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Gone Wrong

----**----

I.

----**----

Colton exhale, stretching his fingers out as he walked off the jet bridge and into the airport. It was the first time since the porn convention that he'd gotten off of a plane alone. He missed the feeling of sitting next to his friends; however, he knew there was no really good time to worry about that.

The first order of business was getting out of Indianapolis: for as much as Colton had come to dislike how quiet Indiana was, he admitted that old Indianapolis still held its charms for him, even in the middle of a Midwest winter. It was a large airport with plenty of offerings to show of the city surrounding it, and the city itself was alright. He supposed it could have been worse: he was happy not to be near the part of the state bordering Illinois.

He would have been really screwed at that point.

Colton walked through Indianapolis International Airport, minding the South Bend Chocolate company's stall as he walked along. Maybe on the trek back, he would get some for Darren or Marek: they were both rather fond of the things, and even if South Bend chocolate tended towards the oversweet, Colton was sure they would appreciate the gesture.

The lithe lemon shark already missed them, after all: he'd half-expected to miss the guys at Dragon Rabbit when he returned home for the season, but he already felt separate from them and he had not even made it to baggage claim yet. He was thankful he'd had a session with Yves and Kirk off-camera: it was so hot and so sexy that he knew it would hold him over during the week and a half that he would be in Indiana, but the company was what he missed the most.

That, and he knew he had to be careful around his family. And he knew the first real test would come as he saw his father's old beat up Jeep pull up to the roadside pick-up.

The side door, and out came his mother, a rather tall and meaty lemon shark. "Colton!" Her hug was incredibly tight, and as usual Colton found it difficult to breathe for a few seconds. He always returned her hugs with a lighter touch, but this time his hug was even lighter than even that.

"H-hi mom..." Colton took a deep breath as soon as his mother had released him. He shook his head, chuckling gently. "Tight as ever, huh?"

"I haven't seen you in a while!" Colton's mother beamed at him. "You didn't even come home during the summer! Was your frat that fun that you stayed there?"

"Well, yeah," Colton replied. "They just needed the help, y'know?"

And in saying this, Colton found he could not keep his gaze on his mother long, a fact he disguised by turning to his luggage. "Here, let's get this in."

But Colton still felt the small rush of guilt that he never quite excised. In truth, Colton had spent the summer chilling with Darren, Kirk, and Yves, even getting in a few summer-themed shoots for posterity. But what good would that do him if they knew that? It had been the fraternity for cover, and, at least on this front, Andrew was more than happy to provide. He was not sure if his parents had caught on from his body language that he kept his porn hustle on the down low, but he was not about to ask about that.

"Well, if it isn't our little man! How are you?"

Especially not with his father right there.

Colton nodded, lifting his hand to shake his father's. "I'm alright," Colton replied. He shivered a little, pulling his jacket in closer. "It's really chilly right now."

"Well, welcome back to Indiana," Colton's father replied. "You really are becoming a SoCal boy."

"Dad, San Francisco isn't even in South California," Colton replied, exhaling exasperatedly.

"Eh, who cares, it's a big city down there, they're all the same!" Colton's father patted his back roughly, before turning to the car. "We're just glad you're back. You must be so overwhelmed by that." He opened the back door of the Jeep, revealing the rather large trunk space that laid there.

"Not really," Colton replied, hoisting his suitcase onto the trunk and sliding it on with no help. "I'm taking to it pretty well."

"And here I thought you'd never get used to the big city," his father replied.

_Where they actually accept that I'm gay, for starters,_Colton thought. But he did not voice this, for he knew what came next:

"You've been good, right?" his father asked. "Nothing too crazy?"

Colton wanted to turn to him and tell him that the people he had met were not perverts, and certainly were not taking advantage of him. As the blood rushed in his veins and he felt the heat begin to flare up just under his scales, he clenched his suitcase, taking a deep breath.

"Yes, dad," he said. He released his suitcase, stepping back and closing the jeep door. "I guess we better just get back home, right? Todd and Amanda are waiting."

"That they are!" Colton's mother beamed at him. "And they brought your niece with them as well! You'll finally get to meet her!"

Colton nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. Of all the things he saw at home, the only one he'd been looking forward to was seeing his older brother and his sister-in-law again. That, and seeing his new niece going to be exciting: it was one of the few things that Colton had to look forward to, and he had promised to send Darren the pictures at his earliest convenience.

"Yes," he said. He finally smiled, showing his sharp teeth for the first time. "I guess we better get going, then!"

"Yes," said Colton's father. Colton could tell from the angle the older shark's snout was pointed at that he was rather unamused by that. "Let's go."

With this, he ducked into the car, slamming the car door a little harder than usual. Colton blinked, before he moved to the back door of the Jeep, climbed in, and closed it much more gingerly behind him.

----**----

Colton's home was just as he always remembered it: the white-painted walls somewhat blended into the snow, both which had fallen on the ground and which had settled onto the windowsill. The driveway at least looked clear, and as he looked on Colton saw the little blue specks of salt that were on the driveway. He inhaled, before looking to the door as his father pulled up.

Right as the jeep pulled in, Colton saw the door open, and there stood Todd. Colton had not seen his older brother since he'd been to his wedding just before college. About nine years his senior, Todd was a somewhat more physically imposing man than Colton was, but there was something in his eyes that just shone with a far more youthful energy.

Colton smiled: he was glad that one of the first things he saw was Todd. It was rare that Todd ever came home for Christmas these days: ever since he had been married, his wife Amanda had insisted he stay with her family in New Jersey for Christmas. Colton knew that Todd was coming home to Indiana this Christmas, but he had a hard time believing he would follow through.

Thus, when the Jeep stopped, Colton immediately bolted out, rushing over to the larger Lemon Shark and holding his arms out. "Todd!"

"Hey, if it isn't my little buddy Colton!"

Colton rushed straight into Todd's arms, the two brothers hugging it out as soon as he got there. It was a tight hug, and as Colton pulled away he smiled broadly.

"Hey Todd!" Colton replied. "How've you been?"

"Eh, same old, same old," Todd replied. He shrugged, looking to the side. "You know how it is on the daily grind!" He smiled, patting Colton on the shoulder. "And you? How's San Francisco treating you?"

"Oh, it's good," said Colton. He rubbed the back of his head, exhaling as he did so. "Place is still hella expensive, though!"

"That's what I hear," Todd replied. He grinned. "But I hear you've been getting part-time work! You feel like telling me?"

Colton could feel the cold sweat form on his brow, swallowing a lump in his throat. "Maybe later," he replied. He then inhaled. "So Amanda's here with the baby, right?"

"Oh yeah, she is!" Todd smiled broadly, moving his arm joyously. "She's taking care of little Alyssa now, actually."

"Can I see her?" asked Colton.

"I think, son, you better get your shit out of the car first."

Colton jumped up, turning around and immediately seeing his father standing there with his suitcase in hand. He felt his shoulders freeze, especially since he knew he would not be able to hear the end of it at the dinner table that night.

"Ah, sorry!" Colton immediately dashed past his father, taking a hold of his suitcase. "I'll get right on that!"

"You better, kid." With this, his father turned, opening the door into the house quickly.

In response, Todd shrugged. "Don't worry about him," he said, patting Colton's shoulder. "Get your stuff ready. I can't wait for you to meet Alyssa!"

Colton exhaled, before nodding. "Yeah," he said. "I can't wait to meet her."

And with this, he exhaled, turning back to the car to see his mother standing beside it and tapping her foot against the driveway as she wondered what else she needed to get out of the car.

----**----

Colton looked down at the little shark pup in his arms: she did have a little bit of her mother's great white in her from how her head scales had turned the slightest shade of silver. But he saw the unmistakable shade of his brother's dark blue eyes in hers when he looked down. She was just as beautiful as advertised, and the little pink onepiece she wore only accented all of this.

He reared back as his niece batted him briefly on the nose. For effect, Colton reared back, shaking his head. "Ooh, noooo!" He chuckled, leaning closer. "Aaaah, this hurt me, what'll I ever doooooo?"

This drew a laugh out of Todd: his wife Amanda sat beside him, the great white looking on as she placed her hands on her lap. Amanda was similarly sized to Todd, and while that had thrown Colton off about her at first, he had grown used to it with time: now he didn't even blink at the way her hands rested on her muscular thighs.

"Don't be so overdramatic," Amanda replied, her own smile lighting up her face as she shook her head. "She's only three months old, she can't have hit hard."

"But madame, I have cartilage skeletons!" Colton exclaimed, throwing his free arm in the air. "She has broken my jaw!"

And here, Amanda laughed. "Ridiculous," she said. She then beckoned to him, holding her arms out. "Here, let me show you how to handle that..."

With this, Colton leaned forward, depositing his niece in Amanda's well-muscled arms. She took her back, gently holding her against her breasts as she rocked the baby back and forth. Colton also watched as she hummed a little lullaby, the words almost half-whispered as the baby slowly went to sleep. She thus closed her eyes, the little baby snoring gently as Amanda smiled.

"And that is how you put a baby to sleep," Amanda whispered.

"Nobody does it quite like you," Todd commented. He leaned back, exhaling as he looked at Colton. "And now little Alyssa is asleep." He leaned closer to his daughter, smiling down at her.

Colton smiled. "She's feisty, isn't she?" he asked.

"Oh, she is," Todd replied. He sat up, looking to Colton. "She'll take after Amanda, I think. Got that same spirit at only two months in!"

"It looks like it," Colton said. He stood up, stretching his arms out as he looked to the crib. "She's beautiful."

When Colton looked over Amanda, he saw something in her twitch for a second, and when she looked over Colton, she was almost in disbelief.

"You... you think so?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah," said Colton. He then smiled, looking between the two sharks. "And she's gonna grow up to be a real strong shark, just like you two."

Amanda went quiet, and her usually boisterous smile was far more reserved this time. "Thank you," she said, almost at a whisper.

Colton frowned, examining her body language at this. Something about it seemed so reserved, more so than he was used to from her. Sure, she was not quite the stereotype of the loud, brash Jersey girl that he knew most people had, but even by her usual self she was more of a wilting flower than usual. He wondered what had happened that this was the case, but he pushed it out of his mind.

"Hey, just saying the truth," Colton replied. He then gently rubbed his hands together. "I hope you two are getting good sleep! I hear the child-rearing business is full of stress sometimes."

"Oh, well..." Amanda chuckled good-naturedly at this. "I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a month, and with everything at work going so insane it's hard to mind everything. But we're figuring it out."

"It just takes time," Todd replied. He then looked down at Amanda. "Doesn't hurt that we're both in the trenches together."

"Yeah," Amanda mentioned. She then stood up, rocking the baby as she moved to the cradle on the other side of the room. "Well, it's time for her nap, so we should leave her be to that."

Colton nodded, standing up and brushing his longer sleeves off. "Sure," he said. He then looked to Todd, his gaze turning to the smart phone in the older lemon shark's hands. "Will you be sending the pics? I have some friends I said I was going to show them to."

"Sure," said Todd. He and Colton both walked out of the room, and he patted his younger brother on the shoulder as he lifted his phone and created the text message. "I think she might like you."

"Maybe," said Colton. "We'll see what happens as she grows up, right?"

"Yeah." Todd pressed send, and the sound that came from Colton's phone was enough to get Colton all giddy. The older lemon shark smiled down at him, nodding at Colton. "Glad you're here, little guy. It's been too long."

"Yeah," Colton said. He looked to the floor, rubbing his upper arm. "Sorry. It's just been one thing after another over there, and--"

"Hey, it's no big deal," Todd replied. He patted Colton on the shoulder. "We'll have the entire Christmas season to catch up. It's been a while since we've really chatted and seen each other, you know?"

Colton nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah," he said. He paused. "That'd be nice."

"Good," said Todd. He then patted Colton on the shoulders. "I told dad that I'd be taking you to Indianapolis tomorrow, by the way. Just wanted to catch up."

"Is Amanda coming along?" Colton asked.

"No," Todd replied. He shrugged. "Actually, if I'm being totally honest, this was her idea. She told me that I could use a break from Alyssa, so she told me to go out, do something fun in the city."

