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"description": "[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421506]Chapter 1[/url]\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421512]Chapter 2[/url]\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421513]Chapter 3[/url]\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421515]Chapter 4[/url]\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421518]Chapter 5[/url]\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3421520]Chapter 6[/url]\n\nI wanted to write something very different from my first story, and this is the idea that popped into my head. I don’t know the “proper” way to write, I just think of an idea and write shit off the cuff as I think of it.\nI enjoyed writing this one, even if the ending may feel rushed. I’d thought of a different ending at first, but I personally like how this one turned out.\nMy girlfriend of 10 years broke up with me half way through this one, I hope there’s no noticeable shift in style from that. I tried not to let it change anything.\nThis is only my second time writing, and I’ve found that it’s something I really love. It’s quickly become my happy place, just writing for me, the stories that I would want to read. It’s still nice to share them here, too. I hope you enjoy them.\nEvery favorite watch and comment genuinely means the world to me, seeing people like something that I made. It’s a special feeling.\nCharlie will be back as a character in the future. He didn’t exist before I started writing this one, but I love him now :3",
"description_bbcode_parsed": "Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
I wanted to write something very different from my first story, and this is the idea that popped into my head. I don’t know the “proper” way to write, I just think of an idea and write shit off the cuff as I think of it.
I enjoyed writing this one, even if the ending may feel rushed. I’d thought of a different ending at first, but I personally like how this one turned out.
My girlfriend of 10 years broke up with me half way through this one, I hope there’s no noticeable shift in style from that. I tried not to let it change anything.
This is only my second time writing, and I’ve found that it’s something I really love. It’s quickly become my happy place, just writing for me, the stories that I would want to read. It’s still nice to share them here, too. I hope you enjoy them.
Every favorite watch and comment genuinely means the world to me, seeing people like something that I made. It’s a special feeling.
Charlie will be back as a character in the future. He didn’t exist before I started writing this one, but I love him now :3",
"writing": "This story contains depictions of non sexual child abuse, both verbal and physical. It contains scenes of homophobia, and a scene of homophobic violence. This story deals with mental health issues including depression, anxiety, and ADHD along with the guilt that comes attached with them. It will be tagged accordingly, please use your blacklist if you cannot handle these themes.\n\nm/m, teen(14/15), oral sex, awkward, shy, first time, romance, gratuitous blushing and crying\n\nPlease read the description for separate chapter uploads if you don't want to/can't read a ~30000 word story all at once. All chapters will be rated and tagged the same, and have the same warning at the start.\n\nCharlie\n\nDexter was a shy little gray squirrel, and little he was. Having just turned 14 two weeks earlier, he stood at a meager 4 feet 6 inches tall. Feeling anxious as he slowly sat up in bed, dark green eyes adjusting to the small amount of light creeping through his bedroom window, his mind started to race. Today was the first day of high school, and the slightly chubby squirrel was not looking forward to officially being a freshman and having to deal with yet another year of being the choice target for all of the local bullies. He stood, wiping the sleepy crust from his eyes and walked over to the beat up old dresser in the corner of his still mostly dark room. Feeling around through all the junk he'd filled his top drawer with until he felt the handle to his heavily mangled brush, he began to run it through his long gray hair to attempt to remove all of the small knots and tangles that formed as he rolled around nervously in his sleep every night.\n\nCarelessly tossing the now thoroughly hair filled brush back into his junk drawer, the boy padded across the room to flick on the light. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, wearing nothing but an old stretched out pair of bright red boxer briefs, he noticed his belly and sighed to himself sadly. ``Thanks for giving me the fat genes and not the sick facial hair genes, dad. Ugh'' He thought to himself. Puberty had hit the boy in a very frustrating way for him, giving him the awkward random erections and slight weight gain, but not yet giving him the height, facial hair, or deeper voice he desperately hoped for. The poor boy was often mistaken for a girl from behind with his curves and long hair, his voice not helping matters much when trying to correct people, often leading to more ridicule from his classmates. \n\nBlindly pulling on an over sized black tee-shirt from the basket of clean clothes on the floor he'd yet to find the time to fold and put away, he yawned and leaned over to pick his shorts up off the floor. Sliding them up his legs as he hobbles towards the door, almost tripping, he steps out of his bedroom and into the bathroom directly across from it. After relieving the pressure in his bladder, Dexter leaned over the sink to wash his hands and examine his face in the mirror. Lightly slapping at his cheeks splashing them with cold water in an attempt to wake himself up, he groans at the dark bags under his eyes. He'd always suffered from nightmares since he was little, and it made sleep an endless struggle for him. Adding on to that struggle was the anxiety from the last week after realizing school was starting up again. Summer never lasted long enough, as much as the tiny squirrel boy struggled with the heat.\n\nWiping his still damp hands off on his shirt, Dexter exits the bathroom and rounds the hallway corner into the living room spotting the top of his fathers head peeking up over the couch as he's watching the local news for the weather report. 100 degrees today, 96 tomorrow, 102 on Friday. ``Fucking hell,'' Dexter quietly exclaims, making his father jump at the unexpected voice behind him. ``I know they start school on Wednesday so we start with a short week, but couldn't they at least let school start in cooler weather? This week is going to be a nightmare...'' he huffs dejectedly. ``Jesus, Dex.'' the man said, quickly reaching for the napkin next to him to dab at the coffee he'd spilled in his lap from his son's surprise appearance behind him. ``How the hell do you move so quietly, kid? Haha. I know you struggle with the heat like me, but your classes should at least have air conditioning,'' he said sympathetically. ``Also don't let your mother hear you talking like that. I'd prefer she not find out letting you swear around me was part of your birthday present. Just pretend I'm a responsible parent and still wash your mouth out for it or something,'' he added quietly. \n\nDexter couldn't help but chuckle at that. He was 14 now, and his father had never really had an issue with the boy swearing, but his mother was quite the opposite. Dexter was her darling little baby boy, teenager or not, and she couldn't help but gasp in shock whenever she heard anything even resembling a bad word leave the kid's mouth. His size certainly didn't help his case in her eyes, still often treating him as if he was 10 or 11. Just last week at dinner she'd given him quite the scolding when he exclaimed ``shit!'' after the bottom of his greasy box of fries gave out and spilled all over his lap. He didn't know a gray squirrel could turn so red until he'd seen how hard his cheeks were burning in embarrassment in the mirror as he tried to calm down in the bathroom.