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Chapter 40: Onward Steps

Another good morning to look forward to waking up. Keanu roused again as the window had already brightened up, he knew for a fact they spent the whole night awake and lost track of time and slept a little longer after dawn. He turned over to his left to meet Hunter next to him to have a morning cuddle, but he was not there as his arms reached for nothing.

Confused, he opened his eyes completely and found Hunter absent. He then remembered he was only in his underwear and ditched the gray shirt and blue shorts and reminisced what they did last night. Keanu blushed hotly on the pillow, remembering every moment they did on this very bed they were sleeping in, the warming physical contact of their bodies, their hot breaths, their love, and their euphoric sensation that pleasured their bodies at bliss.

Keanu took a deep breath to try to clear his mind because he was hearing some similar noises that reminded him of last night. He picked up the noise and scanned it with his right ear. Someone was grunting in a rhymical order of sorts like counting...

Keanu rolled around on his bed onto his right and found the source of the noise. It was Hunter doing pushups on the floor. He was muttering and grunting as he counted, pushing himself up with his arms wide apart... and only in his boxers.

He muttered, "Forty-five... forty-six... forty-seven... forty-eight... forty-nine... and fifty." He finished and lowered his whole body to the floor and propped himself on the forearms as he breathed.

"Morning," Keanu greeted from the bed.

Hunter looked at him a little surprised. "Hmm? Uh, did I wake you?"

Keanu shook his head. "No, I was already half-awake, but yeah, I heard you grunting."

Hunter rolled onto his back with arms behind his head, somehow unintentionally giving Keanu a nice view. Was he going to do sit-ups?

"Do you exercise in the morning?" Keanu asked.

"Yeah, to keep me active," Hunter bent up his knees and started to do sit-ups, abs flexing tight on the movements. Hunter counted to fifty.

"I also do a little yoga in the morning to stretch. It feels nice..." Keanu wasn't sure if Hunter was listening as he was busy counting on each rep he performed.

Once Hunter finished his fifty reps, he sat on the bed, sweating a little as he breathed heavily. "So, what you were saying?"

Keanu shifted on the bed to sit with legs crossed and a blanket covering only his legs. "Uh, that I do a little yoga in the morning for stretching, it feels nice."

"Ah, good, are you going to do that now?"

"Soon, but... are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, just, phew!" he wiped off the sweat on his forehead and smiled.

Keanu smiled back, remembering their intimate time from last night, and turned slightly red on his cheeks. "Last night was wonderful."

Hunter heartily laughed but he looked at him worryingly. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel great, Hunter. Why?"

"Just thinking about last night, wondering if I was a little rough on you or if I overdid it."

"Well, a little, but you were great, I loved every moment of it with you."

"So, no regrets?"

Keanu shook his head affirmably. "No regrets. Though, I'm still a little overwhelmed that it happened, but happy about what you showed and shared with me. I love you."

Hunter smiled and approached his boyfriend for a hug. "I love you, too."

The wolves held close together, arms wrapping each other warmly and assuring that they both equally enjoyed each other's intimate company. Keanu ignored the smell of Hunter's smelly musky sweat, but it still gave him some little arousal from his manly wolf smell.

Despite that, Keanu said, "You need a shower."

"Heh, I know," Hunter said sheepishly as he rubbed his nape but lifting his arm exposed his armpit open and let out a strong smell of sweaty musk and fainted pinewood scent hitting Keanu's nostrils. His snout and muzzle wrinkled in discomfort; it was too much.

He covered his nose and said, "You really need a shower."

"I'm not that smelly."

"My nose is a little sensitive to strong smells, Hunter."

"Aw, I thought you would like the smell of my workout routine," Hunter teased.

"I do, but your pits smell nasty, no offense."

Hunter took a whiff of his armpit, it smelled bad, but he shrugged. "None taken, but you have to get used to it."

"I know, but that's why deodorant spray exists!"

