Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

NOTE: Sorry this took so long, I had a bit of writer’s block wondering where to go next.

June 13, 2000 (continued)

Joey felt everyone staring at him as he shifted uncomfortably. Sam, Chrissy, and Lisa could all tell by his silence that his answer more than likely would be a yes, but they still waited for his confirmation. Joey looked at his best friends and sighed.

“Yeah, I am,” Joey quietly admitted. His friends all had different reactions to this revelation.

Chrissy smiled when Joey admitted to wearing a Goodnite. She wondered if it was like a regular pull up. As someone who wore pull ups right up to the summer before kindergarten, she assumed that she was the only person in the room besides Joey who could remember what one felt like. Chrissy sighed. She vaguely remembered the soft, cuddly feeling of wearing the padded undergarment and how it made her feel safe and warm in some weird sort of way. She remembered how, even to this day, her bladder has always been on the small side, and how her pull up enabled her to keep playing with her friends instead of always running to the bathroom. Then Chrissy thought of the last time she wore one, and blushed a little at that thought.

Lisa blushed right after she asked is Joey was wearing one. She didn’t mean to ask such a personal question. At the same time, she couldn’t help but think of how cute Joey would look in a diaper. She pictured him waddling around, giggling happily and sipping from a bottle. Lisa smiled at that mental picture. Then she perked up for a moment. She called Joey this morning right as he woke up! He had to have been wearing his diaper-thingy, and it was probably wet when she called. Lisa smiled and thought to herself that before this night is through, she will see Joey’s diaper.

Sam couldn’t believe his luck. After always having a weird attraction to diapers, he’s found out that both his cousin and his best friend wear them to bed! All of this in the span of a few weeks! As excited as Sam was, he couldn’t help but feel slightly bummed that the Goodnites didn’t belong to one of the girls. Jake and Joey in diapers is exciting because of the fact that they’re both too old for them, but Sam couldn’t help but think of how exciting it would be to see Chrissy or Lisa in a diaper. Sam felt his penis twitching and starting to grow at the thought of this. He crossed his legs and drew his knees to his chest to hide his obvious excitement. Somehow, Sam thought, I’ve got to get one of the girls to wear a diaper!

Joey was embarrassed, but in a way relieved as well. While it was humiliating to admit to his friends that at 13 he was sitting before them wearing what was basically a diaper, he was happy to see that none of them laughed at him. Joey took a deep breath and sighed. He was lucky to have such good, trustworthy friends. All of that being said, Joey was more than ready to change the subject, and decided to continue on with their game of Truth or Dare.

“Alright,” Joey began, snapping everyone out of their thoughts, “so it’s Chrissy’s turn again, right?”

“Um, yeah.” Lisa responded. “Should we try a few dares?”

“Sounds good to me,” Sam chimed in.

“Ok, let me think.” Chrissy pondered for a moment. She looked around the room, hoping for inspiration, and her eyes fell on the pitcher of lemonade. “Got it! I dare you to have a lemonade chugging contest!”

“What do we get for winning?” Joey asked.

“Um, I don’t know. The satisfaction of quenching your thirst?” Chrissy retorted.

“How about the last one to finish has to show off their underwear?” Lisa suggested, still hoping to see Joey’s Goodnite.

“Deal!” came Sam’s response.

Chrissy shrugged and poured the lemonade into her glass, and everyone else followed suit. She counted to three, and all four threw their glasses back and began chugging down their lemonade. Not surprisingly, Joey finished first, hoping to avoid embarrassment. Sam and Chrissy finished soon after, leaving a shocked Lisa as the loser. Joey, Sam, and Chrissy laughed.

“Well, Lisa, looks like you get to show Tigger off again,” Sam laughed. Lisa threw a pillow at him.

“Jerk.” Lisa said, trying not to crack up herself. “Fine. Joey, here’s what you missed earlier.”

With that, Lisa stood up and lifted up her long tee shirt to reveal her matching Tigger panties. She spun around once and then sat back down, her face beet red.

“Very nice!” Joey exclaimed, and then blushed. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

“Yeah, well, you’re all in trouble now, because it’s my turn!” Lisa replied. “And I think one good ‘turn’ deserves another, so now I dare all of you to show off your undies!”

