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A few hours after Nolan had left, Zeta finally made it home. Alex and Ty filled her in on what happened with Terry, leaving her just as shocked and worried as they were. She re-affirmed what their friend had told them about being patient and waiting for Jean or Michael to call, then instructed Alex to call home if he hadn't already. Alex did as he was told, telling his mom everything that had happened, and to let Greg know when he got home. This was not the way anyone was planning on starting the holidays.

"Hey Lex..."

"What is it puppy?"

"Shawn...... man we have been so wrapped up in all of this, we totally forgot to call him."

Alex sighed, Tyler was right, they told everyone else, but he hasn't called his brother yet to give him the news.

Alex nodded at Tyler, "I should call him......". He left the wolf's bedroom to use the phone in the living room. Several minutes had gone by before Alex padded back in. "He's coming over tonight, I mean, by my place. He was going to come tomorrow, but..."

"You gonna go home then?"

"I mean.... I should be there for him"

"Yeah, you're right, I say stupid shit sometimes, sorry."

"Don't say that Ty, I'm surprised you aren't a giant mess right now."

"I.... I guess it hasn't fully set in yet, I don't know."

"You want to come with me? You and your mom are coming by us tomorrow anyway, right? You think it'd be okay?"

Alex and Tyler went to talk with Zeta, but she had already fallen asleep from her long day at work. He wrote her a note telling her where he went, and they went back to Alex's house. About an hour later when Shawn got to his parent's house, he sat with his little brother and Tyler for most of the evening listening to them explain what had happened and doing their best to comfort him, it seemed like Terry had not mentioned any of his problems to Shawn either. Eventually, everyone had grown exhausted and decided to turn in for the evening.

(Thanksgiving Morning)

Tyler woke up to the sound of shallow snores coming from the Pit bull laying on his chest. He didn't know what time it was, but he caught the pleasant smell of food cooking in the kitchen. He carefully pushed himself up to find the clock without waking Alex up, it was 10:40AM, it had been months since he had slept this late. He laid his head back on the pillow as he felt Alex hold him tighter, "just a little while longer puppy" he heard his dog mumble, then the sound of more soft snoring.

He wanted to lay there in bed, but he also wanted to get up. He wanted to find out if there had been any news about his friend. He wriggled out from underneath Alex as careful as he possibly could, so he didn't wake him up, then grabbed his pants off the floor and slid them on before he crept out of the room. He made his way down the stairs to find Joyce in the kitchen working on afternoon's dinner, Greg was nowhere to be seen, and Shawn was still passed out on the couch.

"Good morning kiddo" came from the Joyce as she was in the process of boiling potatoes

"Good morning, Mrs. M... I mean...Joyce"

"Looks like you're the only one up so far."

"Y-yeah, I feel like I got enough sleep."

"Did you want something to eat?"

Tyler scratched his head, he was hungry, but there was going to be so much food later. "I think I'll just wait. Have either of Terry's parents called yet?"

"No not yet, but I'm sure they may still be sleeping if they came home last night"

Tyler asked if he could use the phone. He called his house first to see if his mom was up yet. There was no answer, he assumed she was still asleep, he left a message and hung up the phone. His next call was over to Terry's house. The phone had rung 5 times before he heard someone pick up. It was Jean on the other end of the line. Their phone call wasn't brief, Jean had filled him in on everything, what hospital he was brought to and what his condition was before they had left the hospital late last night.

Terry was brought to Mercy, he had suffered a broken nose, cracked ribs, and a concussion. There wasn't any internal bleeding, and CT scans didn't show any evidence of major or permanent brain damage, and as far as his eye, it was something that they would have to re-assess when the swelling goes down. They were going to hold him for observation for a couple days because of the concussion but felt confident that he would be home before the weekend.

