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Zack ambled toward the locker room with a little apprehension. He hadn't been able to see Charlie this morning because he had been running late, but the time apart only made him more eager. Only thing was, that cat would be there, too. Zack had made his warning to stay away quite clear the previous day, but it was hard to tell with Jamie. Being annoyingly persistent was one of his dominating features and if he wasn't careful, Zack might have to take matters into his own paws.

The jackal banished these thoughts for now. This was not the time to be sulking; now was his chance to talk to Charlie! He arrived at his destination a little earlier than usual to make up for the time, but he heard voices talking when he came in. It was Charlie...and Jamie. That stupid cat still couldn't fucking stay away!

"I can't believe he's acting like this," said a frustrated Charlie.

"It's not your fault..." Despite Zack's supposed absence, Jamie still seemed rather shaken.

"Are you alright? He didn't really hurt you, did he?"

"No."

Wait...are they talking about me?

_ _ "Listen, I'll make him apologize." Apologize?! I'm not apologizing to that little - "He shouldn't be acting like this. He's acting like a brat."

Zack paused. How could Charlie say something like that? He was just standing up for himself, that's all!

"I mean, all this because I wanted to eat lunch with you and your friends. This is just...ugh! I can't believe he's so immature!"

...That's it. Zack couldn't listen anymore. The jackal turned right back around and stormed out of the locker room, seeing nothing but red. Charlie had outright betrayed him, it was as simple as that. If Charlie wanted to go talking to that cat behind his back, fine. He didn't deserve to speak to Zack then.

Zack kept himself busy during gym by focusing solely at the task on hand, which happened to be the mile-long practice run. It wasn't dodgeball unfortunately, which would have allowed him to blow off some steam, but it was enough. He made sure to keep ahead of most of the group, knowing Charlie would likely be toward the back. His antics earned him a new record that day, something that surprised even Coach Salt.

His anger began to get the better of him once the run ended. At one point, Charlie noticed and tried to talk to him, but Zack just growled and stalked away toward the locker room. He changed his clothes at record speed and left the nearest bathroom down the hall. He needed to be alone for what came next, or he knew he might actually hurt someone. And as much as he dearly wanted to, the logical side of him knew that was a bad idea.

"Scram!" He shouted instinctively as he entered. A few startled students scurried out of the bathroom when they realized who it was. Zack went to the sink, splashed some cold water on his face, and started counting.

"Two...four...six..."

He hadn't needed to do this in a while, not since he had met Charlie in fact. The thought of Charlie made him angrier and force him to try and clear his head. He couldn't think about him right now; it would only make his mood worse.

"Eight...ten...twelve..."

"Zack?"

No! Go away! Zack began counting louder to drown out the wolf's voice. A glance in the mirror told him he was still there. "I'm not in a good mood right now."

"I'm aware, but I'd still like to talk to you right now."

Zack snarled dangerously. "Really? Sure I'm not being 'immature?'"

"You are by avoiding me!" When Zack snorted and closed his eyes, Charlie sighed and tried again. "Zack, look at me at least. Please?"

Zack gave a huff and turned. There stood Charlie looking both afraid and very concerned. "What happened between you and Jamie?"

Why was he being so damn pushy? What part of 'I'm not in a good mood right now' did he not understand? "That fucking cat is so damn..." There were no words to describe accurately enough how much he hated that cat. "He's annoying as fuck and I'm tired of him constantly trying to talk to me."

"...so he likes to talk. What's the big deal?"

Seriously?"I don't want to talk to him." Zack emphasized. "If you didn't force me to sit with them yesterday -"

"I didn't force you!" Charlie snapped. His tone took the jackal by surprise. The wolf had never risen his voice like this before. "You could've eaten by yourself yesterday, but you chose to sit with us. I get that you wanted to sit with me for lunch, but why are you so against having friends?"

"I'm not against friends," Zack responded in equal frustration. "But that cat doesn't know when to shut the fuck up! He kept asking me about the soccer team!"

_ _ "And?" Charlie demanded.

"I've told him once already and he doesn't seem to get the fucking idea!" Zack turned and started pacing around the bathroom. It was a wonder anyone hadn't wandered in by now. They could probably hear him shouting from outside. "Why does everyone think that I want to 'hang out' or that I'm going soft or some shit?"

