{"sf1_id":1124038,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Untouchable: Chapter 50: Commitments for Tomorrow: Xander","author":"Dars","words":3472,"posted_at":"2017-01-14T18:37:00.000Z","tags":["Anthropomorphic","Border Collie","Cat","City","Family","Gay","Interspecies","Male","Novel","Plot Development","Relationships","Romance","Story Series","Tiger","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1124038-untouchable-chapter-50-commitments-for-tomorrow-xander","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1124038","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1124038\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"I bounced in my\nseat happily, as our rental van reached the hotel on the east side of Disney\nLand. Sean had been quiet on the flight but didn't sleep like I had. \"What do you\nwant to do after dinner,\" I asked.\"Probably just\nsleep it's been a really long day,\" Sean said.\"Ok, you don't\nmind if I just chill in the room and play games on my DS?\" \"That's fine,\nas long as you have the volume off or head phones.\"We all unloaded and\ngot the room keys, Papa asked everyone to meet back in the lobby for dinner.My excitement was\ncrushed when I learned Papa had me rooming with Sharron and Samantha with Sean.\nThey seemed perfectly happy as we headed up to the room.\"Where did we\ngo last year, you know at the end of the trip, it was the Victorian style\nplace, I hope we go there,\" Sharron said then boarded the elevator.\"Yeah if we\nall agree they have to take us there,\" Samantha said, \"Sean are you\ndown?\"\"What...?\"\"Food places,\nare you down for that Victorian one,\" Sharron asked.\"Yeah sure, I\njust want to eat and pass out.\"\"We could\nbring you back food, if you want to sleep,\" Samantha said.\"No, I'll have\ndinner with everyone,\" Sean said.\"I liked going\nthere too, I think it was called the Plaza, wasn't it,\" I said trying to\nkeep up, but they didn't seem to hear me, they were too far ahead down the\nhallway.I reached the rooms\nafter the others went in. I juggled my bags and the door further from the\nelevator. When I got inside I was thankful to find the rooms were connected by\na door in the middle.Sharron opened the\nconnecting door on our side and knocked on the one on theirs, \"hey open\nup.\"\"What,\" Sean\nasked, opening the other door.\"Dad's being\nridiculous, I'm not changing in front of Xander,\" Sharron said.\"What's wrong\nwith me? You know I don't care. I wouldn't be looking at you.\"\"Maybe I\ncare.\" Sharron said.\"Fine,\nwhatever, Xander bring your stuff over,\" Sean said.\"Is this\nbecause I didn't tell you I was gay sooner?\" I said bustling through the\ndoor, why did I pack so much?\"Yeah cause\neverything's about you,\" Sharron said then moved out of sight.\"Which is my\nbed then,\" I asked, the room had two queen beds, there was also a desk and\ntwo easy chairs by the window with a rumbling panel AC unit beneath.\"The one\ncloser to the bathroom, you have the smaller bladder,\" Sean said.Samantha laughed\nwhile she collected her bags from the floor, \"Xander hasn't wet the bed in\nyears.\" \"Yeah, I give\nhim at least one, maybe, but if he still were a bed wetter he wouldn't tell us,\nhe'd tell your sister, and have waited till you were about to sit down,\" Sharron\nsaid from the other room.\"Oh please,\none of you three wet the bed last I'm the oldest here,\" I said while\nhanging my slacks and a dress shirt for Sunday.\"Oh, ancient\none are you ready to head down for dinner,\" Samantha asked.The other room's\ndoor slammed. \"Yeah I'm ready,\nSean are you coming?\"\"Fine, I want\nto see you two fight it's entertaining,\" Sean said while he texted and\nfollowed behind me.Sharron didn't wait\njust marching away from everyone.We ran after her, Sean,\nSamantha, and I barely catching her elevator.\"Why are you\nso pissed? Is it all because I didn't tell you? You would have told your\nparents,\" I said.\"Maybe I would\nhave, maybe I wouldn't.\"\"Come on, you\nknow you would have,\" Samantha said.\"I always\ntrust you, to do what you think is right, regardless of how it affects\nothers,\" Sean said.\"Isn't that a\ngood thing?\" Sharron said.