and decided to stop there. But still wanting to assert some dominance, she lowered the weight down a couple of notches for the man who was a bit shorter than her, and removed those 25 pounds, as if to put him in his place. It was obvious the guy was irritated, but he just avoided eye contact and proceeded to do his set, probably too afraid to fail and admit he was being outlifted by the new girl.
Alexandre took a big breath, and just went nuts: “Holy shit, Nataly! You’ve been holding out on me? What the fuck was that?”
“Just the same old me, just… motivated today, I guess.”
Alexandre went back to her own squats, with Nataly taking a break as she massaged her thighs, which felt harder and more pumped than she had ever seen before. But once again the gears were going off inside her head, and she became a lot more observant of the other gym goers, that competitive streak coming back - something she had lost since she was basically outlifting pretty much everyone at the old campus gym.
The rest of the session was fairly uneventful, even if Nataly broke a bunch of personal records that day. But that was all a prelude of what was to come…
Alexandre kept her old routine of going to the gym at the end of the afternoon, but now Nataly was pulling two sessions a day, one in the early morning by herself, and a second one with her partner. She started doing some hardcore aerobics, calisthenics and some boxing in her morning workout, and in a couple of weeks Alexandre was already noticing some major changes in her body: after all that bulking, Nataly was starting to lean quite fast, while still putting on some major muscle. It was hard for her brain to process, but the transformation was impossible to ignore: every muscle just POPPED, as did a vast system of veins everywhere. And even more incredibly, Nataly’s caloric intake kept increasing somehow.
But her body wasn’t the only change manifesting in Nataly. Her entire demeanor at the gym was also changing. That first day she was still somewhat collected and one might even say shy. But as time passed, Nataly started looking like a feral lion exploring the savannah, minding her own business and everyone better get out of her way. Her physique certainly sold that, and Nataly was completely focused on repeating what she had done back in the campus - become the strongest person in that gym.
For a couple of months, that was her main project: just put on as much muscle and increase her strength as fast as possible so she was the top dog. That first guy from the squat was far from the strongest there, it was enough to turn that into a small obsession. And so she threw herself at it… but it wasn’t enough to just outlift everyone. In some ways she realized that she had slouched a bit and wasn’t putting in as much effort, which had led her to put on some of that fluff. And so she was now waking up early to run a mile before even getting to the gym.
And so one day she messaged Alexandre to let her know she’d be going straight to the gym after a gig at a local bakery. Alexandre arrived at the usual time, only to find Nataly hanging upside down from the pull up bar with her legs, doing upside-down hanging crunches. Her jaw almost fell as she saw the solid wall of muscular blocks on her midsection, looking like bricks that hadn’t been properly cemented together: the gaps between each muscle tantalizing her as they drenched in sweat. She hadn’t even noticed that Nataly had been hugging a 50 pound plate on her chest as she did. And yet she kept cranking rep after rep. She didn’t make it look hard, but Alexandre could not explain how powerful she looked, as if Atlas himself was in front of her holding the entire planet aloft… except lifting it up and down several times.
As Nataly finished the exercise, Alexandre just watched in utter disbelief. The giant stretched her arms down to drop the plate, before rising up to grab the bar and unhook her legs, carefully dismounting. Her back exploded as she lowered herself, and Alexandre was once more reminded that her roommate had basically been hiding much of her huge muscles under that modest layer of fat… but not anymore. She almost salivated as she realized how beautiful those sculpted muscles looked up close and personal.
“Alexandre?” Nataly asked, wiping herself with her small towel, as her friend just stood there, hand raised and reaching for Nataly’s incredibly pumped shoulder.
“Oh, hi, Nataly!” Alexandre woke up from her trance, smiling and waving to pretend she wasn’t about to squeeze that amazing muscle without thinking. “I’m going to warm up, join you in a bit!”
In some ways, it was slightly disappointing for Alexandre, as Nataly was basically in another league and they weren’t really exercising together as much as just going to the gym at the same time. It wasn’t just a matter of the amount of weight, Nataly was having to push herself so much she just started adapting her routines to maximize her performance, leaving Alexandre in the dust. Which was not all bad, as she could also make sure to push herself more efficiently… and it still left her enough time to just gawk at her magnificent friend.
