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Chapter Six

The smells of bacon wafted through the kitchen of the house, as dawn took more hold in the sky, simmering causing Kaipo's ears to twitch as he scented the breakfast his Mother was cooking this morning. Limping in with his paw and ankle surrounded in bandages and an air cast, he gained a little scowl from Phoebe "Kaipo Terrace!" She held out a pan in his direction, bacon still crackling on its surface "You are supposed to be using your crutches everywhere, even when you're here!"

The lioness was outfitted in a pair of red shorts and a long, white t-shirt, the bottom reaching down to just past the shorts. A white apron wrapped around her form, her hair wrapped still in a towel at the moment. She set a paw onto her thigh, setting the pan back onto the stove as she waited an answer from her now sheepish-looking son "Err...sorry Mom, I will, I promise..." He quickly mumbled, slumping down in his seat, his chiding drawing giggles from Suzy as she watched the pair from her chair. She quieted as she caught a glance from Phoebe though, the lioness fetching a spatula and lifting the bacon strips up and onto a trio of plates along side some already set out eggs and muffins, grabbing two plates and setting one each before her cubs before fetching each a glass of orange juice "Here you two go, eat up." Stepping back and grabbing her own dish, she sat down between the pair of lions, each starting into their breakfast.

"Oh Kaipo," Phoebe paused with a forkful of eggs, glancing to her son, her words catching his gaze "I have to take Suzy to the doctor today, so..."

"But Mooooom!" Suzy interrupted in a whine, catching a stern glance from the lioness "You need your checkup Susan. Now, Kaipo, I'll be at the doctor's until late, so you'll need to get a ride today. Will Rob be able to bring you home?"

"Err...well, I'll have to stay after for...practice..." Kaipo trailed slowly off, his thoughts taking center stage of his attention Rob in that yummy suit... He sighed softly with a dreamy look, which faded quickly in several blinks as he realized his Mother's attention was still on him "Sure thing!" He replied in a bit too excited of a tone, drawing a soft chuckle from Phoebe "Alright dear."

"Finished!" Suzy had gobbled her breakfast down in the short conversation, smiling hopefully at her Mom, gaining another little chuckle from the lioness "Put your dish, silverware and glass in the sink and then you can go watch cartoons Susan." The little lioness nodded quickly, gathering the implements up and dumping them into the sink before scampering off, leaving Mother and son eating. After a few quiet minutes, Phoebe moved to her feet, setting her dish into the sink atop her daughter's, speaking as she did "So when are you going to tell Rob?"

Kaipo's ears perked, the lion glancing up "You mean about the ride? Oh, he knows already Mom." The response got a soft chuckle from the lioness again, looking past her shoulder to Kaipo "No dear, I mean about your crush on him."

Kaipo's eyes grew wide, his mouth hanging open faintly, gulping nervously "W-whatever are you talkin' about Mom?"

"Oh come now Kaipo, I'm a Mother, I know everything." Phoebe slide back down into her chair with a warm smile to her son "Besides, you're terribly obvious about it. I mean, if you do the same things at school you do at home, with that dreamy look you get whenever someone mentions Rob, how you stare at him when the two of you are doing homework together, why, I'd be surprised if he didn't know already."

"Um...well...you see..." Kaipo stuttered along before scowling slightly "Mom, I don't wanna talk about this! It's embarrassing!"

"Kaipo, this isn't the ?sex' talk or anything. I'm just inquiring about my son's life, that's all."

"Err...um...well...I...don't...know?" The lion gave a little nervous grin, drawing his Mother's smirk "Well, perhaps you should figure out when you're going to ask him, rather than just fawning over him all the time. Don't you think it'd be better to know how he thinks about it?"

Kaipo paused with his mouth open in a failed response before finally giving a sigh, nodding a few times "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I'm right Kaipo. I'm a Mom." Phoebe gave a warm smirk, pausing out her chair and standing "Now hurry and finish you're breakfast, you don't want to miss the bus."

Kaipo gave a few quick nods, finishing off his breakfast and climbing up to his foot, his ear flicking with the sound of the doorbell, the noise gaining a glance between he and his Mother before Suzy called out "Kaipo! It's for you!" The pair of lions made their way down the hallway, finding a particularly familiar sight, a rather buff husky standing in the doorway, his backpack slung over a shoulder, his warm smile meeting their gazes "Hey Suzy, hey Miss Terrace. I just thought, well, since Kaipo's hurt and everything, I'd have Matt swing by in the mornings and pick him up, so he wouldn't need to ride the bus or anything."