\"Not if it\nviolates trust, if I don't want to tell your parents and you think I should,\nyou telling it's showing you don't respect me... cause you'll do what you think\nis right no matter what,\" I said.Sharron smelt\nscared and angry, \"so none of you trust me.\"\"We trust you\nto be you,\" Samantha said.\"Maybe it's a\ngood thing we are all doing separate programs in different states,\" Sharron\nsaid.\"Well apart\nfrom me and Sean. Oh, Sean, did your mom give you the letter?\" I asked\nwhile we filed out of the elevator into the gold and marble lobby.\"Yeah, how did\nyou know about it,\" Sean asked, then slipped his phone in his pants\npocket.\"Because I got\none that looked just like yours,\" I said. We all took seats in the easy\nchairs by the lobby's fireplace area. Papa and Mama Miller hadn't gone up with\nus, how long till Mama and Papa get\nhere, Sharron and Sean are in weird moods.\"You got one,\nlike mine, what are you talking about?\"\"Your\nacceptance letter, what did you think I meant,\" Xander asked.\"Oh nothing...\nno I haven't seen it,\" Sean said. He dropped the conversation and stared\nat the fire.\"So, what does\neveryone want to do first,\" Samantha asked.\"Food then\nsleep,\" Sean said.\"Ok what about\ntomorrow,\" I asked, then said, \"I want to see the changes to the\nPirates of the Caribbean area.\"\"The finding\nNemo submarine ride should be open this year, the monorail was closed last year\nfor that, so let's do both and the monorail tour,\" Samantha said.\"Oh yeah we\ndidn't get to see the whole park on the monorail, we got to do that,\" Sharron\nsaid, then she added, \"I wish it was last year.\"\"Why is\nthat,\" Samantha asked, Sean and I murmured interest.\"I didn't know\nyou two were gay, we had the whole year together and things weren't... so hard.\nI wasn't looking forward to coming this year, and it's the first time I've ever\nfelt like this,\" Sharron said.\"Yeah, it's\nlike this year killed our childhood, but it had to happen right?\" Sean said.\"It didn't\nhave to kill anything,\" Samantha said.\"I think we\nhaven't had time to get used to these changes,\" I said.\"Well things\nwill be different in August,\" Sharron said.\"Things are\ndifferent now,\" Sean said.\"Do they have\nto be so different,\" I stood up to check the rest of the lobby for Papa\nand Mama Miller.\"They don't\nhave to be... they just are,\" Sean said.\"Maybe if you\ntold us what happened at camp, we could get back to normal,\" Sharron said.\"Then get used\nto the way things are,\" Sean said while he pulled his phone out.\"You're just\ngoing to text and ignore us now,\" Sharron asked.\"Depends on\nhow annoying you end up being,\" Sean said.\"So Xander did\nyou have to sign up for the classes you'll start in September,\" Samantha asked\ncutting across Sharron.\"No there's an\ne-mail that announces the enrollment for incoming freshmen, I have to wait for\nthat,\" I said, then asked Sean, \"So you haven't gotten your\nletter?\"\"No, but it's\nnot like I've really wanted to talk to mom or dad,\" Sean said.\"So you won't talk\nabout camp, but you'll hold a grudge about it,\" Sharron asked.\"Did mom and\ndad ever blackmail you into doing something you didn't want to do,\" Sean asked.Sharron stopped her\nretort as Papa and Mama Miller got off the elevator.\"Hey gang, you\nall look kinda tense, what's wrong,\" Mama Miller asked.\"We were just\ntalking about Sharron and I going out of State,\" Samantha said ears\ndrooping.\"Oh\ncolleges... Sean, I'm sorry I have your letter in my purse,\" Mama said.\"So where did\nyou all want to get dinner,\" Papa asked.\"We talked\nabout going to Plaza,\" I said while Sean, Sharron and Samantha stood.\"Great, I like\nthat place,\" Mama Miller said then passed Sean his letter.We moved to the\nconcierge desk and Papa requested a hotel express to take us to the park.\"So after\ndinner we have five hours, want to go on anything,\" Mama asked.\"It been a\nlong day I might head back to the hotel and sleep if that's ok,\" Sean said.\"That's ok\njust don't go alone,\" Mama said.\"I want to see\nstuff,\" Sharron said and Sam nodded.