Ok! I'm getting out of my slackers mood! Here's the next chapter to my Pathways of Life series. I originally wrote Damien and Shane's Love Theme Song for this chapter but decided to hold off on that for a bit, the song will probably fit the next chapter instead, it's still a little too early for them x3 This is kind of a shorter chapter but it holds quite a bit of important information in it! As always this is a M/M Romance, love story so there will be mature content throughout, as such all chapter from here on out will be rated for adults even if there is no sexual content in the chapter. Comments, suggestions and Ideas are always loved! Enjoy!

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The Pathways of Life ~

Chapter 4 ~ The Heart's Pathway

The next few days were very happy and special for Shane, he usually slept later than the other two, so he ended up waking up to a prepared breakfast every morning. Andrew usually worked early morning shifts, but he and Max had taken a few days off to spend time with each other and Shane. Shane smiled when he walked out to see his partners waiting for him, Max had a tendency to hug him tightly when he saw him. It was still a bit odd for him but he liked the fact that he was able to be so close to Max, to once again be treated like his lover. Despite Andrew having many different views and ways of going about things, he and Shane got along surprisingly well. The way the work schedules worked Andrew left early in the morning and was usually home by around noon, which is around the time Max left for work, and he was usually home at night. Since Max didn't leave until later in the day He and Shane would cuddle for a good portion of the morning.

One particular morning Shane nuzzled gently into Max's chest, smiling at him, "Max... I love you." he whispered simply. Max was awake enough that he smiled in response, "I love you too, Shane. When I thought you died I was... devastated, I never really stopped loving you..." Shane held on to him tightly, "I have some things I want you to read over sometime, when you get the time, things I wrote for you while I was in the hospital, and despite how terrible he was to you, I want you to read Alan's journal, there's a lot about him you don't know." Max seemed to recoil a little bit, Alan had been a very bitter part of his life, but he was curious to know why Shane always thought so highly of him. "You really loved him, didn't you?" he asked, as he gently rubbed over Shane's shoulders. "He used to be kind, he used to be a very loving guy, though not many furs saw him like I did, I loved him about as much as I came to love you. In a way you reminded me of him, his protective nature. He was very guarded too, but he, like you, knew how to make me feel safe at one point." Max held Shane close, not wanting to let go of the beautiful Coyote in his arms.

Over the following weeks Shane decided to start wandering around the town a bit more, start looking for a job of his own so he could contribute in some way. He wanted to take Andrew and Max out on a date, so he'd have to make money somehow. Unlike Max and Andrew he had no ambitions to go back to school. He saw what seemed to be a bar or club of sorts, he walked in and it seemed rather empty, though there was a bartender. The bartender was cleaning some glasses, probably getting ready for the night crowd. The bartender was an Equine with black hair. He had a mostly white face other than a patch that was a purpleish brown color, the kind of color you might expect a light bruise to look like, and his ears were the same color. Shane slowly started to approach the bar, feeling a bit nervous, something he hadn't felt in a long time. The bartender noticed Shane's approach and looked up at him, a slight smile crawling onto his face, "Welcome to Dirty Paws, can I help you?" he asked.

Shane smiled awkwardly, "Oh, I was just wondering if you were hiring by chance? I'm looking for a job, er, I have a resume!" The Equine looked at the paper in his hand and took it, giving it a quick look over, "Well, the hiring manager just stepped out for lunch, but I can have her take a look when she gets back. Do you have any previous bartending experience?" Shane frowned slightly, "Well, no, not really, but it is something I'm interested in." The bartenders eyes were captivating, and a bit strange to him, one was purple and the other was a red color. The Equine just smiled, looking Shane over which made him slightly nervous. "Since you don't have any bartending experience you might not be hired to pour the drinks but I do think we're looking for some servers, you might have a better shot at one of those positions. If you get hired that would give you time to learn the different recipes and you'd be able to move up. I'll talk to Jess when she gets back and see if we can't get you an interview." Shane's ears perked up and he smiled, "You'd do that? Thanks! Oh, my name's Shane." he extended his paw to the Equine who took it and gently shook it in response, "I'm Damien, it's nice to meet you Shane."

Shane sat down at the bar and looked around, "So, I take it this is a night club kind of place, yeah?" Damien nodded and gestured to the stage, "Yeah, we're kind of like an exclusive gay club, we put on drag shows from time to time, and occasionally we have strippers. Sometimes we have theme nights to draw out different kinds of crowds, most nights we have a dj, on theme nights we have different local bands that come out and play for us." Damien paused, giving Shane another look over, "You know, you look kind of familiar, have we met before?" he asked the Coyote before him.

