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Grant finished his sandwich at the small sub shop in the airport and checked his watch. Perfect timing; Derron's plane was due any minute. He wadded up the paper wrapping from his sub, grabbed his luggage, and walked out, throwing his trash in the can by the door. He was still at the terminals, so he decided to walk over to the gate to meet the other badger. It wasn't often they could meet up like this - Brian's and Trent's teams were playing each other this weekend, at a time Grant could leave his students - but it would definitely be nice to have someone to hang out with while waiting for Brian to be able to visit. The glamorous life of being married to a pro football player. It wasn't all bad, by any means, but during the season he was left all alone in their rather overly-spacious home. Derron would visit occasionally, since he and Trent had a house in Liston, where Grant taught. Unfortunately, the badger was a business consultant of some sort (Grant could never keep track of the specifics), so he was traveling much of the time. During the season, the travel picked up, and if Derron could spare the time, he'd follow Trent to every city he played in.

He sighed as he saw the plane taxi from the runway up to the gate. He sometimes wished he could just follow Brian around from game to game. It certainly wasn't a question of money, since this was Brian's fifth year playing, but Grant honestly liked his job, and he figured if he didn't have something to do other than being a football player's husband, he would probably go crazy. He waited patiently during that indeterminable amount of time between docking at the gate and unboarding, glad that at least Derron was in first class instead of all the way in the back.

Eventually, people finally started filing out of the tunnel, and it wasn't long before he spotted the familiar badger's face, clad in a blue polo and jeans. Derron smiled at him, walking up and greeting him with a warm hug. The badger had filled out some - almost as much as Grant - since he'd not been playing football like his husband, but he was still a very beefy guy, something that Grant couldn't claim.

"Hey Grant, decided to wait on me, huh?" Derron asked as they parted. "How long ago did you get here?"

"Oh, less than an hour. I just got a sandwich, no biggie." Grant smiled. "No carry on?"

"Nah, just checked a bag. Wasn't a long flight so I didn't need my laptop. How's school?"

"Same ol', same ol'. You'd think the physics classes would have the smarter kids in them, but nope." Grant chuckled.

"Kids, eh? Need I remind you that you're only a few years removed from that?"

Grant shoulder-checked Derron as they walked through the concourse. "From grad school, maybe. I'm teaching undergrads."

"Still not long enough to be calling them kids. How's Brian been? Shoulder all better now?"

Grant nodded. "Yeah. Says he should be able to play tomorrow." Brian had dislocated his shoulder on a bad hit a few weeks back.

"Good, good. Gives Trent a chance to flatten him." Derron smiled.

"They're not even on the same side. Brian is right tackle, remember?" Grant rolled his eyes. "And even if they were, Brian would totally win that matchup."

"Nah, you're biased."

"Pot calls the kettle what?"

Derron chuckled. "Let's get the baggage and get out of here. I could use a nap before they get out of practice."

---

Derron sat slumped on the small couch in the suite, dejected. Apparently someone on Trent's team got into a fight at their hotel and the team got put on lockdown. He silently wished Trent was one of the ones who bought a temporary house in the team's home city, but even that was too much for the bull's modest sensibilities. He wouldn't be able to see his husband tonight, and he'd have to wait until after the game. He sighed, and was startled by a quick knock at the door. He got up and opened the door to reveal Grant, the chubby badger looking as depressed as Derron felt.

"Team got put on lockdown at the hotel." Grant explained. "Brian said two guys got into a fight, one on each team."

Derron nodded. "Trent's on lockdown, too. Wanna come in and hang out?"

"Yeah, sure. Didn't really want to be alone in a hotel room tonight."

"I get what you mean." Derron perked up. "You know what? Let's get hammered."

Grant laughed. "What? Seriously? Don't you think we're too old for that?"

"Ha, never too old. This suite's got one hell of a minibar. Plenty of booze here to get us trashed. Drink the sorrows away."

