Cheddar Biscuit paced back and forth in front of the main entryway of the Barker house as the evening sun shone through the window, absentmindedly juggling several balls as she did so. Her nerves were already bad enough over the last few days she had spent with Colby, but tonight would be a real date, with real expectations. Part of her wished she had had a little more experience with this kind of thing, as she was completely unsure what would be appropriate and what wouldn’t. Should she wear a more formal collar, or was her usual colorful bowtie good enough? Should she make the decisions, or let him take the lead? She was the one who asked him out, after all.
‘Would you be so kind as to… no, that sounds way too formal…’
She tried to rehearse what she would say to him when he arrived over and over in her head, yet nothing that came to mind sounded quite right. Even in her own thoughts, she felt like she was stuttering and mumbling nearly every other word.
She had countless different scenarios in her head of how tonight could possibly go; some were good, some were bad, but all Cheddar Biscuit knew in her head was that she wanted to spend time with Colby, and as much of it as possible. A chance to show him how she really felt about him was all she could hope for.
That wasn’t to say she was completely unprepared for tonight, however; in fact, she had spent the entire day trying to plan out something truly special for tonight, just for them. She had gathered her courage and gotten in contact with her clown friends, telling them about her situation; fortunately, they were all on-board to help their Boss Clown out however they could. After all, no clown could resist the opportunity to put on a great show.
Eventually, the little white Beagador finally set down the balls as her arms were becoming increasingly sore. She stood in front of the mirror in the foyer, staring deeply at her own reflection.
‘Sup? No, now that’s too casual…’
Cheddar thought long and hard about who she was, and although she wasn’t wearing one at the moment, she kept seeing that familiar bright red clown nose on her face. She had always taken pride in her clownery… but then she began to wonder. Did Colby think she was weird? Could he have only said yes to her out of pity?
Cheddar took a deep breath in… and out. She mentally reminded the self-conscious reflection that Colby liked her too, and that just being herself tonight was all she could be. If he somehow ended up not liking her truest self, then maybe it just simply wasn’t meant to be, after all.
She felt as though her heart was in her throat as the doorbell suddenly rang, involuntarily giving out a few soft barks at the noise before approaching the door. Once she regained her composure, she slimmed her platinum-white fur down as sleek as she could make it and straightened her bowtie before opening the door with her tail wagging rapidly behind her.
“Hello, Cheddar Biscuit! I have a letter for Paw today!”
“O-oh... hi, Gerald. Thanks.” Cheddar’s tail slowed to a halt as it wasn’t Colby at the door, but Gerald the maildog. She took the letter from his paw.
“Alrighty then, have a good evening!” Gerald gave his salute with a happy-go-lucky smile as he turned around and strolled jauntily back down the pathway, leaving Cheddar alone and looking down at the envelope in her paw. She turned around and was about to close the door in disappointment when she heard a familiar voice speaking to her.
“Hey, Cheddar Biscuit.”
Colby was standing at the doorway in front of her, having crossed paths with Gerald just as he left.
For a few moments, neither of them said anything as they stood in front of each other at the front door of the Barker house. Cheddar tried to re-rehearse something - anything - in her mind that she had thought to say, but it was completely useless.
“H-hi,” was all she could respond, the blushes on their faces growing by the second the longer they held eye-contact with each other. Eventually, Colby’s slowly eyes drifted away to avoid the awkward stare and he noticed that there was not one, but ten different doorbells on the wall beside the front door
“That’s a lot of… doorbells.” He said as he pointed at them, already screaming at himself internally for the incredibly-awkward small talk.
“Oh, um… yeah.” Cheddar smiled nervously, unsure where to take the conversation. “My dad owns the doorbell store.”
“Right… oh, I uh, I got you this.” Colby held up a purple rubber ball in his paw. “It was just something I got for you from the ball store.” He pointed to the circular glass ‘building’ several blocks away that looked like a gigantic gumball machine.
