FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Jack freezes in place. Had Alex seen him and followed him inside Manny's classroom? How did he know Manny's name? Was it on the syllabus? It probably was, but it doesn't make sense as to why Alex is here and now with Manny's cock still slipping into his pants and Jack hiding under the desk.

"And who might you be, young man?" Manny moves away from his desk in his rolling chair, but Jack pulls him back. Manny looks down and sees not only Jack's worry but his unzipped pants. Neither of them could zip the pants up unless they want to give away their secret.

Alex cocks his head and steps towards the lion. "I'm Alex and I'm looking for my dad. He thought he saw a friend and I saw him with you, but he's not here anymore." Jack looks down at the floor. This had gone too far and he was about to be caught.

"I am his friend and we did catch up, but you just missed him. I think he was heading towards the bathroom." Jack looks up at Manny and blushes. Manny smiles.

"The bathroom is right by my math class. I would have seen him."

"It's both your first day here, yes? He won't know where to go. And it didn't seem like he had a map."

Alex looks down at his paw and opens the map up. "Oh! There's one near the 120 rooms. Maybe he went there. Thanks, Mr. Manifold!"

"No problem. I'll see you next week. We're going to start with Romeo and Juliet." Alex turns around and leaves the classroom. Jack sighs and zips up Manny's pants. He looks up at Manny and meets his eyes.

"Thanks, Manny."

"Anytime Jack." Manny moves his chair away from the desk and Jack got off his knees and kisses Manny.

Jack stands upright. "I have to tell him, don't I?"

"That is completely up to you." Jack's lowers his head. Manny scoots closer to Jack and wraps his arms around his waist, rubbing his back.

"You could have told him." Jack brushes his fingers through Manny's mane and plays with his ear. "I know you want to."

Manny presses his nose into Jack's side and nuzzles. "It's not what you wanted. You told me when you'd tell him, but look where we are. He's going to school here and he's in my class. I can't just ignore and avoid him." Manny stands up and pushes his chair against the wall with his leg. He hugs his jackalope and kisses the top of Jack's head. "Whatever you decide, I support you." Manny and Jack release each other and Jack leaves the classroom.

Jack reaches for his phone and sees several texts from Alex.

*Where are you? *

The math classroom looks about the same so I'm going to find you.

I noticed you with a lion out of the glimpse of my eye. Is that your friend?

He's kind of hot.

Shit!

I didn't mean to send that.

I'm heading to his classroom. I didn't realize that was Mr. Manifold. He's my English teacher!

Okay, you're not there. I'm heading to the bathrooms to find you. Just stay put.

Jack chuckles. It seems like he and Alex have more in common in guys than he thought. He messages his son.

Too late.

Finally! Where are you?

** Outside Room 105. We need to talk**

Okay, but please stay put! This place is crazy full of people

and I don't want to have to put out an announcement.

Jack puts his phone back in his pocket and leans against the wall. He looks over the people as they pass by. The jocks roam the halls with their cheerleader girlfriends and boyfriends, the guys in glasses looking to rule the world outside of college, and, of course, his son running down the hallway.

"There you are! Do you have any idea how worried I was? This place isn't small you know!" Alex is panting, he was out of breath.

"Did you really have to run all the way here to find me?"

"Not the point! You could have answered your phone."

Jack blushes. "I, I forgot to put the sound on."

Alex raises an eyebrow. "Really? The vibration didn't even warn you?"

Jack pulls out his phone and looks at it. "I think it's time for a new-" SONO CHINO SADAME! JOOOOOOOOJO! Jack looks up at his son. Alex had called his phone. "Oh look, it's working!"

"You lied to me. Why?" Jack sighs. "Dad, you've never lied to me. What's going on?"

Jack puts his paws on Alex's shoulders and rubs them. "Let's get lunch. I'm starving."

"Dad?" Jack walks towards the exit with Alex following close behind. They walk past more people walking in and out of the school and to the parking garage. Jack unlocks the car and the pair climb in. Jack puts his key in the ignition, but Alex puts his paw on his father's arm.

"Tell me what's going on before we go anywhere, please."

Jack turns towards his son. Alex looks into his father's eyes, pleading. "I really want food first."

"Just please tell me you're not dying. Dad, I can't go through that again. Please." Tears roll down Alex's face.

Jack turns towards Alex and wipes the tears away with his finger. "Don't worry. I'm not exiting your life."

Alex sighs. "Okay, then, what is it?"

"I'm having an affair." Jack turns the key in the ignition and drives away from the college. Alex slumps in his seat. He looks out his window. Jack was driving pretty far from home and anyone that could know them.

"Dad, where are we going?"

Jack hums. "Do you remember your favorite restaurant?"

"Uncle Pete's, the BBQ place? Didn't that close down?"

"Yeah, the one by our house, but there is one a few miles away." Alex fishes out his phone like he's got a bite on the fishing rod and looks up Uncle Pete's. It's true and it's only ten more minutes away! Alex squirms in his seat and keeps looking out the window until he sees the giant boar with a chef's hat tipping his hat off to the sun. "We're here!"

