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Very sad! Some violence. Old story...

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PART THREE: MIGHT BE A CONCUSSION

DAY THREE

Two eelnods were particularly angry. Lee's anger was more sedated, being masked by sorrow. Mary's was fronted by frustration.

As they sat together in the session the next day, both were irritating each other merely by seeing those emotions. Lee knew Mary had no right to be pissed at Don for how he treated her, and Mary knew Lee should not be depressed at what Don had done to him. Both their reactions were unjustified, yet both were overwhelming.

This session was not dominated by a lecture, so most of the occupants read to each other or to themselves. The two rivals for Don's love decided to converse. Although neither actually desired to, they both silently and mutually found a necessity for it.

"Don gets pissed off way too easily." Lee was ready to defend, but he knew better. He knew the statement was correct, but there were more factors than that. Lee knew that specific things easily affected Don. Mary's immaturity and forcefulness were two things.

"Yeah." Was the only thing he could conjure from his lips. He knew that he had no room to talk about forceful behavior. He had forced Don into a sensual evening the day before, and even though it was clear that Don had enjoyed most of it, Lee felt that he had somehow confused his love into compliance.

"I know. I just know that if we could somehow get him to talk to us we could figure it all out and we could all be friends again."

"Again..." Lee had nearly forgotten about the past. When Don and he had become acquainted, Don was a much more polite and happy creature. He was talkative and social with Lee and Mary, and their other friends did not bother him so much.

He was openly sexual with Mary and Lee's advances did not seem to upset him at all, her need to be with someone at all times just to occupy her lonely space of shallowness. He felt that he could trust Lee because Lee understood him better. Lee understood very little though; he understood that there was a boundary for his love and what he would accept.

though he did not exchange them. Slowly, it all faded into the present day where Don's temper controlled his emotions.

Lee sat there in his miasma of sadness, confusion and anger. Mary knew that he was trying to find another way to go about getting their friend to return to his previous state of normality, the one that had been wielded years ago. However, she knew it would not happen without immediate and personal action.

"The superiors could help."

"How?"

"With medicine," she said, "or they could figure out what's wrong with him and tell us how to help him."

"Ugh. We can do that!" He growled, "We can figure that out and help him all by ourselves."

"It's no good, he won't talk to us."

"He talked to me." Lee was careful not to transmit the information he had attained the evening prior. "He might not anymore though."

"What did he tell you? Come on, Lee, just tell me."

"I can't."

"Well, then you can tell the psychologist or the counselor, okay?" He sighed and fell to his side to rest.

"Whatever." He was not in the mood to argue any further. At this point, he was willing to try anything to help his love feel better and get over his deathly goal. Lee felt that he was ready to betray Don. He did not want to, for Don trusted him, and he knew this. Don had not told him this specifically, but it was obvious through his reactions to his and Mary's stimulus.

With Lee's constant romantic approach, Don had found a calm and caring emotion. But with Mary, he only felt her need for contact; moreover Lee remembered how Don accepted Mary's lust so quickly the night before. Don might love her, but he also loved Lee. In addition, Don would not fornicate with her, yet he would with Lee, to an extent. This could mean that Don was more comfortable with Lee's presence, thus meaning he trusted him more.

Lee wanted nothing but for Don to be happy and be his lover. Don's refusal was nothing he could fret over, but his mood swings and bizarre reasons for that refusal were something to find worry. This frustrated Lee, for if Don were living here in a Facility, he really had no right to act the way he was. A Facility is a social construct and not able to support the actions of a being such as that.

Yes, Lee was betraying his friend, but Don was asking for it. He had been asking for it for years now. If he was not willing to discuss it with his only two friends, then Lee was more than willing to give him up.

"I guess we should."

"I know. It doesn't matter if you said no anyway, I'm sick of it, and I'm going to report it."

"Nothing's gonna stand in your way." That was sarcasm, but Mary was indifferent.

* * * * * * * * *

The sunshine made the dust flying through Don's room evident. It warmed the room from the coldness the evening had set in it last night and he welcomed it. He sat at the window with his hands upon the sill, letting the light radiate through the glass, feeling the heat on his paws. It felt good. It was warm and gentle.

