Past Life Ch 4
#4 of PAST LIFE
A week after the octoknights incident, things have returned to their normal peaceful life. Well, almost...
A loud knocking on the front door of the Lionheart Estate. John, who was cooking lunch in the kitchen, turned his head towards the source. The arctic wolf is currently wearing a brown shirt with green pants. A white apron is covering his front portion of his body.
"A guest?" he asked out loud. He closed the pot he was cooking on and walked towards the door. "I wonder who it is..."
He opens the door with a warm smile to the unknown guest. But as he saw him, the smile disappeared. His tail went down to the floor and his ears are pinned to his skull. His blue and green eyes peered submissively at the black wolf in front of him. For some reason, the black wolf looked a little nervous.
"H-hey..." he said to his white counterpart.
"Hey..." John replied with the same tone.
"N-nice apron..."
John just kept silent and looked away from the teen. Dean just sighed at the bad start.
"M-mind if I come in?" he asked.
"No, not at all..." John gestured and let him in. He brought the black wolf to the living room and served him some tea.
"A lump or two?" he asked, trying to be a good host.
"One, please," Dean answered. John nodded and added a block of sugar in his tea before handing it to Dean. The both of them continued to sit in silence while staring at their tea.
"Uh... l-listen," Dean broke their silence. "I'm here to apologize."
"For what?" John said as he continues to stare at the brown liquid. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"Actually, I have," Dean sighed, admitting his mistake. John looked up to see the teen's face. "I've been telling myself that you're the cause of my parents' death. I really couldn't accept that my parents died that time, so I blame it all on you."
"You should be..." John looked back down. "I'm the cause of all this. I'm actually the one who should be apologizing."
"No. I'm the one who screwed up. Jeremiah's right. You tried your best to protect us, even if it's not enough."
"But still..."
"I don't want any of that. I'm here to ask your forgiveness. That's all. You didn't do anything wrong to me. It was actually the opposite. So... sorry," Dean bowed down to the white wolf, hoping for the best result.
"I'm not angry with you," John shook his head. "And you don't need to apologize anymore. I'll let everything slide."
"Thanks," Dean raised his head and smiled. "And... sorry for being such an ass."
"No prob," John smiled.
"Hey mom!" Jeremiah called from the hall as he approaches the room. "I heard the door was knocked. Do we have a gue-Dean!?" He jumped back as he saw the black wolf on the sofa across John.
"Hi Jer," Dean smiled.
"W-what are you doing here!?" Jeremiah stuttered.
"I'm here to set things straight, that's all."
"So..."
"I forgave him," John smiled.
"Oh... Ok," Jeremiah nodded. "So... How's lunch?"
John's eyes went wide and he hurried back to the kitchen. The two teens chuckled as Jeremiah sat down on the place where John was sitting on.
"'Mom'?" Dean chuckled.
"Yeah..." Jeremiah smiled. "I accept him as my mother last week."
"Isn't he actually your adopted father?"
"No, actually we've been living together as friends, nothing more. I never wanted him as my parent until last week."
"How exactly did it happen?"
"Well, we were trying to comfort each other, then I started to see him as an actual mother than a friend. That's pretty much it."
"A mother?"
"Hello? Feminine one of the couple."
"If he's the mother, then the father is..."
"Oh yeah," Jeremiah nodded. "You've guessed it."
"That buffed lion becomes your father!?" Dean gaped. "Are you sure your head's okay?"
"I'm totally fine," Jeremiah chuckled. Dean immediately sat close to the fox and placed a paw on his forehead.
"W-what're you doing?" Jeremiah blushed.
"Trying to find out if you ate anything bad to be this delirious," Dean replied.
"I-I told you, I'm fine," Jeremiah started to blush even harder. His white fur turned red as Dean continues to touch his forehead.
"You're burning up," Dean looked at him, completely oblivious of the hard blush.
"I-I'm fine!!" Jeremiah yelled as he leaned away from the wolf. Dean followed on the lean until the fox was lying on his back on the couch. The wolf's body is hovering a few inches above him; their muzzles are only centimeters apart.
'I-Is this for real!?' Jeremiah yelled excitedly in his head. 'Is it really happening!?' His mouth opened a little as his lupine best friend continues to stare at his eyes.
"Jer..." Dean whispered softly.
"Dean..." Jer whispered back. He slowly closed his eyes and leaned for a kiss.
'Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! I can't believe it!! It's finally happening!! I can't believe this is happening!!' Jeremiah yelled in his head as he slowly raise his muzzle to the wolf's.
"Did you do something to your head fur?"
Jeremiah quickly snapped open his eyes and closed his mouth.
"Uh... What?" was the first two words he said.
"Your head fur," Dean said as he sniffed the top of the vulpine's head. "It smells like tropical fruits."
"Oh! Yeah!" Jeremiah blushed. "Grandma concocted this shampoo two days ago."
"I like it," Dean smiled as he smells the orange fur. "Can I borrow that sometimes?"
"Yeah! Sure!" Jeremiah smiled back
'You insensitive jerk!!' he yelled in his head. 'How could you be thinking about my fur instead of my feelings!! I've been having this crush on you ever since we've met!! How could you have not seen it!?'
"Guys!" John yelled from the kitchen. "Lunch is ready!"
'Great!! Just to make matters worse!! Perfect timing mom!! Hey gods!! If you want to make it even worse, do it now!!'
"Come on!" Dean said as he stood up. He handed his paw to the fox who's still lying down on the cream sofa. "I can't wait to try your... mother's cooking." Dean covered his muzzle with his other paw to hold his laughter. "And maybe, after that, we can go on a double date."
Jeremiah's eyes were shot opened. He immediately sat up and stared at the black wolf.
"A-a double date!?" he stammered.
"Yeah. I've noticed that you haven't had any girlfriend since three years ago. So I hooked you up with Angelica."
"You hooked me up on a blind date with Miranda's sister!?" he yelled.
"Well yeah. They're cute. I thought that you might be jealous of me dating someone as cute as her, so I asked her to bring her sister for a double date with you."
'Thank you gods!! You've totally wrecked my day and, most importantly, my dreams!! You've really made my day!!'
Jeremiah grumbled silently as he took the paw. Dean quickly pulled him up to his feet and they walked towards the dining room where John was sitting on one of the chairs close to the window. The smell of shrimp gumbo hangs on the air as the two canines sat down across the white wolf.
"Smells good," Dean complimented.
"Thanks," John smiled. "I hope you're not allergic to seafood."
"Thankfully, no," Dean replied as he took a seat. Jeremiah sat down on the seat close to John, grumbling slightly at the last event. John looked to his side and tilted his head.
"Hun, is something wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing..." Jeremiah looked down in his bowl and started to eat in silence. The two lupine stared at him questioningly before they started eating their own food.
"Wow, it's good," Dean smiled.
"Thanks," John smiled back. "It's not the best, but I'm happy that you like it."
"Not the best? This is absolutely fabulous!"
"Nope. Not the best. Someone else than me can cook it better."
"Really? Who?"
John looked at the fox beside him. Jeremiah kept on staring angrily at the seafood. John sighed and turned his head to the black wolf. He pointed his lips and mouthed 'his father' to him. Dean just nodded, not pushing the subject any further. The two lupines began to stare at the fox worryingly.
"Jer, is everything really okay?" John asked.
"Of course..." Jeremiah growled slightly.
"Then why are you growling?" Dean asked.
"It's nothing..."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive!!" he yelled. He banged his paws on the table, shaking the silverwares and surprising both wolves at the same time. He looked around and sighed. "I'm not hungry anymore..." He then slowly stood up and stormed out of the dining room. Both lupines began to stare at each other. They were completely dazzled by the vulpine's anger. John just sighed deeply and stared at the other wolf.
"You've been here for like, less than an hour, and yet, something still manage to happen," John shook his head. "What did you do?"
"I dunno myself," Dean replied honestly.
John sighed once more. "How the heck did all this happen?"
"I think it's because of the..."
"Don't say it..." John stopped him. "I don't need you to remind me about it. And how did you know about that? Only some people know that secret."
"The king told Jer and he told me."
"Well keep that as a secret, okay?"
Dean just nodded and continued to eat in silence. John stared towards the door that the fox pass through a while ago and sighed deeply.
"I'm gonna have a word with those two..." he mumbled.
"Who?"
"Albert and Jer. Al promised not to tell anyone about my condition and I still need to know what made Jer like that."
"I'll go talk to him then." Dean said as he stood up. "I'm his best friend. I might be able to talk to him better than you do."
"Alright," John nodded in agreement. "Here's what you'll have to do..."