Tyler drew a large breath of relief hearing the news. He wanted to wake Shawn up to give him the news, but he really needed to reach out to Nolan since he promised him he would. He went back into Alex's room to finished getting dressed. Entering the bedroom, he could see Alex was still asleep, he didn't want to disturb him. He quietly finished dressing, then leaned over him, giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek. Alex only mumbled and rolled over, giving Ty the que to leave. Tyler stopped back in the kitchen briefly, to talk with Joyce.

"I was going to run home really quick to check on mom"

"Okay hun, I'll let the boys know when they wake up"

Tyler left the house and made his way home. He got to his gate, quickly walked down the stairs, and opened his door. When he got in the house, he saw his mom in front of the TV in the living room.

"Hi mom, you doing okay this morning"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Have you heard anything about Terry yet?"

"Yeah, I talked with Jean this morning. He's a bit messed up, but he's okay. I want to go see him later after dinner if I can."

"He might appreciate it son, being stuck in the hospital during the holiday"

"Y-yeah.... anyways mom, I just stopped in to check on you quick and to give a friend a call. I left his number in my room"

"Were you going back over by Alex?"

"I was planning on it yes. Shawn came in last night, I'm sure he is going to want to know the news."

"I suppose I should get dressed, see if Joyce wants some company then. "

"She seemed really busy when I left mom"

"Then I can go over there and see if she wants the help."

"Okay mom, just give me a few minutes, I kind of promised Nolan, I would call him when I heard something."

Tyler made his phone call as Zeta got dressed. He was still on the phone with Nolan when she motioned that she was going to walk over to the Meades, then signaled him to lock up when he left the house. Tyler waved acknowledging his mom and continued with his phone call.

It had been about 15 minutes before Tyler got off the phone with Nolan. The Dobie was grateful to the wolf for giving him a call, he was planning on going to visit him today, he wanted to see him just like the others. Tyler locked up his house and went back down the street.

By the time Tyler made it back to Alex's place everyone was now awake. There were many savory aromas in the air and lots of conversations going on. As Tyler walked in the door Alex and Shawn stopped talking and looked at him.

"Your mom said you have some news?" came from Shawn

"Yeah, I figured you for sure would want to hear it."

Tyler sat down with the males and told him about the phone call with Jean earlier this morning. Alex and Greg perked up, and Shawn tried to hold back some tears hearing the news. They both were glad he was okay. Shawn offered to drive over to the hospital with them after dinner so they could see him, which only made Tyler and Alex happier and more anxious.

2:00 PM came, Joyce walked into the living room announcing that dinner was ready and to come to the table. Everyone gathered around the dining room table and sat down. The food spread out across the table was a sight to behold, everything looked extremely delicious, and the smell alone was mouthwatering. Joyce brought the last dish into the dining room placing it on the table and then sat down at the head.

"Alright guys, we're ready to dig in, but before we do, let's give thanks."

A small prayer was said, after that, one by one, everyone around the table was given a chance to tell the others what they were thankful for this year, with Greg being the last to speak. After thanks was given, everyone was finally able to dig into this well-prepared feast and was excited to do so.

(A little earlier)

Nolan hung up the phone taking a deep breath. This was the best news he's heard in a while. He left his bedroom and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey uh mom? Could I use your car again? I just talked to Tyler, I wanted to go give Terry a visit, figured it'd be okay since we're not eating till later?"

"Sweetie, you want to do that today, right now?"

"Please Ma, I just gotta talk to him. It isn't fair to him that he's stuck in the hospital today instead of bein' able to spend it with his family. I won't be long, I just.... Poor little guy shouldn't have ta be alone today, ya know?"

Nolan's mother sighed as she walked over to her purse grabbing her keys. "Okay okay, just please be home by 5 so we can be to your auntie's place on time." Nolan nodded and ran out the door.

Nolan got to the hospital just before 2 PM, parking in the hospital's parking lot. He walked into the main entrance, checking in at the front desk. He was given a visitor pass and was given directions to get to Terry's room. Nolan stood at the entrance of the partially closed door, looking through to find Terry lying in bed asleep, and his parents sitting in the chairs next to the bed. They looked up at him with a curious look on their face.

