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Chapter 35: New Light

It was Sunday morning and Keanu could finally smell the salty ocean air from his balcony of the apartment. It might be he had a good sense of smell to catch it from the city to the coast. He was lifted from all the worries he had held so much, and the smell of the white roses made it all the better. He was breakfasting there next to a wooden half-barrel flowerpot that was filled with blooming white roses. His father joined him and could tell he was purified and cleaned like fresh snow and the roses.

"I'm happy for you, you know that?" said Kendall.

Keanu nodded and sipped a cup of coffee.

"I hope you, uh, see a different way about life and all."

"I get it, Dad, I know... I'll soon call Hunter to go to the memorial."

"Really? Can I go, too?"

Keanu smiled. "Yeah, the more the merrier." He looked at the roses and caressed one with his hands at the smooth petals. "Maybe these flowers would do."

Kendall saw what he was referring to and it touched him very much.

It was hard to tell if it was too late or early to pay for a visit, but Keanu wanted to make a closure he should have done long ago. However, the monument was recently built last August, and not too long families of the victims came to visit it and paid their respects in silence.

The Mariposa Park was at the far north end of the Boulevard where they lived. It was beautiful, there were gazebos, ponds, gardens, tall trees, and a greenhouse. It didn't take long to find it after asking the working staff who maintained the park to give them directions and permission to drop some flowers on the memorial.

Keanu, Hunter, and Kendall stepped in front of the monument. It was a block of black stone that supported a white painted tailfin of flight 8085. It was a request from the designers to have a donated part of the plane as a remembrance of the tragedy. As long the airline's logo was covered up, of course. The block also contains the names of the deceased engraved on it.

They weren't the only ones as shortly after it was built the families of the victims had decorated the monument with flowers, pictures, poems, and praying cards around the base. Keanu was holding a homemade bouquet of white roses in his hands.

He wrote, "From Keanu Winters. Please forgive my late condolences," on the wrapped paper.

He stepped forward, Hunter and Kendall behind him, staring at the block of stone for short respect of silence, and gently placed it at the top of the block. His heart pounded nervously as if he expected a supernatural rejection would strike him, but nothing came and happened, and felt relief. He wiped a tickling tear on his cheeks and sniffed.

Hunter walked up behind him, expecting he would fall to his knees and cry, but he didn't and wrapped an arm on his shoulders. Keanu responded lying his head on his shoulder quietly.

"Thank you..." Keanu whispered.

The three wolves sat on the bench quietly, watching the view of the park and the monument. It was very quiet today, minus the gentle Sunday breeze rustling the trees. It was winter and chilly, but they could keep themselves warm.

"Did you find Penny there?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, she's among them," Keanu said, "Penelope Coburn, flight attendant. I wonder if I could meet her family. She said she lived here, so maybe on the second anniversary I could meet them."

"That's very thoughtful, son," Kendall said and patted him on the back. "Don't forget to bring some flowers for Mom, okay?"

"Yeah, I won't, Dad."

"Oh, yeah, two are going to Little Lake this thanksgiving?" Hunter said.

"You're welcome to come, Hunter. If your parents are okay with it?" Kendall said.

"I asked this morning, and they are having plans this year, sorry."

"It's okay, we can go for a visit for dinner sometimes... if your young brother isn't a problem."

Hunter sighed defeatedly. "I'll let you guys know, okay? We're kind of figuring out."

"I hope you both can reconcile," Keanu said worryingly. "He can't hate you for being who you are, Hunter."

"I know, but we'll soon get through it, for my family and for your sake."

The following week, they only had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for classes as Thanksgiving weekend was around the corner. Monday was uneventful but their friends were a little eager to see Keanu feeling better after his dreadful ordeal from last Friday with the ferret. Hunter had to cover for him as Keanu didn't want to take a lot of questions from his friends when he came back on Monday. But once that was settled, they gave in with open arms at the cafeteria, except Broderick, he was busy with his own business with Whitney, but Sol had filled him in on what happened last Friday.

Milagros, who had recovered from her cold, gave Keanu a hug. She was the most worried when she heard about the incident. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm better now. Thank you." Keanu smiled meekly.

