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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\nCh 2\n\nThird and fourth period both passed by in a blur as Dexter zoned out entirely after the teachers took attendance. Dexter jolted back to reality at the unexpected sound of the lunch bell, quickly grabbing his bag and rushing out of the room to avoid the crowds that would soon form in the halls. Remembering what the lanky cheetah boy had told him at second period, Dexter quickly headed off towards the wrought iron bench he'd been talked out of a panic attack on just a few hours earlier. Finding it empty, the boy plopped himself down and waited for Charlie to meet up with him. \n\n10 minutes had passed as Dexter quietly waited for the spotted boy to join him. Stomach growling, he decides to start eating alone having nothing else to do and being far too anxious to get up and walk anywhere else lest he get lost in the endless intimidating piles of teens scattered throughout the campus. Pulling a now very flat pb&j sandwich from under his math book, Dexter takes a bite as he notices a familiar yellow blur rapidly growing in the distance. Noisily gasping for breath and nearly spilling his lunch tray on the squirrel in front of him, the thoroughly winded cheetah sets his tray down on the bench and attempts to speak between gasps. ``OHGODIMS-'' gasp. ``SOSORRYIMLATEI-'' gasp. Dexter cut him off, picking his tray up off the bench and gesturing for him to sit. ``It's okay, Charlie. Catch your breath.''\n\nCharlie reaches over to the tray on Dexter?s lap to pick up a carrot stick and dip it in the small cup of cheap, watery ranch dressing next to it. Mouth still full he mumbles, ``I?m sorry I was late. I had to pee and the lunch line-'' he paused to swallow his carrot, ``was stupid long when I got there. I was scared you wouldn't even be here.'' Dexter was surprised at the cheetah's words. ``Why wouldn't I be?'' The squirrel asks, confused. ``I dunno. I thought after this morning you probably wouldn't wanna spend lunch with me or something cuz I was dumb or whatever. People don't usually show up when I ask so I was preparing to eat alone again.'' Gasping slightly at his words, Dexter looked over to the boy beside him as he reached for another carrot stick. ``Why do you think you're dumb?'' The squirrel asks, green eyes shining brightly as the sun bounced off of them. Charlie looks at the dirt below as he kicks his feet before replying. ``I dunno. Mom says-uh, mom says I was born broken and talk too much, and the other kids usually stop talking to me after a couple days and call me stupid n stuff. I'm-'' the boy sniffles a little, a small catch in his breath as he continues. ``I'm used to it. I figured today would be the same.''\n\nDexter is saddened by the cheetah's words. Still nervous talking to someone new, always expecting the worst, the little squirrel decides to open up a little. ``I-I think you're pretty, uhm, pretty cool, Charlie.'' He squeaks out nervously. ``You-you're actually the first person to talk nice to me since second grade. Except for the, uh, the short king thing.'' Charlie cringed to himself remembering his actions this morning that set this all in motion. ``God I'm so sorry about that, really, I was trying to be funny to get your attention but I guess it wasn't really funny considering your reaction n stuff and I've kinda been beating myself up all day for that and then you saw me cryin in the bathroom cuz my mom and today's just been a big ol' mess-'' the cheetah spoke without pausing at a speed Dexter could barely keep up with. ``if I'm ever talkin too much you can just tell me to shut up or fuck off or whatever. I kinda ramble a lot and it's what everyone started doing so yeah.'' Charlie took a deep breath to calm himself down and give the overwhelmed looking squirrel next to him a chance to process the words he was hearing.\n\nDexter was overwhelmed, but not at all for the reason the cheetah thought. ``Charlie I'm not gunna do that. That- that's mean!'' He snapped a little louder than he'd meant to. ``You've been nice to me, I'm not going to be mean to you like that.'' Surprised by his squirrel companions reaction, Charlie couldn't explain the warmth he felt inside of him. He'd thought it was mean at first when his friends started cutting him off, but he got used to it years ago as just a part of life because of how he was. Hearing another kid say he was nice was something he certainly wasn't used to. Annoying, stupid, loud, obnoxious, these were the things Charlie had come to expect from the kids he spent time with.\n\n``Dexter?'' Charlie quietly squeaked out, feeling small and nervous as the lunch bell rang. ``Do you wanna be my friend?'' Feeling heat rapidly rise in his cheeks, rapidly reddening skin clearly peeking through his soft gray fur, Dexter nervously replied ``Y-yeah, Charlie. I think I'd like that.'' Heart pounding out of his chest, he could hardly believe the turn of events today had took as he heard his new friend quietly shout ``yes!'' before he ran off to his next class. Now alone, Dexter buzzed with excitement having officially made his first friend in high school.\n\nFifth period was uneventful, but Dexter was happy to find his assigned seat was once again in the back corner of the class, out of everyone's view so he could zone out without feeling too self conscious about it. He spent the period replaying the events of the day in his head, from his episode in the car to the incredible sparkle in his feline friend's eyes when he accepted his friendship. Dexter couldn't help but smile to himself as the bell for the final class rang. Unfolding his schedule once again to see where his final class was, he groaned to himself as he saw the 2 letters he hated the most printed across the 6th period slot. \n\nPatiently standing a few feet behind the large crowd of students impatiently pushing and shoving their way through the door to the gymnasium, the pudgy little squirrel huffed as he mentally prepared himself for PE class. Noticing the rest of the crowd had finished filtering in through the double doors, Dexter made his way in as well, hoping there would be no exercise today. After the teacher finished going over the syllabus explaining what sports and all they'd be playing throughout the year, he stood the class up and led them towards the locker rooms to collect their gym clothes and assign lockers. Color drained from the boys face as he realized he'd be getting borderline naked every day in this large open space in front of everyone. Before he could worry too much about that, the final bell rang, officially signaling that he had, in fact, survived his first day of high school.\n\nManeuvering his way through the endless crowds of chaotic chatty teens blocking the hall once again, Dexter made his way out into the front of the school. Quickly running over to the shaded bench he'd made his first friend on, he patiently waited for his mom to come pick him up. Saddened by not seeing Charlie again before his mother pulled in, Dexter stood and ran to the car waiting for him in the driveway. \n\nOut of breath from the short jog, he closed the car door as he made himself comfortable in the back seat and looked up to see his mother anxiously staring at him in the rear view mirror. ``Mom!'' the squirrel in the driver seat jolted at the unexpected outburst. ``Mom I made a friend!'' he shouted excitedly, as tears began to rapidly stream down his cheeks. ``I really-I really made a friend!'' He began to sniffle as his mother turned around in surprise, eyes wide at the site of her son crying in her car for the second time today. Unable to hold back the waterworks herself, she leaned towards the boy and grabbed him in a tight squeeze giving a sniffle of her own, this time in joy. ``H-he scared me this morning b-but then he felt bad and sat with me til I calmed down. He helped show me around a little because we were late and I had to get a new schedule.'' \n\nThoroughly surprised and certainly overjoyed by what she was hearing, Dexter?s mother couldn't help but see her son as he was the last time he made a friend. It was half way through the school year in second grade when a new student had moved into town, and the little otter had immediately taken to the boy after seeing him curled into a ball in the tan bark, being picked on by a small group of third graders. She'd ran to grab a teacher for help and sat with him in the office as the principal grilled the sobbing boy for an explanation of the situation. She decided then that she liked this tiny, gray squirrel boy and had begun to sit with him at lunch every day, telling off any of the mean kids who tried to pick on him at recess. \n\nRemembering the devastation on Dexter?s face when he told her his little otter friend was moving away, she held out hope that this time would be different. She didn't want to see him like that ever again. She didn't think any child should ever feel the way her son had felt, becoming a shut in at 8 years old. He'd always struggled with bullying in school, but he was still always such a happy boy at home until then. His only friend moving away set off such an intense sadness in Dexter that he'd fallen into a severe depression that no amount of therapy or medication they'd tried had been able to help even until now, only occasionally clearing up for small stretches of time, but always coming back shortly after. \n\nLaying one last long stroke along her sons long, gray hair as he excitedly talked about his new cheetah friend, she laughed gently. ``I'm so happy for you, Dexter. My baby boy really is growing up, isn't he?'' she let out a small sigh. ``Alright, I promised dinner. What do you want, Mr. social?'' she joked, eliciting a small groan from the boy behind her before he answered.