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Music. Everyone likes music. In this society, those who dislike the art of music are considered weird. You liked music too. Music plagued your life. It fulfilled it in every possible way. You couldn't imagine yourself without it. But music could be loud. And loud was scary.
Your ears twitched nervously as you knocked on Jockingtons' front door. It was supposed to be a "super, chill party, with no alcohol, or bad stuff" as the monster had said. The atmosphere said otherwise. You hadn't even walked in and the music already flooded your ears with excited beats and noises that other than happy, made you uneasy. You wondered if maybe you hadn't knocked strongly enough and could walk away from there and go back where you'd come from before anyone notic-
-"Hey, dude, you came, cool!"- Jockington greeted. If you hadn't been fast enough to plant yourself on the doorstep as quickly as you heard the lock opening, your classmate's tone would have been the complete opposite.
-"Jockington! Hey!! How is...um... the party going so far?"- You smiled warmly as the facade started to build in spite of the shivering feeling on your back.
-"You know, the usual, there's people from, other schools"- You were about to answer when a crashing sound interrupted you from inside the house. 'Hmm, super chill party my ass' , you thought.
-"I gotta like, check that, but you come, inside"- With this, the boy left as fast as he could, since he didn't have legs. When the doorway was cleared you saw the massive wave of people dancing, chatting and drinking. Someone was puking in the corner. You cringed. 'Hmm, no alcohol my ass'.
Parties were never your thing, you didn't enjoy what most of your classmates did. Drinking, dancing, crowds, loud music. Oh, loud music was your enemy. You hated it. The feeling of the beat throug your body, not letting you recognize which one was your heartbeat, feeling like your heart would explode-.
You took a deep breath and tried to shake away the feeling. They weren't far from graduating high school, and you hadn't attended one party throughout the years. You had to go at least once. 'Stop being a pussy''. Clenching your fists, you stepped inside the house, closing the door behind you.
Noise invaded your senses without knocking on your brain's door. You flinched when someone drunk bumped into you and you brushed past them. 'A corner. Find a corner'. You recalled people puking and thought maybe it could be better to find a more closed room.
...
'Okay, what the FUCK'.
You left the room where two monsters were furiously making out in, and took a breath against a wall. 'Why would they be doing that at someone else's house!?'. You rubbed your face. 'Idiot. Idiot. Idiot'.
-"Well what a surprise"- A familiar voice called your name. You removed your hands from your face and smiled at your best friend when you turned around.
-"Kris, hey!".
-"What are you doing here? Thought you weren't into parties"- The human raised an eyebrow, holding a cup of juice on their hand.
-"Yeah, well... We're graduating soon and I thought of...trying it?"- Your tail shook.
A very loud moan came from inside the closed room. You blushed, looking down. Kris smirked.
-"What? Overwhelmed by the sound of love?"- They snorted.
-"Sh-shut up!"- You punched them playfully on the arm -"I just... didn't know people...did that at parties-".
The human sighed and wrapped an arm around your shoulders -"Oh my, guess I have a thing or two to teach to my party amateur".
You blushed and looked down, chuckling -"'kay, but could we go somewhere quieter for that? This music's getting on my nerves".
-"Foxes' hearing?"- The human asked.
-"Yeah".
-"Come on".
They started guiding you through the crowd towards the kitchen when suddenly you couldn't feel your friend's arm around you anymore.
-"Heyyy Krissy...wanna dance?"- Someone had pulled them into the crowd and you couldn't see them anymore. You couldn't see them anymore. All you could see were people. Faces that you didn't recognize, bodies that were too tall for you to see the end of the room.
-"Kris?"- You called out. No answer but unknown voices overlapping with loud music. Loud, Loud, Loud. Why was the music so damn loud? 'Wait. Breathe'. Had you been breathing? You tried. Failed. The people pushed you around. Someone's elbow hit you in the ribs. You cried out.
-"KRIS!?".
You couldn't hear properly, your heart on your ears now muffled the voices around you. Were you shaking or were the people shaking you? Everything was spinning. You wanted to leave. You wanted to leave. YOU WANTED TO LEAVE.
Someone grabbed you by the wrist, gently but firmly. You hadn't noticed that you'd closed your eyes until they snapped back open. Everything was blurry. Next thing you knew, someone was dragging you towards... you didn't know where. You felt too scared. But the touch was familiar. Safe. And even though you couldn't stop shaking, you decided to trust it.