Milagros separated from their hug and turned to Xavier. "Do you have something to say?"

Xavier looked sorry and rubbed his greened forearm. "Keanu, I'm sorry I offended you like that. I didn't know you lost your mother that way. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I accept your apology," Keanu said with a smile.

"Come on~, give him a hug, Xavier~," Sol said teasingly with encouragement.

Xavier resisted rolling his brown eyes and shrugged, giving the young wolf a hug. Keanu responded back with tail wagging.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Xerxes finally arrived and saw what was happening. "Oh! Are we having a group hug?"

Xavier's eyes boggled and quickly separated from Keanu before he got crushed to death by hundreds of pounds of hugs. "No! No group hug!" he panicked.

"Group hug!" Sol shouted with arms up in the air.

"NO!"

Keanu and Xavier got wrapped up with pair of arms from Hunter, Sergio, Sol, Broderick, Milagros, and Xerxes who somehow managed to wrap them almost in a circle. Good thing they were early in the cafeteria, only a few students saw this.

"Too... much... love..." Xavier's struggling voice said with one hand sticking out through the hugging bodies. "I need aire... I need aire!"

Keanu was bashfully smiling and laughing. "Thank you, guys."

The group hug parted, and Xavier was recovering his breath. On the floor. Xavier glared at Sol.

"I... hate you, Sol..."

"No, you don't. You'll thank me later," Sol smugly said.

Sergio was about to pick Xavier up, but Xerxes easily lifted him up with one hand. Xavier wiped off his blue shirt and straightened it up and sighed. "Please, give me time to prepare." He crossed his arms.

Keanu softly spoke, "Um, Xavier, I also owe you an apology."

"Eh? For... what?"

"For judging your career choice. I'm sorry." Keanu's ears lowered. "I'm sure you'd be a great pilot."

Xavier was genuinely surprised, eyes softening, dropped his crossed arms, and smiled. "I accept your apology, Keanu."

"Aw~," Sol said, "this calls for another group--"

"Solomon Stone, stop it!" Xavier shouted. He sighed frustratedly but he did give Keanu another hug. After parting, Xaiver said, "And as for a bonus, I have something to make it up to you, but I have it on the fridge in my dorm, so I'll give it to you went you go back home to the station."

"You have a gift for me?" Keanu curiously said. "What is it?"

"You'll see." Xavier smiled. "You're gonna enjoy it."

As lunchtime was peaking at full blast, the guys had discussed their plans for the Thanksgiving weekend while lunching at their table. They all had plans this year and they all looked forward to it, but as they discussed the upcoming month of December, Xerxes piped up.

"Guys, I have some news. My mom had remodeled my grandmother's old beach house and she hoped that we give it a test run for three nights on one weekend. She's going to use the house for vacation rentals. What do you guys think?"

"Careful, Xerxes," said Xavier, "if my mom hears about this, she will join us."

"Why?"

"She loves beach houses."

"It sounds like a nice retreat after we finish the semester," Milagros said.

"Can you give us the specs?" Sergio asked.

"Sure, uh, because the house was recently remodeled, it now has five bedrooms, including the master bedroom, and four bathrooms."

"Dude, sounds like a mansion to me," said Sol.

"Well, it has two floors and a basement." Xerxes shrugged. "And the living room now has much space and... a patio with a bonfire, and it's close to the beachside, too."

"Nice, I'm in, we'll be your testing labs, Xerxes."

"But are there plenty of beds?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah, each bedroom has two separated beds, except the master bedroom, of course. And there is a sofa bed in the living room, too."

"About twelve people can stay in the house then."

"What do you think, Keanu?" Hunter asked, "Would you like to have a little vacation?"

"I would love that, but... I also have plans for December."

"What plans?"

"Dad told me last night we're going on a cruise with my uncles and grandparents."

"Oh, wow, nice!" Hunter cried. "But at what date?"

"On the third week of December, but I'll be back before Christmas."

Hunter turned to Xerxes and asked, "At what date we should gather for your home vacation, Xerxes?"