Shane thought about it for a moment and shook his head, "I don't think so, I think I'd remember a face as handsome as yours." he kind of blurted his sentence out without thinking it through and then he realized what he had said, his face glowing a bright red, "Er! I uh, didn't really mean that how it sounded! S-sorry!" Damien seemed a bit amused by Shane's reaction, "That's too bad, you look pretty handsome yourself. Someone as attractive as you must be taken though, just my kind of luck." Shane's blush remained as bright as ever, "A-ah, well, sort of. I'm kind of in a three-way relationship, it's rather complicated to explain really." Damien seemed a bit surprised, a bit of a grin showing on his face, "Wow, you're a rather lucky guy! Well, if your partners don't mind I may have to steal you for a date one evening when I'm not working."

Shane smiled nervously, nodding at Damien, "S-sure!" Just then a female Red Panda walked in from the back room, she wore a bit of a nice looking suit and seemed to have an air of authority about her. "Damien, how many times have I got to tell you to stop flirting with the Patrons?" Damien wore a sheepish grin as he looked over at her, "Whaaaaaat! It never hurts to be a bit of a flirt, besides I'm being sincere with this one!" The Red Panda approached and noticed the resume, "Hm? what's this?" she asked Damien. "Oh, right! Shane here is looking for a job, I told him you might consider giving him an interview?" Jess looked over at Shane, raising an eyebrow before looking back to Damien, tilting her head slightly as if to secretly ask him, 'what exactly are your intentions?' Damien just responded with a smile and a shrug. Jess sighed and looked back to Shane, "Today my schedule is kind of filled up, but if you can be here at 11:00 tomorrow morning I'll give you an interview." Shane smiled, his ears perking up with excitement, "Yeah! I'll be here!" Jess nodded before heading back to the back room.

Damien smiled at Shane, "Show up fifteen minutes early, if your early it shows her that you're serious about the job. Oh, and I was being serious, one day soon I would like to steal you for an evening and take you on a date." Damien winked at Shane who blushed and smiled, "I'd like that. I better get home, I've got some housework I have to take care of, here's my number if you wanna text or call me sometime!" He handed Damien a piece of paper with his number written on it, before he handed it over he drew a little heart on it. He waved goodbye to Damien and headed for home.

Shane finally arrived at home, and walked in to see Andrew taking a nap on the couch. He approached the wolf quietly and kneeled down next to him, resting his head against Andrew's chest. He nuzzled gently into the wolf, which caused Andrew to blink open his eyes. "Well, hey there sexy, how's the job search going?" Andrew asked as he gently pet over Shane's head. "Well, it looks promising, I have an interview tomorrow morning. Oh and I kind of... met a guy." Andrew leaned up a bit and looked down at Shane, raising an eyebrow. "A guy you say? What's he like? And does this guy have a name?" Shane's cheeks lit up a bit as he thought about Damien, "Well, he's handsome, kind of a flirt, he wants to take me on a date sometime, his name is Damien. Though he did say only if it would be ok with you and Max."

Andrew chuckled a little bit, "Well, I don't have much problem with it, it's Max you'll have to convince. You know how he is, he can be rather clingy, kind of like a certain Coyote I know of." he stated with a smirk as he pulled Shane into a gentle hug. "So, where's the job interview?" Shane murred softly as he was hugged, "The job interview is for a Server position at Dirty Paws, that gay club downtown." Andrew raised a bit of an eyebrow upon hearing the name, "I've heard a few things about that place, It's mostly a club and bar, but I hear they have special rooms to 'service' well paying customers if you catch my drift." Andrew had a look in his eye that seemed to protest against Shane going to the interview for that place, "Look, it's not that kind of Server, I'm just going to be running drinks around to the tables. If I wanted to do _'that'_kind of work I'd only do it with yours and Max's permission, you know?"

Andrew's look softened a bit and he held on to Shane gently, "I'm just looking out for you, ok? Besides, I'm sure Max would have a bit of a bitch fit if you wanted to do _'That'_kind of work. You know him about as well as I do, he's clingy and doesn't much like to share the people who are close to him. In fact, I feel kind of bad for that Damien guy, Max will probably have a bit of a confrontation with him eventually." Andrew chuckled a bit as he thought about it, "I imagine he'd spy on your date like a doting father making sure he's good enough for you, don'tcha think?"

