Sit next to Jonas

Matt sat on the log, leaving a careful foot of space between himself and Jonas.

Close enough to seem normal. Far enough to think.

The fire crackled, and someone strummed a guitar somewhere behind him. Normal sounds. A normal night. Except for the weight building slowly beneath his flannel and the borrowed hoodie.

It had started as a tightness—an odd pressure across his ribs, like the fabric had shrunk in the wash. But now he could feel it differently. A subtle swelling that wasn't just pressure anymore. Actual tissue, gathering slowly, shifting the way the hoodie draped across his chest.

He hugged the beer bottle to his sternum, arms crossed, trying to hide it.

"You're tense," Jonas observed, leaning back on his palms. "Relax. It's just a bonfire."

Easy for you to say.

Matt shifted, and the movement made him acutely aware of how the new weight moved with him, slight, barely there, but undeniable. His nipples pressed against the flannel underneath, sensitive in a way that made him want to clamp his arms tighter.

He did.

The dark-haired girl was still watching from across the fire, her expression shifting from confusion to something like recognition. Like she was seeing a picture slowly come into focus.

Matt looked away quickly.

Under the hoodie, the swelling continued, gradual, inexorable. Not dramatic yet. Maybe an A-cup, if he had to guess, though he'd never had reason to know such things. The fabric still hid it if he kept his posture right.

But for how long?

Jonas stretched, and his arm brushed Matt's shoulder.

The ring pulsed.

And Matt felt the swelling accelerate, just slightly.