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Rachel's apartment is almost identical to mine, with two large rooms separated by a thin wall and a simple bathroom, but that's where the similarities end.

First, the amount of greenery is simply inconceivable, with pots, vases, and hanging planters scattered everywhere. The smell, impregnated in every inch of the place, varies from light flowery to earthy musk. I have the impression that in every place where it’s possible to have a plant, there IS a plant. And if it would be impossible to have one, there’s a high chance that one is there.

Second, the "bedroom" is in the first room, facing the front door, and the next has been fitted as a closet/office, with clothes covering every space.

I'm sure '_excessive' is this bat's second name._

I’m sitting on the bed, with my phone in my paw, watching a video without much attention. My anxiety has reached a peak I’ve never experienced before, and staying home has become an impractical task. Here at least, I have a few things to do: take care of this endless greenery and wait for my target.

After what felt like 10 hours of waiting (but was actually just two), the door swings open violently, almost as if it were kicked.

"I'm here, my daughters!"

The happy face of the bat morphs into one of pure terror when she finally sees me sitting on the bed. I was trying to maintain a cold and distant expression, but her shocked face caught me off guard.

"Welcome home, Black," I get up and open my arms, inviting her for a hug. "Did you have lots of fun?"

I try to speak clearly and without any emotion, punctuating every word, but I know my fangs are visible in my smile.

"N-no... Red?" Her expression of surprise becomes one of questioning, but she still kept her distance. "What are you doing here?"

Still with my arms open, I glance around the room, pointing to all the plants I can see.

"Fulfilling one of my promises," I say between my fangs, still maintaining my cold smile.

A wave of understanding and relief seems to wash over the bat. She lets out a sigh, closes the door, and throws herself onto the bed beside me.

"Wow, Red," she says, her face buried in a pillow, "you nearly gave me a heart attack. For a moment, I thought you were going to rip my face off."

I lower my arms and sit on the bed, gently stroking the bat’s blue hair. "There is still hope."

She turns on the bed, staring at me with an almost lost expression.

"What happened?" Her voice carries a trace of worry: "I’ve never seen you like this."

"Well, well, what do we have here?" I cross my arms over my chest, widening my grin. "A little forgetful bat. Are you sure you have no idea what might have happened?"

"I’m sure." Rachel sits up, a bit tense. "All I did was give you the party invitations and..."

Her voice trails off for a second, realization coming down like a rock. In those brief seconds, her face changed from surprise to understanding and finally to sadness.

"So things didn't work out with the leopard," she says with pain in her words. "He looked so nice."

I jump up, startling the bat. "So you confess that you tried to set me up with a guy? Again?" I say, almost shouting, "Even after I begged you never to do that again?"

"I'm sorry, Red," she pulls her legs to her chest, almost as if wanting to disappear, "I wasn’t going to do anything, and I really wanted you to go to the party. But this guy kept bugging me to meet you; he said you were cute and was jealous of me."

Rachel pauses for a few seconds, as if catching her breath. "He even asked me if you weren’t going to the party with me. When I said that parties weren't your thing, he seemed pretty disappointed. " I could feel the pain in her voice, but I would not back off. "Then, I remembered that I couldn't go to the party..."

"You came up with a plan for me to meet him," I say, with a neutral face and impassive voice.

"It wasn’t a plan," she said, with tears in the corner of her eyes. "I just thought you’d like the guy; he seemed really into you." After a while, the bat stares at me, regret brimming in her eyes. "Forgive me, Red. Forgive me for doing this to you."

I turn my back, slowly reaching for the doorknob. "There’s nothing to forgive, Black."

"Please..." she said, timidly extending a paw in my direction.

"There’s nothing to forgive..." I say, turning around with a wide smile on my face, "Because, for the first time in your life, you got it right. He’s fantastic."

Rachel's face seems to go blank for a moment; then, her jaws begin to move, and indiscritive sounds pour out. It took some moments to finally make some sense. "You're such a... bastard... cruel... I thought you were... son of a whore..."

And a pillow hit me flatly in the face.

She continues throwing things in my direction, hurling insults and curses. I try to dodge what I can, but she’s quicker than I am. We stay in this fight for a while until the bat finally calms down.

