Puzzle Piece
#1 of Puzzle Series
So, this is my newest story. It's pretty short, really, but I like what it ended up being. It might be a little rushed, but that's a problem I'm working on in my works, it's not because I was lazy with this particular story. In any case, I hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters in this story belong to me, TheAwakeDreamer, please do not use without permission or claim as your own. Thank you.
WARNING: This story alludes the sex and contains an m/m relationship. If either of these are not your cup of tea, don't read. Thank you.
PUZZLE PIECE
A story by TheAwakeDreamer
Disappointment.
If there was one word to describe every aspect of Kieron's life, it was that. The seventeen year old fox was a disappointment to his mother who had wanted a daughter, to his father who had wanted him to enrol in football at high school since the fox ended up joining the school paper team as a journalist to feed his love for writing. He was a disappointment to both of his parents when he came out of the closet, and even now his mother tried to convince him that he should find a nice girl to go out with.
Well, heck, fuck them, right?
But then the fox was a disappointment in everything he ever strived for. His articles eventually got worse and he quit the school paper team, he couldn't get a job, his grades were average at best aside from English, no college would take him for whatever reason, and he couldn't get a partner to save his life.
Kieron sighed as he leaned back on the chair he sat on, in some small unimportant diner. The fox felt like just giving up on...on everything. Fuck his parents, fuck school, fuck everyone, fuck this town, fuck this diner...
Fuck life...?
The thought entered the fox's mind before he could fully comprehend it and he chuckled inside his head, finding cruel humour in the idea. Who the heck would miss him anyway? His parents would be glad their faggot son offed himself and it wasn't like he was exactly known at school. He could just fade away.
"Excuse me, mate?"
The voice snapped Kieron out of his thoughts and he looked up to see a dog - a husky, to be more specific - looming over him with a friendly grin.
"Sorry, mate, mind if I sit here?" The husky asked and as the fox looked at him closer, he recognised him as Ronnie, someone he'd known in high school, he was from England and had moved to the States with his Dad when his parents had split up.
"S-Sure..." Kieron said softly, standing up to walk away. "I'll just leave you to whatever..." Then the fox walked, but the husky almost instantly put a paw on his shoulder softly.
"Mate, if I wanted to sit just anywhere, I'd sit at an empty table." The canine said softly, looking at the fox's blank face. "Come on, sit with me a little. Let's catch up, yeah?"
Kieron decided not to argue, slowly sitting back in his seat, the husky following suit and sitting opposite him. The fox played with his fingers, seeming almost completely absent, as if the lights were on but nobody was home, as the saying went.
"Kieron, right?"
The fox looked up and nodded, before finally speaking, "Why do you want to talk to me, Ronnie? I barely know you...I mean, we had classes together and that's it, if I wasn't looking at you, I probably couldn't remember what you looked like."
The husky winced slightly at the fox's rather blunt words. "Maybe, but...I dunno, you've always been a quiet guy but, bloody hell, you look about ready to go jump off a bridge." He said softly, his voice laced with concern. But why did he care? Was it pity? That was just about the last thing Kieron wanted at the moment.
Not to mention his words, the fox felt his face tense up as he avoided looking at the husky. Who was to say he wasn't going to go jump off a bridge?
Hell, that was a pretty good idea.
"Fuck me, you were, weren't you? You want to go and..." Ronnie leaned in slightly and continued in a hushed tone, "...off yourself?" The fox didn't respond, he simply looked down at his feet. The husky's brows knitted together and he stood with purpose, surprising the Kieron as he grabbed his wrist softly and pulled him up.
"What are you doing?" Kieron asked, confused as he finally looked up at the husky - emerald meeting violet. Ronnie simply smiled, though wearily, a look of concern etched onto his features.
"We're going for a walk, mate." Ronnie said before pulling the fox along with him, out of the diner and into the city streets. They walked for what seemed like forever, eventually reaching the outskirts of the small city. The husky stood on the edge of a cliff, looking out at the small forest below.
Kieron looked at him in confusion, wondering what the canine was doing leading him out here. The fox's black coat flapped in the cool wind, barely protecting him from the small chill that accompanied the autumn weather.
"Come here, mate." Ronnie said softly and the fox obeyed, padding softly over to the husky who stood behind him at the edge, gripping gently at the fox's arms. "You see down there? Even if you didn't hit anything, you'd still die from the height, mate...so many kids have, but no one's bothered to put any rails up. Its bullshit, ain't it?"
Kieron gulped and nodded, looking down at the ground below as the husky continued, "But you know what else is bullshit? Your feelings. You think you want to die? A lot of teens our age do, it's common as hell. I want you to stand here, at the edge, and think. This is your choice, Kieron, and you need to understand how fake this feeling is if you want to become a better person."
The fox was annoyed by the husky, how arrogant was it to say that the feelings he felt were fake? How could he tell him what to feel? But even still, Kieron felt his heart sink as the restriction on his arms vanished and he stood on the edge, inches away from death. He could just lean forward and end it all. It was all within his reach, the end to his suffering.
