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Zack walked down the stairs on Wednesday morning to find his parents sitting at the dining room table along with Seth. Their addition was not a surprise to Zack; since the incident with Tristan the previous weekend, Karen and Geoff had made an effort to stay present in the household as often as possible. Part of their efforts had involved convincing their boss to let them work from home that week before their trip. They still had to attend the trip, however, but their effort was noticed and appreciated.

"Morning," Zack mumbled as he opened the fridge.

"Good morning, Zack," Geoff said, nursing a cup of coffee with his toast. "How are you? You look tired."

"I was up late. Had a lot of homework to do." Zack settled for a small cup of yogurt with some granola. He wasn't that hungry this morning.

"Well, good you got it all done," said Geoff. "You've got art club today, right?"

"Yup." Zack sat down and started eating, avoiding everyone's eyes and remaining mostly silent. His work had already been done the previous evening; but no one needed to know that he had actually been up quite late texting a certain wolf...

Geoff nodded, not noticing Zack's drifting off. "Okay. Then don't worry about picking up Tristan after school. I can do it since I'm here."

"That reminds me," Karen interjected. She got up and made for the stairs. "I need to go wake up Tristan. Be right back."

Once she was gone, Geoff sat up and rubbed his paws together. "So, you boys want to do anything fun this weekend before we leave?"

The question took them both by surprise, the two teens exchanging bewildered looks and glancing back at their father.

"What?" Geoff was not to be discouraged as he pressed further. "I just thought you might want to do something fun as a treat before your mother and I leave for our trip."

Zack glanced at Seth again before choosing his words carefully. "Pa...you don't have to do anything special like that to show us you care. We already know. You've done enough already."

"But I want to. We both do," Geoff insisted. "Your mother I mean. We want to be there for you all no matter what, even though we can't. You're right; it's not fair for us to be away for so long so often. So we want to make it up to you." Geoff sipped his coffee before concluding, "So what would you like to do?"

Zack tried to think, but came up with nothing. It had been so long since they had actually gone out and done something as a family. "Um..."

"Maybe we could do some mini-golf? There's a pretty good course just past the mall," Geoff suggested.

Zack gave a 'hmm' of skepticism. "Not really my thing."

"Then what? I'm okay with almost anything," said Geoff. He directed his gaze to the younger of the two. "How about you, Seth? Any ideas?"

Seth shrugged. "Well, I guess there are some good movies coming out..."

"Sounds good to me. You wanna see a movie, Zack?" When the jackal in question gave a shrug and a 'sure,' Geoff clapped his paws, startling them both. "Then it's settled! We'll go see something on Friday night. As a family."

At that moment, Karen returned to the kitchen looking distressed. "Have any of you seen Tristan this morning?"

Geoff frowned. "He's not in bed?"

"He's not anywhere upstairs. I've checked."

"You're sure he wasn't in the bathroom or something?"

"I checked, Geoff! I was hoping one of you had seen him."

Geoff looked at the two younger jackals sitting at the table. "Have either of you seen your brother?" When they both shook their heads, their father hastily stood and began searching the area downstairs. "We'll find him, Karen. Don't worry."

"I'll help," said Zack, rising out of his chair and heading out to the living room. Did he leave the house? I hope not - His heart sank as he examined the formation of shoes next to the front door. Tristan's were missing.

"His shoes are gone!"

"Oh my God, he ran away!" Karen began to sob, leaning against the wall. "This is all our fault!"

"Karen? Dear, it'll be okay." Geoff reappeared and hugged his wife close. "We'll be okay. And so will he." He glanced at the wall clock and turned to Zack and Seth standing there nervously. "It's nearly time for you two to leave. I suggest you go get your stuff ready."

"But what about Tristan? We have to find him!" Seth exclaimed, looking considerably more awake than he was before.

"We'll deal with Tristan. You two still need to go to school." Geoff said with a stern glare. "We'll text you if anything happens. Now go."

Both teens knew that their father wasn't going to change his mind no matter how much they protested. Without another word, they went to go gather their things for school, leaving their mother to sob uncontrollably her husband's arms.

.........................................

Zack was in a rather grim mood for most of the day as a result of the morning events. He knew that Tristan was upset, but he hadn't expected him to do something as drastic as to run away from home. And here he was, stuck at school unable to do anything about it. And what was worse, his phone was dead, so even if they did find him Zack wouldn't know about it until he got home.

This and more was on his mind as he approached his locker at the end of gym class. Coach Salt had made them all run laps before they went back in, so most of the students were panting and sweating profusely as they crowded into the locker rooms. Zack chatted casually with an out of breath Charlie while they changed. On the other side of the room, that cocky cat from earlier kept casting glances in his direction. Maybe he was actually watching the two of them talking, or maybe Zack was just being paranoid, but either way he didn't like the looks he was getting from him.

