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The year had started so well for Dennis.

He had escaped the "big three" sciences of high school and was finally getting to dive into oceanography in detail - at least, he would be able to once he got through all the intro earth sciences classes. But Dennis didn't complain at all, it was definitely way better than high school science, and his electives were more fun, too. And that hadn't even been the best part.

The otter had signed to play DI college soccer and had a great preseason with his new team. Granted, it was DI in name only - the school was already small, and focused on basketball, tennis, and volleyball more than either type of football, their team rarely ever qualified for the NCAA tournament and definitely didn't see MLS recruiters - but it was still DI soccer, and he simply loved playing. Out on the field he felt alive.

At least he usually did when playing, always had in high school. But that was not the case now. His dream college experience had deteriorated into a nightmare.

"Well, I don't know what to say about today's match, boys. Things just aren't going our way. We were at our best for ninety-eight percent of the match - and they punished us those two percent we were off. I know we're a smaller program in a weaker conference, but I also know you guys have got it in you! I honestly thought that this year would be our first to finish over five-hundred in years, and that was even before we went and upset Tulsa - IN TULSA - in our second game of the regular season. Almost got to five-hundred, too, until our back line had problems the last few games of the fall.

"New semester started, no pressure of standings or playoffs, I was hoping we could tighten it up a bit now and look toward this coming fall. Defense is definitely better that in was at the end of last semester, but as a team we haven't tightened up at all. This game just has mistakes pop up. We create good chances up front, but just can't finish. We keep good possession in the middle, but don't do much with it. Trent stands on his head for us, but no-one can save everything.

"Anyway, most of that stuff can be corrected, and I know we have it in us. Our problems aren't big - for the most part, I can only point out individual errors in everyone's performances, there aren't major problems to address. For example, Lorenzo - hope you don't mind me using you first - has always been good at creating chances up front with Benny, and for the most part did today as well. But - do you know what I'm going to say next?"

"Fifty-third minute non-pass?" the red panda asked.

The coach nodded. "Right." The panda half-smiled, at least glad he had nicely identified his mistake - and it was apparently his only one, if a big one. "Benny was wide open on the right side of the box with the goalie coming at you, shouldn't have pulled the trigger yourself there. Woulda been an easy score, our best chance of the match there. But oh well - we should've had other good chances as well. Right, Vern, Marc?"

"Yes coach!" "Yessir!"

"I could point out just one thing for most guys here, but I think you all get the point. Besides, this was just the first game of the spring season. We've got five more, and it doesn't matter nearly as much as it does in the regular season. I just wanted to point it out to make sure everyone knows they need to shake off the winter break rust - and I wanted to use that as a segue into our practice schedule for this week! We're breaking it up into positions to focus on specific tactics and skills. Monday's practice will be just forwards and 'keepers, Tuesday's defense and midfield, Wednesday defense and forward, and Thursay midfield and 'keepers, with Friday as full team before Saturday's match. Everybody got that?" General murmurs of recognition and some clear 'yes coach'es followed, making the bear nod. "Good. Any questions?" No significant response. "Okay! Well that's all I've got for you boys today. See everyone on Monday or Tuesday, depending on your position!" With that, he retreated to his office, and the team got back to removing their uniforms, cleaning up, and changing back into street clothes.

The coach had tapped Dennis on the shoulder as he passed, though, whispering "My office in fifteen, Kanna." The otter flinched inwardly - coach always used first names. The freshman center back knew he had been part of the slide at the end of the fall season, but this... this sounded bad. He was slow in stripping out of his uniform, as had been normal for him the latter half of the fall semester, only going in to the showers as most of the guys were already coming out.

Eventually, Dennis had showered off and gotten dressed, then went to the sun bear's office. "...Yes, coach?"

"Hey there, Dennis," the ursine said, sighing as the otter walked in. "Sit down, please."

The freshman sat down in the chair facing the coach's desk, sinking in to it a bit and making himself feel that much smaller. He started stammering "S-sorry about the problems on defense at the end of the f-fall, I know I wasn't helping much, and the game toda-"

The sun bear cut him off right there. "This isn't about your play on the field, Kanna. Well, not entirely at least. This is about your grades." The otter shrunk in on himself even more at that. "You know that you have to keep a certain GPA to remain eligible for the team, right?"

"Yessir" Dennis mumbled quietly.

Coach shuffled through some papers on his desk before finding one that Dennis assumed was his transcript. "There's now way to sugar-coat this, Kanna, but your first semester grades are almost across-the-board too low. Luckily, freshmen are always given a pass on their very first semester, we don't pass judgement until our athletes have at least a full year under their belts, but... If this semester is a repeat of last semester, we would have to file an appeal to keep you in uniform and on your scholarship. And that's assuming we want to keep you on the team, and assuming you grades don't drop even further." The otter whimpered, causing the coach's expression and tone to soften a bit, though he was still frowning. "Listen, Dennis, I normally check in with my freshmen's professors a couple weeks in to each semester, which is part of the reason I'm worried about how you're doing already this spring, but you were doing -really- well at the beginning of last semester. And I know you were salutatorian at your high school, which was part of the reason giving you a scholarship to play here was so easy. I reached out to your fall semester professors over winter break-" he shuffled some more papers and apparently had printouts of e-mails or something similar, "- and they said your grades started slipping a bit before midterms. Which several say they wouldn't expect from someone as engaged in the classes as you were - are.

"It was after midterms that your performance on-field started slipping, which as you know has just been a continuous slide since. And I've heard through the grape vine that you stopped hanging out with the rest of the team as much around the same time, and then stopped completely not long after. From what it sounds like, you're not busy socializing elsewhere either. Now, I'm not a psychiatrist, but I am a father, and I've also seen quite a few young men go through this program in the years I've been coaching - and I consider my team as part of my family as well. So this isn't just about a problem with game performance - you have me, and honestly several senior members of the team - worried about you, Kanna. A guy doesn't have such a complete collapse in all other areas of his life without there being either something very, very wrong or a new girl in the picture. I'm guessing the former considering you don't seem to be in a "blissfully distracted" state of mind.

"So, I guess what I'm saying - what I'm asking - is What's wrong, and is there anything I or the other guys can do to help?"

The otter hadn't looked up from his lap the whole time and held that position now, his mind reeling as it juggled what, if anything, to say. After a couple minutes of patient silence from his coach, he finally just shook his head, causing a sigh from the other side of the desk.

"Well, I don't know what to do then, Kanna, except say find someone who you do feel comfortable talking to. You've got a family here on this team, and then there are all the resources the university can offer as well. I don't want to lose you, but if your grades or your on-field moves don't come up significantly, and soon, then I don't really have many options left. Okay?" He waited for a minute for an answer of some sort, and when he didn't get one he repeated "Okay?", which finally got a tiny nod from the freshman. The sun bear nodded as well, "Good. Well, you can go, then, I'll see you Tuesday. Hope you feel better, kid, and get some of your old self back on the field this week. I want to see you do well, and don't want to break my "every player plays in every game" rule."

Dennis just nodded in acknowledgement as he slid out of the chair and out of the office. He picked up his bags and trudged back to his dorm room, giving himself an upset stomach along the way from a rapidly deteriorating mood. He went to bed without dinner.

