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Chapter 6

"Alex! Wake up, dad wants you for something." Joey closed the bedroom door and steps could be heard fading down the hall. Alex rose from his bed and rubbed his eyes, his last day of freedom had so far been a lazy one. Please don't be mad over something stupid. A backpack he prepared with extra clothes and hygiene items slid across the floor as Alex clumsily stood and moved his legs without looking. He picked it up and tossed it onto his bed before heading down the hall. It was midday and the heat was already permeating into the home with no air conditioner to cool it down.

Joey was sitting in the living room reading something and Alex saw his father sitting at a dining chair when he looked into the kitchen. He leaned against the doorway to the hall and waited for his father to look up.

"When you leave?" he asked grumpily.

"Tomorrow." Alex hid his tail behind the wall while talking.

"You need a ride?"

"No I've already worked that out." that statement seemed to annoy his father.

"Already don't need us anymore huh?

"A friend is taking me, that's all."

"You think you'll just go off into the world and everything will be fine? You'll be back, the guys and I have bets at the mill on how long you'll last." Alex felt his throat get heavy, he swallowed forcefully. His hope to not have any more interactions with his parents wasn't panning out. The large fox stood from his chair and walked towards Alex, his boots creating a familiar intimidating thud as he got closer. Alex lowered his head to the side as his father stood in front of him and leaned in.

"Make sure you last three weeks so I can get my money back." his father started to chuckle as he walked behind Alex and down the hall to the master. Brushing shoulders with the smaller fox and causing him to lose his balance. He must have made a bet with someone on how long it would take to drop out. Alex steadied himself and waited until his father had gone to sit next to Joey in the living area.

"You do know I have to deal with that myself now." Joey said without looking up from his book, casually turning the page.

"Yeah, I know." Alex pulled out his phone and opened a message he had missed from Will earlier. It asked him whether or not he wanted to spend the night to make traveling easier.

"I think I might stay the night at that guy's house tonight."

"The wolf?" Joey said with a puzzled expression. Alex nodded and put his phone away after messaging Will to come get him.

"He says it will be easier than getting me before we go, he lives on the other side of town."

"More like it'll be easier to get into your pants." Joey said as he closed his book.

"Can we not?" Alex covered his face with his paws and slowly drug them down.

"I'm with Jay on this one. I've never met someone from a different species that was nice to me. This guy is probably just trying to use you." Joey folded his arms in a cocky fashion, confident he had the moral high ground.

"Where is this coming from? You seemed fine with it yesterday."

"I seem fine with a lot of things Alex. But I'm not fine with you joining the stupid Army, hanging out with stupid wolves or leaving me in this stupid place." Joey's voice came close to cracking as he tried to hold up his tough facade.

"I... don't want this to be harder than it has to be. I'll be back sooner or later, heck if dad's right I'll probably be back pretty soon." Alex held his arms open and waited, giving Joey a moment to decide whether to accept his hug.

"Yeah whatever, don't listen to dad. I don't think I can remember the last time he said anything useful." Joey smiled and leaned in to hug his brother. They held each other tightly and Alex patted his brothers back until he let go.

"You'll be safe?"

"You know I'm not a risk taker." Alex smiled as he stood up. His phone was buzzing in his pocket which meant Will had probably shown up or at least sent him something. "I'm going to get my stuff." Alex went to his room quietly to avoid bothering his father, grabbing his bag and taking a last look around his room for anything he might need. There was a knock on the front door that had Alex checking his phone. With his backpack slung over his shoulders he got back into the hallway as Joey opened the front door. Alex chuckled at his brothers reaction, the fox was frozen in the open doorway, dwarfed by Will's silhouette.

"Uhh... Is Alex home?" Will asked to his frozen brother. Alex put his paw on Joey's shoulder and his fur stood up as he turned his head.

"Sorry, this is my brother Joey, Joey this is Will." Joey's face remained distorted and Alex realized his brother had never seen a wolf before. With both paws Alex turned his brother to face him and shook him.

"What! What? Yeah got it, his names Will." Joey's muzzle pointed over to Will and then back to his brother. Alex gave him a big hug and squeezed him like never before.

"This is it, I probably won't be back tonight."

"Right, well... take care of yourself." They broke the hug and smiled at one another.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Will jutted in, trying to be helpful Alex guessed.

