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Red

I rapped my knuckles against the glass screen door to Lee's parent's house. I tried to make it as rhythmic as I could; it turned into a long, bony trundle that vibrated the glass. It was how Mrs. Hawthorne knew that it was me. For the first month or so of our friendship I would stand outside for extended periods of time knocking away until Lee heard. His parents wouldn't answer; they preferred to be...reclusive. After getting to know the little bit about them that Lee chose to share I could understand why he chose to stay with his uncle so often. I mean, Mister and Misses Hawthorne were...nice, but there was just something odd about their niceness.

The usual ruckus of locks being turned slipped through the wood and glass, and the inner door popped open with a wide, blue eye staring at me from the crack.

I waved and smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Hawthorne."

The eye squinted, and blue-grey fur slipped by as she brought the other eye over to survey me, too; this one was brown like Lee's. Once satisfied that it was in fact me, she opened the door enough so she could stand in the threshold.

I wasn't quite sure what she did for a living, but, to be knocking around the house at five o'clock in the afternoon, she was awful dressed up in a cream colored casual dress and pearls. Her brown hair was done up and set with God knows how much hairspray, and a shimmering, gold scarf was draped daintily over her head. She reminded me of the Virgin Mary - well, that or Wilma Flinstone dressed as the Virgin Mary, but I remembered it was Wednesday and she and her husband normally went to church in the afternoon on Wednesday.

"Hello, Rudy," she said in monotone.

Even though she smiled and her greeting was friendly it lacked any real emotion. I was used to that. Both she and Mr. Hawthorne were incredibly stoic, and I refrain from saying their behavior was mechanical because - honestly - they always reminded me of cyborgs from sci-fi movies: Caring and dependable up until their ambivalence was replaced by a logical craving for the destruction of organic life. My smile quivered a little, but I held it steady.

Her tail wagged once - just once - and then sagged. "Lee's getting his things. He'll be just a moment," she assured.

"Okay."

She just stood there and watched me. I felt like she was either judging my devoutness or analyzing my life-sign readings. I turned to look anywhere but at her. I wished Lee would hurry. I preferred the company of his uncle much, much, MUCH more than his parent's, and I couldn't wait to get him to - as he calls it - his real home. Uncle Arthur was much more a family to Lee anyway.

"Are you two going to see this Sasha again before going to my brother's?" she asked unblinking.

I nodded. "Yes, mam; Lee has his homework for today."

She gave a tired sigh. "Well, I hope he recovers soon. It's not my son's job to keep someone else's life on track."

Hmph, I thought. I help too. And we're just being loyal, lady.

"How's your husband?" I asked just to be friendly.

"He's fine. We're leaving for church once Lee decides to..."

"Hey," Lee shot to me as he suddenly appeared behind his mother. His arms were loaded with bags, and he had his guitar strapped to his back. "Excuse me, Mom. Red, you mind?"

It looked as if he'd brought as much with him as he could manage, but I knew he was in just as big a hurry to get out of there as I was. "No, of course not," I babbled. I snatched a backpack from him that weighed at least fifty pounds, and then quickly moseyed down the steps as he slipped out of the door. I threw a backward wave over my shoulder to his mother as I went.

"Bye, Mom," I heard him say.

I thought I heard the smack of lips against a cheek. "Bye. Tell Arthur that his prescription's been filled."

"Okay. I'll get it on the way there."

"Good boy," she cooed. "Be careful. We'll see you Monday."

I'd put his backpack in the trunk of my car before getting in, and he threw the rest of his things in before closing it with a sharp thunk. He then took great care in removing his guitar, sliding up his seat, and propping it up in the back. Once he was satisfied and had all but buckled the instrument up he hopped in next to me.

He waved to his mother. "Get me out of here, please."

I laughed and my tail thumped against the side of my leg. "Don't mind if I do."

