\n "No you go first!" Haley teased me.

\n "Do I have to?"

\n "Yes!" Haley hit my leg as best she could from the position we were in. We were sitting in the park under a big tree. I was leaning against it and Haley was relaxing gently on my lap. We had a brief opportunity to be together outside of school and took it readily. Normally I'd be sitting with Jake, but he had detention. I still had to pick up Sophie, but she had no problem with going to the park and hanging out there for a while, provided we could take Andy too.

\n "You gonna hang with your boyfriend?" I had teased her. She punched me hard in the arm. I laughed at her and she just started hitting me some more. "Alright alright! He can come just stop! Mercy! Mercy!" She rolled her eyes and went to tell Andy the good news. Haley thought that Sophie was adorable, and they got on surprisingly well. When Sophie first saw Haley, she looked at her and said that she was cute. Haley said thank you and that Sophie was very pretty herself. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Haley is the oldest among her siblings. So she has a lot of experience with kids.

\n "Alright fine. First girlfriend I had was in Eighth Grade."

\n "Eighth grade?"

\n "Eighth grade."

\n "It took you that long?"

\n "Oh! I suppose you had one sooner?"

\n "I was four." She said very matter-of-factly.

\n "Four!?"

\n "Four."

\n "How'd you manage that?"

\n "Well... It was this boy at my church..." She said dreamily.

\n "Alright whatever..." I dismissed.

\n "Why didn't you have one sooner?" She asked.

\n "Well... furs aren't exactly that popular in grade school."

\n "Oh..." Haley trailed off, never knowing about the abuse furs got. She went to a private, humans-only, school until Freshman year. Her dad did not want her to 'be corrupted' by furs. Haley looked at me and smiled.

\n "What?" I asked her.

\n "Nothing..."

\n "What?"

\n "Just... thinking how cute you are." She grabbed my face affectionately. I returned her smile. She giggled when I poked her sides. "Don't!" I did it again. "Brent stop it!" She was losing it, squirming and laughing very loudly as I playfully tickled her. I rolled so I was on top of her, not letting her get up, tickling her sides raw. She hit at me and screamed loudly telling me to get off. I continued, ignoring her until she said she couldn't breathe. I stopped and let her catch her breath some more before I did it again. Haley pushed me off her and lay there, laughing.

\n I brushed her hair behind her ear and stared at her. She was quietly staring into my eyes. I smiled and she grabbed my furry head and brought it towards hers. She was aggressive, and I can only guess a little turned on. She was forcing her tongue into my mouth and felt the crevices inside... She played with my canine teeth and I was sitting there enjoying the moment. I pressed my tongue into her mouth a-

\n "Ew!!!" Sophie screamed, breaking the kiss. I looked over and saw her and Andy, holding hands, staring in disgust at Haley and me. Part of my smiled at the sweet innocence of it. Part of me thought it was irresponsible to let her see me like that. "Brent! With tongue too?" She had really good eyes, that I didn't inherit. She was able to see the tongue slip out apparently.

\n "Sophie, you'll learn this one day." Haley teased. "And besides, I think Andy's liking it." Andy's tail was wagging happily and he smiled shyly at being caught. I started laughing and Haley joined me soon after.
\n "You two are cute together." Haley smiled. Sophie looked so embarrassed, I seriously thought she would shrink away. She ran away, not wanting to be seen. I felt a little bad, but I saw the smile on Andy's face and knew he was planning something mischievous.

\n I looked back at Haley and she was still laughing hysterically. She calmed down enough to look back at me seductively.

\n "Now then." She scooted next to me. "Where were we?"

\n *****

\n I sat in the car, Haley leaning her head against me. She was tired. I'm pretty sure everyone was tired. We had just dropped Andy off, and were on our way to Haley's. It was almost five, and though I would have loved to have spent more time with Haley, and Sophie definitely wanted to spend time with Andy, we all had to get home. When Haley and I realized we had to get back, we saw Sophie and Andy innocently. Kissing. Not the kind of kissing that Haley and I were doing, but a series of short kisses. Haley and I both thought it was
\n funny, but were nice enough to hold the laughter in.