Dennis wasn't looking forward to practices, and they weren't very good for him either, the otter often tripping or making bad passes. He avoided his teammates as much as possible outside practice, the sight of any of them feeling him with dread and embarrassment.

*****

The next match, coach didn't put him in until the 78th minute. Not even four touches into his first possession, the opposing #9 poached the ball from him, and Trent couldn't even get near the ensuing shot in time. He was subbed out in the 82nd minute after a second embarrassing giveaway. The team didn't recover, and the game ended 0-1.

The team won their next match 4-1, but he didn't see any playing minutes during the game. No game time at all. That was the sign that he was considered beyond hope.

He stayed sitting on the bench where he had sat all match, even after coach's post-match speech; no-one forced him to follow the team into the locker room, and none of the straggling fans payed him heed either. About halfway across campus, the campus' chapel chimed a quarter-past. When it chimed half-past, he got up. The sound had brought him out of his own head enough to become aware of the simple passage of time, and that thought itself tipped the balance in his mind - despite his efforts, he knew he was going to start crying soon, and he definitely did not want to do that out in public.

By the time he made it to his locker and started roughly taking off his kit, he was already stifling gasps; he wasn't exactly crying yet, but there were enough tears in his eyes that he couldn't really see anything. He was at least grateful that no-one was left in the locker room to see him blubbering like this. He didn't bother with a towel as he shuffled into the shower area. That's when both waterworks started, tears washing away with the rinsing flow.

His mind was on an emotional death spiral: he was going to get kicked off the team, fail his classes, lose his scholarship, get kicked out of school, let everyone back home down, and then even have to explain why it all went wrong - when he couldn't even say out loud what he knew the problem was. For the next several minutes, he just stood there in the shower, arms hanging limp at his sides, as he gasped and tried thinking about what he could do, what he might be forced to do next - until he heard someone behind him speak up.

"Dennis?"

The otter spun around, his back falling back against the wall as his sobs ceased immediately, though it took him a moment to make out who was standing at the entrance to the showers.

"Good G-God, ofv everyo-one on the t-team... g-go aw-way, Sammm..." he stammered, crossing his arms and deflecting his vision down and to the left, rudder tail curling up between his legs.

The sophomore wolf cocked his head, a bit confused by the statement from the freshman otter, and for now didn't move from where he was, leaned up against the edge half-wall.

"Hey, man, we're just... worried about you."

"I'm f-fine..."

Samuel whuffed. "Bullshit." The otter was dumbfounded to the point of momentarily forgetting his anguish at the brashness of that statement. "We know coach called you in to his office last week and then didn't play you this week, you didn't come with the rest of us back into the locker room after the game, and now you're crying in the shower. Not to mention you haven't come to any team social events since, what, fall break? You're not fine." He didn't say it harshly, or with any pity - just as a matter of fact. That starkness weathered down the otter's resolve.

"A-alright, f-fine, I'm not ok-kay, if it's th-that obviousss..." Dennis stammered a moment or two later, hugging himself a bit as the shower poured over him, making him feel that much more naked with the water matting down his overcoat. "It's r-really none ofv your b-business Sammm..."

"Well, it might not," the wolf said, taking a few steps to get in better talking distance, "but you're part of the team, so I think it might so. Especially since I'm expecting you to be the guy with me at center back come my senior year, you know."

Dennis let out a 'psh' in an attempt to cover up returning sniffles. "Like I'll even m-make it that long."

"See that's the thing," Sam continued, "it's clear you have the talent, this past season started amazingly. None of us really noticed anything go sour directly in practices or anything, which is why I think it's something outside that's changed things, but it's worth asking: did someone say or do something to you that's unsettled you? I mean, we're family here, or are supposed to be, so if someone did wrong by you we should be able to make it right."

The freshman refused to make eye contact with the older defender. "Well I guess I'm just n-not a "family" person, then..."

Samuel sighed, a bit unsure of what to do next. "Okay... you still didn't answer my question, bud."

Dennis looked up now with a bit of a glare. "Fine: no, no-one's said or done anything to upset me. I guess that's just how I am."

The wolf just shook his head a little bit. "I don't buy that for a minute. That's not "how you were" as a squeaky new freshman in August. So what's wrong? What happened?"

"None of your business!" Dennis barked, surprising himself with the outburst, gasping a little at the suddenness of it and the little bit of echo in the tiled room. He took a moment to try to center himself which ended with a little bit of a shudder. Eventually he managed to murmur out. "It's just been... stressful..."

The wolf nodded, not smiling outwardly despite liking the fact they were maybe getting somewhere. "What exactly? Game pressure? Campus life? Classes?"

Dennis almost laughed at that - defeatedly so. "Tsch, d-does it m-matter? I'vef s-screwed themmm all up-p..."

"But it does matter," Sam corrected as comfortingly as possible. "We know you can fix this, you've got the soccer smarts and (if I've heard correctly) the book smarts too, so as long as you let us find the problem -"

"It's n-not that simp-ple!" the otter blurted out, starting to unravel. "I'm f-fail-ling for cr-crying out loud! I'm f-forget-ting homework annnd blanking out-t on t-tests in classessess that should-d be eas-sy for me! I'm gonna get k-kicked off the teammm even if I w-was playing well! And I'm n-not! I'm gonna l-lose my scholarship and get k-kicked out of school and go home and I can't even explainnn to my parents why it's all fallen apart and I d-don't have a backup plan and I c-can't talk to a-any ofv you g-guys about-t it ei-either and it's j-just been this-s s-slow s-slide for m-months n-now and I'vef nev-ver failed s-so hard-d bef-fore an-nd..." He finally fell apart then, no longer able to keep back the panic and the tears as he hugged himself tightly, head down, sobs racking his body.

There were a few squeaks of sneakers-on-wet-tile, and the freshman suddenly found the wolf's arms wrapping around him, squeezing comfortingly as the sophomore's chin rested on his head. For a split second, warmth and relief bubbled up in his chest at the kind gesture, especially coming from Sam. Then the running water reminded him that he was completely naked and still getting hugged by another guy.

He started squirming a bit, both embarrassed and also a bit worried about a certain reaction he didn't want from his body. "Mrrph - gerroff..." he mumbled quietly, pushing against Sam's chest (which he noted was quiet solid, and instantly regretted thinking that). "P-personal space..."

Samuel didn't let go, though, simply saying "I can tell when someone needs a hug, and it's stopped you from breaking down on me, hasn't it?"

Dennis had to admit, even as he pushed and hit at the sophomore to free himself, that he wasn't really using full strength... He told himself it was just because he was already emotionally exhausted and quickly changed the subject. "Y-you... but you're stillll wearing your clothes, they're get-ting soaked..."

The wolf squeezed a little again and shrugged. "heh You're worried about my clothes now? Clothes can be washed, this is more important. I mean, if you wanted, I could do this naked like the guy who gave me a much-needed hug in the showers back in high school, but I would tend to think that would make things even more awkward..."

The otter stopped squirming for a moment, befuddled at that statement. "...wait, what?"

Sam chuckled. "Long story, but I got dumped and was just an absolute mess after practice one day. A nice, genuine hug was exactly what I needed. Even if we were both butt naked, haha!" The wolf laughed solidly then, the happy shaking having a calming effect on the otter in his arms as the freshman's mind wrestled its own unease with Sam's absolute comfort with the whole situation. Maybe...

