Santa's Secret Transfic Anthology Vol. 2 / Everyday Sweets #5

Road to Nowhere

by DetectiveRed

A road trip with friends goes awry when they wake up a week later with no memory and new bodies. This story was written as a Secret Santa present and based on a prompt. The wisher requested a trans roadtrip story and so I tried to make it as good as I could

— DetectiveRed

Chapter 1

The idea started off simple. A nice week out with friends, some booze and maybe hitting on girls. It was going to be so simple! So much fun. Just guys being guys being dudes. 

Until all three of us woke up a town over from where we started with a full tank, two of us unrecognizable, with no memories of how we got there. Now we're heading to Vegas once again. Road to Nowhere by The Talking Heads blares through the radio as our drive continues.

"So Andy? You don't remember anything either?" A cute blonde asks. Her entire appearance, like mine, had been changed completely. He's pretty, the rocker hair she went in with looks even better on him now.

"We've established this, Kyle. Not even Marc remembers much!" Andy is the only one who seems unaffected. Why am I the one they keep asking? I've been girled too. Or mostly girled. Not sure how to feel about keeping that part of my anatomy. More to the point why am I the only one who remembered the start of the road trip? 

"Can you please, walk us through it again tonight?"

"Well…"

We can all remember deciding to go. I suggested it. Three twenty year old uni students, tired from our first year of study. I wanted a good time for our first break and something about Vegas was alluring. I’ve never been one for spontaneous decisions and neither has Andrew. It was odd how quickly he agreed and it only took a week to get Kyle on board with leaving the house. 

After packing my bag, shaving my body for the last time till we got there and panicking about what I needed, Andrew came by in his mystery van. I don't remember why we called it the mystery van back then. Too much Scooby Doo? Because the deal Andy made seemed to be too good to be true? That it was green and Shaggy had definitely hotboxed in there? Who's to say? Now It's our only tool in finding out what happened, a more fitting name than ever I suppose.

"You packed?" Andrew said. 

"Pretty sure." Eight sets of clothes, that should have been more than enough. A set of razors for shaving if I needed to and some deodorant.

"I got spare supplies if you need. I think half of Kyle's bag is just alcohol."

"Shut up!" Kyle shouts from the back, already slurring his words. "I bought enough for everyone. I'm a good friend."

"You can be a good friend without being wasted!"

"Look mate, we are going to Vegas, the booze is gonna be expensive and the gambling more so. You'll be thanking me!"

That night I was.

The first day we’d made very little progress. I don’t remember how close we were. Probably not very. The summer sun was hard to counteract and the few pit stops we took quickly made the air conditioning a moot point. My body was covered in itchy skin from where sweat had evaporated, which made the stubble coming back irritate my everything. 

We pulled over in a small town for the night. Kyle ran his fingers through his hair and beard to make himself look more presentable and Andrew tried to mask how tired he was so we could have a nice dinner together as group of dudes. A group of dudes on a massive road trip for our first ever college break! 

We found a nice diner. The kind of place that is obviously for truckies passing through to get something nice at any hour. We looked out of place. The most similar looking folks to us was a group of ladies, who had pulled up next to us. Maybe they were heading in the same direction. We sat down quietly. Andrew slumped into his chair, he was tired and masking it all the way here took the wind out of his sails.. So we just sat quietly. The girls were in a booth over, chatting away, talking about how excited they were for their trip. Smiles, laughs and hugs were shared between their group. I felt a pang of jealousy at how together everyone looked and how excited they were. Maybe they hadn’t driven as far as we had. 

"Kinda wish they would just shut up, ay Marc?"

"They are a little loud." I said. I didn't want them to overhear us. 

"They are just having fun, guys. Leave them alone."

The conversation ended there, Kyle just looked down. Eventually the server came to take our order, the food came out, we ate, and Andrew passed out on the makeshift bed we'd set up in the van. We'd decided to take turns between using it (it would be weird even if it was big enough for at least two of us) and sleeping in our chairs. Kyle and I agreed Andrew deserved the rest tonight. 