Grant looked lost in thought. "Aw, what the hell. I haven't been drunk since college."

"I remember that night." Derron chuckled, walking over to open the small fridge that kept the alcohol. "You threw up in Brian's lap trying to get him to take his pants off so you could blow him."

"Fuck, don't remind me." Grant put a paw to his head.

"Haha, well here's to Trent and Brian." He handed a bottle of vodka to Grant, opting for the whiskey himself.

"Christ, these are full size bottles!" Grant exclaimed as he took the bottle.

"Did I say minibar? I meant bar." Derron chuckled. "Trent may not like living rich, but I don't mind at all. Bottoms up!"

---

"Fuck!" A voice startled Grant awake. His head hurt, why did his head hurt? And why did he feel so sick? He opened his eyes. He was naked. Someone shifted in the bed. He looked around, bleary-eyed, and finally his eyes landed on another badger, similarly naked.

"Wh- Derron!?" He was fully awake immediately, his brain clicking in place as he became aware of the situation. "Wait, what... What the fuck happened?"

Derron was pacing the room, seemingly losing his mind. He finally looked at Grant. "By the way my fucking ass hurts, I took that fucking beer can you call a dick. Fuck! Trent's gonna kill me. FUCK!"

"But... Wh-" Grant blinked. "I don't remember... Last I remember we were drinking, and... Shit." He didn't remember everything, but it was perfectly clear what had transpired the night before. He'd never gotten blackout drunk before, he'd always remembered what he did, even if it was crazy.

"Fuck, he's going to kill me. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. What have I done?" Derron started crying. Grant had never seen the larger badger cry, and it didn't help that he was on the verge of a freak out as well.

"I- uh... I need to leave." Grant said as he got up to gather his clothes.

Derron grabbed him by the shoulders as he was putting his pants on. "Please," he pleaded, "please don't tell Brian."

Grant looked into the badger's teary eyes. Maybe they should keep it a secret, pretend it never happened. It wasn't like they even remembered what happened. But they knew it did, even if they couldn't remember. He shook his head. "I have to. I'm sorry, but I can't keep something like this from him." He started to tear up as well.

Derron collapsed to his knees. "He's gonna kill me."

"Hey, you don't know that. We were drunk, it... Maybe he'll forgive you." He couldn't really believe it, but he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Derron looked up at him, the tears abated momentarily. "How long have you known us, Grant? He's not the forgiving type. Not for something like this."

"Well... I- I don't know what to say. I can't keep this from Brian, I just can't. And I know you can't keep it from Trent either, how else will you explain that limp? Or even if you do, I'm sure he'll notice if you try to have sex tonight. I'm... I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I didn't mean for this to happen, you know that."

"I know... It's not your fault." Derron's head dropped, staring at the floor. "I've always been kinda curious, you know, after Brian told me about your..." He left the last word hang in the air.

Grant shook his head, ears going flat. "It's not just your fault. It's mine, too. I... I cheated... on my husband." Admitting it sent a chill down his spine, making him want to curl up in a ball and cry, making him want - more than everything - to undo it. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

Grant had felt numb throughout the walk back to his room. It was hard for him to even process what had happened. He took a quick shower, barely able to summon the will to move in order to wash himself. As he finally settled on the bed, it hit him. Hard. He started to sob as he thought about everything. He tried to play out the conversation in his head, how Brian would react, but it was to no avail. They'd never had to deal with anything like cheating, not together at least. He didn't know about Brian's past relationships, but Grant had never cheated or been cheated on, so this was new territory for him. How would he react if it were Brian who cheated? He didn't really know, if he was being honest about it. He just knew he fucked up, to put it lightly. He felt like shit, and the worst part in his mind was that he had never once had the desire to have sex with anyone else. He'd tried to be the model husband for Brian, and he knew he wasn't perfect, but all that went out the window this morning. He cried as he wondered what the future was for his marriage, and what he would do if it was the end.