“Do I have to?” Joey asked.

“Well, it’s that or we pick out an even worse dare for you to do.” Lisa said, reminding Joey of the rules they agreed to earlier. Sam kind of felt bad for Joey, and his erection had subsided, so he stood up.

“I’ll go first.” With that, Sam dropped his shorts and spun around displaying his blue boxers for everyone. He pulled his shorts back up and sat down. Sam turned to his left, “Chrissy?”

Chrissy turned bright pink and slowly stood up. With a sigh, she mimicked Sam and Lisa by dropping her shorts and revealing her yellow panties with the smiling sun on the rear. She pulled her shorts back up and sat down.

“See Sam? That’s how it’s done. You need to get some boxers with a cartoon on them or something, plain old blue is boring,” Lisa commanded, “Ok, Joey, you’re up.”

For the second time that night, all eyes were on Joey. He stood up in front of his friends. It was do or die time. He couldn’t even imagine what crazy feat he’d have to perform if he didn’t do this one. Joey took a deep breath and dropped his shorts. He lifted up his shirt and spun around. He could hear his friends’ little gasps as they saw his Goodnite. Joey quickly yanked his shorts back up and sat down.

“Cute!” Lisa squealed. Her friends looked at her, surprised, and then all four broke into laughter. Sam was the first to speak up.

“Well, Lisa, since you’ve now embarrassed Joey twice, it’s payback time.” Sam stated.

“Oh yeah?” Lisa retorted, “What do you got for me Sammy-boy?”

“I dare you and Chrissy to go into the bathroom and each put on a Goodnite to wear for the rest of the night!”

For once, Lisa didn’t have a reply. She really didn’t think Sam would be able to get her back that good. Sam, on the other hand, was quite pleased. This night couldn’t possibly get any better. Just then, Chrissy piped up.

“Well, you have to wear one too. We’re all doing the dares, remember?” Chrissy reminded Sam. Sam smiled. Maybe this night could get better!

“Fine. I’ll go first.” Sam stood up and turned to Joey. “They’re in the bathroom, right?”

“Uh, yeah, in the closet,” Joey replied. He couldn’t believe how things were going. Not only do his friends know about his bedwetting, but they saw his diaper and are now going to put them on too?

“Ok,” Sam said, “I’ll be back, and then you ladies are next!”

Sam marched into the bathroom and shut the door. He whipped off his shorts and boxers and his once again erect penis sprang out. Sam considered taking care of it right then, but figured everyone would wonder why he took so long. Therefore, he opened the closet and took a Goodnite from the package. He pulled it up and shoved his erection down into the garment, which hid it surprisingly well. Sam pulled his shorts back on and carried his boxers back out into the main room and put them in his bag. As soon as he came out, Lisa grabbed Chrissy went into the bathroom.

“So, should we go through with it or see what else they come up with?” Lisa asked.

“I’d rather not see what else they come up with, and besides, they’re both wearing them already,” Chrissy responded.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Lisa agreed. With that, she reached under her shirt and pulled off her panties. Lisa reached into the bag and pulled out two Goodnites, handing one to Chrissy. As Lisa pulled her diaper on, Chrissy hesitated. She planned on peeing before putting hers on, because all of that lemonade and soda from the party had caught up with her, but she couldn’t go with Lisa in the room.

“Come on, what are you waiting for?” Lisa asked. Chrissy shrugged and pulled down her shorts and panties and quickly stepped into the Goodnite and pulled it up. She pulled her shorts back up, marveling at the familiar sensation of being diapered. The two girls went back into the main room and sat down.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn again,” Joey said. “And since I had to show mine, I dear all of you to lose the shorts, except for Lisa who forgot hers, and just wear your shirt and Goodnite for the rest of the night!”

Sam smiled. Lisa rolled her eyes as Chrissy widened hers. Moments later, all four friends were sitting on the floor adorned in tee shirts and Goodnite diapers. Lisa, as usual, broke the silence that followed.

“Well, this has been interesting, but let’s cut to the chase,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Joey asked.