Shane chuckled a bit himself as he imagined it, "Yeah, that sounds like Max alright." Shane looked up at Andrew for a moment before planting a gentle kiss on his lips, Andrew murred softly and returned the kiss, "I really hope the interview goes well for you tomorrow Shane." he whispered into Shane's ears. Shane just hugged on to Andrew for a while before finally getting up and extending a paw to Andrew, "Comon, let's go to bed." he said simply. Andrew took his paw and the two made their way back to the bedroom. They both stripped down to their underwear and got into bed together, Shane spooning back against Andrew.

Andrew wrapped his arms around the smaller Coyote in front of him and nuzzled gently against the back of his neck. "I love you, Shane." he whispered, Shane wasn't used to hearing that yet so it made him blush. "I love you too, Andrew." He whispered back as he drifted off to sleep in the bigger Wolf's arms. The path his heart was leading him on was full of mystery.

Hours later Max walked in the door to find it quiet, he undressed and went back to the bedroom to find his partners asleep next to each other. On the night stand he saw Alan's journal. Out of curiosity he grabbed it and skimmed through it until he came to the journal's last entry. It intrigued him to be reading Alan's last words, so he made sure he read it thoroughly instead of just skimming it.

"It is impossible to understand the Pathways of the Heart, at one moment we feel we are bound to a never-ending loneliness from which we are doomed to drown, and the next we are safe and secure in the arms of someone who loves us. Our heart, as I have learned can be a traitor to us, it can be filled with lust. But over time I have learned that no matter what our heart loses there is always something much better waiting to replace that which we have lost, this is not true for me, but I'm fine with that as long as it's true for the one I love. I never wanted to cause him so much pain, he lost me because of circumstances beyond our control... maybe that's the true reason I schemed to bring him and Max closer together and break Andrew and Max apart. It wasn't entirely because I hate Max, I just wanted Shane to be happy... I know he'll be happy with Max. Who knows, maybe one day someone else will sweep Shane off his feet and fill the void in his heart that I left. I know everyone else sees me as the villain... and it's the role I've had to play, but everything I've done is to make Shane happy. He's the love of my life, and... if circumstances were different I'd love him openly and be his, but I can't be. Forgive me Shane for ignoring your love like I've had to... I catch those love lorn glances you give me every now and then.

If I could, I'd kiss you every time I caught those glances... because it almost kills me inside knowing you're so hurt and lost from losing me. I feel the same... when No one else is looking, and when you don't notice, I look at you the way I did when we made love.

My Heart's pathway has led me to a vicious end, because I could no longer stand the feeling of losing you and I'm so angry that he just left you when you needed him! How could he? Doesn't he understand how special you are? Doesn't he realize how much you need him, how much you've come to love him? I just can't forgive him for that... so I'm going to end him. You're too special for him anyway, you deserve someone who will treat you right and always be there for you, in the way that I couldn't be... I love you Shane, I always have... I'm so sorry I had to hide the truth from you. Please be good from now on, ok? Don't look so defeated... smile for me, alright? It pains me so much, seeing you as broken as you were before you skipped town... You tried to kiss me before you left, and I should have just let you, should have kissed back and dropped the charade... maybe we could have been together without my father knowing... but I just couldn't figure it all out and I'm sorry.

Things will get better for you Shane.. I promise. One day, someone will claim your heart, I know he will. Until then, be strong for me, ok? Be the happy, sexy Shane I always knew you as, ok? I love you.

• Alan"

Tears filled Max's eyes as he read everything through, he understood Alan, and he hated himself for making Shane feel so... meaningless. Shane and Andrew must have heard Max crying because they both hugged him from each side behind him. Shane nuzzled into him gently, "Hey... don't cry..." Max kissed Shane deeply, before breaking the kiss, tears still rolling down his face, "I'm so sorry Shane... you know that, right?"

Shane hugged a bit tighter, "Max... that's all in the past, alright? I love you, you don't have to keep beating yourself up for that." Both Shane and Andrew pulled Max into bed, placing him between the two. They laid down together and Shane gently rubbed over Max's chest, doing his best to calm him down. Andrew cuddled close to Max and just let Shane take care of things. It wasn't long before Max calmed down and the three of them were resting peacefully. The heart is such a complicated thing. Of course Shane loved Max and Andrew, but he could feel something growing in his heart for Damien. Only more time would tell him what it was and why he felt the way he did.

To Be Continued...