\n Haley's house was on one side of town, close to the Human Colony, where her dad frequented on business. I didn't exactly like going over there, but I really didn't complain. It wasn't worth complaining over. Haley didn't have a car because they wanted to wait just another few months before it'd be cheap enough for her to get a car. She told me that her parents were looking forward to that. To having another chauffeur for their large family. I pulled up to their house and Haley kissed me quickly before leaving.

\n "See you tomorrow." She smiled, grabbing her backpack.

\n "See ya." I nodded. She got out and closed the door. As we drove off Sophie climbed over the seat to sit in the front with me. I wasn't supposed to let her sit in the front, but I really didn't think it'd be a problem. I mean, I was a safe driver and everything.

\n "I like her." Sophie said contently.

\n "Oh does that mean I have your official seal of approval?" I teased.

\n "Yup. Just as long as you two don't play tongues anymore." I laughed when she said this.

\n "Sophie, one day you'll like it."

\n "Ew! No! I don't want someone's tongue in my mouth. That's gross."

\n "Didn't you think boys were gross last year?" I pointed out. She did. She always would carry sanitizer made
\n especially for furs so she could get the germs off when she touched a boy. Mom thought it was really funny, but a strain on the wallet. It was understandable. I mean, she went through a lot of it.

\n "That's different." She tried to explain.

\n "How is it different?"

\n "I dunno. It just is." She was upset because she knew that she had lost the argument so completely.

\n "Well what about Andy?"

\n "What about him?"

\n "Do you think he's gross?"

\n "No..." She was very timid in her response.

\n "I like him. He's good for you." Haley smiled.

\n "Good."

\n "So who kissed who?" I said, knowing it'd make her blush. She looked away and ignored me for a few
\n minutes before she answered.

\n "He kissed me." So that's what the smile was...

\n I pulled into our driveway and we quietly got out. Sophie ran inside and I followed at a leisurely pace. I heard Mom call my name from the living room. She was watching TV on the couch.

\n "Yeah Mom?"
\n "Where were you two?"

\n "At the park."

\n "Was Jake with you?" Jake... Oh shit. I was supposed to call him an hour ago.

\n "No he wasn't it was Sophie and I and a couple others."
\n "Who?"

\n "No one..." I dodged.

\n "Brent..."

\n "Look Mom, I got other things to do so can we have this conversation later?" Mom just sighed.

\n "Fine." I went downstairs into the basement and sat down on my bed, dropping my backpack. I pulled my
\n phone out and called Jake. It rang a few times. C'mon man, pick up... But he wouldn't. It to voicemail and I
\n sighed. Ugh. Whatever... I felt like dirt for not calling him when I told him I would. He said we needed to talk, and I tried to... Whatever, I'll try later.

\n I went back upstairs and smelled the lasagna in the oven that made my stomach growl. I plopped on the couch next to Mom.

\n "So how was your day?" She asked.

\n "Good. Had fun." My tail wagged as I could still taste Haley in my mouth.

\n "That's good." She said vacantly.

\n "How was work?"

\n "It was tiring..." She sounded exhausted.

\n "Dad coming home soon?"

\n "Yeah, he'll be home for dinner."

\n "Cool." I felt a vibration come from my pants and stood up. I pulled out my phone and stepped outside onto
\n the deck.

\n "Hello?"

\n "Hey." I heard Jake's voice answer.

\n "What's up man?"

\n "Not much..." He answered. He sounded really down, and that made me feel even worse. I laid down on a
\n bench, looking at the sky.

\n "So what'd you wanna talk about?"

\n "Nothing..."

\n "Dude."

\n "No, I realized. We need to do this in person."

\n "Do what in person?"

\n "Nothing."

\n "Jake, don't shut me out like this."

\n "..."

\n "Jake!"

\n "Yeah?"

\n "I'm sorry about not calling you earlier."

\n "Whatever."