"Mhmm..." Joey raised his eyebrows as Alex walked through the door followed the wolf down the steps. Their tails seemingly in sync as they walked away. Joey shut the door and watched the two get into a car.

"Your brother's never met a wolf before has he?"

"That obvious huh?" Alex got comfy in the car after buckling his seat belt. They pulled away from the curb and were on their way. Alex arched his head back to watch his house disappear behind them.

"I figured he would have met some considering how calm you were yesterday."

"Calm? No I was freaking out yesterday. I've met a tiger once, saw an otter at a pool another time but not much else.

"You didn't look like you were freaking out," Will looked over with the edge of his muzzle curled into a quick smile, "Your eye's looking good by the way."

"What good would freaking out do? They would never have let me join if I was too scared to be around another species. And thanks." Alex said as he brought his paw up to touch around his eye, noting an absence of tenderness.

"Good point, so here's what's happening tonight by the way. We have to be at the station at four in the morning, we head to sleep early and my roommate will take us there so I don't have to leave my car there."

"That's alright. I don't have a ride so whatever you have planned works."

"I'm a little surprised you agreed to my offer to be honest."

"To stay at your place?" Will nodded. "Anything to avoid asking my parents for anything." Alex rolled his eyes at the mention of his family.

"I assume your eye was the work of your parents then?" Will's tone became less playful and more direct."

"Yup, my good ol' pops." Alex said sarcastically.

"I get it, I used to be the runt so my dad used to take his frustrations out on me." Alex looked over with a curious look. He was hardly what you call a runt.

"So you left when you got old enough?"

"No, I kicked his ass when I got big enough." Will didn't seem shy at all about his past.

"huh..." Alex thought about how great that would feel, though he wasn't sure he would ever be able to.

"So have you ever been out of your area?" Will said trying to strike up a lighter conversation.

"A few times, played in a soccer league out here once I think." the scenery outside the car window had changed from anything Alex could call familiar. Even the architecture seemed to be changing as they went farther.

"There are not a lot of foxes here that's for sure, you might get some weird looks. Oh, and don't mind my roommate okay? He doesn't really like it when I bring foxes home."

"Is that something you do a lot? Bring foxes home?" Alex canted his head, trying to piece together the big wolf.

"What?" Will hunched his shoulders defensively, "It's not a crime to have different tastes in men."

"Just curious, I mean I hope you weren't thinking of me as another fox to bring home." Alex said sternly.

"Not at all dear, I mean we didn't exactly meet in a bar did we?" Will winked unconvincingly at the fox in his passenger seat. The wolf raised his arm and pointed to a house as the pulled up to it. "Here we are, don't forget your bag, my roommate is taking us in his car." Alex nodded as Will got out, he grabbed his backpack and slung one strap over his shoulder as he walked up to the house with Will. Looking around the homes seemed to be nicer in this area than where he lived. Bigger too, but probably only because the inhabitants were bigger.

Will opened the door and Alex slipped in behind him. There was a slight musky scent in the home Alex picked up almost immediately. The main room had a kitchen to the right and all the living areas to the left. Will set his keys down and tossed his wallet at his roommate, a black furred wolf who was too busy playing some shooter on his game console to turn his head.

"Were back Dan, you still down to take us tomorrow?" his friend's head barely turned when he flung a yes back. The game required too much attention for him to take his eyes off the screen. Alex went into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.

"Here let me take your bag." Will held out his paw and Alex tossed his pack over. The wolf disappeared into a hallway to put Alex's things with his. Some dishes were piled up in the sink and the longer Alex looked around the more the home became synonymous with a small frat house. Empty cans, boxes and other items littered the counters and floor. Alex stayed where he was a watched Will's roommate play from across the room. Jay had a console and some games but didn't play much anymore, Alex had never owned a video game system so it looked pretty impressive to him.

Dan paused the game suddenly, his nose picking up something. He raised his muzzle and sniffed the air before turning his head. Will emerged from the back hallway and saw his roommate staring down Alex. A scowl formed across his muzzle before Dan turned back around.

"You couldn't go one night without another one?" he muttered.

"Easy Dan, this is the guy going with us to the station tomorrow." that got his attention. The puzzled wolf turned around, his eyebrows practically on opposite sides of the planet.

