“Come on in." Marley said morosely, before retreating to her lounge room and falling down on the couch. After a second of hesitation Brady stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. Looking around, he surveyed the damage left by the party, still uncleaned. The broken window he'd fallen out of had been boarded over, but none of the mess had been dealt with. Empty cans and bottles lay scattered on the ground, giving the whole room a lovely smell of stale beer. The wall across the room had a small hole in it, plus multiple fading stains on the plaster. Sighing to himself, Brady went and joined the Labrador girl, sitting down next to her.

“How long until your folks are back?" He asked, eliciting a pained groan from Marley. He smiled sadly, waiting for an answer.

“Like, two days. They're gonna fucking explode." Marley said, finally opening her eyes and sitting forwards. She pulled her legs up onto the couch, crossing them underneath herself and looking at Brady.

“I uh, saw that the window got…covered. Did you do that?" He asked sceptically. He knew it wasn't Oliver, for one he'd only gotten out of lockup earlier that morning, and secondly Brady had dropped him at home before coming here. He was determined to find out definitively what had happened that night, and he needed witnesses who could fill in the details of his missing memory.

“No, what are you an idiot?" She asked, not unkindly. “Paul came by and put it up, said it was the least he could do." Brady nodded.

“I was…really off my face that night. I gotta be honest Marl, I don't really remember much of it at all. I remember getting here, having a drink or two with you and Oliver and then…nothing." He explained, getting a sympathetic look back from the dog. Brady rubbed his paws together, leaning forwards. “I actually woke up at Max's place, you know Max right?"

“That cheetah dude? Yeah I know him." She said.

“Cool. Yeah apparently Paul got him to take me home after the whole…window thing. Anyway, Max told me some stuff but…I dunno, I guess I just wanted to hear what you might remember?" He explained. Marley exhaled again, climbing up to her feet.

“You want some coffee Brady?" The wolf happily accepted the offer, following Marley into the kitchen as she busied herself finding mugs and boiling the kettle. “I was pretty wrecked that night too. But I remember Max and Oliver, fucking hell. Shit they were like parents arguing over you like a child. I wish they'd figure out that neither of them owns you. Y'know?" Brady nodded.

“Yeah, I'm starting to feel the same way. Max has said that he showed up, saw me and Paul, brought me home. Oliver tells me that Max showed up way earlier, and attacked him about us being friends."

“About you and Oliver being friends?" Marley asked, pouring hot water into the mugs she'd gotten ready.

“Yeah." Replied Brady.

“Ah, not…not quite. I mean like, I can remember Max showing up. Those two talked for ages no drama; I don't even know what the problem was when it happened. They were hugging and everything, all seemed good. Then suddenly out of nowhere, there's all this shouting." She says, passing Brady his cup. The wolf accepted it, holding the drink up and testing the temperature with his tongue. Marley holds her own coffee and leans back on the kitchen bench, focusing on the light-brown surface of her drink.

“What were they shouting about?" Oliver asked, tilting his head slightly. The Lab just shrugged.

“I have no idea, I was outside when I heard it starting. Lots of swearing, and when I finally came in Oliver had Max up against the wall by his throat."

“What? Are you serious?" Brady asked, suddenly concerned. What the hell had happened that night?

“Yeah, you saw the hole in my wall right?" She asked, to which Brady nodded. “Oliver did that when he punched a spot next to Max's head."

“I saw Oliver this morning, he didn't mention that." Brady replied. Marley stared at her coffee silently for a second, quietly thinking something over, before looking right up at him.

“Brady…look I like you, and I have no problem seeing you around and stuff…but I'm done with him. I can't do it anymore, he's just…just too emotionally draining for me." What she was saying seemed to come a little out of nowhere, and it took the wolf a second to adjust. He sat in silence for a second or two, processing the information.

“Shit." Brady suddenly looked down at his feet. “Have you told him yet?" She shook her head.

