Blaine Riley stepped down from the cab of his Chevy pick-up and glanced around, wondering when his life went to such hell. Six months ago everything had been great, he had a great relationship with his parents, he had someone that he loved with no reservations, and he'd had a home to go to every night. He looked around at his surroundings and sighed. No matter how much he loved the outdoors he never figured that he'd end up living in the woods.

Losing Christian had been bad enough, but when he'd gone home to seek some sort of solace, his parents had told him that he wasn't welcome there either. It appeared that his family had found out the truth about him and refused to acknowledge that they had a gay son. The only way that they could have found out was through Christian, and after he'd kicked him out, the only place that Blaine had to go to was his parent's house.

When his parents refused to let him in, Blaine had simply sat in his truck outside the house, completely dumfounded. As much as it hurt, Blaine could accept the fact that Christian didn't love him anymore, but he never had expected him to be so vindictive. Christian had started spewing words about how Blaine had corrupted him and how Christian himself wasn't gay. Blaine knew that it was just bullshit, but Christian had been determined.

Reaching into the cooler that sat next to his tent, Blaine grabbed a Coors before settling himself into his lawn chair and stared out at the shimmering lake that sprawled across the landscape. He had always enjoyed the time right before the sun disappeared, the colors that brightened up the horizon. The reds and oranges that reflected on the quiet splendor of the water. It tended to give him a sense of peace when nothing else would. Taking a sip of his beer, Blaine was surprised to hear leaves crunching behind him. Turning his head, he smiled a greeting at his best friend.

"Hey Mark," Blaine said softly.

"Hey Blaine, how ya doing buddy?"

"Okay I guess, just enjoying the silence. It's pretty peaceful out here, ya know?"

"Yeah, guess that's why we both spend so much time out here."

"Yeah, I guess. So how'd you find me Mark?" Blaine asked, standing up and grabbing another lawn chair and beer. Setting up the chair next to his own, Blaine passed Mark the second beer before sitting back down.

"It wasn't hard, I went looking for you at Christian's and he told me you didn't live there anymore, so I went to your parents and they made sure to tell me I should stay away from you."

"Ah, the whole being gay will rub off on ya thing?"

"Yeah, that would be about it. Since you weren't there I figured it didn't hurt to check out here. This is usually where we ran away too when things got too tough. So how are you doing Blaine? Seriously?"

"I've definitely had better days, but I'm getting through it."

"Why didn't ya come to me Blaine? You know I always have a spare room or a spare couch for ya."

"Yeah, I know, it's just; I wanted to get away for a while, clear my head."

"What about work?"

"Took some time off, didn't really want to deal with a lot of people at the moment."

"Yeah well, some of us do worry about ya Blaine. I wish that you had come to me though."

"I know Mark, but I needed to just be by myself for a while. Shit's been kind of screwed up lately, and I needed time to just think things through. Need to figure out what I'm going to do now."

"What do ya mean?"

"Well, I have a little bit saved up, but not enough to get a new place. I had thought that I could go and stay at Mom and Dad's, but Christian kind of ruined that plan."

"I can't believe that he called and told your parents."

"Yeah, well, for some reason it doesn't surprise me all that much. I knew that he was an ass, but I didn't know that he was that vindictive."

"What did you do that pissed him off so much?"

"You mean besides living and breathing? I haven't quite figured that one out yet; when I do I'll let ya know. He says that he isn't gay and that I corrupted him, that it's my fault. He's the one who picked me up, so that doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

Blaine was having a hard time going through the thoughts in his head and finally climbed to his feet. Blaine made his way towards the edge of the lake and sat down on the cold ground, gazing out at the silent lake. He could not figure out exactly how he had come to being alone. He had loved Christian more than he'd loved anyone, but that had proved not to be enough.

"So what's on your mind now?"

"Just wondering what I am going to do now. I didn't expect anything like this to ever happen. I thought that he loved me Mark. I didn't know that this was going to happen. I wasn't prepared for it; I never even had an inkling of an idea that this was a possibility."

