Chapter 24: Delicate

It was Monday afternoon when Belle and Lily walked into the house. They found me in the living room, seated on the couch while folding laundry and ordering everything into neat piles atop the coffee table. My three girlfriends and I had collectively started combining our dirty clothes into three different hampers in the laundry room: one for darks, one for lights, and one for delicates. We typically ran two loads of darks every week, and one load each for lights and delicates.

Today was a “delicates” load, which meant that I was folding and sorting the girls’ panties, bras, and nighties. I didn’t actually own anything delicate myself. Sam’s 36DD bras, Naimh’s 34DD bras, and Belle’s 32D bras were labeled and easy enough to sort. The panties were a little more difficult in that Sam’s and Naimh’s bubble butts were close enough in shape and size to make identifying their panties a bit of a challenge. But I’d become intimately familiar with their style choices, and Naimh wore thong panties often enough to make separating them a bit easier. There had only been one or two times I’d gotten them wrong.

Belle sauntered over to give me a sweet kiss, surveying the scene and glancing at Lily while sweeping her hand over the neat stacks of girls underwear on the coffee table. “See? This is real love.”

Lily giggled. “Should I start bringing my laundry over here as well?”

I shrugged and smiled like it was no big deal. “Sure, if you want.”

Lily then grinned. “Maybe I should bring over Eva’s laundry basket; force her to come over here to get her clothes back.”

“Please don’t,” I replied immediately with a weary sigh. It had been five days since Eva had last been in the house. I had hoped that her previous instance of shutting herself inside Mrs. Morris’s house and avoiding us entirely for a few days would’ve been the final time she ever went AWOL. But alas, running away and hiding seemed to be her modus operandi for dealing with this kind of situation. And I gave Lily a serious look, requesting, “Please don’t push her. She just needs some time to process. She came back on her own last time, and she’ll come back on her own this time as well. Eventually.”

“If you say so,” Belle muttered dubiously.

“I know so,” I stated certainly. “She knows we’re here. She’ll come back to us when she’s ready.”

Belle snorted. “You say that as if ‘we’ matter to her. If and when she comes back, it won’t be coming back to ‘us’. She’ll be coming back to you, Matty. You’re the only one in this house she actually cares about.”

“That’s not true.” I frowned. “You’re her friends, too.”

“Pssht,” Belle scoffed. “We’re the friends of the guy she’s crushing on - the girls she has to put up with in order to keep seeing the guy she’s crushing on.”

“Don’t say that,” Lily protested. “We’re her friends, too.”

“Hey, I’ve been more than willing to be friends with her,” Belle proclaimed. “But friendship is a two-way street and she’s still not exactly the type that pulls her own weight, you know?”

“She’s been better about interacting with the rest of us,” Lily insisted. “She’s been more open with us, she’s been a good listener, and she’s been making an effort to really be present.”

“As evidenced by the way she is ‘present’ here now, right?” Belle deadpanned, sweeping her hand again, this time in a wide semi-circle around the room. “And the way she’s been totally ‘present’ since last Wednesday.”

Lily frowned and turned to me. “It HAS been five days. That’s much longer than when she stayed away last time. And you still won’t tell us why she’s holed herself up in her room again.”

I pursed my lips and shook my head. “It’s not my pla--”

“--not your place to spill Eva’s secrets, right, right. We’ve heard this before.” Belle finished for me with a sigh. She folded her arms across her chest. “But if you really believe Eva is part of The BTC, then a certain amount of sharing should be expected. You used to tell me everything about your relationships with Sam, with Neevie, with Alice, Mari, and Zofi. You didn’t hold back the details about them. And even after you and I had our little ... issue ... you still told Alice everything, didn’t you?”

I furrowed my eyebrows and thought back. “Huh ... that’s a good point.”

“None of us were mad at you about that. We all knew the score. We all knew the intimate details would get shared, because that’s what good friends do. They share. It’s not ‘spilling secrets’ if it’s good friends communicating what needs to be communicated in order to benefit everyone in the long run. When you and Sam had your problems, you talked to me, Alice, and Mari and we helped you work things out, while Sam talked to Zofi and even Neevie. Sam’s friends did whatever they could to help Sam’s relationship with you - without jealousy - and to help her relationships with the rest of us. That’s what real friends DO.”

