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The Lakehouse Chapter 10: A new face, an old wound

A few months had passed since Dimitri had called everyone together and explained what happened to Josiah, and life was starting to get back to normal. It was January now, and the lake was frozen over, the gray remnants of sleeping trees hanging out over the ice, their tears frozen on their branches, mourning the loss of the beautiful orange and red hues of Autumn. Jamie was smiling regularly, somewhat, but everyone knew he was just putting on a brave face so they wouldn't worry- in truth most of the tenants of the house believed he might never recover. Often, the little fox could be found under the tree in the front yard, sitting on the swing, gazing out over the water where they had sunk Josiah's ashes. Sometimes Dimitri would sit by him, making sure the fox didn't do anything rash while he sat there and reminisced with him; remembering the good times, and some of the bad ones they'd pulled through with each other.

Jamie was back at his job, stacking books in a quiet corner of the small, warmly lit store. His boss had let him back on without much trouble, given that when the fox had quit he was overcome with grief. After all, who hadn't heard that his best friend had died overseas? Of course though, they were oblivious to the fact that the soldier had been his lover, not just his friend. There were always sympathetic looks and offers of help and comfort and apologies and this that and the other about how sorry everyone was, but in actuality Jamie really just wanted to be left to his books and his friends, quietly rejecting all offers of help and calmly ignoring all apologies. However, when he got home at the end of the workday he'd disapear into his room and bury his face in his pillow, crying. If one put their ear up to the door they could hear him, and would find themselves tearing up at all the pain in his strangled sobs.

Everyone else had pretty well moved on, occassionally looking out over the lake or in Weylin's case, quietly praying at the water's edge. For a while though Allen would vanish into town and stagger into the house drunk, yelling curses and damning God for what he had done to his little brother. Cody would pull him into the room and calm him down, and the next morning he would apologize, and a couple of days later do it again. He'd stopped just before christmas at Cody's request, and hid his bitterness as well.

Alto had been busy in his study until Christmas, and only had come out when he was needed, shutting everyone else out, claiming he had serious work that needed to be done. On occassion Allen would drag him out, make him exercise and then let him get back to 'work'. In truth, Alto was just brooding about how if Josiah had been with him, then he never would have died, feeding himself that lie until he saw what Jamie had done for christmas that year.

It had been a grim affair, with everyone passing around a present to everyone else, exchanging the occassional sad smile as Jamie sat on his knees in front of the christmas tree, silently crying. In his hand was a small box, which he had found under the pillow in Josiah's room when he went to clean it out. Inside was a ring and a note-

My Lovely, will you marry me?

-was all it said. Under it was the ring, a gorgeous golden band encrusted with a series of small diamonds in an ornate design across the entire surface- it was worth a small fortune and it must've taken the deceased fox nearly a year to save for it, especially with soldier's pay.

Jamie sobbed when he saw it, he surmised it was supposed to be Josiah's "Coming home for good" present to him. He held it close to his chest and slowly rocked himself, sitting in front of the tree, unable to participate. The ring had renewed his grief and for a few days the others had trouble getting him to eat. After gifts had been exchanged, and Jamie's lay behind him, the fox stood and walked outside, followed by Dimitri, who told everyone else to stay. Allen protested but Dimitri warned that if the Collie did come, with no inkling as to what to say he could easily just make things worse. Dimitri didn't wait for an answer and instead just closed the door behind him and followed Jamie down to the lake's edge, where the fox collapsed and began to weep brokenly. Dimitri picked him up and held him, clutching the little fox close. "Wh-why..? Why d-damn it..." the fox sobbed "It's not f-fair..."

"Sh... I know... I know..." Dimitri whispered, rocking the fox back and forth as the snow fell around them.

In the house Alto had his hands pressed up against the glass of the sun room, tearing up "D-damnit..." he cursed under his breath, realizing how selfish and callous he was being about the dead fox- believeing for even a moment that if he had had him, and not Jamie, Josiah would have lived.

After that night, Jamie put the ring on a delicate silver chain and hung it around his neck, and it rested above his heart, where it would stay.

***

On the eigth of February, Josiah's birthday, Jamie left a letter on the fox's pillow, all it read was 'Yes'.