Like Lee... That made no sense, and he knew it.

Outside were large groups of animals. The populace of the Facility had decided to spend the day outside to enjoy the sun. During this season, the sun was to be seen more often, so this episode of starry warmth was welcomed by all. Don considered venturing outside to lie on the grass. Out there, many others were doing so, groups of friends all gathering in circles to bask in the yellow glory.

He would, yes. It would be better than staying up here and watching. But there was a knock at the door then. It was not quiet, so it was not Lee. It was fast and rapid, so it was not Mary.

"Yes?" He asked.

"We're looking for an eelnod named Don." He frowned in perplexity. It was an older sounding male, most like human. He approached the door and opened it. There he stood, an older human, one of the oldest he had seen, wearing a white outfit. Don thought it strange to see the creature wearing long slacks in this weather. The sight of a human at the door made him apprehensive. It did not frighten him, and neither did it worry him. It was simply strange and unprecedented. He quickly convinced himself that this visit was important.

"Yeah, I'm Don." The human smiled and nodded.

"Hello Don, do you know who I am?" The eelnod shook his head.

"I'm Ivan Benefield, I'm the head psychologist." He waited for Don's response, which did not come. "Well, I'm here because someone has told me that you are having some problems."

"I'm fine."

"Well I'm sure you feel that way, but from what I was told, you seem to have some issues with you friends." Don growled and looked off into the hall, away from the humans eyes.

"Is this about me not going to the lounge at night?"

"Oh no, this has nothing to do with gatherings. This is about your depression. I know that--

"Who told you that?" He looked back to Ivan now, his anger resurfacing.

"Well, I promised I would keep that confidential."

"It was Lee or Mary, obviously. God damn it, I can't believe they would tell someone."

"Well Don, if you are experiencing some chronic bouts of this sadness and find yourself angry or anxious around people-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" He seethed, "I don't need your help; tell whoever you talked to forget about it."

"Don," Benefield's tone was stern now, "if it's true, then you need to be more open with your friends. The only-"

"Leave me alone." He demanded, then shut the door and locked it. Out in the hall, the psychologist shook his head and moved away, back down the hall and to his office far on the other side of the Facility.

Don stared ahead, straight through the window. After a minute he saw his visitor, walking in the distance, enter another building. He growled and punched the door. Fury gathered and he turned to pummel the door continuously, throwing his fists and feet against it maniacally, screaming and growling all the while.

Next, he approached the desk and grabbed it, throwing it to the ground and kicking it. He picked up the books that had scattered and randomly tossed them to the walls. He picked up the lantern and leaned back to smash it through the window. That was when he paused. If he broke the window, he would freeze that next night, for the replacement would not arrive for quite some time.

Don dropped it instead, and seized the curtains, ripping them down and hurling them towards the closet. After throwing the closet door open to find nothing more to trash, he stopped and fell to the floor in anger. A few moments were spent as he sat there to let his emotion level again.

He knew that either Mary or Lee had snitched. The night before, he had told Lee what he wanted in his life and had trusted the confession to him alone. Now it was evident that he betrayed him. He not only told the psychologist but he must have told Mary and all her friends. Lee probably told his friends Rob and Mark too.

Don's anger was gone, now absolute disappointment flooded his spirit. He spit out the excess saliva that had accumulated in his mouth during the stupor, propelling the fluid against the floor directly in front of him. Then, another knock at the door.

"Are you all right?"

"Leave me alone!" He yelled firmly, not maniacally. The person said no more and obeyed. Don had not cared who it was, even if it had been Lee or Mary or Ivan or whoever, he had spoken his response before thinking about it. He did not know the voice, but knew it was none of the aforementioned.

Ten minutes passed, this time spent with him lying on his bed. This piece of furniture had been left unturned in his tantrum. The sky filled with clouds and the glorious sunlight became too obscured to allow basking. He would not venture out now, and most of those outside headed inside as they realized the day was to be overcast for the remainder.