Leaving Kyle and I alone. Kyle and I were closer when we were younger. Almost like brothers but now in our first year of uni, he was like a stranger. His beard was unkempt, his hair was matted, and he reeked of alcohol. It was a wonder he could live like that. 

We'd agreed that outside was cool enough for us to set up a small camp. No fire or anything, just a lantern, some alcohol, the moon and the star. The night was gorgeous and so we sat silently, looking at the stars and drinking shit beer. I wondered if he was ever going to speak or if we both knew there wasn’t anything to talk about.

"Do you know what I fucking hate?" Kyle interrupted our mutual silence around three beers in. 

"What do you hate, Kyle?" The beer, I expected him to say. Something along those lines at least. Our conversations rarely got deeper than a cursory conversation about games or beer or whatever Andrew was up to.

"Okay I know, I already started this, but promise not to laugh?" His voice was loud but awkward. Almost scared. Like if he was more sober he’d be whispering this to me.

"Sure, I guess?" I responded. His slurred words made it hard to tell what he was feeling. He let out a sigh.

"I hate that guy's can't show affection like women can."

I chuckled, expecting a joke. It was a weird observation, especially coming from Kyle. The jealousy from earlier creeped in, but I wasn’t about to tell him. 

"Stop laughing fucker!"

"Wait, are you serious? This isn't a bit?"

"Yeah, I'm serious," I raised my brow. His monotone voice sounded sadder. Like an act rather than a default state of being for him. 

"What do you mean then?"

"Did you see those girls earlier, hugging and touching each other casually? They can hold hands and stuff, and it's all cool and platonic. Why can't we do that man?" I could have sworn I had heard his voice quiver. 

It wasn't really something I'd thought about before. Maybe because I didn't like to think about receiving or giving physical attention. It always felt forced. Even in the best relationships I’d been in. 

"I mean, do you really think you'd want that, man?"

"I mean of course, doesn't everyone?"

"I don't want my sweaty hands to be touched by anyone, to be honest." I laughed. It wasn't a very happy laugh. He seemed to pick up on it.

"Why not? I mean have you ever held hands with a girl, it's nice"

"I don't know, it doesn't sound that nice?" The idea of dwarfing a girl's hands with my own sounded profoundly unappealing at the time.

"Wanna try it, mate?" I assumed he was joking, yet he reached out hand, ready to grab mine if I said yes.

He was right. Holding hands felt nice.

The next day, Kyle laid in his chair asleep. Hungover probably. If he was up, I doubt he'd let me hold his hand again. He wasn't that kind of person. Not usually. Whatever had gotten into him that night was likely a one off that would never happen again. I don’t know why that made me sad. It makes me sadder now that he’s adorable

I sat with Andy in the passenger seat of the car. If he was forced to drive all day because I can’t drive and Kyle hasn’t been sober since school ended; I could at least keep him company. Staying in the back and passing out probably would have been smarter. My head pounded after last night, and the world was much too bright. Sunlight bounced off sands and buildings making it really hard to see and making the headache and grogginess worse. He was rocking out to something but I couldn't really pay much attention. I would have asked him to turn it down if it wasn’t incredibly rude to do so.

The only thing I could really bear to look at was him. The way the light bounced off his warm brown face, highlighted how handsome he was compared to me.His short sleeved shirt exposed big strong arms and his pecs were huge. Like massive. Like, holy shit, I’m sure he could have bench pressed me. I guess it’s not gay for me to think about that now but back then it was. Ugh.

He was annoyingly handsome, is the point I’m trying to make. You know the kind of guy that everyone wants to be, handsome, athletic, sweet. That's Andrew. The kinda guy that everyone likes and you wonder why he even puts up with you. We were lucky that we'd met him at the start of the year when he was still quiet. I guess he thought we were similar.

"Uhh, Marc? Why are you looking at me like that?" My eyes immediately dart to the floor. 

"It's bright." My face would have been a beacon if the warmth in the van hadn’t already made it red.

"And? Why are you looking at me?" Light flooded the top of my vision, even my lap wasn't working. I need to look at him. 

"Everywhere else is bright and looking at you is halfway between looking at the back and you."