***

Well into the year, in late March, Alto announced that there would be a new tenant coming to the house, and that he would be gone for a few hours to go pick her up in town. He explained she was from California, which confused the others because why would anyone from paradise want to live with them in the middle of the woods by a lake, but okay. No one objected, but Jamie stayed peculiarly quiet. Just before Alto turned to leave, he tugged on the husky's sleeve "W-which room?"

"Pardon?" Alto was still a little resentful of Jamie, but it was subsiding.

"Which room will the new tenant be staying in?" Jamie looked up at Alto with those big, mournful green eyes, and Alto knew this wouldn't go over well.

"Josiah's." He said.

Jamie stayed quiet "B-but-"

"No, Jamie, it has to be like that." Alto turned away.

"But that room is Josiah's..." Jamie sniffled.

"Was Josiah's." Alto pulled away but Jamie didn't let go. "Let go Jamie."

"W-why can't the new person stay in the g-"

"The guest room? No way!" Alto whirled on the small fox "It's filthy, uncomfortable and above all small! Josiah's is the only decent room left." He was growling by the end of it, his ears pinned back angrily, his hands tightly gripping the fox's slender shoulders.

Jamie pinned his ears and teared up, beginning to cry, and tried to pull away. Alto's face fell and he gripped Jamie tighter, trying to pull him in for a hug. "C-c'mon Jamie, please?"

"N-no!" Jamie, for the first time in months, raised his voice and pulled away.

"Jamie I-"

"L-lemme go!"

"But-"

"No! Lemme go!" the fox turned and wiggled, trying to get away from the husky.

Dimitri, startled by the noise, came downstairs and pried them apart. "Vhat the hell-!?" he looked at Jamie, who had latched himself onto the one-eyed tiger's arm, sobbing. "Vhat happened? Alto, vhat did you do!?" Dimitri roared and Jamie flinched, his knees weak.

"I didn't do-" Alto protested.

"Then vhy is he crying?" The tiger pushed Alto against the wall and held him there, growling.

Alto pinned his ears and whined "I p-promise I-"

"Bullshit!"

"Stop!" a small voice said from behind Dimitri. He turned to see Jamie, trembling, his arms pressed firmly to his sides, hugging himself "P-please let him g-go..."

The Siberian did as he was bid and Alto fell to the floor "Vhat happened?"

"I... It's my fault... I'm sorry...." Jamie sniffled.

Dimitri tried to hug the fox but he refused, sitting on the couch "T-the new one can have m-my room... Please... don't let them take Josiah's..."

"Fine..." Alto, bitter and grinding his teeth, "But you need to be moved out in a few hours."

"Alto!"

"No, Dimitri! I've had enough of Jamie's shit!"

"Vhy you little-!"

"N-no..." Jamie mewed, interjecting "H-he's right... I have been too... clingy." The fox stroked the ring around his neck and Alto glanced at it, wishing for a moment that the dead fox had left it to him, not Jamie. The little fox got up and left, walking up the stairs, his tail dragging the ground "I'm sorry..."

Dimitri turned to Alto "Dammit you selfish son of a bitch." The tiger started "He lost the man he loved, how can you be so callous to that?"

"I'm not" Alto whispered.

"Then explain the shit I just vitnessed!" The tiger growled, a deep, thundering sound "He loved Josiah!"

"I did too!" Alto shouted, tears in his eyes.

Dimitri was taken aback, his eye softening. "Vhat...?"

"You heard me! I loved him! I loved him damn it!" Alto teared up, but turned away "But... it's... it's all in the past now... It can never happen." He sighed and looked at the ground, his tail slowly slipping between his legs. "Tell Jamie he doesn't have to move out, I'll cook something up about the room not being ready, or something."

Dimitri, softened by Alto's confession, left to do as he was bid, shooing Weylin away from the doorway where he had been listening with a sharp tap on the butt.

***

Alto wiped his eyes as he got in the car, banging on his steering wheel "Dammit dammit dammit!" He rested his head on the wheel, trying to hold back his tears. "Stupid, stupid soldier!" He cursed "Goddamn fox! Why? Why did you go and get yourself killed, you bastard? Why!?" He stifled himself, preventing further outburst by biting down on his lip, not enough to draw blood but enough to shut himself up. He looked in the rearview at the softly featured, bespectacled young husky he was, and how ugly he thought he looked when he cried. He took several deep breaths, composed himself, and shot a practiced smile at the husky in the mirror- who seemed so removed from it all, so, indifferent.