"Ain't no foxes in the Army stupid. Even I know that."

"Well now there is. He got some smart person job."

"Whatever you say, just don't let em stink up the place before we leave." he turned back around and continued playing his game.

"Come on I'll show you my room." Will grabbed Alex's paw and gave him a tug before letting go and leading down the hall. Alex was surprised to see the walls of the wolf's room covered in posters from shows and movies.

"Huh. I figured you for more of a band poster kind of guy."

"I'm full of surprises. Do you need anything else for the trip? I think we're just supposed to bring clothes and small stuff.

"Yeah that's what I packed." Alex sat on Will's king size bed and watched him ruffle through his closet as he finished packing his bag.

"Do you want to do anything or just hang out?" Will said over his shoulder

"Do you have the paw wars series?" Alex had noticed a poster on the wall.

"Of course, that's a classic. You like it?"

"Heck yeah! It's one of my favorites." for the first time in a while his tail couldn't contain his excitement and kept brushing against the bed. Will stood and zipped up his bag once it was stuffed and ready. The wolf turned on a standing fan in the corner of his room to keep it cool before he dropped on the bed with the remote.

"I have them all, which do you want to watch?" Will looked over with a childish smile.

"Let's watch all of them. One last hoorah right?"

"Why not." Will used the remote to start up the movies on the T.V. in his room. Will propped himself up against the wall with some pillows and patted the spot next to him. Alex was reluctant at first but eventually moved over, propping up alongside the bigger wolf who seemed nothing but friendly. The movie played on until it ended, Will put on the next one in the series and they kept watching. It was nice to relax and not worry about being yelled at, for the next few hours neither of them had a care in the world.

Alex yawned as the third movie ended, enticing Will to put his arm around Alex's shoulders. The fox turned and started to laugh softly.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I don't know I just figured you would have done that sooner." Alex look at the wolf's paw on his shoulder.

"I didn't want to impose or be pushy."

"Yet here you are, with your arm over my shoulder and your deep blue eyes looking into my soul." Alex smirked, he was sure the wolf had blushed under his fur.

"Well I haven't heard that line before but I'm afraid I can't do much about the eyes." Will winked and rubbed Alex's arm, warming him up since the cool fan had been on them all afternoon.

"I don't mind though, I haven't cuddled with anyone in a while... it's nice." Alex couldn't help but smile as he cozied up to Will.

"We should probably get some sleep though, would you like the bed or the floor?" Will tried to deflect but Alex looked around them, the bed was easily big enough for both of them.

"I'm fine if we both share the bed, is something wrong? You can't put your arm around me and then back away that's not how flirting works." the wolf chuckled as he maneuvered around until he was flat on the bed. Alex followed his lead and they ended up laying on their sides, Will scooted up to the fox and placed his arm over him like a seatbelt.

"Nothing's wrong, I just don't want us to you know... get too close since we're about to do this."

"Yeah, it would be a little weird trying to hide it."

"But I think we could work together, what do you think?" The wolf's bigger tail was brushing against the back of Alex's leg.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you've got smarts and I've got everything else. We can help each other out you know?"

"Everything else huh? Not very subtle are you? And what makes you think I'm so smart?"

"You get my point, if we work together we have better chances. How do I know? Most of us have been to the recruiting station multiple times, it's hard for us to get in."

"Who is us?"

"Grunts, you know big guys like me, I figure they've already got enough front line volunteers. They probably need more like you which is why you were in and out so quick."

"I just did well on their test, that doesn't mean anything."

"Well it meant enough to get you on this bus, I was waiting for over a month before I got accepted and came back." Alex held off on replying as he thought, remembering the different lines he had seen that morning.

"The other guys might give you crap for helping me out you know, just like your roommate." Will scoffed at that.

"Let me worry about it, okay?"

"I guess it could work." Alex nodded though he was skeptical about their impromptu agreement. Refusing to help someone else cheat had already worked against him and he wasn't sure how Will would react if he declined.

"Great! I set my alarm for really early by the way, I'll wake you in case you miss it."

"Thanks." Alex's voice lowered to a whisper as the room got quieter except for the fan blowing."

"Sleep tight." Will said after a lengthy pause. Alex appreciated it but didn't reply, he pretended to have fallen asleep already and simply enjoyed the warm, safe feeling that came with cuddling.