"I know," Hunter sat up from the bed and said, "and... sorry if we couldn't have a morning cuddle session."

"Huh?"

Hunter smiled teasingly. "Did you wake up because I was absent?"

Keanu rolled his eyes with arms crossed. "Yes..."

Hunter ruffled his head between his ears. "Maybe next time, I'm going to the showers."

"Sure, I'm gonna be stretching myself up."

Breakfast was served in the kitchen, Milagros and Xavier made the classic scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and some fruits. The smell reached up to the second floor and there was no need for Xavier to make loud noises through the corridor.

"I see that everyone decided to wake up early as possible before I would have banged that saucepan," said Xavier as he was the last one to serve himself.

Hunter ate his breakfast next to Keanu on the dining table and said, "So, guys, what did I miss last night?"

Xavier shrugged. "I think everyone got a little drunk after seeing way too many cliched tropes with one three-hour movie. I crashed before midnight after the movie ended and the rest were still awake."

"I thought we slept in the living room because we drank too much," Sergio said. "How did I end up on the bed?"

Milagros explained, "Xerxes was sober enough to carry you to your bed."

"Really? I thought I carried Natasha to bed..." Xerxes said confusedly.

"Oh, you did," Milagros said, "after you finished with Sergio, I told you to pick up Natasha to bed. But what I don't understand is..."

"Uh, but why did I wake up in Xerxes' room?" Natasha said confusedly and scratched her head.

Milagros finished her sentence, "...when I woke up, you weren't in your bed."

Broderick and Sol looked at Xerxes and Natasha somewhat intrigued. The black cat had casually discussed some things about sleeping with someone yesterday.

Xerxes spoke in his defense, "Hey, I carried her to her bedroom and the next thing I knew she was cuddling on top of me. Her purring woke me up though, and it soothed me to sleep well, too. Hehe."

Natasha blushed behind her black fur, but no one could see it, but they still could tell she was feeling embarrassed right now.

"Oh, my god, guys, what the hell did we do last night?!" she cried.

"I'm pretty sure none of us woke up with a sore bum," Sol said.

"Do you sleepwalk, Natasha?" Keanu curiously asked.

"That's very rare of me, Keanu, I wouldn't have just walked through the corridor unless..." it then hit her and made for Xerxes who was breakfasting, and sniffed him.

"What are you doing?"

A few more sniffing, she concluded, "You have high pheromones that I could smell in a short distance. I guess I was a bit drunk, and the smell woke me up to reach you."

Xerxes looked unsettled and sniffed his own odor under his armpit. "Nope, still smelling like a sportsman."

"Heh, are you sure you both danced the horizontal tango?" Sol said.

"No, we didn't, Sol." Xerxes defended.

"I would have known if I felt sore down there, and not to mention how big we're talking about. I would have been in a wheelchair if we have done it last night."

"Hey, you do you know about Xerxes' foot size?" Sol said.

"I hear a lot of gossip around the campus, Sol, Xerxes seemed the most popular jock on the football team."

"How do they know about my foot size of 14-inches?" Xerxes was confused.

Broderick leaned to his ear and whispered, "She meant your manhood, dude."

"Oh... but why do they associate it with foot sizes?"

"I don't know, man, but it's funny."

"Can we talk about something else other than my foot size?"

"Agreed," Xavier said, "my mom would have ended it with a chancla. Can we gladly agree that nothing bad happened between Natasha and Xerxes?"

The group agreed as they ate their breakfast in peace.

Afterward, Hunter had a chat with Sol on the outdoor patio, informing him about the latest update about his estranged brother's relationship and his former girlfriend. Sol was shocked to hear the true motive of Rylan's hate toward Hunter.

"Well," Sol said with an angered tone, "that's the stupidest thing I ever heard, he hates you because his ex-girlfriend came out as a lesbian? So, that's why he's letting out his frustrations on you because you're gay? He really needs therapy."