“Well, we’ve all shared some pretty big secrets, embarrassing stuff, and now we’re all sitting in front of each other in diapers, which I’m pretty sure hasn’t happened in ten years,” Lisa continued. Everyone laughed at her observation. “So here’s my suggestion. You guys are my best friends and I really like how close we are, and I want to stay that way through high school, college, and everything.”

“Ok, so what do you want to do about that right now?” Chrissy asked.

“I say we all share our deepest, darkest, most embarrassing, most whatever secret ever. That way we’ll be even closer, right?” Lisa looked to her friends for confirmation.

“I’m cool with that, but I think we should all do one more dare,” Sam stated boldly.

“What’s that?” asked Joey.

“For the rest of the night, we stay like this, just shirts and diapers…” Sam began.

“Yeah, that dare already happened.” Chrissy pointed out.

“Well, let me finish,” Sam replied. “We all stay like this, and we…we use the diapers. It doesn’t get much more embarrassing or secret than that.”

All four friends looked at each other. While this normally would have been an entirely alien concept, with the way things had gone so far, it wasn’t really all that abnormal.

“I’m in,” Lisa stated.

“Me too,” Chrissy followed.

“Me three,” Joey added.

“Me four,” Sam finished as all four laughed at their lame joke.

“Who wants to go first,” Joey asked. Chrissy meekly raised her hand.

“I guess I’ll go since mine kind of fits with our little theme tonight,” Chrissy began. “So, I don’t know if you guys knew this, but I wasn’t really potty-trained until like right before kindergarten started. I still had accidents a lot after that, and my doctor said that my bladder is just as small as the rest of me, if not smaller. So that’s way I have to go to the bathroom during like every class in school. So the really embarrassing part is this. You know how every summer my parents and I drive up to DC to see my grandma?” Everyone nodded. Chrissy went on, “Well, the trip takes like thirteen hours so my parents only stop for lunch and dinner, to try and save time. And since I have to pee like every 45 minutes, they always have me in diapers for the trip. And not like these, either. I mean full on baby diapers with the cartoons and tapes and everything. And even though I’m getting older and bigger, I still haven’t made it through dry. Every year, my mom takes me into the handicapped family restroom and changes my diaper at lunch and at dinner and when we get to grandma’s. And then we do it all over again for the drive back down. So, that’s my story.”

Joey, Sam, and Lisa all smiled, but for different reasons. Lisa smiled because she thought it was cute. Joey smiled because he was relieved to not be the only one who occasionally needed to wear a little extra protection. Sam smiled because Chrissy, who he thought was very cute to begin with, has to wear diapers. Real baby diapers. He felt that familiar stirring in his Goodnite and hoped it wasn’t obvious as Lisa stood up.

“I guess I’ll go next,” Lisa said, less enthusiastic than usual. She sat on one of the full-sized beds in the room, unwittingly putting her diaper eye-level with her friends as she began her story. “Ok. So, um I was online this one night in April looking up some stuff about, um, about puberty,” Lisa blushed, and continued, getting redder as she told her story." And, after awhile I kind of got away from looking up that stuff and finding some dirtier things and I found a site that has like these stories that are about sex and stuff like that. So I uh, I read a few stories and it was starting to you know, like get me excited and stuff. So I got undressed and laid in bed and started to, um, masturbate…"

“WHAT?!” Joey blurted out. “Girls can masturbate?!”

“Uh, yeah,” Chrissy responded, blushing.

“How?!” Sam asked, just as shocked as Joey.

“Um, could we maybe like talk about that some other time?” Lisa asked, clearly embarrassed.

“Uh, yeah, sure, sorry.” Joey apologized.

“Ok,” Lisa continued with a deep breath," So I was on my bed, you know, doing that and just as it was you know, like, getting good, my door opened and my parents both walked in. I was so embarrassed I cried and couldn’t talk to them for like days."

“Wow,” Chrissy said sympathetically, giving Lisa a little hug while the boys still sat dumbstruck and this information. Seeing this, Chrissy spoke up, “Ok boys, your turn. Who’s up next?”

“Well, to be honest, before tonight, I couldn’t really think of anything more embarrassing than this,” Joey said, gesturing toward his Goodnite. “So I kind of feel like I already shared my deep, dark secret.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Chrissy said.

“Isn’t there something else you could share?” Lisa asked.

