Burdens [Furry BxB]

Chapter 5 - Extrication

The fox woke early from the feeling of dread and excitement. He performed all the necessary preparations for the day, and upon confirming he had not forgotten anything, he set out, bag in hand, all the mistakes he had made still swimming in his head.

The school was empty, as it usually was at this time of an hour. He had arrived nearly half an hour early, so he sat in front of the classroom and waited.

It gave him time to contemplate on his actions, and especially on the reaction. He was not sure he was more upset that things turned out the way they did, or that he had incited it. He did not consider himself to be frightening, or even the least bit threatening to someone of the wolf's statue, but the event had occurred.

The minutes passed by slowly. Eventually, the teacher arrived, opened the door, and gestured that it was acceptable that he rested inside the classroom. Supplies and bags were placed down, and then the teacher left for a moment, muttering something about coffee.

Roger sat in the same seat he had a previous couple of days. He put his homework on his desk and left his bag under the table. He glanced over at the empty seat he knew would be occupied by the wolf.

His heart panged with guilt. He attempted to move his mind to other matters as a distraction.

He took out the syllabus, at least the part they were allowed to keep. The course outline was in the back and allowed the students and parents to keep up with the class if they happened to miss a few days or if they were merely curious as to what would occur later on. He read through it, from start to end, confirming that they would not do anything he was unfamiliar with and already capable of doing.

But his mind wandered back to the wolf. He knew if the wolf had struggled with the beginning stuff, he would definitely struggle on the later stuff. He assumed the worst and figured it would be a heavy burden placed upon him to teach him and tutor him. He hated it, and yet at the same time he mostly dreaded not the circumstance but that the wolf would encounter difficulties, and he felt bad for him.

After a minute, students began to arrive. They filtered in slowly, none of them really making any noise except groggy groans and mentions that they desired to be home.

He saw the wolf walk in, past him without looking, and watched as he took his seat. Not a single moment passed when he would glance at the fox, or even move his head to any direction other than forward.

Roger followed suit and started forward, but every so often he would peek from the corner of his eye to see if the wolf's posture changed in any slight way, but to no avail. If there was any change, it would just be a gaze downcast.

The class started and they turned in their homework. It was not quite an eventful class as they were still getting situated to the class, but they did go over the next lesson and received the night's homework. The fox quickly finished it as per habit. He looked over at the wolf, who stared down at the paper.

There was a frown in his face, and his eyebrows were furrowed. Hunter seemed stressed out and indeed placed his paw on his head and rubbed it, focusing on the paper.

The class let out before Roger knew it. He had not been paying attention to the time, but rather at how much he wanted to apologize for the night before. He felt now would be as good a time as any, and he stood outside the classroom, waiting for the wolf to exit so that he may stop him and tell him that he was sorry.

Hunter exited the classroom but kept walking. He seemed to be in a hurry. He was hunched over, tail down, with his shoulders forward and his paws holding onto the straps of the backpack he held. He was, at least as Roger saw it, avoiding him.

He bit his lip and wandered away from the classroom.

Someone was avoiding him, and he did not like it. He felt upset at himself that he had made himself seem so repulsive that it had actually come to that reaction. He continued to regret his actions, but now with renewed vehemence.

He waited for his next chance, yet there was still the rest of the day of school that obstructed him.

-

The day passed by. School let out and he had yet to see the wolf, even during lunch. He wondered where he had gone to.

He waited outside the school as everyone returned to their homes for the evening. He figured this would be his last chance in the day to catch the wolf, and aside from that, they still had to pair up to study anyhow. He looked around, but there was no one.

The students filtered out of the school, and yet he did not see the wolf.

A few minutes passed after the last student left. He sighed and headed home.

-

Upon reaching home, he opened the door, left everything where he usually did, and sighed. He felt the guilt would crush him, and the worst part of it was that he had no chance to alleviate it or even help clear his name. He did not think the wolf would slander him, but even to a single other, he would not have a bad reputation if he could help it.

He checked his phone. No calls, no messages.

A few minutes passed by. He sat in his bed, wondering if he should just sleep. He felt tired, not necessarily from fatigue, but from stress. He got his wish: he was now home alone and had avoided the study buddy situation, but he did not feel it was the way he wanted it to be. He wanted a mutual agreement. He did not want to scare the other off.

The idea of him scaring anyone off seemed ridiculous to him, yet it was a reality as far as he was concerned.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. He wondered who it could be, though he just assumed the mailman. He wondered what kind of package had arrived.

He sluggishly made his way to the door, making sure to peer through the eyehole, but he did not see anyone on the other side of the door.

He opened it, looked around for a package, but none was to be found. He continued to look around but saw nothing.

Then he saw it. The wolf had been around the corner, looking at him, ears folded and tail tucked. He was afraid, yet he was here. Roger's heart sank again.

"Hey, you don't have to be scared," he began. He gestured that it was okay, yet there was still very little movement, only reluctance. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I promise."

After a moment, Hunter nodded and slowly made his way into the house. He held an arm as he walked in, hunched over, tail between his legs. He eyed the ground as if it were very interesting, while his ears were folded back and little noise came from him.

The fox sighed and was slightly relieved that he would at least get a chance. He stood resolute that he would not make a mistake this time.