"Do you need sunglasses?"

"That would be nice."

He used a spare hand to open a glasses compartment and expertly and gently placed a pair of sunglasses on my head.

"Don't drink so much tonight, okay?" He didn't take his eyes off the road, but it confused me. Why did he care?

I wanted to talk more but couldn't think of a thing to say. He was focusing. Maybe it was good I didn't distract him. His head bobbed along to the music on the radio, a mix of nineties and noughties jams. It was a kinda dorky taste in music, but you don't argue with the driver. Especially when his singing is nice and he's politely ignoring your staring. What was I thinking staring at him? 

Eventually we pulled over so he could eat as a group. The van was stocked with anything we could realistically want but we still went through the drive through of some obscure food chain we'd never heard of. As we ate in the back of the fan it was like the bro dream I had when I asked everyone to come was becoming a reality. If only until Kyle fell asleep again.

Chapter 2

"So nothing happened in the first two days is what you're saying?" Andy asks from the front seat. I omitted some details when telling the story again. Mostly the feelings. And the hand holding. They don't need to know about those. I could only tell them what happened the first night the first time we did a recap, now I can remember up to the third. Why do I remember better than them? Why can I still not remember what gave me and Kyle our bodies?

"Yeah? Are you getting anything Kyle?"

The cute blonde in the passenger seat blushes and fidgets with her hands. The flashback memories seem like a completely different person. I kind of wish we could hold hands like we did that first night. I mean he did say it's easier for girls. But it would probably overwhelm him, or me. 

"I got nothing." Kyle says.

Andy reaches over to and rests a hand on his shoulder. Affection. That's what he wished was easier, but now he recoils. What's up with that?

"Dude!" For a second it looked like Kyle was leaning into it. 

"Sorry!"

"I'm not really a girl. You don't have to comfort me!" I shouldn't be jealous of Kyle. Or Andy. Affection is weird. Meant for someone else, but not for me.

Yet I want it. This girl's body is making things weird.

"What about you Andy?" I should stop them before anything happens. He shuffles in his seat and looks back at me. 

"I remember putting my sunglasses on you, and you not being able to take your eyes off me" He winks, like an asshole, "and then lunch." Why does he have to remember that? Why can't it just be a weird memory? My face is warming up. Do I like this? He’s my buddy! My friend and yet. Shit. My body can’t not react to all this. 

Kyle looks back at me too.  I shrink into my seat.

"And that's all I remember." He seems smug about remembering a detail he thinks I didn't. About making me retreat. About I don't know, being the only full guy left.

"Andy, isn't it bed time for you?" Kyle asks.

"Wha--"

"Well you've been driving all day and worrying about getting us back to normal, aren't you exhausted?"

"No I'm--"

"You should go to bed. He and I will guard the van." He points at me. What is he trying to do?

"You don't need t--" Kyle climbs out of the van, slamming the door on Andrews protests and opening the side doors as an invitation. Andy's mouth hangs open and Kyle grabs the alcohol in the back seat, a bag we haven't opened since we woke up.

He grabs me by the hand and pulls me out of the van.

His hand wraps around mine. Mine is the smaller one now. It's making me feel some kind of way.

Kyle slams the door on him and pulls me a couple of meters away from the van. He sits me down and takes a seat in the cool earth beside me. My brain tries to catch up with everything. Andy might have been flirting with me. Which I don’t know how to feel about. And it’s probably only because I look like a girl, and that flirting might be retracted if he found out I still have a dick. Kyle is still holding my hand. A cute girl is holding my hand and staring at me. The lights go out in the van ten minutes after we leave.

"So, it sucks that I didn't bring any girly drinks, huh? If I knew I'd have packed something nicer."

"Yeah," I squeak quietly. He hasn't let go of my hand. I'm glad he rescued me from possible teasing, but is this much better? I lay down, maybe looking at the stars will help. 

"No good booze, cause I only bought cheap shit. There's not even enough to deal with Mr Ogleme in there." It's easy to forget the cute person holding my hand and talking to me in that sweet alto voice is Kyle. 