“Like what,” Sam responded. “He’s got a point, he did tell us about wetting the bed and wearing these.”

“Ooh, I know!” Chrissy exclaimed. “You could tell us your crush!”

Joey blushed big time. It was one thing to admit bedwetting, but to talk about a crush, especially considering who it was, could be potentially devastating and humiliating.

“Yeah, that seems fair.” Sam said. “Who is it, Joe?”

Joey looked at his friends, clearly embarrassed.

“Oh come on, Joey, it can’t be any worse than everything else we’ve said tonight!” Lisa began. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

Joey looked Lisa dead in the eye and said, “It’s you.”

Lisa’s face went from a look of shock to bright red to a giddy smile before breaking into a fit of giggles along with Chrissy. As the giggling subsided, she looked at Joey and smiled.

“Thanks, I think you’re pretty cool too,” she said.

“She thinks you’re cute too!” Chrissy added, laughing, leading Lisa to playfully punch her in the stomach. The laughing combined with the unexpected, albeit light, blow to the gut, proved to be Chrissy’s breaking point, as she let go and wet her Goodnite. “Oh you’re gonna get it now!”

Chrissy reached over and began tickling Lisa’s armpits. Lisa shrieked and went into a fit of hysterics. It took barely ten seconds before Lisa began filling her own diaper with a warm stream of pee. After a few moments of wind down laughs and wiping away tears, Lisa stood up.

“Well! Chrissy and I need to get some fresh diapers.” Lisa began matter-of-factly. “And I think you two should wet too, we’re all in this together after all.”

Joey, still laughing, stood up. “Ok, here goes.” Joey took a few deep breaths and tried to relax. After a moment, his friends could see the wetness spreading on the front of his crotch. Joey turned to Sam. “Alright Sammy, your turn!”

“I can’t,” came Sam’s quiet reply.

“Why not?” Lisa demanded. “The wetting was your idea in the first place!”

“Well, it has to do with my secret,” Sam retorted.

“And what’s your big secret?” Chrissy asked. Sam stood up and she gasped. She could see a fairly significant bulge in his Goodnite. Sam took a deep breath.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated by diapers. I always dream about them and stuff and now they kind of turn me on, especially since my cousin Jake stayed with us last week and he had to wear the Goodnites to bed, and now with all of us wearing them and using them it just gets me excited, I don’t know, I know it’s weird but I can’t help it, it’s always been floating around in the back of my mind.”

There was a silence in the room as somehow this revelation managed to trump all of the night’s previous awkwardness. Leave it to Lisa to break the silence.

“I can believe it,” she said. “They’re comfortable, they feel good, and I even kind of like how it feels now, like how it’s kind of warm and squishy. I can see why you like it. I think I kind of like it.”

“Yeah. Even though it’s embarrassing, I don’t mind wearing my diapers on my trips to DC because they kind of make me feel safe, you know?” Chrissy chimed in. Everyone looked at Joey (again).

“Yeah, I’ve kind of gotten used to them, and it’s a hell of a lot better than waking up in a wet bed.” Joey admitted.

Sam smiled. His nervousness from revealing this bit of information had quickly eliminated his hardness, and the relief of his friends’ understanding was soon joined by the relief of emptying his bladder. Lisa applauded Sam’s wetting.

“Whoo hoo for the Wet Diaper Club!” Lisa cheered. Everyone giggled at their new moniker. Lisa brightened up at the term she coined. “I have a great idea!”

“What’s that?” Joey asked.

“Well, we’re all wearing and wetting diapers and we all kind of like it, right?” Lisa asked. Everyone nodded, so she continued, “Well, why don’t we do this more often? We could wear them when we hang out, or go places, or whatever, we could be the Wet Diaper Club!”

“The WDC,” Joey added, “Everyone would think we just meant the Walt Disney Company.” They all laughed.

“Oh!” Chrissy exclaimed, “We could wear them when we go to Disney World next month!”

“That’s a great idea!” Sam happily agreed.

“How are we going to get all of these diapers though? That’s the only problem.” Lisa pointed out.

“Well, I have a couple packs of these Goodnites,” Joey said.

“I have some too, from when my cousin was here,” Sam added.

“Well, I think these are a little big for me,” Chrissy responded.

