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Chapter Four

Gareth

Gareth paced up and down his room, brooding to himself.

What can I do to get out of here?

_ _ The start date of university was approaching, but he wanted a way to help his mum leave, to rescue her from not-dad.

His ears perked up at the sound of a car making its way down the driveway and he glanced out of the window to see a silver Mercedes appearing through the trees.

"Gareth!" a voice boomed.

"Fucking Arseny," Gareth sighed as he made his way from his room.

His mother, non-dad's vixen PA Genevieve Shaw (who to be fair, could be quite nice and who Gareth often pitied when it seemed like not-dad was trying to flirt with her) and Arseny were all waiting in a line by the front door as if standing to attention in a military drill. Arseny had put on a blue suit, which shone a little too much under the light.

"Nice of you to join us," Anthony said in a sarcastic drawl. "Mr Tanaka, or Tanaka san as we must address him, and his wife are just arriving. Remember it is Japanese custom to bow as a sign of respect."

Gareth rolled his eyes, wondering if not-dad was taking this a little too far or had even researched Japanese culture properly. He looked down at himself; he was wearing a grey t-shirt and blue shorts, not exactly smart, but he didn't have time to run back upstairs and change.

The intercom by the front door buzzed and Genevieve walked over to answer it.

"Mr Tanaka, it's nice to meet you. I'm Genevieve Shaw, please come in. The Higson-Pearidge's are waiting in here."

Gareth couldn't help but flick an ear with annoyance.

My surname is Lyons, not Higson-Pearidge!

_ _ A white Akita in a dark business suit stepped into the house. He was followed by a pretty and petite looking sable Akita.

"It's an honour to meet you," not-dad said in a drawling but loud voice.

He began bending over to bow but was interrupted as Mr Tanaka stuck his paw out to shake Anthony's.

"It's a pleasure meet you too Mr Higson-Pearidge," Mr Tanaka replied in perfect English. "Allow meet to introduce my wife, Aiko."

Not-dad shook her paw before gesturing to Gareth and his mum.

"This is Claire and Gareth," he said, fixing them what Gareth assumed to be a friendly smile, but instead it looked sickly and creepy. "My wonderful wife, and son," he added after a pause.

Gareth couldn't help but roll his eyes. Arseny could play the family man when he wanted to, but on any other occasion he was, well, an arse.

Aiko fixed them a friendly smile and Gareth smiled back. Although he found the situation frustrating he wondered if he could ask the Tanaka's about Japan. It was a country he had always wanted to visit.

Arseny was already booming away to the two of them and Gareth sighed, knowing he wouldn't get a word in edgeways.

"Pleased to meet you," Mr Tanaka said, extending a paw to mum.

She smiled and took it. Aiko walked over to do the same. Mr Tanaka then reached out for Gareth.

"If you would like to come this way, Genevieve has set some tea out," not-dad boomed.

Mr Tanaka quickly shook Gareth's hand before he and Aiko followed not-dad into the kitchen.

"Are we expected to join?" Gareth whispered to mum.

"Yes," she said, beckoning for him to follow.

He followed his mum into the kitchen where (what looked like) a Japanese tea set had been laid out. Gareth thought what looked like as it did not resemble what he had read in books.

"Pour the tea Genevieve, there's a good girl," Anthony grinned.

Gareth tried not to growl and instead channelled his frustrations into an eye roll. He felt his mum surreptitiously elbow him in the side as a warning.

"So, good journey over?" Anthony said as Genevieve poured tea into his cup.

Gareth felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

"May I be excused?" he asked his mum, but slid off his seat before she could reply.

Not-dad was too engrossed in conversation with Mr Tanaka to notice him leaving. Gareth hurried back into the entrance hall and pulled out his phone to see Oliver's name displayed on the screen.

"Hey there."

"Gareth get over here, Marcus is at his house!"

"Huh?"

"Marcus Lane, the fox you like. He's at Honeysuckle Lodge, the cottage next to my parents place. Come quick!" Oliver said excitedly. "Bring your bike, we can do our plan here."

A grin spread across Gareth' muzzle.

"Hell yes," he whispered, wagging his tail. "I just have to give Arseny the slip, he's entertaining a business client at the moment."

"Come quickly though, wow it looks like he's just fallen off a ladder. Hurry!"

Gareth could barely make sense of what Oliver was saying, but he knew he had to get over there fast.

"See you soon," he whispered, before hanging up.

