Bailey’s eyes open, but everything remains black.

Not that there’s anything strange about that. That’s just how the world works in the middle of the night. 

The young Australian shepherd sits half-way up and looks at the clock on his nightstand. 1:47 AM. He groans and falls back again, his head hitting the pillow. But it doesn’t take long for his body to let him know why he’s awake.

Haven’t wet the bed in years… not going to start while Coop’s here.

He rolls to his feet and tiptoes toward the washroom. Before crossing the hall, he sticks his head around the corner, making sure the coast is clear. The soft glow from the hallway nightlight illuminates nothing, so he darts into the washroom and closes the door behind him. After doing what he needs to do, he pulls the door open and sticks his head back around the corner.

And nearly headbutts Cooper. Bailey’s muscles lock up.

Cooper gasps. “Sorry—”

It’s subtle and it’s quick, but Bailey sees it like an eagle sees prey in the long grass; Cooper’s eyes meet his, then flick down to his underwear, then back up to his face. Bailey’s eyes and mouth go wide as he gasps, spins, and hops away, slamming the door with his foot. In an instant, he goes from barely awake to insanely awake. As the shock wears off, humiliation takes its place. He slowly buckles into a crouch, grabbing his ears as he descends.

That did not just happen.

That did not just happen!

His muscles lock up and burn as Cooper’s eye flick plays over and over in his mind. He begins panting, not even caring that he’s drooling on the bath mat. Not even noticing. 

A knock at the door snaps Bailey back to the present. A weird noise spills out of his mouth.

“Um… are you going to be much longer?” Cooper says, his voice gentle and quiet. “I’ve gotta go…”

Bailey clears his throat. “I’m… um… can you… can you look away?”

“Oh! Uh-uhh, s-sure. I’ll, um, just… okay, you’re good.”

Bailey grabs the edge of the counter and pulls himself to his feet. He doesn’t usually struggle to get out of a crouch, but his legs feel like they’ve been turned into wet pasta. His heart races as he tentatively pulls the door open, hiding behind it until it’s just wide enough for him to stick his head around the corner. He sees Cooper standing in the middle of the hall, back turned, hands over his face. When he gathers his nerve, he yanks the door open the rest of the way and bounds back into his room with a single leap. He swings the door shut behind him, collapses onto his bed, and buries his face in his pillow, folding the edges up around his ears. It takes every bit of willpower his tired body can muster to avoid screaming into it.

He saw me in my underwear! He saw me! In my! Underwear!

He saw me and my fat belly and my… my… my…

Ahhhh!

He pants into his pillow; not because of body heat—though he certainly feels like he’s boiling—but because it feels like the air is being squeezed from his lungs. The muffled sound of blood pumping through his ears is the only thing he can hear aside from his manic thoughts, and it only makes the agitation worse.

How could this happen? Oh no… I bet he thinks I’m a nasty perv. Why would I be walking around in my underwear? Why wouldn’t I be wearing my pajamas like him? Because I’m some weird creep!

Argh! Why does this hurt so bad?!

Time passes. Bailey can’t tell whether it’s seconds, minutes, or hours. But however long it is, the immediate shame eventually shrinks into the background of his mind, and memories of yesterday take their place. With half a night’s distance between now and then, the questions and doubts creep back in.

Why does this freak me out so much?

What am I?

Why is this happening to me?

He whimpers into his pillow. 

I’m… I’m not gay. I’m not!

People make fun of gay people at school. At least, they did at his old one. Sometimes he’d even do it too. But now, that feels so much more personal.

I like girls.

That instantly feels wrong. He thinks about Maddy, and the time he had a crush on her. Or, at least, thought he had a crush on her. Sure, she was pretty, and being around her made him happy, but, that just didn’t feel like this. He thinks of Cooper and immediately, his whole body throbs. 

She never made me feel like this…

No girl did.

So why does Cooper make me feel like this?

Why?

Because you’re gay.

I’m not!

Stop pretending.

I’m not!

Then what else is it?

It’s… it’s… it’s…

Maybe it’s just his tired brain. Maybe it’s the embarrassment still rattling around in his head. Maybe it’s because his true feelings are finally breaking through. Maybe it’s all of them. Whatever it is, it suddenly overwhelms the boy, and he begins sobbing into his pillow. They start as soft weeps, but grow louder and louder as the emotions billow out of his eyes.

I just…

I just…

Why? Why why why? Why can’t I be normal?

His crying approaches a wail.

Everyone will hate me! Yeah, Uncle Nick is gay and Dad still loves him, but… it’s different! It’s different because it’s me! What if they want grandkids? I can’t… I can’t…

And Coop… Coop will hate me! He’ll think I’m a pervert! Creepy mutt! Gross dog! 

Just as he feels like he’s about to lose control of his thoughts, a gentle rapping noise makes its way to his ears. The sorrowful moans stop, and the only noise in his room is that of his sniffles.

What was that? 

Two more quiet thuds. He lifts his head out of the pillow and looks at his door. 

