Ollie blushed and nodded, darting inside, before darting back out in his kinkajou form, slinking along the ground and trying to stay out of eyeshot. It wasn't long before he found his way back to Harry, standing in front of an ATM. Soon enough, Ollie pounded, sinking his sharp teeth into the man's skin
Harry yelped and kicked his leg out, making contact with something solid. "What the hell?! Get off of me!"
Anna jerked her head up and snapped her phone shut. She quickly shot to her feet and rushed around the corner to see her kinkajou biting Harry's ankle.
Ollie growled, recovering from the blow and hissing as he circled Harry. It wasn't long before he leaped again, opening his mouth and baring claws for another attack on the man who had hurt his Anna
Anna rushed at them. "Harry!" She bit her tongue to avoid yelling Oliver's name, but she would've. She ran as fast as she could for wearing heels, and she stomped her foot on the ground. "Come here!" she demanded, knowing Oliver would listen to her.
Ollie looked back, realizing how far his animalistic instincts had taken him, and quickly felt the raging pain of guilt. He scampered away, looking around for a place to hide, before settling for one of the large plants inside the mall.
Anna hurried over to Harry, promising herself that she'd check on Oliver later. "Harry, are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
Harry nodded curtly, but his ankle was bleeding a bit. "I should be getting home anyway," he said, wincing as he started to walk. "Get back to your date, Anna."
Anna let him go, hurrying over to where Oliver was hiding. She took off her coat and held it out subtly. "Get in," she muttered.
Ollie whined, receding deeper into the leaves while he shook his head. He couldn't show his face around her, he couldn't. He didn't even deserve to live with her anymore, or accept any clothes she gave him. His tail twitched with nervousness while he closed his eyes and clung to a branch. Please, just go
"Get. In," Anna repeated. "I'm not going to ask you again. Now. I know you can hear me."
Ollie shook his head vigorously, scampering higher up the plant while he covered his face with a small clawed hand.
Anna's heart dropped, and she slipped her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll have to drive Harry to the doctor's then…"
Ollie felt like he was going to cry. He started back towards her, reaching out a small hand and letting out a soft squeak before retreating backwards again. No! You can't be alone with him!
Anna arched her eyebrows. "Then will you come out?" she asked, putting her coat on the ground and spreading it out expectantly.
Ollie slowly, tentatively, leaped onto the coat and continued to hide his face from her. Shit… what the fuck have I done… He started to whimper, tail twitching as he held it between his legs.
"That lady caught the cat!!" someone from the crowd shouted, and a few shouts of praise rose up from the small group of people that had witnessed the ordeal
Anna flushed and used her hair to hide her face. Quickly, she bundled up Oliver in her jacket and rushed back out of the mall. When they were finally in the safety of her car, Anna broke down. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded, already on the verge of tears. "Harry could've hurt you! What if he kicked you in the head?"
Ollie cried out and covered his face, shaking his head quickly as he backed away. He eventually looked back up at her, his glossy eyes filled with confusion as to why she was concerned about him, rather than the person he had just attacked
"Don't ever do that again, do you hear me?" Anna said shakily. She quickly turned her face away and began to cry softly. "Please don't ever scare me like that again…"
Ollie gently put a hand to the side of her face as he nodded, his tail still twitching nervously while he nuzzled her neck. I won't. I won't. I promise. He thought, the sight of her tears only making his guilt stronger.
"Why can't you transform back so I can yell at you in person?!" Anna cried out, sobbing awfully. She ducked her head as a group of people walked by her car, and she only continued crying once they'd gone. "You could've hurt Harry or you could've been hurt!"
Ollie cried out again, his ears pointing backwards while he retreated toward the window and clawed at it. All thought of comforting Anna was gone as he squeaked to be let out, to run away, to get away from all the pain he had already caused.
Anna wiped at her face and started the car. "No," she said decidedly. "You can't run away from this. I have to know why you did it." She pulled out of her parking spot and began the drive home. "Harry isn't a bad man, he's just made some poor choices – he's the same as you. What you did just now was a very poor choi-"
Suddenly, as Anna was pulling through a 4-way stop after stopping, someone railed the back of the left side of her car. The woman screamed, and her car was spun around once before stopping. She panted awfully and gripped the steering wheel. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt.
( sorry sorry I’m just like WHAT IN THE NATURAL FUCK?)
Ollie transofrmed back, holding tightly onto the seat before clutching Anna in his arms and pulling her close to his chest. His eyes welled with tears, thinking he had somehow caused this.
"Anna!! Anna oh my god are you okay??" He cried, rubbing her back while he took off her seatbelt. "Oh god… Oh shit…. I'm such an awful person."
Anna trembled and clung to him desperately. She was shaking badly, and her heart was racing much faster than it should've been. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried.
There was a sudden knock on her window. "Miss?" It was a middle-aged man with a shy and afraid-looking teen girl behind him.
Ollie held onto her like he was never going to let her go, then slowly rolled down the window. His temper told him to yell at them, to make them feel Anna's pain, but he remembered how upset she was before, and the shapeshifter took a deep breath. He rolled down the window, looking up as his eyes welled with tears. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, we're okay," the man said. "This is my daughter. She's just learning how to drive."
"I'm so sorry," the girl whispered, shaking almost as badly as Anna. "I'm so sorry, miss, I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry!"
Anna looked up wiping at her face and giving the girl a well-practiced forced smile. "It's okay, dear," she promised shakily. "It's okay, I promise."
Ollie gently hushed Anna and pulled her closer again, silently telling her she didn't need to say anything yet.
Ollie nodded, taking a deep breath as he continued soothing Anna. "It's alright…. I just…" He shook his head, trying to think of what people did in this situation. It was difficult, because he had never owned or driven a car.
"Insurance? A-and maybe a police report… and an ambulance just in case." He murmured to the father, leaning his head on Anna's.
The man nodded. "Come on, Julia, let me show you how to find your insurance card," he said, leading the girl away. When they were out of earshot, Anna sobbed heavily into Oliver's shoulder.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," she cried. "If something had happened, and the last thing we did was fight…" She trembled horribly, clinging to him tightly.
Ollie shook his head, making soft shushing noised as he continued to smooth her hair. He swallowed hard, collecting himself. "It was my fault anyways. It's okay. And we're both here." He choked out, before looking her over. "God are you alright?"
Anna nodded quickly. "Yes, just… just scared," she whispered. She continued to tremble horribly and kept a tight grip on Oliver. The shirt he was wearing still smelled a bit of Harry's old cologne, but it smelled much more of Oliver now.
Oliver smoothed his fingers up and down her arms, across her back, through her hair, trying his hardest to calm her. He flushed at her touch, but shook it off, drawing her closer to him. "It's okay."