Broken and Mended Hearts

Hey all, here is chapter 3, sorry for the late posting! Been kind of busy these past few days.

Chapter 3: Jack...

Jack and I had shot our attention straight to where the entrance of the cafeteria was, slowly he covered his mouth and then mine, attempting to keep us both quiet from whoever was outside. It seemed that Jacks's person didn't fully intend on keeping us completely out of reach of the kitchen staff…Until we saw it was him that was trying to get in.

Jack's connection was a fox who worked inside of the kitchen, a freshman by the name of David, who walked in looking a bit nervous, scratching the back of his head.

"So, like…The Culinary staff is here, and I tried to stall them, but they are coming like now…So can you guys like go, now!?" The fox had walked in practically out of breath as he had run down to hallway to warn us they were coming.

So that's when Jack and I took the memo and decided to leave in a hurry, grabbing the food we could since…We were both starving, we ended up eating outside of our dorm rooms for a bit. We ended up sitting on a patch of grass just outside the doors, and that's where we talked more about what he said in the kitchen…About love coming from the person, you least expect it from.

"Did Jack elaborate on that more after..?" Doctor Flores asked me, the sound of the ticking clock ringing louder in my ears, looking right into Doctor Flores's eyes.

"Yeah…He did…We talked outside for a while…" I said to the husky, folding my hands together softly.

"So yeah, pal…I know it sucks right now, I don't quite understand heartbreak myself yet since no girls really talk to me around here, but if books and manga's tell me anything about love, it's that it isn't pretty sometimes and it hurts…But the thing about love too is, the people who love you are the ones who aren't going anywhere…" The yellow lab said to me smiling, eating another apple as he looked into the sky, and so did I…It was beautiful tonight, the stars were out and it was nice and quiet on campus with everyone at the festival, and while the food wasn't the best…It just felt nice to know that I wasn't alone right now of all times especially.

"We never had good luck with girls growing up anyways, did we?" I asked him with a chuckle, nudging his shoulder playfully where he laughs back at me and nods.

"We really didn't pal, but you know what…Patience is a virtue, and like I said…It might come from who you least expect, but for now, just take a breather you know? Sure, it's gonna suck to lose Haru…But then again, that's high school for you too!" Jack says nudging me back, as I chuckled softly. "Girls can be complicated sometimes…" He said to me, nudging me back~

I looked into his eyes and smiled; we had both finished eating since it wasn't a lot of food that we ate. I stood up and grabbed all the trash that he accumulated and mine as well, throwing everything away. Jack still sat on the floor, looking up into the night sky he asked me.

"Hey Legoshi, do you think we could hang out here for a bit longer...? It's really nice out tonight." Jack asked me to keep him company tonight, but I knew that he was doing this mostly for me because he felt bad for me and wanted to make sure I was okay…I knew Jack, already, but you know what…I wasn't against it and so I nodded and said to him. "Of course, Jack…" I said with a smile, sitting closer to him this time on the grass, I laid against the rock that he laid on and looked up at the sky with him, enjoying his presence most of all.

"You doing alright, buddy?" He asked me looking me in the eyes, with that beautiful smile of his.

"Yeah, it's just…With all the pain that we endure, do you really think it ever stops, Jack..?" I asked him curiously, looking at the stars above, it was the most cliché thing in the world…But something about the night sky with the deep conversation of your best friend made that cliché less of a cliché and more heartfelt….

"I don't believe everybody stays hurt forever, Legoshi…Sure, it might be tough for a while, but I really do believe it will get better you know? Especially for someone like you…You're not a bad person…" He says to me smiling, running his soft hands across my arm, and once I felt his soft pawpads touch my arm, I felt my heart skip a beat practically as I looked at him with a bigger smile.

"You really think so, Jack..?" I asked him, watching as he rubbed my arm…Feeling his soft pawpads press against my arm.

He nodded to me slowly, slowly pulling his hands away from my bicep…Whining a bit underneath my breath as I feel his soft touch leave my stiff arms from all the crap Haru had been through…

"When he rubbed your arm, how did you feel Legoshi..?" The smaller framed husky asked me, standing up from his chair, walking over to his desk to grab his coffee mug, taking a sip as he listened to me.

"I felt assured and comforted…His presence and thoughtfulness to the situation were really amazing, losing Haru was painful and my night was not so good because of that…But I knew I'd be okay because my best friend was there to help…And he did, he was there when I felt like nobody else would and I owe him so much for that…" I said to Doctor Flores, a few tears rolling down my eyes at the thought…Without Jack, that night could have been much worse…

"Hey, hey…It's okay Legoshi, Jack was there and that's all that matters…A true friend is exactly what Jack is…Someone who is consistently there for you, through everything, no matter what…I'm sure he'd love to know how much he's helped you…And can almost guarantee you that he won't ask for any kind of materialistic debt of any kind…A true friend doesn't want your money or any possessions because they feel indebted, the debt you pay to a friend is happiness and a flourishing friendship…" Doctor Flores said to me, smiling at me.

I sighed and wiped my tears away slowly, taking a deep breath and looking back at Doctor Flores nodding my head gently at him, knowing he was right…I don't think Jack ever had any kind of issue helping me when we were kids, and still doesn't to this day.

"Now something is telling me you guys must have talked for hours?" Doctor Flores asked me.

