Toxic Love

Injured

When Delilah woke up, she felt ill and well-rested at the same time, her waking thoughts like a furious colony of bees around a hive. She was facing Atari, who was still in deep sleep.

She barely propped her head off the couch, scanning the room for any sign of Bucky. Nothing, thank God.

Instead of Bucky's fresh scent, Delilah smelled a delicious tang that was new to her. She began salivating instinctively, steadily falling off the couch like a slinky and darting to the source of the smell.

It was Rob in the kitchen, tossing strips of bacon on a pan. To his left were two separate bags of said bacon, how much bacon was he making?

"One bag is the regular bacon for you guys, and the other bag is facon, if you will." Rob explained. "I don't eat meat."

"Oh?" The thought of any creature not indulging in meat's juicy flavors was beyond Delilah's comprehension. "Well, I appreciate it."

"Huh, only heard that kind of gratitude from Satchel." Rob huffed. "I can get an appointment set up for you from the same agency as Satchel, if you'd like."

"Appointment for what?" Delilah tilted her head.

"Therapy." Rob replied, staring at the sizzling bacon on the pan.

"What is that?" Delilah asked.

"It's to help with trauma, and other psychological stuff." Rob explained. "It'll help you work through bad memories."

"Oh, that sounds helpful." Delilah grinned. "That'd be great, Rob."

"Ah shiet, is that bacon I smell?" Atari waddled into the room. "I suppose I could go for a piece or two before I return to my family."

Family. Delilah had heard that word many times, but it never belonged to her like it belonged to most creatures. Her owners fed her, spent time with her, kissed her forehead goodnight, but she wasn't stupid. Fungo was always their favorite.

Satchel walked in, joining Delilah and Atari at the table. He struggled onto the chair and slumped his head on the table as soon as he got on, paws outstretched.

"Hey Delilah...how're you holding up?" Satchel asked.

"I'm a little better than yesterday." Delilah admitted. "I'm just kinda hungry and antsy. Is bacon all you're making, Rob?"

"Don't worry, I have dog food, cat food, and ferret food for when Fungo used to visit." Rob said. Satchel grimaced. "I'll serve that as the main dish."

Rob flipped the real bacon onto three plates, and scooped the respective main dishes onto the plate for each of his animal roommates.

Delilah thanked Rob as he handed her breakfast, leaning to take a bite...

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Bucky!"

Right after Delilah heard that shout, she heard several loud knocks on the door, endless one after another. It wasn't Fungo, she realized that after a hot second. So, how many pets had it in for Bucky?

"Who did he piss off this time?" Rob groaned, turning off the stove.

He headed for the door, slightly opening it to reveal a riled pale brown cat. A chubby one.

"Chubby?" Rob gasped. "Bucky's not here, what's going on?"

"He tried to kill my sister!" Chubby screeched. "He slashed his claws down her precious belly, and she was drooling unconscious. My owners took her and the kittens to the vet, and now I'm trying to find that son of a bitch."

"Shadow?" Atari jumped off the table and stood by Rob. "Oh no. I'm going to ask Donna if we can visit. Oh my God, not my best friend!"

"I'll go too." Delilah decided.

"No, sweetpea. You should recoup from what happened yesterday." Atari frowned. "Seeing another victim of Bucky might be too much for you. Not to mention, Bucky's on the loose. He could be anywhere."

"I think we need to be with each other during this." Delilah said. "Let me go with you guys."

"Alright, but don't leave my side. I ain't letting anyone hurt you." Atari turned to Chubby. "Is it okay if we visit?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm really sorry, Delilah." Chubby sighed. "I'm sorry that he came into my life, and yours. How did you meet that sack of shit anyway?"

Delilah froze like a bone in place, remembering the website that she was on. It was a safe haven for pets everywhere to vent their problems: Pets Anonymous. She remembered the username and vague profile info she put, but Bucky didn't understand what anonymous meant, and he used a username called Buckykatt420.

...

It started with them talking from time to time in the forums. Bucky would ramble about the flaws of his roommates, and Delilah would talk about her complicated friendship with Fungo, or whatever TV show her owners were watching. Other pets would put their thoughts as well in the forums, but Bucky PM'd her, telling her she had a pretty name.

Her username was Forlornheart69, but she had mentioned her real name once in the forums. When Bucky sent her that private message, she could feel the warm streams of infatuation crashing over her shoulders and making their way into her heart. Was there more to this than just a pair of anonymous pals?

Eventually, she messaged him about where he lived. Her heart leaped above the clouds when he stated the exact apartment floor that she lived in. It's practically meant to be!

She mentioned him to Fungo, and his nose curled up in disgust.

"You know he hates ferrets, right?"

Delilah hoped that this was just another one of Fungo's exaggerations; a fruitless attempt to keep her all for himself. But she got on the website later that day, asking Bucky what he thought of ferrets.

The answer was loaded with curse words, speaking of dastardly ways that he'd want to execute every ferret imaginable. He even mentioned a ferret on his apartment floor that kept hanging out with his roommate.

Was...was it Fungo?

Delilah was relieved that she hadn't told Bucky that she lived on the same floor as him, cause what then? He'd be begging to see her in person, and it'd only end horribly.

Right? But what if true love prevailed and changed him for the better? Perhaps falling in love with a ferret would change his perspective! But the forums wouldn't work, for Bucky already knew her name amongst other details. What would work....

A letter!

...

"And that's how I started sending letters to him." Delilah confessed, looking at Chubby and Atari. "I already knew what he looked like from Fungo's stories about him, and I knew where he lived from Fungo's hangouts with Satchel. I should've stopped talking to him as s-soon as he said those horrendous things about ferrets!"

"Maybe, but it sounds like you had good intentions." Chubby patted Delilah's shoulder. "You can't go into a relationship expecting to change someone though, my sis knows that better than anyone."

"Speaking of which, we should all go to Donna's and see if she'll take us to see her." Rob opened the door for Atari, allowing her and Chubby to leave.

"You coming, Rob?" Delilah asked.

"Nah, I'm going to stay with Satchel." Rob then disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a white box. "Here's some of your breakfast for the road."

"Thank you." Delilah smiled.

Rob smiled back, leaning over and gently rubbing the ferret's head with his thumb.

"Stay safe, Delilah." Rob told her.

Delilah nodded and walked out the door, following the two cats to another adventure in her life without Bucky and Fungo.