He cursed himself for yelling at Jamie as he started the car, slowly pulling out of the driveway onto the dirt road that led to the edge of town. He had to be at the bus stop by eleven, God knew anyone who took two planes and a bus from California to get to where he lived; cold-ass bum-fuck nowhere, was bound to be dog-tired.

The drive to the edge of town was boring- nothing but trees and more dirt road, the occassional feral bird scared off by his approach or the odd pothole, but all in all, like every other time, it was very boring. Except, maybe, this one seemed a lot longer than any of the others. He wouldn't have minded much if he didn't have to think about what he had done over the last few months: neglect Jamie, become estranged from every other tenant, grow irritable and restless, curse whatever maker he onced believed in and get so caught up in what might have been instead of trying to help Jamie come to terms with what he had lost. He'd been terrible, absolutely terrible; but the others were being nice about it, probably so not to get kicked out of the house, but Dimitri didn't seem to care much about that, instead helping Jamie as best he could while also carrying his own grief and that of his lover, Weylin.

He found himself wishing he could go back and try it all again, and this time help Jamie instead of making it all worse.

But that was all in the past, and he couldn't do anything about that. What he could do, or try to do, was comfort Jamie as best he could and put his own selfish desires behind him once and for all.

Before he knew it the drive had come to an end- he'd somehow managed to cross miles more of dirt road in what seemed like only a few minutes. Of course though, when he glanced at the clock he was assured that it had indeed been the correct amount of time- about a half hour after he zoned out.

As he pulled into town he cursed his timing- he'd been doing a lot of cursing lately- because pre-school was just letting out and all the buses, slow as they were, were holding up traffic. He found himself stuck behind two of the massive things, resting his head on the wheel as they creeped across town, dropping off kids at every street corner.

When at last they were finished and started going a bit faster, he was already less than a block away from the bus stop. He glanced at the time- he was a bit early for the 11:30 bus by about thirty minutes. He parked his car and turned on the radio, and 'Now you're gone' started playing. He quickly switched it and 'I wanna know what love is' started playing. Very quickly he shut off the radio, and looked at the sky, his arms akimbo "Really God, really?" he groaned and stepped out of the car, walking over to the platform and collapsing on the bench.

He stayed there until, at last, a Greyhound Bus pulled up to the platform, and a variety of furs started exiting. He couldn't see the new tenant though, and had all but given up hope when the doors closed. "Wait! Wait!" He heard from inside, a muffled voice and a shadow crept in front of the door, and after a moment it opened.

Inside, at the top of the stairs, stood a drop-dead gorgeous husky girl, laden with bags. She was shortish, just shy of an inch shorter than Alto, with icy blue fur and a long, curly tail. She looked at Alto and smiled, her blue eyes tired after the trip. "Hello?" She said, her voice high and musical "Are you Alto?"

"I am." Alto stood, offering a hand to carry some of her bags. He was surprised when she handed him a backpack that, he swore to God, weighed two tons. He put it on his back as she exited the bus, releasing a hefty sigh.

"I'm Kaylie, by the way." She said, offering her hand.

Alto shook it, giving her a friendly smile "I know, you wouldn't stop e-mailing me the same thing for two days. And to answer your last question, yes, there is a house full of men."

"Yay!" She giggled.

Alto chuckled, she was in for a surprise when she found out most of the were gay and committed. "Why ask, though?"

"Because." She set her bags in the trunk.

"...because...?" Alto opened the passenger seat for her and got into the driver's seat, starting the car.

"Because girls are complicated and pushy and territorial and I don't wanna deal with it." She rested her head on the seat, closing her eyes. "Also helps that I get to be around dongs all day."

"Well, there are a few rules." Alto backed out of the parking lot and started home.

"Like?"

"Like, all tenants must at least be wearing underwear."

"Awwwwwww." She pinned her ears.

"No fighting, try not to be too loud and dont invade other people's space. Also, clean up your messes, and don't dirty the living room too much."

"That's it?"

"That's it." Alto sped up a bit as they got on the dirt road, trying to avoid bumps and holes.

"Simple." She yawned at stretched "Not like girls. Girls... are waaaaay too pushy about rules. And there are a lot..."