"I'm sorry, I uh, hope I'm not disturbing you."

Jean recognized the Doberman, giving him a smile.

"No, not at all, we're just waiting for him to wake up."

"Uh, Tyler told me where he was at. I wanted to see him if that's okay."

Jean looked at Michael, "this is the boy that jumped in to stop the fight. If it wasn't for him..."

Michael nodded and motioned Nolan to come in the room. The young Doberman came in the room and walked over to Terry's bed, leaning down a bit and putting his paw on top of Terry's. He stood there not saying anything, just looking at the little Shepherd while he rested.

"We owe you a lot young man, if you hadn't stepped in when you did, we don't know what would have happened."

"Thank you sir, but I uh.... I broke a promise" Nolan said reluctantly, balling his other paw into a fist.

"I told him.... I wasn't gonna let anything happen to my little buddy on my watch. If I would have just......"

"Uhem" Michael interrupted, "What could you have done differently son?"

Nolan looked at the older male with shock on his face, "I uh.... I don't know sir, if I hadn't gone to the locker room before I left the school, I'd a been there sooner, and maybe prevented the whole thing."

Michael looked at him with an exhausted expression, "so you blame yourself son?"

Nolan's stomach jumped in his throat, "y-yessir...... I-I don't want, I know it's nothin' we could've expected, especially when it happened, just...... I feel responsible, like I should've told him to wait for me after class in the hall or something."

Nolan continued standing by Terry's side silently. Jean and Michael looked at each other and back toward the young dog. Nolan really was struggling with this even after all the discussion he'd had with those he talked about the situation. He thought he steeled himself but seeing Terry like this melted any of that resolve away, putting him right back into feeling guilty.

Michael motioned to Nolan, pointing over to the empty chair next to them. "Come here son, have a seat". Nolan padded over to them and sat down in the chair.

"You shouldn't be blaming yourself son. You are putting an unrealistic expectation on yourself. You're a classmate, also a friend to him...... you're not a bodyguard. The only person that we're angry with right now, is the boy that did this to him, and we are going to be pursuing that believe you me. Me and my wife, are just happy that you were there, that you WERE a true friend to him, and that you DID stand up to defend him. That means more than you could ever know. Now don't you be getting any more of those thoughts in your head, are we clear son?"

Nolan was taken back at first by Michael's words but hearing them did bring great relief to the young male. How can he be angry with himself now? If Terry's parents placed no blame on him, then he shouldn't blame himself either, that aside, he still felt the internal struggle with these feelings. He sat there for a moment with a nervous smile on his face, scratching his head fur.

"Thank you uh, Mr. and Mrs. M. I uh, I really appreciate it."

Jean and Michael nodded, "Are you going to be here for a little bit son?"

"Yeah, I was going to stay for a while longer, but then I have to leave."

"Well son, would you mind if we left for just a little bit? We wanted to wait here until he woke up, but we are getting hungry were going to head to the cafeteria."

"No sir, that's no problem. I can stay till you get back"

Michael nodded, then he and Jean left the room to go find food. Nolan got up and slid down to the chair closest to Terry, once again putting his paw on top of the little dog's. "I'm here little buddy" he spoke quietly as he sat there looking at the little Shepherd, hoping that he'd wake up soon.

It had been nearly forty minutes since Michael and Jean had left Nolan and Terry. Nolan continued sitting by his side watching him vigilantly.

"Ugh.... Owe...."

Nolan's ears perked up and he looked toward Terry. The little dog started to stir and rub his head.

"Hey! Little buddy welcome back!" Nolan quietly exclaimed

"N-Nolan, you're here? Did you come to the hospital too?"

"Nah little buddy, it was just your mom. But both yer parents are here, they're in the cafeteria getting some food. They'll be back soon. Did a, did you wake up before?"

