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Chapter 37: Careless Lips

The last days of November ended, and December had taken over the remains of the year. There was a lot of fanfare going on the campus this Friday morning as football and soccer athletes were coming back home after their victorious win against their rivals at San Diego University.

The students had gathered around to welcome the two arriving coach buses in the parking lot. There were cheers and waving as they watched the athletes coming out of the buses with ecstatic, overjoyed faces with fists in the air as they shouted a war cry.

Xerxes the dragon came out from the football team bus first, but only to be outnumbered by two incoming girls hopping on top of him, but he managed to hold both of them with his arms and let them kiss his cheeks.

"My hero!" cried the girls as Xerxes let out a hearty laugh.

The students in Rexville had witnessed on the live stream that Xerxes blocked the opponent's quarterback at the last minute before scoring a crucial touchdown that could change the scenery of the team's potential fate of losing. Xerxes was definitely the hero of the match to win this year's football league.

Meanwhile, on the soccer team bus, Sol and Broderick came out and received the same attention from their soccer fans who watched the game online. Broderick and Sol had successfully scored three goals in the second half of the game after their opponents scored two, nail-biting, goals.

Xavier kept himself low-key, but he was picked up by those who saw him and lifted him up in the air like a champion, much to his dismay, but, as the keeper, he did stop the opponents from scoring goals and failed two times but fought well in the end. And they loved him for it.

"AH! Put me down! This is too much!" Xavier cried but the students were too loud and excited that they didn't bother to hear him.

Broderick received the unexpecting kiss from Whitney who came to see him after squeezing through the crowd flexibly. "Well, hello there~," Broderick said goofily.

"This calls for a celebratory date, don't you think?" she said.

Broderick forgot or dropped all the doubts this lioness was holding behind and looked forward to it excitingly. "Fuck yeah!"

Finally, Keanu, Hunter, Milagros, Sergio, and Natasha managed to reach them to congratulate them.

After Xavier was put down by the excited admirers, Milagros cried, "Xavier, you were awesome there!" The parrot struggled to make a face like standing in front of everybody while singing happy birthday. He was blushing like his red crest over his beak.

"Oh, come on, give Broderick and Sol some credit, will you?" Xavier said.

"You're the goalkeeper, of course, you played a big part in the match."

"I know, I know, but could you stay with me closer? I don't want this kind of attention right now and we haven't even officially won the champion league yet."

"Sure, we'll celebrate later at the Winters' Sun Café."

At noon at the said café, the group gathered in a booth table for themselves, but other students and athletes had thought the same thing to celebrate. Good thing Keanu managed to make an order before the lines started to pick up by texting her aunt that his friends were coming over for a celebration and listing what his friends wanted to eat and drink. It worked like charm.

Natasha struck a conversation with Sol. "Sol, I don't know how much to thank you, but you really fixed Robin and saved us all the trouble before our big theater next week!"

"Was he being sulky or something?"

"Yeah, and he was struggling to remember the lines and had behaved a little cranky during the past weeks, we almost had to replace him with an understudy."

"Is he the lead or something?"

"Yeah, he is one of the main characters of Like Water for Chocolate."

Xavier piped up. "That's the play you're all soon playing next week? I read that book back in high school!"

"Yeah, I play Gertrudis, the oldest sister of the protagonist while Robin plays Pedro, the protagonist's love interest."

"Good thing you're not playing as Rosaura, because her fate is... uh, well."

"We're adding sound effects so... everyone is going to laugh."

"Is it a comedy?" Xerxes asked.

"A little but it is mostly in the supernatural and magic sprinkled here and there, but it's also overall drama without being a stupid Mexican telenovela. The story is very charming, though."

"I'm definitely going to see the play," Xavier declared.

"It'll be nice if you guys would come, it'll be much-appreciated ~."

"I'm obligated to see the play," announced Sol, "I'll take it as compensation for all the trouble Robin and I went through and to support him."

"That's very considerate of you," Hunter smiled.

"I would love to see the play," Keanu said intrigued. "I also read the book back in high school and the movie. I can add something more to my agenda this month. Hunter, are you coming?"

"I'll let you know, alright? Next week we have the final exams."