"Well, you'll find that we don't have many, but we do enforce them."

"How so?" She murred, "A spanking?"

"Only Cody does that, and only to Allen on the rare occassion." Alto didn't think anything of it, but after a moment caught her gaze "What?"

"Like, a real spanking?" her eyes widened and she started to giggle "Oh that's rich!"

"It's true." he shrugged, staring out at the road before him. "But Jamie's the one you need to worry about. He's the mother of the house, really, and keeps us all well fed... usually."

"What, is he an irregular cook?"

"No, he um... He lost someone." Alto sighs and whispers "We all did..."

"Oh..." Kaylie looks at the dash, a sad look on her face "I'm sorry."

"It's... It's okay..." He starts, and chokes up, unable to talk for a few minutes. "S-so, um, about where you'll be staying. We don't have your room set up yet, so you'll have to use the guest room. Any objections?"

"No, are there any downsides though?"

"Not really, you might hear Dimitri and Weylin go at it but-"

"Wait, go at it? Like have sex?"

'Dammit' Alto thought 'Should have kept my big mouth shut' "Yeah, they're lovers. So are Allen and Cody."

"What about Jamie?" She instantly regretted her question "Is... is that who he lost? Like, d-"

"Die? Yes. Josiah... died... overseas. He and Dimitri were Rangers and the tour before Josiah was supposed to come home he was gunned down." Alto's lip quivered. "I, I wont bother you with it. I don't think I could tell you anyway. That's something Jamie'll have to open up to you about. Just, don't tell him I told you, and don't mention it, okay?"

"Okay." Kaylie adjusted her coat, which was this big, fluffy thing. "Wow it's hot..."

"Why are you even wearing that thing?" Alto inquired.

"Because it's cold, duh."

"Not too much, not this time of year." He jumped at the chance to change the subject.

"But it's up north, isn't it like, always cold up here?"

"Nope." The male husky answered simply.

"Mind if I take it off?"

"Long as you've got something under it." He joked.

She rolled her eyes and took it off, pulling it over her head and for a moment, Alto caught a glimpse of her breasts, which were round and jiggled when she pulled her black sweater back down over them. Alto looked away before she noticed him, and she blushed a bit "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Alto answered, maybe too quickly, but if he did she didn't notice or care.

"So."

"So what?" Alto raised an eyebrow.

"Are you gay?"

"That's..." he blushed a bit "That's an odd question to ask someone you've only just met."

"Not really. Not in California."

"Well, this is Michigan, we keep that sort of stuff to ourselves unless it comes up and is absolutely necessary. But no, I'm not gay. I'm bisexual." He smiled slightly. "And don't ask Dimitri, years in the army have taught him to say 'no'. But he is, and commited to his lover."

"Aww, that's sweet." She smiled and looked out at the road. "So, how far away is this lakehouse?"

"Couple more miles." Alto answered plainly, keeping an eye on his gas meter.

"Wow, that far out? It must be like, a log cabin."

"Far from, actually. It's three stories if you include the basement and- ah, i'll just let you see." he was starting to enjoy talking to this other canine, maybe Jamie and the others, but especially Jamie, would learn to like her too. He was worried that te fox might be resentful of her because she was taking up Josiah's part of the rent and thus, in that sense, replacing the deceased Ranger.

"Wow. Really?" Kaylie's eyes widened.

"Yup."

"What are you, rich?"

"Kind of." Alto said "But most of it is manipulating stocks, not so much inheriting it."

"Sounds cool." The husky girl rested her head on the seat again and closed her eyes for the rest of the trip.

When Alto pulled them up to the driveway Kaylie was asleep, snoozing softly. Alto smiled and softly shook her "Hey, c'mon wake up."

"W-what? No... five more min'tes..." she protested.

"C'mon, we're here. You wanted to see the house right?"

"Yesh..." her eyelids fluttered a bit.

"Then get up." He chuckled and got out of the car, shutting the door and opening the trunk. Kaylie sleepily got out of the car and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

She looked around and her jaw dropped a little "Wow... this is it?" She stood in the bamboo archway, staring out over the path to the door, and she turned to look at the lake, reflecting the dusk of evening perfectly and showering the house in purple-orange light. The sun was slowly sinking below the treeline, and the water turned from clear blue to fiery orange.

