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Prince of the Hill 6

Nel Canile / Scelta di hank

-In the doghouse / Hanks Choice -

By Kendo Kawabata

Wednesday morning began with a sneeze.

But it wasn't any normal sneeze that slowly built up with a twitch in your nose that gave you time to prepare for it, with either something to sneeze into or to hold your head off to the side and blow away from everyone. Sneezes like that were easy to pass off or hide from anyone who happened to be standing nearby.

No, this sneeze happened without warning. The kind that almost blew your head off when you felt it blow out.

"AAACHOO" Gielle sneezed into the air as he literally sneezed himself awake. He jolted under the sheet and scrambled to sit up and see what set him off. He thought for a moment that Bobby had snuck into his room again and had decided to tickle his nose with a feather again.

Although the last time that had happened, Bobby had left the room with a foot print on his big butt.

But there was nothing in the room to suggest any sort of attack on him that could make him sneeze. And no annoying cousin either. He kept his room fairly clean, and even with the window open he knew he wasn't allergic to pollen or hay fever or stuff like that.

"AAACHOO" another sudden attack hit him hard as he jerked backwards a little. Gielle blinked a few times before rubbing his nose. It felt slightly raw, and a little blocked up. Not running though.

"What the hell?" he said to himself as he rubbed is nose a few more times. He blinked a few times before he pulled the sheet back off his blue toned body. Slowly the flamedramon stood up and looked around his room, as if that would give him some sort of idea as to why he was sneezing so hard. But once again he found nothing, so he decided it must have just been a one off thing.

The sneezing did seem to calm itself down as he went through his morning preperations for school, getting dressed and putting his half finished homework into his backpack. He did have his English and mathematics homework already finished, so

He almost forgot about the sneezing until he walked into the kitchen. The sneeze hit him hard like a blow to the face.

"Another angel shirt?" Peggy said as she saw what he was wearing to school. Her scrunched up face proved her disapproval to his outfit, which consisted of a pair of black jeans and a dark blue shirt with an angel covering its face, and the words 'don't blink' at the base.

"AACHOO" Gielle suddenly let out as he covered his nose as he sneezed, startling his aunt right out of her criticism and almost out of her faded bathrobe. Suddenly, she realised that he had sneezed very loudly, and in the kitchen no less.

"Are you coming down with something?" she asked with a suspicions look on her face towards her nephew. "If you're going to sneeze like that, cover your nose. We do eat in here" she pointed out to him as she headed to the stove and started cooking whatever it was she had planned.

"I don't know" Gielle said as he rubbed his nose a few times. It hadn't started running yet, so maybe it wasn't a cold after all. Maybe his nose was just stuffed up. "I woke up sneezing" he admitted as he sat at the kitchen table. "I don't know why" he added as he sat at the kitchen table. Opposite him was a large full bowl of cereal with a milk just next to it.

"Well, does it feel like a cold? Or hay fever?" she asked as she turned her attention back to the stove after speaking to him. She didn't seem particularly interested though.

"No, it doesn't" Gielle admitted as he hear his uncle and his cousin in the hallway. "I'm not sure it's a cold, and I'm not allergic to pollen, far as I know" he added as he rubbed is nose again.

"Well, whatever it is, don't spread it" she warned him as she started to serve up the somewhat burnt looking eggs from the frypan. Gielle groaned inwardly to the sight. Her cooking hadn't gotten any better since he had arrived. He doubted that it would get any better at all. He glanced over at the full bowl. Bobby had apparently had a fit that his cereal wasn't poured one morning, so his aunt made sure she didn't forget again.

"Spread what?" Hank said as he walked into the room, dressed once again in his rather ugly blue Strickland Propane uniform. He looked somewhat displeased to hear something bad first thing in the morning.

"I think I just have a sneeze going. It should go... AAACHOO... away soon" Gielle said as he sneezed in mid sentence. His uncle made an 'uurggh' sound and grimaced, as if the idea of someone being sick was not a good concept. He quickly turned his attention to the coffee pot and turned his back on the two boys at the table.

"Don't sneeze your head off" Bobby said with a smirk on his face as he sat before his rather big looking bowl of sugarised cereal. "Or they'll use it for soccer practice. At least then you might win a game" he added. With a chuckle as he poured the milk into the bowl.

At least I can actually - AACHOO-.... kick the ball" Gielle pointed out as he rubbed his nose, which made his cousin go quiet. Gielle smiled inwardly to that. So far in gym class, his cousin had failed almost every physical activity, including being able to kick a stationary ball.

"I'm sure bobby can kick a ball easily enough. He just has to ...uh...pretend it's a cake he doesn't like" Hank said as he sat at his seat at the end of the table. Gielle resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that remark. Aside from the fact that he had yet to see a cake that bobby wouldn't eat, he knew even if bobby would be able to kick a ball, he'd instead take the option to comically miss and fall over.

Although the first time bobby had done that, Coach Clay had made him run laps until Bobby had collapsed. While all the other students had sat back and taken a time out while Bobby ran. Clay, it turned out, was not above humiliating students at their own expense when they mucked up. The big tiger even treated Toby, who was blind, just like anyone else. Although, he was given a little slack.

Needless to say, it hadn't happened again after Bobby fell flat on his face after two laps and couldn't move for ten minutes.

"I wouldn't kick a cake dad. I'd eat it first" Bobby pointed out as he started to wolf into his cereal. Gielle stared down at the rather miserable looking breakfast that his aunt had plated up for him once she placed it in front of him. The eggs were solid through and the bacon was somewhat burnt. And there had to have been an inch of fatty oil sitting on the base of the plate. He would have voiced his objection, but that would not have done any good.

"Uh huh" Hank said as he picked up the paper and began to read. It seemed once he pulled his paper in front of his face, all conversation was immediately cut off.

Gielle picked up his fork as he felt Ladybird sniff around his sneakers. Almost instantly he sneezed again, startling all three of his relatives in the kitchen. The look on both Peggy and Bobbys face showed their displeasure at being interrupted.

"Gielle, is this going to be a problem?" Hank said without looking at him from behind his paper. When Gielle didn't answer, he lowered the paper enough to give his nephew the look that said 'answer and obey'.

"It won't be a problem Uncle Hank" Gielle obediently said to the bigger wolf. He really didn't feel like getting sick. Soccer practice was that weekend, and it was the first practice he was going to participate in.

"Hopefully you'll feel better at school" Peggy said as she sat down. She didn't look bothered by her own disappointing breakfast. "And you are going. Unless your own deaths door, you're not staying home. Capisce ciò che il mezzo di pollo?" she said, as if she was delivering the final verdict in a trial. *do she understand what chicken mean?*

"Yes aunt Peggy, whatever you say" Gielle said as he watched a very disappointing piece of egg slide off of his fork. It was just so much easier to go along with her rather then try to understand her.

"She thinks she's friggin Judge Judy" gielle said as he sat across from Alex on the bus as it pulled into the school parking lot. "I'm willing to bet Judge Judy would be a lot nicer to me" he added in frustration. He had been so worked up since they had left the bust stop together that he hadn't been in the mood to let Alexs hands comfort him behind their backpacks.

"What's to bet if bobby came home with a sneeze she'd pamper him like a prince?" Alex said. He was a little disappointed that they were unable to hold hands together. But he could see that Gielle was upset so he just had to content himself by sitting back and letting him vent.

"She would do it in a heartbeat" gielle said with annoyance in his voice. He was pretty sure that she would wait on her son hand and foot. "And she has the nerve to think I would try and get out of school like that."

"Would you?" Alex asked with a light smile as he made sure he had everything in his backpack before he stood up. "We could both pretend, you and I, and then sneak out and we can go make out somewhere" he said with a grin. Gielle felt himself smiling a little to such a remark. It was the kind of thing he expected Alex to say.

"First off, no. Mum taught me better then that. And she could always see through me" gielle said as he grabbed his backpack. He fell silent for a moment as he thought of his mother. He always seemed to fall silent whenever he thought of them, and he had to shake himself back to reality as they began to leave the bus.

"Second, if I really was at deaths door, Aunt Peggy would feel like she's being forced to stay at home to look after me and then I'd never hear the end of it. E finirei su uccidere mie appena per per chiuderla su. And then there's the third reason" he added as he glanced over his shoulder as he saw Alex follow him. *And I'd end up killing myself just to shut her up*

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Alex asked as he hastily look up. For a moment he thought Gielle had caught him staring at his tightly covered butt.

"Your dad's a doctor. He'd know you were faking, even if you stuck your fingers down throat" Gielle said with a bit of a smirk on his face as he wagged his long blue tail from side to side a little.

"Oh yeah" Alex said with a nod, as if he had forgotten that fact.

"And stop looking there" Gielle added as he flicked his tail up very quickly, almost catching Alex on the nose with the pointy end. Alex flushed red for a moment as he gave an embarrassed smile, but it didn't stop him.

They exited the bus together and headed out into the crowded school entrance. Alex was the one who spotted both Toby and Roxis heading inside, so they hurried up to meet them. Toby as usual was tapping his white stick around, and was today dressed in a red and black ensemble of jeans and a shirt. Roxis was as usual dressed in nothing but black and had his usual black eye makeup on. It was starting to feel normal to see them like that.