Kris led their friend inside one of the bathrooms of the house. Turned the light on, closed the door and locked it behind them. You felt yourself being eased to the floor and then... Warmth.
You were pressed against something soft. You recognized Kris' sweater immediately. The human had brought you in to hold you tightly against their chest. They curled inward as if to shield you more properly from the noise.
They felt their body shaking because of how much your body did. They didn't care. They hugged you tighter.
The realization hit you like a wave. 'I'm not alone anymore. Kris is here. Kris is here' .
You desperately wrapped your arms around them, whimpering slightly, like you still weren't sure of what was happening. Your friend circled their thumb while their hand pressed against your back.
-"Shhh, it's okay. You're okay".
They never loosened their hold on you. Inside the bathroom, in Kris' arms, the noise didn't seem so loud. It made you start to relax a bit.
-"Breathe deeply. In through your nose, out through your mouth"- The closeness they were sharing worked for you to match your breathing to theirs, feeling the rise and fall of their chest. You started taking deep breaths. It hurt. You hissed.
-"I know. You've got this".
The kind words seemed to snap something inside you. Wet, heavy drops started falling from your eyes, into your best friend's sweater. Though less than before, your body was still shaking.
-"I'm s-sorry"- You mumbled, trying to stop the sniffles and sobs. Kris shook their head.
-"Don't. It's okay. I've got you".
Someone knocked on the door loudly. You flinched. The human shushed you and with one hand covered the ear that wasn't pressed against their chest.
-"It's occupied".
-"Well stop making out in there and hurry the fuck up!"- Some guy shouted from outside. Kris shook their head.
-"Moron"- They mumbled.
You tiredly chuckled, listening to Kris's heartbeat close to your face. Your breathing had evened out.
-"Feeling any better?"- They asked. You nodded silently.
-"Good, 'cause if we don't get out soon, that guy is gonna piss right outside the door and I doubt either of us want that".
As a response, you gently let go and your friend stood up. Impulsively, you grabbed their sleeve, anxious of losing them once again. They held your hand.
-"Easy, I'm not leaving. We are getting out of here"- Without any more words, they pulled you up to your feet and you both left the bathroom, avoiding the monster's glare as he shut the door behind the pair.
You stuck close to Kris this time as they dodged the crowd from the side, never letting go of your hand. It took a while but you were able to get to the door without more than 3 drunkies bumping into you.
Once outside, the cold night air struck them both. It was drizzling. Neither of them talked on their way. They both knew where they were going. There were a few places that made the duo feel like they owned the world. One of them was their secret hideout deep in Hometown's woods. A place they'd first set up for picnics a few years before, now they had managed to steal borrow a tiny cave behind a grove.
It was their spot and theirs only. Slowly getting inside, they untied the rope that held the courtain they used as a door, so it fell and avoided the rain from getting in.
Kris took out a lighter from their pocket to light some of the candles they'd hidden in there. You sat on the blankets they'd set some weeks before.
-"I must say, even with the candles and blankets, this cave still feels kinda eery at night"- You said.
-"Well, yeah, caves do that"- Said the human, sitting down next to the monster -"But I'm sure that it'll feel safer once we make more memories here"- They grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it at the wall in front of them. It echoed.
-"Remember how scared you were the first day I brought you here?".
-"Well, yeah but... It was scary, didn't they say that someone got lost in these woods and never came back?"- You asked.
Kris was silent for a minute. The memory of Dess still lingering in their mind. But you didn't need to find out about that. Not yet. Not then, at least.
-"I mean, yes, but think about all the nice things that happened. Now it's mostly you who proposes we come here"- The human laughed
-"I... yeah, I suppose that's true"- You chuckled, then yawned.
Your friend checked their phone. 01:00 am.
-"Wanna sleep here?"- They threw themselves onto the blankets.
-"For real?"- You asked - "Well, it's true that I'm not expected back home until morning...".
The human sleepily tapped the spot beside them, motioning for you to do the same they were doing. And you did. You dropped beside them.
They both started to drift off to sleep with the gentle rain whispering from outside the cave, when you broke the silence and whispered.
-"Thank you for being there, Kris".
-"Always".
They fell asleep without noticing their hands were intertwined. Or maybe they did. And they let it happen.
. . . . . . .