He felt a familiar sensation in his crotch and started struggling a little to get free again - he didn't want that happening, especially if his body would embarrass him further and poke the wolf on top of everything else.

The wolf wasn't about to let go of his protege, though, and a moment later Dennis' fidgeting drew Sam's attention south. He simply smiled and closed his eyes, sparing the otter as he renewed his hug. "No worries about that, bud. I'm guessing you haven't, aahh, been naked sharing your personal space with someone before?"

"N-no..." Dennis murmured before quickly adding "I mean, I h-had a girlfriend in high school, even if we never - I mean, I'm n-not gay!" The words seemed to echo in the freshman's ears as he tensed up, anxious to see how Sam would respond.

The wolf was silent for a moment before sighing and shrugging, idly rubbing the otter's back. "Never said you were. Just projecting the excuse that you've got someone in close contact while you're naked, it's a reasonable reaction..." He took a little step as he hugged tighter, inadvertently bumping his own leg against Dennis' swelling member as he ran his finger through the otter's headfur.

The otter blushed and shuddered a bit. Why was the wolf doing this to him? So nice, so calm, so close... and making him... want... "I'm not - !" he started, but then whimpered and corrected himself, a few more tears welling up as he was unable to deny his body's betrayal, "I... I don't w-want to be - g-gay..."

Samuel just hugged him tighter, resting his chin on the otter's head. "Well... it's not a bad thing, you know..."

"I-it is..." the freshman whispered. "I don't want the guys feeling weird around me or p-picking on me... my parents won't like it... and and... it's just... weird..."

The wolf made a slight harrumph noise at that last comment before responding "Well, I can't comment about your parents, but I can guarantee you that no-one on the team - or at least no-one that's not a freshman - here will make a big deal about or even care about you being gay."

Dennis sniffled a little bit, shifting his position in the canine's arms a bit to stop water from flowing across his eye. "You think so?"

"I know so," Samuel responded, starting to chuckle a little bit. "I probably shouldn't mention this, but just wait until the team's end-of-the-year party."

Dennis pulled back at that moment to look Sam in the face. "Wait, what?"

The wolf just laughed. "Well, just think of how crazy some of the guys can get at some of the other parties the team's had and multiply that - oh, wait, I guess you haven't been to many team parties, have you?" The otter looked crestfallen and shook his head. "Ah, well, just know that the team and the people most of us hang out with are zero-judgement types. Heck, you're in college now, bud, bastion of liberal thinking and sexual experimentation! You'll have way more support than not here if you feel you need to come out."

After taking another moment to process things, Dennis finally sighed and relaxed his head against the wolf's chest, the otter hugging his teammate tightly. A few more tears fell with the sigh, but these seemed... cleansing. It was comforting in a way to have something big, solid, and warm to lean up against. He felt like it was finally okay to let go. He felt...

He felt one of Sam's paws gently cup the back of his head, the wolf's muzzle pressing down on his crown a bit. His eyes opened wide when he realized Sam was kissing him. Sam. Kissing!

He just stood there, still staring at the wolf's collarbone, for a moment after Sam's lips left his headfur. Finally, stammering a bit, he looked up to see the sophomore smiling gently back at him. "Y-You..." He couldn't form a thought, his mouth hanging open slightly with an unformed word. After an awkward moment, the otter just closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was simply to try to gather a thought, or maybe if there was some unconscious clue he was following, but he again felt Sam's paw on the back of his head, which this time was pointed upward just enough...

He only realized how fast his heart was beating when it leapt up into his throat as he felt the wolf's lips meet his own.

In the rush of feeling he experienced then, his grip tightened on the soaked sides of Samuel's shirt, pulling down slightly as he momentarily felt dizzy. Sam finally broke the kiss, leaving Dennis panting ever so lightly until he felt a paw cup his chin and opened his eyes again.

He must have looked somewhat scared, because the wolf had an almost-apologetic smile on his muzzle. "See? It's not a bad thing at all... Is - is this what's been distracting you so much these past several months?" Dennis simple nodded against the wolf's chest, making Sam sigh a bit and venture a guess. "You said... earlier, that I was the one person on the team that you didn't want to see. Were you worried how I would react in particular if you came out?"

Dennis rested the side of his face against Sam's chest again, averting his gaze to stare at the wolf's elbow. "Well... yes and no..." he said after a short pause. "I mean... The locker room in general has been bad, I've been terrified of... of getting hard around anyone on the team. Which is something I've been feeling close to doing quite a lot recently. But... yeah, you're the top of the three guys I've k-kinda had a c-crush on..."

"Oooo, three, huh?" the wolf teased, chuckling and patting the otter on the shoulders. "Now you've got me curious... If you're comfortable talking, may I ask who I've beaten out?"

The freshman chuckled as well, surprising himself in realizing that, yes, he was getting more and more comfortable by the moment in the wolf's arms under the shower here. "Eh heh... Weeelllll... Tristan's really nice, but he's a senior and I know he has a girlfriend, and Vince is really hot, but he's... mmm..."

"More than a little stuck-up?" the sophomore completed, making Dennis smile and nod. "Well, I can tell ya we have similar tastes! Those were the two I kinda had my eyes on for parts of last year... Then you came along."

"M-me? Really?" Dennis felt his face heat up at that, even under the rather warm shower water.

Samuel chuckled and nuzzled the top of the otter's head again. "Yeah, or at least I've always thought you were kinda cute. Usually several of the upperclassmen on the team kinda "adopt" freshmen each year, and I wanted to be your team big brother, but you got distant as the season went on..."

"Yeah... s-sorry about that..." Dennis mumbled, gripping the floppy sides of Sam's soaked shirt again. A paw then came up and rubbed over the wolf's broad chest, clearly defined through the soaked fabric.

He didn't realize how long he spent rubbing over those muscles until he felt and heard Sam shift under his paw. "Would you... want a bit more access?"

The otter's mind froze even as he felt his face heat up and his head apparently nod almost imperceptively. The wolf took a step back and reached down, taking the hem of his t-shirt and peeling it up, over his head, and off, letting it land with a wet splat on the tiled floor behind him as he stepped back into Dennis' personal space. The naked freshman, who had gone soft during their discussion, felt a twinge in his loins again as he ran his webbed hand through the wolf's wet chestfur.

Sam's paws grasped his sides, the wolf taking a step forward as he did so, forcing Dennis back toward the wall a bit. The otter tensed up slightly at that moment, and that caused the sophomore to snap out of a "smoothness" he had been in. "Oh, uh... sorry, I know this is all sudden for you, I guess I shouldn't go so fast, huh...?"

Dennis felt the wolf start to pull away again and found himself wrapping his arms around Samuel's torso tightly. "I, uh..." Hugging the sophomore as he was, he could tell the wolf's partial nudity and their closeness had made him completely hard again. Not that he felt particularly horny per se, but he most definitely had a boner... "...I dunno..." He settled for rubbing the side of his face against that chest.

The sophomore simply smiled at that and patted the younger defender's shoulders. "Well, you don't have to know now..." he said softly. "I know the later you wait, the harder it is to admit, it's not like flipping a switch... But you can always come to me."