"Don't worry, it's on next Friday evening, so there's plenty of time to settle," Natasha clarified.

Milagros spoke, "Uh, guys, are you all preparing for the finals?"

Xavier sighed. "Well, now that the match is over, I can now focus on it."

"Oh!" Keanu said, "While I have finals, I also have a little exhibition of my group project next Friday."

"Oh, yeah, but that little science fair comes first before our show tonight, so don't worry about it, Keanu," Natasha said.

Keanu sighed exhaustively. "This semester has been so tough..."

"Tell me about it," Broderick groaned, "even my left horn hasn't fallen yet."

"I hope it doesn't fall while in my presence," hoped Xavier unsettled. "The first one was enough to keep me awake for one night."

Sol laughed, "Did it really scare you?"

Broderick filled in, "He spoke gibberish words I didn't get after seeing my fallen horn. I think he looked as if he had an acid trip."

The group laughed as Aunt Sophia and Uncle Derrick brought them their orders that Keanu listed earlier. Another victory for the Roaring Rexes this semester and for the best next year. The group chatted merrily and to forget their worries one last time for the holidays this ending year.

The next week flew slowly as the final terms came out and this continued next week, but before that, Keanu had his exhibition with his groupmates and their skyscraper project this Friday, December 10. Keanu watched and visited other group projects and shared their ideas and purposes. Hunter came for a visit to see Keanu's work and the others, wondering if there was a contest of sorts but it wasn't.

"Looks great!" said Hunter. "I like the neon lights on it."

"Thanks, I knew it would sell," said Yestin proudly.

"Think you can win?" Hunter asked Keanu.

"This is not a contest, Hunter," Keanu clarified.

"Oh, too bad, one time I had to build a homemade powerboat in elementary school for an annual competition. My dad helped me to put a pull-string so it could propel itself and I won by a big margin, but it was too fast to compete, so I pretty much overpowered my fellow competitors."

Keanu laughed. "Not everyone is very skillful as you, Hunter."

"Hehe, thanks," Hunter blushed his compliment.

"But I guess they only did it for the easy credit."

"You should've totally seen their faces when I pulled out the string--BROOOMMM!!!" Hunter made his hands go at full throttle like driving a speedy boat. "I still got an A though."

Keanu again laughed. "Do you still have it?"

"Oh yeah, I still have it, picking up dust in the closet, I think."

"I remember Jack trying to cheat his way with a remote-control car racing competition in middle school but got disqualified for not meeting the requirements."

"Eh, what did he do to the toy car?"

"He brought a big RC Hummer that could nearly crush over the smaller cars, and I have to let him borrow mine from last year to qualify again. He was having a tantrum back then, you know?"

"Hehe, what a handful, right? Oh, are you coming for the play after you finish here?"

"Yes, I going to see the play with you, I'm really wanna see it."

"Cool, I'll go walk around here a bit to see other works."

"Sure, have fun," Keanu smiled, his tail wagging as he saw Hunter walking in stride around the stalls of other group projects. Dreamy as always.

"W-wait, you're taken?" said Joseph the caracal in disbelief.

"Huh?" Keanu turned at his classmate. "Well, y-yeah, what's wrong?"

"Uh, n-nothing!" he looked the other way at his classmates with snickering faces.

Keanu quickly caught his cryptic words. He felt bad. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

Joseph sighed almost sulkily. "Hah, it's okay, I should have asked."

"Well, I don't mind being your friend, though," Keanu smiled optimistically which Joseph broke a little smile as he blushed embarrassedly as Urwin, and Yestin were still snickering behind him.

"Can you two stop it!" Keanu snapped.

The two silly humans widen their eyes at his sharp statement but still kept smiling at the awkward moment from Joseph's realization.

The little fair exhibition went on well as their professor came to check on their work before giving them their results and packed their things to end the day. The professor told them to leave the tables with the models there to continue displaying the models at the entrance of the building. They all looked great and inspiring.

Keanu reunited with Hunter at the exits and together, his classmates, to the university's theater hall at the 300 building where they saw hundreds of students waiting to enter the theater this evening.

"Does this count as a date?" Keanu asked Hunter.

Hunter shrugged but went with it and smiled. "I'll leave that to you, but we're hanging out with friends today."

