{"sf1_id":1686470,"sf2_id":"rn6b0Pkn","title":" The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 11)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":2889,"posted_at":"2021-02-18T15:26:40.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Alternate Reality","Anon","Boy","Brother","Bunny","Classroom","Couple","Emo","Fight","Girl","Green text","Greentext","HMOFA","Halloween","Heterosexual","High School","Hmofa/","Human","Kissing","Plot Development","Rabbit","Siblings","Slow burn","Young Romance","anthro/human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1686470-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-11","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/rn6b0Pkn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/87/87/87874396-7a5a-4d6f-9023-d0c50565eecd","description":"You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  \n  \nAbout this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.  \n  \nCover: [https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q](https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q)  \nSam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) [https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT](https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT)  \nFan art collection: [https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv](https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv)  \nAccompanying playlist (WIP): [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J)  \nAlternative link: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078)  \nTotal word count: 147,552 words","content":"\\\u003eThat something involves you shimmying out of the open window onto the roof\n\n\\\u003eYou crawl out of the frame and plant two palms on the gritty shingles\n\n\\\u003eYou notice three things\n\n\\\u003eOne: the air out here is free, but it feels like swallowing ice water with every breath you take\n\n\\\u003eTwo: the rooftop shingles paint black streaks on your palms and the hem of your priest robes\n\n\\\u003eThree: Above your head, the moon hangs like a fattened guillotine, so close that you swear to God with a good sized ladder you could reach up and tear a hunk off like it was cheap styrofoam\n\n\\\u003eThis HAS to be fucking up the tides and the oceans\n\n\\\u003eFull moons for a whole week? Yeah, shit is fucked in coastal towns\n\n\\\u003eYou stand up at full height on the rooftop, staring up at the bold moon\n\n\\\u003eIt's hard to believe a bunch of angsty teenagers with a magic book could have this much of an impact on an ancient celestial body\n\n\\\u003eAnd it's even harder to believe that a communist, an anxious bunny, a coward, an asshole and one perfectly normal vixen are going to push it back into place tomorrow night\n\n\\\u003eYou hear the sound of struggle and turn to see Sam crawling out of the window\n\n\\\u003eWith the bone-white light of the moon draped across her like a thin sheet, she looks like a specter\n\n\\\u003eWhen she looks up at you, sweat kissing her brow, she tries to smile, but the exhaustion is plain enough to turn her smile into a strained frown\n\n“Careful now.\" You crouch down on instinct. “One good tumble and you're going over the edge.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe squeaks and freezes up halfway out of the window\n\n\\\u003eGood going Anonymous\n\n\\\u003eYou scared her\n\n“That's just like, the worst case scenario. Let me put it like this,\"\n\n\\\u003eYou release your grasp on her and lock eyes\n\n\\\u003eYou love the way her eyes shine like gold nuggets hit with flashlights in the dark\n\n\\\u003eYou love the way they're so full, like they could hold all of her troubles and pain in there, and blink them away\n\n\\\u003eYou love the way she lives life as an art form\n\n\\\u003eYou love he-\n\n\\\u003e\"Y-Yes?\" Sam says. “W-What w-were you g-g-going to s-s-say?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou must have been staring for too long, lost in the wisps of your thoughts\n\n“I meant to say: I may be drunk, but I promise, I won't let you fall.