“I don’t think I have any purple ones!” Cheddar said as she took the ball from his paw, her eyes lighting up as she gave it several squeaks much to Colby’s amusement before clearing her throat and putting it behind her back where it disappeared. “Thank you.”
Just then, Colby was about to say something when Paw Barker suddenly entered the foyer in a hurry.
“Hey, Colby! Sorry to interrupt, I meant to give this to you the other day but then that customer came in and it completely slipped my mind.” He handed the green-eyed Labrador a small doorbell shaped like a red clown horn. “Go on, press it!”
Colby pressed the button with his finger.
*Honk-HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-Honk*
“It’s a clown-salute!” Paw chuckled with a grin, confident his daughter’s date would like it. “To remind you that you’re a hero. Our hero.” He gently placed a paw on his little girl’s back.
“Dad…” Cheddar cringed a little in embarrassment, still feeling a bit doubtful that Colby actually cared for clown stuff as much as she did. “Isn’t that a little… much?”
“I’ve been in the doorbell business for a long time, kiddo. I have a good intuition about these things.” Paw held his ground as he placed his paw on Colby’s shoulder. “May it offer you guidance when you need it most!” He continued as though he were offering sage wisdom, hamming it up as much as possible like a corny theatre actor.
“I love it.” Colby held the doorbell in his paw with a faint smile. “Thank you.”
“Okay okay Dad, we’re going now!” Cheddar took the yellow dog’s wrist, tugging it gently as she pulled him out the door. “And there’s some mail for you on the bench!”
She closed the front door behind them as they stood in front of her house, with Colby still looking down at his gift with a modest smile. Curious if his theory would actually work, he slowly put the doorbell behind his back and let go. He spun around in place, looking to see if it had fallen to the ground before reaching behind his back and pulling it out again. He exhaled out of his nose with a smirk and a slight roll of his eyes, putting it back behind him.
“...Everything okay?” Cheddar asked, confused as ever by Colby’s odd behavior.
“Yeah, yeah. Just… checking something. Ready to ‘go, dog, go’?” Colby asked, not even sure where they’d be going tonight.
“Let’s go.” Cheddar Biscuit smiled as her fingers gently brushed against his paw before taking the initiative and interlocking them into his. And with that, their official date had begun.
“The Amusement Bark.” Colby stated as they arrived.
“I-is this okay? I know we were here just the other day, but I just thought we could…” Cheddar suddenly felt very self-conscious about her choice of location; not only that, it might also alter the plan she’d carefully set up if he’d rather go somewhere else.
“Absolutely, I love the Amusement Bark! I could come here every day.” Colby looked down at her with a genuine sense of joy in his eyes that was rare for Cheddar to behold. “I didn’t really stick around to play any of the games here before, so would you wanna do that for a bit?” He gestured over to the stalls nearby where other dogs were currently trying - and usually failing - to win prizes.
“Yeah, okay! But just to warn you, I’ve gotten preeetty good at these.” Cheddar teased as she led him to the closest one, a balloon-pop game. “So try not to get too jealous when I win!”
Neither of them won. In fact, neither of them won a single prize from any of the games they had tried; balloon-pop, ring-toss, down-a-clown, and more, all ending in utter failure. But that was okay. After all, it was to be expected with games such as these - fun to play, but sometimes next to impossible to actually win. Besides, the fun they were having while enjoying each other’s company was far more valuable than any stuffed toy they could have won.
“I know we didn’t win anything, but… balloon-animal?” Cheddar held up a pink balloon twisted into the shape of a unicorn on a string.
“Where’d you get that?” Colby asked as he took the string from her, almost positive he would have noticed a stand selling balloon animals at some point.
“I made it! Just now.” Cheddar pulled another long balloon from behind her back, blowing it up and twisting it into a detailed depiction of a giraffe faster than Colby could even process it.
“That’s incredible, how do you do that so fast?” Colby asked, an astonished expression on his face as he gently poked the unicorn balloon’s horn with his finger.
“Just practice, I guess.” Cheddar shrugged as she didn’t seem to think it was all that impressive in her eyes before looking around to figure out what else they could do next.