"Yep." Alto sighed, putting his keys in his pocket "Home sweet home."

"It's beautiful!" She took off her shoes and dropped her bags by the foot of the arch, running down to the pebbly beach and doing a little dance in the surf, twirling, then stopping, letting the water tickle her toes. She smiled and wagged her tail "It's beautiful!" She called up from the beach, and Alto smiled, leaning against the arch. She was so alike Jamie when he first arrived, eyes wide with wonder, soaking in every detail. For a moment he saw the little fox, playing in the surf with his older brother, and then Josiah, and then standing alone just outside of the reach of the water, looking out over the golden waves, crying.

He shook his head sadly, supressing the urge to cry. "Come on..." He said, walking down to the beach "it's time to... to..." He saw her kneeling in front of an ornately carved slab of granite, engraved in which were the words:

Here lie the ashes of Josiah Ernst

Lover

Soldier

Friend

A couple of weeks before christmas, Josiah's ashes were shipped to them, and for a long time they simply sat on the table next to the bottles of whiskey and vodka, not moving except for when Jamie would pick up the box and hold it close when he thought no one was around, and he would cry silently for a while before placing the box gently back and getting back to work cleaning the house and cooking, even though everyone told him to take it easy. In truth, it only made him more sad- everyone thinking he was too shaken to do anything when in fact, he was distracting himself so he didn't do anything rash.

The week before christmas, on a rather warm day for winter when the lake wasn't frozen over, they had had the gravestone made in town and shipped to them, where Jamie, with the help of Dimitri and Allen, placed the headstone right at the water's edge at high tide, where the water could swirl around it just like the fox would have liked it. They wreathed it with winter flowers and pictures and sealed letters that no one could read... and hanging in front of the head stone by a platinum chain was one of Josiah's dogtags, Jamie had the other. The fox had already had his official ceremony in Alabama, but in his will wanted to be sunk in the lake by the house. So, his ashes were placed in a boat, along with flowers, various pictures and in the center, a bottle of Johnny Walker Red whiskey.

Jamie walked the little boat to the water's edge, and started crying, unable to push the boat for unwillingness to let go of the fox's memory. "N-no..." He mewed, and Dimitri kneeled beside him.

"It's what he wanted, Jamie." The tiger took the fox's hands in his own and pushed the boat gently across the pebbles into deeper water, where it slowly started to fill with water. In the center of the lake the boat sank, along with the ashes, whiskey and pictures. The flowers, though, stayed afloat where the boat had sunk, softly swirling around each other in the center of the lake as the sun set behind them.

For a week Jamie said nothing, even when Christmas rolled along he barely spoke. It wasn't until late January until he got back to some semblence of normal, cooking and cleaning the house regularly and smiling sometimes.

Alto sighed at the memory, and put his hand on Kaylie's shoulder. "Come on... Its... We gotta go."

"Okay." She said, her smile having failed her when she saw the gravestone.

He led her to the door, where she started smiling again. He smiled back at her, both of them hiding sadness behind their eyes "Ready to meet everyone?"

"Ready."

Alto opened the door to a chorus of "Welcome!"'s by the house's residents, besides Dimitri and Jamie, who were nowhere to be found. Kaylie jumped a little and hid behind Alto at the sudden noise, but quickly emerged wearing a broad smile.

"Well hello! It's nice to meet you all."

"Likewise, Ma'am." Allen smiled "Can't say I expected you to be a girl though."

"And why is that?" she put her hands on her hips and pretended to pout, making it seem like Allen had offended her.

The collie's smile fell quickly "I'm sorry, miss." his floppy ears seemed to sag and Cody stifled a giggle.

Kaylie's smile returned "Aww, don't be like that." She kissed his cheek, making him blush "It's no big thing."

Cody quickly replaced her kiss with his "Mine." he said, then whispered in the collie's ear "And don't you forget it."

"You sure?" Weylin kissed the collie's other cheek.

"Oh no you don't-!"

Alto went upstairs while Cody chased a giggling Weylin around Allen, who was apologizing to Kaylie for the disturbance. She seemed to be getting along with them fine, no immediate hiccups. He found himself smiling a little, and at the same time a little offended that Jamie and Dimitri hadn't shown up. He quietly walked through the hallway and rested his ear against each door, listening for a sign of the two missing tenants. When he listened for a moment at the last door, the guest room, he heard a small sob- a quiet, strangled sound, and someone else trying to comfort the small, sad voice.

