Coming downstairs, Arron couldn't help but stare. Erin was wearing a tuxedo. He wasn't sure if he was really gay or his hormones were just messing with him, but the guy cleaned up very well. Arron bit his tongue as he walked over to Jordan, Emma, his mother, and Erin.

"Uh, hey Erin. What's up?" He asked.

He smiled, though Arron could tell that he wanted to pull him into a hug. Good thing you have better self control than Rylan. Arron didn't need Jordan getting frustrated. Lions and elephants were never really on good terms.

"I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out for dinner tonight for your birthday?" Erin said.

Arron's stomach grumbled quietly at the thought, but he hesitated and looked toward his mother.

"It's alright, hun. As long as you're back before nine thirty." She said.

He quickly glanced at his watch and grinned. It was only seven. Erin was mirroring his smile when he looked back up.

"Sure!"

Since that was figured out, Arron turned and hugged Jordan, Emma and his mother goodnight, then took Erin's hand and tugged him down the driveway.

"Which restaurant are you going too, boys?" His mother called from the doorway.

"West Pizza Co.!" Erin shouted back.

When they got to the sidewalk, Arron looked around, then frowned.

"Um, where is your car?" He asked.

"Don't worry, just hold this stuff for a second."

Erin tossed him a backpack he hadn't realized was on his back, along with his tuxedo, undershirt, and boxers to stuff inside. I'm not staring. When Erin shifted, Arron's mouth dropped open. The guy might have been a young elephant, but when he had finished changing he was easily eight feet tall and gorgeous.

Arron had only seen a couple elephants in his entire life and none of them held a candle to Erin's. When he turned toward him, Arron quickly zipped up the backpack and swung it over his shoulders.

He had figured that they'd be walking, but when Erin wrapped his trunk around his waist and easily lifted him up onto his back, Arron realized that he had planned the whole thing out.

"This is so cool!"

He gave a snort, which Arron assumed was likely a laugh in elephant speak. Either way, it made him chuckle as he pet the soft, short hair on his head. He could actually see over some of the smaller homes in the neighborhood and for once in his life, he felt grown up.

They were getting a lot of attention as they walked into town. The pizza place was on the outskirts so they didn't have to meander through too many crowds. As they got to the restaurant, Erin moved between it and the building next door.

Arron tried to slide down from his back, but it was way too high up. Erin's strong trunk came up after a moment and wrapped around his waist, helping him get his feet back on the ground.

"Thanks."

Erin was back in his human form seconds later, again surprising Arron with how amazing his shift really was.

"While I don't mind you staring, I'm kind of starving." Erin teased.

He raised his eyebrows, but it took Arron a minute to realize that he wanted the backpack. Duh. He quickly took it off and handed it to him, then turned around. It wasn't very nice to watch people change and he'd already stared enough.

He was tapped on the shoulder a few moments later and looked over it to see a grinning Erin.

"Ready for dinner?"

"Yeah." Arron replied with a smile.

Erin grabbed his hand and tugged him into the awesome smelling pizza place.

"I'm sure you're wondering how I knew it was your birthday." He asked.

He actually was confused about that. He hadn't told anyone at school.

"I overheard Rylan talking with some of his friends he usually hangs out with on the weekend. He said that he couldn't come out Saturday because of his foster brother's birthday. I figured that meant you."

"Oh. That makes sense." Arron said.

"Hello! Welcome to West Pizza Company! Table for two?" The hostess standing near the entrance said.

Erin answered with an enthusiastic "Yep!"

The young blond hostess smiled and grabbed two menus. "Please follow me."

When they were seated, Arron ordered a chocolate milk, drawing a chuckle from Erin as he got himself a Dr. Pepper.

The restaurant was really busy, but their waiter, who's name was Paul, seemed to always be checking up on them when they needed him. After they got their drinks, Arron ordered a pepperoni pizza and grinned when Erin got himself a salad pizza.

He told him that he actually had made the restaurant make it special once because their veggie didn't have nearly enough veggies on it, according to him. Since it sold so well, he got five dollars off whenever he ordered it because it was his idea.

"Alright, so! How was your birthday so far?" Erin asked.

"It's been great." Arron replied before taking a sip of his chocolate milk.

He leaned forward. "Well, tell me. I want details."

Leaning forward, too, Arron rested his arms on the table.

"It was awesome. Mr. and Mrs. Leo got me an Xbox one. And mom got me a coupon to get a new skateboard. I even got some money."

Arron suddenly felt like he was gloating because he knew that Erin wasn't too well off, just like himself. He slowly closed his mouth and scooted a little further back in his seat.

"Hey, don't feel bad, dumbo." Erin said as he reached across the table and ruffled his hair.

"I want that excitement back. Those are great gifts!"

It took Arron a moment, but his smile slowly slid back onto his blushing face.

"That's more like it."

They both laughed since they'd been sipping at their sugary drinks while talking and both were nearly empty. It probably wasn't the best idea for him to have more sugar on top of the cake and soda he'd had at lunch time. The waiter came over a few minutes later and as Arron opened his mouth to ask for some water...