“Let me try just one more game,” Colby said, noticing the strength-test game nearby. It consisted of a large mallet and a tall tower, requiring the player to hit a target with the mallet as hard as they could to make the puck at the bottom rise up to make a large hand-shaped mechanism ring a giant doorbell.
“Step right up and test your strength to win a prize,” the green dog operating the game recited disinterestedly. Colby took the mallet, looking up at the tower to analyze it. He carefully lifted the hammer up, swinging it back down onto the target.
Much to everyone’s surprise around him, Colby accidentally broke the target into several pieces with the impact, causing the puck to shoot up like a bullet. It shattered the doorbell mechanism above completely, causing bits of it to fall to the ground as it came detached from its hinges.
“Shhhit, I-I didn’t mean to-” Colby dropped the mallet on the ground immediately, taking a step back with his paws open.
“...Winner." The green dog blinked in slight surprise at the destroyed game until his disinterested look returned, handing Colby an orange chicken plush while putting his hat on and hopping on his skateboard before riding away. “And I’m taking the rest of the night off.”
Colby looked down at the stuffed chicken toy in his hand and then back to Cheddar, who was standing behind him.
“Wow, you’re… strong.” She gulped as she looked at his arms, though his physique wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
“Oh, that? I think that game must’ve just been really old or something. Could have happened to anyone.” The yellow Labrador nervously replied as he began walking, trying to distance himself away from the scene.
“I guess so,” Cheddar Biscuit shrugged as she walked with him, turning her head to look around and figure out what would be next for tonight.
Suddenly, without thinking, Colby reached his paw out and gently scratched behind Cheddar Biscuit’s floppy purple ear.
“Wha- oh. Oooh… heughh…” The little white dog stopped in her tracks as she seemed to be in a temporary trance, her eyes crossing slightly in delight and her tongue lolling slightly from the side of her mouth as her head tilted into Colby’s massage, as though her brain-circuits had been jammed. But just as suddenly as he began, Colby stopped.
“What was that?” Cheddar turned back to face Colby, her tail instinctively wagging hard and fast behind her.
“U-uh, sorry. I don’t know why I just did that.” Colby looked away shyly, terrified that he’d just offended her.
“No, I mean, it felt really… really good. How did you do that?” Cheddar Biscuit’s pupils seemed to be bigger than usual as she kept staring at him.
“You mean you’ve never been scratched behind the ear before?” The yellow dog returned his eyes to hers, relieved to see no anger in them.
“Of course, I’ve scratched my own itches there before. But what you did just now, that was… something else. Could… could you do that again?” Cheddar’s tail was moving so intensely that even her hips were wiggling back and forth now.
“Oh, um… sure. If you want.”
Colby returned his paw to the back of her ear, digging his digits into her skin and rubbing them up and down repeatedly. As Cheddar went back to her catatonic state under his skilled fingers, Colby couldn’t help but blush a little with embarrassment; for some reason, something about this felt rather inappropriate to do in public with so many other dogs around.
“Well hey there, Cheddar Biscuit! Great performance the other night!”
The two were quickly interrupted by a friendly greeting when they were approached by a fluffy blue terrier dog with a southern accent that was thick and smooth as honey. Standing beside her was a much, much smaller blue terrier wearing a red bandanna around his neck, presumably her son.
“Yeah, it was amazing!” The little terrier added, his short little arms lifted up as he hopped with excitement.
“Oh, thanks, Pooches!” Cheddar grinned at the compliments, grateful that they enjoyed it.
“Who’s yer friend?” The female terrier turned to Colby, realizing his face was completely unfamiliar to her. “You two aren’t gettin’ up to any mischief, are ya?”
“N-no, officer. This is Colby, he’s new to Pawston. Colby, this is Sergeant Pooch and her son, Scooch. They’re our neighbors.”
“Nice to meet you.” The Labrador politely raised his open paw with a smile in a shy greeting as their eyes met.
