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Three years may sound like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things it passes by very quickly.

"So you have all the correct gown measurements?"

"Huh?" I replied as I was shaken from my thoughts.

"The measurements for your gown, just in case they need them again?"

"They're here," I said, holding up a sheet of paper in my paw.

My mum smiled and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so proud of you, finally graduating from university with a first in history, after all those incidents you had at Oxford you've finally made it through!"

Before I could reply my mother pulled me into a hug.

"Gosh, I feel like my spine is about to crack!" I gasped.

"Sorry," my mum chuckled. "You'd best go and put your suit on. It's warm today so you might want to keep your jacket off until we get there."

"I'll do that."

I hurried up to my bedroom where my suit was waiting on the bed. It was the same suit I'd worn to my secondary school leaver's party and (having tried it on the night before) discovered it still just about fit me. My mum had insisted on buying a new suit as a graduation gift but I'd politely declined in favour of money towards upgrading my car to a newer model.

It felt weird sitting back in my own bedroom after using the room at Aunt Ruth's place. Hudson had offered me to move in with him and Leon, which I had strongly considered, but when I'd gone to look I found the staircase was broken and the paint was peeling off the walls. The rent price per month was a hundred pounds higher than Aunt Ruth's.

Yeah, even Aunt Ruth's wacky interior decorating is much nicer than this, I thought, although I had fun stopping by to visit and sleep over.

I smiled as I sat down on my old bed and gazed out of the window, over the rooftops and chimney pots. I hadn't realised until now that all the houses on my street were identical.

I turned and glanced around my old room. I'd taken down the posters from Aunt Ruth's and hung them up on my walls. It looked weird seeing them here, but I was thankful I'd taken them down without any tearing.

There were other childhood memories sitting around my bedroom; a shelf of my dinosaur models, my books, video games, model cars I had built. Call me sentimental, but I never liked getting rid of childhood keepsakes and I was glad my mother had not thrown any of them out in my absence.

My suit had been neatly pressed at the dry cleaners and was ready to wear. I shed my shorts followed by my shirt before thumbing the waistband of my underwear. A smile spread across my muzzle as I tugged them off and opened my sock drawer.

Lachlan's black sport briefs were folded neatly at the back. I retrieved them and slid them up my hind-paws. Oh, the feeling of having them hug against my body once again was wonderful.

Admittedly I had put them in the wash. As much as I wanted the fox scent to linger I knew it would fade over time and I wanted to hand them back in a fresh state.

"Do you want help Malcolm?"

I was shaken from my thoughts as my mum called up the stairs.

"I'm fine!" I shouted back before pulling my shirt on.

I did up the buttons and next came my dress trousers followed by my tie. It was a warm day so I decided to heed my mum's advice that my jacket could wait. I slung it over my shoulder and made my way down the stairs.

"Oh what a handsome young man you are," my mum cooed. "You ought to brush the fur between your ears though, it's sticking up all over the place." Before I could say anything my mum attacked me with a comb. I tried protesting but to no avail as she raked my fur down. "That's better!"

"Thanks mum," I sighed.

Our relationship had gone back to normal over time. She had only asked about Lachlan once more over the phone, but I had simply said you probably won't meet him while I'm at Beldover. She had seemed to have gotten the message without me elaborating.

"We'd best get ready," my mum said.

She had put on a floral summer dress for the occasion, despite my insistence that she didn't have to dress up.

We walked out to the car and the immediately I felt the force of the sun.

"Gosh, this will be a hot graduation," I panted.

I dived into the passenger seat as soon as my mother unlocked the car and cranked the air conditioning up as she turned the ignition.

"May I play music?" I asked.

"Of course," my mum replied, although I had already plugged my phone cord into the USB port.

I scrolled through my playlist and a wry grin spread across my muzzle as I selected One Love. The song filled the car and my mum chuckled.

"I haven't heard this song in ages."

"It was one I discovered at university," I said.

I glanced out of the window as we drove along. The suburban streets gave way to the motorway slip road and soon we were heading in the direction of Beldover.

