FSE

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"So, are we all going downstairs?" I asked to the five others as we were throwing away our dishes.

"I would have like too, but I'm not feeling so great right now, maybe another day..." Brody shyly declined.

"Well, see ya tomorrow." Jude smiled at him. The little human smiled back lightly to the red wolf, before disappearing of our sights without saying goodbye to anybody else. We all looked at him go and Blake and I sighed. If mine was a relieved one, Blake's looked more like a discouraged one. I turned to my lover who had a sad face and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I would have like him to come..." Blake looked back at me. I managed to smile at him trying to comfort him.

"I know, I know." I rubbed his shoulder.

"Besides, we can't force him to follow us every time." Dalton added.

"Maybe you're right..." The shepherd sighed again.

"But hey!" I wrapped my arm around his neck. "Let's not this take us down, let's have some fun! I threw dynamically to the others as we started to walk outside the cafeteria. All the way down, I was holding Blake tight to me as he was looking pretty preoccupied. Soon, we all arrived in the basement where loud rock music was already playing. The place was really huge and at least 30 other persons were already there, having fun. So we found a pool table a little bit remote from where everyone else was and started to play.

We started a little tournament of 9-ball between the five of us and Dalton was surprisingly good. His accuracy was making no doubt in our mind that he wouldn't have difficulties with guns. He beat Blake quite easily as he wasn't focused at all. He also beat me by a couple of shots which frustrated me a bit since I'm an eternal bad loser. So I gave the cue to Jude and went close to the german shepherd who was sitting alone, watching us playing.

"What's wrong Ake?" I asked concern, while sitting next to him on the couch and putting my hand on his knee.

"Oh, I'm just feeling bad about Brody..." He leaned his head on my shoulder and I started to scratch softly the top of his head with my other hand.

"Why? Wasn't it you who wanted to kill him in the plane yesterday?" I chuckled, but he didn't react.

"Yeah, but I think I misjudged him. I mean, that's impossible that somebody can be so negative all the time..."

"Maybe you're right." I paused. "Well, you're partners, so I guess you could understand each other better than I do with him."

"Maybe..." He sighed. "...but I wish we could have been partners." He snuggled closer to me as I took him in a tight and comforting hug.

"Me too, hun, you don't know how bad!" We lay there for another minute, before I planted a kiss on his cheek and looked at him. "Doggie wants to play a game?" I whispered in his perking ears, as he turned his face towards me with a questioned look. "Ok then." I giggled and got up. "Oh no, you stay there!" I ordered as he was about to do the same. His tail started to thump on the couch in anticipation. "Good boy! I'll be back in a minute." I winked at him and started to walk towards the jukebox.

Once I reached it, I realised, luckily, that there weren't any other songs set up. 'Please, hope it's there!' I repeated in my head while I was looking rapidly to all the songs it had to offer. "Yes, thank God!" I said as I pushed on the button to confirm the song. I nearly ran back to Blake, who was still looking puzzlingly at me. "Wait, you'll see!" I laughed and smiled at him. As we were listening to the remaining of the song "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I slowly started to rub his tight. His smile widened when he saw where I was going to.

But I completely forgot that the solos in that song last more than 6 minutes, so Blake was starting to get impatient and I have to admit, me as well. Soon, the last guitar riffs ended and my song started.

She's not a girl who misses much Do-do-do-do-do, oh yeah

She's well acquainted With the touch of a velvet hand Like a lizard on a window pane

_ _

As the first lyrics hit our ears, I started to rub sensually my powerful lover's abs under his shirt; a rumble coming from his chest encouraged me to continue.

Man in the crowd With the multicolored mirrors On his hobnail boots

_ Lying with his eyes While his hands are busy Working overtime_

The sole confession of his wife Which he ate and donated to the National Trust

_ _

As my hand was still caressing his bottom chest, I started to suckle on his neck which had the effect to making him moan lightly.

