Hey guys! How's it going? For me my life is this and a ton of school work, which is obviously so much fun and not stressful. And then with swimming and volleyball being a thing. I am dying. I'm going to try my very best to keep up the upload schedule, but my apologies if some chapters are particularly short. Anyway, let me know what you think and leave me your suggestions.

-Aislin

"Happy, come on, you have to let me into our home," Toby pleaded. "It's common decency. Besides, you love me and want me around. I know you do."

"Nope," Happy deadpanned. "You can't come in until you get rid of it."

"It's just for a couple of days," He tried. "I know you have a heart."

Outside her door, he stood holding a tiny puppy that he had found on the street in one hand and a plastic crate in the other. It had been alone, he said, stranded. It needed them apparently, but she didn't want a pet. She didn't want to share her space with more creatures than necessary. She already had to take care of one puppy. She didn't need another.

"We don't have the time for a puppy, Toby," She informed him finally opening the door.

"It's just until I can find him another home. I'll look after him, and he won't bother you at all," he promised.

"That's what you say now, but we both know that if we keep him tonight odds are will keep him forever," she said with certainty.

"Happy, I promise you he will be gone in a 2 weeks or less." Then, he looked up at her widening his eyes, and bringing the golden retrievers face next to his to double the puppy dog eyes.

"I should have never agreed to live here," she stated letting him through the doors.

"I love you."

"I know."

She stared at the tiny animal sitting in the middle of the bed. "Make it leave," she demanded.

"One, he's a him not an it. Two, look how cute he is," he smiled back.

"It sleeps here or you do. Make a choice," she ordered.

"Alright, little buddy, you're going to have to move," he murmured to the dog lifting it up. "Where do you want this?"

"In the crate you brought you home with it," She smirked.

"But what if he gets lonely?" He pouted.

"That's none of my concern," She rolled her eyes.

"But he'll be sad," He whined.

"You can join him in the crate."

"Have you found it a home yet?" She questioned the next night. Happy had been acting civil towards the dog, but she was ready for the nonsense to be over.

"No, I haven't, but I put an ad up," He answered quickly. "We should give him a name. You can't just refer to him as it until he leaves."

"Why not?"

"Because it could be confusing. You refer to tons of things as it," He informed.

"Well then why don't we just call it dog," She suggested.

"But that's not specific. He should have a name." He pointed out.

"If we name him, we'll get attached," She frowned.

"I thought I was the shrink here?" He laughed. "It's no big deal, Hap."

"We can't get sentimental and keep him. We don't have enough time for a pet. It would be cruel to the dog," She pushed.

"It's just a name. I promise he will still be leaving at the end of the week," He pleaded.

"Ok, well pick a name and we can call him it," She gave in.

"What about Conan?" He asked.

"I don't care. Make your decision," she dismissed.

"Alright, Conan the Barbarian it is," he decided mostly to himself. He lifted up the puppy and started to play with it's paws. He knew Conan would find a place to stay soon. He was cute and young, and any family would love him. He knew it was going to hurt when the dog left, but he was willing to go through with that anyway. He didn't want Conan to be lonely afterall.

"Toby, I don't need to be a shrink to know that you shouldn't bond with an animal you can't keep," She pointed out.

"I'm not afraid of getting hurt."

"Toby!" She screamed.

He rushed down the stairs tripping over three of them, "What is it? What's wrong?" He ran into the living room gasping.

"He took my hairbrush," She complained.

"Oh...Ok," He stopped. "That's it? You're not dying? I fell down the stairs for that?"

"Well if I was in trouble, falling down the stairs would not have helped me," She muttered to herself sarcastically.

"Just take the brush from him, and say no," He instructed calmly.

"Because he understands english," she snorted.

"Conan doesn't understand english, he understands your tone. You just have to sound angry, which I am sure you will have no trouble with, Unhappy Quinn."

"What if he takes it again?" She questioned.

"Then you do it again. Until he learns that the brush isn't his," Toby stated.

"No," she shouted addressing the dog and grabbing the brush out of his mouth. The dog turned away grabbing one of Toby's socks as he left. "At least it's not mine," she commented.

"I think he has quickly realized who will yell at him, and who will not," Toby observed.

"Smart animal.

"It's sleeping on me," She observed.

"Have you never been near a pet in your life? This is what animals do," He informed her.

"No, I've never been near a pet. I've never had one," She admitted. "You don't usually have pets in foster care, and I don't see any reason to have one now."

"They're nice company," He pointed out.

"They need more attention than I can give," She explained.

"No, dogs love you no matter who you are. It's unconditional," He countered.

"But they're liable to get hurt," She seemed concerned.

"They don't care. They're dogs," He stated simply.

I wonder what that would be like, she thought to herself. Slowly she started to pet the sleeping animal on her lap. He was unexpectedly soft and warm. She could see why people liked having pets.

"What are you doing to the dog?" She asked quietly.

"I'm getting ready for a photoshoot so that I can put photos online, and families will love him," Toby explained.

"You don't have to do that," She informed him.

"Yes I do. I need to get this little guy adopted, and people like professional photography," He dismissed her.

"No, doc, you don't have to do that."

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"I mean he can stay here," she sighed. He stood up and placed his hands on her upper arms. He looked intently into her eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked seriously. "We don't have to keep the dog just because I want to. If you don't want it, don't feel guilty."

"I'm not doing it for you," She stated simply.

"Alright, well what made you change your mind about it?" He questioned.

"That doesn't matter," She dismissed. She left the room picking up the dog on the way.

And that's how it happened. That's how they got a pet: by chance. It was a complete coincidence that Toby had found their dog on the street, but it had happened.

Now, he liked to watch her play with the dog when he thought she wasn't looking. It was only when she was with the dog that she truly ever completely let down her shield. This was because she knew that a dog could never hurt her. Someday, he hoped, she would feel that way around him. He would wait for her to be completely unguarded.