Colton bowed his head: it was usually about an hour's trek down to the city, but he knew the area well enough to know that Todd would at least have something interesting planned. And as Colton looked at the way his brother's eyes shone, he nodded slowly.

"Alright," he said. "Sounds like a plan." With this, Todd patted Colton's shoulders. "We'll be heading out Thursday around eight in the morning. Be ready!"

"Sure thing."

And with this, Colton exhaled, feeling some of the apprehension he had felt earlier more or less melting away as he thought about how good it would be to not have to speak to his father throughout that day.

----**----

As Colton settled down for the night, he chose that moment to send Darren the pictures of his niece. He sent them off, and then plugged his phone into the charger and sat back. He thought to how hectic the day had been, from Colton's entire trip to Indianapolis down to seeing his niece for the first time. His body felt heavy on the mattress, and Colton could only lay back on his old bed, turning slightly to look out the window.

The snow was falling. He thought how unusual it was for such thick snowflakes to pile on the way they did: southeastern Indiana winters were chilly affairs for the shark, sure, but the snowflakes were typically thinner. He thus watched the snow fall, watching the way they alternately amplified and dulled the light around them.

His cell phone went off at that moment. Colton turned, picking the phone up and opening it to see a text message from Darren.

"can i call?"

Colton nodded, before pulling the phone up. He then proceeded to call Darren, disconnecting the charging cable before turning on his side, bringing the phone to his ear as he looked at the snow dancing.

The dial tone then stopped. "Hey there, little guy."

"Hey Darren," Colton whispered. He exhaled. "Don't mind if I whisper this, I remember the walls of this house being very thin."

"Of course, of course," Darren replied. "How are you holding up there right now?"

"I'm alright," said Colton. He shifted in his bed, the dorsal fin disturbing the sheets slightly. "I don't think they have any clue yet."

"They won't, I don't think," Darren replied. "Just keep everything down low, and you should be alright. Nobody in your hometown could tell you're gay, right?"

"No," Colton whispered. "Didn't even experiment until I came to San Francisco."

"Good." The shark could just picture Darren's reassuring nod. "Your niece is really cute! Looks like she came right out of the family. Is her mother not a lemon shark, though?"

"Not totally," Colton admitted. He then pulled himself so he was seated on the edge of the bed. "Great white. Came from New Jersey, you know."

"Ah." Darren chuckled. "So she's gotta be fiery, then."

Colton chuckled, glancing at the door. "Actually, you'd be pretty surprised, big guy," he replied. "She's not quite what you'd expect out of a Jersey girl. She isn't quite brash enough for that stereotype, and she's actually pretty soft-spoken about things."

"Oh just you wait," Darren replied. "There'll be something to bring the Jersey out of her eventually."

"We'll see," Colton replied. He exhaled, looking outside the window again. "But Todd's taking me out to Indianapolis soon."

"You think it'll be good to get you out of there?" Darren asked.

"Yeah," said Colton. "I won't be able to make my way out away from him, but..." He paused, his gaze turning to the floor. He tapped his foot against the rug underneath his bed, closing his eyes as he thought of what his father might say.

"Say no more," Darren replied. With this, Colton heard a chuckle in the background of Darren's call. "Praying you won't run into fans there?"

"Yeah." Colton exhaled. "Indianapolis is a pretty small city, though, so I doubt anyone's ever heard of Dragon Rabbit there."

"You'd be surprised," said Darren. "Some places have a more robust gay life than you might expect, and I've heard Indianapolis has a few treasures it holds. Especially during that big geek convention that happens in the summers now."

"Oh, GenCon?" Colton asked. "I'm sure most of those guys come from out of town, though. There wouldn't be that many gay people in town!"

"Would you know that?"

Darren's question hit deep. In truth, Colton had never known what the gay life in Indianapolis might have been like. All the stories he had heard of any Pride events from his family were either related to the actual Indianapolis Pride Parade, or to the prevalence of flags at GenCon as of late. He was not sure what else there was in the city, and honestly Colton had never thought to find out considering that as long as he was under his parents' roof, he'd never get the opportunity to find out anyway.

"Not really," Colton admitted.

"Right." Darren's voice sounded a little deeper than usual at that, and Colton knew the drop in his voice when he was being more serious. "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay?" Darren asked.

Colton bowed his head. "Okay," he said. He then leaned back upon hearing another chuckle from further away. "I heard chuckling back there. Is someone spotting you?"

In turn, Darren chuckled. Something shifted in the sound quality, and then as soon as it did, Darren's voice came back clearly: "Hey Kirk, Colton says hi!"

"Hey there, little guy!" Colton smiled upon hearing Kirk's voice. He could only imagine the grin on the bunny's face, the thought bringing a little more warmth to Colton's heart.

"Hey," Colton said, laying back on the bed. "You two are in the same room together, huh?"

"Yep," Kirk replied. "Just getting some reps in at the gym. It's mostly empty right now, so we've got the place to ourselves!"

Colton chuckled as he felt something stir in his loins. "Well there's an idea for a video right there."

Kirk and Darren both laughed at this. "Could be," Kirk replied. "But we'd have to rent the place out, and most public gyms aren't actually down for porn shoots since that can reflect badly on them if folks find out something was shot there, you know?"

Colton nodded, his shoulders sinking. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "Did Darren show you the pictures of my niece?"

"Yep!" Kirk replied. "Cute as a button, just like you!"

And at this, Colton blushed a deep red, turning on his side as he found himself resisting the urge to bite down on his hand. "Kirk!"

Darren laughed at this. "Oh Kirk, you flirt," he said. "But yeah. Keep us updated on what happens, okay? If anything happens, be sure to let us know as soon as you can."

"Of course." Colton yawned. "Anyway, I should get to bed. I'll call again if anything happens."

"Alright, kid," Darren replied. "Sleep tight."

"You have a good night," Colton replied. "I'll see you guys again soon!"

And with this, Colton hung up. As he did, he sighed, his shoulders looser than they had been the whole day. He felt at ease, and he knew that as long as they were just a phone call away he would be able to survive this trip. He would be back in San Francisco before he knew it, and life would return to normal.

With this thought, Colton flopped onto his mattress, plugging his phone back in and pulling the covers over his bare chest as he slowly fell into a deep, contented sleep.

II.

----**----

Colton woke up that Thursday morning with a spring in his step. The more he had thought about what would transpire with Todd, the more he'd been looking forward to it. The snow had abated somewhat in the ensuing two days, and now the sun was streaming down on the roads around them. The town did not quite have sufficient salting of the roads, but Todd had come prepared.

Thus, as Colton walked into the kitchen, he looked to the side. His father had just stepped up from the couch, turning off the TV as he set the remote down. He thus lumbered into the kitchen, walking past Colton as he made his way to the fridge.

"Mornin', Colton," the older shark replied.

"Morning dad," Colton replied quietly. He was quick to grab his bowl, before turning to the cupboard to look for the cereal. "You're up a little early."

The older shark grunted, opening the refrigerator door and taking out a carton of eggs from within. "More like I slept on the couch," he commented. "Bucker Carlson was real good last night. Shoulda seen 'im talk about how violent all those inner-city canines are."

Colton took a slow breath in, reaching up for the box of cereal while trying not to crush the side of it as he brought it down to his bowl. "Yeah," he said half-heartedly, only concentrated on pouring the cereal into his bowl.

"I'm tellin' you, it was great." Colton could hear the scratching of fork prongs against the bottom of a ceramic bowl, the sound only making his own blood freeze up even more. "Had that expert there from the government and everything. They should just go in there and throw all of those lazy bums in jail by now. Get them off their ass or throw them out."

"Yeah," said Colton, his voice remaining the same monotone as before. He placed the box back where it came from, trying not to accidentally break it as he pushed it in.

"You know that, right?"

At his father's question, Colton's arm froze. He dared not glance back, afraid that his father might take note of the subtle way that his right eye twitched at the question. In the moment, Colton wanted to turn back to him and tell him that no canine in San Francisco's poorer areas had ever bothered him, that he knew a perfectly good canine that shot with Dragon Rabbit every time, that there was nothing to worry about in his parts of the city...

"Yes, dad," said Colton. "I'm careful."

"Good." Colton's dad stepped away. "But I'm sure any son of mine would be able to stand up for himself, right?"

"Sure." And with this, Colton had to exhale, before finally peeling away from the cupboard. "You know when Todd's gonna get up?"

"Probably soon," Colton's father replied. "He told me he set his alarm for about ten minutes." He then sighed, before Colton looked to the kitchen range. The pan was already going on the stovetop, and he watched the oil shimmer atop it as the older shark lifted the bowl. "You two be good boys there, alright?"

Colton nodded. "Yes, dad," he said.

With this, he walked to the fridge. When he picked up the carton of milk, he had to breath in deeply so as to avoid the urge to crush the nearly empty container with his hand.

----**----

It was almost a relief when Todd finally parked the car in the parking garage just outside Circle Center Mall and turned the ignition off. For the first time that day, Colton found himself able to breathe somewhat, and he celebrated this fact by inhaling rather roughly.

Todd chuckled, the older lemon shark adjusting his scarf around his neck. "Was dad being tough this morning?" he asked.

Colton paused, swallowing the lump in his throat as he pondered whether or not to say anything to his brother. His gaze turned from the front of the car to the rear-view mirror, and his jaw remained tight the entire time.

"So yes," Todd replied. He patted Colton on the shoulder. "You know, I don't blame you for that. Lately he's been sliding off the deep end."

At this, Colton blinked, turning to Todd. "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Todd. He exhaled, shaking his head. "When he first met Amanda, he was spending a day texting me wondering about why I would go with a great white than a lemon shark. Even in the pregnancy, he was thinking about..." He shook his head. "Well, I won't repeat what he said. But it was pretty bad, Colton."

Colton frowned, tilting his head towards the floor. "He did that?" he asked.

Todd shook his head. He leaned back, exhaling. "To be honest, it really hurt Amanda," he said. He exhaled. "Hell, I considered not coming back to Indiana this Christmas because of it."

Colton leaned back, blinking in surprise. "Then why are you here?" he asked.

"Amanda didn't want to cause any trouble between me and dad," Todd replied. "I think she knows how much we used to look up to him." He sighed. "But more than that, she didn't want me to miss out on potential bonding time with you once she heard you were coming."

And here, the shark paused, feeling his heart skip a beat. He then sat up, his jaw moving as he sat up. "You... you came for me?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Todd. He looked up at the ceiling of the car. "I feel like we've been drifting apart lately. You aren't texting or calling me as often as you used to, and it's made me feel... I don't know." He then exhaled, looking to Colton. "I don't know if I can come back for another Christmas under that roof, Colton, and I want to have you as a brother, not as an... acquaintance, you know?"

Colton leaned back. He paused upon hearing this, looking back at Todd. This was certainly not what Colton expected to hear out of his brother: it was true that he had gained some distance from Todd, owing mostly to how he had been drifting apart from his family as he'd discovered himself sexually. After all, his father would definitely not be accepting: what chance did he have with Todd?

And yet, there the older lemon shark was, also feeling the same way he did. It was in this lens that Colton thought back to how Amanda had acted around him when she'd complimented Alyssa: suddenly, her more reserved answers made a lot more sense. If what Todd said was true, then of course Amanda would have reacted that way.

As he thought of this, Colton's mouth went dry. He had not planned on telling anyone about his sexuality during that trip, but with Todd speaking the way he was, and knowing that he would lose the pathway to his father soon enough...

Would it be worth it?

Colton nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Colton said. He then splayed his fingers out. "Well, if you want to come into the city again while I'm here, bring Amanda next time. I think she wouldn't like being in the house with dad."

"Don't worry, she's out and about doing other things," Todd replied. He shrugged. "But I'll keep it in mind."

With that, he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, before turning to the car door. "Well, we've been in here long enough," he said. "Let's go exploring a bit, shall we?"

And with this, Todd opened the door. Colton nodded, feeling as if a light film were covering his entire body. It was not the cold, he knew, but something else: and as he watched his brother step out, Colton could only hope that the tingling under his scales was a hopeful one.

"Sure."

And with this, Colton opened the door, stepping out into the cold Indianapolis winter.

----**----

"Aw, no, the old mini golf place is gone!"