Hunter sighed. "Sally had reached Catherine and she will come back from her San Fransico trip by January, so we can bring her and talk to Rylan for the family intervention."

"Oh, I see, you think that would work?"

"River is writing down his intervention speech on how he is feeling when sharing a room with him throughout the time after I came out."

"Look, you know, a part of me was kind of my fault for encouraging you to come out to your family."

"Don't be, Sol, it was bound to happen at some point. I was just trying to figure out a way to tell them before I even met you. If not, I would have just kept delaying until..." Hunter shrugged in uncertainty. "I honestly would have made things awkward between my family or something."

"Heh, we will never know, but, yeah, I helped you on that, but I..."

"Also, I never knew Rylan was very heartbroken than I had assumed before I came out."

"Hah, what a mess we have gone into."

Keanu came out from the opened sliding door of the living room, holding two glasses with a green liquid with a smile.

"Hunter, I made veggie juice! You want some?"

"Well, that explains the loud sounds of blending," said Sol.

"Sure, thanks." Hunter smiled and took one glass from him.

Keanu sat next to him on the lounge chair, he was feeling in a good mood. "What you guys are talking about?"

"About Rylan and the intervention," Hunter said and took a sip of his drink. "Hmm, this is good, you made this?"

Keanu nodded with a smile. "There are vegetables and fruits in the fridge and a juicer, so I wanted to make some."

"Heh, I have been trying to make some on my own, but..."

Sol whispered audibly to Keanu across. "He made me one once for our diet, but it tasted like shit."

Keanu looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, I have improved, okay? I'm doing better!" Hunter defended embarrassingly to end the conversation.

"Oh, really?" Sol sneered, "I still remembered that one time how you nearly broke the juicer."

"That was my first time making some." Hunter defended.

"You shoved a whole cucumber without cutting it."

"Oh my!" Keanu laughed.

"And then you forgot to put a cup under the juicer and spilled the whole thing on the floor!"

"Sol, come on," Hunter was embarrassed while Keanu was laughing.

"I spilled mine on my first try, Hunter. Don't worry." Keanu assured him and drank his juice.

Sol looked closely at Keanu, a wagging tail, feeling comfortable in the presence of Hunter and leaning on his shoulder as he enjoyed his drink. He knew one conclusion.

Sol smiled casually. "Keanu, you're feeling in a good mood, what happened?"

"I'm just having a good time here, Sol," Keanu answered as he finished his whole drink, placing it on the small table and laying his head on Hunter's lap.

"Oh, my God. I know that look, you both did it last night."

Hunter coughed a little of his drink, but Keanu wasn't fazed. "Well, I don't care. It's done."

Sol made a dramatic gasp with one hand on his chest. "No way... you have become a man!"

Keanu was blushing but was laughing.

"Uh, Sol, you didn't hear anything last night?" Hunter said in wonder.

"No, I didn't, we had the volume up when we watched the movie."

"Oh, right, I remembered."

"But, hey, no hard feelings, I hope you both enjoyed your first time as a couple... or did you guys have done it earlier?" Sol rose his eyebrow at them.

Keanu answered, "Nope, my first time here last night."

"Does your butt hurt?"

"Uh, no, I wasn't ready for that, and Hunter didn't bring any protection, so we just did the simple."

"Non-penetrating sex? Great for beginners. Hunter, you did a good job." He gave a thumbs up.

Hunter was blushing and said, "Uh, thanks?"

Sol stood up from his lounge chair and said, "I'm going to get changed, we're going out to the local district down the street today."

"Ah, sure, we'll catch up."

"Hunter, I need to talk to you," Keanu announced.

Sol quickly caught up. "I'll leave you both alone." He made for the sliding door and closed it after he went inside the living room.

They were alone on the back patio as the rest were inside the house. Keanu was so comfortable lying on Hunter's lap on a beautiful day. Hunter finished his drink and placed the empty cup next to Keanu's on the small table and shuffled a bit to accommodate Keanu better on his lap, petting his head as he lay there peacefully.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Hunter said smoothly.

