The fire was blazing in an utmost roar. In an abandoned apartment complex that was now in flames. The entire building was covered in fire. A scared and worried female dalmatian, a mother of a single pup, was running amongst the flames. In her mouth was a dirty blanket that was held like a carry bag. She was running for her life, however, she did not care for her own life….

She cared for the life of her newborn pup.

She kept up her pace as she ran really hard, dodging falling debris and the flames that were like demons, reaching out for her and her child.

She dodged left and right as she tried to get towards the door.

Running quickly she tried to reach for it.

Then down came the roof. It crashed hard, making the mother dalmatian halt to a quick stop. She felt the flames of the debris as she turned from the heat as it increased in temperature, causing fear to also rise. She turned and ran, trying to find a way out.

As the flames were creeping in, she was running through the halls looking for a way out. She didn't want to lose her only daughter.

She swore to herself to keep her safe.

However, when she ran to the end of the hall. There was no way out.

She went to turn around, but when she did, panic started to sit in.

The flames grew and began to surround her. She saw that there was now a wall of flames pinning her to this end of the hall. She was blocked end and the flames started to close in.

The mother started to pant in heavy panic.

She didn't know how to escape. She was losing hope.

…. But not for her child. She swore she was going to keep her safe, and she was going to do just that.

As the fire was destroying the apartment.

As the walls and ceiling started to fall apart.

She told herself one thing.

This child of mine will live…. I swear…

The mother covered her pups head with the blanket and she shielded her with her body.

She covered her with her fur and her body.

As the flames closed in.

It was hot and the flames had no mercy.

The mother screamed in agony as the heat started to burn her. However, she did not weave over the pain and she kept her body upon her daughter to shield her from any pain.

The flames would not touch her. Her mother wouldn't allow it.

After a few moments of pain and torture. The wall started to break over as the mother heard the pounding of a hammer. With her eyes clenched shut due to the pain of the furious flame. The mother did not notice that the wall started to crack open.

The wall came crumbling down.

The mother soon managed to open up her eyes, and she saw a silhouette of another dog.

Then she felt the flames become exhausted by the cool wetness of water. It took the flames away from her body. Then the water started to take out all the flame around her.

Even though the flames were away from her, and she wasn't burning anymore, her body had taken a lot of damage. Her fur was burnt and her body was bloody and dark.

She felt dizzy and her spirit was slowly fading.

She turned to the dog that was holding a hose in his mouth. He threw it aside and stepped off the debris of the wall he had torn down to get in the building.

"Hey! Are you alright!? We have to go!"

The mother's vision was blurry but she was conscious enough to notice it was a young male dalmatian, much like her. However, as the male dalmatian tried to reach her…..

….. The mother collapsed.

"Hey! Hey! Stay with me now…." The male dalmatian demanded in desperation. He went to her side and used his paw to hold up her head.

The mother felt weak. She tried to open her eyes, and she barely managed to do so.

"You….. You are brave….. And you came to save me…. A stray dog…." The mother weakly said to the male dalmatian. Since she was closer to him, she noticed he was wearing a fire fighter's helmet. "However…. I fear that my time has come…. I feel my life….. Is fading…. F-Fast…."

"No! Stay with me! We can get you out of here….!" The male dalmatian told her with great determination.

"Kind…. Hearted…. Soul….. What is your name…?" The mother asked weakly. The male dog stared at her for a moment. He wanted to carry her away. He wanted to save her. He figured that if she kept talking, she wouldn't die on him.

"My…. name is Doug….." The male dalmatian answered the mother.

"Doug….. It isn't me…. You need to save…" She informed him. Thus the dalmatian eyes widened. He didn't understand at first, but the mother slowly moved her paws to the blanket that lay on her other forearm. This was the first time that he noticed the blanket that seemed to be carrying something within it.

Doug's eyes widened when the mother slowly revealed that within the blanket, was a very small newborn puppy. The puppy was so new to this world, that its eyes were still closed shut.

The little puppy started to whine.

"She…. can't survive on her own…. She…. needs…. Someone….. To…." The mother started to cough. Her breathing was harsh and sluggish. "... She needs…. Someone to….. Take her….. Someone that…. Can give her love….. She needs….."

The mother slowly pushed the puppy into Doug's arms. Doug was really shocked by this. The mother seemed content with this so she let her body slowly rest.

She was getting really weak.

Doug looked at the puppy slowly, then back towards its mother. Doug slowly shook his head.

"N-No… I can't take her…. She-She's not mine…." Doug started to decline the child. The mother smiled weakly. "Come on! She needs you…. You can't! Stay with me now! You have to stay strong for her-..."

However, the mother touched Doug's face slowly.

"Be….. a good….. Father…. For her….."

Doug felt his words become lost when she told him this.

The mother's paw slowly slid off his face, as it weakly fell to the floor. Doug's eyes grew even wider to this, and his expression softened into a sad state.

The mother's head soon turned and her eyes closed.

She was gone…..

Before the male dalmatian could mourn for the loss of this dog. He heard a rumbling noise from the building.

He quickly looked at the child that was bestowed upon him, and he knew he had to get out quickly.

He turned and ran out the same broken down wall that he had taken down to get in. He ran hard.

….. As the apartment collapsed.

Doug was staring at the smoke of the building, near the grass. He was a distance away from the building.

He was thinking about the mother to this child. He knew that this female had given her life to give her only daughter a chance.

Doug slowly examined the pup. He saw that this pup had long white ears, and her spots had not come in yet, but he knew it was a dalmatian, much like him. Doug started to feel sad. He started to actually mourn for the loss of her mother.

Doug's expression shifted a bit when he noticed that the pup began to reach out for him. Almost by instinct, he slowly let the pup grab one of the fingers of his paw.

The daughter slowly took it and she slowly hugged it. This helped Doug cope with the experience that he was dealing with.

He knew that he couldn't replace her true mother.

However… He was going to keep her promise to take care of this pup like his own.

"So….. What do I call you…..?"

As the father left the building, and the horrible experience as he had just witness…..As the father was settling on a name for the small pup…..

…..He didn't noticed something…. Something wrong…

Something moved within the rubble.

Something was still alive, and abandoned.


One and half years later


London was in the midst of summer, blooming with heat, sun, and fun. It was a busy day within the streets, but none was busier than the one and only Dalmatian Street.

Within the home of the 101 Dalmatians, in Camden, London, chaos was storming hard.

Dylan, a dalmatian with a red collar with a star medal, was riding on vacuum shop-vac, with a brush tied to his tail. He was panicking hard as several, and many, younger dalmatian pups (all part of the same family.) were swarming all over the place, completely ruining his chores.

"Oh man! This is bad! How are we ever going to finish this on time?!" Dylan complained hard as he nearly smashed the head of the vacuum to the carpet as the pups that ran by just left many marks.

Dolly, a slim and cute dalmatian with three collars, was also panicking. While she herself would love to screw around on her skateboard and ignore the chores, she too wanted to complete these tasks so she could do what she wanted.

Dolly was trying to carry many bowls down the stairs of the two story house. She was slightly growling and slightly annoyed, as she had to be careful of not accidentally kicking one of the pups. As soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs, the three deva dalmatians nearly knocked her over.

"Wooooah!" She whined as she nearly stumbled, but she managed to focus and balance the three bowls on her head.

"Sorry!" Destiny, Dallas and Déjà Vu all apologized as they dashed away into the kitchen to get ready to eat. Dolly frowned but she signed out her frustration

Dylan ran towards a counter and he quickly picked up two wet rags that were sitting in a sink of soapy water.

He quickly fell on all fours and he started to scrub the floor on which the pups passed and left dirty paw prints.

"Okay! Clean! Clean! Clean! Scrub!" Dylan started to bark out loud as he tried to scrub it out. However, pups started to run by his freshly scrubbed floor. "N-NO! Run somewhere else! I have to scrub this again! WAIT! DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

However, as Dylan was ranting on and on, Dolly quickly ran in with her own panic.

"Dylan do we have any more-" Right then, Dolly had stepped on one of the rags that was nice and wet, and she started to slide on one paw. "-BOOOOOOWLS?!" Dylan jumped up to sit within his fright, and he turned to watch Dolly crash hard.

