STUFFED

Harlow

He's standing in front of the mirror as he tries to button up his dress pants.

It's the last pair that fit him, so they're his only hope. Or at least he thought they would fit him. He only got these a couple weeks ago so the fact that he's struggling to get the button to meet the hole is concerning. He also just had a pretty big meal this afternoon as well which probably didn't help... now that he's thinking about it, he's pretty much been gorging all day. It was Prom night and with graduation right around the corner the treats just seemed to be coming in by the truck load and of course he couldn't keep his hands off of them. One of his friends even received an edible arrangement from a family member overseas and when they said they wouldn't be able to finish it, he was the first to volunteer his stomach as extra storage.

Now he's standing here, in front of the mirror, unable to fasten his pants around that same edible arrangement, and those cookies, brownies, cupcakes... and everything else he's been eating over the last two weeks.

He makes a compromise and instead of closing the pants around his waist at his belly button, he slides them down a bit and buttons them up just underneath his belly. He releases the pants and watches as the waistline is engulfed by his gut. He makes eye contact with himself in the mirror and is surprised by how flushed his cheeks are. He's really out of shape.

He runs a hand through his hair and lets out a long breath before walking over to the closet and picking out a dress shirt.

He's relieved to find that the dress shirt closes much easier than the pants do. Once again he goes over to the mirror to assess the situation. He doesn't really want to tuck his shirt in but the way the tails hang out just makes the outfit look messy so he tucks them in. This accentuates how big his stomach is but he's going to have to live with it because it looks even worse untucked. He turns to the side and realizes it does the same thing to his love handles and the chunks of fat that sit on his lower back. Standing there for any longer isn't going to make his situation any better so he forces himself to leave the mirror.

He makes a mental note to not eat anything tonight otherwise these pants are going to rip; a promise that he knows he's not going to be able to keep.

For the most part, the house will set up itself; he just needs to be around to supervise the area and let people in through the front door. 

The DJ comes to the door and he watches as crates on wheels are rolled through the door. They ask him where to put everything and the sound system ends up being set up on the main floor.

The photographers arrive next and they're led to the backyard. They set up a huge backdrop and a couple other photo stations for the new grads to get their pictures taken in front of.  

Not long after, his close friends start to arrive.

Grayson grasps his hand when he walks through the front door, "Harlow, looks good man."

They all swivel their heads to look around the house. They've all been to his house before but the atmosphere is so cool with all the colored lights and the DJ warming up in the background.

"It feels like we're in a music video or something." says Quinn.

That was the perfect way to put it. Harlow finds himself looking around the room too, as if seeing it all for the first time with his friends; even though he's been here the entire day.

They haven't even made it to the kitchen yet and Harlow already has an open bag of chips in his hands. Grayson brought half a dozen for the party and he isn't too pleased that Harlow has already opened one and started devouring it but he knows there's nothing he can really do about it. Once Harlow has food in his hands, it's almost impossible to rip it away from him.