"Oh, right! It's... uh... I need to call my mom." Xerxes picked up his phone and called his mother just to be sure. He just realized he announced this too early and now had doubts.

"You're going on a cruise, Keanu?" Xavier curiously said.

"I don't know the details yet, but Dad said we're traveling to Mexico and Catalina."

"I'm jealous~! I sailed on one where we visited the Lesser Antilles from Puerto Rico."

"Cool, it is really warm there?"

"In my home country? Heh, you can go to the beach in the winter and still enjoy the hot sun."

"Okay!" Xerxes finished and put his phone away. "It's on the last week of December after Christmas, three nights!"

Everyone looked at one another with doubts but reanalyzed their schedules.

"Why are you announcing this so soon when we can only visit it at the end of the year?" Xavier said.

Xerxes guiltily smiled and shrugged. "I thought we'll have the house finished after thanksgiving and have our retreat after we finished the semester, but I didn't know Mom would allow me to do it until it's finished..."

"You mean the beach house is still being remodeled?" Broderick said. "Oh, come on, Xerxes, you cannot just jump in and say we should go on a vacation at an unfinished house."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I assumed it should have been finished by now. And when I called Mom, there was a malfunction on the water piping and flooded the basement."

"Oh, now that makes sense."

"We haven't yet celebrated Thanksgiving yet and now we're planning another little vacation," Xavier said.

"Hey, it'll be worth it, at least we have a nice head start," Milagros said.

"Good point."

"But still, are you guys still up for it?" Xerxes said. "I'm giving a good head start as Milagros said."

"Yeah, I can go," Broderick said. "I need to discuss this with my dad first."

"I'll join, I'll be celebrating Christmas with my family at home and nothing much after that," Xavier said.

"I'm onboard, Xerxes," Sol declared.

"We're going," Milagros and Sergio said. The former then added, "I can invite Natasha if she's up for it."

"Yeah, me too," Hunter said and turned to his boyfriend. "Keanu, are you considering it?"

"Sure, I'll ask my dad's permission."

After the lunch break and waiting for their stomachs to digest their food, Hunter and Keanu went to the gym to help the latter his built-up steam. They had plenty of time before going to their class in the afternoon, so a thirty-minute workout would suffice as usual.

Keanu didn't have a workout outfit like Hunter's but had simple ideal wear, a gray t-shirt, and blue cotton shorts, he wore this outfit in the house and for sleeping. After signing his name, the wolves went into the locker rooms and before that, Keanu saw the other students working out, either using it for their training for their sports or just using it as a routine like Hunter. The smell of sweat mixed with deodorant from the beast folks stung Keanu's nose and blew it out. Good thing the place had an air conditioner.

Inside the locker room was a bit busy as Keanu followed Hunter and stopped at his locker. He stood there and wondered where his new locker was.

"Yours is over there." Hunter pointed with his muzzle as he unbuttoned his green shirt.

Hunter was undressing as he stared at the blue wall of lockers, Keanu gulped, moved to his locker to unlock it, and started to undress. It was rude to stare, but Hunter was very eye-catching. He was now in his brief boxers that hugged his well-shaped butt... and those awesome back muscles. Keanu quickly shook his head, putting the gray shirt on, the blue cotton shorts, and his tennis shoes.

"Are you done?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, I'm... done."

Before Keanu's eyes, Hunter had only put on the compressing green and white trousers and the black running shorts, he was shirtless, and Keanu could see his upper goods.

Hunter chuckled. "Eyes up here, buddy."

"Sorry, you're... you know, incredible." Keanu looked away embarrassed.

"Thanks, I'm flattered," Hunter replied as he put on the short-sleeved green and white shirt that would compress his whole build, minus the arms. Doing so made Hunter's arms and chest flex naturally around as he covered them down with the bottom hem of the shirt to meet his shorts. His outfit was no doubt attractive.

Even Hunter guiltily had stolen some glances at his boyfriend as he changed his clothes. He had to admit he had a good physical shape for a small build. Must be the good genes from being a wolf. He was elegant like a renaissance statue and... he didn't know why he compared it to something like that, but it fitted well in his perspective. But anyway, Keanu could use some exercise after the whole drama from the weekend and this should help and keep him company.