CRASH!

Dylan had to shield his eyes as some dog bowls flew, but he looked to see the results.

Dolly had hit the counter hard, and there were about fifty dog bowls covering her head to paw.

"...Awww….." Dolly moaned in pain.

Dylan ran over as he slid by her. He panicked as he started to uncover her from her burial of bowls.

"D-Dolly, are you alright!?" Dylan asked as he started to pick them up in panic. "Do you realize how much more of a mess that you made!?"

"THAT IS IT!" Suddenly Dolly jumped out hard, kicking all four of her legs, scattering the dog bowls away from her. As she stood panting, as she was very annoyed now, several dog bowls smacked into Dylan consecutively.

Dylan pouted slightly.

"Ah! Now they're everywhere!" Dylan moaned as he looked around desperately. However, Dylan looked back when Dolly threw two paws up.

"I've had it Dylan!" Dolly yelled out. "I tried to be reasonable, but you KNOW I have to go soon, and we're NEVER going to finish these chores on time! Can't you just go on solo pup care today?!"

Dylan took a few steps away as he shook his head softly.

"N-No way! I can't take care of the pups by myself today! I…. I made plans!" Dylan explained in a panicked voice.

Dolly tilted her head as she rolled her eyes. She soon put up air quotes.

"Plans?" She mocked in an annoyed questioning tone.

"Y-Yeah! I made them a couple of days ago!" Dylan explained, still in his panic.

Dolly was frowning hard as she slowly started to aggressively pick up a lot of bowls in her paws.

"Oh, that's swell! You can tell me all about it….." Dolly soon shoved the handful of bowls into Dylan's paws. "...When we GET DONE!"

For a moment they stared eye to eye, as Dylan had a pleading look, as Dolly stared at him with cold eyes. Dolly signed.

"No matter what, at noon I'm leaving…." Dolly stated in a serious tone.

Dylan sighed as he started to walk with her and carried the bowls towards the living room. Dylan looked down, worried and nervous.

"I have to leave around that time too, you know….." Dylan whined slowly.

Dolly never answered, and she just rolled her eyes.

Eventually, Dylan and Dolly both had a moment of peace as Dolly had the kibble hose (a machine built by Dylan and the tech-wise dalmatian Dawkin to serve kibble to dog bowls.), and Dylan set the dog bowls.

Soon, Dolly and Dylan ended up sitting back and watched as all 96 dalmatians were slowly eating kibble in slight silence.

Dylan sighed slowly.

"Whew…. We're finally almost done with pup duty….." Dylan said through his sigh. He was checking his collar to see if he looked okay, and it wasn't looking off.

Dolly noticed this, and slowly grew a small smile.

"What? Looking for tiny paw prints?" Dolly asked and then rolled her eyes again.

Dylan sort of smiled at this and he huffed some misty breath on the dog tag he started to rub it clean.

"N-No uh….. I'm just,... Meeting someone today….." Dylan admitted slowly.

Dolly blinked a couple of times, as she had a feeling of mutual agreement. However, Dolly had low expectations for Dylan.

"What…? Some nerd friend of yours to play poodlewolf? Look at some stars?" Dolly looked away, but eyed him with a tease. "...Bone collection?"

"Uh….. No, not really… It's actually this uh…." Dylan started as he started to blush and look away. "Its this uh…. Nice girl…."

Dolly's eyes widened a bit, but she slowly grew a cocky smile as her face seemed to lift.

"Pfft! You!? With a girl? Who's nerdy enough to want to hangout with you….!?"

Dylan felt embarrassed enough to start scratching.

"Her name is uh….. Catherine….. She asked me to hangout with her today and uh ….. I kind of sort of …. " Dylan looks away with a blush. "Like her….."

Dolly felt like she should tease him like she always did, but as she raised her paw and opened her mouth, she noticed just how nervous and shy Dylan was, as he was looking down at his fur that seemed to be dusty.

Dolly slowly closed her eyes and took a breath.

"Hey….look… " Dolly soon tilted her head and looked away. She couldn't believe she was about to sacrifice her time. "Why don't you….you know… go get ready for your…date."

Dylan looked at Dolly with astonishment.

"What really?!"

Dolly took a small pout.

"Yeah. I'll do the role call and then I'll head out too." Dolly grabbed her arm with her paw, knowing she was going to be late no matter what, but her love for her brother made up her mind. "I hope that…she likes you too…."

Dylan smiled as he walked away from her sister. He was happy his sister understood his objective. He slowly left Dolly to finish her business with the pups.

Eventually Dolly did roll call, helped the pups into the playroom, and barely managed to walk out the door.

Dolly took a breath of fresh air, and realized she was tired and sweaty, but she smiled.

At least she had her skateboard, and with that thought in mind, she kicked the board so it flipped on the street, and she jumped on it, riding off to meet the one she wanted to meet.

"BOW-WACKA-WOW!"

Later that afternoon after traveling across town on foot, Dylan had finally reached his destination near a large park. He was walking along the grass that was near a pretty large river. He was looking around and noticed that there were quite a few different dogs gathering around the river.

Dylan started to feel nervous. He had not expected so many other dogs to be around. He was just expecting it to be him and the female husky he was supposed to meet that day. Dylan sighed and he shuffled his paws a little before he pushed himself to proceed forward.

He entered the small crowd of dogs, brushing past a few of them as he passed by.

"E-Excuse me… sorry…." Dylan excused himself as he felt a bit crowded by the small gathering. Dylan started to feel even more flustered when he could not find Catherine. However, despite his small fears, he eventually saw her with a group of other female dogs, further down the river. Dylan smiled, being hopeful as he felt the need to approach.

…. Which he hesitantly did.

Dylan walked over slowly.

"H-Hey! Uh… Catherine! Hi!" Dylan slowly called out as he slowly made his way to her and he slowly sat down. "I…. I made it."

Catherine smiled at Dylan with a kind sweet smile.

"Ah! So you did!" Catherine soon giggled as she pulled a small cooler and began to rummage through it. There was a moment of silence as Dylan was trying to keep himself from admiring the purebred husky that was all brown with a slight tan glow, she also had black paws. Dylan looks away shyly as he had caught himself staring at her beauty.

"So….um Catherine….Isn't it a nice day?" Dylan tried as smooth as his heart would let him. Catherine however was too focused on her items.

"Hm?" She sounded as her paw swooshed around the insides of the cooler. "Oh uh, yeah! It is a pretty nice day!" She soon pulled out a bowl and she also had a water bottle. She quickly popped the cap to the bottle and dumped its contents into the bowl. She smiled at Dylan.

"Great day for the river!" She finished.

Dylan rubbed his arm shyly, for he could barely keep his eyes on her, as his butterflies wanted to pull his gaze away from her.

"Uh…. Um…. Yeah….. The river…..Nice… Heheh…." Dylan mumbled.

For a long moment, they just sat there, as she was still smiling, and Dylan was still shy. Dylan felt his heart was sinking into his stomach as he tried to bite into the courage he had to use. Dylan mumbled some things so quietly she didn't hear. Dylan eyed her once, and glad she was still smiling, as beautiful as she was. Dylan soon clenched his eyes and took a cough with a breath, finally tapping into the courage he needed to ask her.

"So….uh….Catherine….I…..Uh…..was….wondering-"

One of the girls next to Catherine whispered slightly to her.

"Hey. Hey. He's here…."

However, she suddenly stood up fast.

"EUSTACE! You made it!" Catherine called, and she walked forward fast.

Dylan's eyes widened suddenly. He looked around just to notice that the other girls were following Catherine towards a group of males, to which all seemed much cooler and much bigger than Dylan.

Dylan held up a paw, reaching out for Catherine.

"Hey…. um…. Catherine?" Dylan called, as he reluctantly got up to follow. He did so slowly, because he was nervous about the other males that had just arrived.

Catherine sat in front of a doberman who was rather beefier than poor Dylan was. Catherine's eyes seemed to sparkle as her, and the other females all sat in a row, admiring the males in front.

"Why, hello Catherine…." Eustace greeted with a deep and compelling voice. Dylan soon felt his eyes widen as the doberman smoothly reached over and touched Catherine's ear. Dylan at first thought this was too much for Catherine, but soon the doberman pulled a magic trick. As soon as he pulled his paw from her ear, what appeared was a bundle of flowers. "Flowers for you?"

