A/N: I know, it's a bit of a shorter chapter. I didn't know how to space this chapter, so I stopped it short for my own benefit. Writing is pretty tough without motivation, to be honest. Writer's block isn't helping, either. Anyway, enjoy the story.

-o0o-

A long class later, the bell finally rang, signifying the start of lunch. Fox sighed in relief. It seemed flight tactics was pretty difficult after all. Mr. Hemm had the class work in partners to decipher a flaw in one of the Cornerian Army's battle strategies in a previous battle on Katina, which caused a massive defeat.

Wolf and Fox figured it out pretty quickly, finding that the left flank of the fleet wasn't guarded properly and left a hole in the defenses for the Androssian army to breach. When they turned the assignment in, the two idly chatted while waiting around.

The pair of canines walked out of the classroom and started to make their way to the courtyard. Fox smiled over at the lupine as they walked along.

"That wasn't too difficult to do, was it?" The vulpine asked, referring to the class. Wolf shook his head.

"Yeah, it wasn't. I don't really mind that class too much, but I'll probably like simulators more, whenever the hell we actually get to use them," the lupine replied. Fox nodded.

"You and me both," he remarked.

The two continued walking on in silence, and eventually reached the courtyard and stepped into the crisp air. Fox glanced around, looking for a certain canine. He wanted to speak with Bill as soon as he could.

"What are ya looking for, Fox?" Wolf asked, nudging him. The vulpine looked over at him, unsure of how to say words for a moment. He cleared his throat, looking back away.

"My friend, Bill. I needed to talk with him about… you know… what we talked about this morning," Fox hurriedly explained. Wolf made a noise of understanding.

"Well, seems your friend is sitting over at that bench with Panther," the lupine stated, pointing to a bench underneath a tall oak tree near the center of the courtyard. Fox nodded, quickly making his way to them.

As Fox walked up, Bill smiled brightly, and the feline looked at him with some vested interest. The vulpine sat down by the dog, suddenly feeling incredibly nervous.

"Hey, dude! You wanted to talk to me about something, right?" Bill asked, looking at Fox with a grin. He nodded slightly, swallowing heavily.

"Uh… Yeah, I do. It's kind of private though…" The vulpine trailed off, looking at Panther.

The feline raised his hands in resignation, getting up from his seat. "I understand completely, my friend. I'll get Bill and I something to eat, and you two can chat. I won't be terribly long," Panther said with a coy smile, starting off to the cafeteria. Fox stared after him with slight confusion.

"Your friend is quite the character," Fox remarked, chuckling. Bill nodded fondly, looking after him.

"Dude, you got that right. He's awful nice though. Polite too. Guess I'm pretty lucky, huh, bro?" The dog asked, a brightness in his eyes the vulpine hadn't seen before. He rolled his eyes, deciding to get back to the topic at hand.

"Okay, so there's something that's been bugging me pretty badly now. Wolf had brought this up last night and in the morning, and over the day I've been thinking about it myself. And I need you to answer this honestly, okay?" Fox asked, looking at Bill. The canine quit smiling and looked at the vulpine seriously, which was rare from him.

"I will, I promise. Now ask me your question, dude," Bill said.

Fox took a deep breath. He was going to get one more answer, and this one would finish the puzzle for him, hopefully.

"Do you and Falco and the others think I'm gay?" The vulpine questioned, holding his breath.

A moment of silence passed, with Bill continuing to stare at Fox with a slightly dazed expression. He seems like he was thinking of something.

"Well…" The canine started. Fox raised a hand before he could say another word.

"I don't want you to beat around the bush or sugar coat it. Do you and the others think I'm gay or not?" The vulpine pressed. Bill sighed, looking up at the the sky. Fox did the same.

"Fine, honesty time. Falco, Slippy, and I, we've been your friends for longer than any of us can remember. It's something we kinda just assumed, dude. The three of us have thought you were gay for… like… ever, dude," Bill explained.

Fox felt something, some immense weight leave his chest. He expected a yes from Bill, but the reasoning? He didn't see that coming.

Fox, however, decided to accept it with open arms. He knew who he was at this point, thanks to Bill and Wolf. And he decided that wasn't such a bad thing. It was liberating to know exactly who the hell he was.

"Thanks, Bill. You three are right, by the way. I am, you know, gay. I've been trying to figure it out, and that hammered things down for me," Fox replied, looking over at Bill, who was grinning wholeheartedly.

"Hey, that takes guts to tell someone. I'm proud of you, bro! And remember; anyone tries to screw around with you, I'll beat em up, okay?" The dog asked. The vulpine chuckled, nodding.

"Thanks for the chat. I've gotta talk to someone else now. Catch you on the flipside," Fox said, getting up from the bench.

"Anytime. Take care, dude!" Bill called. Fox smiled softly to himself, and looked around the courtyard for Wolf.

The vulpine spotted him sitting up against another of the trees and looking down at his phone. Fox started walking over to the lupine slowly, glancing over his form. He looked a little troubled, as he was scowling down at the device in his hand. Fox frowned, walking to him a little faster.

The lupine looked up and brightened significantly at seeing Fox. He hurriedly put his phone away, and patted a patch of ground next to him. The vulpine took the seat, and smiled over at Wolf.

"How was that chat with Bill over there?" The lupine asked, scooting over so he was closer to Fox. The vulpine's stomach twisted up, and he struggled to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke.

"I asked him if he and my friends thought I was gay, and he said that they assumed that for years. So I told him I was, and he was supportive of that. I guess I've just fully accepted who I am now," Fox explained, looking over at Wolf's deep purple eyes. The lupine smiled slightly.

