Author's Notes: I want to take you back, if I could, to 1996. Bill Clinton is President. Gasoline is less than a dollar a gallon. And a shy, 15-year-old high school freshman is suffering through yet another family vacation to the beach. He has only a few friends, and is struggling to reconcile how he feels inside, in the throes of those wonderful hormonal changes known as puberty, with what he has always been taught is wrong.

That would be about when I first started writing this story. More than 12 years ago, I wrote this story in a notebook full of the various writings and drawings that I used to keep my sanity through all my questioning and depressive periods. In a way, that notebook and these characters saved my life by giving me an outlet when I desperately needed one. I could create my own reality, where I set the rules.

So now it's more than 12 years later, and I still have that notebook. I still look at it often as a priceless treasure of my life, and a chance to get to revisit with my old friends...

  This is one of the stories out of that notebook. One of the few I actually finished. I still remember writing it on the deck overlooking the beach - as the rain poured down. I'm a sucker for sappy love stories. I've tried to resist editing it as much as possible with the exception of fixing obvious grammatical errors, as I want to preserve it as much as possible. So apologies if this story is not very long and is not up to my normal standards, but this is some of my absolute earliest furry writing.

And remember: Stop the spread! Please practice safe sex!

A New Life  
by Shilah (shilahwolf@gmail.com)

Two rough furry paws shoved Shawn hard out the door. So hard, even, that he fell flat on his face, his muzzle hitting the ground with a hard \*thump\* and causing blood to flow freely from a cut on his lip. But more profound on his face than pain was fear and anger. Tears flowed freely from his blue eyes, intermingling with the raindrops and rust-colored streaks on his brownish fur.

"No son of mine is a faggot!" His father, the one who had tossed him out the door, spat. "Don't ever come around here again! Ever!" He slammed the door behind him, and on the life Shawn had known.

  Shawn lay on the ground for several minutes, though it seemed more like an hour, letting the rain soak his clothes and fur. He was a fox of medium build, standing about five foot six, not overly muscular though he did work out a bit at the gym. His fur was a dark brown typical of foxes, with a cream white fur running down him from from the bottom tip of his muzzle to his inner thighs. The tips of his arms and legs were "gloved" with black fur, and his tail was tipped with the same cream color as his chest. He had been working for a software company as a programmer until the company had gone belly-up and he was laid off. He had recently been forced to take a job at the local grocery store bagging groceries to supplement his student loans for college, and had been living at home. Now, everything was gone - just because of who he was.

Shawn thought he could approach his parents. He thought that, after some explaining, they would accept him for who he was. But just the opposite had happened. His mother, who he had been closest to, could not even look at him. And his father ... well ... had given him a nice right hook, throwing him into a china vase. He lay flat on the floor, crying from the sadness that his parents could not accept him. Once again, he staggered to his feet, only to be lunged at by his father. In one swift move, his father grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him out the door.

  Well, he thought, it is over now. He picked himself up, stretching his legs and growling as he stretched the sore spots where he had been struck, and began to wall. The road was rough on his bare foot-paws, and the rain poured down around him, soaking his tortured body. He was wearing only a thin t-shirt and black jeans, both of which served only to amplify the feeling of water and cold on his wet fur. As he continued to walk, he began to get very cold, and before long, Shawn was a shivering mess.

At this point, he was walking along the entrance ramp to the highway leading downtown. He was figuring that if he could make it downtown, or at least get a start on getting here, he could perhaps stay at a homeless shelter for the night before looking for a more permanent place to stay. Maybe his parents would relent and see things through.

As Shawn walked up the entrance ramp, a shivering and shaking mess, he barely noticed the small white hatchback that pulled off the road just in front of him. The world was beginning to get blurry around the edges and darkness was closing in on him. He fell to his knees, just barely able to see a person emerge from the car before he collapsed into a heap on the roadside. Everything - the pain, the sadness, and the cold - mercifully snapped off.