* * * *

We went through the local pharmacy and picked up his uncle's medicine as Lee had promised. He paid for it with his own money, and opened the bag to make sure everything was in order before we took off again, rattling the little bottle of pills around before rolling the bag up and sticking it in the floorboard.

"I know the ladies that work there think I'm a dope-head," he gibed. "Uncle never comes to get this crap himself."

"What is it?" I asked. My nostrils twitched as I aimed my nose toward the bottle stowed away at Lee's feet. No success. I guess I'm not a drug-sniffer.

He rolled his brown eyes. "Morphine pills."

Oh. "For his shoulder?"

"Yeah."

Like Lee, Arthur was a swordsman. He was the one who taught him everything he knew about a blade, and, like I'd said before, he was more of a family by himself than both Lee's parents combined. Although I found it odd at first, Lee would just pack up every two weeks to go and stay with his uncle. Now, though, I understand why he does it. I mean, I'd want to get away from my parents too if they were like Lee's, but he helps Arthur out around his farm and the two train together as well; The older Shepherd doesn't like the idea of his nephew losing his touch with a sword. It worries me, though, that all of that training will damage Lee's shoulders beyond repair, too. Arthur has had two shoulder replacement surgeries through the years and all because of his time striking steel with others while he worked and travelled with the Renaissance fair. Now's he retired from fighting for a living, and his age and conditions are catching up to him. Hence the morphine pills, because, even though he never lets anyone know, I'm pretty sure he's constantly in pain.

Lee fiddled with the radio for a while as we went, and once he roamed over a station he liked he sat back and looked out of his window, his lips moving along to the song that was playing. This one I liked a lot: "Animal" by Neon Trees. He liked it a lot, too, and after a while I actually started to sing because I couldn't stand not to anymore. Lee looked at me in surprise at first as I matched Tyler Glenn note for note, but, after I turned the radio up and the windows began to rattle with the sound, he perked up and sang, too. His fingers started to dart around as well, and I guessed that he was playing the chords in his head along with the music.

I turned the radio down a bit. "So, why'd you bring your guitar?"

He kept strumming and bobbing his head. "Conall talked me into playing for the Haunt talent thing this weekend. He's hosting it along with Mindy, the track coach, and their desperate for people to perform."

I eyed him confusedly. "The...the what?"

He stopped playing and looked at me in disbelief. He then remembered that I haven't lived in Emerald Bluff as long as he has. "Oh, sorry. The Greenwood Haunt; it's a Halloween thing the city throws every year. Everyone dresses up, and there's trick-or-treating, a costume contest, a talent show, yadda-yadda-yadda. It's a lot of fun." He waggled his finger toward my throat, and his ears perked up as he grinned. "You should sing something. You're really good. They'd be hella' grateful."

Huh. That gave me an idea. Sure, I could sing, but, as well as helping out, this could be a perfect opportunity to let my feelings show for...well, you know. Still, though, I'd need help unless I learned how to play an axe overnight.

"Animal" was still going, and Lee was still playing along with it. That song would be perfect for a Halloween thing and for telling someone that I care about them, as it was romantic...in a grim and morbid "take a bite of my heart" kind of way. I looked in the rearview mirror and eyed the Fender case that was propped up in the backseat, and then I looked eagerly at Lee, but just as I was about to ask him...

"You can go ahead and drop me off at Uncle's before going to see Sasha if you want," he said over the music.

I immediately turned it down more. I suppose my question would have to wait.

I dropped my ears as they hummed a little from the sudden shift in volume. Lee likewise shook his head. "What?" I asked, somewhat surprised. I guess he thought I hadn't heard him, though, and he told me again.

"No, I got you," I mumbled. "Why, though? He was really happy to see you yesterday."

He just shrugged, and that was it; a quick little bounce of his shoulders.

