When the girls returned, we were waiting for them on the floor of the apartment’s living room, just behind the couch. I ran out into the open, yelling loudly to get the attention of my 250-foot girlfriend. Emily saw me and stooped down to pick me up. I clambered into her cupped hands and she brought me up to her chest. She was smiling, so I assumed everything had gone well.

“What have you been up to?” she asked, giving me a tiny (for her) kiss on top of my head.

“Oh, just exploring a little. Evan didn’t want to stay on the bed, and I didn’t want to leave him by himself. So we just walked around and waited for you to come back. How did it go?”

“Good, I think. We took Evan’s car back to his residence and dropped it off without any problems or unwanted questions. Also, Sarah’s feeling a lot better now, thank God. She and I had a long talk in the car on the way back, and I think she’s ready to carry on with her life now…”

She was interrupted by the sound of tiny shouts coming from the floor below. I crept to the edge of her hand and looked down, to see Evan standing far below. He was right at the tip of Emily’s foot, and was waving his arms vigorously. Emily got down on one knee to talk to him.

“It’s about time!” Evan yelled up at her. “Are you gonna leave me to freeze to death down here or what?”

“No…but really, you should be asking your own girlfriend to pick you up and take care of you.”

“Oh, just pick him up, Emily!” I said. “It really is freaking cold down there and…”

“Sarah!” Emily called. “Sarah, it seems your boyfriend is in need of your help. Come and pick him up, please.”

Sarah, who had been standing away from while she was busy on her phone, came over and stood next to Emily. She looked down at the almost-ridiculously tiny figure of her once tall and strong boyfriend. She hesitated, as if she didn’t want anything more to do with him.

“Go on!” Emily said encouragingly. “We talked about this on the way back, remember? He’s still the same guy, I promise you. But he needs you now, to look out for him and help him make it through the days ahead. Pick him up and give him a kiss or a hug or something. Or don’t you love him anymore?”

“N-no…I do…but I don’t want to hurt him…he’s so small…”

“Just hold out your hand and let him climb into it. Then bring him up here, so he doesn’t have to feel like an ant at our feet.”

Sarah knelt down, being extremely careful not to crush Evan, and lowered her hand down next to him. She hadn’t taken off her leather gloves, and I wondered if she wanted to avoid physical contact with Evan, just in case the same thing that had happened to him happened to her too. Evan hesitated for just an instant, before climbing into her open hand. I noticed that she was trembling slightly as she stood up again. She held him just below her chest level.

“Hey…hey, sweetie,” she said nervously. “Are…are you doing okay?”

“Why would I be doing okay? After what happened to me…”

“I’m sorry…I just thought…never mind. I’m so sorry…”

He sat down, curled up and with his head tucked between his knees. It must be humiliating for him, I thought, to be reduced to such a small size that you could easily fit in the palm of your girlfriend’s hand. Sarah reached over with her other hand and gently stroked him with one finger. This just caused him to curl up even tighter. I started to feel uncomfortable and told Emily that maybe we should leave, but she insisted on staying.

“Evan…darling…I…I still want you,” Sarah said, looking very close to tears. “Honestly…I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about leaving you. Last night I almost wanted to…but I can’t! I really, really like you, a lot, and I want us to stay together…I still want us to be together. Could you forgive me for being…for being such a bitch and not talking to you? Please forgive me, baby, and I’ll do everything I can to help you through this and to make things right.”

With great trepidation, she brought her hand up to her mouth and puckered her lips. Then she lightly touched her lips against him, at first only for a millisecond, but then she did it again for longer. Nothing happened to her, of course: she didn’t share his fate of shrinking to diminutive size. Evan looked up and stretched out his legs.

“What…what was that?” he asked, since he hadn’t seen her kiss him, only felt her.

“A kiss, I guess,” she answered. “I know it’s not the same as it used to be…nothing is…but I hope it was okay…”

“It…felt good. Could…could you maybe do it one more time?”

