Chapter 19: Burying The Hatchet (12:00 PM)

The kitchen was silent as Leo remained on the floor. He knew he was going to get in trouble for starting the fight, but after losing all of his energy, he couldn't care less. He was alone, and he had no one to blame but himself. Meanwhile, in Mr. Jordan's office, Chase was finishing up explaining the whole situation to him and Katie.

"So let me get this straight, Mira and Leo had an argument earlier, and after all of the groups finished making their pizza, you told him to talk to her, and he started attacking you?" Mr. Jordan asked.

"Yeah, that's about right," Chase responded.

"I see…"

"And you're responsible for all of those plates?" Katie followed.

"Yes ma'am, and I'm truly sorry for what I've done."

"Well, I'm glad you guys are okay. Who knows what could have happened if someone were injured."

"Yeah… So, about the tablet…"

"I'll get it replaced soon as possible, but to think he tried to bite you with that much force…" Mr. Jordan sighed.

"What are we gonna do? I don't think he's ever been this angry before." Katie asked.

"You're right, but I think he's starting to calm down, so maybe we should wait and see what Skipper has to add. In the meantime, I think you should wait in the lobby, Chase. We'll discuss your punishment at a different time."

"Yes sir." Chase nodded before leaving the room.

"Still, I don't think he deserves to be punished. I mean, wasn't he only trying to defend himself?" Katie pondered.

"I know it may seem a little unfair, but we can't ignore the fact someone could have gotten hurt. Or worse…"

"I know, but still…"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you handle this however you see fits."

"You mean… I get to choose whether or not they get punished?"

"That's right. If I remember correctly, you still have that activity coming up, and it'll be a shame if I were to exclude them from it, so I'll leave this one up to you. I'm sure you'll make the right choice."

"I'll… I'll see what I can do."

"Great! Now if you need me, I'm going to see what I can do about this tablet. Take your time, alright?"

"I will." Katie smiled as Mr. Jordan left the room. "It's my decision, huh? Well, let's see…"

(12:10 PM)

"Okay Skipper, you've got this. Just walk in, have a little chat, then go on from there. It shouldn't be that hard, right? Okay, here it goes…" Skipper hesitated before entering the kitchen. "Hey, are you awake?"

"Yeah…" Leo sighed.

"Good, cause we need to talk about your recent behavior." He mentioned before sitting down. "You knew that wasn't okay, so why did you do it?"

"I… I don't know… I thought I had control over my emotions, but after seeing them together, I just… I didn't know how to react…"

"Wait, what are you talking about? What happened?"

"I...I'm sorry…. I know this is all my fault, so can you please not punish Chase for what I did? P-Please, I beg of you!"

"Whoa! C-Calm down-"

"I should have just stayed inside. I should have just listened to Colten advice, but instead, I just-"

"Leo, please! You're not making any sense-"

"Nothing I do makes any sense! Why do I always have to be a problem for everyone!?" Leo bawled as Skipper took a step back.

"His past must have been affecting his recent decisions. That explains why he can't keep himself together..." He thought to himself before comforting him.

"Okay, why don't you clean up your face a little. We'll talk after you've calmed down, alright?"

"O-Okay…"

"Great! Now if you'll excuse me…" Skipper finished before leaving the room. "I shouldn't force him to speak if he doesn't want to. Maybe this will help."

"I'm even causing him a lot of problems too, aren't I? Gosh... I really am the worst…" Leo mumbled as a few pups listened in on their conversation from the hallways.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen him this upset before." A pup whispered.

"Yeah, I didn't know he was being serious."

"And we just made things even worse for him… Maybe we should apologize?"

"I don't know… he probably doesn't want any company right now. What do you think, Peter?"

...

"Peter?"

"...H-Huh? Oh! S-Sorry, I just had something on my mind. Y-You know what? I think I'm going to go for a walk. I'll see you guys later…" Peter stammered before leaving the hallways.

"Well, it's pretty obvious he's upset. Must have been the new guy's fault."

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't upset. Speaking of which, is he out yet?"

"I'm not sure, I can't hear anything from over here."

"Shh! Someone's coming! Quick, hide!" The pups scattered as Leo walked out of the kitchen.

(12:20 PM) Rocky, Skye, and Mira in the storage closet.

"So, how exactly do you make an hourglass, Rocky?" Skye asked.

"Oh, it's pretty simple. First, we'll need something for the bulbs, which in that case, we'll have these extra ornaments I borrowed from the Christmas tree."

"Gosh! How many did you take?" Mira gasped as Rocky pulled out a bag of clear ornaments.

"Well, these are the ones that broke off over the past few years, so instead of throwing them out, I figured why not try using them for something else?"

"Wow, this is like a whole package or something! Do you think we can try making individual ones instead?" Skye marveled.

"Sure, I don't mind. The sooner we get them all used up, the better." Rocky smiled.

"Cool! I bet Chase is going to love this!"

"Yeah, he should be back by now. I wonder what's taking them so long."

"Well, whatever he's doing, I'm sure he'll be fine. I mean, it's not like he was the one fighting."

"Yeah… Right…" Mira sighed as Skye's eyes opened up.

"Oh! Sorry, Mira! I didn't mean to say it like that. I just-"

"I know. It's fine. It's just that… Leo has always been a calm guy, and the fact that he went after Chase like that… it just scares me. You know how I said I'd be fine if he doesn't want me around anymore?"

"Yeah. What about it?" Rocky asked.

"Well, to be honest, I'm starting to think that wasn't true, to begin with, because… it's like… I wanna be there for him, but at the same time, my heart is just telling me to leave him alone so I don't become a bother. Is that normal?"

