A bigger roadblock

Lacking a vehicle of his own, Jerome had no choice but to walk with Sasha to his apartment. Luckily, it wasn't too far off, Jerome was smart enough to find a job at a place he could easily reach by just walking, that way he could avoid spending money on the bus, and with a salary like his, he really needed each and every single penny he earned.
"Here we are, Sasha. Home sweet home", said Jerome.
The building Jerome was currently living in wasn't necessarily luxurious by any means, as evidenced by the lack of a good paint job and some spots where once could see exposed bricks, but it certainly could be worse.
"Uh... very cozy", said Sasha with a nervous smile.
"Don't worry, you don't need to pretend. I know it's not the best, but it's what I can afford. And hey, it's close to my workplace, so that's a plus", replied Jerome.
With that said, both went inside. After a few steps, they were greeted by Mr. Kingsley, Jerome's landlord.
"Good afternoon, Jerome. Oh, and who's this girl?".
"She's a childhood friend. We ended up bumping into eachother after many years. Who would have thought, huh?".
"Aleksandra Malakovna, sir. Nice to meet you".
"Likewise, dear. Owen Kingsley, I'm the landlord. Say, where are you from? Russia, perhaps?".
"Yes, sir. Saint Petersburg, to be specific".
"Ah, very interesting. I actually have a cousin that went there once when I was younger. So, what brings you to the States?".
"Well, one could say that I wanted to get away from everything and start off from scratch. And well, since I spent big part of my childhood here, I settled for North America".
"Well, I really hope you have a wonderful time here. Now, if you'll excuse me".
"Going somewhere, Mr. Kinglsey?".
"I'm having lunch with my family, nothing more".
"Alright, have fun".
"You too, Jerome. Well, I'll be going".
After than encounter, Jerome and Sasha stepped inside the elevator. Yes, the building had a perfectly functional elevator. Not bad for a relatively cheap place.
"Can't wait to see your apartment".
"Don't get your hopes up too much. My place was clearly designed for only one person in mind".
"Aw, come on. Surely that won't get in the way of having a good time, right?".
"I hope so-- urk!".
As soon as the elevator's door opened, Jerome's mood abruptly changed. As if he had saw something that he wasn't expecting to see. But as a matter of fact, he did see something, or rather, someONE he didn't expect.
"... Uh, are you ok, Jerome?".
"... Huh? Jerome?".
In front of them was a massive wolf lady with grey fur and long, purple dyed hair. She wore a shirt with a skull on it, same shirt that hugged her pudgy frame, which was only slightly bigger than Sasha's, which of course meant that she had a sizeable belly and a colossal butt, covered by a mini skirt.
"Well, well, well. Looks like the shrimp came back home".
This woman was Ophelia, Jerome's next door neighbor and, by definition, a bully. She had a habit of using her body to abuse those smaller than her via various methods. These ranged from crushing them with her weight, smothering them with her breasts and straight up sitting on them, which she accompanied by unleashing horrid gusts of flatulence over them. In fact, they were so smelly that her favorite bullying method was snatching up her targets and stuffing them inside her underwear, where they would have to endure her powerful farts until she got bored with them.
She did this to all sorts of people wherever she went, but the one person she liked bothering the most was none other than Jerome himself. She couldn't quite explain it, maybe it was the fact that they literally lived next to eachother, but she just LOVED torturing him at any given chance, which escalated to a point that she would sometimes, quite literally, kidnap him to torture him to her heart's content. Luckily, after many times being held against his will, Jerome had developed a way to escape her clutches whenever this happened, thanks to his smart way of thinking. Although sadly, this didn't make Ophelia kidnap him less frequently. If anything, it made her want to capture him MORE.
And of course, she used her size and torture methods to make sure that Jerome wouldn't try to tell the landlord about her "activities".
"W-w-what are YOU doing here NOW?".
"Oh, you're not gonna believe this. You see, I was on my way to work, but just as I got out I received a call from a co-worker telling me that for reasons that I don't have to explain I could take the day off. And now that you're here, I'm going to enjoy my day off to its fullest~".
"Oh, damn it...".
"Uh... Jerome, who's this?".
It was then when Ophelia had noticed the polar bear girl standing behind Jerome. One would think that Sasha's size would have made her easier to spot, but Ophelia was too busy thinking of how she was going to "have fun" with her victim that she was capable of missing even someone as massive as herself.
"I could ask you the same thing. Don't think I've seen you around here before. And by the looks of things, seems like you know this shortie. You wouldn't happen to be cheating on me, right Jerome?".
"C-cheating?!".
Jerome blushed brightly after hearing Ophelia's attempt at teasing him, which had been obviously successful.
"Don't believe her, Sasha! I'm very much NOT dating her!".
Ophelia just snickered.
"Chill, girl. I'm just pulling your leg. Yeah, I'm not dating this tiny... although, if I'm honest, I wouldn't be opposed to that idea. I mean, for starters, you could make this much easier for the both of us. You could move in with me, and I could torture you all day long. Think about it, you could save time and energy you waste on escaping my clutches whenever I snatch you up".
Sasha gasped. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This girl enjoyed abusing and kidnapping her childhood friend and made no attempt to hide it whatsoever.
"Excuse me?! Torture him all day long?! What the actual hell are you talking about?!".
"Huh? Oh, you know, I squash him, I smother him, I gas him, that one's my favorite, and it's SO much better when I keep him all tied up in my closet~".
"TIED UP IN YOUR CLOSET?! Stop! Just stop! What makes you think you can treat Jerome like this?!".
"Why not? It's not like he can do anything about it".
That last sentence resonated inside Sasha's head.
"... What did you just say?".
"Are you deaf, by any chance? I said that it's not like he can do anything about it".
"It's not like he can do anything about it...".
"It's not like he can....".
"It's not...".

