Chapter 7

Marshmallow was called into the kitchen some time later. She smiled when she saw a pan with several cookies on them resting on the stove. She was picked up by Alvin and set on the counter. She took the cookie he handed her, thanking him heartily before opening her mouth and taking a bite of her cookie along with him. Her face lit up as she chewed, the sugary goodness causing her body to tingle and vibrate, as if the cookie were filling her with some sort of newfound energy that made her just want to run around and not stop until she was tired. "Mmm!" She took another bite, cramming her cheeks with the sugary cookie before finally shoving the rest into her mouth and dusting off her paws.

"Good, huh?" he agreed, smiling.

She nodded her head, her cheeks too full for her to respond verbally. She swallowed, only to lick the inside of her mouth in a futile attempt to use her saliva to wash down the sugary cookie that made her throat dry. "Can we have another? Also, is there any milk in the fridge? My throat's dry."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, mine too." He walked over to the fridge and took out the jug of milk and set it on the counter, then looked over at her and realized that she was still waiting for an answer. "Yeah, I don't having one more cookie will hurt us." He picked her up and carried her over to the pan. With her attached to his hip, he picked up a cookie and gave it to her before picking one up for himself and biting into it. He watched her as he chewed. As soon as he was finished, he grabbed another cookie. "Or two . . ."

Marshmallow let out a loud burp, patting up and rubbng her stomach before lying back down on the kitchen floor. She turned her head and seized her baby bottle, chugging down what was left of the milk inside before she tossed the bottle aside and let out another loud burp, letting out a sigh of content as she continued to pat and rub her belly. "Oh, man . . ." She playfully poked her bloated belly. "God, I'm stuffed!"

Alvin giggled, lying beside her. "You said it." He struggled to sit up, but ended up lying back down to his tummyache. "We should've stopped after the second pan." He burped. "Or fourth. I lost count after the fifth . . . or seventh."

The two of them were lying on the kitchen floor, both too full to get up. The jug of milk was lying a few feet away from him, now completely empty. The pan was lying by Marshmallow's feet, her having licked off the crumbs before crashing to the floor and letting out a low groan of pain while gripping her aching stomach. Still, she couldn't deny the fact that she was somewhat happy that she'd gotten a chance to get as fat as her brother Erik.

Marshmallow had put on so much weight in so little time that the tapes on the diaper she was wearing were barely able to stay attached to the front of her diaper. It didn't help matters that her diaper was full with her fecal matter and urine. If she used her diaper for its intended purpose one more time, she didn't think the diaper would be able to hold it. She moved her legs. Despite that her diaper was so full she was afraid to move in fear of breaking the tapes, she still enjoyed the thickness that her full diaper provided. She playfully poked the front of her diaper and slightly moved her legs, making it rustle. "I think I'm gonna need a bigger diaper." She giggled. "Luckily for me, my brother's so fat that we have some bigger diapers available." Her tail swished across the floor as she looked over at Alvin and grinned at him.

The red-clad chipmunk nodded his head slowly, his vision somewhat messed up at the moment due to him feeling so full. "Uh-huh . . ." He sniffed the air and cringed. "Yeah, you do need a new diaper . . . right now." He rolled over onto his side and let out a groan as he struggled to get up. He began to stumble backward but was caught at the last second by Marshmallow. She had somehow found the strength to get up and catch him in time. He thanked her and led her to her bedroom. "I could go for a nap. How 'bout you?"

She nodded weakly. She was picked up and laid down on the changing table. She was surprised at how calm and collected Alvin was as he changed her messy diaper. She had expected him to be gagging and turning away due to the smell. For some reason, however, the smell didn't appear to bother him as much as she expected. He cleaned her off, using more than two baby wipes in order to do so. Since her butt had gotten bigger with the fatter she'd gotten, the baby wipes didn't exactly get the job done, leading him to having to use toilet paper instead, not that she minded. Eventually, though, her bottom and genitalia was completely cleaned. Just to ensure the smell was taken care of, he made sure to bathe her lower regions and her butt with soap so he wouldn't risk getting the smell on his fingers when he went to powder her. He did that next before going to Erik's bedroom and fishing around under the skunk's bed until he found the package of diapers that looked like they would fit a portly skunk . . . and Marshmallow as well since she'd gotten quite fat from all of the cookies she'd eaten. She'd eaten far more cookies than Alvin had, him not much caring for sweets like cookies.