"Heh heh. I'd say that's as normal as things are going to get." Skye giggled as Rocky nodded his head.

"Yeah, don't worry! I'm sure things will start calming down eventually. And if you're worried about having a conversation with him, then we can always tag along if you'd like."

"Oh. Y-You guys don't have to-"

"Nah it's cool! We don't mind. After all, it's just like Rocky said. We're all like a family, and we've gotta stick together, am I right?"

"Heh heh. Right! Thanks, guys. I'm really glad we're all getting to know each other."

'Well, it's great to have you around, Mira!" Skye smiled.

"Yeah. Now let's get started. First, we're going to need salt for the sand. And lot's of it."

"There should be some near the kitchen, so I'll go check it out," Mira said.

"Okay. We'll also need something to cover the ornaments so they can flow smoothly. Although last time, I had Mr. Jordan's help, so this may be a little difficult."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can figure it out. Let's see if we can find anything useful around here." Skye said.

"While you guys are on it, I'll see what I can find around the lobby as well. Be back in a few!" Mira finished before leaving the room.

(12:35 PM) With Leo….

"Well, it looks like he hasn't returned yet," Leo mumbled to himself as he entered the kitchen and stared at the broken plates. "All of this… just because I lost control over myself…"

(Mini Flashback 2 years ago)

"You know, you can't always solve your problems with anger, pal. That's why I wanna help you out instead!"

"You want to help me?"

"Yeah! I know it can be difficult at times, but trust me. If you learn how to control your anger, then I'm sure all of those memories won't mean a thing to you!"

"Well… I guess it's worth a shot…"

"Awesome! My name is Colten. What's yours?"

"Leo."

(Present)

"And even after all of his training activities, I still let him down in the end. I let everyone down… and the worst part is, I don't think there's anything I can do to fix this. Maybe I should just leave and run away from this place. I don't care where I end up, as long as I'm not causing anyone any more problems…" Leo whimpered while closing his eyes. "But even so… What am I-"

"Leo!" Colten shouted as he entered the kitchen.

"Colten…?"

"Phew! I had a feeling you'd still be in here. Peter told me everything. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"You… You came back…"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"And… you know everything…" Leo whispered as he lowered his head.

"Hey, it's okay. There's no reason to be upset over it."

"B-But...I yelled at you. I told you to leave, and in the end, I couldn't control myself at all. Let's face it. I'm just a failure, and all I've been doing is wasting your time."

"Buddy, relax! I can guarantee you, you haven't been wasting anyone's time. To be honest, I kind of had a feeling something like this was going to happen eventually."

"Y-You did?"

"Yeah, except I don't understand why you did it, so if you don't mind me asking…"

"I…" Leo paused. "I-It's ridiculous, honestly. Before I started setting up the game yesterday, I found a baby cat living all by himself in the shed, so I took him over to Ms. Amelia, and she promised me she'd take care of him, but as I was trying to leave, he just kept on staring at me as if I was abandoning him or something, so I felt bad and decided I was going to check on him after the game, but... you know…"

"Ooooh! Well, I guess that makes sense, but is that everything?"

"No, there's still a little more. After all the excitement went down, I was pretty much bummed out because of the game. But a few hours after Mr. Jordan locked the kennel, I realized I never went to check on the little guy, so I ended up sneaking out to go and find him."

"Wait, how? I thought you said the kennel was locked."

"It was, except the lock is pretty much worn out. Even the slightest push will open it, so please don't tell anyone."

"Heh heh. I won't. Keep going."

"A-Anyways, I started having second thoughts after I reached the lobby, but the next thing you know, the little guy was standing right next to me! Apparently, he found his way through the vents, which made me a little shocked, but also very relieved that he wasn't hurt. I thought that maybe I woke up early enough, I could have taken him back and returned to the kennel before anyone noticed, but… The boss… He didn't see us, so he accidentally tripped over me, which caused his phone to break."

"Oh no, is he okay!?" Colten gasped.

"Yeah. He's fine, but he was about to fire Mr. Jordan until Ms. Amelia stepped in and took the blame for letting me out."

"Wow. Why didn't you mention this earlier? We could have helped."

"I know… which is why I didn't want you guys to get involved because all I've been doing is causing problems for everyone, so maybe it's best if you all just stay away from me." Leo whimpered as Colten sighed.

"Remember that time when you were constantly begging me to help you control your anger…?"

"...What?"

"Yeah, me neither." He said before placing his paw on Leo's shoulder. "Look, I know you think you're doing the right thing, but please, this has to stop. I'm your best friend, dude. It's not like I'm being forced to hang out with you, so stop treating things as if I were. Me, Mira, the staff team, we're all doing this because we care about you, And the fact that you're trying to push us away is just…" He croaked as he wiped his eyes.

"Oh gosh...I'm so sorry! I didn't know I was-"

"It's fine. I was really trying to hold back tears…" Colten admitted as Mira started listening in on their conversation. "Look, I just want you to understand that you don't get to make our decisions for us. If we're the ones deciding to help out, then you've got nothing to lose. Besides, you already told me you don't like being alone, so why not let me stick around? It's not like you've got anything better to do."

"Colten…I…" Leo cried before hugging him tightly. "Thanks... for always being there for me. I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just happy to help." He replied before noticing Mira smiling in the background.

"Ugh… I really messed up, didn't I?"

"Uhhh… Well… "

"Don't worry, I already know the answer." Leo sighed before lowering his head once more. "And the worse part is, I don't think Mira is ever gonna talk to me again."

"Heh. I wouldn't bet money on that." Colten smiled as Mira made her way through the door.

"Huh? What do you- Wait, M-Mira!?" Leo gasped.

"Hey…"