We Bare Bears The Truth Or Never Again

Chapter 5 Clifford's Dilemma

After the group played ring toss for an additional twenty minutes, Ranger Tabes puts away the rings and pegs away as she leads the group to their next activity. She gives everyone a bag for them to put food in. She allowed Kale to do the climbing to reach the fruits from higher trees while Lucy checked to see if each fruit was fresh before eating. The Poppy Rangers are led by Ice Bear to find grapes from multiple different brushes.

Panda, Grizz, Chloe, and Clifford are paired together to find fresh, clean water for the whole group. While the two bears are carrying silver buckets, the two kids are in charge of finding a nearby lake.

"So Kale knows about your crush?" Grizz asked, while walking with Panda.

"Yes, and it's either me or him to talk to Lucy about my secret." Panda said, looking at his brother. "I don't know how long it's gonna take for me to do that, but I'll try to get along with Kale once we're done with this activity."

"That seems good."

"But I'm still concerned about whether she will forgive me."

"Don't worry, we still have the rest of the day until you're ready."

Panda had been looking at some of the positives, then the negatives without being overly paranoid. So far, Kale understands what he's feeling and yet he still hasn't talked to Lucy about it, wondering how she feels when the time comes.

Little did the bears know, Chloe and Clifford had been listening from the front. "Aren't you supposed to get over the fact that Kale is already Lucy's boyfriend?" Clifford responded, while a little furious.

"Clifford, I'm not trying to upset you." Panda replied.

"Yeah, what is it with you and your grudge with other people?" Chloe added.

"What are you talking about?" Grizz said in confusion.

Since the day Panda made friends with Clifford, no one, not even Lucy found out what happened when he was babysitting him. Although it was a matter of time for someone to speak out.

"Remember when we met Clifford for the first time?" Panda signed. "He found out about my crush on Lucy because...he saw the notification when we did a selfie."

Grizz stopped himself which caught the others attention from walking. Both Chloe and Clifford turned around as they witnessed Grizz stunned in silence.

"Tell me what really happened." He stared at Lucy's brother.

Clifford took a deep breath while being honest with Panda's brother. "I bumped into something in the kitchen, A container of peanut butter fell on my head, and..."

"He was very close to dying because of his allergies." Panda closed his eyes, filling in for Clifford.

Grizz and Chloe had no words to describe what actually happened when Panda was babysitting Lucy's brother. Even if Clifford didn't suffer any permanent effects from the allergic reaction, Lucy won't approve of it once she finds out.

"Panda..." Grizz responded which caused Panda to open his eyes.

"I may be responsible as a babysitter, but it won't make any difference to what I've been doing."

Clifford may forgive Panda for not only being honest with him, but also saved his life from the severe reaction. But on the other hand, he never told him about his history of being with others who aren't his immediate family.

"Panda, I'll never know how much you adore my sister, but thinking about it rubs me the wrong way." He replied while sitting on a log. "And Kale...he's nice, but I'm having a hard time being around him, with him being my sister's boyfriend and all."

"Clifford," Panda walked up to him. "Can you tell me why you have a grudge with other people ...getting close to your sister?"

"Yeah. Everytime I see you in person, you keep giving a side-eye to anyone." Grizz added which caused Clifford to sigh.

"You do understand that Lucy takes me anywhere since she's more responsible than me. My parents and her made an agreement that she could take me anywhere when they're not home, even if I spend most of the time inside her truck."

He knew he would express his personal feelings, but during a trip in the wilderness was the last place he would've expected. Chloe then sat by him while giving him some space.

"Seems like you never give yourself an open mind towards other people." She said, while trying to be nice.

"Just because I have serious allergies doesn't mean I don't make friends at school. I still go to school and I'm trying to make friends."

"Clifford, making friends at your age is one thing, but it doesn't explain why you're against people being with Lucy when she's making her deliveries." Panda said, crossing his arms.

"I've been with Lucy more times than you think like once or twice per month during Fruit Friday."

"Okay so...do you remember the first person who was close to Lucy that made you feel suspicious?"

"I forget his name, but during the whole day, he was helping Lucy making deliveries in the city."

"Did anything happen between him and her?" Grizz added.

"I saw her laughing with him after he told a joke to her."

"Was it about him thinking about being with her?" Chloe added.

"...Not really." Clifford stopped himself, remembering every day he spent with her sister all the way until he met Panda for the first time. "Maybe I judged him way too hard because of my allergies getting the better of me and clouding my judgement."

Panda can see the whole picture of why Clifford doesn't take to people like her sister does. Time after time, taking care of him by being his friend instead of his babysitter, he feels he needs to set things straight with him.

"In consideration, maybe our allergies are what sets us apart as better people." He lowered his head, while Clifford looked at Panda directly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his nose sniffling.

"Even if Lucy had never met Kale, I would never have a chance with her. Everytime I think about you when you say just like all the others, we can't understand what others really think about us."

"It's not untrue." Grizz turned his attention to Panda. "I know what happened between you and Clifford was terrible, but on the other hand, Lucy can still see you as a good person."

"Maybe for you, but it's either me or Kale who has to talk to her and when that happens, I don't know what's gonna happen. And that's not a good thing." Just when he's feeling better, he went back to square one without thinking of the positives.

"Panda, Lucy isn't the type of person who would get worked up over the truth." Chloe smiled.

"That's because I've never seen Lucy mad before."

Chloe and Grizz look at each other upon hearing Panda. They never saw their friends take out their frustration, unlike Nom Nom during the times Grizz spent with him. Clifford also never saw his sister take out her anger on someone unlike himself.

"Panda, I didn't mean to stress you, nor say that I hate you." He got off the log.

"You knew what you were doing and I don't blame you. I'm too unqualified to be something special to someone." He left his friends to find a clean lake on his own. "It's not simple when  we're trying to fit in, here in San Francisco."

His friends stood there while looking at the black and white bear walking all alone. Grizz can see that Kale would handle the other side of his brother, but the more people know about this, Lucy will eventually find out about it.

"Clifford." Grizz turned to him. "Panda is my brother, but even we aren't into the same hobbies together. And Lucy is one of the only people he likes the most."

After hearing from the brown bear, Clifford can understand why Panda would keep his feelings to himself. "You're right, but if Lucy finds out, I don't think I'll get to see your brother again."

"Is your sister really going against this?" Chloe wondered.

"That's what I'm hoping doesn't happen."