Truth be told, Alexandre didn’t realize she was also pushing herself harder than ever. Even though she never let her bodyfat go up as much as Nataly’s, her gains had slowed down considerably back then. But now, she found herself wanting not to be left so far behind, and started putting extra effort in once again. Little did she realize, because she stood next to a literal giant, that she had actually been making amazing progress - it just didn’t FEEL like it, because the behemoth that was Nataly and most other people at that gym affected her self-image. But Alexandre was gaining strength very quickly for her small frame, and still getting stronger and bigger.
The competition in the gym had always been fierce, but Nataly truly came in to set a fire in everyone. She was constantly making mental notes and even following some other members to try and match their lifts. That meant she found herself constantly pushing her own limits. Sometimes she would fail, and get very frustrated. More than once she punched a wall (and even left some cracks), but she would refocus that, let it simmer inside her, and try harder the next time. It still gnawed at her, but she just managed to turn that into sheer determination. Which meant she would leave many days exhausted, and face some serious sore muscles - to which Alexandre would always oblige a thorough massage.
Still, whereas Alexandre used to get concerned that Nataly looked frustrated and struggling to study before, now she just saw her friend at home looking almost mad at herself, feeling a flexed muscle or doing some impromptu handstand pushups and other random exercises as if she had made some sort of mistake. That meant that Ale started cherishing more the time they spent together in the kitchen, when Nataly would reveal her softer and sweeter side, smiling as she got the seasoning of a dish or the cooking of a protein just right. This encouraged her to try and suggest new dishes or give her opinion when she was asked to taste something. She would go out of her way to get interesting ingredients for Nataly to experiment with, or find other things that would allow her to have a more enjoyable time.
But as another school year got to its end, Alexandre had to start putting effort into her finals. This meant that their schedules got harder to synchronize, and they were seeing less and less of each other. As much as Ale liked to study in the apartment, she had to spend copious amounts of time at the campus library and working on projects with other colleagues. Nataly knew that had to be hard on her, so she started leaving ready to heat meals with little notes for her, and continued with her routine.
And so they missed each other for some two and a half weeks, as Alexandre was left sleep deprived and trying to find any odd time to hit the gym herself. It turned out to be quite cathartic for her, however, as she could just let her mind blank out and listen to her tunes while hitting the weights hard. She had never quite used these workouts as a vent or escape mechanism quite this hard, and she found it was actually driving her to push much harder than usual - instead of concentrating on following her usual amount of weight, she just kept adding as much as she could. She coveted that burning feeling (perhaps even inspired by watching Nataly) and just kept going.
She would constantly finish one exercise, admire herself in the mirror and give whatever muscle group she just hit a good feel. It was a “cherry on top” moment - it wasn’t the sole motivation, but a nice way to reward herself with a good pump. She couldn’t wait to share her gains with Nataly.
Alexandre was definitely behind her usual sleeping schedule, as made clear by the dark bags under her eyes. She got out of bed and left her room in a half zombified state, seeking some caffeine to try to get a proper start on her day, but first she needed to stop and pee. Eyes still half-closed, she just stumbled into the bathroom, only to find a naked Nataly who had just gotten out of the shower after her morning run.
It took a few seconds for the smaller woman’s brain to get up to speed. She saw the most statuesque figure she’d ever laid eyes upon, a veritable titan of muscle that would make any renaissance sculptor jealous, with perfectly delineated muscles at full display on the rather tall body that had a minimal amount of fat. And despite all that height, every single limb and the entire torso was overflowing with rigid sinew, adorned by a beautiful crisscross of veins to punctuate the entire surface. Somehow, these veins led her eyes to naturally gravitate towards the hips, where the lower abs just flowed naturally into her pubic region, beautifully framed by the osseous pelvic protrusions and the hairy mound below it. It was pure poetry. It truly felt like it should be on display at the Louvre.
Well, that is, until Nataly shrieked, covered herself with a towel, and apologized quite loudly about forgetting to lock the door. Alexandre just stood there, eyes now much more open, as Nataly fled back to her room. Blinking herself into sense, Ale looked around and processed what had just transpired.
“Wow, I guess sharing my gains isn’t going to be nearly as interesting…” she thought to herself, as she realized that Nataly had undergone a new impressive transformation over the last few weeks.
