If You Knew

They always found him.

The other wolves liked to torture Zacky. No matter where he hid, they would track him down by scent and attack. There were three of them. All were very big and very strong.

He tried hiding in the dumpster, but they just scooped him out. He thought sneaking indoors would work. But the three would howl outside the premise until someone realized that another wolf was in the building. Zacky would get thrown out. They would have their fun. He tried to run, they were faster. He tried to fight, they were stronger.

It was the end of the week. And he could barely move.

Things were getting a bit calmer. Maybe they weren't going to kill him. Maybe this was their way of having sick fun. He didn't find it so nice, though.

Zacky was amazed he still had his shirt with him. It was a bit comforting sleeping in it at night, which was what he was trying to do at the moment.

Okay, so he totally regretted even thinking about getting together with Brian. Worst. Idea. Ever. So he was never ever ever going to talk to vampires or humans or werewolves ('cause he really hated wolves now), and he'd think about it first before talking to another halfling. He would probably end up not talking anyway.

His leg was really bothering him. It hurt and he could barely walk properly, let alone run away, and he knew it'd hurt less if he changed forms, but then he was more vulnerable because he wouldn't be able to hid in small spaces. He was sick of being human anyway. Stupid humans. Stupid vampires.

Currently, he was looking for food when he heard his voice. He scampered away into an alley, using the darkness to cover him. There was a rather large toaster. He wriggled himself into it. YES THIS WAS THE BIGGEST TOASTER EVER. I THINK IT WAS MEANT FOR REHEATING GIANT FROZEN WAFFLES.

Unfortunately, due to his weight, the toaster fell, creating a lot of noise. Zacky heard the girl gasp in surprise and became tense when he heard footsteps coming this way.

Oh, great.. he thought when he heard the girl giggled.

Much to his dismay, Zacky felt himself being pulled out of his little hiding spot. The stupid girl was dragging him out by the tail and he didn't really like that. She was only doing that so that she wouldn't have to use her whole hand to touch him. It hurt, you know. His tail wasn't exactly the strongest part if his body.

"Bri, he's all beat up and weird looking." the girl said. If Zacky had the ability to frown as a dog, he would have. He didn't like this chick. Why on earth did Brian decide to go out with her?

Brian, however, was frozen. He didn't know what he was feeling when he saw Zacky. Yeah the toaster thing was pretty funny, but Marsha, his date, was right. He looked so abused.

Was he happy to meet Zacky again? What about his date? Well, she wasn't that great. She just had a nice body. She was kind of annoying, too. But she had a nice body. And he was sure she didn't graduate high school. But she had a nice body.

Zacky shut his eyes and remained completely motionless, hoping that the two of them would lose interest in him and go away.

"You think it's okay if I pet him?"

LADY! FUCK OFF.

He whimpered in annoyance as she clawed through his fur (At least it felt like she was clawing it.) She, however, misunderstood and thought he was enjoying it, and patted him (More like hit him) on the head.

"I don't wanna leave him.. He's so cute!"

I thought I was beat up and weird looking. Zacky thought bitterly, eyes still closed.

Brian stared at the puppy thoughtfully before nodding at his date. "I think I'll take him home."

Zacky's eyes snapped opened and he immediately got up to run away again, only to be caught by Brian. He struggled and wriggled in the taller man's grasp and even tried to bite him, but felt bad afterwards, and so stayed still.

"I wanna name him Trevor!"

Brian forced a smile, getting kind of annoyed. "What about Zacky?"

She nodded thoughtfully. "Weird name for a puppy, but I guess it suits him."

Zacky had to endure one of the most dullest conversations he was forced to listen to as he waited in Brian's arms. It must have taken, like, two hours for Marsha to leave.

On the walk home, Brian said, "She's annoying, isn't she?"

Zacky made no effort to respond and glumly let himself be taken home. What did Brian want? Why couldn't he just be left alone?

He was bathed, which wasn't very pleasant. The hot water on his cuts didn't feel good at all. He kept on yelping when Brian accidentally touched a really sore spot, and bit him on the finger instinctively by accident, causing him to accidentally let go of the shower head, spraying water everywhere. The bite didn't leave an injury, but it still hurt, and Brian was kind of pissed he was wet.

After the disastrous bath, Brian quickly changed and went back to Zacky to tend to his wounds properly.

To his surprise, Zacky barely moved. The puppy just laid on the toilet seat, ears droopy, tail low, and eyes closed. He wondered what Zacky was thinking about, and bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything he might have regretted later on.