Yesterday was the first time either of us had gotten to see Sasha since he'd woken up. Three days he'd slept; I couldn't believe anyone was capable of such a thing, but I guess his body had needed the time to recover anyway. The meeting was a bit awkward at first, to be honest. I could tell he felt obligated to repay Lee somehow, but the Shepherd wouldn't hear of such a thing. Sasha had been adamant about it, too, but...I don't know. He gave him a hug, but Lee was just reserved from then on. He even went down and hung around with Sasha's father while I...while I spilled my guts.

I don't know where all of it came from, but once Lee was gone it was as if every cell in my body bulged and then ruptured, and sadness, guilt, fear, and humiliation spilled forth from every pore. It was terrible. I'd never, ever, had an episode like that before. The only thing my tongue could form was "I'm so sorry," "please forgive me," and "don't hate me." The guilt that I'd been harboring broke from its anchor and tore through my chest like a ship in a tidal wave, and I ended up buckled on my knees with Sasha staring down at me in shock. I said I'd never had an episode like that before, and, likewise, I'd never been slapped before. I guess in situations like that it's the only suitable reaction from the observer to toss back a hand and strike the crazy out of the perpetrator, but still...

It worked, though. I stopped. That slap across my furry cheek knocked it all out it seemed, and the embrace Sasha gave me afterward filled the recesses left by all of those negative emotions. I think we crouched there in the floor with our arms around each other for...God, I don't even know; don't even care, either. He was there with me. He was okay. I could feel his warmth, and I could feel his heart. I didn't know that I could miss the feeling of someone so much, crave their presence and company, but yet I did. I squeezed him tight, and it was as if my arms were only meant to be wrapped around him.

After that I didn't want to leave. After I knew he didn't blame me for what happened I wanted to be by his side so that nothing could happen to him again. Unfortunately his mother wouldn't have liked the idea of me moving in, but I promised to come and see him after school, and Lee volunteered to bring his classwork to him.

Maybe Lee sensed something between Sasha and me. I didn't want to leave him out in any way, shape, or form, but I felt that time alone with the Arctic fox would be nice. I wondered if he knew about the Haunt. I could ask him to go, especially since I wanted to dedicate a song to him. Well, if Lee would play for me that is.

I watched him as he began strumming along with the song again. He seemed alright, but I knew him better than that. I also knew that, emotionally, he was stubborn beyond belief. He could close himself off a little too easily in my opinion, and when he did nothing anyone would do could break through his wall and get to him. But, with parents like his, it could be a family trait. Or maybe it was in his programming. Either way, I could tell by the way his eyes had glazed over that nothing I said could make him change his mind. For some reason he wanted me to see Sasha without him.

"Alright," I shrugged back. "If you insist. But, tell me something."

He opened his protective wall slightly; His ears perked and the sheen returned to those mocha-brown irises. "What?"

"Are...Are you okay?"

He stared at me wearily for a moment, and then his floppy ears bobbed as he nodded ever so slowly.

Okay, not the reaction or the answer I'd hoped for. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Again he stared, and I frowned as his face went blank. "Sure," he said both brightly but dimly; it reminded me of the way his mother spoke. I didn't like it.

He then returned to strumming and staring out of the window, and he stayed just as lively until I turned onto the serpentine gravel driveway that led to his uncle's place. His eyes immediately brightened when he took in the forty or so acres of land that opened up all around us, and I knew he knew he was home.

Arthur lived out in the country on the outskirts of the city, and his only neighbors were forests of White oak, pine, and poplar, rolling hills of grass as high as my knees and mile after mile of Spring Wheat fields. His property consisted of a brown, wood-siding single story ranch-house with five bedrooms and three baths, a monstrous utility building out back that he'd built himself, and - of course - his training field and forge. He kept a garage of old tractors that he liked to work on next to the utility building, and he had one new, working monster sitting out ready to go as we pulled down and stopped outside the house. The wheels alone were twice my height, and there were eight of them, two where I'm used to seeing only one. I caught a glimpse of Arthur's shortened tail (an accident from his younger years of swordplay) as it bobbed behind him while he was bent over and struggling to attach a thick set of cables from a grain wagon to the rear of the tractor. I didn't even have to shut off the engine to my car to know that the huge John Deere was running; I could feel the mammoth chug of its engine shuddering in the air.