Terry let out a big yawn, "hmmm not that I remember, aww man my head hurts."

Nolan chuckled, "I'm just glad yer okay, when I found him on top of you, I didn't know what I was gonna do."

Terry grabbed his head, "I... don't remember much......"

"It'll come back little buddy, but uh, you probably won't want to remember most of it."

"Tony?"

"He was arrested bud. Yer mom and dad are pressing charges. Hopefully he won't be bothering you ever again...... Let's uh, not talk about this right now, you just woke up, how are you feeling?"

"Like I've been asleep for weeks.... just really sore"

"Hey, and you can talk sentences too, that's a good thing."

Terry felt a little embarrassed at Nolan's words, with no recollection of what happened at the moment, he could only imagine what happened after he blacked out.

"It's okay little buddy, just rest." Nolan grabbed Terry's paw holding it tight in his, he got up off the chair and leaned over him, pressing his forehead to the little dog's. "I'm just...... happy you're okay.... I feel like I failed you little buddy."

"Nolan...." Terry spoke quietly as he put his other paw on the big dog's cheek. "You fought to protect me.... You didn't fail."

Nolan remained silent and unmoved as he stood over the little dog. Terry was waiting for him to say something, but it never came. He just laid there in silence with the big dog's head pressed against his. He felt something wet hit his cheek and his paw touching Nolan's face was wet, he felt his bed shake. He opened his eyes to see the big dog heaving in tears. He couldn't say anything, he didn't know what to say, but it was clear that his friend was holding a heavy burden on his shoulders. The little dog moved his paw from Nolan's cheek and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him into a hug.

"Hey... hey now Nol, it's okay. I'm okay"

Nolan leaned into him returning the hug, crying in the little dog's his arms, he needed to let this out. It was clear to Terry now, Nolan is always the strong guy, always the brave guy, always the fun guy but he held everything inside so people couldn't see his hurt, or shame, or sadness, or his vulnerability almost like he had to wear a mask around others. This ordeal was the blow that broke that mask.

"Hey.... Nol.... buddy...."

Terry continued holding him until Nolan started to pull away, signaling him to loosen his grip. Nolan stood over Terry once more pressing his head on Terry's. "Yer a really good guy you know that little buddy, and...I'm so sorry about all of this...... I...... I won't break a promise ever again, I'll keep my word. I'm gonna be a better friend to you, to all you guys...... Just sorry it took this for me to realize that.

"Nolan...... I think you need to ease up a bit. You have been a very good friend to me and Tyler over the last year or so. Yeah, we haven't hung out much outside of school, you were super busy with sports and stuff, we had our things.... Doesn't mean you weren't trying. If anything, we should have tried more than we did."

The big dog lifted himself off Terry, sitting back down on the chair next to his bed.

"We don't have much more time with you Nol, after you graduate, we probably won't get to see you at all. You'll be busy with college and life and all that stuff."

Nolan wiped the wet from his muzzle, finally ready to say something.

"Yeah, that's true but doesn't mean I won't keep in touch. Ty told me he really wanted that, and I really want to. You guys are really good guys, guys I feel really comfortable around. I know I can talk with you if I need to. You guys aren't like Kenny or Brian, yeah, they're okay guys, but they ain't all that deep ya know? Always trying to be the jokers and act fake to get others to like them. You two ain't like that."

"Nolan I...... I don't, I didn't...."

Nolan let out a heavy sigh, "man, I'm not mental ya know...... just feel like I got big shoes to fill with my dad and all. He gets really hard on me. Wants the best for me, better than he had growing up. I get that, but when I need him, he just ain't there. Real men work hard, real men play hard and all that stuff. My mom tries ya know, but sometimes I just need him to stop ripping into me and be a dad for just a second.... I guess I got numb to it, and that's why I'm always hanging with those goofs, makes me forget home sometimes, like its okay to be a kid ya know?

