Yeah yeah yeah, I missed a week! I'm sorry! I was sick, it completely slipped my mind, by the time remembered it was Monday (anyone go trick-or-treating?) and I was just like 'fuck it I missed a week it'll go up this Wednesday. So yeah. Again, I apologize for the delay (and my rambling) but here ya go! Enyoy!

Max could not believe it. Everything was going his way today. First, a cute, out casted hybrid boy walks into his first period and they immediately hit it off. Second, Ross gets along perfectly with the crazy group of people he calls his friends, molding seamlessly to their crude sense of humor and not minding Adam's obnoxiously loud voice. {I love you Adam, but this is Max's POV} And now, after the dismissal bell had rung, he finds out Ross's locker is next to his own.

Coincidence? He thought not. {Took me a second to mold that phrase in a way that would NOT destroy the fourth wall}

"Hey, Ross," the red-head said, closing his locker with a bang and shouldering his back pack. We're all going to Adam's place later, and by later, I mean directly after school. Wanna join us?"

Ross's ear twitched. "I, uh, m-maybe later. I-I gotta check on something at h-home first. Maybe I-I-I can drop by l-later if you g-give me Adam's address...?"

Max eye's narrowed momentarily. Ross hadn't looked up, his face buried in his back pack as he struggled to shove all his new books and stuff into it. A second later, he shrugged it off. "Sure. I'll text it to you. Do you have a phone?"

The brunette looked up at him, nodding, and removing an iPhone from his back pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Max. The red-head chuckled at his wallpaper. It was a picture of an anime girl with blue-green hair in pigtails. Ross eyed him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing, just...nice wallpaper, dude."

Ross beamed at him. "I love Miku. Anime is the best."

"Same. Aaaand...here. Mah number is now in your contacts." Max handed the phone back and passed Ross his own. "Now you do the same."

Ross was just handing his phone back to him when a loud, annoying voice filled the hall. It was mostly empty now, and the few that remained quickly scurried away.

"Well well well, if it isn't the fag and the freak trading numbers! How adorable!"

Max's face turned bright red with anger as Ross's ears flattened and his tail fluffed out. Through gritted teeth, the red-head turned to face to source of the comment and spat out, "Fuck off, Jason. We don't got time for your shit."

Jason feigned a hurt look. "Max, I'm hurt!" Before he could even comprehend what was happening his back was slammed against the lockers and Jason was directly in front of him, pinning him. "You know better than to talk back to me, fag."

Max was never one for submitting to the bullies, even if he knew fighting back would only get him hurt more. It just wasn't in his nature. So, instead of shutting his mouth, he spat out, "I don't care. I got more important shit to do than look at your ass-ugly face. Get the fuck of me."

Jason's eye narrowed dangerously and Max just glared right back. {Mah boy's a fighter!} Finally, and unexpectedly, the blond, stereotypical jock backed off, stepping away a couple of feet from the stunned red-head. Usually talking like that got him beat to a bloody pulp. Jason may work alone and wasn't followed around by a posse, but he was strong and Max just wasn't enough to fight back.

"Fine, fine." Max watched Jason, suspicious, as he backed away. "You win, Max. But only because I want to teach Squirrel Boy here who's boss and who runs this filthy excuse of a school."

Jason turned to Ross, and both the brunette's and red-head's eyes widened in fear. Ross's tail was so fluffed out it resembled a porcupine at this point. He began to back down the hall as Jason approached him, tail stiff as can be and eyes darting around to spot an escape. With the true, utter panic and fear on his face, Ross resembled more terrified squirrel than human right now.

Max regained his senses and called out, still not moving though. His legs seemed frozen. "No, Jason! Leave him alone! Please!"

"Shut up, fag!" Jason glared at him. "Nothing is saving this freak from getting what he deserves. He's a freak of nature, like you and your other fag friends! So shut up!"

Body refusing to listen, Max could only watch as Jason back Ross into a corner. With nowhere to run, the brunette glanced at Max, pupils so dilated they looked pure black, fear extremely obvious in them, but the red-head could just look back, just as helpless as his body shut down and refused to obey him.

Then something caught all three of them off guard.

Jason reached out and pulled Ross's tail. Ross's pupils went from extremely dilated to little pinpricks as he hissed at Jason, animal instincts kicking in. He ripped his tail from Jason's grasp and punched him.

Straight in the dick.

Max unfroze and he grabbed Ross's hand, picking up their back packs on the way. "Run!" They both bolted, stumbling out the door. They could hear Jason's screamed curses of pain and revenge, but they were ignored as they tried to put as much distance as possible between the school and themselves. Max led the way to Adam's house, where he knew everyone would be.