It was only when they stepped into the thankfully air conditioned school hallway that Gielle realised something was off. But he couldn't find the answer right away, so he just shrugged it off as he listened to Toby talk about the latest Order of the Arrow meeting.

Things were going smoothly between the flamedramon and the lion-dragon hybrid teenagers since the unfortunate incident with John Redcorn and Judy at Michaels house. It had been a rather tense weekend at Alex's place.

Alexs' father Michael had not been much of a mood to entertain the two boys and hadn't been around the house the whole weekend. Although it had upset Alex to see his father in a sad stupor, there was one good thing to come out of it. ,With the house to themselves, Alex and Gielle had spent the whole weekend lying in bed watching movies wrapped up in each others arms.

Albeit it wasn't the most exciting or sexy thing that they could do, just lying there in their underpants and holding onto each other while some pretty cheesey movies played. It was pretty hard to get into a sexy mood when you were watching 'Sharktopus' or 'Mega Python vs Gatoroid' together and face palming to all the horrendous acting and non present cgi effects.

But to Gielle and Alex, it was a perfect weekend. Just each other to hold and caress and kiss together without having to worry about being barged in on was not something they were going to argue with. Of course, some would have used the weekend to break the bed in half with so much sex. But to them, it was good enough like that.

Of course, that had been the past weekend, and now they had to face the real world again. Gielle didn't know when they would get such a chance again, but he wasn't in a hurry for it to happen either. Rushing, he felt, would have spoilt the moment when it arrived.

Although, he had to admit to himself, he had gotten curious about what Toby and Roxis knew about the situation. So far from what he had gathered, Roxis hadn't been around the time that Alexs parents had split up, due to some unexplained reason. And Toby had been at some kind of camp for the summer holidays. But both of them had to have been aware of what was going on. So, when Monday had come around, Gielle had asked them separately on what they thought.

"I don't like her" Toby had said as they sat together during English on Monday morning. They had handed in their completed assignments to Mr Harrington that morning, and were copying down notes about a comprehensive study on a piece of text. Or they were supposed to be.

"I don't think she realises how much pain she puts her son through. And Michael is a really nice guy, so I can't really understand how she could cheat on him. And why she apparently thinks she's not to blame for this, I have no idea. She just seems to be in this for herself now. Alex really hasn't been happy since the breakup. But he does seem to be a lot happier now" he had said. "Not sure why" he added, just as the cougar teacher had to remind them to go back to their work.

Although Gielle had a fair idea as to why Alex was a lot happier lately, he didn't feel that it should be common knowledge as to what made Alex so happy. So, he left it at that as they had to go back to their English work. It was later on that Gielle managed to get Roxis alone for a few minutes to talk, so he asked for his opinion in the change rooms before they had gym class.

"She's a bitch" was all the taller ronso had said as he dressed himself. He didn't seem to be in much of a mood to continue his thoughts, so Gielle had refrained from asking him any further questions about it as they got dressed. Although gielle had to admit it was all he really needed to know.

But something strange had happened in the locker room that stuck out after the conversation with Roxis. He had been in the middle of changing his normal clothes into the standard gym clothes when he noticed something about Roxis he hadn't seen before.

He had to admit Roxis had a pretty decent body. He was already developing some good muscle tone, and would probably be a bigger body size if he kept up with weights. But Gielle hadn't seen him do anything other than the normal sports, so he'd probably keep the lean slender build he already had.

But what stood out was when Roxis was standing and putting his socks on that Gille saw the scare on his leg. And it was the kind of scar that had made him catch his breath in surprise.

It was as if someone had taken a sharp hook and cupped it behind his right ankle, and then dragged it up his inner thigh till it ripped open on the other side. Like someone had tried to carve his leg open and didn't know how. It was such a horrible looking disfigurement that Gielle had found himself unable to look away.

"What?" Roxis had asked, breaking Gielle out of his thoughts when he caught him looking. He looked up to see Roxs standing there with a sock in his hand and looking down at him with a quizzical look on his face.

"Where...did you get that?" Gielle had asked as he slowly pointed to the ronsos leg. He couldn't break eye contact with the grotesque looking thing. Roxis followed his gaze and saw where Gielle was looking, and for a moment Gielle was afraid the boy would get angry. Roxis however, had just given him a look as if he was thinking of the answer, before he covered it with his sock.

"It's nothing" he had said quickly as he shoved his foot into his sneaker. Gielle got the impression the ronso had no intention of tell him as of yet, so he didn't press for it. He didn't really know wether or not he was on the ronsos good side anyway, and he didn't want to spoil anything.

However that day, Roxis treated him like he did every day, and Gielle was happy about it. School that day melded into the usual mixture of classes, chatter and homework that blended every school day together. It was a fun blur, that was occasionally halted with his cousin getting into trouble failing with school pranks, or getting his butt kicked in gym class.

When school finally ended and they boarded the bus to go home, Gielle had that nagging feeling again. That something was off. He felt Alex squeeze his thigh behind their backpacks and he slid his hand against his, their fingers intertwining together as they gave each other a smile. Gille shrugged off the nagging feeling and just enjoyed the somewhat quiet ride they had together.

But the time he had arrived home, the sneezing started again. After the horrid blasting of sneezing that made him stumble against the kitchen table, he realised what the nagging feeling had been. He hadn't sneezed once at school until he got back home. As he steadied himself and headed into his bedroom, he figured that what was making him sneeze, had to be in the house.

Only he couldn't figure out what.

He sneezed all afternoon, and he had to give up trying ot play his laptop or do his homework as he found it hard to concentrate on anything while his nose was getting off. So instead he laid himself out on the bed in just his boxers and plugged his iPod s headphones into his ears. But even that was broken by constant sneezing.

By the time dinner had rolled around, he could feel a headache coming on. And his nose was getting stuffed up again. He had to force himself to get dressed again as he made it to the kitchen table, sneezing almost constantly for about five minutes straight.

The looks he got from his aunt and uncle during their 'SpaPeggy' weren't helping him feel better. It was like they felt he was intruding on their dinner with his ill health. Like the dinner was anything to be intruded upon anyway. Unable to deal with their accusatory glances they threw at him during their talk about their days, he excused himself after claiming he wasn't feeling well enough to eat. His aunt must have believed him because she allowed him to be excused without arguement.

He had thought that a nice hot bath would make him feel better, so he decided to take an early one. The tub was full of hot water and a thick cloud of bright white bubbles that smelt like strawberries, and it looked inviting. The hot water felt great on his naked skin when he finally sank in. But Bobby must have had him on a timer because he was hammering on the door after five minutes.

"Like you don't take an hour yourself" Gielle had wanted to shout at him as his chubby cousin had kicked him out of the bathroom. He sighed as he wrapped his towel around his blonde hair and rubbed it dry in the hallway.

Heading back to his room, he found Ladybird asleep on the foot of his bed. Deciding against kicking the dog out of his room, which would have sent his uncle in for a half hour lecture on how you don't treat 'family' that way, gielle let her stay there.

"Ipocrita" Gielle had though as he slipped into his pyjamas and had to endure yet another harsh sneezing fit. He rubbed is nose once he had settled down, and it felt like it was starting to get worse. Not in the mood to stay up late he settled himself under the sheets and tried to relax as he felt Ladybird shift herself around his feet. *Hypocrite*

But by morning, he was in no better condition. In fact, he was much worse off.

GIelle could feel that his headache had infact evolved into a migraine that was pounding at his temples something fierce. His eyes were watering and his nose was badly blocked up. He had to breath through his mouth, and each breath told him that his throat was feeling red raw.

He staggered off the bed, having to hold one had against the wall to steady himself as he slowly made his way out of hte bedroom. The only thing that kept him going was that he could get some water to at least soothe his aching throat from the kitchen. He was almost frightened off his feet by his aunts scream, and he had to very hurriedly reassure her that he wasn't some rabid looking intruder.

She insisted on testing him to see if he was faking it, as she did make it clear he could have been faking it yesterday. Gielle had no strength to argue with her as she forced him abck to his bed, where he fell on it and felt unable to shift himself from the position. She came into the room after a few minutes with an electronic thermometer, which she planted into his ear. She insisted on doing it twice over when she wasn't satisfied with the results.

"I don't have a light bulb in my ear" Gielle protested when she asked him if he had tried to heat up his head against the light fixture. "I'm not faking it" he insisted when she tried a third time.

"I guess you don't" Peggy had said as she scrutinised her thermometer. The number was indeed higher then it was meant to be, and no matter how many times she shook it, it didn't change. "Maybe it's faulty."

"How can something like that be faulty?" Gielle protested as he sneezed. He realised his sneezes were getting worse, and they were starting to be accompanied by several friends in a row that emptied his lungs of air long before they were finished.

"I should get a new one and double check" she said, seemingly oblivious to the now multiple sneezes gielle was receiving. Eventually she relented, after the fourth insertion showed the number had once again, not changed. "I suppose you'll have to stay home today. If you're not better by lunch time, I'll take you to the doctors" she added with an annoyed look on her face as she stood up.

"Thank you Aunt Peggy" Gielle said, suddenly grateful she believed him. He growned slightly as he rolled onto his back and pulled the sheets of the bed slowly up over him.

