Chapter 3:
…We Will Be
Tension grew between Jake, Chance, and Jason. Chance has accepted his love for Jake and trying really hard to prove it to him. Jason, on the other hand, wanted to be with Jake and was growing to hate the tabby. Jake just wanted to be left alone and all of this was just too much. These entire feelings blend together to create a catastrophic end.
Rustling around the tall grass and breathing for air. Chance slowly rose up from his spot and scouts the area. There was a target just a few feet ahead. His plan was to get close enough for a shot. The tabby inched closer and stood hidden as his natural instincts took over. Quickly, he got up and fired the paintball gun; noticing that the target has been downed; a cold shiver sent chills down his spine when the tip of a weapon touched him.
"Too slow Chance." His ears perked up and growled at the lean she-kat. Katie laughed when he got the tabby worried and thought that his time in this contest was over. "I'm sorry; I just wanted to see the look on your face."
"That wasn't funny," Chance went to hide in the tall grass again. "Do you have any idea how affective this place is? A lot of the enemy comes through here, and if I get caught, they will have to find a new route to go through."
"Then set up ambushes some place else," Katie said while wrapping her arms around the tabby's neck. "This game is boring, let's play something else."
"I'm not in the mood for one of your mind games."
"Oh is that so," Katie smirked. She placed her paws on he tabby's checks and are nose-to-nose. She pushed the tom to his back causing the tall grass to rustle even louder. She kissed him and Chance was completely overwhelmed of what she is doing. He forced his head to break free from her lips and softly pushed her off.
"What's wrong with you?" Chance stood up and glared down at the she-kat. Katie just looked down at the ground around the tabby's feet. She stood silent and the tabby gripped to his gun tighter. The two didn't say a thing. The only sounds came from the river nearby. Chance shook his head and decided to leave.
"I'm going home."
Jake and his team slowly started to approach the river. He knew that this place was guarded by Chance and was ready for him when he began to fire. As they pass by the large wall of tall grass, nothing happened. Then rustling could be heard and all three toms behind Jake tensed up. The lean tom shook his head at their cowardice. "This is the team they gave me."
The rustling got louder and they could see a shadowy figure approaching. The toms behind started to fire away at the spot. Jake yelled at them to stop as they saw a member from their team was covered in blue paint.
"Nice job Clawson."
"I'm not the one that put me in with this group of newbies." Jake growled at the tom before him. "If you guys just let me do this on my own, I would have gotten the flag again this year."
"But, you're the only one that can break in these new members. You have a more general personality than any of us."
"Then make me general! I'll kick these three out really fast for being lousy listeners and, not to mention, shots!" Jake scoffed and stormed towards the bridge. He heard footsteps following him and fired his paintball gun towards the ground causing the three to flinch. "Don't follow me." His tone was serious and it scared the three which only made Jake even madder that they fear him.
In three minutes, Jake was able to calm down a bit. The tall grass was thicker here and the place of where you can get ambushed by Chance. But for some reason, he didn't put up his guard. He just continued to keep walking and expecting to get pinned down. But it never happened. Jake made it through without being noticed and knew that something was wrong. His head perked up when he heard the click of a weapon from behind.
"Game over." The tom fired and Jake stepped forward from being hit by the wad of paint. He dropped his weapon and turned around to meet Jason. Jake's ears flattened when he realized it wasn't Chance. "I say, not bad for my first time."
"You were lucky," Jake said trying not to sound disappointed and irritated. "I would have easily got you before you made a move.
"Oh come on, it's just a game. Win or lose, you can still have fun."
"I know, I just thought I would find Chance here. But, I guess he wasn't here." A twinge of jealousy causes Jason to mentally glare at the name. He was told what happened at the movies the next day by Jake when his head cleared up. If he had known that would happen, he wouldn't have invited Chance. Jason shook his head and focused on Jake.
"Say, how about we just leave? Besides, this whole contest got boring when it went down to just ten kats."
"Eight," Jake said grabbing his gun. "There are eight now. My stupid team shot one of our members."
A loud scream came from the grass and fired away at Jason. The kat laughed uncontrollably as she continued to fire. "That was too easy; thanks for distracting him Jake." Her tone was full of glee and excitement it reminded him of his first time ever playing the Enforcer's Annual Paintball Competition. Jake's team was a four year running winning team, until this year.
"Man, you did a real number on me." Jason whined at all the green paint covering his uniform. Jake started to laugh at how Jason looked. Not only did she get him on his clothes, but dead center in his forehead.
"Hey Jake," The she-kat called out. "Chance left a while ago; so there are pretty much five now. I'm leaving too and this is boring. See ya!" And with that, she ran to the tall grass that Jake came out from.