"Why thank you Robert, how thoughtful of you." Phoebe gave her son a little smirk, ushering him in the direction of the doorway "Tell Matthew to drive carefully. Will I see the two of you for dinner this evening?"

"Well, Matt has a test he's gotta study for, but I can come over, I mean, if it's not too much trouble or anything." The question drew a glance from Kaipo, shaking his head slightly to his Mother's smirk "It's not trouble at all Robert."

"Alright, thanks Miss Terrace." The husky gave his usual warm smile, turning it to Kaipo and reaching out a paw "Here, lemme get this for ya Kai." Fetching the lion's backpack, Robert gave a nod to Kaipo's sister and Mother and then ushered Kaipo out the door.

Kaipo limped along with his crutches beside Rob, stealing glances at the husky as they neared Matt's jeep. Pulling the door open, the canine tossed Kaipo's bag gently in before smiling back to him "Lemme help ya..." Taking his crutches, he lifted the feline a bit up into the jeep, handing him the crutches before closing it after him.

"Hey Matt." Kaipo nodded to the equine, gaining a little mumble in return "Um...huh?"

"Oh, never mind him Kai, Matt's not exactly a morning fur."

"Yah, yah..." Matthew mumbled, smirking sideways to the husky before starting up the jeep.

The students bustled through the hallways, the buzz of various conversations heard as Kaipo limped his way along on his crutches, a buff husky parting the furs in front of him, carrying the lion's backpack as well "Rob, ya really don't hafta do this..." Kaipo mumbled, a slightly embarrassed glance cast to those he passed by behind the husky, the response of a chuckle and Rob's warm smile finding his gaze "You're right, I don't have to." He looked back down the hallway, rather quickly adding "But I get to hang out with my best friend and gain a bit more time in between class."

"Oh, yeah...more time, right..." Kaipo mumbled softly, limping a bit faster, moving up beside the canine, giving his occasion shy smile upwards to him "So what are you guys doing in practice today?"

"Hmm? Oh, practice...um; we have some warm-up matches for our match tomorrow. We'll run a bit longer during the match tomorrow, so if you wanna take the bus..."

"No!" Kaipo gulped softly, tugging on the collar of his shirt "I mean, that's alright...I don't mind at all. It'll be fun to watch..." The heat of a faint blush overtook him, glancing off to occupy his attention elsewhere from Rob.

"Great." Rob patted the feline's shoulder with his gentle but firm touch, his warm smile again meeting his gaze, sending the feline off into his dreamy daze once more "Yeah...great..." He mumbled with the hint of his goofy smile once more.

"Hey Hina, you alright?" Kaipo leaned over from his seat, peering to the skunk settled in the desk beside him. She glanced up with a little surprise at his sudden whisper, smirking softly and nodding "I am. I was mad at Ami and Lilly yesterday, but they finally got me calm enough to explain everything."

"So everything's cool with you and them then?" The lion gave a glance towards Mister Templeton, settled behind his desk in the front of the room, before looking back to Hina, the skunk nodding again "Yeah Kaipo." She paused a moment before whispering "Though to be honest, I was a bit embarrassed to the reason why they didn't show up..."

Kaipo quirked his brows, his head tilting faintly to one side "What was it?" Hina set her book down on her desktop before leaning over, whispering to the lion. His eyes widened as he listened, mouth hanging open a little "What?" The reaction gained a soft giggle from the skunk, nodding a few more times "Yep."

Kaipo quietly sat in the bleachers of the gymnasium, his elbows resting on his thighs, fists propping up his muzzle while keeping it shut, all he could do not to drool. Rob and the rest of the team gathered around the mat, each wearing the same outfit, a singlet, an article composed of a spandex tank top combined with a short pair of spandex shorts into one garment, each colored navy blue with white stripes along the edge of both legs and arms, the school's emblem set over each outfit's right pec. His eyes caresses the husky's buff form, the garment concealing all and yet nothing, only seeming to enhance Rob's muscular tone's visibility. He waited quietly though, until his ears perked up, sitting up as the coach called out "Robert! You're up!"

