Marshall walked back into his pup house, throwing his pup tag on his bed. If this hangout with Rocky really was going to go the way he thought it would, he begged Rocky to leave their tags back at the lookout. He didn't want anyone else knowing about what was on his mind. Not even Ryder or Chase.

Rocky, while unsure about leaving their tags behind, eventually agreed.

After they finished getting ready, Rocky drove the two to Mr. Porter's Café. The fire pup jumped out quickly, excited to get some food after a long day of playing with the others. Rocky, meanwhile, was just curious about what was troubling his friend.

The pups walked into the building, getting a table at the far side of the interior.

"Okay, Marshall. I took you out for food..." The mixed breed pup smiled faintly, "That's my end of the deal. Now how about you tell me what's up?"

"Oh look at the time!" The Dally suddenly stood up from his seat, looking at an invisible watch on his wrist, "We should probably get back—" Marshall tried to walk away, but was stopped when Rocky grabbed the back of his collar.

"You don't have a watch. Sit down."

Sighing, the fire pup sat back down in the chair, shifting nervously. He had never admitted it out loud. He never really vocalized how he felt about Everest. Everything up to this point, for however long he had a crush on her, he had never admitted to it in front of anyone. All of the thoughts, all of the feelings, were bottled up inside of him, waiting to be spoken.

"Rocky, I like Everest."

"I thought you liked everyone on the PAW Patrol..." Rocky, never one to understand tone as well as the other members of the team, looking at the Dally with a deadpan expression.

Marshall sighed, "No, Rocky. I have a..." The Dalmatian looked around them quickly to make sure they weren't being watched, making the mixed breed roll his eyes, "...I have a crush on Everest."

Rocky's eyes widened, "Oh? Ohhh... That makes so much more sense!" He exclaimed, "Everything adds up better with that in mind."

Marshall, who was covering his face in embarrassment, peeked from behind his paws, "...You're not gonna tease me?"

"Of course not!" The recycling pup smiled, "...Right now. I won't right now. I'm just happy that you can acknowledge it. We're getting to that point where we're gonna start having crushes, but we won't exactly know what they are."

The Dalmatian's eyes narrowed, "You're saying that like you know."

Rocky suddenly stopped, his heart beginning to beat faster. He looked down, finding a sudden interest in the rigid bumps of the table they were sitting at.

"Rocky...?"

The recycling pup wasn't embarrassed. Not by any means. He was scared. Scared of his own feelings, scared that Marshall wouldn't like what came out of his mouth next. He hadn't told anybody besides Zuma about how he was. About his feelings. He let out a shaky exhale.

"Marshall, I'm... I'm into guys."

Silence.

Marshall's face remained expressionless, a blank stare shooting across the table at the eco pup. The Dalmatian thought about what his friend had just told him, thinking about everything he'd seen from Rocky before. He had never looked at Skye or Everest in any kind of strange way. The Dally had always just assumed that Rocky was too socially challenged to deal with anything romance related.

On the other side of the table, Rocky's head lowered in shame, beginning to sweat. He knew it! He knew that Marshall wouldn't take it well! The recycling pup gulped faintly as his claws gently scraped at one of the table legs. He could always look back up and tell Marshall that he was joking, that he had a crush on one of the girls on the team, that he wasn't what he was. That wouldn't work, would it? It was already out there, and he had taken so long to say it.

"So!?"

What?

Rocky looked back up at Marshall, who was chuckling, "I couldn't care less! Not to downplay this moment, I'm super proud of you and all, but Rocky, did you seriously think I wasn't gonna like the fact that you were into guys?"

The mixed breed's mouth went agape as he looked at his friend across the table.

"Rocky, you could be a sea monster and you'd still be my friend."

His eyes stung with tears as his eyes remained glued on Marshall. For the longest time, he feared that the other pups would hate him for it, and would shun him because of it. That they would make fun of him mercilessly and think less of him because of it. But as he watched his Dalmatian friend ramble on, all of those fears, those hesitations washed away.

Rocky suddenly stood up on the table and dived at his friend, who yelped in surprise. Marshall leaned back a bit in his seat, not having expected the gray pup to jump at him like that. The recycling pup hugged his friend tightly, a million words of gratitude spilling out of his mouth within just a few seconds.

Marshall, initially surprised, hugged back with a smile, "Thanks for telling me, Rocky... I'm honored that you trust me enough to tell me this."

"You're my friend!" Rocky smiled, closing his eyes, "Of course I'm gonna tell you..."

The two hugged in silence for a minute, enjoying the other's company and the newfound appreciation for their friendship. The mixed breed was eternally grateful that Marshall was just as supportive as Zuma was when he told him. That was until Marshall utterly spoiled the moment.

"So does that mean you like taking it in—-"

"Not okay!" Rocky pushed away.

.

.

.