I need a fix cause I'm going down Down to the abyss that I've left up town I need a fix cause I'm going down

Mother Superior jump the guns Mother Superior jump the guns Mother Superior jump the guns

Happiness is a warm gun (bang bang shoot shoot) Happiness is a warm gun, yes it is (bang bang shoot shoot)

_ _

Still suckling on his neck, my hand started to go under his pants where I touched his already stiffening cock. He groaned which started to arouse me as well.

When I hold you in my arms (oh yes) When I feel my fingers on your trigger (oh yes) I know nobody can do me no harm Because

_ _

I've started to lick under his right ear and my hand was now stroking his full hard canine member.

Happiness is a warm gun, momma Happiness is a warm gun -Yes it is...

_ _

"YES IT IS!" Blake nearly howled as he grabbed my hand and took it off his pants. Fortunately, we were enough remote, so only Noah, Dalton and Jude heard him. As they turned toward us, Dalton eyes went wide, but Noah and Jude only smiled foolishly as they watched us doing our not so intimacy pleasure. "Stop it, I'm going to blow now!" He panted smoothly in my ear, which turned me on even more.

I quickly got up and grabbed Blake's paw and pulled him. "Finish the tournament without us, we are already eliminated anyway!" I said, as we past the three of them in a hurry, before disappearing in the stairs.

************************Change of view*****************************

The red wolf looked at the two running for the stairs with an amused face as they even shoved some people on the way and shouting apologies over their shoulders.

"Hey Jude!" The wolf got back to reality and turned towards the pool table. "Your turn." Noah pointed him the white ball.

"Oh, sorry!" He retorted nervously as he placed himself in position to shoot. He took a big breath to calm down and aimed. He struck the cue ball with strength as it hit the ball number 6 before hitting the ball number 9 going directly in the middle right pocket, and ending the game in the same time.

"WHAT?!" Noah yelled in complete disbelief. Jude scratched the back of his head, smiling foolishly. "How did you-" He smacked his forehead. "You're fucking lucky Walker!" The grey wolf shook his head and gave the cue to Dalton who was laughing heartily.

"It's called talent!" Dalton mocked at Noah who stuck his tongue in return. "Well, I guess that the finals will be you against me since Blake and Vince decided to play another kind of game..." The human giggled as he was placing the balls in his usual diamond-shaped configuration. "Alright Jude, when you're ready to go."

The game was quite equal for both sides; Dalton ended up clearing the balls 1,3,4 and 5 while Jude replicated with balls 2,6,7 and 8. Jude had the last shot to win the game. It was an easy straight trajectory to the bottom right pocket. So, the red wolf placed himself and aimed.

"Vince's dick!!!!" Noah shouted as the red wolf was about to strike. He lost all his concentration and completely missed his shot; the cue ball rolling only a couple of inches away. Noah felt upward, his two paws ending on the pool table sides as he couldn't stop from laughing while Dalton shook his head with a broad smile.

"Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha! Very funny Wilson!" Jude said as he let the steam escape his muzzle and tightened his grip around the cue.

"Come on Jude, it's just a game. Anyway you would have won." Dalton said, admitting his defeat. "But, for Noah and I, it's clear that you feel something for Vince." He giggled, which seemed to embarrass even more the red wolf.

"So what?" He looked away. "And you Noah! The way you look at Vince makes me think that you wouldn't mind getting fuck by him also." His gaze rose to the grey wolf. Noah lost his smile instantly and his ears flattened a bit.

"Alright, alright! I don't want to start a debate on it, sorry Jude..." Noah said with his head down. "Anyway, we don't have any chance; he's already with Blake..."

"Hey, we only know each other since a day, there are a lot of things that can happen in six months." Dalton frowned to the childish attitudes of the two wolves. After a minute of silence which none of the lupines dared to speak, Dalton sighed. "Come on, let's do something else and forget about everything that happened just now." He started to walk to the huge 70 inches TV where was a Xbox 360 and a Rock Band set near the TV. "Wanna play?" He asked them and they nodded shyly.

