{"sf1_id":231296,"sf2_id":"3egbg0L1","title":"Gym Buddies: Part Eight","author":"SpeakingWolf","words":2039,"posted_at":"2011-03-16T19:03:00.000Z","tags":["Brothers","Cuddling","Gym","Husky","Love","M/M","Romance","Secret Love"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/231296-gym-buddies-part-eight","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/3egbg0L1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/59/76/59765708-c8fd-499e-ace4-37b8144bcce2","description":"#8 of Gym Buddies","content":"\u0026nbsp;\n\n**Gym Buddies: Part Eight**\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nI walked into the hall and took in a deep breath.\u0026nbsp; It only took the one inhale to tell that Luke had been baking.\u0026nbsp; Double chocolate brownies, if my nose was correct.\u0026nbsp; I must've seemed upset earlier, he'd kill me for even thinking about something so unhealthy.\u0026nbsp; He obviously thought I was in need of comfort food.\n\n\"Dan?\u0026nbsp; Is that you?\" he called. \u0026nbsp;I didn't answer him - I was still too wrapped up in my thoughts.\u0026nbsp; After a moment of standing in the corridor, Luke came to check on the door.\u0026nbsp; \"Is that-\" he stopped when he saw me.\u0026nbsp; He was wearing a vest, jogging trousers and an apron that had the words _'Yiff the cook!'_ printed across it.\u0026nbsp; \"Dan, what's the matter?\"\u0026nbsp; The second I saw him, my face screwed up and I let out a sob.\u0026nbsp; He rushed over and hugged me.\u0026nbsp; He must have just taken his baking out of the oven, as his paws were toasty warm.\u0026nbsp; \"Oh, pup, what's wrong?\" he asked in his most concerned voice.\u0026nbsp; I tried to speak, but my speech was incoherent through my tears.\u0026nbsp; Luke looked me over and unzipped my sweatshirt.\u0026nbsp; \"Let's get you out of these wet clothes - you'll catch your death!\u0026nbsp; Come on,\" he said, taking off my damp t-shirt.\n\nLuke kept a tight hold on me as he took me to the bedroom, picked up a dry white tee and pulled it over me.\u0026nbsp; He took out one of my clean red sweatshirts and placed it over my shoulders.\u0026nbsp; As we passed the bathroom on the way back to the living room, the husky picked up a towel and gently patted my head dry.\u0026nbsp; My cries had calmed down when we reached the sofa, and Luke sat me next to him, resting his paw on my back.\n\n\"What's wrong?\"\u0026nbsp; My body shook as I held back another sob.\u0026nbsp; I wiped my nose with the back of my paw and took a deep breath as I tried to calm down.\u0026nbsp; He was still dabbing my fur dry, which made this so much easier and so much harder at the same time.\n\n\"I-It's Al,\" I started.\u0026nbsp; Luke stopped dabbing at my fur, so I looked at him.\u0026nbsp; His lip twitched angrily.\n\n\"What did he do to you?\" he asked as calmly as he could, though his voice didn't hide his fury at all.\u0026nbsp; I could tell he was ready to find the coyote and murder him.\n\nI shook my head and gave a small nervous chuckle.\u0026nbsp; \"No, he hasn't done anything,\" I said, \"It's just, well-\" another cry came from me as I fell into his chest. \u0026nbsp;He rubbed my back and cooed at me.\n\n\"Well, what is it, then?\" he asked.\u0026nbsp; My fur had soaked his apron, so he continued to towel off my head.\u0026nbsp; I didn't lift my face when I answered him.\n\n\"I-I broke up with him,\" I explained.\u0026nbsp; That was the way Al had described it, so it seemed apt right now.\u0026nbsp; Luke gave an understanding sound and hugged me tightly.\n\n\"I see,\" he said, \"but why?\u0026nbsp; I thought you two were getting along great?\"\u0026nbsp; I nodded my head in his chest.\n\n\"We were, but I realised that I wanted... something else,\" I said.\u0026nbsp; That was, after all, the real reason I ended it with Al.\u0026nbsp; Luke sat back a little and let my head fall into his lap.\u0026nbsp; I curled on the sofa and wept into him while he dried me off again, lovingly.\n\n\"Okay, I get it.\u0026nbsp; It's okay, I'm here for you.\"\u0026nbsp; I smiled at this and shifted so that I was comfortable in his lap, my arms curling around his legs and squeezing him tight.\u0026nbsp; I mumbled something into him.\u0026nbsp; \"What's that?\"\n\n\"Er, nothing,\" I lied.\u0026nbsp; He saw through it instantly.\n\n\"Come on, Dan, what did you say?\"\n\nI took a deep breath as I prepared to admit this.