Rob trotted out into the middle of the yellow circle drawn along the navy blue mat, bouncing a bit on his hind paws and eyeing his opponent, and equally muscled golden retriever named Kessel. Inching forwards, Kaipo gripped at his t-shirt's bottom, wringing and twisting as the pair of canines squared off. Rob still had his characteristic warm smile, meeting that of the retriever's smirk. The two lunged to each other, gripping shoulders and pushing around, stepping in circles before Kessel took hold at the waist of Rob's singlet, pulling up a bit before tackling the husky down to the mat, drawing Kaipo another inch off his bench, gripping tighter at his shirt. Come on Rob... Kessel shifted around behind and atop the husky, hooking his arms under Rob's and pulling them up, shifting, trying to pull him over to his back. Rob held his smile, though a bit of concentration marred it as his gritted his teeth, his shoulders, his chest, his form rippling as he pulled counter the hold, separating the grip from Kessel before falling back, trapping the canine beneath him. Arching his back a bit to force more pressure, hold the retriever down stronger, the husky held that pose, leaving Kaipo's mouth open once more, the feline snapping from his daze as the Coach slapped his paw on the mat "That's it, Robert wins." Rolling off from the Golden Retriever, Robert panted softly, rubbing a little along his shoulders, a paw held out to him gaining a glance up to Kessel's smirk "Good match Rob."

"Heh, good match Kess." Accepting the paw, the husky climbed to his feet, glancing out to the bleachers with a thumbs-up to the lion, the gesture shaking Kaipo in a light quiver. Wow...

The Terrace kitchen was quiet, mostly. Only the sounds of silverware clicking against the plates could be heard as the trio of lions ate, each seated in their regular place while Robert took the fourth seat at the table. Kaipo's spoon dig idly through the pile of corn on his plate while his eyes rested on the husky, a little smile on his muzzle as he watched Robert eat. Unbeknownst to him, Phoebe was watching her son with her own smile, easily seeing where Kaipo's gaze rested. Robert and Suzy, on the other hand, were engrossed in their meals, both scooping into their potatoes and corn, pausing on occasion to take a bite of a pork chop and reach for another roll.

"So Robert," Phoebe was the one to break the absence of conversation "How is your school year going?" Robert's momentarily disorientated gaze lifted up, pausing to swallow a muzzle full of roll before clearing his throat "It's goin' pretty good Miss Terrace."

"And how's your wrestling team doing?" Kaipo's cheeks flushed a little as his mother continued asking, drooping his head down and busily stuffing his mouth with a roll. Robert continued with a smile "We're doin' pretty good too. Hopefully we'll be able to win at Regionals this year too."

"That's great to hear." Phoebe paused to sip from her glass before glancing to Kaipo, smile growing as his head drooped "How about you, Kaipo? Is your team going to win your Regionals?"

"Huh? Oh, um...yeah, hopefully." As Kaipo partially mumbled the response, Phoebe giggled softly "You sound so sure of it."

"Of course they'll win, Miss Terrace." Robert spoke up, giving Kaipo that warm smile, the look always making the lion shiver faintly "They've got Kaipo to lead them, after all." Both Robert and Phoebe shared a laugh as Kaipo's cheeks flushed more under the golden fur, taking a gulp of pork chops before a playful punch to the shoulder brought him out of it, looking back to find that smile on Robert's muzzle again "Aww, you know we're just kiddin' Kai."

"Of course we are, we know you're going to do great, don't we?"

"I don't!" Suzy spoke up from the other end of the table, causing both Robert and Phoebe to laugh again as the siblings stuck out their tongues at each other.

Kaipo settled in a sprawl in his bed, his air cast set on the floor beside the bed along with his crutches. He had drooled, truly drooled while watching Rob at practice, but once again had failed to do anything at all. Take a chance... A soft sigh fell from his muzzle, turning to his side, peering at the spot Rob had slept in during the sleep over. Stroking a paw over the empty bed, the pink of his tongue wetted along his lips. I need to tell him soon. T.K.'s right, Mom's right...I mean, he must know already...so...I should just tell him... He winces a bit as he moved his still swollen ankle, stretching out full and rolling to his back, staring up to the ceiling. This is it...I gotta tell him this week, while I he's spending this