\n\nSitting at the dinner table and looking down at the mountain of fries on the disturbingly grease stained paper in front of him, Dexter swallows his bite of burger before picking one up to chomp down on. Washing it all down with a large gulp of disappointingly flat and watery fountain cola, Dexter examines the damage. Half a double cheeseburger and a decent handful of fries gone, the squirrel was amazed to see how much he'd eaten. A burger that size normally lasted 3 or 4 meals for him, but today he felt like a king. He was celebrating not just surviving his first day of high school, but making a friend. Wrapping the remainder of his burger for later, Dexter notices the surprised look on his parent's faces as they eye his significantly shrunken meal. ``Well now I know you're in a good mood. I'm proud of you, Dex. Making a friend on the first day, that?s big.'' his father chimes in. Dexter blushes, embarrassed.\n\nPlacing his leftovers in the fridge, Dexter feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Seeing a message notification from his friends chat app, he unlocks his phone to see a message from his favorite gaming buddy. ``Hey m8, I ment 2 txt u earlier but my phone died last night n I had 2 go 2 school b4 I could charge it. 2Day was ur first day rite?'' Dexter felt a pang of guilt as he remembered how he felt this morning not seeing any messages from his friends before replying. ``ye! It was weird n scary. I made a friend, tho! He?s cool!'' While he was generally very shy and reserved in person, Dexter was very open and social online, having always found it much easier to find nice people with similar interests there. Dexter saw another notification on top of his screen as he attempted to catch up on the days conversations in his small number of chat rooms. ``WHOA WHAT? MR ANTISOCIAL MADE A FRIEND???'' Dexter felt his cheeks warm again. ``well u don't hafta say it like that >.> but ya he?s a cheetah. His names Charlie.'' Dexter chuckled as he immediately got another response. ``LMFAO LIKE THE CHIP GUY?!'' \n\nCharlie unlocked his phone to see the time in the corner of his heavily shattered screen. Sitting alone in the darkness outside his family's trailer, he listened to his mother as she broke yet another cheap glass against the wall in anger. ``10:40. 20 more minutes and she'll be drunk enough to pass out.'' he thought to himself as he attempted to drown out the insults and swears she spewed about him for something his older brother had done. His stomach growled, having not eaten since lunch at school that day. Charlie had grown used to these sounds of anger and feelings of hunger, his mother having grown into a raging alcoholic since his father left 2 years ago. Having caught her cheating in the bathroom at a work related Christmas party, he'd decided right then to file for divorce and pack his things. \n\nHis mother had fallen into a depression and started filling her normal nightly wine glass higher and higher to cope, until she was drinking a bottle a day, quickly trading wine for cheap flavored vodka to save money while getting an even stronger effect. The only days she didn't drink herself into a blind rage were the days she was passed out from drinking too much the night before. Charlie liked those days the most, when not even a gun going off next to her would be able to shake her awake. Those were the only days he didn't feel bad about himself. Charlie was still in close contact with his father, the man being much the opposite of the woman the young cheetah lived with. He'd heard the stories of the woman's vile behavior from the boy, and could often hear the screaming himself through the boys phone when they spoke. He'd felt immense guilt for leaving Charlie with her, but he was in no place to take care of a child, only living out of his car as he tried to save for his own apartment in another city a few hours away. Charlie held no ill feelings towards the man who raised him, loving the man deeply and seeing no reason whatsoever to blame him for his mothers treatment of him, nor blaming him for leaving.\n\nCharlie opened his contacts list to send a message to his dad. ``hey dad. School was good. Made a kid cry by accident but we're friends now. He's kinda cute. Mom mad at me cuz Jimmy stole her smokes again but mr perfect can do no wrong. Prolly gunna go for a late walk n crash at the park again. Love u.'' seeing his battery at 4% the boy slips his phone in his pocket, hoping it would last til morning. The slim feline hears a slight crinkle in his pocket as he stands, reminded of the bag of chips his new little rodent friend had given him at lunch. Smiling, he began eating his cheesy snack while he walked to the park a few blocks away under cover of darkness. Arriving at the park, the young cheetah boy made his way to the tall set of heavily graffiti coated steel bleachers and crawled through the bars underneath them to his favorite place to sleep away from home. Pulling out the small, thin, tattered blanket he kept in his backpack, he wraps himself up and leans against a heavily splintered plywood board leaned against the edge of the bleachers. Thinking back to his new friend, he smiles to himself slightly and falls asleep.\n\nDexter woke up on his own a few minutes before his alarm. Light streaming through the crack in his window curtain, he slides it open a little more to see more of the room around him. Grabbing his bottle from the floor next to his bed, the pudgy little squirrel takes several large gulps of water to moisten his dry mouth. Going through his normal morning routine, he makes his way to his dresser to brush his hair. He feels significantly fewer knots and snags than normal this morning, also realizing he feels mostly awake already. Quickly pulling on his clothes and heading to the bathroom, he relieves the pressure in his bladder and leans into the sink to wash his hands. He looked into the mirror and was shocked to see the dark, sunken in bags normally present under his eyes were several shades lighter than normal. \n\nMaking his way to the kitchen, he finds his mother setting a small plastic tray of store bought breakfast pastries down on the table. ``Morning, mom.'' he says as he plops down in a chair and grabs a sweet cheese danish from the tray. ``Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep okay?'' she asks, gently petting his head for a moment. ``I think I did, actually. I dunno. I feel ok this morning.'' the older squirrel smiled brightly hearing her son speak, overjoyed to have her suspicions confirmed having not heard the normal sobbing or tossing and turning through the wall last night. ``I'm kind of looking forward to school today.'' Dexter hears a gasp as his mothers pastry hits the floor.\n\nMaking sure he has all of his things, Dexter pulls his phone off the charger next to his bed and slips it in his pocket while slinging his backpack on one arm. Heading towards his mom's car, he sighs to himself, feeling strangely content. Getting situated in the back seat, he hears his mother speak up. ``I'm really happy for you, Dexter. I think things will be different this year. I hope they will. I believe in you, sweetheart.'' Dexter sees her eyes start to sparkle with a telltale wetness, but stop just short of shedding actual tears. ``I love you, mom. I think I'll be ok. I hope.'' \n\nArriving at the drop off zone, Dexter grabs his bag and turns to get out of the car before his mother speaks. ``Your father will be home late tonight. He got called in early for a big project so it'll just be us for dinner.'' ``Okay, mom. Love you!'' Dexter closes the door and heads to sit at the dirty black bench in the shade to wait for his new friend.