FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Hey guys, guys. Guess what? You already guessed. Yeah, SURPRISE. I decided that I spent a bit too long this weekend studying what is probably graduate level oncology, so I decided, fuck it, I'm gonna finally edit and upload chapter 6. But, this is the last chapter that I have completely written ahead, from now there will be an even longer delay until I finish my cancer related project. So peace out, I hope you enjoy the chapter, although its cheesy at points it is probably my favourite chapter ^_^''

By the way, VERY IMPORTANT: go back and re-read chapter 5 from after the fight scene. I made major edits which will confuse the hell out of you in this chapter if you don't go back and read it. (If you haven't already then go read my journal to find out why)

p.s. if any of you are Austin powers fans there will be a line here that you will notice that seems to be taken out of the first film. I didn't actually copy it, I'd already written this chapter before I watched Austin powers: International man of mystery, but I kept it in anyway. Otherwise, enjoy ^_^

College Life 6

Thursday's lectures passed quickly for Leo and Diego, and once more they found themselves surrounded by books in the library. They still had a race to finish from the day before.

"Ok, if I win, I get to treat you to dinner" Diego said with a chuckle, "And if you win, well, I guess you can treat me to dinner again."

"This doesn't seem fair." Leo said with a cocked eyebrow. Diego winked at him. Diego hadn't missed the fact that Leo had started his essay the day before; the tiger had better eyesight than Leo gave him credit for.

"Why? If it's anything like yesterday then I should win again and all will be fair right? Unless you, no, I know you'd never cheat" Diego said with a shake of his head, disgusted that such a thought could even enter his own head.

"Of course I didn't, um, yeah let's go." Leo said with a hint of uncertainty. Diego smiled to himself and nodded. 20 minutes later Diego sent his essay off to his lecturer.

"Finished!" He said with his cute grin on his face. Leo started laughing to himself.

"Bastard. And here was me thinking I had a head start."

"I know, I saw you yesterday, you're not as subtle as you like to think, pup. Whereas me, well I'm a cat, I just ooze subtleness, I did most of it this morning while you were still fast asleep."

"That's fine. I still have to do this essay anyway, so you lose sucker" Leo stuck his tongue out at the orange stripy feline who merely grinned and scratched Leo behind the ears causing the wolf to purr lightly.

"I thought dogs don't purr." Diego said with a grin as he continued to scritch behind the wolf's ear.

"Awww come on, I need to get this done." The wolf whined; he was unable to concentrate with the tiger's incessant but pleasing scratching.

"Alright pup" Diego said with a smile as he kissed him on the forehead and went back to his laptop to play chess. It wasn't until Diego started talking to the computer with threats of checkmate that Leo's ears perked up and his gaze shot up to the tiger.

"You're not playing computer chess are you?" He said with an accusing look. It was a rhetorical question but Leo was highly prejudiced against AI chess. They never played like a living person, and experience against AI wasn't any good when it came to properly playing chess against real people, sort of like when playing tekken. Leo had experience it first hand, having played an AI chess one holiday to the point where he could beat it on its highest level then got beaten by the lowest ranked player in his school the day he got back. He'd had to learn to play against people all over again. He didn't want that for the tiger.

"Yeah, I'm thrashing this character, I have 6 queens, and I'm going for 7!" Leo knew what was coming up. He smiled to himself and got back to his essay. Diego's upcoming mistake was one which he'd had both in real life and against his laptop and about a minute later Leo chortled as he saw Diego staring in shock at the screen before facepawing himself.

"Stalemate?" Leo asked, sticking his tongue out at the tiger.

"Fuck off" Diego replied as he blushed.

"Don't worry Hun, it happens to the best of us" The wolf said pointing a grey digit at himself. Leo spent 10 more minutes on his essay before looking up at the wolf with a frown on his face. "Why am I doing this now I don't have to hand it in till Sunday. Now for dinner, d'you wanna pick?"

"Pizza buffet?" Diego suggested as they started to make their way out of the library

"Sure, wow, just realised I haven't had pizza till I broke up with my ex. He wasn't a fan of pizza, kind of annoying considering how much I love the stuff and he couldn't take a joke, plus he was far too interested in sex for my liking, he'd already shown me his dick on our second date."

"It doesn't seem like you got on well with your ex very well, or at least you don't have much positive to say about him."

"Nah don't get me wrong, we got on ok and he can be a reasonably sweet guy, but, I dunno, we were just too different, he seemed to dislike so much and was very close minded, and I felt like I had to conform to his exact lifestyle just to keep him happy."

"Fair enough, I take it you ended it then."

"Yeah, I'm glad I did; it was best for both of us, and I must admit, I hope it's the only time I have to go through with it." Leo smiled as he took the tiger's paw in his. He couldn't deny, he loved Diego. It wasn't like with his ex, this was different but Leo didn't know how to describe it. It felt more right Leo guessed.

The two enjoyed the pizza buffet, Diego, still getting his appetite back, ate less than Leo, but he was slowly catching up with the wolf's buffet portions. The next few days were quite work packed for the two of them and Saturday was quickly upon them. After the morning's lectures the two of them went to the hospital together. Diego knew what to expect from the chemotherapy, but that didn't make it any easier, if anything the second time was even worse than the first. The two didn't do much for the day, mostly relaxing and cuddling in Diego's room.

"Hey Leo, I'm gonna go have a shower okay?"

"Sure, I wouldn't stop you. Mind if I join you?" The two hadn't yet seen each other without their boxers on and Diego was nervous about the whole idea, he hesitated and was about to agree when Leo silenced him with a single paw.

"I know what you're thinking, you don't need to get naked with me yet if you don't want to, I totally understand, now you go enjoy your shower and I'll try finish that essay from the other day... which I completely forgot about till now" Leo cringed at the realisation and Diego merely chuckled and licked the wolf on the nose before grabbing a towel heading out of his room and going to the shower on his floor.