Sarah broke out into a smile, and I was almost as if the tension in the room faded away. She gave him another kiss, longer and more intense this time, but still slightly nervous. She didn’t envelop him with her lips, like Emily did with me – but then, we had been used to this kind of relationship for a while now. Emily was very cautious and hesitant with me at first too, afraid that her slightest touch might injure me. But I was less fragile than I looked, and she became more and more at ease in handling me – and more and more intimate with me as well.

“Well, I’m glad you guys are on speaking terms again,” Emily said. “Still, I think we could all do with a little time-out, just to put all of this behind us. Why don’t we do what we wanted to do yesterday – go out for a while?”

“Go out?” Sarah asked. “Where do you want to go?”

“Well, there’s a little coffee shop just a block away from here. I noticed it while we were driving this morning. It’s close enough that we can walk there. I haven’t been there myself yet, but it didn’t look too busy. We should get something good for lunch there, I think, and maybe some nice dessert as well. What do you think, Alex?”

“Yeah, it sounds great…but wouldn’t someone see us there? Me and Evan, I mean? Or do you want to leave us here?”

“No, of course not! You’re both coming along. We’ll just keep you more-or-less hidden, out of sight, and make sure no-one spots you. You guys are so small, it shouldn’t be too difficult!” She gave me a wink.

“Okay…okay, yeah, let’s go. Can I ride on your shoulder on the way there?”

“Sure you can,” she said, smiling. I was dropped off on her right shoulder and I lay down on my stomach, arms and legs outstretched. The fabric of her coat was quite comfortable to lie on and it wasn’t difficult for me to hold on.

“Won’t someone see him there?” Sarah asked, standing right next to us. She was an inch or so taller than Emily, so her face loomed high above me.

“Maybe…but I don’t think most people on the streets pay that much attention to passers-by. I certainly don’t. But you can hide if you have to, right Alex?”

I nodded and got on my hands and knees. Then I crawled over to the collar of her coat and snuck in underneath it. I was no longer visible to anyone now.

“That’s cute,” I heard Sarah say, “but I think I’ll keep Evan somewhere safer.”

I crept back out again. Sarah gave Evan another little kiss and told him that she loved him, then put him inside her left coat pocket. I could’ve sworn I heard him protesting, but neither Sarah nor Emily seemed to notice and we were soon on our way. As Emily predicted, no-one we passed really paid that much attention to us, and if anyone saw me, they probably thought I was just some weird, unconventional decorative item Emily had fastened to her shoulder. I watched as other giants and giantesses walked by at what seemed to me to be a phenomenal speed, while the two girls chatted with each other, as if they were oblivious to my presence. Sarah was a lot more lively by now, even making a few jokes about her boyfriend’s new condition. I wondered how Evan was doing. When we reached the coffee shop, Emily discreetly snatched me up with her hand and put me inside one of her pockets, just in case anyone saw me.

Once they’d found a table, the girls ordered coffee and sandwiches and they waited until all the orders had arrived before taking us guys out of our hiding places. Emily put me down in the saucer next to her coffee cup, on the side that faced the wall of the room, so that I wasn’t visible to any other people inside the café. Sarah did the same with Evan. The cup was twice my height, so I was well-hidden. I was given a very small piece of Emily’s sandwich, and she held her teaspoon filled with coffee next to my head for me to drink from. Sarah watched us with interest, before copying everything with her own little man.

“This feels so weird…unreal, almost,” she said in a hushed voice as Evan drank from her teaspoon with difficulty. “Is this what your life is like, Emily? Do you have to do this all the time with Alex?”

“No, of course not. I think this is only the second time I’ve taken him to place that’s this public. I brought him with me to a shopping mall once, but usually I just hide him inside my purse or in a pocket, or leave him at home.”

“Do you decide when you want to take him with you, or does he tell you what he wants to do?”