\n\nHearing a sizzle from the kitchen, Dexter made his way across the living room to peek his head in and see his mom standing over the stove carefully laying thick, fatty slices of bacon into a large frying pan. The strong, delicious stench of salty, savory, smokey meat filled the house as the boy's mouth watered relentlessly. ``Morning, mom.'' He said groggily as he walked up next to her to give her a quick side hug to stay out of her way as she made everybody breakfast. Briefly leaning into his hug, unable to take her raw pork covered hands away from their current task, she responds. ``Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? Big day today. Oh, I'm so nervous, Dexter. High school is a big deal. My little boy's a freshman already. I can't believe it...'' She sniffled a little, seemingly trying to hold back tears.\n\nDexter most certainly loved his parents, and he knew his mother meant well, but she was most definitely far too overbearing sometimes to an utterly embarrassing degree. Slowly shuffling his feet towards the sink, the boy grabs a glass out of the cupboard and holds his hand under the running faucet waiting for the water to feel sufficiently cold. Taking three large, desperate gulps from his cup as water sloppily drips down the sides of his mouth and onto his shirt, Dexter sighs in satisfaction having relieved his dry morning mouth. ``I'm ok, mom. A little nervous, but no worse than any other first day. I don't remember waking up at all last night but I definitely don't feel like I got much sleep. I'm sure I'll be f-fine...'' he doubted himself at the end of that sentence, his nervous stutter briefly making an appearance. ``I'm 14 now, mom. I?m sure I can handle it. It-it's just school. I've made it through every other year so far.'' Hearing a sigh from his mother over the renewed sizzle as she flipped the bacon, he noticed her shoulders slump down a little. He thought she was about to start crying again, as was practically tradition on big days like this every year, but she held firm and picked her shoulders up again after a huff. \n\nDexter decided to be helpful and set the table for breakfast while his mom fished the finished bacon out of the pan and started to scramble a few eggs. ``Plates, forks, napkins, butter dish, butter knife, orange juice jug...'' he whispered to himself as he went over his mental checklist of breakfast necessities. Stomach growling, he took a quick peek into the kitchen again just in time to see his mother sliding the eggs out into a small serving dish. ``Come eat, boys.'' \n\nDexter is already in his chair as his father rounds the corner into the dining area while his mother sets the dish of fluffy, cheesy scrambled eggs down in the middle of the old, beat up kitchen table. ``Four bacon each, the rest is for my sandwich later,'' she states as she plops down a decent serving spoon full of eggs onto her plate with a freshly buttered slice of toast. Despite what his slight pudge would tell you, Dexter didn't really eat all that much. Certainly enough to be full and healthy, but he didn't think he ate enough to justify his ever growing stomach that so poorly effected his mental state. \n\nPicking at his small pile of eggs while chewing up the last bite of his bacon, Dexter snuck a quick peek at the clock on the microwave. ``Oh, fuck.'' he thought to himself, heart rate rapidly increasing as his anxiety kicked up realizing he only had 10 minutes before he had to leave for his new school year. Rapidly shaking his leg in his seat, hands clasped together in a ball nervously twiddling his thumbs, Dexter looked down at nothing in particular and zoned out trying to control his breathing before his mom could notice the panic in his eyes. He seemed to be successful, as she stood up and took all of the now empty plates to the kitchen sink. Taking one last deep breath before standing up, the boy tried to tell himself it would be ok. That everything would be just fine. That this year wouldn't be like every other year. He wasn't very convincing.\n\nQuickly running back to his room to double check he had everything he needed in his backpack already, Dexter grabbed his phone and unlocked the screen for a moment. ``No notifications, of course. Why would there be. They don't care.'' His hopes crushed after seeing none of his small circle of internet friends had messaged him, his already anxious and sad brain conveniently making him forget they were all in different time zones around the world and busy with their own school and work or sleep. Slipping the phone in his pocket, he slings the one intact strap of his backpack over one shoulder and dejectedly walks out to his mom's running car waiting in the driveway. Wiping his face with his shirt to remove the slight traces of tears he felt welling up in his eyes before his mom could baby him any further, Dexter plopped down in the back seat of his mothers car. He wasn't allowed to sit in the front seat despite his age, his mother refusing to let him due to his height still resembling a child several years younger. He was always embarrassed showing up to school in the back seat when all the other kids got to sit in the front.\n\nCity blocks zooming by as he dissociated staring out the window, the boy no longer felt real. Feeling as though he was dreaming, or watching the world through a strangers eyes, he tried and failed to calm his mind as his mother's car pulled into the school drop off zone. After a few seconds of silence, his mother spoke. ``Dexter? We're here, sweetie. It's time to go now, okay? You're going to-'' he turned to face his mother, not quite able to process what he was hearing, a blank and glassy expression in his eyes that she recognized all too well. ``Oh, no...come here baby.'' She leaned over the center console to hug the boy as he leaned forward into her, and offer what little reassurance she knew she was able to. She knew he was nervous about high school, but seeing that dead look in his eyes she knew he wasn't fully there right now. That look always killed her more than anything, even more than the crying she'd hear through the walls so often at night as he struggled to sleep. She felt him start to shake in her arms, and heard him sniffle as he could no longer hold back his building fear and sadness. Gently petting him reassuringly, she lays a kiss on top of his head and starts tearing up herself at the anguish her son is feeling. ``You're going to be okay, Dex. I promise. I know how scary high school is, I know how overwhelming and intimidating everything is, I do. It was a struggle for me, it was a struggle for your father, but we got through it. I promise you'll get through it too.'' \n\nDexter could feel his mothers tears soaking through his hair as he tried not to have a full breakdown in the back seat of her car in the school parking lot. Shaking as reality started to come back to him, the haze in his eyes began to clear slightly as he absorbed his mothers words. She wasn't talking to him as a baby right now, she was talking to him as a son. A son who she saw in pain and struggling in a way she couldn't imagine, a way she so desperately wished he would speak about. He didn't like to talk about his problems with his parents, as much as he loved them and needed help with everything. He didn't like the way he was constantly babied by the woman he knew only wanted what was best for him. Taking a deep breath, he opens his mouth to speak. ``I-I'm sorry mom. I know,'' he stops to sniffle again as he pointlessly tries to wipe the still flowing tears from his eyes. ``I know you want to help. I?m sorry I don't talk about it. I n-need to work on s-some things, I know. I?m sorry. I?m sorry.'' he sniffles again, his mothers reassuring head petting starting to work as his pounding heart slows and the streams gushing from his eyes turn to slow drips. He feels another light kiss on top of his slightly damp head where his mom's tears had been landing.