\"I'll go back\nwith Sean,\" I said.Papa Miller said,\n\"I don't know if that is a great-\"That will be fine Xander,\nthank you for volunteering,\" Mama said glaring at Papa.We boarded the\nexpress.Samantha said,\n\"I'm thinking of specializing in Immunology, I know Xander's mentioned\nMarketing, but I have no idea what you two want to do?\"\"I'm thinking\nbusiness management,\" Sharron said.\"Go figure you\nlove telling people what to do,\" Sean said, reading through his letter.\"At least I'm\nnot passive aggressive about everything,\" Sharron snapped.\"Calm down you\ntwo,\" Papa said, then asked, \"Sean I would like to hear what you're\ninterested in as well.\"\"Oh now my\nopinion matters, if I tell you, are you going to make me take a different\nprogram?\" Sean said.Papa blinked in\nsurprise.\"Sean\napologize to your father right now!\" Mama said.\"I'm sorry I\nspoke my mind, I'll be sure to avoid doing that in the future,\" Sean said.Mama glanced at the\nothers on the bus perking their ears and dropped the subject.\"I'd like to\nknow, Sean,\" Samantha said softly.\"I thought\nabout being a counselor or some kind of legal mediator, but I don't think I can\ndeal with someone else's problems, I have enough of my own now,\" Sean said.No one said\nanything more till we got to the restaurant.Sharron and Samantha\nwere chatting with Papa and Mama Miller, while we waited for our food. I kept\ntrying to talk to Sean but he kept brushing me off to text on his phone.After all our food\narrived Papa said, \"Everyone hold paws and let's pray.\"I took Samantha's\npaw closed my eyes and held my other paw to Sean but he didn't take it.I peaked, Sean had\nhis armed crossed and sat back in his chair.\"Are you not\ngoing to join us in prayer,\" Mama asked.\"You always\ntaught me not to pray unless you mean what you're praying,\" Sean said.\"Well you\ncan't eat if you don't pray,\" Papa said waving his paw for Sean to take\nit.\"I guess I\nwon't eat then,\" Sean said lip curled.\"Sean stop\nbeing a pup, just do as you're told. Take my paw so we can pray,\" Papa said.\"You don't get\nto tell me what to do, you lost that right when you forced me to go to\ncamp,\" Sean said shaking from head to toe.\"I sent you to\ncamp so that I would know you were safe and upright while in college,\"\nPapa said in a controlled quiet.\"Well, I went\nto camp, now I can't wait to go to college and get away from you,\" Sean said.\"I see you are\nstill not ready for college,\" Papa snapped.Mama said,\n\"Honey! We agreed-\"\"Liar, you\nAlpha damned hypocrite!\" Sean yelled shaking the table as he stood.\"Sit down and\ndon't speak using the Alpha's name that way,\" Papa said standing over Sean.\"I can't eat\nso I'll just go back to the hotel,\" Sean said turning from Papa.Papa grabbed Sean's\nshoulder and Sean balled his paws, he\nmight hit Papa.Papa said,\n\"You're not walking alone.\"I stood up quickly,\n\"I'll go with him.\"\"But you\nhaven't eaten, Karl stop this,\" Mama said.\"No it's\nok,\" I said while Sean pulled away from Papa and headed for the door.\"Thank you Xander,\"\nMama said but let's get your food boxed. She had our food boxed in less than\ntwo minutes, then let me go.I ran to follow Sean,\nbut couldn't see him. I followed the straightest route to the hotel. When I got\nto the South Harbor Boulevard Sean was passing the hotel when he should have turned\nright. I ran towards the Santa Ana Freeway, \"Hey Sean, slow down, where\nare you going? The hotel is back that way.\"\"I don't need\na watchdog,\" Sean said stopping and turning back.\"I know you\ndon't... but are you ok,\" I asked, as I got closer I could smell salt.Sean sniffled,\n\"I'm fine, I just want to be alone.\"\"Ok, I'll hang\nout in the girl's room,\" I said.\"Thanks,\"\nhe said.We walked in\nsilence, till my stomach growled loudly.\"I thought you\nweren't hungry,\" He said as we walked into the lobby.\"I lied so you\ncould leave,\" I said, \"But Mama made me take our food.\"\"That was nice\nof her,\" Sean said while we waited for the elevator.\"Are you ok Sean?\"\"No, that\nacceptance letter said that families are expected to contribute, fifty six\npercent of tuition. I don't know what I'm going to do.\"\"Papa will\ncome around.