"What's wrong with hanging out with people?" Charlie pleaded. "What's wrong with being soft?"

"Because if you're soft, people walk all over you and treat you like shit!"

"Or they'll want to be your friend and respect you more..."

"No, they'll start trying to use you because you're a doormat."

"Not everyone's so selfish and self-centered. This is pointless. You're not listening to me. You're just angry for the sake of being angry!"

"Charlie..."

"No, don't 'Charlie' me!" Shouted Charlie. He glanced behind him self-consciously before lowering his voice. "Why are you being so difficult? Why is it so hard for you to just relax and calm down?"

If I told you...

_ _ "Is this really the kind of guy you are?"

Zack frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I thought you were different..." The wolf sounded almost heartbroken when he uttered the words. "That maybe people just misunderstood you. Everyone kept saying you were like a ticking time bomb and stuff, but I thought it was just rumors. Looking at you now..." He dejectedly looked down and turned away. "I'm hungry. I'm going to go eat."

"Charlie -"

"I'll catch up with you later."

Zack hurriedly reached out and pulled the wolf back, bringing him in for a hug. Resting his head on the wolf's shoulder, he whispered, "I'm sorry." He squeezed the wolf closer and continued. "I'm not used to being around people. I'm used to being alone."

"You don't have to be." A paw came up to scratch behind Zack's right ear, causing him to sigh happily. From his vantage point, Zack saw a vulpine muzzle sticking out from behind the wall at the entrance. Half of the eavesdropper's face was concealed, but he was still recognizable. Junior.

"Will you promise to at least apologize to Jamie? Make an attempt to be friendly?"

Nope. "I will."

Charlie pulled away and glared at him. "Zack, I'm serious this time. You said you would yesterday and look how that turned out." Prodding the jackal in the chest, he said, "I want you to really try. I know you're a loner and all, but I'm not. I want to have friends."

Zack crossed his arms and nodded sardonically. "So I'm not enough for you."

Charlie saw his reaction and gulped. "Zack, I really like you. But if that means I'm not allowed to have friends on my own..."

Zack glanced momentarily at the fox behind the wall and away again. He knew Junior was listening, but that didn't matter. His boyfriend was in distress, and he was going to fix that. "Okay...I'll seriously try."

_ _ "Really?" Charlie said hopefully.

"Really," confirmed Zack.

Charlie smiled and leaned up to kiss Zack's nose. It felt silly, but the sentiment was there. Then remembering the fox that was still watching, Zack pulled Charlie in for a much deeper kiss, wrapping his arms around the wolf to give Junior a better show. That's right, Alex, we're still together. Sorry to disappoint you.

_ _ Charlie broke the kiss and grinned widely. "Thanks, Zack."

"You're welcome," said Zack with an equally warm smile. He then looked straight at Junior in his hiding spot and pretended to be surprised. "I think our conversation wasn't private."

He saw Junior's one revealed eye widen before he quickly turned to leave. He was sure Charlie at least caught the fox's tail as it whipped around the corner. Zack allowed himself a satisfied grin. For a fox, he ain't that sneaky.

................................

Zack slowed his pace to a brisk walk as he approached his house. He was finishing up his daily workout with a nice jog around the neighborhood, a great way to cool down. It also helped to decompress after a stressful day at school. The talk with Charlie had left him a little on edge. At lunch that day, Jamie and his friends had seemed very nervous and rightly so; but Zack still had done his best to tolerate Jamie. For Charlie's sake.

He stopped next to the garage and took a few gulps from his water bottle. Walking around aimlessly to allow his body to cool down, Zack noticed something oddly colorful behind some bushes by the front door. The jackal stooped and reached down, pulling out a plastic bottle. It was one of his protein shakes, and it was full.

That was odd. He had given this to Seth the day before and his brother had seemed very grateful. So why would he throw it into the bushes?

Where had he gone that he didn't want to bring the shake?

Zack got his chance to ask almost immediately when he saw Seth round the corner to their street. He waited patiently at the door while Seth came closer. He saw a flicker of fear in the younger jackal's eyes as he approached, and Seth tried to avoid him by going through the garage.

