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"Oh man." Mark drew back quickly and glanced at his watch. "I should go. My mom hates it when I'm late for curfew."

The suddenness of the wolf's reaction robbed Arden of breath. He was so close he could practically feel Mark's muzzle touching his. When the wolf drew back to check his watch, a wave of bitter disappointment quickly swept in to replace the warm, tingling sensation he felt only moments before. "Yeah. " He tried desperately to fight the lump in his throat. "You should get going. I'm betting your mom's gonna to be pretty steamed if you're late."

"I'll be okay." The look on his face betrayed something else... nervousness? Sadness?

"You can use the dryer in the downstairs bathroom, if you want." Arden forced a smile.

"No, it's... it's okay." Mark climbed out of the pool and shook himself off. "No time."

Arden watched him dress. The playfulness and energy was gone from those bright blue eyes. It was replaced with sadness and a certain shiftiness that made it seem like the wolf was nervous about every small movement he made.

With some difficulty, Mark managed to pull his shirt on over his still-wet fur. He took one more look at Arden. "I'll... uh, see you later."

'Later... not tomorrow, but later.' Arden did his best to smile through the tears that slowly welled in his eyes. He blinked them away quickly, hoping that Mark wouldn't be able to differentiate between the tears and the pool water. "Okay." It took all his effort to make the word come out without sobbing.

"Thank your mom and dad again for me, would you?" Mark stuffed his shorts into his backpack. "I'm gonna sprint home to make sure I don't get grounded."

With that, the wolf broke into a run, pausing only momentarily to hop the fence.

"Bye." Arden stood and stared at the fence, too slow to process that the wolf was already long gone.

He lowered himself back into the pool and let the tears flow freely.

So, this was it, then. Letting his sheath do his brain's job, he made Mark so uncomfortable that now any chances he had at a decent friendship with the wolf were gone. He was no better than any other creep out there. No, he was worse; not only was he a slime, he was going to hell for being gay, too. He didn't believe in that last bit, but at this point, he felt that hell would be a fitting place for him to spend eternity. Sure, he wanted to have a romantic relationship with the wolf, but would a friendship have been so bad? Mark was smart, funny, had a great taste in books and music. But more importantly than anything else, he understood; he understood Arden's choices in life and respected them... up to this point, anyway. Now, it was all gone. They would be strangers again, shooting passing glances at each other and then moving on, each burdened with their own kind of sadness - Arden, who had come so close and lost, and Mark, who had opened himself up only to be used.

Arden continued to swim the perimeter of the pool, trying to cry out all the tears he had left. He had to because if he went back into the house now, it would mean questions.

Where's Mark?

Are you okay?

Did you have a fight?

Arden wasn't sure he could speak at all, let alone deal with his mother's curiosity.

So, he swam on.

When he realized that all these tears came from feeling sorry for himself, Arden only felt worse.

'Why are you even crying?' His inner voice arrived just in time to add insult to injury. 'This is all your fault. It's Mark that should be crying.'

Imagining the wolf crying - those beautiful blue eyes flooded with tears, brought Arden to a new low. It was like a perfect antithesis to the bliss and pleasure of the previous night's orgasm.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he finally finished crying. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to just plop down on his bed and sleep for days. There would be nightmares, but that was only to be expected.

Arden pulled himself slowly out of the pool and headed into the house. He made a dash for the dryer, hoping that nobody would catch him to begin the interrogation... and he almost succeeded.

"Dude, are you okay?" It was Mikey.

"I'm fine." Arden tried not to sound upset or angry. Either one would lead to a conversation, and he knew that he didn't have it in him to continue lying to his brother. He stood there, still dripping, trying to keep his whole body from shaking. He wanted so badly to run over to his brother, hug him, and tell him everything... so, he did.

Mikey listened with undivided attention. When Arden told him he was gay, he smiled. "Feels good to get it out in the open, doesn't it?"

This warm acceptance made Arden tear up again, not because of Mark, but because he felt like the luckiest otter in the world to have someone who listened and didn't care if he was gay or not - someone who loved him.

He rested in Mikey's arms for several minutes, just crying and feeling his brother's comforting embrace.

"Thanks, Mikey." He sighed, finally letting go. "Thanks for listening."

"We're brothers, Arden." Mikey smiled. "That's part of the job."

Arden nodded. "Oh, and... could you not tell Mom and Dad about this? I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet." Coming out felt good, but he still wasn't sure where his parents stood on the whole homosexual debate. He would have to probe things carefully before making his move... like he should have done with Mark.

Did Mark have anybody's shoulder to lean on now? Was he even sad or just angry? Angry that someone he'd trusted just wanted to get in his pants.

