Author Note

I'm going to keep disappointing everyone that puts the dead-author-with-story-that-never-will-be-finished label on me by returning now & then like this. I haven't forgotten this story at all, sadly other activities are taking the time. Anyways, I'm at least having fun doing this, that's what important. I really appreciate all the support I get from the ones that has followed me from the beginning & is asking where the story went, it really helps to motivate me.

Thanks for the likes my loved ones: , 19alpaha99, NoobKillerPat2011, UndeadKiller542, LxrdHvrukx, Elmemeloquendero123, DragonFlame64, dreamdemon 97, tHeN0ObMastR, Aver de Crysa Kai, DracoMan671, Dragoul Mayol, FlamingEclipse, Buckeye2001 and B-day.

Thanks for all the follows: 19alpaha99, NoobKillerPat2011, UndeadKiller542, LxrdHvrukx, dreamdemon 97, tHeN0ObMastR, Aver de Crysa Kai, DracoMan671, Dragoul Mayol, FlamingEclipse and Buckeye2001.

And so to the best part, reviews: Nyees, Kyled91doc, Lukefasc, drakewilde1234, Aguion12, JMDZ, coolcatinspace, Aidan Finn, dreamdemon 97 and LxrdHvrukx

Chapter 15

Faithful Feelings

Nicole threw an empty beer can across the room where it hit the edge of a full trash can and bounced down on the floor with a crash. Grimacing, she contemplated if it was even worth taking the effort stand up just to walk over and pick it up or stay in the bed. After a few seconds she let the idea of walking up go, seeing it as a complete waste of effort.

I've at least tried to clean the room a bit. At least now I can see through the windows.

She turned over and faced the wall, a sigh escaping her lips. The frayed tapestry the filled most of her view didn't bring her any joy. No one to hang out with. No one to talk to. Why even bother with school?

She picked up her phone and started scrolling through her phone list. She tried to avoid calling people since she paid her phone bills by herself but this time it was an emergency. First, she called Zane's number but after two tries without any answer, she gave up. With a wail, she started trying to think on something she could do.

What was the name of that girl that gave me his number? Valerie? Worth a try. She scrolled further down the list of numbers and started a new call.

Zane had been talking to Andromeda. She'd called him early in the morning, wanting to talk about her life at the facility. After a few minutes into the conversation, she started to make suggestions about what he could do to help her. The word she spoke surprised and astonished him. Even with all that had happened, she gave the idea of wanting to come over. Zane couldn't say no even if he disliked the idea. After a few hours of Zane rubbing his templates and wandering back and forth, he had formulated his thoughts enough to face Umbria. On the inside of his head, one image kept flickering back and forth. The image of Andromeda and Glory's meeting that had turned out completely hostile. "Why does she want to come over like this? She knows that Glory lives here... but apparently, she wants to come see me enough to take the risk. Glory won't like this for sure," Zane thought as he knocked on Umbria's door.

"It's open," he heard in response from the room. He slowly pushed the door open and entered.

As he walked forward it hit him that this was the first time he had ever been in her room. It was different from the others he had been in several times.

There wasn't a sign of anything childish. No old toys or any children's books. In the corner of the room sat a neatly made bed covered in black sheets and a small plushie sitting next to the wall. To the right of the bed were storage spaces with everything nearly separated. At the end of the bed was a desk with a laptop sitting on it.

"Yes?" Umbria straightened a set of papers and set them down, eyeing him.

"I just wanted to talk about something...," Zane spoke his heart starting to pick up like it was trying to escape his chest.

Zane was sitting outside Umbria's room, a small sigh escaping him. He'd managed to talk Umbria into giving Andromeda a chance to come over for a weekend. But she had also given him the responsibility if something happened.

What am I supposed to do now? Even if Andromeda manages to get permission to leave, I will be the one dealing with her. There is a lot at stake if something goes wrong.

Shaking his head, he tried to collect his thoughts before calling Andromeda back. Deep down he knew that it would be hard for her to adapt to his situation in the house. Her weeks in the facility had improved her mentality but not enough in Zane's opinion. On the other hand, he missed her laughs and presence. While part of him feared what could happen the other felt that the time together would be well spent and enjoyable. It felt like ages since they had last hung out.