He said goodbye to Charlie as he headed to lunch, leaving just him and the cat alone in the room. Zack was just gathering up the last of his things when the cat approached him.

"Sup, Zack," he said, lowering himself down and straddling the bench.

Zack glanced over at the cat curiously and turned back to his locker. "What do you want?"

"Hey, don't be like that. I just wanna word with ya." The cat held out a paw. "The name's Jamie."

"Hi. Now go away. I'm not in the mood." Why today of all days?

_ _ "This won't take long, I promise!"

"Then spit it out."

Jamie's fingers drummed on the wood of the bench as he spoke. "Fine. Well, I was wondering how come you don't play in any of the school teams."

Zack frowned. "Because I don't want to. What more of a reason do I need?"

Jamie shrugged. "I mean, you look fit. Do you play somewhere else?"

"No. I work out."

"Oh." Apparently that wasn't the answer he was expecting. "Well, you should join the soccer team. I'm sure Coach will let you in if you ask him."

"Why?"

"We could use some more good players. Our defense is a bit on the weak side right now," said Jamie. "I figured you'd be a good fit if you're interested."

"Me playing soccer?" Zack chuckled as he shut his locker. "Yeah right."

The cat held up both paws in resignation. "Alright, your choice. Talk to Coach if you change your mind." He got a curious look on his muzzle. "Say, are you still training that Chance guy?"

"Who?"

"You know, that scrawny wolf that always following you around."

Zack bit back a retort at that description. "You mean Charlie?"

The cat's eyes went wide, his mouth stretching into a grin. "Charlie? Who calls him Charlie? His name's Chance."

"I'll call him what I want," Zack shot back. This cat was really starting to get on his nerves. "What's your point?"

"Well, are you?"

"Yeah, I'm training him. What's it to you?"

Jamie disregarded the question. "So out of curiosity...how..._close..._are you two?"

Zack narrowed his eyes and replied with a growl, "That's none of your damn business." He turned to leave.

"Hey, wait!" Jamie called after the jackal's retreating back. "I just wanted to know if the rumors were true!"

Zack stopped in his tracks. "What rumors?"

"People have been saying you two are together!" Jamie was standing now, one hand grasping his bag. "Like, together together. Is that true?"

Zack opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the lunch bell echoing throughout the cavernous room. He gave the cat a final glance, shook his head, and continued out of the room.

"Hey, come on! Wait up!"

...............................

"Do you think he knows?" Charlie asked.

"From the sounds of it, the whole school does." Zack sat at his usual table in the cafeteria eating his lunch. Charlie sat across from him, having not touched his food since Zack brought up the subject. The wolf had decided to sit with him that day instead of staying with his friends, a decision that surprised Zack at first.

"And that's not a problem for you?"

Zack shrugged. "Not really. How about you?"

"Well, kind of." Charlie absently picked at his food. "I don't really like people to know about that kind of thing."

"Because of your dad?"

"Yeah. Him and everyone else." Charlie looked up from his tray. "Have you never had that problem?"

Zack shook his head. "Not really. I'm bi and I've had a girlfriend before, so I'm pretty much off the hook."

The wolf's ears perked up at that. "Really? I didn't know you'd had a partner before except -"

Zack raised an eyebrow as the wolf fell silent. "Except...?"

Charlie nodded toward a target behind the jackal. "Him."

Zack twisted in his seat and spotted Junior leaving the lunch line headed for his table. They locked eyes for a moment before the fox continued on his way without a word.

Zack turned back. "Who told you about that?"

Charlie bit his lip nervously. "Lexi told me about it. She didn't tell me all the details though." He leaned forward and spoke in a quieter tone, though he didn't need to with all the noise in the room. "What exactly happened? All I was really told was that you two had some kind of...altercation."

Zack drained his carton of milk before replying begrudgingly, "You've asked me this before..."

"I know." Charlie sat up and picked at his food again. "I just thought that if we're going to be...a couple," the wolf's eyes watched the jackal for any protest. When he got none, he continued. "Then I think I should know what happened."

Zack sighed. He really didn't want to have this conversation. "Look...I don't want to talk about this now. I will tell you," he emphasized when he saw the wolf's look of disappointment. "But this isn't the time or place. It's not something I like to think about. If we've got some time later and we're not in public, I'll tell you everything you want to know. I promise."

Charlie hesitated, but seemed to accept that answer. "Okay." His face contorted in a frown. "Are you alright? You seemed distracted today at gym."

Zack shook his head. "It's nothing. Something happened at home, but it might be fine now. I don't know because my phone's dead."

"Oh! I hope it's not too bad."

"I...I hope so, too."

"So are we still on for Saturday then? I'm really looking forward to that."

"Hmm." It really depended on whether Tristan was even there for Saturday. God, he hoped he was alright. "Tell you what. I'll text you later whether we're still on. I can't be sure what will happen between now and then."

