Friends, Enemies, and Exes

Chapter One

Charlie --

She only wanted to catch up with some old friends. But still, he needed some convincing.

"Are they going to be there?" he asked.

Penny tried to look relaxed for him, but she wasn't sure that it was working. "I don't know," she said. "I haven't asked them."

Charlie put his face in his palms and sighed deeply. "Who goes to a five year renunion anyway? Christ."

"I just want to catch up with people. You'll be fine, you're on good terms with them anyway," she reasoned.

"I guess," he said.

Pleasant Valley High School sent the letter for the five year reunion, and Charlie did not want to go. Of course it would be nice to flaunt his small successes since graduation, but seeing all those people again gave him hives. The bullies and the stuck up dickheads were one thing. His ex-girlfriends were another.

"Charlie, I'll be there with you the whole time," she said. "I know them as well as you do, and if it gets to be too much we can leave. I promise."

"Yeah," he said. "Okay." He knew she was being perfectly reasonable, so he had no right to say no. But she just didn't understand. She was friends with all four of them, though they'd grown distant in the last five years as high school friends often do. Charlie scarcely saw anyone from their Pleasant Valley days, and he wanted to keep it that way. Penny was the only person from high school he didn't mind. In part because she simply had no idea.

"Thank you," she said, a sad look in her eyes. She grabbed his hand and rubbed it gently, then kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I have quite the boyfriend, you know."

"Yeah, well. He wouldn't be so good to you if you weren't so good to him."

Her eyes flicked from sympathetic to suggestive. "Speaking of which," she said. "I'm ordering us some pizza, and we can pick a movie."

"Which movie?"

"Doesn't matter," Penny said, smiling and inching closer to his mouth. "We won't really be watching it."

**********

Penny --

When she met him in high school, Charlie was just beginning to turn from awkward to handsome. He'd always been charming, she heard, but his looks started to reflect his charisma quite suddenly. That was sophomore year, when he was dating Lauren.

He never talked much about Katie, his first. But Lauren she observed all throughout the year. She was beautiful, of course. But she was also good for him. Their breakup at the end of the school year shocked all their close friends.

Penny, however, saw it as an opportunity. She made every excuse to spend time with him that summer, and spent the first four weeks consoling him and trying to make good memories while she waited for the post-breakup grace period to pass. On the day she meant to ask him on a date, Alex beat her to the punch.

The real story was that they were lifelong friends with no sexual tension who, for no particular reason, had sex one day. Back then, Charlie described it as lightning in a bottle, something sudden and unlikely. Now he looked back with disgust, and lamented dating a girl just because of their strong sexual chemistry.

Junior year went slowly, and Alex was to blame. They were ready to break up by the first day of school, but the relationship dragged on for months as she relentlessly clung to him like wreckage in a storm, even when he slept with another girl.

Once that was finally over, he quickly settled into a slow, comfortable relationship with Lanie. She was nothing like the others. Cute, but not sexy. Smart, but not very funny. She had a warm innocence to her, and practically no dating experience before him. The relationship lasted all the way through senior year, and simply fizzled out without much fuss.

Penny had given up by then, thinking that he would never see her as anything more than a platonic friend. But luck swung her way when out of the blue, just as they started college, he asked her out on a real, romantic date. The rest was a dreamy tale of passion and perfection.

Sometimes it bothered her how good they had it.

Charlie was handsome, funny, ambitious. He'd signed up for a political science major, intending to go to law school. But when Penny asked what he really wanted to do, he started pursuing his passion for history the very next day.

He spent hours poring over documents and essays, but still made time to see her as often as he could. He cooked, he cleaned, he swept her off her feet and kissed her so passionately she never stopped blushing. And they never argued.

For a while, Penny started to fear that there was some horrible bombshell just waiting to drop. That he was too good to be true, and he had some kind of secret. But he put her at ease when she brought it up one night. "I just had a lot of practice with relationships," he said. "And I learned to listen, analyze, and react. That's all there is to it."