At some point, he must have drifted off, as the next thing he knew he was waking up bleary-eyed, able to feel the matted fur around his eyes from when he was crying. He turned over to the clock and silently cursed at himself. He slept through Brian's game. He grabbed his phone and looked up the highlights, immediately disheartened by what he saw. Brian's team had lost, and since this game was for the playoffs, his season was over, which meant he'd be coming home, and there was no way to stall this any further.

Just as he was about to put down his phone, it buzzed with a text from Brian: Just pulled into your hotel. What's your room number?

A chill ran down Grant's spine, and a sickening feeling settled in his stomach. He didn't want to go through this. He didn't want to have to see Brian's face as he confessed. But there was no way out, no turning back the clock. He texted back with his room number, nothing more. He couldn't bring himself to send the normally cheerful texts he sent when Brian lost a game. Not today. He slid out of the bed and shuffled over to his luggage to put on a loose pair of boxers. He didn't want to greet the wolf naked.

It wasn't ten minutes before Grant heard a soft knock on his door. He took a deep breath to calm himself futilely before walking over to the door and opening it. He couldn't help but notice the wolf's forlorn expression change to happiness immediately when he laid his eyes on Grant. It felt like a punch in the gut. Here Brian was, happy to be with his husband, and Grant was about to take that and rip out his heart.

"Mmm, there's my sexy husband." Brian leaned in, running his paws up Grant's side, then reaching them around to pull him in a tight hug.

Grant could only hug back half-heartedly. "Sorry about your game."

"Yeah." Brian sighed. "Well at least I get to come home." He pulled from the hug, and finally noticed Grant's face. "Wait, have you been crying? What's wrong?"

"Um..." Grant's eyes started to try to water up, and he willed the tears back. "We need to talk."

He led the wolf to one of the chairs in the hotel room, taking the other facing him. Brian's expression was that half-confused, half-worried look one got when unsure of potentially bad news. Grant wished he had something good to tell him, and hated what he was about to tell the wolf.

"What happened?" Brian asked, the concern genuine on his face.

"Well... Last night when you said you couldn't come over, I went over to Derron's room to hang out. Uh, Trent was on lockdown, too, I'm sure you knew. We, um... We decided to have a few drinks, and... We got drunk. Really drunk... And..." Grant looked away, not wanting to look Brian in the eyes. "I... I slept with him."

"Wait, what!?" The wolf shot out of his chair, yelling. "You fucked Derron!? What the fuck, why?"

"I..." Grant began to sob. "I didn't mean to, it was an accident."

"An accident!?" He yelled. "What, you just tripped and your clothes fell off? Fucking someone isn't an 'accident', Grant."

"I know! I'm sorry!" Grant pleaded through his tears. "I don't... I don't remember it at all, just... Waking up."

Brian had his eyes closed, breathing heavy. "Seven years... Seven years, and you know how many times I had guys approach me? Not once, not even for a fucking second, did I ever think about cheating on you! Then you go and do it with my goddamn best friend! Another fucking married man, I might add!"

Grant didn't know what to say to that. He looked up at the wolf, unsure if there was anything he could do or say. He was pretty sure there wasn't. When Brian's eyes opened, Grant noticed he was tearing up himself as they stared into each other's eyes. Grants with sorrow and regret, Brian's with rage and hurt.

"I..." Brian started, head shaking. His paws were balled up into fists at his side. Would he hit Grant? He'd never seen the wolf this angry before. "I can't fucking look at you right now."

Grant's sobs began anew as the wolf stormed away, jumping as the hotel room door slammed shut.

---

Brian zoned out as he rode in the back of the cab, heading for the house. The last few days for him had been absolutely miserable. First, he couldn't see Grant before the game - if he did, he knew none of this would have happened - then lost the game, and right after that had to hear his husband, the only man he'd ever loved, tell him that he slept with his best friend. The only thing he had to be remotely glad about is that he didn't have a roommate at the hotel he stayed at, so no one was there to see his breakdown that night. Granted, he was sure the bill for the room would be steep due to the broken lamp - a casualty of his anger before he broke down into tears.

