Hello there, fellow authors!
I have returned with a new story...

It is a small one-shot written for the One-Word Prompt Challenge at Writers Anonymus' forum. It is set in the Night in the Woods universe, a year after the cult events, and has Angus/Gregg as main pairing.

Honestly, it's the first time I write anything that has a homosexual pairing in it.
I'm actually more fond of the F/F pairing, but there's a first time for anything, right?

It is full of angst and fluff.

I hope you will enjoy it.

SMILE

It was a quiet evening in Gregg and Angus's apartment. The bear was silently working on his coding projects, while Gregg was busy flailing his arms, as he practiced for an upcoming play at the Theater of Bright Harbor. It seemed like nothing could disturb such an enjoyable evening, until they heard a loud knocking upon their door – and at first, Angus offered to open the door, when Gregg jumped in front of him and laughed, „It's probably Mae, Cap'n. Don't stop working on your stuff just for that."

Gregg opened the door, and to his shock, there was nobody there – except a letter was laying on the ragged carpet that served as a welcome mattress. There was nothing written upon it, except "For Angus", something that made Gregg wonder who could walk in at such hours just to deliver letters. The fox picked it up and closed the door, concern worming in his soul as he walked back to their living space, and noticed that Angus was engrossed in whatever he was doing, because the bear didn't even bother replying to him.

„Cap'n?" Gregg asked quietly as he laid a paw upon the bear's left shoulder, but it seemed like Angus didn't even notice – or feel anything. "Dude, what is going on with you? Answer me!"

But the bear simply adjusted his glasses and reached for the glass of water that usually stood to his left, drinking the liquid almost far too quick for his usual reactions.

"Angus!" the fox yelled as he tried to save his lover from choking on water, moment in which Angus seemed to – finally – realize that Gregg was looking at him expectantly.

"What happened, Bug?" the bear inquired, but his eyes were resting on the envelope that Gregg was holding in his right paw, and gently lifted said piece of paper.

"I – don't – know what is going on with you, Cap'n..." Gregg started worriedly, "you always seem like you're out of place sometimes. Like – "

The bear was busy taking out a white paper and a lot of cash from the envelope, while the fox huffed in annoyance over the fact Angus wasn't even listening to him. „You know what, Angus? I'm just going to crash at Mae's for the night," Gregg suddenly snapped at him.

It was then that Angus set aside whatever he received, adjusting his glasses. Whatever got his boyfriend pissed, he was going to solve it, as he promised the fox time and time again that he will never abandon him, no matter the hardships. He tried to draw nearer, but Gregg was firm by lifting a paw in the air, as if separating them through an invisible wall.

"Bug? I-I don't understand, what happened?" the bear asked, a little puzzled.

Gregg huffed again and shook his head in disbelief, "I thought we're going to have a nice evening. And then this stupid letter containing whatever for you...and the fact that you're always so engrossed in coding! I mean, I cannot even ask you anything because you – will not – notice me anyway whenever I'm there!"

Angus blinked a few times and replied quietly, "Why are you even fussing about? What's with the letter, you ask? It's my payment. It's what keeps us all living in this goddamn mess. And, I'm sorry if I get so absorbed, I have to keep working so we –"

"Who the heck gets payment at nine o'clock in the freaking evening, in an envelope – and with a paper that seemed more important that me, your boyfriend!" Gregg raged as he folded his arms.

„Shit, the paper," thought Angus as he took it and exposed it in front of his computer – he would've preferred if Gregg crashed at Mae's for tonight though, but something inside him was demanding that he was honest with the fox at least. The paper held a rather disturbing message for both Angus and Gregg.

ANGUS_001,

YOUR NEXT MISSION INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST CODING.
YOU WILL HAVE TO WORK YOUR WAY TO THE TOP.
AND THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO MAKE SOME SACRIFICES.
YOUR EMOTIONS DO NOT MATTER IN THIS.
I WILL SEND YOU INSTRUCTIONS AT 8 PM, IN THE P.O. BOX THAT WE SHARE.

I WILL WAIT YOU AT THE TOP.
THE_COBRA.

"Just – who – is this guy?" Gregg asked after a moment of silence. "And since – when – do you have a P.O. box? How – much – are you hiding from me, Angus?"