"Regolando un tentacolo fuori da di letto e farò preferito i suoi piatti" she said over her shoulder as she left the room. *Set one tentacle out of bed and I'll favourite your plates*

"please tell me my hearings broken too" Gielle muttered to himself as he pulled the blankets over his head. He shut his eyes and said a quick wish that by lunch time, she hadn't forgotten to take him to the doctors. A shiver ran up his spine as he suddenly had a horrible thought about what possible home remedies she could prescribe instead.

He heard voices come from behind the wall beside his bed and he pulled the blanket down off his head. Between Bobbys room and Gielles room lay a small closeted room that contained the water heater, and what Peggy claimed to be her study. It was lined with her substitute teachers award trophies, and her personal computer.

"You know, it frightens me to think that we've raised bobby for fourteen years without the internet" he heard Peggy say through the wall. "Parents without the internet should have their children taken away, like my sister who shall remain nameless. She often said she never had a computer herself"

"What are you talking about?" hank said, sounding as if he was right beside her. Great, now he had to listen to his uncles opinion on his health as well.

"I'm using the internet to see what's wrong with him. I'm pretty sure its cedar fever" Peggy said. "Or he may be allergic to something, I don't know. I'll have to take him to the doctor to find out if I can't nail it down by lunchtime."

"Peggy, it could just be a runny nose. You can't just lie in bed every time you get a runny nose or a sniffle" Hank said. "When I was his age, I painted the entire living room, roof included. with a dislocated shoulder."

"Alright Hank, when he dislocates his shoulder, he can pain the living room" Peggy said, sounding frustrated. "But he's in bed now, and I'm not forcing him into the open where the neighbours can speculate we're not taking care of him. You know Bill has a habit of peeking through our living room windows when I'm home."

"Fine, take him to the doctors" Hank said, sounding like he was giving up the rapidly losing arguement. "You sure you should be diagnosing him yourself? You're not a doctor you know."

"Hank, I think I'm capable of seeing what's wrong with him on the internet" Peggy said rather confidently. "Although apparently there's a local band named Cedar Fever, and it's dampening my research."

"Oh god, please let me see Michael before she misdiagnoses me with cancer" gielle thought as he shut his eyes with a moan and a fit of sneezing.

The morning seemed to drag on forever as he laid in the bed, his entire body starting to ache for unknown reasons. The only thing he had to occupy himself with was his iPod, although every time he sneezed the buds popped out of his ears. He kept drifting in and out of sleep and was unable to tell what time it was unless he looked at the alarm clock.

Thankfully, his aunt was unable to come up with a satisfactory reason for his condition from the internet, to which Gielle found himself immensely grateful for. So, with things looking up that he didn't have to suffer any of her home remedies, if she had any, he was dragged out of bed and into the car to see the doctors.

The Medical Center of Arlen was a low squat looking building with a ramp that rose up to the front doorway. The parking was full, as was to be expected, and so was the waiting room. The usual mix of eldery, the younger children with their parents and a few screaming children who were not capable of behaving surrounded him. Without an appointment, he was forced to wait for something to open up.

After an hour in the waiting room, he was finally called in, and he was relieved to see that it was Michael serving him. Michael gave him a calming smile, the older lion looking as tired as he did everytime Gielle saw him. Although now Gielle had an idea as to why he was so tired.

"You really do not look good" Michael admitted as he shut the door behind the teenager and locked it. Obviously, he wasn't going to have Peggy in his office, which Gielle was grateful for. "Hop up on the bed and tell me what's going on" Michael said as he indicated the sterile sheeted bed on the wall.

"I don't feel good either. I have no idea what set this off" gielle admitted as he sat on the bed and looked at his friends father. Michael indicated him to remove his shirt and Gielle obliged.

"so, when did it start?" Michael asked as he began to look him over. He pushed his stethoscope into his ears and pressed the end against Gielles chest.

"yesterday morning. I was sneezing a lot, then I went to school" gielle explained as he had to pause a little as he took a few deep breathes, letting the lion listen to his heartbeat through his chest, and through his back. "I started sneezing when I came home from school, and I woke up and I was really not well. I've been sick before, but not like this" he admitted.

"No known history or illness that ran in the family?" Michael asked as he put the stethoscope down and picked up a tongue depressor. He made Gielle stick his tongue out and go 'aah' as he shone a torch into the back of the boys bright red throat.

"My father's mother had diabetes, and my dad sometimes complained of heartburn, but i think it usually depended on what he ate" Gielle admitted once the bland cardboard stick was taken off his tastebuds.

"Well, you're too young for both of those, although I'd say differently on your cousin. Specially for the first one at the rate he's going" Michael admitted as he shone a special scope into Gielles ears."Although, to go off topic for a moment, I'm sorry i wasn't much of a host when you came over last weekend" he said as he checked both ears.

"It's ok" Gielle said as he rubbed his red nose with the back of his hand. "You had a lot of...drama to deal with" he said. Michael gave him a smile to that as he took the scope out of his ear.

"Well, still, I am sorry you had to deal with that. I'm sure you and Alex managed to entertain yourselves" Michael said with a smile to him.

"You can say that" Gielle admitted as he rubbed is sore feeling nose again. "But really, no need to apologise. I understand you needed some time to yourself" he said to him.

"Keep up the sweet talk and you'll get a lollipop" Michael said with a smile as he strapped the inflatable band around Gielles arm.

After several minutes of looking him over, Michael had finished checking Gielle and had sat down at his desk to write out all he had done into Gielles newly made file. Once he had finished he put the pen down and stood up with his arms crossed.

"Well, I'm almost certain about what you have. You've got a lot of the symptoms I've thought you'd have with this condition" he said as he explained it to Gielle. "But I'll have to take a test to double check, in case I'm wrong. " he said. "I don't want to be wrong, because this sort of thing that you might have, is tricky if done wrong."

"What kind of test?" Gielle asked, suddenly not feeling to sure about what was going on. What did he mean, tricky if done wrong? What did he have anyway?

"You're not afraid of needles are you?" Michael asked bluntly.

Gielle was not afraid, but he didn't like them all the same. He had to lie on his chest on a bed in a nearby examining room while a couple of friendly enough nurses pricked him with various needles and pins. He felt like he was a test subject for acupuncture. He had lost count as to how many times the doe or the leopard had punctured him with something, and his back was starting to feel worse then a pincushion. Finally they left him alone so he could rest up while they got the results.

After an hours waiting for the results, Michael had the results that he needed to know. And it confirmed what he had already known. But now he had the paperwork to prove that his guess was accurate. He allowed Gielle to rest up while he fetched Peggy from the waiting room.

"Peggy, you might need to call your husband for this" Michael said to her. "He's not going to like it."

Fifteen minutes later, both Peggy and Hank were sitting across from his desk. Hank was looking annoyed that he had been called out of work, and Michael had the feeling that he was looking for a reason to vent his anger.

"Hank, Peggy, I'm afraid that i have some bad news about Gielles condition" Michael said. "He is sick, but it's not life threatening. I'm afraid, he is allergic to dogs. Particularly dog dander" he said. Peggy then let out a very loud and sudden 'HO YEAH', which made them all jump.

"See Hank? I told you it was allergic. I know I said it was either Cedar Fever or allergies, but I was still right" she said as she all but fist pumped her victory. Michael just stared at her. 'Cedar Fever?' he thought to himself, before Hank spoke.

"Woah woah woah, slow down there Charlie." Hank said as he looked shocked. "How can you be sure its dog dander?" he said, as if it was the most absurd thing the wolf had ever heard. He looked at his wife with rather desperate eyes. "Peggy could have the dander" he almost pleaded. A moments silence passed before he noticed the screwed up angry look on her face.

"What? You're in that school all the time, you could get dander. And you did get lice once" he pointed out, as if it was an obvious truth that needed to be known.

"Hank, the test was specifically to test for dog dander" Peggy said in an annoyed tone of voice. "So it can't be me. It's Ladybird Hank. He's allergic to Ladybird. You can't challenge the test over this. And you once came home from Mexico with a butt worm" she added rather pointedly.

"This isn't helping" Michael cut in before the two of them started an argument. "Hank, I know you love your dog dearly, god knows everyone with a pet loves it" he pointed out. "But unfortunately, this test isn't wrong. Gielle is allergic to dogs and dog dander. He didn't even know he was allergic, because his parents didn't own a dog" he pointed out.

"Look, allergies come and go" Michael continued. "I once had a patient who ate fish weekly that his grandfather would catch at the lake. One day, he fell ill and started swelling around his throat and face. Allergies just sometime happen" he said simply.

"Hank, the dog is going out of the house" Peggy said as she pointed her finger at her husband. "I know you take good care of her, and she's practically unable to shed you suck it off her five times a week, but if Gielle can become allergic, there's no reason bobby can't either. I do have my sons health to think about in all this" she pointed out.

Michel did wonder sometimes about a lot of people and why they were allowed to be parents.

"Look at this" she said as she held out a pamphlet she had picked up from the desk. "It says here there are various hypoallergenic breeds of dogs if you want one indoors. We could actually get a dog we could all agree on. We could get a poodle, or a hairless dog."