Gareth knew his bicycle was in the shed. The keys for the shed were by the kitchen door and that meant sneaking around and somehow grabbing them without not-dad noticing.

He quickly formulated a plan in his mind.

Go out the front, sneak in through the back door which is just out of sight of the dining table and grab the keys.

As quietly as he could, he opened the front door and crept outside. He hurried around the side of the house and found the back door to the kitchen. Mercifully, someone had already propped it open.

Arseny's voice was booming from somewhere inside. Gareth surreptitiously reached through the door and felt the key rack with his paw. The shed key had a heavy, plastic tag and Gareth felt his paw brush against it.

"Bingo!" he whispered to himself as he pulled the key off its hook.

The shed was further down the garden and Gareth cursed under his breath, knowing he was wasting precious time as he hurried down the path.

He reached the shed and rammed the key into the lock. It let out a dull yet satisfying clunk and the door opened.

"Let Operation Marcus commence," Gareth grinned as he wheeled his bike out.

Checking the coast was clear, he mounted it and rode like the wind down the garden path.

The driveway was sloped downwards and Gareth smiled as he reached it and picked up speed. One of the gates was open and he whizzed through them before turning in the direction of Oliver's house.

The ride through the village took about five minutes and soon he reached Oliver's place.

After almost crashing straight into the garden fence, he left his bike by the gate and sprinted up to the front door. Gareth was aware that he was sweating and panting with his tongue hanging out; not the best image to present to Marcus, but he had no choice. He couldn't miss meeting his second biggest crush.

He rang the doorbell and waited.

"C'mon, c'mon!"

It opened and Gareth found himself face to face with Oliver.

"Let's do this!" the Collie grinned.

"Oliver! Have you seen the salad tongs?" Mrs Durrence called.

"Oh shit, not now," Oliver groaned.

"Oh hello there Gareth. I'm glad you could make it over," Mrs Durrence smiled as she appeared at Oliver's side. "You've arrived just in time, we're about to eat. We have burgers, hot dogs, grilled halloumi and salmon. There's lots to drink too."

Oliver opened his mouth, clearly wondering how they were going to get out of the situation.

"I just need to go and pick something up for my mum," Gareth said, trying to muster a convincing tone. "I was going to ask Oliver to come with me."

"Yeah," Oliver said, nodding a little too enthusiastically.

"Well, all the food might be gone," Mrs Durrence chuckled.

"Why don't you keep some warm for us," Gareth suggested as Oliver stepped outside. "I always love your cooking and I'd hate to miss it."

"Oh, that's awfully kind," Mrs Durrence said, looking both flattered and confused.

"We'll be back soon," Gareth said as they hurried off.

The entrance to Honeysuckle Lodge was around the corner and Gareth felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the red Audi parked outside. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Fuck!" he cursed.

"What is it?" Oliver asked, fixing him a concerned glance.

"He might just be mad if I've rode into his car," Gareth began.

"Don't say you're chickening out," Oliver sighed.

"No, no, let me finish. I've planned what to do. I should give him a gift, like some flowers or wine, and then he might be touched rather than pissed off."

"Wait, you ride into the back of his car, and then you give him a gift?" Oliver repeated, cocking his head.

"Yeah, well, I'll tell him I was taking it to your mum's party, but I thought he might like it instead."

Oliver looked confused for a moment and then he wagged his tail.

"Yes, I like this idea."

"But I said fuck as I suddenly wondered where can we find wine? I mean our village doesn't have a Tesco, and the shop here doesn't sell it."

"The shop does sell homemade ice cream," Oliver pointed out.

"It'll melt. Flowers it is, but I don't have any cash on me."

"Nor me. Wait, we'll get some from Mrs Hinchcliffe's garden!" Oliver said.

"From her garden?" Gareth repeated.

"Yes, I mean she has thousands, she won't miss a few. You can make them into a bouquet or something," Oliver suggested.

"She'll notice if we dig them up."

"No, I'll get some kitchen scissors from my mum's and we'll snip a few, that should work," Oliver insisted. "Wait here, I'll sneak back in and grab some scissors."

"You know, most straight guys would be weirded out by helping their best friend hook up with a hot gay guy," Gareth chuckled.

"You're my best friend, plus the chances to do something interesting in Little Hartbrook are few and far between," Oliver grinned. "Now wait here, I'll be right back."

Gareth retreated with his bike around the corner as Oliver sprinted back to his mum's house. He drummed his paws against the handlebars, hoping the Collie would be quick.