"You will pay, mark my words..." she said, with a mischievous, tired look. "So... did you two sleep together? How was it? Did you enjoy it? It was your first time, right?"

With an enthusiasm that contrasts sharply with the anger from moments before, she bombards me with even more ridiculous and personal questions.

She must think my life turned into a porn movie.

"What do you mean 'slept together,' Black?" I sit back down beside her, suddenly too tired. "I met him that day; do you think I would bring him to my bed?"

"Yeah, that's right," she says, smiling.

"Maybe, but I didn't," I cross my arms in front of my body. "We talked almost all night, but then he went to another party."

"So, nothing happened?" Her eyes reflected disbelief.

"Well... he gave me a goodbye kiss," I say, somewhat embarrassed, scratching the back of my neck.

Rachel took a deep breath and stood up, with her eyes closed and in deep thought, just for a scream to burst out of her mouth. "YOU GUYS TALKED FOR HOURS, AND YOU ONLY KISSED!?"

I cover my ears to protect myself from the bat’s shouting, "Can you speak quieter? Yes, it was just a kiss. But it was amazing."

My words seem to calm her down, even if a little. After some moments, the bat continues the questioning. "So you enjoyed it, huh?" She pokes me in the ribs, laughing to herself, "And you saw each other again, right? How was it?"

I let out a sigh of defeat. "I... forgot to get his number." I look at Rachel, my ears down. "I don't know which course he’s in, where he takes his classes, or where he lives. Nada! It's been five days that I've been practically parading around the RU, hoping he’ll spot me there." I let out another sigh and threw myself onto the bed. "So far, nothing."

"Ahhhh, so that’s why you’re here..." she says, clapping her paws together, "you want more information about your cheesecake."

I turn to the bat and pinch one of her cheeks, half forcefully, half affectionately. "Of course that’s why, Black," I pinch a little more. "It’s been five days since my anxiety hasn’t let me sleep well, and every time I close my eyes, I see that beautiful leopard face smiling at me."

I release the pitch in the bat’s face and look into her eyes, holding her paws. "What's happening to me?"

She raises our paws to eye level. "This has a name. It’s something everyone knows, a simple five-letter word that moves the world."

I let out a mocking snore, rolling my eyes at such a cliché, but something isn’t right. "Five? But it's four letters."

"HORNY, Red," she shouts, releasing my paws, "you’re horny! Your body is asking you to embrace and consume your desire. You want to be with that feline and..."

"OK!" I shout back, "I got it! You don’t need to keep throwing it in my face, geez."

I feel my ears droop and burn with embarrassment.

Why is she always like this?

"I'm glad you understand," Rachel jumps off the bed. "Now, get your ass up, and let’s head to the arts building."

"Why?"

"Because that's where he has his classes," she says, annoyed, "he studies Social Sciences, and the Humanities building is right next to the Arts building. That's how I meet him." Faster than I could see, she grabs her wallet and cell phone. "Let’s go!"

I stay there for a moment, sitting, looking at the bat, who was getting more excited by the second.

Wait, she wants me to go after him... now?!

"Hold up there, Black," I get up but take two steps back. "I'm not ready. I’m in my college clothes; I smell..." I say, counting on my fingers, "And besides, it's going to be really weird to show up there after five days."

My anxiety starts to take over my speech, and my reaction is to try to avoid this encounter by any means. "Anyways, it’s better if you get his number and message him on Pawsmeet."

"Ridiculous," she walks toward me and grabs my wrist. "Stop being a coward." Paying no mind to my resistance, she opens the door and walks outside, dragging me with her. "Let’s go; you’re going to meet your cheesecake, and hopefully, I’ll see something very exciting."

"By the Gods."

I don’t want to go on this weird quest, and I feel my stomach churn with embarrassment and fear, but the prospect of seeing Eddy again keeps me moving.

The walk is long; our apartments are at exit C of the campus, right next to the technology building. It takes me no more than five minutes to leave home and reach my classroom. The Arts building, on the other hand, is near exit F, on the other side of the immense university. If someone were to walk around the entire campus, from A to F, it would take over a couple of hours.

