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Chapter 5: The Faded Days of Summer, on with the Fall

The fleeting pages of summer had turned quickly for Tyler, Terry, Alex, and Shaun in their own individual ways. For Tyler and Alex, after summer school was finished, there were many days that they would spend down at the lakeshore whether it was down at the beach, the zoo, or further down south visiting the museums. Every other day during the week spending time with Terry, going to the arcade, exploring the city, or going to see movies at the local theatre, at least until the little Shepherd would go out to Gurnee to spend the weekend with Shaun.

Terry, while spending time with his friends on the days he wasn't with Ty and Alex, spent time by himself lost in deep thought, or with his dad when able, trying to work on them. He also had much on his mind when it came to the new school year. He was still going back to Wyatt, but his best friend wouldn't be with him this year. He would only get to see him after school was out, and now being with Alex, he was still probably going to see him less than he used to.

Shaun did his usual thing during the week, managing his clubs, occasionally calling Terry checking in on him and getting to catch up on the week's events with his brother and his boyfriend. He always looked forward to Friday when he would drive into the city. He would usually stop over by his parents for a quick visit and chat with them for a bit, chat with Alex and Ty if they were at the house, then pick up Terry. On occasion, he would have to go down to Terry's house if he wasn't hanging with the boys, to go and pick him up. He never came into the house, even to say hello to Jean. She would always come out to the car to greet him and chat a bit while waiting for Terry. Even though Michael was on the mend with being supportive of his son, Jean and Terry were definitely not ready to introduce the twenty-three-year-old as his son's boyfriend. It was just a little too soon for another shocker, so when going out to Gurnee was brought up, it was spun to Michael that Terry is going out there to spend time with a mentor.

The week before school was starting, Terry spent an amazing weekend out with Shaun. He decided he was going to take him to the theme park out by his house followed by a nice quiet rest of the weekend with many cuddles, pampering his little Shepherd.

Tyler had a good amount of stuff on his mind as well before summer's close. He still didn't know where he was going to go to school for his sophomore year. That wracked his nerves a bit, but then Zeta came home one afternoon, letting him know that Greg had referred her over to Near North, since it was close, Alex was attending that school, and the best part, the tuition was far cheaper than Wyatt was.

"Are you serious!? You mean, I...... this is so great mom!" exclaimed the young wolf. Zeta was equally pleased as well that she was able to get her son enrolled there. It would certainly save a little bit more money than having to ride the train and bus every day.

"Yes, I would agree" came from the she wolf. "Next week on Monday, they have scheduled a tour of the school for us, it will be at 10AM, where you will meet with administration faculty, and we will be picking up your books for the year". This sounded like a similar process to what Ty and his mom went through his first year of high school.

(Present Day)

Tyler grumbled at the nagging alarm clock buzzing in his ear. "Just leave me alone" he pouted, as he rolled over to hit the reset button. Even though this was his first day of the new school year and the first day at a new school, he wasn't too excited to get up and get the year started. Summer had gone by way to quickly and he wanted more time. Sadly, it was what it was, and he forced himself up to hobble out of bed.

He turned on his bedroom light and started sifting through his dresser grabbing underwear, his new school shirt, and a new pair of Khakis. He had to wear a uniform at this school, but it was much more comfortable and relaxed than his last school. His last school, he had to where polos and dress pants. Near North allowed the students to where khakis and a button up t-shirt that had the school's crest on it.

After laying his clothes on his bed, he padded to the bathroom to go brush his teeth and take a quick shower. As he turned on the sink, and spread tooth paste on his brush, he asked himself why he got up so early when his school commute was only half a block away. "Force of habit I guess" he thought to himself, scrubbing his chompers.

Finishing his oral care, he moved to the shower turning it on, letting the water get hot. Stepping in, he thought about what his classmates here would be like, what his teachers would be like, what the cafeteria would be like since it will be open now. The lunchroom was still closed during the school tour that he went to just a week ago. Lunch time was one of his favorite periods since it gave Tyler time to focus on his creative outlets in school, and not interfere with his normal classes.

The wolf finished his shower, shutting the water off and giving himself a strong shake before exiting and grabbing his towel. Being mostly dry, just damp, he padded back to his room and continued to finish drying off. Sitting on his bed, he started feeling as if he wanted to close his eyes again. He looked at the clock, it was only 7:15 AM, he didn't have to be in home room until 8:30 AM, he could doze off again if he wanted to. As tempting as the though was, he denied himself the urge, he was afraid of being late on the first day of class.

He finished getting dressed and went back into the bathroom to hang up his towel, then walked over to the refrigerator to find himself some breakfast. Down on one of the lower shelves, he found himself leftover pizza, so he grabbed the sealed bag, and started stuffing one of the small slices into his muzzle. Sitting down with the bag at the kitchen table, he pulled his backpack from the floor, looking through its contents making sure he had everything he needed in it for the first day of class.

Munching on his pizza and spacing out, he heard the storm door outside the kitchen door squeak open, "thunk thunk thunk" he heard the insulated knocking at the kitchen door. "Who is coming here this early, it's not even......" he got up and padded to the door, only to be greeted by a big white Pit bull and a big lick across is nose.

"Mornin' wolfie" came from the Pit as he gave him a meek smile.

"Good morning to you too handsome. I....... wasn't expecting you to come over this early."

The wolf moved away from the door and let the dog come into the house.

"I wanted to come over and spend a little time with you to before we had to go to school. I know we're probably going to have a couple classes together, but we won't know what periods they are until we actually get our schedule at homeroom."

"Wan shum peesha?" the wolf asked the Pit as he stuffed another chunk in his maw. Alex giggled as he reached for the bag and pulled a couple of pieces out and started nibbling.

"You're so graceful sometimes"

"Whuhh?!" Ty replied with a mouthful of food in his muzzle. Alex said nothing further, and he continued his giggling toward the dog's mannerisms.

