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RaP - Part 3

Just Keep Going

(Jason's POV)

The bus finally pulled into the dimly lit parking lot of West as we returned home. Most of the team had fallen asleep, including Kyle luckily. Nothing against the guy I mean we're good friends but I just really wanted time to myself, my head had been glued to the bus window on the way home thinking about all kinds of things. I thought about scoring the first touchdown of the year, it may have been a fluke but still it was a touchdown. Also I thought about school starting in the next two weeks. However the majority of my haze of thoughts were those of Robert and I.

I kept stealing a glance at the back of his head as he slept on the bus ride home and thought about our relationship. He had actually said something to me tonight and that felt wonderful but we were still distant. I know that if I keep worrying about this I will make myself sick so I shook myself free of the thoughts. The coach had awoken everybody from their slumber as we pulled in and everyone got off the bus. I made my way over to my car and placed my bag inside once I had unlocked it. Robert walked up to his car which I had parked next to and barely even noticed my existence.

"Hey Rob, you want to go to Sonic or something?" I asked hopefully, going to late night Sonic with our teammates and other footballers from local schools had become pretty much a tradition for us. He looked over and just shook his head "nah man, maybe some other time" he said as I nodded. "Okay, then I guess I will see you Monday?" I said as he stepped into his car. He rolled down the window when it started and responded "yeah, Monday" and pulled away without another word, he looked lost in a depressed thought which had become his normal look now.

I then got in my car but seemed to be frozen in place with my key in the ignition. I sighed deeply and ran my paws across my face in frustration, I don't believe we had fallen out like this. I mean honestly, he was just like a brother to me and to lose his friendship really hurt, but you know it's not the end of the world I guess. I tried to tell myself this and put on a false bravery as I slipped out of West's parking lot and headed home, however it still hurt nonetheless and I know for a fact I am not fooling myself by saying it's alright.

I got home a short while later, my parents had the light on for whenever I decided to come home. Luckily I had their trust and had no curfew as long as I promised to be safe, careful, yada yada yada... I unlocked the door and slipped inside hearing my parents fighting... again. My dad had quit smoking two years earlier, I had never been so proud to call him my father at the time. However I guess with his lack of nicotine death sticks he turned over to alcohol. Now almost every night he would get on a rampage just short of flat out hammered. He never was completely wasted however he was still an asshole when he drank.

They were yelling over something as I just shook my head as I walked by and went to the fridge and got a can of mountain dew. I heard their door open at the noise of me walking through the house admitting my red furred husky father. He had an empty can of beer in his paw as he came into the kitchen and tossed it into the recycle bin. I had just sat on the counter and started drinking the soda trying to stay out of his way however his anger found an easy target as he honed in on me. "The hell are you doin' home?" he asked sort of annoyed. "I don't know I just wanted to come home" I shrugged setting my can down next to me.

He just rolled his eyes "you better fucking call next time I thought you were some fucking burglar" he steamed as he stomped back off towards their bedroom. I just shook my head again, that man was not my father under the influence of alcohol, also if you couldn't tell he drops the f-bomb numerous times while intoxicated. However it's just something you have to take and move on sort of like me and Robert but honestly I didn't have any amount of care at this point. I was so emotionally drained from my constant struggle in my mind along with football which wore me out physically most of the time.

I went into my room and grabbed my laptop to switch it on. I sat down on my bed and got under the sheet as my house felt like the arctic tundra. Speaking of my mom she walked into the room and asked "are you ok honey?" typical mom question but I still appreciate it. I just nodded as she smiled and kissed my cheek "nice touchdown my football star" she joked as she left the room. She still considered me her "little boy" cherishing all of the time we had left since I would be going to college in a year. "It was just a fluke" I called after her, I am not really that good at football, I am good at hockey though.

That is something else I didn't understand where my hockey ability had come from, everybody said I was so incredible but I didn't think so. Honestly I just have a huge passion for the sport but I guess since I had played all of my life and most furs around here had picked it up for the first time in their lives two years earlier when it came out had something to do with it. I honestly don't care as long as I got to play. My laptop sprang to life and I logged onto my Pawbook account. Most of my friend's statuses greeted me as I scrolled down through the pictures of the typical girls posting a new picture of themselves once a day. As if we don't know how you look already I mean come on!