I parked and helped Lee take his things inside, and I made sure to get Sasha's assignments. Arthur met us by my car when we emerged from his house, and he grinned so wide upon seeing both Lee and I that his blue-specked gums could be seen. They both extended their paws to one another and grasped each other's hands tight, and then Arthur pulled Lee in and they both clapped each other on the back.

"Just in time," he bellowed in his hearty, quaking voice. He released Lee, and I followed my friend's example and grasped his uncle's hand as he extended it toward me; I grunted as his other hefty paw left my back stinging. "I'm in need of a couple strong, strapping lads to help harvest!"

Lee's uncle was a big fellow. Right off the bat I think of Little John from Robin Hood as a means to describe his stature. He was tall and stocky and built like a bull, which is odd since he was a breed of dog known for their agility and athleticism, but I suppose when you heft enormous swords around long enough while wearing armor that's twice as heavy as you are you can grow into a mountain of a fur. And Arthur was a mountain of a fur there was no doubt about that, but he was always as jolly and goodhearted as a king - just as generous and kind, too.

"Sorry, Uncle," I said. He insisted that I call him Uncle, too, as I spent a good deal of time at his home with Lee and he had come to like me, I guess. "I've got to run. Any other day I'd be glad to help..."

He began to look a little disheartened, and he stroked his black mutton chops while a frown played across his lips. Thankfully Lee jumped in. If Arthur would've faked a cry I didn't know what I'd do.

"He's got more important things to do, Unc," he said with a weak smile. "Besides, I want to drive the Combine."

I knew Arthur was just playing with me, but I was still relieved to see that big, goofy grin again and the wag to his half-tail. "Well, she's waitin' for ya, son."

Just arrived and he was ready to work. When he allowed, Lee's enthusiasm knew no bounds. I told him I'd be by tomorrow - I'd ask if he'd play for me then - waved goodbye to him and Arthur, and raised a cloud of dust as I put the pedal to the floor and raced up the driveway. The tires squalled as I ripped sideways onto the highway, and my heart began to race from both a mixture of adrenaline and longing for a certain someone's company.

* * * *

As I drove I hoped that I could remember exactly how to get to Sasha's house. I'd rode with Lee both Saturday and Sunday, and we'd walked there from practice on Monday; so, with me behind the wheel and coming from a different direction, my surroundings looked a little backward and I was afraid I'd lost my way. Fortunately, I recalled that Lee had given me Sasha's address. I pulled into the parking lot of a McDonalds, yanked the info from my wallet, and quickly tapped it into my car's GPS. It calculated for a few seconds, and it turns out I was headed in the right direction; I was only two miles away.

It took maybe ten minutes to get there, and when I pulled onto his street and spied his house I saw his sister Claire out in the front yard toddling around with a kit hot on her heels. Sasha was sitting on the steps when I parked, and, to my delight, he beamed upon seeing me. It may have just been my excitement, but I think he was waiting for Lee and me. Claire eyed my car and turned to Sasha while mouthing something I couldn't hear. Sasha frowned momentarily, but it vanished once I retrieved his homework and got out. His sister looked a bit taken aback at my sudden appearance, but the little kit - maybe three or four years old - decided to make a break for it and she had to chase it down, the youngster squealing with delight as Claire pursued it around the side of the house.

The sun was beginning to set behind me as I walked through the yard toward the steps and Sasha. Heat washed over my back, and I guess I was in shadow because he was squinting when I finally reached him.

"Hi," he mused, collecting his swishing tail and draping it across his lap.

"Hi yourself," I chuckled. He scooted over so I could sit down next to him, and the two of us could barely squeeze in between the banisters along the steps. My shoulders were too wide, but he didn't seem to mind my arm brushing up against his. "How're you feeling?"