Dennis simply nodded against Sam's chest and kept rubbing it, taking his time in just experiencing the closeness. Sam, for his part, calmly stood there, arms lightly around the otter as he let the freshman take it all in at his own pace. Indeed, Dennis settled for just holding himself again the wolf under the shower there for several minutes before finally speaking up softly again.

"Umm... Sam? When did... ah, when did you know that you were - you know..."

"Gay?" the wolf completed, earning a little nod again. "Middle school. Started realizing I was crushing on my best friend, one of the college players in my club, and a pro player as well. All goalees, hehheh, surprise."

The otter chuckled along at that before following with "And, uh..." He buried his face in the wolf's wet fur again, a bit embarrassed as he tried asking "How much have you, uh..."

"Gotten physical with other guys?" Dennis nodded in response. "Not that often. Eight or nine times total, I think. And that's including one time my best friend let me celebrate signing for college by getting to blow him."

The otter gave a little whimper at the words "blow him", his hardon throbbing a little. Sam chuckled at that and simply petted the freshman's back. The stood like that for another minute or two, Dennis' mind swirling with everything Sam had said so far, with the whole situation he was in at the moment, with Sam himself...

Pressed up against the wolf, he could feel a bulge growing in the canine's wet athletic shorts. His heart rate picked up again as the wolf's previous words about his interest shifting to the otter and about not "going so fast" ran through his head again. Heck, they had only one article of clothing on between the two of them right now... Or, wait, was it one or two? The otter's ears burned as his mind was suddenly and inescapably focused on what was inside those shorts...

Well, there was definitely a bulge down there at the very least... "Umm... what... do you...?" he murmured, still hugging himself up against the wolf.

Sam tilted his head slightly, not entirely following. He got a little bit of an idea when he realized the otter's paws were resting hesitantly on his elastic waistband. "Ah, um, well it's not about me right now... I'm not sure if going from reverse to full speed so... quickly..."

He trailed off as those webbed paws slowly grasped that waistband. They didn't do more than that, though Sam could hear his protege start panting ever so lightly.

"...You're getting hard..." the otter murmured, which was true.

"...Well, I do have a cute freshman in my arms..."

"Do... do you want to...?" He couldn't finish the sentence, but the wolf understood clearly this time.

"Only if you really want to," he whispered. "I don't want you to rush yourself or anything..."

It was almost too late for that, Dennis thought, though not in a bad way; he had opened the closet door, so to speak, and now all of the barriers, all of the inhibitions in his mind were crashing down in rapid succession. All of the pent-up emotion and frustration of the past six months was rushing forth now, and even if there still was a part of his mind hesitant to go all the way, he at least wanted to see...

His webbed paws slid around the waistband of the wolf's shorts - feeling another band of elastic there - and met at the sophomore's abs. After a slight pause, his fingers hooked and started pulling down. The wolf's athletic shorts slid down easily enough, but his boxers - revealed to be a purple, grey, and black-striped affair - clung to his wet fur, turning themselves inside-out as the freshman pulled them down.

Dennis gulped as he saw that swollen sheath, a couple inches of wolfcock poking out of the top, and released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Yes, that was definitely another guy's erection... and it was growing... He didn't really notice as Sam's shorts slid completely down, hitting the tile around the sophomore's ankles with a soft splat, the otter swallowing again as his mind weighed the possibility of touching... Part of his mind was still hesitant about this whole situation, but it was rapidly losing ground. A webbed paw glided back up Sam's thigh as the wolf slowly rubbed the otter's shoulders, though he soon let out a needy sigh as a finger just barely brushed up his length.

Dennis flinched a little when he heard Sam's breath hitch, but relaxed again when he looked up to see the pleasure on the wolf's face. Those eyes opened, and the otter saw a glint in them that hadn't been there before. The phrase Hungry like the wolf... momentarily crossed his mind before Sam took a small step forward; Dennis backed up a bit, paws still on Sam's hips, until he felt his back meet the tiled wall. That little voice in the back of his head jokingly noted that in almost any circumstance, he should be petrified right now - he was naked and alone, getting backed up against a wall by a larger male. And yet, he was smiling... There was a certain energy he could feel in his core spurring him on as his arms came up and draped over Sam's shoulders, the otter leaning up for a kiss that was eagerly returned.

The wolf continued forward until he had essentially pinned the otter against the shower wall, his own paws now low on Dennis' hips. The otter churred and shuddered a little as he felt skin-on-skin, their members rubbing against each other from the closeness. His arms wrapped a bit more around Sam's neck as the wolf's paws gripped his upper thighs, both players starting to lift lightly. Dennis felt his weight shift off of his feet as his tail, the wall, and Sam's hands took over; his feet were soon completely off the tiled floor, legs forward a bit on either side of the wolf. Sam broke the kiss and whispered "grip my waist with your legs..." right into Dennis' ear, the otter quivering a little at the command and doing so, squeezing the sophomore's sides before actually wrapping his legs around Sam's lower back.

He felt Sam reach around his thigh and under him to line things up, a haze of emotion and anticipation clouding the otter's mind... All the closeness... And the warmth.... Aaaahhhhh......!

.......

Aaaahhhhh......!

.......

Dennis was panting heavily when that cloud finally started clearing, his arms and legs weak around Sam. He felt soooo warm... The wolf for his part was still grunting and whining in pleasure a bit, shuddering just a little more before his muscles started relaxing.

Finally spent, Sam leaned forward, pressing Dennis between him and the wall. The wolf had to support himself with one hand, remembering to keep the other under his otter, as he felt his legs slowly losing strength. Carefully, he guided the two of them down, until he turned over near the ground, pulling Dennis off the wall and into his lap as the wolf leaned his shoulders up against the tile, untied member pulling out in the process.

Dennis panted as he propped up against the wolf's chest. His tail swayed back and forth on the wet tile between Sam's legs as the otter simply relished his first-time afterglow, remaining silent for what seemed like several minutes. Eventually, though, the haze drained from his mind enough for real thoughts, and he panted out a soft "...wow..."

Sam reached a paw up and started massaging the freshman's shoulders. "Feel better, bud?"

The otter nodded slowly. "Y-yeah..." It was silent save for the shower another moment before Dennis spoke up again. "Does... does it always feel this good?"

The wolf chuckled a little as he continued rubbing Dennis' shoulders. "What, sex? Gay sex? Team-shower-room sex?" That got a guilty little chuckle out of the freshman. "Like anything else, it has its ups and down. Honestly I didn't come in here horny, so I bet I could do even better by ya in the future."

Dennis' breath caught a little bit at the implication they would be doing this again. "So... are we...?"

Sam gave a light squeeze to the freshman's shoulder now. "A couple?" he completed. "Well, if you want, yeah, that's what I was hoping..." he said, trailing off a bit hesitantly for the first time that evening.

The otter let out something between a laugh and a gasp, smiling and nodding as he leaned in and relaxed against the sophomore's chest. Sam 'hrmm'd happily and patted the freshman's back, letting silence settle for a minute or two.

As his unused knot died down and his member retreated into his sheath, Sam stirred and said "Let's clean up a bit, you don't want jizz staying in your fur for too long, and I doubt you want to smell like wolf sex heading back to your dorm. Good thing we're already under a shower, right? Ha."

