A/N: Before I start, I must thank my Lord and Savior for two things: one, for this story idea, and two, for giving me new mercies every day. I thank You for giving me favor with You as well as favor with man, so that I will draw others to You. In Jesus' name, I receive it done now! Amen!

Hey there folks! Here I am again with another Huck/Desert Flower fic. This one, however, is going to take place in an alternate universe, and this one is a little darker and more dramatic. I would tell you what's going on, but that would be spoiling~

I hope you enjoy!

Story Title: Never Too Late

Genre/Tags: Romance/Drama/Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Huckleberry Hound and Desert Flower used to be quite an item, right up until an incident drove them apart. She believes their relationship can't be repaired, but he believes that he still has a chance to make things right. AU and HuckleFlower, with an intuitive Top Cat prodding things along.

Disclaimer: I don't anything folks, other than my God-given imagination, my notebook and my pencil, which I used to write this before I typed it.

Never Too Late

Desert Flower yawned as she rolled over to her left side, feeling a small chill creep onto her fur through her thin comforter. Groaning, she pulled the covers off and got up, pulling on her purple bathrobe as she headed down the hall to turn on the heat. She could tell from the limited light that filtered in through the curtains that it was going to snow again. She pulled the curtains back slightly and saw the first few flakes start to settle on the road.

Top Cat was right about New York City getting an endless supply of snow every year. She wouldn't have moved here if Huck hadn't convinced her to come. He was seeking out a new position, possibly to make his big break as a inventor, and had also wanted to be close to his old friend Top Cat, who he hadn't seen in a long time. She had agreed for two reasons: one, to be with him and two, to get a taste of city life.

Her eyebrows curled downwards to form a rare frown on her face. Huck. Why was she thinking about him, after what he'd done to hurt her? She was partly glad that it was snowing so much, as it meant that she wouldn't have to be near him, to hear the same apology he'd given her when this whole mess had started.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Desert Flower. That kiss wasn't supposed to happen. Honest, it wasn't."

Desert Flower closed the curtains angrily as she marched back into her room. What was the point of his apology, anyway? She'd made it clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him after he'd been fooling around with her behind her back. It was clear that he enjoyed his ex-girlfriend's company a lot more than hers. If he wanted to be with his darlin' Clementine, so be it. She wanted Huck to be happy after all.

If that's the case, she mused as she made her way to the bathroom, then why do I feel like my heart's going to break?

"If you drink another glass of that stuff, you're gonna get a headache," Top Cat said, watching his friend pour himself a fourth glass of red wine.

Huckleberry Hound seemed to have aged overnight. The small bags under his eyes had darkened, and his muzzle was starting to show signs of a five o'clock shadow. He set the wine bottle down and held the wineglass in front of him, swirling it with a half-lidded, saddened gaze.

"That's exactly what I want right about now," he said. "It'll help me get over what I've done to her."

"Huck, drowning your sorrows isn't gonna help you forget. Believe me, I know," Top Cat answered. "What you did will come back to haunt you later, after you recover from your hangover, that is."

Huck sighed as he looked at the glass. "I reckon I oughta start buyin' a whole lot of these," he muttered.

"You're not becomin' an alcoholic on my watch," Top Cat said finally, taking the wineglass away from Huck. His expression was serious. "I'd even slug ya if I have to keep you from getting another glass."

"Gee, thanks for worryin' about me, T.C." Huck's tone was bitter.

"Well, someone has to," Top Cat admitted, looking down at his claws. The leader of the Alley Gang was never one to show sentimentality, so to say something like this caught Huck's attention. "I mean, you haven't slept in two days, Huck, ever since ya made out with your old girlfriend."

"What happened back there with Clementine is something I'm not proud of," Huck said. "I...I tried to tell her that we were over, and had been for years. But when she asked me if we could revive what we once had, it brought back a whole lot of emotions."

"Really?" Top Cat leaned forwards, resting his chin on his paws. "What emotions were those?"