"He just touched your shoulder, Kyle. It isn't that big a deal."

"He's been making googly eyes at you since we woke up!"

"He has?" I rack my brain. I mean he did say something about waking up next to a pretty lady, but he didn't know it was me and that in the van was casual teasing. Probably. 

"Jeez Marc, don't sound so hopeful." He finally lets go of my hand. Something is wrong with my head. My face is warming up. Maybe it's just that the very idea of being attractive to anyone  is getting to my head.

"I'm not!" 

"It was a joke." It doesn't sound like a joke. He almost sounds like his old self. "Do you at least remember what he was talking about?"

"I do."

"Anything else you remember that you didn't mention back there?" I shouldn't tell him. If he's reacting like this to me blushing. He was pretty drunk, whatever messed with our memories might not even be responsible for him forgetting.

I hear shuffling next to me, a back and forth pacing. It's hard to see him in the moonlight. The bag's zip is undone, just a little bit, before I hear him moving back towards me. He stands over me.

"Fuck it." He pulls me to my feet. His pale face and blonde hair reflects the moonlight beautifully. I would call him beautiful if I wasn't scared of his reaction. He doesn't let go of my hand. In fact, he grips my hand harder. "Do you remember this?"

I let out a squeak. He's shorter than me now. His eyes twinkle as he looks up at me, but his lips wear a soft sad smile. 

"I've been thinking about it since this morning. It was the only thing I remembered," he explains.

"Kyle." I whisper. I want to hug him. 

"I remember waking up regretting being that honest. You remember it too? Right?"

"Kyle, I--"

"Don't Kyle me!" he snaps.

"I remember." He's still intimidating. 

"Okay and how do you feel about it? About me holding your hand?"

"It's kind of nice…"

"It is. Look Marc. I think I like you.

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I am. I'm not going to ask that you stay in that body for my sake. But if you want to stay like this…" He plays with his hands. It's cute. I don't want to find him cute."I'm here. I'll be a guy for you…" he leans in. Fuck has he drunk something. God. Fuck. Shouldn’t I be the guy? He was the one who was actively jealous? Who cares? 

I lean in as well and he reaches up on his toes to kiss me. 

Chapter 3

A new night. New memories. What happened last night feels like a distant memory with this morning's memories flooding back to me. 

It's obviously not the same for Kyle. He's avoiding looking at me. Making a girl sad is the last thing I want to do, but he hasn’t said he is one. He said he’d turn back into a guy for me. Maybe I should ask if he’s the same as me. But then he might be weirded out and I don’t want anything to happen.

"Hey, Marc, anything new today?" Andy breaks the silence and tension between Kyle and I. I guess I'm up again.

Kyle had once again dragged me out into the cold air. Andy was asleep. Again exhausted from driving. Kyle seemed exhausted, his eyes drooped, his beard was matted and his posture was awful. We were the same height but while sitting down he seemed smaller, curled up in his seat, looking at the ground. He'd been asleep all day, but if I hadn't known better I'd have assumed he hadn't slept in weeks.

He pulled a beer out of the cooler bag. Cracked it and started chugging. I wasn't sure how to handle this situation. As a guy I wasn't really taught how to check up on a friend I didn't think was doing well, and Kyle well. After last night something was up. 

"Want one?" He asked in a gruff voice. The moon light reflects off his oily hair. His old face was sullen.

"Are you okay, dude? 

He finishes his drink. He must be a professional at finishing his booze. He cracks another one, but before he chugs he stops.

"How do you deal with it, Marc?" He ignored my question and started with a probe of his own.

"With what?"

"With being a guy? I asked Andy and he, well he laughed. He thought I was joking."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't get it. Fuck. I'm crazy, aren't I?" Isn't it taboo to talk about this kind of thing. We aren't meant to acknowledge it, but he's suffering.

"No you're not. I just do, I mean it's not like I can change it."

"And doesn't that hurt? Knowing you can't change it?"

"I try not to think about it…" My voice, my husky masculine voice, was practically whispering. I just tried to live as quietly as possible.

