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"Hello?" Mr. Halinen finally picked up the phone.

"Dad." Arden did his best not to emulate Sam's current emotional state. "Can you come get me from practice?" He said each word slowly, trying to remember what being calm felt like.

"I'm sorry, Son; I'm actually right in the middle of a traffic jam right now. I'll be lucky to get home before ten. Why, what's up?"

"Nothing; don't worry, Dad." Arden was happy that he hadn't told his father about Sam; in his current predicament, there was really nothing Mr. Halinen could have done to help.

"You sure you're okay?" The worry that Arden was trying so desperately to avoid had found its way into his father's voice.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." That wasn't really a lie; he was fine. "I'll just call Mark."

"Oh, that's right; he's got a car now, huh? Well-"

"Look, Dad, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'll talk to you when you get home."

"Okay. Love you!" Mr. Halinen hung up.

As fast as he could, Arden dialed Mark's number. His trembling paws hit all the wrong keys, but he finally managed to place the call.

The wolf picked up right away. "What's up?"

"Can you come get me from the pool?" Arden wasn't sure how much to tell Mark; he resolved to wait until the wolf agreed to give him a ride.

"Sure. Was practice that tiring... wait, is practice even over?" Mark wasn't worried yet, but Arden could tell that he was close.

"No." He sighed. "Sam needs my... our help. I'll tell you more on the way."

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Arden hung up the phone and stared numbly into space until Mark's car pulled up next to him.

"So, what's going on?" Mark asked once Arden was seated.

"Someone attacked Danny." The words sounded like they were coming from somewhere far away. "Sam was waiting for him at the movie theatre; he just called me a little while back."

Mark didn't respond. Arden's sense of smell wasn't very good, but he was sure that had it been, he would have smelled fear. The wolf faced forward and gripped the steering wheel like his car was about to crash.

They sped all the way to the movie theatre; Mark was so harried and twitchy that he ran several red lights. Each time, Arden held his breath and waited for some oncoming car to strike theirs, but luck was with them. They made it across town in record time and the otter soon saw the bright, neon Cineplex logo loom into view.

Sam wasn't hard to spot; he stood on the sidewalk, next to the drop-off lane, heedless of the cold autumn night.

As soon as the car came to a halt, Arden jumped out and wrapped his arms around the poor creature. Sam's clothes were soaked from the gentle mist, and he was shaking like a leaf.

Arden ushered him gently into the back seat and sat next to him.

"It'll be okay, Sam." He held the otter tightly in a warm embrace. "Mark; Saint Matthias, hurry!"

With a screech of tires, they sped off into the night.

Arden wished that he could do more for Sam; but try as he might, he just couldn't think of anything that would magically make things better. "It'll be okay." He held on as tightly as he could and repeated that mantra until they got to the hospital.

Sam didn't say anything; he just buried his muzzle in Arden's shoulder and sobbed brokenly.

This brought back memories of Sam's parents' divorce. Arden and Sam were both very young back then; Sam would frequently spend the night with his friend. He didn't understand why his parents were fighting, or what was going to happen to him; he would hold on to Arden, just as he did now, and cry.

The boys got out of the car and sprinted across the parking lot. The rain was beginning to pick up, but they would have run just as quickly if it hadn't.

They burst into the main lobby and skidded across the wet floor all the way to the reception desk.

"Daniel." Arden panted "Daniel Felis."

"Are you his family or next of kin?" The receptionist, a bored-looking marmot, eyed them disdainfully over the top of her glasses.

"No, we're his friends. His father can vouch for us." Arden kept expecting Sam to do the talking, but the otter just clung to him and sobbed quietly.

"I'll page the orderly, hold on." She picked up the phone and slowly dialed the number.

"Hey, Randy, you got a Daniel Felis in your care? Yeah? Is his father there? Okay, there's three kids who claim to be his friends; can you verify with the dad for me?"

She leaned back into her chair, her expression unchanging. Arden was very close to just blowing her off and heading upstairs himself, but he realized that he had no idea where Danny was.

"Yeah, I'm still here," the marmot murmured into the phone. "Okay; okay, I'll tell 'em."

She hung up the phone and looked at Arden. "You can go upstairs; but first you gotta sign in."

One by one, they hurriedly scribbled their names into the logbook. Then, following the directions the receptionist had given, the boys made their way to Danny's room.

"Danny!" Sam spoke for the first time since his phone conversation with Arden.

He ran over and embraced the cheetah with a huge sigh of relief.

Danny's head was tightly wrapped in bandages and one of his eyes was badly swollen. He groaned slightly when Sam hugged him, but was all too happy to return the embrace.

"What happened?" Sam had just barely stopped crying, and he looked dangerously close to breaking down again.