Once she was put into a fresh diaper and her t-shirt changed (it was covered in cookie crumbs and milk stains) she was put to bed and tucked in. He kissed her on her forehead, then went in Erik and Colin's bedroom to take a nap himself.

"Whoa! You guys made a hell of a mess!"

Alvin jerked awake as he heard Colin's voice. He sat up and luckily for him his stomachache was now gone. He hopped out of bed and walked in the kitchen to see Colin observing the dirty countertops and the empty boxes of cookie dough. He cleared his throat, causing the raccoon to look at him.

"What did you guys do?" Colin demanded.

"Well, we baked a batch of cookies," Alvin began.

"I can see that!"

Alvin's cheeks burned red, feeling embarrassed. "Well, we baked some cookies and we ended up eating them all."

"That much is obvious." He chuckled and pointed to Alvin's distended belly.

Alvin looked down and noticed just how fat he'd gotten from eating all of the cookies, although Marshmallow was a lot fatter than he was since she'd eaten more than him. He looked up at Colin and gave the raccoon an apologetic look. "Just wait 'til you see Marshmallow? She's fatter than I am."

Colin actually smiled at this. "Well, at least you did something right. That girl could use some pounds."

Alvin blinked. "You're not mad?"

Colin shook his head and approached the red-clad chipmunk. "Nah. Besides, we were looking to get rid of all those cookies anyway, although Mom was planning on baking some tonight before putting us to bed." He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well. But you guys could have at least left us some."

Alvin rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, his cheeks once again burning due to his embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Colin waved his paw in a dismissive manner. "Eh, don't worry about. Besides," he playfully poked Alvin in the stomach, "I like you better this way. You're much cuter."

Alvin chuckled and playfully pushed Colin away. "Oh, shut up. What are you doing back here?"

"I just came home to get ready for my date."

Alvin blinked, confused. "Date?"

The raccoon nodded, suddenly looking excited. "Yeah! My secret admirer wants to meet up in the park and spend the evening together."

Alvin smiled, then suddenly frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah!" He dashed down the hall towards his room.

Alvin followed. When he entered the room he saw nothing but Colin's furry behind as the raccoon was bent over in his closet, tossing aside careless items like boxes and rolls of Christmas wrapping paper. "Um . . ., Colin?"

The racoon didn't stop his search as he answered, "Hmm?" His furry, ringed tail was swishing at the air.

For some odd reason, Alvin couldn't stop staring at the coon's furry rear end. He seemed to entranced by it, for whatever reason. Clearing his throat and trying to get his head cleared he said, "What, if, uh, what if your date isn't exactly what you'd expect, wasn't your type?"

Suddenly, Colin stopped and merely looked over his shoulder, not doing anything to divert Alvin's gaze away from his furry hindquarters. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what is your type?"

Colin sputtered his lips. "Anyone I find attractive, really. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm just afraid that your date may not be what you'd expect. Maybe you should think long and hard about going to meet this potential love interest of yours. She may not be what you'd expect."

"Since when do you take an interest in my love life?"

Alvin looked down. "Sorry."

Finally, Colin turned and rested his paws on Alvin's shoulders, smiling down at him. "Hey, don't worry about it, buddy. It just shows that you care about me, is all."

"Y-Yeah, okay," Alvin agreed, smiling. "Whatever you say, Colin." He stared into the raccoon's baby blue eyes and he suddenly had the uncontrollable urge to launch himself at Colin and give the most passion-filled kiss the raccoon had ever received. He let out a sigh of relief when the raccoon turned and continued his quest. Any longer and the compulsion would have grown too much for Alvin and he would have acted upon his impulses.

"Ah, here it is." The raccoon stepped out of the closet, holding up a very nice-looking tuxedo that was protected by a plastic covering to protect it from the outside elements such as dust and dirt. He removed the plastic covering and dusted off the tuxedo before walking to the bathroom and neatly hanging the tuxedo up above the door on a hook. He stripped off his shirt and tossed it on the floor, showing off his nice-looking chest, making Alvin feel self-conscious and the chipmunk looked away, still having the uncontrollable urge to kiss the raccoon.