His own shoulder rubbed against mine as he shrugged. I could tell he was tired. "Worn out, sore, and aggravated." Claire returned to the front yard with the kit writhing and squalling in her arms, and Sasha let out a groan that turned into a raspy growl. "Ohhh myyyy Godddd."

"Cory, stop it!" Claire screeched. She nearly lost her grip on the child as he squirmed and bawled, and I winced as she popped him once on the butt. It wasn't a hard smack, but it was enough to get her point across, and, unlike most little kids I've seen, Cory actually stopped throwing his tantrum after his meager spanking.

"I knew Claire was single, but a single mother?" I asked cheekily.

Sasha rolled his eyes. "That's our little cousin. My aunt decided to drop by after hearing about what happened." He threw up his hands, "And by 'drop by' I mean drop her child off while she and my parents go off to talk about me over dinner."

I couldn't help but frown at how upset he was. Gently, I rocked sideways and bumped him playfully. "I'm sorry. You want me to leave you alone?"

"No!" he gasped while latching onto my knee. "No. I. Would. Kill. A. Small. Child."

"Well, if you put it that way,"

Cory began to laugh again, and I looked to see him tugging senselessly on Claire's tail. She'd wince, but her eyes were latched onto me, even while her little cousin was wrenching clumps of fur from her body. I waved, and I guess she realized she was staring because her eyes popped and she waved awkwardly back.

Sasha scowled at his sister for some reason and pushed himself up, rubbing the ball of my shoulder when he'd stood. The contact left my skin and fur tingling. "Come on. We'll go up to my room."

I followed without a second thought. "Okay."

On the way upstairs I handed him his homework. He turned around backward to grab it, and then he winced and put his paw over his stomach as, I guess, his bruise pained him. I grimaced at his hurt.

He groaned and straightened back up. "Why didn't Lee come today?"

If I knew I would've told him. I resorted to a simple, "I'm not sure." He frowned, but he didn't press the issue.

Once up in his room I plopped onto the end of his bed and bounced cheerfully. He giggled, and then he pulled out his swivel desk chair and sat down facing me. We talked about nothing in particular for a good while and just enjoyed one another's company, and then he turned around while we discussed the subject of Trevor and Tori becoming an item, pulling out a sketchbook that covered his entire lap and turning back to me.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked twiddling his toes. "Hopefully it won't sound too creeper-ish." He sat tensely clutching the book as if he just knew what he wanted to say was crossing the line.

I shrugged and leaned back onto my elbows. They sank into his mattress, and I blushed as he blushed as my shirt tugged up and revealed my belly a little. I gingerly pulled the cloth back down, but I watched my stomach rise and my chest expand as I breathed and the movement stretched my tee and conformed it to the definition of my body.

Sasha gulped, and I chuckled a little. "Would...would you let me draw you?"

My eyes darted from my navel to him. "Draw me?"

He nodded spastically. "It's just...I have an art project for Conall's class. We have to draw something that has had an impact on who we are as a person, and..."

"Have I had an impact on you?" My heart began to beat a little faster. Blood churned like magma to my cheeks. "I mean..."

He blushed again and looked at the floor, tucking a strand of his auburn hair behind his ear. "Well," he said bashfully. As he looked down I noticed his eye - the one that had been blacked - wasn't swollen any longer, and the bruise was beginning lighten slightly. "You've been all that I've thought about for a while." My stomach tingled. He smiled sheepishly. "I guess you just inspire me. And I've been in a moody art phase since I woke up and want to get it out. It helps me feel better, and..." He sighed and ran his fingers up the bridge of his snout. He was really nervous. It was kind of cute. "...and I wanted to draw you - from life - because..."

I smirked. My tail flopped about like it was seizing. "Because?"

Flustered couldn't begin to describe him. "Just...because...I like you, and...drawing someone just...connects me to them more...somehow."

He... he wanted to connect with me more? I was...I was incredibly flattered.