“No, not yet. I really only decided just now, talking to you. I mean, if you hadn't have interrupted who knows what would've happened?" She said, downing the last of her coffee and placing the mug next to the sink.

“Wait, I got in the middle of those two?"

“Yeah. All drunk and shit, you were pulling back Ollie and hugging him and stuff. How'd you think the window got broken? He got so annoyed at you he shoved you away and…"

“Oliver pushed me through the window?" The wolf asked incredulously.

“It was an accident."

“Why didn't he tell me that? I'm so fucking sick of everyone lying to me." Brady said, annoyed at both of the boys now. “Why can't they just tell me what the hell actually happened?"

“I dunno. After you went through the window Ollie started freaking out, he apparently took some acid at some point but I never saw it. He like, completely forgot Max was there and threw his drink at the wall, screaming at something to get the hell away from him."

“Jesus."

“Yeah. I've never seen him have a bad trip before." She said quietly, staring at her paws.

“What the hell were they even fighting about?"

“I have no idea Brady. I know it was about you, but that's all I got. You could try asking Paul, I mean he was there for the whole thing. But I don't know how trashed he was." Brady just nodded, placing his now two-thirds empty mug on the edge of the sink. The two furs stood in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts.

“So you're really going to break up with him?" The wolf finally asked, his voice lower than before and his face hot. Marley smiled sadly, nodding.

“Yeah. You…you don't know how difficult he is sometimes. He needs somebody stronger than I am. We were never really that happy with each other anyway."  She explained, shaking her head slowly as she did.

“You going to stay broken up this time?" Brady asked, knowing full well it wasn't a nice thing to say. Marley and Oliver had gone through a string of break-ups towards the end of high school, where it seemed they were fighting every other week or so.

“That's not fair."

“No, you're right it's not. Sorry." He said, already regretting it.

“But yeah. We will be, at least for a little while. We're just too different. And too much the same." She said.

“I'm sorry." He said, as the Labrador stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. She buried her face into his shoulder, coughing up a sob.

“You're sweet." She said through a cracking voice into his jacket. After a second of surprise, he returned the embrace, patting the dog lightly on her back.

“It'll be alright." He said softly. “I think it'll be alright."

Oliver was standing in front of his shower, naked and waiting. The water was turned up as hot as it could possibly go, and the bathroom was steaming up fast. He had tears in his eyes, and his stomach felt sick. A little voice was whispering terrible things into his ear.

You lied to Brady. Your friend, one of the last ones you have left. Soon he'll be gone too.

Oliver was not the kind of fur who often felt guilt. He went through his life and did what he did, if bad things happened, or other furs' feelings got hurt…well that's life, right? Who cares if someone can't deal with whatever you're doing. And on top of that, mistakes happen; it isn't the end of the world, so stop being so damn sensitive. But this felt different. He could feel the betrayal of his friends trust in his stomach. Burying itself in a hole there.

Why am I like this?

You mean why are you a failure? A fuckup? Useless? Worthless? I don't know. Why are you?

It had been a while since he heard these voices, but they'd never really been quite so loud. It was like he was talking to himself, but as if he was someone else. It was difficult to explain really, which is why he had never told anyone about it. He was the reason everything went bad the other night, and he knew it. It was his fault and he needed to get over himself and tell his friend the truth. Max might be a tool, or an idiot, but Brady had liked him. He shouldn't let his own jealousy get in the way. Besides, Max was gay, and if the two of them dated it would hardly change much. After all, Oliver was dating Marley, and that hadn't stopped him being Brady's friend.

Once the wolf had dropped him off, Oliver had immediately gone to the liquor section of his cupboard. He had three jack and cokes, downing them all in a row, before moving to the bathroom. Feeling nauseous from the rapid ingestion of alcohol, and a little dizzy, he'd stripped off and turned the water up. It gushed in front of him, like an uncaring torrent. Oliver didn't know why he was so broken, he didn't know why he always screwed everything up so badly, but he did. He knew it. He always found a way to mess up a good thing, like his friendship with Brady.

