TW: Homophobic slurs
"So, you ready?"
Jack took a deep breath. "Not really."
"Ah, you'll be fine," Corey told him, waving his paw dismissively. "It's not as scary as you think."
The buck slowly turned to look at his boyfriend before staring back at the skateboard in front of him. "Shouldn't I at least wear a helmet?"
"Yeah, if you wanted to be a little bitch."
"Corey-"
"Dude, I'm just kidding," the raccoon said, chuckling. "C'mon, you'll be OK. I'll even hold your paw if you're nervous," he lightly teased, smirking.
"…Please?" the striped bunny asked quietly.
The smirk fell from Corey's face as he nodded and took Jack's paw. "Yeah, I can do that. Let's get you up on the board first."
It was a Tuesday afternoon, and school had let out a few hours earlier. During the day, Corey had been surprised to hear that Jack had never ridden a skateboard before, and apparently being an avid skater, vowed to fix that. As soon school let out, he practically dragged the buck to the park and to an empty basketball court, skateboard in tow.
To say that Jack was…nervous was very much an understatement.
The bunny made a face as he looked down at his feet, which had protective covering on them. "These feel so weird, dude."
Corey scoffed as he readjusted his. "Yeah, but it's better than having the grip tape tear up your feet."
"…Fair enough."
"OK, so," the raccoon started as they approached the board, "you're a righty, right?"
Jack snorted. "Yes, I'm a righty right."
Corey rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's joke as he stood on the other side of the board. "OK, so if you're right pawed, that means that you're a goofy foot. So," he took both of Jack's paws (and ignored the blush coming on both of their faces), "place your right foot in the middle of the board."
Jack nodded and placed his foot up, a little unnerved at how easily the board moved underneath him. "OK…"
"Now, on 'Go,' you're going to step up and place your other foot on the tail," the raccoon explained.
"The what?"
"The back end of the board," Corey clarified. "You ready?"
"I think so?"
"Remember, on 'Go'." At Jack's nod, Corey counted down, "Three, two, one, go!"
Jack stepped up, and it was only because of Corey that the board didn't slip out from under him. After a few seconds of trying to stay still, the buck finally managed to stop wobbling. He let out a breath of relief.
"You good?" Corey asked.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"OK, I'm going to let go now."
"What?!"
"Just for a second," the raccoon reassured. "It's just to make sure you've got your balance. I'll be right here if you need me. You're doing fine." Jack nodded his head. "Letting go on three. One, two, three…"
Corey slowly let go of Jack's paws, and, to the bunny's surprise (and relief), he didn't start rolling off in one direction or have the board slip out from under him.
"Everything feeling OK?" the raccoon asked.
"Yeah, everything's good."
"Sweet." Corey then took Jack's paws again. "We're going to start moving. So, face the direction you want to go." The bunny looked to his right. "Now, here's the tricky part: you're going to take your back foot off the board, kick off in the same direction you're facing, and then quickly place it back on."
"Oh, is that all?" Jack muttered sarcastically.
"Hey, it's not like we're doing any tricks or anything," Corey said. "We're just moving. Ready?" Jack nodded, and after a few attempts, both of them were going at a rather slow speed, Corey walking right next to him. "OK, on three, I'm letting go. One…"
The buck's ears stood up in surprise. "Wait, what?"
"Two…"
"Corey, is that really a good idea-"
"Three!"
Jack suddenly found himself trying to keep his balance as he rolled around the basketball court. He kept expecting to fall, but to his surprise, he was staying on. The striped bunny couldn't hold back his smile.
"There you go, dude!" Corey called out, following behind him closely. "Now try turning!"
"How?"
"Just lean, but not too-"
As Corey was saying that, Jack started leaning to go right, only for the board to slip out from under him. The striped bunny soon found himself falling into Corey's arms, looking up at him as the board rolled to the edge of the court.
"…far," he finished.
The buck chuckled. "My hero, always catching me when I fall."
That caused the raccoon to drop him.
"OOF!"
"Oops, my bad," Corey apologized, not sounding very apologetic.
Jack groaned as he got to his feet. "Asshole," he grumbled, glaring at his boyfriend as he rubbed his elbow. "That kinda hurt."
"You OK?"
The striped bunny nodded and held out his elbow. "Kiss it and make it better?" he joked. Corey rolled his eyes and lightly shoved the laughing rabbit as the two of them went to retrieve the skateboard.
"That was pretty good, dude," Corey said. "Just need to work on keeping our balance on the board, and we're golden."
"OK."
