Hello all my wonderful friends. Here I am once again with a new chapter for your reading pleasure. I hope that you all like it and that it was worth the wait. AS I said at the end of the last chapter, this one is dealing with Chance's issues so I hope you all enjoy that. Now then, I have to run because NCIS is on and I never like missing an episode, even if I've seen it a dozen times.

The sound of falling water filled the empty locker room. A large cloud of steam filled the shower area while small wisps of the hot cloud escaped into the locker area before fading into fine water drops on the floor. Chance stood under the hot spray of water letting it soak deep down into his thick fur. The muscles of his body where outlined even more than normal as his stripped fur clung tightly to his large form. He let the claws on his feet slide out slightly until they lightly scratched at the floor. Most Kats didn't like when there claws scratched along hard surfaces but Chance found the vibration from the act oddly soothing. And at the moment he needed something to sooth his nerves and cool his burning temper

Sucking in a deep breath, Chance filled his lungs with the hot steam before letting the breath out slowly. It shook slightly near the end of the exhale but it did the trick as Chance felt his temper start to go below the red line.

"Damn idiots..." He mumbled to himself.

Chance held back on the rant he was getting ready to start as he heard the locker room doors open. The soft sound of someone walking could still be heard over the fall of the shower water. Chance tried to not pay any attention to whoever it was but his curiosity got the better of him. Shutting off the water Chance grabbed his towel from the rack and did a quick dry off before wrapping it around his waist. Carefully he padded out of the shower area and into the locker section. He had to be careful, the last thing he wanted was to slip and fall on the smooth floor.

As he walked he heard the sound of a locker being opened and someone shifting its contents around as they looked for something. As he got closer to the sound he realized that whoever it was was going through one of the lockers by his own. A slight growl formed in Chance's chest as he got closer.

"Whoever this is better not be going through my stuff." He thought, even with his temper down he would still deck someone for messing with his stuff.

As he turned the corner that lead to the small ally where his locker was he saw a figure made of pure white down at the very end of the row. His feeling of anger left as he realized that the Tom was nowhere near his locker since his was further up near the middle of the row. Chance shook his head as he moved to his locker.

"I need to stop getting worked up about things like this." He thought to himself.

He stopped when he got to his locker. He opened it and began to pull out his spare cloths. Grabbing his second towel he began to give his fur a more thorough drying off. As he dried off the fur on his chest he couldn't help but give the white Kat in the corner a sideways look. His fur was short and pure white, it clung tightly to his sleek form. Chance knew him only by his reputation; he had seen him once or twice but had never really talked to him. If he remembered right his name was Orion, he never heard his last name.

Giving his head a little shake, Chance went back to drying his fur off. The last thing he wanted was for the guy to think he was checking him out. That would lead to more trouble then he wanted to deal with. He tried to focus on what he was doing but the white Kat decided that now was a good time to start up a conversation.

"You shouldn't let them get to you like that..." He said. His voice had the slight hint of an English accent.

Chance didn't really want have a conversation with the Kat but at the same time he didn't want to be rude to someone who hadn't done anything to him.

"No one's getting to me." He lied.

Orion let out a soft chuckle that Chance was sure could charm anyone of the opposite sex, or the same sex if the Kats reputation was true.

"From that display in the weight room I would say your right." Orion said lightly.

Chance snorted and pulled his towel off so he could put on his boxers. He had to fumble for a moment to get his tail through the hole in the back and then again a moment later when he put on his pants.

"That ass had it coming to him." Chance mumbled as he pulled his shirt on over his head.

"Oh believe me, I know all too well how much he deserved it." Orion said.

Chance turned to eye the white Kat for a moment. Orion wasn't even looking at him; he was busy rummaging through his locker looking for who knew what.

"I take it you have had to put up with him before?" Chance asked carefully.

He didn't miss the slight pause in Orion's movements, it only lasted a second before he seemed to shake it off and continue what he was doing.

"Yeah... I have had to deal with him before." Orion answered. "Not a memory I like to bring up. And it's not very good for civilized conversation."

Chance snorted. "This is high school, not much civil conversation going on here."

"Fare point, but still it's not good conversation on first meetings." He said.

Chance shook his head but laughed while doing it. "You are odd you know that?"

Orion laughed himself; it was a very pleasant sound. "I have been told that before."