"I've been thinking a lot lately, Hunter... about my flight accident."

"Is there something you're missing?"

"Not really, but I want to, uh, at least speak out about my ordeal."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll talk with Dad later, maybe seek for a journalist or someone to talk about it. Maybe there are people out there who are curious about me?"

"I don't see why not, but please stay away from the spotlight, maybe a small coverage or something."

"Sure, I don't want a lot of attention but maybe show them that I'm doing well and making a good effort in my life and stuff?"

Hunter smiled as he petted his head with care. "You have done a lot of effort on yourself, Keanu, you started a new life here, you made friends, and you have a loving boyfriend who takes care of you."

Keanu smiled back, feeling a warm and fuzzy feeling inside him. Then he felt his nose being poked by Hunter's index finger. "Boop!" Hunter chuckled.

Keanu pouted, reaching up with one hand and poking Hunter's nose. "Boop back!"

Hunter just laughed. It was nice to see Keanu making decisive steps onward for a better future.

...

The last day of their sojourn was soon coming to an end, so they went out to the local district to explore the little plaza and do some light shopping there. They grabbed a bite for lunch at one of the few opened restaurants they found and enjoyed their time there before going back to the beach house for the final night. Keanu, Hunter, and the rest packed up their things and cleaned up the house before leaving the following day. They would later give their feedback to Xerxes' mother about their experience staying at the beach house as their testing guests.

On the final night they made the best of it like barbecuing outdoors under the stars, playing music, drinking cool refreshments, and playing video games in the living room all night until they crashed on their beds... or rather some of them found themselves sleeping in the living room couches. Broderick and Sergio had fallen asleep in the living room at three in the morning under the competition of staying awake all night... but failed and no one knew who won last night.

They were disappointed but, in the end, they all cleaned up the house before hopping on Xerxes' car after locking the house and drove back home to Rexville City.

Keanu and Hunter took the street train after arriving at the campus and farewelled their friends until the next semester and went on their separate ways to their home apartments.

The year was coming to an end and Hunter chose to spend New Year's Eve at Keanu's apartment, joining along were his cousins and uncles. Keanu kindly convinced Hunter to bring his family to his apartment despite the obstacle that Hunter was dreading, but in the end, he talked to his parents, and they were okay with it, but Rylan wasn't into it and stayed at home for the night. Alone.

Dylan Montana tried one more time and came over to his bedroom. The young wolf was reading a comic book on the bed and the lamp was on. Dylan sat on the bed to make his presence known.

"Rylan, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Dylan said.

"No," he coolly said, flipping the next page and not eying on his father.

Knowing too well that the main reason he was not coming was that they were going to meet Hunter's boyfriend's family. Which meant meeting another gay wolf. Even if he didn't say anything, in particular, Rylan was too easy to read under the circumstance.

"Don't you think you're overexaggerating since the day Hunter came out?"

"No."

"Rylan, it's been a year now, you have to accept your brother for who he is, nothing has changed but you take it... for some reason, personally." Dylan had said this a dozen times but the second-born ignored it stonily. "What's the problem of having a gay brother?"

Rylan flipped a page. The air was getting denser, and Dylan really wanted to give him his new old reliable after learning about Sally's and Hunter's discovery of his hate origins.

The intervention was around the corner. As Sally had instructed, no word about his ex-girlfriend until the family meeting in January.

Dylan sighed and sat up from the bed. He stood by the threshold and said while looking behind his shoulder. "We still love you, no matter what, but you know this is not working out and it hurts us more than you think. Happy New Year, son." He disappeared from the door and left Rylan alone in his room and went out with his family for the little new year party.

"Happy New Year..." he muttered as he flipped to the next page.

The night sucked, especially in the new year, and this was the first time he was alone on not going with his family. He hated it, he had no plans, no place to go, and no last-minute hang out with his few friends. It sucked. He was alone and no one wanted to spend time with him on New Year's Eve. Somewhere deep in him was scolding him for what he had done and was ringing him inside into a crescendo.