Leo smiled and it only just dawned on him that he hadn't actually seen the tiger go have a shower. Leo himself showered before going downstairs most mornings, he only presumed Diego would do the same and guessed that the tiger hadn't had a chance on that particular morning.

Leo finished his essay before Diego had finished. The canine was pleased with his exploits until he saw the clock on his laptop showed that almost an hour had passed since Diego had left. Leo was suddenly very wary and he left the room in search of the tiger; not even women took an hour to shower. The door to the shower room was locked Leo knocked on it cautiously.

"Diego you in there?" A weak voice made its way through the door; it was barely audible even for the wolf.

"Yeah I'm here"

"Are you coming out soon?" Leo heard some shuffling behind the door. The door opened quickly and the sight that met Leo's eyes caused him to gasp in shock. Diego went to slam the door but Leo had already shoved his arm between the door and the door frame. He suppressed a growl is the door hit his arm and pushed his way into the shower room with Diego. He had only caught a glimpse of the tiger as he opened the door, but now he could examine him closely. Large patches of the tiger's fur were missing all over his face, and Leo could only presume it was similar for the rest of his body. Fur lay in large clumps all over the floor and in the shower.

Diego couldn't bring himself to look Leo in the eyes. He was ugly, or at least he thought so. Leo moved one paw under the tiger's muzzle and tilted the tiger's face so Diego would look at him, but Diego kept his gaze averted. Leo blew lightly on the tiger's nose causing the tiger to sneeze and smile weakly to himself.

"I'm hideous" he whispered as much to himself as to Leo.

"No you're not, cos you're the same Diego I fell in love with, and he's beautiful beyond words, both in body and personality." Leo hugged Diego close to him. "We'll get through this Diego, and you'll come out at the other end stronger than ever, you hear me."

Diego nodded quietly.

"What should we do with all the fur? I mean, it would clog up the shower drain." The tiger mumbled into Leo's shoulder

"I'll go get a bin liner and a brush and pan." Leo kissed Diego on one of the bald patches and went off to get the stuff. He quickly returned and had soon swept up all the hair on the floor and in the shower. While the wolf was working away Diego suddenly hugged him from behind, slightly startling the wolf. Diego nuzzled the Leo lightly. The hug was for his own benefit; he drew strength from the wolf and Leo was just happy to be able to help the tiger in any way possible.

Soon everything was cleaned up and they were back in Diego's room.

"Hey Hun I'm gonna head somewhere for a bit, I'll be back in around, I guess, 45 minutes." Leo said as he turned to leave all of a sudden.

"Oh, ok, I'll see you later."

"What are you gonna do while I'm gone?"

"Might watch some anime."

"Which one? Naruto? Bleach? One piece? Ooh, Death Note?"

"Nah, Angel Beats." Diego responded. It wasn't one of the well known anime series, so he doubted that the wolf would have heard of it let alone watched it.

"OOH! Good choice, I love that one! Anyway I'll see you later. "

Diego was half way through the third episode of angel beats when there was a knock at the door. He opened the door without looking through the eyepiece and was shocked at the sight that met his eyes. Leo was standing there with a heart shaped box of chocolates in his paw. But that wasn't what shocked Diego. The wolf was furless. Diego stared, he was stunned, and he looked over the wolf's hairless body. Leo gave Diego a child-like smile and held out the chocolates to him. The tiger took the chocolates unsurely.

"Wh-why?" Diego stared at the wolf in shock.

"Because I love you, and I don't want you to go through this alone." Leo kissed Diego on the muzzle and grunted as he was pulled into a bear hug by his muscled tiger. The box of chocolates clattered on the floor, but the couple didn't care. Leo relaxed and let himself enjoy the feeling of the tiger's strong arms around him.

"I love you too Leo. But you didn't need to do this."

"I felt like I needed to. That's a good enough reason for me."

"Thank you." Diego whispered into Leo's ear as he rested his head on the wolf's shoulder. He laughed quietly as he felt the wolf's wet nose poke his ear.

"It's ok, now let's watch some anime" Leo said as he nibbled softly on the tiger's ear. The big tiger giggled and moved over to the bed with Leo where his laptop was rested. The two moved over to the bed and slumped down on it together. They watched the remaining ten episodes of angel beats together. It was a short series, which they both liked about it.

Both of them started tearing up during the final episode, in any other situation they would have "manned up", but they were with each other and couldn't care if they saw each other crying. Leo wiped away the tears on Diego's muzzle and kissed him lightly. Diego turned and kissed Leo back. The two stared at each other briefly but Leo looked away. Diego whimpered, thinking that Leo couldn't stand the sight of him, but the wolf was simply moving the laptop onto the floor. He looked back at Diego and the two pushed their muzzles together. Their tongues explored each others' muzzles. Diego nibbled lightly on Leo's tongue causing the wolf to moan into the tiger's muzzle.

"It's mine now" Diego said around Leo's tongue as he sucked on it and held it tightly in his mouth. Leo tried to pull his tongue back and whined as the tiger held on to it.

"I want my tongue back. Mmmmm" Leo groaned as Diego rubbed his body against Leo and sucked on the wolf's tongue. Diego rolled on top of Leo. The wolf moaned again as he felt the full weight of the big cat on top of him. Leo ran his paw up and down the tiger's muscled back feeling the careful definition of each muscle. Leo marvelled at the size. The muscles weren't tensed, but they were still big and just generally fun to feel up.

"Your body is so sexy by the way" Leo said as he finally got his tongue back from the tiger and licked him on the nose.

"It'd be nicer if it had all its fur though"

"Well nothing wrong with showing a bit of flesh" Leo said as he licked one of the bald patches on the tiger's neck. They both laughed and rolled about on the bed together. More fur fell from the tiger's body, but seeing Leo drastically reduced the emotional impact.