Terry placed his paw on top of Nolan's, rubbing it gently. Nolan was really opening up to him, he must really trust him to get this deep, or finally felt comfortable around him to open up.

"Then ya know, getting to know you and D-wolf, you guys were just really different. Folks like you because you're friendly and fun n' stuff, but you're real. If your sad, your sad. If you're angry, you let it out. You don't hide that stuff, that's what I appreciate about you. Was cool just bein' around you when I could, but I still feelin' numb, ya know? Then, when Tony did what he did.... was like the first time in a long time that I felt something inside, like that numbness went away, but I still just reacted to the situation".

Terry just smiled at the big dog, "thanks for opening up, thanks for telling me all this."

"Yeah...... but that's why I'm sayin' it little buddy. I feel like I can call you guys real friends and.... I don't want that to end after graduation, I still want to keep in touch, actually hang out with you sometimes. Man, I been hearing that from a lot of my class ya know, talking about how we're all gonna go our separate ways n stuff. It's almost like they already decided to make that choice, instead of seeing where this big ball takes 'em.... Just feels kind of sad ya know?"

Terry picked up Nolan's paw and held it in his, "it's time for me to make you a promise, and this one I'll keep. You always have a friend here with me, as long as you want. You saved my life Nol, I'm never gonna forget you no matter what."

Nolan looked down at Terry and finally gave a smirk. He felt lighter, as if more bricks fell from his shoulders and he could breathe better, and he could finally forgive himself. Nolan strengthened his grip on Terry's paw and Terry could see the reassurance in the big dog. After everything they just talked about, he knew he earned a friend for life.

"Hey little buddy...... thanks...... for everything. I came here to help you feel better and here you are working on me." Nolan leaned in and gave Terry a big hug.

Terry and Nolan were in the middle of their hug when Michael and Jean walked through the door, neither one of them paid any mind. It felt like they were in that embrace for a very long time even though it had only been a minute or two. Terry's parents sat down in the other two available seats while they waited for the boys to finish their business.

"Well uh, hey little buddy, looks like yer mom and dad are back. I should probably be heading home, besides, I'm sure they wanna spend time with you. I'll see you real soon though, I promise."

Nolan broke the hug and backed away from the bed, turning to look toward Michael and Jean. "Mr. and Mrs. M, thanks for letting me visit. I'm gonna get heading outta here now."

Michael and Jean stood up and offered paws to the young dog, shaking his as he got ready to leave, soon after, Nolan had left and they were able to finally chat with their son.

(Alex's House after Thanksgiving Dinner)

Everybody finished dinner and sat around the living room for a while letting their food settle. Tyler was getting anxious, it was just after 7 and he was wanting to get going over to the hospital to see Terry.

"Uh, hey guys, can we think about heading over to see Terry? I don't know what visiting hours are, but I really want to see him before we can't".

Greg and the other parents looked at Shaun and nodded, "Son, why don't you take the boys, we'll stay back and let you guys see him. The hospital doesn't need to be descended upon."

Shaun got up off the couch and waived Tyler and Alex to come with him. They grabbed their coats and made their way out the door.

The drive to the hospital was quick, there was no one on the road and the weather was holding out. It was a very rare sight to see so few cars on the roads in this city, it only happened during the holidays.

The boys finally got to the hospital, stopping at the reception desk to get their visitor passes, then piling in the elevator to go up to Terry's floor. The elevator was not very fast, it seemed as if a couple of minutes had gone by before the door had opened, even though it had been less than a minute.

The four of them made their way through the halls until they found Terry's room to see him and his parents through the window watching TV, *quiet knocks on the door* "hello?" Tyler whispered as he slowly pushed the door open. As soon as Terry looked in the direction of the door, he couldn't brace himself fast enough to prepare for the tackle pounce he got from Tyler.

"Hey, hey, Ty......I'm okay!"