The front door to Honeysuckle Lodge opened and Gareth's eyes widened with shock.

Was Marcus leaving?

His alarm turned to relief as someone else stepped out, and then he felt his ears splay and burn with embarrassment when he recognised the figure of a black wolf.

It was Frank Trelawney.

There was a leylandii bush swamping the garden wall to Honeysuckle Lodge and Gareth jumped behind it, leaving his bicycle propped against a post-box.

Frank walked straight past, pausing briefly to glance at his bike and sniff the air before he continued on.

Gareth remained behind the bush until he heard Oliver calling his name.

"I'm in here," he whispered.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked.

"Hiding, I thought Marcus was coming out the door," he explained.

"Oh," Oliver replied. "I have them, although I almost bumped into Frank Trelawney and this weird professor relative of my mum. Shall we get some flowers then?"

Gareth nodded and they hurried along the street, wheeling his bike between them.

Mrs Hinchcliffe's garden was not too far away, but as they walked quickly along an awful thought crossed Gareth's mind.

"What if Frank and Marcus have become boyfriends?" he mused out loud.

"Huh?"

"I saw Frank coming out of Marcus' house, what if they're mated now?"

"Is Frank gay?" Oliver asked. "I thought you were the only gay guy here?"

"Nope, he's gay all right," Gareth replied.

"How do you know?"

Gareth paused for a second.

"I have a good gaydar," he said, before pushing his bike on.

"No, seriously, how do you know?"

"You don't want to know," Gareth insisted.

"Please, I promise won't tell anyone," Oliver grinned.

"I saw him on Prowlr," Gareth sighed.

"No way!" Oliver laughed.

"Yes way."

"Well, they can't have become mated that quickly, maybe he went round for a quickie? Not that I want to picture that in my mind, no offense."

"None taken, but that means if Frank is going there I have more competition. Now come on, let's get some flowers."

They reached Mrs Hinchcliffe's cottage. As the Collie had predicted, there were a lot of flowers practically taking over the front garden. Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out the kitchen scissors.

"Is this such a good idea?" Gareth whispered, glancing around.

"Don't wuss out," Oliver replied. "There's no one around. Mrs Hinchcliffe is at my mum's party. Tell you what, I'll get you the flowers and you stand guard."

"Okay," Gareth replied, but Oliver had already pushed the garden gate open.

Gareth stood awkwardly as he heard the sound of Oliver snipping away.

"I have some," he announced, standing up with a bundle of colourful flowers in his paws.

"C'mon, quick," Gareth whispered, frantically gesturing with his paw.

They began hurrying back to Honeysuckle Lodge.

"I'll bundle them together," Oliver announced. Gareth watched as the Collie tried weaving the stems together. "How does it look?" he asked.

Gareth glanced at the poor flowers which were now tangled together.

"Rather shit, but it's better than nothing. He might like the fact we arranged them ourselves."

"True," Oliver nodded.

They reached Honeysuckle Lodge and Gareth felt a rush of relief as he saw the Audi was still parked outside.

"I'm going to neatly arrange the flowers on the front his car," Gareth explained.

"Wait, wait, wait! You rode into his car, and in the process of doing that somehow neatly arranged the flowers on the front?"

"Well, I'm not holding them as I pretend to crash into it, that'll ruin them, and I'm not giving them to you to hold. He'll know it's staged if you're standing in the background," Gareth said.

"Fair enough," Oliver sighed.

"Quick, hold my bike," Gareth instructed.

He glanced around, sniffed the air and darted over to the Audi. The front was sloped and Gareth knew he would have to point the flowers out to Marcus as he placed them over the front bumper.

"On a scale of one to ten, how dumb is this, honestly?" Oliver sighed.

"Hey, you lectured me about not wussing out just a minute ago," Gareth hissed as he hurried back over to his friend.

"I know, but seeing the flowers there makes me think we're overkilling this a bit," Oliver said, splaying his ears.

Gareth opened his mouth to respond, but then he heard the sound of a front door opening and closing. He turned, half-expecting to see a neighbour asking what was going on. His jaw dropped open as he saw Marcus making his way down the garden path to the gate.

The fox was dressed in a gorgeous tank top and small shorts which showed off his legs.

"Wow," Gareth breathed to himself as Marcus slid a pair of ray-ban sunglasses up his muzzle.

Marcus glanced in their direction, fixed them a curt nod and something close to a wave before he climbed into the Audi.