"Thank you Leo" The rolled about some more and got mixed up in the duvets.

"Hehe, don't worry about it. Um, how do I get out?"

"Just a sec." Diego grabbed on to Leo and rolled over. Leo got alarmed as they gradually rolled closer to the edge of the bed and suddenly yelped as he felt himself falling off the edge. Fortunately the duvet broke his fall and unravelled itself letting Diego roll out onto the floor next to Leo. They looked at each other and then burst out into hysterical laughter.

"Silly tiger," Leo said as he flicked Diego on the nose.

"I got you out didn't I?" He said as he flicked the wolf back.

"Shush" Leo kissed the tiger on the muzzle again. He looked over the tiger's body and noticed something he had never noticed before. There, on one of the new bald patches on the tiger's wrist, was a collection of thin horizontal scars, some wider than others, some still somewhat recent. Diego, noticed what the wolf was staring at and pulled his wrist back, away from his lover's examining eyes. Leo didn't know what to think or say; what was left of his safe little world crumbled around him as reality thrust its ugly head into sight. Thoughts rushed through the his head in a blur but were unable to coalesce themselves into any sensible plan of action. After a few moments Leo blinked and reached out for the tiger's arm.

"Diego... let me see your wrist." The words left the wolf's mouth slowly, like he was in some sort of trance-like state.

"No." The tiger growled angrily. Leo flinched.

"Diego please." Leo was horrified, had he really seen what he thought he'd seen?

"I said no, Leo" He responded in a threatening tone.

"Let me see your fucking wrist!" The wolf was hysterical at this point. He tackled Diego to the floor too suddenly for the tiger to react. He pulled the tiger's forearm towards him roughly and stared at what he'd thought he'd seen. Nothing had changed in the past few seconds, the scars were there, evidence of a much more difficult and painful life were put before Leo and the wolf was lost; he didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know anything that could make the current situation better. He felt Diego's muscles tensing underneath him as he was suddenly thrown a few feet away from the man he loved.

A snarl emanated from Diego's maw as he sat up and glowered at Leo. Who was the wolf to judge him for what he'd done to himself? It was his body after all. He stared Leo in the face and frowned. His lover's face held no malice, no prejudice, just sorrow. The tiger couldn't help but feel angry; angry at himself. Angry that he'd just threatened the person who loved him most in the world and angry that his actions were what caused the current turmoil that was going on inside the wolf.

"Leo, I-I'm so sorry." He moved closer to the wolf and was about to put his arms around him when he felt himself getting pulled towards Leo and somehow ended up with the wolf behind him with his arms wrapped firmly around the tiger. Diego let himself relax at first but then sat up as he felt Leo's body shaking behind him.

"Diego, you have nothing to be sorry for, but please... please stop hurting yourself. I said I'd do my best to protect you from all harm, but I can't protect you from yourself." The tiger felt tiny drops spatter onto his shoulder and he felt Leo pull on him tighter.

"Leo..."

"Diego Sabre, I love you more than anyone in the world, you've gone through so much, and if I have to hold you like this to make sure nothing happens to you then I will do so, and I won't let go, that's a promise. But please, Diego... why?" A lump had slowly formed in Leo's throat and he gave up on speaking, instead he wrapped his legs around the tiger's waist and rocked gently back and forth.

Diego frowned he'd never told anyone about how he cut himself on a regular basis. It was something he started some time after his parents found out he was gay. At first the cuts were short. Diego didn't really know why he did it. Diego sighed, he hadn't wanted for anyone to find out, but if he and Leo were going to be boyfriends, it was only fair that he told the wolf the truth.

"Well you know what my parents are like. After they found out I was gay they weren't exactly the most pleasant of people to be around. As well as that most of my friends rejected me and wouldn't even speak to me anymore. Life was kind of shit to say the least and I won't deny, I was severely depressed by it all. Cutting myself was sort of an outlet for my fried, it got me closer to death, and hence further from my shitty life. At first I was only brave enough to make small cuts, but I gradually got braver and would make slightly deeper and wider. It made me feel like I was taking control I guess."

Leo sighed to himself, it wasn't a nice truth, in fact, it was a brutally honest and disgusting truth, but at least it was the truth and not some lie that the tiger had told to make him feel better.

"So when was the last time you cut yourself?"

"It's been a while actually, thinking of you has kinda taken my mind off it. I'm happy now, so I don't need to cut myself anymore." Leo found himself smiling, at least he'd done something good for someone with his life.

"Diego, I know this may be hard but can you promise me never to cut yourself again? If what you say is true, and I make you happy enough to not need to, then you shouldn't ever need to, cos I'm in this right till the very end, no matter how long or short a time that might be." Diego sighed, it should've been easy to say yes but something at the back of his mind told him to say no, or at least not to promise, but that's not what Diego wanted, he wanted to stop, so why should he listen to the thought.

"...Ok... I promise" Diego said after short pause.

"Good. Thank you Diego." The tiger snickered as he felt Leo's nose snuffle quickly at the back of his neck as the two got up, Diego felt his head spin and it took him a few moments to re-orientate himself."

"Wow, I'm tired." Diego said all of a sudden, "I guess chemo really wears you out"

" Yeah, nothing at all to do with our little discussion. But seriously, how are you feeling?"

"It's just a dull throb at the moment, not really that sore. I need to sleep though."

It was only 9 o'clock in the evening but Leo could see that Diego was already half asleep. The tiger's tail hung limply between his legs and his whiskers were drooping down. On top of that the tiger's eye lids were struggling to stay open.

"Alright, mind if I sleep here with you?"

