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Chapter 6

The End and A New Beginning

Packing up with Lance made the chore of moving out much faster and much more fun than with someone else, or by himself. Because they were both from the same town, it made it easier to travel as well. Luckily, Lance at the start of the school year had told Vergennes that he could bring his belongings and join him on the ten-hour car trip to the Webster-Ferret University campus, rather than traveling separate. Now that the year was over, they were both loading boxes once again into the Subaru hatchback, getting ready for the long car ride.

"That's...the last of it!" Lance grunts, heaving a large box up into the last space of the hatchback.

"Great. Let's go say bye to everyone." Vergennes replies, reaching up and closing the trunk door carefully, to ensure nothing was in the way.

"Sounds good!" Lance laughs as he slings an arm around his best friend's shoulder and steers the otter away from the car and to the freshman dorms.

"Get your arm off me you punk!" Vergennes laughs as he pushes Lance off of him. "By the way. Why did you change majors? I thought you were going to go through Athletic Training with me?" The otter continues, asking his friend as he opens the freshman dorms entrance way.

"I wasn't going to get the eighty-three percent in Anatomy and Physiology. So I changed it to Kinesiology. Not as rigorous." Lance shrugs as he brings his arms up and rests his paws behind his head, walking up the stairs to the second floor.

"Huh. If I don't get the eighty-three, maybe I'll switch to that. I hope I get it though." Vergennes says distantly, staring up at the dreary ceiling as they walk through the hallway door to Shard and Clarence's room.

"When are you going to find out if you got it or not?" Lance asks, stopping in front of a door where light music is playing, and wracks his knuckles on it.

"Sometime next week." Vergennes replies as a red-wolf opens the door. "Burn?! What are you doing here?"

"I was chilling with Clarence and Shard while you guys were packing!" He laughs, letting the other two into the now bare, white-walled, and stripped dorm room. "I was also helping them pack as well. Shard just went to his car with the last of his stuff. Out the back door. He parked in Lot B."

Vergennes wraps Burn in a tight hug, his arms around the red-wolf's muscular shoulders, and walks into the room. Striding over to Clarence, the otter gives the tall stud a handshake and hug around one shoulder, patting his friend's back. Lance does the same.

"How far is the drive, Clarence?" Vergennes asks, leaning on the bedframe, his tail flicking back and forth.

"About four hours. Not that bad. You?" The stallion replies, lifting up the last box in the room and walking towards the door.

"Lance and I have about a ten-hour drive. Shouldn't be too bad with each other." Vergennes says, following Clarence, Burn and Lance out the door. "You got everything?"

"Yeah, we quadruple checked. Shard has all of his stuff, and this is the last for me. You can go ahead and close the door." Clarence says, heaving the box up a little more and walking toward the rear hallway exit and stairs. Vergennes closes the door as they start to walk down the hallway toward the rear exit.

"Hey, V?" Burn asks turning to the otter, just as the other two exit the building and the door shuts, leaving them alone in the stairwell.

"Yeah? What's up?" The otter says, leaning against the exit door and facing his best-friend.

"I'm...um...excited that you're coming over this summer." The red-wolf says with a slight blush in his cheeks.

"I'm excited too! I can't wait!" The otter says, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Burn's shoulders again and hugging him tightly. Burns own arms wrap around Vergennes' waist.

"I can't wait for you to meet my best friend, Nesh." Burn says, giving the otter a long kiss on the cheek and releasing himself from the hug.

"Y-yeah. I can't wait. But I thought I was your best friend" Vergennes teases, his face turning the color of Burn's fur.

"You are! I can have more than one!" Burn laughs as he opens the door. Vergennes' face turning a brighter shade red.

Walking behind his friend and watching the wolve's tail sway back and forth, Vergennes and Burn make their way to the others in the deserted parking lot. Only Shard's, Clarence's, and Burn's cars were left.

"What happened to you Verge? You look like a tomato!" Lance laughs, leaning on the hood of Clarence's car.

"Hey! Ge'er of my car you bum!" Clarence calls from talking with Shard a little way away.

"Or what?" Lance asks, laying his back on the hood and letting his tail sway, swinging his leg.

"I'll make sure you can't eat without a straw for a month." Clarence replies, turning back to Shard and saying goodbye with a pawshake, and bringing one another's shoulders into their chests while patting each other's backs. "I'm excited to be your roommate again for next year, Shard. Have a great summer, man."