\n "I'm serious. I am. I feel like shit. You're my friend and I should have treated you better."

\n "Damn right you should have!"

\n "I'm sorry... I just. I had a rare opportunity to... hang out... with Haley."

\n "Oh..." He sounded offended and I cringed.

\n "I didn't mean it like that..."

\n "No whatever, I get what you mean."

\n "I didn't mean it like that!"

\n "See you tomorrow." Jake hung up.

\n "Godammit." I sighed slowly and put my face into my hands, feeling the stress of the situation already.

\n *****

\n I stayed outside for a while before realizing just how hungry I was. I walked inside, a little numb from what Jake had said to me. I stepped inside and heard Sophie talking excitedly with Dad. They were sitting down for dinner when I joined them.

\n "Sorry." I avoided eye contact. Mom served the lasagna before giving herself a piece. Dad was in a great mood and Mom was just happy to have the family together. Sophie was bouncing excitedly, I can only guess from residual effects of being with Andy. I felt really out of place just how down I felt. I tried to act happy, for everyone's sake... but it didn't really work.

\n "So how was school?" Dad asked.

\n "Good."

\n "That's good... Any girls?" I was thinking my answer through, how I was going to tell him that I've been
\n making out with his rival's daughter, when Sophie interrupted.

\n "Yeah! There's one, and she went to the park today with me and Brent and Andy." Mom and Dad looked at each other and I slumped down in my seat slightly.

\n "Oh? Who is this?" Mom asked taking a big peace of lasagna.

\n "Well... her name is Haley."

\n "Haley who?" My Dad asked.

\n "Haley Arnold!" Sophie blurt out. I froze, afraid of what would happen.

\n "Is this who I think it is?"

\n "She's a really pretty human, and she's nice and funny a-" Sophie kept innocently talking, not knowing that
\n every word was spelling my unmentionable doom from Dad. He just glared at me and I saw the fire in his eyes. The fire that was going to get me burned. "And then I saw them kissing." My stomach was in such a know when Sophie said that, I thought I'd have problems digesting. "With tongues!" She added. Well... I'm dead.

\n "Sophie..." Dad began. "Would you kindly leave the room?"

\n "But I'm not done!"

\n "Sophie." Mom chided. Upset, Sophie left the room, muttering about her being big enough to hear what
\n happened next.

\n "Brent what the hell were you thinking?" Mom said.

\n "I was thinking that her lips are soft and she's such a good kisser." I admitted.

\n "Brent this is serious. You know how her father feels about furs."

\n "Yeah, I know."

\n "You know that this could get you hurt." She said again, Dad was just silent about the whole thing. That's
\n what scared me so much was his silence.

\n "I know."

\n "Then why do you keep doing it?" Mom asked.

\n "Because it feels right. It's the only thing that feels right." Dad exploded when I said this.

\n "Brent I forbid you from seeing her?"

\n "Why?' I screamed back, offended.

\n "She's dangerous to this family."

\n "She's done nothing wrong!"

\n "She's one of them!" He screamed. My ears pounded at the sound of his anger.

\n "Yeah well I don't care! She's not like them!"

\n "You don't know that."
\n "Yes I do!"

\n "No you don't. You're just a kid and I forbid you from seeing her."

\n "You're just as bad as he is." I spat. Dad took a step back, knowing who I was talking about. He growled
\n lowly and I returned it.

\n "If you go near her again... I'll-"

\n "You'll what? Kill me? He made the same response. So fuck you." I regret saying that entirely. He jumped over the table at me. I moved quickly and ran upstairs into the guest bedroom that used to be Donny's. I couldn't help but think this situation was eerily similar to what happened before Donny joined the Marines. It was actually almost the same. Including tactics. I was using Donny's tactics of going out through his window and jumping onto the grass of the yard below. I hit the ground and ran to my car quickly. I opened the door and drove off quickly.