  \* \* \*

Shawn awoke with a start, and proceeded to determine where he was. His vision was still a bit blurry, so it was difficult for him to make out any detail in the room. From what he could see, he was in a largish room, with striped wallpaper. A few pictures hung on the wall, most of which he couldn't make out, and but a few items of furniture including a dresser and some night-stands. As he began to gain more awareness, he now realized that he was dry and lying underneath several sheets and a comforter in a warm bed. He was warm and no longer shivering. Shawn blinked his eyes a few times, regaining a bit  
of vision. He could now make out more detail in the room, despite the dim lighting that was coming from the other room.

Shawn sat up in the bed and tried a few experimental stretches, growling a little bit as he stretched muscles that had taken hits. He turned and hung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching them a bit, and looked down to notice that he was only in a pair of underwear. He then looked to see his clothes sitting on a chair nearby, washed and dried. Shawn got up and walked slowly on shaky legs over to the chair when he noticed a note on the chair.

  The note said:

Had to go to class. Feel free to grab a shower or something to eat,  
and I'll be back soon.

D.J.

P.S. - When I get back, I'll care for your wounds. You're rather cute!

"Great," thought Shawn, "She's probably a tall blonde. Most people I know would dream of this." He sighed, looking down at his body, and decided that, since he was here, he might as well take advantage of the opportunity to snag a shower. He wandered into what turned out to be the bathroom, finding a towel and fur shampoo left for him. He spun the knob, fumbling with it a bit before getting the temperature just right. Shawn slipped his underwear off and stepped into the shower.

He sat down on the floor of the tub, just allowing the water to flow over his tortured body and reflected on some of the events ... how long ago? He stared down at the water flowing down his body and down the tub, watching the mud, dirt, and occasional crimson red streak of blood swirl down the drain.

He had lost complete track of time. He slowly began to scrub the mats and dirt from his fur; the cleaning was as much psychological as physical, with Shawn hoping to scrub away the pain and hurt of the night before. The soap suds made swirling patterns as they danced around the drain, flowing down and taking with it everything Shawn had known.

  Sometimes, a shower is wonderful therapy, and Shawn reveled in it. He finally stood and shut the water off, reaching out the door of the shower and grabbing the towel. Carefully, region by region, he slowly and tenderly worked the water out of his fur until he was dry, and hung the towel around his waist.

As he opened the door, he ran smack into something, and fell flat on his back. He looked up at what he'd run into.

He saw a sharply-dressed wolf, standing about six foot three, with dark gray fur running down his back, arms and legs, and light grey fur running from the underside of his muzzle down to his thighs. He had the most beautiful amber eyes and ears that seemed to perk with every sound in the room. He showed some good muscle-tone on his arms and legs revealing that he was probably a runner. His fur was well-manicured, trimmed and clean. He was wearing a Ralph Lauren plaid shirt and a pair of khakis, with a brown leather belt around the waist. A backpack was slung over his shoulder, though not straining too much on it.

  Shawn sighed, thinking, "Great, just what I need. Her boyfriend is here. What's he gonna think? Too bad, too. He's to die for..."

But much to Shawn's surprise, the wolf's initial look of surprise changed to recognition, For just a second, they just stared at each other in silence, before the wolf broke it, "Good morning!"

Shawn blinked for a second, then smiled and said softly, "Thank you. If you don't mind my asking...where am I?"

The wolf helped Shawn to his feet, "My apartment, University District. My name's Darrin Justice. Yours?"

Shawn blinked as it all fell together! The note with the initials. D.J. Darrin Justice! His apartment! You're rather cute?

"Shawn." He said softly.

"Nice to meet you. Here, let me help you into the living room. I'll get some medicine and we'll dress those dreadful wounds you have." He helped Shawn into the living room slowly, allowing Shawn to rest some of his weight on Darrin. Shawn noted the wonderful smell of Darrin's fur - the scent of pine needles in the morning mist. He helped Shawn over to the couch, softly letting him down. Darrin disappeared for a moment and returned with some medical supplies.

  "Here, lay down." Darrin said, helping Shawn to lay down on the couch. He applied Bactine to the cuts on Shawn's muzzle and chest, eliciting a slight growl from Shawn. Darrin was very gentle, however, and before long he had cleaned up all of Shawn's scrapes and bruises.

Shawn smiled up at Darrin, "Thank you."

Darrin smiled back, "I'm not done yet," he looked down at Shawn, still covered by a towel, "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you awoke. I hate morning classes. Feel free to grab some of my stuff from the closet to get dressed. I'll have breakfast done in no time."