"I was on the way to the theater." The cheetah's voice was weak and raspy. "They pulled me into one of the alleys and beat me. They must have overheard us in bio."

"Who beat you up? Who?" Sam's paws started shaking again, but with anger this time.

"Andy and some other guys. They said something like, 'That's what you queers get for sticking your necks out.'"

Arden was brought back to his senses by a jolt of pain in his paws. He realized then, that his claws were digging into his pawpads with such force that they drew blood.

He unclenched his paws and sighed, looking over at Mark.

During the ride over, Arden only suspected that the wolf was afraid; now, he knew for sure.

Mark's eyes were wide and he was shivering. He stared unblinkingly at Danny as if the cheetah were some sort of ghost.

Arden put his arm around his boyfriend, being careful not to startle him. "We'll be outside, Sam." He lead Mark slowly out of the room. "Mark, what's wrong?" He held the wolf's shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"I'm so scared," Mark whispered. "When I saw Danny there... I... I don't know what I'd do to myself if anything like that happened to you." He wrapped his arms around Arden, resting his muzzle in the crook of the otter's neck.

"Mark, we can't let people like Andy push us around." Arden kept his voice to a tender whisper, running his paw gently through Mark's headfur. "They will be punished; once that happens, others will be less likely to do something like this. We'll be okay."

"You don't know how much I want to believe you."

Arden wanted to believe himself too; he realized only then how much the night's events had impacted him. Between his parents accepting him and his presentation being met with thunderous applause, Arden had forgotten the ugly spectre of homophobia that still lurked behind the smiles and hugs.

Unlike Mark, however, he didn't want to hide; he wanted to fight.

Something clicked inside him that took the otter from simply wanting a peaceful relationship, to making sure that everyone had a chance at the same thing.

"He'll be alright." Sam padded out into the hallway and quietly shut the door. "They've got him on painkillers; he should be out in less than a week." He looked harried and shaken, but at least he wasn't crying. "Thanks for coming, both of you." In a trice, his voice began to quiver again. "When I got the call about Danny... I felt so alone and lost. Thank you."

"That's what friends do." Arden, too, found himself overcome with emotion. They stood around in front of Danny's room, each too close to tears for words.

Finally, Mark broke the unremitting silence. "Ready to go home, guys?"

"Yeah," the otters both said at the same time.

They walked slowly out of the hospital. Just like last time, Arden wished dearly that he would never again have to return.

"It was my fault," Sam said as they climbed into Mark's car. "If Danny and I hadn't started discussing our plans so loud, this wouldn't have happened."

"Sam." Arden turned to him and put his paws on the otter's shoulders; his voice was steady and serious. "This is not your fault, or Danny's, or anyone else's. You should have the right to discuss whatever you what wherever you want. If the straight kids can do it, why can't we? Sam, we're just as entitled to love as anyone."

"I know." Sam sniffled "I just can't help but blame myself. Danny didn't do anything to deserve this."

"Arden's right," Mark spoke up from the driver's seat. "I feel the same way you do, Sam, but he's right. We can't let ourselves be ruled by the fear of those who can't accept us. We'll report them to the police. They'll be punished."

Sam shook his head. "Danny said he doesn't want to press charges."

Arden couldn't hide his amazement. "What, why not?"

"He said he doesn't want to cause any more trouble."

"But-"

Sam rested a paw on Arden's shoulder. "I feel the same way, Ar, but this one's up to him."

The weekend came and went without much notice. All of Arden's happiness and plans were put on hold with the attack on Danny. The three boys went to visit him in the hospital once more on Sunday. He looked a lot better, and some of the bandages had been removed.

"Thanks, you guys." He hugged each of them in turn. "I don't have many friends; I really wasn't expecting anyone to care."

"Well, you have at least three." Arden rested his arms around Sam and Mark's shoulders.

"Do you want us to get your homework while you're out of school?" Sam asked.

"Umm... nah. I think I'd rather take advantage of this situation and veg out."

Sam's ears drooped ever so slightly, and Danny noticed. "You can still come visit, though," he added.

"I will." Sam hugged him again and kissed him on the cheek.

It was obvious that the gesture took a lot of courage on his part; he drew back hastily, but Danny smiled and kissed him back.

They left the hospital in considerably higher spirits than last time.

Danny was recovering and life would be back to normal soon.

Things were quiet on Monday; people either hadn't heard of the incident with Danny or had nothing to say.

Arden found out later that day that the principal had, in fact, been told about the attack, but chose not to make a big deal out of it. His reasoning was that he did not want people to worry 'needlessly.' "If it had been any other minority that got attacked," he whispered angrily to Sam while Fresto was passing back their tests, "the whole place would be up in arms. This just isn't fair! How can they ignore a hate-crime like that?"