“Same to you, Colby! I’m the Police-chief of Pawston, so if ya have any problems, ya can always come to me.” She adjusted the police cap she was wearing, showing off the yellow star-shaped badge on the front. “I ‘member back when Scooch and I were new to Pawston ourselves not too long ago, but take it from me when I say that…” Ms. Pooch got a little teary-eyed with sentimental feelings as she remembered their warm welcome, offering her paw for him Colby to shake. “This town has the nicest, most welcoming dogs yer ever gonna meet.”
“Thank you very much.” Colby shook her paw in return; everything about her exuded genuine warmth and kindness, and although they’d only just met, Colby couldn’t help but immediately feel a natural trust and respect for her.
“Hey Scooch, you can have this.” He smiled as he handed Scooch the chicken plush.
“Wow! Mom, look! It’s another chicken!” Scooch’s eyes lit up as he took the stuffed toy from him. “Thanks, Colby!”
“Now ya have a friend for Cluckles!” his mom added with a smile, gently running her fingers through the spiky hair on her son’s head in a motherly manner and they waved the two goodbye before walking off in the direction of the nearest corn-cob stand. “Thank you, Colby. You both have a good night now!”
Colby turned to Cheddar, noticing that she was giving him a strange expression somewhere between amusement and awe.
“What? He likes chickens.” He blushed a little, suddenly feeling more self-conscious the longer Cheddar looked directly at her with that expression on her face.
“How did you know that?"
“Oh, well I just… I remembered seeing him driving your little sister around today in his rocket-powered tractor,” he quietly gave out a bemused chuckle at his own words, true as they were. “And he had a chicken-horn on it. And chicken stickers on the side. And a chicken plush on his lap-”
Cheddar said nothing, only looking up at him with a growing smile on her face.
“-Was it weird of me to give him that?”
“Oh, not at all. It was really sweet of you, actually,” she replied as she nudged the side of her hips against his, looking up at him, “I just think you’re gonna fit in really well here.”
Colby simply smiled.
“Look, there’s the fun-house!” Evening had soon become night, and Cheddar skipped in her step when she pointed at the large and wacky-looking building nearby. “Shall we? Shan’t we?!” She stood on her tiptoes and put on her clown-nose as she got closer to Colby’s face, the more ‘clowny’ side of her finally starting to show through as she was now hyped-up on all kinds of fairground food, everything from cotton candy to deep-fried cheesecake.
“We shal-”
“We shall!” Cheddar Biscuit excitedly tugged on Colby’s arm with a honk of her nose, hardly letting him finish his thought before taking him into the house of mirrors.
“Woah, woooah!” Cheddar wiggled her waist back and forth in front of the warped reflective walls, highly amused by the funny proportions it gave her body. “Haha, hey, hey Colby, I look like a lightbulb! And now I look like a pear!”
Colby, however, wasn’t quite so amused. With every mirror he looked at, he felt a deepening sense of dissociation from his own sense of self. Even the flat and even mirrors that showed his reflection clearly made him feel like he was looking at a complete stranger. His chest felt tight as he wandered down the increasingly narrow corridors and through the colorful rubber ribbons hanging from the striped ceiling, seeing nothing but that strange yellow dog wherever he went.
Colby bumped into one of his own warped reflections, his head starting to spin as each breath became quicker and shorter than the last. His walk eventually turned into a run and then into a sprint down the hallway, trying desperately to find Cheddar again as he held his hands out in front of him so as not to hit his face on any mirrors. Reaching a dead-end in an open room, he rested his sweaty paws firmly against the reflective wall in front of him as if to push himself away. He looked down, closing his eyes. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He just needed to breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Colby glanced back up, no longer seeing the dog he was now.
He saw who he used to be. It was blurry and distorted, but it was undoubtedly him. His old friends - his family - were by his side as well. His memories of them felt so distant that he had almost forgotten what they looked like. But for the briefest moment, it was them.
And with a blink, they were all gone once more.
Colby’s salty tears dripped one by one onto the floor as he tightly clenched his trembling fists against the mirror in front of him. Haunted, and alone.