\n\nGently pulling away from the woman comforting him, Dexter wipes his eyes as the tears finally stop, and his shaking body goes mostly back to normal. Giving a shaky smile to his mother, she notices some of the light coming back to his eyes and smiles back comfortingly. ``I know you're growing up, Dexter. I?m going to try to stop treating you like a little kid. It just scares me, realizing you're not my little baby boy anymore trying to climb all the trees in the park playing hide and seek with your dad.'' with a sniffle and a wipe of her own eyes, she strokes her hand across Dexter?s long gray hair one more time before leaning in and placing a gentle peck on his forehead. ``It's a big day, sweetheart. We're going to have whatever you want for dinner tonight, okay? You just have to make it through your first day. Be brave. Go on, now. Grab your bag.''\n\nClosing the car door, Dexter sneaks one last wipe of his eyes before turning to face his fate. Sycamore high. ``Welcome to hell, Dexter'' he thinks to himself sarcastically as he reads the sign in the middle of the grass in front of the main building. Setting his backpack down in front of him, he unzips the main pocket to pull out the folder holding his schedule. ``Oh...oh no where is it?'' Feeling around in his bag, the folder is nowhere to be found. He'd forgotten to put the folder in his bag after he'd kicked it under the bed by accident a few nights earlier. Panic setting in once again, Dexter takes a deep breath and does his best to hold off his tears from returning. Zipping his bag and quickly slinging it over his shoulder, the small boy eyeballs the utterly massive pileup of students near the entrance and stretching into the main hallway of the school and feels his eyes start to glaze over once again.\n\nTerrified of crowds, Dexter slowly starts walking towards the open door to the hallway before feeling a hand on his shoulder. ``Yo, short king, you in the right place? Middle school is down that way, haha.'' Dexter whimpers and tries to shrink down, wishing for nothing more than to disappear from existence entirely at that moment. Crouching down as low as possible, hands clasped tightly behind his head, the terrified squirrel gently rocks back and forth in place trying his absolute hardest not to break down in tears in front of the countless students crowded around the area, conversing with each other in their little groups. ``Hey, hey man...'' Dexter hears as the owner of the voice crouches down next to him and catches a look at his face. ``Oh, shit. Are you okay? I?m sorry, man. I was just messing with you. I promise I didn't mean anything by it. Fuck, I'm sorry...'' \n\nDexter looks up to catch a look at the face of the now very apologetic looking cheetah boy next to him, feeling a hand on his back as he speaks again. ``Are you ok? I mean, like, I can see you're not, like, ok. But I mean, are you ok? Like for real?'' the squirrel can't help but feel bad for the effect his surprise reaction was having on the boy next to him, taking all of his remaining mental strength to speak up. ``U-uhm, I-I'm fine,'' he says unconvincingly, ending with a deep sniffle. ``s-sorry for s-scaring you, uhm, I'll be f-fine.'' Trying to stand up, the squirrel boy stumbles backwards, the cheetah quickly catching him to keep him from falling all the way over, looking as though he was about to cry, too. ``Come sit with me, ok? I think you need to sit and breathe for a minute. You look like my brother having a panic attack right now.''\n\nSitting down on a bench a good distance away from the other students, Dexter stares at the ground between his feet to avoid the gaze of the tall, young cheetah next to him. ``Hey, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you I swear, I just needed to get your attention for something and it sounded funny in my head. I didn't mean anything by it.'' The kid nervously stumbled his apology and Dexter couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the turn this seemingly nightmarish event had taken, having fully expected to be mocked and ridiculed further like he usually was. ``It-it's okay. Really. Its just b-been an intense m-morning.'' Looking up to reassure the taller boy, Dexter saw nothing but sympathy in those big brown eyes staring back down at him. ``First day, squirrelly?'' he asked, eyes immediately growing wide realizing how dumb his question was. ``I-shit, I mean, first day of high school not-obviously I mean, it's the first day of sch-'' Dexter laughed for real, this time, cutting the boy off mid ramble. ``Yeah, it's my first day.'' Giving a nervous chuckle himself, the cheetah asks ``what's your name? I'm Charlie.'' Surprised by the immediate giggle from the tiny rodent next to him, the cheetah asks ``w-what's so funny?'' still giggling a little, Dexter replies ``you-you're a cheetah...and your name is Charlie?'' feeling self conscious, the cheetah speaks up to defend himself, still very confused by the boys reaction. ``Y-yeah? What's wrong with that? Why's that funny?'' \n\nDexter quickly fished a small foil bag out of his backpack, tossing it to the boy next to him. ``You're Charlie cheetah, like the chip guy haha.'' Now it was Charlie's turn to cringe and shrink down. ``Oh. I guess I am, huh?'' he said, looking down at the snack sized pack of chips the squirrel had tossed to him. Dexter immediately felt bad for his joke after seeing the boys shoulders slump down. ``Hey, don't feel bad. Those chips are great. Y-you can havem. I mean, if you want. I have more. S-sorry for laughing, it just c-caught me off guard is all. I'm Dexter.'' \n\nJust as Charlie was opening his mouth to speak, the bell had rung signaling 5 minutes to get to class. Dexter jumped ``shit I needed to go to the office to get a new schedule. I left mine at home by accident.'' The cheetah stood and grabbed Dexter?s hand, quickly leading him away from their bench. ``C'mon, I'll show you where the office is. It's my fault we're late, anyway.'' Hallways now devoid of life, the boys made it to the office just as the final bell rang. ``New friend, Charlie?'' the cheetah perked up hearing his name from the receptionist at the desk. ``I hope so, Ms. Rue.'' Charlie replied. That caught Dexter entirely off guard, his cheeks feeling slightly warm as he blushed a little. He'd been so caught up in everything going on he hadn't even stopped to consider the boy would ever want to be friends. ``Dexter here lost his schedule and I made him late by accident, so I came to show him where the office was.'' Dexter stepped forward to the receptionist. ``H-hi, sorry. I-i know