Derek and I were walking back to our car from the grocery store when we stumbled upon a little dog hiding under the car. I was the one to spot it after hearing whimpering, and I'm happy I did because what if we had gotten into the car and ran the poor little guy over? Derek crouched down and got a look for himself. He was trying to lure the little dog out. When the dog wouldn't move, I suggested to offer food to it since it's probably hungry. I looked through our bags of food we had just bought and found some turkey lunch meat we had bought. I opened the packaging and handed a piece of meat to Derek so he could offer it to the dog. Slowly but surely the dog came out of hiding and ate the meat we offered it. The little dog was filthy and had no collar.

"We should bring him home, Mer." Derek suggested. "Take him to the shelter tomorrow to see if he has a home."

I nodded in agreement. "Do you have a blanket or something in the car we can wrap him in?"

"Just my jacket in the back."

"That's good enough." I opened the back door and grabbed his jacket. I got into the front seat, and Derek handed me the little dog to hold. Even though I had him wrapped in Derek's jacket, he was shaking. "He's so scared, Derek."

"We should give him a bath too." Derek said.

"Then we should make a detour to the pet store."

Derek pulled up to a pet store and ran in while I stayed in the car with the dog. He returned fifteen minutes later with some dog food, a dog bed, dog soap, and even some toys. I questioned why he got toys, and he defended himself by saying maybe it'll get the dog to be less frightened. I rolled my eyes at him.

When we got to Derek's apartment, he gave the dog a bath while I put the groceries away. I told him he'd be a better fit for this job being that he grew up with dogs and I didn't. The dog was finally cleaned, and Derek brought him out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. He sat down beside me on the couch, and kept the dog on his lap.

"He really is cute." I smiled petting the dog's head.

"He's stopped shaking; must be warming up to us."

"I would stop shaking too if I was given a bath by you." I smirked.

Derek grinned. "Oh, yeah? You want me to give you a bath tonight?"

I slapped his arm playfully. "We should give him a name."

"Mer, we're not keeping him."

"Derek, he needs a name. I don't want to keep referring him to him, he, or it. How about... Shadow?"

"Shadow?" Derek repeated. "I like Shadow."

"Shadow it is!"

That night, Shadow slept in our room in his dog bed we had got him at the pet store. We also gave him a blanket, and it seemed as if he was finally happy and comfortable. The next morning, I took him to the animal shelter to see if his owners have been looking for him while Derek was at the hospital. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as if they were, but the person I was talking to told me they could take Shadow for me. I didn't have the heart to leave him here, and told thanks, but no thanks, and gave them my number in case his owners do show up.

I decided not to let Derek know about my decision to keep Shadow. I knew he wouldn't like the idea, so I thought surprising him would be better. I stopped at the pet store on my way back to Derek's apartment and got Shadow some things like a collar, leash, more toys, food, and lots of treats. I don't know how Shadow lived before, but I'm going to make sure he's spoiled.

I was sitting on the floor playing with Shadow when Derek arrived back to his apartment from the hospital. He immediately saw me playing with the dog and asked me why he was still here. I explained to him he has no home and that he was probably abandoned.

"I didn't have the heart to leave him there, Derek, and I thought this could be his new home. He could be our dog, Derek."

"Mer, you don't even live here. You can't make this decision without consulting it with me. You didn't even want a baby; taking care of a dog is just like taking care of a baby!"

"Just look at him, Derek. I gave the shelter my number in case his owners do show up looking for him, but in the mean time, I thought he could stay with us. It's better than him staying in a cold, scary kennel."

Derek sighed and brushed his fingers through his hair. "Fine, he can stay, but if he poops or pees in my apartment, you're cleaning it up."

"Fine, whatever, yes. I don't care." I got up and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "You won't regret this."

"He'll need to be seen by a vet, though. You'll need to take him because I just don't got time."

"Okay, I will. I'll call tomorrow."

"Okay. I'm gonna go shower. Maybe we should order in tonight."

"Way ahead of you. Pizza will be here any minute."

"See, this is why we work. We're two people who think alike."

I took Shadow with me to my photography appointment in the park. I had tied to a bench on his leash with the rest of my stuff while I took the photos. After an hour, I was done, and I headed over to my mother's. Though I still live there, I haven't actually been sleeping there. I've been with Derek. I finally told mom and Richard that Derek and I got back together, and mom didn't have anything good to say about it so she stayed quiet. Richard, though, he was happy, but why wouldn't he? He won't be yelled at for having Derek over.

"What is that filthy animal doing in my house?" Mom snapped.

I bent down and picked Shadow up. "He's my new dog; mine and Derek's. We found him in the parking lot of the store under our car two nights ago."

"Doesn't he have a home to be returned to?"

"No, he was probably abandoned, and we're keeping him at least until his possible owners come looking for him."

"Just keep him off my nice rug." Mom left.

"He has a name you know?" I called after her. "Shadow!"

"I don't care."

I rolled my eyes and carried Shadow up to my room. I shut my door so he wouldn't run out and piss my mom off even more. I only came home to get more clothes, so I threw a handful of clothes in a bag, and left again with my dog. I didn't bother saying by to my mom. I've come to learned she simply doesn't care when I'm here or not here.

I went back to Derek's apartment and used the key he gave me to let myself in. I unleashed Shadow, and he ran to the kitchen to get a drink of water. I grabbed my laptop from the bedroom and imported the photos I had taken today onto my laptop to look them over. When I glanced up to see what Shadow was doing, I saw him peeing on the leg of the table.

"Shadow, no!" I screamed. I quickly got up and shooed him away. "Bad dog! No!" He quickly ran away and I sighed. "Damn it."

I grabbed some paper towels to clean this mess up. Maybe Derek's right. Maybe I'm not ready for this.

Hey, I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry I've been gone for a couple of weeks. Been super busy with college! Unfortunately, I don't have any prewritten chapters done, and I have no intention to have any done within the next week. Got like three papers to write due just days a part of each other next week, so that's what I'll be focusing on doing.

Alright, so thanks for reading, and leave a review, follow, and favorite! Thanks for being patient with the updates, and hopefully I'll be able to have a new chapter up asap. Bye!