\n I didn't really know where I was driving, and I didn't care. All I knew was I had to leave the house for a little while. Dad needed to calm down. Before I got burned. I drove around until finally pulling into an old parking garage and sitting there for a while. I had nowhere to go. Jake was... not ideal. Haley couldn't be called until later, like after midnight. And those were really the few people I could actually rely on. I mean, I talked to people and was pleasant. But no one really talked to me. Not in any kind of a friendly way. Paper faces everywhere. Nothing real, nothing safe.

\n *****

\n
\n I wasn't realizing it, but I guess I must have dozed off. I woke up by a knock on my window. I looked out to see a doberman in uniform.

\n "There a problem?" I asked.

\n "Just wondering if you were alright." The officer said in a chipper tone that was a little unnerving.

\n "Yeah I'm fine."

\n "Alright, you have a place to stay tonight?"

\n I sighed and looked at my phone. I had a number of new messages, but saw the time it was 9:40. "Yeah I do."

\n "Alright, just making sure. Night kid."

\n "Night officer." I sighed and knew. I had to bite the bullet. I had to go home.

\n *****

\n I sighed as I pulled into the driveway again. Dad's had a few hours to calm down, so he should be fine by now right? That was my reasoning. But I found I was pretty wrong. Dad was coming out from the front door, knowing I'd do this, and looked like he was going to kill me. I really wish I hadn't said anything. Dad tackled me and pinned me. I didn't even bother fighting. He grabbed my snout and kept his hands around it, sitting on my back. He whispered low in my ear.

\n "I don't know what you're trying to pull. I don't know what you're doing, but I don't ever want you to say that to me again, do you understand me?" I nodded slowly. "Good. Do you care about Haley?" I nodded again. "Do you care about her for more than just her body or whatever? Is this a form of rebellion?" I paused. He had asked two questions at once. How was I supposed to answer him? I moved my snout around, signalling that I wanted to talk. His hands left my snout.

\n "Yes I care about her for more than her body. It's not a form of rebellion."

\n "Are you going to put yourself in harms way?"

\n "Meaning...?"

\n "Her father."

\n "No. I mean, I know better than that. We know not to go over to her house unless her whole family is gonna be out." Dad got off me.

\n "Then I see no reason why you can't date her."

\n "Then why did you-"

\n "I'm just scared son. I have a... history with Tim."

\n "I know, the elections."

\n "No. Not that."

\n "Then what?" Dad just sighed.

\n "It's complicated." I knew that phrase. It was his way of saying that he won't tell me.

\n "Damn it Dad. Just tell me what happened."

\n "I used to be friends with him."

\n "What?"

\n "Oh yeah we grew up together."

\n "Really?"

\n "Yeah. We used to be really close friends and everything."

\n "So what happened?"

\n "He... Mr. Arnold has a long history with violence. He... He killed someone Brent."

\n "Who?"

\n "Our old neighbor... We would play baseball all the time, were constantly hitting balls over the fence of Mr.
\n Durfee. But one time, Arnold was at bat, and he hit the old man in the head. We were so afraid. Afraid of getting in trouble we rushed over to see what happened. The old man was writhing in pain, but something in Tim snapped. He hit the old man. He just kept hitting him with the baseball bat until the moving stopped... And then he hit him some more. I ran away and I never talked to him as a friend again."

\n "He went through a trial, and was tried as an adult. He got twelve years for murder. They let him out in eight for good behavior. When he got out of prison, he was claiming he was a changed man. That he found the Lord. But I still saw the emptiness in his eyes that I saw in that day."

\n "The worst though," he continued. "Is that he kept trying to get a hold of me afterwards. Kept on trying to get back into my good graces. When he found out that I wanted nothing to do with him... He felt abandonned by all his friends. He... He set fire to your mother and mine's first apartment. We got out okay... But it was scary to see him. He's unstable Brent. He's not to be trusted."

\n "But why does he hate furs?" My curiosity overwhelms my revulsion at the situation.

\n "They did things to him in prison. Horrible things. At least that's what people say."

\n "But... that's not a reason to hate all of us."

\n "I know... But to him it's not that simple. It can't be."