"Passion, really," Huck said. "The next thing I knew, I had her against the wall, our lips fused together. I think things would've gotten heated had Desert Flower not walked into the room."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"Yeah. Things got real ugly after that. And when I went to talk to Clementine about what happened, she was gone. As I figured, she was up to her old tricks again," Huck said. "Tellin' me she missed me, and then leavin' after getting what she wanted. Even worse, Desert Flower didn't want to hear my explanation. She told me, in the coldest voice I'd ever heard from her, that we were over. And then she left."

"Well, when you do something like that, Huck, you end up driving off girls," Top Cat replied. "Look, I understand that you want to make things right, but I think you need to just give Desert Flower some space. She's still pretty mad at you."

"I know. And I deserve it," Huck muttered. "I gave in to my greatest weakness."

"What you've got to do, Huck, is to figure out how you're going to deal with this problem," Top Cat said. "Are you going to just leave your relationship in shambles, or are you going to run after Desert Flower like your life depended on it?"

Huck looked utterly floored by what Top Cat was saying. The feline continued with, "Look, I know how happy you were with Desert Flower. And I know how happy you made her feel. You two have something, and I don't think you should throw that away so easily. I'll ask you this: Do you really love her?"

Huck paused, thinking about it. He remembered the first time he'd met her, at a small coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. She had almost been fired as she had spent the rest of her shift talking to him for almost two hours nonstop. Their first date was that week, and it had been heavenly for both of them. It wasn't long before word spread around that Huck had a new girlfriend-and many were telling him that she was a "keeper", unlike his ex. He'd been happier with her than he had been with Clementine, that much was certain.

He sighed. "I do...a whole lot, actually," he admitted. "But I don't know what to do. I want to show her that I really mean my apology, but I don't want to say the wrong thing and drive her away."

"I know this is weird coming from me," Top Cat said finally, "but follow your heart on this one, Huck. Desert Flower's a girl worth fighting for."

Huck nodded. "Yeah."

"Now then," Top Cat said, standing up, "you'd better take that spare spot on the couch. You're gonna get some sleep."

"But, T.C.-"

"No buts," Top Cat interrupted firmly. "Either you go to sleep or I toss ya like a pizza onto the couch."

Huck smirked. "Whatever you say, boss."

As the day quickly turned to evening, Desert Flower couldn't help but think of Huck. What was he up to right about now? No doubt he was probably with his Clementine right about now. The thought of them, him pushing her against the wall and their lips fused together, nearly made her nauseous. She pushed away her cup of cocoa, frowning as she picked up the remote. She'd take her mind off of her former boyfriend by watching her favorite program.

No sooner had she turned on the television than there was a knock on her door. Suppressing a small groan, she got up and made her way to the doorway. She didn't know who would be at the doorway right now, as it had snowed heavily outside and most of the roads were shut down.

She opened the door, and found the last person she wanted to see standing at her doorstep.

Huck slowly took off his hat, looking at her sheepishly. "Um...can we talk, Desert Flower?" he asked.

"What do you want, Huck?" she demanded. Her tone was so sharp that it caused one tenant to look at her with a surprised expression. Desert Flower knew that nobody would dare talk to her when she used her 'you'd better start talking fast' tone.

"I want a chance to fix things." Well, apparently, Huck dared. "I know you think I'm the world's biggest jerk right about now, but I don't think I can just walk away from this without trying to make amends."

"I don't think you can fix anything," Desert Flower replied. "Our relationship is over, Huck, as I told you Tuesday night. Or did you forget?"

"No, I didn't. It's still fresh in my mind," he answered. "But I wanted to tell you that what happened between me and Clementine is over. As it turns out, she was up to her old tricks." He frowned, remembering how much of a fool he'd been. "She always did that to me every time I had a new girlfriend."

"And every time, you fell for it, right?" Desert Flower asked.

