Octo sat down on his seat. In front of him were Tom
and Max, the former looking as nice as usual while he could sense the
nervousness radiating from the latter. Sipping his juice, the panther held back
a chuckle as he looked at them. They were in the campus café, in the seat next
to that funny looking plant in a black pot.

It was kind of funny, the situation, even the table.
This was the table he first told Max that he was bi. This was the table where
Max told him he wanted to apologise to Lucas.

Really, he already suspected what happened, heck, he
already suspected what happened ever since they picked up Max's belongings from
his flat. Seriously, Tom had done the impossible. That really, really impressed him. He really wanted
the details—and whether their first night was as juicy as he imagined. As for
Max, he couldn't wait to slap him some “I told you" in the face, or maybe some “suck
dick" just for the fun of it.

Kevin sat down next to him, looking somewhat rough.
“Ugh, why here again? I fucking hate this place." He said, without the usual
joking tone.

Octo saw Max looking at the red wolf, confused, then
at him. Octo shrugged; he didn't know what happened either. Kevin had been
cranky ever since he was back from his hometown—also he didn't want to tell them
where was it. The red wolf looked tired and his fur looked kind of pale. Octo's
suspicion resurfaced, but he forcefully quelled it down. They were here, they
were fine, that was all that mattered. Maybe Kevin was just still cranky from
the trip.

The red wolf's air didn't seem to scare Tom, though. The
grey wolf sipped his green tea latte like nothing was wrong. “Took you long enough."

“Fucking traffic." Kevin took a gulp of his chocolate
frappe. “And they say that 'the metro is not supposed to be late' or whatever."

Tom just shrugged, then looked at Max. “Andy's not
coming?"

“Yeah, he got stuff to do." Max put his phone down and
looked up with a smile, a nervous smile, he noticed.

They then just talked like usual. None of them told
him that they were going to come out to them but based on their nervousness and
the fact that Max now lived with Tom, he had a hunch. A very strong one.

Octo slurped his drink amusedly. This was interesting,
and pretty funny, too.

Their food arrived after that, and they dug right in.
The panther looked at them; he noticed both Max and Kevin weren't eating as
enthusiastically as they usually did. While he was amused at Max, he was
concerned at Kevin.

Tom then booped Kevin, earning him an angry but
bashful retort from the red wolf. After that, his mood seemed to be better… a
bit, but at least it was better.

“Do you now have a job, Max?" Octo asked the dog since
he had been quiet since the food came.

Max looked up and swallowed his food. “Not yet. I got
an interview back at my intern place, though. Pretty sure they're gonna hire me
since I heard from my co-workers that they need more people."

“Nice. You, Tom?"

“I'm going to start working next week at my intern
place." The grey wolf put his utensils down and pushed the empty plate away.
“Lucas was glad to have me back."

“Who's Lucas?"

“A workmate."

“And a friend, too. We played his team during the
Nat-Champ." The German Shepherd added.

Kevin perked up. “Is he hot?"

“Yeah. He's pretty hot."

“That's the first time you say he's hot, Oct." Max piled
his plate on top of the grey wolf's.

“Honestly yeah, I think he's hot. Got that bad boy look."
Octo continued.

Tom chuckled and turned to Max. “Who do you think is
more bad boy, Max, is it Octo or Lucas?"

The panther sipped his drink, hiding his smirk as he
looked at the shepherd with flirty eyes.

“Uh…"

Tom laughed; Kevin chuckled.

“Anyway," Max said with a bit more stress than necessary. “You, Kev? Got any
job?"

Octo kept his chuckle to himself as Max changed the
subject. At least he knew the German Shepherd still thought that he was hot…
ehh it was good to know.

Next to him, Kevin slumped on his seat. “Nope. Still
looking for one. Sent some applications but didn't hear back from 'em yet."

They waited for more elaboration, but the red wolf didn't
continue.

“You wanna apply to my intern place? They still have
openings." offered Max.

“I'll try. Text me the requirements."

“Sure."

Tom stood up. “I'm going to order more potatoes."

Kevin looked at the leaving wolf in question.
“Potatoes?"

“For some reason he calls fries as fried potatoes, which
is actually not wrong."

“Why though?"

The panther shrugged. “I don't know, he likes to get
as specific as possible."

“Yeah but isn't it 'French fries'?"

“Technically. Tom cooks lots of snacks so maybe he
wants to get as specific as possible."

Max sipped his coffee. “That's Octo alright."

Putting his glass back on the table, Octo picked one
tempeh and dipped it in ketchup. “That lemper he made, it tasted amazing,
really."

“I'm living with him and yet he never made anything
like that."

“Max, you live with him for only four days or so."

“…right."

“Wait, you live with him?" Kevin looked at Max, a bit
surprised.