"So, why are you up so early anyway?" Tyler asked after he finished swallowing his food.

"Well, I really did want to see you but, I also just couldn't sleep anymore, so I got up and get ready for school, and well, here I am. Why are you up so early, I thought I'd be just waking you up if anything?"

Tyler's ears flatten and he sunk down in his chair a bit. "I didn't want to get up, but I was used to getting up to get on the train by now, so...... I just stayed up I guess, didn't want to be late for the first day."

"Oh wolfie, you won't have to worry about that. I'd be stopping by to walk with you anyway, so no worries heheh, I got yer back", giving a brief wink after.

The boys continued munching on the bag of pizza until there was nothing left. Getting up to throw the bag in the trash, Ty looked over to the clock and saw the time, "It's only 7:50, what you wanna do? Still too early to head over, right?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah its early, but the school is still open, we could go down to the cafeteria....... see if anyone I know might be there, you could get the chance to meet new folks."

Tyler gave a small shrug, "yeah, that could be cool......Okay"

The Pit bull got up from his chair casually, grabbing his backpack. The wolf slowly followed suit. "Yer not really that nervous about today, are you wolfie?" asked the dog.

"No, not really. It's just.... weird, this is the first time in a long time that I have not gone to school with Terry. I mean, we didn't go to school together all the time or anything, but he was always waiting for me inside, ya know?"

Alex sighed, "I get you, but he'll still be around after school, and you'll be able to make some new friends as well. Besides, you got me now don't ya, ya big fuzzball?"

Ty smirked, "yeah.... I do heheh, but you're not on BFF level yet pink nose"

Alex huffed defensively, "Come again? What do you mean not on BFF level? I'm BBF level......BEST BOYFRIEND...... that's WAY higher" finishing his statement, giving the wolf a playful side eye.

"Well.... You do have me there" he snickered as he picked up his backpacked and they both padded to the door.

The boys left Tyler's house and padded down the street. Finally reaching the corner of the block, they waited until the light turned green and they had the walk sign before crossing the four-lane undivided throughway.

Approaching the entrance to the school were two pairs of incredibly large, very heavy, old world style doors, like you would see in a church. A dark chestnut stain adorned the wood. As the two canids walked through the door, there were two immediate options, the left stairwell, which went down toward the cafeteria, the guidance counselor's offices, and the school bookstore, or up to the classrooms, gym, music rooms, and science labs.

"Come on" came from the Pit bull as he grabbed Ty's paw and pulled him down the left stairwell. "I wonder how many students are down here right now."

As they approached the multiple door entrance to the school's cafeteria, there were already roughly fifty or so students in the chow line and sitting at the tables. Alex looked around to see if he could find any of his friends. Scanning the room, he saw a short lanky panther and a medium build athletic tiger.

"Hey! Eric, Marco, what's up?!" The Pit bull waved as he padded over to the felines, dragging Ty with him.

"Hey Alex!" came from Marco, the big striped cat. "Who's the new guy?"

"This here is Tyler, we're actually kinda neighbors. We bumped into each other this summer and his mom decided to transfer him from Wyatt."

Eric, the little panther chimed in "Well, it's nice to meet you Tyler, what year are you this year?"

Tyler looked at the cats and quietly replied, "I'm a sophomore this year."

Tyler had a "lost in thought" look on his face, did he want to say more? Should he just stay quiet? He wasn't an introvert, but he also didn't know these two, so he sat there quietly letting the 3 males continue their conversation.

"That's cool man, this is my second year too, this big guy here, this is his junior" explained the panther.

"So, uh......you guys do anything fun over the summer?" Eric asked.

Alex gave a shrug, "Yeah, I mean we did after summer school, we spent a lot of time down by the lake and downtown. How 'bout you?"

The panther shrugged, giving a casual response, "not a whole lot, gaming mostly."

The three boys looked at Marco, "Me? I went to basketball camp most of the summer, didn't really have any time to do anything else."

The 3 males shrugged and sat in silence for a minute or so. "So, Wyatt Tech huh?" the tiger questioned.

"Y-yeah...I really wanted to go there, by the end of the year, the school wasn't what I thought it would be. My mom refused to let me go to Shedd, so luckily Alex's dad talked to my mom, and he referred her for this school" the wolf explained.

"Cool" came from the larger cat. "I have some friends over there, they like it okay, its closer to where they live anyway. I hear it's still an all-male school yeah?"

"Yeah......Ty responded with an absent gaze on his face. "It was supposed to go co-ed my freshman year, but the change didn't happen for some reason, I guess they didn't get some construction finished or something."

"Hmm" came from the tiger. "Anyway, what classes you got? I can let you know how boring it's gonna be, since you are gonna be stuck in class for a really long time"

Tyler's ears perked up in surprise and a "deer in the headlights" look stuck to his face. He had forgotten that this school had shifted to block scheduling, instead of four quarters, each quarter was a semester, four classes a day, eighty-eight minutes each. Just as Tyler was about to respond to Marco, the five-minute warning bell rung for homeroom.

"Well, I guess that's for another time, anyway, it was nice to meet you man, and if you want to get on the B-ball team, let me now, you look like you can play"

Tyler only nodded as he picked up his backpack and slowly got up from his seat, looking back to see if Alex was following. The Pit bull and the panther right behind him, they made their way out of the cafeteria and up the stairs to the first floor. "We'll be in homeroom together, all like grades share a home room for like fifteen minutes, they'll do roll call, and tell use where our lockers are going to be."

The three boys padded their way into the classroom. A tall slender lady with long, very curly red hair sat at the front desk. She was wearing athletic clothing, with a whistle and visor on her head. "Sweet, Ms. Williams is fun, home room will be cool!" the Pit bull quietly exclaimed.

"You had her before?"

"Yeah, she teaches Phys Ed"

"Oh, okay cool"

Alex, Ty, and Eric found themselves a couple of seats together and sat down. Watching the rest of the students pour into the room. A couple of moments later, another buzzer went off, signaling the start of class.

