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I tapped my claws nervously against the door as we drove along, listening to the rhythmic_click, click, click_ sound they made.

Charlotte was driving us in her mother's Mercedes A-Class, which had I been in a better mood I would have taken the time to admire.

Hudson was clearly having fun despite the situation.

"Woah, this is soooo nice," he grinned as he sprawled himself over the back seat. "Imagine learning to drive in a car like this. The first car I ever drove was my dad's old Chevrolet."

"Sadly I didn't learn in it," Charlotte sighed. "And you've not got your seat belt on!"

"Oh, sorry miss," Hudson replied in his exaggerated English accent before sitting up and fastening his belt.

"Malcolm, you don't mind directing me?" Charlotte asked, before letting out a sneeze. "Urgh, I feel disgusting."

"You're fine, and yes I'll direct you," I replied.

We made our way through town and up towards Aunt Ruth's street. As we rounded the corner I felt a brief, but warm sense of relief as I noticed her car wasn't on the driveway.

"It's this one, isn't it?" Hudson said, gesturing at the driveway.

"It is," I nodded. "You're probably fine to pull in here."

"I'll park on the street, just to be safe," Charlotte replied.

We pulled up outside the house and climbed out.

It felt strange having Hudson and Charlotte walking up to the door behind me. I know Hudson had been over before and I'd always hoped I could invite friends to the house, but the circumstances under which it was happening felt surreal.

Hudson seemed to sense my mood.

"Would you like us to leave you?"

I paused, about to insert the key into the lock.

"You can stay, but how about keep out of sight. I mean, introduce yourselves to Aunt Ruth if she happens to show up so she doesn't freak out or anything, but while Lachlan is here stay out of sight."

"Sounds good," Hudson said as I unlocked the door and let everyone in.

"Thomas?" I called out, making sure the house was empty.

"I thought she was called Ruth?" Hudson whispered.

"That's my cousin," I retorted.

"Oh."

The house seemed empty, so I gave Hudson and Charlotte the thumbs up.

"I guess we could wait in the kitchen until he shows up?" I said.

"How about I make us all tea, like proper English people?" Hudson suggested. "Your aunt doesn't mind if I raid her kitchen?"

"My personal cupboard is that one," I explained. "I have tea bags in there, and my milk is on the bottom shelf of the fridge. It should be in date."

Hudson set about making the tea while I watched out of the window for any sign of Lachlan.

The kettle boiled and clicked off. Hudson was singing a silly song under his breath about pouring tea, no doubt trying to cheer everyone up, but I kept my eyes fixed on the window. There was a rumbling sound in the distance and I cocked my ear.

"You okay?" Hudson asked.

"Yeah," I said, walking over to the kitchen window. "I can hear something."

A motorbike rounded the corner and as I watched it pulled up onto Aunt Ruth's driveway. I don't know as much about bikes compared to cars, but it was a sporty, fast looking motorbike.

The figure riding it climbed off and even in his leathers and helmet, I knew who it was.

"Lachlan is here!" I announced.

"Time to run," Hudson said, taking Charlotte by the arm and gently leading her out of the kitchen.

"My bedroom is the second door on the upstairs landing," I called as they disappeared from the room.

I glanced back out of the kitchen window and saw Lachlan making his way up to the front door. I rushed out to the hallway and opened it.

Lachlan was carrying his helmet under his arm and looked a little startled as I opened the door.

"Hey sweety," I said, trying to muster a smile. "I didn't mean to make you jump, the house is empty and it's just me."

Apart from my friends upstairs.

_ _ "That's good," Lachlan said as he stepped over the threshold. "I hope class was tolerable today?"

"Today went surprisingly well," I replied. "Not so much class itself, but I did find I had a lot of support."

"That's very encouraging, precisely what you need," he nodded, but I thought I saw a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Shit, his meeting! It must have gone badly and I'm being really tactless.

"Um, why not come this way. We can talk here," I suggested. I led Lachlan into the kitchen. My cup of tea was still sitting on the side. "Would you like one?"

"I suppose I could," Lachlan said.

The kettle was still hot, so I added a tea bag to another cup and poured the water in while Lachlan set his helmet down on the table. I realised he was wearing the same leathers he'd worn when he had taught me for the first time.

"Did you get your bike out of storage?" I asked, handing him the cup.

"I did," Lachlan said with a faint smile. "Before I messaged you I went for a ride out into the countryside, just to clear my head."

"I see," I replied, but before I could say any more I cocked an ear as I heard a car drive up. I glanced out of the kitchen window to see Aunt Ruth's Volvo pulling onto the driveway. "Great," I sighed. "How about we go to the garden for privacy?"

Lachlan looked taken aback for a moment, but he nodded and followed me to the glass double doors at the back of the kitchen that led outside.