Lily sighed. “We know Eva matters to you. She matters to me. Belle might be in a ‘take her or leave her’ kind of mood, but she knows Eva matters to you, and for that reason alone you know she’ll do whatever she can to help make the situation better, right B?”

Belle nodded. “Right.”

“And I’m not helping make the situation any better by withholding the details from you guys.” I mused on that and nodded before arching an eyebrow at Belle. “If you had this kind of reasoning in your back pocket the whole time, why are you just telling me this now?”

My little pixie shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe I thought she’d come back here this afternoon to play video games and maybe jump on your boner on her own, just like last time. Sometimes it’s best to let a girl figure out her shit on her own. But clearly whatever’s going on is a bigger deal than we thought. The time for giving Eva space has passed. If you really want to keep her in your life - if you want her to truly be BTC - then it’s time for us to go get her back.”

I reached up, took Belle’s hand, and drew her into my lap. Wrapping her up in a fierce hug, I squeezed her tightly and then pecked her cheek. “Thanks, B.”

“Don’t thank me until we’ve figured out how to get through to her... together.” Belle grinned and rubbed her hands together, clearly eager to get to the juicy stuff. “Now start from the beginning.”

“I can’t believe you got into Eva’s ass before mine,” Lily muttered with her arms crossed over her chest, shaking her head and scowling a bit. She glared at Belle, informing her best friend, “I’m moving past the pink warm-up plugs and moving on to the big silver one.”

“You said it wasn’t a competition,” Belle muttered.

“I said that before I knew Eva was winning,” Lily shot back.

Belle sighed and shook her head. “I’m just trying to spare you the pain I went through. You said the fourth pink plug was still really, really uncomfortable, and you KNOW Matty’s thicker than that.”

“I can take it,” Lily insisted before shooting me a pouty frown. “We’ll make it work, won’t we?”

“We will,” I assured her.

“Maybe now?” she asked brightly.

I frowned. “Continually jumping right into a sex act immediately upon learning Eva did it first isn’t gonna reassure me you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

“I know, I know.”

“We’ll make it work eventually,” I reassured her. “It really isn’t a competition. You’re still pretty small. And aren’t we supposed to be talking about Eva’s current emotional state?”

“We’re supposed to be talking about her saying ‘I love you’ and then retracting it immediately,” Naimh pointed out.

My Head Girlfriend had arrived only a few minutes after I’d started giving Belle and Lily ‘the details’. She sat with me on one couch while Belle and Lily sat on the other couch at a ninety-degree angle to ours. And ever since Naimh’s arrival, the three of them had been deconstructing every interaction I’d had with Eva leading up to her storming out last Wednesday while I continued folding the laundry and making neat stacks atop the coffee table.

My Irish redhead’s emerald-green eyes then lit up as she added, “And we’re specifically supposed to be talking about her saying, ‘You’re not him,’ whoever ‘him’ turns out to be.”

At Naimh’s expectant look, Lily raised her hands and shook her head. “I already told you: I have no idea who ‘him’ is. I know nothing of Eva’s life back on the island. Nothing about boyfriends or loved ones or anything like that. All I’ve got is that her dad said she can be a bit of an antisocial loner, and that he’d appreciate me keeping tabs on her and helping Eva get out and about.”

“You did that. You helped her find a group of friends,” I confirmed. “And I’m trying to help ensure she keeps that group of friends.”

“He’s gotta be an ex-boyfriend of some kind,” Belle stated firmly, switching back to the original subject. “Maybe the high school sweetheart she loved back in Kaua’i, didn’t want to leave him, but was forced to break up with him because she had to come to school here?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Naimh interjected, turning her attention to Lily. “You said you’ve never seen her make phone calls back home or mentioned any ex-boyfriend. I’ve been in that exact situation b’fore, and when I first left Conor behind, I called him all the time.”

“Maybe he’s dead,” Belle suggested.