"Yeah, you're right. Aren't going to the theaters, like, romantic?"

"Heh, kinda, does it? Do you know what the play is about?"

"Oh, that was so long ago, well, I think it's about the youngest daughter of a ranch in Mexico who is in love with her neighbor since childhood, but her mother forbids her from marrying him as she must keep the family tradition of taking care of her mother until her death... and, uh..."

"Okay, I think that's basically enough to get the plot."

"It goes more than that if I can remember..." Keanu thought.

"We'll see."

They met up with the others as they took their seats during the mass chatter in the great theater before the lights slowly dimmed down for the play to begin the first act.

...

The red curtains slid to a close after the final act. The audience stood up in ovation as they applauded at the talented actors coming out from both sides of the stage and waving at them. Keanu and Hunter saw two familiar faces they saw during the play, Robin and Natasha in their period costumes of the early 20th century with big smiles on their faces as they waved and bowed.

Back in the lobby as the students walked away out of the building while the other half remained inside for a while to chat with the talented students of Drama class.

"It was really good," Hunter said, "but a bit weird though."

"It was just as I remembered when I read it," Keanu said.

"Why the fuck did she kill herself by eating candles?" Sol said.

"I don't know, magic?" Keanu shrugged. "That's one of the story's elements."

"I never thought I'd see the day Natasha would run almost naked in front of the audience," laughed Xerxes. "But the whole thing was pretty funny to watch!"

"I'll admit, Robin did a great job passing out while having fake sex with that girl," Sol said. "I guess all that drama from before helped to shape him up."

"Acting has always been based on personal experiences," Xavier said. "You experienced it, and you'll recreate it."

"Hey, guys!" Natasha came in her normal clothes, waving. Behind her was Robin striding. "Did you guys enjoy it?"

"It was great, Natasha," Milagros praised. "You were amazing."

"Wonderful, it was just like in the book!" Xavier followed.

"Did that girl really eat candle wax?" Broderick asked.

"Yeah, she did, but not really," Natasha replied, not believing that this was the top topic of talks.

Sol turned at Robin, "Yo, Robin, you really nailed it there."

"Thanks, Sol, I appreciate it," Robin was chilled and smiled. "I didn't expect you to come, but I still appreciate it."

"I had to after everything that happened between us, this was a great way to support you."

"Heh, thanks again."

"Hi, Robin..." Keanu awkwardly greeted.

"Oh, you're here, too?"

"Listen, I know what I said earlier was true, but Sol told me everything right now, so I must apologize for calling you out like that for what you did on Halloween."

"Heh, no worries, Keanu," Robin shrugged, "I deserved that, you really woke me up that time and everything about me and Sol is now behind us. Though, I'm not sure if you want to start anew as friends."

"Sure, I'll like that, we can start over." Keanu extended his hand, Robin smiled and returned with a firm shake. Hunter smiled as he watched Keanu's new leaf coming fruitfully.

"So, did you enjoy the play?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, you were great!"

"Oh, finally! I've been looking for you!" There came Topher from the main doors to the theater. "I went backstage after the show, and you were gone!"

"Ah, I forgot, sorry, Natasha kinda dragged me here," Robin said.

"Oh, yeah. You're Topher, right?" Natasha said. "His boyfriend?"

"Oh no, but we were friends with benefits," Topher clarified.

"Oh..." she deadpanned awkwardly.

"Topher, you were at the show?" Sol asked.

"I was on the second floor because I was almost late... you texted me that you were coming, but I was finishing my final math exam."

"Oof, was it hard?"

"Yeah, I'm a slow calculator, but I got through." Topher smiled at the presence of the leopard and the raccoon. "So, anyway, Robin, I see you have made up with Sol!"

"Yeah... we definitely made up..." Robin blushed, looking away from Sol and Topher.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm okay that you both had sex in the end--"

"WHAT!!!???" Robin screamed.

The others were startled at Robin's shouting.

Robin glared at Sol. "You told him!"

"Hey, I had to; I don't wanna keep secrets from him," Sol defended.

"Aw~, how considerate of you~," Topher was touched.

Robin exasperatedly sighed with a palm on his head. "Fuck... whatever, let's just leave it behind us already."