After a little over an hour, we finally arrive at the Arts buildings. I like thinking about how the architecture changes from one block to another. In the technology area, the constructions are all the same: windows covered with mirrored glass, fingerprint sensor doors, cameras, and lots of students with their computers on display. Here, there are only a few buildings, most of them covered in graffiti and with large open spaces. One of the plazas has an open-air amphitheater, where there's always someone performing. And, of course, the smell. Each and every type of stench seems to linger in the air, like a tick, smelly wall.

We walk through the block as fast as we can, but there's no way around it—Rachel is virtually a celebrity. We can't take more than ten steps before someone comes up to talk to her or a group starts discussing plays they've seen or are planning to stage. The girl is the definition of 'popular.'.

"That's why I don't like coming here," I say, ears lowered. "Everyone talks to you, and most of them just give me weird looks."

"It's because you stand out a lot, Red," she replies, smiling. "A big, handsome wolf like you walking around here is bound to get attention."

I can't respond; I only feel my ears burn.

After a few dragged-out minutes, we finally leave the Arts block and enter the Humanities one. In a way, the buildings here resemble those in the technology section, just more ordinary. Even old.

We walk in silence to one of the plazas, asking along the way where the Social Sciences department is. It didn't take too long; we were really close.

We stop in front of the building, which seems to be the newest among all in the block, with double doors at the entrance, large shadowed glass windows, and over five floors.

Now, near to our destination, my impulse to run was starting to outweigh my desire to see Eddy. Would he remember me? What if I saw him with another guy? Does he have a boyfriend? With each passing moment, I felt less and less like staying there.

"Black," I say, my voice wavering, "this is a bad idea. Can we go back? Please?"

"Chickening out now, Red?"

Ears lowered, I try to smile. "A little."

The bat walks over to me and gives me an affectionate hug. "Let's do this: I'll go in, take a look around, and see how things are," then look directly in my eyes, "If everything is fine, I'll call you."

"Sounds like a good plan," I say, relieved.

Rachel slips through the doors swiftly, barely making a sound. I walk toward the nearby plaza and sit on one of the many benches scattered around, avoiding being seen. My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my ears.

Why am I like this?

I want to see Eddy again so, so much, but so many things could go wrong, so many ways I could get hurt.

Is it really worth the risk?

My head aches, and my arms and legs feel like giving out. My pessimism wants to take over my entire body, sapping all my strength.

After a while, I lie down on the bench, covering my eyes with my right arm, trying to steady my breathing. A fresh breeze started blowing, bringing notes of autumn with it.

Not long after, I feel someone sit down beside me.

"Bad news, Red," Rachel says in an unusual tone, "he had classes only in the morning. There's no one there now."

"You know, maybe that's for the best," I say, still covering my eyes. "I don’t think I would’ve had the courage to go in."

"Come on," she says, almost pleading, "don't be like that."

"I'm serious, Black." I feel my heart sank in my stomach, pessimism at the highest. "The guy is gorgeous, charming, and has a wonderful smile. What could he possibly want with me?"

"I don’t know, Red," the bat interceded, and only then I realized her voice was coming from a different spot. "Why don’t you ask him yourself?"

I lift my head to face the bat. However, what I see are two green eyes staring at me, with a grin as wide as it is mischievous.

"Repeat that part about the smile," the leopard says, resting his head in one of his paws, "pretty please?"

In my rush to stand up, I trip and almost fall flat on my face. Eddy was seated beside me, wearing a green shirt and blue jeans. Behind him, a bat was laughing her heart out.

"Oh, good news, Red," she says, as if remembering something, "I found him on the way here."

"I'm going to rip your wings off, Black," I mutter through gritted teeth, trying to stand up, "Hello, Eddy."

"Hey wolf," Eddy offers his paw to help me up. "So, about that smile part..."

"Please," I say, cleaning the dust from my clothes, "if I get any more embarrassed, I’m going to die."

"Haha," he laughs, still holding my paw. "Relax, wolf, just take it easy." Then he turns to the bat standing behind us. "Bat, if you don’t mind, I can take it from here on."

"Deal!" She walks up to me, grabs one of my ears, and tugs it toward her. "Red, I want a full report on my desk by 0800," she says with a fake, stern face. "Have fun."

I can’t even say anything. The whole situation is so surreal that I can only watch, stunned.

As soon as Rachel leaves my sight, Eddy tilts his head. "Come on, I’ll show you around. You’ve never really been here, right?"