The raccoon grabbed the board and walked towards a nearby bench. Jack stretched his elbow again, which the raccoon noticed. "Are you sure you're OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jack reassured. He paused slightly before adding, "I do want a kiss, though; I think you owe me one."
Corey tensed up before letting out a little laugh, though it sounded a little uneasy and forced to the striped bunny. "I'm not kissing your elbow, dude."
Jack quickly looked around the court and saw that they were still alone. He turned back to Corey and asked, "Then how about a real kiss; would that work?"
THAT got the raccoon's attention, as he quickly looked around. "What? Here? Now?"
Jack withheld a groan, getting tired of his boyfriend's reluctance to show affection. "No, tomorrow afternoon in the cafeteria; yes, here and now!"
"Are you kidding me? What if someone sees-"
"Who?!" Jack asked, throwing his paws up in exasperation. "Who is going to see us? We're the only ones here!" he exclaimed, gesturing around the empty court.
Corey cringed at the outburst and the two of them fell silent. Jack saw the look on his boyfriend's face and sighed, feeling bad. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"No, you're right. It's just…" Corey trailed off before sitting down on the bench. "I know we're alone, but…old habits are hard to break, y'know?"
The striped bunny was quiet as he thought about what the raccoon said, before he sat down next to him. After a few seconds he asked, "What are you so scared of? This isn't Deerbrooke, dude. No one here is going to care."
"If no one cares, then why do you want them all to know?"
Jack ran his paws over his ears. "It's not that I want to flaunt our relationship to everyone on the street or anything. But I also don't want to feel like we HAVE to hide it, either. I mean," he turned to his boyfriend, "we already have support from our friends; I highly doubt that everyone else would have an issue with it."
Corey scoffed. "I think Asshat would beg to differ."
Jack chuckled at the nickname. "You do know that Chuck's going to kill you for that nickname, right?"
"So?" Corey shrugged, smirking a little. He then sighed as he said, "I'm sorry, OK? I know you don't want to keep this under wraps forever, and honestly, I don't either, really, but…I'm not ready yet, OK?"
"…Do you have an idea of when you will be?"
Corey shook his head. "I'm really sorry; I know you hate this…"
Jack wrapped an arm around Corey. "Do I want to stop hiding our relationship? Yeah, I do. Am I tired of hiding how I feel? Yes, a little bit." The raccoon seemed to deflate at that. "But I also want you to be comfortable with others knowing. If you're not ready," the bunny shrugged, "then I can wait a little while longer."
Corey shot him a grateful look as they both fell quiet. He then grabbed Jack's arm from around him and, after a few seconds, kissed the buck on the cheek, making him blush.
"That's all you're getting, got it?" Jack nodded, and the raccoon nudged his skateboard with his foot. "Ready to try this again, babe?"
Jack nodded again when he realized something. "'Babe'?"
The striped bunny could see Corey's cheeks slowly turn red. "Y-Yeah, just wanted to try it out. Is that OK?"
"Yeah, it's OK," Jack reassured. "You can call me anything you like."
Corey gave the buck a mischievous smile. "Anything?"
"…I'm not Judy, dude; you can call me cute if you want."
Corey laughed as the two of them got up to try the skateboard again, Jack's ears now burning from the nickname.
'Baby steps,' he thought, as he stepped back onto the board with Corey's help.
The two of them stayed for another hour on the court, unaware that a third mammal had been watching them from a distance the entire time, smiling to themselves as they put their phone away.
THE NEXT DAY…
"Again, I want to make it clear that there's no pressure for you to do this."
Judy rolled her eyes as she and Jack walked down the hallway to the cafeteria for lunch. "I know, Jack; I want to do this."
"Is it because Skye said yes?" the buck pressed. "Because if it is-"
The doe suddenly turned and faced her cousin, stopping in front of him. "Jack, I am doing the show with you, Josie, and Skye," she firmly stated.
Jack stood there silently before he grinned and fist pumped. "Yes!"
Judy rolled her eyes again as the two continued down the hall. "We should still wait a while, though; we still need to all meet up and rehearse together, and you need to get an amp for your guitar."
The striped bunny nodded in agreement. "Definitely. And some effects pedals."
"You still like the guitar?"
Jack nodded. The week before, on his birthday, the buck had received an electric guitar, something he had been asking for since he had started playing. "Yeah, it's great. It plays really well."
"Did you ever figure out who got it for you?" Judy asked.
"Nope," her cousin answered. "If Aunt Bonnie knows, then she hasn't said anything."
"Hmm…" Judy looked like she was thinking about something, but she stayed quiet.
"When do you think we should all meet up to practice?" Jack asked.
"During the summer," the doe replied. "That way, we won't have to worry about school and conflicting schedules."