The wooden picnic table and chairs were damp, so I led Lachlan down the patio, away from the kitchen doors.

"I think we're safe now," I said quietly. "How did the meeting go?"

Lachlan gazed out over the garden and I could sense there was now a deep sadness in his amber eyes. They had lost their usual twinkly and bright quality.

I followed Lachlan's eye-line. It was a weird thing to think about, but I had never quite appreciated the view out of the back of Aunt Ruth's. Her garden overlooked a small valley and rolling fields beyond. It was actually quite pretty.

My momentary distraction was broken as Lachlan took a deep breath.

"The long and the short is the meeting didn't go too well. The good news is I've not been fired," he began, but he stopped as we both heard the sound of the kitchen door opening.

"Oh, there you are Malcolm?"

I cursed under my breath again as I turned to see Aunt Ruth.

"Um, hi Aunt Ruth, this is Lachlan," I said, trying to sound as casual as I could. "I hope you don't mind me bringing friends around?"

"Not at all, I met your other two friends just now. Oh it's nice to have friends round," she cooed. Behind her Hudson and Charlotte put their heads nervously around the door. "That's excellent you're being social," Aunt Ruth continued. "I noticed you all have tea. I have some chocolate biscuits in the cupboard if anyone would like one?" To my horror she began walking towards us with a tray of biscuits and set them down on the table. "Are you sure you all want to be outside?" she asked. "It's frightfully cold."

I turned helplessly to Lachlan.

"Thank you for the biscuits Mrs Ritchie," he said in a diplomatic tone. "We're fine outside, Malcolm was telling me about a presentation, are he's in a different group to Hudson and Charlotte."

"Oh, hehe, I'm actually Malcolm's aunt, not his mother, you can call me Ruth."

"Well, thank you Ruth, if we need anything we'll let you know," Lachlan replied.

"Hey, I noticed an Xbox in the living room!" Hudson piped up, putting on a slightly less convincing tone, but no doubt trying to distract Aunt Ruth.

"Oh yes, that belongs to Thomas. He's forever blowing things up or shooting people on it," Aunt Ruth sighed. "But I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you two had a go."

"Please could you show us where he keeps the games?" Hudson asked.

"Of course," Aunt Ruth replied.

I watched as the three of them disappeared back indoors.

"She was probably making sure we weren't smoking or anything," I said, trying to force out a chuckle. Lachlan smiled although his eyes remained distant. "So, you were saying they didn't fire you?" I asked. My paw-pawds were growing clammy and my heart was pounding as I waited for Lachlan to continue.

"I've not been fired, but they thought it was best I didn't teach for the rest of this year to, in their words, avoid flare ups or bad press essentially. They took into account I'm a military vet, a popular staff member, had an impeccable record before this, and that if there was indeed a relationship you're above age and it was entirely consensual, no coercion took place. They've packed me off on a sabbatical and given me a cheque to research something, basically to keep me away for the time being," Lachlan explained. "What they are mostly concerned about is negative publicity," he added with a humourless chuckle. "The dean of the faculty wanted to haul you in to answer some questions, but I wrangled with them, told him to leave you alone with a promise that we'd not be in romantic contact with each other. The last thing you needed was any kind of interrogation. You should have the freedom to focus on getting your degree without being intimidated by the university."

I stood in silence, trying to process everything Lachlan had just told me.

"I meant to ask this back at your flat," I said. My heart was still pounding hard in my chest. "Can we still be a couple?"

Lachlan stood in silence for a moment and I could tell by the look in his usually calm and warm eyes that he was wrestling with his mind.

"Not whilst you're doing your degree here," he eventually said. "I guess I didn't think it through properly. I acted on impulse. I had a hole in my life since my last lover left me, but please understand you were not a rebound. You were the complete opposite in fact. I love you deeply, meeting you was the best thing that has happened to me in a long time."

I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.

"No, you we can't just end like this, please," I wept. "I love you, everyday I've spent with you has been special."

Lachlan reached out and took hold of my paws.

"This isn't the end, but we have to pause," he said firmly, and I could see he was trying to fight back tears too. "When I did my undergrad degree I took an elective English module once, I didn't think much of it, a bit pretentious and not very enjoyable, but the professor said something interesting that I'll repeat now. Endings aren't always a period or a full stop, sometimes they are a comma. It's a pause, time to reflect, and then you await what's on the other side. It's a philosophy I've tried to live with."

I tried to heed Lachlan's words, but the struggle not to break down in front of him was consuming me. Lachlan held my paws tighter.

"I can't believe this is happening," I croaked. "It's like a nightmare, I want to wake up."