He could barely even remember the flight - which was probably miserable as well, knowing his record this weekend. He almost, out of habit, texted Grant to come pick him up, but he didn't want to see the badger, not that soon. He'd have to, of course, when he got home, but he wanted to put that off for as long as possible. He couldn't help but wonder what he should do, what the next course of action was. Should he kick Grant out? Were they going to get divorced? Did he even want do? The answer to the last one came immediately. No, he didn't want to divorce Grant. He honestly couldn't even imagine himself single anymore. He couldn't imagine anyone he'd want to be with or date or even have sex with other than that badger. It just made the pain of betrayal even worse. Did Grant have second thoughts about their marriage, and that's why it all happened? They'd been together for over seven years, and never really had any problems that Brian could think of. Sure they argued, but not about anything important. Not about something big, but maybe Grant never brought it up if there was something he was worried about. But, if Grant wanted a divorce, he wouldn't have been so torn up about cheating, right?

Brian's thought's didn't clear up any by the time he reached the house, and he hesitated getting out of the car. He sighed as he finally got out, grabbed his bag and walked toward the door. He, of course, didn't fail to notice that Grant's car wasn't in the driveway. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket after he walked in the house and dialed Grant's number.

"Hi." Grant answered after two rings.

"Where are you?" Brian asked, hoping the edge in his voice didn't come through.

"Um. Landmark Hotel down the road."

Brian paused, almost not wanting to ask the question that popped in his head. "Are you leaving me?"

"No!" Grant yelled through the phone. "No. I just... I figured you didn't want to see me when you got home."

He sighed. "Just... Just come home. We'll talk."

It seemed forever before Grant replied. "Okay."

Brian spent the time waiting for Grant by unpacking and taking a shower, still unable to sort out his thoughts. As he stood in front of the dryer they had installed on the wall, he heard the barely audible sound of Grant walking through the front door. He figured he was dry enough. He slipped on a pair of briefs - the fact not lost on him that the last time they had a serious talk, Grant was the one in underwear - and walked down the stairs to see the badger standing in the foyer of the house with one of his large suitcases. Did he figure he would be gone long?

"Hi." the badger said, his head dipping down to look at the floor as soon as he saw Brian.

"Come on." Brian said as he walked toward the couch in the living room, taking a seat at one of the ends. The tension was immediately evident as Grant decided to sit on the other end as him. He wasn't sure they'd ever sat this far apart on the couch, and it was proof of the rift that had opened between them.

"So... Uh..." Brian started, still unable to think of what to say.

"Brian, I swear, I never wanted that to happen." Grant interjected. "I swear."

"I- I know..." At least, he couldn't believe that Grant wanted it, or maybe he didn't want to believe. "Can you just tell me, again, how it happened?"

"I... Honestly don't know. The last thing I remember that night was just having some drinks and watching TV. We... Well we were both kinda out of sorts since you couldn't come see us, and figured, you know, why not get drunk? Next thing I know, I'm waking up naked in his bed."

"And you're sure... It was more than just being naked in bed?" Brian didn't know if he really wanted to hear the answer to that, but he had to know.

Grant nodded, and Brian felt as if he was just thrown off a cliff. "He was... Limping... He knew immediately what we'd done."

"Do you... Do you have any second thoughts? About us?"

"No!" Grant's eyes shot open and he straightened on the couch. "Never. I've... I've never even looked at someone else. I love you, Brian, I wouldn't do that to you."

"But you did." He pointed out. He knew it wasn't fair, but he didn't feel like he needed to be fair.

It seemed all the life drained out of the badger's face. "Yeah... I did." Silence stretched between them. The badger's words echoing in Brian's head. "Are... Are you going to leave me?"