"A poodle?" Hank said as he almost glared daggers at his wife. His face bunched up and went slightly red as if he was ready to explode at her. "Why not go all the way and get me a cat and a sex change operation" he snapped at her.

"So, what do you propose to do?" Peggy asked as she continued the conversation before hank could make an outburst.

"Look, I would be more then happy to allow Gielle to stay at my house, since he and my son are friends" Michael said. "One thing you do need to look at is getting your house cleaned as best as possible, and I'd be happy to house him while you do so."

"Uh-Uh. No way" Peggy said as she drew her finger in a line through the air like a knife. "I don't want anyone questioning that we can't look after him ourselves. We'll keep him at home, where WE can look after him" she said firmly. Michael sighed a bit and shook his head. He did wonder indeed.

"Well, we can give him daily shots, but frankly that's not much of an option" Michael said loudly enough to interject between the two of them. "They only stave off the allergy for a short period of time, so that makes them only a quick fix that doesn't help in the long run. Thankfully though, we have two options for a long term solution" Michael said as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out three small medicinal jars. "The first option is he takes medicine."

"What kind of medicine?" hank asked. "Will it stop him sneezing all over the place?"

"The kind that rewrites his immune system so that he's more tolerant to dogs" Michael said. "So yes, it will stop his sneezing and make him a lot more tolerable to dogs. But, I do want to point out that this is not going to be easy on him" he said.

"What do you mean?" Peggy asked as she tilted her ugly square glasses at him.

"This will help rewrite his immune system, so he'll be much less bothered by dogs and dog dander. I would imagine it would only be a sneeze every now and then, rather than in a somewhat constant state. But, it's not going to be an easy rewrite" he explained.

"How uneasy?" Peggy asked. "Is this the kind of thing that would make him worse before he gets better? Because I don't want anyone thinking we don't look after him" Peggy said.

"Unfortunately yes" Michael said. "While rewriting his system, he'll be more immune to a number of side effects. These can include headaches, sore throats, teary eyes, loss of hearing, loss of taste, rectal bleeding, restricted breathing, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, involuntary bodily shaking, diarrhoea and in some extreme cases, anal leakage" he explained.

Both the Hills made a noise that sounded like twin 'urrghs' at the list of symptoms. Michael was somewhat glad that they made that noise, as it told him they understood what he'd be in for. Usually at this point, most parents would opt not to go for such medication.

"That is option one though" Michael said as he continued to explain. "I just wanted you to know how much Gielle could possibly suffer with the pills, before I told you option two" he said.

"What is option two?" Peggy asked, somewhat cautiously.

"It is easier, since the pills will make him worse before he gets better" Michael said. "So, unless you have no pause to let him use these pills, which will make him suffer" he pointed out. "I would suggest option two."

"Which is?" Hank asked, rather cautiously as well.

"Get rid of the dog" Michael explained.

Michael, in all of his life, would never doubt Hanks love for his dog, when it took him less than a second to desperately shout 'we'll take the pills' so loudly and desperately that everyone in the waiting room outside jumped out of their seats in surprise.

If Gielle thought that the first night would have been any easier now that he had some sort of medication to keep his allergy under control, he was wrong. Taking one pill from each of the bottles and gulping them down with tap water, he thought they'd help in some way. At least Michael had given him a doctors note to say that he'd be out of school for up to a week if needed be. Or two if it came to it.

Come the morning, he felt if indeed, a lot worse. His head felt, in the only way he could explain it, like it was a hollow glass bowl. His nose was red raw and so stuffed up he couldn't breathe through it. And his eyes, after looking in the bathroom mirror, were bloodshot. Although the only good thing

"Good Lord" Hank said as he saw Gielle stumble into the kitchen for breakfast. He had to put down his paper to make sure he was seeing what he was seeing."What happened to you?"

"I took the pills" Gielle said as he managed to find his way to a chair. He gingerly sat on the cushion as his joints felt like they had rusted up, and held his fragile feeling head in his hands. "The ones you recommended" he pointed out.

"Well, you need to get better soon. Ladybird is already offended you're allergic to her" Hank pointed out as he got up and grabbed the coffee pot as it stopped dripping. "I don't want her running away because she's afraid of your looks too" hank said as he poured his coffee into his mug.

"yeah, sure" gielle mumbled as he rubbed his forehead carefully. Great, now the dog was offended. Was Hank expecting him to apologise to her?

"Gielle, you cannot go to school looking like that" Peggy said as she walked into the kitchen. "What will everyone think? They'll probably think I can't take care of you" she said. "Lord, think of my reputation as the best substitute teacher three years in a row. It would be ruined" she stated.

"I'll consider your reputation and I'll stay home. Michael gave me a doctor's note anyway, remember?" gielle mumbled as he rubbed is stuffed up nose. He saw her hand him a plate of over buttered toast with a couple of dismal looking fried eggs on top, and his stomach instantly sank like a stone. "Can I go back to bed?" he asked meekly.

"Oh sure, go back to bed and sleep, while Ladybird has to suffer staying in the garage" hank said, sounding irritated as he sat himself back at the head spot on the table. "I'm sure she's thanking you that she has to be cooped up while you're safe in your room."

"What are you talking about?" Gielle asked as he lifted his head up. The somewhat uninterested look in his face over the dogs apparent plight seemed to annoy his uncle even more.

"Well, Gielle. Now that you're allergic to dog dander" Peggy said as she folded her arms, "we have to clean the house. Well, I have to, since someone is refusing to stay home from work to help out "she said as she shot Hank a dirty look. "So ladybird has to stay in the garage until the house is clean."

"Peggy, I can't stay home from work to clean the house. That's your responsibility to keep the house clean" Hank protested. "What if there's a propane emergency and I'm here holding a vacuum?"

"I'm surprised you know how to hold one" Gielle mumbled under his breath as he rubbed his aching temples. The rubbing seemed to be helping slowly, and they were aching less.

"Is ladybird being punished?" bobby asked as he walked into the kitchen. Gielle suddenly felt his ears throb. Bobby's somewhat high pitched voice stung his ears rather suddenly. He had to check, in a slight moment of madness, in case they were bleeding.

"No, but she might as well be" hank said as he shot Gielle a look that suggested it was all his fault.

Gielle decided it was best to head back to bed and sleep through the day. At least then he'd be able to forget about his bad health for a while. The lure of his warm inviting bed was just too good to pass up as he left his aunt and uncle to argue in the kitchen.

He did stop in the bathroom to grab a glass of water from the tap and he fumbled with the medicine cups to grab a few pills and he washed them down. He had just drowned them down his throat when he heard the argument get a little louder. Now it seemed they had forgotten they had refused to let him stay at Alexs.

"fottere odio la mia vita " he mumbled as he flopped onto the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut as his fragile feeling head rattled about and he groaned as he waited for it to pass. He was out like a light the moment he relaxed enough. *fuck i hate it here*

When he reopened his eyes, he was vaguely aware of the sound of the vacuum cleaner running the hallway. He pushed with all his strength as he moved himself onto his back and rubbed his face as he realised his nose was no longer stuffed up, but his stomach felt very upset, as if it had eaten something bad.

"Ladybird, knock it off" he heard Peggy shout as he heard the dog barking in the garage. The dogs barking was easily louder than the vacuums noise. "You're not coming in while I'm cleaning the house. Stupid dog" he heard her mutter right outside his door.

"Perhaps its best I don't go out there" he thought to himself as he lay himself back in bed. He glanced in the direction of his clock and realised he had slept past lunch. He was suddenly thankfull he didn't have to force himself to eat whatever it was she had planned to give him.

He was about to go back to sleep, when he noticed that his phones screen was brightly lit. With a sigh at the prospect of physical movement, he reached over and grabbed it. Someone had sent him a message.

"I missed you at skool. Where are you?" he read. It was from Alex. Gielle smiled as he rolled onto his back and held his phone up in front of himself.

"At home in bed. Pills made me feel like crap" he typed on the pad and pressed send. He thumped his head back on the pillow and stared up at the blank and empty ceiling for what felt like several long minutes, the phone still in his hands as he heard the phone beep.

"Dad said they were nasty. Toby and Roxis know you're not well. Send regards" said Alexs message.

"Tell them thanks. Can you get my homework?" he texted back, suddenly remembering that he would need to catch up on all he missed. He hoped it wasn't too much for him to handle over the weekend. A few minutes passed and he got a reply.

"Sure. I want you here with me in skool. It sux without you" was the reply, which made gielle smile and feel a bit better to know he was missed. He dropped the phone beside him as he stared up the ceiling, feeling himself drift off again. He didn't fight it.

The afternoon was spent lying in bed napping on and off as he took another combination of pills when he was awake long enough to remember it. The new ingestion of pills really upset his stomach at that combo and he spent the better part of ten minutes in the bathroom heaving his guts out.

He knew from the jarbled Italian that his aunt was speaking throughout the ten minutes, as if he was able to translate what she said any better with his head in a toilet bowl, she was not happy to have something extra to clean. He was glad to get back to bed, where he could still hear her complain through the walls.

