If You Knew

Zacky crawled under his bed and fetched his baseball, which had rolled underneath to the farthest corner. It was kind of dusty, and he sneezed, letting the ball go. Growling in annoyance, he quickly picked his ball back up and scrambled out of the darkness. His fur was was covered in dust and he felt really gross. And he kept on sneezing. So he decided to head on outside and take a swim at a small pond in the park.

He didn't dare bring his precious baseball with him, for the fear of losing it, and instead brought the tennis ball he and Brian played with a couple of nights ago. It would do for the few hours he'd be out.

When he got to the pond, he carefully hid his tennis ball in a patch of long grass and barked, satisfied with his handiwork. And then he jumped into the cold water and swam to his heart's content. Yay.

"Hey, puppy."

Brian! :D

Pleasantly surprised at this meeting, Zacky hurriedly got out of the pond and scurried towards Brian, who was watching him with a smile.

"So we meet again. You following me, little guy?"

Zacky jumped up and suddenly remembered the ball he had hidden so well. He ran back to get it and dropped it in front of Brian, nudging it with his nose.

"Wow, you still have this?" Brian asked, picking up the ball, kind of surprised. He didn't know dogs were this smart...

Let's play! Let's play!

Brian smiled and sat down. "Alright, buddy, let's have another round. Go fetch!"

And so they played for two whole hours and Zacky was having the time of his life and Brian was thinking of taking him home..But that wouldn't be such a good idea..

But Zacky didn't know that. He just thought Brian was taking him somewhere else for a walk. He thought that they'd play some more fetch and then he would go home, go to sleep, and see Brian again tomorrow. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Brian's large house in view.

"Come on, puppy." Brian said, picking Zacky up. "I want you to live with me now. I'm sure Zacky would love you."

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what do I? WHAT DO I DO?!?!

Zacky wriggled in Brian's arms and whimpered and struggled. "Puppy, what's wrong? You don't wanna stay with me?"

His tone made Zacky stop moving around. He didn't want to hurt Brian's feelings! That was the last thing he wanted to do.. But how the hell was he supposed to work this out?!

Should I run away? Yeah, that'd be the best thing to do. I'll go tonight after he falls asleep or something. Then I'll be more careful--

"I think I'll give you a bath first, puppy."

Oh my god, a bath!

Zacky momentarily forgot about his situation as he played in Brian's tub. He liked Brian's fingers in his fur and relaxed as the dirt on him got scrubbed away. There wasn't much in the first place. He preferred to keep himself clean, thank you. But he still appreciated a nice clean up. He was perfectly still in the tub, as Brian gave him a good wash.

Now finished, Brian grabbed a small towel to dry Zacky's fur, which was sticking out in every direction. Zacky peered out of the tub, resting his head on the edge, and watched. Laughing, Brian patted his puppy on the head and said, "C'mon, little guy. Let's have a late dinner after this."

I guess having some food wouldn't be so bad..

As the drying process was over, Zacky sauntered after Brian, tail wagging, and barked when they reached the kitchen. He ran to the fridge and looked back at Brian expectantly. As for Brian, he was very much surprised. This was, like, the smartest puppy. Ever. But he liked it. He opened the fridge and pulled out some leftover steak.

"I'm gonna have to buy you some food, puppy." Brian said, putting his own food into the microwave.

Yucky.I want steak!

Zacky barked and whined, signalling towards the microwave. Brian frowned. "Puppy... Puppies eat puppy food.."

He continued his barking until Brian gave in. "I guess if you can handle a smoothie, you'd be fine with steak."

Score!

And so Zacky had a good dinner that night and played with Brian. Then they watched TV together and Zacky got to see Brian change! Before going to bed, though, he knew he'd have to leave when Brian fell asleep.. Aw..

On the bed, Zacky enjoyed the last few moments he had of the night on Brian's stomach. Brian was petting him, much to his enjoyment.

"I'd name you now, puppy, but I wanna have Zacky name you."

Great.

That just made Zacky feel worse. He feigned sleep and thought of any other way he could escape and not hurt Brian's feelings.. And couldn't think of anything.

Zacky stayed still as Brian moved him from his stomach to the space next to him on the bed. He felt Brian stroke him a bit more before giving him a gentle pat and whispering, "Night, puppy."

Then he waited. He waited for Brian's breathing to even out. He waited to make sure Brian wouldn't wake up.

He was scared to move, for the fear of getting caught. But he knew he had to do it anyway. And so, he slowly got up and lightly jumped off of the bed.

Bye bye, Bri. See ya tomorrow.

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Brian woke up the next morning and reached out besides him for his new puppy. Feeling nothing, he opened his eyes and looked around. "Puppy?"

Maybe puppy woke up and went outside, he thought.

Getting up, he went around his house, looking for his beloved little dog. Where's puppy?

He searched everywhere, but could not find him.

Did he run away..?

But how could that be? There was no exit. The door and windows were closed and locked.

Checking anyway, he went to his door, and to his surprise, found it was unlocked.

Oh my god, puppy was kidnapped?!

Of course he had no clue that he was completely wrong, but what could he do? He didn't know puppy's secret. He was baffled! How did anyone come in and steal his puppy without him waking up? Did puppy already have an owner? If he did, how did the owner know where to come? DID PUPPY HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS?!

No, that wasn't right. He bathed puppy and saw he was normal in every which way. Maybe the door was unlocked then and somehow opened..? Puppy must have ran away..

Brian felt sad. He really wanted puppy to be his pet..

But he was going to go see Zacky today. And Zacky would make him feel better. So he pushed his gloomy thoughts aside and got ready for the day. Maybe he'd run into puppy on the streets again. That would be nice.

Today was Zacky's off day. It was rare he got one, but Brian managed to persuade the boss with a little bit of a bribe. Needless to say, Zacky was now on his boss's good side. All was well.

Zacky on the steps of his apartment and waited eagerly for Brian. He almost barked when he saw Brian's car pull over.. But that would have been really weird.

"Brian!" he exclaimed, running over to him, as he got out of the car.

Brian laughed and gave him a hug. "Hey, Zacky. How have you been?"

"I've been good." Zacky answered, his voice muffled by the taller man's shirt. "How about you?"

"Well, I had a little encounter with an adorable little puppy. But I think he ran away or something this morning. So I'm left with no puppy."

Zacky felt bad for lying, but he asked, "A puppy huh? What was he like?"

And so he listened as Brian talked about the puppy Zacky and had to pretend to not know anything of the night before. It was kind of hard. He hoped he didn't look uninterested or anything..

"Don't you wanna meet him, Zacky? I really wanted to show you.."

"Y-yeah.. He sounds really adorable."

Maybe Zacky was being too pessimistic. After all, if Brian liked the puppy so much, perhaps it wouldn't be as devastating if he ever found out about the secret..

Nah. Brian would hate you.

Wonderful.