They played for a good two hours before they decided to go to bed. Jude and Noah reconciled easily as they were laughing together by the end of the "band" session; Dalton wasn't about to complain though. So, the red wolf said goodbye to the two others and entered his room. The smell of hot sex immediately filled his senses as he stepped forward into the dark dorm. He didn't hear anything except deep breathings indicating that Vince was already dozing. He walked on his tiptoes, trying to avoid making too much noise, but tripped on a bag that was lying and fell boisterously.

"Shit!" The red wolf muttered to himself and looked at Vince's bed where movements were clearly visible.

"You're very clumsy, huh?" Vince giggled, but had a very sleepy voice.

"Blake's not there?" Jude asked while getting up.

"No, he went in his room when we finished."

"Oh, I see. Well, I guess I'll go to sleep now." The red wolf said as he started to undress himself.

"Jude, come over here before please." Vince asked gently to his partner. Jude went unsurely next to him and sat on the side of the bed. Then the human slowly started to rub the back of the wolf which confused him a bit. "I saw the way you were looking at me while I was on the couch with Blake. It's clear that you're jealous of him and-"

"That's not true!" Jude interjected quite dryly, which made Vince stopped rubbing his back for a couple of seconds. Then the human sat on his bed and joined his partner on his side.

"Don't lie to me Jude." He spoke softly. "I'll be frank with you." He paused. "I don't want to do a threesome..." He sighed.

"Huh, ok, why?" Jude asked, his ears flattening.

"Oh, don't worry; it's not because of you." Vince chuckled and started to rub again Jude's furred back. "Blake and I only got back together couple weeks ago-"

"So, you already dated him before?" The red wolf asked, surprised and the human nodded.

"More than a year." Vince simply retorted.

"Oh and why did you break up?"

"You're quite direct aren't you?" Vince laughed.

"Sorry!" Jude chortled. "Can you explain me how it happened?" They exchanged a look. "I mean your separation."

"Oh! Well I could explain you that, but it's late and-"

"Come on, it's only 10:15 and we only start at 9 tomorrow!" Jude jumped slightly and landed a little bit closer to Vince, who didn't realise the gap that was slowly narrowing between them.

"Alright then..." Vince sighed.

**7 months earlier**

"Vince, Blake's there!" My mom yelled from the living room.

"Tell him to join me in my room." I yelled back as I was doing some random things on my computer. Soon, I heard knocking on my door. "Password?" I shouted and smiled to myself.

"The fuck you're talking about?" Blake entered my room and closed the door behind him.

"Oh, I just decided that from now on, you'll have to say a password before entering my room." I giggled while getting up and turning towards the shepherd.

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard!" Blake laughed, before planting a tender kiss on my lips.

"Alright, no password then." I smiled as we parted from the kiss. Then I turned back and sat on the little bench in front of my computer. Blake didn't wait any longer and sat to my side. Then a silence felt in the room; I was looking freely at the different posts on Facebook and Blake was also looking at it, well that's what I thought. The sound of his thumping tail against the wooden bench brought me back from this short moment of virtual world lostness. Bringing back my glare on the dog next to me, I realised that he was looking at me all the way and now his eyes were expressing an awaiting mood.

"What?" I asked and smiled to his funny look.

"I have good news!" He was nearly shaking from anticipation and excitement. My cocking eyebrow told him that he could pursue. "My father signed the lease for our apartment in Boston today!"

"You're serious!!!" I yelled but my voice broke for no evident reason and I started to cough, which made Blake laugh frenetically. "That's awesome!" I succeeded to say between two coughing before taking my lover into a big hug. "So, that also means that you found your field of study?"

"No." He giggled. "But I don't want to leave you for whatever reason!" He said as he gave me a quick lap on my chin.

"We'll have to tell Kyle tonight at the party!" I added, excited before kissing, one more time, my beautiful shepherd on his lips. "Hmmm..." I took a thoughtful face after we detached from the kiss.

"What?" He asked as he looked at me deeply.