being l-late on the first day is b-bad, but-'' he was cut off by the woman at the desk. ``Don't you worry bout a thing, dear. It happens. First days are stressful and chaotic. Things happen. Charlie here's a good boy, making up for making you late. Neither one of you is gunna be in trouble I just gotta write a couple notes for ya.'' Dexter let out a deep sigh of relief hearing Ms. Rue speak. Pulling a warm, freshly printed schedule from the printer, she reaches over to hand it to Dexter. ``Looks like you boys share a first period. Charlie, be a dear and show him around today, would you?'' the young cheetah gives a slight bow for comedic effect. ``of course, Ms. Rue. I'd planned to already if he'd let me.'' Dexter felt the cheetah grab his hand and lead him out of the office and into the silent, seemingly endless hallways of Sycamore high. ``Aww, man. Fucking math first period. Bunk. Hate math.'' Charlie complained. Dexter was confused. ``You're a freshman too?'' Dexter replied. Charlie looked down in shame. ``No,'' he sighs. ``I'm a sophomore, I just always struggled with math. Mom says it's just cuz I'm stupid. Brother says I'm retarded, but dad calls it `special needs'. Maybe they're right. I can just never seem to understand it when they explain how to do shit. I?m not too smart with school stuff period but I'm definitely the worst at math.'' \n\nDexter was shocked hearing Charlie talk about his family saying those things about him. After the incident this morning, he seemed so nice and apologetic for his mistake. He was maybe a little excitable, and rambled a bit, but Dexter most certainly wouldn't call him...those things. Seeing how sad the cheetah now looked, Dexter gave a gentle and reassuring squeeze to his hand as they made it to their first period class. ``Here we are, room 403. Let's hope we're late enough now that we missed the stupid `stand up and say something interesting about yourself' introduction Mr. Harris insists on.'' reaching for the handle, Dexter opens the door and both boys enter the class. The teacher looks to the door and greets the boys, gesturing to the 2 remaining empty desks next to each other in the back corner of the room.\n\nTrying to get comfortable in the hard plastic seats, the boys both felt happy about being assigned next to each other. He wouldn't make it known, but Charlie was relieved to have seemingly made a new friend already. Having always struggled to keep friends because of his excitability and rambling, he was always too much for others to be around for long, and what friends he thought he'd had always slowly left him after a short while. Being the first day of school, there wasn't much in the way of class work, mostly just being introductions and going over the syllabus while handing out textbooks. \n\nStanding to take a big stretch as the bell rang, Charlie tapped Dexter's shoulder to ask ``what do you have next?'' Pulling his folded up schedule out of his pocket, the squirrel quickly scans through it. ``I got english in room 501.'' Charlie sighed sympathetically. ``Oof. That's rough, bud. 501 is the cursed room.'' Dexter felt a chill down his spine, now even more worried about his second class than he already was. ``W-what? Cursed? N-no way...'' Dexter stuttered out, trying not to show his fear. ``Oh, it's not like, haunted or anything. Teacher is just insanely boring. Like, actual snooze fest honk-shoo type shit.'' Dexter let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. ``Oh...that's a relief.'' He squeaked out quietly. ``C'mon I'll show you where it's at.'' Charlie said as he grabbed the squirrels sweaty hand, quickly leading him through the halls.\n\nStanding outside the door, Charlie bids the boy farewell and makes his way towards his own class. Dexter waves, sad to now be alone. Just as Dexter steels his nerves to open the door, he hears rapid foot steps behind him, and turns to see a now hunched over and panting cheetah. Charlie holds up one finger. ``Just-'' he pants, ``just a sec.'' Finally catching his breath, he speaks once again. ``I almost forgot. Meet me back at that bench at lunch.'' Quickly turning to run down the hall once again, he shouts ``OK BYE!'' Dexter chuckles to himself as he finally enters the ``cursed'' classroom.\n\nDexter spent second period fidgeting nervously, trying to look normal and attentive as his mind raced with thoughts of not fitting in, believing everyone around him was quietly judging him for his looks or his personality. Did he smell bad? He didn't, and nobody paid him any mind, but the poor squirrel could have convinced himself he?d somehow skunk sprayed in that moment. Anxious about being sat smack dab in the middle of the front row, his leg shook in place relentlessly, his heel quietly but rapidly tapping off the floor. Thankful there was no real classwork, Dexter filled his school bag with the book and papers the teacher handed out waiting not-so-patiently for the bell to ring once again.\n\nFinally able to stand and leave, the anxious boy looks up and down the hall for the bathroom sign. Spotting it in the distance, he slowly makes his way through the hall, avoiding the small clusters of students scattered throughout and blocking the way. There was a 15 minute break after second period, giving the boy time to do his business and maybe explore a little to find his next classes before the bell rang for third period. Finally rounding the corner into the alcove hiding the bathrooms, Dexter pushes the door open with his foot and is immediately assaulted with the stench of cleaning chemicals and cheap bulk sale hand soap.\n\nUnzipping his black cargo shorts, Dexter stands in front of a urinal and attempts to relieve himself. Hearing a quiet sniffle from the stall next to him, the squirrel listens closely to the only other student in the bathroom with him. ``Mom, please. I'm not-'' he sniffles and sobs a little, clearly on the phone, and more loudly than intended. ``Please, I didn't do it. I swear. Did you even check Jimmy's-'' cut off again, Dexter could hear the yelling from the students phone, not quite loud enough to understand. Feeling awful for his eavesdropping, the squirrel finishes emptying his bladder into the urinal and reaches to zip up his pants as he hears the stall door next to him open with a creak. \n\nSmacking down the flusher on the urinal, Dexter turns just in time to see Charlie as he wipes his damp eyes with the back of his hand. ``Oh. Hi, Dexter. Um, sorry if you heard that. Don't-uh, I have to go.'' the bright yellow feline a blur as he rushed out the door before Dexter could say anything. Briefly wetting his hands under the frustratingly low pressure faucet before wiping them dry on his shirt, the squirrel rushes out of the bathroom to try to see where his sad companion had run off to. Having been too late to see the boy running among the crowd of students in the hall, Dexter sighs to himself sadly while wishing he could have asked what was wrong before he'd run off in a flash, faster than he'd ever seen anyone run before. ``I guess cheetah speed isn't just a myth.'' he jokes to himself sadly.\n\n",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "This story contains depictions of non sexual child abuse, both verbal and physical. It contains scenes of homophobia, and a scene of homophobic violence. This story deals with mental health issues including depression, anxiety, and ADHD along with the guilt that comes attached with them. It will be tagged accordingly, please use your blacklist if you cannot handle these themes.