Brian sighed. That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? "I don't want to. I really don't. I know... I know I haven't been the perfect husband, either."

"No, don't say-"

Brian cut Grant off by raising his paw. "I know I haven't been around. Maybe if I had been..."

"I knew what I was getting into." Grant said. "None of this is your fault, not one bit."

"But if I was more... Attentive to your needs, or whatever... Would this still have happened?" He pondered.

"Brian, you take care of all my needs. I never wanted to sleep with Derron! I swear, I'll never drink again, I'll go to counseling, whatever. I never meant for this to happen. I don't want to lose you." Grant started to cry.

Brian felt his eyes tear up as he watched his husband of seven years fall apart. He wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to tell him everything would be okay, but he didn't know if it was going to be okay. He thought about it while the badger was reduced to tears. Would it be okay? If Grant really meant to cheat on him, he wouldn't have told him right after, right? He would have kept it secret, maybe even done it again, and Brian would have been none the wiser. It's not like he was home most of the time. They had plenty of time apart if either of them really wanted to cheat.

In the end, he couldn't bear to watch the man he loved suffer. He slid down the couch next to him and pulled the crying badger to his chest, holding him. It wasn't long before he started to tear up.

"It'll be alright, honey. It'll be okay." He whispered into Grant's ear, rocking slowly. He didn't know if he believed it himself yet, but he resolved to do whatever he could to make it true.

---

Brian couldn't help but moan as he kissed Grant, his knot still locked in the badger. It felt so natural, so right, that at that moment, he could hardly imagine that their marriage had been on such thin ice only a few weeks ago. Still, this was the first time they'd had sex since the incident. He resolved to fix this, and after their talks and the marriage counseling, it felt like their life was finally getting back to normal. It came down to the question of if he trusted Grant, and he did. He trusted that it was all a horrible mistake and that he never wanted it. He ran his paws down his husband's chest, running tracks in the fur with his claws.

"I missed this." Brian said, finally. "I missed you."

"Mmm, me too." The badger looked back up to him, eyes seeming to sparkle in the dim light. "I love you, Brian."

He leaned down to kiss Grant. "I love you, too, hon."

He tested his knot and found it had gone down enough to pull out. Grant winced and moaned as the member slid out of him, and just when Brian was leaning down to kiss him again, the doorbell rang. At least they weren't still tied.

He gave Grant a quick peck on his cheek ruff. "I'll get it." He smiled and rolled off the bed. Slipping on a pair of jeans, discarded in the pile of clothes they'd shed, and adjusting himself so his still somewhat-turgid member didn't show too badly, he walked down the stairs. The doorbell rang again as he reached the last step, and he quickened his pace to the door, unlatching the deadbolt and pulling it open to reveal a large badger.

"Derron? Wh- What are you doing here?" He certainly wasn't expecting him to show up at his door, not any time soon. The badger's eyes looked bloodshot, as if he'd been crying, and generally looked disheveled.

"I didn't know who else to turn to. Brian I'm so sorry." He looked on the edge of tears again. "You know I wouldn't purposely do something like that to you."

At length, Brian sighed and nodded. "I know. I believed Grant when he said it was a drunk mistake, so... I guess I have to believe you, too. Come in." He moved to the side to let the distraught badger in.

He wasn't expecting Derron to rush to him and hug him tightly. "Th-Thank you! Thank you so much." He could tell the badger was starting to cry. He hugged him back softly, closing the door with his foot.

"It'll be okay. What happened? You said you didn't know who to turn to?"

"Derron?" Grant's voice said behind him. He turned to regard the badger, who was similarly clad in nothing but a pair of pants - khaki slacks for him. He looked back at Derron, who's reddened eyes were darting between the two of them.

"It's- It's Trent, he... He sent me divorce papers." He choked out, beginning to sob. "He- He said he wanted me gone by the time he came home."