Dennis smiled meekly as the two of them untangled and lumbered up to their feet, watching with a bit of a blush as the wolf took some shampoo and started lathering up his armpits, abs, and junk like it was any other day. Slowly the otter did the same, also tentatively reaching a little lower and wincing a little as he found his tailhole was a bit sorer than he first realized, and was it... leaking?

"Yeah, that might... sting for a little bit, even after tightening back up," Sam said, Dennis jumping a little as he realized the wolf must've been watching him too. "I didn't tie you so hopefully it won't be too bad, though - how does it feel now?"

"Just... a little sore," he answered, returning to washing his cum from his stomach fur. "Not too bad."

Dennis blushed as a warm smile crossed Sam's face, the wolf saying "That's good, I'm glad," before finishing washing himself off. They rinsed for a moment in mutual silence, eventually turning off the water before the sophomore started gathering up his sogging-wet clothes. Seeing this, the otter's shoulders slumped a bit as he gave a little whimper.

"Oh, th-those aren't going to dry very quickly, are they? S-sorry..."

Sam just smiled again, though, and answered brightly "Don't worry about it, bud! I actually always keep an old set of clothes in my locker in case they're ever needed. I wasn't anticipating a situation like this, but it's always good to be prepared in case of an emergency, right? haha That was something I picked up from one of the college players in my club back when I was in middle school."

"Oh, that's... actually a really good idea..." Dennis mused as the two of them made their way back to the lockers. The otter put his street clothes back on a bit self-consciously as he watched Sam pull out a plastic back that held what looked more like gardening clothes than street clothes, but they functioned perfectly fine as he stuffed his soaking-wet clothes in the bag.

The wolf still noticed the freshman's hint of a smirk, though. "What?" he asked with a grin.

Dennis snickered a little bit. "Those clothes look like they've spent a week or two at summer camp!"

Sam laughed heartily at that, making Dennis relax quite a bit and smile as he got his duffel and backpack together. He waited for the wolf to get the rest of his stuff together and then they headed out the locker room door, the sophomore taking the freshman under his arm on their way out before they got back into public space of the athletic building, still chuckling a little.

"Anyway, it's really great to see you in a good mood again, Dennis... I hope it's still there for practice tomorrow."

Dennis kept smiling, but the wind had definitely been taken out of his sail as he responded "Yeah, me too..."

The wolf patted his protege's shoulder. "Just remember I'm your partner, more than just at center back now, so if you need help with anything whatsoever, I'll be there for you, got it?"

The otter nodded, smiling meekly, his mind starting to replay what had happened in the shower just minutes ago. "Yeah, got it..."

As they left the rec plex, they fell silent, the otter hugging his backpack in front of him. His silence got Sam's attention, and after they walked for a little bit he asked "...Hey, are you okay? You look a little... shell-shocked."

Dennis gave a quiet little chuckle at that. "Y-yeah... I guess that's a good word for it. I mean, six hours ago I would never have said I was gay... I've gone from denial to forced acceptance to happily coupled rather quickly, not to mention having the worst soccer experience of my life so far sandwiched in between, so I think my brain's just taking its time trying to catch up, hehheh..."

"Well, if you say so," the wolf replied, not entirely convinced but deciding to not push at the moment.

They kept walking, the gears clearly turning in the otter's mind. Finally, the reached a fork in the path where Dennis started right, Sam stopping there.

"Ah, my dorm's on the north side, so I'll be heading this way. G'night Dennis!"

The otter stopped where he was and turned to see the wolf waving, which he returned uncertainly before slowly starting on his way again. The wolf definitely noticed the change of pace and hesitated for a little, watching to see what the freshman was doing. After watching Dennis continue down the path for a moment, he turned to head north - and barely a moment later stopped again when he heard a quiet "...Sam?" The wolf turned around with a smile to see the otter facing him again, shuffling in place uncertainly.

"What's up, Dennis?" he asked, starting to walk over to the freshman again.

"I... umm... I don't want... to sound, er, needy or anything like that..." Dennis mumbled, still hugging his backpack, "b-but... can... can I spend the night with you?"

Sam sighed ever so slightly - he had been a bit worried about this. Not at having a needy boyfriend - he knew Dennis wasn't like that - but at the past hour having left the otter in a much more fragile state than he had initially let on. He didn't want to say the wrong thing here, quickly thinking back over everything the freshman had said and done since meeting him in the locker room after the game.

"Well I certainly wouldn't mind," he said, smiling and wrapping an arm around Dennis' shoulder again, "but I have to ask: do you have class tomorrow morning?" The otter shook his head, getting a single nod in response from the wolf. "Okay.. how about homework?"

Dennis took a moment to answer that one. "...Well, nothing due tomorrow, but I have a small problem set due Tuesday, a big problem set in another class due Wednesday, and a paper due Thursday..."

"Wow..." Sam said, looking down at the otter's backpack and thinking for a moment or two. "Well... hmmm, okay. Do you have everything you need already in your backpack?" Dennis nodded. "Okay. You can come back to my room on one condition: we focus on homework until we crash, or midnight, whichever comes first."

The freshman started nodding, then stopped and looked up. "'We'?"

"Yeah, silly," Sam replied, smiling and shaking Dennis' shoulders a little. "I told you, I'll be there for you. Now I don't know how much I'll be able to actually help with all your science-y stuff, but hey, trying to dumb it down to the level of a biz-school-er should help solidify things in your mind, right?"

The otter just chuckled quietly at that, leaning his head against the side of Sam's chest as the wolf started leading them back up to his dorm. The single wasn't big, but it was a single, meaning all the space was his own, unlike in all the doubles and triples the freshman got. Sam pulled out the chair at his desk and made Dennis sit before hopping up on to his own bed, turning on his laptop as the otter got textbooks out of his backpack.

"So what's your plan, bud?" the wolf asked.

"The plan?"

"With homework."

"Oh, uh... well, the due dates match size order, so I was just thinking of taking everything on that way..."

"Hmm... In my experience, spending too long on any one thing really hurts productivity. I'd say don't spend more than two hours on anything, just setting things aside at that point if they're not done. Especially with that paper for Thursday, you'll want to at least have the process started tonight, if you haven't started already."

"Yeeaaahhhh... guess you're right..." the otter sighed, a bit embarrassed that he hadn't started outlining or even brainstorming for that paper yet. He hated writing papers. "Well, small problem set first."

"Need some paper?"

"Nah, I've got notebooks."

"Okay. Mind if I play music?"

"Uh, what kind?"

"Here, lemme show you my Pandora station list."

The wolf hopped off his bed and brought his laptop over, the otter examining the list and picking out an "Appalachian" station. For the next hour or so, the two focused on their own work, Sam occasionally getting up to pull from his snack reserves, making sure to keep his otter fed as well and looking over the freshman's shoulder at the intro earth science questions. Dennis, for his part, was breezing through this problem set - ESCI 105 had its ups and downs for him, and this unit was an up for him, but he also found himself just more relaxed at the moment. While the last homework had taken him two rushed hours just before Thursday afternoon class, this one got done in about an hour, which definitely put the otter in a good mood as he shifted over to the other problem set. He also highly enjoyed the pat on the back Sam gave him in congratulations, along with breaking out the Starburst. He surprised the otter, though, asking him to walk through and try explaining each problem to him, just to make sure Dennis felt comfortable with each answer. He did, though he also made one minor change to an answer as he went through them before finally getting started on gen. chem....