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou extend a hand to her\n\n\\\u003eWith a slight hesitation, she takes it\n\n\\\u003eHer palms are slick with sweat, and trembling from exhaustion yet you interlock your fingers all the same\n\n\\\u003eWith a determined force, you pull Sam through the window\n\n\\\u003eAnd once again, you don't know your own strength, or how weak Sam is, because she flings towards you with less-than-acrobatic grace\n\n\\\u003eThankfully, you planted your feet deep into the shingles, so instead of knocking you down like a holy bowling pin, you lean steady her against you, like a tree in a storm\n\n\\\u003eWhich isn't all that hard, actually\n\n\\\u003eHer body is soft and small against your own, lithe and feminine\n\n\\\u003eYou wrap your arms around the back of her neck and pull her tight to keep both of you from rocking backwards and taking an involuntary swan dive into a backyard without a pool\n\n\\\u003eIt feels like you might break her if you squeeze too tight, but you can't help it\n\n\\\u003eInstead, she returns your gesture, wrapping her arms around your waist to 'steady herself'\n\n\\\u003eShe cinches her body tight against yours\n\n\\\u003eAnd for a moment, in complete stasis, you two stand atop that rooftop, locked together like two pieces of a puzzle\n\n\\\u003eYou can feel her heart hammering against your chest, the heat of her body radiating off her, the catch of air leaving her chest when she sighs into you\n\n\\\u003eShe stands on her toes and looks up into your eyes\n\n\\\u003eAnd her smile is bigger than the moon\n\n\\\u003e\"T-Thanks for c-c-catching me,\" she says, color high in her cheeks\n\n\\\u003eYou instinctively look away, hiding your relief and the embarrassment now pressing color into your nervous body\n\n“I told you I wouldn't let you fall.\"\n\n\\\u003eFrom the corner of your eyes, you can still see her looking up into your face, finding serenity in your soft features and boyishness\n\n\\\u003eYou settle on her thin, pinkish lips\n\n\\\u003eMagnets aren't even attracted to each other this much\n\n\\\u003eYou almost lean in and-\n\n\\\u003eSomething catches your eye\n\n\\\u003eSomething at the apex of the roof\n\n\\\u003eTwo lone figures, silhouetted against the moon like two figures on a canvas\n\n\\\u003eOne of them has a tail that's fanning back and forth and a pair of sharp ears perked high into the air\n\n\\\u003eThe silhouette couldn't be more obvious to you\n\n\\\u003eJenna\n\n\\\u003eAnd\n\n\\\u003eThe person next to her must be Mike and\n\n\\\u003eOh my god\n\n\\\u003eYour heart leaps into your throat as you see Jenna's shadowy figure lean into Mike, her predatory face pressed against his\n\n\\\u003e\"S-Something w-w-wrong?\" Sam asks, still buried in your chest\n\n“N-No, nothing's wrong. In fact…\"\n\n\\\u003eThe world is just spinning a little too fast\n\n\\\u003eOr that's the beer\n\n\\\u003e\"Y-Your he-heart is beating r-really fast,\" Sam coos. “I can h-hear it like a d-d-drum.\"\n\n\\\u003eA cruel idea springs to mind\n\n\\\u003eYou figure you owe Mike this for pummeling the shit out of you on Tuesday\n\n\\\u003eAnd really, just in general, for being a calloused ass\n\n“Things are about to get better. Follow me, and be as quiet as you can,\" you say, disengaging from Sam, much to the bunny's disappointment\n\n\\\u003eYou crouch low and try to distribute your weight as evenly as you can\n\n\\\u003eYou even spread your arms to keep balance as you climb up the slope of the rooftop towards its shingled summit, where the lone figures of Mike and Jenna now sit, awash in the revealing light of the moon\n\n\\\u003eSam is much better at this than you are\n\n\\\u003eShe must have more experience being stealthy, because she manages to pass you on your way up\n\n\\\u003eShe casts an expectant look over her shoulder\n\n\\\u003eMike and Jenna don't seem to be paying attention to anything except each other\n\n\\\u003eAnd to each other's tongues\n\n\\\u003eAnd right when they break apart, staring romantically into one another, you announce your presence with crescendo of claps and whistling\n\n\\\u003eJenna and Mike both jump almost a solid foot into the air, putting Sam's jet-pack reflexes to shame\n\n\\\u003eYou crawl up behind them both\n\n“God, you two are precious, you know that? Just absolutely precious.