Alto slowly opened the door to find that Jamie had, with the help of the siberian tiger, moved all his stuff into the guest room, even his bed, which took up most of the far side of the room. It was still mostly just set aside, not yet organized, but he had managed to get all his things down the hall into the guest room. Alto was touched- he knew Dimitri must have told the fox that he didn't have to move, but Jamie must have insisted.

Dimitri looked at Alto, having to turn his head a little more than usual because of his missing eye. "What do you vant?" Dimitri's accent was slipping a little, returning to his Russian roots for a moment.

"I was wondering where you were." Alto looked at them- Dimitri had Jamie held close in a tight hug, both of them sitting on the edge of the bed. "You okay Jamie...?"

The fox looked up and mewed softly. "You... you don't hate m-me?"

Alto pinned his ears "Of course not. Why would I?"

"You w-wanted me to move out and go away..." The fox clutched Dimitri tighter "I can live in the guest room... please... please don't make me go..." Jamie broke down for another fit of sobbing, and Dimitri rubbed his back.

Alto looked at Dimitri- evidently the tiger hadn't clarified, or couldn't get Jamie to stop sobbing long enough to explain it all. The husky walked in and closed the door, so any prying tenants would be denied, and sat on Jamie's other side. "No... no no no no..." He tried to touch the fox's shoulder, an effort to be comforting, and the fox shied away, further into Dimitri's hug.

Alto was a little hurt "Why would you think I wanted you to go away?"

Dimitri snorted, shaking his head "Maybe because you told him 'move out'." Alto flinched a little "Yeah, remember that?"

"Dimitri..." Jamie mewed.

"No... he's right." Alto sighed "It's fine. I was being..."

"An Asshole?" The tiger offered.

"Yeah." Alto nodded "An asshole." He made to get uo but Jamie let go of the tiger and hugged him, keeping him on the bed "What-?"

"Im sorry..." the fox mewed.

"Don't be-"

"No... I am... I've been selfish in holding on so tightly... Im sorry..." The fox started to cry, and Alto wrapped an arm around the fox "I... I've been so selfish... But I can't help it..." Jamie shudders, the beautiful ring he wore around his neck hanging out of his shirt, resting over his heart.

The husky squeezed the fox, pulling him into a tighter hug "Sh... sh... No..." Alto began to shed tears, touched by Jamie's innocence "No it was me, hon, not you."

"But I-"

"No, i'm the one who's been selfish, I've neglected and... and ignored you since Josiah died..."

Dimitri stood and left, closing the door behind him. Alto caught a sliver of the happiness downstairs "Gotcha!" Cody shouted, "No!" Weylin giggled, and began to laugh "N-no! No tickles!"

He smiled and lovingly nuzzled Jamie as the door closed. For a while they sat there holding each other, rocking slowly back and forth. "Come on..." Alto said when Jamie had stopped crying "Wanna go meet Kaylie?"

"Who's Kaylie?" Jamie sniffled, wiping his eyes.

"Our new room mate." Alto rubbed Jamie's ears "She'll be taking your room, unless you want to move back."

"No... M-my other one was too big anyway. I'm d-dont take up much room, I promise."

"I know hon, I know." He stood and helped Jamie to his feet. "Come on, let's go meet her."

"Okay." Jamie managed a small smile and followed Alto out of the room.

Downstairs, The female husky seemed to be getting along rather well with the other tenants of the house, Dimitri had introduced himself to her and was talking to her about life on base oveseas, and that Weylin was his mischevious little lover. The fennec in question was pinned to the tiger's side by Dimitri's vice-like grip; it didn't hurt him, but it made sure he didn't go anywhere until he apologized to Cody. At the moment, he was busy struggling though "Leggo of me you big lug!" he squeaked a little as Dimitri gave him a sharp tap on the nose.

"No. Not until you apologize."

"But it was just a joke..." Weylin mewed and looked a bit crestfallen, his big ears pinned back as his tail began to curl up between his legs.

Kaylie aww'd, softly slapping the tiger's chest "Oh, let him go. Please? Look at him-" Weylin looked up at the tiger with big, sad eyes- a practiced technique.