Down stairs, inside the main bathroom, Glory was standing over the sink. She frantically rubbed at a spot on her shirt while Lavender sat on the counter, watching her.

"Come on, you ain't getting anywhere with just water."

"Thanks for the help," Glory gruffed, clenching her jaws.

"Just saying, you shouldn't spend the money on expensive clothes if you can't keep them nice and tidy," Lavender responded, giving Glory a light shove. At her wits end, Glory just pulled the shirt over her head, pressed it together into a ball and threw it at Lavender.

"And what the fuck is wrong with you today?" Glory snapped, glaring at Lavender. Lavender just laughed, which made her slip off the counter. Landing on her feet she walked over, behind Glory, and turned her around towards the wall so she could let her hands rest on Glory's elbows.

"Hush sis. I'm just teasing you."

"Just go, okay?" Glory shrugged off Lavender's arms. With a small smile, Lavender put them back, squeezing Glory's arms, slowly moving upwards.

"Since when were you vainer than Flaria? Admit it, you're head over heels for him," Lavender said and let her hands work on Glory's shoulders. Glory just shrugged them off and hissed.

"Where are you trying to go with this? You trying to embarrass me in front of him?" Lavender just tilted her head, a smile creasing her lips as she judged Glory. "Admit that you like him, at

least a little bit." Glory didn't answer, instead shaking her head and turned her back against Lavender. As she turned, she crossed her arms and gave her an angry snort.

"Well, I was just wondering. You do know that Valerie wanted to take him on a date but she wanted to make sure that she didn't take him from anyone."

A mere second later Lavender found Glory's face a few centimeters from hers with two hands scratching her shoulders.
"She's doing what?" Glory cut, shaking Lavender's shoulders. Lavender slightly reeling back felt claws bounce against her skin but she also felt a burst of laughter trying to force its way up to her throat. Unable to keep it in, a giggle escaped her lips as her body went limp and she let her head fall down against Glory's chest. Glory just shook Lavender more and growled.

"Tell me."
It being too much to hold in, Lavender folded in her ears and started laughing. "Of course she isn't... I just wanted to prove that you like him."

In an instant Glory felt her face turned red hot making her she suddenly release Lavender and started backing off. Lavender just leaned against the wall, laughing at Glory's flustered expression. "Someone has a crush!"

Glory didn't answer and started to finger with her nails while trying to ignore the fact that it felt like her face was on fire. "Maybe..." A wave of shame washed over her face due to her behavior earlier. She looked up to apologize but was embraced in a warm hug, two hands wrapping themselves around her body. "Come on girl, let's go get this guy for you!"

Glory just mumbled something and looked away while letting her head rest against Lavender's. "Get up there now and just spend some time with him. Go out for a walk or something."

"O-okay," Glory stuttered, slightly perking up. Lavender gave her a reassuring smile and nodded towards the door. Glory gave her sister one last look before turning around.

"But hey, Glory. Maybe put on a shirt before you go up to him?" Glory felt how her cheeks flushed red again as she realized that her dirty shirt was still laying on the floor and the only thing she had on her chest was a bra. "M-maybe...,"

Glory felt her heartbeat pick up pace as she stood, staring at Zane's closed door. As she lifted her hand to knock she felt as if her body had become frozen her knuckles brushing gently across the doors rough surface. You've talked to him hundreds of times, why are you acting like this? Closing her eyes Glory took a deep breath, putting any thoughts to the wind as she slammed her knuckles into the door.