Catherine took his charm in quickly as she cuddled up to his gift. She giggled ever so sweetly, which felt bitter to Dylan's heart.

Catherine smiled sweetly at Eustace. She even leaned in closer.

"Awww… This is very sweet of you…" Catherine told him as she seemed to lean almost on him.

"Not as sweet as you my dear…."

Dylan held up a paw, with an angry expression.

"Uh… Um! Excuse me! Catherine?" Dylan called again, feeling totally ignored.

"Nice day isn't it?" Catherine asked Eustace as she had stolen Dylan's words. Both Catherine and Eustace took a sweet exhale.

"Yeah…..it really is…." Eustace agreed as they still, to Dylan's agony, admired one another, almost nose to nose. Dylan finally had enough as Dylan suddenly jumped in between them.

"ENOUGH!" Dylan whined hard, surprising Eustace, and making Catherine angry.

Eustace leaned closer to Catherine, holding up a paw to whisper.

"Who ate out of his kibble this morning….?" Eustace asked the cute husky slowly, in an obvious whisper.

Dylan stepped closer with a frustrated expression.

"C-Catherine…. I uh…. I thought that….. You…. you wanted to hang out with ….. Me today? I- I mean I thought…. Isn't that why you invited me to come hang out with you….?"

Catherine rolled her eyes with a slight smile.

"Oh please….." Catherine rudely remarked as leaned closer to Dylan to make her point. "I've invited a lot of people….. Not just you…."

Dylan seemed taken back by this. He sat down and shook his head.

"B-But you told me that…. You really wanted me to come…. T-That it wouldn't be the same…. Without me…." Dylan started to whimper slowly.

Catherine lost her smile to this. However, she didn't really seem upset by Dylan's sad tone.

"Well…. Every party needs at least one uncool person to come…." Catherine started to laugh. "Or otherwise everyone would be cool! ….. Variety you know!"

Dylan seemed to only get more and more upset.

"B-But you seemed real nice…. And…. and you made me feel special… Like…. Like that you…. " Dylan turned his head as he explained with a sad crock in his voice. "...Liked…me…"

"Oh, Dylan…." Catherine continued shaking her head. "I'm that way with anyone…. But for you to think there was anything special about you…. Doesn't that sound a bit…. I don't know…. Prideful!? Heheh! Come on…. You're a nerd! You're not strong…. Nor fast…. Or charming….. You're just kind of…."

"There….." Eustace finished her sentence with a cocky smile.

"Ah! Yeah! You're just there! And I wanted a big party,... And you were just there!" Catherine continued explaining, although it felt like she was just rubbing it in Dylan's heart by this point.

Dylan started to step back. He couldn't believe how pointless this was. He could have enjoyed his day with his siblings and did his chores, but he was led into a false sense of need and longing….

He was just a nobody to these dogs.

Another body to make their party bigger….

Nothing more…..

Dylan turned around and started to walk away.

"I'll…. I'll…. I'll just be…. going then…." Dylan whispered in defeat.

Eutace smirked as he was walking away.

"Party's big enough without ya buddy….. You won't be missed."

Dylan stopped for a moment, and he looked down, even more defeated and hurt.

"Yeah…. I know….."

With that Dylan slowly left, as he hid his tears from them.

….

"WOO-HOOO!" Dolly soon landed gracefully, as she kicked her board up as she landed.

She had landed close by the pond, where Hansel said he was going to be today. Thing was, Dolly had a major crush on Hansel, and figured today was going to be like any other day, so she decided today she would gratefully hint that she liked Hansel.

Dolly giggled as she took off her helmet and pushed the board away, with the helmet on it, into some nearby bushes. She then giggled as she walked down the path to the base of the pond.

She was smiling, believing that Hansel liked her as much as she liked Hansel. She was slowly trotting down in as much style as she felt.

She felt…confident.

Hansel was sitting on a bridge that hung over the pond. She saw him quickly. She stopped for a second and checked her breath by breathing into her own paw. She was okay with it and she smiled softly as she approached.

She slowly sat by Hansel and wagged her tail as she slowly admired him.

"H-Hey…..Hansel…" She cooed shyly.

Hansel smiled softly at her as he looked at her confidently.

"Ah! Hey Dolly! I see you made it…. How have you been doing? How have all the pups been?" Hansel asked, with his usual accent.

"Um….. They're good! Yeah, they're really….. really…. good." Dolly answered as she looked away with a shy blush, but she eventually looked towards Hansel, trying to look confident. "How have you been?"

Hansel took a moment to nod slowly.

"I've been good…. Just been taking everything day by day, nothing too special…" Hansel simply replied. He looked up slightly. "It's actually a real nice day….."

Dolly soon rubbed her arm upwards in a shy manner. She was nervous with her heart thumping. Now that she was with the male she liked, and she wanted to express her true feelings, she was feeling her heart thump so hard in her chest.

"I-It….has…been a nice day…huh?" Dolly mumbled as she rubbed down on her arm. She took a breath. "Hey….H-Hansel….?"

Hansel slowly turned to her, and hesitantly nodded.

"Yes Dolly….?" Hansel asked slowly. Now Dolly closed her eyes, and looked down, feeling so nervous that her face was really really red. Her tail had stopped wagging, and her ears folded.

"I-I….I was wondering…..what….you… uh….." Dolly soon felt her heart spazz as she finally grew in confidence. "W-What do you think of me?!"

Hansel seemed confused as he turned to her slowly.

"Hm….? Whatever do you mean?" Hansel asked slowly as he saw Dolly shyly wish to look away, but she was trying to remain strong enough to express herself. She seemed to look down, but her gaze was still facing Hansel.

"I mean…I….." Dolly took a deep exhale, and she started to shake. She never actually expressed herself before. "...I….. happen to….. Like…..you…"

Hansel smiled softly, but he seemed to not shift his expression.

"Hey, that's what friends are for…." Hansel seemed to say softly, not truly catching on.

Dolly stood up straighter and blinked hard. She turned to him with a single paw up in panic.

"N-No! That's not what I meant!" Dolly turned to him and took a pout. She looked away. "...I'm saying…. Do you happen to want to…..go do something together…? Just the two of us….?"

Dolly soon bowed her head further as her heart seemed to slow.

"...Like a date..?"

Dolly breathed in a pant very slowly and very shyly. Hansel looked down for a second in thought.

"Oh…." Hansel mumbled quietly. Dolly slowly looked at him, hopeful. " I….. I… I'm sorry, Dolly."

Hansel slowly closed his eyes.

"I just don't…. feel the same…."

Dolly's heart crashed, and she didn't open her eyes. She stuttered and shook as she felt tears start to tickle the inside of her eyes.

"...O….Oh…" She mumbled.

Hansel smiled and he looked at her. He felt bad for her, but he was thinking that she was going to get over it just fine.

"Hey….. But I think that we will make great friends…. You're…. Just not the type of girl I'm looking to have a relationship with…. You're…. a good friend." Hansel tried to sooth slowly. He could tell Dolly was starting to hurt inside.

"That's….g-great…Yeah.." Dolly soon felt like she was going to burst into tears. She turned hard. "I….I got to go…. Have….a…..nice…."

She couldn't even finish her words as she took off and tears began to fall.

Hansel stood quickly.

"Wait! Dolly! I thought you wanted to…." Hansel called out, but she was running too fast, and she grabbed her skateboard as she dashed off. She got on it and she skated off. "... Hang…"

"I'm so stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Dolly cried as she was rolling. She could barely see as she was shaking her head, as her tears were flying fast behind her. She couldn't stand it.

Eventually, her sadness and blurriness got the best of her, and soon she slipped on her paw. The skateboard suddenly flew out from under her, and Dolly felt her eyes widen as she lost control of her body from the freefall.

She soon fell and her front arm hit hard on the pavement, and she rolled.

"AH-" She soon rolled hard enough to catch her stomach to stop the roll. She slowly laid there, in pain, both emotional and physical. She slowly stuttered again due to her sadness, and she slowly looked at her arm through a flitter of her own tears.