Sol and Topher vocally agreed.

...

The next and final week was busy as Hunter and Keanu continued with their final exams to end their semester. They only had Monday, Tuesday, and finally Wednesday. Everything was concluded and now the winter break had come to lift their hard work off their shoulders. They could relax and could take it easy this December and the upcoming holidays and spend some time together this weekend.

Hunter came for a visit this Friday afternoon after texting him and Keanu told him it was fine to have him come over, but he was busy packing his things for the five-day vacation cruise this Saturday. Hunter thought maybe he could help him pack so he could spend time with him later before he goes on vacation.

He knocked on the door and Aunt Sophia answered.

"Oh, hello, Hunter, good afternoon," she greeted.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Winters, may I come in?"

"Sure, come in, I'm helping Keanu to pack his luggage."

Hunter followed her and found not only Keanu in his room but also Jack and Crystal emptying and checking his closet.

Jack pulled out an ugly, worn-out, and burned suitcase. "Woah! You still, have it?"

"I was planning to throw it away, but I kept forgetting about it." Keanu saw Hunter on the threshold. "Hi, Hunter."

"Hi, Keanu," he gave him a kiss on the cheek, "are you all packing for the cruise?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, and Aunt is helping me and checking if I have the right amount of clothes."

"It's only a five-day cruise," stated Crystal. "We won't run out of clothes so soon."

"And I want all of you to wear your best clothes because if I find an old one, I'm not allowing it." She sank her hands into Keanu's closet and found some nice clothes as she pulled out a button shirt with moon patterns. "Look here, this one looks nice."

"That one doesn't fit me anymore, Aunt Sophia," Keanu said. "I tried to wear it, but it's so uncomfortable."

"Aw, too bad. Well, you can send it to the donations or give it to Jack."

"Ew, no, I don't like those moons on the shirt."

"Why?" Keanu asked.

"They'll howl at me."

Hunter burst out laughing.

Jack went back to the burnt old suitcase. "But seriously, Keanu, how did you get your old suitcase back?"

"It's still had my name and address intact, so the airline could send it to us in Little Lake. And I'm still surprised that almost most of my old clothes survived."

"I was worried that you wouldn't have anything to wear while in the hospital, so your father and I went to buy you some clothes that time." She pulled out a polo shirt. "How about this one...?" she turned in shock to find a dirty smudge of burnt dirt on the back of the shirt. "This one is burned!"

"Cool, let me see!" Jack said. "Remember that one time you were ironing my white shirt and burned the back of it, and you still made me wear it?"

"Yes, I remember, I put you a red vest to hide it."

"It fell apart at the wedding though, but no one noticed."

"Could you guys go and play video games while I deal with this?" Keanu asked busily.

"Fine, this is boring, come on, Hunter, let's play some video games."

"Nah, you go ahead, I'm wanna help Keanu."

"Come on," said Crystal, tugging on Jack's shirt, "you're not the host of this house."

The wolf siblings left the room to the living room as Keanu, Hunter, and Aunt Sophia helped to pack Keanu's new suitcase on the bed.

"You know, I could do this on my own," Keanu said, rubbing his arm.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," said Sophia, "you told me to get you a new suitcase after the old one got burned and now that I'm here, I could always check if you have everything you need."

"Yeah, thank you, Aunt."

After collecting the right amount of clothes and other essentials, Hunter kept one hand pressing firmly on the suitcase as he zipped around the zipper to properly close it with the locker locked on. Satisfied, Sophia then went out of the room to the kitchen to make some refreshments after working on the luggage.

"Thanks, Hunter."

"Heh, no problem." Hunter dragged the suitcase from the bed and put the four wheels on the floor. "I'm glad that these new suitcases have four wheels."

"I know, right? They can be a bit heavy when dragging it behind you." Keanu sat on the bed. "So, what are you going to do this winter break?"

Hunter shrugged uncertainly. "I have nothing, really, just staying at home, relaxing, and..." he sat on the bed next to him as he smirked, "...and thinking of you."

Keanu chortled. "I won't be gone too long, but I could use a good vacation."

"Yeah, I hope you enjoy your vacation trip." He ruffled his head playfully. "Can you keep me in touch while you're gone, like, sending me pictures and stuff?"