Max scratched his ear. “Y-yeah…"

Sitting back at his seat and dropping the tray on the
table, Tom smirked at the group. “Okay, who was talking about me? I can feel my
ears getting warm."

Octo chuckled.

“You live with Max, Tom?"

The smaller wolf looked at Kevin, face somewhat
surprised. “Erm… yeah."

“Why?"

“I can live with whoever I want as long as they allow
me." Max said defensively.

Kevin ate the French fries. “Yeah but why? You didn't
tell me 'bout it before."

“Well, uh…"

Octo snickered.

“Well… uh… we want to tell you that…" Tom trailed off,
playing with his paws. Max didn't continue, instead, he looked away with flat
ears.

“That…?" the panther sipped his drink.

Tom's already low ears went even lower. He then took a
deep breath and looked up. “We're… we're boyfriends now, Max and I."

Upon hearing that, Octo smiled brightly. He put his
glass back on the table and leant forward. “Congratulations!"

“Er, yeah…"

“Finally you asked him out, Tom! You got it, man!"
Octo took Tom's hand and shook it. It finally happened; the wolf asked the dog
out! And Max agreed! So, all this time, his efforts were not in vain.

The smaller wolf looked bashful. He was smiling, a
little surprised, but too nervous to do anything else. It looked like Tom was
surprised that he knew that he was trying to ask Max out, in which case he had
every right to be angry, but for now, he just looked bashful.

He turned to the shepherd. “Max, be nice with him,
alright?! And look at me."

Max reluctantly turned to look at him.

“You have a boyfriend. Suck dick." Octo said before bursting
out laughing.

Max looked away, face as red as the tomato sauce on
the table with his ears hardly visible. He didn't say anything, only sighed in
shame and embarrassment as the panther teased him. Even Tom let out a chuckle.

“What?"

Octo turned to Kevin. “Come on! This fucker finally
got himself a boyfriend." He grinned. “You see what I mean? Unexpected turn of
event, I say."

“Yeah, um, I'm fucked." Max scratched his ear.

Octo was still grinning. “Ohh, you will be,
literally."

“W-wait, what?" Kevin asked again.

Octo then noticed that Kevin's voice was flat,
incredulous. He saw the red wolf's face becoming surprised, then it turned to
annoyed, then it turned to angry.

“What the fuck?!"

“Y-yeah, I'm wondering the same thing." Max ate the
fries.

“No! Wh-what the fuck?!" Kevin's voice rose and his
fur bristled. “Tom, you're gay?!"

The grey wolf's ears fell. “Y-yeah… yeah, Kev, I-I'm
gay."

Kevin stared at him incredulously, then he hit the
table angrily. “What in the fucking hell?!"

“Kev, what's got—"

“Fuck off, dude! I feel used here!" The red wolf
turned to the grey wolf. “Just… what the hell, Tom?! You know damn well I liked you! I fucking liked you! But you told me you're not
gay! And now you're fucking with him?!"

Octo stepped in. “Kev, calm down!"

“Fuck off!" Kevin pointed a claw at Tom. “You could've fucking
told me you don't want to, Tom! You could've fucking told me, not lying outright in
my face!"

“K-Kev, I'm sorr—"

“Oh now
you're sorry? Tell that to me questioning myself two damn years ago! You kept tugging me but you never say yes, I feel
fucking used!" Kevin laughed
sarcastically.

“Kevin, stop!" Octo barked. He looked around; the
waiters were on their way to their table whilst the other customers were
whispering. He caught sight of the wolf's shocked face and his heart fell. Even
Max was growling and baring his teeth.

“You're fucked
up, man! I regret falling for you!
So you have it easy, huh, doing everything according to you while the others
gotta look up to you?! 'Sorry I got to do this', 'sorry this is due tomorrow',
well fuck you! Go fucking live under your parents' house so that you never gotta
think about shi—"

Max then punched Kevin hard in the face. “Shut your mouth!"

Octo could only watch as Max punched Kevin. The red
wolf wiped his muzzle, then looked at the blood streak on his hand. He looked
up at Max and bared his teeth in turn, growling. “You want a fight, fag?!"

“Get the fuck out of here!" the dog shouted.

“Sir, please, we need you to leave."

Glaring at the dog, Kevin then clicked his tongue and
looked away. “Fine. I plan to, anyway. Enjoy your life with him." He took his jacket and growled at
the waiter who was trying to hold him as he walked out of the café.

“Sir, you need to—"

Max cut him with a growl and a glare, and the other
waiter shut up but didn't move from the spot.

“It's okay, he's with us. He won't be of problem."
Octo instead said to the poor waiter.

The waiter hesitated, then nodded and excused himself.

