It was eight o' clock at night. The pups were getting ready for bed, saying goodnight to one another and Ryder as well.
Once the pups were in their doghouses, and Ryder went into the house to get some sleep, Chase and Skye stayed out for a while to talk some more.
"Chase, just to let you know," Skye started, "If you ever have a problem like today, know that I'm always there for you." Chase twitched a smile.
"Thanks, Skye." he replied. Skye smiled at him the way he smiled at her, then both started to lean closer to each other til they heard an "Aww". They quickly stopped what they were doing and turned around and saw Marshall in his doghouse watching them.
"Marshall..!" Skye tried to say quietly. "Does you mind?"
"Marshall, what did we talk about earlier?" Chase asked in frustration.
"Sorry buddy, but it's not my fault." Marshall said as he walked out of his doghouse.
"Not your fault? What are you talking about?"
"You two were in front of my doghouse, and my doghouse is in front of you, so you should've known."
"You should've shut your eyes and went to sleep!" Skye shouted. Marshall quickly shushed the cockapoo and placed his paw on her mouth.
"Quiet, unless you want everyone to watch you two."
"Marshall, seriously. Stop spying on us." Chase said.
"How am I spying when you're right in front of my doghouse about to smooch Skye?" Marshall's voice raised, getting the other pups attention.
"Shh! Marshall!" Chase placed his paw on the dalmatian's mouth. "Please don't embarrass me like that again."
"Ok! Ok!" the dalmatian tried to shout clearly. Chase smiled and moved his paw off of Marshall's mouth. "Admit that it's your fault."
"No. Like Skye said, you should've closed your eyes and pretended that you never saw us."
"But I couldn't. You were right in front of me."
"Not directly right in front of you, Marshall."
"Chase, admit it, or else."
"Or else what?"
Marshall smirked and got into a running position, then playfully tackled the german shepard to the ground. Skye's eyes widened, thinking the two were fighting again. But luckily, the dalmatian was only playfully wrestling with his best friend.
Marshall finally got the german shepard pinned down to the ground, then started rubbing his belly with his paws, tickling him. This was unexpected for Chase, and it caused him to go nuts.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAIT! MARSHALL! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed.
"Admit it, and I'll stop." Marshall said with a giggle. Skye just chuckled. She loved seeing smiles on they're faces.
"OK! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OK MARSHALL! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ok, what?" Marshall smirked.
The other pups walked out of their doghouses after overhearing Chase's laughter.
"YOU WIN! HEHEHEHEHEHEHE! OH PLEASE! HAHAHAHAHAHA! MAKE IT STOP!" Finally, the dalmatian stopped and hopped off of his best friend. "Oh thank you.. I can breathe..."
"Did you really say that to admit it, or did you just say that to catch your breath?" Marshall asked.
"To really admit it..." Chase admitted, sighing. "I guess I should've known."
"It's alright, buddy. We all make mistakes."
All the pups smiled and started to cheer happily by howling and barking. Marshall and Chase turned around to look at the others and gasped in surprise.
"Whoa! What are you guys doing out here for?" Chase asked.
"Yeah, I thought you all were in your doghouses." Marshall said.
"Well, we overheard Chase laughing." said Rubble.
"I didn't know you were so ticklish, Chase." Skye said with a giggle. Chase just chuckled.
"Oh yeah, well, I do have more than one weakness." he admitted. Zuma yawned aloud and said,
"I'm going back to bed. Goodnight friends."
"Night, Zuma." they all replied.
"Well, I better go to sleep too." Marshall said.
"Yeah, same here." Chase said, walking back to his doghouse. "Night, Skye."
"Night Chase. See you in the morning." Skye replied with a grin on her face. She looked at Marshall. "Thank you for not fighting him." she walked away from him and towards her doghouse.
"No problem, I guess." he said as he ran into his doghouse.
The next morning was very hot and sunny.
Marshall and Chase were still in deep sleep, but the others were wide awake.
Rocky, Rubble, and Skye were doing a staring contest while Zuma was chatting with two female pups. Ryder walked out of the house with an exhausted look on his face.
"Morning pups." he said.
"Good morning, Ryder..." Skye, Rubble, and Rocky replied, sounding like robots. Ryder just shrugged.
"Ok..."
"Oh, hey Ryder." said Zuma.