When the finally arrived, Max was practically carrying Ross. Halfway through the run the boy had collapsed, muttering incoherently under his breath. After trying in vain to get Ross standing on his own, Max had thrown one of Ross's arms over his shoulder and he half-carried, half-dragged Ross the rest of the way to Adam's house.

The door opened immediately after he knocked three time, allowing Tim to be seen. "Why hello there–" Time stopped mid-sentence. "What happened to him?"

"Jason." Max grew angry just thinking about what had happened. "Now let us in Tim so we can fix him up."

Tim obediently opened the door wider and allowed the two to enter, stepping to the side. Max dragged Ross in, and, after calling Adam's attention and getting his friends help, they laid Ross onto the couch. The brunette's eyes were half-closed and he kept whispering, too quietly for them to hear though.

"What happened," Shelby demanded, eyes flickering between her cousin and Max.

"Jason pulled his tail. He seemed fine until halfway here. Then he just collapsed." Max may have met the kid literally that morning, but he was extremely worried.

"Roll him onto his stomach," Jin suggested. "Maybe we should look at the base of his tail and see if anything is wrong. He seems uninjured otherwise."

Barney glanced at Max. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

Max shook his head. "I'm fine. Jason didn't touch, said I got off free because he wanted to teach Ross, though he didn't say his name, what happened to freaks and who runs that school." His hands clenched into fists as he watched Adam and Jin carefully roll Ross over so he wouldn't fall off the couch.

"What I want to know," Red said, "is how you two got away in the first place."

Max smirked. "That is actually a funny story. After Jason pulled Ross's tail, something none of us expected happened. Ross went completely feral, hissing and everything, and punched that bitch straight in the dick. We both got the hell outta dodge after that."

Adam gave Max a worried glance. "You do know he'll give you, and especially Ross, hell tomorrow because of that."

Max cringed on impulse. "I know. But it was worth it. And anyway, I doubt Jason will lay a finger on Ross again."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "And why would that be?"

"Because I will personally rip his skull from his body if he does."

Jess opened her mouth to say more, but everyone's attention was drawn to Jin when he said, "Uh, guys take a look at this."

All eight of them leaned closer. Jin had lifted up Ross's shirt enough to reveal where the base of his fluffy squirrel tail merged seamlessly with his skin, originating just above the waist of his pants. At least, it would be seamless if there weren't angry red marks surrounding the base.

"Wh...what the hell?" Tim's confused voice came from the back of the group. "What's going on there?"

Max thought for a moment. "I know! Since Ross is...unique, the two species parts must not connect well under the surface. When Jason yanked on his tail, he must've pulled a muscle, or severed something, and that's why Ross collapsed. On the outside there's virtually no damage, but on the inside who knows what the hell happened."

"Ouch." Red flinched. "No wonder. That must really hurt."

"Someone get me a first-aid kit before he passes out completely," Jin barked. Barney and Red dashed off, but they were called back when Ross's voice became loud enough for them to hear.

"No! No, m'fine. It's...it's happened before..."

Max gave his new friend a concerned look. "You sure?"

Ross nodded firmly, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Everyone noticed how he winced when his tail moved in any way. Max was tempted to ignore him and go get the first-aid kit. "Just...just give me a few days. It'll heal. In the meantime, I won't be able to walk very well, but I'll survive."

Jin looked at him, clearly fascinated with Ross's weird anatomy. "Not walk because it hurts or because your tail is disabled?"

Ross winced as the fluffy appendage twitched. "Both." The brunette's eyes glazed over as he shifted into the past, smiling at a memory. "When I was little, I didn't have very good control over it. It would just drag around behind me. As a result, I would trip over it anytime I turned around. I pulled it more often than not until I learned to curl it along my back." He shook his head. "I'll be fine." {Before I continue, I just spent the past fifteen minutes researching how squirrels use their tails. It's really quite interesting, and I'm happy that what I've put so far is accurate}

"Okay, well, if you're absolutely positive..." Max was still worried, even if Ross wasn't.

"Well!" Adam said, clapping his hands once. "We, originally, gathered here to have fun! Let's get to it, if Ross is absolutely sure he'll be okay." The brunette gave another firm nod. Adam grinned. "What's a stereotypical party game we could play that doesn't involve too much moving?"

Shelby responded first with a shrug. "There's always Truth or Dare." {I'm creative, aren't I?}

"Oh boy! That's extremely stereotypical!" Tim's voice was laced with fake enthusiasm.

"Perfect!"