"Seth!" Zack snapped. His brother stopped and turned around with trepidation. "Do you want to explain why I found this on the ground today?"

"Not really." Seth tried to leave again, but Zack reached out and stopped him.

"No, you're going to tell me right now. Where did you go yesterday?" Zack pressed.

"It's none of your business." Seth pulled away and went into the house.

Zack growled and followed him, disregarding the equipment still scattered around the garage floor. The cool air inside the house was refreshing, but he didn't care about that right now. "Seth, you're not going anywhere until -"

"Until what?" Seth interjected angrily. "Until I tell you everywhere I go and everything I'm doing just because you want me to?"

Zack was a little flustered at the outburst. "Wha - where is this coming from? Just tell me where you went!"

"I don't have to tell you anything. You're not my mom."

This again... "Why don't you want to tell me?" To his credit, Zack was doing a fairly good job at not exploding at his brother like he normally would. Perhaps Charlie was a good influence on him. "Is it really that bad?"

"It's not bad," Seth countered. "I just don't like you being all up in my business!"

"It's a girlfriend, isn't it?" Zack said.

"How did you -" Seth gaped, then tried to recover. "No, it's not a girlfriend."

"Who is it?"

"It's not a girlfriend!"

"Bullshit, Seth!" Zack growled lowly. "What else would have you rushing out the door that early in the morning? You're never that quick to leave!"

"Why do you even care?!" Seth shot back.

"Because I'm your brother and it's my responsibility to take care of you!"

_ _ "Are you two okay?"

They immediately stopped their shouting and looked to the stairs to see Tristan standing there looking worried. Remembering his promise not to fight with his brother, Zack put on a happy face.

"We're just fine," Zack reassured him. "I'll come help you with your homework after I shower, okay?"

"I don't really need help," Tristan said uncertainly. "But okay..."

Zack waited until his youngest brother left before turning back to Seth. "Ma and Pa will find out about this."

Seth scoffed. "Fine, whatever." He stomped up to his room without another word.

Zack shook his head in disbelief. Did Seth really think he would be able to keep something like that a secret. He decided he would make a point of finding out what his brother was hiding. Zack gave a questioning look at the protein shake in his paw before throwing it away and continuing out to the garage.

It seemed the drama for the day hadn't quite ended as he'd thought.

.............................

Zack came back up to his room that night in considerably high spirits. They had finished one of their mother's casseroles she had left for them and it had been delicious as always. The meal itself had been tense at first due to his and Seth's...disagreement...but the food had made it better. Their mother often had that effect on people.

The jackal stopped to admire the paintings hung on his walls. It was rare that he appreciated his own work like this, but this time he had a good reason to. The art club would be hosting an art show soon; it hadn't been announced yet, but he knew it was coming. Zack still didn't know what he'd be painting for the occasion. It would have to be something new, something he had never done before. That in itself was a challenge. Charlie was bound to be curious about it when it inevitably came up. If he asked, he'd just avoid the question for now.

The house filled with a ringing noise as all the phones abruptly went off. Zack had been expecting this call. Knowing exactly who it was, he snatched a phone from the hall and brought it to his room.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Zack. How have you been?" Geoff said excitedly on the other end.

"Okay, I guess. You?"

"We've been doing alright. A bit busy, but that's nothing new. How have your brothers been doing?"

Zack tucked the phone against a shoulder and opened up his laptop. The screen displayed a selection of webpages he had been browsing earlier. He had a research paper to finish by next week and wanted to get a head start before the weekend began.

Zack thought for a moment and decided not to mention the problem with Seth just yet. Didn't want to spoil the mood. "They've been fine. Tristan seems to be doing well."

"That's good," said Geoff. "We were a bit worried about him, but I'm glad to know he's okay. By the way, we've got some good news!"

Zack distractedly clicked away from an article. "Really? What?"

"Your mother and I talked to our boss today and managed to work out a deal," said Geoff. "After this one, we can stop coming on these week-long trips, but we'll get paid less. Since we can't fulfill the duties of our current position, we'll effectively get demoted."

"Oh..." Zack's ears fell. That didn't sound like good news at all.

"Don't worry, it's still more than enough to raise a family!" Geoff reassured him. "Especially with both of us working. And we still love what we do, so no harm done."