"Well I can't stop. This guy's week, I thought it would help, but I can't stand it. I need to change something." I looked at the matted mass of beard on his face. Maybe my obsessive shaving can come in handy.

"I have some razors? You could get rid of that beard?"

His eyes widened, and a small smile grew on his face. I hadn't saved the world or anything but it was better than the dead eyes he had earlier. Looking back on it now. I’m not sure I can let him go back for me.

We spent the rest of the night cutting and shaving his beard, using a bottle of water to soothe the razor burn. Underneath the beard was a man who looked a lot less exhausted.

The next day, we assumed the daily driving positions, Andy driving, me in the passenger seat and Kyle passed out in the back. Looking back on the smooth face of that morning he could be his brother.

"So why Vegas?" Andrew asks. The inside of the mystery van was cool, the air conditioning had been serviced before we left and the lack of stops meant we were able to keep chill today. The lack of drinking last night did a lot for my exhaustion.

"Something to do I guess? You've seen the movies, right?"

"Yeah and real life isn't like them, Marc."

"Obviously. Does it really matter? You didn't ask anything before you agreed to drive."

"I have my own business to take care of. It doesn't really matter, it's just the spontaneity of it. Not really your style."

"Are you kidding, of course it's my style. Making rash decisions, going out of my comfort zone. All very normal behavior." He chuckles and I giggle. He didn't elaborate on the business he needed to check out, and I didn't push him. We sat quietly together for a while. The only talking was the Talking Heads playing on the radio. Andrew sang along, but I didn't have the courage. At least his voice was nice when it wasn't cracking. I closed my eyes and drifted off into a nap.

Andy woke me up as the sun began to set. Kyle and him had been talking and organizing our next moves. Two days from Vegas, Andy said.

"We should probably start planning what we are going to do, right?" I ask. 

"You two are welcome to come along to my thing, but after that I've got nothing" Andy said.

"What is your thing dude?" Kyle finally asks the question I'd been thinking.

"Secret." He gave us a boyish smirk.

"Seriously dude?"

"It's a surprise, I wanna see the looks on your faces."

Chapter 4

"You did this to us!" Kyle shrieks.

"I didn't do anything!" Andrew argues back. 

"Secret? Surprise? Sure. There's no way you weren't planning this." He looks on the brink of tears. I want to comfort him, but I'm still trying to process the conversation from the night. He might want to stay a girl, and if he does, where does that leave me, 

"I promise you, Kyle. I wouldn't know how to do that to you if I tried. I was going purely for myself."

"Sure you were. If you are so innocent then why won't you tell us what you were doing?"

"Because I don't remember!"

"Well isn't that convenient." 

"None of us can remember anything from when we got there! Why do you think I could do this to you?" Maybe it's the chiseled jaw, or the new speckles of stubble, or how his mouth is twitching, but I'm scared he's lying. If he knows more why isn't he telling us?

"What would he get by turning us into girls, Kyle?"

"I don't know. Two cute girls in a weird pot van to ogle. Maybe he wants to use us."

"That doesn't make any sense." I respond.

"Thank you!" Andrew exclaims. "That would be unbelievably shitty of me."

"That doesn't mean you are innocent in this." He looks at me, obviously hurt. "Maybe it was an accident. I don't know what kind of accident can cause this." I gesture to my body and both of their eyes linger. "But unless you tell us what your thing is…"

"I need a drink. Marc, come with me." I follow him without much thought.

"But guys…" Andy starts.

"Sorry, girls only." He grabs the alcohol bag from the boot and we get out of the van.

"Just don't do anything stupid. I care about you idiots!" He calls behind us. The desert sun burns my eyes. This sucks. Maybe it's a bad idea to be out here but it's better than letting Kyle blow up. 

"We'll be back soon!" I shout back.

She puts the bag between us and sits down on the scorching ground. Both of us are wearing baggy guys clothes and jeans way too big for us. 

The heat is frying my brain.  It's like I'm experiencing six days in three. I sit down next to him.

"Do you really think Andy had something to do with this?" I ask.

"No," he admits. "But right now I need to blame someone."

"That's not fair."

