A/N: Okay, so here I go again. I really want to finish up this story properly, but I feel like I need to go through and update bits to do so in a way I'm happy with. I'll stamp each chapter with the new update date as I go. Updated Dec 2017, added about 800 words

Disclaimer: I do not own Bolt

The Empty Feeling

Bolt's P.O.V.

I opened my eyes sluggishly and turned my head towards the small metal alarm clock resting on my owner Penny's wooden night side table. The neon green numbers read 2:17 A.M. Great... Only twelve minutes had past since the last time I had peered at the little clock, but it felt like a lifetime! Sighing to myself softly I turned back to rest my head on Penny's warm arm which was at her side and closed my eyes trying to keep them shut.

Lately I hadn't been sleeping well, being aggravated by and snapping my eyes open at the slightest sound. If it were only the sounds that woke me I may not be exhausted as I am, but on top of that I keep finding myself waking up multiple times during the long never-ending nights for no apparent reason and not being able to get back to sleep for quite a bit. I've been living with Penny again for the last three or four months now and I absolutely love being back with her! Although this time I'm not here as her movie co-star but just one of her three pets.

That's right, three! After what happened a few months ago Penny decided to adopt my two new best friends Rhino and Mittens which made me the happiest dog in the world! Before making these new friends I had been content just being alone with Penny, and even the thought of bringing another animal into our house seemed repulsive to me. Penny didn't need anyone else as long as I was around to protect her, but now I've changed my mind and have grown quite fond of my housemates.

Rhino and Mittens have adapted quite nicely to Penny's home, they enjoy the space, shelter, and love here. For Rhino this was quite the improvement seeing as he used to live in a crammed hamster cage with a ton of other hamsters! His owner was crazy and didn't understand that squishing twenty hamsters into a cage the size of a big goldfish bowl didn't really work, and could really stress out his pets. Penny's different though, immediately after adopting Rhino my person went out and bought all sorts of neat hamster houses which have been placed around the house. Rhino's not confined into a cage or anything like he used to be either, although he does spend a lot of time in his ball.

Rhino's other favorite spot where he spends a lot, or actually most of his time is watching the "Magic Box" in the living room from the couch. It is a pretty strange thing for a hamster to be doing apparently but I've never seen different. Before last summer I never really got out much. Mittens tells me that the Magic Box Rhino always likes to watch is actually called a 'T.V.' and back when I was a co-star with Penny people would actually watch us on it! I think that sounds pretty insane, but Mittens seems to know a lot about that kind of thing. Back to Rhino, he even sleeps on the couch in the living room saying that he passed out watching his favourite shows but I think he sleeps there on purpose so that he can watch the morning cartoons! He only ever leaves 'his' couch when the little guy absolutely has to; Penny even brings the hamster food and chocolate there for him to eat. He's an odd one to say the least.

And then there is my other new friend, Mittens, whom used to live on the streets and in alleys. She lived wherever she could really, looking for anything to protect her from the harsh winds of the city and the cold of night. Now the black and white cat spends most of her days relaxing on our home's furniture and evenings sprawled out in front of the fireplace. But every night Mittens returns to Penny's room to sleep at our person's side. Although the cat seems to still be a bit weary of humans it is clear that she has grown fairly attached to Penny. She doesn't tell me about her old life often but when she does I can feel the tension and pain in her voice.

I could think all night about Mittens, the cat that completely saved and changed my life. When she isn't lazing around the house she follows me around a lot, I think it's most likely just because she's not quite used to being in a house again after such a long time of being an ally cat. And after a hearing a few stories of her life previously as a house cat that she's told me I can see why she is still a bit weary of anyone other than Penny, and might want to keep close to me. I did tell her that I would protect her after all.

I think another reason that Mittens follows me around so much is that she likes seeing me become a real dog. I mean, of course I'm a dog, there's no doubt about that. I have the ears, and tail and everything! But I'm finally starting to learn what the privileges of being a real house-dog are aside from what I used to do which was just sitting in a trailer all day waiting to go on grand adventures to help and sometimes even save Penny. Sure, all that stuff was a ton of fun but being just a regular pet dog is kind of nice too. And the cat Mittens is all to thank for giving me that.