"No, I just passed by briefly," I say, still holding the feline’s paw. "Maybe I grabbed a bite at that coffee shop with Black... I mean, Rachel."

"Bah. Let’s take a stroll, then," he pulls me along, our paws still together. "I want to know why you didn’t call me all this time. I thought I did something wrong."

"No, no... nothing wrong," I say, feeling a little shy. "I just forgot to get your number."

"But the bat has it." Eddy looks a bit confused, tilting his head. "She said she’d give it to you."

"I'm going to rip her wings off, for sure."

We spend a long time walking through the buildings and plazas of the block. Despite the awkward start, by the end of our stride, we’re already laughing about the whole situation.

"Here is where I take my classes," he says, pointing me to the building I saw earlier. "Wanna take a look?"

"Sure, lead the way." I follow him inside the building, now completely deserted. Maybe because of the lack of students and teachers, the place was dimly lit and kind of spooky. We could hear our footsteps echoing in the place.

We climb some stairs and reach the second floor, where most of the classrooms were sited. Eddy walks in at a fast pace and points to an empty room. "I take most of my classes here; take a look."

I walk into it, curious how the classes were did here, only to hear the door being closed at my back.

"What...," I say before a slender finger is placed in my snout. The leopard was looking directly at me, eyes half-closed and a triumphant smirk.

"Now, wolf," he says, embracing me ever so slowly, "we have unfinished business to attend."

Without thinking, I place my paws on his face, full of affection and tenderness. He lifts it slightly, and our lips finally meet. Then our tongues, our breaths, our bodies.

My blood feels like it's on fire, my ears explode with the pounding of my heart, and the desire in my body feels like ripping out my flesh. I sense Eddy’s paws exploring my back, waist, and hips while I lose myself in the sensations. The smoothness of his fur, the bitterness of his taste, the ragged respiration, and the gentle bites in my lips; all were compressed and felt at the same time. A maelstrom of excitement.

It's like something primal had awakened, a craving for lust and passion. We keep in this dance of desire, grinding our frames, knocking off some furniture on our way.

I don't know how much time passed, but I feel something vibrating in my hips. I try to ignore it at first, but it keeps bugging me, removing from the pleasure I was experiencing.

"Sorry," Eddy says, stopping the kissing and taking some breath, "I have to take this call."

The leopard let go of our embrace and took a phone from his pants. Only now do I see that we both took our shirts out and were way further in the classroom.

Wow, we almost did it here.

A bit of embarrassment starts washing over me at the same moment Eddy comes back, with a serious semblance in his face.

"Did something happen?" I ask, walking towards him.

"My dad..." he says, almost smashing his phone, "…he needs to work at night today and needs me to watch my sister." He signs, with a paw on his head, "I forgot it, and he called to check where the hell I am."

"Oh no," I say, putting my paws over my mouth, "it's my fault. I'm so sorry, Eddy."

"Come on, wolf," Eddy embraced me again, kissing my chest. "It is not every day I have this chance." He brings my face closer again, kissing even more passionately than before, but only for a moment. "Sadly though, we'll need to continue another day."

"When?" I muster, almost without breath.

He ponders for a second. "Noelle Telles’ new movie is premiering this weekend. Want to go watch it with me?"

My heart seemed to skip a beat. Watching movies is something I love, and I’ve always imagined what it would be like to go with someone special—someone other than childhood friends.

"I’d love to," I say, almost whispering. "This Saturday? When?"

Eddy looks at his phone and searches for something. After a few seconds, he says, "There’s a screening at 8 PM. How about it?"

"Perfect. I really wanted to see that movie."

We get our clothes from the ground and exit the building, still talking about the movie night. I just can't wait to see it with Eddy.

His father arrived no more than a minute later, driving a visibly old car covered with dust.

"See you Saturday, wolf," he says, embracing and kissing me. His hands dance on my back, and I feel a hard pinch in my ass.

He enters the car and waves me goodbye. I couldn't see his dad's face very well, but I got an impression of a tired person.

Only now I notice that it is already night and how incredibly hungry I was. The road back to my home will be a difficult one, and I'm sure that a certain bat will be waiting for my return.

"And I forgot to get his number.... Again."