Rylan shook his head and put the comic book away and tried to distract himself with some video games, fetching out his Switch and turning it on. This should do for now, but the new thought was subtlety aching his brain.

"Damn you..." He muttered as he tapped the buttons and joysticks of his gaming device.

...

Hunter's younger sister, Sally, again spent her New Year's Eve with her childhood friend Richard at their home, so this only left Dylan, Mary, and River coming along tonight. They all looked forward to meeting Hunter's boyfriend and the Winterses at last.

Mr. Montana was happy to see Keanu doing well after almost two years since the accident. They kept the subject at bay and focused more on himself, but Hunter had pretty much talked about him while at home. But it was nice to meet him in person nonetheless.

The adults hung out at the dining table while the youngsters were in the living room, playing video games.

River had met Keanu in online gaming, so it was nice to easily hit it off. Then Jack and River hit it off while rivaling one another in a racing game until they were told to change the channel to watch the live New Year's Eve event at the Sunshine Park. They would also see the fireworks from their balcony facing westward.

By midnight, Rexville City's skyline was engulfed with colorful fireworks. The wolves gathered on the balcony to watch the spectacle and to witness the birth of the new year they would all look forward to the better.

As mandatory, Keanu and Hunter shared a New Year's Eve kiss. Of course, they weren't the only ones as Hunter's parents and Keanu's uncles kissed before drinking their champagne glasses. Keanu gave his father a new year hug as he was the only one without a partner but knew this new year was going to be different as his father was already seeing someone.

Jack told everyone and River that he was wearing yellow underwear to bring good fortune and riches. River curiously looked at his own underwear and saw he was wearing red...

"What does red mean?" River asked.

"Oh, that you'll get laid!"

"What? No way!"

"Better luck next time!" Jack turned at his cousin. "Keanu, what color of your underwear you're wearing?"

Keanu finished eating his twelve grapes for the new year and looked puzzled. "Uh..." he peeked down his undergarment. "It's blue..."

Crystal filled in. "Blue means to bring wellness and good health this year."

"Really? That's nice. I didn't know about that."

"And, River, red actually means that you'll get better luck in romance and love."

"Oh, that's better than what Jack said," River said in relief.

Crystal turned to Hunter. "Hunter, what color is your underwear."

"Well..." Hunter peeked down. "Uh, it's white."

"Ah, it means you'll have peace, harmony, and happiness this year."

"Heh, I see where this is going," Hunter said sheepishly and scratched his cheek. This year was going to be different with the upcoming intervention and hoped for the best.

"Crystal, what's your color?" Jack continued.

"It's blue, for wellness and good health."

"Really? I thought you'll be wearing red for better next time in getting a boyfriend since that Catherine chick came to you and asked to--"

"Jack, please!" she growled.

"Sorry, Crys, but guess what, she made Hunter's brother homophobic."

"Yeah, Keanu told me about that after your stupid bet."

"Didn't know it was that serious, but did you tell her that you're straight?"

"Yes, I talked to her, and she took it very well. We're still friends. And, Hunter, I met your sister the other day before the semester ended, and also told me about your situation. So... what are you guys going to do?"

Hunter said, "An intervention, we'll bring Catherine over and talk."

"Ah, I get it!" Jack piped up. "You're gonna bring her as a last resort if any attempts don't work."

"Yeah, or we'll just bring her first to get to the point."

"Jeez, you're breaking every trope about interventions."

"It's best to get to the point," Keanu said, "she was the one who caused this."

Jack shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to try, maybe it'll have better results?"

"Look, Jack, we don't know what will happen, so they're just trying their best to fix things up as a family."

"Whatever." Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed twelve grapes for the new year from the fruit bowl on the coffee table. He chewed with a mouthful and said, "Letch chelebray anywhays."