"I guess it is, huh? Dammit, and I know how much you were looking forward to seeing our scales glow in the dark like that."

"Yeah. Dammit, that sucks..."

"Hm... Well, we could see what else is around here to do before we go on down to Champs', you know? The arcade is still open, we could check that out."

"I guess that's fair game. I'm down for that if you are."

"Then let's do it!"

With this, Todd peeled away from what used to be the glow-in-the-dark minigolf place, and he walked over to where the expansive arcade was. Colton remembered that place well: he and his friends used to play laser tag there all the time, and while the arena had fallen into disuse in recent years there was still a very good selection of multiplayer arcade cabinets that he and Todd could enjoy together. It was something that Colton had not quite done in a while, and he could not wait to get into it with his brother.

Thus, they both made their way down to the arcade, entering the rather expansive lobby. The din of several arcade machines running at once was enough to bring Colton back to that place in his childhood, but he remained rather quiet as he and Todd walked over to one of the coin machines.

"They updated these a while ago, didn't they?" Todd asked.

"Yeah," Colton asked. "Now they've got a lot of tokens to take care of."

"No kidding," Todd replied. He then leaned down, feeding some dollar bills into the machine. "You think that they've still got House of the Dead somewhere here?"

Colton looked to a machine a few feet away, seeing the two stations with the submachine gun. "Just the fourth one," he replied.

"Oh, so the crap one." Todd exhaled, shaking his head. "That sucks. It's more fun when it's not submachine guns being used in those things, you know?"

"I think so, yeah," Colton replied. He then paused, shaking his head. "Although on the plus side, it means we won't accidentally smack each other in the face trying to reload."

Todd could only laugh at this, pulling his entire body up as he shook his head. "Oh no, that's right!" He peeled back, looking to his brother. "Man, I must have had a weird bruise around my eye for a week!"

Colton chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he remembered that. "Oh God, I was so embarrassed after that!" he admitted. "We lost all our lives at that boss, but damn mostly I was freaking out when I realized I'd accidentally smacked you!" He shook his head, chuckling at it. "Man, I can't believe I cried over that."

"Well, you were only nine years old, and I was dazed for a couple seconds, so it wasn't that big a deal," Todd replied. He looked up. "It's lucky we weren't kicked out of the arcade for that!"

"Eh, we had that really nice person there to calm me down," Colton replied. He then frowned, looking to the floor. "Shit, what was her name? I forgot what it was."

"Monica, I think?" Todd replied. He shook his head. "She was a weasel, right?"

"No no, not a weasel," Colton said. He lifted his finger. "A polecat, because mom apologized for getting it wrong when she slipped her a tip for how she handled it, remember?"

Todd's eyes widened in recognition. "Oh yeah, that's right!" Todd said. He chuckled shaking his head as he stepped away from the machine. "I forgot about that part. I guess it was good she told dad she was training to be a nurse, I don't know that he would've let her touch me otherwise."

"Well, you were good as new in a week, so it is what it is," Colton replied. He then glanced to the side, exhaling. "I'm surprised dad didn't stop us from playing games like that again."

"You did change which direction you would shoot offscreen to reload," said Todd. He shrugged, before leaning over the machine again. "And besides, you know how dad was about getting us to learn how to shoot a gun. Most parents were dreading that in the 90's, he couldn't get enough of that idea."

"He did take me to a gun range on my eighteenth birthday, after all," Colton nodded. He then exhaled, looking to the arcade. He paused, shaking his head. "I preferred shooting the fake bad guys on the screen, I'll be honest." He then paused, before looking back to Todd. "After all, with the real thing, I couldn't shoot with you."

The two brothers looked at each other, both of them growing silent as the gravity of Colton's statement settled in for both of them. The noise of the arcade around them almost faded into the background, and all they were left with was each other.

In that moment, Colton felt something of their old bond return. He felt he could be a little freer around Todd, much like it had been in the days before Todd had gone off to college. It was a bond that had not faded even despite how bad Colton had been at keeping in contact. And as he thought this, Colton began to wonder...

Colton scanned the arcade, nervously tapping his tail against the coin machine. "I-I see a Time Crisis 2 cabinet over there!"

Todd followed Colton's gaze, chuckling at him. "Yeah!" He smiled, patting Colton on the arm. "You know, that wouldn't be such a bad game to play together, wouldn't it?"

"It wouldn't," Colton replied. He chuckled, before reaching into the machine to grab the tokens. "I guess we better get going, right?"

"Yeah," said Todd. He then walked towards the cabinets with a newfound spring in his step. "Come on, let's see if it was as cheesy as I remember it being!"

With this, Todd approached the cabinet. Colton paused briefly: this was not the time. But perhaps soon he could take a chance on his brother. Maybe he did deserve to know why he felt so disconnected from the family. Maybe, with their bond as close as it had always been...

Maybe today's the day, he thought.

With this, he marched up to the cabinet on the opposite side, and then took a few tokens from Todd as he prepared to play the game.

----**----

Time Crisis had been as cheesy as they both remembered it, and they went back for tokens so many times that they both felt somewhat bummed when they managed to get to the end faster than Colton could remember it coming up. Thus, the attention turned to other games in the arcade, and they even tried out a new cabinet with the countenances of a few characters Todd remembered fondly from his youth.

It was such that they carried the jovial mood over to Champs': the entire time, Colton felt less tense than he had ever felt in Indiana. As he experienced this, he wondered why Todd had to be over in New Jersey with Amanda so much of the year: if Todd were there all the time, it'd be a breeze to go back.

But Colton knew why. And as lunch wore on, and Colton and Todd both went around downtown Indianapolis looking for a comic book store, Colton felt the heat begin to build inside him.

"It's always the same even in snow, isn't it?" Todd asked.

Colton looked up. He had not even realized they'd arrived at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the heart of downtown until he saw the statue covered in snow. His tail stilled as he looked up at it: it was always a rather grand sight to behold, and as he looked at it with the snow settling on its crown, he always realized how much it felt like a reminder of what used to be.

"Yeah," Colton said. He then turned back to Todd. "You miss that, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Todd. He sighed, shaking his head. "But there's the whole issue of..." He shrugged, looking to the side. "We're going to have to go home soon-ish."

Colton nodded. He felt the anticipation bubble up in his stomach: home would need more Fox News, more rants from his father about people who were not like him, and more leading questions phrased as the start of a conversation. And then, back to both him and Todd being under his father's roof again. After all, they both promised to be back by dinnertime: Colton knew his father always meant that they should be back by then, and he knew that because of this his window to speak up was narrowing.

He breathed in, exhaling raggedly. "One more stop before we go?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Todd. He shrugged. "I promised dad I would stop by South Bend Chocolate before we went back, and it's right over there, so..." He then gestured to a storefront not far from where he and Colton stood. "He really wanted a truffle arrangement for his work friends at the office Christmas party."

"Gotcha." Colton could feel his heart rate elevate. That was it: one stop at South Bend Chocolate, and they would be on their way home. It would not be a terribly long trip all things considered, and Colton doubted he could get away from his father's house with Todd in tow again throughout the Christmas break.

But it was the thought of Amanda that brought him over the edge. Thus, he closed his eyes, grabbing Todd's wrist gently.

"Hey, Todd, I..." Colton took another deep breath to steady himself. "I have something I need to tell you."

At this, Todd paused. He had just taken a step towards South Bend Chocolate, and as he looked at Colton's expression, his brows furrowed. Colton's eyes had bulged out by this point, and he could tell from how fast his breath was coming in and out that Colton was almost frightened.

Todd frowned, before turning to Colton. "What's up?" he asked. "Something happen?"

"Well..." Colton looked to the floor. "Not something that happened, but something that just is..." He closed his eyes, feeling the cold sting his eyes more than usual. "And it's something I haven't told dad. I think if he ever found out he'd kick me out, and..."

Todd pulled himself closer. "What is it, Colton?" he asked.

Colton took a second to inhale the cold Indianapolis air. He closed his eyes, a thousand possibilities. This was a bad idea, talking about this in the winter cold. Maybe it was better not to have said anything at all, maybe they could just forget it. They could forget it, Colton thought, he'd _have_to if he just made up a lie. Maybe he could say he got a girl pregnant and they broke up, or maybe he could say that he'd missed sports events, or...

"...I'm gay, Todd."

And out it came.

Colton squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his stomach tie itself into knots. He felt Todd's hands remain around his arms, and even though he was bundled up in coats and scarves Colton had never felt colder in his life than he did in that moment. The silence hung in the air, and despite the far-off sounds of snow crunching under shoes Colton felt the tension could be cut with a knife.

Colton breathed out. "I, uh..." He glanced to the side. "Experimented a bit, with guys. And I just... I just never felt anything for girls. And now that I'm out there, and in that city, I don't know--"

Before Colton could continue, he felt himself get pulled right into Todd's arms. The older lemon shark hugged him tightly, the motion shocking whatever fright he had felt out of there.

"Say no more," Todd replied, patting Colton's back. "I've got you, buddy."

Colton felt the tears well in his eyes at how strongly the relief poured through him. There it was: his worst fear was washed away fully and finally. In response, Colton only wrapped his arms around Todd's shoulders. He pressed his head into Todd's shoulder, only then crying as his older brother patted the smaller shark on the shoulder.

When they pulled away, Colton rubbed a hand under his eyes, and he exhaled roughly. "I'm sorry," he said.

"What for?" asked Todd. "You've got nothing to be sorry about." He then smiled at Colton, patting him on the upper arm. "Here, I'll get you some chocolates. Whatever you want."

Colton nodded, wiping his tears away. "Okay," he said. "Okay."

And with this said, the two of them entered South Bend Chocolate, Colton feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

----**----

Colton sat back in the car, watching as Todd pulled out of the parking lot. He popped a few truffles into his mouth, the curd inside coating his mouth. He'd always liked the taste of South Bend Chocolate's lime-filled truffles: they always reminded him of a more tropical place, and even if the chocolate itself was consistently oversweet he still liked the way the tartness of the lime just came through.

He could not think of a better way to cap off what had been a good day with Todd.

The older shark smiled at Colton, bowing his head. "You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Colton. He exhaled, shaking his head. "I'll be honest, I thought that was going to go much worse."

"I can imagine, with dad being the way he is," said Todd. He exhaled, shaking his head. "Do you feel comfortable telling Amanda?"

Colton nodded. "You know, I think I would," he replied. He then paused. "The question is, how do I bring it up to her while we're under dad's roof?"

"You don't have to bring it up there," Todd replied. He then smiled, patting Colton's shoulder as he turned onto Monument Circle. "If you want, I could call you so you can tell her yourself once you're back in San Francisco and I'm back in New Jersey." He paused, leaning back. "Or I could just tell her."

"No, she should hear it from me," Colton replied. He exhaled, looking back at Todd and smiling. "Thanks. For being accepting."

"Hey, you're still my brother in the end," Todd replied. He turned the steering wheel, nodding as he drove down the street that would best get him home. "You met any nice guys, at least?"

Colton chuckled, shaking his head as he looked over to Todd. "Oh, you would not believe how many nice guys I've met along the way," he said. He chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. "Nice, and hot guys. Like Darren..."

With this, Colton began to tell Todd about Darren, Yves, Kirk, and the others, keeping as many details as he could to himself about the fact they were all sex workers. Even so, it felt liberating to tell someone in his family about them: it was quite a different thing from telling his frat brothers, but from how Todd responded there was some familial connection that enlived the conversation in a way it did not when he talked to people like Andrew about his latest porn shoots.

And so, he felt his heart lighten up. He had never felt more at home in Indiana than he had in that moment.

III.

----**----

The rest of that day was very quiet for Colton. His father had not said much of anything about his and Todd's day in Indianapolis. The rest of the day was spent in relative silence from his father, his mother, and even Amanda. Amanda was minding little Alyssa, after all, so she was indisposed to say much of anything at that moment. Thus, the day wore down, and became another one, and then another one after that.

Thus, the day before Christmas Eve came, and it was time to get the turkey for dinner. This time, it was Colton's turn to go to the grocery store with his mother: it had frequently been Colton's parents that had gotten the turkey the previous time, but Colton had desperately needed to get out of the house; his father's Fox News-based rants had grown to be that difficult to deal with. Thus, as he pulled the grocery cart up to the freezer, he exhaled: even if it were somewhere as mundane as the aisles of a grocery store, any reprieve was welcome at this point.