Chance chuckled again before closing his locker and hefting his back pack over his shoulder. A second later Orion closed his locker as well and picked up the duffel bag at his feet. He looked Chance in the eyes and gave him a very warm smile. Chance returned the smile suddenly feeling a lot better than he had before. He had almost forgotten about his confrontation with Dean. The two of them left the locker room together and walked out of the school heading to the parking lot. They parted ways half way through the parking lot, Chance walking the rest of the way to his truck while Orion headed off to the sidewalk outside of the lot.

Chance lowered the door to the truck bed and sat down on it with a heavy sigh. He rested his elbows on his knees and then put his head on his knuckles. Closing his eyes Chance took several deep breaths as the events of the past few days ran through his mind. While he wasn't the least bit sorry for blowing off practice to go with Jake to court, he knew that he should be more careful with the way he acted in school. He didn't need to be suspended so close to the end of his last year.

"Chance?"

Chance snapped his head up at the voice. He looked to his right and saw the worried face Jake not to far away.

"Are you ok?" The smaller Kat asked.

Chance forced out a smile for his friend and jumped down from the truck bed. "I am great." He lied. "Just thinking about some things."

If Jake thought he was lying he didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and walked around to the other side of the truck. Chance held back a sigh as he moved to his side of the truck.

"Things have only just started between Jake and me, and I am already lying to him..." Chance thought as he sat in the driver's seat. "I just don't want him to worry..." Chance looked at Jake for a moment before starting up the truck.

He pulled out of the parking lot and turned down the street that would lead to Jake's house. He didn't even have to think about where to go anymore; he had made the trip so much in such a short amount of time that he could let his mind wander and still get there safe. The ride was silent, Chance was lost in his head and he figured that Jake was as well. It was only the slight bump of the driveway that shook him from his thoughts. He gave his head a slight shake before looking over at Jake again.

"Did... did you want to come in?" Jake asked. "I can help you with your homework if you like..."

"I would like to, but I have to get home right now." Chance said sadly. "I have a few things there I have to do, but I can come over later today if that's ok?"

Jake nodded his head happily. "Yeah, that would be great. I can help then."

Chance nodded his head. "Sounds good." Slowly he slid his paw over the slightly warn leather seat until he was able to hold Jake's.

The two of them sat there for a moment smiling at each other. Chance lifted up Jake's paw and brought it close to his lips and he placed a light kiss on the back of it which earned him a giggle from his companion.

"I... I should really get inside..." Jake giggled.

"Yeah... you should." Chance said grinning as he kissed Jake's paw again.

Very reluctantly, Jake pulled his paw from Chance's own and fumbled with the door handle.

"I'll... I'll see you later." Jake giggled before closing the door and stumbling to his front door on unsteady legs.

Chance waited until Jake was in his house with the door shut before pulling out of the driveway and began heading down the street that lead to the main road. He drove for about 30 minutes before pulling into his own neighborhood. It wasn't a bad one by any standers, if anything it would be considered very nice. Many of the houses where two stories, and more than one had pools in their back yards. The yards where fresh and green, all evenly cut and free of weeds. Chance drove down the street for a moment before pulling into the smooth driveway of his house.

Bending slightly Chance pulled the garage door opener from his glove box. He was slightly surprised to find a sleek black car sitting in the garage. He let out a tired groan before closing the garage door again.

"Great... this is just what I need." Chance moaned before shutting off his truck and getting out. He left his bag in the truck and began to make his way up to the front door.

It took less than a second to unlock the door and get inside the cool house. Once he was inside he locked the front door and headed down the hall until he reached the kitchen. He didn't stop to pay attention to anything along the way, his mind was set fully on reaching the door to the basement without getting caught. Luck wasn't with him. Just as his paw wrapped around the brass door knob the sound of someone clearing there throat comes from the dining room area. Chance sighs and for a moment debates on if he should pretend that he didn't hear anything.

"Chance." A deep voice calls.

"So much for that..." Chance thinks. "Yeah?" He calls out.

"We need to talk..."

Rolling his eyes Chance moves away from the door and heads over to the dining room. He leans on the door frame and eyes the large yellow Kat sitting at the head of the table. The Tom is much older, in his late 40's, and his fur is the same dark yellow as Chance's. The only difference is that he didn't have the stripes of brown on him. A trait that Chance had gotten from his mother.

"Take a seat." The older Tom said pointing to the chair next to him.

"I'll stand." Chance said bluntly.

The older Tom's eyes narrowed to diamond slits before they grew wider again. "I see that you still don't know how to respect others."