He turned his head to view his work: the mess. He was sunk in apathy. However, the view brought no relief. The act of what he had done brought no relief either. The environment was suddenly unstable. The air seemed to be sparkling with potential energy. He suddenly sat up and thought of what could be done. He would have to leave, yes, but where could he go?

Don stood and dressed himself, the same white shirt and black pants with the under garments. Then he left, unlocking and opening the door. He moved down the hall quickly, forgetting to close the door completely. His goal was the library, for this he would have to go outside, cross the field, pass the garden, and down a long passage. At least he could avoid the food building.

* * * * * * *

18:35 read the clock, and soon time for more lust. Nevertheless, the information being received was not good. Lee and Mary stood in Ivan Benefield's office, outside; the night was shining with a moon that was not as bright as yesterday. The two eelnods had been called here to discuss the psychologist's findings of his encounter with Don.

"Don didn't tell you anything?" Mary asked.

"No, he was quite upset knowing that someone had told me what was going on with him. He knew it was either one of you two."

"I told you it wouldn't work." Commented the male eelnod. Mary was about to argue, but the human continued.

"Lee, you can't expect your friend to cooperate the first time we meet. I did not offer therapy or any solutions. I merely told him that he should be more open with you two. Now, I did not tell him that it was you two that told me."

"He knows anyway, it doesn't matter." Lee stated

"You sure you're his only friends?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." There was a pause then, none of them sure of what to do next, what action to take. Lee simply wanted to get Don alone and persuade some happiness into his spirit. Delete the suicidal thoughts and instill love.

Mary did not feel personally responsible as Lee did, she just knew that Don's thoughts and emotions were abnormal and thought it should be remedied. To her, it was clinical, and to Lee, it was his responsibility. The human, Ivan, knew very well this dilemma. He had seen this type of episode before several times. Always, it ended the same.

In his experience, he knew what could be done, but that could only be achieved through total cooperation from the person in question, the eelnod in worry. Don could not be forced into discussing his depression or given advice without his mind being in a compliant sense. It would have to be initiated by someone close to him that he could trust and feel was qualified to help him. According to these two eelnods, it would have to be one or the other.

"Which one of you is closer to him?" Mary looked to her accomplice, knowing he would claim the closer relationship. Yet Lee did not reply.

"He is. He's in love with Don."

"All right, but does he love you, Lee?" It was a hypothetical question, as told by the next phrase, "Even if he doesn't, does your love create in him a trust for you?"

"I don't know." Was his unhelpful response.

"Do you think he'd ever be willing to talk to you?"

"He is willing!" Lee blurted.

"Then why don't you talk to him?" Demanded Mary.

"I did! I talked to him and he told me what was wrong with him, but I overreacted and it pissed him off."

"What did he tell you?" Ivan wondered. Lee stared at the floor, the white carpet apparently holding interest. The room was brightly lit. Being in such a situation with a human talking about his love when he normally was in the lounge already was making him nervous as hell. He was very uncomfortable. He looked up to the human, thinking to say something along the lines of "I can't say," but instead, he shook his head and continued staring at the floor.

"Lee," continued Benefield, "I can't help you or Don unless you tell me what is bothering him."

"No, you can't help. So I'll have to talk to him alone and tell him that we all want to help him." He forced those words from his maw, and they burned him with their lie. He knew that neither Mary nor Benefield wished to help Don. He knew that Ivan was not concerned with Don's life in the slightest, and Mary's concern was either half-hearted or just habit, influenced by their past relationship.

"That sounds like it would work. You should just tell Don that everyone genuinely cares about him. But don't tell him something like 'you're making everyone miserable', because that would just cause more frustration."

"Okay." The human nodded, feeling that he had accomplished something. What it was, was actually nothing relevant. Merely a false promise made by Lee. "All right, I'm sorry I could not do anything for him today. But if nothing happens between you and him, Lee, perhaps I could try again."

"That's all right. I think I can manage it now." Lee left quickly, not saying goodbye to either of them. He just wanted to get out of the insanity. He was not angry, just perplexed. Ivan and Mary had been discussing his love like a patient in a hospital, not a regular being that simply needed a bit of guidance from a professional and his friends. He was frustrated at himself for not being able to think of a solution to help Don. Get him alone and talk to him, tell him they all want to help. That was what he had told them, but would it work? It sounded like a sound plan.