"Zack, could you turn back for a moment? It's kind of hard to do this with all your fur.." Brian asked hesitantly.

Sighing, Zacky did as he was told. His human appearance shocked Brian.

He looked.. He looked bad. Bruises all over, cuts on his face, an infected gash on his torso.. His right leg was fucked, and Brian knew he'd have to call in a doctor.

Brian gulped. "Z-Zack.. Wh-what happened..?"

Zacky only shrugged, and kept his gaze on the floor. He wasn't gonna talk to Brian. No way, nuh uh.

"I'll.. I'll call a doctor, kay? I-I know things are.. pretty bad. But we need to get you fixed up first. So just.. just sit tight, I'll be right back."

He watched as Brian quickly left the bathroom and heard bits of the conversation on the phone. He sighed again and frowned at his body, definitely not liking what he was seeing.

Brian was back as quickly as he had left. "The doctor will be over soon. Um.. Do you want to eat?"

Zacky shook his head. Yeah, he was hungry. He couldn't remember what he had eaten the last time. But part of not communicating with anyone included not eating food they offered. Although he was kind of breaking the rule, seeing as he was letting Brian take care of his injuries. Zacky regarded that as a different matter altogether, though. He needed the treatment!

"You need food, Zack." Brian murmured, walking over to him.

Brian felt powerless and kind of hopeless. What was he gonna do after Zacky got all better? Get back together with him? Zacky probably wouldn't take him back anyway. Seeing Zacky last night was sort of a reality check to him. When he went back home, he realized how wrong he had been and had been keeping his eyes open for the little puppy whenever he was out.

He felt his heart sink when Zacky flinched away from his touch.

"Come on.. Follow me then."

Zacky obediently followed him to the dining room and sat down. Brian had prepared some soup, but he wasn't gonna eat. It looked delicious, though. And his mouth was watering.

"Eat, Zacky.. Please?" Brian urged gently, putting a spoon down in front of him.

He ran his hand through his hair, a bit frustrated, when Zacky shook his head. He hoped the doctor would hurry and come..

For the next half hour, Brian had to try to convince Zacky to eat. He failed, though, and was at his wits ends when the damn doctor finally arrived. He stopped himself from losing his temper at the man and silently showed him to where Zacky was.

The doctor, too, was shocked upon seeing Zacky, but quickly regained his composure as he checked over the green eyed man.

Brian decided to leave the two of them alone; the silence was already awkward enough. He went back upstairs and cleaned his room to distract himself and pass the time. There wasn't much to clean, though, and he ended up setting his mind to work, looking through papers.

In a while, though, he was brought out of his thoughts by a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." he called. Zacky peeked his head in and motioned for him to come outside.

After a short discussion with the doctor about how to take care of Zacky, Brian paid him and thanked him for coming over so late. When he left, he turned back to Zacky, who was watching him curiously.

"You heard what the doc said, Zacky." Brian started. "You need food."

Zacky scowled and shook his head. He was still shirtless and it was getting kind of cold. He wished he hadn't abandoned all his stuff.. But he still had his--

Oh no! My shirt!

Suddenly, he raced outside before Brian could comprehend what was going on.

"Zack, what the fuck?!"

It took only a few minute for Brian to catch up. He caught Zacky by the wrist. "Where the fuck do you think you're going, Zacky? I'm not letting you go anywhere until you're all better."

Zacky swallowed and decided to say something. "M-my shirt.. I-I want my shirt.."

"Shirt? Zack, I'll let you borrow one. And if you don't want mine, I'll fucking buy--"

"NO! I want my shirt! Let me go!"

Frowning, Brian let go of Zacky and followed him to parts of the city he never knew existed. He didn't like the fact the shorter man was limping, but decided to wait until Zacky found his shirt.

Zacky scurried over to his little hiding place and reached into a crevice, smiling to himself in relief when he felt the shirt. Pulling it out, he buried his face in it, and sat down, back against the wall. He realized he had started to cry from the sudden panic that had overtook him and wiped his face on the very dirty clothing.

Brian stared, confused, at the sight, until he realized that the shirt belonged to him.. He had lost that one..

"Z-Zacky..?" he said, crouching down in front. "Wanna head home?"

He breathed out a sigh of relief when Zacky nodded and let himself be helped up. He even turned into a puppy so Brian could carry him on the condition that he stayed wrapped in the shirt.

Brian felt a tiny bit of hope spark inside him. It was his shirt so that meant Zacky still had some feelings left right?

He could only wait and see from the talk they would inevitably have soon. Probably tomorrow. .