off, staring ahead stubbornly. Come on Philip, focus… You have to go back to Bane and Ashton.
  With a sigh, when he was out of sight of the windows of the Barkin home, he took off towards the warehouses where his crew stayed. He hoped they didn’t miss him with his disappearance. But, with that gloomy thought, his ears drooped, they probably didn’t even notice. They hardly do.

  Philip held true to his promise, visiting her the next day. That’s how his days went from then on: he would listen to Bane and Ashton making wild schemes to try and harm the Barkin family with the occasional visit from his father. Those visits always chilled his insides, as his father would always cast a cold look in his direction to make sure he was participating with his gang.
  But his nights would be the happiest he had ever known. He got close to Charlie’s family, especially to Mel. At first, when he first saw Charlie, he never cared for him much, and wasn’t sad when he was killed the first time. But the more he went over there, the more he respected the old canine. He also met Mel’s parents, Rosa and Joey, and they greeted him with open arms when they saw him, and he slowly started to see them as great parental figures.
  The only ones that didn’t seem enthusiastic were Andrew, Charlie’s son, and Meph who had always been suspicious of him. Andrew just didn’t care about anything but himself and his niece Sam, who was as old as her siblings but was starting to be seen less by her Uncle Andrew’s side at times. Meph kept his eye on Philip as much as he came over, not aggressive but always watching, being very protective of his sister.
  The Akita happened to walk in on a birthday party the family was throwing for Mel and her siblings, trying to decline and back out but was welcomed in. He enjoyed kicking back and relaxing, declining to answer questions about what he did, and Mel never brought it to light. It almost felt like she was protecting him, keeping his involvement hidden.
  “… You should have seen him, he went flying across the bar, I almost got him over it!” Zak aid enthusiastically, concluding a story about a bar fight he had when he was with his buddies. His crew had managed to get out before a bar fight had broken out at Duncan’s urging.
  “You must be pretty strong Zak.” Philip said in awe.
  “It’s in the Slumdog blood. We mostly keep it down now, but Meph is determined to keep it flowing strongly.” Joey chuckled. “Not that we mind, heck, I’m a barkeep, not a boxer like my old dad was.”
  “Doesn’t stop the temper that’s been passed down it seems.” Philip let slip, and he was about to apologize about the slip when the Doberman’s and Duncan laughed.
  “Damn right, you don’t mess with a Slumdog even if the fighting nature has been mostly repressed. Doesn’t stop us from having it or using it!” Zak winked, but he then nuzzled his nephew affectionately. “Still, some of us don’t, but we still find our strength from being brave, Duncan here proved that.”
  Philip smiled, looking around at the rest of the family and the guests. He noticed Meph was chatting with his family, looking the happiest he had ever seen him. He wondered if he should try to go and join in whatever conversation he was having to try and get to know him better when Joey nudged his side.
  “It looks like someone is trying to get your attention Philip.” The big Doberman said, winking at him. The younger canine looked over and saw Mel nodding towards the door. “You should go see what she wants.”
  Giving a nod, the Akita excused himself from the group and went over to Mel, leaving the building and following her. But Meph saw them leaving and his instincts instantly kicked in. He waited only a few moments to let them get a slight head start before he also excused himself from the party, following them towards the beach.

  On that same night, Bane happened to roll out of his bed, falling hard to the concrete floor. With a yelp he sat up, growling as he rubbed his sore elbow. “That hurt… Dammit…” He kept lowly cursing as he rubbed sore spots all over his body from his drop.
  Ashton poked his head out from beneath his canvas covering and growled. “Would you shut up? A big bad dog like you shouldn’t be hurt this easily.”
  “I was asleep when I dropped, idiot.” The Malinoise growled back, throwing a piece of wood at Ashton. “It’s called shock.”
  Ashton, having a particularly bad temper when he was woken up, pounced on Bane and they started to fight, snarling at each other as they bit and scratched. They rolled right over Philip’s bed, and instinctively Bane growled. “Out of the way Philip you useless- Hey, hold up! Hold up Ashton you moron can’t you see Philip is missing?!” The bigger canine shoved Ashton off, sitting up in Philip’s empty bed.
  They both looked around, sniffing the warehouse all over for a sign of their friend if he moved. Soon they found his trail leading to the door. They looked at each other, both looking curious.
  “Think he’s at the beach? He likes it there…” Ashton said, his head slightly tilted to one side.
  “Worth a look, he’s probably there.” Bane replied, heading out and towards the beach. Ashton followed him, wondering what business Philip would have this late at night.