He felt bad again, not only did he betray Don, but also now he was plotting against him. No, not against, moreover, for him. Lee was not the monster here, for he would help his friend but would not make him out to be a head case that was in for an asylum or the like. Mary was quick to join him from behind as he slowly moved toward the exit.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room."

"Why? You're just gonna skip the gathering?"

"Yes, I don't care about the gathering; I don't wanna do it anymore. I only care about Don."

"You just wanna do it with him?" He glanced at her with a scowl and shoved her. She did not fall to the ground completely, but did lose her balance. He continued walking on.

"What was that for?"

"Don's right. You are a bitch. All you think about is what you want. You only care about who's around you and what you're doing. It wouldn't matter if one of your friends was suffering or dying, as long as you had another friend to replace her with."

"How can you say that?" Lee did not feel the need to answer it; he kept walking to his room.

"You only say that 'cos you're in love with him!" She shouted as he moved farther away from her. It was true, but her claim was something she had not intended. He stopped and looked at her.

"Yeah... that's exactly right." He pointed up to his temple, indicating the temporal lobe, "You're not as stupid as we all thought." He loved Don; therefore, he cared more about his friend than he did himself. Lee felt genuine concern for the physical and mental health of Don. Many times had he found himself thinking about Don and wondering what could be done to help him, even when deep in a session or a gathering orgy.

These thoughts had not recently appeared though. Ever since Lee noticed the flux in Don's personality, he had wondered what caused it and what could be done to retrieve the previous state of normalcy. Everyday for years, Lee observed the retrograde and was continually grasping for answers as to why his friend was slipping away from him.

The black-haired eelnod knew that Mary was gone; she was not following him. She would venture to the gathering as predicted, as planned, just like every other day. This would be the first that Lee missed. Suddenly, the exhilaration of the group sex with his buddies was gone. In place was a barren desire for romance. He wanted to be with Don, badly.

He could easily go visit him, if the young, blond eelnod was still in his room. Lee wondered what Don would say or think when his friend showed up at his door to demand entry or Don to exit. Don would most likely refuse either, but Lee feared that he would be met with hostility. That expectancy caused fear.

The fear, frustration, and anxiety within him were making him physically ill. Lee could feel the weight of his thoughts causing stress, that stress straining his muscles. It was all the worrying over Don, he was worried sick. Love was sickening. Not once since he had understood that he was indeed in love with Don had he been content with their relationship. Don was continually evasive and occasionally would totally refuse or comply with Lee's love. The seemingly random actions both irritated and intrigued the older eelnod. He knew that his love would be the end of him, for it was currently ruining his mind.

It was ruining his mind, yes. If he somehow were to forget about Don, he could just go back to the gatherings and live like that for the rest of his life. In that case, the constant mood swings from Don would gradually fall from his concern and he would forget about Don altogether. Lee would be free of Don's absurd relationship and Lee could go back to his elation and group sex.

That was the problem, for before Lee had met Don, he had not been entirely happy. Eelnods are happy with their orgies, but Lee was not a typical eelnod. He had felt something missing all up until that fateful meeting after the session. Lee decided that his relationship with Don would be different that that of his with Rob's or whoever. It was inevitable different anyway, for Don was strange as well. He would not share himself like Rob or whoever, and Lee would not have it any other way.

Without Don, Lee's life would return to normalcy, but it would be bland again. A life without Don would be bearable, but would be boring. Even the mind-spinning antics of his actions and words were tolerable to Lee. He could not let Don go though. Lee needed romance in his life, and Don was the only eelnod he knew that would do that. He could not take Rob or Mark up to his room and hold them as he could Don. He could not kiss and touch them as he could Don. Neither of them would want it or enjoy it, and would probably find Lee awkward after something like that.

Don was messing up everything. Everyone knew it, and everyone wanted to help in his or her own, certain ways. However, they all were not motivated, for to them, the loss of Don would be nothing. To them, Don was just a misunderstood, mentally unstable abnormality.