"What do you think? Of course you can" Leo smiled and got up, offering a paw to the tiger. Diego grabbed it and got up to his feet slowly. The tiger yawned, there was something weird about it, but Leo found it so cute to see the big muscled tiger yawning like a kitten. Diego dressed down to his boxers and Leo did the same. Diego got into bed first and held his arms open for Leo. The wolf smiled and snuggled up close to the tiger. He was glad that the tiger's arms were around him, they kept him warm now that his fur was gone. Leo listened to Diego's breathing and soon enough he was sure that the tiger was asleep. Leo continued to listen to his lover's breaths and sniggered to himself as the tiger's hot breath tickled his ear.

He must have spent almost half an hour just lying awake in the tiger's arms. Leo himself wasn't tired; he didn't really like sleep in general. Sleep was a great waste of time in the wolf's opinion and he liked to stay up as long as possible to do things. He never really planned what things to do but when night time arrived he always found things to keep him busy. His psp was an unlimited source of distraction, and he could play final fantasy dissidia 'till the cows came home, although right now his psp was sitting on his desk back in London. Leo remembered when he used to be in secondary school, he would get up at 6.15 AM to get to school early. However, Leo was a games addict back in secondary school, and his addiction reached its zenith in his final two years of school. Some weeks he would spend almost every Monday to Friday night up until 3 AM playing his psp. There was one game he had been particularly good at and he was determined to beat the ultimate side boss with the 3 different playable characters, a feat that most people couldn't even achieve with just one of the characters.

And so, Leo lay in Diego's bed, he couldn't get to sleep; he had something to do though, he would listen to his lover, feel his every body movement. He stayed awake over the next few hours paying careful attention to every one of the tiger's motions, whether it was the tensing of a muscle, or a particularly forced breath or a light sniffle. Leo felt it all and felt himself gradually becoming one with the sleeping tiger. At times he thought he could even sense the tiger's thoughts but then decided he was just being delirious.

"Umurh. Mrawr" Diego mumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Now Leo found himself lying on top of the tiger's muscular chest.

"You're too god damn cute." Leo whispered to himself as he heard the tiger mumble some more in his sleep. Leo continued to listen to the tiger's mumbles and was surprised when he felt the tiger's boxers tenting and poking him near his lower back. "Wow, horny tiger. I wonder what you're dreaming about."

Leo was actually kind of glad he and Diego were taking it slow and that they hadn't seen each other fully naked, his ex had seemed so eager for sex and wanted to get a glimpse of Leo's cock from the get go. It had actually really irritated the wolf but he hadn't said anything at the time, not wanting to offend his ex or make him unhappy. What a mistake that was Leo thought to himself with a smirk. It seemed like Diego wanted to take things slow, which was nice. Leo acted horny, but he was really just a big flirt who couldn't resist any type of innuendo. He remembered while working in a veterinary clinic, a male fur had come in to have his pet male chicken checked up. Leo took one look at the man stroking his pet and had to leave the reception area before he burst into laughter.

But, despite his lack of desire to jump into sex, Leo did enjoy a bit of 'autoeroticism'. He loved the word; it made wanking seem like something dreadfully scientific. But Leo didn't really think of hormones and glands as he watched two guys going at it on his computer screen. Leo's thoughts were disturbed as he felt Diego thrust lightly underneath him. The tiger was moaning lightly.

"Oi!" The wolf barked.

"Muh, what's up Hun?" Diego yawned and rubbed his eyes. Leo turned over in the beefy arms and gave the feline a quizzical look. "What?" Diego licked the wolf on the nose. He loved canine noses; they amused him no end. They were all cold, moist and squidgy and Diego couldn't help but be enthralled by them. He poked Leo's nose for good measure and laughed as the wolf looked at his nose, wondering why the tiger had suddenly poked him

"Did I wake you?" Leo asked cautiously.

"Yeah, why?" Diego was confused when the wolf started laughing.

"Mind telling me what you were dreaming about?" He said with an evil grin.

"Oh, um, it was nothing really." The tiger responded and Leo had to admit, Diego played the nonchalant look very well.

"Uh huh. Nothing. That explains why you were thrusting up into me and moaning"

"Oh god I wasn't was I?" Leo nodded in response with a smirk on his face.

"Um, well you may have been in the dream." Leo started laughing at his tiger's confession and stroked his cheek lightly.

"Well I'm sorry I ruined your fun, now come on, back to sleep. Hmm, can I cuddle you for a change?"

"Ok" The tiger said with a big smile on his face. Leo got behind the tiger and put his arms around him. Leo then put his leg's over Diego's and pulled his lover closer to him while he smelled the tiger's scent. It still had the distinct scent of the tiger's shampoo, but the tiger's natural scent was starting to permeate through as well. Leo liked it, it was unique, it was his tiger. He nuzzled the tiger's neck with his nose and felt the tiger sigh happily.

"Nighty night Leo"

"Sweet dreams my love"

Diego was soon asleep. Leo tried to stay awake, tried to watch over his tiger as he slept, but eventually the wolf lost the battle with sleep and felt himself drifting around in his dream world, knowing he wouldn't remember anything of what happened 5 minutes after he woke up, but enjoyed what he could while he was sleeping.

The two woke up the next day at their usual time. Diego got up and turned round to look at Leo still in bed. He started sniggering to himself.

"What? What is it?" Leo groaned, as well as his distaste for sleeping he never did enjoy the whole waking up process. It was another thing that he didn't like about sleep. You always had to go through this shitty phase every morning of waking up and being grouchy.

"You do realise you're wearing keyhole briefs right?"

"So?"

"Well, uh, you're kinda showing some rosy pinky reddish colour if you catch my drift." Leo looked down and then rolled over so his back was to the tiger as he tucked his erection back into his boxers. Margaret Thatcher naked. Maggie Thatcher naked. Hm that seemed to do the trick. Leo's meat quickly retracted back into its sheath with the advent of the disturbing images in the wolf's head.