"I know," Mark said softly, taking a seat next to Blaine. Mark hated to think of his friend in so much pain, but he knew that there was nothing that he could do that would fix what had happened. He hated the doubts that plagued him, thinking that there was something he could have done that would have spared his friend all of the pain that he was now going through.

"Mark, I know you're just trying to help, but I think I want to be alone right now."

"I know, just promise that you're not going to do anything rash."

"I'm not; I just need the time to think and to figure things out. I'll be out here for the next few days at least, try and figure out where I'm going to go from here."

"Just remember, if you need a place, my door is always open, okay?"

"I know Mark, and thanks."

"Anytime, that's what friends are for," Mark said as he stood up, dropping one hand to Blaine's shoulder, Mark gave it a solid squeeze before heading over and climbing in his truck. With one last look at his friend sitting by the lake, Mark put the truck in reverse and left his friend in peace.

Stripping out of his clothes, Blaine grabbed up his soap, shampoo, and a towel and headed towards the edge of the lake. He wasn't worried too much about privacy, he was in a fairly secluded area and the nearest campsite was a couple miles away. He should know, he walked and drove through these woods every day. Dropping his towel and everything on a rock near the edge, Blaine waded in until he was waist deep before diving in. After surfacing, Blaine swam with strong, sure strokes, working on getting some of his frustrations out through physical means. After about fifteen minutes of swimming, Blaine swam back towards where he'd left his things on the shoreline.

As he approached the waters edge he looked up and was surprised to see a lone figure standing next to where he'd dropped his towel. Back-pedaling a bit, Blaine treaded water as he gazed at the man. He estimated the mans age to be in the mid twenties or so and the man looked to be fairly physically fit. Blaine had never been overly self-conscious, but something just made him not want to step out of the water. When the mans gaze never left him, Blaine decided that he didn't have much choice and stood up.

Making his way slowly towards his towel, Blaine locked gazes with the man and struggled not to turn around and go back into the relative safety of the water. Reaching his towel and the man standing next to it, Blaine bent over and grabbed up his towel off the ground. Blaine quickly secured the towel around his waist before turning and facing the man standing next to him.

"Can I help you?"

"Nah, was just out wandering."

"And you just happened to end up here, huh? Okay, sure, sorry if I find that a bit hard to believe."

"Skeptical, nice to know. Name's Levi," the man said holding out a hand.

"Blaine," Blaine answered, grasping the hand that was extended towards him. At the touch of Levi's skin on his own, Blaine felt a warmth creep over his body, causing him to quickly pull away. "So, what exactly are you doing around here?"

"Was just wandering, I'm camped about a mile west of here, just wanted to see what else was around here."

"Yeah, well, there's not a whole lot to see."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, I think I found something worth to look at."

"You know, that could be cause for me to knock your teeth out."

"Yeah, but I figured I'd take the chance, besides, I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I just bet you can. Listen, not to sound rude, but I'd like to finish what I was doing."

"Go right ahead, don't let me stop you," Levi said softly.

"Let me rephrase," Blaine said, his voice getting harsher. "I would like to finish what I was doing in peace. To do that, you would have to leave."

"Alright, I hear ya, I'll go. For now," Levi said, before turning and walking slowly back the way that he'd come.

Blaine waited for a few minutes after Levi had disappeared in the trees before grabbing up his soap and shampoo and heading back out into the water. Blaine made quick work of soaping up and washing his hair. He didn't want to chance any other visitors while he was still in the water. Climbing back out of the water, Blaine wrapped his now damp towel around his waist and padded back towards camp. When he arrived he was shocked to see that he had company. There, sitting in one of his chairs, was Levi.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked, his voice harsher than he intended.

"Thought you might want some company after you were dressed," Levi said softly, shooting a smile at him.

"Yeah well, I'm not really in the company mood."

"Well, maybe some company will help to improve that attitude."