Alex did pop around after school to drop off his homework. Gielle was already out of bed when he heard the doorbell ring ,but Peggy had refused to let him in and took the homework from him. He heard her shout something about 'not letting him infect anyone', and just about slammed the door in his face.

The next time Gielle woke up, Hank finally had returned from work with Bobby in tow. The moment the door closed, Gielle heard his Aunt Peggy confronting him over the state of the house.

"Hank, the dog has been driving me crazy all day" Peggy complained as Gielle made his way out of his bedroom and joined Bobby at the table where they both started staring at the condiments. They waited it out as Peggy fried what was hopefully fried rice in the frying pan while arguing with her husband. "All she's done is bark and whine. I can't put up with her."

"It's not her fault Peggy" hank said, as if trying to point out that his dog was the victim in all this. And not his nephew who was having trouble keeping focused. "She's used to sleeping in the house, not in the garage all day" he said.

"Well, then Hank. Since you wanted to keep her, you fix it" Peggy said as she slammed the frying pan on the stove. "I've had to clean the house all day, and that damn dog gave me a headache. And then Gielle threw up in the bathroom, so I had to clean that all over again."

"You threw up?" bobby said with a smirk on his face. "Boy, and I thought Italians could hold their liquor."

"I wasn't drinking you fat idiot" Gielle muttered under his breath. "I can get Roxis to punch you again, you know" he pointed out, which thankfully made his cousin shut up.

"But Peggy, if you let her out for a while..." Hank protested as he looked visibly upset over the condition of his dog.

"No. I'm not letting her out while I'm cleaning up the house, because then I have to clean it twice over" Peggy said as she fumed at her husband. "Hank, you're going to build her a doghouse."

"A doghouse?" hank said with a look of indignant horror on his face. "But Peggy, she's a house dog."

"Yes, and now she gets her own house" Peggy said. "It shuts her up, and I can clean the house in peace" she insisted.

"Well, maybe the pills have made him better enough that he can live with the dog inside now" Hank said, as if in a sudden epiphany. Rather eagerly, he turned around and gave Gielle a very anticipating look on his face.

Gielle looked up at his uncle through his bloodshot eyes for a moment as if trying to decide wether his uncle was serious or not. Rather than ask 'Dude, seriously?', he instead reached towards the condiments and picked up the bottle of hot sauce. All three of them gasped as Gielle splashed a very large helping into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

"I can't taste that" he admitted after licking his dry feeling lips. He put the bottle down just before he let out a half dozen sneezes in a row that almost rocked him right out of the chair.

"Hank, build a doghouse" Peggy said as she shoved a bowl of fried rice into Hanks hands. Hank looked like he was about to cry, and not because the rice was almost black.

"So let me get this straight. Hank is building a luxury dog house for his precious dog, and he refused twice to let you stay over with me and dad? What is he, an idiot?" Alex asked over the phone.

It was Saturday morning. Gielle was lying back in his bed staring up at the ceiling once more, having taken yet another combination of pills. His computer was playing one of his movie files, but it was just background noise. He lay in just a comfy pair of board shorts while he had his phone next to his ear.

The sounds of carpentry were coming from the garage behind the house. The sounds of sawing, drilling and a lot of hammering were heard, as well as a few arguements over something to do with floodlights and heated floor pads.

"Yes" gielle said with a nod, even though Alex couldn't see it. "He's been bragging about it all morning. He was up at five am and he said he'll have it 'unveiled' by this afternoon. I took a peak when he went to the bathroom."

"What did it look like?" Alex asked, sounding rather curious about what was going on.

"You ever see a dolls house that took your breath away? It looks like that" Gielle said as he rubbed his ever sore nose. He was starting to wonder what it was like to not have it stuffed up.

"Wow. Guess he really does care more about the dog then you" Alex said with a grunt, as it sounded like he had laid back on something.

"Yeah, tell me about it" Gielle said with a sigh. "Listen, Alex. I've had nothing to do while I've been here, and I've been giving some thought about us and..."

"Huh?... ok I'll ask him" Alex said as he suddenly returned to the phone. Gielle had to blink in surprise. When did Alex take the phone away? "Dad wants to know how the pills are going" Alex said.

"Oh. Tell him they're doing almost everything except the diarrhoea so far, but the sneezing is starting to run down" Gielle said with a sigh as he rubbed his face, hearing Alex repeat his words back at his father. "Although right now I feel like someone hit me in the face with a frying pan."

"Ok...ok I'll tell him. Dad says "good, just keep trying and you'll feel better soon" Alex said. "I hope you do get better soon" he said as Gielle heard a door close near his ear. "School is no fun without you. I miss seeing you every day" Alex said.

"Being here is no fun. All I've done is listen to Aunt Peggy bitch about cleaning" Gielle said as he rubbed his face. "Her newest whinge is about having to see about professional cleaners."

"No, I mean it. School isn't fun. You're like the highlight of the day for me" Alex said, the tone of his voice told Gielle that he meant every word he was saying over the phone.

"Aww, really?" Gielle said, finding himself smiling as he heard that. "You really mean it?" he asked as he coughed a couple of times. "Wow, great timing" he thought to himself.

"Yeah. Next time I see you, I feel like I'm going to hug you tight and not let go" Alex said. Gielle smiled, thinking he might do the same thing to his friend as well. It had been almost a week since they had last had that kind of physical contact with one another. He wondered briefly if that made them needy. "Or I might just strip you naked and do things to you" Alex said, which made Gielle blush a bit, his cheeks turning purple.

"You know, that reminds me. We have yet to see each other naked" Gielle said as he suddenly realised it.

"Oh, we should definitely do something about it" Alex said, the tone of his voice sounding like he was grinning. Gielle smiled as he thought of what Alex would look like properly naked when he heard a knock on the door.

"Gielle, your uncle wants you out in the yard" he heard his aunt say through the door. "He doesn't want you to miss this, since he says you owe Ladybird."

"I'll call you back" Gielle said as he hung up the phone rather regretfully. He stood up slowly, testing out his body as he got himself steady on his feet. He slipped a used shirt on and opened the door, squinting into the bright light of the hallway.

"What's going on?" he asked his aunt as she stood before him, wearing a dusty looking apron.

"Your uncle has finished the doghouse and he wants us to witness the unveiling" peggy said with an annoyed look on her face. "Instead of helping me, again" she added with an annoyed tone.

"Unveiling?" Gielle thought as he followed his aunt into the house and out through the porch door. He held a hand against his head, feeling a light headache coming on as he followed her outside.

For a moment, he thought there was a party going on. He was able to make out Hanks alley friends Boomhauer and Dale, with Dales slender blonde haired wife Nancy and their mixed breed son standing under the tree in the backyard. They were standing around something that had balloons attached to it.

Gielle was unfortunately now reminded of Alex every time he saw Joseph. After the day of confessing his hatred towards his mother and John Redcorn, Alex had admitted that he knew Joseph was his half brother.

"Its obvious when you see it" he had said as they had laid together that night looking up at the ceiling. Michael had fallen asleep on the couch and he wasn't likely to disturb them, so they had time to themselves. "Why Dale can't see it, I don't know. But its shameful to think that Joseph is related to me."

"You mean because he's an idiot?" Gielle had asked as he rested his head on Alexs shoulder. His hand gently stroked over the boys flat stomach, his fingertips moving between the patches of fur and scales.

"Well, that. And the fact that josephs mother and my mother are the same. They have no qualms in cheating on their loved ones, like it's forgivable to have a very long and continuous affair. But they expect us to be all noble and learn about our supposed heritage. Plus, Joseph is too stupid to realise we're half brothers" Alex said with a long sigh.

Thinking back on it, Gielle realised that Alex had made a passing reference to that very subject the day they had met. Although he hadn't understood it at the time. Now he did. And he felt all the more sorry for Alex in his situation.

He was snapped back to reality as he saw Ladybird walk up with Hank in tow, what looked like a party hat strapped to her head. Bobby followed, carrying a large American coloured ribbon in his hands. He strung it from the corners of the doghouse roof so it hung over the front of the small structure.

The doghouse was a thing of beauty. It was big enough to be considered a very miniature shed, and it was covered in shingles on the roofs and bright white slotted panels on the sides. A large welcome mat sat outside the dog door what said 'Ladybirds', and there were even windows on the sides. What looked like a flat verandah sat on the left side of the structure, and it even had the little American white picket fence surrounding it.

It made Gielle angry on the inside that when he had arrived, Hank had been very reluctant to build him anything good, as he considered it a waste of his materials. So everything that he had given his nephew had come from a second hand store, and at the last minute no less. But he had managed to build up a doghouse of this quality for his dog.

No-one gave much of a look to Gielle as he stood at the side, even when he had a sudden fit of sneezes being so close to Ladybird. Dale was smoking, again, and Joseph looked as bored as his mother. But all their eyes were on one thing, and it was the reason why everyone was there. The dog.

Hank unfolded a piece of paper in his hands and cleared his throat as he looked down at Ladybird. Once Hank began to speak, everyone turned to listen.

"Although we move you into Barkingham palace today, you will always leave a doggy door open into our hearts. And we hope that we have made your home as wonderful, as you have made our homes these past thirteen years" hank said, finishing up while looking like he was about to cry.