"I want to explain everything to you, Bug. I want to make you smile. I want you to be happy..." the bear was thinking while his boyfriend was still frustrated. "But at the same time, The Cobra is asking of me to make sacrifices...you have no idea that this includes you as well...a-and if I give up I-I might..."

"You've made things perfectly clear, Angus,you don't really want to explain to me what is going on, right?" Gregg said, noticing that the bear didn't even bother answering his questions.

The next words that came from Gregg's lips rang into the bear's mind for the rest of the night. "Are you cheating on me? Tell me, so at least I know I should just walk out the door and never come back."

The fox, seeing that there was no way that Angus would ever bother stopping him, decided to pack up all of his belongings. Allwhile the brown was silently breaking inside, silently sobbing to himself, acting like he couldn't process – and he truly couldn't process what was going on – watching his boyfriend walking away. He heard Gregg mentioning, through the thick tension that was between them, that the fox was going to crash at Mae's for the rest of the time, and then find someone else.

The sound of the furiously closed door seemed to finally snap him out to reality.

It seemed like every time he received a letter like that, Gregg was slowly, but surely, getting jealous and hurt that he was set aside – even if Angus knew better, that he never wanted to lose the fox this way. His orange fur, his small ears, his fluffy tail, his energetic voice...were now all gone at the price of his stupid coding job that kept them going with money. He started to wonder if it was all worth it, replaying Gregg's words over and over again.

Why – now – of all evenings, though? Why didn't he see this coming?

Was it something he forgot?

Angus let out a sigh as he started making coffee in the – now – less livelier apartment, tears slowly falling on his cheeks as he whispered Gregg's name in the night.

Meanwhile, Gregg was slowly walking down the poorly illuminated streets, holding his small, red luggage and replaying memories of him and Angus – when he was smiling, especially – because the fox loved Angus' smile whenever they were cuddling next to each other, whenever he was playing around with him, whenever they woke up and made breakfast...

…But now he wasn't going to have any of this anymore.

The fox was upset for a very good reason. Those stupid letters were always coming late at night, they had a distinct male perfume, they were always containing white papers alongside money, and more importantly, it seemed like Angus was drifting apart from him more and more each day.

Gregg was also mad that his – now – ex-boyfriend forgot that they were supposed to celebrate tomorrow, that it was the day of their first meeting so, so many years ago. He let out a sigh, and after a while, he arrived at the Borowskis' home.

Ringing the bell a few times, he waited for someone to open the door, and to his joy, it was Mae who opened the door – but the feline seemed to have a jaded expression, and he was curious as to why was she in such a bad mood.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Gregg asked as he entered the hallway and set his small luggage close to the coat rack.

"Bea came down here, saying she wants to crash the night, and now I have you on my head as well." Mae said. "Bea had a rough fight with stupid Steve Scriggins, and now you had a fight with Angus. Just –"

The feline paused for a moment, "Just what the heck is going on with you? I mean, Bea deserves a better someone than Steve, but you two? You and Angus are like the mayonnaise to the bread!"

Gregg let out a small chuckle as the comparison was bad, but her bad humor was better than anything right now. "I don't know what is going on, but I'll be fine."

(The next day)

Stan and Candy Borowski were shocked to discover that, during the night, Gregg also came down at their house – making Mae a little uncomfortable with explaining the whole situation – while Bea was content to have at least two best friends around her, but she was a little unhappy about the idea that Ms. Borowski forbid her to smoke in her house. Eventually, the two larger felines were okay with the fox spending not more than two nights in there, and the rest of their morning went without any issues.

"So," Mae asked her two friends, "what are we going to do today, huh? Walking down the power lines would be fun right now..."

"I have to open the Pickaxe," Bea said, a little absent. "I've been missing three days from work already, and Dad is badgering me – all while sitting on that damn couch."

"Working at the Snack Falcon doesn't seem that bad right now," Gregg said. "Even if I'll have to walk past – "

Tears were welling up in his eyes, and he cursed himself for being so weak in front of Mae and Bea, but the two girls didn't even seem to notice he was crying.

"It's gonna be ok, dude," Mae said, suddenly. "Can I help you at the Snalcon today?"

Gregg let out a soft chuckle, "I'll ask my boss if I can bring a volunteer for the day. So yeah, sure. I'll promise to make it fun!"

"We'll get cups on our ears, definitely." Mae said, with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Let's go there, okay?"