"You did just say that out loud as well you know." Diego said as he started to roar laughing. Leo face pawed and blushed. His only problem now was that his lack of fur really emphasised whenever his ear tips went red. He felt Diego's whiskers brush against the back of his head as the tiger kissed him quickly. "Come on you, its breakfast time." Leo groaned then yelped as Diego picked him up and put him over his shoulder. "Time to go walk around campus with my prize catch." Diego teased as he walked towards the door.

"I'm awake!" Leo yelled as he wriggled out of the tiger's grip and put his clothes on. Diego cooked them poached eggs for breakfast served with toast. He then got them some toasted crumpets and jam. Leo grinned as the plate was set in front of him. "I do love a bit of hot crumpet in the morning." He said with a wink. "But a hot muscle tiger is even better." Diego turned round halfway to the table and walked back to the counter. Leo couldn't help but stare at Diego's tail. It did that weird little thing that feline tails would always do whereby it would curl back and forth at the tip of the tail, almost like a wag which started halfway down the tail rather than at the base where it should do. Diego turned round and set a cup of coffee in front of the wolf.

"There, that should keep the horniness at bay. Remember take one cup every morning with breakfast. I can write you out a prescription if you like"

"Ooh, don't you sound professional." Leo replied with a short laugh. "Oh and thanks for the coffee. He frowned. "How much coffee did you put in this?"

"One heaped teaspoon." The tiger said, wondering if he'd made it too strong.

"That explains it."

"Too strong?" Diego asked as Leo turned and went over to the kitchen counter.

"God no! Way too weak." Leo opened the coffee jar and put two more heaped tea spoons into the cup and stirred it into his coffee. As he sat down at the table Diego stared at him and then shook his head with a sigh.

"That's just disgusting. That much coffee shouldn't be legal."

"Oh this isn't the worst; I've had 5 heaped in one cup before. God, know that's a wakeup call."

"Wow, that's... excessive"

"I know right" Leo said with a huge grin which caused Diego to start laughing.

Their only day of the week without lectures passed far too quickly for both of them, it felt like hardly any time at all had passed when the sun started setting in the sky casting an orange veil over the evening sky which slowly faded to a dark blue which eventually became a blackened dome pierced by the lights of thousands of seemingly tiny stars. As the two made their way back to their apartments Diego turned to Leo.

"Hey, Leo, is it ok if I sleep by myself tonight? Not that I don't love sleeping with you, but I want a full bed to myself tonight, and I'm sure you want to get some study done anyway. " Leo chuckled to himself.

"Diego, it's your bed, kick me out whenever you want." Diego made to protest but Leo put up a paw. "I'm just kidding hun, of course, I understand, you just need a comfy sleep today, you've had a rough few days." He kissed the tiger on the nose and went up to his room. Diego watched the wolf go and went to his own room. In truth, the tiger wanted to make up for a few diary entries that he had missed out but as he took out his diary, that was starting to show some signs of wear and tear already, he caught sight of the handcrafted oak handle of his knife. As he flicked through his diary he saw the blood that was flecked on almost every page and he couldn't help but shake his head.

"What was I thinking..."

Diego took out the knife and put on a hoody, pulling the hood tightly around his head. He put the knife in his pocket and left his room, walking slowly down the stairs and out of the apartment block. He looked around and walked through a crowd of furs, keeping his eyes to the floor. He heard the group laughing as he passed and he flinched, were they laughing at him? No, they were probably laughing at some joke the big cat thought to himself. He continued walking and eventually found what he was looking for; a bin. He took the knife in his paw and examined it closely. It would be the last time he'd ever see it. He remembered all the times that he had used it, every little cut as it sliced through his skin, every glistening drop of blood that was spilt. He held the knife out towards the bin and paused.

"You were there for me when I thought needed you, but that was in the past. Now I've changed, and I know that Leo will always be here for me. I don't need you anymore." Diego smiled and dropped the knife into the bin. He turned around on the bin and turned his back on his old life, a new chapter in his life was starting, whether it would be good, bad, easy or difficult Diego didn't know for sure, but he was ready for it. He smiled as he walked back to his room and dropped his hood, showing his face to the world, bald patches included. He smiled at the crowd of furs as he made his way to the apartment block, they smiled nervously back, not quite sure what to say to the tiger.

He was getting near to the apartments when he felt a pair of arms hug him from behind and a wet canine's nose poking into the back of his neck.

"I'm so proud of you Diego" He heard the wolf's voice whisper.

"I love you so much Leo Agito." The tiger turned round and threw his arms round the wolf pulling him into a big bear hug and kissing him lightly. The two walked paw in paw back to their apartments where they parted for the second time that night. Diego filled in his diary and went to sleep.

The next day was soon upon them, and they racked up, on time, to their Monday morning lecture.

"Excuse me Mr. Agito?" The lecturer called out to Leo as he sat down in his seat and got out his things.

"Yes sir?"

"Is that fur cut within regulations?"

"Wh-what regulations?" Leo asked, genuinely confused. He tried to think if there was anything he'd read regarding fur cuts but couldn't remember anything.

"The university dress code does not allow students to have fur of an excessively ostentatious nature, I know that Diego is undertaking Chemotherapy so he has a valid reason, but is there any explanation for why you should have such a fur cut?"

"Sir, may I explain after the lecture?"

"Very well."

Leo listened as the teacher described the renal system and its function in removing waste and its selective reabsorption of certain molecules. It wasn't much different to school Biology Leo realised, although details regarding osmoregulation based on hormonal stimulation in response to both water levels and salt levels was a little bit more complex than before.

The class ended and Leo stayed behind. Diego waited but Leo motioned for him to leave him and the lecturer alone together.

"So Mr. Agito. What is 'this' all about then?"