"Yeah, I'll stay in touch with you. It's gonna be fun. Oh! Maybe I'll get you a souvenir while there!"

"Aw, don't spoil me the surprise," Hunter joked.

"Oh, right, sorry, it just came out now."

"Hehe, it's alright, I'm kidding, but a nice souvenir sounds nice."

"Consider it as a Christmas gift honestly, I don't have any idea what to get you."

"Hey, no pressure, don't take it personally, okay?"

"Uh, sure, you're right, I... just realized that as your boyfriend, this means, uh... you know."

"Aw, it's okay, you don't have to, Keanu."

"Alright, but it's just that after you gave me that plushie I felt empty that I didn't give you a gift in return, you know?"

"Ah, I see, I understand, but don't stress it, okay? You'll know when you'll find it."

"Right, thank you." A new thought came out right now. "Oh! I just remember."

Hunter watched Keanu standing up from the bed and looked for the big sketch pad he used for art class and placed it flat on the bed as he swiped carefully on each page until finding what he was looking for and ripped the whole sheet out without damaging it and gave it to Hunter.

"Here, remember I drew this?"

It was the drawing Keanu made last October on the soccer field. Hunter was drawn as a superhero with his workout attire, standing proudly with one foot on the seating bleacher and the other behind him with his fists on his waist, chest all puffed up and a big toothy, heroic smile and an added cape billowing on his back.

"Wow, it's very good. You want me to have this?"

"Yeah, I was planning to give it to you, but I kept forgetting."

"Hehe, thanks, love." Hunter smiled as his tail wagged gently on the bed.

Jack appeared on the threshold anxiously. Not bothering their little moment and said, "Are you guys done? I wanna play four players than beating hard-mode CPUs."

"Yes, Jack, we're done, can you wait?" Keanu said annoyingly. He sighed, turned around to Hunter, and said, "I'm going to the bathroom and do the number two, tell Jack I'll catch up soon."

"Sure," Hunter steadily stood up from the bed, stretching his arms and back before leaving out of the room, but one of his shoes' laces' loops got caught in one of the drawers' corners under the bed and pulled. Hunter almost fell off balance but managed to regain it with one foot on the floor while the other ended up pulling the whole drawer completely out of its socket. The drawer dropped onto the blue matte carpet near the bed and let out a soft thud upon impact.

"Whoops," said Hunter embarrassedly stunned, and looked back at the door, Jack and Keanu weren't present or didn't hear his little mishap.

The laces came off and Hunter recovered his caught foot and made back to put the drawer back in under the bed. I should be careful next time, thought Hunter as he kneeled on the floor to pick up the loose drawer with both hands and...

He looked through its contents subconsciously, seeing manga and comic books stacked in an almost scattered mess after pulling the drawer out forcefully by accident and caught in the words Just Beastly under the pile of books.

Hunter's eyes widen curiously and removed the two comics on the side and saw a handsome, muscular, shirtless, wolfman scowling at Hunter on the front cover. No... way..., Hunter thought. Of course, this was a common thing for teenagers to have some secret stash of adult content hidden somewhere in their room, and he naturally assumed that Keanu would have something like that in his room, but how did he get one?

And this magazine wasn't just a particular Just Beastly article, it was a special wolfmen edition. Hunter could not believe he was doing this; he was invading his boyfriend's privacy! But the thick magazine edition was too tempting to take a look at. He flipped the first pages and saw countless colorful wolfmen models giving the same lecherous desires that Hunter had come to expect and experienced in his past with his own stash collection he still had since middle school. He even noticed the page marker tapes on the top right corner and flipped the page to see Keanu's favorites...

Whoa..., Hunter thought. It looked like Hunter had competition, a brown and white-furred wolfman with yellow eyes laid comfortably on the bed in his underwear alone and looked at him seductively and invitingly with one hand palming on his crotch, and he did kind of looked like Hunter, except the model had brown ears unlike Hunter's white ears, and he was more muscular and bigger than him.

He flipped one more time and found this year's pageant winner... Oh! he thought surprisingly, Hello~, Mister California. Hunter whistled in his mind.