"Hey Zuma..." he noticed the two female pups next to him. "What's going on over here?"
"You know me, Ryder. The one who gets all the girls."
Ryder chuckled.
"Well I'll leave you and your friends alone." he shook his head, laughing to himself.
"Now, where were we?" Zuma asked. The two grinned and started cuddling with him.
Rocky, Rubble, and Skye were still surviving in their no blinking contest.
"Come on, Rubble, blink already!" Rocky said.
"Not happening." Rubble said. Skye just stayed quiet.
Just then, all three heard a bowl of their breakfast being shaken.
"Breakfast!" Rocky and Rubble hollered as they jumped up and ran towards Ryder. Skye was still sitting there, then she smiled.
"I win." she got onto her feet and happily walked over to Ryder.
"I'm starving!" Rocky said as he and Rubble wagged their tails happily.
"I can tell." Ryder said, chuckling. "You let Skye win the staring contest."
"Huh?" Rubble and Rocky looked at the grinning Skye.
"It's true." she said.
"Darn it!" both cried. Ryder and Skye giggled.
"Skye, can you wake Chase and Marshall up for me?" Ryder asked while sitting Rubble and Rocky's bowl of breakfast beside them.
"Sure thing, Ryder." the cockapoo walked towards Marshall's doghouse and smiled.
"Marshall..." she whispered. "Time to get up."
Marshall opened an eye and smiled.
"Breakfast already?" he asked as he stood up and stretched.
"Mhm. You and Chase have been asleep for a while now."
"Oh, well, I'm awake now."
Skye smiled. "Let's wake Chase up now."
Both walked over to Chase's doghouse and whispered,
"Wake up, Chase." But the german shepard didn't budge.
"Chase?" Marshall was starting to feel worried.
"I'm sleeping..." Chase mumbled.
"Chase, it's just me, Skye." Skye said. "It's time to eat breakfast."
"Tell Ryder I'm not hungry."
Skye and Marshall look at each other in shock.
"Chase, is something wrong?" Skye asked.
"Oh no. It's probably because of me." Marshall said.
"No, it's not you! Just leave me alone!" Chase hollered, trying to get comfortable.
Ryder walked closer to Skye, Marshall, and Chase and got down on one knee.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Chase is refusing to wake up." Skye explained in a wobbly voice.
"Hmm..." Ryder brushed a finger against Chase's left ear, which caused his ear to become twitchy. "Chase, you alright?"
"I'm sleepy..." he mumbled.
"See?" Marshall sighed. "He won't even say good morning. It's all my fault."
"Marshall, it's not your fault." Skye said.
"Can you just leave me alone?" Chase asked angrily, opening his eyes. His eyes were a bit red.
"You don't look so good." Ryder said.
"I'll be fine. Just please, leave me alone..."
"Chase, don't talk to me like that. You know better." Ryder scratched the back of Chase's ear, but didn't get a sound of pleasure from him. "Don't you like being scratched there?"
"Sorry Ryder, but I'm not in any good mood right now." Chase yawned and closed his eyes.
"Let's just let him sleep a little more." Ryder picked up the sleepy german shepard and started to walk away.
"Where are you taking him?" Skye asked.
"Into the house. Maybe he needs a quiet and cool place to get a longer sleep."
Marshall sighed. "I hope he's alright."
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's probably just tired." Skye said.
In the house, Ryder lay Chase on a pillow.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"How many times do I have to say it, I'm -"
"Chase, don't talk to me the way you did."
Chase sighed. "I'm sorry, Ryder, sir. Truth is, I'm still kinda mad at Marshall."
"Oh, I see." Ryder pat Chase on the head. "Sometimes when you're forced to forgive someone for what they've done, it's hard to stay close to that person again. Especially when it was a fight."
Chase nodded. "Yeah.. It really is."
"Why were you two fighting, anyway?"
"Because Marshall likes eavesdropping on others, like Zuma and I."
"Really? How come?"
"He told me he saw Zuma with some other pup he may be in love with."
"Oh brother. Zuma in love..." Ryder giggled. "Well, I can't disagree, Marshall knows better than to such a rude thing. Tell you what, I'll talk to him and tell him to stop. Sounds good?"
"Sounds great. Thanks, Ryder." Chase smiled.
"Look at you, you look better already."