He leaned but he whimpered and balanced as he felt himself begin to fall, his heart thumping in his chest, his breath heavy, his eyes becoming watery. The fox stood there on the edge, he stayed there for what seemed like an eternity and his resolve broke as he fell backwards, curling into a ball and sobbing softly.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around him and he shifted to see Ronnie. Had he stayed there, watching him? The fox had thought he'd left him there to end his life. But there the canine was, embracing him softly. All Kieron could do was nuzzle into his chest, making parts of the husky's fur damp.
A few minutes more and the fox was pulled up by the canine who simply smiled softly, a look of genuine care on his face.
"See what I mean? I knew the moment I saw you, the moment you looked away from me when I mentioned you offing yourself, you were just hurt. There's a difference between being depressed and being suicidal, Kieron." Ronnie said softly, gently rubbing the fox's back as he embraced him again, standing up this time. "I'm just like you, you know. I've been depressed, hell, I feel that way almost every day when I have to go home and see my Dad watch me, knowing I'll always be his gay son."
Kieron's eyes widened slightly, but he stayed still, listening to the husky, "He loves me, sure, but he's upset, I can tell. He's upset he'll never have a grandson. That he'll never go to his son's wedding..." Ronnie chuckled softly, a sort of sad tone to his quiet voice, "Then there was all of the bullying I faced in school, all of the hate for who I am. I'm openly gay, Kieron, and it's a curse. I wish I'd never admitted it back in my freshman year, because it affected me all throughout high school. Fuck, sometimes it comes back to haunt me even now."
"Why did you do all of this?" Kieron asked softly, looking into the husky's violet eyes, gently moving away, increasing their distance apart just a little.
"Because when I saw you in that diner, I saw me back in my freshman year. I saw all that misery and feeling like you are worthless, like you mean nothing to anyone...and I wanted to help you." Ronnie said softly.
"But why this? What...what if I did..." The fox sighed, his voice shaking a little, "...do it?"
Ronnie's expression darkened a little. "Then I would've followed you." He said softly.
Kieron looked at him, eyes widening again as he stood there in shock. "You what...?"
"I would've joined you, Kieron..." The husky repeated, "Because I would've failed someone important."
The fox's heart leaped to his throat and he felt faint. "What...?"
"Do you remember, since we met, every Valentine's day in high school, you'd get secret admirer notes?" Ronnie said softly, smiling again.
Kieron's mouth gaped open. "Y-You...? That was you, Ronnie?"
Ronnie nodded. "I know how you feel now, that you feel no one would miss you if you just died." The husky said. Kieron tried to look down at the ground but a paw rested on his chin, gently tiling his head back to eye level with the husky's. "But you're wrong, I would."
The fox didn't get time to respond before he felt the canine's lips against his own, their muzzles gently touching. Kieron felt a feeling well up in his chest, threatening to explode from within him. He wrapped his arms around the canine as their heads tilted, mouths opening to allow inexperienced tongue to brush together awkwardly. It wasn't as easy as it sounded in writing or as it looked in movies but the awkward kiss felt wonderful to the two lost souls who found each other on that day.
That night was filled with more inexperience and more awkward but wonderful moments. The two soon found themselves awake and drowning in each other's warmth, listening to the silence of the sleeping city at midnight. Ronnie's bed creaked as the husky turned to face the fox. He smiled softly, the moonlight making his damp fur seem to glow.
The tired, sweating canine looked at the fox in a way that made all of his feelings of loneliness and insignificance vanish. "I'm really glad I decided to sit with you in that diner today..." He said softly.
"I am too...you've..." Kieron paused before smiling widely, a look of genuine affection on his face - he'd never felt so happy in the longest time, "...you've changed everything for me. I...I don't feel alone anymore..." His expression then faltered as his emerald eyes looked away from the canine. "Don't...don't let this be just tonight...please?"
After a second or two, the fox dared to look up at the husky's face again, expecting a look of guilt, a look of annoyance, a look of sadness, something to make what the fox knew to be true obvious. But, strangely, the husky's face seemed to glow, not from the moonlight, but from the grin that spread across his muzzle, his violet eyes seeming to brighten.
"It won't just be tonight, it will be tomorrow, and the day after, and the next, until eternity, or until you grow tired of me." The husky said, though it was clear from the chuckle that followed that the last part was meant as harmless self-deprecation.
The fox smiled wider still. "So eternity, then?"
"Eternity, mate." Ronnie said softly, linking their fingers together under the covers, making their paws connect in a sign of affection. "We have eternity, just the two of us, as long as you do me one favour."
Kieron looked into the husky's eyes, only seeing unconditional love in them. "What's that, Ronnie?"
"Tell me you love me." Ronnie said softly.
"I love you, Ronnie."
The husky grinned again. "I love you too, Kieron." He said before leaning in to let their muzzles touch again. Soon the two fell asleep, but not before thoughts swam into the fox's head.
It was time to let go of his past, of the things that hurt him then and that still affect him now. Fuck school, fuck his parents, fuck this city. He can move out, find a job somewhere new and live a renewed life, because now he had the most important thing; he had someone to care for, who would care for him back.
And Kieron knew he would be there every step of the way.