And so, he opened the freezer door, taking stock of the sizes of poultry inside. "It's just the five of this year, right mom?" he asked.

"Yeah, Colton." His mother leaned against the cart, watching him as he lifted the turkey. "You need any help with that?"

"No, I got this." Colton pulled the turkey up to the cart, gently depositing it inside as he brushed off his torso. The cold from the turkey still lingered even after this, though, and he paused, looking to his mother. "So do we have everything?"

Colton's mother nodded, scanning the grocery list one last time. "I think we do," she said. She then put the list away. "Alright, let's get out of here."

Colton nodded, standing next to his mother at the cart and wheeling it out of the frozen meats aisle. "So it's Grandma Jenny's recipe, right?" he asked.

"What other would it be?" Colton's mother asked him. She flashed a smile at him, shrugging at him as she moved along.

"Excellent!" Colton sniffed the air, before looking over to the lines waiting at the cash registers. Thankfully, there were a few cash registers that were not seeing huge lines. As he guided the cart to the one closest to the frozen meat aisle, he looked over to his mother. "And it's also good to have real potatoes for once to make the mash."

"Yeah, I think so too," she replied. She shrugged. "Actually, Amanda wanted to make the mash this year. She puts a lot more into it than usual, wanted to make it fancy for us."

"Well, that'll be a sight to see," Colton replied. "I can't wait to see what she does with them."

"So do I." His mother smiled, before exhaling. "Could you get the things onto the conveyor belt?"

"Sure, mom," Colton replied. He exhaled. "Here we go."

It was at this moment that Colton pulled up to the conveyor belt. He immediately got to work putting things down behind the divider between him and the customer in front, depositing items on the conveyor belt with some speed as he put everything down. He exhaled when he was done, his eyes scanning over the candies, the copies of the Furry Enquirer that laid on the end, and the sound of the scanner scanning items ahead of him. He then exhaled, looking over at the person manning the register.

The person manning the cash register would have been unremarkable to most: the cougar stood there, his dreadlocks just coming down past his jaw. He was rather lanky, his fingers punching in numbers almost mechanically. Colton noticed just the way his eyes seemed to be blank.

"Thank you ma'am, have a nice day."

From the tone of his voice, Colton could tell the cougar was bored. From the way the polar bear walked away without saying anything, Colton figured she knew it as well.

With the polar bear gone, the cougar turned to Colton and his mother. "Hello, how may I...?"

And then, the cougar paused, and as Colton looked on, he saw the cougar's eyes widen in surprise. At this look, Colton's blood ran cold: he recognized the way his eyes twinkled, had addressed it multiple times in many a convention-goer's face from just a few months earlier.

"Hey, aren't you that shark from Dragon Rabbit?" the cougar asked.

At this, Colton's mother perked her head up, her eyebrows raising. "Colton, do you know him?"

Colton's mind raced, his heart rate picking up almost instantly. Possibilities raced through his mind, and as the seconds stretched on he wracked his brain for possibilities of what he could say, anything to keep his mother from growing curious. Maybe he could pass him off as a high school friend or something. Maybe he could just brush it off. Maybe there was even a way he could say that was what his part-time job was, but then why would this strange cougar know it? It would be an internet thing, right?

"Uh, no mom," Colton replied. He immediately turned to the cougar, who frowned at him. "I think you must've mistaken me for someone else!"

The cougar lifted his hand. "No, I think you're him," he said. "Your voice sounds the same, you've got the eyes, and your scales look--"

"Eh-heheheheheeeeee, that's just studio lighting, you know?" Colton said loud enough to override anything else the cougar might have stated. "Always makes lemon shark scales look more luminescent than they are."

"But--"

"We do sort of all look the saaaaame, you know," Colton replied. He then leaned in closer, shaking his head and pointing at his mother discreetly. "I don't know what you're talking about, dude. Sorry, but I'm not... Uh... whoever you think I am."

The cougar frowned, glancing at Colton. He then shook his head, looking to the shark and scowling.

"Sure," he said, not sounding at all convinced. He then began to move his arm with barely-restrained anger. "Thanks for nothing, I guess."

Colton's stomach dropped, both at the way his tone curled up and the judgmental stare he felt from his mother. He gripped the edge of the shopping cart hard, a cold sweat making its way past his brow as he looked on. For a second, he did not look behind to his mother, but something impelled him to look.

Finally, he turned, and he saw how her expression had darkened, how her brow had furrowed in thought.

He suddenly wished he had stayed home.

----**----

"Lemon sharks look the same? Really?"

"I mean, dad, I'm not wrong, am I?"

"No, but why would you say that? You know how felines are around aquatic species like us!"

"Dad, it was just a misunderstanding. I think he saw something he didn't recognize."

"Still, you don't say that!"

The awkward silence had settled over the living room. Colton sat on the couch, feeling cornered and alone. Todd and Amanda were sitting to the side, Amanda awkwardly adjusting the arm that supported her baby against her breast. And there, on the other side of the room, stood Mr. Williams, the older lemon shark seeming several feet taller than he actually was as he glared at his son. Colton's mother also sat beside him, her arms held in her lap calmly as she narrowed her eyes at Colton.

After a while, Colton shook his head. "Maybe," he said.

Colton's father shook his head. "An apology is expected, son," he said.

Colton then looked to the floor. The truth was, his heart was not in any state of mind to be apologizing, considering he had not actually done anything wrong. But he knew his father: he would not let it go until he got what he felt he was owed.

"Sorry, dad," he said.

"That's better." The older shark then paced to the other end of the room. "So this part-time job is dealing with lighting rigs, you said?"

"Yeah," Colton replied. He inhaled harshly, shaking his head as he looked to the older man. "Sometimes they shoot things up there. Not always, though, so that's why it's only part-time: they call me when I'm needed."

"I see," Colton's father replied. "Explains why you know how it would affect shark scales."

"Yeah." Colton squeezed his toes inside his shoes, his heart skipping a beat as he looked around him. He clenched his hands into a fist, hoping to God that his father bought that little lie.

Finally, the older shark nodded, shaking his head. "Alright," he said. He then patted the back of the seat. "Then we will leave it at this. But don't hide something like that from us again, you got that Colton?"

Colton sighed in relief. His heartbeat still raced ahead of his mind, though, and he could only respond with a nod. "Yes, dad," he replied. "Reading you loud and clear."

"Good." He then walked into the kitchen. "Now let's forget this happened and think of our gameplan for dinner on Christmas." He tapped the turkey. "This is defrosting in the fridge, right?"

"Yes," said Colton's mother.

And as they continued talking about that, Colton sighed. Despite the fact that the subject had been dropped, though, he felt his limbs tingle in fear.

----**----

Dinner was a quiet, tense affair that night, with Colton looking between his father, mother, and brother. The conversation seemed to flit right past his awareness, and Colton had almost nothing to contribute to it. He wished right then and there that he could get back to San Francisco somehow: he scarcely wanted to stay in this house any longer, not when his mother would likely continue glaring at him the entire rest of the time.

It was a relief when Colton was able to hole himself up in his room. He had stayed on the computer for a while after dinner, and had not come out. It was the only place he could think, the only place he felt safe in this house. But that would not matter in a few minutes, Colton felt. How bad would it be, he wondered, if he would just slip back to San Francisco in the cover of the night?

Colton shook his head. Perhaps Christmas Eve would be different. He'd be able to find his own footing, convince his family that there was a simple misunderstanding at play, and he could go on with his life and--

Colton heard a light rap on his door. He looked up, his gaze turning to the door. "Come in," the shark said.

With this, the door opened, revealing Todd. Colton had not realized just how late it was until he saw the way Todd's pajamas flowed over his body. He walked in, looking outside the room as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey Colton," he whispered. He quickly locked the door, before walking to his brother.

"Todd?" Colton stood up, walking towards Todd. "What's up?"

"I know you lied to mom and dad about the lighting rig."

Colton paused as Todd whispered this to him. He knew that of course Todd would catch on: given their outing at Indianapolis a few days earlier and what had been discussed, he had some idea Todd would not buy his excuse, especially not with how Colton had emphatically defended it. And honestly, Colton was fine with that: as long as his parents did not know...

But then there was the question of how to deal with his brother knowing about porn. He knew Todd would not leave until he got the truth.

Thus, Colton nodded, exhaling. "If they knew what I actually did, I'd be kicked out for sure," he said.

Todd nodded. "So what do you do at this studio, then?" Todd asked.

Colton exhaled. "It's a porn studio," he said. "Gay porn." He then looked to the floor. "And... I'm one of their models."

Todd blinked, and Colton immediately saw his arms tense up. Colton could not read the expression on Todd's face this time: he seemed rather to be thinking rather hard.

"How did you get into it?" Todd asked.

"My friend Darren," Colton replied. He looked to the floor. "He took me to one of their studio parties, wanted me to have some more gay friends. And then I fucked one of their main models, they liked me, I took an audition, and..."

Todd's frown deepened, and he then lifted his hand. "So they groomed you into it, basically."

At this, Colton felt his heart stop. His veins warmed up in anger, and as he looked at Todd, he found his hands clenching into fists.

"No, they didn't," said Colton. He shook his head, standing up and walking away. "They gave me--"

Todd stood up, following Colton. "Colton, think about it," Todd replied, his tone calm and measured. "One of them found you, took an interest in you, then took you somewhere where they could see what you were made of. How is that not grooming you?"

"They gave me outs a lot, Todd," Colton replied. He shook his head, lifting up. "They left the final decision up to me. I told them I was interested, and I wouldn't have done what I did with them if I hadn't okayed it myself."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Todd. He shook his head, looking down. "Are you sure you wanted that connection, or did they manage to seduce you into doing it?"

"Todd, why are you doubting me about this?" Colton turned, his glare hard and cold. He crossed his arms, feeling his blood run much hotter than before. "I had some idea of what they'd wanted, and I had some idea of all that, and they gave me ways out. They wouldn't groom me, Todd."

"I don't know, Colton," Todd replied. "I'm just worried, is all. You've gotten yourself into something that I don't think you'll be able to get out of, and I don't know how willingly you went into it." He shook his head. "And it's not going to make coming out to dad any easier."

"It wouldn't matter to him," Colton replied. He turned to face Todd fully. "You know what he says about everyone in my city. He thinks I'm at risk of being corrupted by them. Hell, that morning when we went to Indianapolis, he went on about canids as if he expected me to fall in with them." He scoffed at this, tossing his head back. "It won't matter to him, Todd. Look how he talked about Alyssa!"

The older shark blinked, looking to the ground. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that," he said. He then looked to Colton again, touching his arms gently. "But Colton, I don't know if these people you've fallen in with are looking out for your best interest."

"They are," said Colton. He shook his head, turning to face the window. "Trust me on this, Todd. I know them, you don't, and I trust them a hell of a lot more than I trust dad."

Todd sighed, looking to the floor. "If you say so," he said. He then turned to the door, pausing. "I just hope you're right, Colton. If word gets back to dad that you're doing gay porn, then I hope they don't throw you to the curb like I fear they might." He exhaled. "I'll see you in the morning, Colton."

With this, Todd exited his room. Colton was thus left to stand by the window, stewing in his own rage. Todd was full of it, Colton knew: Todd didn't know Darren, Kirk, Yves, and the others like he did, and Colton just knew that they would be there for him if the worst happened.

If it did. And all Colton had to do was hope that it would not.

And so, he shook his head, before sitting back in his computer chair and checking on a few more scholastic things.

----**----

Breakfast the next morning seemed unusually quiet, and it did not help that ten o'clock was rather late for breakfast. As Colton sat down and chewed on his bacon, he looked up, watching as his brother milled about, grabbing the keys of his father's car. Amanda was right behind him, and as they gathered at the door Colton watched his father step closer to the door.

"So how many of these things do you need, again?" Todd asked. Colton noted how he twirled the key ring around his finger.

"I think quite a few, if I recall," Colton's father commented. "It's just decorative, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Amanda nodded, looking up and holding Alyssa close to her chest. "Make sure to clean up Alyssa's crib, alright? She did have an accident in there earlier."