Marley would probably leave him too.

He wasn't sure if he could take losing both of them. It wouldn't even be worth it anymore, what's the point of doing anything if other furs just fuck you over? They didn't care, they probably hated him anyway.

Bastards.

The selfish cunt.

You worthless piece of garbage, go ahead; spit in the faces of all your friends. See where that gets you. You deserve this.

You deserve to be hurt.

And with that, Oliver stuck his right paw under the now superheated water, holding it there as long as he could. When it got too much he began screaming out in pain, before falling back, collapsing onto his knees in tears.

Brady followed Paul down the side of his house into the backyard. The horse had apparently just been lounging around in the back yard, drinking beer and 'being'. Whatever that meant. It was a small house, but the stallion lived here alone and said it was more than enough for just him.

“Oh." Paul said, stopping in his tracks and turning back to face his guest as he seemed to think of something. “I had half a valium before, so I'm a little bit on the loose side." He explained, grinning.

“Noted." Said Brady, laughing.

“You want one? I got plenty." He said, raising his eyebrows. Brady just shook his head.

“No mate, I'm good." The horse just shrugged.

“Suit yourself then, beer in the esky if you want it." He said, before walking over and falling into a lawn chair. He patted the one next to him somewhat absentmindedly, before Brady walked over and placed himself there. “So, what can I do ya for?" He asked, clapping his paws together. Now it was Brady's turn to shrug, acting all casual like.

“I want to know what happened the night of the party at Marley's place. I've gotten all kinds of stories and I need to know what the fuck went down." He said, emphasising the swear word. Paul nodded, overdoing the action a little, as if he'd been waiting for the wolf to come around.

“Right." He said, crossing his legs  and clasping his paws sagely.

“I don't have any memory of the night, I don't know why I was so out of it, but I was totally fucked. I must've drunk way too much, way too fast." He said, gesturing with his paws as he spoke. Paul nodded, smirking as he did.

“Yeah, I mighta' had something to do with that. You just kept putting 'em away." He said, chuckling to himself.

“Anyway, Oliver's memory is…sketchy at best, and I don't even know what Max was on about."

“That's the guy you went home with right?"

“Yeah. The cheetah."

“Righto."

“Marl gave me some of it, but not the full picture. How much do you remember?" Brady asked, hoping with everything this was the last fur he had to ask.

“Hmm." Pondered the horse, looking up into the sky as he thought. “How much you know already?" He asked.

“Ollie had Max up against the wall, before pushing me out've a window. Then you got Max to take me home."

“Ah, well I'll stop you right there. I never asked that guy to take you home."

“For fuck's sake." Brady exclaimed, falling back into his lawn chair, depressed.

“Yeah. I was actually gonna drive you back here. I'd only had a few, none of the other stuff, and had to work the next day. Figured you could use a chaperone to make sure you slept it off. But as I started gettin' you up, while you covered yourself in blood and puke, this cheetah comes over and takes you off my hands." He said matter-of-factly.

“Just like that?"

“Yeah. He said you guys were good mates, told me he'd handle it. I didn't see any reason why not to let him. On the plus side, it got him out of there too and away from Oliver, who was just about losing his mind."

“Yeah okay, that. Um, what the fuck?"

“Yeah that was maybe my fault too. I uh…I gave him some acid, right before he and Max had their whole thing. It kicked in just after he shoved you through the glass. I'm betting the fight with Max is what worked him up so bad, and why he had such a bad trip. Speaking of which, how's your arm doing?" Paul looked over, seeming genuinely concerned. Brady just pulled his sleeve back to reveal the bandage.

“It's fine, superficial wounds really."

“Ah, good, I'm glad. But yeah, he was out of it. I was the one who called the cops on him."

“Really? That's surprising." Brady thought that the sergeant might have mentioned that, before realising that the goat wasn't exactly a fan of Paul, to say the least.