“Hey, I’m perfectly capable of answering any questions about me for myself!” I interrupted. Sarah looked at down at me and accidentally tipped the teaspoon she was holding slightly, spilling warm coffee all over Evan’s arms and legs. He cried out in surprise and shock.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry!” Sarah exclaimed. She looked around nervously, hoping that no-one’s attention had been drawn. But the place was pretty empty, with only a few other customers, so no-one seemed to notice. Emily tore off a tiny fragment from a paper napkin and handed it to Sarah, who then gave it to Evan so that he could dry himself off. I quickly ran across the table to him and climbed up into the saucer with him.

“Are you okay?” I asked, as the two giant-sized girls looked on from above.

“Jesus, would everybody just relax?” he said. “It was just a bit of coffee, that’s all. I hope you’re not gonna treat me like this all the time, while I’m stuck like this.” He looked up at Sarah.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You know…like I’m some little kid or baby who needs to be protected from absolutely everything. I’m a grown man and I can take care of myself.”

“I’m sorry, Evan, but right now you can’t take care of yourself,” Emily said. “I know it’ll be difficult for you to accept this, with you being a manly man and all that, but you’re Sarah’s responsibility now. You’ll have to get used to the fact that she’s now the stronger partner in your relationship and that she…”

“It’s okay, Emily, I’ve got this,” Sarah interrupted. “No offense, but you really don’t know Evan or what our relationship is like. Thanks for all the help and everything, but I think it’s time Evan and I talked about what we’re going to do now and what kind of relationship we’re gonna have moving forward.”

Emily looked offended for a moment, but then she realized that Sarah was right.

“Okay, I understand,” she said. “Sorry if you thought I was interfering – I was just trying to help, that’s all.”

“No problem. I know, you were just trying to defuse the situation. I don’t think you’re helpless, baby,” she continued, talking to Evan now. “You’re still the gorgeous hunk I fell in love with, no matter how small you are.”

Evan sat on the edge of the saucer, looking up into the sky at his girlfriend’s huge, stunning face. I made my way back to Emily’s side of the table. As I did so, I noticed that the place was becoming more crowded, and that people were beginning to walk close by to our table on their way to other tables. Emily noticed it too and held her hand above me defensively.

“Guys, I think we should head home,” she said. “It’ll be better if we carry on with this conversation somewhere more private, don’t you think? We can always get some dessert, cake or whatever, to take back with us. I need to start getting my stuff ready for tomorrow. My classes begin early and I still need to fill in some paperwork and stuff.”

“Okay, yeah, good idea,” Sarah said. “What do you think, Evan? You wanna stay or go?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” he agreed. “I feel like that waitress is gonna see me the next time she walks by. You gonna put me in the same pocket again?”

“Yeah…unless you don’t want me too. Don’t you like it in there? It’s only for a short time, and I know you’ll be safe in there.”

“Okay, sure, whatever. Hey Alex, you wanna join me?”

“Join you? In there? Why?” I ducked out from underneath Emily’s hand and walked over to him again.

“Because I asked you to, that’s why! There’s some stuff I wanna ask you…”

“What kind of stuff?” Sarah blurted out. “If something’s bothering you, you know you can talk to me about it…”

“It’s okay, babe, I just wanna ask Alex some questions, that’s all. I mean, if I’m gonna have to live like this for the next week at least, I wanna know what’s in store for me.”

“Well…as long as you don’t want to start a fight or something, I’m fine,” I said.

Emily gave me a nod to show that she was okay with it too, then Sarah put her open hand down on the table for us to climb into. I always felt a bit nervous whenever anyone but Emily picked me up, since I can never really tell if they can be trusted or not. Evan joined me – there was plenty of room in her hand for the two of us – and she quickly and surreptitiously lowered us down to her hip and dropped us into the deep pocket of her coat. We fell over twenty feet before landing on soft fabric. Emily was usually a lot more careful whenever she stowed me away in something, but Sarah was still new to this sort of thing, so I didn’t blame her. As the girls left the coffee shop, Evan and I sat in the darkness of the vast pocket.

