Author's Note: This chapter is structured differently than the other Hell Months. Enjoy!

Chapter 27 - Conflict and Resolution (The Third Hell Month: Legosi Part 1)

Three months had passed, and the wound left by Louis' absence soon began to close. It had only been a few weeks since Legosi stopped sending texts to Louis' unresponsive number. Earlier than that, he had used Zoozle to look up Oguma and Horns, but nothing regarding Louis came up that wasn't already months old.

The drama club saw the inclusion of a new member: Pina the dall sheep. His introduction set off a lot of carnivores, and the rest of the club got the impression that he may be trying to fill the gap Louis left. Legosi tried to not let the herbivore bother him, but he did.

Juno made advancements, but Legosi always brushed her off. He felt bad for her, but there was no way he could be with her.

It was now late in October. The drama club was doing another production of Adler, but this time Juno played the reaper, and Pina played the man she needs to kill but falls in love with.

Jack was the only member of room 701 that knew about Legosi's crush (that he knew of). The rest of them knew he held Louis in high regard, though, so his sadness wasn't surprising to them. Jack had to spend a lot of time with him to make sure he was okay, sometimes even sharing the bed with him.

Over time, Legosi got better and eventually accepted the situation. Until...

Juno was rehearsing for the role of Adler, swinging her practice sword this way and that. It wasn't completely clean. She kept trying to look for Legosi, who's life was finally getting back together. No one really mentioned Louis anymore because of the wound.

Legosi stared at her from his position in the rafters. She was getting better, but he still remembered the movements Louis had made during his role. She didn't seem to be getting it quite right...

Legosi sighed. He had to move on eventually. He didn't have to date her, but he also didn't have to avoid her constantly. He climbed down the ladder, making his way over. "Juno?"

Juno jumped a bit. "Ah! L-Legosi-senpai!"

Legosi gave a little wave. "Your movements are improving, but there's one aspect of it I think could be done better. I'm using Louis-senpai's performance as a base, of course."

Juno blinked. "O-Okay..."

The other wolf reached his hand out for the sword and Juno passed it over, watching with innocent eyes. "Here, when you swing the sword this way, you need to do it with a purpose, instead of letting it carry your arms. You have to determine where you're going to stop it, if that makes sense. Here.

Legosi demonstrated a few times. Just like with dance, his ability to mimic others' movements just from watching was impressive.

Juno nodded. She moved the sword...kind of like he had. "L-Like this…?" He's so close…She had read somewhere that making the first move on a male was effective. Today was the day she would test this theory out.

"Hm. Here." He took hold of her arms, guiding her gently.

She blushed deeply. "L-Legosi-senpai..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Do you remember...It was like this a few months ago when you helped me dance for the Meteor Festival..."

"I do..." Legosi face held a look of longing. Louis had been with them still back then...Maybe he wasn't getting better, after all.

She smiled. "You let me touch your tail and told me I could touch you to calm down...And my dance was flawless at the festival..." She blushed. "I never thanked you for that..." Do it, Juno! "So…"

She pulled him into a kiss.

People noticed almost instantly. Bill and Dom looked at one another with alarmed faces.

Legosi didn't have time to react. The warmth of her mouth over his...it was a strange feeling. Their rough fangs clacked together a bit uncomfortably. His eyes slowly widened. It was only a few seconds before Legosi pulled away, covering his mouth with his hands, backing away slowly.

It was his first kiss. And it was by Juno.

Not Louis.

His eyes stung suddenly. "I...you..." He bolted right out of the room, slamming the door.

There was silence. Pina looked around at everyone. "Uh...anyone gonna tell me what that was all about?"

Juno's ears perked as he disappeared. Then she looked around. "Uh...Sorry everyone..." What did I do wrong...? Why doesn't he understand? It was supposed to work...

Dom knew Legosi couldn't have had any choice in that.

Bill felt...relief? But only because Legosi had run away and got out of the situation.

Legosi had gone into the male's locker room, sitting in the corner. The lockers were positioned just so that he would be mostly out of view. Everyone decided it would be best to leave him alone.

The wolf didn't know why, but the tears kept coming. The old wound opened, and he wept freely.

Who was he kidding? He knew the reason. He thought about it so often, dreamed about it. Those soft lips on his, wrapped in an embrace he had felt once before. Louis wasn't here to kiss him. He never would be.

Louis was gone.

After a while of crying, he emerged from the locker room, fur disheveled and eyes red.

Pina approached him. "Senpai! Were you crying?" He was the only animal to come to him, as everyone else was either working, pretending to work, or hiding behind a box, in Juno's case.

Legosi looked at him, almost glaring. He wasn't very fond of how Pina always tried to mess with people. Anybody else in the club would be taken aback by this gaze, but not this fresh new first year.

"An attractive female of your own species kisses you, and you run away crying? That's a strange reaction." Pina reached out, grabbing the zipper of his tracksuit. The canine froze.

Everyone was watching them from the corner of their eye.

"D-don't do that." Legosi took Pina's hand and detached it. He walked past him, but the dall sheep followed. Once Pina was fixed on someone, he was hard to shake loose.

"I could give you lessons, you know. I can tell you're carrying a lot of tension, so I think having a girl would do you some good. Maybe you don't like Juno, but I could help you find another." He hummed. "Or maybe, you just need a good meal? Any of these herbivores strike your fancy?~"

Legosi took a deep breath. Ignore him. Ignore him. He did this when he first joined. He loves getting rises out of people and being the center of attention…

"Damn, senpai! Your legs are too long! I can't keep up!" Pina huffed.