"And, yes," he added boldly. "You have had an impact on me." He flipped open the sketchbook and eyed me over the top of it. "I've never really felt like this about someone else before...and - err..." His mind wandered and he was suddenly lost in his thoughts. I don't know what he'd recalled, but it made his face twist up in frustration.

"You okay?" I asked, pushing myself back up.

He snapped back to the here and now as if I'd bitten him. "Yeah, I'm fine." He shook his head into a brown and white blur, and his grey eyes sparkled in anticipation as he nodded toward me. "So...can I?"

I smiled at how earnest he was. How could I say no? I'd never posed for a drawing before, but there was something sexy about the idea of his eyes roving over me and picking out every little detail. I shifted on the bed and looked over myself. I guess what he'd said about drawing someone made sense now that I thought about. It was a very intimate act.

"Sure," I sighed. "What do you want me to do, Jack? Is this alright?" I lay back and draped one arm over my stomach and the other over my head, like Rose from Titanic, and I even spread my legs a little and curled my tail up between them. I tried to make a show of it, and I was surprised that he didn't laugh. I thought I'd at least get a chuckle, but all he did was watch me wide eyed. I saw his throat bulge as he swallowed hard, and I was suddenly aware of how provocative I looked. I mean, I'd meant to be, but just in gest. Guess I should've gone with something else.

He slowly rose from his chair and padded toward me. I didn't move the whole time. My face was on fire.

"Uhm," he said, his voice quivering. "Roll onto your right side." I did. The bed sank as he crawled onto it on his knees. "Now..." He gently grasped my left arm and lay it down and over my belly, my forearm on the bed and running up my chest. "And, here..." I felt him shaking as I let him put my other arm out flat beneath my head. He paused for a moment, but then my skin tickled through my jeans as he put a paw on my thigh and positioned one leg over the top of the other. He let it rest there for a second before tilting my chin up a little. My heart was beating like a jackhammer when he slid off of the bed and sat back down. He didn't look quite as satisfied as I'd hoped he would after all of that...uh...positioning.

"Something wrong?" I mumbled.

He came back over and gently slid back next to me. His hand fluttered toward my waist, and I sucked in a shallow breath as I felt its presence just a few inches away from my fur and flesh.

"C...can I?" His voice quivered.

I nodded, and he ever so tenderly traced his paw underneath my shirt and placed it against my bare side. I shuddered as he slowly stroked up along my body and lifted the tee, his fingers ruffling through my fur and teasing my muscles into frenzy of pleasant sensations. The look on his face - an innocent, excited, "I can't believe this is happening" look - it was more sensual than I'm used to. Well, that and the hand running up my body. I wasn't used to that either, but I was enjoying the feeling of someone else touching me in such a way. However, I squirmed as he got the shirt up so the bottom of my chest was showing, and I prayed to God that he wouldn't notice the bulge straining at my crotch. I curled my tail up through my legs a bit more for good measure, hoping the bushiness would be enough to cover it.

A gasp slipped out of me as the warmth of his touch ran over and up my back, and our eyes met.

"S...sorry," he stammered, a warm little smile curling up in the corner of his mouth. I adored that smile.

"You're fine."

"Shirt's...stuck..." he grunted.

We didn't look away from one another once. Staring into his eyes brought the cruelest and most enamored feelings within me. It was just like the first time we'd met, and that wasn't that long ago. It both pained me and fascinated me that I could have such bold emotions toward someone I had only known for a little while, and the fact that he felt the same way for me multiplied those emotions innumerably. Was this...was this fair? Was this tenderness and adoration too much to ask for? I didn't know. I knew how I felt, though, and even if we'd known one another for a lifetime I think my feelings wouldn't have changed; they would've gotten stronger.

His face hovered close to mine as he was still struggling to get my shirt up from under my back. Those twinkling, star-like eyes still held my gaze. I'd say I thought about doing it beforehand, but the act was born more from my heart than my head, and - honestly - I was just as surprised as he was when my lips found his.