Did someone hear me? Please, no.

He seizes up. Bailey’s not a cryer. Never has been, not even when he was a baby.

It’s probably nothing. Who else would even be awake… to…

Bailey swallows. Yeah, someone else is awake. And that someone is the whole reason he’s like this. Just how many times is he gonna embarrass himself in front of Cooper?

But… if he heard me crying, he’d be worried, wouldn’t he? But I’m fine! Really! I’m just… I’m just… don’t worry about me, Coop. Please…

No, I’m just hearing things… I need to go back to sleep...

He sniffles again, and a floorboard creaks outside of his room. His stomach lurches and he rolls over. “Hello?”

He can barely hear the muttering on the other side of the door. The words aren’t clear, but the voice—that soft, friendly, soothing voice—was unmistakable.

“Coop?” 

The door opens the smallest amount, the crack brightening as the nightlight seeps in. Bailey yanks his blanket over his nearly naked body.

“Um…” Cooper says. “S-sorry, are you…”

“I’m fine,” Bailey says, but the squeak in his voice betrays his words. 

Cooper groans softly. “Are you sure? I’m sorry if I…”

“It’s not your fault,” Bailey says, guilt creeping in. 

“W-well,” Cooper says, before sighing. “Can I… um, come in?”

A lump forms in Bailey’s throat. He makes a few nervous noises, unable to produce a coherent word.

Cooper sighs again. “I can go if you don’t want—”

“No, no, it’s just, um… I’m still… in my—”

“Oh!” Cooper says, probably a little louder than he means to. “Oh,” he says again, lowering his voice back to where it was before. “Sorry, I’ll just—”

“It’s okay! Let me just, um… are you looking?” 

The dark spot in the crack of the door fills with light, and Bailey hops off his bed, yanks his shirt and pants off the floor, and quickly throws them on. “Um, alright.”

The door creaks as it opens just far enough for Cooper to squeeze through. What little light comes from the hallway vanishes with a click as the bunny closes the door behind him. 

“Should I turn on a light?” Bailey asks. His voice shakes as he speaks, and he ends the sentence with a sniff.

“Oh, it’s fine, I think… ow!”

Bailey turns on his lamp. The room fills with light, and he sees the rabbit, in his black pajamas, doubled over, rubbing his shin. Cooper recoils like a vampire in sunlight, and Bailey immediately turns the lamp back off. “Sorry! I just—”

Stupid dog!

“It’s my fault! I should have been more careful.” 

“Are you okay?” Bailey asks.

The mattress creaks as Cooper sinks into it. He lets out a nervous-sounding chuckle. “I was going to ask you the same thing…”

“O-oh.”

“I just thought I heard you crying.”

“It’s nothing, Coop…”

Cooper groans, but doesn’t say anything else. The two boys sit next to each other in silence while Bailey’s heart does gymnastics in his chest.

I can’t tell him… he’ll think I’m gross…

Because I am gross…

“Sorry, I’m just a little worried, that’s all,” Cooper says. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

The guilt screams at Bailey. 

He’s sad because of you! Again. Again! All you do is hurt him! 

“I’m fine now…”

“Well, okay. I just… I’m… it’s not my fault, is it?”

Wait, his fault?

…Well, actually, yes. But… in a good way! That doesn’t make sense, does it?

Cooper’s voice gets a little more desperate-sounding. “Like, if I hurt you, then—”

It’s the tone that twists the knife, not the words. He just sounds so scared. It makes Bailey feel like crying again. “Coop… I’m fine, please. You didn’t do anything wrong. Really!”

Unless being awesome is wrong.

“W-well, okay, if you say so,” he says, sounding unconvinced. His tone changes to something a little more bright. “Hey, Bailey? Um… maybe this is a bad time, but… ah, no…”

The tip of Bailey’s tail flicks back and forth. Any subject change is very welcomed at this point. “What’s up?”

“I, uh… I want… um…” He grunts and abruptly stands up. His voice gets raspy as he steps toward the door. “Sorry, forget it. I’m a dumb fuck. Night, Bailey.”

The gymnastics routine in Bailey’s chest lands a double backflip with a twist. 

Wait, where did that come from? 

And his voice did that thing again…

“Coop, wait.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.”

Bailey launches to his feet and grabs Cooper’s arm.

“Bailey, really… you don’t—”

“Cooper… why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

I hate seeing him like this! I hate it! I hate hate hate it so much!

Cooper shakes his head. “I… I can’t say. You’ll think I’m gross.”

He’ll think I’m gross…

The sentence echoes in his head. His mind overheats as it tries to work out the meaning, but any thought he has is drowned out by the enormous flashing neon sign towering over every other idea.

He’s gay. He said that because he’s gay. Just tell him how you feel. 

But what if I’m wrong? 

Nothing else makes—

“Ah… Bailey? You’re squeezing me really hard…”

Bailey’s hand pops open like the claw in a crane game. “Sorry!” he says with a squeak.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Cooper says, rubbing his bicep. He shakes his head. “It’s just… I really like you—”

He… what?

