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"Beach?"
"Yeah, Fatz?"
"I don't think I can take another second of him being so angry and mopey."
Beach Bear looked over at the wolf, who was sitting on the stage, looking over Earl as he minded his own business. The slight gloom that was there before Fatz had started to become his best friend to him were back in his eyes, which even stung Beach Bear a little.
"It almost feels like we're losing the progress he made, doesn't it?" Beach asked, a weary and saddened smile hinting in his voice.
"Yeah." Fatz hummed, looking over at Rolfe's stage also. A slight ache he felt in his heart.
He slowly made his way from behind his organ, getting down from the main stage and over to Rolfe's stage, then taking a seat near Rolfe. Rolfe looked up for a split second just to look down again.
After a second or two of lips moving, but voices too soft to hear anything actually being said between the two, they got up, Fatz leading the way to what seemed to be the dressing rooms. Billybob was passing by them, as he went to go use the restroom, giving the both of them a confused look as he passed by.
"Where're they goin'?" Billy asked, still staring as Fatz and Rolfe made their way past the door with the "EMPLOYEES ONLY" sign on the front of it.
"They're going to talk. Fatz it trying to get answers as to why Rolfe's been so gloomy this past like, month or so." Beach Bear explained, peering his head past the curtain next to him so he can see Billybob alright. Billy looked back at him, slightly confused.
"Alright, Beach. We should probably listen for any clatterin' of junk though, just in case if they end up fightin' each other."
Everyone who was left behind ended up bursting out of laughter from this. Billy knew it was funny, but he might've been genuine about that.
---
A soft 'click', and Fatz and Rolfe were in Rolfe's room.
"What's wrong, Rolfe?" Was obviously the first question to be asked by Fatz. Short. Simple. Easy to answer.
Rolfe sat on the little couch in his dressing room, letting out a sigh.
"Nothing is."
There was the glare Rolfe was expecting from that. Short, eyebrows furrowed, mouth pursed shut. He gave a glare back, one of stubbornness and no will to actually admit what was wrong with him.
He wasn't going to succumb to his anxiety in this whole situation.
"What's wrong, Rolfe?" Fatz would ask again, leaning up against the door and crossing his arms.
"Nothing, I said."
"Quit lyin'. I know you're lyin', Rolfe."
"I don't lie about my emotions, Fatz. I'm fine and done with this conversation."
"I'm not done, though."
Rolfe gave him a glare again. This one was newer, though, more filled with annoyance than the last one, but still acting as stubborn and lack of admission.
"Rolfe... I swear to fuckin' God if you don-"
"Alright, I'll tell you since you're so fucking curious then." Rolfe suddenly popped, his voice going a notch higher than it was before. Fatz found this to be slightly unexpected.
Rolfe quickly raised from the couch.
"I like you, Fatz." He then announced. "Not in the 'Oh, I wanna be your fucking buddy forever' kind of thing, either, I'm talking about love, Fatz. Fucking love."
A sudden shift in the atmosphere. It went from tense and angry to just tense. Fatz kept listening, curious, yet more anxious than ever.
"I love you, Fatz. I love you. I want you to be my partner, my boyfriend, yet I can't get that because you don't like men! Of course I was never really even supposed to admit this to anyone I know, but here we fucking are, with me spilling my guts out to the exact person I probably shouldn't be telling."
Silence. Bitter silence. Rolfe's expression reflected his mind. Annoyed, pissed off, yet... He's just as bothered and anxious by it as Fatz suddenly was.
"Rolfe..." The shaken quietness was finally broken by Fatz.
"Leave my room. Please." Rolfe suddenly said, tone of voice strict, but shakey. Fatz blinked for a second, then opened his mouth to say something.
Rolfe just told him to shut it and leave.
So, that's what he did.
Fatz opened the door behind him, and just... Left. Beach Bear was standing at the end of the hall, face disgruntled into a slight smirk.
"Glad nobody ended up injured or anything." Beach Bear jokingly said, hands in his pockets, smile still on his face. It would end up fading at he noticed Fatz's expression, and the fact that he didn't even turn towards Beach to answer him.
"What did he say?" Beach's tone turned slow, his words came out cautionary.
"He likes me." Fatz mumbled, hand still on at the knob on Rolfe's door.
"Fatz, we already know that." Beach chuckled a bit, relieved. Relieved for a second, though, as Fatz would continue with the most unexpected thing ever.
"No, Beach, he... He loves me. He wants me to be his lover."
"He what?"
"Loves me."
Beach Bear was at a loss of words. He wasn't expecting that to come out of his mouth - Rolfe loves Fatz... somehow.
Where the fuck has this day gone. Where the fuck has this day gone? He really thought that oh, this would've been a simple issue resolved, but no, NO, Rolfe has to like Fatz, Rolfe has to be attracted to Fatz. Not only that, but the ape who he ever knew as straight is standing there, a stupidly wide-eyed and disgruntled stare covering his expression.
"Fatz, you're staring at the ground like you're thinking about how you feel about this whole situation," Beach's voice turned more-matter-of-factly, more serious, more clear, "Do you like Rolfe back?
Fatz finally made eye contact with Beach Bear, but... Shrugged.