“Really?” Lisa asked.

“I think so,” Chrissy said. She stood up, and sure enough, her Goodnite sagged low and slid down her hips a bit as she stood. There was a small puddle on the floor where it had leaked. “Oh gosh, sorry Joey, I didn’t realize it leaked, I’ll clean it up!”

“Why don’t we go change and then we’ll clean it up after that? I have an idea to make it fit,” Lisa said. “Oh! And for next time, couldn’t you just bring some of your diapers?”

“Oh duh, yeah,” Chrissy responded as she followed Lisa into the bathroom, holding her sagging Goodnite up. Once they got into the bathroom, Chrissy sat on the edge of the tub as Lisa went into the closet to get out two pull ups. She then stood on her toes and reached around on the top shelf, finding the small first aid kit kept there for any pool injuries. She took out the medical tape and a small pair of scissors.

“Alright, let’s change!” Lisa said. She took the scissors and cut the sides of her pull up and it fell to the floor. She wiped herself clean with a couple of baby wipes, wrapped them up in the wet Goodnite, and tossed it in the trashcan. She turned to Chrissy, snipping the scissors. “Your turn!”

“I got it.” Chrissy took the scissors from Lisa. “How am I going to make the clean Goodnite fit me?”

“Just put it on and I’ll show you.” Lisa answered.

“Ok. Turn around for a sec, my shirt doesn’t cover as much as yours.” Chrissy said as she got to work. Lisa turned and Chrissy cut the sides of her wet Goodnite and it hit the floor with a small thud.

“Wow, someone was wet,” Lisa giggled.

“Oh, shut it,” Chrissy said with a laugh. She wiped herself clean and wrapped up and discarded everything just as Lisa had done. She pulled on the fresh Goodnite and paid more attention to the space left at the leg holes. “Ok, done.”

“Ok, lie down on the floor,” Lisa commanded as she faced Chrissy. Chrissy obeyed, and Lisa knelt between her legs and cut the sides of Chrissy’s Goodnite.

“What are you doing?” Chrissy exclaimed, holding the Goodnite over her private area.

“Relax, I’m turning it into a diaper so it will fit you,” Lisa explained. “It’s not like you have something I haven’t seen before, besides, I think I can do it without opening it al the way.”

With that, Chrissy moved her hands and let Lisa get to work. Lisa pulled the back part of the left side of the Goodnite over the front, and taped it in place with the medical tape. She repeated the step with the right side, and helped Chrissy stand up. Sure enough, her diaper was taped snugly in place, nice and secure around her legs, and Lisa did it without having to open it, just like she said. Lisa grabbed a few extra wipes and handed them to Chrissy.

“Let’s get out there so the boys don’t get diaper rashes and you can clean up your little puddle,” Lisa said jokingly. The girls giggled and exited the bathroom. Lisa sat on the bed as Chrissy began to clean up. Sam and Joey went into the bathroom to change. While they were waiting for the girls, Sam had asked Joey for changing tips, and Joey offered to just show him. When they got into the bathroom, sam put the lid down on the toilet and sat as Joey took out a couple of Goodnites.

“Ok, stand up. The best way to take it off is to rip the sides,” Joey said as he tore his soaked pull up and let it drop to the floor. Sam followed suit. Joey took a wipe for himself and handed one to Sam.

“Now clean off really good. Get anywhere that has pee on it.” Joey ordered. The two boys cleaned up and dropped the wipes in their used Goodnites. Joey took some baby powder out of the closet.

“We should tell the girls to use this next time so they don’t get diaper rash. Just pat it on where you just wiped.” Joey instructed. He stole a quick glance at Sam, who was distracted by the task at hand. Joey was for some reason relieved to see that Sam’s penis was about the same size as his and they had relatively the same amount of hair growing in their pubic region. Recently Joey had been feeling like a little kid due to his problem, and he was happy to see that he was maturing at the same rate as Sam. He finished powdering and handed Sam a nighttime diaper before taking his own.

“Now, just pull it up, and you’re good to go!” Joey said.

“Thanks, man.” Sam said.

“No problem.” Joey responded.