That said, it's really kind of weird always having a cat around. Especially since before the whole getting lost and having to find my person thing was over I always thought that every cat on the planet was a reincarnation of pure evil. I thought that they were all working for the green-eyed man who always tried to get my Penny. Even now I don't really like cats, most dogs don't apparently, but Mittens is my one and only exception to that thought. I would almost say that I even enjoy having the small, energetic, soft, black cat around. But I'd never actually say that out loud of course. She might make fun of me, and I don't really think she needs more fodder to work off of in that regard. She makes fun of me all the time…

I sighed and slowly, stiffly opened my eyes to look up at the small alarm clock again hoping that either a lot of time had passed and I could soon get up, or no time had passed and I still had a chance at a nice sleep against my Penny. 2: 52 A.M, 35 minutes.. Time seemed to be passing both at a snail's pace and quickly at the same time. In the darkness of night it all sort of blends together. I'm never going to get any sleep tonight…

"Are you okay Bolt?" Someone suddenly said from behind me in a soft voice making me jump a bit. I quickly snapped my head around and in the dark spotted just the cat I was previously thinking of. Her deep and captivating green eyes were staring almost straight into me from the other side of the bed and over the sleeping penny, they seemed to almost glow in the shadows.

The only source of light into the room was a light-post outside Penny's window, but even it's glow was dampened by a thin curtain covering said window. All I could really make out of Mittens other than her eyes was her silhouette with ears pointed up with curiosity. As my eyes adjusted to the dark a little better however I began to make out the finer features of the cat's face, and it seemed that Mittens too was having some trouble getting to sleep. Despite her perked ears the cat looked rather tired with bags under her eyes, and as I sat there studying her she gave a small yawn. "Bolt? Hey, you okay over there?"

Ah- I guess I was staring a little too long. "Oh, uh, yeah Mittens." I tried to whisper as quietly as possibly while getting my voice across. Just because the cat and I can't sleep doesn't mean Penny needs to be woken up as well. "Thanks for asking. I just can't seem to be able to fall asleep tonight."

I started to wonder if Mittens had noticed me like this during previous nights. I was often awake deep into night peeking up at the conveniently placed alarm clocks, sometimes all night until the sun rose in the morning. But I shook my head, doubting it. She always seemed to sleep so soundly against Penny's side at night, usually purring for the first hour or so before becoming a quiet ball of black fur. But why haven't I been able to fall asleep lately? I can't really describe it, I just feel empty for some reason. Like in my chest something is missing. Something very important.

"Really? Me either Bolt," Mittens' reply snapped me from my train of thought as she looked down slightly into Penny's arm. Something was definitely wrong with the small cat, but what could it be? Her life seemed to be so much better here; could she maybe want to go back to the alleys?.. But... why? I want her to stay. My sleeping issue would probably get worse if she left; the hole in my chest began to grow just thinking about it. I definitely didn't want the black and white cat to leave me. Wait, me? I mean, leave the house. The others would be upset too.

"Hey, are you okay Mittens?" I asked tentatively, not wanting to upset her further but wanting to find out what it was so I could try and help. And if it was something to do with home, maybe I could talk about it with her for a bit and get her to think of here as her new home. "Please, tell me what's wrong?"

Mittens stayed quiet for a few painfully long minutes, but I gave her time to think of her response. The tension in the room told me that this shouldn't be rushed, and I should wait for Mittens to reply of her own volition. That said, the utter silence dragged on and the hole in my chest seemed to grow even larger. That was the last thing I wanted other than Mittens being unhappy. But why do I care so much? She's just a cat after all right?

I waited a bit longer in the painful silence then decided that whatever was troubling her she didn't want to talk about it. Whatever 'it' is, Mittens was usually so outgoing and this was really bringing her down. I let out a quiet sigh hoping that she couldn't hear it but doubted that seeing as even the smallest sound could be heard through the house. After another few moments of silence I spoke "Never mind, Mittens. It's okay. If you don't want to talk about it that's alright.. But…" I propped myself up standing onto my four legs then bent the front two, crouching on the bed before softly jumping over a sleeping penny to land beside the startled cat.

