Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Logically, Chris knew he had died. He knew he was in a new body now. Still, it had somehow escaped him that the mark had been lost with his old body. That his powers had been unleashed for weeks now. 

How many people that he’d seen in his limited time outside weren’t actually living anymore?

Had he seen any ghosts at all?

That thought was only one of many racing through his mind at the moment.

Others included marveling at how good dinner was. How cold it had gotten outside this evening; how warm Aiden was pressed up against him, holding Chris under his coat. 

Part of him wanted to say to hell with the idea of ghosts and his powers and everything else. That part really wanted to hold onto Aiden and never let go. At least not for any longer than it would take to completely undress him and–

That part was a dangerous part.

He knew what he was feeling, especially after having a nice romantic meal with Aiden, but he couldn’t be allowed to feel that.

It wasn’t right. They were both guys, and dad had always said there was no greater crime than a man laying with another man. 

Mom wouldn’t understand either. She’d always hoped I would grow up to be normal despite my curse, and to have lovely grandchildren for her.

‘Hypothetically, that could still happen,’ Chris thought, ‘I’d just be the one literally having them, now.’

That thought sent a strange thrill tingling through his body. He’d considered being a father before, and never found it a particularly interesting prospect.

He barely kept his own life afloat, much less the idea of finding a woman to love and marry and start a family with…

But the idea of being a mother? Somehow that felt… better. Right. He wondered if Aiden would make a good father…

Another dangerous thought.

He pulled back from that avenue of inquiry, desiring no more thought on the subject for now.

Aiden was merely taking care of him because they were friends. They’d been friends ever since Chris had started working at the Underground.

Just two good guy friends being friendly with each other.

That’s all this was.

“Are you okay?” Aiden asked as they waited for the bus. “You’ve been quiet ever since we left the restaurant.”

“Oh, I’m… fine,” Chris glanced over at Aiden, and found his gaze upon him, set with concern.

His chest fluff fluttered and he felt himself pull in closer against Aiden out of instinct.

 

Aiden was momentarily taken aback by the hug that Chris was giving him. Sh– He’d seemed a bit distant since dinner, and now he was hugging him. He wrapped his arms around Chris, feeling her almost snuggling into the embrace.

It was so damn hard not to think of Chris as a girl, especially now, especially looking like this. 

“If you’re worried about your curse or whatever, it’ll be okay. I’ll help you work through it, okay?”

Chris nodded against his chest, not loosening her hug.

Nearby, an older gentleman smiled in a way that seemed to say ‘ah, young love’. Aiden wondered if that’s what this really was.

Did he love Chris now that she was a girl?

Was she a girl? Gender identity could be a huge quagmire that he didn’t want to trip up in.

Still, in this moment he definitely felt like he was standing there hugging a girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

The bus rolled up and others waiting at the stop filed on, swiping bus passes. Aiden nudged Chris gently and led her up the stairs onto the bus, then shuffled past rows of seats to find a spot for the both of them to sit together.

Chris maintained her closeness once seated, their thighs pressed together as she leaned against him.

He wasn’t about to complain… but he was decidedly confused by the sudden switch in intimacy.

Being so close to Aiden just felt right. He was warm, and he made Chris feel safe, somehow.

It was probably super uncomfortable for Aiden, being cuddled up to another guy… but he was being a good sport about it. He kept an arm around Chris’ shoulders, and more than once Chris found himself wondering if this would be normal, if it would be okay, if he really was a girl.

They’d agreed he’d be a girl for today, just for their last hurrah before this got fixed, right?

Maybe…

Maybe just for tonight she could be his girlfriend?

The idea made her smile, and the ice that had chilled to the core of her fluff melted away into a warm glow.

The curse didn’t matter right now. She felt amazing, and she hoped that feeling would never end.

Unfortunately, such fairytale moments never seem to end happily. When they arrived back at the apartment, Cailyn was waiting for them, which meant breaking apart their hugging and hand-holding. 

“Well well, look who’s finally home,” Cay grinned as they stepped through the door. “You two have a nice night out?”

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Chris immediately felt herself blush.