The scenery rushed by as I glanced out of the window and I couldn't help but think back over my time at university; the exams, sweating over assignments. Lachlan had remained in sporadic contact with me as he'd promised, even encouraging me to try dating others just to experiment.

I'd had a pleasant dinner or two with Curtis, but as nice as the Collie was he didn't quite match Lachlan.

"Are you okay Malcolm?"

"Huh?" I replied, realising that my mum was talking to me.

"You must be off in your head. You've let the same song play three times now," mum laughed.

"Oh, sorry," I said sheepishly before selecting a new track.

"Excited about your graduation?"

"I am," I replied, although in my mind I was hoping that one aspect it particular would work out.

"Good," mum replied with a smile.

We continued driving until we reached the turning for Beldover. My graduation ceremony wasn't until the afternoon, but mum wanted us to pick up Aunt Ruth and Thomas before we got to campus.

It makes sense to invite them to graduation, given they let you live in their house whilst you were at college my mum had said.

I wasn't sure what to say but I couldn't exactly disagree with the statement either.

The outskirts of Beldover appeared and my mum turned onto the ring road. The exit to Aunt Ruth's street came and we followed it to her house.

Aunt Ruth was already standing by the front door. Like my mum she was wearing a dress, albeit hers was a violent shade of pink.

"Wow, it's like Barbara Cartland on steroids."

"Malcolm," my mum tutted.

Thomas appeared at Aunt Ruth's side. He was wearing a rather baggy black suit coupled with a red tie. I noticed him shift about uncomfortably.

"Mum do I have to dress like this?" I heard him sigh as we opened the doors.

"Yes," Aunt Ruth replied as they walked over to the car.

"Hello!" my mum said as they climbed into the back.

"Oh thank fuck there is air conditioning in here!" Thomas grinned.

"Thomas!" Aunt Ruth said sternly.

I suppressed a chuckle as my mum pulled off the driveway and turned in the direction of town.

The graduation ceremony itself was being held in Beldover's main theatre. It was a grand Victorian building in the middle of the town, but first we had to drive to campus so I could collect my robes and hat. A coach was then due to shuttle us into the town.

"Do you have the measurements?" my mum repeated as we turned into the campus carpark.

"Yes," I sighed. "You asked me that before we left home, I still have them in my paw."

"Good, good."

"It's a mother thing," Aunt Ruth said, turning to fix me a grin. "I'm sure I'd be doing the same thing if Thomas was at a graduation ceremony."

I noticed Thomas roll his eyes and I grinned.

We all climbed out and the warm air hit my face.

"I'm glad I don't have to wear those," Thomas said, gesturing to a bunch of students already robed up and posing for a group photo.

"Yo, there you are!"

I almost jumped out of my fur and turned to see Hudson making his way over. There was a huge grin on his muzzle and his tail was wagging.

"I didn't even have to text you," I began before the jindo grabbed me in a tight hug. "H... Hudson I love you, but I can't breathe," I wheezed.

"Sorry man," Hudson chuckled as he let me go.

"Woah, you're wearing a suit, what parallel universe have I stumbled into?" I laughed.

In truth, Hudson looked quite stylish. He was wearing a navy blue slim fit suit with a black tie, but he still had the dyed blue fur and piercings which made me smile. I glanced over his shoulder to see two middle aged malamutes walking over.

"Oh, Malc, these are my parents. Mom, dad, this is Malcolm Ritchie."

The male malamute was wearing a dark brown suit with a stripy tie and had glasses pushed up his muzzle.

"How do you do?" I asked, shaking his beefy paw.

"I'm doing just great, my name is Fraser, and this is my wife Jeanne," the malamute explained. The female malamute stepped forwards and I shook her paw which was a little daintier.

"Is this one of your friends?" my mum asked.

"Yes, this is Hudson," I explained, expecting my mum to make to give his blue fur a funny glance. To my relief, she stepped forwards and shook Hudson's paw. "It's lovely to meet you, Malcolm is always talking about his friends at university. It's good to finally put a name to a face. You're the Canadian student?"