"Well...more like it was a hit and miss," Huck admitted. "Our relationship is...complicated, to say the least."

"I can see that," Desert Flower replied, and made to shut the door.

"Wait." Huck put his paw on the door, looking at her with a melancholic expression. "Desert Flower, I want to tell you something, before you shut me out of your house for good."

Desert Flower sighed. She really didn't want to hear this, but the teary look in his eyes made her reconsider slamming the door in his face. She pulled the door back, fixing him with a glare.

Looking slightly relieved, Huck continued with, "Desert Flower, I'm sorry I hurt you. I know you've heard me say this before, but this isn't because I'm racin' to get back into your good graces. I'm sayin' it because I love you so much. I shouldn't have given in to Clementine's charms, even when I knew exactly what she was plannin'. I just wanted to make things right between us again. And...if you don't want to take me back, I won't object. An amazin' girl like you deserves someone better than me anyway." He sighed. "Well...I guess this is goodbye, Desert Flower." He then turned and started to make his way out of the door.

A hand lightly clapped around his wrist, and he turned, surprised, to see Desert Flower standing there, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You...you really mean it?" she replied. "You really want to make this work? I-I thought it was too late to even repair it..."

"I do," Huck answered. Using Top Cat's exact words, he added, "You're a girl worth fightin' for, Desert Flower. I don't want to throw what he have away because of a mistake I made. And in my opinion, it's never too late to fix a mistake."

Desert Flower embraced him, wrapping her arms so tightly around his neck that her couldn't breathe for a second. He looped his arms around her, feeling a few tears of relief slide from his eyes.

He gently pulled her back so he could gaze into her eyes. "I love you, Desert Flower," he said.

"And I love you, Huckie," she said, right before kissing him on his lips. As they deepened the kiss, she dragged him backwards, allowing him to come inside the house. Huck kicked the door closed at the last moment, the door shutting with a bang.

At the end of the hallway, Top Cat smiled softly before turning away, heading to the elevator. "Mission accomplished."

Thirty minutes later, the pair was soon on the couch, with Desert Flower laying on Huck's chest as he lazily ran his fingers through her fur. The television blared on, but neither of them were paying attention to it. They were focused on each other.

"Mmm...I've missed doing this," Desert Flower admitted. "More than ever, though, I missed you. A lot."

"So did I," Huck said, smiling softly as he looked at his girlfriend. "I thought that I'd never be here with you again, after I screwed up."

Desert Flower sighed. "I guess I was a little too harsh on you," she said.

"Naw, you were right, Desert Flower. What you said before, about how I was a fool for having kissed her...you were right." Huck's tone was melancholy. "I was a fool."

"Huck-"

Huck's eyes focused on her like a laser. His serious gaze stopped her short of speaking.

"Dezie, what happened between you and me was because I was an especially big fool. The last thing I'd ever wanna do is to hurt you," he said. "I swear, I'm never gonna make a mistake like that again. I mean it."

Desert Flower looked into his eyes, and saw the fire in his eyes. She knew him long enough to know that he was serious about his word. She smiled softly at him.

"I know you do," she replied. "You are a hound of your word, after all."

Huck's features relaxed into a small smile, as though he'd been unsure that she wouldn't believe him. He gently pulled her closer, resting his arms on the middle of her back.

"Hows about I seal it with a kiss?" he asked.

Desert Flower chuckled. "You just want to find another excuse to kiss me," she countered.

Huck's smile was mischievous. "Can you blame me?" he said, right before planting his lips on hers.

The End

Huh. That ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be. Then again, I had a lot of fun writing this one-shot. I'm a sucker for boyfriends and girlfriends forgiving each other for a mistake :) And I enjoyed writing Top Cat in this one. It feels weird to write a dark story for this, especially considering that my first two were light and fluffy, but it did get light and fluffy at the end, though. For some reason, I can see Desert Flower with a bit of spunk to go with her caring personality.

Reviews are great, as always!

God bless, iheartgod175