"Well, what can we do about it?" Sam shared his opinion, but not his fervor.

"Why not have a rally?" Fresto had apparently heard snatches of the conversation and decided to offer a solution.

"Rally?" Both boys looked up at him, one confused and the other determined.

"Yeah. Protest the under-the-rug treatment of the issue." Fresto pulled up a chair and sat across from them. "I can help you organize it, if you want."

"That would be awesome!" Arden could hardly contain his excitement; finally, a chance to do something! It wasn't nearly as much as he wanted to do, but it would certainly be a start.

"Tomorrow, then." Fresto leaned in close and whispered. "We'll start a half-hour before school lets out and picket right in front of the buses. This way, we can get the most attention."

"Sounds good." He turned to Sam. "What about you, Sam?"

The otter was very silent during their discussion, and Arden was beginning to fear that he had gotten cold paws. "Yeah." Sam seemed unsure, but he pushed on. "Let's do it."

They discussed some more details while the rest of the students trickled into class. Fresto said he'd take care of the signs and posters; all they needed to do was show up.

"Maybe we can get some of the GSA kids involved," the fox suggested.

Arden agreed, but mentally gauged that the possibility was unlikely. The GSA had two gutsy kids, and one of them was now in the hospital.

Arden met Sam outside school after lunch.

He'd spoken to Eggurd the day before, and she agreed that his absence would be for a good cause. He later realized how lucky he was that this rally wouldn't be taking place during Calculus; Florin was already looking for a reason to fail him.

Fresto showed up about ten minutes after they did.

He was wheeling a crate in front of him. It was filled with a multitude of different signs, buttons and a gay pride banner.

"Wow, did you make all of these?" Arden was amazed at the sheer variety of memorabilia.

"At one point, in my life, yes." Fresto picked up the flag and looked at it nostalgically. "I was quite the protestor in my college days."

"So, what do we do, exactly?" In all the excitement, Arden forgot that he'd never actually done anything like this. He didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin.

"Pick a sign, hold it in the air and do what you can to make people see it." Fresto picked up a sign that read 'Gay rights are civil rights!' and slung it over his shoulder.

"I like this one." Sam held up a sign. "'I was born this way.' That's exactly how I feel."

"Not bad. I used that one in Washington." Fresto examined the sign as if retrieving a piece of memory from it.

"You picketed in Washington?"

"Yeah. A few times." He sighed.

"So, what caused you to become so passionate about this whole thing?" Arden asked.

That faraway look the fox had when he asked Arden if Mark loved him came back. "My boyfriend at the time got cold paws in front of his parents and dumped me. He went so far into the closet that he even got married and had a cub." He wasn't there anymore, but back in time, some twenty years ago, reliving that event. "I promised myself that I would never hide like that, even if that meant being ridiculed."

"I just hope that doesn't happen to Mark." Arden mused out loud.

"That's up to him." Fresto patted his shoulder. "Arden, I know how much you want to control this; but this decision is Mark's and Mark's alone. He will have to decide where his values lie someday, and when he does... your relationship will either fall apart or become stronger than ever."

"Did you ever wish you could go back?" Arden asked. He knew he was overstepping his boundaries, but he needed to know.

"Back?"

"Yeah, back to before your relationship fell apart; try to fix things."

"Nothing to fix." Fresto shrugged. He didn't sound angry or sad, just tired. "There is nothing I could have done to fix that relationship, short of changing who I was... but then it wouldn't be me in that relationship, but someone who looks like me. You can only deconstruct who you are so far before the person stops being you."

Arden understood the fox in principle, but he didn't agree with him. He felt like, if he were faced with this, he would change. He promised to do everything he could to keep their relationship alive; didn't that also mean changing if need be? But, how much would he have to change? Would he really become a different person? Did it really matter?

He knew that he was always happy in the wolf's company; wasn't that what this was all about? Being with Mark.

Besides, the wolf was willing to change for him; it was easy to forget just how much Mark had gone through for Arden. Even after losing his mother, the wolf continued to try. Was it because he knew that this was the direction to go, or because he wanted to be with Arden badly enough to change who he was?

"Here they come." Sam's voice pierced the fog of his thoughts.

Arden turned his head in the direction of the otter's gaze; a group of students was heading out of the school. They seemed to be absorbed in conversation; either they hadn't seen the picketers, or they were purposely trying to ignore them.

The trio picked up their signs.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more." Fresto did his best imitation of a British accent.

"I'm ready." Sam was fully prepared now. Over the course of the day, he progressed from shaky and unsure to fully determined.

Arden gripped his sign tightly in both paws and held it up in the air. "Let's do this."

Fresto nodded. "Here we go!" With that, they slowly approached the small group.