\"\n\n\\\u003eThe vixen's blush is so bright you swear you can her cheeks glowing in the dark\n\n\\\u003eAnd…\n\n\\\u003eOh that's just beautiful\n\n\\\u003eMike throws his head to the side in a pout\n\n\\\u003eBut really, it's so you can't see that he's also blushing like a school girl\n\n\\\u003e\"I don't suppose it's too cliche to say 'this isn't what it looks like?'\" Jenna whispers\n\n\\\u003eYour smile widens as you and Sam scoot up next to them and plop down on the roof\n\n\\\u003eHappy now?\n\n“Far too late, my dear. And you-\" you level an accusatory finger at Mike “-Do you have protection?\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna pales\n\n\\\u003e\"P-Protection?\" She stammers, shrinking into her bumblebee costume\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon, shut the fuck upppp.\" Mike buries his face into his palms\n\n“I'm serious. I know you don't pay attention in Biology with Mr. Bolm, but you still have the right to bear your third arm — for now.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"His WHAT?\" Jenna shrieks\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon, don't answer that,\" Mike commands you\n\n\\\u003eWell, you've had your fun\n\n“Awww you crazy kids.\" Your tone is mocking. “I'm just teasing.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm older than you are, you assfucker,\" Mike hisses, turning his focus back onto the moon\n\n\\\u003eAnything to distract from the fact that his face is burning red, made all the more obvious by the fact that he's hopelessly pale now\n\n\\\u003eWhatever happened to not liking anthro women?\n\n\\\u003eQuietly, Sam whispers in your ear: “D-Do humans h-have t-t-three arms somewhere?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou slap your palm over your mouth\n\n\\\u003eIt's all you can do to keep down the laughter\n\n\\\u003eSam looks towards Jenna for guidance. The fox — still helplessly crammed between you and Mike — mouths something at the bunny\n\n\\\u003eAnd now you're the only one not wearing hot scarlet across your face, as the realization strikes Sam with the expediency of an iceberg\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qbk-xo6Zqs\u0026list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J\u0026index=9\u0026t=0s\n\n\\\u003eThe four of you fall silent, save for the distant thrum of bass from the house, or the shrieks and shouts of drunken teenagers spilling (or stumbling) out into the backyard\n\n\\\u003eThe moon looks so swollen in the sky, hanging above Ranchview as if dangling on a single, translucent thread\n\n\\\u003eA chill gust sweeps past you\n\n\\\u003eYou tighten your arms around your body, shivering\n\n\\\u003eMike and Jenna don't seem to be too bothered — Mike's jacket should keep him plenty warm, and you're sure Jenna's bumblebee costume is padded\n\n\\\u003eHow you wish your were a bumblebee and not a knock-off priest\n\n\\\u003eYou feel a bright spot of heat nuzzle up into your side\n\n\\\u003eSam pressed herself up against you\n\n\\\u003eYour eyes meet for a quick second like flint and steel striking each other\n\n\\\u003eAnd you're about to say something\n\n\\\u003eBut then you turn your focus onto something behind you\n\n\\\u003eGrunting\n\n\\\u003eNoise\n\n\\\u003eStruggle\n\n\\\u003eA dark shadow crawls up the rooftop\n\n\\\u003eIn your addled state you almost scream and hurl yourself forward off the roof to escape\n\n\\\u003eYou tense up, ready to explode forward and take that promised swan dive\n\n\\\u003eA cloud rolls past the moon, releasing a flood of white light that strikes the dark figure like a spotlight from God\n\n\\\u003eOh\n\n\\\u003eIt's Alex, and his arms are loaded with beers\n\n\\\u003eYou spin the rest of your body to face him\n\n“Yooooo!\" You call out\n\n\\\u003e\"What is up comrades?