First Loss ~Chapter 6 Heart of a Lion~
"...Fine!" Devon agreed.
"Yes! You won't regret it!" James exclaimed as he pulled out his cell and began dialing someone's number.
"Hello?" A voice asked.
"Hey! Oscar it's me, James."
"Oh hey James. What do you want?" Oscar asked, probably worrying this was about work.
"I've got a blind date for you, one of my friends."
"Oh?" Oscar sounded excited. "What...er species?" Oscar asked nervously, he wasn't speciesist but did want to be able to picture his date.
"Lion." James replied with a grin on his face. Oscar had always wanted to date a lion.
"Really? Great! When and where?" James set up the time and place with Oscar, and closed his cell. James hurried over to Devon who was waiting in line for the register.
"So?" Devon asked.
"So, your date is Oscar, a gorrilla. He's meeting you in half an hour at 'Grandma's Vineyard' on Fourth." James replied excitedly.
"HALF AN HOUR!??!" Devon screamed. He hadn't intended to get the whole room staring at him.
"Well, you just took a shower, you're holding clean dress clothes and the restaurant is just down a block or two." James replied defensively. "I wouldn't throw you into a situation like this unless I was absolutely sure it would work out!"
"Yeah I know... I was just... thanks." The way Devon said it was like he was apologizing for getting upset.
Twenty minutes later, Devon was waiting to be seated at 'Grandma's Vineyard'.
"Party?"
"Ovarill." Devon replied.
He was ushered to a table against a large window overlooking Fourth Street. Sitting at the table was his date, Oscar Ovarill. Oscar was indeed a gorrilla, a buff one at that. With the sort of muscles Oscar had, Devon began wondering what exactly it was James did. He noticed Oscar had emerald green eyes, which looked very kind and welcoming. As Devon came into view, Oscar's face lit up and a smile spread across his face.
"You must be Devon." Oscar greeted Devon as they shook hands.
"And I suppose you're Oscar then." Devon half-joked.
As the date slowly progressed, Oscar seemed more and more like a buff version of James, Devon knew this date would end up well.
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James smiled as he pulled into his usual parking spot back at his apartment. He knew the date between Oscar and Devon would go well. As he stepped out of his car, he noticed two younger furs frantically buzzing a room. James walked over, wondering if he could help. As he came closer, he noticed one was a bear, the other a panther.
"Can I help you two?" James asked. The panther, who had been buzzing the room, turned to James.
"Yes, please. We need to get ahold of the fur who lives in 314." The panther replied. James supressed a smile as he realized this was Danny and Andrew, looking for him.
"Oh so you're looking for James?" James asked.
"Yes! So you know him?" Danny asked.
"I'm he actually. You must be here about Devon then. Let's go inside, Andrew doesn't look so hot." James motioned to the bear laying on a bench outside the apartment building.
James closed the door behind him as he Danny and Andrew entered his apartment.
"So where is Devon?" Danny asked the moment the door was shut. James offered Danny and Andrew seats, then took one himself.
"Right now, he's on a date. I meant to call you earlier, but I was busy. Right now he's fine, but he was in a bad place last night. I'd like to say I don't need your help, but I still do." James sighed.
"With what?" Danny asked.
"The reason he was here, had something to do with your dobie friend, Tyler. I'd like to explain, if you've got the time." James replied. Andrew's cell rang.
"That'd be my alarm." Andrew announced half-heartedly. "Danny, I've got an appointment with my doctor, will you be able to get home?" Andrew asked.
"If Danny wants to stay, I can give him a ride." James chimed in. Andrew nodded and headed out the door.
"Devon told me it all started on a summer night four years ago..." James began as he started making some more coffee. He knew this part of the story involved Danny, and that telling him this story may make things a little rocky, but someone had to. And so began the most uncomfortable story Danny ever listened to.
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"Well Andrew. I've got good news." Andrew's doctor, a small otter, announced as he walked back into the room. "You pass the visual test, also as you know, I took some blood. We've got a lab upstairs that can handle this, and we'll have the results shortly. The odds of you having anything is pretty low, especially since you've shown no symptoms, but it's happened before." Andrew sat there twiddling his thumbs in anxiety.