\n\nFeeling saddened as the bell for first period rings with no sign of his excitable new friend, Dexter makes his way to his first period math class in hopes of seeing him there. Settling down in the back of the room, Dexter?s shoulders slump as the late bell rings with still not a glimpse of the boy he'd been so excited to see. He felt like crying, but he knew he'd be seen and ridiculed for being the ``little bitch baby'' that everyone in middle school had taken to calling him during his episodes. Steeling his nerves, Dexter tries and fails to focus during class, his eyes glassing over as he dissociates through his first few classes, his brain on autopilot controlling his hand to take hastily scribbled notes when needed.\n\nCharlie shot awake with a loud gasp, his tattered blanket and shirt already soaked through as the poorly aimed sprinkler in the grass next to him shot through the bleachers support bars and hit him square in the face. The sun was bright and he could hear parents with their small children on the playground a few yards away from him, thankfully having not been seen or woken up by anyone thanks to the strategically placed plywood sheets propped up against the edge of the bleachers. Groggy and very wet, the poor boy grabbed his things and crawled out of his hiding spot to head back to his trailer and hopefully find some clean, dry clothes.\n\nPulling his old, broken phone from his pocket he presses the power button with his thumb only for the screen to stay black. ``Shit. So much for that.'' he huffs to himself as he puts the dead black rectangle back in his pocket. Charlie didn't mind living in a mobile home park. It wasn't like the stereotypes you'd see in movies and TV the way he'd expected it to be. It was actually a nice, very calm and peaceful area. All the neighbors were quite fond of the lanky teen, always happy to see him and accept his offers of help with whatever they were busy with at the time. He thoroughly enjoyed being helpful, but it definitely helped that it gave him a reason to be away from home. Away from his mother and brother. \n\nCutting across the communal lawn, Charlie sees an elderly kangaroo woman trying to trim the flowers in the cheap planter pots outside her home. Coming up next to her to hand her the small pair of clippers just out of her reach, Charlie greets his favorite neighbor. ``Here you go, Mrs. Blythe.'' Smiling warmly at the damp feline, a hint of concern clear on her face noticing the state of the boy she considered like a second grandson. ``Sorry if you heard all that last night. I'm ok. Jimmy's been stealin again and she keeps blaming me for it is all.'' Her concern unchanged, she sets down her clippers and places a cloth gloved hand on his shoulder. ``I don't know how you can stay there, Charlie. One of these days she's going to go too far.'' Charlie smiled unconvincingly. Opening his mouth to speak, he was immediately cut off by the growling of his stomach. ``Come inside, dear. Let me feed you at least.''\n\nLeaving the woman's home with a full stomach and some kind parting words, Charlie finishes his journey home. While the park he lived in was nice and clean, the cheetah families plot was exactly how it looked in the movies. Stepping over a small pile of empty plastic liquor jugs and broken glass, he gently opens the front door hoping to not disturb the woman inside. Seeing her asleep on the couch with a hefty drool spot staining the couch, he breathes a deep sigh of relief as he quietly steps over more broken glass and garbage on the way to his cramped, dirty bedroom. Stripping out of his damp clothes, the boy catches a glimpse of himself in the tall mirror propped up against the wall next to his door. He cringes a little upon seeing how noticeable his ribs were through his fur. His mother had lost her job a few months back due to her incessant drinking, and his older brother Jimmy was the only one bringing in any money from his minimum wage job at the gas up the street. There wasn't much to go around after the lot rent and his moms drink budget was taken out, and he often scraped by on no name instant noodles and dollar store snacks.\n\nRemembering his phone, he pulls it out of the pants now on the floor and quickly plugs it in next to his bed hoping to at least get a little juice in it before he heads to school. Seeing the screen light up as the device desperately sucks power from the wall, Charlie sees a message on his lock screen. ``Go get `em, tiger ;)'' from dad. Confused, he quickly unlocks his phone to see several more messages from his father earlier in the morning. ``cute, eh? Interesting. Didn't know you went that way. Proud of you for opening up. Go get `em, tiger ;)'' Charlie's face is on fire with pure embarrassment as he see's what he typed last night. ``oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck'' he panics to himself, rapidly typing to his father. ``COOL. I meant he?s kinda COOL! AUTOCORRECT'' shakily setting his phone down, heat up past the tips of his fuzzy yellow ears, he anxiously looks around on his floor for a moderately presentable shirt. Finding a light gray tank top crumpled in a pile next to the door, he gives it a deep sniff to make sure it wasn't too dirty to go out in public with. \n\nGrabbing his phone and slipping it into his pocket, Charlie finishes getting dressed and feels a hand on his back pushing him forward roughly. ``Where the fuck are they, Charles? I know you have them.'' the cheetah is just as surprised from the violent shove as he is to hear his mothers groggy, hungover voice. ``I didn't take your fucking smokes, mom. I don't even like those. I told you Jim-'' he's cut off as a bony fist collides with his right eye. ``Don't fucking lie to me, Charlie. Stop blaming your fucking brother for everything. Where. Are. They.'' Charlie is in shock, too dazed by the surprise impact to process what's going on, let alone respond to it. Feeling her grip his shirt, his mother roughly shoves him against the wall, the back of his head bouncing off of it as he grips her arms in an attempt to pry them off of him. ``Mom what the f-fu-'' he's cut off by another, much harder slam as his head violently smacks into the wall behind him once again. His vision blurred from the jarring impact and the salty water now welling up around the bottom of his eyes, Charlie tries to speak once more ``m-mom please s-sto-'' with one last slam she pulls the battered boy from the wall and throws him onto the floor, face down straight into a small pile of dirty dishes as she screams at the top of her lungs. ``WHY COULDN'T HE FUCKING TAKE YOU WITH HIM. PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT STUPID GOD DAMN GOOD FOR NOTHING RETARDED GOD DAMNED KID. FUCK!'' she spits and kicks a small pile of clothes towards him before she turns to walk away, still screaming. \n\nTerrified and shaky, Charlie stands up from the pile of now broken dishes on the floor and stumbles around attempting to steady himself as his legs nearly give out. He'd stayed on the floor for what felt like an hour, but in reality was about 2 minutes as he waited for the noise to die down, signaling the end of the rampage. Hoping she'd screamed herself into a coma, the boy quickly runs out of his home and runs to the only safe place he can think of. Trembling hand making contact with the wood, Charlie anxiously knocks on his neighbors door. Looking down at the ground below, Charlie speaks when he hears it open. ``H-hello again, Mrs. Blythe. U-uhm, does-'' he pauses for a sniffle. ``Does billy still leave clothes here when he visits?'' Eyes wide in shock as she sees the rapidly darkening spot forming around the boys eye and the small stream of blood from his nose staining his shirt, she brings him inside.\n\nDexter anxiously waited for lunch, time seemingly moving slower and slower as he watched the second hand stutter its way around the face of the clock above the blackboard over and over again as the teacher droned on about some old railroad. Saddened by his new friends no-show, Dexter grabs his bag as the lunch bell finally rings and makes his way to the bench to eat. ``Charlie?'' Dexter shouts in surprise seeing a familiar tall yellow figure slowly hobbling towards him, staring at the dirt in front of him as he shakily walks towards the bench. His ears twitch as his head perks up upon hearing the squirrels voice, his mind briefly ignoring the pain as he speeds up to sit down next to the boy. ``Charlie what's wrong? I didn't see you all day I thought you got sick or something.'' \n\nCharlie lifts his head to look at Dexter and speak, but he couldn't quite make words form on his lips as he starts sobbing, feeling physical pain in his face, and a deep emotional pain from his mothers ridicule. He was mostly used to the yelling, but the beating he took today was new, and it made him feel more small and powerless than he'd ever felt before. Unable to do anything but watch in shock as his feline friend broke down in tears next to him, Dexter was unable to hold back his own tears. ``Ch-charlie what's wrong? What h-happened? Why are we crying?'' He asks between his own light sobs as he gently places his hand on the boys back. Charlie flinches in shock at the contact and immediately stares up at the squirrel, eyes wide in fear as Dexter yanks his arm back and gasps at the surprise reaction. \n\nDexter feels worthless, unable to do anything but watch his only friend tremble and sob uncontrollably next to him, thankful no other students had paid them any mind. 20 minutes had passed by before Charlie had finally begun to calm down, choked sobs slowly becoming less frequent as his eyes ran out of water to shed. ``H-hi Dexter. I'm h-happy to see you.'' he softly whispers out as he wipes his eyes across the unkempt fur on his arm. ``S-sorry I ditched this m-morning. My phone d-died so my alarm didn't g-go off and I wasn't home to ch-charge it til a little bit ago. Thanks for uhm, thanks for s-sitting with me. I appreciate it.'' He showed his appreciation by suddenly leaning towards the boy and taking him into a tight hug as he held his tears from coming back. Dexter gently hugged him back in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to the sudden embrace.