"Of course," Colton's mother replied. She then smiled at Amanda. "We will see you later when you come back."

"Of course." With this, Todd glanced past them towards his younger brother. "We'll see you later, Colton."

"See ya, Todd," Colton replied. He gave a little wave, although as he looked at the small motions of his hand he realized it could have been a touch more enthusiastic.

And so, Todd and Amanda stepped outside of the house. As soon as they did this, Colton turned back to his plate of bacon. He noted the way the strips of bacon were laid across the white ceramic: he'd always hated the way those plates shined, but he had never felt the need to say so to his mother's face. Thus, he looked up, taking note of the smell of slightly burned bacon grease in the air, the sparkling surfaces from his mother's non-stop cleaning of the kitchen, the way the washed dishes were cleaned out...

Colton nodded, looking up as he tapped his foot against the chair. He only hoped his father would not turn on the Fox News again, but at least this time he could go upstairs to--

"And while they're out, you and I need to have a talk."

Colton groaned in annoyance, turning to his father. The older shark stood at the table with his arms crossed, his face unreadable as always even despite his narrowed eyes.

"Talk about what?" Colton asked. He shrugged, munching on another slab of bacon. "I'm not sure there's much to talk about."

"No," said Colton's father. And it was then that his mother walked up behind him. "There isn't."

And immediately, Colton's father reached for the breast pocket of his pajamas, unfolding and slamming a piece of printer paper onto the kitchen counter. As Colton looked over it, he realized it had a picture of Dragon Rabbit's front page, right when his pin-up was visible on the front page.

Colton's blood ran cold. He turned to his father, inhaling slowly through his nose.

"Wh... What?" he asked.

His mother leaned forward. "You didn't think we wouldn't look that up on the internet searches, did you?" she asked. "Who would recognize a cameraman on a film set when you don't know each other? So then we looked up what he talked about."

With this, Colton's father leaned in so close that Colton could smell the coffee in his breath. Colton leaned back, gripping the kitchen counter with such a strong grip he feared his fingers would puncture the granite on top. And it was then that he realized how brightly the angry glint in his father's eyes shone.

"We're not stupid," his father replied, his neck tense and his voice strained. "We had a feeling you were lying through your teeth the whole time about that, and that woulda been fine if it hadn't been anything major." He then bunched his hand into a fist. "But gay porn? That's what you've been doing?"

Colton's jaw began to waver: he felt incredibly small at that moment. He wanted to run out of the house right then and there, but he was kept frozen in place by limbs too tense to move. He could only take a slow breath in, his eyes darting between his family.

"I was right." His father immediately pulled away, his feet hitting the floor hard as he began to pace around the kitchen. "I knew it all along. That liberal city has corrupted you, Colton!" He threw his hands in the air. "I just knew you were going to be corrupted by all those dirty faggots that crawl around that city, but to think you'd sink this far?"

"They're not dirty," Colton replied, the statement coming out with such a silent tone that he wondered why he wasn't pushing back more strongly. "They're--"

"Clearly so if they put you in a part-time gig in porn!" He slammed his hand on the paper on the counter, the action causing Colton to jump in the air. "This is not you, Colton Williams!"

And here, Colton found himself almost leaping back. "Wh-what do you mean?" he asked.

"You're just following a trend!" said his mother.

At this, Colton's jaw dropped in shock. "What on earth are you talking about?" he asked. He stepped away from the kitchen counter. "What...?"

"Bucker Carlson and all those other guys are always going on and on about how faggots are just doing it for the trend now," said his father loudly, waving his hands in the air. "Go to the cool parties, have some fun, right? You're just going to keep doing this trend until it's not cool anymore, and then where will you be left? Sick and destitute from not taking care of yourself."

Colton blinked in disbelief: of all the reactions he expected from his family, this was the one he expected the least. He hunched over, shaking his head as he lifted his arms.

"Dad, that's..." He shook his head. "That literally doesn't make sense."

"Oh, it makes perfect sense," said his father. "Bet your frat brothers put you up to it on a dare, huh?"

Colton groaned, shaking his head. "Dad, when Tyler found out he tried to punch me in the face," he replied. "There's no way on _Earth_my frat brothers would put me up to that!"

"With the way those crazy parties go, you would have to do it!" His father turned on Colton, pointing directly into Colton's chest hard enough that Colton stumbled back, nursing the spot on his chest gently. "Only way you'd do more than one video there!"

"Dad..." Colton stepped forward, feeling his body begin to heat up. "You don't get it."

"What's there to get?" asked his father. "You've lost your mind!"

"Dad, would you just listen to me?" asked Colton.

"Why don't you try listening to your father, dear?" asked Colton's mother.

"But--" Colton tried to interject.

"Maybe once you could admit your father's right on something," said Colton's mother.

"Dad, you--!"

"I've seen a hell of a lot more shit than you," his father said. "I've seen what these liberal pussies do to cities, seen what those gays do during June, even right here. I'm right about more of these things than you could think."

"Dad, just--"

"And I know you don't want to respect my feedback because you go to school in your crazy liberal city or whatever, but I'd feel really good if you could--"

"Maybe you're the one who's crazy!"

Colton's shout stopped his father's ranting dead in its tracks. The younger shark found himself breathing in and out roughly, his finger pointing to the floor. He noted the expression of disdain that came to his face, but the fire that raced through his arms could not permit it.

"Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't just San Francisco," said Colton. "Maybe it was all those days in the locker room here in this town seeing guys that made me wonder!" He then stepped closer to his father, his hands shaking in fury. "Maybe it was looking on all those broadcasts and seeing guys kiss each other. Maybe that told me that everything I was already feeling was worth exploring. And maybe all it took was getting out of this goddamn house that let me see that."

Colton then growled, pressing his fist into the kitchen counter and fighting the urge to swing it in his father's face with all his might. "You're crazy if you think all this is just me trying to chase some stupid trend," he continued. "I'm gay, dad, and I'm not following some stupid trend. It's not a trend, and you are _wrong_about this!"

In the lengthy silence that followed, Colton felt like he could swim in the tension that hung in the air. His tail swung back and forth gently behind him, and all he could feel was the way his father and his mother both glared at him. And as the silence stretched on, the fire that had burned inside him began to flame out, and suddenly his foot began to shake.

It was that moment at which Colton's father suddenly brought his hand out, snatching Colton by the wrist with such force that Colton winced in pain.

"Then you leave me no choice, child."

With this, his father marched straight up the stairs, dragging Colton behind him. The younger shark immediately tried to pull away, panic setting in as he tried with all his might to keep from being dragged up the stairs.

"Dad, stop!" Colton shouted. "Dad, you're hurting me!"

But his father remained silent, and with a strong yank he pulled Colton up the stairs the rest of the way. This caused the younger shark to stumble, landing rather hard on his side before his father dragged him the rest of the way to his room. He pulled Colton to his feet, before he roughly threw his son into the room. Colton stumbled, landing on the floor next to his bed.

Right as Colton stood up, his father reached for the shark's cell phone, which still laid charging on the desk next to the door. He reached up, before slamming it against the desk's edge with enough force that the phone's screen cracked. And then, as Colton watched in horror, his father violently threw it to the ground, before stepping on it with such force that it split the phone open.

The older shark then pointed at Colton. "You have ten minutes," he said. "Whatever you don't shove into one of your suitcases, we burn. After that, you're on your own. Let's see if those trend-chasing _faggots_will take you back once they see you got kicked out for it!"

"Dad, please!" Colton shouted. He pushed himself to his feet. "Dad, I'm sorry! Just let me talk and we'll--"

The door slammed in Colton's face. "Your ten minutes starts now!"

And with this, Colton's heart froze. There it was: the worst scenario Colton had imagined in his head, and it was unfolding before him. For the first half a minute, all he could do was stand there in horror, his limbs frozen in place as he looked to the door. He almost could not believe how the last few minutes had unfolded, but the facts were there.

Oddly, Colton felt numb: the strange rush of emotion that had accompanied that craziness left him unsure of how to respond. He did not know whether to bang on the door and beg to be let out, or to kick it down and jump onto his father. He was not sure whether or not to do anything else in this house, or even what to save.

"Nine minutes!"

His father's shout snapped him out of this: the shark knew then that his father was serious, that everything was real, and that there was no escaping it.

All the tension left his body, emptiness lingering in its wake. With this, Colton began to walk through his room, his limbs feeling like lead as he moved. It was in this state that he took stock of what he could take with him, and all the while he tried to ignore the first of the tears began to stream down his cheeks.

He had no time to worry for tears.

IV.

----**----

It took Colton a little while to get to the airport. He spent the entire trip from his home town to the airport warming up in the cab and desperately trying not to cry, but the inevitable journey finally ended. He was at least thankful he had opened his own bank account when he lived in San Francisco: it meant that, while his father held his phone and everything else, he could at least pay for a flight back.

It was a small comfort, but not nearly enough of one considering what had happened.

Thus, he walked up to the gate, thankful that Christmas Eve travel out of Indianapolis was rather light. The flight was already paid for and everything, all he needed to do at that point was hope that the standby list was kind to him this time around.

Colton stood there, watching the gate for a brief second. He then finally exhaled, feeling his limbs relax somewhat. Even with this, though, there was one thing he still needed to do, and with his father having destroyed his cell phone, he knew he had to do something strange.

Thus, he walked up to another passenger waiting for the same flight: the fox he'd approached seemed to have an almost cartoonish sense of style, what with the plaid suit jacket he had on and the mismatched reddish tennis shoes he had on. He had his nose stuck in some book he'd never heard of, but as he approached Colton saw his gaze turn up.

"Hey, sorry," Colton said. He sighed, looking down to him as he rubbed his arm. "Do you mind if I borrow your phone for a second?"

The fox raised his eyebrow. "Don't you have one of your own?" he asked calmly.

Colton sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "No," he replied. He then breathed in, flashing back to when his father had smashed his cell phone hard enough to crack it in half. "It's... a complicated story." He exhaled, shaking his head. "I just need to make one call. I can stay put if it'll help."

The fox examined Colton's face, and at that moment Colton wished he could have any kind of feeling in it. But as the fox's looked over the downcast eyes, the slow motion of Colton's arm as he rubbed his elbow, and the way the moisture seemed to cling to his eyes, he relaxed a little.

"Of course," the fox replied. He fished his cell phone out of his pocket. "Here."

Colton's muscles relaxed. "Thank you," he said. He then looked to the empty seat beside this strange fox, before edging towards it. "Do you mind if I sit here while I make the call?"

"Not at all," the fox said.

"Thank you." With this, Colton sat down as the fox unlocked his phone.

As soon as it was in his hands, Colton turned to the phone application and dialed Darren's number. It was one of the few numbers he had bothered to remember memorizing, and now that he had no access to his contacts book he was glad he had. It would be even more important than ever now, and as he hit the dial button and brought the phone up to his head, he exhaled. As the dial tone sounded, he was certain that Darren would not be busy unless he was with Kirk and Yves shooting something, but even then he still doubted that Darren would answer. There would be other things to mind, after all, and who knew what--?

The dial tone only sounded twice before he heard someone pick up from the other end.

"Hey, this is Darren speaking. Who's this?"

The relief that washed over Colton was enough to bring out some more moisture in his eyes. "Darren!" Colton said, almost choking on the croc's name as he leaned forward. "Oh Darren, you're there..."

"Colton?" Darren's tone was more hushed than usual, a sound Colton was not used to hearing from the imposing crocodile. "Colton, is that you?"

"It is..." Something burst open inside of Colton, like a dam breaking. Whatever he had feeling finally broke through, and the tears that streamed down his cheeks caused Colton to lean forward suddenly. "Darren, they..." He sniffled a little loudly. "They found out. They... they found out about everything. Dragon Rabbit, me being gay..." He sniffled. "They gave me ten minutes to get my things out before they shoved me out the door. My old phone's gone, and..."

"Colton..." Darren's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. "Jesus... Not even waiting until Christmas?"

"And without my brother in the house," Colton replied. He covered his eyes, letting out another loud sniffle. "Darren, I--"

"Say no more," said the crocodile. "Is he in your bank accounts now?"