"See, this is why you come up with all the smart ideas."
"Someone has to," Judy quipped, which brought a small laugh from the buck.
The two of them continued down the hall, passing other students along the way, giving them intrigued looks.
Or rather, giving JACK intrigued looks.
"What's up with everyone today?" the striped bunny asked under his breath.
"Hmm?"
Jack motioned around him. "Everyone's looking at me like I'm a chemistry set; what did I do?"
"I dunno," Judy said, shrugging indifferently, "what DID you do?"
"Nothing," the buck answered. "At least, I don't think I did anything?"
"Then it's probably nothing," the doe said. At the buck's dubious look, she amended, "OK, maybe not NOTHING, but hopefully nothing bad."
"Here's hoping," Jack said. Finally, the two made it to the cafeteria. They quickly looked around for their friends, eventually seeing them at one of the tables. As they made their way over to them, Jack saw Gideon Grey out of the corner of his eye, sitting by himself and talking into his phone with the screen facing him. The buck just shrugged to himself.
'Must be talking to someone,' he thought. 'Well, as long as he stays over there and doesn't bother us.'
At that moment, though, Gideon looked up and saw him. To his surprise, however, the fox just shot him the peace sign and went back to his phone, still talking. Jack looked over to his cousin, who had noticed and looked a little surprised at the somewhat civil gesture.
"Did he just…?"
"Yeah."
"...Huh."
The two continued to their friends' table, only to immediately pick up that something was wrong, as Josie was rapidly scrolling through her phone while Corey…
"Are you OK?" Jack asked the raccoon, who looked like he was shaken by something.
Corey slowly shook his head. "No."
"What happened? What's going on?" Judy immediately inquired, looking between the brown doe and raccoon.
Josie looked up from her phone and quickly looked at Corey, who only nodded. She then tapped her phone a few times and handed it to Judy.
"Here…"
Judy took the phone, only for her ears to instantly fall back against her head. She looked back at Josie, stunned.
"When were these posted?" she asked.
"They went up yesterday, but it's just now starting to make rounds," the brown doe answered, running her paws down her ears.
"Wait, what went up yesterday? What's making the rounds?" Jack asked, grabbing the phone from his cousin. He took a look, only to nearly drop it in shock.
It was a picture of him and Corey at the basketball court the day before. More specifically, it was a picture of the two of them sitting on the bench, the buck's arm around the raccoon. Jack then noticed that there were more, and swiped left to see a picture of Corey kissing him on the cheek. That made him quickly sit down at the table, placing the phone down with the photo still showing.
"We were alone yesterday; who took these?!"
"Some random blogger, from what I've found," Josie answered, shaking her head. "Apparently, they run a relationship site that gives advice on how to maintain a 'healthy' and 'loving' relationship. They stumbled across you guys, and said that they wanted to 'show the world young love in its purity'."
Jack scoffed in disgust. "So, they decided to take pictures of two random mammals having a private moment and post them online?"
"Yep," Josie confirmed, popping the 'P'. "They've since taken them down from their blog because of the backlash, and they've apologized for the breach in privacy, but that hasn't stopped everyone from sharing them on social media."
"…How many have seen them?" Judy asked quietly, sitting down at the table.
The brown bunny shrugged helplessly. "I don't know; at least half the school?"
Jack ran his paws down his face and sighed. "Fuck."
Silence encompassed everyone at the table. Eventually, Judy said, "Well, I guess that explains the looks." That caused Corey to groan, resting his head on the table, covering it with his arms. Jack immediately moved next to his boyfriend to comfort him, along with Josie.
"Hey hey hey, don't worry," she said, placing a paw on his shoulder. "Give it some time; it'll blow over before you know it."
"Do you really believe that?" Corey asked, his voice muffled.
"Yeah, I do," the doe reassured. "Has anyone said anything to you about it yet?"
Corey brought his head up, running his paws down his face. "No, but give it time." He sighed as he looked around the table. "They all say something eventually."
Before Josie or Judy could respond to that, Jack quietly said, "This is my fault."
The raccoon and girls turned to the striped bunny, who had his eyes on the table. "What do you mean?" Corey asked.
Jack sighed. "I was the one who goaded you into doing that," he said, gesturing towards the photo of Corey kissing him. "If I hadn't-"
"Dude, there's no way you could've known that someone was going to walk by, let alone take pictures of us," Corey interrupted. "I really hate that it happened, but you can't blame yourself for that."
"Still though…"
The raccoon sighed. "Well, you wanted everyone to know, and now everyone does."