Anyway I kept scrolling until I found a post from Robert, my curiosity was peaked, it read: "So lost... sometimes life just sucks". This made me feel awful, I really wish I could help him but he honestly was having nothing to do with me lately. A couple of our friends told him it would be alright and they were there, he had thanked them in return. I thought about posting but it would probably do no good for our situation. I was so incredibly frustrated, having my best and quite handsome friend having nothing to with me.

I just let out a frustrated groan as I shut down my computer and laid it beside my bed. I shut the light off and grabbed my iPawed touch and put in my ear buds. They were especially made for canines with the genetically incredible hearing we have, the sound is filtered to sound a lot quieter than normal ear buds so as to not damage our eardrums. I switched on one of my favorite songs to listen to when life sort of, well as Robert put it sucks.

(Quick A/N: Throughout my series I will be putting links to Youtube videos for a visual or audial view in on the story. Such as a song, or a play in a sport stuff like that to help form the image in your head that much more or get the feel of the scene. It is only recommended you watch them but not required I think and hope it will do a lot to enhance the story a little bit. Listen to the song while reading or just watch it all the way through before resuming or not at all, whatever you please =) All of the rights to the video go to the creator as no videos made by myself will be posted)

It was Lullaby by Nickelback I know Nickelback is a very touchy band for most people. Half of the nation seemed to hate them, the other like or tolerate them, it confused me but still the song just helps me relax either way and the meanings are so true. I was luckily able to just relax and try to shelter myself from the chill in the house with a blanket. My fur coat I definitely got from my father who was also cold all of the time. After the song I listened to a couple more before I began to doze off. I switched of my Ipawed and set it on my bedside table. I then fell into a deep dreamless slumber.

The next day I woke up around 9 o'clock, one of the absolute earliest times I have awoken in forever. Anyway I saw my dad in the living room recliner eating toast and watching television. He turned around as he heard me emerge and greeted me warmly. He has no recollection at all of times when he's intoxicated so he has no clue at what a douche he normally is. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a mountain dew, I don't know how I would live without the stuff, that and sweet tea.

(A/N: Yeah, I'm from the south heh, and if you've never had proper sweet tea then you're living a life unfulfilled, it is like a drug to me, I'd choose it over any type of beverage alcoholic or non any day)

I returned to my room and flipped on the television, I flipped through channel after channel looking for something to watch. News, nothing but bad; weather, boring; infomercials, stuff doesn't work; cartoons, stupid nowadays unlike the old ones in the 90's. I did this little channel flipping series of me turning down every show one reason or another until finally I had re-reached where I had started from. I let out a frustrated groan again and switched the television off, normally me and Robert would be spending time together like we had all summer at a time like this. I spent most of the rest of the day just on my laptop flipping through random things bored out of my mind.

Finally around 4 p.m. I was fed up with having nothing to do so I went outside and set up my shooting mat I had gotten a few Christmases ago, it was made to simulate the fake ice we used for hockey. I set it down about thirty feet away from the goal I had in the yard and retrieved my dozen beat up pucks I had been using forever. It was so easy just to take all of your frustration out while shooting hockey pucks, I sailed one after the other into the little pocket of net in the corner I had marked off for target practice. After close to an hour in the August heat I was panting furiously and sweating as my body tried to cool itself off, normally canines don't sweat unless pushed incredibly hard or if we're extremely hot.

I hadn't really noticed how hard I had pushed myself allowing all my emotional troubles out shooting pucks. I put the board away with all of the pucks and headed inside. As I opened the door the blast of cool air hit me like a sack of bricks, I thought my beads of sweat were going to freeze right on me then and there. However I couldn't complain it felt heavenly as I headed into the kitchen. I got a cup and filled it with some water which I guzzled down as I caught my breath. My dad was still watching television as he used Saturday as a relaxation day for working ten hours a day for five straight days. My mom was nowhere to be found though, which was weird.