“Aww, don’t go there.” Lily protested. “Just because I’ve never seen Eva make a call to her ex-boyfriend doesn’t mean she’s never made a call. There’ve been plenty of times that I was over here with you guys while she was back at Mrs. Morris’s house, not to mention the entire past five days. She may have simply limited those phone calls to times when I wasn’t around.”

The redhead’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps. She’s secretive enough about her personal life to have kept any such contact hidden. But I think it’s more likely they dinna have a good breakup and they’re not in contact anymore. Eva strikes me as the kind of girl who feels lost and alone, not the kind of girl with a special someone back in Hawaii she keeps in touch with. And, of course, she probably wouldn’t be borrowing our boyfriend if she were secretly mooning over her ex.”

“Makes sense,” Belle agreed before looking over at Lily. “Wait, doesn’t she have family photos up in your room? Any photographs of guys her age?”

“You’ve been in my room.” Lily gestured back at Belle.

“But I wasn’t investigating Eva’s photos at the time.”

“She’s got a few photos of herself and her dad, but that’s it,” Lily explained with a shrug.

“She only has a dad, right?” Naimh asked. “No mom or grandparents or extended family to keep in touch with?”

“Her mom died when she was little,” Lily explained. “I’ve asked about aunties, uncles, and cousins - because, like, everybody in Hawai’i has lots of aunties and uncles and cousins - but nope: just the two of them.”

“I know how that feels,” Belle muttered while nodding slowly. She then raised her head to glance at me while asking, “No boy next door she grew up with, fell in love with, and wants to stay by his side for the rest of her life?”

I gave Belle a knowing smile and reached out to rub her hand that was within my reach atop the other couch’s armrest.

“I suppose it’s not important the nature of how Eva came to love this guy,” Naimh stated with a nod. “What’s important is that there WAS some special guy who was in Eva’s life, that she’s probably been projecting some of her feelings for him onto Matty, and that she’s forcing herself to realize that Matty’s not him.”

“Sound familiar?” Belle asked with a teasing smirk.

Naimh shrugged and squeezed my leg. “Conor and I were just children, and I got over him pretty quick. Matty knows I love him for who he is, and not as a replacement Conor. Right, Matty?”

I smiled warmly and leaned in to give my Head Girlfriend a sweet kiss in lieu of a verbal response.

Naimh smiled after and then returned her attention to the two girls on the other couch. “But Eva’s ex? I have no idea how strong her relationship with him must’ve been.”

“Let’s move past the specific guy for a minute,” Lily suggested, looking thoughtful, “and focus on Eva’s feelings. Let’s try to understand why she’s approaching her relationship with Matty in this way.”

“She’s doing what you said you’d be doing before all of this falling-in-love stuff happened,” Belle suggested. “She’s letting Matty take care of her sexual needs between classes without all the hassles of dating or romance.”

“It’s not that simple,” Naimh pronounced while shaking her head. “If that’s all she wanted, she could’ve been doing that from the first week of school the way you kept pimping him out.”

“Well, not the first week of school,” Lily disputed. “Matty was definitely pushing back and insisting he didn’t want to complicate our relationships.”

“True,” Belle sighed wearily. “All I wanted to do was watch him pin your nubile, naked bodies down and shower you with orgasm after orgasm until he finally splooged a massive load deep inside your tasty twats for me to slurp out. But noooo ... He had to play hard to get. And I still haven’t gotten to see you pork Eva yet, dangit!”

That last bit Belle directed at me, an exaggerated look of mock(?) annoyance on her face before she giggled and cracked a smile.

“Seriously, though,” Naimh interjected while rubbing my leg. “Go over again how you two hooked up the first time.”

I shrugged. “Like I said before: it started like any other random afternoon playing video games. She did seem more tired and stressed out than usual, and I was trying to pay closer attention to her emotional state given that she’d broken down crying in my arms at the beach the last time we’d seen each other.”

“Yeah, that part,” Naimh indicated, leaning forward. “Sam was trying to batter down Eva’s walls and ordered her to sit down and talk to you guys. But you sensed that she needed a hug after she walked away, right? So you caught up and hugged her, and she just burst into tears.”

“Pretty much,” I confirmed.