"Yeah, but I wanted it to be on OUR terms," Jack said. "When YOU were ready."
Josie reached out and grabbed her phone, scrolling through the pictures again. She then stopped after a few seconds and started reading something. "Actually, going through some of the comments, it seems like everyone approves of you two."
Both boys' heads turned to the brown bunny. "What?"
Josie nodded her head. "Yeah. Sure, there's a few…unkind…comments, but for every one of those, there are, like, three really supportive ones."
"Really?" Corey inquired.
The doe smiled and read one of the comments: "Those two look so cute! I sincerely hope that they stay together for a long time!"
Jack and Corey sat there silently before the latter grumbled out, "I'm not cute…"
"I think you are," the buck told him.
"Not the time, dude."
"The point is," Josie said, "it's not as bad as it seems.
Judy nodded her head in agreement. "She's got a point. I mean, if someone here has a problem with it, they would've made it clear by now."
Almost as if it was summoned, the four kits suddenly a voice come from behind them:
"Y'know, I'm not surprised in slightest that he's a fag; you could tell just by the way he walks."
Corey cringed as Jack and Josie looked over and glared at the gray doe, whose ears fell back against her head. 'She just HAD to say something.' The buck then heard Chuck continue:
"What, nothing to say, trash panda?"
Jack turned around and glared at the woodchuck. "I thought I told you to not call him that," he grounded out.
Chuck turned and gave a mocking smile. "Oh, if it isn't his little boyfriend, too? Can't say I'm surprised about you either, Savage. I mean, I guess it explains why Mommy left you."
Jack didn't need to look over at Judy or Josie to know that they were barely holding themselves back. Before either one could say or do anything, though, Corey suddenly turned around and looked at the woodchuck. "What is your deal, dude?"
"Wow, he can talk, too!" Chuck exclaimed jeeringly.
The raccoon stood up and fully faced the woodchuck. Jack felt his blood run cold. "Corey, hold on-"
He stopped when his boyfriend held up his paw, as if to say, 'I've got this.'
Chuck smirked. "What, got something you want to say?"
"More like a question, actually," Corey replied, giving an even gaze. The woodchuck cocked an eyebrow, and the raccoon continued:
"What do you get out of this?"
Whatever question the woodchuck was expecting, that was clearly not it. "Excuse me?"
"It's been a question I've been asking myself for a while now," Corey said, crossing his arms. "Is it to try and embarrass us? Does it give you a sense of control? Is it just for shits and giggles? What do you get from this? Why do you do this? There's no way this puts you in a positive light." Before Chuck could give an answer, Corey continued. "I'll tell you why: it's because you love the attention. If we or anyone else responds to you in any way, whether it be positive or negative, you suddenly become the center of everything. Any attention is good attention, am I right? And can I just say that that's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen?"
Chuck narrowed his eyes and said, "You'd better watch yourself-"
"Or what? What are you going to do?" the raccoon challenged. "Keep calling me a faggot over and over again? How scathing. So, you'd better find something else to call me. Or better yet, you can go fuck off somewhere else and just leave us alone." Corey turned around to sit back down before he paused to look over his shoulder.
"And just so you know, I'm happy with who I am. And I'm happy I found someone who just understands me. Which is a lot more than what I can say about you, and believe me, I could say a lot more." Corey said, turning to the woodchuck as he said, "Now, if you have nothing else-"
He was suddenly cut off when Chuck's fist suddenly shot out and nailed the raccoon in the nose, causing him to stumble backwards. He landed hard, and raised his paws up to nose, which had immediately started bleeding. Jack could hear Josie and Judy exclaim something, but he barely registered any of it.
All he saw was red.
Chuck was standing over Corey, angry. "You wanna say that again, you little fa-"
He was cut off when the striped bunny suddenly slammed into him.
Jack wasn't sure how long Mr. Woodson had been ranting and raving, only that he was getting sick of it now. And judging by how often he was rolling his eyes, Corey was, too. The old woodchuck was going on and on about how 'these ruffians are a disgrace' and 'should be expelled' and other things that the striped bunny had tuned out a while ago.
Even Chuck was starting to look bored.
Eventually, the principal, a moose named Mr. Furguson, spoke up. "Mr. Woodson, I believe you have made your point."
"So why haven't you punished them already?" the woodchuck demanded.
"Because we are still waiting for Mr. Savage's and Mr. Atkinson's guardians to arrive," the moose answered patiently before gesturing to Jack and Corey, "and we still need to hear their side of the story."