"Bolt?" Mitten's green eyes grew wider as I landed semi-gracefully and made a small yelp freaking out a bit as I thought I landed on Penny's arm! But I turned quickly to see that my paw was just on a big fold in the blanket, my person's arm was untouched. "Wh- What are you doing? This is my side of Penny!" Even through her whispers the cat sounded surprised.

I smiled triumphantly, happy with my landing, and replied with a quiet "Hmm? Penny isn't something you can own, cat. And if she was she would be completely mine." I lay down beside the small black cat and draped one of my paws over her shoulders softly. Using it, I pulled her a bit closer to me. I'm a little bigger than Mittens obviously, so she fit rather nicely into my furry chest as I rested my chin softly on the top of her small head. I found my mind wondering a bit, surprised at how soft the Mittens' fur really was. It was fluffy, and warm. For a moment I drifted off forgetting where I was, it was a welcome sensation after the endless night but soon I was brought back to reality via a very angry cat voice.

"Hey!" Mittens started pushing away from me and pulling her head from under my chin to glare at me with her bright green, all seeing eyes. I simply put my weight on her, it being more than enough to keep the cat from getting away."W-what are you doing Bolt?" Mittens tried to push further away from me but soon realized that it was useless and calmed down a bit allowing me to pull her close to my chest again.

I just smiled a bit, whispering "Don't think anything of it Mittens. I just want to see you sleep soundly and maybe this will help. When I was still living in the camper I had a little stuffy that I always hugged, and it helped me sleep." I moved her closer to me. Her warm fur felt nice against the pads of my paws. Maybe that's what the hole has been; maybe it's what I've been missing? Just something to hold as I sleep. Unfortunately, my carrot stuffy has seen better days and is now used as a ragged toy for fetch but isn't great as a pillow. I wonder if there's any way to get Penny to know that I need a new pillow… My master would definitely but me one if she know I wanted it.

After a few minutes where Mittens lay rigid, the cat finally decided to give in and nuzzled her head into the fur of my neck tickling me a bit with her pointy whiskers. She put her tiny paws on my chest, wiggling a bit to get more comfortable. "Bolt, uh.. you aren't embarrassed at all by this?. Lying with me?.." she asked, and she still felt a little bit tense as I held her close.

Why was she like that, it was just two friends sleeping together that's not so weird is it? If I can remember correctly back to when I was a puppy and before Penny got me, my family would always sleep in a big pile trying to get worm and snuggling together. Was this really so different? Maybe she thought it was weird because I'm a dog or something but whatever, I don't really care as long as it's comfy. And if laying like this helps Mittens and I get some actual sleep then I have no complaints.

I adjusted my paws on the back of the small black and white cat, getting a little more comfortable and replied "I don't think it's weird. You were having trouble sleeping, and I care about you Mittens. I want you to have a nice sleep." Wait, I care about you? What am I saying? That's not what I was thinking before at all.

"W-what?" Mittens pulled her head back from my neck for the second time, and as she did so my neck instantly felt empty and cold, my chest even tightened a bit but I'm not sure why. Odd how someone so small could have such a strong effect on me so easily.

But I didn't have the time to respond to her before I started drifting off, even if I wanted to reply my jaw felt heavy. My limbs felt like lead as well, locking the small cat beneath me as I slipped into a deep, perfect sleep. Everything went darker than it already was as my eyes closed and I started to sway my head a bit before it fell down onto the blanket softly. Before completely blacking out I felt Mittens move her small soft head back under my chin into my neck where it belonged, and I could have sworn that I heard her say super quietly "Goodnight Bolt, and… Uhm, thank you." But maybe it was just my imagination. After all, it was pretty late. Or early, whichever way you see it.

A/N so that is chaptr 1 re-written! I hope you enjoy it, and PM me or leave a review to let me know how I did! next chapter when I get a chance but I have exams coming up this week.