The Lonely Rabbit and Broken Thief

Chapter Thirty-Three

Epilogue

Cuddles fiddled with the box he held in his hands. It wasn't that big or that small. They contained two things: the slippers Shifty gave him when they were young and a small box that contained a ring.

The slippers were a keepsake that he couldn't throw away despite the fact he had outgrown them. He couldn't get rid of them because Shifty had worked hard to get the money to buy him the gift.  The ring... was something he got before the start of their senior year, before they broke up. In the back of his mind, despite how hard he had still been trying to keep a lot of his life with Shifty a secret, he had wanted to show Shifty he was still very serious about them as a whole.

Cuddles glanced over at Shifty. He was sound asleep, a pair of handcuffs half cuffed on one of his wrists from their night together. Considering Shifty had allowed him some liberties in their last night in California, he took full advantage of it. He even got him to wear the maid outfit he got him.

God, that dress did wonders for his legs.

"Mmh..."

Cuddles hid the box under the bed and flopped back down beside Shifty. Shifty rubbed his eyes and began to sit up, his neck and chest covered in red marks from love marks. The dress he had worn that night was still on, but resting around his waist. Cuddles smiled, sitting up to kiss his cheek, which the raccoon accepted with a hum.

"Good morning, sunshine..." Shifty hummed, leaning on Cuddles. "What time is it?"

Cuddles chuckled a bit, "It's about nine in the morning. You alright?"

"I'm fine... just tired... and sore..." Shifty whined, sitting up a bit more. "I'm hungry. Make me something."

Cuddles hummed, getting up and helping Shifty up. The raccoon had wobbled and stumbled around, clearly sore and exhausted. Cuddles helped him to the bath and left him there to clean up while he got some food ready for them. His heart was racing. He wanted to give it to Shifty, to tell him what he never got to tell him because they didn't graduate together.

Marry me. Marry me.

"Shifty! You want an omelette?"

"Yes!"

I need to ask him now before we leave tonight. Or maybe when we get home? Would that be a bad time?

Cuddles finished up breakfast once Shifty came out of the bathroom, looking much better than he had than this morning. He was much more awake now and he flashed Cuddles a smile. Cuddles reached out as Shifty walked over and embraced him, kissing his forehead.

"I wasn't too much last night, right?"

Shifty chuckled, "Too much? I could hardly walk this morning. Thank god for those bath salts. I'm not that sore anymore."

Cuddles hummed, handing him a plate, "Sorry, sorry. Anyways, I'll clean up if you pack up. We can go on a drive to the beach side before we get to the airport. Have us a picnic."

Shifty nodded as he shoved half of his omelette in his mouth, "Sure. We didn't get to do it yesterday because of your meet-and-greet and our dinner with Lifty and Splendont."