"Well neither is what happened to us, is it?"

"No, it's not but he's trying to help."

"I know. And that makes it worse!"

"What is wrong with you?"

"Everything! Everything is wrong with me. You remember the conversation."

"Shit."

"I need a drink."

He unzips the bag, his expression was hard to read. Like it had been when he had his old body. Slowly he zips his bag back up and silently takes it back to the van. 

"Kyle!" I shout. He continues walking. "Weren't you getting a drink?"

"I'm gonna sleep."

"What the hell dude." I stomp up to him. 

"Check the bag when I'm asleep. You'll get it."

"So you're just going back to the van."

"Yep."

"What about Andy?"

"You were right. It's not fair." He opens up the back of the van and climbs inside. Andy's music blares from the van as the door opens. I begrudgingly follow. Taking the seat next to Andy.

Within half an hour he's asleep. I take the passenger seat and we continue our trip. I'm still eye level with Andy, my height didn't change as much as Kyle I guess, but it's still evident just how much bulkier he is. 

"You know she's wrong, right?"  Andy asks.

"She?" He's been so good with treating us like normal I either hadn't noticed or he hadn't said anything before.

"Kyle."

"He's not a she. Neither am I."

"I'm not gonna get into that, but you have to have noticed it right?"

"Noticed what?" He looks away from the road to give me his attention.

"Her smile."

"Dude! He'd kick your ass if he was awake."

"Have you seen it? I slipped up like once when I was trying to call her a guy and, yeah she told me to fuck off, but she was smiling. Ear to ear."

"So what?"

"So she might not want to be called a guy."  The conversation under the stars comes back to me. Maybe he's right. Kyle might not want to be a guy. It still doesn't explain our transformation though. Nor why I'm a girl.

"Why don't you just ask him then?" 

"Alright, maybe I will. Lunch?"

“No. Let him sleep. He’ll tell us when he’s ready.” If Kyle doesn’t want to go back, will they still want us to go back and figure out what’s happening. If she’s a girl she might not want to know how it happened. I know I wouldn’t just in case there was a way to reverse it. I wouldn’t want to know if that was the case.

Chapter 5

“I need to know Marc. Do you like me?”

“I don’t know, Kyle!” Andrew had gone to sleep. She dragged me out of the van. For now I’m not sure how I should address them.

“Marc, you’re a woman as well right now right?”

“Mostly?”

“What do you mean mostly?”

“I still have my downstairs.”

“Fucking really? How come you get to keep your dick?” He doesn’t sound all that jealous.

“You didn’t?”

“It doesn’t matter. Look. Marc. Do you like me as a guy?”

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“Everything. We kissed and I like you. I always have and when I see you look at Andrew, I can’t help but feel jealous that he’s a guy and I’m not.”  Like me? What the hell is there to like about me? He has to be messing with me. “He can be with you and–”

“Kyle.” His face scrunches up.

“You still haven’t checked the bag have you.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Good. I need an answer. Would you prefer it if I was a guy?”  I don’t know what to say. What if I say no and he decides to ditch. What if I tell him the truth and he’s angry? 

“I want you to be happy.”

“That wasn’t the question.” 

“It’s more important. You’ve barely drank since we woke up. You’ve been sleeping a lot but you are way more active and now you’re dropping this question on me. After last night’s memories, and how forward you’ve been. I’m not sure I can answer. I like whatever makes you happiest.”

“So you like me.” Blood rushes to my face. I think Andrew is right. He wants to be a girl. A small smile is playing on their lips as the moonlight bounces off their silky hair. 

“I do.”  they pounce on me, knocking me off my feet. They plant a kiss on my lips and we lay embracing under the moonlight. 

Chapter 6

In the morning Andrew wakes me up. It’s time for breakfast and he has it planned. A little diner on the outskirts of another town.

“It’s time to ask her,” he whispers. I likely know the answer. I just hope she still wants to find out what happened. 

I lean in next to their seat and give them a small shove to wake her up

"Oh hey beautiful, am I dreaming?" My face becomes a radiator. He's obviously still waking up, and I shouldn't feel things or take it seriously. I’m gonna be a guy again some day. It’s not like I’m allowed to keep this body in this state. 