She heard a thud from the room before Zane opened the door, his face creased with a smile. "Glory!" Glory's heart doing a flip flop, as Zane reached forward and took her hand. In the act, his fur tickled her palm as he dragged her into the room. "I haven't seen you all day? Where have you been?" Following him, Glory stepped forward, her eyes inspecting the mountain of items that were present on his desk. "Just felt a bit off," She picked up a drafting notebook he'd been using, examining the front side of it. It had a deep black plastic cover with Zane's name written on it, along with sides covered in white lines and a red strap that was keeping it closed. "You've been spending a lot of time on your room, haven't you?" Zane nodded and walked up beside the desk giving Glory a good view of the red tint could be seen under his fur. Zane began to hastily pick up the mess of paper clips and pens from his desk. "Uh, maybe I should start cleaning more often," Zane explained as he threw a few papers down a metal bin, to where he rushed across the room with a bunch of pencils to put in a holder on his nightstand.

Glory threw a quick glance at his back before opening the book she had been examining and looking at his notes. She skimmed through the first few sides, seeing it was mostly just a lists of different kinds but on one side she found a sketchy drawing of a shriveled leaf. By the Zane had gone made his way over to a shelf to set notebooks on it. Glory giggled at his drawing and walked over to Zane with the notebook, handing it to him. "I wasn't here for criticising your cleaning Zane. I was just wondered if you wanted to go out for a bit. Maybe walk through the forest behind our house?" Zane muttered something low about having too small of a bookshelf before speaking to her "Sure, I'm in. When did you want to go?"

"In thirty minutes, I'll meet you at the front door?" Glory said before helping him stuff the books back into his shelf. "I'll be there Glory," Zane said as fit the last book in. "Thanks, Glory, I do the rest by myself."

Glory felt a warm feeling in her chest as she walked out of his room and closed the door behind her. She quickly crossed her arms over her chest so as to help hide her emotions from any possible spectators.

Nicole walked along the road with a row of houses that were neatly placed alongside it. Very few people could be seen walking along the street, along with the few cars drove past every now and then. Other that that it was quiet aside from the strong autumn breeze that rustled the leaves that were starting to change from green to bleak-yellow. Every now and then Nicole threw envious glares towards the houses, with their looming shapes, massive gardens, and high fences. Our whole apartment could fit ten times over in just one of these houses, probably even more. She bit her own lip and looked forwards, committed to not upset herself any more than necessary. A gust of sharp wind caught her fur, playing around in it for a split second before continuing down the street. The wind felt like ice against her skin as shivers ran down her spine. She stopped, as she swung her jacket down from her shoulder and pulled it on before continuing. In the distance she could see the road up on the hill that had been described by Valerie. A big bet, but what can I lose? Maybe I will actually get some friends and in the best case, Zane will be home. Nicole pulled the jacket tighter around her and continued along the road.

Zane walked beside Glory along a gravel road that ran along the backside of their house. They walked in silence against the lush woods. It was slowly fading from green to red, yellow and bright orange. Under the birches, sat patches of fallen leaves. Zane could smell the scent of fresh rain in the air and hear the sounds of the small stones crackle under his feet. Glory led him further and further into the forest, following the path that grew smaller with time. Lost in thought Zane felt something soft touched his arm. In the corner of his eye, he could see how Glory had slid her hand along his wrist and down to his hand before grabbing it. She twined her fingers around his, gave it a light squeeze before looking up at Zane and smiling. Zane felt his heartbeat began to rise in pace as they both continued forward walking hand in hand.

After a half hour of walking the path before it started to slope upwards. As it rose, it serpentined from the right to left, in a zigzag motion. As the walked it and reached the end of it, they both found themselves standing on a flat, grassy patch surrounded by steep hills and slopes. On one side the mountain kept rising up to lay out against the sky while on the other side there was a view out over the forest they had passed through, set in front of the the mansion and the rest of the suburbs that transferred into the city. As Zane took in the view, Glory set her jacket down on the ground. Motioning she sat down on it with Zane besides her, letting his legs hang over the edge.

"Valerie and Flaria found this when they were ten. Umbria was always so worried when they went out on their adventures but that time it was a success. After that, we would sometimes come up here and camp out during the summers. We loved it. We don't do it much anymore but I thought you would like to see it,"

"It's beautiful... I've never seen such a view," Zane glared out over the forest. He broke his eye contact with the landscape and looked at Glory that was sitting in silence beside him. As their gazes met she extended her arms and started dragged him into a hug. "It's cold Zane," Her arms trembled as they ran along his body to wrap around him. She let her hands tie themselves behinds his back and rested her head on his shoulder. A tingling sensation spread through his body as he returned the gesture. Glory closed her eyes and didn't let go. In a instant Zane noticed how it felt really hot under all his clothes.

