It was a nice, sunny day in San Francisco. The temperature was just right, a nice gentle breeze blowing through the air, all of the kids were outside with friends, everyone was happy. Except for a certain trio of bears.

"Bros, I'm worried about Jacob. I haven't seen him in a week, what if he doesn't like us anymore?" Grizz asked his two brothers, the three of them walking down the sidewalk.

"Grizz, he's our best friend! He wouldn't leave us like that. Maybe he got sick or something." Panda assured his older brother, knowing how much he cares for all his friends. Ice Bear, being his usual quiet self, just gave a nod to the other two.

"But he would've told us if he was sick, I just want to make sure he's okay." Grizz let out a nervous sigh, looking at the houses they walked by. On a nice day like today, they would've been playing basketball at the park, but they weren't. 'Something has to be wrong' Grizz thought to himself. After about another minute of walking, they arrived at the red bricked house that Jacob lived in. The trio walked up to the front door, Grizz knocking anxiously on the wooden surface.

"Grizz, calm down. He's fine." Panda assured the grizzly, but it did little to calm his nerves. A moment soon passed and the door was opened by a woman with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a green blouse with jeans.

"Oh, hello boys. Are you looking for Jacob?" His mother asked the bears curiously.

"Yes, Mrs. Martin, is he h-" Panda was cut off by Grizz.

"Yes! We haven't heard from him in a week and we're worried!" Grizz started freaking out, only to have Ice Bear grab him by the shoulders and start to shake him. Grizz quickly got out of his daze and apologized for the outburst.

"I'm worried about him too. This whole week he would come home and go straight to his room, not saying a word to me. One day he came home with a black eye, and I asked him about it. He told me that they were playing baseball in gym and he got hit by the ball, but I don't think I believe him." Jacob's mom explained to them, which worried them all.

"Can we try to talk to him?" Grizz asked anxiously, and his mom nodded, stepping aside to let the bears in. Grizz, Panda, and Ice Bear walked down the hallway to where Jacob's room was. Grizz wrapped his hand around the door knob and turned it, only to reveal an empty bedroom and the window wide open.

...

Jacob was running, he didn't know where he was going, but he didn't care. He couldn't take the pain and the torment from his classmates anymore, he couldn't stand living anymore. He received all of this hate for what? His sexuality? It shouldn't matter! It doesn't matter! But to them, it does. Jacob ran into the forest, knowing exactly where to go. He and Grizz were the only ones who knew of this spot, not even Panda or Ice Bear. They'd go there to talk about anything, whether it be their problems or events from the past week. Grizz may be loud and excitable at times, but behind all that, he really does care about his brothers and friends alike. But, Jacob was afraid to tell them he was gay, despite practically the whole high school knowing at this point. He didn't them want to be disgusted with him, he didn't want to lose them too. All of Jacob's other friends left him after they found out through his best friend, Charlie. Jacob came out to Charlie, but instead of being supportive, he told everyone in the school. Tears started forming in his blue eyes, blurring his vision. Jacob tripped over a root and fell with a thud, a sob escaping him. He quickly got back up and continued to run, wanting to run away from the world. Finally after a while, he reached a small pond surrounded by trees, a waterfall on the opposite side. Jacob sat down at the edge of the pond, the sound of the rushing water filling his ears. He wanted to calm himself down, tell himself that everything was okay, but he'd be lying to himself. Everyone hates him, everyone's disgusted, telling him to die, get hit by a bus, shoot himself, jump off an overpass. Tears were now cascading down Jacob's cheeks, sobs escaping his lips. He's lost everyone, he knew that his parents were homophobic, and most likely the bears were too. He had nowhere to turn, no one to go to, he was actually alone. He then remembered why he'd left in the first place, feeling the hard metal object in his pocket. Jacob pulled out the item from his pocket, revealing a small handgun, his father's handgun to be exact. Jacob was contemplating whether he should end it or not, the feeling of sadness he felt made him lean towards that he should. 'I mean, nobody will miss me, they all think I'm disgusting. I'll be doing everyone a favor.' Slowly, Jacob raised the barrel of the gun to his head, his hand shaking horribly. Just when he was going to pull the trigger, a loud gasp from behind stopped him.

...