\" He says with a hoarse grunt. “Thought I'd come join my co-conspirators on this monument to man's misery.\"\n\n\\\u003eHe plants himself next to Sam and starts unloading beers from his arms, passing them down the line\n\n\\\u003eSam takes one and examines it, as if unsure of what it is\n\n\\\u003eYou pluck one and twist the lid, releasing a sharp hiss of pressure. It'll be shitty beer, and you're already cold and slightly drunk, but moments like these feel right for a brew\n\n\\\u003eJenna cautiously takes hers and sniffs at it, grimacing at the sharp scent of hops\n\n\\\u003e\"So,\" Mike says, sitting back on his palm and throwing back his beer. “What brings the great Alexi up to our humble perch?\"\n\n\\\u003eAlexi sucks down on his drink and issues a triumphant belch\n\n\\\u003e\"My work is seldom appreciated by those who don't understand it,\" he says, as if you're supposed to know what that means without context\n\n\\\u003eHis voice is ragged and strained\n\n\\\u003eHe must have been shouting for a good after you and Sam dipped\n\n\\\u003e\"I got them too riled up. I swear, they're about to riot down there,\" he continues. “I'd approve, of course, but I didn't want to be the center of it. Buncha rabid animals.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou cringe at the utterance of the 'r' word, but Sam and Jenna don't seem to care all that much\n\n\\\u003e\"Good work comrade,\" Mike says. He sets his empty beer down tenuously on the slope of the roof and leans his head on Jenna's shoulder. “Sew the seeds of the revolution.\"\n\n\\\u003eHe sounds a million miles away\n\n\\\u003eDistant, yet happy\n\n\\\u003eThe vixen's head snaps left, then right, down the line of people, her face puffed up and red\n\n\\\u003eWhen you lock eyes, you see the request for permission in them\n\n\\\u003eYou shrug in indifference\n\n\\\u003eShe knocks the lid off the beer, and with eyes scrunched tight, brings it to her dark lips\n\n\\\u003eYou don't care what they do or what they drink\n\n\\\u003eYou're too at peace to care\n\n\\\u003eAround you the world seems to erupt in hormonal chaos and drunken debauchery\n\n\\\u003eSocial worlds you'll never be a part of\n\n\\\u003eThings you'll never do\n\n\\\u003eBut you like it better up here with your friends\n\n\\\u003eYou feel like a tiny raft adrift on a very large and unfamiliar ocean, and everyone of you is a torch against the darkness\n\n\\\u003eYou'll happily burn for them, together, like one big bonfire\n\n\\\u003eOr five logs leaning against one another in a blaze\n\n“Ever thought that this is what you'd be doing your senior year of high school? Fighting the forces of evil for a bunch of people who don't even know you exist?\" You wonder aloud\n\n\\\u003e\"Them down there?\" Jenna points a finger forward the knot of costumes moving around the backyard. “They know we exist. I think.\"\n\n“They know, but they don't care.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Gahhh don't get all emo on us, Anon,\" Mike says. “You keep talking like that you're going to start siding with the goths.\"\n\n“Bah, never. I'm not that much of a titanic idiot. Besides, I DO care about those kids down there. But I care more about the people up here on this roof.\u0026nbsp; That's why I'm doing this. And because I'm sick of being a coward, watching from the sidelines, running away from what scares me, hurting who I care about in the process.\"\n\n\\\u003eYour mind flashes back to Mr. Bolm and Gloria, both casualties of your cowardice\n\n\\\u003eAnd then there was Sam\n\n\\\u003eThe way you treated her for so long makes you physically cringe\n\n\\\u003eYou hope, in some way, you're setting things right\n\n\\\u003eAnd not just with her, but with yourself too\n\n\\\u003eYour heavy eyes flick down to her slight, pink lips, curled up in a shy smile\n\n\\\u003e\"Awwww we care about you too,\" Jenna adds, her voice flush with joy and the beginnings of inebriation\n\n\\\u003eIs this her first time drinking?\n\n\\\u003e\"You know what I care about?