This is really not the time for sweating, please.

With force, he tried to keep his increasing breath slow. It instead turned into a wheeze, which made Glory giggled as she started brushing her nose against his cheek. He seems to be positive on this.. time to make things official for him, maybe. She quickly glanced at him and made sure that he had shut eyes before licking her lips and choosing a spot in the middle of his cheek. The point of no return. She started leaning forwards but halfway through, Zane suddenly jolted and opened his eyes as a buzzing sound could be heard in the once quiet place. Glory could feel how something was shaking in her inner pocket and making noises that suddenly felt extremely annoying. Zane let her go and sat back away from her.

Glory felt how her momentum was gone in seconds. The atmosphere was completely gone and Glory's earlier joy was replaced with boiling blood as she started feeling through her pockets and picked out the phone. "Yes? Who?"

Zane heard some nonsense about a missing skirt before Glory said "Fuck off Valerie," and ended the call. "Are you okay Glory?" he said as she tried to catch her breath, throwing her phone down in her pocket before zipping it closed. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she snapped crossing her arms over her chest.

"Maybe it's time to walk home, Glory?" Zane offer as he stood up and held her out his hand. She didn't take it, instead standing up and started walking down the hill without waiting for him. What did I do wrong? Why did she turn sour so fast?

Nicole made halt right outside the door of the mansion. She carefully knocked on it and proceed to wait. The increasing sound of steps could be heard and after a while, someone opened the door. Before her was ocean blue girl, only remember that her name was Valerie. They had only met on one occasion where she had gotten Zane's number. Even so Valerie reached forward and pulled her in a tight hug before saying welcome.

"Hey, nice to see you. I'm so glad that you could come by," Valerie beamed as she began dragging Nicole into the hall. Nicole tumbled after Valerie throwing her jacket off on a cupboard as she went. Valerie continued leading her into the kitchen where Flaria was currently preparing tea. Flaria gave Nicole a bright smile as she entered the kitchen door. "We take care of this, you can just go out and sit down in the dining hall."

Almost being rushed out, Nicole entered the dining hall quickly stopping for as second as she looked out the windows dotting the room. Quickly getting bored of the view, she began observing the rest of the room around her. The biggest thing that caught her attention was the huge portrait that was hanging on the wall. Walking over to it she saw that it was the whole family, which quickly dampened her mood. Jealously rushed through her being as she saw that each person in the picture had a smile on their face and look as if they were having endless amount of fun just being together. The jealousy quickly flooded over to anger as she recognized two of those in the picture. It's those two girls... She rubbed the back of her head where she could feel a little bump of a scar where the leafeon girl in the picture had thrown her against a locker. Even if the picture was a few years old, she could still recognize that face. I'll never forget that horrible face. Her eyes wandered along the picture as her eyes rested on the glaceon. It's that girl that follows Zane around all the time... what's her name, Gloria? She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Why does he need to be related to every damn bitch in this town? I always guessed that they were all related.. but living together? Nicole closed her eyes and turned her back to the picture. She clenched her jaw together, grinning her teeth together in anger. Why does it have to be them out of all people on this planet?
A door slammed open and Nicole immediately tried to put on a straight face as Valerie and Flaria entered carrying tea and cookies. "Everything okay girl?" Valerie questioned, as she put a tray down on the table. Nicole smiled, nodded and put on a straight face as she threw a last glance at the picture before sitting down with them.

They messed me up last time but this time they're going to regret standing in my way. Give me a bit of time and I'll make sure we're even.

Author Note

That's it for this time, hopefully you liked even if it took time to write, I'm already planning the next chapter. I wish you a nice day! If you have anything you want to talk about feel free to PM me. As always I appreciate reviews & support.

- Paarthurnax