That fucking idiot bull Brian thought. "Hey, babe, can you, uh... Get him some tea or something? I have to make a phone call."

"Yeah." Grant nodded, taking hold of the shambling badger and leading him to the couch.

Brian left the pair in the den as he climbed the stairs to the bedroom to grab his phone. He quickly dialed Trent's number, and as it rang, hoped the bull wasn't at practice or something. Their season was still going, after all.

"Brian?" The bull answered after a few rings.

"Yeah. What the fuck, man?"

"Huh?"

"You mailed divorce papers, really?"

"He cheated on me, Brian! What the fuck else am I supposed to do?" Trent yelled, an edge to his voice he'd never heard before.

"Don't you think I know what he did? You couldn't just talk to him face-to-face? You had to fucking send him a mail-order divorce? He's bawling his eyes out on my couch right now."

"What the hell do you think I've been doing? Laughing it off?"

"No, I know exactly what you've been doing. It happened to me, too, remember?"

"I- I know." Some of the heat seemed to leave the bull's voice. "I'm surprised he came to you instead of Grant." He practically spat the name out.

"Grant's still with me, dumbass. And don't you fucking dare use that tone when talking about him." Brian growled.

"Oh, now you're defending him!?"

"What my husband did is for him and me to work out. What yours did is your responsibility to work out."

"Not anymore."

"Christ, you're just going to throw this away?"

"He's the one that threw it away. I'm not the one that cheated on him!" He started yelling again.

"And you can't even sit down and talk to him? If Grant and I can work through this, you can too - and even if you can't, he deserves at least some modicum of fucking respect."

"There's nothing to talk about. He cheated on me - with my friend! - and now it's over."

"Fucking hell, Trent, you don't just end a six-year marriage by mail!"

"No, he ended it when he decided he wanted to sleep with someone else. I just filled out the paperwork."

"Trent, they were blackout drunk!"

"Doesn't fucking matter. I know he started it. He's always been curious with all the bragging you do about Grant."

"Don't put this on me, asshole." He growled.

"You, Grant, Derron, I don't care who you want to take the blame. I can't fucking take this, Brian. I can't."

"What, so one marriage and two years-long friendships down the drain? You're not even gonna fucking try?"

"You want to stay with Grant, that's your choice, like you said. I don't want to see him."

"So that's it, then?" Brian couldn't help but feel sad.

"I'm sorry, Brian. It's done. Goodbye."

As he hung up the phone, it felt like a part of his life just ended. He'd been great friends with the bull for - hell, for over ten years, now - and now it was over. He sighed as he walked back down the stairs. As he emerged from the stairway, he saw Grant look back over to him, concern written with his expression. He was rubbing the larger badger's back as Derron nursed a cup of tea. Brian sat on the other side of Derron and put a paw on his shoulder.

"We have a spare bedroom. You can stay here as long as you'd like."

Derron's eyes widened in shock as he turned to face Brian. "Really? You're... You're not mad at me?"

Brian shook his head. "No. I can't say I like what happened, and I wish more than anything that it didn't, but... If I can forgive Grant, I can forgive you. We talked about it, worked it out, even went to a marriage counselor... Trent, he's- he's not willing to get past this. I'm sorry, Derron. If it's any consolation, he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore, either."

The badger sighed, his eyes starting to water again. "It's not. We all were... We were like family, and... Now..."

Brian squeezed his shoulder. "I know. We'll get through it. Together."

He looked up at Grant, and they locked eyes, both of them worried for Derron. Brian may have lost a friend, but at he still had his husband. He couldn't imagine how Derron was feeling. Yes, the badger messed up majorly, but it takes two to divorce, and he couldn't help but think that Trent's decision to not even try to work things out was just as much of a mistake. Now they had the hurdle of trying to get past this, trying to mend the hole that remained when a loved one left. Derron was right, they were like a family, as close as any Brian had been a part of, including with his dads. Now that family was broken. But they would get through it. They would.

Together.