"...fine." Dimitri relented and let the fennec go, faltering under the pressure of both his and the female husky's puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, who's that Alto?" Kaylie looked past Dimitri and his lover and at the young, slender little fox standing at the foot of the stairs, slightly hidden behind Alto, who was softy nudging him into view.

"This-" he gives the fox another slight nudge, and the fox steps softly into view, his foggy green eyes looking at the ground and casting only the occasional glance in Kaylie's direction. "-is Jamie."

"Well hello there!" she bounced over to the fox, stopping right in front of his nose.

Jamie eeped and hid behind Alto, burying his face in the male husky's arm. Kaylie looked a little hurt and peeked around Alto. "Aw, I'm sorry kiddo. Did I scare you?"

Jamie let out a soft mew and clutched onto Alto a little tighter, but peeked out from his hiding spot and met her eyes for a moment. "A l-little..." he blushed, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm a l-little jumpy..."

"Oh, it's okay hon." She tugged on his tail, pulling him off of Alto, who was kind of surprised- he hadn't expected Jamie to say anything at all, much less let a complete stranger pull on his tail.

Jamie stood in front of her, keeping his head slightly bowed, unable to meet her eyes for a bit. Kaylie extended her hand and smiled at him, an innocent guesture, but one Jamie took to heart. "Hello again, Jamie." She smiled a little wider when Jamie shyly took her hand and shook it "I'm Kaylie."

"H-hello." He looked up, met her eyes and smiled- something he hadn't done in a while now. Everyone in the room gave them space as they talked, smiling inwardly. Some how, some way, this girl had drawn Jamie into a conversation after only introducing herself. Usually, Jamie would have to be badgered into saying more than a few words to people he knew really well, and almost never said anything to people he didn't know, escpecially after Josiah's death.

"Damn..." Allen whispered into his lover's ear "They're gettin' along well."

Cody giggled and nuzzled his boyfriend's chin "Don't think too hard on it hon."

Allen smiled, remembering a time when Jamie was that bubbly: before the Lakehouse, before Josiah's death, before when he was Allen's shy little brother, and not the young fox who lost his lover to a terrible war.

The collie watched as Kaylie lured Jamie into a conversation about cooking... turns out, she was a pretty proficient cook herself. The little fox glanced at the time, and let out a little gasp "Oh my!" He hurried into the kitchen "It's lunchtime! Here, lemme make you something-"

"Oh no, let me make you something-"

"But-"

"Hey..." Dimitri poked his head into the kitchen "Can I help?"

"No!" Both cooks said in unison as they tied their aprons off, and everyone dissolved into a fit of giggles, and turned to their work.

***

Later that evening, Jamie sat on his knees in front of Josiah's gravestone. He was smiling a little, and was messing with the white rose he had brought outside with him. "S-so... The new tenant came today..." he starts, softly brushing the rose's petals. "She's really nice, and is even a cook, just like me." He softly giggles.

He goes quiet for a little bit, looking down at the pebbly beach as the water swirled and bubbled around his lover's grave marker as the sun began it's journey to the west. "We solved the room issue... We decided that she would take my room, and I would move into yours. I had to move your bed... I hope you don't mind... but other than that I left all your things where they were." He hugs his tail, tears pooling in his eyes "Im sorry... Im so sorry... I know you wanted me to moce on but it's so hard... it's so, so hard... talking to you helps sometimes, so does distracting myself but it only lasts for a little while..."

The sun began to sink below the treeline, bathing the house in orange light and setting the water ablaze as Jamie grew silent, trying to compose himself. He managed to stop himself from crying right out, knowing that the other fox would not have liked it. After a moment, he closed his eyes and smiled "It's sunset... and the days are getting warmer..." he whispers "It's your favorite time of the year." the small fox kissed the rose he was holding gently in his right hand, and lay it to rest on the small granite pedistal in front of the gravestone, which was just high enough to keep the water off of it.

"I love you, Josiah..." Jamie stood and yawned, stretching his legs. "Now, I have to go help Kaylie make dinner... Dimitri swore to Allen that he could eat more than him, so we have a lot of work to do!" He turned and started to walk back toward the house, where he would go through the bamboo arches, and into the kitchen to help Kaylie fight a gaggle of hungry men out of the kitchen. "See you tomorrow!"

The End.