\n\nStomach growling, the little squirrel realized he'd been unable to eat his lunch. Reaching into his backpack, he pulls out a brown paper bag and reaches in to pull out his half eaten burger from the night before. Hearing his friends stomach growl as he watches the cheetah kick his feet under him, he pulls it in half and gently nudges the feline with his elbow to get his attention, holding part of the burger up in offer to him. Charlie eyes the offer in surprise, quickly motioning to say no, feeling immensely guilty for even considering taking food from his friend. He'd always struggled accepting help from people, feeling terrible thinking about people missing out because he needed something. ``Please? I promise I wasn't gunna eat the whole thing anyway.'' Charlie grabbed the burger, a grateful but guilty look on his face as he bit through the cold meat.\n\nFinishing his food first, Charlie looks over to his friend has he chews on his own last bite. ``Sorry for just hugging you like that. I hope it didn't make you uncomfortable or anything I just really needed it and wasn't thinking right. It was- it was nice, though.'' He squeaked out, blushing slightly. ``It's okay, Charlie. It just surprised me is all. I can?t remember the last time somebody who wasn't my mom hugged me. I don't mind. It felt good.'' he says warmly, feeling a slight blush of his own that he desperately hoped wouldn't grow bright enough to peek through his fur. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the boys parted ways. Dexter heading to 5th period, and Charlie making his way to the office to get an ice pack for his severely darkened eye socket. He felt bad for not telling Dexter what happened, but he couldn't bring himself to vomit out his story without fear the boy would run away and never come back.\n\n5th period passed Dexter by in a flash as he mentally prepared himself for the first real PE class of the year. Even before his belly started to grow out a little, Dexter had always struggled with physical activity. He always had fun running around playing as a kid, but something about the structure and rigidity of PE class made him tire far too easily, quickly running out of breath and almost always being last on every running day or sports game. Nervously making his way into the boys locker room, his sense of smell is immediately overrun with the stench of sweaty young boys and cheap aerosol body spray as he steps through the doorway. Struggling to breathe through the overpowering cloud of cologne, he makes his way to his locker and pulls out his gym uniform. Looking around nervously at all the other boys in various states of undress, making sure no eyes are on him, he quickly pulls off his shirt as he hears light footsteps coming up next to him. \n\nDexter nervously looks up to find a familiar feline beside him, holding a damp napkin to his eye and attempting to unlock his locker having seemingly not noticed the squirrel. ``Charlie?'' the cheetah quickly looks around in surprise before looking down, his eyes settling on the much shorter squirrel he'd missed getting ready for class. ``Oh! Hey Dexter.'' he said, just before he noticed the shirtless boys torso and blushing slightly as his eyes went wide at what he saw. Quickly looking away, the tall boy opens his locker and removes his own uniform, quickly undressing as the squirrel speaks again. ``You have PE 6th too?'' he asked curiously. ``I didn't see you yesterday.'' Charlie felt bad for not being there with his friend. ``oh, I had a doctors appointment after lunch. I asked Ms. Rue if she could have someone set my locker up for me. S-sorry.'' the boy looked down in an attempt to hide the shame on his face as he lied to his friend. His mother had called the school to pull him out of class and send him home for an appointment, but she just needed an excuse to get him home and grill him over her missing cigarettes. She'd grown tired of fishing butts out of her ash trays between glugs of vodka, and wished to confront her favorite verbal punching bag.\n\nCharlie's mother blamed the boy for the divorce. At 13, he was awkwardly attempting to fit in at his mother's company Christmas party 2 years prior when his father had come by to ask the him if he'd seen her anywhere. He saw her set her drink on the table and walk towards the bathroom alone several minutes prior, figuring one of the greasier snacks laid out on the table had gotten to her. The women's bathroom was out of order due to a plumbing issue that night, so everyone had to share the men's room, the men sticking to the urinals and saving the stalls for the women. Charlie wasn't watching the door the whole time, uncomfortably shifting around in his too-small dress clothes he'd been forced to wear to make a good impression on his mother's coworkers. He hadn't seen his mother subtly gesturing towards the large wolf man a few feet behind her as she entered the restroom, nor said wolf man quickly sneaking in behind her. Charlie thought nothing of it when he told his father where he'd last seen her.\n\nPulling on his gym clothes, Charlie gestures for Dexter to follow as he heads towards the teachers little office attached to the locker room. ``Coach Dempsey?'' the large middle aged bull turns around in his swivel chair to see the boys standing in the doorway. ``Charlie! Good to see ya, kid. What can I do for ya?'' Charlie smiled a little, always finding it funny how kind the man was despite his incredibly intimidating appearance. ``I have to sit out today,'' he said, gesturing towards the damp rag he was holding on his eye. ``I was wondering if it would be ok for Dexter to sit out with me. I don't really want to be alone right now.'' shooting a sympathetic and understanding look at the boy, the man nods his head and gestures for them to come in. ``Of course, Charlie. What's going on? What's with the rag?'' the man asks, as he reaches down to open the mini fridge hidden beside his desk to pull out a couple juice boxes he kept on hand for students who got hurt or were otherwise having a bad time during class. ``here.'' he hands the juice to the boys as Charlie opens his mouth to speak again. ``I don't really think I can talk about it right now but I will soon I promise. It's just been a bad day.'' the man nods in understanding. ``Alright. You boys can stay in here or sit out on the bleachers in the gym and watch everyone else suffer, haha. Your choice.''\n\nQuietly sipping their juice together as they watch the rest of the class stretch and run laps around the gymnasium, both boys silently enjoy each others presence. Charlie finally feels at peace for the first time since he was so rudely awoken that morning, but feels nervous as he turns to ask his friend a question he'd been feeling awfully guilty to ask. ``Dexter? Uh, do you think your mom would be ok with me coming over after school?'' Dexter briefly chokes on his juice in surprise, turning to face the boy with wide eyes as the liquid dribbles down the side of his mouth. ``OH! I don't know. W-we can ask when she comes to pick me up. I nev-'' the squirrel stops himself, too embarrassed to admit he's never actually had a friend over before. ``uh, never mind...''\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
Ch 2
Third and fourth period both passed by in a blur as Dexter zoned out entirely after the teachers took attendance. Dexter jolted back to reality at the unexpected sound of the lunch bell, quickly grabbing his bag and rushing out of the room to avoid the crowds that would soon form in the halls. Remembering what the lanky cheetah boy had told him at second period, Dexter quickly headed off towards the wrought iron bench he'd been talked out of a panic attack on just a few hours earlier. Finding it empty, the boy plopped himself down and waited for Charlie to meet up with him.
