Where We Belong

Alex sat in a chair, by a hospital bed. In it lied Marty, his friend of many years. It was only now that he realized how important he was to him...

One Week ago

One week before this seemed pretty normal. They were doing a routine practice for another one of their circus performances, and Marty was up. He got in the cannon as he always had done, but something went wrong.

The cannon shot him south of the net, and Alex watched as his friend hit the ground. For a moment, time seemed to stop. Everybody just stood there, in shock. Everybody but Alex. He ran to try to help him, and he got on his knees next to him.

"MARTY! Are you okay?" Alex yelled as he held him, shaking. It looked bad. He wasn't responding. This couldn't be real...

"Somebody get an ambulance NOW!" Alex yelled.

Present

Flashing back to the present, Marty was in a coma in that hospital bed. Everybody had left to get some sleep except Alex, he simply couldn't. Not while he knew his best friend was like this...

Alex started crying, looking at his best friend with a oxygen mask on him. This couldn't be it... He couldn't lose his friend like this. They hadn't had near enough time together, it still seemed like they had just met. There was so much he still wanted to do with the zebra.

The doctors came and went for the next couple of days, but Alex didn't. Gloria, Melman, and Gia would bring him food three times a day, because they knew he wouldn't eat if they didn't. They would always stay a couple of hours and talk with Alex about the good times they had with Marty. This was such a time.

"He... he didn't deserve this." Gloria said, tears in her eyes.

Melman sat quietly, he wasn't good with things like this. He was so worried about Marty...

Alex quickly added "He's still here! He'll be ok!" Even though he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Alex... the doctors are saying he most likely..." she started sobbing. "They're saying he most likely won't make it..."

Alex looked down at the ground, watching his tears splashing the ground. "I don't believe that. Maybe the doctors think that, but they don't know my Marty. He won't give up..."

Gia hugged him tightly, trying to comfort him. She couldn't help but notice the tears freely falling on her shoulder.

Time passed, and eventually they left Alex alone with Marty once again. Alex thought about all the times they shared together; the birthday presents they gave each other, the valentines cards, all the fun they had in Africa, and lately in the circus. There was something he never told Marty, something he somewhat never fully even told himself.

Yes, he thought, you don't realize these things until you lose them... How sad. He started crying again. How could he have never acknowledged it, until it was too late? He hated himself for never telling Marty... If he died... He'd never know the truth!

Alex started sobbing loudly now, he got up out of his chair, and walked to stand over Marty. He was so beautiful... He had never noticed how much so he was until now, when he could lose him. A tear fell on the zebra's fur.

Yes, that reminded him. It reminded him of how he was the zebra who was black with white stripes, the zebra that stood out to him, the zebra that was for him. He never could stay mad at him, and they were always together...

"Marty... I don't know if you can hear me, but... either way I want to tell you this. I never could before, I'm so stupid..." Alex said with sadness in his voice.

"I... I know I didn't always show it, and I definitely never told you, but... I love you Marty. You're the best friend I've ever had, and it has taken this to show me that I... I really do love you. If you wake up, I promise I'll show you that!"

"Alex...?" Marty whispered. Alex's heart skipped a beat.

"MARTY?! YOU'RE OKAY!" Alex hugged him tightly.

"Hey, hey! That hurts!" Marty winced.

"Sorry! I'm just so excited... You were out for a long time... I was so scared... I didn't know if you would be okay..." Alex started crying thinking about how scared he was.

"Don't cry, buddy, everything's ok, I'm back now..." Marty said, looking Alex in the eye.

"Come to think of it... Did you hear what I was saying?" Alex asked, a bit of nervousness showing in the eyes Marty looked at.

"I love you too... does that answer you?" Alex almost hugged his friend again before remembering he was hurt. Instead he gently nuzzled him and held his hoof.

"Like... the way I do? Love love?" Alex asked, hope in his eyes.

"Yes Alex... I realize it now, like you said, it took something like this to show me how much I really do..." Marty said, putting his other hoof on Alex's paw.

"I want to kiss you so bad Marty..." Alex said to him, overflowing with love.

"How about we go get the doctor, and maybe we can sometime once I get this stuff off of me, you cutie."

The doctors came in, amazed that Marty was okay.

"We didn't think you'd make it, this is a miracle!" they told Marty.

"Well, let's just say somebody never gave up on me, I don't think I'd have made it without him." He said, holding Alex's paw.

One Week Later

One week later everything was fine and Marty was doing great. Needless to say, he didn't go in the cannon again however, for safety.

Marty and Alex were together sitting by a lake.

"Well, you wanna do this or not?" Marty teasingly told Alex.

"Of course I do!" Alex said while hugging him.

Finally, they had their first kiss, one of many to come.

"I'll always love you Marty, don't you ever get hurt again, please..."

"Don't worry buddy, I'm not going anywhere. This is where I belong... in your arms."

Alex nodded. "There's nowhere I'd rather be," and so there wasn't a day thereafter that they weren't where they belonged.

END

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading :)

NOTE: In this story, Alex and Gia are friends.