“—and I don’t want you to hate me.”

Hate? What?

Bailey shakes his head. “I won’t hate you!”

Cooper sighs and throws his head back. “Listen, just forget about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Coop!”

“What…”

There’s a weariness to that word that makes Bailey want to completely relent. The rabbit is tired. He doesn’t want to talk about this. And yet Bailey can’t let go.

I’m hurting him again…

But I have to know. I have to.

Bailey swallows. “Coop… I really like you too. So, if there’s something you want to tell me, please… tell me.”

A pause. Bailey holds his breath.

“I’m scared,” Cooper whispers. “You really won’t hate me?”

“Never, Coop.”

Cooper takes a long, deep breath, but before he can say anything else, the floorboards creak outside of the room. The two seize up as footsteps get closer and closer. They stop just outside the door, then, a moment later, the washroom door closes.

Bailey’s voice drops to a thin whisper. “Oh crap!”

He’s not gonna be able to tell me anything if mom kills us first!

“What should I—”

“Keep your voice down!”

“Sorry!”

“Quieter!”

“Sorry!”

Bailey tiptoes to his door and turns the knob as slowly as he can, then jerks his door open. He raises a finger to his muzzle, then points to the hall. 

Cooper shrugs and shakes his head. “What?” he mouths.

Before he can say anything, the door across the hall opens, bathing Cooper and Bailey in light as it pours out of the washroom. They stare at Marcie, who is standing there wearing a nightgown and a very annoyed expression.

“Boys, it’s two’na fuckin’ mornin’.”

“Sorry!” Bailey says. “We were just, just, just,”

“Don’t wanna hear about it. Don’t wanna gotta drag ya outta bed Monday ‘cause ya didn’t get any sleep all weekend.” Her eyes flick to Cooper. “Sorry, bud. He’s a flat tire when he doesn’t get any sleep, so I gotta be tough.”

“O-oh, yes, I’ve seen that. Sorry, ma’am, I shouldn’t—”

Marcie shakes her head. “It’s fine, it’s fine, but ya know now, so…”

“Yes, sorry ma’am,” he says as he scurries out of the room. “Um, see ya in the morning.”

Marcie gives her son a ‘we’ll talk about this later’ look before turning off the washroom light. “Go to bed, Bailey,” she says as she walks back down the hall.

Bailey closes the door, then walks back to his bed, disrobes, and climbs back under the blankets.

I already miss him.

What was he going to tell me?

He imagines Cooper telling him all sorts of things. He imagines the conversation they’ll have. He imagines feeling happy. He imagines feeling sad. All this imagining—not to mention his mother’s looming punishment—is making it hard for him to get back to sleep.

Why can’t it just be morning already?

He tosses and turns and turns and tosses. He doesn’t know much time passes, but at some point, he figures he must have fallen asleep, because the next time he opens his eyes, his room is no longer dark. He turns over and looks at his curtains, which glow as they absorb the morning sunlight, then at his clock. 7:53. He sits up and stretches as he lets out a big yawn. And then he remembers, and his guts twist themselves into a knot.

Oh no… I hope Coop’s not mad at me. Man, it got really weird last night.

Their conversation repeats in his head. In particular, he hears ‘you’ll think I’m gross’ over and over. 

Is he really the same as me?

He sighs and stares at his pile of clothes on the floor.

I should take a shower. Totally forgot last night. I don’t want Coop to think I stink…

He pulls himself off his bed and digs some clean clothes out of his dresser. After a look down the hall to confirm that the coast is clear, he leaps into the washroom. He takes a fast shower, then blow dries himself and looks at the mirror. His fur, already fluffy, absolutely poofs out. He can hardly even see his chubby belly because his entire body looks big.

I wonder if Coop will think I’m cute like this.

He sighs, his shoulders sagging.

Why am I thinking such stupid things?

He redresses, brushes his teeth, and walks out of the washroom. As he crosses to his room, he looks down the hall, and sees Cooper standing there, holding a stack of neatly folded clothes in his hands. They make eye contact for a moment before the rabbit looks away.

“Oh, I was just gonna shower.” Cooper says.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Cooper walks past Bailey and into the washroom without looking at him or saying anything. Bailey’s chest tightens.

Oh no, he’s not mad, is he? Or maybe he’s just scared…

Scared like I am…

He takes a deep breath as he walks back into his room, leaving his door open just enough so that he can hear the gentle patter of water as Cooper takes his shower.

He’s naked in there.

Bailey violently shakes his head, his ears whipping back and forth.

Augh! What the heck is wrong with me? That’s so gross!

He kicks his door shut and falls onto his computer chair. After slamming his headphones onto his head and turning his music up, he rage-clicks around his bookmarks, trying to cope with the mix of disgust and a different, nicer feeling that he doesn’t really recognize. 

I shouldn’t be thinking about this. I’m a creep. I’m a pervert. I’m gross. 