“Yeah, I've seen it before man. He was like thirty minutes in and going bat shit, screaming at the wall and all that, throwing stuff. It was only gonna go downhill, good to get him somewhere he can't hurt anyone…or himself." Paul said, as if he called the cops on furs having bad trips all the time.

“I see. I guess it was a good call."

“Damn right it was." He replied, nodding, right before picking up a new can of beer and cracking it open.

“So what was the fight about?" Brady asked. Paul pushed his eyes up again, looking at the clouds going by as he tried to remember.

“Okay. So Ol is on the couch, just hanging out, just taken his three tabs I gave 'im. Max comes over, sits himself down and acts all serious. Saying how he wants him and Oliver to be friends cause he really likes you and shit. I guess he's gay too."

“He is, yeah." Brady added.

“Neato. Anyway, Oliver is like…okay then fine. We're friends, but don't you fucking mess with Brady, right? And then Max starts going off tap about how Ol should be the one being careful, what with his fuckin' drug habit and all that. I'm just watching this like…okay, what the fuck?

“Anyhow. It starts to get a little louder, and Max starts saying how Oliver's a piece of shit, and a drug addict, and that he just wants to get you into stuff you shouldn't be doing. Oliver didn't much like that, and started ranting about how Max didn't understand a thing about you. He goes on a bit of a tangent, shouting about how Max is so high and mighty, when he used ta' be friends with a druggy in High School anyway and look how that turned out." Paul stops to take a sip of his drink.

“Fuck." Brady mutters in the silence, before the horse picks up again.

“So they're up in arms, shouting at one another, Max is saying don't you talk about her and Ollie's sayin' I can talk about what I fuckin' want, and shouting Max out about being up on his high horse, so to speak, and judging furs he don't even know. Which I gotta say, I do kinda agree with Ol on that. Max came outta nowhere and starts fuckin' telling him how to live his life. The fuck? Whatever though, there's some more shouting and eventually Max gives Oliver a right shove back. He doesn't much like that and slams your cheetah friend against the wall by his neck."

“That's where I came in right?" Paul nods.

“Yeah. You seem to notice this, run over and grab Ol, start pulling him away and saying how they shouldn't fight…even tried to hug him I think, which was weird. It must've pissed him off though, cause he turns around, tells ya' to fuck off and shoves you. You go a-stumblin' back and fall right through Marley's parent's lovely window. And…well you know the rest." He finishes talking with a huff, breathing in for a second before swallowing some more beer. Brady just sits there stunned for a moment.

“Okay. Jesus christ."

“Yeah, it weren't fun." Paul agreed.

“But why the hell would Max lie to me about it? He told me none of that." Brady asked, confused.

“Well this boy likes you right?" Paul asks, sounding weirdly like a Dad or something.

“It seems so." Brady says, pressing his lips together.

“Well maybe he was just embarrassed about it. Might be some innocent explanation." The horse shrugs, as if it's no big deal.

“Still…it just seems…bizarre, y'know?" Paul doesn't respond, but Brady doesn't mind. He isn't really looking for an answer from the guy. He falls back into his deck chair before taking Paul up on his beer, popping the tab and swallowing the liquid.

Jake pads out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but his underwear. It's just past five in the morning, and he's feeling a little sore from the night with Wendy. The middle-aged deer is lying in her bed, eyeing up the fourteen year old as he walks back over. Something's not quite right though, Wendy can tell. He looks more serious than usual, not grinning like a teenager with such a sexual conquest aught to, at least in her mind. It goes from bad to worse when the young wolf climbs up onto the end of the bed, sitting down cross-legged, instead of sliding back under the covers with her.

“What are you doing all the way down there?" She asks, trying to be coy. Trying not to get desperate and worry. Jake shrugs, a look on his face that tells her he's thinking.

“Wendy…" He starts, his tummy feeling nervous, like it has butterflies. He doesn't really want to say what he's about to, but he has to.