"Alright, good morning guys! I hope everyone had a great summer. I do see some fresh faces this year, so for those of you who don't know me, my name is Katie Williams. I am going to be the sophomore homeroom teacher this year. I am also the P.E. teacher here, I'm sure some of you are going to be in one of my classes this year"

Ms. Williams stood up with a clipboard and a stack of papers in her hands. "I have everyone's class agendas for the quarter. I am going to do roll call, when you hear your name, come up and grab your agenda. Please be quick, I still have to show you the assigned locker section as well afterwards."

Ms. Williams started calling out names one by one in alphabetical order starting with A for last name. One by one, students had gotten up to retrieve their assignments, until she got to Tyler. "Dennison, Tyler Dennison". The wolf got up and walked toward the woman reaching out his paw to grab his paper. She smiled as he took it, Ty gave her a nod and smiled back. Tyler walked back to his desk, sitting there waiting as more names were called.

He sat there quietly looking over his agenda. "Lemme see" came from Alex".

"You haven't even got your schedule yet!"

"I know! I just want to see!" Alex yanked the paper out of Tyler's paw. Examining the document like he was some sort of forensic examiner, he let out quiet humming noises. "Yeah, these classes all seem pretty easy."

Tyler grabbed his schedule from Alex and looked over the document again. American Lit II, World Religions, Spanish 1, and Chemistry were his first through fourth period classes. He did feel like these were going to be interesting classes, hopefully the teachers were interesting as well. Eventually, Alex's name was called, and he got his schedule. Geometry, Film Analysis, Spanish I, and Biology I.

Eric listened as the two canids named off their classes, "man, bummer! I don't have anything with either of you this quarter."

Alex huffed, "aww, its okay buddy, you still see us around for sure."

As the final student's name was called, Ms. Williams addressed the class once more. "Okay guys and gals, we're going to head out into the halls and I'm going to show you the section of lockers that you are going to be using this year." Everyone slowly piled out of the class and out into the hallway, following their teacher. She walked all the way down to the opposite end of the hall and spoke while directing with her hands. "These two rows of lockers on each side are meant for you guys. I hope you all remembered to bring your locks. I know most of you didn't bring books today. Write down your locker numbers so you don't forget". Ty, Alex, and Eric looked for lockers close to each other, finally finding a few of them toward the edge of the hall. As she was getting ready to direct her class back into the classroom, the bell rang. "Alright guys, see you tomorrow, or later today! Have a good first day!"

Tyler snapped his lock onto the locker and looked at Alex, I guess I will see you at lunchtime?"

"Yeah, we'll chat in a bit!"

"Okay! See ya! Eric, I'll talk to you later too!"

Tyler had started walking back toward the end of the hallway where they came from, and then turning the corner to his first class. Making his way to his first period room, he walked through the door to see a short round female beaver standing in front of the chalk board. The bell rang moments later, and class started. "Good morning class, my name is Mrs. Edison I will be teaching American Lit II this quarter, I hope you are awake, because we are going to be going over a lot of stuff today." The teacher went over the day's itinerary as well as the dreaded class introductions. As time went by, Tyler had noticed one thing he hadn't noticed before. "There is no clock" After heavy discussion and a homework assignment for the week, the bell had finally rung, allowing students to make their way to the next class.

Tyler had padded his way up to the second floor to his next class. Walking through the entryway, stood a large burly built bear of a man with a long blond mane wrapped in a ponytail, and a thick neck length bushy beard. Ty looked for an open seat in the middle of the classroom, next to the windows. Moments later the bell rang again for the start of class. "Good morning all my name is Mr. McIntire, but you can just call me Mr. Mac. I'm going to be teaching world religions, there's a lot of interesting things that we are going to be going over this quarter, including some deep dark histories that regular history books aren't going to tell you about."

The class settled in after the usual first day formalities of introductions and explanations of the itinerary. The information that Mr. Mac was giving to the class was indeed interesting. Mr. Mac had pulled up an overhead projector with outline notes for the class to jot down into their notebooks. As captivating as the day's lesson was, Ty found himself looking around the room again, and for the second time today, he had noticed that there wasn't a clock in this room either. "I wonder if this is a thing in all the classrooms?"

The eighty-eight-minute class had again concluded at the tone of the bell. The wolf began picking up his backpack and walking out the door, it was lunch time. He made his way back to his locker to put his things away, and padded down to the basement, casually looking around to see if he could see his dog anywhere. Looking around, he did see some of the students from his earlier two classes. He had realized that he didn't really get the chance to meet his fellow classmates and converse with them because the classes had been so filled with information the first day that there wasn't really any time for it. "Maybe now would be the right time to meet folks."

As he started to walk over to the couple of students, when he felt a paw grab him by the shoulder. "Hey wolfie!" Tyler turned around to see Alex. "Waiting for me?"

"Well yeah but was also thinking I wanted to maybe try to meet a couple of my classmates since we didn't really have the chance to in class."

"How about we go grab some grub, and after that, we can try to chat some folks up, huh?

"Yeah, sure, that would be cool."

The two canids padded their way through the lunch line, scoping out the variety of foods in front of them. The first thing the wolf's eyes directed to, was pizza puffs, "score! they have 'em here! Man, those things are so good!" Alex just giggled. Walking further down the line there were other items, chicken and alfredo noodles, burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, salad, spaghetti, fish, a variety of other food. Tyler grabbed a burger, potato wedges, and a pizza puff for his tray. Alex had grabbed a couple hot dogs and salad for his. The walked up to the registers and cashed out, then padded their way back to the tables.

"You want to find those classmates you were looking for, see if we can sit with them?"

"Yeah, that's cool, I think they are over there" Tyler pointed.