Mercifully, the roar of the blow dryer reaches his ears, and slightly more innocent thoughts come to his mind.

I wonder if he gets super fluffy like I do.

He imagines Cooper, still nude, but with a cartoonish amount of fluff. Just a big ball of cream-coloured fur with a head sticking out the top. It makes him giggle, and he relaxes a little bit.

Okay, maybe not that fluffy.

The blow dryer clicks off, and a minute or so later, the washroom door opens. Bailey holds his breath.

Is he coming to my room? I don’t hear him walking away. Is he waiting for me? What’s he doing? Oh, his paws are really fuzzy… maybe he just doesn’t make noise? But those floorboards are creaky. But then again, sometimes even Dad can—

There’s a knock on his door.  

Bailey finally takes a breath. “Yeah?”

The handle slowly turns, and the door creaks open.

“Hey, um, it’s me…”

The soft voice soothes and scares Bailey in equal parts.

This is it…

“Hey, Coop. Um… figure out the shower okay?”

“Oh, uh, it was fine. Can I come in?”

“O-of course.”

The door opens the rest of the way, and Cooper steps in. He looks like he’s shrinking. His shoulders sag as he hunches forward, and he doesn’t make eye contact with Bailey. “So, er… how did you sleep?”

Bailey yawns. “Not so great… how about you?”

Cooper laughs a very nervous laugh. “I got to sleep eventually… I think.” He sits on the bed, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. His voice gets very quiet. “Guess I got some things to tell you, huh?”

Bailey gets off his chair and sits next to Cooper. “You don’t have to if—”

“No, no, I said I would.” He takes a deep breath. “Um, first, though, since I’m still a bit confused… um, you were crying last night, right?”

Bailey’s neck tightens as he stares at a blank spot on his wall. “Yeah, a bit, I guess.”

“Damn… that’s what I thought. I’m sorry.”

Bailey shakes his head. “It wasn’t your fault! I was just… sad about things.”

“Like being seen in your undies?” Cooper says with a little giggle.

Bailey feels like falling back and howling, but keeps it together despite his humiliation. “I just don’t own any pajamas! It’s what’s comfortable to me! I didn’t expect—”

“It’s fine, Bailey… it’s fine. I don’t mind.” The way he says those last three words gets the gears in Bailey’s head whirling at high speed. Cooper sounds relaxed, content… almost happy? Bailey doesn’t get it.

He doesn’t mind? What does he mean, he doesn’t mind? I would mind if I saw me naked! I’m gross! I’m ugly! I’m—

“Well, I guess I’ll tell you now…” Cooper says, his voice getting quiet and low. “Um… can you promise me one thing, though?”

“What?”

His voice further drops to a whisper. “Please don’t hate me.”

Bailey looks—really looks—at his friend. He seems so small. Cooper’s tall, sure, but he’s also really skinny, and sitting in that position makes him look so fragile, so vulnerable. It makes Bailey want to hug him, to hold him, to tell him that he’ll protect him.

Why?

Why would I hate you?

Did you… do something bad?

Or…

Cooper’s words repeat in his mind. ‘You’ll think I’m gross.’ ‘I don’t mind.’

If that’s why… I wouldn’t hate you…

I’d lo—

“Bailey?”

Bailey blinks a few times, then smiles at Cooper. “I promise.”

The corners of Cooper’s mouth curl up the smallest amount, but they quickly go back down. “Um, well, I guess I’ll start with Dad…”

Wait, his dad?

“I haven’t seen him in about a year… the last time I did, the cops were taking him away.”

Bailey gasps. “The cops? What happened?”

Cooper sits up straighter and rests his chin on his knees. “He was drunk. Like always. Got into a loud argument with Mom. Like always. Usually, it was just shouting… maybe breaking some dishes. But that time… he…” Cooper sighs and looks away.  “He hit her. Like, really hard. Knocked her right on the floor.”

Bailey’s fur bristles. He puts his arm around Cooper’s shoulder. “Holy crap… that’s awful. Why did he do that? What were they arguing about?”

Even like this, it feels so nice just to hold him.

Cooper takes a very deep breath. “Me.”

Bailey’s fingertips clench the rabbit’s shoulder. “You?”

“Dad never… he didn’t think I was ‘turning out right’ or whatever. Kept telling Mom that she was raising a—” he makes a throaty noise and tilts his head toward the ceiling “—a fucking little pansy f… f… sorry. I don’t like saying that word.”

Wait, which word? He just said the f-word… what other word could it be?

Bailey rubs Cooper’s back some more. He doesn’t really know what else to do.

“Well, Mom… she got really mad.” He looks down, his eyes seeming to unfocus. “Not for the right reasons, but… well, anyway.”

Bailey tilts his head. “Not the right reasons?”

“N-never mind. Um, but anyway, she told him, well, screamed at him to stop, and he…” Cooper closes his eyes. His voice gets quieter and shakier. “I ran back into my room and… called the cops. They got there pretty fast and took him away. Last time I ever saw him. Hope I never see him again.”