Alvin watched as Colin adjusted the temperature of the water and gently pulled back the shower curtain. For the life of him, Alvin couldn't stop himself from staring at the raccoon's backside. What the hell was wrong with him?! Certainly he couldn't be in love with the raccoon, could he? No, he couldn't be! That wouldn't have been fair to Erik. After all, the skunk was the one who was really in love with Colin. Alvin wasn't in love with Colin. He was most likely merely infatuated with the raccoon, a feeling that would hopefully go away once he returned home.

"You wanna join me?"

The question caught Alvin off guard. He stared at the racoon until he realized that he'd been asked a question and he was expected to answer. The only problem was that he couldn't find his voice. Once he found his voice it was hard for him to form a coherent sentence, much less words. He shook his head. "No," he mumbled.

"Then get out," Colin suggested before hopping into the tub, his ringed tail the last thing that Alvin saw of him.

The bathroom door was shut by Alvin, who merely lazed around the house waiting for Colin to finish with his shower. He went in Marshmallow's bedroom and watched her sleep, sitting in the rocking chair by her crib, watching her through the bars of the crib, the creaking of the rocking chair being the only sound that was uttered.

The hallway was suddenly flooded with yellow light, signaling that Colin had finally finished his shower. Like a bolt of lightning, Alvin was up and in the hall just as Colin was exiting the bathroom. The raccoon looked absolutely gorgeous, dashing, even! The raccoon had his fur neatly combed down. His fur was shiny. The fur on his tail was well groomed, as was the white fur from his muzzle to his belly. The tuxedo looked great on the raccoon. Colin looked stunningly handsome. Erik was in for a big surprise!

Their eyes met and Colin seemed annoyed at the fact that Alvin was staring at him, causing the red-clad chipmunk to quickly divert his eyes from the handsome raccoon.

"Okay, what's your deal?" Colin asked, walking over towards the chipmunk. "Are you, like, in love with me or something?"

Alvin cringed at the question. He might as well have been. He'd been staring at the raccoon ever since he'd arrived home and hadn't stopped staring at him (especially the raccoon's big, round, furry, plump behind) since. Once again he questioned what was wrong with him, but no answer came to him. He finally looked up at Colin and shook his head.

"So tell me why you've been staring at like some horny schoolgirl since I got home?" Colin demanded.

"I . . . I don't know," Alvin admitted sheepishly.

"Well, knock it off, would you? It's creeping me out!" He turned swiftly on his heel and walked out of the front door.

Alvin was still standing in the hallway even after Colin had left.

"Mm, I don't know about this," Erik groaned. He stared at himself in the mirror while Alvin combed the white fur on his head.

"Oh, come on, Erik," Alvin replied. "You have nothing to be nervous about. This is Colin we're talking about, remember?"

The skunk gave a weak nod. "I suppose so." He reached down and buttoned the jacket of his tuxedo, then straightened and tightened his tie. With a swish of his broad striped tail he turned around on his heel and beamed at Alvin. "How do I look?"

Alvin chuckled as he tugged at the skunk's jacket, straightening it, getting rid of the wrinkles. He took a couple of steps backward and whistled, nodding his head in approval. He formed a picture frame with his thumbs and index fingers, shutting one eye and squinting the ohter to get a better look at the skunk. "You look . . . great." He smiled and stepped forward, placing his hands on the skunk's shoulders. "Stop worrying so much."

"I can't."

"Excited?"

"Mm-hmm." The skunk suddenly frowned. "So why do I feel so sick?"

"Hmm." Alvin tugged at the skunk's tie, commenting, "Maybe this tie is too tight." He attempted to loosen it and only ended up choking Erik in the process. He pulled quickly, giving the skunk an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Erik shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Now the only question is, where can we get a top hat?" Alvin asked.

Erik chuckled and the smallest of smiles played across his face. "A top hat? That's a little much, don't you think so, Alvin?"

Alvin shrugged. "Maybe so. Besides, I have no earthly idea as to where we would be able to find a top hat anyway. It'd be too expensive anyhow."