The boys rejoined the girls in the main room. Lisa suggested they put a movie in. After a minor debate between Toy Story 2, Scream 2, and There’s Something About Mary, they ultimately decided to watch the Parent Trap. By the time the movie was finished, there were four wet diapers in the room. Sam wet for fun as soon as he could. Chrissy had to go about 30 minutes into the movie, and again as it was ending and wet both times, marveling at how the diaper Lisa had fashioned held both wettings. Lisa at some point found something hilarious that led to another wet pull up for her. Joey fell asleep about halfway through the movie, and woke up to Lisa telling him he needed a change.

Once all four members of the newly-christened WDC were wiped, powdered, and re-diapered, they decided to call it a night. Joey gave Lisa a quick, bashful kiss on the cheek and to everyone’s surprise, Chrissy did the same to Sam. Red-faced, excited, and curious as they were, all four were exhausted. Chrissy and Lisa climbed into one bed as Sam and Joey took the other. They whispered their goodnights, shut off the lights, and fell into a deep sleep, wondering what the next day would bring.

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

tell me this isn’t the end, it’s so good.

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

Well written, but I still don’t see anything making it stand out from other bland diaper stories…

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

Astronaut Jones,

Don’t be surprised if you don’t get this much acclaim from everyone, because the plot and your language aren’t necessarily going to blow anyone away. BUT, that being said…I have to tell you that this may be my favorite start to any ABDL story that I have ever read.

True, it’s really nothing special. If you were to try to make a living as a fiction writer, I hate to tell you, it probably wouldn’t work. But this genre, ABDL writing, it not necessarily supposed to blow anyone away. It’s written so that the reader can enjoy it, and imagine themselves in that situation. At least that’s why I read it. No one at least nowadays is ever having their ABDL fiction work published and sold at Barnes and Noble, so I really don’t care if the writer makes a few mistakes in their work, because it is amateur.

This story is just so incredibly enjoyable to read, I am so excited every time i see you post a new chapter. I’ll tell you why I think it works. I really think it’s more original than people may give it credit for. Most “Deeker-esque” stories involve one kid who is a bedwetter and eventually is forced into diapers by his parents. While this is the storyline for one of your characters, it is just a small storyline. This story has so much more.

I also like how you made it more about the kids themselves experimenting with diapers…and don’t yet have any adults involved. As you probably know if you read my story, this type of story about a few friends who all somehow find their different ways into diapers…with sleepovers and such…is right up my alley. I like how you have both genders represented, something I wish I had done, so it appeals to a wider audience and kind of seems more realistic.

Speaking of realism, to be honest this story so far would probably never happen in real life. Too many diaper-related things happening in such a short time, it would be very unlikely. BUT, you damn well make it seem like a real life story. You do such an excellent job on making it believable, and to me it doesn’t really feel rushed at all. The pace is perfect, not too slow either.

You set yourself up to go in so many directions with this, which is why I’m so excited. I have a feeling there’ll be some romance (Chrissy and Sam, Joey and Lisa), some secrets being revealed to other people (parents, relatives, and friends), and a whole lot of wet diapers.

Keep it up! It’s really a great piece of work so far in this genre

PS: Chrissy’s my favorite…what a cutie!

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

let me do a recap of the charecters (and correct me should i be wrong): we have one person with a iaper feetish(sam), a bedwetter (joey) a girl with a tiny bladder that easily leaks when she laughs (lisa) and a girl who will piss when scared and scares easily (chrissy)
a very good story and please tell me you didnt decide that this is it (id be so scared :’()

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

when’s part 5 coming out, can’t wait to read more.

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

Yeah, any chance we can get a new chapter soon? Can you at least give us proof your alive, astronautjones?

Thanks!!!

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

Ask and ye shall receive. I’m fairly busy with work, so getting these done hasn’t been a top priority. But I do have two more chapters planned after this coming one. I will say that this is loosely based on actual things that happened with me and my friends, and because of that, it may get a little steamy at some points. Also because of that, Once I get past the things that have happened already, I don’t know if I’ll make up the future or just stop. We’ll see. Thanks for the input everyone!

Re: Hot Fun in the Summertime, Chapter 4.

I like it because it is for the most part, believeable. I have done some things non ab/dl related but this seems like somethign me and my friends would do.