Her arm had been scraped badly as there was a little bit of blood going down her arm.

"Urghh….." She slowly stood, barely walking on that paw, and picked up her skateboard as she slowly, and sadly, trotted home.

Her day could not have gotten any worse.

Dolly enters her house slowly. She closes the door behind her and she leans her back on the door as she sits down slowly.

Then she heard the sound of glass shattering in front of her. She jolted a bit as she saw that the pups were playing around the hallway next to the stairs. They were everywhere.

They weren't causing a total mess, but it was enough for Dolly to feel uncomfortable. She was in no mood to deal with her siblings.

She pulled on one of her ears with her paw, as she grumbled a bit.

"Grrr…. Where's Dylan when you need him…." Dolly complained, wanting her brother to take care of these pups instead of her.

She looked around slowly, Checking to see if the pups were going to be alright if she snuck out of the room. Seeing there wasn't a real reason to be worried about them, she slowly snuck out of the room.

She, however, had her eyes widen when she saw that this room was just as chaotic. Pups were running around, playing, and having a lot of fun. Dolly narrowed her eyes and began to walk through the barrage of pups.

Soon, she paused when she saw Dawkins, the tech wise dalmatian, was working on a desktop fan. She flipped hard to Dawkin.

"Dawkin!" Dolly called and then she folded her ears. "...Have you seen Dylan…?"

Dawkin turned to her slowly. He waved his paw towards her.

"Oh….. Uh… He did indeed come home, but he went back outside to climb into his treehouse…." Dawkin explained slowly. He tilted his head as he seemed confused. "Did something happen to him…?"

Dolly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well…" Dolly pulled out air quotes. "'Others' are having trouble too!" Dolly soon started to walk off.

"I'll go talk to him, until then Dawkin, YOU'RE in charge!"

Dawkin sighed hard.

"I was…. already in charge….." Dawkin soon disappeared in the crowd of his fellow puppies.

Dolly went out the door and she went across the yard as she looked up the tree house. She slowly climbed up the ladder that led to the house of the tree.

When she climbed up, she peered into the doorway and saw Dylan. He was laying on his side, with his black ear lying flat on the floor. Dolly could see that Dylan looked really upset.

Dolly slowly grumbled under her breath, as she realized she couldn't be upset with an already upset brother. She slowly climbed up, trying not to make too much noise.

"...Dylan…?" She called softly, even though she felt a frown on her face still.

Dylan just sort of shifted.

"Hey…. Dolly…. I'm here….. I guess…." Dylan responded weakly.

Dolly soon sat by her brother, and Dolly looked away.

"Yeah…." Dolly soon blinked. She put the pieces together in her mind, and slowly hated herself for not realizing it sooner. Dylan had left to go hang out with a girl he liked, and now he was upset.

It obviously did not go well.

Dolly took a deep exhale and laid by Dylan.

"... Seems like both of us had it rough huh…?" She asked with understanding sadness.

Dylan slowly sat up a bit, as he laid on his stomach. He slowly looked up at her with a sad expression.

"Huh….? You had it rough…. What happened with Hansel…? You went to see him right…?" Dylan asked slowly. Dolly could tell that Dylan seemed to be even more upset hearing that his sister might have been through a similar experience that he did. He tilted his head a bit more. "Didn't it go well….? Are you two…. Going out now?"

Dolly frowned harder, now more angry then sad.

"Pfft….." Dolly, however, lost her frown and grew sad. She really did want to be with Hansel. Handsome Hansel. "...I guess I'm not his type…."

There was a moment of silence as Dolly looked at Dylan, and he looked away in his own sadness.

"...How did it go with….Catherine…. right?" Dolly asked to be sure.

Dylan seemed to get a little mad at hearing her name. He slowly laid his head on his arm.

"How did it go….? It didn't 'go' anywhere….. I was only invited to her little party…. To make her party seem a bit bigger….. They made me feel like a nobody…." Dylan complained slowly. His expression only seemed to harden the more he spoke. "... She was more interested in this doberman that showed up…. She told me I was nothing special…. And what's worse… She's right…. What's so special about me? What would a girl want with a nerdy, weak guy like me?"

Dolly rolled her eyes.

"I don't know." Dolly soon punched his arm weakly. "Any girl that's decent? I mean…"

Dylan eyed her in curiosity as she looked forward.

"You take care of our siblings… You're smart, respondable, and very caring…" Dolly looked down, feeling her sadness come back. "...I'm the one who isn't any special… Hansel probably thinks I'm this….worthless girl who is nothing but reckless, and thinks she's top dog…."

Dylan sat up. He looked at her and he started to feel bad for her. He smirked a bit, still feeling sad.

"Are you kidding? You're ARE the coolest…. You make people feel like they can do anything… You're brave… Kind…. And very confident about who you are…" Dylan complimented as he smiled at her softly. "Hansel would have been a pretty lucky guy if he had a girl like you…. He doesn't really understand how great you are…"

Dylan soon fell silent as he felt his own words to be very true. He felt himself smile softly.

However, soon Dylan saw Dolly's forearm and he tilted his head.

"Woah! Dolly! Your bleeding!" Dylan shouted as he stood up quickly.

Dolly lifted her paw slowly like it was nothing, slowly examining the scrape.

"Oh yeah..." Dolly shook her head with a smile. "Yeah, I accidentally fell off my skateboard while I was upset."

Dylan started to panic. He got up and he went to the far side of the tree house.

"H-Hold on! I have bandage supplies here somewhere!" Dylan assured as he started to throw stuff around, and off his small little counter that was built into the wall. Dolly tilted her head as she saw Dylan panicking.

"But it's just a little wound…?" Dolly tried to sooth Dylan's panic. Unlike Dylan, a small scrape wasn't going to get her down.

Dylan moved almost all the contents on his counter with a swift move of both his paws. He shoved everything aside to get to his first aid kit.

"And that little wound can become a BIG infection!" Dylan remembered as he opened up his first aid kit with his paw and then he used his muzzle to shift around its contents. He eventually found some guze. He took it by his mouth and he walked over to Dolly slowly.

Dolly was reluctant however. She moved her wound behind her, feeling embarrassed and shy.

"R-Really….it's nothing…" Dolly tried to convince as she backed up to the wooden wall of the tree house.

Dylan soon got extremely close as he leaned close to her and he looked determined, which seemed odd to Dolly. He wasn't used to seeing Dylan this…. Confident or determined.

Dylan took Dolly's hurt arm and he pulled it out in front of them, and he proceeded to wrap up the scraped area.

"I know you didn't have a good day…. But hurting yourself only made it slightly worse…." Dylan started to explain, before letting out a deep sigh. "You just….. Gotta be more careful… okay?"

Dolly smirked at Dylan, and pulled her arm away just as it was wrapped. This surprised Dylan only a little bit.

""I'm fine….okay?" Dolly looked at Dylan with a cocked eyebrow. "...and don't sell yourself so short, okay? Who cares what one girl thinks?"

This slowed Dylan's care down a slight bit, as he started to get lost in his thoughts once again.

"Y-Yeah…. But she wasn't wrong though…. I'm not like those other guys…. I'm a nerd…. That isn't strong… or cool…. I'm just…. Here…." Dylan started to repeat the things he was told by the girl he had been rejected by. He took everything they said to heart. Dylan didn't feel like it was the end of the world, but….. It still didn't help.

"You're right…" Dolly held up her paw with a warm smile. "You are here…..for me….for the pups…And you're cool in your own nerdy way…"

For a moment Dylan smiled at Dolly, and Dolly smiled back. What she said warmed his heart.

Dylan smiled shyly as he seemed to process what she said. Then he gave her an even bigger smile, which caused her to smile slightly.

"Hey… You're here for us too…. In your own, cool, caring, and kind way…. It wouldn't be the same here without you…" Dylan told her in response.

Dolly rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't….." Dolly looked down shyly. "...More like, if one of us is missing, it would just be….. Not right…. Two peas in a pod right?"

For a moment, Dylan and Dolly finally got to relax their emotions. Dolly and Dylan looked out the window, where Dylan's telescope was, and just stared at the stars.

Dolly was glad at least the end of the day, and the start of the night, was nice. Being here with Dylan, and both of them not at each other's throats was calming to her.