With coffee cup in hand, Alexandre now talked to the fully dressed Nataly that was coming out of her room, still drying her hair.
“So… I guess we need to talk…” Ale said in a matter of fact tone.
“Ugh! Sorry! I swear it won’t happen again, I usually lock the bathroom door and…” Nataly was quick to try and apologize again.
“No, no, no,” Alexandre interrupted, still with the same direct tone, “I actually quite enjoyed the little show. But that’s not what I want to discuss.” Alexandre stood up, walked slowly towards Nataly, who just followed with very attentive (and somewhat confused) eyes, until her smaller friend came in and slapped her butt loudly, the smack of hitting a very firm surface.
“Nataly, what the fuck have you been doing at the gym? Did you EAT one of the bodybuilders? And again, for emphasis, what THE FUCK! YOU… ARE… HUGE!”
“Oh, that?” Nataly smiled, flexing her arm, which proceeded to expand like someone had just tossed some mint candy into a bottle of soda, causing her sleeve to roll back to accommodate the most peaked biceps Alexandre had ever seen in person. “I’ve been going at it pretty hard on my training, and I got pretty competitive with the guys at the gym. Still not quite there, there are still a few bodybuilders who seem to be stronger and bigger than me, though.”
“You mean those PROFESSIONAL BODYBUILDERS WHO ARE TRAINING FOR THE UPCOMING STATE COMPETITION?!?”
“Yeah, so you know who I’m talking about? I think I can surpass them, though, but it’s going to take a little bit more time.”
Alexandre was just incredulous, and possibly even slightly irritated at how casual and oblivious Nataly seemed to be at how ridiculous all of that sounded. Ale blinked and clicked her lips a couple of times while she looked for the right words.
“Did someone just forget to tell you about realistic goals and you just kept pushing past those? Do you realize how insane all that sounds?”
“Well, it’s working, isn’t it?” Nataly replied with complete sincerity. “Is there any reason I shouldn’t be trying?”
It wasn’t even that Alexandre was jealous, she just scratched her forehead because she really had no reply to that. It was a little exasperating, and part of her wished that Nataly at least acknowledged how ridiculous all of that was… but at the same time… her brain needed to use every bit of her willpower not to just drool at the finest specimen of woman she’d ever laid eyes upon. The cognitive dissonance was really messing with her this second, despite her lizard brain wanting very much to just pounce on her roommate and lick every inch of her body to memorize how all that muscle felt.
“Well, I was hoping to showcase my gains to you… I was even going to put on a new bikini just for that… but now I just feel completely upstaged.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nataly said, sitting down with her own cup, “Go put that on, I really want to see your progress! You already looked super hot before, I bet you’ve improved a bit, I can tell from your shoulders alone!”
And that comment cut through Alexandre’s heart like a dagger. She still could not understand how incredibly earnest and excited her friend could be, despite being an objective freak. She just knew she meant every word and was genuine in her feelings, and she could not deny her. And so, with a smile, Alexandre proceeded to go into her bedroom and put on her new bikini.
Alexandre came out like a stripper, first exposing her leg through the door, her foot raised up in the air, pointing as to better showcase her nice calves. Hugging the door frame, she slipped out with a little dance move, before leaning backwards and doing a handstand flip to showcase her flexibility. Nataly just clapped with excitement.
They continued the little number as Alexandre did her best posing - which she was actually quite good at, even better than Nataly as she had specifically trained with traditional bodybuilding poses since she started lifting years ago. And it brought great joy to see how impressed Nataly was - even if she felt quite inferior, which was hard to argue against. But the sparkles in Nataly’s eyes? Those were just priceless. She would just have to keep training harder, she guessed. But she knew there would never be any chance she would ever get even close to that monster of a woman.
That little episode energized Alexandre, who just went full steam ahead trying to finish her semester in time for their summer break. She pulled long study sessions, arduous group project meetings - usually very caffeinated - and just forced her way to an astonishing 4.0 GPA. She was pretty exhausted at the end, but Nataly felt like they really had to celebrate.
“We should go out, have fun… and eat something good! It’s on me!” Nataly pushed, but Alexandre knew her roommate was probably still in a financially precarious situation.