The panther then turned to the dog. “Max, what the fuck was that?!"

“Ask that fag."
He looked away, still angry.

“Tom, yo—Tom!"

When Octo saw the grey wolf's face, he immediately
moved to his side. Tom was staring at the door, unmoving, his face betrayed and
full of regret. Octo pulled him into a hug to calm him down, but the wolf
didn't move at all. Following his gaze, he could see Kevin's back as he walked
away with tail waving in agitation, slowly getting smaller and smaller.

“T-Tom, you okay?" Max asked the wolf, but his tone
was still angry. He then looked at the door and growled again. “I'm gonna beat
the hell outta that fag."

“Max, stop!"

However, Tom then closed his eyes.

“T-Tom, are you okay?"

The wolf didn't answer but then took a deep breath.
“No, mate. I'm not okay."

Kevin knew he was a mess. Things had been messy since
he returned from home, both in his mind and in his room. Things were scattered
all over the floor, the photo on the nightstand cracked, even the drapes were
scratched. His head had been a constant churning of a million thoughts. Right
now, an intense hatred towards Tom was the most prominent. He felt betrayed;
after opening himself up, he just learnt that he had been living under a lie.
It wasn't even made to protect him, but only Tom.

“Fuck you!" he pointed a claw at the panther in front of him. “Fuck
you for being oh so perfect!"

In front of him, Octo looked angrier and angrier. But
his calmness, it pissed him off like nothing else. He'd had enough of that
overly challenging demeanour; the panther always looked like he was in control
of everything, and it drove him crazy.

“Will you jus—"

“Just what?! Listen to you telling me that it's
immature and stuff?! You're one to
talk!"

The panther wiped his face exasperatedly. “Kevin,
listen! You're an asshole for saying all those things to Tom! Max might take
it, but Tom?! He's—"

“Go on, keep defending that piece of shit! He needs to
think that the world doesn't revolve around him!"

“And it doesn't
revolve around you!"

“When did I ever say that, huh?! You know damn well
how my actual fucking crush dumped me by lying at my face yet kept
tugging me on!"

They stared at each other, breathing heavily. The only
thing holding him back from lunging at the other was a thin sliver of patience
he had left. He might need to get another closet, but fuck it, the grey wolf
had some balls messing with him like this.

“Kevin, listen," Octo says again, trying to calm down.
“I know you're angry, I know you're pissed off at him, but this isn't the right
time to do this. He's just recove—"

“Then when?!
I waited for one fucking year for him
to at least tell me no! I actually had a crush on him, Oct! He told me he
wasn't gay! I didn't have a problem with that but that little shit kept making me hope! And just when I was
trying to move on he came to me all lovey-dovey with that damn shepherd!"

“But that's not a reason to talk shit about his
parents!"

“Why?! Because he's so fucking entitled to actually care about shit?!"

“Because he doesn't have parents!"

Octo threw his hands exasperatedly as Kevin stared at
him, surprised. A million thoughts ran inside his head, but before he could
tell, anger took over and he lunged forward to the panther and pinned him to
the wall, baring his teeth.

“What th—"

“You wanna play that card?! Guilt-tripping me with lies?!"

The panther bared his fangs back at the wolf. “I'm
not!"

“Like hell you're not!"

The panther kneed the wolf's stomach, sending him back
a few steps. Kevin held his stomach as he growled at Octo. The panther growled
back and extended his claws. “You want a fight?!"

Kevin hissed and readied his own claws, staring
intently at him with fur bristling and tail up. He was about the pounce at the
panther… just a bit more…

There was a knock on the door.

They both looked at the door. There was a knock again.

Octo was then snapped out of it. He looked down and
closed his stance, running his hand over his face in an angry gesture. The
panther took a deep breath, then looked at the wolf in an exasperated face.

Kevin didn't budge. He kept growling at the panther.

“Kev, remember that… if it hadn't been for Tom, we
wouldn't have met."

At that neutral tone, Kevin closed his stance but
didn't lose his guard. “And that's supposed to mean what? Like hell if I care!"

That seemed to take the panther aback. He looked
surprised, then offended, then sad. Whatever, he wasn't going to be played by
this emotion thing. Instead, he put his hands down. “Get the door."

The panther did so, and then Tom went inside.

His fur bristled even more. Sure, the grey wolf might
look sad and hurt, but like hell that's going to affect him. “What the fuck
are you doing here?!" he roared.

Tom didn't look up. “I'm here… to apologise."

“Like hell you are. Get the fuck out of here!"

Finally, he looked up. There was determination on his
face, one that might need several claw marks.

“I…" Octo looked at the grey wolf, then at the red
one. Tom made a gesture to him to leave the room. Conflicted, he nodded. “I… I'll
leave you two." The panther reluctantly walked away, then with a soft clank, the door closed.