"I'm glad you figured everything out, Fox. I didn't mean to put that in you last night, but it's good that you've got it figured out. Uh… Yeah," he replied.

"Well, I'm glad you brought it up. Now… I've got to talk to Fara. She and I need to finish a conversation," the vulpine said, getting back up from his spot.

"Alrighty then. I'll be right here and we can talk some more when you get back," Wolf said as Fox started to walk off. The vulpine quickly waved at the lupine, too caught up in searching for Fara.

Fox glanced around the large courtyard, looking around. He couldn't find her at first, and he figured she was going to be in the cafeteria.

He didn't need to go inside, however, as the vixen exited the cafeteria just as the vulpine was making his way over to the entrance. Fara took notice of Fox quickly, and she waved him over. He made his way to her and quickly fell into step as they walked along.

"I believe we need to finish a conversation we started a while ago," Fox remarked, looking at Fara meaningfully.

"Did we?" The vixen asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes as they continued along. Fox snorted in amusement.

"We did. Now, could you please explain why you said that to Wolf? He's clueless about it, and so am I," the vulpine said, crossing his arms.

"Well, since you asked nicely. Let's see, I told Wolf that there was clearly someone better for him than me when he was flirting. Come on, think about it, Fox. I just met the guy, and out of everything I could've said to shut him down, it was that. Put the pieces together," Fara said, sounding exasperated. She stopped walking and sat down on a bench, Fox doing the same.

The vulpine stared at the ground intently as he absorbed what Fara was saying. Why did she say what she did? The vixen didn't even know either of them just then, and she chose to say that, of all things.

"Clearly there's someone better for you than me…" Fox murmured, trying to understand the sentence.

He wasn't getting anything, and it was frustrating. The vulpine knew the answer was waiting right in front of him, but he couldn't reach it. He growled in frustration.

"Fara, I don't know! Okay? I don't know! I guess I really am this damn clueless if you need to spell it out for me, so please do!" The vulpine exclaimed in frustration and anger, looking over at the vixen.

Fara looked… shocked, to say the least. She quickly recovered from this, however, and rested a hand on Fox's shoulder, looking him in the eyes with a fierceness.

"I didn't expect this, but I want you to listen to me, okay?" The vixen asked. Fox nodded slightly.

"Good. That person who I said was better for Wolf than me? It's you. You're that person," Fara finally said, poking Fox's chest.

The vulpine's heart stopped for a second, and he looked at Fara. He was… he was shocked. But that shock was quickly replaced by realization.

If Fara said that he was better for… dating Wolf… then he clearly had to be doing something that seemed like he was crushing on the lupine. The pieces soon fell into place in the vulpine's mind as he recalled everything he'd done and felt over the past two days.

He'd acted very shy around the lupine upon first meeting him. Fox also stared at Wolf every chance he could, and he couldn't rip his gaze away from those beautiful purple eyes. He noted everything he liked about the lupine, and when he was trying to flirt with Fara, Fox felt jealous.

How could he have been so damn blind?

The vulpine rested a hand on his forehead, mouth agape as he stared at Fara.

"I'm… I'm gonna go… okay? Great. Bye," Fox finally said, walking away before he could give the vixen a chance to react.

The vulpine nearly sprinted away from Fara, having no idea where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. He… he had a thing for Wolf, and he didn't realize it.

But what was he going to do about it?

Fox wandered aimlessly for a few moments, trying to pick apart his thoughts and decide what to do. His feet eventually led him to Wolf, who was still sitting underneath the same tree. The vulpine's pulse picked up at looking at the lupine.

Wolf grinned at seeing him, and the vulpine sat down next to him, his face heating up. Fox didn't know what to say.

"So… what'd you talk to Fara about?" Wolf asked, seeing that the vulpine wasn't speaking.

"Oh… uh… stuff! Just some different stuff!" Fox sputtered, looking at the lupine with a nervous smile. Wolf snorted.

"Alrighty then, Fox. I guess it wasn't important," the lupine murmured, staring the vulpine down with an unreadable expression on his face. Fox bit his lip, trying to rip his gaze from the lupine. Now he knew why he wanted to do that. Or rather, didn't want to.

"Do you just want to go ahead and start towards our next class? I'm not that hungry right now," Fox muttered. Wolf nodded, much to his surprise.

"Yeah, that's fine. We don't really have any time to cook something, either, do we?" The lupine asked, getting up. Fox nodded.

Wolf extended a hand to help him get up, and the vulpine gingerly took it. As the lupine helped him up, he felt an urge to hold the hand tighter. He mentally kicked himself, letting go and starting to walk in the direction of his next class, Wolf walking next to him.

As the two canines made their way to their next class, Fox took the time to think on some more things.

He wondered if Wolf would feel the same way as he did. Fox didn't think so, judging on his moves towards Fara. He probably couldn't stand the idea of going out with another guy. The lupine was cool with him being gay, though. He didn't seem to have been weirded out at all.

However, that didn't mean anything, the vulpine realized as the two walked through the halls, his ears and tail drooping heavily. He probably didn't have a chance.

Fox was ripped from his thoughts as a hand rested on his shoulder firmly. He looked up to see Wolf staring at him with a worried look on his face.

"You look pretty down. Are you alright, Fox?" The lupine asked, concerned.

"Uh… Yeah. I'm good. Let's just get going to the simulators, alright?" The vulpine asked, walking a little faster and leaving the lupine behind. Wolf hurried to catch up.

"Sure, if you say so, Fox," the lupine murmured, confused.

Fox just wanted to get the day over with. He didn't know what he was going to do anymore. He didn't want to speak to Wolf, but unfortunately, there was no way around that.