Worries and Boundaries

When David woke up the next morning, he was much more comfortable than before. The reason for this is simple, he wasn’t alone. His arms were wrapped around his naked girlfriend, no, his fiancee. She had her head resting against his chest. He gave her a kiss on the forehead, and her eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning honey.” She reached her head up and kissed his lips.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?” She glared at him.

“You still haven't spanked me, and the desire grows over night.” He chuckled and gently stroked her hair. Her expression softened and she cupped his cheek.

“What’s bothering you, honey. And don’t say it’s the show in general, I can tell it’s something else.” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, petting her hair almost like she was a therapy animal. Not that she minded of course.

“I’m worried about everyone. But more than anything, I’m worried about hurting you.”

“And I love you for that. I understand that you have to keep them from elimination, and I support that. And given that they’re now a permanent part of your life, I also understand wanting to have something with them too. But I do have some boundaries.” He looked at her and nodded, waiting for her to state her boundaries.

“One, I don’t want to see anything sexual, at least for now. I’m not ready for that. Or at least, not anything that I can’t be a part of. Two, nothing happens in my room, at least not without me involved. That is my space. Third, I want no secrets between us about these things. The others are just going to have to accept that we don’t do that. You don’t have to outright tell me everything, but if I ask please tell me. And fourth, I um, I want you to be open to the idea of me doing things with other women in the harem.” She looked up at him with her eyes pleading. He smiled and kissed her head.

“Those all sound reasonable. And I don’t have an issue with you experimenting with other women in the harem, or with any of you having relationships with each other. Although when it comes to me telling you about things I do with other girls, I’m going to ask you to do the same.”

“Of course baby. That’s only fair. Now, I can tell that there is something else that you are worried about. Please baby, tell me. Maybe I can help you.” She gently took his hands, and he kissed her hand.

“Ok. I’m worried about everyone, but some more than others. Particularly, I’m worried about Jennifer, Stella, Fiora and Angel. I’m sure you are worried about Jennifer for the same reasons that I am. For Stella, I’m less worried now that she has points, but I’m still worried that her anxiety might prevent her from taking the steps she needs to gain them. But really, it’s what happened during the mini challenge yesterday that has me worried. Apparently, she’s had sex with multiple people before, but doesn't remember it. That’s concerning to me. I guess maybe she could have been too drunk to remember, but I doubt it. I think it’s more likely a repressed memory, which has me worried.”

“I’m worried about that too. But like Esmeralda said, that’s something that Stella needs to figure out herself. All we can do is be there for her when she does. So, what about the other two?”

“I’m worried about Angel because she’s in the negative of VP, the audience hates her, and that her shyness might get in the way. I could be worrying over nothing, but I can’t exactly just turn off my worrying. As for Fiora, it’s kinda hard not to worry about her. Cancer has taken away so much of her free will, and now this show is doing the same thing. I know she’ll be fine, but it’s hard not to worry.” Once he was done talking, Rachel kissed him.

“I love how much you care about all of us. And I’m worried about the others too, especially Jennifer. But please, don’t think that you are solely responsible for taking care of all of us. I’m your fiancee, which means we are partners. We’re in this together, all of us. And we’ll work it out together. Now come on, let’s shower and meet the others. And as much as I would love to shower with you right now, I know that we would get distracted, so let’s not.”

…

David and Rachel were pleased to find that everyone was already in the Dining Hall. Not only that, but they were all eating together as well. The couple grabbed some food and brought it over to the table, but didn’t sit down just yet.

“Everyone, we have an announcement to make!” called out Rachel. Everyone looked up at them and she held out her left hand.

“We’re getting married!” There were a variety of reactions, but they were all positive. Hailey tried, and failed, to hide her smile. Stella, Olivia, Angel and Morgan’s reactions were subdued, but they were clearly happy for the pair. Fiora squealed and began to rapid fire questions. But the most interesting reaction was Jennifer, who pulled some pictures out of her pocket.

“I know.” Rachel gasped as she looked at the pictures. They were taken right when David proposed to her, and of her reaction after. Rachel had tears in her eyes at the gesture.

“OH JENNIFER!” she squealed as she wrapped her arms around her best friend. David watched on with a gentle smile at the sight of his fiancee being so happy.

“Well done David, well done indeed,” said Olivia.

It took Rachel some time to calm down enough to acutely eat breakfast with the rest of them, but David wouldn’t have it any other way. They talked for a while, with a lot of the girls asking questions about the ring, wedding plans and other stuff like that. David did the best he could to keep up, but most of it was Rachel gushing. He let her, preferring to sit back and watch his fiancee be happy.

It was a while later when things finally calmed down.

“So, Jen, when did you want to start our date?” As soon as he asked that, Jennifer’s cheeks heated up.

“Oh, not until later. Maybe, 4 ish. I was hoping we could have a picnic dinner.” David smiled at her.

“Of course. Well, in the meantime, I was hoping to check out my specialty store. Does anyone want to come with me?”

“Oh, I’ll go with you baby!” offered Rachel, to the surprise of no one.

“Actually, Rachel, we need your expertise on something,” said Morgan. It didn’t take very long for Rachel to get what she was talking about.

“You guys want my advice on David, don’t you.” The others nodded, making Rachel sigh.

“Ok, fine. I guess that makes sense.”

“You guys do know that you can ask me about anything, right? I’m not a secretive person.” It seemed like David was a little annoyed.

“Sorry David, but these questions are more for Rachel, then for you. You might have forgotten, but some of us have tried flirting with you in the past, and you didn’t even notice,” said Olivia. David blushed a little at this.

“R-right. Ok, I’ll get going then.” David stood up and was joined by Jennifer.

“I’ll go with you. Besides Rachel, I know you the best. And we’ve talked about things like this in the past anyways.” Jennifer wrapped herself around David’s arm and the two walked away together.

Rachel sighed, knowing she was about to be grilled.