"No," Colton replied. "That I opened on my own when I moved to San Francisco for school."

"Good," said Darren. "You've at least got that. Where are you now?"

"I..." Colton took a deep breath in. "I managed to get to the airport. I have a flight going back to San Francisco now." He took a shaky breath in. "You were the only place I could think to go."

"Of course," said Darren. "When is it getting in?"

Colton was able to look up at the screen. "Uh... 10 PM Pacific time," he said.

"Alright, good," said Darren. "I'll tell Kirk and Yves to go pick you up. We'll figure out where to go from there."

Colton exhaled roughly, the tears freely flowing as the tension left his entire body. "Darren..." he whispered out.

"Now, now, don't fret," Darren said. "You'll be OK, Colton. We're here for you. Just take care of yourself, and we'll see you in a few hours. You got that?"

Colton nodded, finally bringing a hand to his eyes and wiping away the tears. "Y-yeah," he said. "Okay."

"Alright," said Darren. "We'll worry about all the other logistical stuff once you're here. Do you want me to call anyone at your frat house?"

"Please," Colton whispered out. "I don't remember any of their numbers right now."

"Gotcha," said Darren. "I'll call Andrew and Coach Cappelletti to let them know what happened."

"Thanks." Colton breathed in. "You're a saint, Darren."

"I'm just a croc in the same boat as you," Darren replied. He exhaled. "I'll see you in a few hours, Colton."

"Okay." Colton breathed in deeply. "Thank you. I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye, Colton," said Darren. "We love you."

And with this, the call ended. It took Colton a minute to peel away from the phone, and when he did all he could do was lean against his knees, a fresh batch of tears coming to his face even as he wiped them away.

He felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. "Are you alright, sir?"

Colton looked behind him, seeing the fox from earlier place a gloved hand on his shoulder. Colton could see how his eyes shone in concern, and as he looked on Colton breathed out a little.

"I..." Colton swallowed, before sitting back. "Sorry. It's a long story."

The fox took one look at the tears streaming from Colton's eyes, before nodding. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want," he said. "But whatever happened, I'm sorry it happened." He then smiled. "At least it sounds like you've got someone to care for you."

"Yeah," Colton said. He rubbed his upper arm. "I guess so." He then handed the phone back to the fox in question. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The fox gingerly took his phone back, bowing his head at Colton and sitting back. "If you need anything else, I'll be in business class."

And at this, Colton finally smiled. "I think I can manage from here, but thank you all the same," he said.

With this, Colton leaned back. His gaze turned to one of the TVs hanging from the roof of the airport, and so he leaned back and decided to watch whatever the news cycle had decided to blather on about next.

----**----

Colton had gotten lucky on the standby list: it had turned out to be a somewhat empty flight, so he had a rather nice seat next to nobody in the economy class. Still, he found himself tapping the floor the entire flight back to San Francisco. The fact that this was likely his very last flight out of Indianapolis for a long while was not lost on him, and the fact that he was now completely uncertain whether or not Kirk and Yves would be waiting for him back in San Francisco.

Maybe Todd had been right: it was a possibility that Colton spent the entire flight worrying about, a worry that not even turning on FSPN could assuage.

Thus, when he got off the plane, he made a beeline straight out. He was so nervous he almost forgot to go to baggage claim to get the suitcase of whatever items he had managed to fit in there in the ten minutes he'd been given, but a quick look at the flight information as he rode the escalator down reminded him to take care of that. He almost tripped over that suitcase upon leaving, so much so that he found himself shedding a coat when he realized that San Francisco was rather warmer than usual that winter.

From there, it was an agonizing wait as he sat outside. He knew Kirk's car really well from how often he had seen it parked at the studio: all he had to do was wait for it. And as he sat there, he cycled through every possibility in his mind as to why he was taking a while. Maybe he had just been running behind: shoots took longer sometimes. Maybe it was that they hadn't arranged a way to really meet up once Colton had gotten an airport, and while that kindly fox would likely not have cared much Colton did not want to bother anyone for their cellphone.

It was a lot of possibilities, but they circled around one singular prayer: whatever happened, he hoped they would not have forgotten about him. That would be the worst case, and from Darren's call earlier he wanted to hope they would not forget him so easily.

He heard the honk from the car horn as soon as he thought this. At this, Colton stood up, before seeing the tell-tale white Jeep pull into the parking lot: it was the DragonRabbit decal on the side that gave the vehicle away almost immediately. Colton immediately stood up, seeing the outline of a golden dragon in the windshield on the driver's side. He did not have to wait much longer at that point, though: the passenger door opened. Colton's heart sang as soon as he saw the tell-tale pink fur, those ears shooting straight up as soon as the huge bunny caught sight of Colton.

"Kirk!"

Colton rushed forward, neglecting his stuff at the bench as he rushed straight into Kirk's torso. The large bunny instantly had Colton in his arms, and all Colton could do was press his face against the tuft of fur that peeked just outside of Kirk's tank top. He held the position there, feeling Kirk's furred arms as they rubbed his back. And then there was that distinctly masculine smell he got from Kirk, the kind that could only have come from him...

Colton sniffled, before collapsing against Kirk with tears streaming down his face anew.

"Hey, hey, little guy," Kirk replied gently, holding Colton up as best he could. "Let it all out..."

Colton gave an extra loud sniffle at this. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice broken up by his sobbing. "I just... I was so scared you weren't coming, and I didn't know where else to go, and I just--"

"There, there, we're here now," Kirk whispered reassuringly. He leaned down to kiss Colton's head gently, before pulling back and lifting Colton's head up. "We're not going anywhere, OK?"

With this, Kirk brought a hand up to Colton's cheek, his thumb wiping away the tears. Colton nodded, exhaling deeply as he reveled in the feel of those furred paws against his cheeks. He closed his eyes, pressing his hands on top of Kirk's, feeling the soft fur underneath his fingers and savoring every last frond of fur under his hands...

Colton nodded, exhaling as he looked at Kirk. "Okay..." He exhaled. "But we do have to leave this airport, right?"

Kirk nodded, before pulling his hands away. "Let's get your stuff," he said. "We're heading to Darren's place now. He was supposed to perform at Golden Hustlers tonight, but he cancelled as soon as you called."

Upon hearing this, Colton felt a pang of guilt hit him in the heart. He inhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "He did that for me?"

The large rabbit patted Colton's shoulder reassuringly. "He's not going to abandon you when you need him most," Kirk said. "Don't feel too bad. He gets on with Golden Hustlers really well, he'll be fine." He then rubbed Colton's arms. "Marek is also there, by the way, and he told me that Andrew and Coach Cappelletti are both on their way."

Colton blinked. "But... they've got family," he said.

"They're close enough that they can make the drive down," Kirk replied. He patted Colton on the shoulder. "Now, let's not talk about that. We should get you there, OK? We'll talk more there."

"Okay." Colton bowed his head down. "Okay."

With this, he turned, following Kirk as the large bunny walked over to where his items had been left.

----**----

"And then he just... dragged me out of the house. He wouldn't even help me get to the airport. I had to ask a neighbor to call a taxi for me..."

"Colton..."

The shark sat on Darren's lap, the crocodile seated on his couch in his apartment. Andrew had come, and was sitting right next to Darren on the couch, the wolverine keeping a hand on Colton's shoulder the entire time. Kirk, Yves, and Marek were all gathered close by, with Kirk seated on the armrest of the couch, and Yves and Marek seated in dining room chairs around the couch. And of course, Coach Cappelletti rounded out this group in the kitchen, sipping some water and listening along.

The shark nodded, pressing his head gently against Darren's chest as he sniffled again. "I'm sorry... I just wish I knew what else to do other than this."

"Hey, bro, it's cool," Andrew replied. He squeezed Colton's shoulder gently, shaking his head. "The fact you thought to get back over here as soon as you could is more than I would've thought of if I were you right now."

"He isn't wrong," Yves replied. He leaned forward, his wings flexing slowly as he scooched his chair forward. "You're here now, where we can help you."

Colton nodded, exhaling. "Then I'm glad I was right," he said. He then peeled away from Darren. "This is going to sound so silly, but... I just wish things had been different. Like, I wish dad could've understood."

"We all do," Darren replied quietly. He rubbed Colton's neck soothingly, his big, muscular hands gentle on his shoulders. "Trust me, Colton, we all do." He then exhaled, shrugging. "At least your brother seemed alright with you being gay."

"For all the good that'll do me when he realizes he has no way to contact me," Colton replied. He sniffled, drying more tears out of his eyes. "Fuck, I wish I'd memorized his phone number after he moved to New Jersey. And right as we were getting to really understand each other, too..."

"Well, I mean, you don't plan on leaving the frat house so soon, right?" All eyes turned to Coach Cappelletti, who was standing in the kitchen. He put his glass down, before walking around the island to rejoin the rest of the group. "You're still technically a brother, so the frat house is still open to you as long as you're in school."

"That's only for one more semester, though," said Colton. He then leaned back. "And without dad to pay for that, who knows what'll happen?"

"Probably not as much as you're afraid will happen," said Coach Cappelletti. He then looked to Yves. "You pay him for these videos, right?"

"Of course," said Yves. He gave a small nod. "And Colton is a valued actor at our studio right now."

"Then I don't see how you couldn't come up with some way to pay for it all yourself," said Coach Cappelletti. The ram leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "When school is back in session, remind me to get you to the financial office at the school, I'll help you change the payment information. Cash may be a little tight for a bit, but there are probably loans you could get that'd help offset the costs. That, and you will be at the frat house: no need to worry about rent for now."

Colton nodded, already feeling a small weight lifted off his shoulders. "And then we'll figure it out from there?" he asked.

"It is best to take these things one day at a time," said Marek. The T-rex smiled at Colton, leaning forward.

Colton nodded, before he inhaled. "But now all I have is you guys," he commented. "And who knows how my brother'll find me again?" He rubbed his arms nervously, his eyes glistening with fresh tears once again.

"Give him a chance, lil' buddy." Kirk placed his hand on Colton's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "If you're still at the frat house, he'll have an easy place to track you to, won't he?"

"But he's got all sorts of other things to worry about," said Colton. He looked to the floor. "He's got a wife, a job, a baby now..."

"Shouldn't matter." Kirk angled Colton's chin up, smiling down at him. "If your brother wants to maintain your relationship, he'll come find you no matter what else he's got goin' on."

"Exactly." Darren then rubbed his hand on Colton's chest. "It may not be right away, but he'll try." He then draped himself over Colton, pulling the lithe shark against his torso. "The real question you should be asking yourself is this: if he comes to find you, how do you react?"

Colton paused, considering the question. He felt like he knew his brother well enough now to know how he would react to seeing him again. He more hoped that his brother would not come to throw whatever it was in his face, but if he was not there to do that, then...

"I... I'd want him back in my life," Colton said. He sniffled, rubbing his upper arm. "We drifted apart when he went to college and got married. We'd just started to reconnect when..." He then leaned forward, more tears streaming down the trail left by the previous tears. "Well, you know..."

"Then I think you know what to do then." Colton felt Kirk's hand rub the top of his head. "And in the meantime, we're not going anywhere," the big bunny continued. "We'll be right here for you, whatever you need."

Colton sniffled, before finally lifting his arms and wrapping them around Darren. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "You're all too good to me," he managed to get out. "I don't deserve you guys."

"Nonsense," Marek said gently, standing up and kneeling in front of Colton. "Don't think like that."

Colton nodded, even as everyone else in the room joined in on the hug. It all became one rather big group hug. He'd never felt so cared for in his life than in this moment, with the Dragon Rabbit guys and even Coach Cappelletti and Andrew there. It felt warm, like home...

The thought made Colton cry into Darren's shoulder. He sighed, pulling himself closer as he felt the warmth blossom around him.

The first one to pull back was Coach Cappelletti. "Well, it sounds like he's in good hands here," he said. He looked to Darren. "Of course, we can't let him on the frat house for Christmas, nobody will be there and the school won't allow it."

"Don't worry about that," Darren replied. Colton felt the big crocodile pull him close. "There's always a space on my bed for you, baby. Right?"