"Okay," Charlie said with his ears down. "I hope everything turns out okay. I really don't want to miss our first date because I really like you and -"

Zack put an end to his rambling before it could go too far. "Hey," he interjected, punching the wolf's shoulder lightly with a grin. "We've got this."

That put a smile back on Charlie's face.

...........................

Zack pulled into the parking lot at Krafter's and proceeded to walk into the store. He was here a bit earlier than he normally would have because he had left the art club before it was time to clean up. Even with Charlie there, he was just so stressed about his brother that he couldn't focus properly to paint. Mr. Wagner had noticed and let him leave early.

A gush of cool air greeted him as he walked through the door, the outside noise fading to the calm ambience of the craft store with music playing quietly in the background. Zack looked around the store, but he couldn't see the person he was looking for from his position at the front. Perhaps Junior wasn't working today? Zack began patrolling the aisles in search of the fox.

Zack quickly found him sorting out some paint brushes at the end of one aisle, his cart full of supplies positioned next to him. The fox looked up at him and scowled.

"Listen," Zack said hastily. "I just need a minute. Do you -"

"No." Junior continued restocking the shelves.

Zack wasn't about to give up so easily. "I need to know if -"

"No," Junior repeated, now looking him in the eye. "Either buy something or leave."

Seriously? Was he really going to be like this? Zack shrugged. "Ok..."

Zack walked about halfway down the aisle, leaving Junior to go about his business. But only for a moment, for just a few seconds later, Zack's voice could be heard rising above the shelves.

"Excuse me, sir! Can you help me with this item, please?"

Junior looked at the jackal in incredulous surprise, shocked at his audacity. He still didn't move, though. Zack smirked and called again, louder this time, "Mister? I need some help, if you don't mind!"

The fox scowled and stalked over. "Yes, of course sir. What do you need help with? I fucking hate you," he ended in a fierce whisper.

Zack just grinned in triumph.

Junior scoffed impatiently. "Well, what do you want?"

"There have been rumors going around the school that Charlie and I are together," Zack explained. "Did you start those rumors just to spite me?"

"What? No!" Junior exclaimed. He looked around and lowered his voice. "Why would I do that?"

"Alex, I swear to God..." Zack growled.

"No, I had nothing to do with that! Again, why would I -"

"Oh, I don't know, for revenge?" Zack snapped. No way was this prick going to get away with this. "Or maybe you just really want to watch me suffer?"

"Zack, everyone at school either hates you or is afraid of you. I don't need to start rumors to make that happen," Junior reasoned. "It's like the Internet. When one person so much as smiles at another, they get pegged as a couple."

He hated to admit it, but that actually made a lot of sense.

"And it's not like you two are being discreet either," the fox continued. "You used to be a loner, and now Chance is following you everywhere you go. It's hard not to make assumptions."

"Right..." Zack said, dragging a paw down his face. He shook his head as he remembered what he had actually come here for. "Look, I need to know something. What's Charlie's favorite color?"

"Who's Charlie?"

"...Chance."

Junior spread his arms, palms up toward the ceiling. "How would I know?"

"You're his friend, you should know these things."

Junior's eyes narrowed. "You're his boyfriend, you should know these things."

Zack sighed. "Fine...what does he like to do besides drawing?"

"What - why don't you just ask him yourself?" Junior demanded.

"It's supposed to be a surprise," Zack explained. "I want to give him a gift for our date on Saturday."

The fox's eye twitched. "I don't know. And if you think I'm about to give you dating advice, you're talking to the wrong person." Junior began to walk away. "Now buy something or leave." With that, he disappeared around the corner.

Zack threw his paws up in frustration. He should have known Junior wouldn't have been of much help, but he hadn't known he would be quite this bitter. He was going to have to find something soon; he really wanted his first date with Charlie to be special.

He walked out of the store emptyhanded.

..............................

Zack arrived back home to the sight of an empty living room. He knew his parents were home since their car was in the driveway. Entering the kitchen, he found his mother at the kitchen table with a laptop.

"You're home early."

"The teacher let me leave early. The whole thing with Tristan had me distracted," Zack replied. "What happened, Ma? Did you find him?"

"Yes," Karen said relieved. "Turned out he left for school on foot to try and prove a point. We left him alone once we knew he was there, but then he tried to come home early instead of going to practice for the play. Said he 'didn't want to do it anymore.'" Karen sighed sadly. "We tried to talk to him, but he's still upset with us. He eventually agreed to go back to practice though." She looked at Zack curiously. "You didn't get my text?"

Zack shook his head. "My phone was dead."

"Ah," replied Karen. "Well, things are going okay...for now. We'll talk to Tristan properly when we go to pick him up."

"Right." That matter settled for the time being, another though pushed itself into Zack's mind. "Hey, Ma? Do you know something I could get for Charlie for our date?"