Months Prior...

"Zuma... There's something I need to tell you..." Rocky nervously fiddled with his paws, looking down at the floor, "I'm not sure how you're gonna take it, though..."

Rocky had asked his best friend, Zuma, to talk. All of the other pups, and their owner, had been called for a mission, so the lookout was void of anyone but the two pups. There was something he needed to get off of his chest. Something that Zuma especially needed to know about him.

The Chocolate Lab raised an eyebrow, "How do you think I would take it then?"

"...I don't know... Maybe you'd hate me?" The recycling pup's ears fell, "Never want to be around me again?"

Zuma suddenly put his paws on his best friend's shoulders, "There's no way that would ever happen, dude... You're my best friend. I could never hate you. Ever!"

With that affirmation, Rocky closed his eyes tight and gulped down the knot building in his throat. With a quick admission, he had told Zuma his biggest secret. The Chocolate lab sat there in silence for a moment, trying to digest what he had just been told. Before he could try to backtrack, or lie his way out of it, Zuma suddenly wrapped him into the tightest hug a pup could muster.

"I don't care!" He shouted, "You're my best friend till the end, you're stuck with me, no matter what you say!"

"You don't hate me?"

"Hate you?" Zuma asked, putting an arm around his best friend, "If anything, I've got way more respect for you, dude! Saying something like that takes some serious balls."

"Heh... Yeah..." The recycling pup's tail began to wag.

"Now c'mon, maybe we can see if Ryder has a secret stash of ice cream around here. I think the occasion is right for it!"

"You just want an excuse to eat ice cream..." Rocky remarked, following behind his best friend who was already on the move.

.

.

.

Present Day

After Marshall had gotten all of his... Questions... For Rocky out of his system, the recycling pup shifted the focus back to the main reason why they were in the Café in the first place. Marshall's crush on Everest. Almost immediately, the recycling pup regretted his decision.

"...And I think she's too good for me, Rocky!" Marshall sobbed, his head down on the table, "There's no way she'd like a pup like me!"

Rocky looked at the crying Dalmatian, chewing on the food he had ordered. He knew that the Dalmatian had his insecurities. He knew since the day Marshall thought he and the other pups were talking bad about him and left the lookout. As he watched the puddle of Marshall's tears grow closer to his side of the table, the recycling pup knew that he was seeing a whole new Marshall.

"Why do you think that?"

"You saw what happened earlier!" Marshall looked up at Rocky, snot comically dripping from his nose, "She got mad at me and I think I hurt her paw!"

"Yeah, she was probably pretty annoyed that you got us caught..." Rocky casually slid some tissues over to Marshall, "But you're forgetting something... This is Everest we're talking about. Next time you see her, she'll probably have forgotten all about it."

"You... Really... Think... So?" The Dally asked between hitched breaths, akin to how a little kid would.

Rocky nodded, "Of course I think so, so stop crying... Your puddle is getting dangerously close to my side..."

Marshall nodded, grabbing the tissues offered to him by Rocky. He quickly wiped his face off with an embarrassed chuckle, "Sorry about that, Rocky... Been holding that in for a while."

"Don't worry about it, we all need a good cry once in a while..." The mixed breed rationalized.

"It's just... I'm always doing dumb stuff around her... I can't help it..."

Marshall, now that he was done with his comical crying session, actually took a moment to think. Everest was his friend. His good friend. He remembered when they met in that cold climate, and how he introduced himself to her while making sure she and Jake were alright. From his memory, that was the only semi-normal interaction he had with the Husky. Since then, it had been weird, but in a way, it was the best.

The feeling of having a crush was like nothing Marshall had ever experienced. His heart would always pound, his face would always burn, butterflies would always be in his stomach. All of those feelings, all of those sensations, would be uncomfortable and annoying to deal with under normal circumstances. But because they were associated with Everest, the pup he admired so much, he loved them. He loved those feelings, and how uncomfortable they made him feel. All that meant was that he couldn't resist knowing how perfect the mountain pup was.

All he could do was hope that she felt those same feelings for him.

"But seriously, I didn't know you had feelings for Everest." Rocky spoke, noticing the dream-like expression on his face.

Marshall nodded, "Yeah... I'm a pretty horrible liar about most things, but this needs to stay hidden."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm not ready to admit I like her... Or for anyone to even think I like her. Especially Everest!"

He wasn't sure why he wasn't ready, he just knew he wasn't. Being young and in love was frustrating, Marshall knew that. He would feel so many things, think so many things, yet he never knew how to put them into words, especially when it came to how he felt about her.

The thought of her knowing how he felt scared him. He wasn't ready to put everything on the line. Wasn't ready for his life to change so substantially. How things were currently were perfect. He'd get to work in a profession he loves, and was still able to come back home and play the rest of the day away. He wasn't ready for something so complicated to enter his simple life.