Colton nodded, pulling himself closer so that he nestled in the space just under the crocodile's armpit. "Yeah," he said. He buried his head against Darren's chest. "And then there's a Christmas party at the studio, if I heard right."

"Yeah," said Kirk. He immediately pulled back, chuckling gently. "It's a good thing that Toby always leaves leftovers with the food, too! Means you'll be able to tuck in yourself."

Colton nodded. Around him, the group hug slowly pulled apart, and as Colton looked around him, he was finally able to smile. "Yeah, I guess that's good," he said. He sighed, before exhaling gently. "I just wish I could be back home."

"Hey, we love you," Darren replied. He gave Colton a quick noogie. "If your family doesn't want you, we'll be more than happy to take you in."

And with this, Colton sighed in relief. He closed his eyes, holding himself closer to Darren. It was then he let the warmth of the alligator's torso warm his up: as this warmth seeped into him, Colton grew more and more comfortable, both with how he was situated and the way Darren's chest gently let his head rise and fall.

"Thank you," he said, softly. "All of you."

With this, Colton felt the warmth from everyone else pull in close yet again. He savored it, smiling for the first time since he left Indianapolis.

V.

----**----

"And there we have it: the video is posted!"

"Alright. Looking forward to seeing what the traffic is on that. Fans have been wanting to see our cameraman in a video for a while now, and I can't think of anything better than having our parrot be the one to break him in on camera."

"No kidding. I'm sure the fans will love it."

"I think so too."

With this, Yves sat back on the computer chair. He had at least managed to get on some gym shorts before sitting down at the desk. Kirk had thought similarly, but he was milling about the back of the studio. Darren, of course, was not so modest: he stood there clothed only in his signature one-sided thong. Yves could not blame him: Darren was due to shoot with Vogel that day, the first of the BDSM series to feature the lithe dragon, and probably the first of the series to experiment with duct tape. He had not arrived yet, though, so until he arrived Yves and Kirk found themselves working on uploading new video and checking the business email until they did.

"Alright," Yves said, looking at Darren. "I assume you've vetted a few more audition tapes?"

"Not yet," Darren replied. "Haven't had the time to this morning, what with getting myself all shined up."

"Fair." Yves nodded, looking through the rest of the email page. "I assume there isn't much fan mail this pass either, huh?"

"Apart from stuff for the Christmas upload?" Kirk asked as he picked up a flash drive from a nearby tray. "Not really."

"So it is business as usual, then." Yves nodded, scrolling through the emails. "Alright."

He then looked across the subject lines of the various emails. He heard Kirk plop down at another computer behind him, cracking his knuckles as he sat back. "Ya mind if I start processing our next upload?" Kirk asked. "Toby's already gone and edited the whole thing, and it's looking hot as ever!"

"Sure," Yves replied. "Just be sure to let me see it before you start processing it, I want..."

And then, Yves stopped, his gaze suddenly settling onto a new email at the top of the chain. He blinked once, seeing Colton's name on the subject line, and then turning to look at the recipient. He frowned, leaning back.

He then turned to Darren, who had just stood up to stretch. "Darren, you said Colton's older brother was named Todd, right?" asked Yves.

"Yeah," Darren said. He paused, noting Yves' upturned brow and the way his foot muscles seemed more tense than usual. "Why?"

Yves slowly turned back to the computer, opening the top email in the chain. "Just remind me, he did change all of his emails after, right?"

"Yeah," said Darren. He then leaned over Yves' shoulder, looking at the email as Yves read over it. "Even his school email got changed."

Yves nodded, before turning his attention to the full email:

"To whom it may concern,

I believe that you have employed my younger brother Colton among your models. I am not sure if he has told you what happened in his family recently, but his father kicked him out. I have been left with no way to contact him due to his father's access of all of his accounts: our only way to reach him is now this.

I wish to reach out to Colton. Our last conversation was left on a rather sour note, and I told him I believed you were grooming him. I don't know if this plea will fall on deaf ears, but my wife tells me I have to try regardless. If you would be able to get me in contact with him, please let me know: I miss him, and I want to salvage whatever is left of our relationship.

If you wish to give me a call, I can be reached at 862-710-3899. I would prefer a communication via telephone call, but you are welcome to respond to this email. No matter what, I hope you respond somehow.

Yours, with hope,

-Todd Williams"

Yves nodded, bowing his head as he thought about this. Darren nodded as well, patting Yves on the shoulder. Yves then turned, noticing that Kirk had also stood up and walked over there, also reading the email.

"Well, looks like that shoe's dropped," Kirk said. He rapped his fingers against the desk, looking to Yves. "You're going to call, right?"

"Of course," said Yves. He then turned to Darren. "Darren, could you go downstairs and greet Vogel when he gets here? I get the feeling this will be a long conversation." With this, he stood up, reading the email and dialing this Todd's telephone into his phone.

"Of course." Darren nodded, pausing at the door as he left. "Let us know how it goes."

With a short nod, Darren left the room. As soon as he did, Yves nodded to Kirk.

"You have that recording app on the phone, right?" the dragon asked.

Kirk nodded, pulling out his phone. "I guess I let you do the talking, eh?"

"Yeah," Yves replied. He exhaled. "Just covering all our bases here."

With this, Yves hit the call button. He quickly put the phone on speaker as Kirk hit record on the cell phone. The large bunny sat back, rotating his shoulders once and looking at Yves, a rare look of concern on his face. Yves only gave a single nod as the call connected, the two of them hearing the dialtone ring twice before the call came through.

"Hello, this is Todd Williams, how may I help you?" The voice on the other end sounded rather like a somewhat deeper Colton.

Yves then sat down on a bench. "Yes, hello, this is Yves Lamontagne," he said. "I'm the guy who runs operations at Dragon Rabbit. You emailed me just now about Colton?"

Yves' ears picked up a brief gulp, before there was a brief pause. At the end of it, he heard a chair shift on the other line.

"O-oh?" he asked. "You're Dragon Rabbit?"

"Yes," Yves replied. He shifted in his chair. "Just so you know, I have my buddy Kirk with me, and we're recording this conversation."

"Recording it?" Todd's voice seemed genuinely confused.

Yves nodded. "This is strictly for legal purposes," the dragon replied. "I like to have record of every phone conversation I have relating to our models, just in case our models are harmed in any way. We take their safety very seriously."

"O-oh..." Todd swallowed rather loudly. "Yeah, OK. That's fine." He paused briefly. "Sorry, I'm still getting over the fact you replied so fast. I mean, I only sent that email ten minutes ago!"

Kirk chuckled at this, but he said nothing. Yves, however, placed his arm on the computer desk. "We happen to have a model running behind on a shoot today," the dragon replied. He sighed, looking down. "Not Colton, if you were wondering. He hasn't been in the mood to shoot with us since he returned from Indiana." He sighed, looking down. "Not that I blame him, considering what happened over Christmas."

"So he told you what happened." Todd's statement came out rather quietly, the voice sinking into the deepest reaches of his baritone.

"He did," said Yves.

"Did he go to you guys?" asked Todd.

Yves nodded, his tail shifting behind him as Kirk adjusted his seat. "Yes," he said. "The first thing he did was call Darren from the Indianapolis airport, when he was able to get a hold of someone willing to let him call." He leaned forward, his opposite forearm resting on his thigh. "When he came back, he stayed with Darren until the school semester started up. He's back in his fraternity house now."

"Oh, I see..." Yves heard a nervous chuckle. "I... I have to say, this isn't what I was expecting to hear. I was expecting complete silence."

Yves stood up, stretching one of his wings out. "Colton told me he wanted to keep contact with you," he said. "That is good enough for me."

Todd paused for a second. Yves was not sure what to imagine, but he knew something was turning in the older shark's mind. "I see..." Yves heard a sniffle from the other line, and then a brief muzzling of another sound.

Yves' nod was solemn and slow as he took this in. He felt Kirk place his hand on his shoulder, a motion he acknowledged with a brief nod before he looked back to the phone. "He told me that you were just reconnecting?"

"He came out to me while we were walking around Indianapolis to reconnect," Todd replied, his voice so quiet Yves found himself pulling the phone closer to himself and Kirk. "We never kept in great contact, and I felt like we were just getting to know each other again when dad...." Yves heard another light sniffle from the other end. "When he kicked Colton out. Didn't even have the face to kick Colton out while I was there. Guess it's good for him, I probably would have knocked the old man out if he'd tried."

Yves bowed his head forward, feeling a well of pity spring up within him. As it did, his mind began to travel places: he wondered if getting Colton on a call with his older brother was really the way to go about this. Everything was also lining up to how Colton was speaking about it, so if Colton did want that connection...

He then turned to Kirk, and as his eyes met the bunny's, he saw the same look of pity. Kirk nodded once, blinking some moisture out of his eyes as he turned his head to the phone.

Finally, Yves exhaled, leaning against the back of the chair as he sat down and flexed his wings. "I see," said Yves. "Would you want to come see him?"

"You... you'd be willing to let us do that?" asked Todd, his voice a little quieter and whispery.

Yves shrugged. "I normally would not suggest that as a solution, but there are exceptions to the rules," he said. "And this looks like a very important exception for everyone."

"Oh... Oh good." Todd sighed. "Can I talk to my wife about it first? I think we might be able to spare some time next week, but I want to be sure."

"Yes," said Yves. "Feel free to call me back at this number."

"Of course," said Todd. It was then that Yves noticed that Todd's voice was breaking. "Thank you. He... Colton talked about you while he was here, kept talking about how you and everyone he worked with were good people. I'm... starting to see that now."

Yves smiled at this comment. "He's got a good head on his shoulders," he said. "Let me know what your wife thinks, and then we'll talk later tonight."

"Thank you," Todd repeated. "I will talk with you then."

"I look forward to that call," Yves replied.

"Likewise. Bye-bye."

And as Todd ended the call, Yves thought that he heard a distinct increase in Todd's volume. He thus stood there, contemplating the phone call. It would take a little bit of time, but the gears in his head were already turning on how he could get this to happen.

"I guess we better get planning, huh?" asked Kirk.

Yves nodded, standing up and walking to the door. "Yes," he said. "We better get planning..."

----**----

One Week Later...

Colton entered the frat house, his backpack balanced on the one shoulder. As he entered, he noticed Andrew and Mike seated at the couch, video game controllers in their hands. He noticed Coach Cappelletti off to the side shoving a Dutch oven into the oven, closing the oven door and exhaling as he turned.

The ram caught sight of the lithe shark, grinning at him as he exhaled. "Oh, hello Colton," he said. "How was class today?"

Mike and Andrew overheard this, and as soon as they did Colton heard the game's soundtrack stop instantly. The shark shrugged, exhaling gently as he stepped further into the frat house.

"Not bad," he replied. "Nothing super eventful happened."

"That's really the best news." Mike turned, the deer turning his torso over. "You and Coach had a meeting with the financial office earlier, right? How'd that go?"

"Not too bad," Colton replied. He shrugged. "I just have to get my paperwork signed, and I'm now in charge of my own finances." Colton paused, before sitting on the couch and exhaling. "Still... Having to pay my own college bills now. That's..." He turned to gaze at the floor, sighing heavily. "It's still so weird to think I have that now. And now that I don't have dad handling those finances..."

Andrew smiled, draping an arm over Colton's shoulders and drawing him close. "You'll be alright, bro," he said. "At least you've got a job that pays a good amount." He glanced to the side. "It may not be great for future endeavors, but it pays the bills."

"And hey, look at it this way: you only have to worry about loans for one, two semesters at the most," Mike pointed out. "I think there are lots of other guys in your position worse off."

"I know..." Colton sighed, closing his eyes. "Still, I guess that's it, huh? I'm officially separated from the family."

Andrew and Mike both sighed, nodding along slowly. "I can't imagine what that feels like," Andrew admitted. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Colton sighed, tapping his foot against the floor. "Not really," he said. He then turned to Andrew, pulling the wolverine in with his free arm. "But thanks. I appreciate that you're there."

"Hey, we gotta have_someone_ as your bro, don't we?" asked Andrew. He chuckled. "It wouldn't be a frat if we didn't!"

Colton chuckled at this, exhaling as he pulled himself close to his fraternity brother. He let that warmth linger just a little bit, even as Mike patted Colton's other shoulder comfortingly. The seconds seemed to stretch on as they held this position for a little while, the game in front of them almost forgotten.