10 minutes had passed as Dexter quietly waited for the spotted boy to join him. Stomach growling, he decides to start eating alone having nothing else to do and being far too anxious to get up and walk anywhere else lest he get lost in the endless intimidating piles of teens scattered throughout the campus. Pulling a now very flat pb&j sandwich from under his math book, Dexter takes a bite as he notices a familiar yellow blur rapidly growing in the distance. Noisily gasping for breath and nearly spilling his lunch tray on the squirrel in front of him, the thoroughly winded cheetah sets his tray down on the bench and attempts to speak between gasps. ``OHGODIMS-'' gasp. ``SOSORRYIMLATEI-'' gasp. Dexter cut him off, picking his tray up off the bench and gesturing for him to sit. ``It's okay, Charlie. Catch your breath.''
Charlie reaches over to the tray on Dexter?s lap to pick up a carrot stick and dip it in the small cup of cheap, watery ranch dressing next to it. Mouth still full he mumbles, ``I?m sorry I was late. I had to pee and the lunch line-'' he paused to swallow his carrot, ``was stupid long when I got there. I was scared you wouldn't even be here.'' Dexter was surprised at the cheetah's words. ``Why wouldn't I be?'' The squirrel asks, confused. ``I dunno. I thought after this morning you probably wouldn't wanna spend lunch with me or something cuz I was dumb or whatever. People don't usually show up when I ask so I was preparing to eat alone again.'' Gasping slightly at his words, Dexter looked over to the boy beside him as he reached for another carrot stick. ``Why do you think you're dumb?'' The squirrel asks, green eyes shining brightly as the sun bounced off of them. Charlie looks at the dirt below as he kicks his feet before replying. ``I dunno. Mom says-uh, mom says I was born broken and talk too much, and the other kids usually stop talking to me after a couple days and call me stupid n stuff. I'm-'' the boy sniffles a little, a small catch in his breath as he continues. ``I'm used to it. I figured today would be the same.''
Dexter is saddened by the cheetah's words. Still nervous talking to someone new, always expecting the worst, the little squirrel decides to open up a little. ``I-I think you're pretty, uhm, pretty cool, Charlie.'' He squeaks out nervously. ``You-you're actually the first person to talk nice to me since second grade. Except for the, uh, the short king thing.'' Charlie cringed to himself remembering his actions this morning that set this all in motion. ``God I'm so sorry about that, really, I was trying to be funny to get your attention but I guess it wasn't really funny considering your reaction n stuff and I've kinda been beating myself up all day for that and then you saw me cryin in the bathroom cuz my mom and today's just been a big ol' mess-'' the cheetah spoke without pausing at a speed Dexter could barely keep up with. ``if I'm ever talkin too much you can just tell me to shut up or fuck off or whatever. I kinda ramble a lot and it's what everyone started doing so yeah.'' Charlie took a deep breath to calm himself down and give the overwhelmed looking squirrel next to him a chance to process the words he was hearing.
Dexter was overwhelmed, but not at all for the reason the cheetah thought. ``Charlie I'm not gunna do that. That- that's mean!'' He snapped a little louder than he'd meant to. ``You've been nice to me, I'm not going to be mean to you like that.'' Surprised by his squirrel companions reaction, Charlie couldn't explain the warmth he felt inside of him. He'd thought it was mean at first when his friends started cutting him off, but he got used to it years ago as just a part of life because of how he was. Hearing another kid say he was nice was something he certainly wasn't used to. Annoying, stupid, loud, obnoxious, these were the things Charlie had come to expect from the kids he spent time with.
``Dexter?'' Charlie quietly squeaked out, feeling small and nervous as the lunch bell rang. ``Do you wanna be my friend?'' Feeling heat rapidly rise in his cheeks, rapidly reddening skin clearly peeking through his soft gray fur, Dexter nervously replied ``Y-yeah, Charlie. I think I'd like that.'' Heart pounding out of his chest, he could hardly believe the turn of events today had took as he heard his new friend quietly shout ``yes!'' before he ran off to his next class. Now alone, Dexter buzzed with excitement having officially made his first friend in high school.
Fifth period was uneventful, but Dexter was happy to find his assigned seat was once again in the back corner of the class, out of everyone's view so he could zone out without feeling too self conscious about it. He spent the period replaying the events of the day in his head, from his episode in the car to the incredible sparkle in his feline friend's eyes when he accepted his friendship. Dexter couldn't help but smile to himself as the bell for the final class rang. Unfolding his schedule once again to see where his final class was, he groaned to himself as he saw the 2 letters he hated the most printed across the 6th period slot.
Patiently standing a few feet behind the large crowd of students impatiently pushing and shoving their way through the door to the gymnasium, the pudgy little squirrel huffed as he mentally prepared himself for PE class. Noticing the rest of the crowd had finished filtering in through the double doors, Dexter made his way in as well, hoping there would be no exercise today. After the teacher finished going over the syllabus explaining what sports and all they'd be playing throughout the year, he stood the class up and led them towards the locker rooms to collect their gym clothes and assign lockers. Color drained from the boys face as he realized he'd be getting borderline naked every day in this large open space in front of everyone. Before he could worry too much about that, the final bell rang, officially signaling that he had, in fact, survived his first day of high school.
Maneuvering his way through the endless crowds of chaotic chatty teens blocking the hall once again, Dexter made his way out into the front of the school. Quickly running over to the shaded bench he'd made his first friend on, he patiently waited for his mom to come pick him up. Saddened by not seeing Charlie again before his mother pulled in, Dexter stood and ran to the car waiting for him in the driveway.
Out of breath from the short jog, he closed the car door as he made himself comfortable in the back seat and looked up to see his mother anxiously staring at him in the rear view mirror. ``Mom!'' the squirrel in the driver seat jolted at the unexpected outburst. ``Mom I made a friend!'' he shouted excitedly, as tears began to rapidly stream down his cheeks. ``I really-I really made a friend!'' He began to sniffle as his mother turned around in surprise, eyes wide at the site of her son crying in her car for the second time today. Unable to hold back the waterworks herself, she leaned towards the boy and grabbed him in a tight squeeze giving a sniffle of her own, this time in joy. ``H-he scared me this morning b-but then he felt bad and sat with me til I calmed down. He helped show me around a little because we were late and I had to get a new schedule.''
Thoroughly surprised and certainly overjoyed by what she was hearing, Dexter?s mother couldn't help but see her son as he was the last time he made a friend. It was half way through the school year in second grade when a new student had moved into town, and the little otter had immediately taken to the boy after seeing him curled into a ball in the tan bark, being picked on by a small group of third graders. She'd ran to grab a teacher for help and sat with him in the office as the principal grilled the sobbing boy for an explanation of the situation. She decided then that she liked this tiny, gray squirrel boy and had begun to sit with him at lunch every day, telling off any of the mean kids who tried to pick on him at recess.