It would have been rather touching, if it wasn't an overly unnecessary drama fueld hunk of crap, according to Gielle. All this fuss for his dog and Hank had not once offered to help Gielle out. He just felt like kicking one of those cute little windows in.

Hank then knelt down and patted his bloodhound on the back as he rubbed his nose with a sniff.

"Forgive me" he whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, as Peggy handed him a pair of scissors. Hank took them and used them to cut the ribbon as everyone gave a quiet applause. But when Hank opened the doggy door, Ladybird did not move.

"Push her in" Dale said loudly, startling everyone somewhat from the loud interruption. "We all came here to see the opening of a dog house. Just push her in and lock the door behind her."

Ladybird then moved, but she started a slow walk back to the house, where she began to scratch lightly at the back door. Hank seemed rather torn, as if he didn't know wether to call her back or rush over and open the door. He looked up as he saw his wife stand in front of him with her hands on her hips and a non pleased expression on her face.

"This can't be easy for her; she's slept at the foot of our beds for thirteen years. Don't blame Ladybird, blame me" Hank protested as he stood up to reason with his wife.

"Well, of course I blame you hank" Peggy said in annoyance. "Just get that dog into the house. I don't often agree with Dale, but this time, he's right. Force her in" she said sternly.

"Look, obviously I made a mistake. I must have followed the builders curse; I designed the house more for me and less for the tenant. I can fix this quickly" Hank said as he turned to the group. He held his arms out like a madman giving a speech. In a way, he was.

"Ok everyone, grand reopening in 36 hours. This time, no gifts" Hank said when they suddenly heard music. Gielle found himself seeing the obese bear Bill from down the block suddenly pull into Hanks backyard on all things, a rusted out ride on mower.

But that wasn't the surprising thing. It was decked out in American flags, had lit multicoloured sparklers on the front, and a portable stereo on the back pumping out 'Stars and Stripes forever." And to top it all off, Bill was wearing an Uncle Sam hat and outfit stretched over his fat gut and was grinning like an idiot all the while.

Obviously, this was planned as Hank waved at him in a panicky voice and shouted "No Bill NO, not today. Abort, Abort."

"Questo è normale?"Gielle wondered as he had to cover his nose as another sneezing fit struck him. He just wanted to go back inside and lie down until dinnertime, before he had to put up with everyone arguing again. *Is this normal?"

By dinnertime, the mood had dissolved into something akin to 'the calm before the storm.' While Gank spent the remainder of the afternoon holed up in his garage remodelling his 'Barkingham palace' with Ladybird, Peggy was resuming her scrubbing of everything that needed cleaning.

The bathroom was now off limits and smelling strongly of bleach, and had kicked Gielle out of his room in order to start washing all of his clothes and the sheets on his bed. She had started a rigorous vacuuming that took her all afternoon, and she didn't seem pleased about it, even though GIelle kept his room quite clean.

So absorbed in their tasks the two of them had forgotten to set about dinner. With little time to prepare anything self named dishes or appropriately cooked steaks on the grill, they resorted to their last resort option. So, to Gielles immense relief, they had ordered takeout pizza. Although this was something Hank only saw as a rare luxury in life.

Sitting at the dinner table trying to look over his homework that Alex had dropped off, Gielle was pleased to see his report on 'The Help' had been handed back. A large red 'A' covered the front page, and Mr Harrington had written that he had 'enjoyed the honest answers from someone who had an opinion about the questions.'.

Apparently, Bobbys report had been a 'D-' accompanied by 'next time, actually read the book'.

Muttering to herself while waiting for dinner about taking Mr Harrington on in a war of the teachers, Peggy stopped her mutterings when Hank made his way into the kitchen with the pizza boxes and planted them on the table. Bobby soon followed, somewhat quiet over his troubled school work, and Ladybird began to howl once more from being locked in the garage on her own.

"Hank, it is only fair to warn you that tomorrow, I am shaving the dog" Peggy said as she rounded on her husband.

"Peggy, she is going out in the morning. Just give her one last night. You know, his allergies won't clear up right away" Hank pointed out as he pointed at Gielle, but continued to talk about him like he wasn't there.

"Unlike what you were hoping for yesterday?" Peggy said as she raised her eyebrow at her husband.

"Ladybirds dander is all over the house" Hank said, as if he had decided not to listen. Which he apparently did whenever he started talking. "We're going to have to steam clean the furniture, probably replace the carpets, and maybe have to wash or dry-clean all of our clothes..."

"Hank, what do you think I've been doing the last two days?" Peggy said as she crossed her arms. "Do you think I've been parading around in an apron and rubber gloves just for fashion?"

"Like you'd know fashion" Gielle thought privately to himself.

"Hank, either put the dog outside TONIGHT, or you can sleep on the couch for the rest of the month" Peggy said as she pointed out to the doghouse. "And since you brought it up, since my cleaning is so inadequate according to you, maybe I will hire a professional cleaning crew" she said with a firm tone of voice.

Hank sighed as he followed her gaze, before his face suddenly lit up like it was Christmas. And it was the light up Christmas look that made GIelle shiver in a bad way.

"You know, Ladybird hasn't been in the doghouse, so there's no dander in there" he said as he gave his chin a scratching. "And for less of the cost of cleaning the house, we could have a second tv set hooked up to the cable."

"Hank, just what are you suggesting?" Peggy said with a surprised look on her manly face. "The dog is not getting a television."

"What are you suggesting?" Gielle said, as he started to follow his uncles' train of thought. His eyes went wide when he connected the dots and realised where this was going. "Oh, you can't be serious" he said loudly as he dropped his pen.

"I am serious Gielle" Hank said with a smile on his face. "You can live in the doghouse. "

Peggys face went into a rather comical open eyed surprise as she suddenly realised the point she had missed. Even Bobby stopped trying to sneak pizza from the box to gawk at his fathers suggestion.

"I am not living in a dog house" Gielle said indignantly. "If you want me out of here, I'll go stay with Michael and Alex. They actually want me there."

"Gielles only fourteen, he's young. It'll be fun for him" Hank said as he gazed up at the ceiling, as if deep in thought and unable to hear anyone but his own voice. "But Ladybirds thirteen. She doesn't have much time left. She's set in her ways."

"Uncle Hank, I'm not sleeping in a doghouse. That's ...that's just not right" Gielle protested as his Uncle rather happily grabbed a large can of dog food from the kitchen cupboard. He didn't seem to hear him as he began to work open the can with the opener.

"Hank, our nephew is not a dog. Sure, he's a burden at times, but that does not mean he gets kicked out like an animal" Peggy protested. Gielle gave her a look to hear her say that, one that she completely missed.

"Well, that settles it" Hank said as he picked up the can and emptied it into the bowl. Ignoring the protesting of his wife and his nephew, he dropped the empty can into the trash bin and picked up the full bowl. "Everyone's happy all round. Laaaaaady biiiiiirrrrd" he called out as he walked towards the garage, oblivious to anyone else. "Daddies got your din din."

"Lei deve essere fottere per scherzare me" Gielle said in disbelief as he suddenly felt his nose begin to run like mad. He grabbed some napkins from the table and held them against his nose, suddenly feeling like kicking something. His tolerance was beginning to run out. *You have got to be fucking kidding me*

"You didn't last until after dinner?" Alex said in disbelief as he sat in the doghouse on Gielles makeshift bed. Despite its size, the house was big enough to support them both under its hollow roof.

"The dog, he doesn't kick out because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings" Gielle said as he sat with his back against the wall. The latest combination of pills had taken a different turn on him and he felt both mentally and physically drained of energy. And somewhat constipated. "Me, he throws in here thinking I actually want this" he added with a sigh.

It was Sunday afternoon. Hank had taken Bobby to some flea market after church, and Peggy was finishing cleaning the house, which meant she had finally finished on his room. Thankfully, gielle got almost everything out of there before she decided to go through his wardrobe and sort out what he was allowed to keep.

"Well, what do you expect? Hank is the kind of guy to spring a surprise party on his dog, but forget about everyone else's" Alex pointed out as he rubbed his hand over Gielles as they lay together. "Plus, how many times did we say for him to let you stay over at my house? At least there's enough room to stretch" he pointed out.

"Well, thanks for coming over" Gielle said with a small smile as he let Alex thread his fingers through his as he used his foot to press the button on the tv. The channels started flicking through, but he wasn't paying attention.

His mattress covered the entire back are of the doghouse, and left just enough space for his clothed filled suitcase with his laptop perched on top like a mini desk. On the other side sat a very small fridge, the kind only suitable for a handful of drink, with the tv perched on top of it. And next to the tv was a

"Is that a food dispenser?" Alex asked as he saw the big metal container set into the wall. It was a very big cylindrical object with a flat base a few inches off the ground with a big metal handle sticking out of the side.

"Yes, and it was still full of dog food" Gielle said in disgust as he found some rerun of a sci fi show he had seen before. He dropped his foot, unable to keep it up as he sighed." I was going to throw it all out, but uncle hank spotted me and gave me a lecture on being nice to the dog. And he completely ignores the fact I was using a towel to blow my nose at the time."