How can someone do that to someone they love? I could never hurt him like that… never…

Bailey leans against Cooper, his head coming to rest against the rabbit’s. So close, so intimate, so… gay. But more than anything else, so right. He wasn’t scared that Cooper was going to push him away.

“Of course, we were stuck a long way from here… Grandma and Grandpa helped us move back, so we’re living close to them now.” Cooper turns his head and looks at Bailey. Their faces are so close, the pointed snout of the dog mere inches from the wiggling nose of the rabbit.

Wait… wiggling? He’s telling a horrible story and his nose is wiggling?

“You’re kinda close, Bailey…” Cooper says, a little smile forming on the edges of his mouth.

Why do I get the feeling that he wants me even closer? No… no, I’m imagining it. Don’t be dumb, Bailey. But… what if… no! No, okay, no, just…

He pulls away from Cooper, his pawpads sliding across the rabbit’s back before coming to rest on his own lap. “Sorry.”

Cooper’s nose stops wiggling, and he looks down. “It’s alright.” 

I knew it… wrong move…

The rabbit turns his head and rests it on his knees again. “Well, that’s why I’m back up here now…” Cooper sighs. “I’m happier now. Really! I do wish I had a cool dad like yours, but I’d rather have no dad than my dad.”

Bailey grimaces.

It’s not fair. It’s just not fair. Cooper is the nicest, coolest guy I’ve ever met. He deserves better. He deserves the best! Why does life have to be so mean to people who don’t deserve it?

The two sit there for a bit, both lost in their own thoughts. But something is bothering Bailey. Something seems off. And he’s slowly figuring out what.

What did all that even have to do with anything? Why did he say that I’d think he’s a freak? For having a jerk for a dad? Am I missing something?

“U-uh, Coop?”

“Mm?”

“I’m… a little confused. All that… it really sucks, but what’s gross about it?”

“Gross?”

“Like, last night. Err, this morning. Whenever it was. You said—”

Cooper closes his eyes, then scrunches them shut. “R-right. I… it’s just, the thing Dad said to me… about me being a pansy f… a pansy…” Cooper’s cheeks puff up, and then he exhales hard. “A pansy faggot—”

Pain shoots through Bailey’s chest. Ever since he got yelled at for saying ‘fuck’ when he was five, he’s had an aversion to saying almost any sort of ‘bad word.’ But he knows that some swears are worse than others. And that one… he knows what that one means. And it’s bad. It’s real bad. And someone called Cooper that? Bailey grinds his teeth together as angry thoughts—violent thoughts, even—course through his mind. 

If anyone ever calls Coop that in front of me, I am biting their throat out. And if I ever see his dad… I’m… I’m gonna kill him!

“H-hey, Bailey?”

“What?” He’s surprised by the venom in his voice, and speaks again, trying to sound soothing. “Yeah?”

“You’re growling…”

Bailey clears his throat and looks at the rabbit’s sad eyes. Just as he did outside the nurse’s office, he sees fear in those eyes, too.

I hate when he looks scared!

…I bet he looked so scared when his dad hit his mom…

He shakes his head. “I’m just… mad. He really did that to your mom?” 

Cooper nods, then looks at his knees. 

“And he really… called you that?”

“Yeah…”

Bailey growls again. “That… that pisses me off.” 

Yeah, I said it. 

Cooper looks up at the dog. “Wait, really? Why?”

“It’s just… it’s so awful. Why would he hate you just because he thinks you’re… um, that?” Bailey turns and looks at a family photo on his wall. “Especially… when he’s supposed to care about you… and love you.” His voice goes quiet. “And besides, even if he’s right… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

Cooper doesn’t say anything.

Did I screw up? I’m scared to look…

“Right?” Bailey says, hoping Cooper will say something.

“You don’t… really believe that, do you?”

Bailey’s heart sinks. 

Did I…  not understand?

“Um… I… I mean…” Bailey clears his throat. “B-believe what?”

Cooper gulps loudly enough that Bailey hears it. “Like, nothing wrong with being a… you know…”

Bailey feels the air is being squeezed out of his chest. He wants to take a huge breath, but his lungs refuse to respond. “It… it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person…”

“S-so, if I actually did like… boys… you wouldn’t think I’m gross?”

Gross. There it is. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it! 

Bailey smiles and looks into Cooper’s eyes. “Of course not, Coop.”

Cooper sniffles, his eyes glistening. “Really? You’re not gonna tell me to fuck off?”

“Never, Coop. Never.”

The edges of Cooper’s mouth twitch and shake for just a few moments before the dam bursts. He folds forward and begins bawling into his hands. Every time he tries to speak, the words get lost in his sobs.

Bailey slides as close to Cooper as he can wraps his arms around him, gently rocking him back and forth. “It’s okay, man. Really.”