\"\"I don't want\nto live under the threat that college will be pulled out from under me,\" Sean\nsaid as we boarded the empty elevator.\"My parents\nare paying for me to have an apartment near campus, most of that fifty six is\nhousing and food. You'll live with me like we planned and you won't have to\nworry about all that,\" I said.Sean shifted like\nhe was going to hug me but stopped clutching his right arm.When we got to the\nroom we ate in the easy chairs.\"I still think\nyou'd be a great mediator,\" I said between mouthfuls.\"What kind of\nmediator yells during a meal in public,\" Sean asked.\"Hey, just\ndon't ever bring your dad to work, problem solved.\" \"Thanks Xander,\nI'm sorry that I'm... different now.\"\"No thanks\nneeded you're my best friend I always want to be here for you.\"\"Everything\nwould have been easier if we were just straight,\" Sean said.\"Maybe, but\nwe'll do the best we can,\" I said throwing away the empty takeout\ncontainers.\"Thank you for\nbeing my friend.\" Sean said.\"You're\nwelcome are you ok, you seem really down?\"\"I just need\nsleep,\" Sean said standing by the bed next to the connector doorway.\"Ok, I'll hang\nin the other room, but are you sure it's just being sleepy,\" I asked from\nthat doorway.\"No... I hate\nbeing gay... I just hate everything and everyone... well not you but everyone\nelse.\"I moved to hug him.\"Don't touch\nme!\" Sean said recoiling, \"...I'm sorry, I just need space.\"\"I\nunderstand,\" I said confused as hell, closing the door behind me with a\nclick. I listened at the door to Sean cry till his breathing evened. I wished I\ncould help him somehow.   The bus shook and Xander snapped awake, he had over shot\ncity hall by over ten blocks. He realized where he was and yanked the bus cord\nthen clambered down to the sidewalk. He started the run back. He checked his\nphone hoping he hadn't missed Sean. It showed Sean still at work but that was\nold info and it wasn't updating. Xander was winded when he reached Sean's\noffice, Sean wasn't at his desk. \"Perfect, why can't you work in one place like a\nnormal person,\" Xander said to the empty desk.Xander went to his own desk to see if Sean had e-mailed\nor messaged him, but there was nothing. \"Hey, where are you, I needed to talk to you about\nwork,\" He texted Sean.He ran to Mr. Franks' office, hoping Jessi might have Sean\nschedule.When he got there Jessi looked jittery, \"Hey, do you\nknow where Sean is?\"Her eyes went wide, \"Oh, you haven't heard Sean quit\nand stormed off, he yelled at a Pack big wig in the lobby and the rumor is that\nthat was his father. Sean didn't look well when he came in.\"\"Shit, so he left?\"\"Well yeah do you stick around after you quit,\"\nShe said.Papa Miller came out of Mr. Franks Office, \"Good Xander\nI thought I heard you. I need your help.\"\"Papa, I kinda need to go find Sean.\"\"Xander come in here,\" Mr. Franks said.\"Franks, Papa, I need to go.\"\"No, I need you to tell me what's going on with Sean,\nMiller here says you two are best friends,\" Mr. Franks said.\"We are, but I need to find Sean now, can I explain\nthings later,\" Xander asked.\"Please Xander two minutes,\" Papa said.\"Ok, well I think Sean's kinda having a nervous\nbreakdown, he is facing things he hasn't addressed in a decade and it's all\nbubbling up right now. So where did he go?\"\"I don't know... I should have followed him,\"\nPapa said.\"I wanted him to debate some bigoted camp\ndirector,\" Franks said.\"Shit Mr. Hastles is the camp guy!\" Xander said\nturning to the door.\"Where are you going? Do you have an idea about\nwhere he went he was walking,\" Papa asked.Xander stopped at the door, \"No, I don't but I need\nto find him somehow.\"\"Well, if you find him, talk sense into him, I don't\naccept his resignation if he wants back,\" Mr. Franks said.Xander schedule a pick up by a retriever with destination\nto be determined at departure.\"I will but what are we doing about the\ndebate,\" Xander asked.\"Franks and I have talked about me representing the\ncity with you,\" Papa said.\"Me! I hate cameras,\" Xander said loudly.\"So do I but you'll get used to it and it could mean\nSean doesn't have to deal with Hastles,\" Papa said.