"How could I thank you for this..." I scratched my chin with a naughty smile and looking at him with the corner of my eyes. "I know..."

**Break in time**

"And what did you do to him??" Jude asked as he was hanging on my lips, waiting for me to continue. He was now lying flat on his stomach on my bed, the palm of his paws leaning against his chin. The only thing missing to him was a bag of popcorn.

"I won't tell you that! You can already figure how I thanked him." I rolled my eyes.

"No! I need more explanations to understand everything!" He insisted with a smirk.

"I said no!" I sighed and saw his pleading eyes. "Well that's enough for today, I'll tell you the rest another day..." I contained myself to smile.

"NO!! Please!!! I'll stop asking questions." He said as he fell right through my trap.

"Alright then." I cleared my throat and muffled in the same time my chuckle.

**Break in time**

"Alright Blake..." I said as I sat in the driver seat and closed the door. "... I'm driving tonight, so please don't make a fool of yourself at the party. You know that when you drink too much-"

"I know, I know!" The shepherd said as he buckled his belt. "Thanks for the reminder." He added with a boring tone. "Anyway, I only brought 12 cans tonight." He shrugged and looked at me.

"That's good to hear." I turned and smiled sincerely at him, while the car engine was turning to life. The car trip to the party stayed mainly silent, pop music only filling and supplanting the roaring of the noisy car. Putting this radio station was also a remedy to Blake's boredom, but at the expense of mine. If the shepherd was stomping to the rhythm of the songs, I was, on the other side, doing anything but enjoying it. For me, today's pop music is like standing next to the person you hate the most. I think Blake saw my tensed mood because he lowered the volume of the music.

"Sorry, I got carried away." Blake smiled bashfully as he knew that I don't like that kind of music. I only shrugged and grunted in return which had the effect to shut him rather quickly. The night was looking promising...

We soon arrived to the house where the party was and we could already hear the loud bass from the outside. Blake took his box of beers and we made our way inside without exchanging a word. We walked to the living room where a couple of persons were already playing beer pong, the others were whether watching or chatting.

"Hey!!" Kyle shouted and came to us. "Goin' well?" We exchanged our usual handshake and I nodded. He looked at Blake for a moment and got his glare back on me. "You sure of that?" He frowned.

"Yeah, that's nothing." I smiled faintly to him. Then a silence fell between the three of us. Kyle took the opportunity to sip on his already opened bottle and Blake took one of his cans and started to drink. "Well, I'll go see if there is anybody else outside." I started to walk away and stopped a few feet later to turn towards Blake. "Remember..."

"Yeah!" He clenched his teeth and if it wasn't the music, I could have sworn that he growled. I gave him a last long look before turning my heels and walked away.

"Wait Vince!" Kyle shouted behind me, but I kept walking. I went in the backyard, where a dozen of people were sitting around a fire pit, chatting and laughing. I saw CJ, the party thrower, sitting around, so I went to him and greeted him before sitting a couple of chairs further, alone. "What's wrong Vince?" Kyle sat next to me and looked at me with a concern look.

"It's nothing." I kept looking at the fire in front of me.

"Come on! I know you enough to see that you're angry." He spoke softly, knowing that speaking loudly wouldn't help my mood. "What did he do?" I breathed heavily and finally looked at him.

"Nothing, I swear." Then a puzzled looked appeared on my best friend's face. "As soon as we got in the car, his mood changed. I told him not to drink too much and he got pissed, so I tried to cheer him up with the music he like, but it turned me pissed also, you know how much I looove that music..." I raised my eyes to the skies and finally smiled as Kyle laughed lightly.

"Well, relationships can't be always 100% happy and rose." He joked, but I agreed with him. "Stay here for a moment and go talk with him later; I'm sure it'll get better." He friendly punched me on the shoulder.

