"So we're really doing this, huh?"

                                    

                                          
Mark shifted in his sheets, clenching his jaw as he waited for a response. 
'U awake?' He'd asked. 
He didn't miss the look of sadness that Cane gave him when he'd went to help Amais shoot the porno. In all honesty Marc wasn't even aware Cane had those same feelings. He just went with life how he normally did, but even the flight back to the car was awkward. Waving goodbye and watching as Amais and his big dumb ignorance just steam rolled over everyone's feelings. Cane probably would have said something, non-confrontational as he was, they were still best friends and they talked to each other about everything. 
Except this...
Marc decided when he got home he would text Cane. He wasn't sure what to say, what to do.. he was at a complete loss for words and frankly he had never been in this sort of situation before. But he would have to try. Bro's before hoes and all that. 
He had been staring at his phone for a long time now, between scrolling through social media and watching shorts, he sighed in relief when he saw a response back. 
'Yea' 
Marc quickly texted back with a fervor, hoping Cane was in the mental state to talk about this too. He was taken aback when Cane texted first though. 
'Do you want to get drinks?' He asked. 
Marc blinked in surprise. It was around 11, he was sure they could find a spot that was open. The wolf kin nodded to himself and they agreed on a place, something that never took that long due to their similar preferences in bars. 
Marc got dressed, exited his house and started up his van. With a sputter it roared to life and he drove not too far towards a bar they often met up at. It didn't surprise him to see Cane already there when he entered the establishment; it was in walking distance to the bookstore. It did surprise him when he saw the llama two beers in, however. Damn he must have really needed that drink. 
He was wearing an oversized hoodie. Usually he wore sweaters, due to the fact that he always complained the hood could never reach the top of his head, but instead the hood was bunched around the left side of his neck like he was covering up a bruise or something.
Marc was instantly afraid Cane had a run in with his father based off of the interactions they'd had before. When they were still in highschool, Cane had always found a way to cover up his bruises one way or another, whether it was from his father or his bullies. He always tried not to make anyone worry but to anyone who knew him it was obvious. He decided he would wait for the llama to explain before jumping to conclusions.
The wolf kin sat beside Cane at the bar and called over the bartender. "Ale, with a cup of ice and lemon." He said. 
Cane stayed facing forward, his eyes red and puffy like he'd been crying, but there was also something else there that Marc couldn't quite place. 
"Hey." Marc started slowly. 
Cane acknowledged him with a glance but looked back down at his sweating beer, taking a long swig before setting it back down gently and staring again at the opposite wall. 
Marc clenched his jaw, afraid that now he was the problem. Cane was obviously very upset with him and he refused to speak. And maybe his haggard appearance was due to not being able to act on his feelings for Amais. 
The wolf kin gulped and spoke. "I know that we probably should have talked about this before hand. I'm sorry that it got this far before either of us said anything. I really want to make this work between us, but you can't ignore me." He received his glass and poured a small amount of ale into his cup of ice, sipping on the ice cold ale and crunching on a few pieces before speaking again.