Tom took a step, but Kevin took his stance again and
growled. “Get the fuck out of here!"

“No."

He roared and lunged forward to tackle the smaller
wolf to the wall. Tom didn't react, in fact, he was still having that same
expression. His fangs were mere centimetres from his face, but Tom didn't bulge
at all.

Then, that little shit had the audacity to look away
and say. “Kevin, I'm sorry."

That was it. Kevin roared and bit the grey wolf's
shoulder. His hands gripped the smaller wolf's hands so hard he was sure he
might break them. And yet, the grey wolf still didn't bulge.

For a while, the room was silent. All he could hear
was the soft woosh of their tail waving in the air. Kevin didn't let him
go, trying not to let his fangs sink too deep. Tom didn't say anything. He was
instead staying limp, submissive, not doing anything. If his instincts took
over, Kevin knew the grey wolf wouldn't leave this place healthily.

Then, something changed.

The grey wolf bit his shoulder back, taking him by
surprise and making him pull away. It wasn't as hard as how he did it, but hard
enough to sting. He pulled away and hissed at the smaller wolf.

Tom stood before the bigger wolf, arms limp but with a
sharp, angry look on his red eyes. His expression hardened in anger, the bite
on his shoulder didn't even seem to faze him. Kevin refused to back down. When
he spoke again, though, his accent changed. “I came right here to fucking
apologize and this is how you reply?"

“And that's supposed to change things, how?!"

Tom took several steps towards him, and Kevin reflexively
took several steps back. The smaller wolf didn't seem to acknowledge the torn
t-shirt of his shoulder that was slowly changed to red, and somehow it was
freaking him out. When he was close to the wall behind him, he roared at the
grey wolf. “Stay the fuck back!"

The grey wolf stopped but didn't stay back. “I'm not
gonna go anywhere. How about you speak for yourself!"

“What the fuck do you mean, you little shit?! You're the one who didn't speak for
yourself!"

“And I'm trying here!" he took a breath. “Listen, I
fucked up, I know, but I found out that we're more or like the same."

“Like hell we are!"

That red glare turned menacing. “Do you really need
violence to let me prove my point?" Tom took a step, but then stopped and
looked away as if he were speaking to himself. That gave Kevin the chance to
take something to throw at him, but Tom looked at him again, this time with a
sympathetic gaze and his usual accent. “Kev, I understand what happened with
you."

“No! You don't understand! No one understands!" He roared.

“Please, let's talk about this."

That calm tone was making him sick.

He charged forward to attack again, but this time, Tom
dodged it. Kevin hissed and tried to punch the smaller wolf. However, Tom
caught his fist and redirected it away. Roaring again, Kevin bit his shoulder
again, earning a scream from Tom.

Tom then scratched his claws on his back, making him
scream in turn. He took several steps back, then lunged at him again with both
hands, only for him to be blocked. They stared at each other, growling, both refusing
to back down. Shit, he's stronger than he
looks, Kevin thought as Tom kept blocking his hands. How can he be this strong?!

Suddenly, Tom let go of his left hand, then quickly
punched his chest twice, the momentum made the punches harder.

That made Kevin scream, almost falling to the floor.
He went back, hissing as he held his chest in pain. Tom almost hit his heart,
making him clutch his chest. He leant on the wall as his body went almost limp,
intense pain running all over.

The smaller wolf walked towards him, but he could only
growl softly as his breath was taken away. Blood was expanding in the grey
wolf's shirt, but he didn't seem to notice it. He only cringed now and then.

“Kevin," Tom said when he was in front of him. “I
understand what you went through."

“No! You don't
fucking understand! Can you just fucking stop that!"

Tom looked at him softly. “Kev, I'm an orphan." The
grey wolf said as he bent down in front of him. “I know how harsh life can be."

“No! You don't! You're an asshole who thinks you're in
control of fucking everything!"

“Aren't you too? Aren't we all? We all need a
semblance of control over this cruel world."

He felt tears starting to drop from his eyes as he
pulled his legs to shield himself. “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck!"

Tom gently put his hand on the red wolf's knee.
“You're not alone, Kev. We're wolves, we take care of the pack."

Kevin hugged his knees to no avail as he began
sobbing, his tail curling next to him. He couldn't struggle, couldn't fight
anymore as memories overwhelmed him. There were so many of them, each one felt
like a sting or a claw threatening to tear him apart. “No… y-you don't! No…"

Letting out a soft sigh, Tom reached out, pulling him
into a hug. “I'm here. I'm sorry. You're my little brother, I won't let
anything happen to you."

With his mind overwhelmed, he could only cry on the
grey wolf's shoulder, the one which he bit.