But he did not care, because Don was perfect in his disillusioned eyes. Don had told him long ago that love was suicide, saying he had heard it from a song. And Lee knew it was true, in a sense. For a person who truly loved someone sacrificed part of his or her mentality for the other.

Don appeared, as if from magick, in front of Lee as he continued to walk along towards his room. Still outside, he had just passed the garden, walking in a direction not normally taken, when he saw his lovely Don exiting the closest building. Lee knew that the library was located within, and that Don had probably spent his day there. The coincidence was blinding, for he thought he was hallucinating.

"Don?" He stupidly asked. Don stopped in mid stride and turned to see the speaker, stumbling and dropping a succession of books, one falling from his grip after the other. Four in total. He stood, as if paralyzed, motionless as he gazed at his friend there.

"Hi." He replied after a few moments and knelt to gather the dropped items. Lee did not know what to say or what possibly to ask. Yes, he knew exactly what he wanted to say. Just the sight of Don's handsome face made him forget all about the worry and anxiety the young male had caused. He just wanted to be with him now; he wanted to put aside the other things on his agenda. But he did not know what he should say.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't beat the shit out of you." Don spat; Lee winced as if Don had beaten the shit out of him.

"Uh... I don't know-"

"Did you tell that fucking psychiatrist what I told you yesterday?"

"Uh! No, Don, I didn't tell him about any of that. I just told him about... I just said that I was really worried about you," he paused to give his friend time to absorb the statement. "And that he might be able to help."

"Lee, why did you tell him?"

"Don, I didn't know what to do. You got so pissed at me. I know that I overreacted and I'm really sorry." He approached his friend, and strangely, Don backed up a step as if prepared to flee. "I really am sorry, Don. You just scared me with what you said; I was so desperate to help you."

"Help me with what?"

"Don, you can't think that kind of shit and expect no one to be concerned."

"I can think whatever the fuck I want! You can't tell me what I can think and what I can't. That's ridiculous. You have no right to do that!" Then there was silence as Don and Lee stared at each other. Lee quickly pondered his rejoinder. What could he say to defend himself? Then he knew; he would blame that horrid fool Mary. Yes, it was all her fault, for she had suggested they snitch on him.

"It wasn't my idea to tell anyone, Don. I just wanna let you know that. I wanted to help you all by myself. No one is willing to understand you and help you except me."

"How'd he find out then?"

"Mary persuaded me too. She thinks that they can make you feel better by giving you medicine or-"

"You better not be lying to me Lee!" Don hissed as he stepped close to his friend. "Did Mary tell him or did you?" Lee was almost flabbergasted. Lee was almost afraid.

"I... we both did. But it wasn't my idea! I tried to talk her out of it!" Don scowled at him and moved past, walking towards the main building far off into the darkness.

"Is she in the lounge? At that fucking gathering?"

"Uh... I guess." He ran to catch up to his friend as he quickly walked along, "I got pissed at her and left the main office. Why? What are you gonna say to her?"

"You'll find out."

Lee followed his livid infatuation across the fields and along the concrete paths to the lounge. He could almost see the determination in his friend's aura, but then again, Lee could not read auras. He wondered if Don was going to make a big scene in the middle of the gathering and upset everyone. But then again, she had upset him and offended his personal solitude. God, Don is such a drama queen. The title caused Lee to smother a laugh. He would never say such a thing to his friend.

They came to the lounge, Don stopping at the steps to turn to Lee, "Hold these for a minute." He requested, forcing the books into Lee's arms. Don then scampered up the steps and burst through the doors. Lee glanced down to the tomes: a dictionary, a bible, and something on Greek mythology. He did not know what any of it was except for the dictionary. In addition, his lexicon was weak.

He moved up the steps, hoping that Don would not have been lost in the crowds at the gathering. As he entered the orgy, he instantly felt no arousal, all the essence of sex in the area falling around him with no particularly interesting aspect. He only cared about Don now. He glanced around to see anyone familiar. After catching a glimpse of certain eelnods, he saw one wearing clothes clamber up out of the embedded area. Mary was quick to follow.