"Yeah, we sat and just talked about how much things changed since growing up, and talked about the good times we shared as kids back home…And things were as normal as can be for the night, we went back inside eventually with Collot, you know our friend I told you about when we first started meeting..? The sheepdog" Where Doctor Flores nodded in acknowledgment.

"Well we went inside and started to watch a movie since the school week was over and nothing was really left to do…We kind of just went inside after talking for all that time…We watched some corny Western Film that Collot had to watch for an assignment over the weekend. It was a nice time with the guys, but then Jack…Kinda, fell asleep on me…" I said blushing hard, thinking back to that night, which was about two weeks ago…And a lot has happened since then, which is why I am here…To tell everything to the Doc.

"He fell asleep on you..?" The husky asked taking his pen and paper out, it seemed like he was getting ready to write something important.

I nodded my head softly at him, thinking back to the night…

ROOM 701 (LEGOSHI'S POV)

Eventually, Collot and the other guys had returned to the room with us, after getting back home from the festival.

"It's nice to be able to all sit down and watch something for a change…Instead of working all day long." Collot says to us chuckling, turning the TV on and allowing the movie to play.

After a while, the guys were setting up the DVD player, all while Jack and I were talking in the back of the room still.

"So Kabu died? I kinda figured given how long I'd be gone…" I asked sighing, looking at the empty cage that I had kept him in.

"Yeah…As soon as he did, we didn't think it was good…A bad oman of sorts, you know? You loved that little guy, so we thought something really bad had happened for you to not come back after so long…" Jack said to me softly, looking inside the cage a bit. "Don't worry, we didn't just throw him away or anything…If anything, I took him to the science labs and well…I did something for ya pal…" He said smiling, bringing out a small piece of glass with Kabu in the middle of it.

My eyes widened a bit, watching as the guys set up the TV and DVD player as if they never had touched one before in their lives…Which in reality, most guys our age haven't. But then my attention shot right back to Jack holding Kabu in a glass encasement.

"I got him preserved for you…I knew you cared about him, but I didn't want to just get rid of him…That'd be awful if I did…I know you cared for him buddy, so I hope it's not too extensive…" He said to me softly, handing me the piece, where I took it and looked at Kabus body, sighing softly letting out a few tears…Not for Kabu, he was just a bug…

"The idea that Jack was this worried about me while I was gone, taking time away from his day to get Kabu preserved? I never knew how much I appreciated Jack up until very now, Doc…" I said to Doctor Flores in a low tone, rubbing my hands together softly. "He really cares for me doc, not once did he leave my side that night…" I said to the husky, pushing my clawtips together slowly.

"Did your feelings change for Jack that night..?" Doctor Flores asked softly.

"And that's what I came to tell you Doc…" I said, standing up from the chair I sat in, looking out the window of his office that overlooked the main entrance of Cherryton, out at the lush trees surrounding the school.

I let out a small smile and looked up at Jack, hugging him again gently. "Thanks, Jack…Really, this means a lot to me…" I say to him softly, looking into his eyes as he looks into mine, something about Jacks eyes were so soothing to look into…I wanted to stay stuck in his big beautiful eyes until we were interrupted by Collot when he says to us.

"Movies starting! Shut up! Let's enjoy our night off!" He says grinning at us, turning the lights off, the other guys including Jack all got comfortable…Jack kept his seat next to me, and I kept mine with him.

It was just your generic western movie, was more documentary-styled though if anything which made the movie less desirable to watch, so I stopped paying attention about 5-10 minutes into the movie, since I wasn't a fan personally of these types of movies.

However, something else seemed to grab my attention as the movie progressed onwards…

Looking down at my shoulder, I felt something warm press against it…" Huh?" I asked slowly as I peeked over at my shoulder, to where Jack had laid his head down on my shoulder and fell asleep…

"When I looked down at him, his muzzle was laid on my shoulder….I didn't want to move him, nor did I want him to move…But why? Usually with guys, things like this feel uncomfortable…But with Jack..? It felt natural…It felt natural to feel his embrace in this way…Like something in my heart told me that, being here with Jack would definitely make my night less of a hellhole and more worthwhile…" I said to Doctor Flores, watching the students pass by the buildings in front of us, I sighed closed my eyes before hearing the Doc speak up…

Jack and his muzzle felt so warm and inviting on my shoulder…I didn't want to change this, I didn't want to ruin it, nor did I want this moment to ever stop…Slowly I reached my hand up his back and started to scratch between his ears for what seemed like a whole half hour…Before we ended up falling asleep…

"Legoshi…From what you've been telling me so far…I think I may know what you're feeling for Jack…" The husky smiled wide at me, grabbing his notepad.

"And what might that be doc..?" I asked him softly, feeling my heart race a bit…I didn't know what to expect…Most of these feelings I started feeling fo Jack, were very similar to how I felt about Haru at times, but then I also knew that he was my best friend…And it couldn't get any better than that…Or could it..?

"I think you're in love with, Jack…Legoshi…" The husky said to me, and it was there that I realized…

"Could the doc, be right…?"

(end of chapter 3…)

Authors Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Just a quick heads up, this story won't be too complex as this is one of my first fanfics in quite literally years. So just a little sappy love story between Legosi/Jack seemed like a good start for my return to writing!

Anyways, sorry for the delay in chapter 3! Hope you guys enjoy, until the next chapter!

-Joel 3