The Dream Life || Revamped

Chapter 38

Pisces grinned as Leo lifted him up into the air. He stuck his tongue out as he reached for the kitten that was stuck in a tree. One of the perks of having an extremely tall boyfriend was that Pisces could be able to reach higher objects. He cooed as the orange kitten crawled into his arms. He gently massaged the kitten's head as Leo set him on the ground. “He's so small,” Leo commented as he stared at the young calico.

The kitten let out a distressed meow, calling for its mother. Pisces nodded in agreement. “We should take him to a vet,” he suggested. He giggled as the calico curled into a ball. Owning a pet was Pisces's biggest dream, but his mother was severely allergic to fur. He looked up at Leo and let out a loud gasp. Leo's eyes were watering, and his nose was sniffling. Leo let out a loud sneeze. He covered his nose to catch the snot. Pisces pouted. “Don't tell me… Are you allergic, too?”

Leo nodded. “Yeah. Got the allergy from both my parents,” he explained. Pisces pouted. “We should hurry before I start breaking out in hives.” He chuckled and pressed a hand on Pisces's lower back. Pisces sighed and looked down at the cat. His boyfriend was allergic to fur, so there goes owning a cute puppy or kitten. Leo smiled softly when he saw Pisces's disappointed face. “We could always own a lizard or a bird?”

“A bird?!” Pisces exclaimed glee, earning a frightened meow from the kitten. He giggled nervously and whispered a quiet sorry to the kitten. Leo and Pisces started walking to the nearest shelter, so the kitten could get a check up. Pisces would have adopted the kitten, but he couldn't. He didn't want his mother and his boyfriend to get a severe allergic reaction. He giggled and said, “Well, a bird would be nice, but my apartment has a no pet policy.”

“Oh, really?” Leo asked. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He was practically living at Pisces's place and didn't even know about the apartment's no pet policy. Most apartments in Baudelaine had a no pet policy, but the highest end apartments allowed their tenants to have their pets. It made Leo wonder why Pisces’s apartment complex didn’t allow one.

Pisces let out a yelp when the kitten jumped out of his arm. The couple watched the calico running to a brown feline, and the feline grabbed the calico by the nape with its mouth. Pisces gasped, and he went to stop the feline, only for Leo to stop him. He whipped his head around and looked at Leo with shock. “That was his mom,” Leo explained. “It doesn't hurt the kitten. It's a mother's way of carrying her kitten around.”

“Oh,” Pisces let out, and he started giggling nervously. He felt embarrassed. “That's so embarrassing. I wasn't able to be around animals because of my mom's allergies.” Pisces’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, and he crossed his arms. He pursed his lips. He never had any time to himself now that he started modeling again, and his new manager was a total upgrade from his former manager. His new manager was his mom’s closest friend, and it was someone Pisces could trust. He looked up at Leo and sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

Leo cooed when he saw the tears in Pisces's eyes. “Don't cry Pi,” he said. He leaned down and kissed Pisces’s cheek. Pisces sobbed quietly and covered his face. He felt like an absolute failure. He didn't even know that cats grabbed their kin by their nape to carry them around. He had been so busy with modeling that he didn't understand basic animal behavior. Leo wrapped his arms around Pisces and kissed his cheek. “It's okay. You don't have to cry. A lot of people don't know that. It's alright.”

Pisces slowly nodded. “I just feel like an idiot compared to you,” he said. “You're so smart… and there's just… me. I couldn't even muster the courage to tell my parents about my rapist! I feel so pathetic!” Pisces let out a scream when Leo tightly grabbed his shoulders. He whimpered when he saw the pain and anger in Leo's eyes.

“Don't say that! It was that asshole’s fault! Not you!” Leo exclaimed. “He was so much older than you, and he knew what was right and young! He gaslit you and manipulated you into thinking that shit was normal!”