‘Am I ever allowed to be happy again?’
“Colby! There you are!” Cheddar’s sweet voice broke through his despair like a ray of sunlight breaks through a thunderstorm, and he immediately wiped his eyes before turning around.
“Oh, h-hey, Cheddar. I guess I got a little… lost.” Colby rubbed his arm with a sniffle, the moist glaze in his reddish eyes making him an open book.
“Colby… is everything okay?” The little white Beagador lowered her voice as she clasped her paws together empathetically. She wasn’t exactly experienced at giving profound advice or professional help, but she could tell when someone was in pain. And over the past few days, it was clear that Colby was in a lot of unspoken pain.
“I just, um…” He let out a miserable sigh as his panic-attack slowly receded. “I haven’t exactly been the most fun to be around, have I?”
“That’s not true, I love spending time with you!” Cheddar placed her paw on his forearm, but he pulled it away as he leaned his back against the wall behind him and looked down at himself, still feeling the effects of vertigo.
“But why? What’s there to like? I’m a failure. A disaster. A burden.”
“Colby…” Cheddar Biscuit respectfully kept her distance, though she desperately wanted to do something - anything - to make him feel better. She had made it her own personal goal to see him happy. To see him smile. To see him laugh. Not because she was a clown, but because she considered him her friend. And with a little luck, by the time the night was done, maybe something… more. "You're none of those things. How can you say that?"
"...What if you made a mistake that you could never make up to someone, because you can no longer reach them?"
Cheddar's brows furrowed as she considered his hypothetical, her family coming to mind. The mere thought of letting them down and never seeing them again was heartbreaking, to say the least. But before she could give her response, Colby continued.
“You really don’t need to feel like you owe me anything just because I saved you, you know.” Colby thought about the other night when he caught her. It felt like these last few days had passed by in the blink of an eye; and yet, at the same time, these felt like the longest four days of his life. “I doubt you’d ever actually want anything to do with me if we hadn’t met the way we did.”
“That’s not true. You wanna know why I like you, Colby? The truth is, you’re the only friend I have that isn’t a clown. Everyone else still treats me like a puppy, but you… you treat me like I'm normal. You’re so soft-spoken, and even though my brain is usually all over the place most of the time, I really can’t help but feel more… relaxed, when I’m with you."
Colby looked back up into her eyes, seeing nothing but genuine truth and sincerity in them.
“...But to be honest, I don’t think any of that matters. Not really. I like you because… I just… do. I don’t need any specific reason. Everything you are, I-I want more of. Your voice, your gentleness. The way you’re reserved, and polite, and a good listener. I wish I could be more like you. I’m a notoriously terrible listener, and sometimes I know I get too goofy or silly to the point where I’m probably annoying. But… it just feels right to have you near me. I've never felt this way around anyone else before, and I'm not gonna question it. You’re… my favorite. I just have this feeling, deep in my gut, that… you’re a good dog.”
‘A good dog…’ Colby looked down at his paw, feeling his drooped tail begin to wag a little.
"And I think…” Cheddar shyly twisted the ball of her foot on the floor. “I think it’s fate that we met.”
“Fate?” Colby asked softly as he finally looked back up at her.
“Maybe it’s a bit childish or silly, but I think everything happens for a reason. I think that the universe has a way of putting us where we need to be, exactly when we need to be there. You caught my fall, and that’s how you came into my life. That’s that.” She reached her arms forward, holding his paws firmly in her own as she tried to break down the wall he had built around himself. “I know I don't know anything about what you've been through, but I live in the moment. And right now, all I do know… is that I like being here… with you.”
As much as Cheddar wanted Colby to be able to share his hurt with her, she knew pushing the subject would likely only do more harm than good. Maybe someday, he’d open up. When he was good and ready. For now though, all she could do was be there for him.
“So please, stay with me. Stay.” She cautiously went in for a hug, gently wrapping her arms around his back as she leaned her cheek against his chest. He returned her embrace.