At the gym, the wolves warmed themselves up and stretched their limbs. Hunter acted like a gym trainer but kept it nice and fun without being torturous like Xerxes' coach, the guy trained his students like soldiers in a boot camp. Hunter asked about Keanu's condition of his right leg, but Keanu assured him his right leg was fine and could stretch and walk as normally before.

While Keanu had walked a lot during the semester to get to his classes, he still decided to go with the treadmill for a mile-long jog and followed Hunter's example.

Together, next to each other with their treadmills, they jogged merrily and stared at the bay windows with a view of the coast and palm trees and the cobblestone path where they saw some students jogging outside and walking by.

After completing a mile, they took a short break and drank some water. Then they moved into the empty space where a large red and blue checkered mat covered the floor and students doing physical exercises with their bodies. They found a spot and Hunter helped him with basic sit-ups by holding his legs. He gave Keanu a cheeky smile when he lifted himself up to his knees as he counted to twenty reputations. Twenty sounded like a piece of cake, but once he was doing it after ten, he was feeling strained.

But after counting to fourteen and feeling heavy, he couldn't stand Hunter's funny look. "Stop looking at me like that!" Keanu said annoyingly but he broke a laugh.

Hunter laughed. "Sorry, you looked serious there, so I wanted to see if you react to my face."

"Well, it worked. Now, let me finish."

After finishing twenty, they switched roles, Keanu holding his legs and watching and counting Hunter's execution of thirty reps. And he did it without breaking a sweat and... the view was kind of worth it.

Hunter had his hands behind his head, showing his nice, folded, rippling arms as he emerged his head upright and then sank down to the ground. The short sleeves looked like they were about to rip but that was the purpose of spandex; to flex and adapt to the extreme strains on every corner of Hunter's body. His face was very serious and looking at Keanu nowhere as he counted. Keanu was impressed, he was like an organic machine that could surpass any physical fitness test and he only got a C in PE in high school.

Hunter made it to thirty and huffed as he propped himself with his arms. "Did you count?"

"Uh... was it thirty?"

Hunter laughed. "I'm too much of a distraction, aren't I?"

Keanu guiltily smiled. "It's fun though."

They stood up for the next session of chin-ups and pull-ups. A line of pull-up bar sets hung on the upper wall.

Keanu asked, "Do you play a sport, Hunter?"

"I'm not in any clubs, I'm just focusing on my studies. Though, I still enjoy exercising routinely."

"But have you played a sport before in high school?"

"Oh, I used to play basketball, but I was most of the time sitting on the bench during a match."

"And yet, you're very tall."

"I was the least skillful in the team, so..." Hunter shrugged and focused on the bar above. "Come on, you first. Can you reach it?"

Keanu simply stood a little on his toes and grasped the bar and hung there. "How many?"

"Try twenty and stop if you cannot make it."

"Okay."

"And don't forget to breathe."

"Got it."

...

After their thirty-minute session, Keanu was tired, but he felt very good releasing the steam as Hunter said. Hunter came back from the water fountain with both bottles filled with water and gave one to him who had his tongue out.

"How are you feeling?" Hunter said, drinking his water.

"Tired." Keanu huffed and carefully drank the coolness of water replenishing his tongue. "But I feel okay. But, uh, honestly, I much prefer to swim over this."

"Well, I don't think we have time for a swim. We have history class sooner."

"It's okay, I'm glad that I gave this a go, exercising with you is fun." Keanu smiled.

Hunter chuckled with the bottle on his lips which a bit of water spilled from his lips and wiped it off with the back of his hand. "So much fun that you enjoy checking me out, huh?" He winked and flexed his free arm.

Keanu blushed and looked away while drinking his bottle. He could not lie that he enjoyed seeing him working out. "Oh, stop it. But thanks, though, you have really been very helpful and considerate to me."

"I'm happy to hear that. Hmm, maybe on Wednesday, we should try punching a bag."

"A punching bag?"

On Wednesday, Keanu was again in the gym with Hunter, but with the company of Sol and Xerxes. He wore the same outfit from Monday, cleaned and fresh to be used again, and stood in front of a big blue punching bag for boxing practice. His hands were covered with red gloves as he stared at them with concern.