"I guess you're right." I stayed with him and a couple of other guys for the next two hours, chatting and joking about everything. I also announced to Kyle for the apartment and he fell from his chair from the excitement which made everyone laughed. I finally took a deep breath and walked inside. My mood was now much better than when I arrived. But, my smile dropped instantly when I saw Pat, one of my baseball teammate, emptying two beers into a beer bong which was held by Blake.

"DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK, DRINK!!!" The others were all cheering the german shepherd who easily drank down all the liquid. My fists clenched and I let the steam came out of my nostrils.

'Calm down, calm down! It's nothing.' I succeed to focus back and put a smile on my face as I approached Blake.

"Enjoying your night?" I came from behind and slapped his shoulder. He turned towards me and had a nearly destabilizing stoic face.

"Yep! You?" He answered without too much enthusiasm.

"Yeah..." I sighed. "Can I talk to you for a sec.?" I didn't let him had the time to answer that I took him by the arm and pulled him away from the others. Once we were far enough, I turned to him and look in his eyes. He was already starting to be drunk. "What's wrong with you tonight??" I crossed my arms like a mother scolding her kid.

"What's wrong with ME?!?" He pointed himself and his eyes widened. "What's wrong with you, you should say!!" He saw my frowning and my narrowing eyes. "You look grumpy from the moment we got in the car and you still look-"

"Oh, I look grumpy?!? Look who's talking! You're not at your best either!" I frowned a bit more and started to thump my right foot, trying to contain my growing impatience. His fists clenched as he was also slowly losing his cool.

"And since how I have alcohol restrictions, huh? You're not my fucking mother!" His voice rose a bit.

"Since you're becoming a fucking asshole when you drink too much in public!!!" I yelled back; my arms unfolding.

"I don't need you to tell me how I should drink!" He snarled, taking a step forward.

"Oh yeah?! Moderation my ass!!" I pointed his already empty beer box. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to get my composure back, but it failed miserably. "You know what? Fuck off!!" I started to walk away, but Blake stopped me by placing his arm in front of me.

"Where you think you're going? We're not done!"

"Oh yeah! We're done!! Get your fucking dirty paws off me!" I pushed him away and walked past him. "And find yourself your way back to your house." I opened the door to leave, but I heard him coming from behind me.

"WAIT!!" He barked, but I closed the door in front of his muzzle. I continued to walk towards my car without returning but I heard him open the door in a hurry and ran behind me. "Does that mean that I'll be able to drink more?" I froze instantly. My head down, his words hit my brain like a train and my blood stopped circulating for a second as I slowly turned to face the shepherd. He had a defying smile and his shoulders were slightly rocking back and forth as his last beer bong made its effects.

"Well, if it can make you look less stupid... Cause now, you look like a fucking scumbag!" I gave him a last long disdainful look and started to walk again towards my car. "Go back inside and beg for your treat, DOG!" I yelled over my shoulder. The word 'dog' was full of meanness and hatred, but at this point, I didn't give a shit; the adrenaline was already commanding my body. I heard him growl from behind me, but I kept my slow walking pace.

"HEY!!" He barked angrily. "Say hi to your brother for me when you'll get back!" This time, it was too much to take. If there was still a little piece of my safety switch in my head, it collapsed into ashes when I heard that.

"MON TABARNAK!!!" The use of Québec swearing had become a practically non-existent vocabulary for me except when I was really pissed off, and the moment was 'well' chosen. I rapidly turned again to face the shepherd and started to run towards him. He saw my enraged face and his paltry smile faded instantly.

"Fuck!" He turned his heels to run away, but he didn't had the time to do it as I jumped in his back, my arms wrapping his neck and gravity pulling us on the ground. Meanwhile, during our arguing, curious eyes appeared on the windows to see what's going on. But when they saw me jump on Blake, some of them ran out of the house to watch the 'show'. The word spread up fast as more and more people were gathering around us.

We were brawling as we were trying to immobilize the other to take the advantage. In the rush of the moment, the german shepherd succeed to punch me in the face and I heard my mandible crack. Then it went completely blackout for me.

**Break in time**

"And then what happened?" The red wolf asked amazed.

