Zuma's POV
For hours in the night, Rocky and I were silently watching the stars. I didn't know what I would say, or if I should say anything at all, but I had to talk eventually, it scared me that Rocky had locked himself in his pup house for so long and he only does that when he has serious problems because he only knows to hide from his issues rather than confront them.
But what am I supposed to say? I can't just throw him the question. What if he gets all defensive and closes out again? Oh, sh*t... this is going to be harder than I thought
You see, everyone sees me as 'the chill pup'. And it is true based on how I choose to behave, but just because I don't show the worry doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I worry about a lot: what if I messed up on a mission, or said the wrong thing in a convo, or sound stupid when talking to Mr. Genius next to me. But I don't really let it show. Sometimes I feel like if I did show it then people wouldn't like me anymore. Because if I'm not 'the chill pup', then who am I?
But deep down, I know Rocky doesn't care if I don't sound smart like him. He'd probably say something like "there is no such thing as sounding smart, there is simply what is known to be the particular use of words and vocabulary common among people considered 'smart' based upon how society quantifies such word. But in reality intelligence has not a single specific way of being expressed. In fact, not even intelligence itself has a single specific way of being. By that I can guarantee you any words you utilize can be 'smart words'. And you already talk smart in your own smart way"
Come to think of it that does sound very much like something he'd say. How did I know this? Oh, wait, he told me that once... anyway, I'm getting off topic. I need to think of something to say. I was thinking maybe something funny to get him to laugh and then casually bring up what happened today and asking him of whatever reason made him lock himself in his pup house and everything else. And when I'd finally thought of the perfect thing to say, I spoke up
"Hey, Wocky?"
"Yeah?" The mix responded while still admiring the stars
"Well-" and just my luck, I immediately forgot what I was gonna say, so I tried to play it cool and skip to asking the question
"I was just wondewing, you know, what happened today. You had me worried..."
I could see Rocky tense up at this. I didn't want it to go like this but there's no going back at this point
He stayed silent for a couple of seconds and spoke slowly and hesitantly. "I... something happened, yes, but... I don't think it's really worth discussing. I-I am better now... you have nothing to worry about."
The pup was lying through his teeth and I could feel it. I could feel myself frown at the thought of my dearest... friend to not want to tell me of something serious. Then again, he's Rocky. He may truly be better and not want to talk about it, but I wasn't so sure, so I let him... or not
"Lies. What's the mattew?" I said looking straight at him
He looked back with a face so astonished, which then turned into a deadpan and spoke with considerable annoyance in his voice. "I said, I'm fine." His emphasis of the word fine made it clear he didn't want me to push it any further, yet I did. Maybe not such a smart decision...
"But you don't seem fine-"
"I said I'm fine! Now won't you just shut up about it?!" He said, this time it was so obvious anyone with half a brain would know to back off. I wonder where the other half of my brain went at that moment...
"But you wewe in your pup house all da-"
"Will you just shut up?!" He said standing up. It looked like he would leave so I was forced to stop (for once)
"O-Okay... I-I'm sowwy, dude. I was just wowwied"
He layed back down and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry to have reacted like that, it's just a bit frustrating, but I told you I'm fine! I'll deal with it myself"
"But can't I at least twy to help?" As I said this, I instinctively placed my paw over his
The pup looked to my paw over his surprised and flinched, pulling his paw away and rushed to stand up. His eyes wide open like he'd just seen a ghost as he mumbled "I should head back" and quickly headed back to the Lookout. The mix almost vanished in the darkness of the night. And even though I was really hurt, I had to follow him, sadly with only one thought in my mind,
He left because of me...
Rocky's POV
Urgh, what was I even doing? I LEFT him! But what was I supposed to do? I can't just love him, this whole love nonesense is not for me. I made that mistake before, it's not happening again
What is even the point of it? It doesn't change anything major, except that it hurts and changes people. I can't do that to myself or to Zuma. I doubt he would even love me, yet there I go making everything weird
So I guess I refuse to love him because I care. I don't know if you'd call that love, but not loving someone because you love them is ridiculously ironic
On the other hand, he seemed so heartbroken. Is that a sign or something? But he could still just be a worried friend... oh, god, this far too complicated. There are no equations or official rules for this one, and thanks to that I am now running away from my best friend who is chasing after me
I reached my pup house panting, and turned around to see the lab running after me come to a stop. I yelped as I felt Zuma crash onto me till we were both on the ground with him on top
"I'm sowwy, dude, I didn't expect you to stop like that... w-why did you wun?"