"This wasn't what I had in mind of what you said, Hunter," Keanu said.

"Come on, punching on something helps you to cope with stress," Hunter said.

"Okay, but don't make me punch on a real person."

"That's why I have Xerxes here, he can handle a punch on his gut."

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, I'm like Houdini." Xerxes punched his stomach twice and Keanu heard the solid thuds on his stomach. "Trust me, I won't feel a thing."

"You're joking, I'm not gonna punch you!"

"We're just playing with you, Keanu," said Sol. "Unless you really wanna give a feel of Xerxes' six-pack with your bare fist~."

"Dude, that's gay," said Xerxes awkwardly.

Hunter began to instruct Keanu. "Okay, just follow my lead and punch as hard as you can but not too hard or you'll hurt your wrists. Okay?"

"Okay."

Sol held the punching bag for support from swaying everywhere, but knowing the state of Keanu's physique, the bag would handle the amateur punches.

Keanu copied Hunter's air punches on his right and did it for real on the bag. Thrusting one gloved fist at the bag one at a time and making satisfying thumping sounds against the material. It was just like that boxing video game he played. It was fun at first, but he felt he wanted to hit it more than just for leaving stress and it was working and all, but something was amiss.

"Okay, Keanu, now pretend that bag is your worst enemy," Sol encouraged him behind the bag.

Keanu's neck fur bristled, and his wolf face hackled fiercely. "ERR, THAT WAS MY BIG COOKIE, JACK!" It was anger and he punched the damned bag more aggressively multiple times swiftly but not hard enough. "GIVE ME THAT COOKIE, JACK!" Sol could feel the reverberating bag on his back as he stood there surprised.

That momentum lasted for a short moment and Keanu's punches softens and kneeled on the floor with his tongue out exhaustively.

"Woah..." Xerxes said. "Did you see that? He looked like a demon for a second there."

Hunter kneeled closed to Keanu to check on him if he was okay and gave him a bottle of cold water.

"Are you kidding me?" said Sol as he parted from the bag with arms crossed with a puzzled and sterned look. "You got pissed off over a cookie? I was expecting something like punching Terrence's face or something, but you unleashed your inner beast for a cookie burglar?"

"Oh, that?" Keanu was back to normal, his face softened. "I'm not angry or scared of Terrence anymore. I know the truth."

"Oh! You do?" Xerxes said.

"Yeah, I was sitting next to his girlfriend and her father on the plane before I changed seats so his wife can join them. I don't know what they're like, but they seem nice people to me." He drank again his bottle.

"And... who is Jack?" said Sol.

"Oh, he's my cousin, he can be a rowdy handful sometimes... and he ate my big cookie that one time on a road trip."

"Don't you remember him?" Hunter said. "He's Ice Master who beats Broderick online."

"Ah, right, I remember."

Their buddy workout session ended for today and the wolves came back to the lockers all sweaty and smelly, but they felt good in the end. Hunter stripped off his compressing green camouflage shirt and let his torso take in the fresh air which unleashed a strong smell of his musk and deodorant as Keanu covered his nose. Hunter pulled down both his running shorts and trousers and sat down on the bench, he picked up the towel next to him and noticed Keanu was watching...

Hunter instantly picked up the towel and covered it on his crotch, his long tail also joined the censorship. Despite being his boyfriend, Hunter had some sub-conscious instincts when it came to nudity in public like in the locker room, he had standards. Of course, he didn't mind that Keanu was watching, he was just startled.

"S-sorry," Keanu blushed and looked away. "I didn't see anything. I swear!" Keanu honestly saw a glimpse of Hunter's white pubic fur and one leg did cover over the goods when he was sitting down on the bench, and now Keanu's imagination was running wild.

"It's okay, you just startled me. That's all," Hunter assured him, reaching one hand to ruffle his head.

