Fire on Fire

Chapter 31

"I'm stuffed," Buddy murmured. Stifling a belch, Mel answered, "I know what you mean. Oh my god those meatballs were good." Nodding his head, the dachshund head butted the pug gently as he mumbled, "Thank you for dinner." Booping his nose against Buddy's, Mel replied, "You're welcome."

Something loud crashed upstairs. It sounded like it was in Max and Duke's apartment. "Huh, Duke's back," Mel remarked. Looking over at Buddy, he went on, "Should we pay a visit?" Nodding his head, the dachshund agreed, "Yeah, let's see what happened while we were gone." With that, the pair headed upstairs. They arrived to find chaos.

"God, why does no one answer their phone?!" Duke exclaimed, walking around with his phone in the air. Following his brother around picking up everything he was bumping into, Max barked, "It's not a reception Duke! She's just not answering her phone! None of them are! Now stop walking around!" Bursting out of an air vent, Norman squeaked, "He's still not picking up."

"Yo, I'm not getting anything either. This is ridiculous!" Leonard woofed, lounging across the couch staring at his phone. Pepe and Sweetpea were there with him. Groaning as he pushed a vase back up, Max cried, "Where are they?!"

"Guys, stop calling Chloe. Her phone was in her apartment this whole time," Gidget declared as she hopped up onto the windowsill beside Mel and Buddy. Realizing they were there, the Pomeranian let out the biggest sigh of relief and yipped, "Guys, I found two of them!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and ran over. Beating everyone, Duke scooped up Mel and Buddy as he woofed, "Thank goodness you're okay! We thought everyone got kidnapped!"

"What is all over your faces?" Leonard questioned, padding over. Wiping off some spaghetti sauce from Mel's face, he taste tested it. Humming to himself, the poodle murmured thoughtfully, "Italo Brothers Diner's famous meat sauce with Italian seasoning." Putting his paw over his heart, Max gasped, "Oh sweet mercy that's where you guys were. I forgot I sent you there for your date. Did my directions help?"

"No, not in any way," Buddy pointed out as he licked the spaghetti sauce off Mel's face. How did they not realize they had a mess all over their faces? The dachshund had no idea how to answer that. Meanwhile, Gidget glanced over at her boyfriend and asked, "Maxie, what did you mean by that? What date?" Max visibly paled as he realized his mistake. Glaring at the Jack Russell terrier, Sweetpea whacked him on the back of his head. Wincing when he saw that, Buddy stated, "Sweetpea, calm down. We're gonna tell them."

"Tell us what? Am I missing something?" Duke asked, frowning in confusion. Escaping from the Newfoundland's grasp with Buddy by his side, Mel stated, "A little bit. Look guys, Max and Sweetpea already know this but..." Stealing a glance at Buddy, the pug held his boyfriend's paw gingerly as he continued, "Buddy and I are gay and-"

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I assumed you met the girl of your dreams the other day!" Gidget apologized. She pulled the pair into a tight bear hug as she apologized profusely, "I'm so sorry guys! Can you forgive me?" Feeling his bones crack, Buddy wheezed, "We forgive you. Now... can you let us go? My back..." Realizing this, Gidget released her hold. A second later, confetti rained down on everyone. All eyes looked up at Norman, who was sitting in the air vent with a confetti cannon. Grinning nervously, the guinea pig explained, "I keep this here for special occasions."

"Pause everything, which definition of gay is it? I'm confused," Leonard stated, tapping his paws together. Beckoning for his friend to lower his head, Pepe whispered something into the poodle's ear. "Oh..." Leonard mumbled, now understanding. Chuckling a little at the bigger dog's reaction, Mel looked over at Duke. The mutt was deep in thought. "Duke?" Max piped up, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just... quick question. That golden retriever, is this why he... you know?" Duke asked. Mel and Buddy nodded their heads. Huffing, the mutt grumbled, "I should've bit him." Patting his brother on the leg reassuringly, Max stated, "Hey, at least nothing bad happened." Next to him, Gidget was fuming as she growled, "If I find him I will make him pay and wish he was never born." Max's eyes widened in horror.

"Who else knows, out of curiosity?" Norman asked. Sitting down beside Mel, Buddy answered, "Chloe does. Where is she anyway?" Groaning as he rubbed his forehead, Max whined, "We don't know where anyone is. Well, maybe Snowball and Daisy. But you all left after I gave you dating advice and we had no idea where anyone went. I feel like Snowball dragged Daisy and I don't know where. Chloe disappeared and we're about to have a search party. But we don't have air support cuz we don't know where Tiberius is either, he's gone! Can't contact the Flushed Pets cuz Snowball has their number but he's gone! Pops isn't answering at all!"

"Pops is holding a puppy school, his owner got a new puppy so he's teaching the pup how to behave but he now has a whole class who wants to learn, or something like that," Leonard pointed out, not looking up from his phone. Staring at the poodle, everyone asked, "What?"