“Yeah, we had a nice meal, right, Chris? Celebrating that everything’ll get straightened out tomorrow,” Aiden said as he hung up his coat in the closet.

“Yeah… straightened out,” Chris agreed. Somehow she felt like it had already been straightened out… but of course that wasn’t the case. Aiden had just been being supportive. He couldn’t know how conflicted she was feeling right now.

“I’m going to grab a shower and get changed, it’s freezing out there.”

“Sure,” Chris nodded. 

“Whatever, I’ll just twist Chrissi for all the details then,” Cailyn taunted.

“Lay off her, Cay, sheesh,” Aiden grumbled as he walked off to his room.

He’d barely shut his door before Cailyn swooped down upon Chris.

“Soooo, how did it go?” Cay crooned. 

“H-how did what go?” Chris asked.

“Everything, duh. The meeting, dinner…”

“Oh, right… well, they’re going to have us come back tomorrow and get everything sorted out. I’ll finally be back to normal…”

“You don’t seem so thrilled about that,” Cay said, taking on a more serious tone.

This was her chance to ask… Chris swallowed the metaphorical lump in her throat.

“Can I ask you a question, Cay?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Would it be… would it be weird if I said that just for tonight, I told Aiden it was OK to treat me like a girl?”

Cay’s eyebrows nearly met her hairline. “Oh? How did that make you feel?”

Chris felt another blush coming on, despite that his face couldn’t actually blush. “K-kinda good… I um… I wondered if I could like… try being a girl for a while longer.”

Cailyn bit back the instinctive urge to make a joke in the moment about eggs cracking, and instead smiled supportively. “Heck yeah, girl. You can do whatever you want.”

Hearing Cailyn address her as ‘girl’ made a warm flutter run through her body. Chris smiled back at her. “Really? Cool… I really liked Aiden treating me like his girlfriend tonight.”

“His girlfriend?!” Cay asked incredulously. 

“O-Oh shit, I didn’t mean to say that part out loud, I don’t– he doesn’t think of me that way!”

“But what if he does, Chris?”

“Th-there’s no way he does! I’m not even really a girl, okay?”

“Psh, if you wanna be a girl you’re a girl, just as real as me, got it? So… do you want Aiden to think of you as his girlfriend?” Cailyn leaned in a bit more, intrigued.

“I– Maybe– It’s just– Ugh! This is too much, everything is all confusing and I don’t know what to do and now I’m supposed to go get fixed tomorrow and I’ll be back to being a guy and then it won’t even matter what I want!” 

“Woah, damn… there’s a lot to unpack there, girl. First off, you don’t have to go tomorrow if you like how you are. Secondly, what do you mean it wouldn’t matter what you want? It always matters, Chris.”

“It never did before. I was always a crappy, bland looking dude no matter what I wanted, no matter how I tried to change things up, I was always miserable. Now for the first time I’m actually kinda happy and it’s going to be taken away…”

Cailyn frowned and pulled him into a hug. “Hey, nobody’s taking anything away. If you want to stay a sexy as fuck demon girl, you do you… and whoever else you want to do. Got it?” 

Chris couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the raunchy comment. “Even your brother?” she shot back.

Cailyn relaxed her hug a bit, holding Chris at arms length. “Especially my brother. Guy needs to get laid.” 

Chris felt a laugh– a giggle? bubble up from inside. “Wow, trying to hook your brother up… such a good wingwoman.”

“What is family for?” Cay asked, blowing on her nails and polishing them on her shirt with a flourish. 

“Sounds like you two are having fun,” Aiden said as he stepped back out into the apartment wearing nothing but basketball shorts. 

Chris felt her heart skip several fluffy beats.

‘Oh my god he’s doing this on purpose isn’t he, this has to be on purpose…’

Aiden smiled at her and winked.

“This is totally on purpose!” she blurted out.

Aiden laughed lightly. “Yeah, maybe a little. I overheard you two talking towards the end. Is it working?”

Chris covered her face with a couch pillow and curled up, wishing she could just disappear as Cailyn cackled maniacally from the other end of the couch.

‘Oh, goddess… everything just got so much more complicated.’

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