\"Fine, Franks this debate could be bad press for the\ncity and the town Hastles is on the counsel for. It's not good for matters this\npersonal to enter a debate covering completely different issues,\" Xander said\nwhile pawing the door handle.\"I agree but the debate was publicly announced,\nchanging participants is bad enough, we can't cancel,\" Franks said.Xander said, \"Maybe talk to Amy or Vivian at channel\nfive.\"His phone buzzed, \"Hey Xander, do you know why is Sean\non Aurora? Did you see him at City Hall?\"\"Shit that's where he is. I need you to call him and\ntext him, I'm on my way there,\" Xander texted, another damned bridge shit.\"Sean's not taking calls or reading his texts.\"\nOliver messaged.\"Ok I found Sean, wish me luck,\" Xander said\nrunning from the office full pelter while he texted Oliver, \"That's fine,\njust give him something to ignore, Oliver this is important!\" Xander's fear flashed through him with currents of the\ndream he had on the bus.   I was in the girl's\nroom with the lights out and about halfway through the Hearthome Gym in my\nPokemon game, then there was a weird noise from Sean's room. I went to the door\nlistening. It sounded like Sean was whimpering and talking in his sleep. \"No please,\nGeorge let me out, he's in here with me please George...\"I felt cold, not\nknowing what to do.Sean gave a\nbloodcurdling scream, it made me cover my ears.I tried to open the\ndivider door but it was locked from the other side.\"Sean are you\nok,\" I called through the door and knocked.I heard the other room's\nhallway door slam.I debated going\nafter him, What if someone just\nabducted him, would it be safe to follow, no he was dreaming... a night terror.I left my DS and\nran from the hotel room, the elevator was going to the ground floor so I took\nthe stairs.When I reached the\nlobby, a bellhop asked, \"Are you ok?\"\"No I'm trying\nto find my friend he is a dark furred wolf,\" I said.\"Oh he went\noutside,\" the bellhop said.\"Thanks.\"\nI ran out the door.When I reached the\nSouth Harbor Boulevard I looked left and right, spotting Sean to the right, he\nwas almost to the freeway overpass.I ran as hard and\nas fast as I could.When I thought he\nmight hear me I called, \"Sean what are you doing?\"?He didn't react, just stared fixed at\nthe twinkling car lights while leaning dangerously on the guard rail.I ran harder, till\nI heard him yelling at the air, \"This is your fault why did you do this to\nme!\"\"Sean what are\nyou doing?\" I yelled from the lower edge of the over pass.He looked at me,\n\"I... I'm, not doing anything.\"\"I heard you\nand now you're here, please tell me whats wrong?\"\"Go away Xander\nyou can't help me.\"\"No, you had a\nnightmare, come on,\" I said.\"Everything is\na nightmare now,\" He said.\"You're out of\ncamp, you're going to college you get to be what ever you want!\"\"Why are you\ncrying Xander?\"\"You're\nscaring me, please don't lean like that!\"He moved away from\nthe guard rail.\"Sorry I\ndidn't mean to scare you I'm just angry,\" Sean said, but he smelt like a\nliar.\"I wish I could\nhelp, I'll always be here for you.\" I said, then reached out a shaky paw.\"Thank you Xander.\"\nHe just regarded my\npaw till I lowered it.\"Can we please\ngo back,\" I asked.\"Fine, we can\ngo back.\"We walked to the\nhotel.\"You heard me\ndreaming,\" Sean asked.\"Yeah you had\na night terror, I heard you scream,\" I said.\"Oh... how\nembarrassing...\"\"You really\ndidn't mean for that other guy to be your first did you?\"\"No...\"\"I'm, sorry I\ndoubted you Sean,\" I said.\"I forgive\nyou.\" He mumbled.\"Were you\ngoing to jump?\" \"What why\nwould you think that?\"\"Because you\nlooked like you were going to jump.\"\"You don't\nknow what you're talking about,\" he said.\"Don't ever do\nthat... for me please don't,\" I said not hiding my tears.\"If you\npromise to never speak about this.\"\n\"Fine,\" I\nknew what I saw but was unsure at the same time, He wouldn't have would he... Alpha protect him.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1120738-untouchable-chapter-49-as-good-as-damned-oliver.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1127272-untouchable-chapter-51-meeting-in-the-middle-sean.json"}