I grabbed a pair of boxers and a shirt from my room and told my dad I was taking a shower if he needed me. I got an uninterested "Ok" from him as he was captivated with a good looking fox on television making some type of pasta dish, he loved the food channel as he loved to cook. I closed the door and looked at myself in the mirror, the bags under my eyes had gotten more and more visible with my lack of restful sleep lately. I looked on my muzzle and saw an ingrown fur, the bane of every young adult furs existence.

*(A/N: Closest thing to human acne I could think of, hope it fits) *

I got the tweezers from the drawer and plucked the darn thing, they always hurt no matter how small. I squeezed the area ridding it of whatever until nothing but blood flowed out, I dabbed it with a shred of paper towel before turning on the water in the shower. I let it warm up to the perfect temperature and stepped inside. I don't know what it is about a nice warm shower after hard physical activity but it is heavenly, I just let the water flow over my body hoping all my trouble would just wash away. After my shower I stepped out as my mom returned from wherever with a big Bojangle's box for dinner I guessed.

(Another quick A/N: Bojangles is a restaurant just like KFC only better in my opinion, I don't know if it is everywhere in the country I think it may only be native in the South, not sure just wanted to clear it up for those who don't know)

It had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and half of a gallon of sweet tea. Typical southern dinner, but boy is it good. We all went our separate ways into our rooms as the dining room was too packed with paperwork to eat at the table. The rest of the night I spent just browsing on my laptop, truthfully my life had become dull lately, hopefully I could win Robert back, somehow.

The next week passed by relatively slowly, coach chewed us up and spat us right back out on Monday for such a pitiful performance at Chase and then physically demolished us. I had never been so exhausted from anything in my life. The rest of the week practice wasn't as rough and we worked a lot harder on offense to try and complete passes. Gary threw a couple of real beauties but he was so inconsistent it didn't really matter since coach wanted to mainly run the ball.

Finally Friday arrived once again as did the beginning of the season, preseason was only one scrimmage game to give all of the teams ideas on what they need to work on. Tonight we faced the dreaded Tuscola Mountaineers. Now every high school in The United States surely has some school nearby who dominates everything athletically that they do, to us that was Tuscola. They had huge players and were always in the playoffs come football time. They also had a safety by the name of Parker Cage.

The badger was the definition of a prick honestly, I'm sorry but he is. He is ranked number one in the state when it comes to hockey, he is from Canada and he is pretty good. I was apparently ranked second in state, I didn't really follow it since I didn't care how I played as long as I played and there was a big "battle" for number one between the two of us to the public. He really hammered me the last two years about being the best and he took the number one spot to heart.

Honestly, I really didn't care, he took this way too seriously but he was a class A douche bag, a rich snobby douche bag. I was not looking forward to tonight as the game was at Tuscola and no local high school team had scored a touchdown against them at home in two years. I didn't care if we won or lost, just playing football was fun and it kept my father sober since alcohol wasn't allowed on school grounds.

After our typical family breakfast I returned home and got all of my stuff ready I would need for the game tonight. Jockstrap, shirt, socks... I checked them off one by one in my head until I made sure I had everything. I poked my head into my parents room and bid them a farewell. My dad said "good luck" and my mom just got up and kissed me as she always did. She looked awfully tired though, I asked her if she was alright and she just nodded as she returned to the bed. I went out the door and got into my car, cranking the a/c up to full blast to destroy the wall of 100 degree heat built up from it sitting in the late morning sun.

I headed off for school. I arrived and got onto our bus which had a large group of riled up furs on it. As I headed down the aisle I saw Robert who was grinning from ear to ear talking with Cody over something. He saw me pass but for the first time his smile didn't disappear, it was kept firmly plastered on his face as he nodded a typical "sup" to me. I returned the greeting and sat down next to Coleman who had his phone out rapidly searching something.

"Hey man" the arctic fox said as I sat down next to him. "What's up?" I asked in return setting my duffel on the shelf above our heads. "I downloaded iDraw last night and drew all of our routes on it" he said proudly as he showed me all of his routes and mine even. "Impressive" I said as the coach boarded and made sure all of the team was accounted for. We then headed off for Tuscola.