"I seriously doubt that," Blaine said, grabbing up the clothes that were sitting on the other chair. Deciding that Levi had already seen him naked, he let the towel drop and quickly slipped into his boxers before sliding his jeans on over still damp skin. He knew that it would be uncomfortable but he was willing to risk it. Grabbing his towel he quickly dried off his chest before rubbing it briskly through his hair, doing a quick job of towel drying it. Turning towards Levi he asked icily, "Now, was there something in specific you wanted, or did you just want to be a pain in the ass?"

"Nah, if you really want me to go then I'll go."

"Yeah? Well, I want you to go. Nothing against you, but I came out here to be alone, and for me to be alone that means that you would have to leave."

"Fine, I'll go, but I will be back, you can rest assured on that."

"Oh yeah, that just makes me all tingly inside, let me tell you," Blaine said sarcastically.

"You're just full of sunshine. Like I said, I'll be back, I guarantee it," Levi said before getting up and walking away.

Blaine watched Levi's retreating back before going to the cooler and grabbing a beer. It wasn't even noon yet, but he was past the point of caring. Sitting back down in his lawn chair he took a hefty gulp of his beer and let his thoughts roam. He knew he had been a complete ass to Levi, but all he had wanted was to be alone and Levi hadn't seemed to get that.

Blaine was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a whimper coming from the trees. Heading towards his truck, Blaine grabbed his pistol before heading towards where he had heard the slight noise. He wasn't sure what he expected to find, but he was surprised when he found a small pup stumbling over roots and brush. Getting down on his haunches, Blaine patted his thigh.

"C'mere pup," he called softly.

He didn't know what the pup was doing way out here, but he was going to find out. When the small pup came close enough, Blaine scooped him up and carried him over to where his chairs were. Sitting down in his chair, Blaine ran his hand over the pup and was surprised when he could feel the ribs against the skin. Obviously the pup had been on it's own for a while. Blaine jerked his hand back when he felt something crawling on it and looked down to see fleas crawling all over his hand. Shaking his head he set the pup on the ground, Blaine grabbed his discarded towel and wiped it over his hand. Grabbing his shampoo he wrapped the pup in the towel and headed back down to the lake. He knew that a person wasn't supposed to use human shampoo on animals, but it was all he had at the moment.

Stripping out of his jeans, Blaine picked the pup back up and waded out into the water. Setting the pup down in the shallow water, Blaine quickly scooped some water over it, wetting down its hair. Opening up his shampoo, he poured a generous amount of it over the line of the pups back. Letting the shampoo float next to him, Blaine quickly started scrubbing the pup clean. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get all of the fleas off, but he could at least get some of them. After making sure the pup was scrubbed as good as possible, Blaine picked the wet pup up and cradled it against his bare chest, grabbing the shampoo he headed back to shore.

Once he reached shore, he bent down and grabbed his jeans before heading to camp. After quickly drying the pup off, Blaine got dressed and loaded the pup up in the truck. He would have to get some flea stuff to spray in the truck, but he had never been one for leaving an animal in the back of a pick up. Blaine started up the truck and headed towards the nearest campsite. He asked around and nobody reported a missing pup. Blaine headed from campsite to campsite and groaned when he seen a familiar figure walking around one of the sites. As he stopped the truck, Levi made his way over to the open window.

"Blaine, didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah well, looking for the owner of this pup," Blaine said, motioning to the pup that was curled up on the seat next to him.

"Haven't heard anything, but from the looks of him, if he came up missing recently then whoever had him didn't deserve him. That poor pup is skin and bones."

"Yeah, I noticed that. I guess I just need to head into town and get some food for him."

"Feed him slow Blaine, if he hasn't eaten much in awhile, feeding him too much can make him sick." Heading over towards the passenger door, Levi opened up the door and looked in the pup's mouth. "He's not dehydrated, so that's a good thing. Must have been drinking from the lake."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a vet Blaine, I'm paid to know stuff like this. If you wouldn't mind giving me a lift into town, we can go to the clinic and I can take a look at him."