"I know that you know Diego has cancer. Know I love Diego, I love him with all my heart, and I know that cancer is a bitch-excuse my language. Now I'm not going to have him going through that alone. I don't know if you've seen what it's like when you lose your fur to chemotherapy. Whole clumps of fur as big as your fist just fall off. You don't understand how traumatic that is. I will not have him go through that alone. I won't have him losing his fur and being the only furless person in the university. I love him too much to let that happen. 'This' is for his benefit, not mine. I'm cold okay, I liked my fur, but me getting rid of it isn't anywhere near as bad as what Diego is going through. I told you, I love him, he's more than just a best friend he means the world to me, and if I can make his life just a bit more comfortable, a little bit less stressful, that tiny bit less traumatic, then I will do whatever it takes. Now if the university wants to take measures because I wanted to help him then go ahead, suspend me, do whatever, I love him, and until his fur grows back, I won't be letting mine. Good day sir."

Leo left the lecturer stunned. The fact that Leo and Diego were gay had shocked the lecturer enough, he was from an older generation where the only guys that let the world know they were gay were the ones who went around acting effeminate. He hadn't quite got used to the idea that masculine males could be gay. But apart from that, the wolf's resolve had shocked him. He had expected the wolf to come out with some petty reason like "god gave him free will" or that the wolf was "mature enough to make his own decisions". He knew the fur cut was against regulations, but perhaps the senior members of the faculty could spare the wolf. The lecturer, an ageing badger, certainly wasn't going to chastise the wolf for helping the most important person in his life; he would've done the same for his wife if she was still around.

Leo didn't have any more problems with the other members of staff; his director of studies even complemented him in private for the move and Leo was glad they saw eye to eye.

The remainder of term passed quickly for the two lovebirds. Diego continued to have regular blood tests and his chemotherapy. Unfortunately, after the scan the results came back positive for metastases of the liver, which at the present moment were slightly too small to operate on. So the doctor started adding leucovorin, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab to his chemotherapy course.The rest of his fur fell out over the next few weeks, but Leo was there to support him every step of the way. Things seemed to be going well for the two. Christmas exams were looming and they were swotting hard. As they sat revising in Leo's room together Leo looked up at Diego and poked him in the stomach.

"What's up Hun?" Diego asked absent mindedly as his eyes traversed over a diagram of the spine. He was desperately trying to remember which section was which. He kept mixing up the lumbar region and the cervical region."God, if they're going to call it the cervical region you think they'd at least put it where the cervix is."

"Cervix means neck in Latin; I don't know what idiot named a part of the female reproductive system after it but oh well. What I wanted to know is would you like to come down to London with me during the Christmas break? I'd really like you to meet my mum and dad."

"What? And me looking like this? They'd freak out."

"Aw come on, they'd be fine with it."

"Well I wouldn't want to impose..."

"You wouldn't be imposing" Leo replied quickly.

"But what about my chemo? I still need to have it over the Christmas break." Diego said with a sigh. Leo blushed; he'd already discussed this with the doctor.

"Saint Bart's hospital would be willing to administer your chemo while your down in London." Leo replied with a smile.

"You sly wolf, you've already arranged everything haven't you?"

"Not everything. Everything is ready to be arrange as soon as you say yes. Then I shall implement Operation Meet The Parents." Diego couldn't help but laugh at the name. He'd liked the film; he just hoped he wouldn't make as bad a first impression as Gaylord Focker would.

"Alright, yes, I'd like to meet your parents anyway. I still have to thank them." Leo gave Diego a puzzled look and cocked his head to one side. "I need to thank them for bringing someone as wonderful as you into the world." Diego kissed the side of Leo's muzzle and the two smiled at each other. "Leo, can you go over these notes with me, like you did that week when we thought I was still suffering from food poisoning." Diego blushed, he didn't want to ask too much from Leo but he really needed the wolf to go over the notes in his special way. Leo smiled and gave him a peck on the lips.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Christmas exams came and went for the couple. They were both pleased with their performance and both were looking forward to the break. Diego was nervous; he really didn't want to make a bad impression. After he had packed for the trip he had a quick shower, slipped into his best ironed clothes and put on a dab of aftershave.

"You look so handsome" Leo said with a smile as he stroked Diego's muzzle. "Mum, will be impressed, you even ironed your clothes." Leo suddenly dropped his voice to a whisper as if his mum would be able to hear his voice all the way from her house in London, "She hates people who don't wear ironed clothes, you should see what she's like when I don't bother to iron, which I never do nowadays." Diego laughed. He wasn't one for ironing either, but both he and Leo knew the occasions that would require ironed clothes.

Leo had to admit he was nervous. He had told his mum he'd be coming down for the Christmas break but he may have 'accidentally' forgotten to mention that he'd be bringing his new boyfriend. Leo and Diego took a train down to kings cross station and took a bus to Leo's house. They'd played chess on the train with Leo's little fold up magnetic travel set. Unfortunately, they caught the bus at a bad time. It was packed with people coming home from work, but eventually they made it out of the bus with a sigh of relief. The fresh air felt good against their skin, and it felt good not to have several eyes focused on them. Evidently some of the people in the bus had never seen a person who was receiving chemotherapy before. Leo sniffed the air and grinned.

"We'll have snow coming soon" The wolf stated. Diego gave him a confused look and sniffed the air, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"How can you tell?"

"It smells cold. I know it's not a great description, but it's like, even on a cold day, the air doesn't necessarily smell cold, but when winter comes it is a really crisp, cold, clean smell." Diego sniffed the air once more and realised what the wolf was talking about. It was one might expect to be normal air, but Diego realised that in the capital, air never usually smelt like this.

They got to the house and Leo put his key in the lock and turned it, the door clicked open.