Erik nodded in agreement. "Probably." He turned back to face the mirror and inhaled and exhaled. "All right. Wish me luck."

Alvin patted the skunk's back. "You'll be fine."

The skunk's happy expression suddenly faltered. "I'm not so sure."

Alvin chuckled. "Erik, you worry too much. Learn to take risks. Sometimes a chance is all you need for happiness."

Erik looked over his shoulder at the chipmunk, a bewildered look on his face. "Mm. Where did you hear that?"

Alvin stopped to think about it. "I can't exactly remember. I think it was from a fortune cookie or something." He frowned. "You shouldn't worry so much."

Erik looked down. "I can't help it. After all, I am a bit . . . disgusting, don't you think?" He looked up at Alvin, looking distressed, as if he was about to start crying.

"No, that's not what I think," Alvin said sternly, glaring down at the skunk. "How dare you even think something so negative about yourself!"

Erik winced. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"To be honest, I think you're cute," Alvin commented, smiling. He playfully poked the skunk in the nose. "I'm sure Colin thinks so too." He leaned forward and pecked the skunk on the nose. "Good luck. You'd best be going or you'll be late."

"R-Right," Erik agreed, nodding his head.

Alvin watched the skunk leave for his date before going back inside the house to spend the evening with Renee and Marshmallow.

Before stopping by the park, Erik made a few pit stops, first to the flower shop and then to Walmart. He picked out a bouquet of roses and a couple of boxes of chocolates. While cliche, who was he to go against tradition? Besides, Colin liked flowers and chocolate just as much as he did. He stopped when he was getting back in his car and adjusted the white fur on his head to make sure he looked presentable before leaving Walmart and heading to the park.

Colin was already at the park. He'd arrived ten minutes early. It was unnecessary, but he wanted to make sure that he was on time. He hadn't done anything special like buying gifts for his date. He had merely showered, put on a tuxedo, and added a good layer of cologne to his body to rid it of the stink of garbage from the previous night in which he'd rummaged through the garbage cans. He had been sure to get his armpits and, while some would have considered it bizarre, his crotch area and his furry rump, although they had previously been cleaned with water and soap.

The raccoon sat in his car, the radio turned on, but the volume of it low. He looked up and adjusted the rear view mirror so that he could adjust his tie, making sure it was straight and tight, but not tight enough to where he was being choked. He adjusted the mirror once again and stopped when he noticed his eyes. Funny, he had never stopped to notice how quite beautiful his eyes were. He looked over his shoulder and ran his paws through his tail, combing down the brown and black hairs. He licked his paw and ran it through his tail once again, this time having better results. He let go of his tail, satisfied with how it looked.

He reached down and adjusted the volume of the radio, tapping his paw against the steering wheel in time with the music while he patiently waited for the time to arrive for his date. His headlights were out and the sun was starting to set. It never ceased to amaze him how gorgeous sunsets could look. They were more beautiful than sunrises were. He watched in awe as the sky was filled with different hues of purple, yellow, pink, orange, fiery red, and violet, the clouds and sun seeming to enhance the experience, the sun making the colors seem all the brighter and the light creating a silhoutte around the clouds. It really was breathtaking. Sometimes nature in general could be breathtaking.

He jumped when he heard a beeping noise. He looked down at his phone to see that it was now time to arrive for his date. He shut off the car and stepped out of his car.

Erik's queasiness seemed to intensify as he neared the park. He parked his car a few ways away from Colin's for fear of being spotted prematurely. He shut off his headlights and watched as Colin approached a nearby bench and sat down, the raccoon looking more gorgeous than Erik had ever seen him. Feeling some vomit trying to shoot its way out of his mouth he quickly swallowed, leving a horrid taste in his mouth. If he had sweat glands he would have been sweating profusely. He was already extremely hot and the confines of the car combined with the tuxedo he was wearing didn't seem to be helping matters whatsoever. At long last he stepped out of the vehicle, quietly shutting the door for fear of drawing Colin's attention.