\u0026nbsp; \"I should have waited,\" I repeated, and another torrent of tears flowed from me.\u0026nbsp; Luke's paw ran across my now dry head, and his warm fur made me relax.\u0026nbsp; He was silent, waiting for me to speak.\u0026nbsp; \"I should have waited for someone else.\"\u0026nbsp; In all the years I'd been a virgin, I'd been so anxious to change.\u0026nbsp; When I realised that I lost it to someone I didn't love, though, it hurt me.\u0026nbsp; Luke ran his claws through my fur, which was the way our mother always comforted us when we were young.\u0026nbsp; I murred slightly and Luke smiled.\n\n\"Okay, pup, I'm going to be honest with you,\" he said.\u0026nbsp; My ears perked up to listen.\u0026nbsp; \"Your first time - it isn't _that_ big a deal,\" he explained, gently curling my fur around his fingers, \"it seems like it now, I know, but when you find the right person - the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with - it won't matter at all.\"\n\n\"R-really?\" I asked.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't sure if he was just trying to cheer me up.\n\n\"Really,\" he assured me.\u0026nbsp; \"You know, it's so rare for anyone to mate for life, pup.\u0026nbsp; It's a fairytale, really.\u0026nbsp; What're you going to do - spend your entire life waiting until you've found the right person?\"\n\n\"I _had_ found the right person,\" I said shakily, \"I just didn't know it!\"\u0026nbsp; More tears ran down my muzzle and cascaded into his lap.\u0026nbsp; He picked up the towel and started to wipe them away.\n\n\"Shush, shush,\" he said, hugging me tight.\u0026nbsp; \"Okay, so this _'right person'_, if you weren't with Al, would you have known how you felt about him?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Well, then?\u0026nbsp; Isn't it better that you know?\"\u0026nbsp; I shrugged, unsure of the answer, and Luke stroked my fur again.\u0026nbsp; He sighed.\u0026nbsp; \"Honestly, pup, it doesn't matter who your first is - all that matters is that you end up with the person that you love.\"\u0026nbsp; I smiled and sniffled a little, my tears now fully stopped.\u0026nbsp; \"Better?\"\n\n\"A bit,\" I replied.\n\n\"Okay, how about we turn that _'a bit'_ into a _'yes, much better, Luke, you're the best brother in the world'_?\"\u0026nbsp; I smiled and squeezed the legs I was hugging on to.\u0026nbsp; He _was_ the best brother in the world.\u0026nbsp; \"I made you your favourite - double chocolate brownies!\u0026nbsp; You want some?\"\u0026nbsp; I looked up at him and chuckled.\n\n\"You'll only make me exercise it off,\" I moaned.\n\n\"Another day, yeah.\u0026nbsp; But tonight is all about making you happy,\" he said before kissing my forehead.\u0026nbsp; \"So do you want some brownies?\u0026nbsp; They're still warm!\" he added in a singsong voice.\n\n\"On one condition - when you get back, can I curl up in your lap again?\u0026nbsp; I'm just in a really clingy mood tonight.\"\u0026nbsp; He got up and knelt to my face with a sympathetic look.\u0026nbsp; He returned to the fur on my head and looked into my eyes.\n\n\"You're not being clingy, pup, you're upset - and I don't blame you.\u0026nbsp; And we'll do whatever you want.\"\u0026nbsp; Luke ruffled my hair before making his way into the kitchen.\n\nIt didn't take him long to return holding a plate full of brownies.\u0026nbsp; He'd taken off his wet apron to reveal the white vest he was wearing.\u0026nbsp; It was tight-fitting on him and showed off his muscular shoulders, making me look away and blush slightly.\u0026nbsp; He put the tray on the small table in front of us and placed a paw on my shoulder.\n\n\"What's wrong?\" he asked.\n\n\"J-just that you'd do all this for me,\" I half-lied.\n\n\"Pup, I'm doing this because I love you, okay?\"\u0026nbsp; I started to cry again, and he wrapped his arms around me.\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to set you off again, come here.\"\u0026nbsp; He pulled me in tight to him and stroked my ear until I calmed down.\u0026nbsp; \"Should I sit down now?\"\u0026nbsp; I nodded and lifted myself for him.\u0026nbsp; He sat and rested my head on his lap.\u0026nbsp; \"Now, these are for both of us - don't be greedy, okay?\"\n\n\"I didn't think you'd eat anything like this.\u0026nbsp; Isn't it against your gym code or something?\"\u0026nbsp; He picked up one of the brownies and took a big bite from it.