Behind The Mask

Merry Christmas Eve!

     The next day came, and today is Christmas Eve. The day before Christmas where things mostly get the busiest time of the month. Everyone would be baking, cooking, decorating, shopping, preparing for the next day.

Meanwhile, the pups woke up and tried to have a good day with their parents and their friends. They ate, they talked, they played out in the snow. But still, just like yesterday, things felt awkward. While everyone tried to have a good day, Everest decided to rest a little bit and sit near a tree, watching everyone play around.

"You seem a bit down."

Everest looked to the side and smiled when she saw Tundra walking up to her. "Hey Tundra. I'm...doing okay." Everest lied, but the other Husky can see right through it.

"Are you sure?" She asked with an eyebrow raised and Everest chuckled as she knew Tundra could tell when someone is lying. But she is also someone that Everest can trust dearly.

"I know everyone is worried about Chase, I am too but...I'm also worried about Marshall." Everest sighed which earned a concerned look from Tundra.

"Why?" Tundra asked.

"I saw Marshall looking at the Bay with...well, kind of an angry look or something like that." Everest tried to describe and the other Husky winced a little bit.

"Yeesh, that doesn't sound like Marshall at all." Tundra noted and Everest nodded in agreement.

"It's not just Marshall, but it's Chase and him living with the Humdingers." The husky kept going on.

"And Skye." Tundra added which earned a look from Everest.

"You noticed that...she changed a little bit too, even before Chase left." Tundra explained and Everest thought about it for a second, but she couldn't help but agree with her.

"Yeah, it seems like she's getting a bit more impatient." Everest pointed out and sighed once again, looking at the rising sun above the gray clouds.

"Things were great before and now, things have changed." Tundra sadly frowned at her Husky friend as she glanced at the ground with a sad expression.

"Do you...think this is all Chase's fault? Because he changed?" Tundra finally asked, hoping that Everest wouldn't blame the shepherd for how things turned out, but fortunately, Everest chuckled at the question.

"Heh, as if."

With Marshall

Marshall was lying on a bean bag as he watched both of his parents talking to Ryder, and from the couple of words that he heard, it was obvious that they were talking about Chase.

"Did he call back yet?"

"Is he doing okay?"

"He's doing okay, he just needs to be alone for now."

"Me too, I hope he calls back soon."

For some reason, Marshall got a bit more irritated each time they talked about Chase. He was the reason why things went wrong in the first place. He's the one that changed out of the blue and wouldn't explain why. His parents should never worry or feel sad, they only deserve happiness. And to think that it was his own "brother" that was causing them to feel these emotions, made him mad even more.

Lately, Marshall has begun thinking if Chase only changed just to get the others attention or if it's something else. But still, Marshall wondered if Chase was only being selfish about this. Why wouldn't he tell them what's wrong? If he wasn't doing it for attention, then he would've said what happened. But nothing came out except those weird questions.

But nonetheless, Marshall couldn't help but get a little more angry, thinking that Chase might be going a bit too far this time.

With Chase

"Triple out!" Arya called as she placed three cards at the same time with a large grin on her face, earning shocked looks from Maya and Chase.

"What!? This is literally your first time playing and you won ten games in a row!" Chase exclaimed.

"Hehe, I guess I'm that good." Arya said with a cheeky grin. Now that surprised her, for the first few games, when Arya won, she would usually be silent and not usually celebrate, but a little over halfway, she began having much more fun.

"How do you have so much money?" Chase sighed in disbelief while Maya just had a smug grin on her face.

"I guess I'm just too good at the game." Maya bragged.

"Talk about luck, I'm in debt." Arya sighed.

After playing a few board games, food was ready. Arya, herself, was surprised at how good the food was made and she happily ate as much as she desired along with Maya. Chase watched the two sisters eat and seeing them eat like they haven't eaten in days somewhat made him happy, but also a little sad.

From what he's seen from Maya and Arya, the two of them didn't deserve to live in harsh conditions. So after everyone ate, they decided to rest a little bit. Maya was hanging out with the kittens while Humdinger looked for a possible job while Helga was knitting some blankets for the kittens.

Meanwhile, Chase walked up to Arya who was standing from a little distance away from the others.

"Hey." Chase greeted.

"Hey." Arya greeted back and without wasting time, Chase got to the point.

"Look, if it's okay. How much do you make...at your job?" Chase pointed out. Arya just looked at him with her eyebrows slightly raised, but then came up with an excuse.

"Well...I'm just starting out, so they haven't paid me yet." She answered, and Chase frowned as it has been a few days since Maya has told him that, but that didn't matter right now. Chase dug in his pocket and looked back, making sure Helga and Humdinger wouldn't notice him pulling out the money that he saved, his "twenty percent" of cash, and handed it to Arya who looked up a little from the money, up to Chase in confusion.

"I want you to take this." He said and Arya looked at Chase in a complete state of shock. She was at a loss for words as this was the last thing she'd expect Chase to do.

"R-Really?" She asked, wondering if Chase had lost his mind or something, but he only gave her a warm smile.

"I know what it's like. Trust me, you and Maya don't deserve that kind of life. So I wanna help out as much as I can." Chase stated and Arya looked back down at the money and smiled, and she looked as if she was about to burst into tears. Chase forwarded the money and Arya softly took the money from his paw and looked back at Chase.

"Now I see why Maya calls you big bro." Arya laughed along with Chase. But soon, the laughter died down and Arya looked back at the money with a warm smile.

"Thanks, this means a lot." She thanked him and Chase just grinned at her.

"No problem, now let's have some fun with the others!" Chase said and ran off to join Maya and the kittens and Arya chuckled as she followed behind. Humdinger and Helga watched the pups and kittens play with each other and soon found themselves playing some games with them and having fun and laughing.

To them, this was home.