I stammered as I got back up, "W-Well I just thought t-that s-since it was l-late... I m-mean, well y-you know... we should go to s-sleep"
"By wunning away with no explanation?" The lab questioned with a raised eyebrow. He knew very well I was lying
"I'll- uh... I'll explain it tomorrow. G-Goodnight" I said before heading inside
The lab, satisfied with my answer but still understandably perplexed, muttered a goonight and returned to his pup house
I sighed as I went inside. "I doubt this is getting any easier soon. And if I can't just avoid him all the time, what will I do?" I plopped onto my bed and let out a muffled frustrated scream into my blanket before wrapping myself with it.
Am I a fool for hanging onto him? Or am I a fool for letting him go? My eyes became watery as the image of my previous family came to mind
What the heck, am I getting emotional now?
No, no, no, no, no, no. This can't be. It's all stupid and unnecessary... let's just be logical: I feel... things for Zuma, but at the end of the day all those wishes and hopes and silly feelings only make us weak. Becoming dependent of him isn't going to help either one of us and it might just be intoxicating. I am smarter than that. I guess you might say I'm too smart to love, and as humble as I try to be I can't deny what appears to be the evident truth
The answer? Deny it. Feeling can't affect me unless I acknowledge them, and if choose not to I should be able to continue my life as if nothing had ever happened. I'll apologize to Zuma, I'll make up an excuse and I'll repair our relationship... as best friends
There you go, Rocky. You have a plan, all that's left is to execute it. Easy as that... easy... urgh, I wish Danny was here. He'd comfort me and know just what to do to help me get through
But he's not, and I don't need him or anyone else to get by. I'm just fine either way, I said to myself before emptying out all the thoughts going on in my head and slowly drifting to sleep
And right then and there, it hit me. It's a bit of a gambit, but I think I know how to fix all this for us
Zuma's POV
I slowly opened my eyes to the inside of my pup house. Last night was a hanful, and really... confusing, I guess
Doesn't matter, though. Rocky promised to tell me whatever it is that happened, and I plan to hold him to that, but much smoother than last night so he doesn't- well, you know how it went
I quickly stretched and stepped out. I walked like a zombie from the lack of sleep the night before. I went to sleep at like 3 or 4am...
I headed to Rocky's pup house and knocked on the door. I waited for a few seconds but I didn't hear anyone inside. Maybe the sleepiness got to him
"Wocky?" I called from outside, yet still no response. Maybe I should let him sleep some more, it's pretty early anyway... wait, what time is it?
I went back into my pup house to look at the time
"6:32?! Urgh, no wondew evewyone else was asleep, including Wocky... I would've looked weally stupid to wake him up so early fow no weason. I'll just go back to sleep"
But as I was about to do so, I heard a faint sound coming from the Lookout, like clanking metal
Tiredness was great, but curiosity was greater. I walked inside and was surprised to find Rocky working on the jetski we found but never really finished. It looked almost perfect now, with a freshly placed layer of white waterproof paint
Rocky looked at me and smiled. "Hey, Zoom. Whatcha doing up so early? I hope you're not mad, but I wanted to finish up our- more like your- jetski as a surprise, so... surprise!"
He did this for me? Then there must be something going on...
"What about last night?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was feeling-"
"About what?" I interrupted. My heartbeat began speeding up every second. I could almost hear it beat by beat, like a loud drum inside my head
"I've been feeling down lately because we don't hang out like we used to. Remember how much fun we had? We'd hang out like crazy, especially since we were the less needed of the team. But then we got more missions and more members and more stuff to do. Plus now you have become more friends with the other pups who share more of your interests, meanwhile I'm like a complete opposite of you. I feel a little forgotten to be honest, and so I didn't know to react. I kmow I should've said something but you probably know I'm not that good at sharing my feelings and all that... b-but I intend to fix it! Today should be kind of a slow day, so I decided maybe a gesture would speak more words than I ever could and much more easily. So what do you say..." Rocky tried to alter his voice to sound like those guys from the movies,"wanna take this baby for a ride?"