That was more than a year ago, and she rarely thought about it since. Still, every now and then, she had the faintest echo in the back of her mind, whispering, He doesn't love you. It's all a trick to get to someone else. He's not who he says he is. Is his name even Charlie? By now, it just made her laugh.

The truth was that Penny was hopelessly in love with this man.

**********

Charlie --

Their sex life was healthy. Not too fast, and not too slow. The kind of thing you'd see a happy couple do in a movie. Cute and playful, smooth and celebratory. Nothing like his exes.

Charlie often wondered how he got so lucky to have a girl like her. Good in bed, smart and reasonable, yes. But also so passionately in love with every piece of him. He found himself too shy since leaving high school. He thought too hard and too long about everything, anxiously psyching himself in and out of every idea he had. Writing a paper was hard enough, convincing himself it was good was another thing.

Once, he yearned to Rewire himself.

Just the thought of it made him jump out of his skin for a moment. He was alone, luckily, and starting lecturing himself. "Out of the question. It isn't even possible, of course not. You couldn't do it if you tried. And even if it were, you're not doing that anymore. No. No, no, no, no, no!"

After that, he'd gone straight to Penny and laid his head in her lap. She stroked his hair, and asked what was wrong. He said he didn't want to talk about it. So she hummed him a soothing melody and kissed him softly on the head. When he sat up again, she nuzzled against him and said, "I love you."

**********

Lauren --

She danced, she bought drinks and got free drinks, she flirted and laughed and made playlists. Lauren looked at her mother and saw a dull future of aching bones and early nights, and made every effort to live while she could. Against her sister's advice, it actually helped her to forget about Charlie. Mostly, anyway.

When she was alone, especially at night, Lauren's mind would wander or she'd be watching a movie and suddenly he would just pop into her head again. Never softly, always with an ear-shattering bang. Her head would swim, her eyes felt like they were floating around the room, looking at her body as she inevitably took off her clothes and started to fondle herself.

Her memories of him were vivid. The expert way that he handled her heavy tits, the taste of him on her lips. Even the simple image of his hard cock sent her into a masturbatory frenzy.

She was once so obsessed with pleasuring him, submitting to his every whim, that nothing was off limits. She would degrade herself for him, take off her clothes anywhere at anytime if he wanted. It was fun, it was worth it to get the opportunity to take him into her mouth and feel as he hardened and moaned.

"Fuck me," she whispered to the room. "Fuck your slut. Unh -- fuck! I'm a slut, I'm a slut, I'm a slut!"

When the invitation to the reunion came, Lauren's memories of him came flooding back. Almost instantly, her knees buckled and she fell to her knees, half expecting his cock to enter her mouth a few seconds later. But he wasn't there. Maybe he wouldn't even be at the reunion. But she wanted him, no less than she did back then.

"Master... master, please..."

Her fingers slid up and down her vagina rapidly while her other hand squeezed one breast hard. Somehow her tits were always more sensitive with him, and thinking about him brought her back to that state of sensitivity, at least somewhat. Just rubbing them lightly made her wet, squeezing them made her gush, playing with her nipples, with enough work, could even make her cum.

But slapping them made her feel weak, degraded, worthless.

Lauren slapped her tits hard, knocking one into the other and sending a quick shockwave across her chest. The sting made her yelp, and her pussy tingled in response to the pain. But he would only need to hit with one tenth of the strength to get the same response. "God, I miss you, master..."

At the very least, he hadn't ruined sex for her. She'd been with a handful of men since their breakup, with varying levels of sexual talent. They were good, or even great, but they never lived up to his standard. It was like alcohol. Some whiskeys were good, some were great. Some were cheap, and some were expensive. They were all good whiskey, Charlie was simply the best.

He could fuck harder and faster and gentler and... better. His hands were more deft, his touch more versatile. He commanded respect and obedience, he intoxicated her with his voice and...

His cum.

Lauren pictured him standing over her, his cock glistening from her pussy and her mouth, cumming on her massive tits and grunting, "Good girl, good little slut."