"You two are going to make Possum Springs livelier," Bea joked. "See ya later, Mayday, Gregg."

Meanwhile, Angus had a rather sleepless night, and his eyes were betraying that he cried – but he had to go to the video store for today, since the other worker was absent for the day, and his night shift would be postponed for another time – so he started to get dressed, fixing his bow-tie and hat, dusting his usual clothes. He was usually giving Gregg a morning kiss, but he knew that this wasn't going to happen anymore.

He sighed as he closed the door to their apartment and descended down the stairs, into the rather busy street. He heard someone laughing – he would recognize the laughter anywhere – and saw Gregg laughing away with Mae as if nothing really happened. And the cat was also laughing back even if she was usually morose and depressed – it seemed like Gregg was trying his best to make her happy.

"What if he's pining for Mae now? What if he's going to really cheat on me?" the bear was thinking as he hurried away towards the video store, trying to make himself scarce, forgetting about the asthma he had and, after a mile or two, he collapsed on the street, wheezing and gaping for air.

He forgot to pack his inhaler.

People started gathering around and a few were calling 911, asking for an ambulance. He kept gaping for air as he tried to say Gregg's name and in the next ten minutes, he passed out as he heard the distant wailing of the ambulance siren. Mae and Gregg noticed the commotion and thought that someone maybe fainted from exhaustion and people were already helping, but when they saw the ambulance coming through at full speed, they exchanged a worried look, thinking something worse happened.

As the crowd was making space for the paramedics, Gregg saw a flash of brown fur and a tumbled hat on the pavement, and only after the medics placed him on the stretcher did he feel his heart sink as he figured out who it was and whispered his name quietly, "Angus..."

Mae noticed it was indeed Angus, so she took Gregg's paw and seized the opportunity to get the fox back to the bear while Gregg was taken by surprise and dragged towards his ex-boyfriend that he already considered irredeemable. To his shock, he noticed that Angus wasn't moving, and one of the doctors confirmed he was just unconscious and that they would do everything they can to save him.

"Doc," Gregg said after a while, "c-can I come in the ambulance? He's..."

Gregg paused, wanting to slap himself and then hug himself after he said the next words, "He's my boyfriend. I want to be there for him."

The doctor approved, seeing that Gregg definitely showed concern for the bear laying in the ambulance, while Mae smiled as she nodded and made a 'thumbs up' gesture. She assured Gregg that she will tell Bea about that and they will come to visit Angus at the Bright Harbor Hospital. Gregg felt a little relieved that he had Mae's support, but a part of him was sinking as he tried to hold Angus's paw in his, sighing as he thought back on their fight.

"Are you cheating on me?"

"You don't really want to explain to me what is going on, do you?"

"It really wasn't a fight..." Gregg thought back on what happened, "I was just mad because he seemed to have forgotten about our anniversary, and that stupid letter...He never really tried to defend himself."

Gregg started to cry as he murmured, "I'm sorry, Cap'n. I'm sorry I was mad at you. I'm sorry I thought you're cheating on me, I'm sorry that – "

"Mr. Lee," the doctor suddenly stopped him with a gentle paw, "he's going to need all the love and support he can get. With his asthmatic condition, he needs an inhaler permanently, and just one single moment without it...Well, you see what it leads to."

"I'll do my best," Gregg nodded.

(Later in the evening...)

Gregg was asleep next to Angus's bed in the hospital ward, as he stood guard over the bear who, after regaining his consciousness, raged at him furiously, profoundly shocking the fox as he cried in the adjacent bathroom for hours. But after the furious storm passed – and a sedative meant to calm down the bear – it seemed like good enough for Gregg if it meant that he was close again to his "Cap'n".

The bear, eventually waking up from his sedation, noticed Gregg asleep close to him, holding his paw. He let out a deep sigh as he faintly remembered his furious rage at him, and held back the touch of his boyfriend, his eyes welling up with tears as he then lifted his paw to gently pet his head.

The fox, feeling a soft paw against his head, relished in the touch and asked for more, smiling briefly as he called out for Angus. Asked him not to stop whatever he was doing, not to take away this moment of joy, until Gregg stopped murmuring and resumed his light snoring. "Bug...You make me smile everyday. You give me hope everyday. And if I were to lose you, I would lose my smile as well...So please...don't stop smiling."

"Because I want to be forever smiling with you."