Disclaimers: Any and all characters in this story partaking in sexual stuff are 18 or older. Everything about this story is 100% fictional. If you think you know anyone named here, it's purely coincidental.
Special thanks to Kenjisato for editing/proof reading & Volunteer_ for story/character development!
This story is a slow burn, so if you are in a hurry, this probably isn't the story for you. Please comment and let me know how this story made you feel as well as if you would like me to write more of this storyline.
The Accident: Part I
Why is it that the one day a week Peter had to sleep in, he woke up before his alarm normally would go off on a workday? Unfortunately, he was the kind of person that once he was up, he couldn't go back to sleep. Peter instinctively grabbed his phone. He checked his work email, this being the most instinctive thing to do once the phone was in his hand.
Sunny skies, mai tais, and minimal clothing. Peter was very much looking forward to the upcoming couple's trip. He and Julie, his girlfriend of the last year and a half, had been off lately. Their time together felt flat. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but they weren't connecting. To make it worse, every time he tried to bring it up recently, she would change the subject and start talking about mundane topics, like all the things on her to-do list. He was hoping that this trip away would rekindle their connection.
The part about the trip that worried him the most was that what started out as a couple's trip, with just him and Julie along with their couple friends, Rob and Justine, had ballooned into more of a friends trip with a mix of singles and couples. Now there was eleven people going, and he wouldn't be surprised that more didn't join in the few days left before they left. Peter worried they wouldn't have time to connect as a couple, just the two of them. He felt they were basically just picking up their friend group from here in Vancouver and moving it to Hawaii--and he just knew that the dynamic would most likely be the same as here.
He was snapped out of his mental fog by the ping of a text.
"Up for an adventure today?" he read in the message preview.
It was a text from Katie, his forever friend. They were born four days apart. They had been in each other's lives from before they had any memory. Their parents had met in some newborn support group, when Katie's parents moved to town a week after she was born. They moved into a house just down the street. Their families did everything together. To say Katie was a fixture in his life was an understatement. Katie, like the large maple tree out in the front yard, had just always been there. Furthermore, Peter, being an only child, considered Katie a de facto sibling.
"Um, always. What did you have in mind?" he replied.
"How does flinging yourself down a mountain at high speed almost out of control sound to you?"
"Fucking insane, but I'm game."
"I have two vouchers for mountain biking at Whistler that expire at the end of the month, and need to use them," she stated.
"Wow, sounds fun. I'm in," he replied.
"I knew you would be. It opens at ten, but I figure if we get going soon, we can get there by noon and we'd still have hours left in the day."
Katie had always been the adventurous one. Peter was naturally more reserved, but continually appreciated her pushing him in ways he wouldn't otherwise feel compelled to go in. In the fourth grade, she got him to take the bus downtown by themselves to go ice skating. In middle school, she got him to go to Montreal on a school trip. In high school, they drove themselves to Sun Peaks ski area and had the best time skiing and trying to keep warm, sleeping in the car. She was always willing to put lots of energy into getting out in the world, and he was happy to be dragged along by her coattails.
He had missed their adventures post high school. While both stayed in British Columbia, they had gone to separate universities. They were only about an hour away from each other, so they were able to stay in touch and see each other on holidays and breaks. But it wasn't the same as when they lived just a few houses away.
Peter had come to realize how important proximity was to a friendship. About a year ago, Peter moved back in with his parents in their mother-in-law basement apartment to save on rent. Katie had shared an apartment with two friends downtown. Katie had moved back in with her parents a few weeks ago, after the startup she was involved with folded suddenly. Peter enjoyed having her back around, especially since lately, Julie seemed to be not available. It gave him someone to talk to and pass the time with. Plus, they always seemed to be on some adventure or another, that Katie schemed up.
_____
It was a beautiful day and the drive up to Whistler always seemed to prove amazing. They listened to their shared playlist, not caring that their singing would probably make dogs howl. After finishing a song that had to be at least ten years old by Peter's recollection, Katie turned down the volume.
"Remember that time in the seventh grade when we were running to catch the bus and the stupid toga I had made out of a bedsheet for that Greek project caught on the corner of the fence?" she asked.
"How could I forget? It spun you right around," Peter recalled, laughing.
"It broke the safety pin off and we couldn't find it. And the bus was coming down the street," Katie added.
"I felt so bad for you. I remember you trying to figure out how to tuck the sheet in, to get it to stay up."
"I don't know what I thought was going to hold anything up. I was such a late bloomer. I didn't get these beauties until very end of high school," Katie said, as she used her right hand to cup her right breast, while she kept her left hand on the steering wheel.
They had both filled out since then. Peter was the scrawny kid until he shot up during the summer between freshman and sophomore year. Now, at six-foot-one-inch tall, Peter was not only taller than her five-foot-eight-inches," but he had also put on some muscle.
"Yeah, what you now, an A cup?" Peter joked, looking her over pretending to size her up.
The hand that was holding her breast balled into a fist and socked Peter directly in the arm.
"Ouch!" he yelped.
"I'll have you know this is C-cup material I'm working with over here," she said, pointing back and forth across her chest, laughing.
Peter let out a low, joking whistle. "Is that with or without stuffing your bra with tissues?" he said, laughing out the last part of his sentence.
Katie punched him again, but just smiled looking forward while driving. He watched her naturally loose, curly brunette hair swirling slightly off her shoulders from the breeze of the car's air conditioning.
"Hey, don't worry, you could still fill out," he paused for dramatic effect, "but then I'd have to sell my stock in Kleenex." Peter burst into a snort laugh.
"Oh, you're a real comedian, you should try standup. At twenty-seven, I think this is as good as they are going to get. And besides, I get lots of compliments, buddy, so your approval is not required." Katie looked over at him, as she said this last bit with confident smugness.
"Speaking of actual small tits, how's things with Julie, anyways?" Katie asked.
"Ow, that hurt worse than your punch. Why not just kick me in the balls while you are at it?" Peter said.
Katie smiled satisfactorily. "Hard to hit a target that small," she said, with a glance and a flash of a smile. Now it was her turn to rib Peter a little. "If you two get married, you both should change your last name to Small. Peter Small, has a natural ring to it." She burst out laughing, seemingly quite pleased with herself.
Peter appreciated that Katie had the same sophomoric sense of humor that he did. They could endlessly throw these immature digs at each other, and not get offended.
"Okay, Okay, okay. I deserved that. To be honest, I think marriage is the furthest thing from where we are at right now," he informed her.
"Oh Peter, sorry," Katie said, changing her demeanor quickly. "I thought you two were really connecting?"
"We were. Until about a month ago."