"Why did you tell a psycho-therapist about me?" He demanded. Don did not need to shout, but he did so, for the audio volume of the room was sedated, most beings not speaking or making any loud sounds. He turned a few heads.

"Don, there is something wrong with you. You can't act like this all the time." She was right; there was something wrong with him. But he felt nothing wrong with clenching his fist and projecting it directly to her face. She fell with her nose damaged and bleeding. He caused a few surprised gasps and shouts. Lee gaped at him and ran over to stop Don as the youth leaned forward slapped Mary's face with his palm.

Rob and the other one, Don could not remember his name, quickly approached and tried to stop him. Don shouted in fury and swiped at them, landing his paws against both their faces. Another one of Lee's friends approached from behind and grabbed Don's shoulders. Don thrashed and shoved him off, tossing him into the pit.

The angry one turned to finish Mary off but black animals obscured his view. There stood three colfs, a kind of wolf, bipedal with small heads and lean physiques. The colfs were taller than eelnods, yet shorter than the average human was. They were always colored black or dark brown and they were very, very strong. Don stared ahead as everyone in the room viewed the skirmish come to its halt as the colf trio approached him.

Don knew that the colfs had strict moral principles regarding fisticuffs and gender, something they had chosen to borrow from the human's meaning of 'chivalry'. Don had violated many of their beliefs just now. One of the colfs then seized his shoulder.

"Let me go!" He said, reaching to push the colf away. These dark creatures, these particular three, were male. They were merely protecting Mary.

"You can't be goin' around doin' things like that, you know." He explained, and then offered him a similar attack as Don had given Mary. Don did not fall away; he stumbled backward. The colf had punched him sideways, hitting directly against his snout. The contact burned his sinuses and he was ready to look up and defend himself. A second colf approached and landed a kick into his gut.

This attack dropped him. Don made virtually no sound except a grunt when he had been hit, not even with the first punch or the ones that followed the kick while he lay there. Lee screamed for them to stop, dropping the books, and began attempting to pull the colfs away, trying to save Don's life. He knew they would not kill him. They simply wanted to give Mary justice... or vengeance.

Lee shouted several more times and pushed them some more, one of the colfs grabbing him and holding him stationary. Lee could not stop them, but someone else would. A human ran up to see what the trouble was and stared. The colfs returned his look. It was Ivan, the psychologist.

"That's enough, stop right now." He demanded. The initiator ceased the assault and stopped his second companion as well.

"What are ya doin'?" One of them asked. The first stared at Benefield.

"Would ya like to finish, huh?" Lee twisted his face, trying to get his captor to release him. The human shook his head and stepped near the colf.

"It is finished. Just get the hell away from him, now."

"You can't tell us not to punish him; he was beating on a girl."

"Yes I can. Get the hell out of here." He pointed towards the doors.

Then the three colfs walked off, moving along the wall to the doors and exiting, further into the building, not the exit Ivan had indicated. Lee glared at the crowd, no one was fornicating or sodomizing anymore. He heard Don groan and struggle to stand, but did nothing to help.

Ivan approached Don, who had sat up, and began examining his body for major injury. Lee turned around to look for Mary. She had congregated with her friends as they, too, examined her injury. The scene was bittersweet, but it flowed with much more negativity than that. He had always thought he would enjoy seeing Mary hurt like that, but Lee did not enjoy it at all. She had been attacked in rage and fury, from his love, Don. Don had almost been mauled in retaliation by a group of beings that had not even been involved. Lee had seen Don attack one of his friends as well, but this did not cause any grief with him. He would have stopped Don's attack if he had known beforehand, and he had tried to stop the pummeling that ensued after.

Don could not think clearly. He was not aware of where he was, nor did he care. He was not aware of who were touching him and asking him questions. He looked up to see Lee and that human, but past that, he could not determine the environs. He stared at Lee, his green eyes aligned between two giant ears sticking out of a mess of long, black hair. Next, he looked to Ivan, another dark haired human; this animal had blue eyes, the same white outfit.

