Reaching for the Stars

Chapter 12: Final Term Party, Part 2

(Revised 07/08/2022)

I just realised that this chapter and the one before this have more than 4.400 words. Wow.

Warning: This chapter contains some uwu

No, not that uwu

---

Max leant back on the sofa and smiled at the red wolf. "Oh, it's you. Took you long enough, Kev."

Kevin gave Tom a quick grin, making the grey wolf fluster even more than he already did. He then looked at the group and smiled friendly, though still incredibly alluring as his outfit showed his defined build and his tail lazily swayed behind him. "Hi guys, I'm Kevin Huntington from Management. Nice to meet 'cha." He took his hand out for a handshake.

"Hey, Kev!"

"Hi."

Everyone greeted him. Kevin was easy to handle himself in a situation like this, wasn't he? If only he knew Tom felt like walking into a jungle just a few moments ago.

Although, looking at them as the red wolf exchanged friendly punches and kicks with Max, Tom wondered how much closer had they gotten. Max was a lot friendlier now compared to their first few encounters. What happened? Did Kevin give him a 'service' or was there something else?

They chatted for a while. Andy gave the red wolf a cup and poured him some beer. Tom drank from his own and lay back on the sofa next to Max. Kevin exchanged jokes with the others as if they were good friends before. Sometimes he envied both Kevin and Max for having such high social skills.

"You know, it's not often the basketball ace visits a non-basketball party before." Nathan said as he drank from his cup.

Tom's ears perked up at that. That was... new. He silently watched them as he took the new information in.

"Yeah, sorry if I haven't been really sociable lately. It's been an annoying semester." Kevin said while sheepishly scratching his ear. "But a certain someone brightened it up."

The grey wolf's ears lowered as a wild thought flashed in his mind. Was Kevin talking about him?

Andy shoved him on the side. "Sounds like someone's in love."

"Fuck no!" Kevin bit back with a laugh. "Well, I wouldn't call it love. More like a fond liking. I'm over the crushing part."

"Sounds the same to me."

"Eh anyway, can I borrow Tom for a while?" the large red wolf suddenly said and looked at him and Max. The dog raised his eyebrows in curiosity but did nothing. Kevin took a bottle of beer from the table and beckoned him to follow him.

Max gave Tom a concerned look as he stood up. Tom just nodded at him, quietly saying that he would be careful, then left the group.

They navigated the crowd again. The music was now playing something soft instead of hip hop like before. The living room was a bit less packed than before. When Tom looked at the clock just above the telly, it showed almost 22. Had it really been that long here? In front of the stereo system, some couples danced together to the soft music. He saw Martin and Ellie dancing together, the fox trying to hold back his laugh every time Ellie took a wrong step.

Kevin led him to the stairs and climbed up. There were still people on the second floor, but it was a lot less crowded here. They walked to the balcony and Kevin sat down on a bench there, putting the bottle down on the floor.

The red wolf patted the seat next to him, "Come here."

Tom debated whether it would be a wise choice to sit there, but he complied, nonetheless. It was cold here. He shifted away a bit when he got the thought that Kevin might use that as a reason to move closer to him.