Cooper manages a single “th-th-thanks” before his blubbering overtakes him. Cooper isn’t a loud cryer, but he is a hard cryer, and his whole body retches against the dog. Bailey almost feels like crying himself.

It’s just so unfair…

Cooper snorts and hiccups as the ugly crying gets worse. But it’s not ugly to Bailey. Nothing about Cooper is ugly to Bailey. He would let him bawl as much as he needed to if it meant that he’d feel better.

So, so, so unfair…

Gradually, Cooper’s sobs get weaker and weaker until they’re nothing more than sniffles. “It’s just… all my life… I’ve felt like such a freak,” Cooper says, his voice hoarse. “Why didn’t I… why couldn’t I… just want to kiss girls like everyone else?”

Bailey closes his eyes.

Gotta be totally sure…

“Coop, just to be clear… are you saying you’re gay?”

Cooper sputter-laughs, then shrugs as he shakes his head. “If that’s what you wanna call it…”

It’s a miracle that Bailey doesn’t explode on the spot. Emotions swirl inside of him like a maelstrom as his fingertips knead the whimpering bunny. He wants to nuzzle him, to lick him, hold him as close as he can and never let go. But… something inside of him is still scared. An invisible wall. Every part of his mind is screaming at him to tell the rabbit how he feels, but he just can’t.

“H-how long have you known?” Bailey asks, trying to get out of his own head.

“Kinda… always, I guess? I just never liked girls. They always seemed so… just… I don’t know. Boys are just better, you know?” Cooper says. He snorts and shakes his head. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t.”

I do! I do know! Why can’t I just tell him?

Cooper’s head tilts back, his nose wiggling slowly. “But when I moved back here, I just… I felt really lonely. But then I met you! You were so nice to me—”

Wait, you were the one who was nice to me!

”—and you’re just… really kind, and cool, and cute, and—er, I mean—”

If Bailey’s black nose could turn red, it would be glowing like a brake light.

He… thinks I’m cute? There’s no way… I’m just a ugly, chubby dog. He’s the cute one here! My nose barely moves at all, and his fur is so soft…

Wait… why’s he looking like that?

Cooper’s expression shifts; his eyes go wide, mouth slightly ajar, and nose perfectly still. “S-sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. That makes me sound like a freak. Fuck. Sorry. Fuck! Just ignore—”

No, no, no! You’ve got it all wrong, Coop! Please! I… I just…

“—keep my mouth shut so you didn’t have to worry about some gross gay kid having a crush on—wuhfm!”

In one quick motion, Bailey’s tongue slides up Cooper’s chin, over his lips and nose, and up toward his forehead. A light taste of salt hits the edges of his tongue as it passes over the tear-stained fur near the bunny’s eyes. The wetted fur along the tongue’s path runs the wrong way, leaving undeniable proof of what just happened. Cooper, with a stunned look on his face, slides the back of his hand down his face to straighten the fur back out.

“You… you licked me,” he says.

I licked him. Holy crap. I just licked him. I just straight up licked him.

Bailey’s core muscles feel like they’ve been mashed up into a little ball and are awaiting a toss to the trash can. He crumples in on himself, mortified, his whole body searing hot. “S-sorry.”

“Why did you lick me?”

Bailey whimpers. “I… because that’s… it just… I wanted to… it felt… because I… because…”

“Because?”

“Because I like you too.” The words just come out, passing from his heart to his mouth without stopping at the brain. 

Cooper gasps. “W-what?”

Bailey’s whimpers turn to whines. He grabs his ears and scrunches his eyes shut. “Because I like you too!”

“Bailey…” Cooper says, his voice breathy and low. “You… you serious? You really like me… like that?”

I love you!

Even in this state, Bailey maintains enough of a grip to know that he should not say that. Maybe someday… but not today. So, he settles on an emphatic “yes!”

Cooper giggles, then laughs. “No way…” he says, his voice shaking.

Bailey dares to open his eyes just a crack. Cooper’s nose is threatening to lift off. There’s not a single part of his face that’s not smiling.

“You’re… you’re the same as me?”

Bailey stops death-gripping his ears. His whole body shakes, but the pure joy on Cooper’s face calms him down a bit. “I don’t know what I am… I didn’t even know I could like boys until I met you…”

Cooper falls back on the bed. “Wow… I’m dreaming.”

Bailey falls next to him. “Um… nope. We’re actually here.”

Cooper grabs his cheeks with both hands and pulls them away from each other. His face stretches more than Bailey expects. He lets go, his face snapping back into its normal position, and he slowly shakes his head. “Nope… not dreaming.”

Bailey bursts out in laughter. “What was that all about?”

“It’s how you check if you’re dreaming!”

“No? You just pinch your nose!” Bailey says. He reaches up and closes his nostrils. “See, like this!” he says, his voice incredibly nasal.

“I can’t do that! My nose is too flat!”

And holy crap, is it ever wiggling.

The two giggle as they stare at each other with gentle smiles and half-lidded eyes.