“Ssh there. We can talk later, come over here and get those boxers off." She crawls forward to the pup, outstretching a paw and laying it on the top of his boxers. Jake's face, like it always does, grows red. He's still not used to it all, despite how much they'd done.

“N…not now." He says quietly, slowly taking her hand and moving off his groin. “Listen…"

“No, don't. Come on, let's just have sex again." She pleads, dreading whatever he might say.

“I don't think I want to come back here anymore." He blurts out, looking straight down at his paws. The kid swallows back his anxiety, terrified of what Wendy might say. He's been worrying about this for almost a week, since he first planned to tell her.

“Why…why not? Don't you like it?"

“I do…I do, I mean, it's…it's great" He starts.

“Don't you think I'm attractive?" She whines, interrupting. Jake shakes his head.

“No, no that's not the problem. It's just…well, there's this girl at school…another wolf. And she really likes me…and she said she'd be my girlfriend." He explained slowly, as Wendy silently glowers. “It's just…I can't keep coming here if I'm with her."

“Wh-what do you mean?" The deer asks quietly, sitting up herself now.

“I mean, our ages are so different anyway. We can't ever be a real couple…we've just been…y'know." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “I wanted to come one last time, because I really enjoyed spending this time with you. But…but it's getting a bit weird." He said.

“Weird." Says Wendy.

“Yeah…y'know…you don't think it's weird? Having, uh…well…with me?" He asks, still just looking at his paws.

“No, I don't. We talked about this. I don't have a problem with it. I love your dick Jake, and your body. I want all of you."

“Please…don't say that." He mumbles.

“So that's how it is?" She asks, sounding much less pleasant now." Jake just nods silently. “You find some young slut that's just…better than me? That right? I'm too old, not good enough? Oh sure, Wendy's fun but she's not really relationship material is she?" The deer exclaims, gesturing wildly with her paws. Jake leans back, clearly uncomfortable.

“Uh, no it's not like that. I mean, I can hold her hand in public…furs can see us, she can meet my friends…"

“Oh so it's only about what other furs want then?" Wendy demanded, her voice sharp. “You shallow prick."

“No, no…but you and I…we can't go out. We can't do anything but…well, this." He gestures to the bed. “I just…I just want to be with her. And it's not fair to either of you to keep coming here." He explains. Wendy climbs up off the bed, sighing as she does.

“Fucking hell. You asshole. Just go. Get the fuck out, see if I fucking care. But she won't touch you like I did Jake, she can't make your fucking dick drool like I do." Wendy is practically shouting, pointing a finger at the pup as she does. Jake whimpers a little, cowering from the aggressive adult and trying not to cry.

“I…I'm sorry…but I'm only fourteen." He says, in almost a whisper.

“I don't give a shit." Wendy fires back. “Get the fuck out of my house, see if I miss you." And with that, the deer storms into the bathroom and slams the door behind herself, locking it.

Jake slowly and awkwardly climbs to his feet. He begins to get dressed, limbs shaking as he does so. He hasn't much enjoyed the visits to Wendy for a little while now, and despite how nervous and scared he feels, a part is happy that she'll leave him alone. He didn't even really want to do it in the first place. But she had offered…and his body had responded.

There was another reason he had agreed to it too. Something that made him hate himself. Jake was secretly terrified that because his brother was gay, everyone would think he was gay. Or worse, that he actually was gay. So he wanted to have sex with a real girl, even if that fur was…someone he didn't really like.

His face grew hot with shame even thinking about it. He'd never had a problem with Brady being gay, but he was terrified about himself. He hadn't been forced to be with Wendy though, he knew that much. And he didn't hate the sex. He agreed after all, and it had been fun at times. But it was time to stop.

Before he left, Jake pressed his ear to the bathroom door. With his keen hearing, he was able to hear a light sob coming from behind the door. Frowning to himself, unable to help feeling guilty, the young wolf crept out of the room and went home.