m/m, teen(14/15), oral sex, awkward, shy, first time, romance, gratuitous blushing and crying
Please read the description for separate chapter uploads if you don't want to/can't read a ~30000 word story all at once. All chapters will be rated and tagged the same, and have the same warning at the start.
Charlie
Dexter was a shy little gray squirrel, and little he was. Having just turned 14 two weeks earlier, he stood at a meager 4 feet 6 inches tall. Feeling anxious as he slowly sat up in bed, dark green eyes adjusting to the small amount of light creeping through his bedroom window, his mind started to race. Today was the first day of high school, and the slightly chubby squirrel was not looking forward to officially being a freshman and having to deal with yet another year of being the choice target for all of the local bullies. He stood, wiping the sleepy crust from his eyes and walked over to the beat up old dresser in the corner of his still mostly dark room. Feeling around through all the junk he'd filled his top drawer with until he felt the handle to his heavily mangled brush, he began to run it through his long gray hair to attempt to remove all of the small knots and tangles that formed as he rolled around nervously in his sleep every night.
Carelessly tossing the now thoroughly hair filled brush back into his junk drawer, the boy padded across the room to flick on the light. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror, wearing nothing but an old stretched out pair of bright red boxer briefs, he noticed his belly and sighed to himself sadly. ``Thanks for giving me the fat genes and not the sick facial hair genes, dad. Ugh'' He thought to himself. Puberty had hit the boy in a very frustrating way for him, giving him the awkward random erections and slight weight gain, but not yet giving him the height, facial hair, or deeper voice he desperately hoped for. The poor boy was often mistaken for a girl from behind with his curves and long hair, his voice not helping matters much when trying to correct people, often leading to more ridicule from his classmates.
Blindly pulling on an over sized black tee-shirt from the basket of clean clothes on the floor he'd yet to find the time to fold and put away, he yawned and leaned over to pick his shorts up off the floor. Sliding them up his legs as he hobbles towards the door, almost tripping, he steps out of his bedroom and into the bathroom directly across from it. After relieving the pressure in his bladder, Dexter leaned over the sink to wash his hands and examine his face in the mirror. Lightly slapping at his cheeks splashing them with cold water in an attempt to wake himself up, he groans at the dark bags under his eyes. He'd always suffered from nightmares since he was little, and it made sleep an endless struggle for him. Adding on to that struggle was the anxiety from the last week after realizing school was starting up again. Summer never lasted long enough, as much as the tiny squirrel boy struggled with the heat.
Wiping his still damp hands off on his shirt, Dexter exits the bathroom and rounds the hallway corner into the living room spotting the top of his fathers head peeking up over the couch as he's watching the local news for the weather report. 100 degrees today, 96 tomorrow, 102 on Friday. ``Fucking hell,'' Dexter quietly exclaims, making his father jump at the unexpected voice behind him. ``I know they start school on Wednesday so we start with a short week, but couldn't they at least let school start in cooler weather? This week is going to be a nightmare...'' he huffs dejectedly. ``Jesus, Dex.'' the man said, quickly reaching for the napkin next to him to dab at the coffee he'd spilled in his lap from his son's surprise appearance behind him. ``How the hell do you move so quietly, kid? Haha. I know you struggle with the heat like me, but your classes should at least have air conditioning,'' he said sympathetically. ``Also don't let your mother hear you talking like that. I'd prefer she not find out letting you swear around me was part of your birthday present. Just pretend I'm a responsible parent and still wash your mouth out for it or something,'' he added quietly.
Dexter couldn't help but chuckle at that. He was 14 now, and his father had never really had an issue with the boy swearing, but his mother was quite the opposite. Dexter was her darling little baby boy, teenager or not, and she couldn't help but gasp in shock whenever she heard anything even resembling a bad word leave the kid's mouth. His size certainly didn't help his case in her eyes, still often treating him as if he was 10 or 11. Just last week at dinner she'd given him quite the scolding when he exclaimed ``shit!'' after the bottom of his greasy box of fries gave out and spilled all over his lap. He didn't know a gray squirrel could turn so red until he'd seen how hard his cheeks were burning in embarrassment in the mirror as he tried to calm down in the bathroom.
Hearing a sizzle from the kitchen, Dexter made his way across the living room to peek his head in and see his mom standing over the stove carefully laying thick, fatty slices of bacon into a large frying pan. The strong, delicious stench of salty, savory, smokey meat filled the house as the boy's mouth watered relentlessly. ``Morning, mom.'' He said groggily as he walked up next to her to give her a quick side hug to stay out of her way as she made everybody breakfast. Briefly leaning into his hug, unable to take her raw pork covered hands away from their current task, she responds. ``Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? Big day today. Oh, I'm so nervous, Dexter. High school is a big deal. My little boy's a freshman already. I can't believe it...'' She sniffled a little, seemingly trying to hold back tears.