Shawn was still numbed by the whole sequence of events as he wandered back to the bedroom and pawed through some of Darrin's things. He felt weird, even a little perverted, as he put on a pair of underwear, a pair of khakis and a Tommy shirt. He strapped on his watch, glancing at it and seeing that he had about two hours before a class of his own. He wandered back into the dining area just as Darrin was setting some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast out on the table.

  He smiled when he saw Shawn, "Have a seat."

Darrin held the chair out for Shawn as he sat down, then sat down across the small table from him in his own chair.

"You look familiar. You go to university here?"

"Yeah," Shawn answered, looking down a bit. "Computer sciences major."

He looked across the table at Shawn for a few minutes, before speaking softly, "I know the look of pain. I've seen it in my own eyes, and too many others. I can see it in yours, too. I'm not one to pry, I just like to help, but ... what were you doing out on that dreadful  
evening last night?"

Shawn sighed softly, looking down in his lap for a moment before looking up to meet Darrin's eyes, those golden amber eyes. "I ..." he started, but he just could not finish. Shawn burst into tears right over his breakfast. He put his head down in his hands, the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. Darrin hurried around the table, kneeling before Shawn and hugging him tightly. Shawn held on to Darrin for dear life as the tears flowed from him, all the pain of the last evening bleeding again like a fresh wound.

  They stayed like that, Darrin slowly rocking Shawn back and fourth as Shawn cried into his shoulder, for almost fifteen minutes. As Shawn sniffled a little, he took his face from Darrin's now-soaking shoulder and looked back into his eyes. "I ... I'm .... I'm sorry."

Darrin held him closely. "You looked like you needed it."

He lead Shawn into the living room laying him softly down on the sofa so that his head  
was on Darrin's lap. He softly stroked a paw through Shawn's head-fur, "Tell me what happened...," he whispered softly and soothingly.

Shawn related to Darrin the entire story of how he had tried to come out to his parents, been kicked out, and had wandered the streets, cold, wet, and alone that night. Darrin gasped at points, but always spoke with that same soothing tone and continued to run his paw through Shawn's head-fur. Finally, as Shawn finished his story, Darrin wrapped his arms around the fox's body and hugged him tightly. They held the embrace for a few moments before breaking it reluctantly. Shawn found himself facing again into Darrin's golden-amber eyes, and Darrin into Shawn's ocean-blue. The inches between the two muzzles seemed like miles as the distance narrowed.

  When Shawn's muzzle met Darrin's, a bolt of electricity shot through him the likes of which he had never known. Everything in his mind and body seemed to shut down and go numb as all his emotions were concentrated in one moment. He moved ever so slightly, parting his lips and allowing Darrin's tongue entrance. Darrin's did the same, and the kiss deepened into an expression of love.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, with Darrin wrapping his arms around Shawn and holding him close. Shawn's tongue danced with Darrin's; he felt this lightly brush Shawn's teeth. Shawn moaned into the kiss involuntarily. Finally, almost regrettably, Darrin broke the kiss, staring deeply into Shawn's eyes. He began to nibble softly along the length of Shawn's muzzle, and down his neck. He made his way slowly across Shawn's chest to nibble softly on one of his nipples. Shawn moaned softly at the new feeling. He placed his paws on Darrin's head, slowly scritching along the back of his neck and head.

After a few moments, Darrin continued down the pleasure trail to Shawn's navel, taking a few moments to nibble softly around his belly button. He reached his paws up to massage Shawn's chest softly, admiring his soft chest fur. Eventually, he moved down a bit further to the edge of the towel that was concealing his prize beneath.

  Darrin looked up at Shawn, meeting his gaze as he slowly undid the towel from around Shawn's waist to reveal his manhood. Darrin smiled up at Shawn, licking his lips before slowly devouring Shawn's reddening manhood. A little bit at a time, Darrin lowered his muzzle onto Shawn's cock, massaging the bottom with his tongue.

Shawn moaned, scritching gently on Darrin's head as his nose nudged the base of Shawn's manhood. Ever so slowly, Darrin raised his head off Shawn's meat, and lowered it slowly back down, with Shawn meeting him with a gentle lift of his hips. It took only a few moments for them to develop a rhythm. Darrin reached up and squeezed gently on Shawn's balls playfully.