“Well, okay… but actually, this gives me an interesting idea…”
“Whoa! This place looks cool!” Nataly was excited to see the place Alexandre brought her - it was a really rustic-looking steakhouse, with weathered wooden tables outside, a large barbecue grill on the back, and it just smelled amazing.
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet!” Alexandre said, as she got them a table for two. Nataly had to awkwardly fit into the long bench by the wooden tables, her legs barely fitting, which forced her friend to sit a little to the side from across the table. Alexandre immediately waved for a busty waitress, and ordered a Louisiana Special for herself, and, before Nataly could even look at the menu, she just looked her straight in the eye and said:
“Are you hungry? And up for a challenge?”
Nataly was confused, but shrugged and just said, “Yeah, sure!”
“She’s going for… the Montana Dare!”
The waitress opened a big smile on her face and immediately reached for a bell in her apron. “We’ve got a Montana Dare, everyone!!!”
Everyone in the place turned around to look, and Nataly was both confused and embarrassed for a second.
“Care to enlighten me?”
“So… they have this one challenge here… if you manage to eat a barbecue course that might clock at around 16 pounds in one hour… you don’t have to pay for it.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Well, it IS 80 dollars…”
“Bring it on!” Nataly said, putting on the bib on her neck.
They brought the large tray with quite a bit of pomp and circumstance, with two waitresses carrying a large board, one from each side. There was a large serving of ribs, brisket, sausage, a large burger, chicken, coleslaw… it looked like it could feed a large family and then some. It almost made Nataly’s (quite generous) plate look like a joke, as she had to squeeze to the very corner of the large table so they could fit the board there.
Nataly immediately started salivating at seeing the large feast, marvelling at the amazing barbecue meal in front of her.
“What are you waiting for? Time is ticking!” Alexandre reminded her, with a smirk on her face. Both of them seemed incredibly confident. And so Nataly got to work.
The large woman started by grabbing a rack of ribs with her hands, and going to town on the juicy meat, getting her entire face smeared with delicious sweet barbecue sauce. Alexandre just nibbled on her sirloin steak as she watched in a mix of amazement, horror and admiration as Nataly quickly consumed the meat, licking the ribs with her rather long tongue, which sucked every bit of meat and sauce off of it. Alexandre could not believe her eyes - her height and thickness weren’t apparently the only remarkable things about Nataly - the giant had a snake-like organ, which managed to wrap around the bone easily, sucking it dry like it was nothing. She had to do a double take to ensure she wasn’t dreaming.
In less than five minutes she was done with the large rack of ribs, and decided to tackle the plate of coleslaw, which she grabbed in large mounds with a spoon and put down the hatch. She let out a few happy hums of satisfaction with the delicious salad, as she prepared for the large piece of brisket.
Nataly was amazed at how soft and tender the brisket was, but that barely prepared her for how tasty it was, as the first forkful went into her mouth and she almost hugged herself out of happiness. “Holy shit, Alexandre, this meat is INCREDIBLE!”, she said, barely decipherable as she spoke with her mouth full of meat. It just encouraged her to cut more pieces and keep going. Alexandre was not even halfway through her own course as she witnessed her roommate having cleared the largest portion of her own table.
With those larger pieces of meat taken care of, now most of what was left were meats in smaller cuts - she alternated between pieces of sausage, cuts of chicken (leaving only the burger), while she helped herself to some water. It was kind of mesmerizing to see how frenetic her eating was, as one hand grabbed a slice of sausage as the other went for the chicken, alternating both as she vacuumed… thirty minutes had gone by, and it looked like she was more than two thirds of the way gone with the challenge.
As the 40th minute passed, she only had the burger left, and clearly was well in control. Everyone cheered her on, and she made a scene as she ordered some fries to go with it, and the crowd went wild. The waitresses immediately brought some, and she actually slowly savored the burger and fries.
And before the 50 minute mark was reached, she dip the last fry on some ketchup and ate it with a smile, before downing the last bite of the burger. Everyone was ecstatic, but Nataly still wanted to flex a bit… so she called the waitress who was bringing her a trophy and a commemorative T-shirt, and asked:
“So, what do you have for dessert?”