Dexter most certainly loved his parents, and he knew his mother meant well, but she was most definitely far too overbearing sometimes to an utterly embarrassing degree. Slowly shuffling his feet towards the sink, the boy grabs a glass out of the cupboard and holds his hand under the running faucet waiting for the water to feel sufficiently cold. Taking three large, desperate gulps from his cup as water sloppily drips down the sides of his mouth and onto his shirt, Dexter sighs in satisfaction having relieved his dry morning mouth. ``I'm ok, mom. A little nervous, but no worse than any other first day. I don't remember waking up at all last night but I definitely don't feel like I got much sleep. I'm sure I'll be f-fine...'' he doubted himself at the end of that sentence, his nervous stutter briefly making an appearance. ``I'm 14 now, mom. I?m sure I can handle it. It-it's just school. I've made it through every other year so far.'' Hearing a sigh from his mother over the renewed sizzle as she flipped the bacon, he noticed her shoulders slump down a little. He thought she was about to start crying again, as was practically tradition on big days like this every year, but she held firm and picked her shoulders up again after a huff.
Dexter decided to be helpful and set the table for breakfast while his mom fished the finished bacon out of the pan and started to scramble a few eggs. ``Plates, forks, napkins, butter dish, butter knife, orange juice jug...'' he whispered to himself as he went over his mental checklist of breakfast necessities. Stomach growling, he took a quick peek into the kitchen again just in time to see his mother sliding the eggs out into a small serving dish. ``Come eat, boys.''
Dexter is already in his chair as his father rounds the corner into the dining area while his mother sets the dish of fluffy, cheesy scrambled eggs down in the middle of the old, beat up kitchen table. ``Four bacon each, the rest is for my sandwich later,'' she states as she plops down a decent serving spoon full of eggs onto her plate with a freshly buttered slice of toast. Despite what his slight pudge would tell you, Dexter didn't really eat all that much. Certainly enough to be full and healthy, but he didn't think he ate enough to justify his ever growing stomach that so poorly effected his mental state.
Picking at his small pile of eggs while chewing up the last bite of his bacon, Dexter snuck a quick peek at the clock on the microwave. ``Oh, fuck.'' he thought to himself, heart rate rapidly increasing as his anxiety kicked up realizing he only had 10 minutes before he had to leave for his new school year. Rapidly shaking his leg in his seat, hands clasped together in a ball nervously twiddling his thumbs, Dexter looked down at nothing in particular and zoned out trying to control his breathing before his mom could notice the panic in his eyes. He seemed to be successful, as she stood up and took all of the now empty plates to the kitchen sink. Taking one last deep breath before standing up, the boy tried to tell himself it would be ok. That everything would be just fine. That this year wouldn't be like every other year. He wasn't very convincing.
Quickly running back to his room to double check he had everything he needed in his backpack already, Dexter grabbed his phone and unlocked the screen for a moment. ``No notifications, of course. Why would there be. They don't care.'' His hopes crushed after seeing none of his small circle of internet friends had messaged him, his already anxious and sad brain conveniently making him forget they were all in different time zones around the world and busy with their own school and work or sleep. Slipping the phone in his pocket, he slings the one intact strap of his backpack over one shoulder and dejectedly walks out to his mom's running car waiting in the driveway. Wiping his face with his shirt to remove the slight traces of tears he felt welling up in his eyes before his mom could baby him any further, Dexter plopped down in the back seat of his mothers car. He wasn't allowed to sit in the front seat despite his age, his mother refusing to let him due to his height still resembling a child several years younger. He was always embarrassed showing up to school in the back seat when all the other kids got to sit in the front.
City blocks zooming by as he dissociated staring out the window, the boy no longer felt real. Feeling as though he was dreaming, or watching the world through a strangers eyes, he tried and failed to calm his mind as his mother's car pulled into the school drop off zone. After a few seconds of silence, his mother spoke. ``Dexter? We're here, sweetie. It's time to go now, okay? You're going to-'' he turned to face his mother, not quite able to process what he was hearing, a blank and glassy expression in his eyes that she recognized all too well. ``Oh, no...come here baby.'' She leaned over the center console to hug the boy as he leaned forward into her, and offer what little reassurance she knew she was able to. She knew he was nervous about high school, but seeing that dead look in his eyes she knew he wasn't fully there right now. That look always killed her more than anything, even more than the crying she'd hear through the walls so often at night as he struggled to sleep. She felt him start to shake in her arms, and heard him sniffle as he could no longer hold back his building fear and sadness. Gently petting him reassuringly, she lays a kiss on top of his head and starts tearing up herself at the anguish her son is feeling. ``You're going to be okay, Dex. I promise. I know how scary high school is, I know how overwhelming and intimidating everything is, I do. It was a struggle for me, it was a struggle for your father, but we got through it. I promise you'll get through it too.''
Dexter could feel his mothers tears soaking through his hair as he tried not to have a full breakdown in the back seat of her car in the school parking lot. Shaking as reality started to come back to him, the haze in his eyes began to clear slightly as he absorbed his mothers words. She wasn't talking to him as a baby right now, she was talking to him as a son. A son who she saw in pain and struggling in a way she couldn't imagine, a way she so desperately wished he would speak about. He didn't like to talk about his problems with his parents, as much as he loved them and needed help with everything. He didn't like the way he was constantly babied by the woman he knew only wanted what was best for him. Taking a deep breath, he opens his mouth to speak. ``I-I'm sorry mom. I know,'' he stops to sniffle again as he pointlessly tries to wipe the still flowing tears from his eyes. ``I know you want to help. I?m sorry I don't talk about it. I n-need to work on s-some things, I know. I?m sorry. I?m sorry.'' he sniffles again, his mothers reassuring head petting starting to work as his pounding heart slows and the streams gushing from his eyes turn to slow drips. He feels another light kiss on top of his slightly damp head where his mom's tears had been landing.