Dylan didn't say anything, but he was glad to be here with Dolly there tonight. She understood him, and he was glad she was there for him. They were together and they knew that they would have each other's back for years to come.

It was at this moment, that he told himself…. That he would be there for her, and he would stand up for her.

Dolly was having the same thought as they were staying in the tree house silently.

They both knew what they wanted to do….

They both knew what they felt like they had to do….

They had to stand up for the other, and fight for their hearts.

…..

The very next morning was much like the other, however this time around there was a certain type of vibe that was going around…

Anger, and determination.

Dylan took the bowls and he effortlessly started placing them down quickly. The pups were all sitting there watching him place down the bowls in place, without panic and without haste.

He seemed to be so deep in thought that he was doing his chores flawlessly.

He placed down the bowls quickly calling each pup's name as he did so.

"Destiny, Dallas, Delgado, D.J., Deepak!"

He then took a rag and he did a small slide as he wiped most of the dirt on the ground easily in one quick swipe of the wet rag.

Dolly, being as determined as Dylan was, decided to do the vacuuming today. Dolly was different from Dylan. When she was determined to get things done, she only knew one way to get things done faster.

By having fun.

"BOW-WACKA-WOOOOOW!" Dolly came riding the vacuum shop-vac on wheels down the stairs as it rolled fast, and she was quick to swipe all the steps fast as she bumped on each step.

As soon a s she landed, she pushed off to the left, turned, and vacuumed the carpet behind the shop-vac.

"WOOOO!" Dolly cried as she flew into the kitchen in the same manner, surprising Dylan.

Dylan merely smiled as she went by and he grabbed his kibble hose and he started to fill up the bowels quickly.

"Okay Pups and She-Pups! It's time to eat up, and enjoy the day!" Dylan announced as he filled up their bowls.

Dylan and Dolly ran around the house with a determined demeanor. They scrubbed, swept, cleaned, and tended to their siblings effortlessly and confidently.

They were doing so well at their usual tasks that they drew in a crowd of the many pups, as they were watching them in awe. Soon enough, their parents were walking down the stairs, and the two of them saw their eldest offspring working really hard to get their chores down.

Their dad blinked a few times, seeing this display.

"Hey you two...? Something the matter?" Their father, Doug asked slowly as they eventually reached the bottom of the flight of stairs.

Dylan turned to them as he was pushing a giant pile of blankets with his back.

"N-Nothing Dad! J-Just doing our daily duty..." Dylan explained with a heavy breath.

Delilah, their mother, looked over to Dolly who looked really dusty as the vacuum slowly halted to a stop right next to Dylan.

"And Dolly? You don't usually work this hard. What's going on here?" Delilah questioned, stunned by her daughter's actions.

Dolly sweated as she gently tossed the arm of the shop-vac aside.

"Oh just, wanted to get things done so I can relax sooner?!" Dolly halfway told the truth. Delilah and Doug both exchanged looks for a small moment. Delilah looked over at Dylan who was stuffing the blankets back into their proper closet.

"And... Dylan? You always seemed to enjoy doing chores... Why are you in a rush?" Doug asked his son. Dylan managed to close the door as he slammed it shut. He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Oh... Yeah, well... Just trying to get most of it done, so I can..." Dylan seemed to look around, trying to find an excuse, but he couldn't think of one. "Go... out?"

Delilah and Doug exchanged glances. For a long moment Dolly and Dylan started to sweat harder, however Doug shrugged, and the parents turned back to them.

"Well... alright... just behave yourselves okay?" Doug suggested as Delilah and Doug both advanced to the door. "We're off to work! And we know you two will be fine as long as you keep working hard! Just stay out of trouble okay?"

And with that their parents opened the door and they left the house, leaving the two staring at the door.

Dolly smirked slowly, and she slowly looked at her brother.

"Going out again...?" Dolly asked smugly. Dylan just shrugged nervously.

"Sort of...?" Dylan replied.

Dolly tilted her head.

"Doing what...?" She asked.

Dylan looked up, not wanting to exactly tell her.

"Don't know yet..."

Dolly rolled her eyes and gave him a hard shove in his arm.

"Going out to find another girl~!?" Dolly teased with a giggle.

Dylan rubbed his arm, giving her a glare.

"No... Not exactly..." Dylan told her. He eventually let his glare slowly soften. He then gave her a forgiving smile. "What are you gonna do today...?"

Dolly blinked and gave a fake smile of confidence.

"I'm going to take a load off! I'm gonna go have some fun in the sun!" Dolly lied as she slowly walked towards the kitchen. "Living life on the edge is what I do! Who cares about some guy when I got everything I need here on Dalmatian street!"

Dylan smiled towards that. She knew how to be cool, and Dylan was starting to admire that about her. He wished he had her confidence. He wished he was more like her.

It's why Dylan couldn't stand the thought about Hansel rejecting her. He didn't understand it. Dolly was cool, confident, and very kind hearted.

Dylan knew the chores were done. He turned towards the door and he opened it. He stared outside.

He had to know why Hansel rejected her. He was gonna find out.

...

Dolly wasn't doing chores to get a relaxing day off. No, like Dylan, she was rather upset to hear how this random mutt treated Dylan like second fiddle.

Her arm was still hurt, so she decided not to take her skateboard today. All she knew was Dylan had told her that he was invited to the river. Dolly guessed that was the best place to look first, so she could tell this female dog off.

Dolly marched to the river which was across town. It took a bit but she eventually made it to the same river Dylan had come to the other day.

She walked along the grass, slowly looking down the river, searching for the girl that emotionally hurt her brother.

She didn't know what she looked like, but she was going to find her.

However, she didn't have to look long, for she saw Cathrine down by the edge of the grass next to the river.

She didn't know for sure if it was the girl she was looking for, but she saw that the Husky was cuddled up next to a doberman, who was slowly stroking her back.

Watching these two cuddle only made Dolly's heart quiver with longing. How she wanted to be stroked like that, and held like that. This is what made Dolly figure out that this was the Husky, because she knew that Dylan longed for the same feeling that Dolly was feeling.

However, Dolly still wasn't sure that this Husky was actually Cathrine, so she slowly approached the couple.

"Excuse me..." Dolly called them. Cathrine and the Dobbermen, named Eustace turned their heads to the dalmatian approaching them. "You... wouldn't happen to be Cathrine,... would you?"

Cathrine smiled sweetly at Dolly.

"That's me... Who might you be?" Cathrine asked in a calm manner.

"OH good..." Dolly soon slowly eyed the cooler she saw.

There was a short and awkward silence before Dolly rose her paw.

She grew a cocky grin, and she kicked it over. Water and ice soon ran under the bottoms of both of the dogs.

"H-HEY!" They both yelled out angrily.

"Oops!" Dolly stood, confidently tilted her head in fake worry. "My bad!"

Cathrine stood up, as well as the male she was cuddling with.

"What the dog is your problem!? Why'd you do that!?" Cathrine yelled.

However, right as Catherine was about to get in her face, Dolly smirked and placed a paw to hold her back, upon her chest.

"Now listen here, miss wannabe! You are not the coolest female around these parts. In fact, you're not even the prettiest." Dolly mocked with a small smile.

Cathrine growled a bit.

"What are you on about mutt!? I don't even care about that! Why are you being rude here!" Cathrine continued to complain. Eustace stepped next to her.

"I suggest you leave..." Eustace insisted.

However, before Eustace could look big and bad, Dolly smashed Eustace's right paw with her own paw, and held it so he couldn't move.

"Why am I being rude?!" Dolly started to raise her voice, even as Eustace tried once to remove his paw from under her crushing paw. Dolly turned to Catherine with a growl. "You two are the ones who invited my brother just to mock him!"

Cathrine mouth seemed to gap in surprise.

"Mock!? Just hold on a minute! We didn't mock him!" Cathrine assured. She stepped a bit closer, but Dolly wasn't at all phased by her approach. "... It was your brother who thought that I was into him! I surely didn't put that in his head!"

Dolly tilted her head in a mocking tone.

"OH Dylan, I NEEEEED you at my party! It wouldn't be the same without you~!" Right then, Dolly smashed her nose to her nose. "Did I get it bark for bark?!"