And so Nataly and Alexandre shared some apple pie with ice cream for dessert (which they also gave them as a courtesy, taking a picture to hang on the wall alongside the only other person to have ever completed the challenge before).
“Wow, I never doubted you, Nataly, but this was still a sight to see.”
“Yeah, I mean, I loved every second of it, but it’s gonna really ruin my abs…”
“Nat, I know your metabolism and your workouts to tell you, I can’t imagine you won’t make up for it before the week is over…”
They both laughed, and Alexandre ordered another beer.
“Glad you aren’t too tired to carry me, I wasn’t sure I was gonna make up the stairs!” Ale said, somewhat tipsy from the twelve beers she had during their meal, as Nataly held her with one arm.
“Well, you were the one who suggested the place, so I feel like I still owe you.
“I guess you do, big girl! I guess you do!”
“I’m racking too many debts! It sure isn’t easy being your friend… or maybe it’s TOO easy, you could say.”
“Well, I know how to fix BOTH of these things,” Ale said, slightly wobbly, as she pulled a stool in front of Nataly, got up on it, and proceeded to embrace Nataly’s shoulders and plant a passionate and long kiss on her lips. “There! Now I got my reward AND you don’t have to worry about us only being friends!”
Nataly was completely shocked, her eyes wide and jaw hanging, as Ale saw the reaction and started blinking, realizing what she had just done. She raised her hands apologetically, and started stuttering.
“Uh, I… uhhhhh, Nat, I’m sorry, I’m so drunk I didn’t… I…”
Nataly just lifted Ale off the stool, kicking it away, as she brought her up to her lips to return the passionate kiss. She was lost in her desire, her long tongue probing into Ale’s mouth - who was initially shocked by the unexpected size - and her surprise made Nataly self-conscious. But Alexandre just shook her head dismissively, and started pecking her roommate’s neck. The two held this time for what seemed like an eternity, and Nataly started groping Ale’s glutes, which she cupped while grabbing her. As soon as they were done with the kiss, Ale was already going for Nataly’s nipples, and before either of them knew, they were undressing and heading to the bedroom.
“I guess that makes it official, huh?” Nataly said to a sleepy Ale next morning. She just yawned back.
“Hnnnnnnggggg… I guess it might be too much to expect breakfast in bed?” Nataly laughed at the comment.
“What, we aren’t going to the gym? I miss our workouts together. Come on, it’s going to be fun.”
Ale stretched and fussed like a cat, but acquiesced. Truth be told, she really was looking forward to seeing her little giant at the gym. Life was good.
And after a hearty breakfast, the two returned to the gym together, Alexandre quite anxious to see her partner hit the weights with her own two eyes. But as they arrived, Nataly actually wanted to see HER progress first. Alexandre was happy to oblige.
Nataly set up the height of the shoulder supports on the inclined leg press machine, and asked Alexandre how much she should load. The smaller girl felt self-conscious for a bit, not wanting to disappoint her friend. She just blurted to load 350 pounds there, unsure whether she would manage or not. Nataly obliged, showing genuine excitement, which only put more pressure on Alexandre.
As she started the first rep, it seemed manageable if a bit heavier than what she was used to. Nataly cheered her on, which made it possible for her to get through that hard 10th rep, and despite some incredible burning, she continued with another two shaky but complete reps.
“Whoa, congrats, girl! That’s so much more than I remember you doing!” Nataly said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“You know my lifts?” Alexandre asked, actually surprised.
“Yeah, when I started I used you as my goal. Huh, funny to think about this in retrospect, but I guess I just kept the habit of tracking what you lift.”
Alexandre felt both a weight lifted from her shoulders in that she didn’t have to pretend in front of Nataly, but also very aware that it meant she was probably completely clear on how much stronger she must have been compared to herself. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? And so she went for a second set at that same weight, knowing that it would be gruesome, but oh so worth it!
“Wow, look at those thighs, Alexandre! Reminds me of when I saw you back in the apartment after all those years! You really look great!” Nataly said, her voice bubbling with satisfaction.