"I am," Hudson nodded.

I breathed a sigh of relief that everyone seemed to be getting along just fine.

"Where is your other friend, Chloe was it?" my mum asked.

"Charlotte," I corrected. "She should be around here somewhere." My phone buzzed and I pulled it out. "Speak of the devil," I grinned.

"Really Malcolm, you probably shouldn't be looking at that all throughout your graduation ceremony," mum laughed.

"No, it's Charlotte," I chuckled. "She's coming to meet us."

I quickly typed out a reply to let her know where we were and a minute later I recognised the sight of her mum's Mercedes pulling into the carpark. Four foxes climbed out and I noticed Charlotte stepping elegantly out of the back of the car wearing a pretty mauve dress.

"Hey you," she smiled as she walked up to me with her family in tow.

"Hey," I replied, giving her a hug.

"Mum and dad, this is Malcolm and Hudson. Malcolm and Hudson, these are my parents and my brother Graham," she explained.

I couldn't help but smile and wag my tail as we all exchanged greetings.

"I'm Beatrice," Charlotte's mother said to my mum. "And this is my husband Hamish."

Hudson's parents stepped over and I watched as they all began talking.

"What time do we get our robes?" I asked.

"Not until one," Charlotte replied. "That means we have time to grab a drink first, if everyone wants one?"

I glanced back at all the parents talking and smiled.

"Sure," I grinned. "We're just going to get a drink," I said to my mum.

"Of course, we'll stay here," mum replied. "Just send me a text if you have to head off for your robe fitting."

The Student Union bar was crowded so we made our way over to the pavilion for milkshakes. Amazingly, there was a table free. Charlotte and I sat down while Hudson insisted on buying the drinks (chocolate milkshake for me and a coffee for Charlotte).

"What do you think our parents are talking about?" I said as Hudson returned.

"I hope nothing Malc and me got up to," Hudson grinned.

"Why would they know about that?" Charlotte asked.

"Fair point. They can just imagine we only did wholesome things," Hudson shrugged before looking down to check his phone. "Woo, Leon has arrived. You don't mind if I run off to join him after the ceremony? His is before ours so he's getting his robe and hat now."

"No, not at all," I replied. "Say good luck to him from me. It's a shame our ceremonies won't at the same time."

"Sweet, and I will," Hudson said as he texted his boyfriend back. "We're going to celebrate in the proper way, providing our parents are distracted."

"Do I dare inquire what that entails," Charlotte said. "No wait, I don't want to know."

I laughed before sipping my milkshake. Hudson went back to texting Leon. Charlotte turned and smiled at me. I smiled back. The feeling that three years had passed up until this point was both surreal and exciting.

"I wonder we're all gonna do now that we're finished," Hudson sighed as he looked up from his phone.

"I've applied for an internship with a publishing company in London," Charlotte replied. "I hope I get it, that or I haven't ruled out doing a Master's."

"Heh, you've got your whole life sorted," Hudson sighed. "I'm just bumming about Canada now."

"Literally_bumming_ in your case," I said, sticking my tongue out.

"Hey, that's my kind of terrible joke," Hudson laughed. "But you guys seriously need to come out and visit me. You're both nice and sensible, well kinda in your case Malc, so I'm sure my parents would be happy to host you." Hudson's phone buzzed and he glanced back down. "And that reminds me, Leon is certainly going to come and visit."

"Awesome," I replied, glancing down at my phone.

No one had messaged me but I scrolled back to a previous message I had gotten a few weeks ago. It was one that had caused my heart to skip a beat and promoted a flurry of adrenaline to course through my body.

History graduations are on the 21stof July. I'm coming back from my research trip just before then. I can't wait to tell you all about Singapore. So much to do & see!. I think we're due for a long overdue meet, my dear Shep xx

_ _ "What's up?" Hudson asked, bringing me back to the present. "You look happy."

"I am," I replied. "A long lost friend is coming to see me."