My heart finally returned to a more normal pace, and I gotta admit that did strike me as a little suspicious, but then again, this is Rocky we're talking about, and the sweet genius truly doesn't know how to handle his emotions... but impression was so horrible and hilarious I couldn't help but to break out laughing
Rocky smiled at me as I barely managed to breathe. "D-Dude, no offense but... you'we so bad at it it's hilarious" I said and continued to giggle now more quietly, eventually coming to an end
"None taken" he smiled. "So, what are we doing just standing there, let's go!" He said with excitement evident in his voice
"As much as I'd love to go now, we should pwobably wait till the othews wake up and have bweakfast and tell Wyder before we leave, but I love the enthusiasm" I said with a giggle
"Oh, yeah, that too... but afterwards, let's go!"
I laughed again and smiled at the mix. "I missed this side of you"
He smiled back. "It never really left, only you know how to bring it out"
After having everyone else wake up, we ate breakfast and headed to the beach to try out the new jet ski
We arrived at the beach, with the summer sun warming up the area, yet the sand was still cold from it being early in the morning. The beach was almost empty, with only a few people enjoying the soft breeze
We unhooked the jetski from Rocky's truck and brought it to the beach shore and started it. The engine made a weird sound but Rocky said it had to do with some of the recycled pieces but it wasn't gonna affect anything. I sat on the driver's seat and looked at the dashboard for the controls
"It took a lot of work but it's been set to function quite similarly to the other vehicles adjusted for pups to drive. So, go on and give it a try" the mix said jumping onto the passenger seat
I wasted no time and immediately pushed for the accelerator, bringing the jetski forward with great speed. "Oh, yeah, here we go!" I glanced to Rocky as I drove. He was terrified and holding onto the seat with his paws
"Come on, dude, just welax! Let loose and enjoy this!" The mix slowly took his hands off the seat and smiled in satisfaction
"Huh, this isn't as bad as I thought. This... this is actually pretty fun!" He yelled as he stood up to take it all in. Maybe not such a good idea since as soon as he did this, he slipped and fell out into the ocean
"WOCKY!" I yelled bringing the vehicle to a stop. I stood up and looked around, worry spreading through my body. "Wocky?!"
Soon afterwards I saw a grey, fur covered figure emerge out and laughing like crazy as he jumped back into the jetski. I am so glad to have helped him get over his fear of water or this would've played out way differently
I sighed in relief. "Oh, god... don't scawe me like that!" I said to the wet mix with a playful shove that almost threw him back into the ocean
"Alright, alright I'm sorry" he responded while still catching his breath from all the laughing. "Did I really scare you that much?" He questioned with a smile
"Maybe..."
He smiled. "You know, I thought this was a bit of a gambit. I knew it'd be risky to try to bring us back the way we were all of a sudden, and I was afraid you'd back out and it would make things even harder for us... but I had faith that this was no fool's gambit. And I gotta say, it's worth it"
Talking about a gambit...
It was right at that moment, I did what could be the most regrettable thing I've done, or the thing I've been most sure about in my entire life
And what did I do? Well... I kissed him
Hello, amazing people of FFN! Hope you're all taking care, especially with the whole quarantine and all. I'd just like to remind you all that a full version of this story containing another two chapters I have yet to publish here is available on wattpad! Making an account is easy and quick, it's just so that you can show your support there where I'm most active, check out some of my other books (all of which are side projects about different topics, not real stories), and stay up to date with this book and also see my announcements whether story related or just to chat. I personally find that platform to be much more user-friendly and I because I started here sometime after starting this book, I didn't want to throw you all the chapters at once. But it's still on wattpad if you want! You can find me under the same username, or the story under the same name. Until next time!
—LSMMPGBFECLRMCFD