Chance shrugged a shoulder. "I give respect to the ones who deserve it."

The older Tom slammed his fist on the table hard making a loud boom ring though the room. "Damn it Chance, I am your father and you will show me respect! I got home barley an hour ago and what is the first thing I hear? That my son has been cutting practice! That he is starting fights at school, and that his grades are hardly at passing!"

"What's your point?" Chance asked not at all moved by the display of anger.

"My point is that you are going to end up in a junk yard if you keep at this!" His father yelled. "You think you will be getting into collage on your grades? If you were lucky you could have gotten a scholarship from football, but you go and skip out on it and get thrown out of the next game!"

"I had good reason." Chance said lot looking at his dad.

"What possibly could be your reason?" The older one asked.

"None of your business." Chance snapped before turning and leaving the door way.

"Chance!" His dad yelled after him. "Don't you walk away from me!"

Chance paid no attention to his father's yells. He kept on walking until he got to the door he was at before and opened it showing the stairs on the other side. He stared to walk down them hearing his father walking quickly behind him.

"We are still talking." He said angrily walking down the steps behind his son.

"No you are talking, I just happen to be here." Chance said opening the door at the bottom of the steps.

He walked into his room and started shifting through some things. He hears the door bang open again and doesn't bother to look up at his father.

"Don't you do this." His father said.

Chance could hear the note of pain in his voice. "Do what?" He asked knowing all too well what he meant.

"Don't... don't act like your mother..." His father whispered his anger fading. "She used to act the same way... said the same things."

"I am sure you gave her plenty of reason to." Chance shot back.

"Son... please..."

Chance stood up straight a duffel bag in his paw. "I'm going to stay at a friend's for a while. I am sure you will be gone before tomorrow anyway."

"Son..." His father tried but Chance had finally had enough.

"STOP IT!" He yelled. "You don't get it do you? You can't be an absent parent and think that you can just come home when you want and expect things to be ok! It doesn't work like that!"

"What do you want me to do?" His father yelled back. "I am trying my best, I can't do it all."

"No... you can't..." Chance said in a normal tone of voice.

He sighed and pushed past his dad as he started to walk up the stairs again.

"Chance..." His dad called.

Chance stopped at the top of the stairs waiting for what he knew was coming.

"Have... have you seen your mother lately?" He asked softly.

Chance nodded. "Last Thursday, I was going again tomorrow."

"I was thinking about seeing her before I left again." He said.

"She would like that." Chance replied. "

"Did you want to come with me?" His dad asked a note of hope in his voice.

"Sure... we should stop and get flowers first. The other ones should be dried up by now." Chance said holding in the pain of emotions welling up at the thought.

"Tulips..." His dad said a faint smile on his face. "She always loved tulips."

"Yeah... she did." Chance mumbled before opening the walking through the door and closing it.

Chance leaned his back against the door for a moment and wasn't at all surprised to hear the faint sound of crying coming from the other side. Chance could feel his own tears threatening to come out but he fought hard to hold them in. Biting his lower lip Chance focused on the physical pain to counter the emotional one. It was bad to hold it in he knew, but he didn't care. He didn't want to be emotional when he went back to Jake's. With his teeth still digging into his bottom lip Chance leaves the house and gets back into his truck.

He stayed sitting in his truck for a moment, his eyes still gleaming with unshed tears. Slowly he reached up and pulled down the visor that held his mirror. He pulled the plastic case that covered the mirror up and carefully pulled out the worn picture that was inside. He held it carefully between two of his fingers trying hard to keep his paw from shaking. Whatever control he had failed at the site of the picture and large wet tears began to roll down his face and soaked into his fur.

His eyes never moved from the picture, even when they blurred over with tears he kept looking. The worn picture was burned into his mind, the dark fur of the she Kat as it shone in the midday sun. The look of pure bliss as she breathed in the scent of the flowers she was leaning over. Her eyes where slightly closed and her ears where laying down flat on her head. Her big bushy tail was curled just at the end like it always did when she was relaxed and happy.

A loud sob escaped Chance's mouth as he tried to suck in air. Shutting his eyes tightly Chance let his head fall forward until it banged against the top of the steering wheel. His whole body shook violently as he cried harder than he had in a very long time.

Now I hope that I made this a good chapter for you. I hope that I was able to convey the emotion well at the end, I tried hard on it so I hope you liked it.

Now please review and let me know what you think.