“I kinda feel it’s lost the appeal now that I am competing against actual legs of steel, though!” Ale said, slapping Nataly’s relaxed tree trunk of a thigh, which shook slightly as the firm mass was slightly dislodged but refused to budge much. “I’m actually a bit afraid to ask how much you are leg pressing yourself…”
Nataly smiled, and just started adding plates to the machine. And then more plates. And more plates. By the time she had 700 pounds, Alexandre figured she might have been messing with her. And yet, there she went, sitting on the machine, lifting her leg up against the plate, and her thigh was on display for those around, a beefy appendage that made that huge stack of plates not seem so intimidating all of a sudden.
And yet, Alexandre was not quite ready for what Nataly did next. She started doing leg presses WITH ONLY HER LEFT LEG, managing an impressive 6 reps before she switched to her right leg, which exploded with an instant pump that made it look even more impressive, veins at full display as that mountain of weight yielded to her amazing power.
“THE FUCK WAS THAT?” Alexandre asked, making sure the weight was completely locked before placing a hand on Nataly’s thigh. It felt warm and hard,
“It seemed like you were pushing yourself, I figured I’d also try a bit… fuck if this wasn’t hard, but it was worth it…”
One of the guys at the gym just shouted from a nearby machine: “You get used to it, she’s been trying to upstage us for a while, and has done it to quite a few…”
And indeed that trend would persist as they progressed through several leg exercises - leg curls, abductors and adductors, squats… at each and every one, Nataly would surprise Alexandre, and she could swear that her legs grew in front of her very eyes as each muscle group got more pumped, to the point that she even looked a bit disproportional despite her large shoulders and arms. Not only that, but Alexandre was noticing how each individual group of muscles was so salient that Nataly seemed like her leg was somewhat uneven: huge bumps protruded from her knees, and at a glance might look like weird tumors… until you saw the rest of the leg, and suddenly it became clear that these pillars of power were just asserting themselves as capable of feats that would make Atlas blush.
But Nataly also pushed for Alexandre to put in the effort, and while she was still rather small compared to most women at this gym, her sheer enthusiasm always made her feel good. As she finished her own squats, Ale couldn’t help but notice that there was a real chance she might be one of the very few women who didn’t juice… or at the very least didn’t LOOK like it, given that she was fairly certain that Nataly hadn’t been injecting herself in secret. Not that she didn’t look like it, far from it, but she just knew the girl well enough that she probably wouldn’t even be able to find the drugs if she wanted to.
“Damn, I feel like I’m in tatters…” Alexandre moaned, feeling the results of all the effort.
“Well, I still need to do calves before I can finish my routine…” Nataly said, sounding quite decided that she wasn’t about to skimp on her last lift.
“Off we go, I guess…”
And as they approached the calf raise machine, there was a group of rowdy (and probably also ‘roided) men, cheering for each other as one of the big guys was grimacing on the end of his set.
“Hey, guys, are you going to take long there?” Nataly asked, seeming quite intimate with them by now.
“Why, you want to keep humiliating us? At least you could’ve brought your friend on arm day, when we still have a bit of a chance!”
“Ha! You wish, motherfucker!” Nataly said, surprising Alexandre at how she traded jabs with the dude so naturally.
The guys had the machine set at 600 pounds - which they clearly were struggling but managing. So once they finished, Nataly lowered it a bit to 575 pounds, which made them tease her:
“What, feeling off today, Nataly? Or are you trying to be nice to us because we have company?” the largest of them asked.
“Who said I am not going to humiliate you?” Nataly hit back, with that evil grin she saved for her competitive streaks. And once again, she pulled that trick, going into the machine, setting her shoulders against the pads, and provocatively raising one leg up, her toes pointing up behind her, as she somehow manage to do the most sensual calf raises Alexandre had ever witnessed: the slow and methodical raising of her hips made that single calf pump like a second heart-shaped organ, its two halves like the sides of a plump fruit begging to be bitten - the forbidden fruit that took all of Ale’s good sense not to just attack right there and then. And yet Nataly went up and down, up and down, her heel lifting and lowering and extending that beautiful leg - which mesmerized her roommate, but made all the large bodybuilders whoop and cheer.
“DAAAAAAAMN, Nat, you didn’t have to do us dirty like this!”
“Everyone’s gonna say we’ve been skipping leg day! Not fair!”