The car's engine roared into life and Marcus sped off, causing the flowers to fly in all directions or be squashed under the wheels.

Gareth was faintly aware of Oliver shouting fuck! next to him.

"Our plan is ruined, it's fucking ruined," the Collie sighed as he looked at the flowers strewn everywhere.

"I know, but he nodded and waved to me, and that top he was wearing was so hot," Gareth murmured, feeling like he was slipping into a trance. "My second favourite gay crush nodded at me."

"For fuck sake, snap out of it!" Oliver growled. "What are we going to do?"

Gareth shook himself out of his hypnotic state.

"Maybe he's at the pub, we'll try there."

"Good thinking," Oliver replied before gesturing for Gareth to follow him.

It was a warm afternoon and Gareth found himself panting again as they ran along.

The red Audi was indeed parked outside the pub and Gareth caught a glimpse of Marcus walking in through the front entrance.

"Oliver, go peer through the door, see if you can see him in the bar," Gareth instructed.

"Why me?"

"Because if he sees me do it, he'll know it's a set-up," Gareth explained. Oliver huffed and sighed before ambling over to the pub door. Gareth watched as the Collie pressed his muzzle up to the glass for a minute. "Don't make it obvious!" Gareth whispered.

"Shush, I'm watching what he's doing," Oliver hissed back.

Gareth's ears stood up as he watched Oliver.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"It looks like he's ordering something," Oliver said, staring intensely through the glass. "They've given him a glass of wine."

"Brilliant," Gareth grinned. "That means he can't drive off anywhere."

Oliver ran back over.

"Well get ready then," he instructed.

"We don't have any flowers or gifts," Gareth sighed.

"Sod the flowers, that turned out to be a rubbish idea anyway," Oliver said, putting a paw on the back of Gareth's bicycle and giving it a push. "Now, go get him."

"Okay," Gareth sighed nervously.

He began cycling slowly down the road, wondering how exactly he was going to pretend to bump Marcus' car.

"Go on!" Oliver shouted.

Gareth turned the handlebars in the direction of the Audi, but he yelped as he heard the sound of an engine coming up behind him followed by the squeal of breaks.

He turned the bike off the road and fell sideways as a car flashed past and came to a sudden stop right behind Marcus' Audi.

"Fuck," Gareth panted as he tried disentangling himself from his fallen bike.

He was aware of Oliver running over and the pub door opening as several alarmed faces peered outside.

"What happened?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know, that other car came roaring up behind me," Gareth explained, rubbing a bruised hind-paw.

The other car was a white Lotus Esprit, almost identical to what James Bond drove.

"Another flashy car," Oliver mused. "It's like Little Hartbrook is turning into the set of Fast & Ferocious."

The door of the Lotus opened and Gareth's muzzle fell open. Seeing Marcus emerge from his house had made his heart skip a beat, however this was like a lightning bolt coursing through him.

The driver was an extremely muscular Doberman with cropped ears who stood well above six feet. His fur was a black and tan colour, but his most striking feature was the fact he was dressed in period garb of some kind; a red jacket with white trousers and black, knee-high boots. However, the look was somewhat offset by the fact he was wearing aviator sunglasses.

"Who is that?" Oliver asked.

"R... Ralph Rivers," Gareth stammered, feeling like he was about to explode.

Ralph took off his sunglasses and glanced around with the most handsome pair of brown eyes Gareth had ever seen.

"Why is he dressed as Prince Albert?"

"What happened?" someone from the pub called.

Ralph turned serenely to the entrance to face everyone.

"I was driving along and had to swerve to avoid something in the road," he explained in a cool and deep voice. "I almost hit this red Audi here, who does it belong to?"

"It's mine, sort of."

Marcus emerged from the pub, still dressed in his shorts and tank top. A glass of wine was clutched in his paw. He looked at Ralph and his jaw dropped open in the same way Gareth's had.

"Well, I'll be happy to exchange insurance details with you, just in case I bumped it," Ralph said, fixing Marcus a smile that showed off a row of perfectly white fangs.

"Certainly," Marcus replied, his mouth still open as if he was catching flies. "I'm just in the pub, why not do it in here?"

Ralph responded with another smile that flashed his fangs before he tucked his sunglasses into the top part of his jacket and made his way inside.

"Did what I think just happened actually happen?" Gareth said in an awe-struck and horrified voice.

"I think it did," Oliver swallowed.