. . .

"... about it".
"... do anything about it".
"It's not like he can do anything about it!".
Ophelia's phrase had triggered a flashback inside Sasha's mind. There she was as a 6 year old girl at the school's playground during recess. In front of her, Jerome was on the ground being beaten up by Edgar, a feared bully amongst the children of her class and other classes.
"Enough! Stop hurting him! Please!", said little Sasha as she attempted to stop the beating, only for Edgar to effortlessly and aggressively toss her aside.
"And why should I, fatty? It's not like he can do anything about it!", replied Edgar as he kept punching Jerome in the face again and again.
Sasha began crying, both because of the damage she received from the fall, and from the sadness product of not being able to help her only friend as he was beaten to a pulp right in front of her.

. . .

And then, Sasha returned to reality.
"So, what do you say, Jerome? Hope you're ready for a rough weekend", said Ophelia, whose giant belly started to rumble right after.
"I know I am~".
"NO!".
Yelled the polar bear at the top of her lungs, which took both Ophelia and Jerome by surprise.
"Damn, what's gotten into you all of the sudden?".
"I said NO! I'm NOT allowing this! You CAN'T do that to Jerome!".
"Of course I can! Here, just WATCH!".
The massive wolf woman easily grabbed Jerome and lifted him from the ground. She then held him above her butt as she pulled back the back of her underwear. A view Jerome was used to, but was no less scared.
"In you go!", said Ophelia as she dropped Jerome into her panties, letting them snap back into place.
"Mmmmm~ Jerome, I don't know how you do it, but you just feel sooooo freaking good back there! Seriously, you should think about my offer of letting you date me! Here, have a little something to help you reconsider!".
The wolf woman proceeded to let loose a torrent of farts right on top of Jerome, who despite being subjected to her flatulence on a regular basis, he still couldn't handle it.
"Whew! How do you like that, huh? And I haven't even eaten lunch yet!", boasted Ophelia as she mimicked the motion of fanning something away with her right hand.
"I-I demand you to stop right now!".
"Why? Jealous? Feeling left out? Hey, I can lend him to you every now and then so you can have your way with him too".
"T-that's not it! Jerome doesn't like it, can't you see?!".
"Of course, I'm not blind. But worry not, my farts are kind of an acquired taste. He may not like them now, but I'm sure he'll do if I break him in. Sooner or later he'll learn to love them. Speaking of which, hang on back there cause this is gonna be a big one".
Jerome began to panic. When she said that she would release a big one, she really meant it. The cat boy began thrashing around, but the situation was clearly not in his favor, so that got him nowhere.
"Here it comes, handsome. Ready, aim, fi--".
"RRAAAAARGH!".
Sasha, summoning all of her courage, charged forward and tackled Ophelia, knocking her down to the ground.
"What's your problem?!".
"LET HIM OUT! LET HIM OUT! LET MY FRIEND OUT!".
Sasha, without thinking it twice, got her hands into Ophelia's panties and began fishing around for Jerome until she found him and pulled him out. Once free, he desperately began gasping for air before being tossed away with the objective of getting him away from the brawl.
"Would you quit it already?! Why are you being this aggressive?!".
"Because he's my friend! I care for him! He cares for me! And I will not stand there as he's being abused right in front of my eyes! Not again!".
"Come on, you and I aren't so different. You're a big girl, you deserve some fun! Are you going to tell me you haven't sat on him at least once? You're really going to tell me that it doesn't feel good to have a tiny wriggling between your ass cheeks?".
Sasha blushed and gasped, thinking back at the instance where she had accidentally sat on Jerome earlier that day.
"That face tells me you have. So, why are you trying to fight me? Like I said, I can share him with you from time to time".
Ophelia, being a true scumbag, tried playing mind games with Sasha. The russian lady looked back at Jerome, who was cowering in the corner. That fearful gaze was all Sasha needed to remember what she was fighting for.
"... You know, Jerome taught me something on my first day in an american school. He showed me that bad people aren't exclusive to a certain place. Bad people can come from anywhere, and can come in many shapes and sizes. He gave me what I needed here in this country: A true friend. He cared about how I felt, about my hopes, my dreams, my goals! His company and his friendship helped me during those 6 years I spent in elementary school, because as fellow outcasts bullied on a regular basis, we understood eachother on such a deep level that I hold him very close to my heart to this day! That's why I'm putting a stop to this!".
Sasha wasn't backing down, especially not now. She was going to stand her ground, no matter what.
"Psh. Fine, you want to fight me? So be it, don't say I didn't give you a chance to end this the easy way", said Ophelia as she stared Sasha down.