Cathrine growled again.

"It wasn't ...like that!" Cathrine repeated angrily.

"C-Can you get off my paw now-" Eustace tried to whine.

"Shut it honey!" Cathrine snapped at Eustace, making him hush his whining. "And you little mutt... I just invited your brother like that... because I knew he would be too scared to come otherwise! Your brother isn't the brave, strong type! I bet what he likes to do for fun is stupid nerd stuff anyways! He would NEVER ... EVER... be my kind of type!"

Dolly slowly turned to Eustace and studied his figure. He was slightly panting from pain as Dolly examined him. Dolly smirked.

"Oh, and this dumb idiot mutt is?" Dolly slowly eyed Catherine with a glare. "...I bet he has kibble for brain! That's what you like? All bronze and no brain? Dylan might be a little nerdy, and he might not be the outdoorsman type, but I'd rather have Dylan take care of anyone's pup than a dog who rather gets into fights, then Dylan...who already takes care of 96 puppies.."

Cathrine stared at her, but soon she gave Dolly a cunning smile.

"Pups... Who said... I even wanted pups..." Cathrine shot back with an evil glare. "And I'm sure Dylan would bring the worst kind of pups to this world..."

Dolly slowly lost her smile. All respect she had for Catherine went out of the doggy door.

Eustace and Catherine exchanged looks one time, but that was a mistake.

Dolly shot forward, smashing Catherine hard in the chest, and Catherine went flying into the river.

Eustace's eyes widened as he witnessed the big splash that Cathrine made when she hit the water.

Dolly smiled confidently. It took a moment, but Cathrine finally appeared, as she tried to doggy paddle her head out for fresh air.

She coughed out the water she accidently swallowed.

"You- You- Treacherous monster! HOW DARE YOU!?" Cathrine yelled in anger.

Eustace soon stood near the shore, almost willing to jump in after her.

"Darling are you okay-"

"Room for one more?!" And with that, Dolly smashed her hip hard into Eustace's backside, sending Eustace face first into the water.

Cathrine watched as the doberman was helpless as he tried to swim up.

"ACK! HELP! I CAN'T SWIM! I NEVER LEARN-" Eustace seemed to start drowning.

Cathrine was speechless.

"WHAT! YOU USELESS- STUPID MUTT! You're supposed to be helping me! NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!" Cathrine whined in disapproval.

Dolly didn't bother seeing how this played out as she turned around.

"Woooow! What a heck of a male you found! Soooo much better than Dylan!" Dolly mocked as she trotted away, feeling victorious.

Dylan walked over towards the yard of Hansel's house. He slowly walked up the sidewalk that led to the door to Hansel's home. Dylan took a deep breath, before he reached up his paw and scratched at the door a few times.

It took a short moment, but Hansel soon opened the door. Dylan instantly saw his smile fade when he saw it was Dylan.

"Oh...uh... Dylan..." Hansel mumbled his greeting. He looked behind Dylan, trying to see if Dolly was around. "What uh... brings you here?"

Dylan sighed again, but more nervously. He then tried to look determined.

"Can we talk...?" Dylan asked, cutting straight to the point.

Hansel slowly took a breath, and opened the door wide.

"Come on in." Hansel invited. Soon Dylan walked in as Hansel moved aside, and they both started towards the living room.

Dylan was feeling nervous as he sat on the couch in front of a recliner, in which Hansel slowly but surely sat in.

Hansel took another exhale as he faced Dylan.

"Okay...say your piece my friend..." Hansel offered with half of a heart.

Dylan was nervous, but for his sister... He wasn't going to hesitate.

"What happened between you and Dolly...? Why did you reject her? I thought you two sort of... ya know... Liked each other..." Dylan asked, only stuttering a little bit.

Hansel held up a paw with his eyes closed.

"Look..." He began. "Dolly is cool and all, but isn't that all she is? I mean... it isn't like she's as responsible as you are. Sure, she takes care of a lot of pups, but she leaves you to do most of the chores, she's reckless, and well..."

Hansel took a deeper exhale.

"She's just not my type... I'm looking for a much more calmer girl..." Hansel finished.

Dylan stared for a moment with an upset expression.

"But... She's actually very caring... and very kind..." Dylan started to plead. "If you would just give her a chance, you'd see how amazing she could be!"

Hansel shook his head.

"It's my choice here Dylan... She isn't my type, and no matter what you say, she isn't going to change over night. She will always be the way she is Dylan." Hansel shot back in slight panic.

Dylan slowly felt his face harden. He didn't know where to go from here. He just felt at a loss.

"W-Well... She... She uh... She really ... liked you…..you know... for... for... for a long time..." Dylan told him, feeling all sorts of sadness. He wasn't strong enough to convince him, nor was he confident enough. "She's... something else... I know her better than anyone... She's... amazing..."

Hansel slowly grabs the skin between his eyes and shook his head.

"Where is this going Dylan?" Hansel slowly eyed Dylan. "Don't you understand that you can't change my mind...?"

Dylan growled a bit. He then looked at Hansel. He couldn't hold back his frustration on his love for his sister. He stood on the couch and he looked at Hansel with anger.

"Fine then! You don't understand what you're missing and you never will! Maybe YOU'RE the one that's not right for my sister!" Dylan barked loudly at Hansel.

"Woah! Bro! Calm down!" Hansel tried to tell him but Dylan hopped off the couch and he started to walk off.

"NO! You CALM DOWN! You played my sister! With your strength! Your accent! YOUR GOOD CHARM! I WISH I COULD BE LIKE YOU! AND YOU JUST REJECT THE COOLEST GIRL EVER!" Dylan yelled at the top of his voice.

"What is wrong with you right now man!? Why can't you respect my feelings?" Hansel begged. However, before Dylan could calm down or listen to reason, he ran towards the door.

"BECAUSE DOLLY DESERVES LOVE! AND SO DO I!" Dylan snapped as he ran off.

Slamming Hansel's door behind him.

Dolly and Dylan turned in early that night, not wanting to relive their own emotions. They slept surprisingly well despite their boiled emotions.

And the morning came sooner than they expected.

After a few hours after waking up, the next day was a lot slower and a lot calmer than the two days before.

Dylan and Dolly had decided to take it slow, and take their time with their chores this day.

Dolly in fact was chilling around the staircase, watching her brother take his usual spot upon the shop-vac, as Dylan was doing most of the chores like usual.

"...So…..how are ya?" Dolly asked, wanting to know the state of his well being.

Dylan gave her a soft smile as he nodded. He didn't say anything at first. Dolly tilted her head to his silence, but eventually he nodded again.

"I feel fine…" Dylan told her finally.

Dolly slowly tapped the railing of the stair rail, and then hopped on top of it. As Dylan worked on his chores in a slow manner, Dolly eyed him, slightly admiring his determination to get chores done, even when they had the entire day to do so.

Dolly knocked on the rail twice, trying to get her nerves working.

"So…I met Catherine…." Dolly started slowly.

Dylan's head perked up slowly. He turned around. He turned off his shop-vac. He tilted his head slowly.

"What….?"

Dolly eyed Dylan, but felt scared of what he might say.

"Yeaaaah." Dolly drew a circle on the railing. "...I kinda…went off on her….and shown her how much of a mutt that doberman was…."

Dylan dropped the nozzle to the vacuum on the floor. He started to stutter as he was beginning to feel awkward with frustration.

"W-Why on this earth did you do that!?" Dylan bursted out with his fears. Dolly sat up, feeling worried now.

"Someone had to! She made you really upset, and treated you like garbage!" Dolly argued back in defense, holding up one of her paws in distress.

Dylan shook his head, not knowing what to think.

"I never asked you to talk to her…. I- I…" Dylan however, eventually sighed. He fell silent, not knowing if he should be happy or to argue. "I…. I just didn't think that you would…"

Dylan sat down and sighed slowly.

"I guess….. It doesn't matter…" Dylan finally sighed out.

Dolly slowly eyed the ground, unsure how to react to his reaction.

"...It does matter…" Dolly looked at Dylan with a look of plea. "...You are a good brother, and a very caring dog. You care for the littlest things…"

Dolly looked down.

