Their lips met, and a thousand anxieties exploded in Grace’s head.

(This is stupid. Oh god what is he going to say? What if he reacts badly? What if he laughs? What if he tells everyone? What if–)

Pearce returned the kiss, leaning into it, reaching up to cup the back of Grace’s head with his hand. They embraced on the couch, bodies pressed against one another, making the kiss last. Once they pulled apart, once they broke the spell, they’d have to talk about this, but for as long as their lips touched–

Click.

The front door lock turned, and the two of them broke apart like a pair of magnets with opposed fields. With a whole pillow’s worth of spare bulk crammed between her legs, Grace nearly toppled off the couch, while Pearce sat up so straight he looked like he belonged in a prep school.

The door opened, and Melody waltzed in, some girl on her arm. “Hiii,” she said, drawing out the greeting. “This is Nina.”

Nina put a hand to her mouth, tittering. “You must be Grace! Why’re you wearing that?”

Grace’s eyes widened, but before she could explain, Nina’s titters broke into giggles.

“I’m just joking,” she explained. “Melody told me about the bet.”

Grace was so flustered she didn’t even remember to blush, she just nodded, trying to explain what they were doing that didn’t involve lip contact. “Yeah, I–this is Pearce. We were just sitting here–um, we were going to watch TV, that is.”

“We were going to watch a movie,” Melody said. “Were you turned on?”

“Wh-what?” Grace asked, her eyes widening.

“What were you going to turn on?” Melody repeated. “Or were you just planning on watching ‘something’?”

“Oh, whatever,” Pearce said, underlining Grace’s comments with his own defense. “We weren’t doing anything in particular. Just sitting here. Thinking about TV.”

“We’ll give you two privacy,” Grace added. “So you can watch the movie together.”

“It’s okay,” Nina added in a soft voice. “There’s room on the couch, we can share. Have you watched Redline?”

Grace shook her head. And, stupidly, said, “I’ve been meaning to check it out.”

“Then scoot over!”

And that’s how she ended up pressed right up against Pearce, the two of them so close she could feel his pulse, utterly unable to talk about what had just happened.

Grace should’ve just excused herself. Said, ‘I have work to go do’, or invented some other excuse, but paranoia told her that if she said that, Melody would know what was up. Maybe Pearce could come up with something better–but as every moment passed, the awkwardness of coming up with a reason to leave grew, and by the time Nina had queued up the movie on their TV, Grace felt utterly trapped.

She tried to communicate with Pearce via anxious glances, but if he got her messages, his replies didn’t translate.

(Is he–does he like me?) she thought. (Why did I do that? What does this mean for us?)

Pearce sat stiffly next to her, trying to keep to himself, but as Nina and Melody spread out on the couch, that became increasingly difficult. Grace couldn’t close her legs on account of the waddle-inducing onesie she’d been zipped into, and she couldn’t help but be acutely aware of every point where she found herself touching Pearce, her leg against his, their arms touching, their fingers brushing against each other…

An eternity passed. Every second, a thousand questions rolled through her mind. Every second, she feared Pearce might say something stupid and reveal what they’d done. Moments stretched on into an endless stream where time had no hold or meaning.

The opening credits finished playing.

The lovebirds, Melody and Nina were only half watching the film, as interested in each other as in the narrative and animation playing out, but now anxiety had paralyzed Grace to the point that she couldn’t even take care of their distraction. They were trapped, caught–

“Grace and I need to go,” Pearce said, cutting in.

Melody barely spared them a glance and a shrug. “Sure.”

“It’s just, I just realized it’s been a while since she’s eaten because of her meeting, and I don’t want to get in trouble–plus if she…” Pearce started, before realizing that not a soul in the room actually cared about his excuse. He cleared his throat, got to his feet, and helped Grace up.

Gratefully, she waddled after him, out of the living room and upstairs.

Once they’d evacuated to his room, Grace whispered, “Thank you.”

“So…” Pearce said, looking at her. “Do we want to talk?”

She rubbed at the back of her neck. “That was stupid, I–I don’t know.”

He looked away, and both of them avoided eye contact for a long moment.