Tyler got up off the little dog and looked at him, his swollen blood-filled eye, "you don't look okay, I am so SO sorry that his happened to you".

"This isn't the first time this happened today"

"Huh?"

"Nol stopped by to see me. He was here when I woke up. He was really broken up."

"Terry......I didn't...... I never meant to get you hurt, I just needed your support, what that asshole did was just wrong...."

"I know, I know, and none of this is your fault......I didn't handle it the right way. I should have said something to you, to my parents sooner."

Terry hugged Tyler, patting him on the back trying to get him to loosen up and not feel so bad about this situation. A few moments afterwards, he finally let go and Tyler climbed off the bed.

Alex approached Terry afterwards giving him a big tight hug. "I'm really glad you're okay Terry, and I'm really glad you aren't too hurt. Sounds like this guy was pretty strong, it could have been worse if Nolan hadn't got to you when he did."

"Y-yeah.... everybody that saw......no one did anything to stop it", Terry looked down with a sad expression on his face.

"But I'm okay, its over, and I'm safe now", he brought his face back up and gave Alex a smile. Alex said nothing further, just gave him another hug.

Alex moved away from the bed, leaving room for Shaun to approach Terry. Shaun walked over to the bed sitting down silently. When he sat down, he just stood there not saying anything. Alex saw this and immediately recognized what this was.

"Uh hey guys, would it be okay if we all gave him a few minutes alone?"

Tyler Alex, Jean and Michael looked at each other, then looked at Shaun and Terry. "Yes, let's give them a few minutes" came from Michael, "we can go out to the lobby."

Everybody made their way out of the room, Shaun just sat there in an almost catatonic state. Terry raised his paw to Shaun's cheek.

"I'm here baby, I'm okay."

Terry knew where this was coming from, it was trauma, like Shaun felt this was almost a repeat of Andrew. Shaun grabbed the paw that was on his cheek gently as tears rolled down the fur on his face.

"Shaun.... I can't begin to know how you feel ri-......"

Shaun cut Terry off as he rushed in and gave him the strongest, most passionate kiss they have ever shared. Shaun wrapped his arms around Terry, giving him a strong, warm embrace, basking in the moment, hoping that it wouldn't end, lasting for several minutes.

"Terry...... I can't lose you. The thought of that pain, its just unbearable, I was so scared."

"Shaun...... I'm so sorry......I really didn't mean to put you or anyone else through this. I......I was just trying to handle my own problems."

Shaun held him tighter, almost too tight, leaving Terry patting him on the arm to loosen his grip. The Pit bull let go of his pup, sitting back on the bed.

"A part of me wants you to live with me so I can protect you, but I know that's unrealistic. I just... you're the best thing to happen to me in a really long time. Something amazing, something real."

Terry looked into Shaun's eyes staring at them, and the tears that kept falling. He simply gave Shaun a soft smile and squeezed his paw as to let him know that things will be alright. Shaun wiped the tears from his muzzle and attempted to collect himself.

"How about you and I go somewhere special once you get out of here puppy. Spend the rest of your holiday with your parents, but we'll figure out something afterwards. You aren't going to school on Monday, that's for sure"

Terry said nothing but only nodded in a "yes", Shaun responded by ruffling up his head fur. "I think it will be nice for you. Your mom and dad can come too if they want."

Terry smiled and shook his head enthusiastically. Shaun took a minute before he finally replied, "I supposed we should let the others know they can come back in now huh?" Shaun got up off the bed and walked out of the room to grab the others, returning shortly with the rest of the crew.

Everyone made the most of their time that they spent in Terry's hospital room that evening, trying to bring the holiday to him, spending time with his family and friends. Everyone stayed until visiting hours were ending, making sure that they all gave Terry hugs and well wishes before leaving. With everyone gone, and it getting later, Terry simply thought of the nice evening he was able to have, using those thoughts to lull himself to sleep, hopefully that he will be released to go home tomorrow.