Photographed by my Friend
by BurroGirl18 and Pan
Chapter 1
*hey mands,
germany is great. full of germans lol. nah it's not that bad. me and the boys have been going out a lot. wish you were here.
-dave*
When my boyfriend first got deployed, he'd been excited. I'd been excited for him, too - I mean, he wasn't going anywhere dangerous, and the pay was *incredible*. It was only six months, and when he got back...we'd sort of agreed that it would be a good time to get married.
I mean, it wasn't like an official *proposal* or anything, but...it wasn't *not* a proposal either, y'know?
We'd known it would be hard. We promised to Skype whenever we could, but between my studies, his shifts, and the time zones, it had been difficult. Eventually, we'd given up on video calling, and just stuck to texting and emails. Texting for short chats, for the hours we were both awake and available at the same time, email for more in-depth conversations.
But god, I hadn't realized how lonely it would be.
He'd been gone for just over two months - not even halfway through - when everything began.
I'd asked my friend Bert to come hang out, just for the company. Seriously, that was the intent; I just wanted someone to hang out with.
It was never meant to be anything more than that.
"Hey A," Bert said, as he stepped into my room. My name's Amanda, but he's called me 'A' since we were...6? Maybe even longer.
"Hey B," I replied. Yeah, it was a little dorky, but...well, so was he. It was hard not to get sucked into it sometimes, y'know?
Bert was wearing a T-shirt, and a pair of these cargo shorts with thousands of pockets. His camera was around his neck, as always. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd seen him without it.
I was dressed in gym shorts, and a shirt with a loose, deep side-cut. He could probably see my black lace bra through the sides, but I wasn't self-conscious about it. I mean, we were friends - we'd known each other since we were kids.
I had nothing to worry about, right?
As I gave him a hug hello, I noticed something hard pushing against my crotch. I sort of jumped back in shock, and glanced down - it was his camera.
Ugh. Two months without sex, and I was suddenly developing a dirty mind.
"You noticed!" he said, his face lighting up. Ignoring my confused expression, he launched into a long speech, sharing waaaay too many details about his equipment.
"I know what you're thinking," he said, picking it up and excitedly showing me the back. "Bert, you've always been a Nokia guy! But Sony have really knocked it out of the park this time - the MC556 has a bunch of features I've been wanting forever."
"You and your cameras," I smiled, sitting down on my bed, hoping my obvious disinterest would shut him up.
No such luck.
"Did you know they can make the lens self-stabilize *within the unit*?" he asked. I gave him nothing. He continued anyway. "It's not as good as a separate, dedicated stabilizer, of course, but the technology is just getting better and better..."
For the next few minutes, he continued sharing specific new features about the unit. I tried for a few minutes, but ultimately I just could not bring myself to care. Instead, my mind wandered as I glanced around my room.
It hadn't really changed that much since I was a kid, not really. I had a desk now, covered in verging-on-overdue homework, and my *My Little Pony* posters had been replaced by The Decemberists concert posters.
Other than that, we might as well have been eight years old again, playing with my Barbie dolls on the carpet. Bert hated me bringing that up.
I brought it up whenever I could.
"So..." I replied, when it seemed Camera Facts With Bert was starting to wind up. "What you're saying...is that this new toy of yours can take a sick new Instagram picture for me?"
Bert laughed at that, exposing the back of his throat. He's always been the funny one - it made me feel good when I could make him laugh.
"Yes, Amanda," he eventually replied. "Just like the Death Star could be used to 'dispose of your old couch', I think the Sony MC556 could 'take an Instagram picture' for you."
"Everyone's always so jealous of my social media pics," I said, crossing to the mirror and checking my makeup. "You're the best friend a girl could have."
"Thanks," he said, preening slightly at my words. "I mean, some subjects just photograph better than others..."
As I turned around, I thought I caught his eyes flicking down to my legs.
"You're making me blush," I said dryly. I must have been imagining it - I mean, I know I'm attractive, and I know that *he* knows I'm attractive, but...he's never looked at me that way before. We've always just been friends. Nothing more.
Ugh. I was way too hungry for attention. And David had only been gone for seventy-three days.
Not that I was counting.
"Blush away," he replied. "It'll come across great in the shots...and, of course, I can use photoshop to flatten the red curve a little, really bring out the color of your eyes."
He raised his camera, and pointed it at my face.
*Click.*
"While you're at it," I said, staring at the big black lens, "can you photoshop *me* some better curves?"
As soon as I said it, I wished I could suck the words back into my mouth. What was wrong with me? Flirting with my childhood friend - that was a new low.
Like, I know I have a great body. I know I do. I've never been one to suffer from poor self-esteem.
David once said that my butt could launch a cruise liner. I told him that it was Helen's face that launched all the ships, but he refused to believe me. "Pretty sure it was her butt," he'd joked.
I really missed him.
And it might have been shallow, but...I missed being told that I was hot.
Not that I, like, *needed* it. It was just nice to be complimented.
To my surprise, Bert lowered his camera and stared at my chest in response. But not in a pervy way, somehow - like a professional, sizing me up.
It made sense, I guess; he *is* a professional. Mostly weddings, but he's moving more into portraiture. It's part of why I make sure to voice my appreciation that he still takes my social media pics for free.
"Hmmm," he said. "I don't think you have anything to worry about in that regard."
I raised one eyebrow and shot him a glare, but he missed it. He just kept staring at my shirt.
You ever done that thing where you wait behind a door to scare someone, but they never come, so eventually you just come out and keep...living your life? Yeah, this was a little like that - he wasn't looking up, so I stopped glaring. His stare was lasting so long, I realized he must have been kidding.
Bert was always kidding around, so I figured this was no different.
"Yeah," I said, grabbing my tits through my shirt, weighing them with my hands. "I guess they're alright. But you know how boys are - the bigger, the better..."
He laughed at that, too. I was on a roll today.
"Besides," I continued, "I've gotta make sure that David remembers what he's missing. I don't want some German slut trying to seduce him..."
That was meant to be a joke, but...it had a weird ring of truth to it.
Don't get me wrong - I trusted David. I really did. He'd never even glanced at another woman, the whole time we were together. But...he'd been gone for two months. I'd seen what German girls looked like, and German porn is always the dirtiest. That couldn't be a coincidence, right?
In response, Bert picked up his camera, moved it to his eye, and took a picture.
Of my chest.
*Click.*
"Hey!
"Don't want David to forget why he loves you, do we?" he said with a wink.
"I was just kidding," I said, my blush returning. I knew I shouldn't have gotten into this. I felt like I was being disloyal, talking to Bert about my insecurities.
"Sorry." Bert scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Want me to delete it?"
"Yes," I should have immediately said. Yes was clearly the correct answer. Right?
But instead...