It was all in good fun as they teased her and egged her on, counting the reps and incentivizing her to pull those 12 reps - which, after the 8th, seemed like they were getting pretty hard. But she persisted, and then switched legs only to start over.
Alexandre was speechless. She just watched, incredulously with a slack jaw, which only made her stand out more from the bodybuilders - who were being especially loud.
“And THAT’S how it’s done, boys.” Nataly said, sweat forming on her face and under her hair as she took a deep breath.
After finishing another two sets, the crowd dispersed, but Alexandre was still in shock as Nataly just casually asked her how much weight she should set for her.
“I guess we earned ourselves a nice lunch - would you be okay if I made some lasagna? I figured something filling but easy…” Nataly said as they left the gym, bags in tow.
“Nataly, I’m still in shock… you really put some effort in those legs! I mean, I knew they were HUGE, but I didn’t even realize how powerful they are…”
“Heh! Thank you, that’s very nice. I certainly could use some massaging later, if you are into that?”
She very much was. But part of her was even more anxious to see what upper body day was going to look like…
After a very generous lasagna lunch, Nataly took up that massage offer, and laid down on her bed. But before Alexandre started, she decided to get a little bit more personal than usual - she still applied the massage oil over the rather plump appendages, but this time she took her sweet time contouring the shape of every muscle before she actually started kneading it. It was almost comical how bigger those legs were than her hands - even stretching her fingers as much as she could, she had no hope of completely encircling Nataly’s calves… let alone the enormous thighs.
Having properly oiled the flesh, she started with a brief relaxing foot massage, before using her thumbs to relieve the stress by working her way up the middle of Nataly’s calves. The giant winced and shook, it was clear that there was some pain in the process, but both knew it was worth it. Still, it was quite amazing for Alexandre even after all the dozens of times she went through the process, just how massive and hard those calves were. And even though her own legs were quite shapely and ripped, there was no comparison to just how pronounced the heart-shaped muscle stood out.
Her thumbs dug into the sinew, slowly unknotting the flesh and allowing it to relax. And it went from rock hard to a more malleable but still quite firm feel. And so she proceeded over the knee and arrived at her hamstrings and quads. It was almost intimidating, that upper leg really was comparable with her own torso in terms of sheer size - and would require quite a bit of time to cover. Not that she was complaining… she would probably enjoy this more than Nataly, she expected.
With a large smile, she hugged those thighs with one hand on each side, kneading the large piece of meat, trying very hard to get proper purchase. She massaged the hard muscle little by little, working it in such a way that it took quite a bit of effort for it to slowly soften as it relaxed under her lustful touch. She couldn’t resist anymore, and snuck a little lick on that marvellous hamstring, which made Nataly shudder and squirm. Having done that, Alexandre got her thumbs to work on those hamstrings, which were quite ticklish - Nataly started shaking, and that really made it hard for Ale to keep going. She was little more than a mosquito against those powerful legs - so she tried to be more gentle and slow, but eventually gave up on the back of that leg.
“Turn around”, she commanded, and Nataly promptly did as told. She still had her eyes closed, her breathing slow and she tried to relax. For Alexandre, however, it was hard not to get properly riled up by that magnificent physique. She started chopping with the side of her hand against the top of those thighs, trying to get some of those kinks taken care of before coming in with her fingertips. She put quite a bit of force, more so than she would use on anyone else - but the titanic body there required unique care.
With some regret, Alexandre started doing the final part of that massage session, working her way up from the knee, once again appreciating how those quads widened as she went up, and even as she thought a muscle could not get any bigger, it just kept going. Her hands started to get very fatigued, but she refused to buy a massage gun, because she would never delegate the fun of feeling those incredible muscles herself - and constantly surprising herself with the size, hardness and power of it.
“Hmmmmm… that really hit the spot!” Nataly mumbled, eyes still closed.
“I gotta say, I am not sure who enjoyed herself more here, babe.”
Nataly smiled, opening her eyes and lifting her torso, turning her legs in order to stand up.
“Maybe you should teach me some tricks so I can return the favor…”
“Nah, first off, I’m not sure I want those mighty fingers of yours used at full strength on me - and maybe I just want you haphazardly running your hands all over me instead of massaging me methodically and efficiently!” She winked, and Nataly just laughed.