"It's time for lunch bro." His eyes immediately snap into focus. 

"Oh, sorry."

"Is she up?" Andrew asks. As if on cue a smile spreads across her face. Then a look of uncertainty. Then anger. At me.

"Did you tell him?

"Tell him what?”

"I'm up." They stand up. Any frustration melts into a confidence I'd never seen before. 

"Good cause I'm starving."

Andy hops out of the van, and opens the back for us.

"What a gentleman." Kyle rolls his eyes. "Come on Marc."

The inside of the diner is bustling with people just getting off work and school. A server shows us to our seats. Kyle sits next to me. I'll be on the receiving end of his wrath if Andy is wrong, but I don’t think he will be. 

Andy waits for a server to take our order to say anything, the cute girly form next to me fidgets and squirms in his seat. Does he know what we talked about?

"I'll be back, busting," he says. As he heads to the toilets.

The women's toilets.

There was no hesitation in his choice. No confused questioning that had plagued my every rest stop visit on this half of the trip.

"I think you should ask her, Marc."

"What? Why me!"

"Because you're cute and she won't hit you."

"Are you shitting me?" Curse this asshole and his dumb face and cute stubble and every stupid charming thing he did. I'd almost believe the reason he hung out with us is for situations like this. Flustering nerds.

"Yep. I just think you should be the one to confirm it is all. You two are both in the same boat, she'll take it better from you."

I slump into my chair. Okay, that makes sense.

"What should I say?"

"What do you want to say?"

"I don't know, I was happy thinking we were in the same boat. But now they are just similar boats" If Kyle doesn't want to change back, what happens? Do we continue to Vegas or do we cut our losses and go home. Just accept I’ll be a man with boobs.

"And, maybe you still are. You need to ask."

"Fuck." 

I hear the toilet doors creak open. They walk back over to our table. Sits down next to me and grabs my hand. Not in a big obvious way. Just under the table. It would be a subtle gesture if I didn't let out an eep. Andrew just smiled smugly. I should probably ask now, I have their hand, I can stop them from leaving.

"Kyle, I have a question."

"Okay? And then I need to talk to you two." They squeezed down hard on my hand, as if to reassure me. Why did I need reassurance? They were the one about to be asked a life changing question?

"Do you want to go back to being a guy?" I ask. I brace myself for a slap or a punch.

"No. I don't." She doesn't think about it for more than a second. Was it the memories? Her decision. I still don’t remember the last week

"Is this about last night?"

"That helped, but no." I blink at her. “Yesterday when I checked the cooler. It was restocked. Fruity drinks, and liquors, my bank account must be fucked. Remember what I said about if I'd known?"

"Girly drinks?" I respond.

"Girly drinks." She confirms. Andy watches as we slowly piece something together. "And a note, in my handwriting telling us to enjoy ourselves."

"And?"

"And it's signed River."

"Who's River?"

"Me. I'm River." She smiles and her voice quivers a bit as she watches us for our reaction. "It's what my Dad said he'd have called me if I was a girl." 

"I'm so proud of you, River!" Andy says. A smile graces his face. Her hand trembles in mine. I squeeze it back. I'm happy for her. Maybe I'm a bit jealous. But happy

"You knew didn't you, asshole?" She says to Andy. How would he know if I didn't?

"About your name? No."

"You know what I mean."

"I had a hunch."

"So you want to stay a girl," I ask.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." She sounds confident in her decision. “Everything came back to me last night. What about you Andy?”

“I never lost them.”

“Oh fuck you.” River says. She doesn’t sound too upset about him lying to us.

"Shit. So what am I going to do?" I ask. Andrew's fine, River is fine. I'm the only one needing answers now. I'm the only one who needs to figure this out. Who doesn’t have answers to burning life changing questions.

"Should I tell her?" Andrew asks. My eyes widen. He’s looking at me? He’s calling me ‘her’.

"What are you talking about?"

