A Cold Heart

Bolt's ears twitched when he heard nearby barking, aggressive barking. He followed it and it led to another alley. The alley resided next to small local restaurant with many garbage bins lined up against the wall. Bolt hid behind one of the large, green dumpster bins and peered into the alley. There were two dogs, a Doberman baring his teeth at a Great Dane. The Great Dane was old, Bolt could tell by his gray muzzle.

"I'm just trying to pass through," the Great Dane said calmly, but Bolt sensed fear in his voice.

"Liar! I know you're here to steal my food." He tackled the old dog and pinned him down. Bolt took a step forward, about to intervene, but an idea came to him. He quietly climbed the dumpster. "You're going to regret ever coming through my alley."

With his powerful hind legs, Bolt leaped off and collided into the Doberman, freeing the old dog. He quickly recovered and prepared himself mentally for a fight. It was only then when he realized he wasn't at home in the studio acting, this was real. If he wasn't careful, he could get hurt. Or even worse.

"You know, you should respect your elders." Bolt remarked. The black canine stumbled to get up. He was bigger than Bolt, which intimidated him a bit, but he did his best to not show any fear.

"And you should mind your own business." He spat back.

They circled, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Bolt honestly wasn't sure what to do. He never really actually fought before in his life except on the stage when he always won. Guess he would have to rely on his instincts. He tried to anticipate any kind of attack and kept his body to the ground. Suddenly, the black dog launched forward and bit into his shoulder. He was a lot faster than he expected. Bolt growled in pain and bit into the Doberman's neck in retaliation. They released each other to catch their breath. The black dog attacked quickly again, this time into Bolt's flank, pinning him sideways against the wall and dragging his shoulder across the brick surface. Bolt felt the skin of his shoulder tear open as it scraped across the wall. He yowled in pain and used his powerful legs to kick the dog off which released him. Bolt caught him off guard and quickly pinned him to the ground by the neck between his teeth. He knew he won at this point. There was nothing the Doberman could do. Bolt could kill him right then and there by snapping his neck if he wanted to.

"Get lost and never bother this dog again."

Bolt released him. Killing wasn't his thing and he knew he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it anyway. The Doberman glared at him, but walked out of the alley, keeping his stare on Bolt the whole time until he was out of sight.

Tired, Bolt lay down and breathed heavily. For his first fight, he was fairly pleased. It could've been a lot worse. At least he won.

"Are you all right youngster?" Bolt had forgotten about the Great Dane.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He forgot about his wounds too. As a super dog, he never got hurt. His wounds stung, now that the adrenaline stopped. "Yourself?"

He nodded.

"Thanks to you, Bolt," he smiled, "I see you're not just an actor."

"It was nothing really." He started to clean his wounds, feeling slightly awkward now. Apparently his fan base exceeded to even older dogs. He gave Bolt an affectionate lick on his forehead and gave his thanks again. He was about to leave, but Bolt called out to him.

"Wait, you didn't tell me your name."

"Victor."

Victor, he repeated to himself. "Take care, Victor." Victor nodded back and left.

When Mittens asked about his injuries, he tried lying to her, but he was a bad lier, at least to her when he always told her the truth. She knew him too well and it was ironic. His acting didn't work against her. Then again, she didn't see him as an actor. He didn't want her to worry about him.

After meeting Victor, he realized how awkward it was to meet fans of his show. It was as if that's how he was always viewed as by others, this hero even off the set. He never got to be Bolt, the normal dog, just like anyone else except when he was with Mittens. She treated him like a normal dog and not like someone's favorite actor or idol.

Bolt's wounds weren't deep, but they still stung. They weren't the only reason preventing him from sleeping though. A few days had passed since the first night he spent with Mittens. Since then, he had been seeing her every night at the lake and it felt so right to him. But, something else happened tonight.

After his fight from earlier, the realization really hit him that he could've been hurt or even worse. What if he had died? No more chewing on tennis balls, no more acting. No more Mittens. Life was unpredictable. When he met with Mittens tonight, he was going to tell her how much he cared for her. He was going to tell her he loved her.

But before he got the chance, she went on to tell him about her crush, a crush that developed when she came to the city.

"He's a really cute brown tom cat," Her words echoed in his head. Well, at least he wasn't another dog. Apparently the two have been talking for the past few weeks now. Bolt asked her if she was going to ask him on a date.

"I don't know, I kind of want to, but I'm scared how he'll react," The words stabbed at his heart, and it hurt even more thinking about it again. But for some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He couldn't tell her now. He just couldn't. She was infatuated with him and she was happy. All of a sudden, he wasn't feeling well. He lied to her and said his injuries were bothering him so he could leave. He couldn't hear any more about him.

His heart ached. It was a feeling he never felt before. He felt lonely and depressed. Tonight, he was reminded of Mitten's feelings toward himself. She loved him, but only as a friend, which he thought he was fine with until she mentioned her crush. He hated the idea, the idea of her being with someone else. It hurt, more than his cuts and bruises. He absolutely hated the idea, so much he punched the fence in the alley. Everything he wanted to tell her ran through his mind. How she meant the world to him. How much he loved her. How he would do anything for her. How much it hurt to keep these thoughts to himself because he didn't want her to be confused about their friendship. How much he held himself back for her.

He felt cold. He could barely feel his heart and he hoped it would stop beating on its own. Even though they promised to be friends, he couldn't stop himself from loving her.