"I'm the one who lacks all of that… It's no wonder Hansel wouldn't date me…" Soon, Dolly could feel tears start to form. "All I do is screw everything up by trying to be this dog I could never….be…"

There was silence and Dylan was looking up at the ceiling. They both had raw and stirring feelings through their hearts. They were sitting there in silence.

They were sitting there letting their silence linger.

It was a long and tedious silence. It felt empty, but emotional.

"You're wrong…."

Dolly looked over at Dylan who just spoke. Dolly watched Dylan look at his sister.

"You're wrong Dolly…. You care a mighty lot…. You're responsible when it truly matters… You work hard in your very own way…." Dylan started to express.

Dolly just laid her head down with her ears folded, not believing her brother.

"You don't need to try to make me feel better about it Dylan….." Dolly expressed, feeling down on herself.

Dylan shook her head.

"I'm not…. And I've been…. ya know…. Thinking about it… and its why….." Dylan started to express further, but he decided to be more honest. "It's…. How I truly feel…. You're caring and very gentle when it comes to our young siblings….. And I honestly wish…. I was more like you… Cause…. I still think you're, like, the coolest ..."

Dylan started to rub the back of his head with his paw. Dolly noticed that Dylan started to breath nervously.

"And I….. tried to…. Tell Hansel…. About how great you actually were…." Dylan finally admitted.

Dolly stood once again, but this time more stunned as she shook her head so hard, her ears flopped side to side.

"W-What?! You spoke to Hansel?!" Dolly hopped off, now with a frown as she eyed Dylan hard. "What? When? Why?!"

Dylan seemed to be taken back by Dolly's reaction, although he sort of knew she would have reacted this way.

"Because I thought it wasn't fair he rejected you…." Dylan nervously tried to explain. "And…. you- you were really upset the day before and I….."

Dylan looked down, seeming a bit sad.

"And I wanted you…. To be happy…."

Dolly frowned.

"And you thought talking to Hansel would do what?" Dolly twirled her paw and arm. "...Change his mind?!"

Dylan flinched as he felt himself lean further back. He looked down.

" I-I don't know….. I thought…. I thought that he liked you…." Dylan seemed to feel even worse. " And….. And you're a good person…. You- You deserve to be happy…."

Dolly signed. Dolly sat, and for a moment, they both felt intense emotions as they both looked down, staring at the ground, wondering what they should say or do.

Dolly was the first to break out of the spell and look up with a smile. She punched Dylan in the arm.

"We…. should probably make sure the pups aren't….I don't know…" Dolly stood up and walked past him, rolling her eyes. "...Blow up the house or something…."

Dylan sighed a bit, but he soon warmed himself up in a smile.

"Y-Yeah…. Lets go check on them…" Dylan agreed slowly. Dolly nodded as she stood up and started to walk away. She walked away a bit slowly, but then she slightly giggled, as an attempt to lift the mood. She even looked back at Dylan as she was walking away slowly.

Dylan however, at this moment was caught in her gaze. He was staring at her. He found himself lost. He was lost in his own thought. The way she looked at him, and the way she was walking away.

Dylan began to blush when a weird thought came to his mind. Dolly soon left the room as Dylan remained there.

He was thinking about something odd.

He wished…. There was a girl like Dolly, and he wished that she existed.

And then as he had this thought, and how he was thinking about the way he examined Dolly as she left the room…. He began to wish…. something strange…. It was like…. He was becoming drawn to Dolly.

He couldn't help but to stare at the way she moved her body as she left the room. He liked the way she looked. However, he just realized what he was thinking. He shook his head hard in a mad blush.

What was he thinking!?

Why did he just think about Dolly in that way!?

Dylan stood up fast, as he started to follow Dolly into the next room.

However, as soon as he came into the room, he took two steps back when he saw Dolly was suddenly covered by all the puppies.

"DOLLY! DOLLY HELP US!" The puppies yelled out. Dylan almost laughed at the way all the puppies seemed to cling to Dolly's ears and fur. It was like she was slowly being covered more and more as they squirmed. Almost like a helmet of puppies as Dolly looked at Dylan for help.

"How…can I help!?" Dolly asked as the puppies wiggled around.

Dawkin was one of the only ones who wasn't upon Dolly. He was shaking however.

"There's….a….sna….sna…"

Then all the puppies shouted.

"A SNAKE!" And the puppies all shook hard, and Dolly waved her arm as she was losing her balance. Then she fell hard, being covered by puppies.

"Dylaaaan!" Dolly whined. "I can't help them with them all over me?! Can you get rid of the-" Soon a puppy stomped on her nose." …snake…"

Dylan's eyes widened.

"Snake!? Uh…. Um!" Dylan looked around quickly. He then saw the snake slithering across the tiled floor. He then started to panic. "Holy moly! There is a snake in here!"

Dolly felt the weight of the pups surrounding her.

"Well, don't just stand there! Do something Dylan!" Dolly begged with the pain of the weight of her siblings.

Dylan looked around quickly, but then he saw something that would help them.

He smiled a bit confidently and he grabbed a fire poker that was hanging on the kitchen wall. He then rushed over and saw that the snake was trying to crawl under the counter.

Dylan was quick as he ran over and hooked the snake by the end of its tail. He slowly lifted it out of his hiding spot.

The three girly young deva pups all whined at the sight of the snake as they all gave Dolly a crushing grip.

"EEEEEEEE-!" They squealed.

"Ahhhh COME ON!" Dolly whined as she felt all the puppies pile up on her. "It's just a-"

"SNAKE!" The puppies screamed.

Dylan walked backwards as he went towards the window. He then used his hindleg as he kicked the window straight open. He turned quickly, tilted his head, then he whipped his fire poker.

It flung the snake straight towards the window. It hit the tip border of the window frame before smacking the bottom of the window frame, before finally falling out of the house.

Dylan sat down, before wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"YAAAAY!" The puppies cheered as the puppies suddenly rushed off Dolly, and right towards Dylan.

"You're wel-" Right then all the puppies piled on top of Dylan. "-COME?!" Soon Dylan and Dolly had traded places as puppies started to crush Dylan.

Dolly smiled as she stood, and giggled when she saw Dylan was having the same fate as she had.

Dawkin walked over and patted Dylan's head.

"Good work Dylan…" Dawkins congratulated. Dylan smiled at Dawkins for a second but then as the puppies started to shuffle around on top of their brother he started giggling.

"Ahahah! That tickles! Calm down! Oof! Ahahaha! You guys are so fuzzy! It's too much! Ahahaha!" Dylan laughed as the pups were all snuggling him.

Dolly slowly felt a warm smile across her face. She watched her brother giggle and spin as he actually rather enjoyed being tickled by their siblings.

For a moment, Dolly couldn't help but admire her brother. Even though she herself knew her brother was scared, he overcame his fear to help his siblings.

Dolly felt something tug at her heart. Dolly reached for her chest, and she had a weird thought. She blushed.

Why couldn't she get with someone like Dylan? Someone who cared? Now that she thought about it, all Dolly liked about Hansel was how handsome he was.

However, Dylan was so much more than that. He was smart, and very caring. He wasn't even the worst looking dog she had ever seen.

Dolly blushed. She soon realized that she was being taken back by her own brother and she shook her head.

Her heart was thumping and this feeling was overtaking her. She soon looked away.

Could she really….. be liking her brother? Or was it the want in her heart that she had? The longing for someone beside her?

Dolly soon imagined what if…..

What if….they could….. Be together…?

Dolly soon had to slap herself.

"Dolly?" Destiny asked as the small deva pups turned to Dolly. The other one popped up and smiled.

"You okay?" Dallas soon pitched her own concern. Soon another appeared.

"Did the snake scare you?" Deja vu asked.

Dolly gave a small smile.

"No no… Me? Scared?..." Dolly smirked. Dolly soon found herself seeing Dylan get up, and she lost her smile. "...Curious….maybe…."

Dallas tilted her head.

"About what….?"

Dolly smiled and turned to the pups.

"Oooh nothing!" Dolly teased as she went to follow Dylan. However, as Dolly was having these new feelings, she was a little upset when almost all the pups were following the two eldest siblings.

Dylan, however, did not mind for he wasn't thinking of anything weird.