"You can take your 'easy way' and shove it!", replied Sasha as she charged at the she-bully in such a way only someone hailing from Mother Russia could.
And so, the two titanic ladies clashed. Sure, Ophelia may have been relatively even in terms of weight, but in terms of sheer fighting spirit, the wolfess was severly outclassed. Turns out Ophelia was only fearsome when she tormented people she knew couldn't fight back, but now that she was facing someone of roughly her own size, her true colors had come to light.
Ophelia was an absolute pushover, and because of that, Sasha found it extremely easy to pin her down.
"Hmph, I expected as much from a bully such as yourself. You act all bad and stuff, but as soon as there's someone who fights back, you crumble down!", barked out Sasha as she gave a light jump which ended up with her landing on Ophelia's face butt first.
"You like gassing out the weak so much? Well, let's see if you like a taste of your own medicine!".
The bear gal grunted as her stomach began rumbling intensely. Ophelia knew very well what was in store for her, but she was unable to pry the giant polar bear cheeks off from her face.
And just like the sound of a war horn cutting through the howling winds of the winter, a loud, colossal fart erupted from Sasha's backside, going straight into her howling opponent's nose.
After a few more blasts of noxious flatulence, Sasha slowly stood up from the bully's face. Ophelia had been knocked out cold, and she wouldn't be waking up for the next few hours.
"... Jerome. Why?", asked Sasha as her eyes began to tear up.
"... Why didn't you tell me about this? You don't desrve to be treated like this! Why didn't you say anything about her?".
"BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO THINK I'M PATHETIC!", shouted Jerome, which took his friend by surprise.
"... What?".
"Ever since I graduated from elementary school I wanted to stop being picked on, to become stronger, to stop being a loser! Then came middle school, then high school, then college, and nothing had changed! No matter how much I tried, there was always some jerk that took advantage of my size and my weakness! It's been ages since we last saw eachother and yet... nothing has changed! I'm still the same weakling I was when we were children!", said Jerome as he broke down. Sasha was devastated. She didn't remember when was the last time she had seen Jerome like this.
Then, the young cat began to cry.
"I'm sorry, Sasha... I just didn't want... you to see that I'm as pathetic as ever...".
Sasha wasted no time and gave Jerome a hug while she too broke down in tears.
"Don't say that... I don't think you're pathetic... you were my first true friend in this country... you understood me in a way no one else in this part of the world did... that's not pathetic in my book... you cared about how I felt... just as much as I cared about how you felt... if anything, I'm still someone that worries too much, that much has remained the same...".
Jerome hugged her back as he looked down.
"... I guess some things just never change, huh?".
There was silence between the two for a couple of minutes, Nothing but the sounds of their mourning and their warm embrace.
"... Jerome, I can't let you keep living like this. Not with her around".
"But then... what do I do?".
"You can live with me".
"Live... with you? Would you allow me to do that?".
"Of course, Jerome. I could use a roomie anyway. And what better candidate than you?".
"But... what about my job?".
"There's plenty of work opportunities at downtown. We're in America, after all".
Jerome thought this over. If he went with her, then he'd no longer have to endure Ophelia's abuse, plus, he could catch up with his childhood friend.
"... Deal".
Sasha let out a happy squeal when she heard Jerome's answer. This could easily be the best day of her life.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you! You've made me Russia's happiest bear!".
"Glad to know, Sasha. It's nice having you back...".
Both friends smiled at eachother. This was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives for sure.
"So... what do we do with her?", said Jerome pointing at Ophelia's unconscious body.
"She could use a little nap, I'm sure she won't mind. However we better report this to your landlord".
"Good idea. He needs to know that I'm moving out as well".
And so, it was decided.
This all seemed like a dream. All of these events happening on the same day made the situation seem surreal. Jerome thought for sure that he would be taken advantage of for the rest of his life given the circusmtances of his life as a whole, forever suffering under someone stronger than him until his best days were long gone.
But his reencounter with Sasha, one of the few lights of his life, made him believe that life itself had given him another chance.
Jerome didn't ask for much. All he wanted was to feel joy, and Sasha thought the same.
While both of the friends' physiques were vastly different, they were similar in so many other ways. One thing was for certain.
This is what both sides needed, and if these two sticked together, there'd be nothing they couldn't face.