If he were there, it would have glazed her chest and dripped down onto her legs, electrifying her skin and sending her crashing into her own explosive orgasm. Her fingers would do for now, but each time she thought of him, Lauren grew more and more desperate to have him again. It was wrong, she knew. She'd heard he was happy with Penny now. But she would gladly pull that girl's legs apart to lick his cum out of her.

"Maybe I could," she sighed to herself as her fingers curled into her and she slapped her tits again. If her experience dating him was anything like Lauren's she would have been addicted to his cum since the first time she tasted it. If Lauren would do anything for Charlie, surely Penny would as well.

Then she could finally have him again.

**********

Penny --

She and Lauren were never close, but she was happy to hear from her now and again. When she got the message from her, Penny adjourned to the den while Charlie read through his research.

Lauren: Hey Penny! Hope everything is well. Just wanted to see if you were coming to the reunion.

Penny: Oh my gosh! Great to hear from you. Yes, I'm definitely going. I'm trying to talk Charlie into coming too.

Lauren: That would be great! It's been so long since I saw him.

Penny: He's actually really nervous about it. He hasn't really seen anyone from Pleasant Valley since we graduated.

Lauren: I don't think a ton of people will be there, it's only a five year.

Penny: I probably shouldn't say this, but he's mostly nervous about seeing all his exes.

Lauren: I get that. We didn't end on the best terms. Not the worst, either. But there's some stuff we never settled.

Penny: Well I'll be there with or without him. I just hope I can put him at ease. I've tried all my usual stuff, but he's still uptight, you know?

Lauren: Yeah, he used to get like that when I was dating him too. I usually just... well it was something specific, I probably shouldn't mention.

Penny: I'll try anything. Really.

Lauren: Well, just pardon my crude terms.

Penny: Of course.

Lauren: Usually I would swallow his cum.

Penny: You would? And that worked?

Lauren: It was kind of like a factory reset. He would calm down and rethink the whole thing from a different point of view. It was like his version of a cold shower. Have you never done that with him?

Penny thought about that. It sounded strange, weirdly specific. Wouldn't normal sex work in that case? Their sex life hadn't slowed down at all, in fact they'd done it the night before. She loved how he twitched and pulsed when he climaxed inside of her. He always wore a condom, and she felt safe that way. Even though she had her own birth control, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lauren: Sorry! Don't mean to get too personal.

Penny: No, that's all right! You're just trying to help. To be honest, I haven't. I tried offering it early on but he said no. He did that with you?

Lauren: He loved it. I did too, to be honest. He just made it so much more fun and gratifying. Maybe he thought you wouldn't be into it?

Penny: Maybe. He was pretty slow to the punch when we first started dating. Sexually, I mean. Not that he wasn't good!

Lauren: I know what you mean. Well, have you offered since then? Because if it's been a couple years, he would definitely be more comfortable with it now, I think. You must have a great relationship to have been together so long.

Penny: It really is, and maybe you're right! I could try offering again now.

Lauren: Well... if you really want to be sure he'll do it, you can try giving him some wake-up head. Hard to say no to a girl who's already blowing you, right?

Penny: I guess so! Yeah, that could be fun. Haha you must have done that a lot.

Lauren: Well we never lived together, but sometimes he would fall asleep when we snuck out together and I'd wake him up that way. It was really one of his favorite things. Blowjobs in general, but that one really drove him nuts.

Penny: Really? He never gave me that impression.

Lauren: I don't want to sound crazy, but you're really missing out. Seriously, swallow his cum and a whole new door will open up.

Penny: You're really easy to talk to, you know? This is such a weird conversation but I feel totally comfortable talking to you. You're not a crazy ex at all.

Lauren: I'm always happy to help! If he ever eases up on seeing me around, you and I should hang out again. It's been way too long.

Penny: Definitely!

She really was easy to talk to. Instead of shrugging and dodging the subject, Lauren wanted to help. Still, Penny wondered why he'd been so quiet about his sexual desires. Charlie knew what he was doing when they made love, and she'd always been grateful. But after his initial rejections of her ideas to spice things up, she forgot to think that there could be something he was embarrassed about.