Keanu wrapped his towel on his waist and followed Hunter to the shower stalls and carried his travel-sized bottles of shampoo and body gel. The shower was nice, and Keanu could relax from his raunchy mind from earlier. He knew that next to his stall was Hunter showering naked in there. Who knew that having a boyfriend could be this fun and adventurous to explore each other's assets? Hunter had pretty much seen him half-naked this far and both were now even at this point after spending time together in the gym.

"Have you enjoyed this far?" Hunter said from the stall.

"Yes, uh, this had been something..."

"I don't know why you got angry over a cookie." Hunter laughed.

"It was a double chocolate chip cookie, Hunter, of course, I have the right to be angry."

"Ha-ha, how about I buy you one after this?"

"Sure, but don't be like Jack."

"Noted."

"Hey, didn't you say we were going for a walk to the lighthouse?"

"Oh, yeah, I did, how about we go on Friday morning? We don't have classes that day."

"Yes, that sounds good. Do you know where to go?"

"Uh-huh, there's a starting point in Mariposa Park. I'll take you there, it's gonna be fun."

"Can't wait," Keanu said giddily.

The wolves left the gym fresh and cleaned, heading for their history class today. During the class session, Prof. Sheehan discussed the final exams for December after Thanksgiving weekend ended. He let them leave a little early as there wasn't much to cover today, wishing them a happy Thanksgiving. When they left the building, Keanu saw Terrence Browne sitting by himself on the bench, looking down on the floor and tail limping weakly.

Keanu asked Hunter worriedly, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know, but Xerxes told me they suspend him again."

"Should I... talk to him?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I should, he wanted to know her final moments. It's not very much but if this helps, he can at least move on..."

Hunter knew he could not stop him. Keanu had values and a conscience that he could not cross with. "Alright, I'll... wait for you by the tree, okay? If something happens, call me."

"Sure, good idea, I think he doesn't want another unwanted guess, Hunter. Just me and him."

Keanu walked by himself to the lonely ferret on the bench. Hunter looked for the nearest palm tree and watched him from afar. He didn't have to be involved but if Terrence laid a little scratch on Keanu like before, this would be the final straw. He would better not hurt him.

Keanu bravely stood next to the bench and softly spoke to him. "Terrence?"

The ferret looked up curiously and was surprised to see him. "Y-you?"

"Can I seat with you?" Keanu shyly asked.

...

It was kind of eternity for Hunter, sitting, waiting, and watching from afar as they talked in peace and diplomatically. He assumed Keanu was telling his experience of flight 8085 with Terrence and telling the vital part where he sat next to his girlfriend and father and how he changed seats in mid-flight. He saw a very well-behaved ferret with good patience.

While waiting, he took the time to kill by texting his friends. He checked on Sol who apparently had a juicy story to tell from last weekend.

"Hey, how was your thing with Robin?" Hunter texted.

"Robin and I finally made up!"

"Really?" Hunter texted. "That's a miracle."

"Yeah, we argued, we fought, we fucked and made amends."

"Holy shit, Sol, that when up quickly! WTH?"

"IKR, I guess he had a little bit of feelings with me, but he no longer feels romantic with me."

"So, just friends?"

"I guess, *shrugs*. We're starting from zero, but it's a start."

"Another friend to fool around with?"

"Nah, he's dropping that 'coping mechanism.' He had a rough high school in the past, remember? He's starting anew."

"Cool. I hope you do better too after this."

"Thanks, Hunt."

Hunter received another text. It was Xavier. He texted, "Where are you? Are you with Keanu? I forgot to give him his gift!"

Hunter texted him where to find him, they were near the station, so it wouldn't be so hard to miss. He could not believe that Xavier forgot to give Keanu's apology gift since he said he was going to give it later last Monday and it was now Wednesday. Oh, man, Xavier, what dragged you off course, Hunter thought.

Hunter now focused on Keanu's conversation with Terrence.

"There's not much for me to tell you," Keanu said, "but I think they were nice people. Your girlfriend was pretty, she was lucky to have someone like you."

Terrence's eyes were leaking and fought the urge to cry but couldn't.

"Thank you..." he softly said.

Keanu was about to give him some comfort like Hunter did, but the next was a big hug from the ferret. "Th-thank you!" he cried.

Keanu returned the hug and patted him on the back. He had been hugging a lot lately, but it felt wonderful.