"Then stop following me..." He rubbed the remaining tears from his eyes. If anything, at least this was distracting him from what just happened.

Legosi walked into Louis' old office, thinking Pina would get the hint he wanted to be alone and not follow. Of course he did.

"Oh, senpai, nobody can see us in here!" Pina cooed. "I see now! The herbivore you want to eat is me? I'm flattered~"

"No!" He whipped around, but Pina was already right next to him. He reached one of his delicate fingers up to his mouth, brushing against his teeth with a thumb.

"Well, maybe a finger wouldn't hurt. I mean, it'd hurt me, but it'd do you a world of good," he winked.

Legosi looked down into those big eyes with his own open wide...This was far too familiar.

"Go on," Pina purred, "I'm waiting, Legosi-senpai~ Bite me!~"

The memories came flooding back almost instantly, the makeshift dam broken once again. Pushed against the wall...those angry eyes...Louis' slender hand between his fangs. He could hear the words clearly.

Stop fucking around! Bite me, Legosi! BITE ME!

It was too much. Legosi couldn't take it anymore.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" He shoved Pina out of the way, maybe a bit too roughly, as the herbivore fell on his tail, looking up, shocked.

Legosi ran from the room. He couldn't believe it. He had two breakdowns already. He couldn't stay here today. He ran past everyone, all of them staring in awe as they had heard the usually quiet wolf shout so loudly.

The wolf ran from the drama club, all the way to his dorm room. This couldn't go on anymore. He needed Louis. He. Needed. Him.

Legosi slipped into his bed, pulling the covers over him, wishing they'd just swallow him up. His mind played against him, though, imagining that Louis was in there with him, his small body close to Legosi's large one, holding him, telling him everything was alright.

But it couldn't really replace the deer. It was just a lie.

What was Louis feeling right now? Was he sad? He had to be. Or maybe...he had forgotten about Legosi? Maybe he had moved out of the country...So many things could have happened, and he'd never know.

His mind brought back Juno's kiss, trying to replace her with Louis. It only made the pain worse.

There was a crashing noise in the closet.

Legosi poked his head out from the covers, fur sparking with static. He looked to where the noise came from. There was a shuffling noise from inside.

The wolf got up and began tip-toeing over, slowly, as more shuffling came from inside.

"Voss…? Are you in there...?" Legosi tried his best to make it sound like he hadn't just been crying. There was no response from inside. He opened it, slowly.

Before he knew it, he was pounced on by a shirtless Jack. "Wh...GHAA!" They fell to the ground. "Oof!" He looked at the lab, blinking. ""J-Jack! What are you doing?"

Jack laughed a bunch. "Pranking you, Legosi! And I got you good!"

"What, how long were you in there...?"

"I'm not sure...An hour or two? How are you?" He squeezed him.

"Y-you really stayed in there for an hour? Why?" Legosi hugged him back. He craved touch...This would have to do.

"Because I didn't know when you were coming back! But it was a really good prank. The look on your face!" The lab had been even more friendly to him since Louis' disappearance.

Legosi sighed. "You're just trying to cheer me up…"

"Of course! Woah. You look like you've been crying! What happened...? It's not...that again..." He wilted.

Legosi nodded, wiping his nose. "Juno...kissed me at drama club today. That was just too much." He decided to leave the part about Pina out. "And now...my thoughts are all about Louis-senpai again. I don't even know where he is! What he's feeling! He's probably miserable! I wish...I wish I could be there to comfort him...to hold him...and he could hold me, and...and I could have my first kiss with him..." He sniffed again and buried his face into his hands. "It's too much, Jack..."

Jack wrapped his arms around his best friend. "Hey..." Tell him...It's been too long. Tell him what you discussed with the other canines, Jack...He can't keep being sad like this…

"...Yeah?" Legosi's face looked like a sad puppy.

Jack took a breath and looked at him. "I think it's time you left the school and found Louis-senpai."

Legosi's ears perked up. "B-but I have no idea where he is..."

"His father is the leader of the Horns Conglomerate right? Search everything you can about that place and see if it talks about living quarters there."

"I..." Legosi blanked. He had only looked at the address, but didn't look further. It hurt, in a way. "Do you really think they might just...live there?"

"Hey, it wasn't my idea. It was Collot's." Jack said. He got up and stretched, then found his crumpled up shirt on the bed, slipping it on.

"You guys talked about it? Do they...know?"

"Yeah...Sorry, I know you didn't want me to be the one to tell them but...They're completely supportive, though! You know we'll always have your back!"

Legosi covered his face. He was so lucky to have the friends he had. He slipped his phone out, looking up the Horns building once again. Jack placed his head on his shoulder, watching.

"Say...why didn't you have a shirt on?"

"To make me look more wild when I jumped you!"

Legosi looked back at him, eyebrow raised. "You are wild."

The wolf looked up the address of the building, but this time, at Jack's suggestion, looked into the building itself. Looking up architects, floor plans. Everything. He felt like such an idiot for not thinking of this before! He had always assumed it was just a large office building. Finally, he found what he was searching for.

"There...there's an entire living area in there..." he mumbled, letting a tiny bit of hope sneak in.

Jack perked up. "Really?"

"Y-yeah! Who knows what I'd do once I'm there, but, it's not a far ride. It's in the city..."

"Are you going to make a plan?"

"...I already am." He smiled, for the first time in months, a real, genuine grin. HIs tail began wagging.

I'm coming, Louis-senpai!