\" Alex says. “Changing things for someone somewhere. I wanna do something that matters. That's why I fight against oppression in whatever form it takes. Be it at The Shop N' Save, school, or even at this gathering-\"\n\n\\\u003e\"It's called a party,\" Mike cuts in. “Just call it a party. And I don't seem to recall you running for any sort of student office… ever. How exactly do you fight oppression?\"\n\n\\\u003e\"My existence is resistance,\" is Alex's retort\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm with you on doing something that matters, but that was a lame excuse and you know it.\"\n\n\\\u003eThe communist crusader shrugs and pulls back on his beer again\n\n\\\u003eWhen all reasoning and logic fails: beer\n\n\\\u003eBeer is a universal language\n\n\\\u003eIt's clear that this isn't the time or place to discuss thin-\n\n\\\u003e\"I-I wan-want to do something th-that matters t-too,\" Sam squeaks up.\n\n\\\u003eShe drops into a whisper. “I w-w-want to f-f-finally b-be brave.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou're a little shocked that she's actually talking on her own behalf for once, but then, registering her words, you start to nod\n\n\\\u003eDoing something that matters\n\n\\\u003eBeing brave\n\n\\\u003eNow those are ideas worth dying for\n\n\\\u003eThere's something to rally behind, whatever 'something that matters' is\n\n\\\u003eHow do you quantify it? How do you define what matters?\n\n\\\u003eDoes it matter?\n\n\\\u003eMaybe you can channel the pervasive energy of an idea or a goal, however nebulous it may be, and achieve something immeasurable?\n\n\\\u003eAs if all the great forces of evil and old and adult age were the clear sky, and you, your little group of friends, were the hurricane that would go nameless and uncategorized\n\n\\\u003eYou want to do something that matters\n\n\\\u003eYou want to stomach everything and keep it down — all the terror, the fear, the anxiety, the shame, the regret, the pain\n\n\\\u003eAll for something — and someone — that matters\n\n\\\u003eYou want to be brave, like Sam, who has already endured so much pain and hardship, who grows by leaps and bounds and strides every chance she gets\n\n\\\u003eAnd that's when you made your decision, settling again on her lips\n\n\\\u003eTwo things were happening in that moment:\n\n\\\u003eMike, Jenna and Alex were staring at you, shocked, their faces practically glowing in the pale moonlight\n\n\\\u003eAnd you were —consciously or unconsciously — wrapping your arm around Sam's slender waist, while her words pounded into your skull, in-step with your wild, hammering heart\n\n\\\u003e'Be brave'\n\n\\\u003eShe looks up at you, startled, at first, but she doesn't draw back when you bend your neck and lean forward\n\n\\\u003e'Be brave'\n\n\\\u003eHer eyes flutter shut before yours do\n\n\\\u003eShe leans up, towards you, drawing on the unconscious muscle memory that teaches birds to fly and fish to swim, to draw her arms around your neck and pull you close\n\n\\\u003e'Be brave'\n\n\\\u003eYour lips meet hers\n\n\\\u003eEvery heartbeat you spend there feels like it could drag on for eternity\n\n\\\u003eWith delicacy, you press your lips together\n\n\\\u003eHer fur tickles the tops of your lips\n\n\\\u003eYou taste the sweat, the salt, feel the palpability of her slender mouth tight against yours\n\n\\\u003eBefore you even realize what's happening, Sam tightens her arm against the back of your neck, further pressing you two together, breaking the parallel distance that spans separates you from her\n\n\\\u003eIt feels…\n\n\\\u003e…Like heaven in her arms\n\n\\\u003eLike wetness and fur, like comfort and grace\n\n\\\u003eAnd you start to tremble at the weight of everything crashing down on you all at once — the kiss, the alcohol, the night sky, your friends — but to Sam, that's all a galactic mile away\n\n\\\u003eThere's only you and her: doing something that matters","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1684784-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-10.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1688084-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-12.json"}}