“...Okay.” Colby let out another sigh, though this one was a sigh of content now that he was starting to feel comforted by her reassuring presence already. “But… can we at least get out of this fun-house? It’s not quite as 'fun' as I’d hoped.”
Cheddar took his paw and they navigated their way out of the mirror maze together, with Colby keeping his gaze fixed on his date to avoid having another nervous breakdown.
“And by the way,” Colby said as he held her paw tighter, “you’re not annoying at all. And… you’re my favorite, too.”
Cheddar Biscuit kept looking forward, but seeing the look on Colby’s face in his reflections as he looked at her made her heart want to explode.
“Sorry the fun-house was a bust, remind me not to suggest going there again. Do you liiike… rover-coasters?” Cheddar asked once they had exited the maze of mirrors, noticing the coaster as it slowly rolled up the top of the track before plunging downwards with the exhilarated screams of the dogs onboard.
“What’s a- oh, rover-coaster. Yeah, I’m up for that. Let’s go.” Colby grabbed her paw, and they got in line.
“I’m sorry about… before,” the Labrador exhaled meditatively, finally feeling the tremble in his fingers going away in Cheddar’s gentle grasp. “I’m ruining our-”
“Just stop right there,” Cheddar looked up at him sternly, “you have nothing to apologize for. Everything is okay, it’s over now. It’s not the end of the world. Let’s just have a blast and a silly little time. Okay?”
Colby paused for a moment before barely nodding in agreement.
“Yeah. It’s not the end of the world.”
They eventually reached the front of the line, and as the coaster inched up the tracks, Cheddar giggled giddily as her feet tapped repeatedly against the floor of the car. That was, until she noticed Colby looking at her.
“I’m being too hyper again, aren’t I? Sorry, I’ll stop. I just haven’t been on this ride in a long time. Probably since I was a puppy, now that I think about it.” Her feet slowed to a stop, though her heart was still racing as it braced her for the fall. “It’s just… a lot more fun when you go on rides with someone, you know?”
“It sure is.”
Cheddar’s eyes met Colby’s as he replied with a warm smile.
“Can you promise me something, Cheddar Biscuit?” He asked, the coaster slowing down as it neared the top just before the fall.
“W-well, that depends.”
“Don’t ever change.”
Before she could answer, the little confetti-colored dog felt her stomach drop not once, but twice; once when Colby said those three words, and once again as the coaster suddenly plunged downwards along the track, twisting and turning left and right, high and low. She cheered loudly as she raised her paws into the air, the sound of her exhilarated laughter like the sweetest melody Colby had heard in a lifetime.
“WOOOO! HAHAHAHAHA!”
“H-hey. Do you wanna go on the, um… Ferris Wheel?” Cheddar Biscuit held Colby’s wrist as she pointed up at the top of the Ferris Wheel after they had exited the rover-coaster. It looked rather rudimentary, a simplistic but effective design with red spokes spinning on the axis and holding up many small yellow bucket-shaped cabins with just barely enough room for only two dogs.
“Sure, I could use a break from all the excitement.” The yellow Lab replied, still looking down with a smile at the photo of themselves on the rover-coaster in his paw before putting it behind his back as they immediately got in line.
Finally, Cheddar’s big plan was beginning to fall into place. Her clown friend Waggles had volunteered to take the usual operator’s place to give him the rest of the night off, and as the two got into the cabin together he gave Cheddar Biscuit a discreet thumbs-up before lifting them slowly upwards into the air with the lever.
The yellow bucket they were in felt even smaller than it looked; their knees were practically touching as they sat on the seats across from each other, feeling the subtle warmth radiating off of each other’s bodies. As the town got smaller and smaller below them, Colby and Cheddar’s eyes drifted this way and that as they tried to avoid any awkward stares with each other. It didn’t work, however, and as the seconds went on, they found their eyes meeting more and more.