"Hey, Arden." Mikey must have noticed that his brother was about to start crying again. "It'll be alright. Give it a few days. If he doesn't find you himself, find him and try to patch things up... that is... if that's what you want."

'Is that what I want?' Arden knew this wasn't the way to phrase the question. 'Is that what Mark wants? Or does he just want to be left alone?' He gave Mikey one more hug and went to the dryer.

He stood in the dryer - something he thought was a telephone booth when it was first installed all those years ago - letting the waves of warm air dry his fur and relax him. He didn't want to think about anything. Thoughts would have plenty of time to gnaw on his conscience once he fell asleep.

Several times, the drying cycle ended. Each time, Arden would restart it and stay in for just a few more minutes. He was dry by the end of the first cycle, but the warmth and the noise seemed to temporarily distract him from thinking about what had just taken place in his pool.

When the heat began to get uncomfortable, Arden shut off the dryer and opened the door. All the thoughts he was trying to escape came rushing back. It felt like stepping out of Rabbit's into the ninety-degree weather outside. But this time, Mark wasn't there to distract him from it all.

He padded over to his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Morning arrived in what felt like minutes. Arden didn't remember what he had dreamt about, but the tear-stained pillow made things fairly obvious.

His body protested every step of the way, but he forced himself to go to the track. Despite being exhausted and in no mood to run, Arden knew that going to the track was the absolute best thing he could do with his time. It would help him avoid his parents' questions about Mark, help him clear his head and maybe... just maybe, Mark would actually be willing to talk to him about what had happened.

The soccer team was already done with practice when he arrived. They were sitting on the bleachers and talking. He noticed Mark and realized that the wolf looked worse than he did.

Mark looked like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were red, his ears were drooping; and whereas his teammates were chatting animatedly, he just sat there... looking up at the sky.

Arden wanted to run up there and hug the wolf, to tell him he was sorry. He didn't, of course. Not only would he be effectively outing Mark to all his teammates, Arden estimated that he was probably the absolute last person in the world that Mark wanted to see.

So, he started jogging. Every time he passed by Mark, he tried to make eye contact, but the wolf just kept looking elsewhere. One time, he thought he could see the wolf looking back at him from across the field, but he realized that, much like the wolf's erection brushing against him in the pool, it was all just a figment of his wishful imagination.

Five laps and twenty minutes later, Arden finished his run. He left the field as quickly as he could. Much like his head injury, the overwhelming sadness of the previous day had receded into a knot in his chest - something that only bothered him if he thought about it.

It was as if his life was set on repeat for the next few days. He would go running, try to make eye-contact with Mark, fail and go home.

This day was no different. He went home, hardly noticing his mother ask him about his day, and replied to everything with curt, single word answers.

The only person he really wanted to talk to was his brother.

He found Mikey in his room, chatting with someone on the computer.

"He completely ignored me." Arden started without preamble.

"Just give it time." The otter swiveled in his chair to face him, IM conversation forgotten. "Things like that have a tendency of working themselves out if you let them."

"Thanks." Hearing his brother's encouraging reply made Arden feel a bit better. Maybe Mikey was right. Maybe he just needed time - a short while for Mark to come up and talk to him, or a much longer while to get over the hurt and move on.

He went to his room and slumped down on the bed. He got up just moments later, feeling too restless to be lying down.

Unable to think of anything in the house that would draw his attention for more than some brief moments, he decided to take a walk.

"I'm going out to hang with some friends." He lied openly to his mother without the slightest bit of remorse. "I'll be back by dinner."

Mrs. Halinen just smiled and nodded. "Have fun, dear."

It was only much later that Arden realized how strange that was. His mother would normally ask him whom he was going with, whether he had his phone, money, school ID. She probably realized something was wrong, but didn't want to press.

After several hours of aimless wandering, Arden found himself in front of Rabbit's. With an hour to spare before dinner, he decided to go in.

The place was empty except for Jenny. "Hey, Arden!" She greeted him with a warm smile. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a Laguna Blast." Arden paid for the smoothie and sat down at one of the tables.

Sometime later, Jenny returned with his smoothie. "Here you go!" She put the smoothie down on the table.

Arden wished he could smile back, but the best he could manage was a forced grin.

"Oh, listen." Jenny pulled out one of the green chairs and sat down across from him. "Tell Mark I said I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Arden looked up at her. "For what?"

"Oh, didn't you... umm... Maybe I said too much." She stammered and started to get up.

"Jenny!" Arden hoped that the sadness in his eyes would be enough to sway her. "Please tell me what happened to Mark."

It worked. Jenny sat back down and looked at Arden for a few moments, trying to figure out how to proceed. "Well, Mark broke up with Katelyn. I thought you knew already since you guys seem so close."