Of course, CHEM 102 was muuuuch less forgiving. He knew in the back of his mind when he started that he probably wasn't going to finish in Sam's two-hour time limit considering most chemistry problem sets took him five or six hours at the very least... He was very quickly overwhelmed by the equations of basic thermodynamics and equilibrium constants and... heck, he had trouble balancing reaction equations in the first place! Which thoroughly embarrassed him since it definitely hadn't been this hard back in high school...

Sam sensed the growing frustration and came over to sit down next to Dennis the instant he was done with his own work, patting the otter's shoulder and asking him to explain the trouble he was having. From that point on, he would regularly ask what Dennis was thinking, suggest trying to explain the problem to him in big picture terms, make sure the otter had a ready snack, and massage the younger male's shoulders and neck. Dennis was obviously struggling, but he was still making progress through the science questions, and not spiraling in to dismay at all (which, although Sam hadn't seen it, correctly guessed that's what normally happened with these problem sets). He didn't wait the full two hours, either, before suggesting that Dennis put the chemistry away for the night and shift gears to his essay.

The freshman sighed, frustrated with himself and feeling a little defeated at the thought he was being forced to cut things off, but as he put his textbook away he noticed their hour-and-a-half of work had essentially covered the first half of the assignment - half! He was still mentally exhausted from the effort, but there was a tiny glimmer of hope at that realization that Sam had helped him find a way to deal with the class much better than he had been doing previously. He took a big swing from his water bottle before getting out his laptop. Sam just stayed by his side, and "brainstorming" for the essay quickly turned in to a COMP 100 vent session, the two of them laughing the assignment away, though several times Sam made sure to say "Write that down!" between chuckles, which Dennis did.

As it got closer to midnight, the conversation died down just from how late it was, and the two of them turned to starting to sort through the page or so of thoughts they had amassed. Sam just watched over the otter's shoulder as Dennis started typing up a very basic outline of the "creative nonfiction" essay, including some notes on how it would flow, with the wolf just giving one or two final suggestions before he declared that it was Monday and time to go to bed. The first butterflies started fluttering in the freshman's stomach at that, but he didn't really show it as he cleaned up his stuff while Sam left to the bathroom to brush his teeth and such.

The wolf came back to find the otter standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, clearly unsure of what to do right now.

"hehheh What's up, bud? Nervous about sleeping with me? You've already done it figuratively," he said with a grin, patting Dennis' shoulder kindly.

The otter smiled meekly and nodded with a little chuckle. "Eh, yeeaaahhhh... I mean, I've literally never shared a bed with anyone before, ever, much less someone... someone I'm interested in..." he said, blushing a bit and earning a nuzzle from the wolf, which made the otter shudder a little. Intimacy was not something he was familiar with. "I... I know what we did earlier is definitely a bigger deal than just sharing the same general space while sleeping, but... I dunno, it feels a bit... intimidating..."

Sam wrapped his arms around the freshman. "Well, even if you had a crush on me, I bet you'd still be pretty intimidated if I had just walked up to you at some point and suggested sex... we had been talking long enough for you to get worked up a bit, and you were already pretty frazzled on top of that. But yeah, I can see how it'd be really intimidating... People are at their most vulnerable when they're asleep, and in the dark just before then. It's like letting someone into your personal psyche as much as your personal space... If you've changed your mind, I'm perfectly willing to walk you back to your dorm," he said, noticing that the otter had been nodding along a bit as he spoke.

Dennis stopped nodding then, of course, staring forward into space a little as his mind worked over his options. He really didn't want to leave, he liked having Sam's arms around him now - what the hell would be so different if they were cuddling lying down? Who said they even had to cuddle? Although he did like the idea... That's what couples did as they slept, right? Couple... the word seemed to echo in his head. It made him shudder a bit to think he was now in a relationship, but at the same time it made this bundle of warmth blossom inside him...

He finally shook his head and turned a bit to properly face Sam. "I-I'm good, thanks, I want to stay with you... My brain just needs to play a little catch-up again, I think... The best way I can think of describing it right now is that moment just before going bungee-jumping or skydiving or something like that..."

Sam chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Never done either of those myself."

Dennis laughed a little, too, "Neither have I, but I've always wondered what it'd feel like... and right now I've got this, sort of... breathless weightless vertigo thing going on? hehheh I really don't know... I don't think all that well when I'm tired."

The wolf just smiled and patted the otter's back. "Then let's get some sleep... What do you normally sleep in?"

The otter looked at him oddly, saying "...my bed...? Oh! You mean clothes-wise. T-shirt and pajama bottoms. Why?"

"Just wondering what you're most comfortable with," Sam answered, opening the covers of his twin-XL. "Normally I sleep nude but I'm guessing that might be a bit much for now, so boxers it is. I'd suggest going shirtless yourself, actually - I haven't spent the night with someone else more than a few times before, but having another person next to you get hot pretty quickly."

Dennis blushed a bit and nodded, watching as Sam's shirt and shorts came off before the wolf hopped back up on to his bed. The sophomore made himself comfortable, then looked back at his partner, who seemed to be zoning out for a moment again. He grinned and lightly patted the mattress next to him, snapping Dennis back to reality. He murmured a bit meekly as he slowly pulled his shirt off, feeling oddly more naked now than he had back in the showers, and then dropping his shorts as well, leaving the otter clad in his briefs. He avoided eye contact with the wolf as he timidly crawled up on to the bed, turning a bit to lie down on his back next to the wolf - his wolf, he thought, relaxing a bit now that he was actually there and said wolf was pulling the covers back up over them.

Sam then reached over the otter to turn off his desk light, sending the room into darkness - Dennis couldn't see anything anymore, only feel as Sam lay back down, whispering "G'night, Dennis, sleep tight bud."

"Yeah... g'night..." the otter responded, trailing off as if there was something else on his mind - which, this being such a new situation for him, there certainly was.

His words hung in the air a bit until Sam spoke up again a moment or two later, the otter sucking air in as he felt the wolf's paw start rubbing his bare chest. "Hey... You wanna talk, bud? Anything you need?"

"Oh, uhh... I dunno..." he said, still shy about pillow talk, though he was thinking of something. "Umm... could we... change positions slightly here?" he mumbled.

"Hmm? How so?" Sam asked, rolling over slightly to his side to face the otter.

Dennis didn't directly respond, though a moment later he turned slightly as well, then scooting until his back edged into Sam's arm. The wolf moved then, the otter tensing up until he realized what Sam was doing as he felt one of the sophomore's arms slide under his head as the other reached over his side to wrap around his chest. He shuddered a little bit again, though after that relaxed completely as Sam's arm hugged him against the wolf's chest, the otter letting out a quiet little churr.

Sam chuckled behind him. "That's a much better sound for me to hear..." he whispered, nuzzling the back of Dennis' head.

"ehheh, yeah... Sorry I've been so not-smooth about... all this... It's a lot to take in, and I'm... I'm a little nervous about messing it up right off the bat..."