"I'm so sorry I rushed you like that! I was desperate to know! I'm sorry I hurt your arm! And I'm sorry that I accidentally dumped you with moping water earlier! Please, forgive me!"

"I forgive you," Keanu said. "I'm sorry you got suspended for the big game next week."

"Fuck football, I now know I can rest in peace." Terrence chuckled in tears. "Thank you, Keanu. I promise I won't bother you again. Thank you so much for telling me." One more hug from the ferret wrapped around Keanu with great relief. Keanu never saw a person being all this joyful as if a new light had finally come to the end of the tunnel. Or a child opening a Christmas gift. Keanu honestly didn't expect this outcome, but he was glad for Terrence to move on.

Hunter sat down on the ground astonished, he watched every moment and never saw that vulnerable side of Terrence. He looked happy as if Keanu were the angel who came down from heaven to give him the answers and miracles.

Hunter was blessed to be dating a saint.

He saw Terrence leaving and waved at Keanu with an energetic tail, wiping off his tears, and off he went. It was his cue to reunite with Keanu who was happy he made some closure with Terrence.

Hunter sat next to him. "Keanu, are you an angel?"

Keanu knew he was joking but he looked genuinely serious about his question. "No, but my mom called me that as a cub, why?"

"Because I never saw Terrence act like that."

"I'm surprised, too, Hunter. He looked so happy to know." Keanu sat up with his backpack. "Shall we get to the station?"

"Sure, let's go." Hunter sat up and saw a jogging parrot heading toward them. "Oh, right, Xavier is coming for you."

"I made it!" Xavier screeched to a halt, holding a thermos bag on his shoulder.

"What's the hurry?" Keanu asked.

"I freaking forgot to give you this!" Xavier huffed loudly, showing his thermos bag.

"Oh! You mean my apology gift, I totally forgot to get it," Keanu said.

"Sergio just told me today, three times now. Hah..." Xavier sighed embarrassedly and unzipped the cooling bag and pulled out a glass bottle filled with a creamy-colored concoction like coffee. "Here, you're gonna like it," he said calmly with a smile.

Keanu held the bottle. It had the three wise men drawn on the wide bottom and a red bow decorating the narrowed top of the bottle. "What is it?"

"It's the Puerto Rican version of eggnog, coquito. This stuff is often mixed with rum, but I asked my mom last weekend to make it rum-free."

"Oh! That's nice, so what is it made out of?"

"It's mixed with coconut milk, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. Not too thick and not too watery. This drink is often made during the holidays like now."

"Thank you, Xavier." Keanu put it inside his backpack. "I'll try it at home. My dad loves eggnog, so he might like this too."

"Great, so now if you excuse me, I need to get going. I'll see you both next week." Xavier waved and off he went back to his dorm. "And you can keep the bottle, too!" he shouted.

Together, Keanu and Hunter went to the tram station to get back safely to their homes. Keanu would curiously look at the pretty decorated bottle. "Have you tried this, Hunter?"

"No, I haven't, I know Xavier is very cultural from his home country, so I assumed that he eats traditional food, but that's not always the case. He talked to me about some kind of plantain dish that you can add some fillings like steak or crab meat. It kind of sounded delicious when he said it, but I forgot the name of it."

"Are Puerto Rican food spicy?"

"No, that's usually Mexican food, I think. Xavier told me they focus more on flavor and different ways of cooking."

"Hmm, maybe I'm gonna ask him for some recipes."

Both wolves laughed as the train came to a stop at their destination. They stepped off the train along with a few passengers on the platform and marched their paths.

Keanu asked, "Do you want to go with me for thanksgiving tomorrow?"

Hunter honestly wanted to go someplace else than being stuck with Rylan's presence. "I'll ask them right now, okay? I'm sure they understand."

"We have to wake up early tomorrow; Little Lake is a bit far from here."

"Huh, really?" Hunter and Keanu slowly ascended the pedestrian stairs as they talked.

"Everybody's coming, including my cousins, so you can hang out with us instead of the adults. We'll be having our own table to seat."

"Okay, I'm convinced. I'm definitely going."