Sleep had been hard, yet the morning routine was the last thing he wanted to do right now. After messing everything up with those words that escaped from his mouth, he wasn't sure he could stand being near to his friend. Would he even like to continue being his friend, after what he said?

But liked or not, duty was still something that needed to be done.

Opening the doors and getting ready to annotate, there was knot on his throat at seeing from the corner of his eye the sheeps walking in front of him. They were slow and sleepy, but when almost all the flock was out, there was one sheep that lately it seems that doesn't like to go with the rest or something, and this was the worst moment for that to happen to the dog.

Afraid, Bitzer had to lift his gaze to see the small sheep standing between the doors, wide awake, making a gesture with his head for the dog to follow him inside. And so, gulping the knot, he did. At least it didn't seem like the sheep would stop being his friend.

Inside the barn, the blocks of hay were organized in a certain way and Bitzer just remembered the promise to come back to help clean up. Even if he wanted to avoid being alone with the leader, a promise was a promise.

Shaun started to move some of the hay, and so did Bitzer. It was easy, just take a block and lay it on the floor with a pillow or a blanket so they become a bed, his obssesion making him do the effort to arrange them perfectly. But it was difficult when his mind was asking so many questions that he would sometimes stop without noticing to calm them down.

Yesterday his friend didn't help him with the nests, preparing another stuff instead, but then why today was different? Maybe because yesterday they had less time. And if now the surprise was made, why didn't he ask another sheep to help them?

With this question in mind, his eyes uconsciously moved to the other side of the barn to meet a pair that quickly turned, pretending that weren't staring. That felt familiar. Last time that happened, they spent the whole night talking. Maybe the sheep wanted to talk? Well, he centainly didn't!

Shaking his head, Bitzer continued with what he was doing. Moving the hay, here and there, dusting off the pillows and leaving each bed with the same space between them. When everything was done, he looked at his work, both paws on his hips, satisfied with it, until a hoof on his shoulder made him jump.

"Could you help me with this?" The sheep was pointing up to the projector.

"Uh, sure"

"Can you take care of the cable?" The plug was downstairs and the projector was upstairs, the cable going all the way down the wall.

"Ok"

With this, while Shaun climbed the stairs, Bitzer headed towards the plug behind some milk cans to unplug the cable, and waited there for the sheep to get there to unplug the other end so the dog could roll it between his arms and give it to him. Now that's the complicated part, heading upstairs with the sheep so they could store everything in a box. It was complicated for the simple fact that they had to be close alone, and Bitzer was trying to avoid that, but he had to do and did it anyway.

Climbing the stairs and walking to him, the dog cleared his throat to catch his attention and Shaun turned around surprised for the sudden sound, but a smile quickly crossed his face.

"Thank you" The sheep took the cable from his paws, having the smallest contact with his hooves, and turned to put it in the box with the rest of the stuff.

He was being painfully slow, but to Bitzer, leaving now sounds impolite, so he just stood there.

"Is there something else to do?" Everything was clean now, the beds were perfectly organized and while the dog was with that, the sheep took the white blanket from the ceiling so the only thing left to do was what his friend was doing.

Shaun looked at him hesitant for some seconds, only to respond with a "No, there's nothing else to do" but it sounded sad, somehow.

As he returned with the box, Bitzer noticed both of the sheep's ears were pointing at him, probably to hear if he would go away and, as much as he wanted, he didn't. After some minutes that seemed to cheer him up.

Waiting there for his friend to finish, the dog noticed the block of hay where both of them watched the movie and where he screwed up besides him. It was messy, messier than the rest, with blades of hay poking out of it. There was a blanket laying there too, so maybe-

"I slept there last night after you left"

"Oh, uh…" That comment was so unnecesary, all it did was making Bitzer get all shaky and sweaty, scratching the back of his head "So about last night…"

"Lets talk about it"

No no no no no. That's the last thing he wanted.

"Ok"

Shaun was too eager in letting box on the floor and sit on the hay, leaving space for the dog to sit beside him. The bastard has been planning this the whole day wasn't him?

Bitzer sat there too.

"I'm really sorry"

"For what?"

"For what I said. You know…"

"Yeah but why?"

"I… don't want our friendship to get all… uncomfortable because of me"

How could the sheep be so calm while the dog couldn't even face him?

"Because you like me? That's a compliment" Bitzer brought his paws to his head, hiding a blush behind them.

"I wasn't supposed to say that out loud!"

"Don't worry about it. I… kinda knew"

"Wait, what?"

Shaun held a giggle.

"You really thought it was some kind of illness?"

Bitzer covered his face again in embarrasment.

"Oh god, how could I be so dumb?"

"Hey, it's ok. It took me time to figure it out as well"

His paws moved away from his face.

"Figure it out?"

"That I… I'm 'sick' too" He stared at him, realization slowly coming to his mind "remember?"

"Oh" It took some time for him to process everything, but as he did, his arms trembled even more, deep red spreading across his cheeks. "Oh!" A finger pointed at his companion "You…?"

"Yeah" He noded.

"But how?" The sheep just shrugged shyly.

"It happens sometimes"

They remained silent for some seconds, the sheep all sheepish while the shaky dog was biting his bottom lips and fidgeting his paws.

"Really?"

"Yeah"

Not gonna lie, he was relieved somehow.

"Now what?"

"I don't know" Shaun's gaze went to the ground, looking for a better answer but also to avoid meeting the dog's "Do whatever we want to, I guess"

A light from the window behind him was going through his wool, making it look brighter and softer than usual. It truly was a sight. He was truly a sight. He looked like an angel. But no! He was a bastard, a pure demon. The way he acted now, so calm and shy, was too odd for him. He was probably making this to mess with Bitzer. He knew how he felt, so maybe what he just said was pure teasing.

And yet, with both of them too focused on their own thoughts to realize that Bitzer's arms went around Shaun's shoulders, muzzle pressing againsts his forehead. He was trembling. He returned the embrace around his waist, pressing tighter. It was like a big weight was lifted off his back, like the only weight he wanted was his best friend's arms hugging him. He smiled, his body relaxing for the first time in so long.