“That was probably the first time anyone had ever hugged her since she’d arrived in Berkeley, right?” Naimh queried.

“Actually...” I waggled my head and collected my thoughts. “The day after that big party in the hills, Eva and I had a long conversation after--”

“Oh, I remember! She fell asleep on you during the massage!” Lily interjected excitedly. “She had a wicked hangover, and she fell asleep in your arms. You two looked soooo adorable.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know if that technically counts as a ‘hug’ or not.”

“It definitely counts,” Lily pronounced.

“But that time, you and Eva made an agreement to just be friends and never hook up,” Naimh pointed out. “What was so different about the second time? The way you explained it before, the two of you were just talking about how she felt like she didn’t fit in with the rest of The BTC, she started crying about feeling like she didn’t fit in because she was ‘homo’ ... uh, ‘hama’...”

“Hammajang,” Lily finished for her. “It basically means ‘all messed up’. She felt like she didn’t fit in.”

“Thank you.” Naimh smiled at Lily before returning her attention to me. “You hugged her, she broke down crying again, and the next thing you knew, she was kissing you.”

I shrugged. “I told her I’d help her get through it. I told her ... huh.”

Belle arched an eyebrow. “You told her, ‘huh’?”

I rolled my eyes. “I just remembered: she keyed in on a particular phrase that day. I asked if she wanted to play multiplayer, but she said she’d rather play co-op with me instead of against me. So I offered her a fist bump and said it would be the two of us against the world. And then later on, after she’d been crying in my arms, I repeated the phrase about it being the two of us against the world, she repeated the phrase back to ME, and THEN she kissed me.”

The three girls exchanged looks with each other.

“Definitely a lost love,” Belle pronounced, fixing her gaze on me. “That’s exactly how I always felt about you, and how you’ve always made me feel like you had my back. No matter what else happened in our lives, you were my ‘Ride or Die’: the two of us against the world. That’s why it crushed me so much when you took away my key.”

“We should find this guy and figure out what happened to him,” Lily suggested. “I wanna know what happened to him. Don’t you girls wanna know what happened to him?”

“That’s a good idea,” Naimh agreed.

I made a face and spoke up, “I don’t like the idea of snooping around Eva’s past behind her back.”

“I wouldn’t be snooping,” Lily protested. “Eva’s dad already has me reporting back to him what she’s up to. It would be as simple as me asking him if there was an ex-boyfriend she left behind and is still pining over or anything like that.”

I pursed my lips. “Did it ever occur to you to ask why he’s having you report back to him? Is he concerned for her safety? For her mental wellbeing? I’d like to think that he wouldn’t have sent his daughter a few thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean without support if he had any real psychological concerns.”

Lily shrugged. “He just said that she’s a loner by nature and would stay holed up in her room by herself if left to her own devices. He wasn’t wrong about that, and I never really asked for any details. Given that Eva was being a good sport about hanging out with us for the most part, I never thought to pry any further.”

“Didn’t you say your parents knew each other? And that’s how you two ended up roommates?” Naimh asked. “Have you asked them what they know about Eva?”

Lily shrugged. “I did ask my parents about her when they told me she was going to be my new roommate, but they couldn’t give me any information other than that she was from Hanalei. My family’s in Poipu. And my parents were never tight with her dad or anything. Friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend kine ting. But I’ll ask her dad directly the next time I talk to him. For one thing, I’m gonna have to say she’s holed herself up in our room for the past five days, y’know?”

“And what are you gonna say when he asks if you know why she’s holed herself up in her room?” Naimh queried.

“The truth.” Lily grinned.

“The truth?” I asked, mildly worried.

“Relax.” Lily laughed and gave me a reassuring smile. “I’m not gonna mention you by name or anything. I’m just gonna tell him Eva met up with a boy, but something must’ve gone wrong, so now she’s hiding in her room, and I need to know more information so I can help her. He seems to be a really caring dad. I’m sure he’ll tell me what I need to know.”

“I hope so,” Naimh stated with a sigh, looking genuinely worried. “For her sake.”