Hunter snapped out of it and shook his head and put the magazine back where he found it like before and put back the drawer inside the socket under the bed. He stood up and let out a guilty giggle at his discovery before joining Jack and Crystal in the living room and waiting for Keanu as he was making a deposit in the bathroom.

...

While Sophia and Kendall chatted in the kitchen, likely talking about the Hannah lady they met at the lighthouse, Hunter, Keanu, and his cousins played multiplayer SkyRiders together on the living room couch.

"Nice TV, Keanu, you know it's a smart TV, right? You can watch the shows online, use some apps, and everything," Jack said while tapping his control.

"Yes, I know, but haven't binge-watch a lot of shows," Keanu said.

"Pfft, don't tell me you watch one or two episodes when you have a bit of free time after studying and going to bed?"

"I'm in college, Jack, I cannot just lounge here and do nothing."

"Boo."

"So, what's wrong with your TV, Jack?"

"It still looks awfully green, it's getting worse, it's so effing old since middle school."

"I told you not to slap it hard on the back," Crystal said.

"I'm getting a new one for Christmas, duh."

"Just don't do the same mistake again, okay?"

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Hey, Hunter do you still have an old fat TV?"

"I remember having one in the living room, but when I turned ten, my parents got a new one and it still works fine."

"But what happened to the old one?"

"I think we gave it away to one of my cousins, but before that, my brother Rylan had it in his room, but it took a lot of space, and bought a smaller one in the end for gaming."

"Cool, was it big?"

"It was a big black box, man, hehe! Fat as a washing machine that took the whole living room space! Haha!"

"Ew~, sexual innuendo alert!" Jack cried.

"Come on, guys, let's play already!" Crystal begged them.

"Alright, alright, watch out, guys, she's in a bad mood today."

"Are you okay, Crystal?" Keanu asked.

"Yup, I'm fine, I had a tough semester, too," Crystal assured him.

"Hey, Crystal, if I beat you this round, would you go out with that girl who asked you out?"

"J-JACKSON!!!" Crystal cried, flushing in surprise.

Before they could start a new game, Crystal stood up from the couch and glared at him angrily, throwing the control on his stomach and stomping out of the room to the balcony.

"Whoa, what gives?" Jack carelessly said.

"Is everything alright here?" Came Aunt Sophia and Kendall from the kitchen while the former was holding a tray of lemonades. She noticed the absence of Crystal and spotted her looking frustratedly on the balcony. "Jack, what did you say to her?" she demanded firmly.

"I only challenged her a dare if she loses a game, she'll ask that girl out you both talked about."

"Jackson Winters! Where did you hear that?" Sophia was genuinely shocked to hear that.

"I eavesdropped on you both that one week ago."

"Ugh, I cannot believe this!" she put the tray on the dining table and glared at him. "What's with you, Jack, don't you have some respect for her privacy?"

"I was just joking." Jack defensively shrugged.

"Well, you upset her." She walked through the living room and opened the balcony door to talk to her, closing the door.

Kendall looked at him disappointed. "Jack, what was that?"

"What? I was only joking, Uncle. A girl in her cheerleading club asked her out but Crystal is straight."

"Where did you hear that from?"

"I'm classmates with her brother, so he told me her sister came out as a lesbian and had a crush on Crystal, but he didn't tell me it was her until I overheard it at home the last weekend. Crystal was talking with Mom about it, and I was like, holy shit! I never thought of all people a girl would ask her out. It was awesome. But I think Crystal hasn't said anything to her yet, she is just trying to find a way to gently reject her."

Keanu spoke up, "Well, I think you should pipe it down about it because I think she is really concerned about hurting her feelings."

"So, what? They're friends in the cheerleading squad, I'm not worried, Crystal can handle it."

"Easy for you to say, what if a guy were to ask you out?"

"Easy, I would tell him that I don't like cucumbers and eggplants up in my ass and I prefer to eat thick peaches and melons with some tacos."

Keanu was a bit indignant about it. "Jack, I can't believe you!"

But Hunter and Kendall on the other hand were wheezing out loud about Jack's humor with emojis. "I'm sorry... I can't..." Hunter laughed.

"Hunter!" Keanu could not believe it. "Dad, are you laughing?"