Karen's eyes widened as she grinned knowingly. "Oh, you're dating, are you?"

Zack grinned in embarrassment, shuffling in place. "Uh, yeah. I thought the play would be a nice thing to do as a first date."

Karen smiled. "I'm happy for you, Zack. What kinds of things does Charlie like to do?"

"I'm not sure," said Zack. "I tried asking Alex because he and Charlie are friends, but...you know."

"I understand," Karen replied with a nod. "Maybe you could buy him some chocolate?"

Zack shook his head. "No, that's too cheesy. I want it to be something he'll remember."

"Hmm," his mother thought. "He likes art, just like you, right? So maybe you can paint something for him?"

Zack thought about that, and it sounded like a pretty good idea. It was perfect, in fact! "Yeah, that'll work. Thanks, Ma!"

"Of course, Zack," Karen said pleasantly. "Glad I could help. I should probably get back to work, at least until we go pick up Tristan from the school. I'll be here if you need anything."

"Okay," said Zack as he began to leave. "I'm gonna go work out."

Zack considered his options as he went up the stairs and to his room. Charlie had been to his room, so he had already seen most of his paintings. He needed to paint something that spoke to him, but also something Charlie had never seen before. But what?

...................................

It wasn't until late on Thursday night that Anders finally returned to the apartment, the front door closing shut with enough force to shake some small objects on their shelves. The lean coyote tiredly hauled some paper bags across the living room and onto the counter, setting a fresh box of pizza beside them.

"Nate, I'm home!" He called as he put some of the contents away. His exotic accent rang clear through his voice, one of many tokens of his Norwegian heritage. "Sorry it's so late. The hospital needed me to stay for a few extra hours and then I went to the grocery. I picked up a pizza as well! I know you don't like greasy foods, but - Nate?"

Anders looked towards the couch, but his husband wasn't there like he expected. Maybe he had gone out? No, his shoes were still by the door. This was strange.

Unless...

Anders abandoned his groceries and headed down the hall toward the bedroom that he and his husband shared. From outside the door, he could hear sounds from the TV inside, a sports channel. The coyote turned the doorknob and slowly creaked the door open.

"...Oh Nate, not again."

A large husky laid back on the bed wearing nothing but a pair of plaid blue and white boxers, leaving his strong upper body and thick muscular legs bare for all to see. A collection of aluminum cans crowded the nightstand, evidence of the husky's recent activities.

Nathan grinned drunkenly at the coyote by the door, his eyes slightly unfocused. "Hey there, sexy," he slurred.

Anders sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. He gazed upon his inebriated husband with pity. "Want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what, stud?"

Anders shook his head. Nathan always got like this when he was drunk. "Never mind. I got us some dinner, if you're interested."

The husky let out a deep belch, bringing another can to his lips. "Naaah, not hungry."

Anders grabbed the beer can from the husky's paw and set it aside. "Well, can you at least come sit with me while I eat? I'd like the company, even if you are drunk."

Nathan got an odd look in his eyes. "Ya know, maybe I am a little hungry..."

The coyote smiled. "That's good. Come to the kitchen and we can -"

His speech was cut short as a pair of paws suddenly yanked him forward, throwing him onto the bed. The coyote spun around only to find himself pinned down on his back, the thickly built husky looming above him and grinning wide.

"Nate...no," Anders said struggling against his hold. It was no use; the husky's sheer weight alone was enough to keep him pinned. "Stop...you're drunk."

Nathan only chucked and forced his lips onto his partner's, pushing his tongue into the coyote's mouth. Anders nearly gagged in disgust. The bitter taste of old beer filled his muzzle while its foul stench stung his nostrils. The husky's breath truly reeked. Anders tried to push him away, but he didn't budge.

Nathan finally released his muzzle and this time, his grip loosened enough for Anders to squirm away. "Nate, stop it. You know I hate doing this when you're drunk."

The husky frowned and laid back on the bed in his previous position. "Hmph," he huffed, reaching for the beer can again.

Anders collected the empty cans from the nightstand, including the one in Nathan's paw. "Look, just get some sleep. We can talk about this later. You have class tomorrow." He stopped just outside the door. "I love you, Nate."

Nathan seemed too out of it to respond, just staring at him blankly. Anders sighed and left, shutting the door behind him.

Lying on the bed, Nathan remained staring at the closed door as if confused. His eyes traveled to the bulge still straining his boxers and his mind recalled his previous goal. Without thinking, the husky pulled down his underwear, wrapped his paw firmly around his shaft, and began to pump furiously.

Anders put the cans in the trash and surveyed the kitchen. His eyes landed on the untouched pizza box. He could have a slice later; right now he should probably finish putting the groceries away. He gave another sad sigh as he began to unload the bags.

This needs to stop. I can't let him live like this. Should I call someone?