What Jake just heard made him sad. He wanted to talk to Chance after what happened. To tell him how he felt about it. He began to head up to the streets when Jason reached out for.
"Hey, since we're out, how about we go get some lunch?"
"No thanks," Jake waved Jason's hold from his shoulder. "I want to be alone. I'm sorry." Jason watched the lean tom leave and a growl formed in his throat. He had to speak out. Jason couldn't take it anymore and just had to tell Jake how he feels about this.
"Wait," Jason called out. Jake stopped dead in his tracks. "I thought we were just starting to like each other. Didn't every second we spent mean anything to you?"
"Jason, I don't want to-"
"You don't to what? Talk about it! I opened up to you and you're just gonna leave me in the cold!"
"It's not like that!" Jake turned around and yelled back. "I'm lost and I don't know what to think! When I'm with you, I got this feeling of hope that I can move on, but with Chance," Jake's tone softened. "I feel something else and I don't want to lose that." The brown tom began to shiver and hung his head. Jason walked closer to comfort him.
"Just stop." Jake says loud enough for Jason to hear. The lean brown tom turned around and started to walk away. "I want…to be left alone." Jason balled his fists and cursed Chance's name. He ran the other direction. He didn't tell Jake that he saw Chance.
"I'm signing out." Chance gruffly said to the tom in charge of the paintball guns. "It got boring and I didn't want to waist any more time here." He began to walk out until he remembered what else he had to ask. "Oh, where do I go to sign up for the Enforcers?"
"You can sign up tomorrow at the Enforcer HQ this year. Commander Feral isn't taking anymore chances with fake registrations."
Chance nodded and headed out. When he opened the door to get out, Jason was just a foot away. Chance stepped out the way to let the tom through. Jason passed him without letting go of his glare. Chance felt uncomfortable. A pang of guilt ran through him and thought that he must have figured out what happened.
The tabby was half way home and took off his cap. He ran a paw through his hair and sighed. His only thought was on Jake. He felt that he messed up and should have never told Jake he loved him. But, now he felt like he is lying to himself and that Jake was right. Maybe he doesn't love Jake. It could just be him trying to replace his brother and make Jake feel better. He shook his head and waved the thought away. He does love Jake. And he will prove it.
"Hey," Chance froze and turned around. Jason was walking towards him; still glaring. "We need to talk."
"I have nothing to say."
"Like hell you don't!" Jason yelled. "Jake told me what you did at the movies three days ago. I invited you and you tried to take him from me. I don't know what Jake sees in you, but I won't let you get near him again. He needs to move on and I'm not going to let him get stuck with you."
"You're telling me to stay away from Jake." Chance glared back and held back a yell. "Nobody is going to stop me from what I feel. Not you, not Katie, and not anyone! I love Jake!"
"If you did, why wait until someone tries to take him?" Jason yelled back. Chance gasped mentally realizing that was partially true. "You're a little late for that. I'm going to make Jake happy." The tabby's glare got stronger and so did his voice.
"You don't even know what makes Jake happy!" Chance stepped closer. "I've been with him since we were kits!" He took another step. "I know what makes him happy! I know what makes him scared. I know about his dreams, his achievements, his failures, everything! And you're telling me that you can make him happy. That's a load of crap coming from you!" Chance was a foot away from Jason.
Jason swung a fist to Chance. The tabby ducked and uppercuts Jason in the jaw. The tom took a few steps back before charging back at Chance. The tackle was a b-line to the chest and Chance lost all his air. Jason punched the tabby repeated at his face. He gasped when Chance grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a head butt. Blood quickly oozed out of Chance's nose and from the gash above his left eye. His vision was hazy from taking so many hits to the face and the blood made it worse. Jason recovered and stood up. Chance heard him approaching and tried to swing, but Jason grabbed a hold of his arm and pinned the tabby down. Chance struggled to get up, but Jason just kept pulling his arm back. The tabby bit his lower lip to prevent him from screaming in pain. Then suddenly, Jason was knocked off Chance. Chance finally screamed when his arm was pulled to far from the force. Chance slowly sat up and tried to see what was happening, but his vision was fading away.
"I don't want to hurt you!" That was all Chance heard before falling to darkness.
"I couldn't even protect myself." Chance sat in the rain. He had his arms wrapped around his legs and his face buried between his on his knees. "How am I supposed to protect Jake if I can't even defend myself?"
"You try too hard." Chance didn't look up and flattened his ears. He knew who was talking to him. "Just accept it. Jake is not worth fighting for. You should have given up."
"I won't give up on him." Chance said irritated.
"Look at you, acting tough over a tom. That's not like you Chance."
"So what, that doesn't change the fact that I still love Jake." The tabby slowly turned to face him. "I always have; even when he was with you. A part of me didn't want to accept it, but damn it, I don't want to lose him."