She did not want to be the girl who was just missing that one special finishing touch. She wanted to excite him like no one else could.

**********

Charlie --

In his dreams, everyone called him Master. Every woman he passed in the street stuck out her chest, smiled as bright as she could, and said, "Good morning Master." He didn't even know most of them. But if he wanted the one in the polka dot dress, all he needed to do was lift it and enter her. And if he did, she would bounce on his cock and moan, "Thank you, Master!"

But it was more fun to go about his day normally. Then, when an opportunity really presented itself, he would strike.

If a meatheaded dudebro tried to emasculate him with insults, he would point at the girl on his arm, and point at the ground. Without hesitation, she would fall to her knees and say, "Please may I suck your cock, Master?"

If a grad student misplaced a document or brought the wrong coffee to his office, he would spank her and slap her and push his cock into her throat as a friendly reminder not to fuck it up again. And when she was dripping with saliva and cum, melting into a puddle of satisfied slut, she would find enough breath between gasps to say, "Thank you, Master. I won't disappoint you again."

But what he really loved was to take over the real women in his life. Lately, his old study partner Hannah had been a recurring dream. She was almost six feet tall, and skinny as a pole. She had smooth straight hair down to her shoulders and a sweet smile. She looked like a European model, but behaved like a real professional. They were good friends in college, and Charlie never made a move on her. With Penny in his life, he really had no desire to. Still, it was fun to fantasize.

Seducing a woman like her felt like a true conquest. Putting this tall, powerful woman on her knees, hands folded, made him feel like a giant. She would sit beside him in the library, highlighting certain passages and citing relevant works to great effect, when all of a sudden he would let the connection through.

"Well, I think we did great today," he would say.

And like a trained servant, Hannah would perk up, smile, and say, "Will that be all today, Master?"

Rewiring Hannah didn't take much. With all the other desperate whores in the world that he could have, she was better off as a dignified servant. Where other sluts would claw at an electric fence to have him, Hannah would respectfully and delicately ask how she could serve him. So when he said, "I think we should just relax after a hard day's work," she would say, "I think that's a great idea," and slip off the chair to her knees.

He dreamt that she was gentle with his cock, putting more energy into suction than anything else. But when she went down, he felt it. When she went back up, he felt it. And for hours and hours, Hannah would slowly fellate him while he stroked her hair.

It was better to just dream these things. Charlie could remember how insatiable he was when he'd done it for real. His girlfriends wanted it as much as he commanded them to, but somehow that just made him want it more. Even when he tried to ease their desire, he would still hunger for their submission. Walking away was difficult, and he'd learned the hard way.

He'd discovered what he could do with Katie, and he made more mistakes than most men did in a lifetime. He'd tried not to remember most of it. Thankfully, she was out of Pleasant Valley after freshman year.

With Lauren, he knew enough not to become the toxic man he was with Katie. Lauren he'd made a devoted cum slut, yes. But he really, truly loved her. He found a balance with her, where he could take all the pleasure he wanted and still devote enough time to a normal relationship. And it was wonderful. They just clicked. But when he realized how he'd tampered with the rest of her life, Charlie realized that just because she was good for him did not mean he was good for her.

Alex was a mistake. He'd never meant to sleep with her, it just happened. She was so good that he'd forgotten to pay attention to his own orgasm, and she swallowed every last drop of his cum. And in that state of mind, he Rewired her to love his cock as much as she loved him. The resulting relationship was a nightmare of jealousy and irrational arguments. He could have changed that, taken away that piece of her and settled with an easygoing version of herself. But he'd learned his lesson with Katie.

Lanie was his final experiment. He'd barely Rewired her at all. Just little tweaks here and there to make her a little more open-minded. But that didn't help him. He still steamed with sexual energy, wanting to fuck her pretty face every day and make her beg for more cum. It took all his energy not to Rewire her for that. Instead, he found himself fucking other girls behind her back. That was when he decided never to Rewire again.