The buck looked around the principal's office, his left eye throbbing in pain. He saw Chuck, bruised up, sitting two seats next to him, arms crossed, while Corey was sitting next to him, still holding a paper towel up to his bloody nose. Mr. Woodson huffed, standing behind his son with his arms crossed.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the door to the office opened, and Bonnie and Stu entered, along with two older raccoons, one of whom was wearing glasses.
Jack withheld a groan. This was not how he had planned to meet his boyfriend's grandparents.
The moment she saw the striped buck, Bonnie gasped at his appearance. "Jack, what happened…" She trailed off once she saw Corey and Chuck and took in their appearances. The elder doe turned back to him. "Did you get in a fight?"
"…Is that a trick question, or…?"
"JACK."
"Sorry," the buck said, wincing.
Stu stepped forward. "What happened here?" he asked Mr. Furguson.
"What happened," Mr. Woodson started, "was that your nephew and his hooligan friend picked a fight with my son and ganged up on him."
Before Bonnie and Stu could say anything, Corey spoke up. "We didn't 'pick' a fight with him or 'gang up' on him; HE was the one who had started it."
"Are you calling my son a liar?"
The raccoon scoffed. "Oh, I can think of many things to call him, and none of them pleasant."
"Corey, be quiet," Jack could hear Mr. Atkinson say as he made his way over to his grandson, "You're not helping." He then turned to Mr. Woodson. "And you might want to refrain from calling my grandson a 'hooligan' again."
"Is that a threat?"
"Only a suggestion that you watch what you say."
Mr. Furguson cleared his throat loudly, causing the two to turn towards him. "That's enough, thank you. And to answer your question, Mr. Hopps, there was an altercation between your nephew, Mr. Atkinson, and Mr. Woodson earlier today."
"What happened? Tell us everything," Corey's grandmother demanded.
As Mr. Furguson was explaining what had happened, Jack saw Corey's grandfather take the younger raccoon's old paper towel, replacing it with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket. The buck felt his blood boil at the sight of his boyfriend's appearance, resisting the urge to punch Chuck again. His thoughts were interrupted by his aunt.
"Do we know who started it?" Bonnie asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"No, we do not," the moose answered, shaking his head. "That's what we are trying to figure out."
"Surely, there's at least one video of this," Mrs. Atkinson reasoned.
"Oh, there is," Mr. Furguson said. "In fact, there are plenty of videos. The problem is, none of them show who threw the first punch. Some are saying these two started it," he gestured towards Jack and Corey, "but the majority say that your son attacked them first, Mr. Woodson."
"My son would NEVER do something like this," the older woodchuck insisted.
Corey scoffed. "Yeah, I'll bet he's SUCH an angel-"
"That's enough," Jack could hear Mr. Atkinson say.
The moose was about to respond when he was interrupted by someone lightly knocking on the office door. A few seconds later, a bespectacled pig entered.
"Yes, Mrs. Collins?"
"I apologize for interrupting," the sow began, "but there's a student out here saying that they need to speak with you; it's about the fight that occurred earlier today."
The principal stopped and looked at the parents in the room, who all nodded their heads. He then turned back to the pig. "OK, send them in."
Mrs. Collins nodded and left to retrieve the student. Corey looked over at Jack, looking confused. 'Judy?' he mouthed. The buck could only shake his head, since she and Josie already came forward and defended them. A minute later, the door opened again, and the striped bunny turned to see who had entered. His eyes widened in shock when he saw who it was.
"Mr. Grey," Mr. Furguson opened with, "I've been told you wanted to speak with me."
Gideon nodded his head as he looked around the room. "Yes, sir. I know who started the fight."
"You do?"
The fox pointed at Chuck. "It was him."
Jack's ears stood up while Corey looked at Gideon, clearly surprised. 'He's helping us?'
Mr. Woodson turned and glared at his son. "Charles?"
"Dad, I swear, it wasn't me!" the young woodchuck pleaded.
"I can prove it," Gideon said.
"How?"
"Well, I've got it on video-"
"So did everyone else; what's different about this one?" Mr. Woodson interrupted the young fox.
Gideon looked like he wanted to snap back, but after a beat, he said, "Yeah, well, this one actually shows that he had started it."
"What do you mean? How did you get that?" Mr. Furguson asked.
"More importantly," Mr. Woodson interjected, "what were you doing recording other students?"
Gideon looked around the room a little self-consciously. Eventually, he faced the moose, saying, "Well, I was, um, making another entry for, you know, when…"
Jack and Corey looked at each other, confused as to what the fox was talking about. Mr. Furguson, however, immediately seemed to understand and looked around the room before saying, "I see. Are you sure you want to play it for us?"
"It's fine," the todd answered, pulling out his phone. "There's not really much to it. Here." He held out his phone, the video pulled up.