As much as Blaine hated to be stuck in the truck with Levi, he knew that the pup needed to be looked at. If it had been on its own for a while then there was no telling what all could be wrong with the poor creature. Motioning for Levi to get in the truck, Blaine pulled the pup over closer to him.

The ride into town was silent as Blaine thought back to the morning. He kind of regretted being such an ass towards Levi, especially after Levi dropped everything to go with him and check out the pup. He had spared a couple glances towards Levi during the trip thus far, each time he had, the vet had had one hand on the pup and was staring out the side window. When they reached town, Levi directed him towards the clinic.

Pulling up in front of the lone office, Blaine grabbed the pup up as Levi climbed out and went to open the front door. Blaine followed Levi into the clinic and into one of the rooms. After setting the pup on the table he sat back and watched as Levi set to examining the pup. After a few minutes he looked up as Levi removed his latex gloves.

"Well, what's the verdict?"

"He seems to be in okay shape, but there is the possibility of him having worms. I'm going to give him his shots and a dose of wormer. I'll give you a second dose that you can give him in a week or so. He's quite a bit under weight, but with some care he should be okay. The weight could be from a combination of things, lack of food, worms, and who knows what else. Like I said though, he seems to be healthy for the most part. He has a strong heart beat, so that's a really good sign."

"So what do you think I should start out feeding him?"

"I'd say start him out on some soft food, a little at a time. I have some here that we can give him and then we can head to the pet store and grab the rest of the stuff you will need. Before we go though I am going to give him a quick flea bath and I'll give you a three month supply of Advantage."

"How much do I owe ya?"

"You don't, I know that you didn't plan on taking this pup on and I volunteered my services. Next check-up I'll charge ya, but this time it's on me."

"Thanks Levi, sorry I was such an ass back at camp. It's just been a bad little while. I'm not the greatest company lately, but thanks for the help with the pup."

"I'm a vet, I went into the business to help animals."

"That's a good thing to hear. So what all am I going to need for this little guy?"

"Well, I'll give ya some food to get you by for a while, but you'll still need to get a collar and a leash. You'll also need some dishes and stuff like that. Plus, if you don't want him chewing all your stuff up you'll probably want to get him some toys to chew. I'm also going to give him a thorough teeth cleaning."

"How long will all that take?"

"Not more than twenty minutes or so."

"I could run to the pet store and get what I need while you do that."

"Yeah, you could, but I figured I'd go with you and help you get set up. We also don't know if this pup is housebroke, so a crate would probably be a good idea too."

"Alright, I'll wait until you're done. What kind of pup do you think he is?"

"Well, based on his looks and stuff, I'd guess that he's got at least some German Shepherd in him, but other than that I couldn't tell ya anything else. My guess is mostly German Shepherd."

"So he's going to be fairly big?"

"Yeah, fairly big. I'm guessing he's about four months old or so. Depending on how long he's been on his own, his growth could be stunted, which means that he may not be the normal size of a German Shepherd."

"Damn, I sure didn't expect to take something like this on. I guess I'll have to get a place with a yard."

"Yeah, for a dog that size you need a yard. They don't make good apartment dogs."

"I already figured that one, they have a high energy level from what I've seen."

"Yeah, you'll also probably want to get into obedience classes. I can give you a number to call so that you can set it up."

"That sounds like a plan. Where's the restroom in this place?"

"Go out into the lobby and then take the small hallway next to the receptionist desk, it will be on your left."

"Thanks, I'll be back."

"I'll be here," Levi said, grinning as he watched Blaine turn around and walk out. The man had a mighty fine ass if he did say so himself and he honestly wouldn't mind getting a piece of it. Normally Levi tended to go for a bit shorter guys, he hated to be the small one, but he figured he could make an exception for Blaine. He'd just have to manage to get past those defenses that Blaine kept throwing at him. Levi had just finished giving the pup a flea bath and was in the process of drying him when Blaine stepped back into the room.

"Well, he sure cleans up good."

"Yeah, he wasn't as filthy as I figured he would be."