Jack turns the car off and gets out. Alex rushes off towards the entrance while Jack strolls on in.

"Two, please! Come on, Dad!" Alex and Jack follow the waitress as she leads them to a booth for two. She seats them and leaves them menus. The place is decorated in red tile and dark red wallpaper. The low lights make it hard for the father and son duo to adjust their eyes to the bright sun outside. The booth is black cushions covering a hard surface, just comfortable enough to enjoy lunch.

Alex doesn't look at the menu while Jack glosses through it. "You should really take a look at the menu. It's changed a lot in six years."

"Nah, their ribs will always be my choice." Alex crosses his arms proudly.

"I wonder if you can finish the full rack now. Remember when Mom and I had to help you?"

"Those things are huge!" Alex exclaims and Jack chuckles.

A chubby lioness with a bright red mane and polka dot dress and apron approaches the pair. "Welcome to Uncle-oh hey Jack!"

"Gloria! I didn't think you were working today." Jack stands up and hugs Gloria.

"Sheila called out. Something about her kid skipping school again. I don't care so long as I get paid more." The two break their hug and Gloria looks at Alex. "Who's this? He's adorable!"

"This is my son, Alex."

"Hello." Alex waves shyly at Gloria.

"Oh so you're the famous Alex. I've heard quite a lot about you. I'd talk more, but I should take your orders. What'll you have to drink?" Gloria reaches into the back pocket of her apron and takes out a notebook.

"I want a chocolate chip milkshake!" said Alex. His long cat tail swishes from side to side.

"Like father like son. Two chocolate chip milkshakes. I'll be back in a bit."

"Thanks, Gloria." Gloria leaves the pair alone to put the orders in. Jack turns his attention to Alex. "So I come here a lot."

"Well, when the wait staff knows you by name it kind of shows."

"Well, actually-"

Alex stands up, knocking their silverware around. "Is she the one?! Another cat dad?"

"Not so loud and sit down please." Alex sits down and crosses his arms. "That's his sister."

"His sister...wait a minute!" Alex's eyes widen. "Dad you're gay!"

Jack puts a finger over his mouth. "Shhhh! Not so loud, okay? And I'm bisexual, Alex, always have been."

Gloria comes back with glasses of water. "Goodness I can hear him all the way in the kitchen. Guess this explains why I've never seen him before."

Alex turns towards Gloria. "How long have you known?"

"After their third date. No secrets in our family."

Alex looks at Jack. "Guess it's not the same in ours."

"I told Jack to tell Katie and you about him and my brother, but he said you all were going through things. It's not my place to force others to do something they're not ready for, but I always told him it was best to get it over with and really be happy."

Jack places a paw on his forehead and rests against the table. Alex looks at his dad. Was Dad always this depressed?

"Anyway, let me take your orders and I'll bring your shakes out with your food. What're you guys having?"

"Alex is having the full rack of ribs and I'll have a BBQ chicken parm sandwich with bacon." Gloria scribbles down the order.

"Wait, they have what now?" Alex picks up his menu, but Gloria snatches it away. "Hey, I want to look some more."

"There's always next time. Again, it's not my place and I'm being completely unprofessional by doing this, but listen to your father." Gloria walks away with the order and menus in hand. Alex looks at Jack and Jack stares back at him.

"Alex, do you remember when Maggie died?"

Alex nods. "You were supposed to pick her up from Uncle Pete's after a soccer match because Mom was stuck in traffic from her girls' weekend."

"And I was leaving right on time. When I got there and saw her."

Alex looks down and slumps into his seat. "I remember. She saw your car and ran into the street. No one was watching her but you and..."

The pair stop talking and just stare at their empty table. Jack places his paws on the table and puts them together. "Your mom treated me like shit."

Alex looks up at his dad. Jack starts shaking, tears running down his face. Alex reaches out and touches Jack's paws. Jack pulls his paws back and reaches for the napkin. He wipes his tears away and sniffles a bit. "Mom always seemed so nice."

"We made sure to never fight in front of you. No matter how heated the argument got, we were to stop the second we heard you coming our way. We also kept our voices down." Jack takes a deep breath. "She blamed me for Maggie's death. Every damn day. The first few months she made it quite clear she didn't want to see or touch me anymore. So I took-"

"Business trips."

Jack nods. "Business trips. I would always look forward to Fridays. I pack a suitcase with two sets of clothes and condoms and never look back."

"And Mom never noticed?"

"She was too busy drinking and smoking to really give a damn about what went on around her."

Alex nods. "I remember her teaching me to cook and clean since she was too hung over to do anything herself."

"You were twelve; you shouldn't have to pick up after a grown woman."

"You were gone all the time and I had to focus on something other than my dead sister!" Alex clasps his paws over his mouth. "Dad, I didn't mean-"

Jack holds up his paw. "Son, you every right to be mad. You shouldn't have been left alone while your father whored himself out and your mom indulged in her toxic behavior."