The next morning, I thrust forward a final time, grunting my orgasm into my girlfriend’s ear as a quart of spunk flowed out of me and into her sucking pussy. She dug her heels into my naked ass, tightening her arms around my back to pull me deeper as she felt the cum flowing out of my body to crash against her insides like waves cresting on the beach. The first wave would start receding only to be met by the second coming forth, and both our bodies twitched and humped together as I finished filling her up with my jism.

And then I collapsed, my limp body crushing her chest while she wrapped all four limbs around me to feel my heavy weight press her down.

For a long while, we both basked in the afterglow of our spectacular orgasms. For a long while, we both felt warmly cocooned in our own little bubble where the outside world and the complications it would bring simply didn’t exist. But gradually, our breathing returned to normal. And gradually, we both became aware of all the little things that needed to be managed in our lives: things like attending classes, cleaning, cooking, paying rent checks, buying groceries, paying utility bills, and ... oh, yeah, interpersonal relationships.

But even if I couldn’t ignore thinking about all those little things forever, I chose not to worry about all of them just yet. For now, I raised my head so that I could stare down into the sparkling emerald-green eyes of someone who wasn’t merely the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen, but also the most gorgeous thing I’d ever loved. So I told her that, plain and simple.

“I love you, Neevie: the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever loved.”

I felt her heartbeat flutter beneath my chest, and her arms and legs tightened around my body just a little bit more. And she gave me a beaming smile while tracing the tips of her fingers down the side of my face in a silky-smooth caress before sliding her hand to the back of my head.

“I love you, Matty: the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever loved,” she told me with heartfelt sincerity. And then she pulled my head down to hers for a supremely passionate kiss.

And wouldn’t you know it? I never really went soft inside her. One minute, we were making out like schoolkids in love (which we were). The next minute, my randy redhead clenched her inner muscles around my embedded cock and realized she had a workable boner to ... uh, “work with”. And she was quick to take advantage by hooking her ankles behind my calves and using the leverage to start fucking herself up at me.

Five minutes later, I thrust forward a final time (again), grunting my orgasm into my girlfriend’s ear (again) as another quart of spunk flowed out of me and into her already saturated pussy. I collapsed (again), my limp body crushing her chest while she wrapped all four limbs around me to feel my heavy weight press her down (again).

And it felt just as great as the first time.

My Head Girlfriend and I eventually got out of bed and started our regular Tuesday morning routines to get ready to deal with all those “little things” I’d chosen not to worry about earlier. Naimh and I headed down the stairs together, but while she went into the downstairs bathroom to freshen up, I went straight into the kitchen.

Having heard us coming down the creaky stair treads in this old Victorian-style house, Sam turned away from the gas range and greeted me warmly, “Morning, Matty!”

My ex-Head Girlfriend (but still girlfriend) was smartly dressed for class in a blood-red blouse and a fitted black suit with subtle gray pinstripes. She opened her arms to me, and we came together for a fierce kiss that put some fresh starch into my dick, despite having already been discharged twice so recently. Grateful for any opportunity to get my hands onto her, I grabbed meaty handfuls of my busty blonde’s bubble butt and lifted her off the floor. She pulled her face off of mine to squeal excitedly and then laughed for a moment, but I didn’t set her back down onto her feet. Indeed, I kept her aloft until she started kissing me again, and we made out hot and heavy until my arms finally started to burn and I set her back down on the floor.

“Wow!” Sam exclaimed in mild surprise at the intensity of my fervor. “If I hadn’t heard you and Neevie banging up a storm this morning... twice ... I’d have thought you were desperately horny after not getting off for far too long.”

“I haven’t gotten off in far too long ... with you, at least.”

Sam smirked. “You buried yourself deep inside me Sunday morning and filled me up so much I thought it might start leaking outta my ears.”

“Exactly. Sunday morning? Far too long.”

Sam giggled and nuzzled her nose against mine before giving me a quick kiss. “Thank you for making me feel wanted. But seriously, it’s a Tuesday morning. I need to run.”