"Well, I don't remember, but Kyle told me that I turned completely insane. I recovered from the punch easily and I punched him 5 or 6 times, I think. They all hit his face and he was on the verge of losing consciousness. So, that's when a guy tried to intervene, but I pushed him away and started to choke Blake. This time, Kyle, with the help of two other guys succeeded to neutralize me and getting me out of the 'ring'.

After 5 minutes, the intensity of my adrenaline started to drop and I was yelling at the others to let me go home. But they didn't want; they said that I should spend the night there, but there was no way I would see Blake again that night. Then, I don't know how, but I successfully freed myself from them and ran as fast as I can to my car. I put my foot down the accelerator and drove home..." I paused. "Well, I only remember when I woke up the next morning..."

"And what happened next?" Jude asked, as fascinated as a kid seeing Santa Claus for the first time.

"Well, I woke up and I was so frustrated at me because I got carried away so easily and I regretted it from that moment. It didn't help when I saw my cellphone flooded by texts, all by Blake who was apologizing for his stupid behavior..." I sighed and took a pause. "Things could have been so easy if I had accepted his apologies, but I was so stubborn, I didn't talk to him for three months. In fact, the only sentence I said to him was: 'I'm still going at the apartment in Boston.'"

"Why?" Jude sat back next to me.

"I couldn't afford to live in a tenement by my own... Well, it turned that this only sentence saved our couple." I finally smiled. Jude looked at me with question marks in his eyes and my smile widened a bit. "When Blake was trying to talk to me, I was always tuning out and snubbing him, but when I told him that, he took that as an opportunity to get things up. He started to go to the gym every day and gained muscles pretty fast. And then one day, I succumbed to his pressure and from that moment we are nearly inseparable."

"Well, why not the threesome then?" Jude looked deeply at me.

"I'm starting to think that you want it as much as Blake wants it!" I laughed. "The fact is that Blake and I are two persons very impulsive, so when something wrong happens, things degenerated pretty quickly. I know him, if I say no, he'll insist to a point I could get frustrated and well you know..."

"Why lie to him then?"

"Oh I didn't lie! Did he say a precise date?" I smiled to the red wolf as he tried to remember what the shepherd said.

"You're right." He admitted.

"I'm just not interested in a near future. Besides, I only know you for a day."

"But I feel like I'm connected to you. I never had that kind of feeling with anybody. Sometimes, I even think I can hear what you think." He scratched the back of his head.

"You're serious!?!" He nodded shyly. "I'm not sure, but I think I can hear yours too..."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." He smiled. "Think about something and I'll try to figure it out." I closed my eyes and started to think about something. About ten seconds later, I opened them back and looked at the wolf. "You were thinking of your brother?" I nodded; still astonished by the fact we could actually read the other's minds. "My turn." He smiled and also closed his eyes. Then he opened them and looked at me.

"Huh..." I looked back at him with a half-smile. "You would like to sleep with me tonight?" His face brightened and he looked at me with hope. "I have to say no Jude." I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Now time to get some sleep, I'm sure we'll have a big day tomorrow." The wolf agreed and slowly made his way to his bed and took off his clothes. "Good night Jude!"

"Good night Vince!"

---

We woke up the next morning and did what should become our everyday morning routine; empty our bladder, shower, discuss of light things, go down at the cafeteria and meet the rest of the crew for the breakfast and finally walk to the spot Chuck asked us to meet. Today was already a little bit different than what I expected since Brody was missing and Blake was worried for the human and was asking himself a thousand of questions.

"Good morning guys!" Chuck energetically shouted to the 9 of us. "As you can see, Brody is absent today and for a good reason; his grand-father is dying, so he went away to visit him." Blake's shoulders dropped as if a 200 pounds weight had been remove of him. Noah and I exchanged a look as we were the two who were bullying him the most. Who would be happy and positive when your grand-father is living his last moments... I felt bad and guilty about how I acted with him. "Alright guys, let's take a run, just to awake those sleepy muscles!!" Chuck made me stop to wonder as we started to run.