Fire and ice; blazing heat and tundra snow; the energy from us connected was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Although it lasted only a few seconds it left my head reeling. If I'd needed confirmation that how I felt was sincere than here was my proof.

I ached for him.

He remained over me after we pulled apart and lingered in the moment. I did the same as I craned my neck and nuzzled his chin with my nose. He let out a rasping breath that gave way to some short, twittering laughs of bewilderment. When he focused on me again it was like the spark he'd had before being attacked had returned. His tiredness was gone. He looked himself again.

That was all I could ever have asked for. To see him smile - genuinely smile - without a care in the world was a dream come true.

He bowed his head, laying it in the crook of my neck, and nuzzled me back. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Sasha," I said. My throat wanted to shut off, but I spoke anyway. "You...you know I care about you, right?"

He chuckled. "I...I hoped you did." Slowly he reared back, and his nose bumped against mine. "Now I know, though. Without a doubt..."

I pushed myself up onto my elbow and peered intently at him. "Then I want you to know that..." I cleared my throat as it clenched tight again. "I...I want to be with you." He smiled, and I did, too. "If...if you'll have me, that is."

"Red," he muttered.

"I want to be there for you." I looked down, my ears falling flat as I frowned. "I...I wasn't last time, and...and you got hurt. I'll never forgive myself for that."

His eyebrows arched as he looked at me sympathetically. "I already told you; what happened wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself. I don't want you to."

"Still," I said, raising my gaze to him. "I won't let it happen again. I swear it."

He jumped and his eyes popped. It was as if he'd been shot. I was relieved when he grinned softly and lifted his paw to stroke my cheek. I placed my own hand over his there, and I traced my fingers over the velvet-like fur, feeling the veins underneath as they pulsed with his essence.

"Well?" I asked brightly.

"Yes, Aiden Sasha Clemmons..." The both of us went into cardiac arrest and flung our heads around to find Sasha's mother standing in the doorway to his room staring fire and brimstone at him. His father lingered behind her shoulder, and another fox that I assumed to be the aunt he mentioned was next to him with her paw over her mouth. "Well, well, indeed." She looked from her son to me, and my heart nearly busted through my ribcage in panic. "Hello, Rudy," she said.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. "H..h..hi, Mrs. Clemmons," I choked. I just about swallowed my tongue. I just knew I was a dead husky.

Surprisingly, though, and to my paramount relief, none of them skinned me alive. Sasha's father turned and whispered into his wife's ear, and then he walked away. The aunt followed, but she flashed a grin toward Sasha and me before going.

His mother softened her expression and cleared her throat. She then flicked her finger toward me. "Fix your shirt, and then the two of you meet us in the living room. You got it?"

I couldn't have yanked my shirt down any quicker. I heard the seams around my neck pop a little as I pulled harder than I meant to. "Yes, mam," I stuttered. Sasha looked so embarrassed that I thought he might cry, and he didn't say a thing.

His mother turned to leave. "Don't be too long," she said. Sasha relaxed a bit as she smiled and winked before going. "And I'd lock my door next time."

I would have laughed, but I think I may have thrown up if I did.

Sasha covered his face with his paws. "Well," he groaned. "I guess it's about time." His hands fell and popped against his thighs. "I was going to tell them soon anyway."

Well, that was a relief. Or it would have been had his family not walked in on us. God knows what they thought we were doing. Well, I could imagine, and that didn't bode well.

I stared up at him in fright. My heart was just beginning to slow. "They're going to eat me alive aren't they?"

"God, I hope not," he smirked. He leaned over and stroked my cheek again, his paw trembling. "I'm sorry."

I sighed, trembling too, and pushed myself up. Sasha cheeped as I pecked him on the nose. "I guess we'll see what happens." I tugged him along, and he grabbed onto my paw as we walked downstairs for me to - legitimately - meet the family.