I sighed, rubbed her ass, and nodded my understanding. I knew Sam was walking a high-wire tightrope trying to balance her overscheduled academic, social, and romantic lives. Giving up her Head Girlfriend responsibilities did appear to have relieved some of her stress, and she seemed genuinely happier and more relaxed in the time that she spent with us. Her improved mood came with a cost, though, as the amount of time she spent with us kept dropping and dropping.

I’ve already mentioned Sam missing a couple of Friday “BTC Nights” in a row, crashing overnight with Adeline on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and then staying with her Debate Team Saturday night instead of coming home in time for my planned Chez Panisse date. But she DID at least keep her promise to come sleep with me and Naimh on Saturday night.

I’d gotten to fall asleep with both girlfriends in my arms, and then I got to wake up Sam Sunday morning in our special way. Naimh slipped out of bed to give me and my blonde bombshell some one-on-one time, which was nice. And in the end I buried myself deep inside Sam and filled her up so much she thought it might start leaking out of her ears and all that. But now she was back in “Weekday Sam” mode, and that was that.

One certainly couldn’t argue that Sam was ignoring me or anything. It was simply clear that she had other priorities she needed to attend to, she believed I would always be there for her when she needed me, and I reinforced that belief by assuring her I was just fine.

Which I was.

Just fine.

Because I loved her and I’d always known what I was getting myself into.

What made it easy to feel “fine” was the love and attention I received from my new Head Girlfriend. Naimh was ever-affectionate, ever-horny, and ever-available. She spent most nights with me, but not all, going out of her way to ensure that Belle, Lily, Sam, and even Eva got enough facetime with me. But not even Naimh’s extra-awesomeness could wholly make up for Sam’s absences.

I missed Sam’s presence in my life.

I missed having her in my arms.

But now it was Tuesday: a weekday. And Sam needed to run.

Putting on the face of an ever-loving, ever-understanding, ever-loyal boyfriend, I smiled and took the spatula from my busty blonde girlfriend’s hand. “I’ll finish brekkie. You go on ahead.”

Sam pecked my lips and then pecked my cheek, saying, “Love you, Matty.”

“Love you too,” I replied as she collected her bag and then started for the door. A minute later, as I heard her open the front door to leave, I called out as well, “I’ll love you forever!”

I must’ve been too late though, because the only sound I heard in reply was that of the door closing shut.

I knew Sam loved me and always would.

I didn’t need her to say it out loud all the time or anything.

She’d been in a hurry to get out the door, that was all. She’d either not heard me, or if she did, she’d probably replied in a way that her voice simply didn’t carry all the way back to where I stood in the kitchen. So really, there was nothing to get my panties in a twist about, and yes I mean the word ‘panties’ because getting all angsty about a stupid little nothing like whether or not Sam had called back that she loved me too was the kind of shit an insecure little girl craving attention would do.

And I wasn’t an insecure little girl craving attention. I got plenty of attention, as evidenced by the way my bodaciously beautiful Irish Head Girlfriend came bounding into the kitchen, crushed her buxom boobs into my chest, and planted a fierce kiss on me while crooning into my ear how she could still feel both of my loads leaking into her panties and how she intended to sneak little tastes of my cum throughout the day. Minutes after that, Belle and Lily came downstairs and likewise bounced up to me for boob-squishing hugs and kisses and crotch-fondling and ass-grabbing and all that. So really, there was no reason to act like an attention-starved little girl.

I was fine.

Just fine.

Because I loved Sam and I’d always known what I was getting myself into.

After breakfast was over, Naimh and Lily both needed to get going to their morning classes. Belle and I assured them we could take care of the dirty dishes, and the other two headed off to campus together.

There were frying pans to clean and dishes to put away, so for the next two minutes, Belle and I puttered around the dining room and kitchen on autopilot, working in utter silence without the need to chit-chat. I parked myself at the sink soaking the frying pans and doing the dishes while Belle finished bringing in everything from the dining table. There was no particular need to wash everything by hand, so I really just rinsed off the big chunks and then neatly piled everything in the sink.

When I turned around though, I realized that I was alone in the kitchen. Belle was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t like she needed to be in the kitchen - all of the dishes had already been brought in - but she usually still stuck around just to chat with me, always cognizant of maximizing what little time we ever had one-on-one.