He’s so beautiful…

“I still like girls… I think. But… I also really like you…” Bailey says.

That sounds so, so weird to say out loud…

“Well, I really like you, too.”

“Why?”

Cooper raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘why?’”

“I mean… what’s to like about me? I’m boring, kinda ugly—”

Cooper’s expression goes wide.

“—kinda fat, kinda dumb—ah!”

Cooper wraps his hand around Bailey’s paw. Bailey shivers as hormones surge. 

“You are not!” Cooper says, a shrill edge creeping into his voice.

“I—”

“You’re fun,”

Ah!

“...smart,”

Wuh…

“...and really, really cute!”

Uhhh?

Bailey’s vision slowly blurs as his tail whaps the bed. Hearing those words in Cooper’s voice makes him want to melt. He can’t help but smile as his tongue slides out of the side of his mouth. And yet, in the back of his mind, beneath the warm, fuzzy feelings, a light bulb goes off.

Hey, wait a sec!

“Oh, okay, so I am fat.”

Cooper squeezes Bailey’s hand harder. “No, no! You’re not! Really!”

Bailey snickers and pouts. “I’m just a chubby little puppy!”

Cooper pulls himself up to the dog, his skinny frame pushing up against Bailey’s thicker one. “You don’t feel fat to me.”

Holy crap, he’s right there. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Cooper’s flat, wiggling nose rubs against Bailey’s pointed, wet snout. “You’re really soft, though.”

Bailey takes a deep breath. The intoxicating scent of his rabbit crush fills his nose. Every last bit of him burns with desire, and it overwhelms him. His dangling tongue springs into action, and he licks the bunny’s face again.

Cooper laughs and rubs his face with his free hand. 

“S-sorry,” Bailey says, turning his head and pushing his muzzle into the mattress.

“For what?” Cooper says, a lilt to his voice. “Y-y’know… that actually feels really nice.”

“Seriously? I thought only canines liked that.” 

Cooper bows his head slightly, exposing his forehead. “Well, I like it.”

How is he so perfect?

Bailey turns his head back, his nose sliding across Cooper’s forehead. “Can… can I… do it again?”

“Please?”

Bailey’s tongue goes to work on the large forehead, licking it until the fur is wet and messy. He licks faster and faster, wetting more and more of Cooper’s head with each lash of his tongue.

The rabbit giggles as he scrunches his eyes and mouth shut. He tries to speak, but all he can manage is “ahh, Bai—” before he is silenced by the thick tongue sliding across his lips. 

Bailey isn’t stopping. A week of repressed feelings spray out of him like a shaken champagne bottle. He leans forward into Cooper, putting his weight on the rabbit until he rolls him onto his back, then crawls on top of him, straddling the torso.

“B-Bailey?”

A moment of clarity strikes the dog.

Whoa, what am I doing?

“Sorry,” he says as he tries to swing a leg back off. Before he can get very far, Cooper grabs his hand.

“H-hey, wait.”

Bailey takes a good look at the rabbit’s face. It is just a mess. His usually neat, well-kept fur is disheveled, wet streaks bending it in all sorts of directions. But underneath it, he still smiles, his eyes twinkling under the lights of Bailey’s ceiling fan. It almost makes him want to cry.

I’m the luckiest dog in the world.

“Um, Bailey?”

Bailey beams. He can’t help it. Not when Cooper sounds so sweet. “Y-yeah, Coop?”

“Does… does this make us boyfriends?”

Boyfriends? I never even thought of that! But it sounds so right. It feels so right.

“I think it does.”

Cooper’s smile threatens to stretch off his face, with his cute little front teeth poking out from underneath his lip. “I never thought I’d have a boyfriend.”

“I sure didn’t,” Bailey says, looking away and scratching his ear.

“I’m happy that you’re my first.”

First…?

Bailey looks back and grins at the rabbit, a little mischief creeping into his mind. “Do you plan on having other ones?”

Cooper’s eyes go wide and he holds up his paws in front of his face. “No! No, no, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant!”

Bailey laughs and leans forward, resting his nose on Cooper’s forehead. “I’m just messing with you.” After a moment like that, an intrusive thought enters his mind. “Umm… my breath doesn’t stink, does it?”

Cooper turns his head. “Uhhh, no?”

“Oh.”

Why did I even bring that up?

Cooper speaks softly. “In fact… ummm… can you lick my face some more?”

There’s a tingle in Bailey’s belly. The rabbit looks up at him with pleading eyes that even a puppy wouldn’t be able to manage. Without saying another word, he opens his mouth and slides his tongue once more over the rabbit’s face.

“Like that?”

Cooper giggles. “Mmhmm.”

And the licks resume in earnest. Long licks, short licks, hard licks, gentle licks. Bailey wants nothing more than to show his bun boyfriend—

Ugh, that’s totally what Dad would call him…

—just how much he loves him. 

Cooper, being a little bit ahead of Bailey in puberty, has a noticeably deeper voice than the dog. But no one listening to him right now would know it. His childlike giggles fill the room as Bailey’s long, wet tongue slides over and over again across his face.