Andrew thought about how his life would change if he had anything, especially since it wouldn't be bacterial. If he had anything, it wasn't going away anytime soon. As Andrew sat there pondering what his life would be like with an STD, a nurse walked in holding some papers.
"Andrew..." The otter put on his glasses to read the results. "You tested positive for herpes." Andrew's heart fell. "You should consider calling all the furs you've been with in the last month."
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At home, Andrew sat with a list and a phone. He had nearly finished the list. In fact he had only one number left he had to call. He looked down hesitantly, he read the last name on the list 'Dominique Stephens'. Slowly he typed in the number. He knew, if anyone else had it, it would be her.
"Hello." Dominique's voice sounded especially sweet and beautiful today. Andrew cursed under his breath.
"Hey Dom...it's Andrew."
"Oh hello." Dominique seemed to know what was coming next.
"I...have herpes. You should get yourself checked out." The words nearly forced themselves out of Andrew.
"I already did." Dominique replied. "Andrew, the test came back negative. The doctor told me the symptoms I was having sounded more like something else, and tested for that."
"So what is it? What did I do to you? What horrible disease did I give to you?" Andrew asked, hating himself for messing up Dominique's life.
"I'm pregnant."
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Devon and Oscar kissed. The date went better than either Devon or James had expected. Over the course of one date it felt like Devon knew Oscar better than he knew himself. They had also decided, that Devon would move into Oscar's place. This would help them get closer, and help out James by freeing up his guest room. Devon and Oscar had, in fact, driven Oscar's truck up to James' building and were now making out in front of it. Finally Devon pulled off.
"Okay, okay, we've got all the time in the world for that. I'll go upstairs and grab my stuff. Then we can pick up where we left off." Devon winked as ran inside.
Devon opened James' door with James' spare key he'd given him.
"...and now he's on a date with coworker of mine." James finished. Devon walked in, wondering who James had been talking to. Devon found his old friend Danny, sitting at James' dinner table, with red eyes and matted cheek fur.
"Hey..." Devon began.
"Oh Devon! I didn't hear you come in. Look who I tracked down!" James replied excitedly. Danny jumped up and wrapped his arms around Devon, squeezing tightly. Danny felt so bad for Devon, he'd had a harsh week.
"Why's Danny all...?" Devon asked, not sure how to end his question.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just told him the story you told me last night..." James mumbled, worried how Devon would react.
"Oh. Okay, hey where's the rest of the clothes from this morning?" Devon asked. He didn't seem shaken at all being reminded of the night before.
"Uh...in your room...why?" James asked.
"Oh! I'm moving in with Oscar!" Devon replied, his eyes shining. James was surprised, what a quick decision. Apparently the date had gone quite well, Devon seemed to have almost forgotten about his hardship with Tyler.
"Isn't that a bit...fast?"
"Well, he's got room, this way I'm not using yours, and it'll help our relationship out." Devon replied using more logic than rationality, acting more like James than himself. Before James could protest this, Devon was out the door again, without even saying goodbye.
"He seems, good." Danny stated blankly.
"Yeah, I guess so." James replied blankly.
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Weeks later.....
Devon sat in the bathroom. It was the only place he could escape to. Oscar was driving him up a wall. He had the day off, and was in a cleaning mood, he cleaned the bathroom first, and so didn't care about it anymore. Devon smiled to himself as he heard the vaccuum in the next room. Devon splashed some water on his face, he hadn't gotten good sleep last night. As he turned off the water, his hand bumped Oscar's contacts. Devon picked them up off the floor. He looked at the emerald lies in his hand. Oscar's eyes were actually red, and he wore these outside of the house so he didn't scare people. Oscar banged on the door.
"You better not be dirtying that up! I don't want to have to clean it again!!" Oscar yelled through the door. Devon knew better than to make anything dirty in Oscar's apartment. Oscar had a temper sometimes. As Devon remembered this, he looked in the mirror at his right eye.
It was still swollen and black. Devon put some ointment on it as he began to cry silently. He knew better than to let Oscar hear him crying. As Devon sat there crying, he thought about his one wish, to be living with James again.