Gently pulling away from the woman comforting him, Dexter wipes his eyes as the tears finally stop, and his shaking body goes mostly back to normal. Giving a shaky smile to his mother, she notices some of the light coming back to his eyes and smiles back comfortingly. ``I know you're growing up, Dexter. I?m going to try to stop treating you like a little kid. It just scares me, realizing you're not my little baby boy anymore trying to climb all the trees in the park playing hide and seek with your dad.'' with a sniffle and a wipe of her own eyes, she strokes her hand across Dexter?s long gray hair one more time before leaning in and placing a gentle peck on his forehead. ``It's a big day, sweetheart. We're going to have whatever you want for dinner tonight, okay? You just have to make it through your first day. Be brave. Go on, now. Grab your bag.''
Closing the car door, Dexter sneaks one last wipe of his eyes before turning to face his fate. Sycamore high. ``Welcome to hell, Dexter'' he thinks to himself sarcastically as he reads the sign in the middle of the grass in front of the main building. Setting his backpack down in front of him, he unzips the main pocket to pull out the folder holding his schedule. ``Oh...oh no where is it?'' Feeling around in his bag, the folder is nowhere to be found. He'd forgotten to put the folder in his bag after he'd kicked it under the bed by accident a few nights earlier. Panic setting in once again, Dexter takes a deep breath and does his best to hold off his tears from returning. Zipping his bag and quickly slinging it over his shoulder, the small boy eyeballs the utterly massive pileup of students near the entrance and stretching into the main hallway of the school and feels his eyes start to glaze over once again.
Terrified of crowds, Dexter slowly starts walking towards the open door to the hallway before feeling a hand on his shoulder. ``Yo, short king, you in the right place? Middle school is down that way, haha.'' Dexter whimpers and tries to shrink down, wishing for nothing more than to disappear from existence entirely at that moment. Crouching down as low as possible, hands clasped tightly behind his head, the terrified squirrel gently rocks back and forth in place trying his absolute hardest not to break down in tears in front of the countless students crowded around the area, conversing with each other in their little groups. ``Hey, hey man...'' Dexter hears as the owner of the voice crouches down next to him and catches a look at his face. ``Oh, shit. Are you okay? I?m sorry, man. I was just messing with you. I promise I didn't mean anything by it. Fuck, I'm sorry...''
Dexter looks up to catch a look at the face of the now very apologetic looking cheetah boy next to him, feeling a hand on his back as he speaks again. ``Are you ok? I mean, like, I can see you're not, like, ok. But I mean, are you ok? Like for real?'' the squirrel can't help but feel bad for the effect his surprise reaction was having on the boy next to him, taking all of his remaining mental strength to speak up. ``U-uhm, I-I'm fine,'' he says unconvincingly, ending with a deep sniffle. ``s-sorry for s-scaring you, uhm, I'll be f-fine.'' Trying to stand up, the squirrel boy stumbles backwards, the cheetah quickly catching him to keep him from falling all the way over, looking as though he was about to cry, too. ``Come sit with me, ok? I think you need to sit and breathe for a minute. You look like my brother having a panic attack right now.''
Sitting down on a bench a good distance away from the other students, Dexter stares at the ground between his feet to avoid the gaze of the tall, young cheetah next to him. ``Hey, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you I swear, I just needed to get your attention for something and it sounded funny in my head. I didn't mean anything by it.'' The kid nervously stumbled his apology and Dexter couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the turn this seemingly nightmarish event had taken, having fully expected to be mocked and ridiculed further like he usually was. ``It-it's okay. Really. Its just b-been an intense m-morning.'' Looking up to reassure the taller boy, Dexter saw nothing but sympathy in those big brown eyes staring back down at him. ``First day, squirrelly?'' he asked, eyes immediately growing wide realizing how dumb his question was. ``I-shit, I mean, first day of high school not-obviously I mean, it's the first day of sch-'' Dexter laughed for real, this time, cutting the boy off mid ramble. ``Yeah, it's my first day.'' Giving a nervous chuckle himself, the cheetah asks ``what's your name? I'm Charlie.'' Surprised by the immediate giggle from the tiny rodent next to him, the cheetah asks ``w-what's so funny?'' still giggling a little, Dexter replies ``you-you're a cheetah...and your name is Charlie?'' feeling self conscious, the cheetah speaks up to defend himself, still very confused by the boys reaction. ``Y-yeah? What's wrong with that? Why's that funny?''
Dexter quickly fished a small foil bag out of his backpack, tossing it to the boy next to him. ``You're Charlie cheetah, like the chip guy haha.'' Now it was Charlie's turn to cringe and shrink down. ``Oh. I guess I am, huh?'' he said, looking down at the snack sized pack of chips the squirrel had tossed to him. Dexter immediately felt bad for his joke after seeing the boys shoulders slump down. ``Hey, don't feel bad. Those chips are great. Y-you can havem. I mean, if you want. I have more. S-sorry for laughing, it just c-caught me off guard is all. I'm Dexter.''
Just as Charlie was opening his mouth to speak, the bell had rung signaling 5 minutes to get to class. Dexter jumped ``shit I needed to go to the office to get a new schedule. I left mine at home by accident.'' The cheetah stood and grabbed Dexter?s hand, quickly leading him away from their bench. ``C'mon, I'll show you where the office is. It's my fault we're late, anyway.'' Hallways now devoid of life, the boys made it to the office just as the final bell rang. ``New friend, Charlie?'' the cheetah perked up hearing his name from the receptionist at the desk. ``I hope so, Ms. Rue.'' Charlie replied. That caught Dexter entirely off guard, his cheeks feeling slightly warm as he blushed a little. He'd been so caught up in everything going on he hadn't even stopped to consider the boy would ever want to be friends. ``Dexter here lost his schedule and I made him late by accident, so I came to show him where the office was.'' Dexter stepped forward to the receptionist. ``H-hi, sorry. I-i know being l-late on the first day is b-bad, but-'' he was cut off by the woman at the desk. ``Don't you worry bout a thing, dear. It happens. First days are stressful and chaotic. Things happen. Charlie here's a good boy, making up for making you late. Neither one of you is gunna be in trouble I just gotta write a couple notes for ya.'' Dexter let out a deep sigh of relief hearing Ms. Rue speak. Pulling a warm, freshly printed schedule from the printer, she reaches over to hand it to Dexter. ``Looks like you boys share a first period. Charlie, be a dear and show him around today, would you?'' the young cheetah gives a slight bow for comedic effect. ``of course, Ms. Rue. I'd planned to already if he'd let me.'' Dexter felt the cheetah grab his hand and lead him out of the office and into the silent, seemingly endless hallways of Sycamore high. ``Aww, man. Fucking math first period. Bunk. Hate math.'' Charlie complained. Dexter was confused. ``You're a freshman too?'' Dexter replied. Charlie looked down in shame. ``No,'' he sighs. ``I'm a sophomore, I just always struggled with math. Mom says it's just cuz I'm stupid. Brother says I'm retarded, but dad calls it `special needs'. Maybe they're right. I can just never seem to understand it when they explain how to do shit. I?m not too smart with school stuff period but I'm definitely the worst at math.''