The coach was nervous as he made the pregame speech to us as we had retreated into the locker room after warm-ups. He told us to stay focused and don't let them intimidate us at all. Then Robert, myself, Gary, and Cory walked out for the traditional coin toss. As we crossed the field to meet them I saw just how much bigger they were than us. Their polar bear captain whoever he was, was bigger than Robert. Across from me of course it had to be Parker who had been named a captain I guess since he had been on the team all four years. We met and Gary called tails as the coin landed on heads and Tuscola said they would receive first.

We shook hands, Parker had that same cocky smile to him as we shook and retreated to our teams. Tuscola burst through their banner as the home crowd which was absolutely packed exploded in screams and cheers. I flattened my ears a bit, they were incredibly loud and it hurt my ears. I scanned up the away bleachers and saw my parents about halfway up on the 50 yard line. After the anthem our kickoff unit lined up and at the blow of the whistle Seth sent the ball flying down the field as the game began.

I was covered in grass stains by halftime, even though I had yet to have a pass thrown to me Parker had taken every chance to tackle me after the play that he could. Anyway our defense had gotten rocked by their incredible offense as we were down 24-0. Coach just told us just fight through the pain and keep pushing until the final whistle. We re-emerged from the locker rooms and took our place back at our bench after a quick pushup/knee high warmup. Our return unit got set as their Kangaroo kicker sent the ball flying out of play behind our endzone for a touchback. The guy could kick. I went out to the huddle as Gary once again called a run play and I lined up. We quickly went three and out as their defense had been expecting a run since we had not passed once all night.

The 3rd and half of the 4th quarter flew by with them scoring twenty more points to now lead 44-0. Not bad, I mean they had beaten their preseason team by around 60 points so I guess not a bad showing. Coach was expecting this and honestly didn't care how the game went at this point with only 3:04 showing on the score clock. He told Gary try some passes for some in game practice since this was a guaranteed loss. So as we lined up on the twenty yard line since once again the roo had sent the ball flying through the back of the endzone.

Gary called for Coleman to run a split slant with me and Gatlin to see which of the three of us he could find open. We lined up and I was excited to have a chance to finally see some action. The ball was hiked and right before I took off I saw Robert plow over the defensive lineman he was up against.

I was grinning as I slanted across towards where Coleman and Gatlin were coming from. The safety on the side I was running to immediately went to cover me along with the back. However I guess due to Parker's overwhelming sense to beat me he too came over trying to guard me as well leaving Coleman wide open as Gatlin was guarded by the only other free man.

Gary soared the ball right for Coleman who caught it and made it an incredible 47 yards before being brought down on Tuscola's 33 yard line. Our side cheered as I went over and helped the tackled fox up, he just patted my helmet. The next play we tried something similar and once again I was triple covered thanks to Parker's grudge and Gary sent the ball flying towards Coleman. Sadly the ball was way underthrown and Coleman couldn't reach it but was still wide open. In the huddle, Gatlin said something about me being open this time to Gary who told me just to head for the endzone and we'll see how it develops.

I was itching with excitement now as I looked over at Parker who was angry, probably got chewed out by his teammates. I waited with my heartbeat pounding in my head as I chewed on my mouthguard and watched Marshall's hoof waiting for the snap. Hike! I took off like a bullet, Gatlin to my left, Coleman on the other side of the field. The other safety I guess got fed up with Parker's obsession so he went over towards Coleman to block him as I ran past him. However the jackal soon realized his mistake as he saw Gary's eyes locked on mine as he stepped back in the pocket.

The jackal tried to recover but I had turned on the jets as hard as I could by this point leaving him two steps behind. The endzone got closer and closer as I eyed Parker down who was sort of standing still in the endzone waiting for me to make a move. At the 5 yard line I turned and saw the ball about a second away from right in my hands, Gary threw a perfect pass. I caught the ball and started walking backwards before Parker slammed me to the ground with all the force he could for revenge I guess just a few yards short of the endzone.

However I didn't care we were in scoring position on the team who had shutout everyone else for the past two years. I looked back at Parker who was sitting on the ground glaring at me as I tossed the ball to the ref. I was grinning from ear to ear as all of my teammates slapped my helmet in my butt in football fashion. Rob even came up to me and sort of bear hug strangled me in celebration. It was small but enjoyed. Gary was giddy with excitement at this point as he called for me and Gatlin to run towards the edge of the endzone and to send a floater to Gatlin with me blocking. We broke and lined up with me and Gatlin on the left side of the field. I waited with excitement as Parker lined up across from me fuming over the coach's rampage I just saw him endure as he eyed me with hate.