"You too!" Shard laughs as his smaller frame is engulfed by the large stallion and walks over to Lance, Burn, and Vergennes, wrapping each one in a tight hug.

"Have a great summer, Verge. Don't stress out too much." The dragon whispers into the otter's ear and releases the hug. Walking over to his car, and, waving goodbye, Shard closes the door, revs the engine, and drives off back home.

"Well, next time we see him, we'll be sophomores!" Lance laughs as Clarence walks over and pushes him of the hood of his car.

"Alright boys, I'm heading out too. Gonna be dark by the time I get back home." Clarence snorts as he gives Burn,and Vergennes a pawshake and, punching Lance on the shoulder, clambers into his car, laughing at Lance who was now rubbing his arm. Clarence takes off in the opposite direction of Shard, back home.

"Should we get going to, Verge?" Lance asks as he brings Burn into a bro hug and thumps the red-wolfs back with a paw.

"Yeah, we should go too." Vergennes nods and walks over and wraps the red-wolf into a tight hug around the shoulders.

"I'll see you both soon. Just a couple of weeks." The red-wolf whispers into the otter's ear as they break the hug.

"I'm looking forward to it." Vergennes replies with a smile as Burn walks over to his own packed car.

Both waving as Burn revs the engine and takes off, Lance and Vergennes make their way back to their car.

"You drive first. I want to catch up on some Z's" Lance says as he runs to the passenger door, opens it, and jumps in.

Sighing, Vergennes laughs and enters the driver side and starts the engine as Lance puts in a pair of headphones and lays back in his chair, closing his eyes and bringing his footpaws up onto the dashboard.

Vergennes sighs to himself again as he plugs his phone into an aux chord and turns up the volume. Starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot, the otter looks into the rear view mirror, staring at the large campus as it fades slowly into the distance, trees and shops obscuring the view. Finally, the campus is no more as the car makes its way over a bridge.

"It's gonna be a long summer," Vergennes laughs as he merges onto the highway, and starts the long drive home.

...

-Two Weeks Later-

Eleven o'clock Friday night, Vergennes sits at his desk in his dimly lit room with his forehead in his paws as he stares at his laptop. The grades for his second semester had finally been released.

"No. Way." The otter says in disbelief. "I-I Got a 3.0 GPA. But. I got an eighty percent in Anatomy." Vergennes takes a deep breath. "I. Didn't make it. I'm just three percent off! Are you kidding?" Vergennes closes his laptop angrily and gets up from the desk and slumps in a black bean bag chair in the corner of his room.

"I didn't make it." He says in disbelief, staring up at the ceiling fan, watching the blades rotate slowly in perfect circles.

Suddenly, his phone starts to vibrate in his pocket. Taking the device out, and looking at the name of it, Vergennes slides the call button and holds the phone to his flattened ear.

"Hey, Lance" He says, trying to sound light hearted and hide his disappointment as he wipes his watering eyes with a paw.

"Hey, Verge!" Lance replies with a lot of background noise.

"What's up? What're you doing?" Vergennes asks, pressing the phone tighter to his ear so that he could hear Lance talk over the obscure noises.

"I'm at a friend's house right now. But, I wanted to call because...I don't think I can go to Burn's this summer." Lance says, slowly.

"What? Why?" Vergennes asks, standing up from the bean bag chair.

"I have to take another job and I won't be able to get the time off from both" Lance says, the background noise disappearing. He had obviously walked into another room.

"Oh. Okay." Vergennes says slowly, letting out a deep breath.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know you were looking forward to all four of us going. You okay?" Lance asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just been a long day." Vergennes replies, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Okay! I'm coming!" Lance yells at someone on the other end of the line as the background noises rise in volume again. "Sorry, Verge. I'll make it up to you." Lance says, hanging up.

Vergennes lowers his phone to his lap and looks at his reflection in the blank screen, sighing as his ears fall flat. The otter turns on the device, and scrolls through his contacts. Bringing the phone to his ear, Vergennes listens as the tone rings.

"Hey, V." Burn answers sleepily. "What's up? It's almost midnight."

"Hey, Burn." Vergennes replies, holding in his emotions, trying to keep quiet because his family was sound asleep in their rooms.

"What's wrong" Burn asks, his voice less tired and more clear.

"Nothing. It's just that. Lance can't come. So it'll just be me." Vergennes says, running a paw through his short brown head-fur and letting out a deep breath.