"Hey." Alex reached for his dad's paws and held them. "No more beating yourself up, okay? Just tell me why."

"Oh, Alex. The reason is stupid." Jack looks down at his paws and at Alex's. "I wanted to be loved and I was willing to do anything for it, even casual sex. Just the thought of someone hitting on me, touching me, and taking me home with them was enough. It got me through the first six months after Maggie's death."

"And afterward?"

"That's when I met Manfred Manifold."

"My English teacher and your supposed old friend."

Jack nods. "I got out of work early one Friday, but I didn't want Katie to know. I went to a library that was gay on the down low. Everyone was at work or school or maybe home since stories can be read and enjoyed anywhere. I saw this big mane sitting at the computer and I walked over to him. He had the gentlest face and asked if I wanted to use the computer. There were tons of free computers, but he didn't just shove me away to a different one. He was willing to give it up for me. It was a simple act of kindness, something that I've been missing out in my casual hookups and Katie's screams. I broke down in front of him."

Jack smiles fondly remembering his first meeting with Manny. "He held me tight and rubbed my back. I just cried into his shoulder. I told him everything and he just listened. After I was done, the next thing I did was kiss him."

"Really, Dad? You just met him."

"And yet it felt right. He did stop me before it got too far. I was vulnerable and he gave me something that Katie stopped giving me and those other guys never gave me what he gave me then and now: love."

Alex smiles and pulls his hands away. "I'm happy for you, Dad."

"Sounds like I came back just in time." Gloria walks to the table with a tray full of food. She places the rack of ribs in front of Alex and a sandwich in front of Jack. Gloria also places the two milkshakes in front of them.

"This looks smaller than last time."

"You've grown a lot in six years, Alex."

"Enjoy boys! I'll be back soon with your check." The lioness walks away.

"Thanks, Gloria." Alex ribs off a rib and takes a bite out of the meat. He closes his eyes and wiggles in his seat. The BBQ sauce is tangy and sweet with a bit of a kick to Alex's taste buds. "They never changed the recipe!"

"Why fix something that isn't broken?" Jack picks up his sandwich and takes a bite out of it. The crispy chicken is drowned in BBQ sauce with three different kinds of cheese layered on top with crispy bacon in between each bite. Jack smiles around his first bite and takes a second.

The pair finish off their meals and relax in their seats. They only had half of their milkshakes left by the time Gloria came back with their check. Jack just gives her his card and she walks away.

Alex pushes against his seat and sits up straight. "So, when are you going to tell mom?"

Jack shot right up and coughs. "Oh. I hadn't really thought of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"There's just never the right moment when you tell the woman you've been with for 22 years that you've been with someone else for six years."

"Dad, there's never going to be a right moment."

Gloria comes back with the receipt and Jack's card. "It was nice meeting you, Alex. Maybe you can swing by the family house and chat some more."

Alex nods and smiles. "I'd like that!"

Jack signs the check and gets up. "See ya, Gloria."

"Remember, family dinner this Saturday." Gloria waves good-bye to the father and son duo as they leave the restaurant.

Jack and Alex get in the car, but Jack doesn't start it up. He grips the wheel with his paws tight and bangs his head against it.

"Dad?" Alex reaches for his dad's back

"I'm telling her today." Jack raises his head. "I don't want to live this lie anymore. Finally telling someone about Manny felt so good."

Alex rubs Jack's back. The jackalope turns the ignition on and drives back to the college. "What are you going to tell her?"

"I haven't thought that far. All I know is I'm letting her know I have a boyfriend and, well, I'll see what happens next." Jack pulls up to the school.

Alex looks at the groups of people and unbuckles his seatbelt. He lunches at his dad and hugs him. Jack wraps his arms around his son. "I love you Dad."

"I love you too, Alex. I promise to be in your life more than I ever have been."

Alex releases his dad. "I'll hold you to that. I want a double date!" Alex opens and closes the car door.

"A doub-double date?!"

"Bye, Dad!" Alex waves and Jack loses him in a crowd of people. Jack drives away from the school.

How am I going to break this to her? Jack thought. I told Alex I would tell her and I meant it, but I have no idea what to say to her. Please have sobered up, please have sobered up!

Jack drives to his house and parks the car. He walks towards the door, shaking. He grabs his keys and misses the lock. He tries again and misses. He takes a deep breath and the door opens on its own. He looks up and sees Katie.

"Where did you go off to? And where's our son?" She's awake and seems to have forgotten what today was.

Jack sighs. "I took Alex to the school."

"Without me?" Katie takes a puff from her cigarette. Jack snatches it from her and puts it out on the ground. "Hey! That was a fresh one."

"Katie, we need to talk." Jack walks past her and sits on the couch. He brushes away some beer cans sitting on the sofa and pats the spot next to him. Katie sits down and looks at her husband. "I...I..." Jack takes a deep breath. He looks away from Katie. "I..."

Katie places her paw on Jack's face and guides him back to her. "What is it?"

Jack exhales and takes his wife's paws into his own and stares into her eyes. "I have a boyfriend."