Colin glanced at his watch. It was a little past five, but that didn't bother him. He didn't mind his date being a little late. He was just excited about having a good time with his date. He squirmed about in his seat, his excitement seeming too much for him to handle, as if he would burst if he didn't express how ecstatic he was. He and his date were going to have a great time tonight, no matter what they did! They could just lie around and have sex for the next few hours for all he cared and they would still enjoy themselves.

"Colin! Hey, Colin!"

That had to be his date. There was no one else around. When he turned his head towards the direction from where the voice was coming from, however, a confused expression covered his face as he spotted Erik walking towards him. In spite of his confusion, he had to admit that Erik looked dashing. The skunk was wearing a very nicely pressed tuxedo identical to the one that Colin himself was wearing, except the sash was blue on Erik's, whereas the sash on Colin's was red. In his paws the skunk held what appeared to be a bouquet of roses and some boxes of chocolate in the other. Colin felt his mouth water as he spotted the chocolates, being reminded of his hunger. Still, at the center of his mind, he was trying to figure what on earth Erik was doing at the park at this hour. Didn't the skunk feel like spending Christmas Eve with his family? In truth, Colin wouldn't want to be anywhere else than with his family at the moment, but as far as he was concerned he wouldn't have a chance at another date until probably Valentine's Day. Besides, Marshmallow was probably still sleeping off her stomachache from earlier and Renee would be busy doing some last-minute wrapping possibly all night, whereas Alvin would simply drink boiled custard or some other festive beverage and watch television, so as far as Colin was concerned, he wasn't missing out on anything, and neither was Erik. Still, what was Erik doing here at the park? To Colin's knowledge, the skunk had no business being in the park at this hour. Perhaps the skunk had come to spy on Colin and his date. If that were so, however, then why on earth was Erik making his presence known? Weren't spies supposed to keep their identities a secret from those they were spying on? He'd seen it several times in all of the James Bond movies and the other spy movies that came before the iconic British spy.

Colin hopped off the bench and turned to face Erik as the skunk reached him. He stared down at Erik, who was grinning from ear to ear, a hopeful look on his face. The expression on Colin's face hadn't changed. He was still confused as ever. "Erik, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I-" Erik began.

"Did you come here to spy on me and my date?"

"No. I-"

"Erik, get out of here before my date gets here. You shouldn't be here anyway. You should be at home."

"But, Colin, I-"

"Erik, go home!"

"But, Colin-"

"Go!"

"I'm your date! Your secret admirer is me!"

A long, awkward silence fell over the two as they stared at each other: Erik with a look of fear and distress, Colin with a mixture of emotions: confusion, anger, frustration, disgust, among others.

"What?!" Colin screeched.

Erik took a cautionary step backwards, trembling, fiddling with his paws by his chest. He looked down at the ground, afraid that if he were to make eye contact with Colin that he would start bawling. His broad striped tail curled around his feet and he gripped its tip and began stroking it, still looking distressed.

"So . . ." Colin began. "So you mean to tell me that all the letters . . ."

Erik nodded weakly.

Colin continued to stare down at the skunk, unsure of how to react. He couldn't exactly be mad at him because he appreciated the thought. He actually thought it was really sweet that Erik liked him enough to send him letters as his secret admirer. Yet, he couldn't help but feel angry. All this time he'd been thinking that he was going to end up meeting some beautiful girl raccoon and his secret admirer ended up being Erik! He surely hadn't seen this coming! This was out of the blue, out of left field! How did Erik expect him to react.

He suddenly recalled one letter from his secret admirer that led to him and his secret admirer talking in a private chat room. Wanting some privacy, he had gone to the garage with his laptop, from where he could obtain a decent wi-fi connection. The family had broadband, but when the broadband was out it was nice knowing that he could easily connect to the Internet via a wi-fi connection. He had stayed up well past midnight talking with his secret admirer, the two of them telling each other what they would do to each other if they were alone together. Their conversation had turned quite erotic with Colin becoming aroused and leading to him pleasuring himself, ending up getting cum all over the old worn red couch, which had left him fully satisfied and exhausted. Their conversation had come to an end after that. Oddly enough, the next morning Erik had been in a very cherry mood, grinning from ear to ear.

His eyes widened in realization as he recalled this memory. He took a few steps back, staring at Erik in awe. "You mean . . . you were the one who I was talking to in that private chat?"