Lee and Ivan got the young eelnod to stand and mutually managed to move him out of the lounge and into the cold night. Don became aware of life again; he remembered what he had done and what he had been thinking only moments before. He wanted to show Mary for the last time that she could not throw herself onto other people with no regard for their feelings, that she did know what was best for everyone.

They stood there momentarily as Lee considered the options. Of the many, there was only one that both of them would prefer.

"You think you can walk to your room?" He asked of his friend. Don groaned again, and then spat out a glob of blood to the ground.

"Yeah." So they moved, along the path, across the field to shorten the trip, up some steps the living building and through the door. Here they faced more stairs, and Lee knelt to scoop Don up into both arms. He could carry the weight easily for the short duration and he was more than willing to carry him all the way. He did that. Lee carried Don up the stairs and through the hall to his room. The door was ajar.

"Dude! Someone trashed your room! It was probably those damn colfs." Lee babbled as he pushed it open with a foot. He stepped over more books and laid Don onto his bed. Ivan stood close by, having followed them, and put Don's texts on the floor. "Them colfs sure are nice sex partners, but damn they are tempermental."

"Should I leave?" The human wondered. Lee peered at him and sighed.

"Yeah, there's nothing... I don't think there's anything you could do."

Don looked at them wearily. Although he was completely conscious, he wished he were not. He truly was not in a lot of pain. His nose was possibly broken. He was bruised in several places, and, fortunately, had not suffered any fractures. Ivan then left, saying goodbye to each of them and closing the door. Lee fixed his eyes onto Don. Don could see clearly, his eyes having not been damaged in the attacks.

Lee sat down next to him and took his hands into his own. Don then sat up and wrapped both arms around his friend. Lee smiled and hugged him affectionately. He could feel the labored breathing of Don and could almost hear his pulse from the carotid, his ear pressed against Don's neck. Don gripped tightly and reached his hand to stroke Lee's long hair.

"I'm sorry Lee." He said finally. The words did not mean anything to Lee, however. Don had been forgiven long ago, not only forgiven, but his actions had been discarded and forgotten. A strange sensation welled inside the younger one then. He could feel a pressure build in his tear ducts and the sinuses around them. It was almost like the urge to vomit, for his gut slightly heaved and he lost all energy, completely falling into Lee's arms. He began to weep.

Lee had experienced this before, holding one of his bawling friends in his arms, all trying to comfort. However, this was his first time with Don, and it made him uneasy to hear Don cry like that, gasping for breath as if it would not come into his lungs. It scared him; he did not like seeing a breakdown. Lee held tightly, wanting to show Don that he was safe and that nothing would interfere with him now. He wanted to protect his friend, guard him from those negative emotions and seal them from ever reentering Don's mind. The fit did not last long, however. Soon, Don was cried out, all his tears cleansing him of the baneful chemicals, the liquid absorbing into his or Lee's fur.

Don let go and leaned back to gaze into Lee's eyes. Lee smiled warmly and moved a paw up to caress Don's face. The older one nudged of his legs around Don's and rubbed a foot against his. Don wondered if Lee's love was genuine. The concept of Lee being 'in love' had risen many times before, Lee actually confessing it. But Don was never sure if it were really love of just a crush of some sort. He could not let his feelings push aside his logic, yet many times he had wanted to forget about his apprehension and accept Lee's love fully. Nevertheless, it would not happen.

As he looked upon his friend's face, he smiled and leaned in to nuzzle him. Lee sighed and nuzzled back, rubbing his snout alongside Don's. Don, surprisingly, then kissed him, pressing his lips to Lee's and pushing. After some pecking, they felt each other's tongues, both being pleased by it. Lee could not be certain of why Don was acting so. It could be that Don finally accepted his love and was giving it to him. It might be a concussion, however. He did not care; he only wanted Don to be happy, and if making out with him was happiness, then so be it.

After the kiss, more nuzzling commenced, then dual yawning. They both lay down on the bed, juxtaposed and half embracing.

"I don't want to leave you tonight, Don. I don't want you to be by yourself." Don smiled at him reached down, stretching a sore limb to grasp his thick comforter. Lee grinned as Don pulled up it, both of them adjusting it, and tucked each other in.

"Goodnight." Both spoke.

...to be concluded...