"That man has no priorities" Alex admitted. "Maybe we could fill it with Hershies Miniatures" he suggested as he rubbed his thumb over the back of Gielles hand. "I know a store that sells them cheap, and I bet we could hold a lot in there" he said as he brought his face in close for a nuzzle with Gielle.

"so, how did you get permission to come over here anyway? I thought your dad wanted to spend the weekend with you" Gielle asked as he felt his lips get brushed against Alexs, and he murred softly as he felt Alexs tongue gently swipe over his lips.

"I gave him a chance to go and do something he wanted to do" Alex said with a smile. "And I kept insisting until he went and did it" he added as he reached up and stroked Gielles cheek.

"How and what was it?" Gielle asked as he sighed in annoyance. He was finding it hard to stay awake, and it was perhaps the worst possible timing. Especially since they had a while together to keep to themselves.

"He wanted to go to the movies and just relax and forget about mom. So I stole fifty bucks from her purse and told him it was from my pocket money" Alex said as he gave Gielles blue cheek a kiss.

"will she notice?" Gielle asked as he nuzzled as best he could against Alexs neck. He ended up getting his head stuck under Alexs chin and he didn't have the strength to move it.

"Nope" Alex said as he helped Gielle out of his stuck position and wrapped his arm around him, pulling him into a side hug as he let Gielle rest his head on his chest. "Sadly, she's got so much money in her purse she never counts it till she runs out" he said. "So, Dad gets a day to himself, and I get some time with my boyfriend" he said with a smile.

"I just wish I could stay awake to enjoy it" Gielle said softly as he found himself yawning. He had to mentally slap himself to keep himself awake.

"Well, your sick, and you need someone to look after you. And I don't see your aunt, uncle or cousin stepping up to the plate. The only thing they've done anything for is the dog" he pointed out as he stroked Gielles cheek softly. "So how are the pills going?" he asked.

"Honestly, I have yet to experience the really bad stuff. No anal leakage or rectal bleeding, but I think he may have been lying about it' Gielle said as he yawned again. "But my sneezing is getting less now, so I must be on the right track. Trouble is now, I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open" he admitted with another yawn.

"Does that mean we can't fool around?" Alex said with a sorrowful tone in his voice as he lifted Gielles chin up slowly and gave his lips a soft kiss.

"You're so cute when you pout" Gielle said with a smile as he suddenly felt bad. "But yeah, we can't. Plus, I have no idea when Aunt Peggy will stick her head through the door. Thankfully it locks and there are curtains on the windows. Why though I don't know" he added.

"Well, I guess it's not polite to molest my boyfriend when he can't fight back" Alex said as he slid his other arm around Gielle and hooked his hands together, holding him in a tight and warm tongue.

"Boyfriend" Gielle said with a light sigh and an equally light smile. "That still sounds so strange that we consider ourselves boyfriends now" he admitted. "You know, we've only known each other for about a month" he pointed out.

"Well, I'm not regretting it" Alex said with a smile as he gave him another kiss on the forehead. "Besides, we won't know if we'll work out unless we give it a try. And I know I want to try everything with you."

"Alex" Gielle interjected as he yawned. "Look, the other day I wanted to tell you something" he said as he forced his eyes to stay open. "But we got cut off before I could say it."

"What is it?" Alex asked as he helped Gielle to sit up enough so that he was leaning his back on Alexs front and he had his arms wrapped firmly around him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Us" Gielle said to him. "Look, i know we've talked about this , and I know we love each other, but...well, I got so bored the other day that I got started reading some comics the other day..."

"What kind of comics?" Alex asked as he rested his head beside Gielles.

"Oh, you know. Those really popular gay comics that everyone seems fixated on. You know, that whole ASB collection, and that one about the flamedramon and the bowswer who are roommates, and i got reading this story about some lion and a Doberman..." he said as he had to stifle a yawn.

"That the one where the Doberman plays hockey, or the one where the Doberman has pictures of him with whipped cream on his butt?" Alex asked as he let Gielle explain it.

"I guess both. Hard to say at this point" he said as he finished yawning. "Look, I was reading those comics and stories and things, and I got to thinking. It kind of reminded me about you and me. You know, two guys meeting, they end up together. They have a defining moment and they end up being boyfriends?"

"Yeah, I know the ones. They seem to be all the rage" Alex said with a nod as he slid his hand up Gielles stomach and rubbed just under his chest. "Why did you start reading them and such, and why do they relate to us?" he asked. He had to admit he was curious about what Gielle was thinking.

"Alex, I do want to be boyfriends. I'm not going to change my mind about that. But, you know how you agree to do something, and then you start wondering why you said it? Well, after reading them, it made me wonder about what made me say yes" he said.

"I thought it was because you loved me" Alex said as he suddenly felt like he didn't wnat ot know the answer.

"No, I do. I do love you. But...I wondered if that was all there was, you know? What if I said yes because there was another reason I didn't think of at the time? So, I guess in a way I was doing research or something" he said as he yawned again. He was finidning it harder to explain, or maybe he was babbling. It was starting to get harder to tell the difference. "But, you know what made them all popular though?" he asked.

"No idea" Alex said as he slid his other hand under Gielles shirt and rubbed his soft stomach gently. "Tell me."

"Well, they all fucked pretty much the first time they met" Gielle said as he stared at the moving images on the tv. The images were starting to blur together into one jumbled mess. "Like literally, within the first week. And then they all got together after it" he said. "For some reason, those kind of comics and stories stood out. Like, they were setting the standards that everyone else should be living by. I know its stupid to compare ourselves to a bunch of made up stuff, but I couldn't help but wonder how we measure up to them" he said.

"What, you think we're like a comic or a story?" Alex asked against the side of Gielles face as he felt him lean back into his arms. "Or your not sure about us because we're not like the popular ones?"

"I did at first" Gielle admitted. He had a lot of time to think on this when he was unable to sleep during his fourth or fifths combination of pills when he had suddenly developed a spat of insomnia out of nowhere. It had been a really long night. "I was wondering about me being unsure because, you know. We haven't had sex or anything like all these other comics and stories and such. But, you know, I realised something about those comics and stuff and us" he said.

"Gielle, do you want to break up because you think we're following a comic?" Alex asked, suddenly starting to feel a wave of panic hit him as the prospect of losing Gielle. "Or because we're not following one?"

"No, listen to me" Gielle said as he summoned his strength and turned himself around till he was facing Alex face to face. "Alex, we're not like those comics. They're popular cause they have all this sex and stuff in it and that seems to be what most people go for. If that's what makes them popular, fine. I'm not going to dispute them or argue about it. So far, the most we've done is a couple of blowjobs and that isn't something to make our relationship stand out. Well, you did them" he added as he had to try and stifle another yawn.

"But...we didn't start with sex" Gielle said as he felt his eyelids unable to stay open as he rested his head on Alexs chest. "We didn't even do anything like that until that time on the couch, and that really wasn't planned or anything. And... I realised that's not a reason why I said yes to you. Look, that's all they'll be able to say is their defining moment. That they had awesome sex in their first week that they can't top for the rest of their series" he said.

"Really? I hadn't thought of it that way" Alex admitted as he rubbed his hands up and down Gielles back. "So, what are you saying exactly? That we're ok because our defining moment has nothing to do with sex?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's why I want to be your boyfriend without hesitation this time" Gielle said. "I want to say it this time, and not have to re-evaluate us because I come across a story or a comic more exciting then what we have" he said as he felt Alex squeeze him tightly. "Last weekend when I said I wasn't going anywhere, I meant it. Now, I just know why I'm saying it" he said as he nuzzled his head into Alexs warm feeling chest.

"So tell me. What's our defining moment, since you're going by comics and stories?" Alex asked as he felt Gielle go limp in his embrace. "Or rather not going by the popular ones?"

"To me, it was when you used my cousin to come over and see the new kid, and then you came over every day because you liked him. You gave me a chance and made me feel like I was welcome, while everyone else just complained" Gielle said with a smile. "It may not be as awesome as a one night stand or sex in a dorm...but it's enough for me.....to say yes and not look back on it..." he said as he was unable to stay awake any longer and he felt himself drift off to sleep.

"To me, it was the day you came over after that fight with your family" Alex whispered into the sleeping flamedramons ear as he kissed the top of GIelles forehead. "And after we were both so scared after what happened on the couch, you came back to start over. You wanted to make it work for the right reasons, and you still are" Alex said with a smile. "We may not be a comic or a story, but if we were, it's our story. We'll do it our way" he promised as he held Gielle in his arms, barely paying attention to the tv as he watched the flamedramon sleep.

Afraid of what people would say at school about him having to live in a doghouse, Gielle was very surprised to find that nobody actually knew. His Aunt had deemed him good enough to go to school since he wasn't throwing up, wasn't light headed and wasn't falling asleep in the middle of dinner. So, against the actual doctors orders of making him stay at home for a week, Gielle found himself on the bus with Alex. Toby and Roxis knew of course, since Alex had already told them. But neither of them found the situation funny.

Roxis offered to egg Hanks truck, which while it would have been funny would not have solved anything. , Toby even offered him a place to stay after a quick chat with his mother, but seeing as his uncle had already declined Michaels offer, it was a sweet gesture anyway.

