Chapter Seven: Smokey Fog
Behr clenched his pounding head, waking up in a black empty nothingness. Smoke surrounded him as he pushed himself up from the ground. He looked around; his heart was pounding in nervousness. He thought, "Great how did I myself here now."
Behr started walking forward in the blackness, running his paws through the smokey fog. The floor beneath him suddenly turned into an asphalt road. Broken pieces of glass were all over the road. Then a heavy black smoke and flame was rising in the air, above a flipped car. Behr knew what this was, he did not want to be here.
He walks closer to the car, a vixen was in the passenger seat, bleeding from her head. It was his former girlfriend from college. Behr falls to his knees next to the passenger door, unbuckled her seat belt and pulls her from the car. He looks over to the driver's seat to see himself, his young dumb self. Thought he was the toughest guy on the block when he came to Zootopia.
Behr gulps and held onto the vixen, barley breathing and knowing what happens next after this one fateful night. He started to pull her away form the car and lays her head slowly on the ground as he goes back to the car and pulls out himself from the wreckage. He pulls his body to the side of the road, hearing the sirens like it was imprinted into his memory.
The scene shifted and skipped to the EMTs coming and picking them up from the accident. They were giving the vixen chest compressions after loosing a heartbeat. Behr's younger self was in the ambulance already, slightly awake, seeing them put his girlfriend in the ambulance as well, trying to start her heart again.
Behr could not move, but continued to watch his younger self, fall apart into shambles, he remembered this moment, the moment where he promises himself that he would make his life to be better. The scene of his memory fades away as Behr sits on the ground putting his head in his paws. Thinking to himself, thinking he is not good enough for Jinx. He does not want to hurt her like he did with the vixen. He already thought the vixen was on the one, until the accident.
Behr clenches his fists, looking into the empty darkness again. The smokey fog still surrounded him as he was sitting down. He looks up and wonders when this nightmare would end. The ground beneath him turned into white tiles, the vixen from the accident was now connected to the hospital monitor and had lines and wires all over her to keep her alive.
Behr closes his eyes, and trembles as he gets up from the ground. He did not remember this room or day; he did not even see her like this before. Behr was too big of a wuss to go see her like this. Instead, he ran away back to college after he got out of the hospital. He just acted like it never happened when she was stuck in the hospital barley living.
Behr walks up to the side of her bed and puts his paw on hers. Looking at her breathing, with help from the machine on her body. Behr started to tear up, running down the side of his face. Not wiping it away, letting him just take in the fact he did this to her. He hurt her; he did not take responsibility of his actions from this.
As he held her paw, he watches her parents walk into the room, seeing their daughter on the bed. The mother was already falling apart as the father was there to help comfort her. Being there as he should have. Being the rock for both the parents and for the vixen. Behr walks away from the vixen, walking out of the room, as he walked through the doorway, he enters the college cafeteria.
Animals all around were talking and being loud as they always were as they ate their food. Young Behr was sitting at the table with his college buddies and Brooklyn. Brooklyn and laughing and leaned on her current boyfriend at the time.
Brookyln looked over to young Behr, "Fritz where's your lady at?" Young Behr tried to come up with a lie, as he hit his scruff marks and bruises in his sweatshirt.
"Oh yea, you did not hear. I found out she was cheating on me, so I dumped her. Then, I heard after the party, her, and that guy she cheated on me with was getting busy while driving and flipped the car. What a bunch of dumbasses." Young Behr tried to tie up his loose end by making it someone else's fault for the accident.
College Brookyln's eyes widened as young Behr told her the fake story, "Oh man, sorry to hear, hope she was okay though. But you didn't deserve that."
Behr stood behind his younger self and shook his head in disbelief. He knew he should not have lied; he should have told the truth. But if he did, he would have lost her, he could never loose her. Even during college, he loved her, Behr knew he could never have her now. He is in love with Jinx, he can not save Jinx though, or Brookyln. No one is safe in Behr's arms.
Behr clenches his eyes shut and shook his head. Opening his eyes, looking at his apartment ceiling. Was he finally home? Or was this just another figment of his nightmare. Behr sits up in his bed and looks around his room. Seeing Brookyln at his side, jumping and falling on the floor. She was undressed and she woke up after hearing Behr fall off the bed.
"You okay Fritz?" Behr nods, noticing himself was naked at well, and looks at her. He has not heard that nickname in a long time, it caught him a bit off guard as well.
"I just was not expecting you in my bed, that's all." Behr looked a bit confused as Brookyln smiles and pats the bed.
"Don't be silly Behr, get back up here and snuggle. It's only 3 in the morning." Behr could not argue with her, he did not want to hurt her feelings.
"Okay Brooke, anything for you," He climbed back into the bed and lets her wrap her arm around his chest. Thousands of questions were running in his head, he fell asleep next to Jinx, not Brooke. Not that he does not mind her nice touch.
Like he is felt it before, like they have been touching for a while now. Behr turns down the brightness after Brooke fell back asleep and looks at his phone. Seemed like Jinx has not noticed that he had left yet. But he cannot go back to her… He cannot hurt her like he did with the vixen. He needs to end things with her soon. Behr does not even know what is going on between himself and Brooke now.
Behr turns off his phone and puts it on the nightstand next to him. He did not want the calls from Jinx to wake up Brooke later. He looks at her cute face as she sleeps, running his paw along her arm as she sleeps.
He thinks to himself, "Damn, I still love her. I thought I was over you, but now, in this bed, I want you more than ever in my life." He falls back asleep while staring at her beautiful face, holding her close to his chest.
Her alarm on her phone started to go off, Behr woke up next to the empty side of the bed next to him, he heard the shower running as he turned off her alarm and gets out of his bed. Going to the bathroom and seeing Brooklyn in his shower, using his shampoo and soap. He brushes his teeth peaks on her while she showered, making her giggle.
He leaves the bathroom to herself as he turned on his phone, getting a bunch of missed calls and messages from Jinx, like he knew what was going to happen. He started from the top reading the messages from her.
"Hey you left. You should've woken me."
"You there?"
"Sleepy head, wake up!"
"You better not be ghosting me."
"Did I scare you away?"
Behr smirked and looked to see if she was coming out of the bathroom yet, and quickly messages Jinx back, "Hey, no you didn't scare me away, we need to talk. Meet with me later?"
He put his phone and silent and hid his phone in the drawer. Brooklyn comes out of the bathroom in a towel and walks over to Behr. She kisses him on the lips and wraps her arms around his back. Slipping in a bit of tongue into their first kiss. Or he thought it was their first kiss anyway, it wasn't for Fritz.
"I got to go to work since you decided to quit." Brooke kisses his cheek and waved goodbye. "Don't be doing anything fun without me, I'll text you after work."
Behr nods without saying anything back, blushing a bit, while having a bit of a boner after getting that sweet kiss from her. After she left his apartment, Behr pulls his phone back out form the drawer and looks at Jinx's message.
"Sure. Where at?"
Behr responds quickly, "Actually, stay at home, I'll meet you there."