He supposed that was okay. "That's great. Tristan'll love to hear that."

"I'm sure he will," said Geoff merrily. "So how about Seth? You two aren't fighting, are you?"

Zack bit his lip. "We had one argument today..."

"Uh oh. Did Tristan hear you?"

The jackal closed his laptop. He wasn't likely to get any work done during this conversation. "Yeah..."

Geoff gave an exasperated sigh. "What was it about?"

"Seth snuck off somewhere before school yesterday," Zack answered. "He wouldn't tell me where and he didn't even eat breakfast! He just left."

"I see." The terseness in his tone made it clear that Geoff wasn't happy at all. "I'll talk to him. Just please try not to argue with him in front of Tristan. It's not good for the pup."

"I know, I'll try," said Zack nervously. It was time to confront the thing that had been gnawing at him the whole day. "There's something else, too..."

"What is it?" Geoff asked patiently.

Zack gulped. "I had a fight with Charlie."

"You did?!" Geoff said in surprise. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"Of course not! Why would I?" Zack demanded, deeply hurt by the harsh response.

"It was just a question. I didn't mean anything by it," Geoff insisted. "But can you blame me for asking?"

Zack rolled his eyes. His father had a point. "I guess not."

"So tell me," Geoff encouraged. "What was the issue?"

"I kind of yelled at one of his friends," Zack admitted. "He was being annoying and I kind of snapped. And Charlie said I was immature because of it. He was right, though."

"And that made you angry at him?"

"Yeah." Zack sat back in his chair and stared at the white wolf painting on his wall. "I had to count again."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Geoff consolingly. "Did you talk about it to him? You know the best way to settle these disputes is to discuss it with your partner. Don't keep it to yourself."

"I know. And yes, we talked about it," replied Zack. "We're fine now. It's just the fact that we fought in the first place..."

"I understand," said Geoff. "But you managed to overcome that obstacle and move on. That's good!"

It felt so good to talk to someone he trusted about this. Zack had been down about it all day. He and Charlie had been getting along so well and then something like this comes up? Just days after their first date no less!

"Thanks, Pa," said Zack gratefully. "I'm glad we could talk."

"I'm glad, too," Geoff replied. "Now how about you pass the phone to Tristan? I'm sure he'd like to hear the good news!"

Zack nodded before realizing his father couldn't see that. He got up and headed for Tristan's room. "Of course. I love you."

"I love you too, son. Talk to you tomorrow."

.....................................

"Text me when you can, okay?"

"Definitely."

It was Friday. Zack and Charlie stood outside the school building after the art club had ended. As predicted, Mr. Wagner had announced that the art show was coming up soon and told everyone to start thinking about what they wanted to present. And as predicted, Charlie had been very curious about what Zack would be painting. Of course, the jackal didn't know himself, but he had played it off like it was some big secret. Charlie bought it for now, but he couldn't help but feel he had just dug himself an even deeper hole.

A car pulled up and an admittedly pretty wolfess looked out the window. That was Charlie's stepmom. As Charlie went to get into the passenger seat, she noticed Zack and smiled. "Hope you have a great weekend," she said politely.

"Thanks, you too," Zack replied. "See you later, Charlie."

"See you!"

"Oh, before I forget," Mrs. Argent said suddenly. "Are you and your brothers free next Friday night? I was thinking it'd be a great idea for you all to come over for dinner. I'll make anything you like."

Zack paused in surprise. A dinner invitation was the last thing he had been expecting today. "Oh...thank you, Miss Argent. I don't know, but I'll definitely let you know."

"Excellent," said Mrs. Argent. "Oh and please be sure to let me know if you and your brothers are allergic to anything or if they're vegetarians or...anything at all."

"Well, my brother's allergic to nuts," Zack responded thoughtfully. He remembered the day they had found out about Tristan's nut allergy. It hadn't been a good day for anyone.

Mrs. Argent smiled sweetly. "Got it. Well, be sure to let me know if you guys can make it. We'd love to have you over. And I'm sure Chance would, too," she added.

Zack chuckled at Charlie's blush. So cute. "Right, I definitely will. Have a good weekend, Charlie."

"Have a good weekend, Zack!" Charlie said happily before they drove away.