Remembering the devastation on Dexter?s face when he told her his little otter friend was moving away, she held out hope that this time would be different. She didn't want to see him like that ever again. She didn't think any child should ever feel the way her son had felt, becoming a shut in at 8 years old. He'd always struggled with bullying in school, but he was still always such a happy boy at home until then. His only friend moving away set off such an intense sadness in Dexter that he'd fallen into a severe depression that no amount of therapy or medication they'd tried had been able to help even until now, only occasionally clearing up for small stretches of time, but always coming back shortly after.
Laying one last long stroke along her sons long, gray hair as he excitedly talked about his new cheetah friend, she laughed gently. ``I'm so happy for you, Dexter. My baby boy really is growing up, isn't he?'' she let out a small sigh. ``Alright, I promised dinner. What do you want, Mr. social?'' she joked, eliciting a small groan from the boy behind her before he answered.
Sitting at the dinner table and looking down at the mountain of fries on the disturbingly grease stained paper in front of him, Dexter swallows his bite of burger before picking one up to chomp down on. Washing it all down with a large gulp of disappointingly flat and watery fountain cola, Dexter examines the damage. Half a double cheeseburger and a decent handful of fries gone, the squirrel was amazed to see how much he'd eaten. A burger that size normally lasted 3 or 4 meals for him, but today he felt like a king. He was celebrating not just surviving his first day of high school, but making a friend. Wrapping the remainder of his burger for later, Dexter notices the surprised look on his parent's faces as they eye his significantly shrunken meal. ``Well now I know you're in a good mood. I'm proud of you, Dex. Making a friend on the first day, that?s big.'' his father chimes in. Dexter blushes, embarrassed.
Placing his leftovers in the fridge, Dexter feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Seeing a message notification from his friends chat app, he unlocks his phone to see a message from his favorite gaming buddy. ``Hey m8, I ment 2 txt u earlier but my phone died last night n I had 2 go 2 school b4 I could charge it. 2Day was ur first day rite?'' Dexter felt a pang of guilt as he remembered how he felt this morning not seeing any messages from his friends before replying. ``ye! It was weird n scary. I made a friend, tho! He?s cool!'' While he was generally very shy and reserved in person, Dexter was very open and social online, having always found it much easier to find nice people with similar interests there. Dexter saw another notification on top of his screen as he attempted to catch up on the days conversations in his small number of chat rooms. ``WHOA WHAT? MR ANTISOCIAL MADE A FRIEND???'' Dexter felt his cheeks warm again. ``well u don't hafta say it like that >.> but ya he?s a cheetah. His names Charlie.'' Dexter chuckled as he immediately got another response. ``LMFAO LIKE THE CHIP GUY?!''
Charlie unlocked his phone to see the time in the corner of his heavily shattered screen. Sitting alone in the darkness outside his family's trailer, he listened to his mother as she broke yet another cheap glass against the wall in anger. ``10:40. 20 more minutes and she'll be drunk enough to pass out.'' he thought to himself as he attempted to drown out the insults and swears she spewed about him for something his older brother had done. His stomach growled, having not eaten since lunch at school that day. Charlie had grown used to these sounds of anger and feelings of hunger, his mother having grown into a raging alcoholic since his father left 2 years ago. Having caught her cheating in the bathroom at a work related Christmas party, he'd decided right then to file for divorce and pack his things.
His mother had fallen into a depression and started filling her normal nightly wine glass higher and higher to cope, until she was drinking a bottle a day, quickly trading wine for cheap flavored vodka to save money while getting an even stronger effect. The only days she didn't drink herself into a blind rage were the days she was passed out from drinking too much the night before. Charlie liked those days the most, when not even a gun going off next to her would be able to shake her awake. Those were the only days he didn't feel bad about himself. Charlie was still in close contact with his father, the man being much the opposite of the woman the young cheetah lived with. He'd heard the stories of the woman's vile behavior from the boy, and could often hear the screaming himself through the boys phone when they spoke. He'd felt immense guilt for leaving Charlie with her, but he was in no place to take care of a child, only living out of his car as he tried to save for his own apartment in another city a few hours away. Charlie held no ill feelings towards the man who raised him, loving the man deeply and seeing no reason whatsoever to blame him for his mothers treatment of him, nor blaming him for leaving.
Charlie opened his contacts list to send a message to his dad. ``hey dad. School was good. Made a kid cry by accident but we're friends now. He's kinda cute. Mom mad at me cuz Jimmy stole her smokes again but mr perfect can do no wrong. Prolly gunna go for a late walk n crash at the park again. Love u.'' seeing his battery at 4% the boy slips his phone in his pocket, hoping it would last til morning. The slim feline hears a slight crinkle in his pocket as he stands, reminded of the bag of chips his new little rodent friend had given him at lunch. Smiling, he began eating his cheesy snack while he walked to the park a few blocks away under cover of darkness. Arriving at the park, the young cheetah boy made his way to the tall set of heavily graffiti coated steel bleachers and crawled through the bars underneath them to his favorite place to sleep away from home. Pulling out the small, thin, tattered blanket he kept in his backpack, he wraps himself up and leans against a heavily splintered plywood board leaned against the edge of the bleachers. Thinking back to his new friend, he smiles to himself slightly and falls asleep.
Dexter woke up on his own a few minutes before his alarm. Light streaming through the crack in his window curtain, he slides it open a little more to see more of the room around him. Grabbing his bottle from the floor next to his bed, the pudgy little squirrel takes several large gulps of water to moisten his dry mouth. Going through his normal morning routine, he makes his way to his dresser to brush his hair. He feels significantly fewer knots and snags than normal this morning, also realizing he feels mostly awake already. Quickly pulling on his clothes and heading to the bathroom, he relieves the pressure in his bladder and leans into the sink to wash his hands. He looked into the mirror and was shocked to see the dark, sunken in bags normally present under his eyes were several shades lighter than normal.
Making his way to the kitchen, he finds his mother setting a small plastic tray of store bought breakfast pastries down on the table. ``Morning, mom.'' he says as he plops down in a chair and grabs a sweet cheese danish from the tray. ``Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep okay?'' she asks, gently petting his head for a moment. ``I think I did, actually. I dunno. I feel ok this morning.'' the older squirrel smiled brightly hearing her son speak, overjoyed to have her suspicions confirmed having not heard the normal sobbing or tossing and turning through the wall last night. ``I'm kind of looking forward to school today.'' Dexter hears a gasp as his mothers pastry hits the floor.
Making sure he has all of his things, Dexter pulls his phone off the charger next to his bed and slips it in his pocket while slinging his backpack on one arm. Heading towards his mom's car, he sighs to himself, feeling strangely content. Getting situated in the back seat, he hears his mother speak up. ``I'm really happy for you, Dexter. I think things will be different this year. I hope they will. I believe in you, sweetheart.'' Dexter sees her eyes start to sparkle with a telltale wetness, but stop just short of shedding actual tears. ``I love you, mom. I think I'll be ok. I hope.''
Arriving at the drop off zone, Dexter grabs his bag and turns to get out of the car before his mother speaks. ``Your father will be home late tonight. He got called in early for a big project so it'll just be us for dinner.'' ``Okay, mom. Love you!'' Dexter closes the door and heads to sit at the dirty black bench in the shade to wait for his new friend.