Sam paused for a moment before responding "Don't worry about that at all, bud, I think we're good. I... I had a rough first guy, so I vowed to never lead anyone on - it's either I'm all in, or I let someone know up front it's just for fun. And I'm all in with you for the foreseeable future, so however awkward and nervous you are, you're not gonna dim the shine I've taken to ya..."

Dennis churred again, a bit more solidly this time. "Thanks..." He let out a sigh as the two settled in to a comfortable silence, though his flickered back to how the wolf had prefaced his statement. "Uh, what happened with your first?" he asked, innocently enough, though the instant it was out of his mouth he realized it prooooobably was a sensitive subject...

The wolf gave a heavy sigh behind him but started opening up and explaining anyway. "Well... I really set myself up. I know you're not supposed to blame yourself for someone else playing you, but I was... incredibly naive. Or desperate. Or clingy. Whatever it was, I didn't read some pretty obvious signs..." The otter started murmuring out "You don't-" but Sam continued over him. "There was this forward on my club team, a jaguar, who apparently was insatiable in bed and really hot to boot, and had a bit of a reputation at the city's other high school. I didn't know he was gay until around winter break junior year, and after taking a little while to get over the fear of losing my virginity, I asked him to be my first time... And then kinda assumed him agreeing to do so meant we would then be boyfriends. I mean, it was a big deal to me, I assumed it would be a big deal for him too. You can probably guess that wasn't a good setup..."

"Doesn't sound like it..." Dennis murmured, hugging the arms that were wrapped around him.

"So there was a week or two that spring where I went to him several times... Then we had our first club practice of the season, and he callously and very publicly dumped me flat. That led directly to my naked-in-the-showers breakdown I mentioned earlier where my best friend swooped in to make sure I didn't completely crash."

They were silent for a moment, letting the story settle for a bit, before Dennis finally spoke up with a quiet "Thank you for not letting me crash."

Sam 'hrmmed' warmly and nuzzled the back of the otter's head, hugging him a bit more closely. "You're welcome."

They were silent for another minute or two, Dennis finally started to feel a little drowsy. His mind was still going, though, and he asked "...so, I know you said you've had a handful of... encounters, but am I gonna be your first real boyfriend, then?"

The wolf nodded into the back of the otter's neck. "ehheh, yeah, you will..." he responded, just a slight hint of nervousness in his chuckle, "so I'm a newbie in that sense as well... Never had a partner before, that is. Heck, I've never topped anyone before, I-"

"Wait, really??" Dennis cut off, a bit shocked at that admission as he thought back to how good the wolf had made him feel, he would've bet good money that Sam had experience in that sense.

The sophomore laughed, responding "Yeah, I've always been the one penetrated before... Not sure what's different about you that makes me want to hug and protect and help and fill you... Maybe I just felt like you needed someone to take the reins for now. Or maybe that's the difference between "hooking up" and "making love". Either way, that's not to say I want some otterpop in me at some point too, hehheh -" Denis meeped and blushed furiously in the dark dorm room as Sam continued "relationships go both ways after all. At least that's been my impression - as I said, I'm inexperienced in having a partner. But you're not?"

"I'm not... what? Oh! Ah, right, well I've never had a _boy_friend before, but I did have a girlfriend throughout most of high school..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... Danielle, an ocelot. She was... really amazing. Definitely my best friend, I just loved hanging out with her whenever I could. Both did orchestra, liked the same video games... We both sucked at dancing too, we went to one school dance and knew never to try again, hehheh..."

Sam chuckled along with Dennis at that. "Sounds like you two were a really good pair!"

"Yeah, we were... I think that's part of the reason why the thought of being gay never even crossed my mind before college... I guess I was satisfied and happy with what I had to the point of my mind never looking for more... I mean, we never "did it", but at the time I chalked it up to a combination of the fact we were good enough friends I didn't want to ruin anything - and she was Mormon too. Now I know it was because I just wasn't attracted to her physically anywhere near the way I like her on an emotional level... That was a tough realization for me to figure out this year, girlfriend-less and constantly surrounded by other jocks... But yeah, Danielle and I still keep in contact with each other. Not much, since she's on her mission right now, but occasionaaaaaallyyy..."

The otter failed to stifle a yawn just then, which spread to Sam next, causing him to chuckle again. "Okay, so what's next in our past lives tell-all here?"

That made the freshman giggle a little, though it was clear from the tempo and (lack of) lift that he was definitely fading now. "Oh, it's a tell alllll now?" he asked, drawling a little. "Okay, umm.... I didn't actually start playing soccer regularly until high school... Coach saw me in the park playing around with friends and went on a campaign to get me to play."

"Oh, wow, nice," Sam said, lightly patting the otter's bare chest. "How big was your high school?"

"Nnnnot very big..." the otter mumbled, "our district had been cut in half while I was in middle school when they opened a second high school..."

"Ah, gotcha," the wolf cooed quietly. "Yeah, my district had two high schools, too... though that was the whole town, hehheh."

Dennis wiggled weakly, now to tired to really laugh. "Whaaaaaaa... -ah- okay, your turn, whaaat's your best before-college soccer story?"

Sam chuckled lightly. "You want the whole story?"

The freshman churred, responding "mmmmm I liiike bedtime storiessss..."

The wolf gave a single lick to the back of the otter's head before starting smooth and low "It was actually waaaay back before high school, back in my early AYSO days... See, EVERYONE played youth soccer back home, so even though it was a small town we had big youth soccer leagues, with kids starting almost as soon as they could run. In my U-8 year, my team made the city top four, and it was a fun day since it was my first championship weekend. The U-8's played second after the U-7's, and I asked my parents if we could stay and watch the big kids. It turned out that one of the four U-10 teams was missing a set of quadruplets or something like that, all out sick, and their coach simply opened it up for younger kids to come play with them for their first game, since he wasn't really expecting them to make it to the final. Well, I joined in, one of two U-8's who started for that U-10 game, and as we were so young and really didn't have positions, I ended up scoring six times in a ten-goal rout. Lopsided games happen all the time in youth soccer, but I was soooo pumped to have done so well with the "big boys"... And then in the final-"

He suddenly stopped right there - he had felt the otter's head getting heavy on his one arm while he had been talking, but the freshman's webbed hand had slipped off the wolfpaw brushing his chest just then, the otter's head lolling a bit as well. Sam just chuckled and gave a few more pets to the otter's chest as he quietly wrapped up his tale of scoring the championship-winning goal in an age group two years older than he was, before sighing a "good night" and falling asleep himself.

*****

At practice the next afternoon, Dennis showed up with a bit more energy than he had been bringing recently, and though he didn't light things up he at least started the practice acceptably. Still, after drills, he tripped over his own feet again barely ten minutes into that day's scrimmage close to his own goal, slamming down hard on the ground, earning a sigh from the sun bear on the sidelines. The 'keeper blocked well enough but the ball still remained live in play while the freshman still lay in the grass, feeling the familiar embarrassment and despair welling up quickly as the ball rolled toward him again.

"COME ON!" Sam whizzed right by him, almost clipping the otter's arm as the wolf cleared the ball upfield. Of course, Dennis had been yelled at by other players cleaning up after him before, including Sam, (who was still focused on getting the ball toward blue team's goal,) but usually people gave him a wide berth... Sam had made a point of running that close?