But as we were running through the mountain, I couldn't stop thinking about it... 'Maybe, he's a good guy after all...'

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll forgive you." The voice snapped me back to reality and I turned my head to see Jude smiling at me. I had already forgotten that he could read in my mind.

'What makes you think that way?' I continued to run, but watched him with the corner of my eye.

'Oh, just my humble opinion.' He thought back, keeping his smile as we were about to finish our run.

'Humble, huh?' I smiled broadly, as we were crossing the last trees to get to the field. 'Proclaiming yourself humble is one of the most presumptuous things to say, don't you think so?' My smile widened, as he pouted. We were already slowing our running pace. Suddenly, as I was returning my gaze in front of me, I saw something coming at me really quickly. Instinctively, I open my right hand and put it in front of my face just in time to absorb most of the impact. Recognizing the strength of a punch, I rapidly closed my hand around my aggressor's wrist and twisted upside down.

"Alright, alright!! Don't break it please!" To my surprise, and to all the others too, the punch was coming from Chuck who was clenching his teeth from the pain. I let his wrist go, in shock, and looked at him shaking his hurting hand. "Damn you got quite the grip!" He looked up at me with a smile. "But that's what I was expecting from you." I frowned, not knowing where he was going to. "This guys..." He said over my shoulder to the 8 speechless others. "...and I'm only gonna tell you once." He paused looking at all of us. "Never let your guard down! I'm sure that if I had tried to punch somebody else, I would have knocked him over without too much difficulty. I chose Vince, because I knew he had kung-fu courses and-"

"It's called Taijutsu Chuck." I looked at him, amused.

"Oh sorry!" He scratched the back of his head. "Well he had Ty-... Taidjou...? Taidgy..." He spat to the ground, his patience getting gnawed. "Well, he knows how to fight!" He shook his head and looked at me as we all started to laugh. "Well, seriousness will be tougher to get than what I expected." The Rottweiler laughed too. "But anyway..." He caught all our attention. "... what I was trying to say is that hand combat is primordial to be a good soldier. Sometimes, the enemy will jump really close to you and you won't have the time to react with your gun; so a good punch in the face is always recommended!" He said with a smirk and cracked his fingers.

"Well since Brody is not here, I'll say that the three untouched pairs stayed together while Blake and Jude will be paired together and you..." He turned towards me. "...you'll help me teach them the way to block properly." I nodded and the pairs started to work. Since I was the only one of the gang who ever got self-defence technique courses, I spent a lot of time with each of the pairs showing how to avoid getting punched in the face each time when one of them was trying to hit the other. I also tried to show them how to be more in control of their body; like breathing slower to be more focused, clear your mind of negative thoughts and such. Of course, this won't come along on the first try, but with time and practice, things will get a lot easier.

The day flew by very quickly and soon Chuck dismissed us to retreat in our rooms. Instead of feeling tired mentally and physically, I felt relaxed and completely reenergized. Blake, Jude and I decided to meet at the gym in 30 minutes, letting us time to get prepared or get a snack. Blake parted from us as he continued to climb the stairs. So, Jude and I entered in our room; I sat on my bed and started to watch TV while Jude went straight to the restroom.

"Hey! Catch it!" I threw the object to Jude who was just getting out of the toilet. He fumbled with it a bit but managed to have a grip on it.

"What's that?" He looked closely at the bar, not knowing where I was going to.

"Oh that's just a protein bar; you'll need it for the gym!" I winked at him.

"Oh thank you!" He looked at me with admiration in his eyes as if I just gave him a winning lottery ticket.

"That's really nothing." I laughed. But soon his eyes filled with some kind of regret. "Hey what's wrong bro?" I muted the TV.

"I'm sorry Vince for jumping on you yesterday and-"

"Jude." His muzzled stayed open as I interrupted him. "I already told you that it was ok and I forgave you."