Darn it.

His little fuzzy, spotted head shook off his shirt as he managed to get himself free of his clothing.

Too much sugar.

It was rather humiliating to change in a restaurant.

"Oh, don't pout Arron, come here." Erin said.

He carefully got down from his seat and walked over to hop up into Erin's side of the booth. Erin grabbed him and set him on his back, confusing Arron until he started scratching his fuzzy belly.

Okay, I am totally fine with this turn of events. He thought as he stretched a little so that Erin could rub his belly better.

When he finally stopped, it was because their food came.

Erin took a few big mouthfuls of his salad pizza before grabbing a slice of Arron's and nudging the tip of it against his mouth. Quickly sitting up, Arron chomped down on the hot pie. Considering that he was now in his cheetah form, eating might take awhile, but Erin seemed patient. He held Arron's pizza with his left hand while using his other to eat his own.

After a minute Arron got himself situated in his lap, paws up, wrapped around his hand to keep it steady there so that he could eat easily.

He couldn't believe how many people came by their table commenting about how cute his little brother was. Or heck, one old lady even called him Erin's son!

Erin played along with everything and Arron bit his tongue on a few hisses as he was pet and loved on. He thought that at least a few of the people would look at his clothing on the seat across from them, but nope. Only their waiter treated him like an adult, though he could tell that he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't a little kid, too.

By the end of their meal Arron had pizza sauce all over his muzzle and a belly full of delicious food. He purred quietly when Erin set him aside to scoop his clothes into his bag and pay the bill.

Arron had grabbed the twenty from his pocket between his teeth and offered it to him to pay, but Erin wouldn't have it and shoved it right back into Arron's pant's pocket before putting them away.

"Nope. It's your birthday present from me." He said.

Okay, I'm not going to try and argue. Mainly because it would have sounded like a bunch of mewing because I haven't mastered English in my cheetah form yet.

Erin gave him a pat on the head and put the backpack on, then scooped him up. As soon as they got outside, he set him down. Arron's full belly made him a little uninterested in moving right away. When he glanced over his shoulder to look at Erin, he was actually staring down at him with a shy smile.

It was dark outside as they finally headed out of the area, but he swore that he could see a faint hint of pink on Erin's cheeks in the moonlight. They both stopped at the same moment, making a few people annoyed as they ducked around them on the sidewalk.

Arron could see his smile falter, then widen before he leaned over and gently lifted him up into his arms. You know I don't like being carried.

He grumbled at Erin, but he just chuckled quietly and nuzzled his nose into his pudgy belly.

Huh?

"I'm sorry. I just..."

His eyes rose to look at Arron's while he tucked him into his left arm and rubbed his belly lightly with his right hand.

"I just feel like this should be... well, mine."

His?

Things got quite awkward when Arron realized that he was talking about when he had gotten the disruption pill. He really didn't want to talk about this kind of thing on his birthday, though. Especially when they were having such a nice night.

With a quiet mew, he reached up and tapped Erin's nose with his paw.

"You're right. This is a night of celebration, no need to make things weird." He said.

Erin set him back down and he gladly started walking ahead of him. It slowly turned into a comfortable silence again, which neither of them really felt the need to break. As they headed up the steps of his new house, Arron shifted back and quickly got changed.

He was just tugging his sweater back over his head when he noticed Erin staring. In the soft glow of the porch light, Arron could tell that he was blushing. His own face felt a little warm, too.

"Hey." Erin whispered as he stepped a little closer.

He wasn't going to look up since he had an idea where the situation was heading, but when he felt a gentle hand touch his cheek, Arron couldn't help but meet his eyes.

Before he could think about stopping him, Erin's lips were softly pressed against his own. He should have known to stay away because of Rylan's scent all over him, but it didn't seem to hinder Erin's decision making in the least. It was... admirable. He wasn't afraid of dealing with angry lions to kiss him.

After a long moment Arron began to slowly kiss him back.

"Hey... we've stopped kissing." Erin whispered jokingly a couple seconds later.

What?

"Uh, right." He said, biting his lower lip.

Erin's light laugh had his face burning but he didn't poke fun at him for it. Instead, he just wrapped him up in a strong hug and pressed one final kiss to his hair.

"I'd like to go out with you, if you'll have me. You don't have to answer right away, but think about it, please?" He asked.

He wants to date me? Of all people?

The one time they had done it in his car was supposed to be because of his pheromones, he thought. But right now my pheromones are masked by the herb in the bell around my neck, so they can't be messing with him much.

"You look like you're trying to figure out a trig problem. Relax kid, I like you, with or without your pheromones." Erin said as he gave him a boyish grin.

Arron's mother opened the door a moment later, effectively ending their conversation. With a smile Erin said his goodbyes and waved.

"Good night, Ma'am. See you at school Monday, Arron."

He added a little wink for him after he'd spoken, but Arron doubted that his mother had caught it.