Mr. Furguson reached out and took the phone when Mr. Woodson spoke up. "That didn't answer my question. Why were you filming-"
"Mr. Woodson," Gideon interrupted. "I had no intention of filming your son. I was already recording myself before the fight started."
The older woodchuck looked unconvinced, but he nodded his head. Mr. Furguson then hit the 'Play' button, and the Gideon's voice could be heard:
'OK, so, today is Wednesday, May 17. It is currently the lunch period, so I'll try to make this quick: Got my math test back today from last week; not the greatest, but, eh, I guess it could've been worse.'
Jack's head tilted in confusion. What is this?
'The quiz I had in science SHOULD'VE been better, though, so I guess I need to work on that some more. Um…'
Gideon had suddenly trailed off for a beat before resuming:
'Just saw that Savage guy and his cousin. Apparently, he and that raccoon kit are boyfriends? At least, that's what everyone else is saying. If that's true, then good for them, I guess…'
Bonnie and Stu glanced at each other as soon as they heard the todd's statement, as did Corey's grandparents. Jack felt his stomach drop; this was NOT how he wanted his aunt and uncle to find out about him and Corey. The recording went on for a few more minutes, until they heard:
'I think that's about it for now. I might update this once I get home, but-'
'Y'know, I'm not surprised in slightest that he's a fag; you could tell just by the way he walks.'
Clear as day, Chuck's voice could be heard, interrupting Gideon. The fox in the recording suddenly stopped, and everyone in the room could faintly hear Jack and Corey respond to the woodchuck. The buck couldn't see the video, but he imagined that Gideon had turned the camera towards them to capture everything. Eventually, it reached the part where the three of them started trading blows. At that, Mr. Furguson stopped the video, and Mr. Woodson turned to his son, looking angry.
"'It wasn't you', hmm?"
Chuck gulped and said, "Dad, I-"
"Zip it," his father spat out, silencing the younger woodchuck. He then turned to Bonnie, Stu, and Corey's grandparents. "Mr. and Mrs. Hopps, Mr. and Mrs. Atkinson, I apologize for my earlier accusations and for my son's behavior."
Stu nodded. "Just make sure he doesn't do this again."
Mr. Woodson nodded his head in agreement as Mr. Furguson gave Gideon his phone back. "Thank you, Mr. Grey, you may leave now." Once the fox left the room, the moose looked at everyone left. "I want to make it clear: no one here is walking away unpunished-"
"What?!" Corey interjected before receiving a glare from both of his grandparents.
Mr. Furguson turned to the kit. "Regardless of who started it, the fact remains that the three of you were in a fight on my campus; that will not be tolerated." Drawing a breath, he added, "That being said, I will let your guardians decide on what your punishments will be. I do not want to see the three of you in here under these circumstances again, is that understood?" All three boys nodded their heads, not looking at him. "Good. Then I believe that will be all."
Bonnie stepped forward. "We'll be taking Jack home if that's OK."
"We're taking Corey home, too," Mrs. Atkinson added.
Mr. Furguson nodded before he turned to Mr. Woodson. "Will you be taking Charles home as well?"
The older woodchuck shook his head. "Not yet. I need to have a little…chat…with my son. May we be alone for a moment?" He looked at his son, and Chuck winced under his father's furious gaze.
"Of course," the principal said, standing up. With that, everyone but Chuck and his father left the office. As he, Corey, and their guardians stepped out into the hall, Jack could hear a raised voice coming from Mr. Furguson's office.
There was a small part of Jack that actually felt a little sorry for the woodchuck on the receiving end.
It was quickly drowned out by the immense satisfaction of the woodchuck being put in his place for once.
"Jack."
The buck turned to his uncle, who continued. "Listen, um…your aunt and I are proud of you for sticking up for your friend, OK? But if you do something like this again…"
"Understood," Jack said.
Bonnie nodded her head in satisfaction before turning to Corey's grandparents. "I don't believe we've introduced ourselves. I'm Bonnie, and this is my husband, Stu; we're Jack's guardians."
Corey's grandmother held out her paw and shook the doe's. "I'm Helen, and this is William."
As the adults were talking, Jack looked around the nearly empty hallway and noticed Gideon nearby. The fox saw him and turned around, starting to walk away. The striped bunny nudged Corey, who also saw the todd. The two of them quickly caught up to Gideon.
"Hey, Gideon, wait."
The todd stopped and faced Jack and Corey. "What?"
Jack rubbed the back of his head. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping us out in there."
Gideon shrugged. "Don't mention it."
