Road Trip (BOYXBOY)

Chapter 3

"You okay?" I ask, knowing how embarrassed he must feel.

"Can you pull over when you're next able to?" he replies, head tilted down.

"Oh, we can get rid of the bottles at the next rest stop, it's fine," I say, assuming that must be what he's talking about.

"It's not that," he says.

"Then what?"

"I didn't just need to pee." And with that, his cheeks flush a deep red and I can see how awkward and embarrassed he's feeling right now. He probably wants the ground to swallow him up.

"Oh," I say, once again trying to mask my shock. "Do you think you can wait until the rest stop? It's not too far now."

"I don't think so," he says, holding his stomach lightly.

"Okay, well if you feel like you need me to stop, just tell me," I say in a soft voice, willing him to understand that he doesn't need to be embarrassed. It breaks my heart to think about how he must be feeling, and I try to emphasise in my tone that it's okay and that everyone needs to use the bathroom sometimes. He shouldn't be ashamed.

A few minutes later, he says, "I really need you to pull over." So I do. I put my blinker on and pull onto the hard shoulder. I scan the surrounding area for trees that he could go behind but see nothing.

"I only have a plastic bag," I tell him and hand over the only thing in the entire car that he can poop into.

"Do you have a tissue?" he asks quietly, almost so quiet that I can't hear him.

"I think there's one in the glove compartment." I point to the compartment and watch as he opens it and rummages around to find a tissue. As he does, his stomach moans and I see him fidget in his seat, clenching his legs together as if it might come out right here and now.

"I think you'll have to squat by the car, I can't see any trees for miles," I say. "The car door should shelter you from people seeing in one direction, but I'm not so sure about the other."

"Will you stand the other side? So that people can't see me, I mean..." he trails off, blushing again.

Two minutes later, I'm watching Harry pull down his pants and squat over the plastic bag at the side of the road. He holds onto the passenger seat for support with one hand and, with the other, he holds the bag steady. I stand guard behind him, facing the oncoming traffic and blocking their view of my boyfriend. When I'm sure he's in position facing the other way, I turn slowly.

His bare bum is squatted over the bag and although this is the same bum I've seen before during sex and when he's changing, this is different. I've never seen him so vulnerable before. Several moments pass as he tries to relax, and I can see his muscles are tense because he knows I'm here. It takes a while for him to get comfortable enough to start trying and, once he does, he lets a small fart escape him.

"Sorry," he mumbles, clearly embarrassed by his lack of control.

"It's okay," I reassure him and let him continue.

I can see his muscles tensing and relaxing as he strains. He lets out small and almost incoherent grunts as he tries to push it all out, to no avail. After a while of straining, he begins to cry. His shoulders shudder and small whimpers escape his lips. I rush to his side and crouch down to his level. I rub his back with one hand and pull him into a gentle hug with the other. Harry leans into me, wetting my shoulder with his tears.

"It hurts," he whispers, and in that moment my heart breaks. He's obviously desperate for the toilet but is too constipated for anything to come out. I help him up and back into the car, where he sniffles into the tissue. I pull into the rest stop that we were originally going to stop at, and he wanders into the toilet to see if he can go.

While I'm waiting for him, I buy some more snacks and drinks, mints and condoms because, hey, we're still on a romantic holiday. I shove them all into the back of the car and lean against the bonnet, soaking up the sun. Eventually, Harry comes out of the toilet.

"Any luck?" I ask, to which he just shakes his head and climbs into the passenger seat.

Frequently throughout the journey, Harry asks meto pull over because he has the urge to poop, but whenever he tries to go,nothing comes out.