"Oh, that's too bad. But you and I will still have a lot of fun anyway." Burn replies.

"Yeah" Vergennes says distantly, laying back on his bed and watching the ceiling fan make its circular rotations again.

"V. What's really wrong. Tell me." Burn's voice turns serious, making the otters ears perk up.

"I-I don't know. It's late." Vergennes says, his ears flattening against his head again.

"Please?" Burn replies. "I'm still awake. I'm here for you."

Sighing, Vergennes delves into his predicament of not receiving the grade he needed. Tearing up as he does so, the otter presses his thumb and index paws on the bridge of his nose and clenches his eyes shut. Keeping them from watering.

"Well. What are you thinking of doing?" Burn asks, his voice soothing and calm.

"I. I don't know." Vergennes says, shaking his head. "I'm so confused. Is there any point in going back to the school? Should I change majors? I'm just...a failure" Vergennes' voice cracks with emotion as his throat tightens up.

"V! Stop it!" Burn yells on the other end of the line, forcing the otter out of his emotional reverie, his ears perked and his eyes open wide. "You're not a failure! I see you as just the opposite! I see someone who works hard at what he wants to do, someone who pushes himself to the limit to achieve his dreams. That's what you've been doing with tennis. Now I think you need to do that for your Athletic Training major." Burn says, his voice dropping from the yell to a soft and calming tone again. Vergennes just nods and stays silent.

"You still there?" Burn asks, slight concern rising in his voice.

'Yeah. I'm here. You're right. I...I'm gonna take a summer course of Anatomy here at a community college near my house. I was looking at the courses in case this happened. I'm just...ugh. Three percent, Burn." Vergennes says, covering his eyes with a paw, blocking out the light from the ceiling fan.

"I know. You were so close. But think of it this way. You're going to gain extra knowledge. You're gonna be farther along with the AT course than most when you get in." Burn says, caringly.

"Okay. Thanks, Burn" Vergennes says, smiling softly as he speaks into the phone.

"Is that all?" Burn asks.

"Yeah. That's everything. I'm sorry I brought this up so late." Vergennes says, sitting up and standing, beginning to pace around his bed.

"It's no problem. I'm here for you, V. Don't you forget that." Burn says tiredly.

"Thanks, Burn. Goodnight." Vergennes says, collapsing into his desk chair and turning on his computer.

"No problem. Sweet Dreams, V" Burn says, hanging up.

Vergennes puts his phone on his desk and starts typing on his computer. When two o'clock in the morning rolls around, he had officially enrolled in a month long course of Anatomy. However, the class was a semester long course, packed into one month.

"I guess I'm not gonna get much sleep again this coming month." Vergennes sighs as he turns off the light, and collapses into his bed. Exhausted.

"At least I get to see Burn before this course though. Only one more week." The otter says, closing his eyes and falling fast asleep.

...

-One Week Later-

Pulling his headphones off, Vergennes stands up from his aisle seat on the plane and pulls his bag down from the rack above, heaving it onto a shoulder. Leaning over the arm of the chair, he slings a backpack of his smaller carry-ons over the opposite shoulder, and waits for the furs in front of him to start exiting the airplane. As the line moves forward and out of the stuffy aircraft, the otter puts his headphones back on and follows the crowd to the baggage claim.

Taking the stairs down, Vergennes treads with a little anxiousness, excited to see his friend again. Soon, the stairway transitions and opens up from dark concrete to an enormous open space, with a fantastic chandelier made of glass, carved to look like small planes, and gigantic glass windows pointing up at the night sky where stars and airplanes painted the horizon. Sliding glass doors keep furs from walking in to the airport at the bottom of the stairs. The baggage claim behind these large glass doors housed a huge crowd of furs, waiting for their loved ones, each one looking up the stairs anxiously to catch a glimpse of their family member, friend, or lover, and waving or jumping when they do.

Families giving hugs or kissing one another, finally being reunited, surrounded Vergennes as he walked through the baggage claim, looking around for the red-wolf as he slides his headphones down around his neck. Pulling out his phone, Vergennes scrolls through his contact list and presses on the red-wolfs number. Bringing the device to his ear, Vergennes listens to the ringtone, looking around the baggage claim.

"Hey!" Burn replies, his voice in an ecstatic tone.

"Where are you?" Vergennes asks, smiling.

"I'm right behind you" Burn says, placing a paw on the otter's shoulder as he speaks in the phone and to the otter in himself.