Dolly however, had already had her fill of pup duty, and slightly wanted to just spend some time doing something fun instead.

Dylan smiled as their chores were coming to an end. He went into the room where there were a lot of pillows and bean bags. Dylan hopped himself into one of the biggest bean bags in the room.

"Ahhh! So…" Dylan signed shortly as he snuggled into his spot. "Did we miss any tasks…. Or are we done?"

Dolly blinked. She gave a small smile at Dylan.

"...Tasks?" Dolly looked away with a cheap smile. "...Um…I don't know all the ones you did…but uh…. I checked the puppy's health, and uh….. Cleaned the upstairs ..."

Dylan let out a very relieved sigh as he sunk into his bean bag.

"Good…. We're done then. We can finally relax…." Dylan announced quietly.

Dolly slowly laid by him, but she slowly looked around.

Puppies were still everywhere and Dolly felt her ears twitching. Sure she was relaxed, but what was this feeling of want she was having.

Wasn't she use to having 96 puppies around them? Why was she wanting to be alone?

Dolly stretched her head and was wondering.

Maybe it was stress that was bugging her. She was just rejected the other day, and she had to deal with Dylan's drama as well.

Dolly stopped mid scratch and realized that maybe Dylan was feeling the same way. She slowly laid back down and took a small quiet breath.

"You…okay?..." Dolly asked with concern.

Dylan seemed to perk up as he looked at Dolly. He seemed to give her a false smile, which Dolly noticed.

"Oh- Uh, Yeah- Yeah…. I'm good…. And you?" Dylan asked, trying to not sound so nervous.

"Fine…kinda…" Dolly looked around. Suddenly they both jumped when Diesel, the always dirty, and always wanting to dig dalmatian, suddenly knocked over a painting, making a large noise.

"Sorry!" He apologized. Dolly shook her head, frowning hard now.

"Okay! I'm not fine…." Dolly looked at Dylan with pleading eyes. "...I'm having a really hard time relaxing right now…"

Dylan seemed to sit up more. He looked at her concern.

"Oh… Um…. How come?" Dylan asked with concern in his voice.

Dolly ended up sitting up. She took a breath with a pout.

"...Honestly, I don't know…" She slowly shook her head, ears flopping. "...After getting rejected by Hansel….. Dealing with Catherine…..I think I'm emotionally worn out….."

Soon thirty puppies ran fast, smashing into the couch, and this caused Dolly to start growling.

"And the pups are not HELPING!" She yelled out.

Dylan then stood up, and he turned to her. He smiled softly.

"What you need…. Is a get away spot! And I have just the place…." Dylan told her, in a reminding manner.

Dolly blinked. For a moment she opened her mouth to question him, but she knew her brother well. She laughed as she realized the only place it could be.

"...The tree house…?"

Dylan and Dolly climbed up into the tree house after they had done a roll call and a head count of all the pups. Dylan had put Dawkin in charge.

Dylan smiled happily as he entered the tree house first and then he turned around, and he flopped onto his back into the many pillows that he had laid around the floor of his tree house.

"Ahhh! Peace and quiet…" Dylan let out.

Dolly smirked as she sat. She looked around, and soon realized there was not that much room. She scanned the floor, and she tried to find a spot she could sit, but it was nothing but a wooden panel, and Dolly felt her expression droop from the idea of laying on splinter city.

"...Errr…." Dolly moaned.

Dylan saw her situation, but then he laid more straight up. He stared for a moment, before he shyly smiled.

"Uh…. Hey! Here! I'll make some room…" Dylan suggested to her as he scooted over.

Dolly felt her frown become blank. The feeling she had before started to bug her.

Was she really becoming desperate?

Even though she felt her cheeks warm up, she laid down by Dylan.

For a long moment, there was peace and quiet, with only birds as the sounds of the air. Dolly felt herself smile as she closed her eyes. She slightly hummed with relaxation.

"...Hmmmm…. This is much nicer." Dolly mumbled as she felt her stress slowly disappear.

"Yup…. It's why I like to come up here…" Dylan whispered happily as he enjoyed the quiet and the peace. He was even happy he wasn't alone. He enjoyed having company. Dolly slowly opened one eye and smirked at Dylan.

"Yeeeah. Doing most of the chores must take a lot out of you… huh?" Dolly teased with a hint of a giggle. Dylan shrugged as he looked at her.

"Nah… It's just what I do everyday…" Dylan shifted his paws a bit. "I enjoy it…. It gives me something to do…."

Dolly rolled her eyes. She felt herself shift a little bit, getting more comfortable.

"...Nah, not me… Chores are boring. Sure we have to do them, but don't you ever just wanna you know…" Dolly lazily twirled a paw. "...Hang?... Do something wild?!"

Dylan made a tsk sound.

"Well…. I think I'm fine without hurting myself…. I'm not really the type to do something crazy…." Dylan declined the thought. He smirked a bit. "I'm fine with the quieter life…."

Dolly took a moment to think about that. She wasn't the type to have a quiet life. She stood up excited.

"Oh come on Dylan!" Dolly pointed towards the sky. "Think about it like a nerd! There's a whole world to explore! So much food to eat! Things to do!"

Dolly soon felt her eyes sparkle as she stared out towards the sunset that was slowly forming.

"This world…. Has limitless possibilities…..and I….want to be the one to explore every bit of it…"

Dylan looked at her for a moment. He saw how much that seemed to mean to her. Her eyes were sparkling and she was happier. She seemed to be in thought.

However, the more Dylan stared and thought about her. The more Dylan seemed to long for her. He saw the way she seemed to want something. She was full of dreams. She was full of adventure.

Dylan began to blush.

….. She was full of beauty.

Dylan couldn't help but to admire her. She was almost perfect. She was cool, in the way she seemed to glow in the sun. She was always smiling and always confident. She was everything Dylan wanted to be.

It was too much for Dylan at this moment. He seemed to blush really hard, and he even noticed it. He shyly looked away to hide his rosy cheeks.

"Yeah…. Its a pretty big world…" Dylan said to Dolly under his breath.

There was a short moment of silence before…

Dolly turned hard and suddenly grabbed Dylan's shoulders, surprising Dylan.

"And me and you can explore it…. Together!" Dolly suggested in pure excitement.

"...To….Together?" Dylan repeated. He seemed to stare into her eyes, and the two seemed to start to lose their own gaze. "... Me…. and you?"

The two stared for a while. They didn't realize it, but they were just staring. They had no idea why, but the two were fixed and they couldn't escape this feeling that was beginning to surface.

It was at that moment, when their feelings were surfacing, they both lost their smiles.

Dolly let go, and they both sat up, looking away from one another. Both of their cheeks were rosy red as they were blushing from their little rush of feelings.

"Well….. Yeah…. We still have to worry about the pups though." Dolly mumbled, trying to stomach her feelings, and not show many signs of the want and longing she had. She felt desperate and that's what scared her the most.

Dylan felt lost for words. He shook his head. He couldn't shake it. The way he was feeling. It was uncanny. He was staring out to space. He had this thought in his mind. A question….

Was he falling for his sister? And if he was? What did this mean? How was he supposed to feel about this? Is this because he was lonely?

Dylan tried to cough out his nervousness.

"Uh… Ahem…. Yeah… Yeah, of course…." Dylan stuttered shyly. However, after a small silence. He turned slowly to gaze back at Dolly.

Dolly was feeling the same feeling. The same question appeared in her mind, and she was not taking it well. She was fighting between questions, and very conflicted, more conflicted then her brother.

Was she falling for her brother? Was it because she was rejected and now super extremely desperate? Sure, she was upset that Hansel had rejected her, but Dylan making her feel good about herself made her see Dylan in a whole new light.

Dolly didn't want to look at Dylan. She knew that she would lose focus, and have that weird feeling of longing.

So she stared at the sunset, all while her heart was thumping.

"...Beautiful isn't it….?" Dolly mumbled, trying to ignore her feelings.

Dylan didn't turn towards the sunset. He was still staring at Dolly. He was lost in his own gaze. He was admiring her body, her voice, her eyes. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, as he was just…. falling for her.

He slowly looked away from his own awkwardness. He looked down.

"Yeah….. Beautiful….."