It turned out that, although Bobby claimed he had a million jokes about the 'flamedradog boy' that lived in his yard, his mother had outright forbidden him from talking about it. Bobby mentioned it to Gielle during the morning recess, and then gave him the death look when he added that if he breathed a word about it, his mother would bury his prop trunk in an undisclosed location.

Thankful he wasn't going to be embarrassed about his living situation, Gielle managed to go through school without further incident. Thankfully there was no major workload to his homework, and the break away from his family was much needed.

It was nice to see that even though he was sleeping in a dog house, neither Roxis, Toby or Alex thought any different of him. It was nice to sit around in class and in the sun and just enjoy himself with his friends. Although he found himself out of breath constantly, which figured the side effect of having trouble breathing.

He did get some good news from Coach Clay that afternoon, that his first major soccor game was two weeks away against South Arlen. Since he had to miss out on the practice that weekend due to his allergies, he thought Clay would have tanked him. But the big tiger just told him that he was 'glad you had a real excuse' to miss out and told him to be on the field that weekened. The thought made him quite happy to know that and he couldn't help smiling all day.

But something was on his mind that he couldn't figure out when he went home to the doghouse that afternoon. It was one of those weird thoughts that made him wonder what was wrong but he was unable to figure it out. It felt very familiar, as if he had the feeling once before.

The same thing happened on Tuesday and it carried through to Wednesday. While nothing had changed at school and no-one was actually making him embarrassed about the dog house, he still had the feeling that something was wrong. It niggled at the back of his mind like an annoying thought that kept reminding him about something.

It was Thursday morning when he was dressing himself in the doghouse that he realised what was wrong. And he couldn't believe he hadn't realised it sooner. He was halfway through buttoning up his shirt when it struck him like a hit to the head.

He was no longer sneezing.

He stopped dressing himself and picked up the medication bottles and looked at them. Apparently a combination of two yellow pills, half a red and one blue had kept him on a good path and he hadn't changed the combination. And he had apparently not even noticed he hadn't sneezed in the last few days.

So, it looked like his allergies had finally gotten themselves under control and he hadn't even noticed it. He wanted to hit himself. He could have been out of the doghouse a lot earlier if he had been smart enough to figure it out. If he wanted to make it permanent, according to Michael, he had to keep it up until all the pills had been used.

He could have been out two days ago....

Gielle put the bottles down and knelt down to his knees and pulled the curtain back from the window. He looked through to see his family at the kitchen table eating their breakfast together. For the past few days, his family had acted like he wasn't even there. He had heard his aunt yell at Min for making fun of his situation when she had fetched the paper.

"You know, if my nephew was in a plastic bubble, I'd be having dinner with Elton John. But no, he has to live in a doghouse, so HA HA HA HA HA" she had falsely laughed. "Do you know what would really be funny? If Connie broke her leg" she had shouted over the fence.

Apparently, people were laughing at his situation regardless of what his Aunt had been trying to suppress. But that hadn't made them take him back into the house. In fact, they seemed to be happy that all of them were enjoying themselves without him.

They hadn't really come out to check on him half the time, and when he had been called in for dinner, it was after they had started eating. His aunt would drop his school lunch in front of the door on her way to take Bobby to school, and his Uncle would walk past every time he walked in the yard without even looking in his direction.

He looked down at the bottles again as he held them back in his hands. He slowly sat down on the floor of the doghouse, the floor that had self heating pads designed for the dog and not for him. His room had probably been cleaned to the point where there was no trace he had ever been in there. And yet he heard his uncle tell the dog every night how much he loved her and how sorry he was she had to still live in the garage. He had never once said goodnight to Gielle.

He realised he had two choices.

The first was that he could tell them that his medication had made him go back under control, and he could move back into the house. The plus side, he could be out of the doghouse and back into his room. He would get his room back, but he would have to suffer through his uncle fawning over how happy he'd be to not have to torture the dog, and his aunt would be pleased to not have to worry about her reputation and go about telling everyone how much of a good mother substitute she was.

Or, he could lie and stay in the doghouse. He would be a laughing stock once people found out and news about him being forced to live in a doghouse would spread like wildfire. Not that he thought his family would care since they didn't exactly fight to keep him in the house anyways. But he'd have his privacy, and he couldn't deny how good it was to sleep with Alex, even for that short time.

He sighed as he put the pill bottles down, listening to them rattle as they rolled on the heated floor. He could feel a headache come on, and it wasn't from his allergies. He wondered what the others would think.

"I think you should tell them" Toby said at lunch that day as they sat in the school cafeteria, instead of being outside in the Texan heat. It was deemed too hot to sit outside and they didn't want to sit around and sweat for no reason. "I mean, they could find out eventually, and then you'd end up paying for deceiving them for so long" he said. "Plus, I'm willing to bet your uncle and aunt would care more about you lying to them then about them making you feel like less of a family member."

"He has a point" Alex said as he dug into his sandwich. "Might as well confess up now rather then play it out and pay for it" he said.

"Oh sure, go ahead and tell them" Roxis said as he ate what looked like some kind of subway sandwich. "But you don't have to tell them that you're cured filly. You can always sneeze now and then when your uncle gets too friendly with the dog and make him suffer when he has to put it out" he said.

"Why would I do that?" Gielle asked. For some reason, the idea was oddly tempting. He just wasn't sure why.

"cause they threw you in the doghouse" Roxis said, as if it was obvious. "And when did they actually care about you because you were sick? They didn't. Hank cared about his dog and your Aunt cared about herself. NAd your cousin was no help. Tell them your cured for now, and then when they really start pissing you off, start sneezing and watch them suffer" he said firmly.

Gielle was slightly surprised. Not only did that make sense, but that had to have been the most he had heard Roxis speak about anything.

"Well, that makes sense too" Alex said wit ha nod as he swallowed what was in his mouth. "If they annoy you, sneeze and watch them dance" he said as he took another bite.

"So what should I do then?" Gielle asked as he felt more unsure then when he had been that morning.

"Look, whatever you do, you should be comfortable with the decision" Alex said with a smile to him as he made sure Roxis wasn't looking, since Toby couldn't see anyway, and he gave Gielles hand a squeeze under the table. "At least regardless of the decision we can put this shit behind us" he added.

Although they both had a good point, and both were pretty tempting in their own right, Gielle still had to think on it through the rest of the day to make sure he was comfortable with what he would decide. By the time he stepped off the bus, walked down the street and ended up at his uncles house in front of the doghouse, Gielle knew that there was only one thing he could do.

He told his Aunt and Uncle he was allergy free, and he'd stay that way.

For a blind kid, Toby seemed to have amazing foresight. It happened almost exactly like he had predicted. His uncle had let Ladybird back into the house and practically announced they would celebrate her triumphant return home with a barbecue celebration. And he would give her the biggest steak in the market.

Peggy exclaimed how happy she was to tell the steam cleaners she had hired to get the hell out of her house now that they were no longer needed. She walked around the house practically praising herself to the furniture and every inanimate object in the house about how wonderful and smart of a caretaker she was.

"So, this means your back?" Bobby had asked, barely looking up from his Gameboy as he laid on the couch. "Great. I was enjoying the silence" he added, talking as if Gielle wasn't even there.

Neither of them welcomed Gielle back into the house, nor say anything else aside from 'Thank god' when he said he was no longer sneezing. They hadn't helped him move out, and they didn't help him move back in. He suddenly felt once more that he was intruding on their lives.

As Gielle put his things back in his room, he could hear his uncle talk on teh phone to everyone in the neighbourhood about how they should welcome Ladybird back into the house properly with a barbecue, and gifts. His Aunt was on the other handset, talking to someone about how she had kept a level head in the apparent crisis and how everything she had done was right.

Unable to hear any more of it, Gielle shut the door and banged his head against it. He wondered briefly about whether or not he had made the right decision. He had told them he wold be allergy free, so even if he did sneeze they wouldn't think anything of it.

He sighed and kicked his suitcase in sudden anger, the whole thing flying into the air and its contents spewing onto the ground. He was about ready to blow when he saw his family photo album lying under several pairs of boxers.

Gielle made his way over to the album and picked it up before he sat on the edge of the bed. Slowly he began to flip through the pages, seeing memories of a life he could no longer live move past his vision. He flipped through a few more pages and stopped when he saw a picture of all three of them.

They were standing outside of his middle school, his mother and father looking proud of him as he stood between them in his school uniform, looking somewhat embarrassed to have the attention on him like they were giving him.

He wondered what they would think of him for making the decisions that he had. Regarding the one with Alex, he could almost hear his father say 'Son, life isn't a comic, or a story. It's not set in stone. And there are no standards you have to live up to. You want to go ahead, go ahead. You won't know till you try. And it's ok to be nervous and do it for the right seasons. Sex doesn't define a relationship, no matter how popular an option it might seem."

His mother, he could hear her say "Gielle, even though they didn't treat you like one, you are part of their family. And even if they had mistreated you, you just proved that you were the better person by owning up and doing the right thing. And I couldn't be prouder of you."

Gielle smiled to himself as he laid himself back on his bed, hugging his parents' album to his chest. He realised he had two reason to be happy.

The first, was that his parents would have been proud of him.

The second, was that he had a boyfriend.

That, was a defining moment.