"Jacob! Jacob, where are you!?" Panda yelled, his two brothers looking around frantically as well.

"Jacob? Jake?" Grizz kept calling out for the 15-year-old, looking between houses that lined the street. Despite being silent, Ice Bear was looking between the houses as well, the fear evident in his eyes. Jacob's mom had called the police, starting to cry. She desperately asked the three bears to try looking for him, which they willing obliged. Grizz finally got an idea on where Jacob might be, but it would be better to cover more ground.

"Bros, we should split up. Maybe we'll have a better chance of finding him if we do." Grizz told Panda and Ice Bear, to which they nodded in agreement. "I'll keep going straight, Panda, you go left, lil bro, you go right, okay? Let's get moving!" Grizz said and the three of them were off, going in their respective directions. Grizz, however, knew exactly where Jacob was. He saw the forest about a block away from where he currently was, and broke out into a sprint. Grizz needed to know that Jacob was okay, he just needed to. Once he reached the forest, he expertly weaved through the trees, jumping over logs and stumps as if he knew the forest like the back of his hand. He looked to the distance, seeing a figure that was sitting on the ground. Smiling a bit, Grizz ran over to the figure, but the smile he had didn't last very long. When he saw that the figure was indeed Jacob, and that he had a gun pointed to his head, be couldn't help but let out a loud gasp. The gasp startled Jacob, who put the gun down from his head, whipping around to look Grizz in the eyes. Fear and shock were the only thing Jacob felt at the moment. Grizz looked at Jacob with fear, and by instinct took went up to him and took the gun away from him.

"G-Grizz? What're you doing?" Jacob asked, a tinge of anger in his voice.

"What am I doing? What are YOU doing with a gun?" Grizz asked him, throwing the handgun to the ground. Jacob was totally lost, he couldn't get out of this situation.

"I...I...I..." Jacob stuttered, not knowing what to say. The only thing he could do was break down and cry. Grizz enveloped Jacob into a tight hug, letting Jacob bury his face into his chest, soaking his fur with tears.

"Jacob, why did you have the gun?" Grizz put his paw under Jacob's chin so he could look at him. Right as he made eye contact with him, Jacob looked away nervously

"I-I don't want to, you'll hate me," Jacob said, tears still flowing down.

"Jake, I'll never hate you, ever. We have this spot for a reason, just talk to me. Please." Grizz pleaded, wanting to know what was wrong with his friend.

"Never?" Jacob asked hesitantly, and Grizz nodded, looking him in the eyes. Jacob took a shaky breath before speaking.

"I...I'm...gay, alright? I'm gay." Jacob looked at the ground, tensing up in anticipation of the bear's reaction. Grizz stood there in shock for a moment, letting the words sink in. 'He...likes guys?' Grizz thought to himself. Jacob saw the blank look on Grizz's face and he started crying again.

"You do hate me, don't you?" Jacob sobbed, looking at the ground. Grizz broke away from his thoughts and hugged him, which made Jacob stop crying.

"Why would I hate you for that? I like you for you, and nothing will change that, okay?" Grizz looked at Jacob, who still had tears in his eyes.

"Everyone else hates me for it, though. Do you know how I got this black eye? People are beating me up because I'm gay. Almost everyone there are homophobic, and those who aren't are too scared to do anything. My parents are homophobic too, they made that loud and clear, and I don't know your brothers are going to react to this either." Jacob rambled, more tears ran down his cheeks. "Everyone's against me, they hate me. If I was gone, I'd be doing everyone a favor." Grizz's eyes widened the second he finished his sentence, only to hug Jacob tighter.

"Don't say that! My brothers will never hate you, they're worried sick about you. Your parents love you no matter what, so you'll always have them. You will always have us, you'll always have me." Grizz told Jacob, smiling gently. Jacob smiled back and buried his face into Grizz's fur.

"Thank you." Jacob practically whispered, but Grizz still heard him.

"You're welcome." Grizz said back, still hugging him. The two of them walked out of the forest, the handgun on the forest floor now long forgotten.

...

~hey guys, hope you enjoyed this little Oneshot I came up with. I was inspired by the song "Make It Stop" by Rise Against to write this, so if you have a chance, listen to it. It's a good song in my opinion. Anyway, feedback is appreciated as always. Thanks!