The three kits fell silent until Corey spoke up, albeit a little uncertain. "If it's not a personal question…what WERE you recording?"
Gideon quickly looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Seeing that the adults were still talking amongst themselves, he turned back to them and said, "You can't tell anyone this, got it?"
"Not a word," Jack promised as Corey nodded his head.
Gideon relaxed slightly. "I was making a new entry in my video journal for my therapist; she suggested that I do it to keep track of my progress."
Jack's ears perked up in surprise. "Oh. Um…how's that going for you?"
The todd shrugged again. "It's going alright, I guess."
"Well, um, that's good."
Silence fell upon them again until Gideon cleared his throat. "Well, I need to head back to class; see ya." Before Jack or Corey could say anything else, the fox turned and walked down the hall, away from them. Once he was out of earshot, Jack turned to the raccoon next to him.
"Y'know," the buck started, "I never thought I'd see the day where I would have a civil conversation with him."
Corey shrugged. "Today's just full of surprises, huh?"
"Yeah." Jack agreed before asking, "How's your nose?"
"It's feeling better; it stopped bleeding a while ago," the raccoon answered. He held up the bloody handkerchief. "Not sure if my grandpa will want this back, though." That brought a small laugh from Jack. "How's your eye? It's looking a little better."
The buck brought his paw up and gingerly touched the surrounding area. He winced as he made contact. "Still a little sore, but not as much as it was earlier."
Corey nodded before he slowly said, "You didn't have to do that, you know."
Jack shot him a confused look. "Do what?"
"Fight Chuck," the raccoon elaborated.
"Sure, I did. I said I'd fight anyone who had a problem with you, remember?" Jack asked. "I'm more surprised you stood up to him the way that you did."
Corey shrugged. "Yeah, well…you had a point yesterday, dude: we shouldn't have to hide. It might not have been a kiss in the cafeteria, but everyone found out anyway, so might as well own it, right?"
Jack smiled. "Right."
"And besides," the raccoon added, "he can say shit to me all day; he doesn't get to say that to YOU."
That made the buck chuckle. "Again, my hero." That caused Corey to roll his eyes.
The two kits stood in a comfortable silence when they heard from behind them, "So, Jack? Corey?" They turned to see their guardians looking at them expectantly. "Is there something going on between you two that we should know about?" Bonnie asked them.
Jack opened his mouth to say something, only to stop when Corey suddenly grabbed his paw.
"Jack and I are dating."
The four adults stood there silently for a beat before Stu looked at the striped bunny. "Is this true, Jack?"
The buck nodded. "Yes, sir."
Stu nodded his head before turning to his wife. "Do you know what that means?"
"Yep," Bonnie confirmed, wearing a little smirk. "I believe we need to have 'the talk' with him."
''The talk…'?'
Jack's eyes widened as his ears fell back, now on fire. "N-No, that's OK, I don't think that's necessary-"
"Oh, but it is," his aunt said, leaving no room for argument in her voice.
"…This is for fighting, isn't it?"
"Got it in one," Bonnie confirmed. "Let's grab your things and let's get out of here." She and Stu then turned around and started walking down the hall.
"…We already had that talk, though…" Jack grumbled under his breath as he followed his aunt and uncle. That got a small chuckle from Corey.
"Oh, I wouldn't laugh quite yet," his grandmother said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Because now that I think about it, I don't think your parents ever had it with you."
The raccoon's smile dropped as he looked back and forth between his grandparents. Seeing their amused expressions, he leaned his head back and groaned.
His grandfather chuckled. "Come on; let's head home."
"Yes, sir," Corey said quietly, following them down the hall.
"And Corey?"
The raccoon looked at his grandfather. "Yeah?"
"You've got a great friend," he said, giving a smile.
Corey smiled back. "Yeah, I do."
TWO DAYS LATER…
"So, what'd you think?" Jack asked Josie as the credits were rolling. The two of them, along with Judy and Corey, were sitting in the buck's room and had just finished watching the season three finale of The Legend of Korra.
The doe smiled. "It was pretty good; it was WAY better than season two."
Corey snorted. "Yeah, it's almost like they knew that they were going to have more seasons after this, so they actually planned it out."
That brought a small laugh from Judy as she shook her head. "You're not going to let that go, are ya?"
"Nope!"
Jack smiled as got up and closed his laptop. "So, what do you guys want to do now?"
"We should come up with a setlist for the show," Josie suggested.
Everyone nodded and Jack went to his desk for paper and a pencil. Just as he sat back down on the bed, however, he heard what sounded like a phone buzzing.
"I think someone's phone is going off," he said.