"Broke up?" Arden felt that this was too, somehow, his fault.

"Yeah. I'm not sure who dumped who, but she seemed pretty mad when I saw her." Jenny got up from the chair. "So, anyway, if you see him, tell him I said I was sorry. It must suck to break up with someone you've been dating for this long, but he'll find someone else."

"I... I will." Arden also stood up. "I'll see ya later."

"Bye!" Jenny cleaned up the table and returned to the counter.

Arden knew what he had to do now. He had to go to Mark and support him as best he could. The wolf would probably be apprehensive, but he didn't have anyone else, and his hurt was probably far greater than Arden's. He'd dated Katelyn for a long time... maybe... maybe he even loved her.

Arden made it to his neighborhood in record time. Then, after walking past his house and all the way down the street, he realized that he didn't actually know where Mark lived. Short of trying every house on the street, Arden saw no way of finding the wolf.

He tried calling him, but got sent to voicemail - once after three rings, and once after just one.

Feeling defeated, Arden went home.

He barely tasted dinner, barely heard his parents talking and barely remembered going up to his room and falling asleep.

The next day, he came to the track as usual. This time, however, he would confront the wolf, even if it meant being jeered at by the soccer team.

To his surprise, he didn't see Mark anywhere. Arden glanced at the clock on his cell-phone; there was still about ten minutes of practice left. Everyone else was out on the field.

So, where was Mark?

The wolf was probably so tired of ignoring Arden that he decided to skip practice altogether.

His last real chance to talk to the wolf had come and gone. Now, there was nothing he could do but forget.

Arden broke into a jog, trying to empty his mind before the tears came. About three quarters around the track, he thought he heard a sound coming from behind the bleachers. It was so faint that he didn't give it much thought at first. On the second lap, he heard it again. This time, he decided to investigate.

Just as he rounded the corner and peeked behind the bleachers, he saw a flash of gray disappear around the corner.

Arden never knew he could run that fast. The pain in his footpaws was forgotten along with his heavy tail and the unremitting heat. He followed the gray streak all the way around the bleachers and behind the pool complex before the pain and fatigue caught up with him.

"Wait!" He prayed the wolf could hear him. "Please, Mark!"

The exhaustion was making him feel nauseous; everything started to spin and blur together.

"I can't run as fast as you." He lost his balance and fell to the ground. "Please..." Looking up, he saw Mark standing in the shadow of the building, watching him.

The pain and disorientation vanished again; Arden got up and walked cautiously over to the wolf.

"I'm sorry." Mark's voice was nothing more than a faint whisper. Arden could feel just how difficult it was for the wolf to speak.

"For what?" It felt strange to hear Mark say exactly what he was about to say himself.

"For making a pass at you in the pool." Mark pawed his eyes, trying to wipe away the tears. "I shouldn't have presumed you were interested. It's just... when I first saw you at the track... you were so... so beautiful. I... I kept wanting to tell you, but I could never gather up the courage. I even skipped out on practice today." He sobbed and turned away.

Arden felt the knot in his chest start to loosen. The pleasant, tingling warmth he never expected to feel again, returned.

"I don't want to be gay!" Mark stopped crying and looked up at him. "But... I can't help it. I'll stay away from you from now on, though. Just please, please don't tell anybody on the team; they'd eat me alive if they found out." He sighed and began walking past Arden in the direction of the football field.

The otter grabbed him from behind by his shoulders and spun him around with a strength he never knew he had. "I don't want to be gay either." He held Mark close, drowning in the wolf's endless blue eyes. "But if I wasn't, I would never have fallen for you. So, in a way... I guess being gay's a pretty good deal." He wanted to say more, but never got the chance because their muzzles finally met.

Their lips parted and their tongues went to work, lovingly exploring each others' muzzles.

Now, Arden understood; he understood why kids felt the need to stop in the middle of the hallway and try to stuff their tongues down each others' throats - the feeling was phenomenal. It was like his orgasm from all those nights before but longer lasting, more passionate. It filled him with warmth from the tips his ears all the way down to his footpaws, forcing out all the fatigue, sadness and self-doubt.

He wrapped his arms around the wolf and held on, praying that time would somehow stop so he could be stuck in this moment for eternity.

"Wow!" Mark gasped once their kiss had ended. "So this is what all the fuss is about. I guess I've been doing it wrong all these years."

"Or with the wrong person." Arden grinned, giving the wolf's nose an affectionate lick.

They stood with their arms wrapped around each other for a long time, sharing another magical kiss in the process.

"Thank you." Arden took Mark's paw in his.

"For what?" Mark tilted his muzzle quizzically.

"For not running away."