"Cool, well mum or dad is in the house since it isn't locked properly." Leo remarked as he carried his bag up the narrow flight of stairs up to the sitting room on the first floor. His mum, a short golden female lioness, was cuddling with his dad, a tall grey wolf, on the couch and they were watching TV.

"Leo what happened to you?!" His mum asked as she saw him without his fur for the first time.

"Um, I moulted heavily this season." Leo said looking about as he tried to think up a better reason. "Anyway, I want to introduce you to someone. Mum, dad, this is my boyfriend, Diego."

Leo pulled Diego into the sitting room and hugged him from behind giving his mum the biggest smile he could muster.

"Leo you never mentioned this" His mum said as she crossed her arms and stared the tiger up and down with an enquiring look.

"What?" Diego turned around to look at Leo, a hint of fear was in his eyes. "Leo I thought you said you had taken care of everything and that your mum wouldn't mind."

Leo cringed; he'd hoped it wouldn't be this awkward.

"Ah, I might have overlooked one or two minor details."

"Minor?!" Leo's mum and Diego said in unison, then looked at each other and smiled.

"Ok, so why are the two of you without your fur at this time of year?" She already knew the answer; it was obvious that one or both of them had cancer. She could only hope it wasn't Leo. She knew it was a selfish thought but she loved her cub.

"I'm on chemotherapy" Diego started, "I had bowel cancer, though the doctor thinks it may have been malignant so they are treating it with chemo. So obviously my fur started falling out, and your son, the most wonderful man in the world, didn't want me to go through the whole experience alone, so one day he goes out and when he gets back his fur is all gone. Thank you Mrs. Agito for bringing Leo into the world. He's the greatest partner a man could ever ask for." Leo's mother felt a tear enter the corner of her eye. She never really liked Leo's ex, but she knew Diego was different, she knew he was a good man, with good intentions, and she was so proud of her son. The lioness ran over and embraced Leo.

"I'm so proud of you baby. You did good."

"Thanks mum." Leo hugged his mum gently. She turned to Diego.

"He'll always be my baby, even when he's 90." Leo cringed; she always said that in front of his friends. Diego laughed. "Where are my manners? My name is Luca Agito. You're a tiger right?" She held out a paw to Diego who shook it.

"Yeah, and I'm Diego Sabre. It's a pleasure to make you're acquaintance Mrs. Agito." Leo's father got up from the couch. Leo had almost forgotten his dad was there.

"Name's Stu. Nice to meetcha Diego." Diego stood a few inches above the wolf, and was easily bigger than the wolf in terms of muscle mass but a mutual respect was already forming between the two men who shook paws and nodded to each other.

"Alright mum, I'm just gonna take our bags up to my room."

"Just a second I want to speak with you quickly Leo." Leo's mother motioned for him to follow her up to her room. "Can I trust you?"

"What?"

"Can I trust you to behave if I leave the two of you in that room alone at night? I know that you and your ex got more intimate than you'd like to admit. And after seeing you straddling his hips that time on the sofa, I don't know if I can trust you this time."

"Mum, my ex was sex mad. Granted he never got sex, but that time I was straddling him was because he wanted me to, not because I wanted to be in that position. And yes, we did do some manual stuff, but that was the limit. Mum I haven't even seen Diego in anything less than his boxers. The closest we got to sex was him having a sexy dream while cuddling me. We don't even have to sleep in the same bed. I know you said I could have sex when I'm 18, and I am 19 now, but that doesn't mean I'm going to jump at every chance I take. I love Diego and I really want things to work out with him. I am not going to rush things with him, but I would still like to have him in the same room as me while I'm here, and preferably the same bed."

Leo's mother rolled her eyes and relented.

"All right fine, you can sleep in the same bed; just don't get up to any funny business while I'm under my roof."

"Can you define the boundaries of funny business. I take it Alan sugar impersonations are off the agenda."

"Fuck off" His mother said with a laugh. Leo grinned and went back downstairs. He had to admit, he was kind of shocked when he saw Diego teaching his dad some basic samba steps. Leo was impressed by both of them. Diego seemed to be a good teacher and his dad was picking it up quickly.

"Hey honey, look what Diego's taught me already!" Leo's dad took Leo's mum and showed her what he'd learnt in minutes.

"Now remember, these are just basic steps. Dance is about flow and freedom of expression, so apart from the basic steps, you can basically make up any random stuff in between if it's just the two of you." Leo smiled and left the two of them as he and Leo brought their bags upstairs to Leo's room.

"Your folks are so nice." Diego said with a smile as he plonked himself down on one of the two single beds in Leo's room. Leo lay on top of the tiger. And smiled at him.

"Well you seemed to make a good impression all right. They really like you."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. You were polite and you were outgoing. Plus, my mum and dad have wanted to learn to do proper dancing for years but they never found the time or the money. Now come on, let's see how they're doing."

Leo's mother had put on some samba music and she and Leo's dad were dancing through the steps that Diego had shown them. The two laughed and collapsed together onto the couch as Leo and Diego came back into the room.

"So what do you like apart from dancing, Diego?" Leo's father asked.

"Well, you can probably guess that I'm a bit of a gym frequenter, although cancer has somewhat restricted that for the past few months. But apart from that I like to sing."

"Oh what music do you like?" Leo's mother asked with genuine interest.

"Good music" Diego replied with a laugh. "But seriously, me and Leo have pretty similar likes."

"Oh God no." Leo's parents said in unison.

"Lady Gaga?" Diego nodded in response to a harmonious sigh from the parents.

"Abba?" Another nod.

"Barry Mannilow?" Another nod.

"Glee?" Leo's mother asked, hoping with some shred of hope that Diego might have some appreciation of music.

"I like the songs in glee, well some aren't great, but there are some very good ones. The story line is a bit weird at times but I like it. It's all about the Journey songs though" He smiled and couldn't help but join in when Leo started singing the words to the song Faithfully.