He scrambled back up to his feet and tried getting back into the game. He was still far from peak performance, including another trip later on, (that he rolled through and up from instead of crashing again,) but it was a faster recovery than he'd made for a long time - which wasn't lost on the coach. Tuesday's practice wasn't really much better, with him making bad passes and such fairly frequently. He wasn't doing so well on the drills either again, but at least Sam was being patient with him - Sam ended up as his drill partner all week since no-one else really wanted to work with the otter. Not that Sam was doing it by process of elimination - he sought out Sam to work with most of the time. He wasn't easy on the otter - in fact, he was as stoic and serious as he usually was for practices. But even if the wolf didn't say or act differently while out on the field, there was an unspoken element of apprenticeship the freshman could feel. Off the field was another story, of course, including an inconspicuous lunch "date" and another homework night.

Wednesday he started cleaning things up a little bit, an by Friday he had eliminated most of his major errors from his game. Still not up to par with what he (or coach, presumably) expected of him, but at least now he had a little bit of confidence back, and unlike last week was expecting to see minutes in the next game. If he didn't get them again, he wouldn't blame coach, but he felt like he was ready to fight for his spot on the team now.

There were four matches left in the spring season after that. The first match was pretty even throughout the first half, though once the second half started the other team started outplaying them - badly. After weathering an onslaught for about fifteen minutes, their defense broke down. Coach finally put him in at the 80th minute, at which point the score was 0-2 again them. As he went to go take his spot on the field, Dennis received a glower instead of the normal substitution-high-five from his teammate as the other fur left the field, but he didn't mind; he just took his position in front of the keeper - and currently next to Sam - and got ready to play. He couldn't celebrate his return to the field just yet, not with his role still likely up in the air.

The game ended 1-2; Dennis' first time back on the field, paired with Sam in central defense, had suddenly shored up the team's backline and allowed them to claw back one consolation goal. As the team got off the bus when they got back to their own campus, the sun bear made a comment - a passing comment, but a nice comment nonetheless - about how the otter had a good effort in today's game.

He put Dennis in at the start of the second half next game. The otter did well paired up with Reggie in center defense, and even better when Reggie was subbed out for Samuel. Coach didn't know what had turned the kid around, but he was glad to have discovered that he suddenly had a near impenetrable defense, anchored by Dennis, Trent, and Samuel. Each of the three played the majority of the last two matches, both of which the team won.

Not only did Dennis' on-field performance pick up, he started getting his footing back in the classroom as well over that same time period, relatively good midterms mostly balancing out his poor start to the semester - and he still had another half-semester left to bring his grades up further. In the meantime, he also started coming with Sam to hang out with the rest of the team a bit more often, though the two of them kept their relationship quiet, and Dennis still didn't feel like going to any of the many "parties" the team had. The end-of-year party was unavoidable, though, but Sam sold it in such a way to make his otter comfortable and maybe even a bit excited to go, if just for the entertainment value.

And the party didn't disappoint in that sense, either. It took place two weeks before finals at the off-campus house inhabited by most of the upperclassmen on the team, and Sam was going to get a room there next year. The team had really decked the place out with balloons and streamers and such all in the school colors on top of a bunch of soccer-themed decorations, and Dennis was shocked at how much food (and particularly alcohol) they packed the place with, though Sam assured him it would all be consumed by tomorrow morning.

They had a fair amount of fun between the soccer tricks, board and video games, and karaoke for the first few hours, but as many members of the team got to their third and fourth beers Sam's "truth or dare" senses started tingling, so he nabbed Dennis so they could surreptitiously slip away and avoid the potential embarrassment and intensity of the team's combined dirty minds. That said, the defensive couple got a little dirty themselves as they scoped out the room Sam would be living in next year.

Their absence from the game eventually clued the others in to their relationship - in fact, two of the juniors on the team found out explicitly when they came upstairs for a dare to find Dennis and Sam tied together with some liquid still dribbling out of Sam's bum. Dennis was initially panicked and highly embarrassed, but the calmness of the other three males in the room rubbed off on him easily enough, and by the end of the night he found the situation more amusing than scary.

Even though Dennis never told his parents about his boyfriend even as summer approached, he slowly but surely came out to most of the team as well, and like Sam said most of them didn't care. He was very glad he was able to hang out with the team more, and his social comfort extended to classmates as well - being with people was much nicer than isolating yourself in fear. His class grades continued to return to his high school performance levels, the otter putting away his finals easily enough and securing a spring GPA high enough to offset his low fall GPA enough to keep his spot on the team.

The year ended pretty well for Dennis, too.

_ Epilogue

That summer, both Dennis and Sam went back to their hometowns, Sam returning to the Ashton Super Stars PDL team while Dennis helped as a coach for local youth teams, the two defenders keeping in contact via texts and phone calls. Dennis' sophomore year went very well on the field, the team finally finishing above 0.500 - comfortably above, in all truth, so even though they didn't win their conference they got an at-large playoff berth anyway, and sent off their excellent goalkeeper Trent (and, by unfortunate association, Vince) with not one but two playoff wins before finally getting outclasses 1-4 against Texas. Around the same time, Sam decided to enroll in the B-school's five-year master's program, so the two of them would graduate at the same time. That left them to very much enjoy the spring semester, making all sorts of plans for the rest of college, and trying to figure out how Sam could still do soccer stuff in his fifth year.

The next summer, Sam convinced Dennis to come play with the Super Stars, and they had a great summer until the first round of the PDL playoffs. Sam was going to clear a ball when the opposing forward collided with him hard, a loud SNAP being heard as the wolf howled and crumpled to the ground. He had suffered an ACL tear on top of a broken fibia, forcing their college coach to redshirt the wolf his senior year. "On the bright side, this means I can play with you next year, too!" he would joke to Dennis, doing his best to make light of the situation. The otter did all he could to care for the wolf that semester, even as his schoolwork got a bit more intense, partially due to him starting to do some experimental research in the department - and met a first-year grad student, a puma named Simon, in the process. Nothing happened, Dennis never thought he was attracted to Simon at all despite their great conversations and good laughs, he just viewed the new grad student as a good friend - but the combination of not having Sam with him on the field, having his oceanography studies intensify, and having extensive time working with a friendly cat caused Dennis to start drifting away from his boyfriend a little bit._

The summer before their final year, the two peacefully broke up. Sam had been sensed the drifting earlier, but hadn't said or done anything mostly because of his vow to avoid being the one to hurt someone that was on their first partner - and partially because he hadn't been sure if the drifting was serious, or even if it was real - which made Dennis feel a little guilty, but Sam reassured him it would be fine, expecting to find your perfect match on the first try was asking quite a bit. It wasn't a short break-up of course, the two needing three days to talk it out, but they came to terms well enough that it didn't affect their performance on the soccer field, the team returning to the playoffs on the back of their defensive line after having missed out last year. Around Thanksgiving break, Dennis went out with his lab group for an evening of drinks and ended up going home with Simon. One week later, the two of them officially became a couple, giving them one semester before it was time for Dennis to graduate. He and Sam shared one last thank-you kiss after the ceremony before finally heading their separate ways.