"So, you're serious about this. Like I said, Jake isn't worth fighting for." The tom tossed a bat by Chance's feet. He stared at it wondering what it could be for. "If you want Jake, you have to swing the bat. That's the only way to hit a homerun."
Chance woke up and found himself in his room. It was another dream. He could hear voices coming from the balcony. "I'm surprised you could knock him out." Chance recognized the voice and was sure it was Katie. Who ever she was talking to, it didn't speak. "Look, I'm sure things will turn out alright; except for the fact that you did break his nose, his arm, and a couple ribs." Chance heard a groan that sounded familiar. His eyes widened when the kat spoke.
"I just couldn't watch anymore. I had to stop him from hurting Chance. If I knew this would happen I never would have…told him."
"Don't beat yourself up too much." Katie said reassuring the tom Chance now knows. Jake did something really awful to Jason if he was down in the dumps about it. When Katie turned to leave, Chance pretended to still be asleep. If she found out that he was awake when they were talking, she would make a scene of it. The door closed behind her and waited to make sure she was completely gone.
"Why did I interfere?" Jake questioned himself. "If I didn't, Jason would have broken his arm. Now I'm probably going to jail for almost putting Jason in a coma or something." His ears perked up when he heard wincing in the bedroom. Jake saw Chance trying to sit up and ran to him.
"Don't over do it or you'll mess up your sling."
"It doesn't even hurt." Chance smiled, but winced when he did. His face started to hurt, but the feeling passed.
"I'm sorry." Jake knelt down beside Chance placed his face on the mattress. "I never should have made you feel this way; this is my entire fault."
Chance sat at the edge of the bed now and placed his free paw on Jake's head. "Jake, it's not your fault. I loved you before you started to date my brother. I just didn't accept it as easy as I should have. If I did, you never would have gone through all of this. So, it's really my fault."
Silence filled the room. They just stood in their positions waiting for something to happen. But it never did. The feeling of guilt shut them up. Jake began to shudder. A lot was going on in his mind; his unannounced break-up, Chance's sudden love, and sending Jason to the hospital. He stiffened up when the tabby's paws began to stroke his back. It felt nice and let himself lean to his touch. Slowly, the paw inched higher until he felt it reach the back of his neck and moved from his cheek to his chin. Chance lifted the tom's head and kissed him again. Jake only felt loneliness that needed to be fulfilled. He accepted Chance, he accepted his love. But, did he feel the same?
"What's wrong?" Chance asked when Jake pulled back. He started to worry and thought that, maybe, he was going to fast.
"I don't know," Jake looked away and sat next to the tabby's feet. "I feel something, yet, I don't know what it is." He put his paws on his head and started to huddle a bit to himself. "It's just so confusing and when I think too much on it, I feel like I want to be alone."
Chance felt hurt. He moves down to Jake's level and wraps his arm around him. Jake pulled closer to himself so that Chance wouldn't try to comfort him. Jake shut him out just like the day Erik left. On that day, Chance wanted to tell him what he felt. Only on that day, he thought it would ruin their friendship. Now, he was given a second chance to do something he couldn't let himself do.
He pulled Jake even closer, breaking him from his shell until their chests touch. A shocking pain made Chance wince, but he ignored it the best he could. This time, Jake kissed him first. Something nagged him to stop, but he didn't listen. Chance slowly falls back holding on to Jake. His free paw caressing the lean tom's back and lower. Their tongues fumbled by each other until they found how to get past. Jake moved his paws under Chance's shirt to feel his muscles and broad back. A wonder of why Chance chose baseball over football was beyond him.
A knock came from the door and both quickly stopped. Chance went back to his bed as Jake made sure he was suitable to stand without the kat on the other side see his arouse bulge. "Chance," it was his father. Jake opens the door.
"Hey Mr. Furlong," Jake opened the door letting the father walk in to check on Chance, who is facing the other way.
"Still asleep, huh?"
"Yeah," Jake said trying to sound convincing. Chance's father patted Jake on his shoulder and smiled at him. He stopped at the door and turned to face the lean tom.
"Play nice now." Jake's face red under his fur and the father seemed to have noticed when he chuckled completely out of the door. Jake turned to look at Chance already lying on his back. He seemed to be struggling to hold something in and Jake's ears flattened when it was a small laugh. Yet, he couldn't help smile too.
"Now what," Jake sat at the edge of the bed and held on to Chance's paw. "It's like whenever we get together, something or someone has to ruin it." Chance sat up, with little effort, to give Jake one last kiss.
"I'm sure we'll have that moment; when the time and day is right. Until then, I want to make you happy."
It felt short. Anyways, review please. Still not done yet! I even hate their little interruptions. Grr!