Shawn closed his eyes, reveling in the sensation and letting out a deep, loud murr. As Darrin slid back up, the cold air would wrap around his exposed manhood, only to be engulfed again in the warm wetness that was Darrin's muzzle. After a few minutes of pleasureful stunned surprise, he began to lift his hips to meet his thrusts.

  "Ohhhh..." Shawn moaned as Darrin began to speed up painfully slowly. He felt Darrin's tongue swirling around his throbbing meat, its rough texture eliciting jolts of pure bliss from the underside of his penis. As Darrin sucked, he used one hand to massage the fuzzy brown orbs that pulsed beneath his member while using another paw to gently apply pressure to the sensitive knot at the the base.

He felt the fire building in his loins and new he wasn't going to last much longer. His engorged knot was thrusting at the tip of Darrin's muzzle, each touch bringing another jolt of electricity all over his body. He was thrusting so fast he felt like he might take Darrin's head off.

"Darrin," Shawn panted. "I'm ..."

Darrin let out a deep murr, and the vibration was just too much for the fox. Shawn let out a yip and thrust up harshly against Darrin's muzzle, emptying his fox seed into Darrin's muzzle. A wave of ecstasy swept over him, starting along his shoulders and working its way throughout his entire body. He tensed at the prickly feel of the orgasm sweeping over him, flexing all his muscles as he let go in one of the most amazing orgasms he had ever had in his life. Jet after jet of steaming hot cum Shawn emptied into Darrin's mouth, until it slowed to only a dribble.

  Shawn was reduced to a panting mess as Darrin crawled up the couch to kiss him again. Their tongues danced together, Shawn tasting his own cum in Darrin's mouth.

Finally, Shawn broke the kiss with a contented sign. "That was incredible."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Darrin smiled down at him.

Shawn signed contentedly, letting the wave of orgasmic bliss subside. After a few minutes of panting, murring and gentle grooming at Darrin, Shawn finally spoke.

"I have a confession to make," Shawn said, nibbling under Darrin's chin, grooming him as canids were apt to do. "When I first read your note, I thought you were female."

Darrin chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I honestly wasn't expecting you to be gay. You have to be careful who you tell - many people still don't know how to react."

Shawn smiled up at Darrin, with a hint of questioning on his face. "So ... you wouldn't happen to know a place where I could rent a cheap place, would you?"

"Sure," Darrin chuckled. "Single male timber wolf seeking single male roommate to share two-bedroom/one bathroom apartment. One bedroom already converted to study room. Utilities included. Must have a good heart; good looks a plus."

  Shawn wrapped his arms around Darrin, hugging him tightly.

\* \* \*

"Is that the last box?"

Shawn placed a box in the back of Darrin's hatchback. "It should be. That's everything out of my room."

They had driven back to Shawn's house in the suburbs during the afternoon, when both of his parents were at work, so that Shawn could collect the rest of his belongings. It hadn't been a tight squeeze - except for Shawn's books, his computer and a few other things, there hadn't been much else to carry.

"We should probably be heading out if we want to beat rush hour traffic." Darrin said.

"Okay. There's just one more thing I have to do."

He walked back inside, looking around the house for one last time. The china vase had been cleaned up, as well as the blood stains on the floor. He walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a notepad from next to the phone. He began to quickly jot down a note on it:

Dear Mom and Dad,

You tried when raising me to instill good values in me. You may not  
think so, but you have. One of those values was truthfulness. I have been  
truthful with you, and I have told you how I felt. And you told me how  
you felt.

  I'm sorry that who I love is such a disappointment to you, but I can no  
longer live my life by what you think I should. I am my own man now, and  
I will love who I please.

I hope you realize that I still love you, and I always will. I hope you  
will come to see that.

Love, now and always,  
Shawn

He affaxed his housekey with tape to the top of the letter with some tape, and left it on the kitchen counter. He walked out the front door, closing it behind him. He walked down to the street where Darrin was waiting in the car.

They drove away, paw in paw, into Shawn's new life.  
Copyright (c) 2008 Shiah