Feeling saddened as the bell for first period rings with no sign of his excitable new friend, Dexter makes his way to his first period math class in hopes of seeing him there. Settling down in the back of the room, Dexter?s shoulders slump as the late bell rings with still not a glimpse of the boy he'd been so excited to see. He felt like crying, but he knew he'd be seen and ridiculed for being the ``little bitch baby'' that everyone in middle school had taken to calling him during his episodes. Steeling his nerves, Dexter tries and fails to focus during class, his eyes glassing over as he dissociates through his first few classes, his brain on autopilot controlling his hand to take hastily scribbled notes when needed.
Charlie shot awake with a loud gasp, his tattered blanket and shirt already soaked through as the poorly aimed sprinkler in the grass next to him shot through the bleachers support bars and hit him square in the face. The sun was bright and he could hear parents with their small children on the playground a few yards away from him, thankfully having not been seen or woken up by anyone thanks to the strategically placed plywood sheets propped up against the edge of the bleachers. Groggy and very wet, the poor boy grabbed his things and crawled out of his hiding spot to head back to his trailer and hopefully find some clean, dry clothes.
Pulling his old, broken phone from his pocket he presses the power button with his thumb only for the screen to stay black. ``Shit. So much for that.'' he huffs to himself as he puts the dead black rectangle back in his pocket. Charlie didn't mind living in a mobile home park. It wasn't like the stereotypes you'd see in movies and TV the way he'd expected it to be. It was actually a nice, very calm and peaceful area. All the neighbors were quite fond of the lanky teen, always happy to see him and accept his offers of help with whatever they were busy with at the time. He thoroughly enjoyed being helpful, but it definitely helped that it gave him a reason to be away from home. Away from his mother and brother.
Cutting across the communal lawn, Charlie sees an elderly kangaroo woman trying to trim the flowers in the cheap planter pots outside her home. Coming up next to her to hand her the small pair of clippers just out of her reach, Charlie greets his favorite neighbor. ``Here you go, Mrs. Blythe.'' Smiling warmly at the damp feline, a hint of concern clear on her face noticing the state of the boy she considered like a second grandson. ``Sorry if you heard all that last night. I'm ok. Jimmy's been stealin again and she keeps blaming me for it is all.'' Her concern unchanged, she sets down her clippers and places a cloth gloved hand on his shoulder. ``I don't know how you can stay there, Charlie. One of these days she's going to go too far.'' Charlie smiled unconvincingly. Opening his mouth to speak, he was immediately cut off by the growling of his stomach. ``Come inside, dear. Let me feed you at least.''
Leaving the woman's home with a full stomach and some kind parting words, Charlie finishes his journey home. While the park he lived in was nice and clean, the cheetah families plot was exactly how it looked in the movies. Stepping over a small pile of empty plastic liquor jugs and broken glass, he gently opens the front door hoping to not disturb the woman inside. Seeing her asleep on the couch with a hefty drool spot staining the couch, he breathes a deep sigh of relief as he quietly steps over more broken glass and garbage on the way to his cramped, dirty bedroom. Stripping out of his damp clothes, the boy catches a glimpse of himself in the tall mirror propped up against the wall next to his door. He cringes a little upon seeing how noticeable his ribs were through his fur. His mother had lost her job a few months back due to her incessant drinking, and his older brother Jimmy was the only one bringing in any money from his minimum wage job at the gas up the street. There wasn't much to go around after the lot rent and his moms drink budget was taken out, and he often scraped by on no name instant noodles and dollar store snacks.
Remembering his phone, he pulls it out of the pants now on the floor and quickly plugs it in next to his bed hoping to at least get a little juice in it before he heads to school. Seeing the screen light up as the device desperately sucks power from the wall, Charlie sees a message on his lock screen. ``Go get `em, tiger ;)'' from dad. Confused, he quickly unlocks his phone to see several more messages from his father earlier in the morning. ``cute, eh? Interesting. Didn't know you went that way. Proud of you for opening up. Go get `em, tiger ;)'' Charlie's face is on fire with pure embarrassment as he see's what he typed last night. ``oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck'' he panics to himself, rapidly typing to his father. ``COOL. I meant he?s kinda COOL! AUTOCORRECT'' shakily setting his phone down, heat up past the tips of his fuzzy yellow ears, he anxiously looks around on his floor for a moderately presentable shirt. Finding a light gray tank top crumpled in a pile next to the door, he gives it a deep sniff to make sure it wasn't too dirty to go out in public with.
Grabbing his phone and slipping it into his pocket, Charlie finishes getting dressed and feels a hand on his back pushing him forward roughly. ``Where the fuck are they, Charles? I know you have them.'' the cheetah is just as surprised from the violent shove as he is to hear his mothers groggy, hungover voice. ``I didn't take your fucking smokes, mom. I don't even like those. I told you Jim-'' he's cut off as a bony fist collides with his right eye. ``Don't fucking lie to me, Charlie. Stop blaming your fucking brother for everything. Where. Are. They.'' Charlie is in shock, too dazed by the surprise impact to process what's going on, let alone respond to it. Feeling her grip his shirt, his mother roughly shoves him against the wall, the back of his head bouncing off of it as he grips her arms in an attempt to pry them off of him. ``Mom what the f-fu-'' he's cut off by another, much harder slam as his head violently smacks into the wall behind him once again. His vision blurred from the jarring impact and the salty water now welling up around the bottom of his eyes, Charlie tries to speak once more ``m-mom please s-sto-'' with one last slam she pulls the battered boy from the wall and throws him onto the floor, face down straight into a small pile of dirty dishes as she screams at the top of her lungs. ``WHY COULDN'T HE FUCKING TAKE YOU WITH HIM. PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT STUPID GOD DAMN GOOD FOR NOTHING RETARDED GOD DAMNED KID. FUCK!'' she spits and kicks a small pile of clothes towards him before she turns to walk away, still screaming.
Terrified and shaky, Charlie stands up from the pile of now broken dishes on the floor and stumbles around attempting to steady himself as his legs nearly give out. He'd stayed on the floor for what felt like an hour, but in reality was about 2 minutes as he waited for the noise to die down, signaling the end of the rampage. Hoping she'd screamed herself into a coma, the boy quickly runs out of his home and runs to the only safe place he can think of. Trembling hand making contact with the wood, Charlie anxiously knocks on his neighbors door. Looking down at the ground below, Charlie speaks when he hears it open. ``H-hello again, Mrs. Blythe. U-uhm, does-'' he pauses for a sniffle. ``Does billy still leave clothes here when he visits?'' Eyes wide in shock as she sees the rapidly darkening spot forming around the boys eye and the small stream of blood from his nose staining his shirt, she brings him inside.
Dexter anxiously waited for lunch, time seemingly moving slower and slower as he watched the second hand stutter its way around the face of the clock above the blackboard over and over again as the teacher droned on about some old railroad. Saddened by his new friends no-show, Dexter grabs his bag as the lunch bell finally rings and makes his way to the bench to eat. ``Charlie?'' Dexter shouts in surprise seeing a familiar tall yellow figure slowly hobbling towards him, staring at the dirt in front of him as he shakily walks towards the bench. His ears twitch as his head perks up upon hearing the squirrels voice, his mind briefly ignoring the pain as he speeds up to sit down next to the boy. ``Charlie what's wrong? I didn't see you all day I thought you got sick or something.''