Dexter was shocked hearing Charlie talk about his family saying those things about him. After the incident this morning, he seemed so nice and apologetic for his mistake. He was maybe a little excitable, and rambled a bit, but Dexter most certainly wouldn't call him...those things. Seeing how sad the cheetah now looked, Dexter gave a gentle and reassuring squeeze to his hand as they made it to their first period class. ``Here we are, room 403. Let's hope we're late enough now that we missed the stupid `stand up and say something interesting about yourself' introduction Mr. Harris insists on.'' reaching for the handle, Dexter opens the door and both boys enter the class. The teacher looks to the door and greets the boys, gesturing to the 2 remaining empty desks next to each other in the back corner of the room.
Trying to get comfortable in the hard plastic seats, the boys both felt happy about being assigned next to each other. He wouldn't make it known, but Charlie was relieved to have seemingly made a new friend already. Having always struggled to keep friends because of his excitability and rambling, he was always too much for others to be around for long, and what friends he thought he'd had always slowly left him after a short while. Being the first day of school, there wasn't much in the way of class work, mostly just being introductions and going over the syllabus while handing out textbooks.
Standing to take a big stretch as the bell rang, Charlie tapped Dexter's shoulder to ask ``what do you have next?'' Pulling his folded up schedule out of his pocket, the squirrel quickly scans through it. ``I got english in room 501.'' Charlie sighed sympathetically. ``Oof. That's rough, bud. 501 is the cursed room.'' Dexter felt a chill down his spine, now even more worried about his second class than he already was. ``W-what? Cursed? N-no way...'' Dexter stuttered out, trying not to show his fear. ``Oh, it's not like, haunted or anything. Teacher is just insanely boring. Like, actual snooze fest honk-shoo type shit.'' Dexter let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. ``Oh...that's a relief.'' He squeaked out quietly. ``C'mon I'll show you where it's at.'' Charlie said as he grabbed the squirrels sweaty hand, quickly leading him through the halls.
Standing outside the door, Charlie bids the boy farewell and makes his way towards his own class. Dexter waves, sad to now be alone. Just as Dexter steels his nerves to open the door, he hears rapid foot steps behind him, and turns to see a now hunched over and panting cheetah. Charlie holds up one finger. ``Just-'' he pants, ``just a sec.'' Finally catching his breath, he speaks once again. ``I almost forgot. Meet me back at that bench at lunch.'' Quickly turning to run down the hall once again, he shouts ``OK BYE!'' Dexter chuckles to himself as he finally enters the ``cursed'' classroom.
Dexter spent second period fidgeting nervously, trying to look normal and attentive as his mind raced with thoughts of not fitting in, believing everyone around him was quietly judging him for his looks or his personality. Did he smell bad? He didn't, and nobody paid him any mind, but the poor squirrel could have convinced himself he?d somehow skunk sprayed in that moment. Anxious about being sat smack dab in the middle of the front row, his leg shook in place relentlessly, his heel quietly but rapidly tapping off the floor. Thankful there was no real classwork, Dexter filled his school bag with the book and papers the teacher handed out waiting not-so-patiently for the bell to ring once again.
Finally able to stand and leave, the anxious boy looks up and down the hall for the bathroom sign. Spotting it in the distance, he slowly makes his way through the hall, avoiding the small clusters of students scattered throughout and blocking the way. There was a 15 minute break after second period, giving the boy time to do his business and maybe explore a little to find his next classes before the bell rang for third period. Finally rounding the corner into the alcove hiding the bathrooms, Dexter pushes the door open with his foot and is immediately assaulted with the stench of cleaning chemicals and cheap bulk sale hand soap.
Unzipping his black cargo shorts, Dexter stands in front of a urinal and attempts to relieve himself. Hearing a quiet sniffle from the stall next to him, the squirrel listens closely to the only other student in the bathroom with him. ``Mom, please. I'm not-'' he sniffles and sobs a little, clearly on the phone, and more loudly than intended. ``Please, I didn't do it. I swear. Did you even check Jimmy's-'' cut off again, Dexter could hear the yelling from the students phone, not quite loud enough to understand. Feeling awful for his eavesdropping, the squirrel finishes emptying his bladder into the urinal and reaches to zip up his pants as he hears the stall door next to him open with a creak.
Smacking down the flusher on the urinal, Dexter turns just in time to see Charlie as he wipes his damp eyes with the back of his hand. ``Oh. Hi, Dexter. Um, sorry if you heard that. Don't-uh, I have to go.'' the bright yellow feline a blur as he rushed out the door before Dexter could say anything. Briefly wetting his hands under the frustratingly low pressure faucet before wiping them dry on his shirt, the squirrel rushes out of the bathroom to try to see where his sad companion had run off to. Having been too late to see the boy running among the crowd of students in the hall, Dexter sighs to himself sadly while wishing he could have asked what was wrong before he'd run off in a flash, faster than he'd ever seen anyone run before. ``I guess cheetah speed isn't just a myth.'' he jokes to himself sadly.
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