  “It’s beautiful out here, isn’t it?” Philip said quietly to his companion as they walked alongside the crashing waves. His paws, slightly bigger than hers, crunched underneath him due to the sand, and he smiled softly at her. He was nervous, wondering what she wanted.
  “Yes, it is. Do you come here often?” Mel asked him.
  “Before I come to your place, every night,” Philip said cheerfully, “because it’s how we met up, so I like to repeat it.”
  “I see. It sounds really nice Philip.” Mel said, smiling softly. Philip, glad of the dark at this moment, blushed a bit and looked at the sky. “I might just join you these nights.”
  “That sounds nice to me.” The Akita slipped, biting his tongue afterwards. He heard Mel giggle a bit, and he smiled.
  “Philip?”
  “Yeah?”
  “I just wanted to let you know that… I’m glad we’re friends.” Mel said, nuzzling him softly.
  “Yeah… Same here…” Philip said, his voice shaking. He knew what was in his heart now. He knew why he couldn’t hurt Mel, and he knew why he went to see her every day.
  “Philip,” Mel asked, concerned, “is everything alright?” She put her paw on his arm gently. “Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?”
  “Mel… I know why I couldn’t hurt you that night…” Philip stammered, shaking on his paws.
  “I…” Mel seemed nervous to approach the subject. “I… Wondered that myself…”
  “Mel…” The Akita turned towards her, shaking nervously, “it was because… Um… It was er…”
  “Philip?”
  The canine bit his tongue a bit, trying to not say it. Good Lord above me… My friends… My father… They’ll kill me for this but… He suddenly took a step forward, pressing his lips against Mel’s. She let out a slight squeak of surprise, which Philip couldn’t help but find cute.
  She didn’t try to push him away, though he bet that was the shock. He couldn’t keep the feelings inside him. This all felt so right to him.
  After a few seconds, he gently pulled away, staring into her eyes. “Mel… I couldn’t hurt you because I think… I think I love you…”
  Unbeknownst to the two on the beach, they were being watched from both sides: Meph was watching from the sidewalk, and the two of Silencing Darkness were on the dock, all three looking horrified. Mel just looked as surprised as when she had been kissed, staring at the Akita. He looked shyly away towards the ocean.
  “No… Not think… I know.”
  Mel blushed and tried to look busy flattening her fur, trying to get her mind to catch up on what had just happened. She felt her heart racing, and she felt really close to Philip. Despite what his friends had done, she was good friends with him. So why couldn’t I be his mate or something? She asked herself.
  But before she could speak, something dashed by her, pouncing Philip and causing him to yelp. “You snide, sneaky little spy, I ought to kill ya for this!” The shape snarled, pinning Philip down with one of its large paws.
  “Meph get off him!” Mel growled, trying to push her bigger brother off the Akita. Meph ignored her, merely using a footpaw to push her back and away from him. He got so close to Philip’s face so they were almost nose-to-nose, growling deep.
  “I should tear your throat out right here, you thinking you can gain her trust like that. You make me sick!” The mutt growled deeper.
  “Get off me!” Philip growled back, trying to push the large hound off him.
  “Stay away from Mel or I swear I’ll -!”
  “Meph. Get. Off!” Mel summoned up all the strength she could and pushed him off Philip. The fighter hound