“Does this ever feel wrong to you?” he suddenly asked, breaking what had been an uncomfortable silence.

“Wrong? What do you mean?”

“I mean like…like Sarah used to look up to me and respect me, and now…now I’m just…”

He didn’t finish his sentence: instead, he got to his feet and began pounding his fists against the wall of fabric behind us. Essentially, he was striking Sarah’s hip, but I didn’t think she even noticed it. She certainly didn’t stop walking, as the pocket we were in kept on swaying back-and-forth with every stride she took. Evan kept on hitting and kicking in vain, and he even slammed his entire body into the fabric, causing him to bounce back and fall on his butt.

“What the hell was that about?” I asked when he was done. “Were you trying to get her attention? Because I don’t think she felt any of that.”

“Yeah…but that’s exactly my point! I’m nothing compared to her now! Yeah, she says she still likes me, but who the hell knows what she really thinks?”

“Why don’t you ask her? When we’re back home and the two of you have some time alone.”

“And what if she doesn’t wanna see me anymore? What if she thinks I’m not worth her time? Fuck it…I used to be her hero, you know? She told me she’d never met another guy like me, who could take care of her like she deserved.”

“Well, you haven’t changed, have you? Besides the change in size, obviously. I mean, I don’t know what qualities you have that she finds so attractive, but I can’t imagine she’d be that superficial and just abandon you. Think about it…if it had been Sarah who shrank instead of you, would you have left her?”

He thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he said at last. “Maybe…I mean, there’s not a lot you could do with a girl the size of your toe, is there? You definitely couldn’t fuck her, that’s for sure.”

“Oh…yeah, I guess…”

“You know, the first time I did it with Sarah, she said it was the best sex she’d ever had. Okay, sure, she probably only had one or two guys, boyfriends, whatever, before she met me. Still, she was pretty good in bed herself…but hey, that’s all in the past now, right? I’ll never be that close to a girl again.”

“You think so? Emily and I have a pretty good thing going…”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do. A ‘pretty good thing’…what does that even mean? Does she let you touch her pussy every now and then, is that it?”

“More than that, actually,” I said, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. I really didn’t want to talk about my private life with Emily, especially to a guy I’ve known for less than a day, and about whom I still wasn’t sure whether I could trust him or not. If his performance in bed was the only thing about him that Sarah really liked, then maybe he didn’t really deserve her.

“Listen, why don’t you talk to Sarah when we get home? I’m sure the two of you can sort things out. There’s no reason why you can’t have a good relationship with her anymore…”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on…what do you mean ‘more than that’? What kind of shit do you get up to, huh?”

“Nothing…forget it, okay? You should focus on making things right with Sarah…”

“Come on, man! Give me some details! I wanna know what you and Emily do for fun. Does she let you play with her tits, you know, does she…”

“I said forget it!” I yelled, and he shut up. I turned around and sat facing the other direction.

“Okay, okay, I got it. You don’t need to be so sensitive. I think it’s pretty cool that you can get a girl like that, you know, considering your…well, you know. She must have had some really shitty relationships before, if she decided to settle for you in the end.”

He kept on trying to ask me what kind of sexual encounters I’ve had with Emily, while also telling about some of the girls he’d slept with and how much he’d enjoyed, or not enjoyed, each one. I wasn’t really listening and I definitely didn’t feel like answering his questions. Emily was the first and only girl I’d ever been close to and, if we ever happened to break up, I doubted if I would ever find another like her. She’d had other relationships before she met me, and yes, most of them didn’t end well, but I knew that none of that had been her fault. I also knew that she really loved me, not just because she felt sorry for me or because none of her previous boyfriends had been right for her. I was extremely happy and grateful that she’d chosen me.