Alex and Tyler had walked over to the table where his classmates were sitting, politely asking if they could join. The three students nodded in agreement, and the five of them sat together. Alex and Ty introduced themselves, and the other three did the same. Gillian, Maria, and Peter, who were all part of Ty's American Lit class. Gillian was light grey rabbit, short meek and friendly, with light brown eyes. Maria and Peter were human. Maria was very thin, about five-foot-two, had long, wavy jet-black hair with smooth almond skin and dark green eyes. Peter was slightly husky yet still on the thinner side. He looked to be about five-foot-eight, and had very short blonde hair, very pale skin, and bright blue eyes, almost grey. The five of them conversed, talking about the class, school activities they were interested in and just stories about themselves, not a bad way to spend the first day of school.

Eventually the bell rang, indicating it was time to get to their next class. Alex and Tyler, got up, greeting the others goodbye, and making their way up the stairs. Alex was excited because he had his next class with Tyler. They were going to Spanish class.

"Oh uh, hey, Alex? I've been meaning to ask you; do you know why there aren't any clocks in the classrooms?"

Alex looked a little surprised but smiled and replied, "It's because of the block scheduling, they want the kids to pay attention to the class instead of the clock". Tyler didn't say anything, he only nodded, and continued walking, until they eventually made their way through the third period doors.

As they walked through the room for Spanish I, this room was quite different from the last couple of classes they had been too. The walls had been painted in a warm yellow with deep browns and reds accenting some parts of the walls. There were several Latin inspired pieces of art and decorations adorning the room, it gave it a bright, fun atmosphere.

The boys had looked for a couple of desks by the window again where they could sit together. Taking their seats, they watched the students make their way into the classroom. As the last few students walked in, a small round woman with cherry red hair and owl glasses walked in behind them, closing the door. "Good afternoon everyone, my name is Ms. Santos, I want to welcome all of you to Spanish I."

Again, the usual first day formalities happened as well as the class agenda. This class was a bit more sociable than the last couple. There were actual group break outs and talking amongst the fellow students. By the end of the class, Ms. Santos had instructed everyone, to decide on their group of six people, for the rest of the semester. This was going to be for projects and group assignments. Tyler, and the group he was in, decided that they were good with working together for the rest of the quarter. His group consisted of himself, Alex, Aaron, a red husky with ice blue eyes, and an athletic physique. A little timid, but very friendly. Caitlin, small, framed snow fox with golden eyes, and a quick wit, very smart, but very playful and funny. Max, a kind of stocky human, with brownish red hair, and a face full of heavy freckles. He didn't seem to be the most attentive person in class, but he had good ideas for projects throwing out crazy and fun ideas. Lastly, there was Antonio, a tall yet lanky lion with golden eyes. He was on the quiet side, always seeming to be posing as the cool guy in class but was personable and didn't seem to mind being part of the group.

The end of period bell had rung, and everyone had started packing up to head to the last class of the day. Ty and Alex were split up again, giving each other their brief goodbyes, after saying goodbye to their classmates. Tyler made is way down the hall and up the stairs to the third floor for his final class. He really liked science and like-classes so chemistry should be fun, he thought to himself. As he made it to the room he looked around, it was a typical high school science lab, an extremely large room with large metal tables, burners, flasks, and jars atop of them. There were large glass cabinets on the sides of the walls filled with chemicals, preserved animals, and other miscellaneous items in them. There was a large canvas with the periodic table of the elements printed on it. Tyler walked over to a table toward the window, in the middle of the class. As he sat down looking toward the door, he saw a familiar face entering the room. Aaron, the red Husky from Spanish class had walked into the room. Ty waved the Husky over. Aaron in return, lifted a paw to acknowledge the offer and padded his way toward the wolf.

"I didn't know that you were in this class, otherwise I would have offered to walk with you" explained Ty.

"It's no big deal really, we didn't talk about our classes in Spanish right?"

"Y-yeah, true. You cool with sitting together this class too? Its kinda nice being next to someone you sort of already know, right?"

"For sure, thanks dude!" came from the Husky.

The bell for the period's start rang, the last couple of students flew through the door, along with an older, short, and stocky moose. Good afternoon class, my name is Mr. Cooper, welcome to Chemistry I. We're going to have fun this quarter, there is a lot to learn, and a lot to do. I grade by participation, not as much by test scores, so I really want all of you to pay attention and really get involved. That is how you're going to get the most out of the class.

Once again, the class started with the redundant formalities, going over the class itinerary and getting started on some of the fundamentals of the class. There was a lot to cover in this class, but one of the things that this teacher did differently was, let the class choose their learning route. Mr. Cooper had the itinerary set, but let the students choose in which order they would learn it. "I don't ever remember getting a choice like that before by my teachers" Tyler thought to himself.

The class had gone so fast this period, it was so interesting, that eighty-eight minutes felt like half of that time, but finally, the exit bell had rung.

"So, uh, what are you doing after school?" the Husky asked.

"Going to be going to my best friend's house to drill him about his first day back"

Ahhhhh, okay......does he go here too?"

"Nah, he goes to Wyatt"

"Right on, sounds exciting" Aaron giggled.

"He is a very excitable guy" Tyler giggled back. "Anyway, what are you going to do after class?" the wolf asked.

"I'm going to be heading over to the art oasis, I get comic lessons over there"

"Oh wow! You know Kelly then! Say hi to him for me!"

"Heh, small world huh? No problem will do! See ya tomorrow man!" The Husky waved as he made his way down the hall to leave the school.

Ty had turned around to go down to the first floor and go to his locker. He didn't have anything really that needed to go into his locker but figured maybe Alex would have headed that way. As he made his way closer to his locker, he saw the Pit bull with his locker door open. As he approached the dog from behind, he gave him a gentle nudge on the shoulder.

Alex turned around, "oh hey wolfie! Ready to head outta here?"

"Yes please!" returned the wolf.