"Malcolm, you are a strong, resilient man," Lachlan said. "I believe you can get through this. Remember, think of this as a comma, not the end. In the meantime, take comfort in your friends, let them support you. Surround yourself with people who will make you feel loved, and trust me, you'll make it out to the other side. I will be in contact with you to make sure you're doing well, but us meeting up near campus is a bad idea. We've already gotten off fairly lightly. If we're caught together it'll be game over for both of us."

I gripped the side of the table and tried to breathe deeply. Lachlan reached over and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Please, please don't abandon me," I whispered.

"I'm not, please don't think that," Lachlan said, and I noticed tears were starting to roll down his muzzle. "I don't want this, I will make sure you're doing well, but please just think of this as a pause. It's not the end of everything. You must soldier on and I'll be with you in spirit when you can't see me."

I swallowed and nodded. Lachlan glanced through the rear-facing kitchen window before leaning in to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you," I whispered.

"And I love you too my dear Shep, always know that," Lachlan replied, nuzzling me between the ears. "I will always love you."

I glanced up through the kitchen window, hoping Aunt Ruth hadn't seen us. There was no sign of her.

"I suppose I'd better start trying to cope without you then," I sighed.

"I can stay for a little while longer," Lachlan said. "And I will clandestinely contact you to make sure you're coping, but we can't meet up anywhere near campus again."

I nodded and turned back towards the kitchen door. I wasn't sure what to do, but I being outside wasn't helping. I needed to sit down somewhere - providing Aunt Ruth wasn't in the background.

"I might go inside," I said quietly.

Lachlan nodded and followed me in through the kitchen doors. Hudson and Charlotte were sitting at the kitchen table.

"Your aunt went out," Hudson explained. "She decided she needed more milk. I guess she trusted the three of us weirdos in her house, oh and we decided to stop playing Xbox. Charlotte kept getting killed."

"That's because you led me round and round in circles into the danger," she sighed.

"How can we go in circles? We're in just one building," Hudson replied. "We played Nazi zombies," he added to me. "Charlotte freaked out big time, you should play it with her just to see her reactions."

"Honestly, I did not!"

"Oh," I replied.

"Is everything okay?" Hudson asked.

I stood in silence, not sure of what to say. The distressed look on my face probably answered Hudson's question.

Lachlan remained silent too. He walked over gently took Hudson and Charlotte's paws. He led them over to me and placed their paws into mine.

"Look after him," he said softly. "Make him feel supported."

Hudson and Charlotte clasped their paws over mine and held them tightly.

We all sat at the kitchen table in silence for a minute. The situation was so surreal to me, I felt like I was about to lose Lachlan from my life, and yet we were all sat in Aunt Ruth's kitchen holding paws.

"I should probably go now," Lachlan eventually said.

He gave my paws one last squeeze before reaching for his helmet. I let go of Hudson and Charlotte to follow him to the front door.

"I wish you didn't have to go," I whispered.

"I wish I didn't either," Lachlan replied. "But remember, I love you, I'm always with you, and this isn't the end."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Lachlan fixed me one last smile before he pulled me into his arms. I savoured the leathery scent of his biking clothes, the rich vulpine smell on his fur and his aftershave.

"I still have your underwear and hoodie," I said, burying my face into his chest.

Lachlan stepped back and cupped my face in his paws. Something close to his warm smile appeared on his muzzle and his eyes twinkled a little.

"How about we make each other a promise that we must keep for your graduation, to get us through the remainder of your time at Beldover?"

"Okay," I sniffed.

"I want you to keep my underwear and hoodie, and I want you to promise you'll wear my underwear to your graduation," Lachlan said.

"Okay."

"And then after your graduation ceremony, you can come and return them to me in person as you'll no longer be a student. How does that sound?"

"I like the idea of this," I replied, trying to force a smile.

"Good, and do you promise to do this?"

"I do," I said.

"And I'll keep my promise, you can come and return them to me," Lachlan said firmly. I managed to force another smile. Lachlan gave me one last hug and a nuzzle before reaching for the front door. "Be strong Malcolm."

I watched as he stepped outside and the door closed behind him. Then came the sound of his motorbike rumbling into life. I remained standing where I was until the sound of his bike faded.

"Malc?"

I turned to see Hudson and Charlotte standing behind me.

I didn't say anything, I just walked over, shared their embrace and allowed them to lead me back to the kitchen table.

We sat down and I gazed at the floor, not knowing what to say.

"So, did he end it?" Hudson asked carefully.

"No," I replied in a quiet but determined tone. "It's a pause, not the end."

The front door opened and I cocked an ear, hoping Lachlan had returned.

"I've got more milk!" my heart sunk as Aunt Ruth walked back into the kitchen. "Oh, did your other friend leave?" she asked.

"He did," I said.

"That's a shame, he seemed like a very nice man, handsome too."

"He is," I sighed, but in my mind I was already thinking about the future.