"No, I’m her girlfriend?" River says. She looks to me for confirmation and I nod. Oh. I nodded? She’s my girlfriend. This adorable blonde is my girlfriend. My girlfriend River. Oh. “Yeah her girlfriend.”

“When did that happen?” Andy asks.

“Last night, while you were asleep.” She pokes out her tongue at him. What’s going on? What are they talking about?

"Are you okay with sharing her?" Andy responds. 

“I am if she is.”

“What are you two talking about?”

"You, cutie." Andy says. I blush more. I’m going to kick his ass.

"So Marc?” She asks 

"Yeah?"

"Do you even want to be a man?" 

The food finally comes out, saving me from more questioning. It was nice to be able to see River as cute. As a woman. She hasn't stopped smiling since she told us, Andrew even made a point of using her name when asking for the salt he could already reach. It shouldn't make me jealous. I don't even have a name I'd want to change to. I don't have any idea how I'd go about living as a woman or even telling them if I wanted to. How would I tell my parents or the university? My sexuality hasn't changed either. I'm still interested in women, wouldn't that be a problem? And my body? It’s not exactly normal. I wouldn’t want to change it either. I like it how it is. There's so many issues. Issues I'm sure River had already thought about, but I had no clue about. 

"Are we still going to Vegas?" I ask in between mouthfuls of food. I need to keep going but I can't without them.

"You didn’t answer the question.” She says

“How is that related?”

“It’s extremely related! Why do you want to go to Vegas if not to change back?” Andy interjects. 

“I just want to know what happened?

“I can just tell you.” RIght, Andy has his memories back.

“Go for it.”

"I was meeting up with some witchy friends I'd met online. They were gonna cast a spell on me and if I had to guess, you two got caught up in it."

"What kind of spell?" River asks

"A true form spell."

"Why the hell does a man carved out of marble need a true form spell?" Okay. Probably not a normal thing to say. 

"One, thank you. Two," he takes a deep breath. "I'm trans."

"Then why aren't you a girl too!" River asks

"A trans guy! Did neither of you notice? Seriously?"

"No!" We both exclaim.

"Well, that's a bit of an ego boost." he chuckles. "I was hoping they could help me avoid top surgery, I just don't have the money and then you said you wanted to go and I was planning on telling you after. And then we woke up and I knew it had gone right." 

"Why didn't you tell us?" I ask.

"Because it's terrifying. Coming out of stealth is scary. Not to mention how she was blaming me anyway."

"To be fair, this would make it your fault." River argues. “If I hadn’t convinced her to follow me in stalking you into your witchy friends club. We were listening to one of the rooms so we could find you.”

"And those spells don’t affect anyone who isn’t trans."

"So where does that leave me?" I ask. 

Andy walks around the table and River puts an arm around me. It’s comforting, but does very little to answer any questions. They both take a deep breath and talk in unison. 

“You’re trans. Dumbass”

…..

I stir next to River and Andy in the makeshift van bed. I'm in the middle? I'm in the middle. Both of their foreheads are covered in lipstick kissy marks. My kissy marks. I'm still tipsy from last night, but we are almost in Vegas! Yay. Almost ready to thank the nice witches for giving us these great bodies. 

It took me a bit of convincing. And patting. Well getting pet to accept everything. Maybe a couple of kisses. Some reassurance they both saw me as a girl. Some compliments (a lot of them). I’m girl. Woman. Girlfriend to two.

"Amber, go back to sleep." River says sleepily.

"Hmmmm" Amber that's me! I like this name more. No more scrunchy faces and cringing.

"Arm, around me, now," Andy orders and I happily oblige, but not before kissing River on the cheek. It took me a little bit to accept that no, I didn’t like guys because I’m a girl but rather because I just like them and Andy is hot. 

In summary, I got a handsome boyfriend, a cute girlfriend and a wicked hot body. 

Best roadtrip ever.

 

Thank you to Derby Ghost who shared this prompt for this. Feel free to check out my writing here and make sure to check out the itch page.

— DetectiveRed

 

Santa's Secret Transfic Anthology Vol. 2 / Everyday Sweets #5

Follow to catch catching up on May 31st

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