"Alright, lets get outta here then" the dog exclaimed, as he closed his locker door, and putting the lock back on. Finally, it was over, the first day of school was out, no real homework that had to be done tonight, and a lot of a great rest of the day left to do what they wanted to do.

The boys walked toward Tyler's house so he could drop his backpack off and get changed before they headed by Alex's place and then on to meet Terry. "I hope my grandma isn't home doing laundry" came from the wolf.

"Well, even if she is, we don't have to stay long, you can just change and leave."

"Yeah.........I was just hoping to get some snuggles from you for a minute......its awkward if she's in the house."

"I supposed you're right" Alex nodded.

Tyler lived in a family-owned apartment building, his great grandma lived on the top floor of the apartment building, but his apartment down on the garden level, was the only one that had a washer and a dryer, so his great grandmother would come down weekly to do laundry for her and the other grandkids that were living in her house.

Tyler's grandmother, moved in with her a few years back after adopting her youngest daughter's kids, due to drug and alcohol related issues. They became wards of the state, and she didn't want them to get lost in the system. The only problem was that instead of her giving tough love when they needed it, they were spoiled rotten. Tyler on the other hand was treated like a piece of garbage and a work dog when his grandma was around. She considered him, and his sister Zoa, bastard children because they were sired out of wedlock, which was until she needed his size and strength, then she was nice to him, only till she got what she wanted.

Tyler and Alex made their way down the gangway to the side door of his apartment. He could hear the dryer going and could smell the fabric softener permeating from the exhaust vent next to the door. As he grabbed the handle to open the door, the door was locked. "Well, she's not down here right now" said the wolf, as they walked into the house. Tyler padded his way into his bedroom from the kitchen, Alex followed. The wolf started undressing himself as Alex sat on the bed.

"You really are something you know that wolfie? I'm not just saying that because you are sexy to me, but you are like the whole package, ya know?"

Tyler stood there in his underwear blushing, "r-really? Why do you think that, I mean, I'm sure there's plenty of other guys out there that are way better than me"?

Alex grimaced, "I don't want better than you, I chose you, I liked you, I love you. You are super beefy with just a little bit of chonk. You are beyond patient and understanding. You are smart, you have a deep sense of humor, you are compassionate, and always helpful. You try to protect those who can't defend themselves. Yeah, I'm a just a stupid teenager, but I'm old enough to understand how important those qualities are in someone.

Tyler was completely taken back by Alex's words. He knew he meant a lot to the dog, but he didn't know he felt that strongly about him. Tyler stood there scratching his ears as they got super-hot from embarrassment, "thanks puppy......I guess I just never thought myself worth that much to anyone".

"Stop it now...." Alex scoffed. "I don't ever want to hear that come out of your muzzle again".

"I......I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you angry".

"I'm not angry Ty, I'm......just a little disappointed. I'm sure there are a lot of other people that would agree with me, if they heard you say that. You really are a great guy and I just wish that you could see yourself the way I see you".

The wolf continued to blush, padding over to the bed, and sat next to the Pit bull. He wrapped an arm around the dog, and pulled him closer to him, eventually grabbing him into a full embrace. Tyler held Alex with his muzzle resting on his shoulder, and a small bit of tears starting to well up in his eyes. "You mean the world to me too Alex, thank you for caring for me like you do".

The dog did not reply, he just gently pushed the wolf off his shoulder and grabbed his head with both paws, bringing his muzzle toward his own, and giving him a long, deep, passionate kiss.

"Don't you forget it, Ty. I will always be here for you, as long as you'll have me".

Alex pulled Ty back into him and rested his head on his shoulder once more, giving him gentle pets behind the ears and down his neck.

Several minutes had passed before Tyler stood back up and went ahead to finish getting dressed. He threw on a white tank top and a pair of blue camo denim cargo shorts. He then ran to the bathroom, to quickly freshen up and padded his way back to his room.

"I'm good to go now, ready to head to your place?"

"Yeah, we can head out"

The boys left Tyler's apartment, making their way over to Alex's place, so the Pit bull could change and drop off his school gear. Alex was much more expeditious, neither of his parents were home from work yet either, so there wasn't going to be any idle conversation there either. He simply dumped his school gear on the floor of his room, ran into his closet, and came out in less than a minute later with fresh street clothes.

"We gonna head over Terry's?"

"Yeah, see if he's back home yet."

"What are we gonna do after that?"

"I was thinking, maybe we could head over to the video rental store, see about a game or two. Or maybe over to the comic and collectible shop over in Roscoe Village. I've been waiting to see if they had the rest of those guardian force figures I've been looking for."

"Dude those are two very different things"

"I know, but still, either will give us plenty of time to hang out and catch up right?"

Alex only nods, walking toward his bedroom door. Tyler gets up from the dog's desk chair, and follows him out of the room, both making their way to the front door.

The boys walked down the street past the park's swimming pool. It was still open for another few weeks. "We could go swimming?" Alex suggested.

"You know, I'm okay with whatever really. You just want to see me half naked and wet, don't you?" the wolf growled playfully as the dog gave him a smirk.

"Ya know, we don't have to go to the pool for that" the dog replied cheekily.

"Heh, I was just kidding!"

"Sure you were......... nah, seriously though, I was just thinking that it could be something fun to do as well, besides, it won't be open much longer, and unless we want to walk al the way to Eckhart Park, we can't really swim indoors."

"How 'bout we go meet Terry, and see what he's got going on, and we just go from there?"

"Sounds like a plan".

Ty and Alex had finally got to Terry's block and started approaching his house. As they were about to open the screen door and knock, they heard yelling from far down at the other end of the block.

"Hey guys, over here!"

Terry started running down the street, he hasn't made it home yet.

"You guys get home a lot faster than I do, kinda lame!" the Shepherd touted as he approached the front of his house.

Terry slipped past Ty and Alex, sliding his key into the dead bolt. Tyler looked at him, "about that.... how did your first day go?