Leo's mother watched stunned as she saw her son sing the duet with Diego. When they finished Diego's father gave them a few good willed claps. Leo's mother stood up suddenly and with outstretched arms walked towards Leo and then carried on past him to Diego who she pulled into a tight hug.

"That was wonderful my dear, thank you so much. Leo hasn't sung like that for almost 10 years. Ever since his voice broke he lost the confidence to sing, I'm so glad he found someone like you who could reignite that passion in him, even if it was a god awful Journey song that you had to sing."

"So how did you guys meet up?" Leo's dad asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I saw him in a tree and thought I'd remind him that he wasn't supposed to walk on the particular patch of grass which surrounded it." Leo's father nodded, having complexly forgotten Camford University's strange tradition of keeping patches of grass for their aesthetic value above anything else. Leo continued the story from Diego.

"Well, it was fresher's week and we didn't know that we were gay, or that we were even in the same class. Well we knew we were gay but we didn't know the other one of us was, meh, you get what I mean. So we both lied to each other about our appointments one night during fresher's week and we both ended up in the LGBT meeting together." Leo's parents smiled, they couldn't help at marvel as to the plans that the universe had for some people.

They 4 of them talked together until at about 11 PM Luca turned to Leo.

"Leo, it's your bedtime now."

"Wha?! Mum I'm 19, and I'm on holiday. Why do I have a bedtime?"

"Because your under my roof, so both of you up to bed. Sweet dreams both of you, and it was lovely meeting you Diego."

"Same to both of you," The tiger replied with a smile as he followed Leo up the stairs.

Luca turned to Stu.

"Our baby is growing up." She said as a tear rolled down her muzzle.

"Shhh, shhh. I know, but at least he's got a good man this time. I think those two are right for each other. They make each other happy, Diego is smart and sweet, and he seems to bring Leo out of his shell. What more could we want?" Leo's father said as he nuzzled the lioness.

"I know he's nice. That's the thing. I truly think Leo is in love this time. I think the two will go the whole way. But it almost feels like their almost engaged already." Leo's father smiled at his wife.

"You always exaggerate things, but you're right, he does seem to be growing up quickly. I can't believe he shaved himself. That was so noble of him. We brought him up well." Leo's mother smiled at Stu's words.

"Yeah, we did an ok job didn't we?" The two laughed quietly.

"Yep, just ok," Leo's father replied with a grin and kissed his wife on the lips.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd turned 19?"

"I kinda forgot to be honest, I was so busy with work and everything and thinking about you and the cancer. Plus I thought if I told that you would feel compelled to get me a present."

"Did you get any presents?"

"Yeah," Leo said nonchalantly, "Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim for my PSP. And guess where my psp is." Leo made his way over to the desk in his room and picked up his psp. He'd left it here since he'd started at Camford. "I've missed you baby." Leo said as he kissed his psp lightly and swayed with it in his arms.

"Ok, I won't disturb this happy reunion" Diego said with a smirk as he lay back on the bed. He wanted to play the new dissidia game. He'd played the original and he was hoping Leo would give him a chance to play the new one. Unfortunately for Leo, the battery had run out so he needed to charge it.

"Guh, need to update" The wolf groaned before his eyes widened at the screen, "No way, I can't update until it reaches a certain level of charge?"

"Oh no, how will you keep yourself occupied for the night?" Diego said sarcastically before pulling Leo onto the bed with him. The two kissed and then dressed down to their boxers and Diego turned off the lights.

The two got into bed together; Leo had decided to leave the psp to charge on the floor next to them. In the mean time Diego was spooning him and desperately trying to persuade Leo to go to sleep. After 10 minutes Leo tried to update again and was successful. Leo was watching the opening cinematic of the game when Diego took the psp gently from Leo's hands. The wolf wondered what Diego was doing. It didn't take long for him to realise as Diego quickly put the psp into sleep mode and chucked it onto the bed next to them.

"No!" Leo yelped as he watched his favourite gadget sail through the air. To his relief, it landed safely on the bed. Leo moved to get up but was held in place by Diego's strong arms. "Oh no you don't." Leo struggled against his lovers arms but made no progress. The wolf started to whine as the tiger continued to deny him access to his psp. Leo kept struggling but Diego merely grinned, nuzzled his neck and held him in place.

"Shhhh, puppy, go to sleep." Diego scratched Leo's belly lightly. Leo sighed and relaxed and was soon asleep. "Oh! Wow I thought that only worked on dogs." Diego whispered to himself with a grin. He soon drifted off himself, he was happy that the day went so well and that Leo's parents were happy to accept him.

Leo and Diego were awoken by the sound of a phone ringing downstairs and another one in the room next to them. Leo stayed where he was until he heard the third ring, he finally started to move but heard his mum pick up the phone and he relaxed back into Diego's arms.

"That's some loud phone you've got" Diego said as he lightly nibbled on Leo's ear.

"If you think that's bad you should've heard the one at my work experience place. I was working in a veterinary clinic and, oh God, the sound even haunted me back here, I couldn't get the irritating ring tone out of my head. And it wasn't just me; the other members of staff changed the phone in the end cos they hated it too. In general, that place would've been nice, except all the cats that went for boarding were all spoilt and tried to scratch me when I fed them and the boss was a bitch, in every sense of the word. I'm so glad that-" Leo suddenly fell silent and frowned.

"What's up?" Diego whispered quietly. Leo sat up and looked at the door intently. A minute later, Luca, Leo's mother, came into the room; her eyes were bloodshot and tears were rolling down her muzzle as she tried to compose herself to pass on whatever bad news she had just received. Leo sprung up from the bed and rushed to his mother's side, hugging her close. He stroked her head gently as she continued to cry onto his shoulder.

"Mum, what's wrong?"

"It's daddy... he- he..."