"Oh..." His shoulders dropped. "Well, when you thought I was shy..." He paused and looked at me briefly. "Well, can I confide myself to you?"

"Of course you can! Come here." I patted on the bed next to me and he slowly sat beside me.

"I'm not shy!" He said after a short moment. "It's just that I have zero confidence in myself. I'm always asking myself a hundred questions before doing something and if I'm doing something on a whim, I always end up regretting it..." He was looking down at his knees; his thumbs were playing together like if he was trying to hide his nervousness. "I-I always been alone... Since my parents disappeared..." He cleared his throat and his toes were now squirming he was coming more and more uneasy.

"Hey..." I spoke softly and placed my hand on his nervous thigh. His ears perked up and he rose his gaze to encounter my sincere smile. "...let it all go."

"My-" His voice was shaky and he took a pause to gather his courage. "My parents died in a car accident when I was only 8 and my grand-parents took care of me after that. But they were living in a very remote part of Alaska, so I grew up alone and the kids didn't want to talk to me since I was always at least a head taller than the others and that my fur was so unusual. I tried to share my emotions with my grand-parents, but they were always saying that I have to stop whimpering like a puppy and grow up. I started to romance day and night about my missing parents and nearly worship the last things that belonged to them: their Beatles vinyls. As time passed, my thoughts became more and more dark and I was even regularly thinking of suicide..."

"Wait! WHAT?!?" I shouted as we exchanged a sad look. "Why?" I found my soft tone again and raised my hand to his shoulder.

"Each day, I was waking up with the feeling that my life was completely useless and that if I hadn't existed, nothing would have changed."

"You're wrong!" I took off my hand from his shoulder and started to scratch my chin nervously. "If you hadn't existed, I wouldn't have met you and it would have made a hole in my existence." I gave him a painful look. "What you lived so far belongs to past and now, you have an opportunity to make things right! You have friends now; you can't be more alive!!" My eyes started to water as I look at him and his ears folded back. "My brother committed suicide three years ago due to my father's death. I never understood why people get to that point." I sniffed as my emotions were taking control of my thoughts. "I mean... life can bring so much beautiful things in your existence. You can find love, make friends or accomplish something that will make you proud of yourself.

I know that some days are sad and you would like to forget about all of it, but what makes the strength of somebody is his ability to step over those misfortunes and be able to put a smile on his face day after day." Jude's eyes had also started to water.

"I'm so glad I met you!!" Jude howled slightly and jumped on me into a heartbreaking hug.

"I'm so glad too!" I answered in a mix of relief and sad tone as I hugged him back. We stayed like that for a couple of seconds as we were enjoying the other's presence. "What would you say if I adopt you like my little brother?" I pulled away from the hug and smiled shyly at him.

"I would love to!" He said with a spark in his beautiful blue and yellow pupils as his tail was thumping on the mattress.

"Alright then!" I slapped my hands together and got up. "Are you ready for the gym lil' bro?" I asked excited and smiled profusely as we already forgot about what happened seconds ago. He barked happily, his tail feverishly wagging for the first time since I met him. "Alright, the last one who gets in the gym makes fifty push-ups." I said as we started to rush for the stairs.

************************Change of view*****************************

"You'll remember everything Brody?" The old man asked to his nephew.

"Sure thing uncle." The little guy answered, motivated before hugging him briefly. He waved at him and got out of the helicopter. Since his arrival has been called with the radio, he didn't need to report himself to anybody, so he walked directly towards the dorms. It was almost midnight when he arrived at the base. The temperature was a bit windy and chill, as the first moon quarter was illuminating the lifeless streets of the base. Walking on a slow pace, he took his time to look up to the skies and admired the vastness of the universe.

He wasn't surprised to see anybody when he arrived in the dorm's hallway. He climbed up the stairs mechanically like if he was brain-dead and devoid of any feelings and stopped in front of his door. He took a deep breath and tilted his head from left to right to crack his neck bones.

'Well, the show must go on.' And he opened the door.

To be continued...