"See? Uncle Kendall and Hunter get it!" Jack grinned.

"I'm so sorry, Keanu, but that's a good way to tell them I'm straight or gay." But then something sparked inside Hunter's head. Hunter remembered seeing a picture of Jack and Crystal wearing marching and cheerleading uniforms, respectively. "W-wait!" he breathed as he recovered, "Is Crystal a cheerleader?"

"Yeah, and I'm also in the marching band," Jack said. "I play the cymbals, you know," he used both hands with arms stretched out and widely clapped them, "those saucer brass thingies that are used in drums."

"Only because you like to make loud noises," Keanu said.

"Hey, it's better than a lame-ass triangle!"

"There are no triangles in a marching band."

"Hey-hey, we're getting off-topic here," Hunter said. "Listen, my brother's ex-girlfriend is in the cheerleading club. Her name is Catherine."

"Oh, Catherine? That's the girl who's crushing on Crystal."

Hunter's mind buffered like a loading video but exploded. "WH-WHAT!!!???" He blurted out, jumping out from the couch. Kendall was startled at his exclamation.

"Whoa! What's the big drama, man? How many plot twists are we gonna have here?"

"HOLY SH--!!!"

"Language, Hunter," Kendall ordered sternly.

"Hunter, calm down!" Keanu said, hoping to calm him down as Sophia had now her hands full.

The brown wolfman was speechless, he slumped back on the couch with a petrifying surprised stare on his face, looking at nowhere at the TV.

"Hunter?" Keanu was worried.

"Okay, I need some context here," Jack said. "What's your deal?"

Hunter recovered and looked at Jack. "I have a homophobic brother who dated Catherine a year ago and she broke up with him. Rylan was heartbroken but he made it through, but now... it all made freaking sense now."

"Wait, the reason why Rylan hates you is that his ex-girlfriend came out as a lesbian?" Keanu concluded.

"Whoa, that sucks," Jack said. "Was she, like, lying?"

"I don't think so, she seems so nice when I met her while dating Rylan," Hunter said.

"Maybe she didn't figure herself out at that time?" Keanu added.

"That's a possibility, maybe." Hunter sighed. "I should have known, but it didn't seem like it at first. Rylan is hating me because it reminded him of her. I'm guessing that she outed him while breaking up with him before I came out. Rylan never spoke a thing about it, just that he announced that she dumped him."

"Jeez, and she is now crushing on my sister."

"And I'll appreciate it if you give Crystal some space," Keanu said sternly. "She now has to deal with a rejection."

"Well, that's karma for her, to Catherine of course."

"Really, again?"

"What? She dumped him and now she's getting a bit of payback."

"That's not how Karma works. I think she poorly handled the break-up."

"Which makes more sense to me that she is about to get what it's coming to her."

"Jack, you're really insensitive about this topic."

"I'll know when to be insensitive if it involves the other way around, but only because I don't want to."

"Jack, that's an awful thing to say to your sister," Kendall said disappointedly.

But Hunter got the message. "Wait, you mean if Crystal were bullied, you stand up for her?"

"N-no! What gives, Hunter?" Jack blushed.

"Aw, come on, you do care for her, but I think you're too dense to admit it."

"Ugh, fuck you, Hunter." Jack crossed his arms.

"Jack, language," Kendall warned.

"Sorry, Uncle," Jack said annoyingly.

Hunter shrugged off Jack's denials and continued, "You know, at first, I thought Catherine dumped him because maybe Rylan had shown signs of his homophobia, but this wasn't the case then. She's the origin of why he hates me."

"Oh, I get it!" Jack said. "He's letting all his built-up feelings out on you, right? That's the stuff I see in shows and movies. It's kind of messed up, you know?"

"It really is awful what he's doing to you, how the hell do you deal with him?" Kendall said.

"Uh, keeping a distance from him and away from trouble? It had worked so far, but now that I know, I can use this as leverage. I'm going to tell my parents about this later, but soon." Hunter stood up from his seat and hastily walked to the door.

"You're leaving, Hunter?" Keanu asked.

"I'll be back but this is important, Keanu." Hunter looked very hopeful in those shimmering green eyes that Keanu noticed like he was opening his Christmas gift.