Bailey feels the bunny squirming beneath him, but his heart is simply too full to stop. He slips into a more feral state of mind as his tongue continues to leave wet streaks in Cooper’s fluffy facial fur. His tail wags so hard that he can hear it swishing through air behind him, even over the laughter of his friend. Every time he opens his mouth, the scent of the rabbit wafts into his mouth and nose, sending yet more surges of hormones through his body. 

“Bailey…” Cooper says, in a soft, almost dreamlike voice. 

It’s enough to pull the dog out of his licking trance, and the two gaze into each other’s eyes, warm smiles plastered across both of their faces. Cooper’s face, even being a total mess, is the most beautiful thing in Bailey’s world. He leans over and falls onto the bed, unpinning the rabbit, and after a little repositioning, the two once again lie on their sides, looking at each other. 

“I wish I could kiss you like you kiss me…” Cooper says.

Kiss? That’s not kissing! That’s just… it’s…

It is kissing, isn’t it? I just kissed him for like ten minutes.

And I want to keep doing it…

Bailey turns his head. “Well, why can’t you?”

Cooper sticks his tongue out. “Because it’s weally thort.”

“Aww, no it’s not.”

“Yeth it ith.”

Bailey sticks out his own tongue, which dwarfs Cooper’s. “No ith not.”

“Yeth it ith.”

“No ith not.”

“Yeth it—”

Bailey leans forward and licks Cooper’s face, tongue and all. The warmth of his boyfriend’s tongue against his own sends a powerful tingle down his spine, and he stops the lick half-way up.

I just licked his tongue. Wow… it was so warm…

Cooper giggles and casts his eyes away, his tongue sliding back into his mouth. “H-holy shit, Bailey…”

“Whoa… Coop, can I—”

Cooper’s tongue rockets out, and Bailey wastes no time giving it another lick. And another. And another. They both laugh softly as the dog’s long, flexible tongue swirls around the rabbit’s short and thick one. Cooper pushes his body up against Bailey again, as their awkward, inexperienced kisses flow into something better as his lips push up against the dog’s muzzle. He slips his tongue into the canine maw, sliding it back and forth against Bailey’s tongue.

Bailey grunts and pulls back, giggling. “Whoa, whoa!”

“Too much?”

“N-no, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Also, I think my heart’s going to explode if I don’t take a break.

“I don’t know why I did it… it just—”

“Felt right?”

Cooper closes his eyes. His smile seems to get wider. “Yeah. Just felt right.”

“Do you wanna—”

Three loud thumps echo around Bailey’s room. The dog jumps off his bed like he had been launched by a spring in a video game. His head swings back to Cooper, who bolts upright and grabs a handful of blankets and tries to wipe his face off. He grabs his doorknob.

“Hey boys! You up?” Dan says, his voice vibrating the door and, by extension, Bailey’s arm.

Whew! Mom would totally just barge in…

“Y-yeah, Dad!” Bailey says, his voice squeaking. “Need anything?”

“I made bacon! Can’tcha smell it?”

Bailey takes a big whiff. Now that lagomorph pheromones are no longer clogging his nose, the scent of sizzling meat hits him, and it makes his mouth water. Or, it would, if he hadn’t already deposited most of his saliva onto Cooper’s face. But as delicious as bacon sounds, he’s not thinking about just himself anymore. His head swings back to the rabbit. “Sounds good! But, um, I don’t think Coop—”

“Ahh, I thought of that!” Dan says, sounding proud of himself. “I got a whole big salad! Lots of greens!”

Yes, that’s what a salad is…

Cooper smiles and shakes his head. “Your dad is so nice,” he says, quietly.

Bailey grins.

Yeah. Yeah, he is. If Coop’s dad won’t take care of him… maybe my dad will.

The thought unleashes butterflies in Bailey’s stomach. He turns back to the door. “Thanks, Dad. We’ll be out in a sec.”

“Don’t take too long!” Dan says, his voice disappearing as the floorboards creak under his steps. “Ya don’t want cold bacon, do ya?”

Cooper pushes himself off the bed. “How’s my face?”

It looks like it was licked a hundred times, which, by Bailey’s reckoning, seems about right. “Umm, maybe go wash it in the sink…”

Cooper laughs. “This is all your fault.”

“Your fault for having such a lickable face.”

“Your fault for having such a messy tongue.”

“Okay, it’s both our faults.”

Cooper smiles wide, his big, puffy cheeks prominently displayed. “Fine, fine, I’ll go wash it.”

They walk out of the room, Bailey moving down the hall and Cooper into the washroom. His tail swishes back and forth, brushing both sides of the hallway as he walks toward the kitchen. He’s just so excited. In just one morning, his whole world, his whole outlook on life, has flipped upside down. What the future holds, he doesn’t know. But he knows that he’s in love with the bunny, and the bunny is in love with him. 

That’s all he needs.