And then, Andrew smiled. "Hey, so Mike and I were playing some Smash," he said. "If you wanted to join in, we'd be down."

Colton grinned at this, before standing up and walking to get another controller from under the TV. "You know me," he said, his sharp teeth glinting in the light. "I'm always down for Smash."

"Good," said Mike. "Three stock match like usual?"

"Yeah." Colton then stretched his fingers out, rejoining his frat brothers on the couch as soon as he did. "We'll see how well I do against a guy who's usually in Smash tourneys!"

"Oh, we'll see," Mike replied. "I've been a touch out of practice lately, you know!"

"Yeah, but even at you're worst you're still better than us," Andrew replied. "Trust me, you've been kicking my ass pretty well this past hour, with Colton in the mix it'll be--"

It was then that the four of them heard a loud rap on the door. Colton looked back to the door as Coach Cappelletti moved towards it. Colton frowned, looking over to the doorway as Coach opened it. And then, Colton watched as the coach's head reared back.

"Darren?" he asked. "I wasn't aware Colton was shooting anything tonight."

Upon hearing the croc's name, Colton pushed himself off the couch with rather great force.

"He's not." There was that gruff voice, but something about it seemed almost on the verge of dropping the Bayou accent everywhere. "Is he here?"

"Just got back from class," Coach Cappelletti replied. The ram then glanced to Colton. "And he just sat down to play some Smash with the frat bros."

"Oh good."

Colton's tailfin stiffened, the appendage going completely straight in just a second. He blinked in disbelief, unable to believe he had just heard that voice come from the doorway. His mind began to race: his eyes widened, his gaze remaining trained on the door as it opened out a little more. Darren stood at the door, bowing his head to Coach Cappelletti and giving Colton a good view of who stood behind.

As soon as he saw the signature tail of a fellow lemon shark, Colton found he had to bring his arm back to keep from falling off the couch.

"Means I can talk to..."

And there Todd Williams was, tall as ever and eyes shining brighter than they had in years. Behind him, his wife came in, holding a little shark pup close to her breast. It did not take long for their eyes to meet, and as Colton sat there, he placed his hand on his breast, feeling his heart pound against his hand.

"Todd..." Colton said breathlessly.

Todd Williams nodded, before slowly walking over to Colton. The two of them regarded each other in silence, Todd's jaw working for a second before he promptly shut it. Colton could not blame him: his own jaw had tensed up, both out of a need to open and out of a realization that he had very little he could open with. Colton felt all the eyes in the room burn into the backs of their skulls, and it was a very intrusive feeling.

But it was ultimately Darren who broke the ice. "Well, I reckon this'll handle itself," he said. He then turned to Coach Cappelletti. "I've got somethin' in my car I've been meaning to look at, Coach Cappelletti. You mind helping me?"

The ram nodded. "Sure thing, Darren." He then turned to Andrew and Mike. "And I'm sure the other guys have rooms to tend to, right?"

The ram immediately followed this up by gesturing to the stairs with a rapid head motion. Colton did not see what happened behind him, but he felt the shift in the weight on the couch almost as soon as Mike passed in front of his vision.

"O-oh, sure!" said Mike, the cadence of his words faster than usual. The tall buck made his way to the staircase. "I, uh, got homework I should probably do."

"Yeah, same," said Andrew, who similarly moved quicker than Colton thought he could. "And, uh, party prep. That too." He chuckled nervously. "We'll be back down in about thirty minutes!"

And with this, everyone else vacated the living room, with Darren and Coach Cappelletti closing the frat house door behind them and with Mike and Andrew racing up the stairs with pounding footsteps. This thus left Colton, Todd, and Amanda alone. It was not lost on him that Amanda kept little Alyssa close to her breast, rubbing her back gently as she approached.

But it was Todd who cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence. "You look good, Colton," he said.

Colton nodded, before turning and sitting down on the couch proper. "Thanks," he said. He sighed, looking to the ceiling. "Has Alyssa gotten bigger?"

"Great White pups tend to grow faster than lemon shark pups, you know," Amanda commented. Colton looked up, watching as she grew closer. "Do you mind if we sit on the couch?"

Colton shook his head, patting the spots on the couch next to him. "Go ahead."

Todd and Amanda followed suit, the two of them sitting on either side of Colton. As he sat down, Todd nodded, exhaling gently. "So Darren told me you can manage payments?"

"That's the hope," Colton replied. He exhaled, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart. "I'm a little nervous, but I think I'll be able to handle it."

"Perhaps," said Todd. He then exhaled, looking back to the floor. "I think you're stronger than you think, Colton. You'll be able to handle it."

"I hope you're right."

With this, another silence settled between the two of them. Strangely to Colton, however, it was far less tense than he expected: the air did not feel as thick as he always thought it would be at this meeting. He saw nothing judgmental in the way his older brother glanced at him: the only twinkle in his eye was the bright glint of relief, and as Colton looked on he noticed that Todd's head was turned entirely to him.

Finally, Colton exhaled deeply, looking up to Todd. "So what happened when you got back to dad's place?"

Todd shrugged. "I think we noticed something was wrong when we got home to my parents downstairs acting as if you weren't there," he said. "And then we checked your room to find it mostly empty."

Amanda nodded, cradling Alyssa in her arms. "There were... words exchanged," she said. She then looked to little Alyssa, reaching her hand forward to pet her head. "He might have insulted Alyssa again."

Colton nodded, shaking his head as he leaned forward. "I'm sorry," he said.

"No, don't apologize for that," said Todd. He exhaled, shaking his head. "It's not your fault."

"Still, if I hadn't been caught..." Colton glanced to the floor, tapping his foot as he let his statement hang in the air. "And I could have handled that cougar grocery dude a bit better than I did. I just... I panicked, and here we are."

But Amanda shook her head. "If it hadn't been that, it would've been something else down the line," she said. She then scooted closer to Colton, pressing a hand against his shoulder. "Todd told me the truth after that, but when we asked your mother if that cougar had said anything else your father kept telling her to say nothing. All your father talked about was how you were giving in to perversion. He didn't give any details."

"And then he said you were dead to him." Todd shook his head, and Colton could see a little bit of moisture gather in the space where his eyelids met as they closed. "It... opened a lot of floodgates."

"Let's just say that after that conversation, we left that house and waited for the next flight back to Newark," Amanda replied. She took a moment to rock little Alyssa there. "Mom and dad were really happy we changed plans, until we told them that you had been kicked out of the house for being gay."

Todd shrugged. "My inlaws never really liked dad, as it turned out," he said. He took a deep breath in, before looking down. "They were practically baying for blood when they found out what happened to you."

"So you haven't talked to dad either, I guess?" Colton asked. He lifted his head up, leaning back to look his brother in the eye.

"Yeah," said Todd. He opened his eyes, adjusting his position so he could face Colton a little bit more easily. "I haven't talked to him in a while." He looked to the crease in the couch cushions, his fingers tapping against the cushions. "And if I'm being honest, I don't think I want to talk to him for a little while more."

The younger lemon shark nodded, his tail finally relaxing against the back cushions. As he realized how tense it must have been, he leaned back, looking to Todd as the older shark held himself with a slightly hunched back and his other hand nestled firmly in his lap.

Finally, Colton looked to the door. "I'm a little surprised you came in with Darren," he said.

"Yeah, that was... partly my idea," Amanda replied.

Colton blinked, turning around to look at his sister-in-law in surprise. "Yours?"

Todd shrugged. "Well, my father-in-law suggested it when I told him we didn't know the name of your work place," he commented. "He suggested Googling you and the names of your friends. We finally found Dragon Rabbit that way, and then we sent the email through the fan portal." He shrugged. "It was a long shot, but better than nothing, really."

Colton nodded, remembering how he had to change all of his email addresses after how his father had taken his phone away. "Yeah," Colton replied. He then looked back to Todd. "Who got back to you?"

"Yves," said Todd. He shrugged. "He was more than happy to tell us what was up with you, how you were faring, and all that."

It was then that Todd leaned forward, finally shifting his position onto his knees as he placed a hand on Colton's shoulder. It was that same contact from back when Colton had first come out to him, and the younger shark could not help but feel the same rush of warmth from that as he did back then. It took Colton's breath away for a brief second, and as he looked up he saw the way Todd's eyes glistened with moisture.

"He told me that you did want to talk to me again," said Todd. He then glanced to the side. "And he also said that he'd be more than happy to make it happen in whatever way he could."

"He technically paid for our plane tickets here," said Amanda. "And more."

Colton blinked, fresh moisture coming to his eyes. On the one hand, he had not asked Yves to do any of this. On the other hand, though, he felt a warmth swell up in his heart: this really had been all he wanted, and to see that Yves facilitated it without a second thought...

Colton sniffled, shaking his head. "That's... a little unlike him, I'll admit," he said. He chuckled good-naturedly. "He's the consummate professional, it's not like him to organize family reunions."

"Well, as he told us when he picked us up from the airport, sometimes part of professionalism is making sure his stars felt comfortable with him and the others," Todd said. "And in this case, that included making sure we got a chance to talk again." He then exhaled, offering a smile. "I was wrong about them." He then bowed his head forward, the moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes. "I'm glad they were there for you when I couldn't be."

Colton had not realized there was tension in his shoulders until he felt them lighten up at that statement. The rush of joy that flowed through his veins only made his limbs more relaxed: in response, Colton scooted closer to his brother, placing his hands on his arms.

Todd nodded, tears flowing past his cheeks. "I should've stayed home with you that morning," he replied. He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't blame yourself for that," Colton replied. "The way dad kicked me out was underhanded, that's not your fault." He met Todd's regretful gaze head-on, giving him a smile. "I'm just glad you're here now."

"Same." Todd bowed his head, inhaling gently as he looked at Colton. "And I'm glad you're OK."

Colton nodded. There was a second of silence between the two of them, and it was then that Colton found himself wiping another errant tear. Todd's first tears began to stream down his cheeks at that moment, the dam finally breaking. Colton watched the tear roll down his face, wondering how long he had been looking forward to seeing this.

They both lunged for each other at the same time, pulling each other into the tightest hug either of them could have imagined giving the other. Colton nestled his head into Todd's chest at that point, his tears spilling onto the older shark's shirt.

"I'm glad you're here," Colton replied.

"Same." Todd rubbed Colton's back. "And I'm not going away anytime soon."

They held this position for several more seconds, Colton vaguely aware of Alyssa's happy gurgling behind him. There was a warmth in the air that Colton had not felt before: it was a rather comforting one, and as he settled into Todd's torso he wished he could stay with it forever.

Thus, he pulled back, before exhaling and turning to Amanda. "So I know it's a frat house and frat brothers can get a little rowdy, but most of my bros are pretty respectful," he said. "You're welcome to stay with us for dinner if you want."

Amanda smiled at this, but shook her head. "Your friend Kirk had a better idea," she replied. "It's a little last minute, but he thought we could do with a little celebratory dinner to celebrate you two talking again."

"Yeah," said Todd. "We'll have to let him know those plans are still on."

At this, Colton chuckled, pulling his legs in. "Damn, these guys think of everything, don't they?" he asked.

"Yep." Todd smiled, pulling out his phone. "But first, little man, I need your new contact info. I'm guessing you didn't just keep your old phone number, after all."

Colton smiled, pulling his new phone out and opening it to the home screen. "Nope," he replied.

But as he opened up the phone portion, Colton paused, before turning to look up at his older brother. He found himself breathless, having to take a second to remember to breathe as he looked to the older shark. He closed his eyes, before bowing his head forward.

"Oh, and Todd?" he asked.

Todd paused, his phone in his hands. "Yes, Colton?" he asked.

Colton exhaled, smiling softly as he looked up at his brother. "You're the best."

The warmth that blossomed across Colton's chest at that moment was the most profound rush of heat he'd felt since he left Indianapolis. It was a feeling that only intensified as Todd smiled at him, bringing a hand onto Colton's shoulder and squeezing it.

"This time, we're not dropping contact so quickly," he said.

And for once, Colton echoed that in his head, knowing that it would remain true if he could help it.