Erik tried to grin, but couldn't due to the expression on Colin's face. "Y-Yeah . . ."

"This unbelievable." The coon turned, rubbing his temples, mumbling to himself as if this were all nothing more than a very bad dream that he was trying to rid himself from. When he turned around and saw Erik he realized that he wasn't dreaming at all. What he was experiencing at the time was completely real.

"Are you mad?" The timid skunk took a step forward, only to stop suddenly when Colin stepped away from him. He reached forward to grasp Colin's arm, but the raccoon jerked his arm away. The skunk's arm limply fell and he went back to stroking his tail.

Colin gripped his head and closed his eyes, shaking his head back and forth as if trying to wear away a painful headache. He finally opened his eyes and lifted his head so that he was staring at Erik directly in the eyes. "Go home, Erik."

"W-What?" The skunk looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"Go home," Colin repeated, more sternly than before.

"B-B-But . . ." Erik was at a loss for words.

"Please," Colin pleaded, "just go home. I need to be alone for a while, if you don't mind. I need to think about things."

"O . . . Okay." He started to go, but was suddenly stopped by a grasp to his arm, causing him to turn his head and look at the raccoon that was grasping his arm.

"Before you go," Colin replied, "there's something you should know."

Erik turned so that he was fully facing Colin.

Colin inhaled, then exhaled before speaking once again. "Just so you know, I already knew, Erik."

Erik's head jerked around, a surprised expression on his face. "What?"

"I've known for a while now, Erik."

"How?"

"You're my best friend. I could just tell."

"Do you-"

"Erik, we're just friends. You're a friend of mine."

Erik had been starting to feel better, but at that moment even more pain filled both his heart and his head.

"Now, go on home," Colin suggested, turning Erik around and gently pushing him forward, shooing him away. "I'll be home shortly. I need to think about things. Don't worry, I'll be home in time for dinner."

For Erik, it was a long walk back to his car. It was an even longer ride home. When he did arrive home Alvin was waiting for him at the kitchen table, apparently having nothing better to do.

"How did it go?" Alvin asked, standing up and staring at the skunk.

Erik ignored Alvin as he walked towards the fridge and grabbed the full jug of milk that Renee had gotten earlier in the day upon learning of Alvin and Marshmallow's binge eating episode from Colin. He grabbed a glass from the nearest cabinet above his head and poured himself a glass of milk. He heard Alvin approach him, but otherwise did not do any action to indicate that he was aware of Alvin's presence.

"The date didn't go well, did it?" Alvin guessed.

Erik didn't respond. He quickly finished his glass of milk before discarding it in the sink and turning away from the chipmunk with a swish of his tail. "I'm going to bed."

"You're not hungry?" Alvin called.

Erik didn't respond.

"Okay," Alvin replied. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Whatever," Erik mumbled. The tip of his tail disappeared as he went further down the hall.

The sound of a door slamming shut was the last thing that Alvin heard.

Colin spent over an hour at the park sitting on the bench thinking over all that had happened over the past several days. He was still unsure as to how he should have reacted to the fact that Erik was his secret admirer. In truth, because he'd known for quite a while that the skunk was in love with him, he supposed he shouldn't have been too terribly surprised. He'd seen the way Erik looked at him when the skunk thought that he wasn't looking. He'd read the diary entries that Erik had written about him and the various pictures that the skunk had drawn of him (the skunk wasn't as good as Colin himself, but he was getting better). He'd heard Erik mumble his name in his sleep and give a gasp and a moan as if Colin was pleasuring him in his dream. He'd seen Erik staring at pictures of him and hugging it tightly. Other times he would trace Colin's face with his finger over the picture. Yes, there was no doubt about it. Erik was quite infatuated with him, and Colin couldn't blame him. After all, Colin had to admit it even to himself that he was quite dashingly handsome, but not to the point where he was gawking at himself in the mirror like he'd seen Alivn did so many times before.

When nightfall fell over the playground and the park itself, he decided that it would be a good choice to go ahead and get home. He got in his car and when he saw the time he realized that in his quest to figure things out he had lost track of time and had missed dinner. He hoped Renee wouldn't mind. It was well past eight. As long as he was home before midnight she wouldn't mind. It amazed even him that he'd been sitting and thinking for well over three hours. Where had the time gone?