\n\n\"Your pain is my pain, pup,\" he smiled at me.\u0026nbsp; He had a big piece of chocolate stuck on his nose, which made him look unbelievably cute.\u0026nbsp; I snickered, though he didn't know why.\n\n\"Yeah, I _knows_ that,\" I said, putting direct emphasis on the word so that he'd understand what I was saying.\u0026nbsp; He licked at his nose and laughed when he tasted what was there.\n\n\"Do you want to watch something?\" he asked, his tongue flicking at the chocolate.\u0026nbsp; I shook my head and reached for a brownie.\u0026nbsp; I moved to get comfortable, but couldn't find the right spot I'd hit before.\u0026nbsp; \"Everything okay?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I'm fine.\u0026nbsp; It's just... I'm not exactly the comfiest I could be.\"\u0026nbsp; Luke smiled at me, got up and then lay across the sofa.\u0026nbsp; He beckoned me into his lap, and I placed myself across him, my head just reaching his stomach and my arms wrapped around his hips.\u0026nbsp; \"That's better,\" I murred, finally taking a bite of my brownie.\u0026nbsp; Luke's body was warm against me, and I let my face fall into him.\n\n\"So?\"\u0026nbsp; I waited for him to say something else, and looked into his eyes when he didn't respond.\u0026nbsp; They were suddenly alight, a flicker of interest sparkling in the ocean depths.\u0026nbsp; \"Tell me about this guy.\"\n\nI gulped down the mouthful of brownie and buried my face into his vest.\u0026nbsp; This was an area I didn't want to go into - not yet.\u0026nbsp; \"I don't really want to talk about it,\" I told him.\n\n\"Oh, come on,\" he insisted.\u0026nbsp; I looked at him and smiled.\n\n\"Hey, you said tonight we could do whatever I wanted - well, I don't want to talk about this!\"\n\n\"You're a tease,\" he grumbled with a smile.\u0026nbsp; \"You tell me that you like someone and then you won't tell me a single thing about him!\u0026nbsp; Come on - would I like him?\"\u0026nbsp; I placed my head on his stomach again and took another bite of my brownie.\u0026nbsp; When I considered his question, I pictured him standing outside the car on the day that I met Al.\n\n\"You'd love him,\" I said with a knowing smile.\u0026nbsp; \"I love him.\"\n\n\"Does he know that you feel like that?\"\n\n\"I... it's complicated,\" I explained.\u0026nbsp; \"And besides, I don't know if he feels the same way.\"\u0026nbsp; Tears were welling up in my eyes.\u0026nbsp; I tried to keep my voice as normal as possible, but Luke's fingers running through my fur told me that I wasn't doing a good job.\n\n\"If he doesn't like you, he needs his head examining.\"\u0026nbsp; I smiled at this and hugged him tight.\u0026nbsp; \"So?\u0026nbsp; Who is he?\"\n\nMy ears flattened across my head as I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing myself to do this.\u0026nbsp; I looked up at Luke and gazed into his brilliant blue eyes.\u0026nbsp; I didn't say anything, but hoped he would understand.\u0026nbsp; Eventually, he did.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nMy tail gave its signature curl as it twisted sharply into my body.\u0026nbsp; My face crumpled as I started to cry again and forced my muzzle into him.\u0026nbsp; \"I'm sorry, Luke!\u0026nbsp; Please don't hate me!\u0026nbsp; I'm so, so sorry!\" \u0026nbsp;He nodded firmly.\n\n\"Shh, it's okay, it's okay\" he said, his paw still stroking my head.\u0026nbsp; Somehow, it felt different.\u0026nbsp; \"You just get to sleep now, all right?\"\u0026nbsp; I nodded my head and rested into him.\u0026nbsp; It didn't take long until I fell asleep, wondering what Luke thought about my revelation.\n\n\\*\n\nJust before I awoke the next morning, I cuddled up to Luke, who I had my arms wrapped around.\u0026nbsp; He felt thinner and slightly spongy, so I opened my eyes to see what was wrong.\u0026nbsp; When I saw that I'd been hugging a cushion and not my brother, I got suddenly nervous.\n\n\"L-Luke?\"\n\nI looked across the room to see if there was any sign of him, and my heart stopped when I saw what was sitting outside of our room.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nA packed suitcase.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Gym Buddies","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/230389-gym-buddies-part-seven.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/232157-gym-buddies-part-nine.json"}}