"Oh, that's me, sorry," Corey said, pulling it out of his pocket. He read the screen and Jack thought he saw a hesitant look on his boyfriend's face for a split second. It was gone as soon as it appeared, though, as the raccoon said, "Hey, I've got to take this really quick; you guys get started without me."
"You sure?"
"Yeah," Corey said, nodding his head. "I mean, it's not like I get much of a say in what YOU guys are going to play." He gestured towards the door. "I'll be back soon."
The raccoon got up and exited the room, leaving the door slightly open. Jack then turned to the does. "So, any ideas?"
The bunnies spent the next few minutes writing down songs for an emo night (eventually expanding it to include pop punk as well), when Corey returned. Jack smiled once he saw the raccoon, only for it to fall the second he saw his blank expression. "You good?"
His boyfriend nodded his head mechanically as he grabbed his bag. "Yeah. I've gotta head out; see you guys later." Before anyone could say anything, Corey had exited the room.
The three bunnies sat there in silence before Judy turned to the others, concerned. "He's not good."
"Really? No fucking shit, Sheerlock," Josie retorted sarcastically, though she had a worried look on her face as well. She then faced Jack. "Shouldn't you-"
"Yeah, I'll be right back," the buck agreed, getting up and exiting the room. He made his way down the hall and upstairs, not seeing any sign of his boyfriend. Jack then saw Bonnie sitting on the couch, reading a book. He walked over to her and asked, "Hey, did you see Corey leave earlier?"
"Yes, I did," his aunt replied, looking up from her book.
"OK, thank you."
Jack started to walk to the front door when Bonnie spoke up again. "Is he OK?" The buck turned around to her, noticing her concerned look. "He looked rather upset about something."
"I don't know," he replied. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
With that, Jack started walking down the entry way and to the front door. He opened it and saw Corey making his way down the driveway. Jack closed the door and quickly raced after him.
"Corey!"
The raccoon jumped and turned around to see the buck behind him. "Jack, what're you-"
"Corey, what's going on?"
The raccoon tried his best to look confused as he said, "What're you talking about? There's nothing-"
"Bullshit, dude," Jack interrupted. "Everything was fine earlier before your phone went off. What happened? And don't lie."
That shut Corey up, as he suddenly looked everywhere but at the buck in front of him. Eventually, Jack heard him quietly say, "I'm not lying-"
"Yes, you are."
"Jack, please," Corey said, his voice shaking. "Just drop it."
Jack's expression softened at that; whatever it was, it must've really shaken him up. He slowly approached Corey and took his paws. "Look, it's just us, OK? You can tell me anything; you know that, right?" After a beat, Corey slowly nodded. "OK. Now, what's going on?"
"…I just got off the phone with my parents," Corey softly admitted.
"OK?" Jack prompted.
"…They found out."
Jack felt a chill go up his spine. Everything was making sense now. "…OK," the striped bunny started, "did they take it well, or…?"
The raccoon sighed and looked at his boyfriend. "They don't seem to be thrilled about it, but…they said they're willing to try for my sake; that they want to know the 'real me' more."
"Well, that's as good as we can hope for, right?" Jack offered. "That they're willing to try?"
Corey nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Better yet, they've decided that they aren't getting divorced after all; they want to try again."
"Really?" Jack asked. At Corey's nod, he added, "Well, that's a good thing, right?"
"Eh," Corey shrugged. "If I was a cynical bastard-"
"Which you are."
That brought a small chuckle from the raccoon as he took back his paws. "I'd give them a month tops before they start fighting again, but who knows? Maybe they're serious this time, and if that's the case, then good for them."
Jack was inclined to agree, but there was something about the way Corey was saying it made him feel like there was something else going on.
"That doesn't really answer my question," the buck began. "There's something else, isn't there?"
Corey didn't answer, and started playing with his necklace instead. That immediately put Jack on edge. 'Uh oh.' Then he spoke again:
"Jack, why am I here?"
The question threw the bunny off guard. "What?"
"Why. Am. I. Here?" Corey reiterated. "And I don't mean in the philosophical or metaphysical sense; I mean, literally: why did I come here in the first place? To Bunnburrow?"
Jack thought it over before slowly saying, "Because your parents sent you out here-"
"Exactly," Corey interrupted. "They sent me out here so that I wouldn't witness their marriage fall apart, and so that they can sort everything out. Well, guess what?" His voice wavered on the rhetorical question. "They sorted everything out. Do you know what that means?"
The buck's ears fell back against his head when the realization sank in.
"You mean…?"
Corey nodded. "I'm going home." He then took a breath.
"I'm going back to Deerbrooke."