Silence was what filled the raccoon's ears as he drove home. He didn't feel like listening to anything but the still silence that filled his car. The only sounds that were uttered were the noises his car made as it shifted gears and as he stopped and accelerated repeatedly. Finally, he pulled into the driveway of his home and got out of the car, his car keys jingling as he walked towards the front door, him twirling the keys around by way of him spinning them around his finger using the ring that the keys were attached to. He wasn't in a particularly happy mood. How could he be? He was merely looking for something to keep him entertained until he walked through the front door.

He was surprised that Alvin was still up waiting for him. Everyone else, at least he assumed, were asleep. The red-clad chipmunk was seated at the end of the table that was visible from the living room via the threshold that led to the dining room and kitchen. The chipmunk sat with his elbows resting on the table, his chin resting on his folded hands. As he entered the ktichen Alvin turned to face him, the chipmunk looking somewhat pissed at him. He wasn't exactly sure what Alvin had to be pissed about, but Colin was certain that it had something to do with the fact that his date hadn't gone over very well. Surely Erik had told Alvin all about it, and even if the skunk hadn't then surely the way in which Erik had moved and talked had indicated that the date hadn't gone well.

"How did the date go?" Alvin asked. He shook his head. "I couldn't get an answer out of Erik. He seemed upset when he came home."

"Shouldn't that tell you how the date went?" Colin asked. He walked past Alvin and walked over towards the fridge. He reached in and pulled out a bottle of water.

"It's just that . . ." He fumbled with the manner in which to say what he wanted. "Well, you know how sensitive Erik is. I just don't understand how you could do that to him."

"I didn't do anything to him." He screwed the cap of the bottle of water back on. "I just told him to go home and to let me think about things. That's it." He set the bottle on the counter.

"And have you made a decision?"

The raccoon shook his head. "No. Of course not. I've been thinking about it ever since Erik left and I still can't decide what I want."

"I would imagine it would be hard for you to make such a decision."

Colin nodded. "I'm sure I'll be able to reach a decision by morning after a good night's sleep. I'll see you in the morning?"

Alvin grinned. "Of course. Merry Christmas, and good luck."

"Yeah. I'll need it." He grabbed the bottle of water and walked past Alvin yet again, walking down the hall towards the bedroom that he shared with Erik. Despite the fact that he was tired, he had a feeling that it was going to be a good long while before sleep found him.

The first thing he spotted when he walked in the bedroom was Erik's still sleeping form in his bed, his body moving up and down as he breathed, his feet and striped tail poking out of the end of his covers while the rest of his body, including his head, was completely covered. He walked over to the skunk's bed and gently rubbed and patted Erik's still form. He went over to his bedside table next and began rummaging around in the drawer until he pulled out a plastic bag that contained all the letters from his secret admirer. He reclined on his bed, using his pillow as support for his neck and back and stretched out his legs. He sorted through the letters until he had them in order from the earliest to the latest one. His eyes ran from left to right, scanning the words. When he'd first read the letters that had touched his heart. Now when he was reading them they tugged at his heartstrings since he now knew who his secret admirer was. It seemed as if Erik had meant every word that he'd typed up. Why the skunk had decided to type the letters instead of writing them, he didn't know. Perhaps it was because the skunk's handwriting was so poor that he felt having them typed would make them easier for Colin to read to save him the trouble of having to strain his eyes to make out the scribbled chicken scratch on the paper.

Every now and then his eyes would move over to Erik as he was reading the letters. No doubt he had greatly upset Erik with his reaction. Upon reading the letters he realized that Erik's feelings towards him were genuine, so heartfelt that they couldn't be a ploy just to break the raccoon's heart. He knew Erik well enough to know that Erik would never do such a thing, in spite of all the hell he had been through.

Colin finally fell asleep surrounded by the papers that Erik had his letters typed up on. There was one letter that the raccoon held in his paw to his chest, it rising and falling along with his chest. The others were by his feet and sides. As he rolled around in his sleep the papers rustled audibly, but the noise didn't appear to bother anyone, not even Erik.