"I can't really complain about anything, got to school on time, was a fairly easy day, we got some new faculty this year, OOOOO! EXCITES!!! By next semester, they are supposed to be going away from books, everyone is supposed to have a school laptop, so that sounds really cool yeah?!"

Tyler giggled at the little dog's usual quirkiness.

"Yeah, that does sound pretty cool actually."

"Anyway wolfie, how was your new school? Did you make some new friends already? How were your classes? Do you like the new place?"

Terry started playing twenty-one questions, not really giving the wolf a chance to answer. Finally, Tyler was able to calm him down enough to speak.

"Okay bud, slow down. So, yes, I like the new school, like a lot. I like my classes, I did meet some of my classmates, and they seem really cool. The weird part of this for me is that I only have four classes a quarter. I'm glad I had some good teachers, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like, being stuck in a class with Mr. Mueller for almost an hour and a half......blughhh". Ty shook his head and cringed.

The boys made idol chit chat as they went inside the house and continued to banter as they went up to the little dog's room. Ty had noticed Terry's room had changed a lot. Lots of new décor, lots of new clothes. "Shaun is taking care of him pretty well" he thought to himself. Tyler knows that Terry's parents aren't broke, but they don't put out a lot of money for frivolous things, Shaun must have been spoiling him a bit.

"Anyway guys" the little Shepherd spoke, "were you wanting to do something with me today? I do have some homework to do, but I think I can probably get it done later. I was also going to make time for a call with Shaun later too".

The three of them discussed the possible options of what was discussed earlier. Ultimately, they decided to go up toward Roscoe Village. It was a little 12 square block township in Chicago, not horribly from near north, very close to Wrigleyville, where the Cubs baseball team played.

Terry finished changing, and the three of them made their way out the door and onto their destination. The boys made their way down to the triangle where Terry would get on the train, waiting for the first of two buses they would need to ride. Hopping on the first bus, the boys found a few seats to sit together. The bus started moving, the boys could see buildings and streets whizzing past them at a blurring rate. There had been about fourteen stops before their exit had come up. "Western, Western Avenue is the next exit, Western" came over the loudspeaker of the bus. The three canids left from the bus, making their way across the street, and headed for the next bus stop that would bring them to their final destination.

After several minutes of waiting, the next bus had stopped in front of them, and they boarded. After another ten-minute ride, the boys had gotten off at Addison, the closest stop to where they needed to get off. Roscoe Village wasn't too far from Wyatt Tech, but not too close either. The three canids made their way down the block until they reached the street they needed to turn down. Closing the distance to the comic shop, Tyler's tail swooshed in anticipation.

They finally reached the store. It was a small store front, two-story apartment building. The first floor was the shop, an open loft style apartment, converted into a business layout. If one didn't know what they were looking for, they would have missed it while passing by.

Tyler entered the store, looking around eyes wide as he always did. This little gem of a store was his Mecca. Large tables filled with boxes of comics stood in the center of the space. The walls were lined with resin models and figurines of both comic book superhero and fantasy figures alike, as well as action figures and opposable collectibles. Tyler and the others walked around the store drooling over the merchandise. About an hour had passed before the three boys had left the store. The shop was giving a special to promote the business again, so for every three items bought, they would get one item of equal or lesser value would be free. Tyler took advantage of that and left with a garbage bag full of collectibles.

The boys made their way back home to their neighborhood, it was now about 5:30PM and their parents would most likely be coming home. The boys stopped at Tyler's first to drop off the big bag of nerdy goodness. Walking into the door, his mom hadn't come home yet but his grandma was in the house, finishing gathering the rest of her laundry. "Here grandma let me help with that" Tyler insisted. The old she wolf nodded and he picked up her bag of clothing. "I'll be right back guys!" the wolf yelled as he and ran out of the house and up to his grandma's apartment to drop of the parcel, his grandma following shortly after. Moments later, he returned, and rushed into his bedroom.

"I am so excited to get these opened up!"

"Dude, if you open them, they won't be worth anything" came from Terry.

"I know, but it's not like I'm gonna sell them anyway. I just like putting them on display."

Terry shrugged as Tyler fumbled in the bag, "I should probably get heading home soon myself so I can get started on my homework"

Tyler stopped what he was doing, "we can walk you back okay?"

The little Shepherd nodded. Tyler put his rummaging off to the side, and looked at his Pit bull, "you wanna come? Or are you wanting to head to your place?"

"I can come, then you can come over by me for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure......let me just leave mom a note really quick"

Tyler wrote out the note to his mother, they other boys waited by the door. A few minutes later, "Alright, all done, let's go".

Alex and Ty dropped off Terry at his house and mad their way back to Alex's. They walked into the house to see Joyce padding through the kitchen, putting groceries away. "Hiya boys! Ty, are you staying for dinner?"

Tyler shrugged, "I'm not sure, mom isn't home yet, I don't know if she was planning to do anything tonight. I was going to call home in a little bit to see if she's home. I'll find out then".

Joyce smiled, "okay hun, well just let me know, I'll make extra".

"Will do Mrs. M, thank you!"

Alex and Ty went back to his room. The boys conversed for a bit, casually playing fighting versus games, and talking about their classes for the next half hour, before Tyler went to call his mom. After getting off the phone, he explained that his mom had a really rough day, and she was planning to go out for a bit with her friend Carol. They supposedly weren't going to be out late, but she was cool if he wanted to spend the evening over there, also telling him that if he was allowed, he could stay the night, provided there was no homework to be done.

Alex informed his mom that Tyler would be staying, so she could set an extra place at the table. Everyone had a laid-back evening, they all had a nice dinner, Greg and Joyce had a quiet evening watching a couple of movies with the boys before it started to get late.

"Are you going to be heading home Ty?" Greg asked, "you know you are always welcome to stay" the dog continued.