Hunter left the building, walking faster through the pedestrian bridge and to his home across. At this time, his mother should be at home, but he caught on with his sister in the lobby.

Sally turned at him surprised while holding the phone. "Hunter, what's the hurry?"

"Hey, I'm glad to bump into you, I was going to talk with Mom, but I can talk with you, too. I have some big news to tell."

"Me, too, I talk with Catherine after school and..."

"Catherine is a lesbian, I know," Hunter added.

"How? I was about to call you and..."

"Keanu has two cousins in Rexville High, they also..."

Sally raised her hand, "Let's talk about this with Mom, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Hunter was so unstable at this moment, his body was shaking after taking in a lot of new information about Rylan's origins and his ex-girlfriend.

Together, they went back to the apartment and met with their mother and River in the living room while Rylan was hanging out with his few remaining friends at their places. Together they filled in on what they got recently as Mary and River listened. They were a bit shocked, but it all made sense now.

Sally explained, "I talked to Catherine about Rylan's behavior on Hunter. She felt awful about it and wanted to make up to Rylan for not handling it well as she should have."

"I really want to talk with Rylan right now," Hunter said, "maybe I--"

"No, I have an idea!"

"What idea?"

"I'll bring Catherine over, so she will talk to him first and then you, so to ease the tension between you two, okay?"

"Good idea," said Mary, "it'll soften him up."

"Are you sure?" doubted River. "Is it a good idea to bring two gays with one homophone in one room?"

"No, River, we'll gather together in the living room like an intervention," Mary clarified.

"Oh, that kind of thing? I thought interventions are just for drug and alcohol addicts!"

"Yes, but interventions are just more than just that and this one is one of the occasions."

Mary noticed Hunter on the island countertop in the kitchen with hands covering his face, his shoulders shaking, sobbing with joy.

"Hunter, are you crying?"

"Yes, I'm happy this is going to end," Hunter sobbed. "I miss Rylan, Mom..."

"But... there's one problem, Hunter..." Sally said.

Hunter let go of his hands from his face. "Wh-what is it?"

"Catherine and I talked about it, but she is busy with the Christmas holidays and a trip to San Francisco with her family and she said she will come back by..." Sally said a bit uncomfortably. "Look, Catherine is guilty about it, and she cannot come over sooner, and she is free by... January..."

Hunter sighed at the long period he must wait for the intervention.

"Sorry, Hunter, but we must wait a little longer."

"I understand, but can I just talk to Rylan now?"

"I honestly don't want you to do it alone and call it a day, Hunter, I won't recommend it."

"God, I was so close."

"No, we're close to ending this, Hunter," his mother said and hugged her eldest son, kissing him on the cheek. "I love you who you are, Hunter, and I'm not gonna let one obstacle take you over."

"Thank you, Mom." Hunter sniffed.

...

Even in his bedroom, Hunter was still upset while staring at the ceiling in his bed. He copped the tension he felt earlier by exercising in his room with the pull-up bar, his three-set dumbbell kits, and basic physical body exercises of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. He went to shower after finishing and now he laid his hands under his head and stared at the ceiling. His tail was wagging excitingly. Hunter assumed that it was that hearing the new information behind Rylan's and Catherine's breakup was the greatest golden nugget he ever found under the pile of poo in the barrel and could happily sleep well tonight. It was a weird feeling, but he was just generally satisfied inside and out.

He must thank Jack for letting him know about it without knowing it, like accidentally beating the wrong bush and finding what he didn't expect to find elsewhere. Jack definitely had a pair of careless lips that reveal the most irrelevant, but relevant subjects.

As the night went on and after texting Keanu goodnight, Hunter continued his slumber, but his mind was still awake, talking and thinking. He let out a smile on his muzzle when he revisited his little discovery of Keanu's secret stash of sexy wolfmen in the drawer under the bed. It was gold and so hilarious, but he could not just tease him for having a magazine, he had his own share of collections in his younger teenage years and Keanu would strike back by pointing that out if Hunter were to pull out the magazine from his drawer.

Hunter must do something bolder than teasing over a magazine and then it suddenly came, lighting a lightbulb over his head. Hunter smiled naughtily in his sleep.