Man this guy has issues.

I saw Marshall's hand snap and the ball go right into Gary's hands. I ran towards the endzone with Gatlin. Parker and the jackal were right on us however I kept my body between them and Gatlin. Soon Parker just kind of disappeared and all I was left with was the jackal whose eyes I saw watch the ball as it soared through the air. I looked back to see the ball soar too far and Gatlin dive to try and reach it but couldn't. The ref signaled incomplete as I lent Gatlin a paw to help him up. "Damn that was close" Gatlin said as he got back to his feet. I nodded right as I heard a voice that sounded like Robert shout "Jason heads up!"... Bam!

(We're going to switch to Robert's POV here since I don't think Jason can give a good enough description of what's going to happen)

I was lined up with Marshall to my left ball who had the ball in his hand as I looked the ram across from me on the defensive line ready to stop any sort of run play. The ball was hiked and I kept the ram and the antelope next to him at bay while they tried to access Gary. I saw the ball fly right over my head out of the corner of my eye and stopped to watch what happened. The ball was headed towards Gatlin who hit open field since Jason had blocked both safeties. The badger tripped over his own player's leg and fell back behind the endzone. The ball sadly flew over Gatlin's head as it was overthrown and bounced out of bounds.

Gatlin got up and said something about the play, I'm guessing, to Jason who helped him up from where he had fallen trying to catch the ball. I saw the badger who was fuming now charge right at Jason and Gatlin. Jason had his head turned talking to the otter and never saw him coming. "Jason heads up!" I shouted as the badger crashed helmet to helmet sending Jason flying to the ground blindsiding him. He fell right onto Gatlin's leg who cried out in pain as the three tumbled to the ground. Have you ever seen a bear in a rage? Hopefully you never will so you don't shit your pants like that badger did as I charged over towards him, I was royally pissed to put it into words.

Marshall and a referee held me back, none of the officials saw it "conveniently" but our crowd and bench did as they were up in pure protest. I stopped going after that douche bag and focused on Jason who was lying on top of Gatlin who had a pained expression on his face. Jason was slowly lifted off of the otter as he was placed on the ground next to Gatlin by the ref. Jason wasn't really moving too much while Gatlin was holding his ankle writhing in pain as the coaches and trainers got out to the two. They were surrounded before I could get close to Jason who I could catch glimpses of here and there.

Finally I just pushed my way through as Gatlin was being helped off the field to the applause from both sides. Jason had his head slightly lifted and was responding to coach Whit as he asked him something. Finally after about three minutes coach Whit and Gerard helped Jason up and pretty much carried him off the field. I felt a sickening feeling in the bottom of my stomach as I watched my former friend taken off the field. No, would I be concerned if I didn't like him, hell no! He's my friend, no he's my mate damn it! I looked at him one last time and an overwhelming since of anger flooded me as we rehuddled.

"Gary, run play... Cory right behind me man" I said as Gary looked at me questioningly. "Trust me" I said as he nodded and we broke. I saw the badger with a triumphant smirk on his face which just enraged me even more, I was at near bursting point as the ball was snapped. I tore through the ram who I sent flying to the side. A lion tried to stop me also but he was little trouble as I shoved him aside. Then I saw that damn badger blocking mine and Cory's way into the endzone as I heard pawfalls coming closer. I put every ounce of frustration, emotion, and anger I had pent up from the past two weeks into my movement as I slammed the asshole to the dirt.

350 pounds of bear slammed the pathetic badger into the dirt as I heard the away stands roar and saw Cory step into the endzone scoring the first touchdown on them in two years. The badger was out of breath and in pain as I stepped off of him and said to him in his face "payback", he wasn't hurt just shook up. We returned to the bench after the extra point, but Jason was nowhere to be found. I was ready to go to the locker rooms and see how his condition was. The seconds ticked to zero and I was the first in the hand shake line as I hurried across.

As I got done I headed for the room, the more I thought about it, the more I know for a fact I love that wolf dog. I'm just praying that he can forgive me for making the biggest mistake of my life.