"I wouldn't mind staying if I could. Mom already said it was fine, but I do have to run home and get my stuff for tomorrow"

Tyler started getting up off the couch and started walking to the front door. "Lex you want to run over with him?" Greg asked. Alex nodded and got up heading toward the door with the wolf, heading back over to Tyler's house.

The two canids padded down the street, the neighborhood was still very much awake, cars pumping loud music from their audio systems, while cruising down the street. People sitting on their front porches drinking beers. Young juvenile delinquents, posing as gang members, just standing on the corner of the block with their posse. The neighborhood was quite different after dark.

They made it to Ty's front gate, noticing the lights were on. As they came to the door, Tyler grabbed the handle twisting it, it was unlocked. "Mom?" he called out, but he couldn't hear anything other than the TV and light rumbling, possible snoring. The boys walked toward the living room to find Zeta passed out on the couch with a relatively full plate of food still in her paw and a large glass with vodka and coke in it.

Ty's ears flattened and he sighed, "she must have had a REALLY rough day."

He gently grabbed the plate and put in on the end table next to the couch so it wouldn't fall out of her paw, then he tried to gently nudge her awake. "Mom" he said quietly not to startle her, but to no avail. As the big female awoke, she was thrashing around and swinging her arms, "whaa-who-wh-whaa!........you're home?" the female grunted as she continued trying to wake up.

"Y-yeah... I was going to stay over by Alex tonight, but my stuff is here, was just stopping by to grab it, but maybe I shouldn't......you want me to stay home? I thought you were still going to be out with Carol."

I was out with her for a bit, she needed to get back home. No fun partying by yourself, so I just came back and had a few here" the tired female grumbled

"You want me to stay home mom? Are you okay?

"No......no baby boy, you can go back. It was just a really stressful day, and I was really tired".

"Oh-okay... can I at least help you get to bed? I can put your food and stuff away before I leave".

The young wolf helped his mother up off the couch and held her as she slowly hobbled into her bedroom and flopped into her bed. "I love you mom, see you tomorrow" he said as he closed her bedroom door.

He walked back over to the end table by the couch grabbing the plate of food and her drink off the floor. He slowly padded into the kitchen, a look of defeat on his face.

"You okay pup?" came from Alex

A heavy sigh came from the wolf, "I guess.... I don't know......not really....... It's been a long time since I've seen her like this, it's got me kinda worried is all. I was looking forward to getting to stay with you tonight, but...... I don't think I should, not now."

Alex's ears pressed back seeing his wolf in distress, "would it be better if I stayed over here with you? I think mom and dad will be fine. I just want to be here if you need me......or still wanted some cuddles."

The wolf looked at him with a weak smile, "If your mom and dad are okay with it, I would love that."

Alex perked up, walking over to Tyler, and putting an arm on his shoulder. "I'll run back home and let them know what's going on...... I should be back soon......kay?"

Again, Tyler gave him a weak smile and nodded. The Pit bull left the house, and Tyler finished putting the leftovers in the fridge, and pouring out his mom's drink.

"She hasn't been like this since Wauconda" he thought to himself quietly, feeling heavy in the chest.

Tyler's memory was of an awfully long time ago, back when he was only 8 and in second grade. He had to move back from Minnesota because his stepmother didn't know what to do with him anymore. He had been living in Minnesota for a couple of years. He moved up there when he was four, and his sister was five. She kept screaming for her dad, and Zeta wanted her kids to know who their father was, so she arranged for them to live with him, his new wife, and the litter that they just recently had. Tyler had made it from pre-school, until about halfway through second grade when his stepmom decided that he was just too much to manage. He was a very smart pup, which meant he got bored easily in school, and his teachers couldn't handle him, so he was sent back to Zeta.

After moving to Wauconda, he stayed with his mom, who was living at the time, with his Aunt Brenda, her husband, and their two kids. Eventually, he ended up moving to another house, which belonged to one of Zeta's friends/co-workers, Bonnie. They had to move due to his aunt's husband getting heavily wrapped up in cocaine use and distribution, she had to think of the safety of her son. At the time, Zeta was working two jobs. She was bartending in the evening and working in fast food during the day. That was until she got pulled over coming home from the bar one night by a couple of dishonest police officers, who tried to exchange her freedom for sexual favors which she refused. She was arrested for assault and a DUI that night, breaking the wrist of one of the officers when he tried to grope her. There had been about five continuances so far due to the police officers that arrested her, never showing up to court. She was still actively going through the system, and because her license was suspended, she had to quit bartending.

It was one particular night, which ended up becoming the catalyst for a whole slue of misfortunes. Ron, who was Bonnie's husband, was also an alcoholic, and he had been heavily drinking this night after he got home from work. His stress was compounded by his son who was just released from juvie just a few days prior, when he became eighteen and finished his sentence. Tyler was playing in the corner in the living room, Ron had come into the room already angry and violent. He had gone into Tyler's corner, kicking his toys, and stepping on one of them that was sharp enough to hurt his foot, causing him to get even more angry. Ron picked Tyler up off the ground, pulled his pants down, and started swinging. Tyler yelped for his mother, but she was still at work, Bonnie knew she lost her license but still lent her, her car. Bonnie had come into the room and immediately grabbed him from the violent man, taking him outside to the guest house where she could keep him away from her husband. Zeta got home roughly an hour later that evening, and when Bonnie had told her what he had done, she almost added a murder charge to her current rap sheet.

This situation had resulted in a deep emotional scar for Tyler. It was only bin maybe a month prior to this event that the same man, who he had never seen like this, had given him a present, welcoming him to his house, and telling him that he could look to him as his dad, kissing his forehead as he did so. The pain of the betrayal hurt the pup more than the physical altercation itself.

The next morning Zeta grabbed Ty in the incredibly early hours, and they snuck out of the house via the pool room that was next to Zeta's bedroom, slipping out of the window that eased into the fully enclosed room, and snuck out the back screen door of that room. What Tyler would not find out about until many years later, was that Zeta beat Ron pretty well off that night, and he was going for a gun, they could no longer stay there no because their lives really were in danger.