His friend raised an eyebrow, like he had many times over the course of the conversation, "Why not?"

"I'm just not!" The fire pup sighed, a deep red hue spread across his face.

For now, a crush could be a crush. And that was all it needed to be.

"I guess I know what you mean..." Rocky looked away, "When I started to like Zuma, I—Oh shit..." The recycling pup cursed when he realized what he had just confessed.

Marshall couldn't care less that his friend cursed, only worried about the name that slipped from his mouth, "Zuma!?"

"Oh no... No, no, no..." The gray pup put his face in his paws, desperately trying to hide the blush that had grown on his face.

The Dalmatian began to laugh, "Oh this is just rich! Zuma!? Of any guy or girl you could possibly like, you like Zuma?"

"Hey, what's wrong with—" His eyes slowly moved from Marshall's amused face to look at something behind him, "...Marshall, look at the time!"

"You're not getting me with that trick—"

"Look outside!"

Upon leaning to look out of the window, Marshall saw that it was the dead of night outside. Their conversation was a lot longer than he had thought it to be.

"Holy hydrants!" Marshall hopped up from his seat to stand on the ground, forgetting that a literal river of tears had been cried and dropped on the floor, "We gotta— Woah!"

The Dalmatian suddenly slipped on the tears left on the floor, falling to his right. Unfortunately, to his right was the table they were sitting at, which Marshall's head banged against. The cutlery that neither pup needed to or could use rattled against the table as Rocky cringed in second-paw pain. Marshall crumpled to the floor, out cold.

Rocky, knowing they would have to get back to the lookout as soon as possible, picked the fainted firefighter up and carried him to his vehicle, speeding off into the night.

Step by step, inch by inch, The mixed breed used his teeth to drag Marshall back toward his pup house. After they had made it back, Rocky made sure to check his pulse, so he knew he was alive at the least. But when it came to how Marshall would feel after waking up, he had no idea how he would feel.

Rocky let out a faint groan. For a skinny Dalmatian, he sure was heavy. Where did he get all of that weight from anyway? The recycling pup continued to drag Marshall across the grass. That was, until he heard someone coming out of a pup house. The mixed breed panicked, throwing Marshall into a bush, and running back to his own pup house, diving into it.

.

.

.

Marshall listened intently as Rocky finished the tale, sitting here with a surprised expression on his face.

"I can't believe I said all that dumb stuff..." Marshall shook his head softly, "...But I'm still really proud of you, Rocky. And you like Zuma? That's amazing..."

Rocky's eyes widened as he heard Marshall speak. As the former fire pup gave his friend a smile, the recycling pup realized that Marshall's conversation with the rest of the team and his subsequential suspension from the team was really getting to him. While the pup still looked happy, in a way, the boisterous comedic enthusiasm had dulled just a bit.

"Wait a minute... You just left me in that bush?"

The eco pup coughed, "Whoever had gone outside was there for a while... I don't know when, but I fell asleep..."

"Gee... Thanks for leaving me outside, Rocky..." Marshall remarked with a faint smile on his face, "That headache was really hitting hard out in the sun..."

Rocky's face went deadpan, "I said I was sorry, Marshall."

"That explains why I didn't have my tag when I woke up... And the concussion, of course..." The Dalmatian began to connect dots, "So that's where I was when everything went down?"

"Yeah, that covers everything..." The eco pup nodded, "That's why I know it wasn't you. Because while all of that was going on you were knocked out."

"...So then what now?"

"Easy, we track the perp down and get you your position back!" Rocky closed the computer, "Neither of us were trained for recon, but I'm sure we can figure something out."

Marshall sighed, laying down on his small bed. He looked up at the ceiling, "You really think we can do it? Get all that evidence before a month passes?"

"I don't think it's about if anymore. We have to do it. There's no other choice..." He laid down beside his friend, exhausted by the day's events.

"Rocky?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks... For all of this... I owe you."

"No, you don't. Don't you remember? You saved my life."

Silence fell between Marshall and his last real ally on the team. The Dally wondered what the next day held in store for them. In a way, he was glad that it wasn't anyone else accused of theft. At least if one of the PAW Patrol had to live through it, it wouldn't have been any of his friends. For that, he was grateful.

"Marshall?"

"Yeah?"

"So you're really okay with me liking Zuma?"

The Dally rolled his eyes, turning himself away from Rocky, "Good night, Rocky."

"Night, Marshall."

Another bout of silence fell. Rocky couldn't help but to smile to himself. But, after a few seconds of thought, it faded. Why was all of this happening to Marshall of all pups? He didn't deserve it. If anything, he deserved it more for being cold to the very pup who would put his life on the line for him. The best he could do was help Marshall with this problem. And that's what he was going to do.

"Rocky?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you, um... Gonna leave any time soon?"