“I just–you were saying you cared about me,” Grace said. “And I think…I don’t know. I liked that.”

Glancing back at the door, Pearce searched for his own words. “I liked it too, I guess.”

They both stood there a while longer.

Finally, Grace said, “I…I have work to do. And I need to think about this.”

“Do you want to change first?” Pearce asked, uncertainly.

The farthest thing from Grace’s mind was the bet; rigging the moment to her advantage didn’t even occur to her. “I…yeah. Probably, I’m going to leak if I don’t.”

He nodded, gesturing to the changing mat in his room, laid out on the floor by his bed. “Okay…um. I guess go lie down.”

She waddled over, obeying, holding her arms over her chest while Pearce retrieved the changing supplies. He knelt by her side a moment later, with a diaper, powder, and cream in hand, setting them all aside.

“Oh,” he said, looking down at her. “I–my bad. I need you to sit up, this onesie doesn’t have snaps.”

She obeyed, blushing. He’d done this dozens of times now, but this felt different, more personal, as he unzipped her onesie. Nudity no longer felt perfunctory–as he pulled the sleeves away from her body and down her chest, she felt acutely exposed and moved to cover her breasts. She had to lie back as he pulled the onesie off completely, freeing her of the pillowy, waddle-inducing bulk, but leaving her naked save for the sagging diaper she’d saturated to fullness.

“Are you cold?” Pearce asked, scooting down so that he knelt by her waist. “Do you…want a blanket or something?”

Grace shook her head. “No, just…um. Don’t take your time?”

He nodded, popping the tapes on her diaper and peeling it away, leaving her utterly naked and exposed. Again, something she’d experienced many times, but now his touch and her completely exposed state made her shudder and flush.

Pearce did as she asked and didn’t waste any time, wiping her down thoroughly and efficiently, cleaning away any stale pee residue from her thighs and between her legs. He dusted powder in a thin, pale sheet, and finally slid the fresh diaper underneath her, taping it up.

“Do you want just a normal onesie?” he asked.

She nodded, struggling to find precise words, and he got up to get her different clothes from his closet. He brought back a baby blue onesie with white frills around the leg holes and sleeves, one of the more mundane options from his suite of clothes intended to humiliate her.

Grace lifted her arms so he could pull the garment over her, then lifted her freshly pampered butt off the ground so he could reach down and do the snaps. She felt his touch through the thick padding, and her anxiety spiked again.

Fully dressed, she sat back. Her heart pounded far more than felt reasonable given the circumstances, and she mentally scolded her body for having such a reaction.

“Are you okay?” Pearce asked.

She nodded. “Are you?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“I’m…look, I’m sorry,” Grace said. “I wasn’t thinking, it was just impulsive, and now we’re both stressed and it’s a whole thing, and I shouldn’t have put you in this situation but I did, and–”

Pearce kissed her.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but that moment of shock vanished in an instant, replaced with the warmth of his lips, the satisfaction melting out into her. When they met, her stress vanished with her fear, and it was just the two of them.

She wrapped her arms around his back, pulling herself close, feeling her way through the kiss. It was less anxious than the first, more explorative, curious, learning how he tasted when they were together.

After an infinite heartbeat, they separated just far enough to breathe, and she saw his smile by how his cheeks lifted. “There,” he whispered. “Now we’re even, and you can stop apologizing.”

“Pearce, I…” she started. Words failed.

She kissed him again, relishing the fireworks.

When they separated once more, she began, “Did this surprise you as much as it did me?”

“I didn’t…” he said, leaning back against his bed. “Well…”

He kissed her again, another lingering moment of passion where thoughts and fears needed not apply.

“We’re going to have to have a real conversation eventually,” she said as they pulled apart.

“Maybe,” he said, exhaling in a not-quite laugh. “Only if we stop.”

Moving up onto him, sitting on his legs, Grace took his face in her hands. “Then let’s not stop. I don’t want to deal with this, I just want this.”

No more separation, no more breaks. Their bodies pressed close, she kissed him, and he kissed her, and at least in that moment, they were happy together.