"I didn't even see you!" Vergennes laughs, hanging up the phone and putting it in his pocket, turning to face the red-wolf. Burn was wearing a black Fox shirt that clung to his chest, showing off the tattoo markings on his arms and making his red-fur shine brightly, and a pair of slim grey jeans that went down to his red foot paws. Burn pulls Vergennes into a tight hug and kisses his cheek.

"How was the flight, V?" The red-wolf asks, taking the larger bag from Vergennes and slinging it on his shoulder as he releases himself from the hug. "Is this all you brought?"

"Yeah, that's everything. I'm just staying for five days, Burn!" Vergennes laughs, following the red-wolf through the crowd of furs and blushing slightly. "And the flight was good. But I'm pretty tired. What's the time?"

"Ten o'clock." Burn replies, looking over his shoulder and watching Vergennes as they walk through another pair of sliding glass doors and into the parking lot. "We'll be at my place in just a half hour. Traffic is nothing at this time of night. Especially since it's Sunday. I'm so happy you're here until Friday. What time do you leave on Saturday?" Burn talks excitedly as he stops at a large Subaru hatchback and opens the trunk. Vergennes laughs at his friend's excitement.

"It's early morning. But I don't want to think about leaving yet. I just got here ya' know?" Vergennes continues laughing as he and Burn throw the two bags into the back, and walk around to the front of the car.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm just so happy you're here." Burn says as he starts the car and starts to drive home.

Both friends stay quiet for short car trip, occasionally making small talk, but both too tired for much else. Vergennes looks out the window and up at the night sky where thousands of stars sparkle high above as Burn pulls into a driveway.

"Alright, here's my place!" He says happily as he gets out of the car, closes his door, and opens the trunk. "I can get your bags don't worry." He calls as Vergennes gets out of the car and starts to walk around.

"You sure?" The otter asks as Burn makes his way to the red-painted front door of the home.

"Yeah, they're light." Burn laughs, turning a key in the lock and opening the door, flicking on the lights as he walks in. "I'll go put these in your room. Follow me?" Burn calls as he walks up a flight of stairs directly to the right of the entranceway.

Vergennes doesn't have much time to take in the sights of the house, but from what he saw of the entranceway, the walls were white washed and clean. At the end of the hallway a glass door leads to the kitchen and the living room. The otter could barely make out an island with bar stools that separated the living room and kitchen. On the right side of the hallway, stairs make their way up to a smaller hallway with two bedrooms, and a room further to his right, with its lights off, looked like a reading or study room.

Following the red-wolf up the stairs, Vergennes walks into the second bedroom with Burn leaning on the wall, smiling broadly.

"I know it's not much, but it's home!" Burn says, walking over to Vergennes and wrapping the otter in a tight hug around the waist and resting his forehead on his friend's. Vergennes laughs and looks into the wolve's ruby eyes, smiling broadly as he wraps his arms around Burn's shoulders.

"It's beautiful. I don't even have my own place." The otter says happily.

"I'm so glad you're here, V" Burns says happily as he releases the otter from the hug, leaving Vergennes blushing deeply. "Why you blushing?" He laughs as he walks over and leans on the doorframe, arms crossed and smirking.

"Nothing." Vergennes says as he busies himself unpacking, bending over and unzipping his bags.

"Hey, I'm thinking we go see Nesh tomorrow. I already told him you were coming and he is VERY excited to meet you. I'm sure you've seen him around campus a few times." Burn laughs.

"Awesome! I've been looking forward to it as well." Vergennes says, pulling out some clothes and putting them in the night stand next to the bed.

"Alright. Well. I'll see you tomorrow morning you silly otter." Burn laughs as he gives Vergennes' rear a quick slap, causing the otter to yelp and his fur to straighten. Laughing, Burn leaves to his room.

After he had finished unpacking, Vergennes turns off the light and crawls into the large bed, sighing as he looks around the bedroom. The nightstand next to him had a small lamp on it, the walls had pictures and posters of nature scenes ranging from beautiful deserts to gorgeous forests., and the back of the door had a small wire shelf that hung from the top.

Sighing, the otter falls fast asleep. Thinking of Burn, meeting Nesh, and how much he will enjoy this week off. However, thoughts about his end of semester grades, and the beginning of his summer anatomy course, haunted the back of his mind.

End of Chapter 6.

Thank You for Reading!

-Vergennes