Zeta and her pup walked about two miles that morning in the middle of winter trying to get back to Brenda's house, until a kind stranger saw them walking down the road and was nice enough to give them a ride. Later that night, she finally let the stress get to her she drank until she blacked out.

(Back to the present)

Tyler just sat there on his bed lost in thought and worries, he didn't even hear Alex come back into the house or hear him toss his backpack on the floor.

"Ty, you okay?"

The wolf snapped out of his stupor, "hm? Yeah, I guess so".

"Mom and dad were fine with me staying over here by you. They said they hope Zeta is feeling okay, and they hope you're okay to, and to call if we need anything."

"Thanks Alex, you are very thoughtful"

"Of course wolfie, you mean the world to me......honest."

Tyler got up from the bed and undressed, getting ready for bed. It wasn't that late, it was only about 10 PM, but he was feeling drained from his memories and was no longer in the mood for a later night of games or TV.

"You want to go to bed so early? You are always up late."

"I, uh......"

Alex just looked at his wolf, "maybe we don't have to go to sleep right away though?"

Tyler nodded quietly. "Yeah, I guess not, I uh... I'm just not feeling like you know....

The boys finished getting ready for bed, Tyler walked the house turning out all the lights before he returned to his room. He turned off the bedroom light, leaving the soft glow of a fiberoptic light on the corner of his dresser.

"Ty....... I really do love you; you know that right?"

The wolf climbed into his bed sliding next to the cool wall, "almost every day you find a way to show me Alex. I couldn't be more grateful that you're here with me now. I really love you too, honest."

Alex finally slid from the edge of the bed and laid down beside him. Tyler was facing the wall, his tail giving idle flicks. Alex rolled from his back to his side, wrapping his arm around the wolf, and gently rubbing his belly. Ty's tail continued idly swaying as Alex caressed him and nuzzled himself into the wolf's neck.

"Wanna tell me about what you were thinking about when I came in? You looked like you were in a really bad place."

"I-it's nothing......really......just a childhood memory from when I was a lot younger."

"Did something bad happen?

"Y-yeah.... unbelievably bad...... but it wasn't anything my mom did to me. She was protecting me from it."

Alex squeezed him tightly trying to comfort his wolf. "Wanna tell me? You're safe here with me. You know you can always tell me anything. I do have your trust, right?"

The wolf took in a big, deep breath, exhaling slowly, deciding whether he wanted to add this burden to Alex. It took Tyler a few moments before he could work up the courage to spit it out. Tyler told him of the misadventure when he was a pup, and what he and his mom went through. Alex felt awful hearing the story, just holding him close and giving him gentle pets and soft comforting hugs. Ty went into such detail that Alex felt like he was there. He could hear the hurt in the wolfs voice as he told the story, he could feel the droplets of tears falling from the wolf's head onto his arms. This was the first time that Tyler had really opened up to him about his life. He was always happy and funny, and liked to laugh. He has never been this way in front of him before, he had no idea that he was living with these traumatic memories. He felt even stronger about his wolf now, allowing himself to show his vulnerability.

"I wish I could take it away Ty. Sounds like you been through so much at such a young age."

"But it makes me who I am. I gotta get stronger"

"Wolfie, you are already strong, but you carry a lot on your shoulders. I-I want to be there for you......help you take some of the weight off."

Tyler rolled over to look at Alex in the face, "But we're still only kids, even if we are teenagers. How do you know you're still gonna be with me in five or ten years?"

"What does that have to do with right now? I'm here, aren't I? I just want to be able to help" the dog sighed.

"I...I'm sorry, I'm just not used to having someone like you in my life, someone that I REALLY can lean on. I mean, yeah, my mom, she loves me, but most of the time its tough love being a single parent and all. I've felt alone, like I'm by myself for years, and then I meet you. I............. I'm just not used to it is all, and sometimes the things you say, sound like we'll be together forever, but we haven't even started our lives yet, and I just feel like......I don't know......how can you be so sure? Know what I mean?"

Alex let out a heavy sigh, then took a second and took a deep breath. "I know I've only known you for a couple of months, but the more time I spend with you, the stronger my feelings get for you. Yeah, I know we're young, but we're not stupid either. We're old enough to make decisions for ourselves, our parents have taught us right from wrong, the birds and the bees, don't do drugs, all that crap. We're coming into our own. Ever since my birthday, I knew I had a really special wolf. He's loyal, he's trustworthy he's got a big heart, he always tries to do the right thing, he has a good compass."

Tyler gently presses his paw to Alex's chin, with tears in his eyes as the dog continued, "I can't promise we'll be together forever or even ten years from now, but I promise I'm here now and I promise I won't leave your side. I want to be with you, so yeah, wolfie....... I want to help you carry whatever burden is on your shoulders. I don't want you to feel like you're alone anymore."

Tyler held his dog in his arms as tears soaked his pillow. For the very first time, he knew how real this was, even more now than the first time he claimed him. He knew more than ever that this wasn't puppy love for either of them, that he truly meant every single word that came form his muzzle. Ty continued to look into his eyes and gave a soft smile. "Thank you" he spoke softly as he gave the Pit bull a gentle lick right on the end of his snoot, followed by a long deep passionate kiss. They laid there in each other's arms for quite a while, just enjoying this moment. Tyler eventually softened his embrace with Alex, rolling over facing the wall again pressing himself into Alex's body. Alex held him softly, rubbing his soft fur once more. The wolf finally relaxed, letting his exhaustion melt away and lull him to sleep. Soon after, Alex could hear the quiet rumbles of his wolf snoring and felt his slow deep breathing as the wolf expanded against his body. Now feeling more at ease about Tyler, and knowing he was sleeping deeply, rest finally came for Alex too as he slowly lost consciousness still tightly wrapped around his wolf, he finally said goodbye to the day.