Acorns and I Love You

Part 16 Calming Nerves

Joe was running away. Running away never helped but walking did. Slowing down he tried to follow his normal path and let the clear sky clear his head. Letting The wind blow his worries away. It wasn't working that well. Tears welled up in his eyes when he heard a whine from his side. "Spangle?" He called out. A prod gave him his answer. Reaching out he found deep soft fur. "Thank you.. For not letting Kip follow." a whimper came from the wolf Spangle clearly wanted to help. "I'm sorry Spangle, I just need to compose myself. I don't know why I'm letting this get to me. I mean I knew this might happen. Why did I let myself believe that maybe Kip could have.." his sentence broke down into a sob. And Spangle pricked his ears in the direction of Bity's tree. Spangle looked back at joe. "You can go.." Joe whispered. There was something called Spangle and he shouldn't keep him here for something like this. And Spangle was gone. Leaving Joe alone.

Tami, Bity and Ash were on their way to the main house for dinner when Tami felt something was wrong. Something was wrong with Joe. "Here take Bity" passing her to Ash. "Is something wrong?"

"I have to go find Joe something is wrong"

"Should I go too?"

"No, take bity to the main house and let everyone know that we'll be late. I think we need some twin time" Ash nodded and took Bity to the house. If Joe was upset then so was Ki[ and he needed to be there for his best friend. "Come on Chickabity let's go find Kip"

"Squirrel?"

"You Kip is a Squirrel and my friend" and Ash took off in long strides.

Tami didn't know where to find Joe so she started to call out. "Joe, Joe where are you?" Not long after a wolf appeared by her side. "Are you Spangle? Joe told me about you." The wolf did a small nod then went behind her and pushed her in the direction he came. "Do you want me to follow you? Will you take me to Joe?" the wolf started to bound in front of her. Taking that as a yes she followed Spangle to an unnamed path where Joe sat with streams of tears falling down his face.

Tami had rarely seen Joe cry; it was as rare as the blue moon. "Joe I'm here"

"Tami" Joe said briskly, wiping the tears off his face. Tami sat next to Joe and she was pulled in close in the roots of an apple tree just like when they were kids. "Will you explain what happened?" Tami asked. Joe was close to tears again but did his best to explain. He had told Tami yesterday about the trip to Founders and the kiss that might mean nothing or might mean everything. In hiccups and quiet sobs he explained how his token of affection was rejected. How Kip seemed worried that he misconstrued the kiss. And how the kiss was less than a friendly gesture it was a mistake because he had gotten too close and Kip had to have known and wanted him to back off.

Tami thought the evidence was too circumstantial. But Kip's behavior was odd and wasn't' welcoming to her brother. Joe felt rejected. "Would you like to stay with us at Bity's tree today? If you want to avoid Kip." Joe was feeling hurt and he wanted to run away. But there was no point avoiding Kip forever so why avoid him in the first place. "No, I won't hide from him. I just need to decide how to feel about him before I see him again." They sat in silence Tami knew her brother was the introspective type. He would come up with a plan and execute it. He just needed to think it out. Tami doubted that she would've been able to think clearly in this situation at all. After a few minutes Joe's emotions were calming and he spoke. "I had hope that after this happened that Kip would feel the same way but.. He doesn't feel that way. But Kip and I have a bond. It's not romantic but I can't abandon it. I would miss him too much. I'll just have to continue what we have now. Forget the hopes that I had. Kip is still my friend." Tami thought this sounded too much like resigning to your fate. "Is that all? You're just going to throw away your hope and be stuck where you're wanting? Joe I trust whatever design you make but I want you to be happy."