After what felt like an eternity of awkward glances, they finally reached the top and the Ferris Wheel came to a halt. Cheddar looked down at the base of the wheel to find Waggles giving her another thumbs-up and an exaggerated wink. Her nerves began to hit as the big show was imminent; the moment that would either end this date with a bang, or with disaster. But she had to take this chance. Colby needed to know without any doubts how she truly felt.
Although the Amusement Bark below was filled with the dull roar of dogs having their own fun, the warm night air at the top of the Ferris Wheel felt especially still and quiet as the two nervous dogs sat together.
“The view sure is beautiful up here.” Cheddar murmured, breaking the silence as she looked out at the glittering yellow lights of Pawston.
“It sure is.”
Cheddar Biscuit’s head turned to find Colby looking not out at the city, but directly at her.
Before she could say anything, a firework suddenly shot up into the air from the edge of town before exploding into a bright flash of pink shimmering sparkles. Just as planned, Bowowzo and Wowbowzo were lighting fuses one by one from the top of the party tree, with each firework shooting up with a colorful rainbow of green, gold, blue, purple, and pink.
“Did you… have something to do with this?” Colby muttered as he watched in awe at the breath-taking display before turning back to face the little white dog in front of him, the prism of glittering lights reflecting like a mirror in her large puppy-dog eyes. In those black spheres of hers, they looked far more to Colby like the beautiful chaos of exploding nebulas and supernovas in a newly born universe rather than such a simple thing as mere fireworks. Cheddar smiled warmly as she rested her paw softly on his, gliding her thumb along his fur. It was now or never.
“This is how my heart feels… when I’m with you, Colby.”
Time stood still as Colby looked deeply into Cheddar Biscuit’s soul through her eyes. She was fun, and funny, and everything about her was absolutely everything he wanted. Most importantly, she really cared about him. But could he really learn how to be happy again? Was he even ready to be happy again? After everything he had been through? After everyone he had lost? His heart, the same heart that had once repeatedly told him ‘No’, and eventually whispered a ‘Maybe’, was now cheering a resounding ‘Yes!’
His paw trembled slightly as he gradually raised it to Cheddar’s cheek, resting his palm against it as his breath began to shudder. She leaned the weight of her head lightly against it, slowly blinking as she made eyes at him.
Colby’s stomach felt like it was still on the rover-coaster as his face inched closer and closer to Cheddar Biscuit’s. Before he even realized it, their wet dog-noses were touching. He could feel her sweet saccharine breath gently tickling his lips, their cheeks both burning a vibrant red hue as he paused with their mouths mere millimeters away.
He tilted his head. He had been alone for long enough.
Although the fireworks continued to light up the night sky, time itself stood still.
Colby closed the space between them.
Neither of them was sure just for how long their first kiss lasted. It could have been a second, it could have been minutes, or it could have been hours - it didn’t matter. But when their lips finally parted ways, the last firework had finally exploded with a loud and dazzling bang.
“Wow…” Colby whispered, their noses still touching as his fingers were interlaced with hers.
“Wow,” Cheddar repeated in agreement before reluctantly pulling her head back, the world feeling like it was a carousel of emotions spinning around her. Although she wanted nothing more than to completely throw herself at him with an onslaught of more passionate kisses, she somehow managed to hold herself back as the bucket they were sitting in had finally begun to lower back down to the ground.
Once they had stepped out, neither of them knew what to say. Amidst the colorful cotton candy stands and carnival games, they simply stared at each other for a moment.
“Well… um…” Cheddar’s heart was racing as the adrenaline of the kiss suddenly caught up to her. “S-see ya tomorrow!” She hopped up to give Colby one more quick kiss on his cheek before bashfully sprinting home.
“See you tomorrow…”
As Colby pressed his fingers against the warm spot on his cheek, he watched Cheddar Biscuit disappear through the colorful crowd of dogs. His trembling lips curled up into a smile, the feeling of her soft black lips on his still fresh in his memory. For the first time since he arrived in Pawston, his tail began to wag. And if Colby knew anything about dogs, it was that their tails never lied.
‘I think I want to be happy now.’