Charlie lifts his head to look at Dexter and speak, but he couldn't quite make words form on his lips as he starts sobbing, feeling physical pain in his face, and a deep emotional pain from his mothers ridicule. He was mostly used to the yelling, but the beating he took today was new, and it made him feel more small and powerless than he'd ever felt before. Unable to do anything but watch in shock as his feline friend broke down in tears next to him, Dexter was unable to hold back his own tears. ``Ch-charlie what's wrong? What h-happened? Why are we crying?'' He asks between his own light sobs as he gently places his hand on the boys back. Charlie flinches in shock at the contact and immediately stares up at the squirrel, eyes wide in fear as Dexter yanks his arm back and gasps at the surprise reaction.
Dexter feels worthless, unable to do anything but watch his only friend tremble and sob uncontrollably next to him, thankful no other students had paid them any mind. 20 minutes had passed by before Charlie had finally begun to calm down, choked sobs slowly becoming less frequent as his eyes ran out of water to shed. ``H-hi Dexter. I'm h-happy to see you.'' he softly whispers out as he wipes his eyes across the unkempt fur on his arm. ``S-sorry I ditched this m-morning. My phone d-died so my alarm didn't g-go off and I wasn't home to ch-charge it til a little bit ago. Thanks for uhm, thanks for s-sitting with me. I appreciate it.'' He showed his appreciation by suddenly leaning towards the boy and taking him into a tight hug as he held his tears from coming back. Dexter gently hugged him back in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to the sudden embrace.
Stomach growling, the little squirrel realized he'd been unable to eat his lunch. Reaching into his backpack, he pulls out a brown paper bag and reaches in to pull out his half eaten burger from the night before. Hearing his friends stomach growl as he watches the cheetah kick his feet under him, he pulls it in half and gently nudges the feline with his elbow to get his attention, holding part of the burger up in offer to him. Charlie eyes the offer in surprise, quickly motioning to say no, feeling immensely guilty for even considering taking food from his friend. He'd always struggled accepting help from people, feeling terrible thinking about people missing out because he needed something. ``Please? I promise I wasn't gunna eat the whole thing anyway.'' Charlie grabbed the burger, a grateful but guilty look on his face as he bit through the cold meat.
Finishing his food first, Charlie looks over to his friend has he chews on his own last bite. ``Sorry for just hugging you like that. I hope it didn't make you uncomfortable or anything I just really needed it and wasn't thinking right. It was- it was nice, though.'' He squeaked out, blushing slightly. ``It's okay, Charlie. It just surprised me is all. I can?t remember the last time somebody who wasn't my mom hugged me. I don't mind. It felt good.'' he says warmly, feeling a slight blush of his own that he desperately hoped wouldn't grow bright enough to peek through his fur. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the boys parted ways. Dexter heading to 5th period, and Charlie making his way to the office to get an ice pack for his severely darkened eye socket. He felt bad for not telling Dexter what happened, but he couldn't bring himself to vomit out his story without fear the boy would run away and never come back.
5th period passed Dexter by in a flash as he mentally prepared himself for the first real PE class of the year. Even before his belly started to grow out a little, Dexter had always struggled with physical activity. He always had fun running around playing as a kid, but something about the structure and rigidity of PE class made him tire far too easily, quickly running out of breath and almost always being last on every running day or sports game. Nervously making his way into the boys locker room, his sense of smell is immediately overrun with the stench of sweaty young boys and cheap aerosol body spray as he steps through the doorway. Struggling to breathe through the overpowering cloud of cologne, he makes his way to his locker and pulls out his gym uniform. Looking around nervously at all the other boys in various states of undress, making sure no eyes are on him, he quickly pulls off his shirt as he hears light footsteps coming up next to him.
Dexter nervously looks up to find a familiar feline beside him, holding a damp napkin to his eye and attempting to unlock his locker having seemingly not noticed the squirrel. ``Charlie?'' the cheetah quickly looks around in surprise before looking down, his eyes settling on the much shorter squirrel he'd missed getting ready for class. ``Oh! Hey Dexter.'' he said, just before he noticed the shirtless boys torso and blushing slightly as his eyes went wide at what he saw. Quickly looking away, the tall boy opens his locker and removes his own uniform, quickly undressing as the squirrel speaks again. ``You have PE 6th too?'' he asked curiously. ``I didn't see you yesterday.'' Charlie felt bad for not being there with his friend. ``oh, I had a doctors appointment after lunch. I asked Ms. Rue if she could have someone set my locker up for me. S-sorry.'' the boy looked down in an attempt to hide the shame on his face as he lied to his friend. His mother had called the school to pull him out of class and send him home for an appointment, but she just needed an excuse to get him home and grill him over her missing cigarettes. She'd grown tired of fishing butts out of her ash trays between glugs of vodka, and wished to confront her favorite verbal punching bag.
Charlie's mother blamed the boy for the divorce. At 13, he was awkwardly attempting to fit in at his mother's company Christmas party 2 years prior when his father had come by to ask the him if he'd seen her anywhere. He saw her set her drink on the table and walk towards the bathroom alone several minutes prior, figuring one of the greasier snacks laid out on the table had gotten to her. The women's bathroom was out of order due to a plumbing issue that night, so everyone had to share the men's room, the men sticking to the urinals and saving the stalls for the women. Charlie wasn't watching the door the whole time, uncomfortably shifting around in his too-small dress clothes he'd been forced to wear to make a good impression on his mother's coworkers. He hadn't seen his mother subtly gesturing towards the large wolf man a few feet behind her as she entered the restroom, nor said wolf man quickly sneaking in behind her. Charlie thought nothing of it when he told his father where he'd last seen her.
Pulling on his gym clothes, Charlie gestures for Dexter to follow as he heads towards the teachers little office attached to the locker room. ``Coach Dempsey?'' the large middle aged bull turns around in his swivel chair to see the boys standing in the doorway. ``Charlie! Good to see ya, kid. What can I do for ya?'' Charlie smiled a little, always finding it funny how kind the man was despite his incredibly intimidating appearance. ``I have to sit out today,'' he said, gesturing towards the damp rag he was holding on his eye. ``I was wondering if it would be ok for Dexter to sit out with me. I don't really want to be alone right now.'' shooting a sympathetic and understanding look at the boy, the man nods his head and gestures for them to come in. ``Of course, Charlie. What's going on? What's with the rag?'' the man asks, as he reaches down to open the mini fridge hidden beside his desk to pull out a couple juice boxes he kept on hand for students who got hurt or were otherwise having a bad time during class. ``here.'' he hands the juice to the boys as Charlie opens his mouth to speak again. ``I don't really think I can talk about it right now but I will soon I promise. It's just been a bad day.'' the man nods in understanding. ``Alright. You boys can stay in here or sit out on the bleachers in the gym and watch everyone else suffer, haha. Your choice.''
Quietly sipping their juice together as they watch the rest of the class stretch and run laps around the gymnasium, both boys silently enjoy each others presence. Charlie finally feels at peace for the first time since he was so rudely awoken that morning, but feels nervous as he turns to ask his friend a question he'd been feeling awfully guilty to ask. ``Dexter? Uh, do you think your mom would be ok with me coming over after school?'' Dexter briefly chokes on his juice in surprise, turning to face the boy with wide eyes as the liquid dribbles down the side of his mouth. ``OH! I don't know. W-we can ask when she comes to pick me up. I nev-'' the squirrel stops himself, too embarrassed to admit he's never actually had a friend over before. ``uh, never mind...''
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