"Well, I kind of gave him a dunk in the lake before I took off to find out if anyone actually owned him."

"What did you use on him?"

"Just some regular Suave shampoo. I know you're not supposed to use it on animals, but it's all I had and he had fleas everywhere."

"It's okay in a pinch, it just dries out their skin pretty good, but the shampoo I used on him will take care of that, it's an oatmeal based shampoo."

"Sounds good, so are we almost finished up here?"

"Yep, just have to finish up with his teeth and then we can take him to the pet store. They actually allow you to bring pets in, so that's a good thing, you will be able to see how he is around people. I should have done it before I did the teeth, but there is a can of dog food in the cupboard over there," Levi said pointing.

Blaine opened up the cupboard and found a pop top can of puppy food. He quickly opened it up and then looked around for some kind of dish to put it in. Not finding anything, he looked over to where Levi was just finishing up on the dogs teeth and after looking again at the ribs showing through the pups coat, Blaine finally just stuck his hand in the can and got a small amount before walking over and holding his hand out to the pup.

Hearing a hearty laugh, Blaine looked over to where Levi was standing. "What?"

"I'm guessing you didn't see the dish that was in the cupboard with the food?"

"No, I didn't. You should have told me that there was a dish in there."

"Well, I just kind of figured that you would see it when you got the food. Sorry about that. I think that's enough for him for right now. You can give him a little more when we get back to camp, that way the food would have already had a little bit of time to settle and we'll know if we're going to have problems with his food."

"Okay, so off to the pet store we go then, huh?"

"Yup, just let me wash up and grab some things together for the little guy. While I do that you can wash your hand off in the sink. There's some antibacterial soap over there and some paper towels to dry off with."

"Thanks," Blaine said dryly, like he wouldn't have noticed soap and paper towels. So what, he hadn't seen the dish, but he wasn't so stupid as to think there wouldn't be soap and something to dry his hand off with.

Shortly after, Blain and Levi were on their way back out to the campsites laden down with supplies for the pup. Blaine hadn't expected to buy so much stuff today, but the bill had ended up coming to about seventy dollars. The kennel alone had cost forty and they'd also ended up with a brush, some more shampoo, food and water dishes, toys, and a bed to go in the kennel. He'd also got the dog some rawhide chews to help his teeth and then a collar and a leash. Pulling up in front of Levi's campsite, Blaine heaved a sigh of relief. Levi seemed like a good enough guy, but now that the dog was taken care of, Blaine's libido was deciding it was time to wake up.

"If you need anything you know where to find me. I'll be out here for the next couple of days and then you can get a hold of me at the clinic if you need to," Levi said as he climbed out of the truck after giving the pup a pat on his head.

"Okay, I'll remember that, and thanks for all your help with the pup."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for. On the subject of the pup though, you probably should give him a name unless you plan on just calling him the pup."

"Yeah, I know, I'll try and think of something."

"Let me know when you do and stop in at the clinic when you get a chance. I didn't start a file on the pup yet, but we'll need to have a record of when we gave him his shots and when he had his check-up."

"Okay, and thanks again Levi."

"Anytime, you two have fun."

"Will do, later," Blaine said before putting the truck in gear and pulling away from where Levi stood watching. A glance in the rearview mirror showed Levi standing where he'd dropped him off at, watching the truck disappear from sight.

Pulling up in front of his own camp, Blaine unloaded the pup before unloading the supplies that he had bought. After setting up the kennel, Blaine grabbed the open can of dog food and poured a small amount in the dish before setting it in front of the pup. He hated to see how the pup wolfed the food down, proving again how starved he was.

Grabbing the brush that he'd bought, Blaine walked over and sat in his chair before calling the pup over to him and picking it up. Running the brush through it's course hair, Blaine started wondering about a name.

"What do you think little guy, what should we name ya?" Blain chuckled as the pup barked at him. "Well, I guess we could call ya Ruff, that would work. You were in pretty rough shape when I found ya. Then there's the fact that you lived in the rough wilderness, so I guess that's your name."