Albus- No problem, haha, don't go into an epileptic seizure, the story was updated only 26 hours later. And yay, no more awkward replies at the top of my chapter! I always stop the chapter around 1,300 words anyway, so stopping this should make the word count less, meaning longer chapters! And yes, the 'mush love' is in this chapter, haha. I love romance too, but I too, HATE those books about those said things. It's annoying, and way too popular for it's own good. Tacos! Yum, I love them so much! Alrighty, enough italic-bold headings, I have to inish the authors note. Once your account is up, the replies will be longer. :)

Okay, so there's something I need to address here. I made a story once (on a different account, mind you) involving a human/anthro-animal pairing, and when I made the first kiss scene of it, I got quite a review from an otherwise silent reader telling me how wrong and disgusting and illegal it was to pair a human with an animal, no matter how human-;ike the animal is. I understand it's considered illegal in real life, but if you're that silent reader who's going to bitch a storm at me for writing this, I have three things to say. One, why are you reading this? Two, IT'S FANFICTION! WHO CARES? And three, screw you.

SO, like I said, this the first 'romance' scene so far, and I'm kind of nervous to write it, but damn it, this will be posted tonight. So on I go with the story. CHAPTER 13!

Ring…ring…ring…

"Hello?" answered a very tired grumpy voice, belonging to the old man who played the role of the voce principal at Redwood High. On the other end of the line was a nervous sounding animal control officer, stuffing his tazer back into the holster on his belt. Smoothing out the wrinkles on his green jumpsuit.

"Mr. Spittle, I'm afraid your little Plan A failed. The tiger got away."
"You idiots! I don't mean to sound like a heartless prick, but why didn't you just shoot it!"
"Our rights weren't valid."
"Tigers are a threat to anyone, you've seen those attacks on National Geographic!"

The officer sighed, rubbing the sleeve of his forearm over his sweaty forehead as the officers around him were bustling around, trying to think of a way to catch him.

"Sir, we may have a way to track him down."
"The tiger?"
"Yes. See, he ran away with a girl. He yelled the name 'Susie' at some point, if that rings a bell."
"Susie Derkins?... Right, it makes sense now. Okay, listen and listen good, I have a new plan…"

oooOoOooo

"It went like this…"

Susie muttered to herself almost silently as she recalled the first significant event of the night. Hobbes sat beside her, face the girl with a solemn expression, hands folded in his lap. She opened her eyes, looking first to the floor, before looking up to meet Hobbes' gaze, "We were arriving there, at the movie theater."

"So, have you given any thought to what movie you'd like to see?" asked Calvin, keeping one hand on the wheel as he looked over at Susie, who's gaze was focused on the road line patterns out the window. After realizing his question, she turned around to face him,

"Oh…Not really, I don't even know what's out now…"

"We ended up seeing some comedy, I forgot what it was called. But when we left, we were walking to his car. He parked on 15th street, a couple blocks from the theater. There was a big white van parked in front of his car, and as soon as we walked passed it, a big man jumped from the car, picking up Calvin, and throwing him into the seat before turning around…"

Panic-stricken, Susie did the first thing that popped into her head: run. Before the man could turn around and snatch her too, she was already running, into the alleyway. Luckily, it was dark enough for her to hide safely before he could register where she had gone to. Peeking from behind the far side of a dumpster, crouched low, she saw him enter the van, but instead of leaving…the car stayed there. Shaking, Susie pulled out her cell phone.

"It was a bit of a stupid idea, but, I decided to try and call his phone, first out of stupidness, but then I realized that he didn't bring it. I knew that you would answer. I was hoping you would…"

"Susie! It's Hobbes, are you okay?"

His voice was muffled from the phone being in her outstretched hand. She raised to her ear shakily, looking out at the van, which still didn't move, "H-Hobbes…Are you there?" she whispered shakily, fearing that the man in the car was able to see her. To hear her.

"Yes…I'm here. W-What's wrong?"

"Then you came. But…I think Brooke being at your house was about more than some stupid book club."
"Are you suggesting that she planned for me to get chased and tazed? You too?"
"Not me, obviously, but I think she was trying to get you. I don't know why though."

Hobbes sighed, looking from her to the wall as he stood up, pacing around the room. He was tired of all the things that had started ever since two weekends ago. It was enough, and he knew it. Watching him as he paced around, Susie remained quiet, thinking over the past few events as she listened to him. He helped her twice…and now she was helping him. She was worried the Animal Control would burst in any minute.

"I'm so sick of this. Not to make puns, or anything, but I'm literally stuck in a world between lines!"
"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm…I'm trapped!" said the tiger, flustered, "I can't leave the house without fear of getting taken. I can't be with Calvin without arguing, the school obviously isn't an option, I have some blonde little tyrant trying to kill me, and there's the barrier I have separating me from-…from…" he trailed off, resting his hands on the windowsill as he looked out on the gates between her house and his.

"The barrier keeping you from what?"
"Nothing…it's nothing."

oooOoOooo

"Fine, Brooke, explain to be why you did this."

"Vice Principal Spittle told me to! He said things about how your tiger pet…friend…thing… How he could set the school into chaos, which would set budget cuts from a lower class grade. Less pay, more layoffs."

"I know that fleabag scared some people, but he wouldn't hurt anybody! The grades are at an all time low, anyway!" yelled Calvin, making angry gestures with his arms. Brooke crossed her arms giving him an opposing look, "Which is exactly why we don't need you tiger terrorizing the school!"

"That doesn't mean kill him!"
"I'm not the one who decided that, I didn't think it would go this far! Listen-"
"WHAT?"

"If you would just give me a god damn chance to let me reason with you," said Brooke with irritation, "I can try and find a way to fix this."

"Well? What did you have in mind?"
"Do you swear to go along with what I say, and be nice?" she smiled with agenda.
"Hmph…fine…"

oooOoOooo

"You can tell me what it was you know, Hobbes…"
"But I can't."

"So there was something. Which line are you trapped in now, to make a hexagon?" Susie smirked playfully. Hobbes sighed, "Well…I guess there's nothing I can't say at this point. Hell, I could get shot through the window right now at this point." Susie stood from the bed, her pulse rising as she walked quietly in Hobbes' direction. He was still looking out the window.

"It involves you… And Calvin, in some ways. And let's just say it's a lost cause. He has the upper hand in this one."
"Hobbes?"
"And as much as I hate that he does, I knew I'd have to be okay with it, eventually- but-…I'm not."

A shiver coursed down his spine as Susie's hand grazed over the fur on his arm, he turned to face her. She was looking up at him, almost in a way to make the tiger softness of her voice echoed through his head as her hands found themselves around his neck, "There are some lines you can cross, sometimes, you know."

Before he could register what she meant, shivers on his spine doubled in strength as her lips found his. Almost instantly, he settled a large paw on the small of her back, the other on the back of her neck, bring his closer to him as he savored the moment for what it was worth. How long he had waited for this to happen. How badly he wanted it, too. Maybe Calvin wasn't going to win this time. Pulling away, Susie smiled softly at him as she shut the window blinds to shield them from view before returning to kiss him again.

'I knew it' thought Hobbes, 'Getting to smooch Susie Derkins was worth the wait.'

Yeah, that seemed a lot less cheesy in my head, but Hey. 12 chapters of a story labeled 'romance', and I felt it was time to bring that part into the story. So, the next chapter will begin the 'climax' parts of the story. Only six more chapters to go before the end of this story!

Any ideas for a follow-up story with this pairing? Sequel, or just another story, I don't care. Just please, give me some ideas! Thanks for reading, now REVIEW!

-RJ