Honestly, Jack's day just couldn't get any worse. Time and time again he attracted conflict that he was sure was his fault. That rude guest back in the amusement park wasn't exactly guilty of being one. It ended with a fight between Beth and some guest because Jack ignored the guy's kid and instead interacted with another. To be fair, it was a family of pandas that caught his attention, and honestly, Jack was just in awe of how cute they were.

So you couldn't blame him, pandas are just so cute. And quite kind, strangely.

It all just started with him, everything. Stella hated his guts and practically grew even more distant from her sister due to his presence. Lucy had acted strangely and hostile towards Beth for a reason that was definitely Jack's fault. And now, here he was with another conflict at his hands.

Jack should've known that Beth knew Maria, it was a small town and Cooper knew both of them. Should've waited until he had a chance to chat with Cooper. Now there was no going back. All because he left his phone in the house. Sure, the original idea was to hang out with Beth, but if he hadn't forgotten his phone earlier in the morning, then perhaps Cooper would've been successful with his plan.

Again, this all felt as if it was Jack's fault.

Now he was just there confused and unsure of what to do while Cooper simply held a palm on his forehead as if all of this was his mistake. At least Jack knew how Cooper felt.

For a long moment, Maria and Beth stared at each other. The latter had a deep scowl, fangs and all, while the other only held a confused look.

Before Maria could even say a word, Beth had already turned on her heel and walked away.

"Hey, wait!" Maria called out but her voice did not reach Beth. The three watched as the fox quickened her pace, and soon enough, her speedy walk turned into a full sprint.

Cooper sighed. "How the heck did this happen?"

"I'm really sorry," Jack apologized to Maria. "I didn't know that you and Beth knew each other, much less have an issue."

Maria kept her eyes at the distance from where she had last seen Beth. Not once did she move as she spoke to Jack. "Why are you sorry? Not like you knew who she was… How do you know each other?"

"Well, Lucy paired me up with Beth at work. We just started being friends, I guess."

Cooper hummed curiously. "She is usually distant with the rest. I doubt she'd want to see me right now."

"I'll go after her," Maria decided. "None of this is your fault, so don't worry about it, Jack."

"M, I don't think that's a good idea." Said Cooper. "You know how she is right now?"

"Then when can I talk with her? It's been too long, and I gotta fix things."

"It's not that easy," Cooper looked away tiredly.

"It never is, Coop. Guess… Guess we should just go back inside then?"

"Wait," The two stopped as Jack spoke. "I'll go try and talk to her."

Cooper filled the air with a loud sadistic laugh which was honestly out of character for him. "Jackie," Cooper's eyes hardened as he talked to Jack. "That is a no-go, dude, once Beth is in a bad mood, you'd better watch out."

"I've worked with her for a day or so, I know what you mean. This is all my fault, I should've told Maria about her and maybe this whole thing wouldn't have happened."

"You talk like this you're the reason for the bad blood, just leave it be, Jackie."

They heard Maria sigh. "He's right, you know. Just forget it, this isn't your problem, to begin with."

Sadly, Jack thought otherwise. He gave them one last apology before he went back into the car and pulled out of the driveway. He remembered his phone, but he ignored it for now. There was a bigger issue that needed to be dealt with.

What was the point exactly?

Maria was right, this wasn't his problem. Jack just needed to get some cash at the end of the week, so there was no point in fixing things. Beth and Jack were just coworkers, nothing more.

But, why does he want to help?

Call it kindness, or call it being selfish. Perhaps Jack simply wanted others to see him not as an enemy or someone who they couldn't trust. He was contradicting himself. Jack honestly didn't care what others believed about him. Yet, he wanted to keep his relationship with Beth neutral and gray. He was failing at that as well.

Maria gave him a home, which meant he would stay by her side until he found a way to his home. That also meant he would see Cooper and the wolf siblings more. As well as Cas and Stella's friends. One small connection with Maria introduced Jack to many names. Hell, he worked at the theme park for a few days now and he hadn't met anyone else. Only Lucy cared about him enough to chat, the rest just kept working.

Despite the others, he seemed more concerned about Beth. And Jack was worried about the relationship between him and Beth.

There she was, her pace never changed. Beth ran through the neighborhood as if she was running for her life. He tried to call out, but his words did not reach her as she continued forward.

Jack decided to just stop her in her tracks with a simple move. He felt like dying inside as his car drove over the curb and stopped right on the sidewalk which in turn made a loud thump. He was worried that he broke something and claimed that it sounded expensive.

As his car was parked on the sidewalk like a jerk, Beth couldn't slow down in time and slammed into Jack and nearly kissed the hood harshly.

"You moron!" She cursed between gasps of pain.

"Beth-" Jack leaned out the window to speak with her, but that was a grave mistake as Beth sent him back inside with a heavy punch.

"Are you trying to run me over!? God, you're such an idiot!"

"I didn't know that you and Maria had some problems! Come on, get in the car and maybe we can-"

"Go and talk things through!? Is that what you're suggesting right now, to talk things through like none of this is anyone's fault!?"

"Hang out, I was gonna say that we can still hang out if you'd like. Listen, I don't know what the problem is between you two, and I should've told you about who offered me a place to stay. But I don't want to leave you alone, even if that's what you believe you need right now. Come on, Beth, get in the car. We can find a place to cool off."

Beth glared at him, her mouth mimicked a fish out of the water as she tried to think up an argument. Despite the boiling rage, she seemed to understand that Jack shouldn't be blamed for what had happened.

He smiled a bit when Beth relaxed her shoulders, only to be blindsided by Beth with another punch. Just as he was about to say a word, the door opened and Jack was shoved to the other side of the car.

"Move over, I'm driving."

Fearful of another punch, Jack hastened his crawl into the passenger seat.

There was at least a little progress, and Beth was willing to cool down with Jack. He was still oblivious to where she wanted to go.

Jack dared not to ask as he simply expected her to ignore him.

What he did know was that wherever this place was, it wasn't in town. That was quite evident when she drove the car out of town. Jack couldn't say he saw familiar faces on the way out, he only knew a handful of people in the town. What was familiar was the road they were on.

The two had even driven past the street light where Jack met Maria. Finally, his curiosity convinced him to inquire about where Beth was taking him. Sadly, this cat died for nothing as Beth only snarled at him as an answer.

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Then there it was, something far more familiar than some landmark where it all began.

The forest.

Not the one where Maria liked to hang out. But the one Jack came out of. The one he entered from one side and somehow found himself in this world. Beth was taking them back to this forest. He was unsure how it worked but he wondered if it could bring him back home. What if he drove through it again? Will he truly be home, or would it simply be a mirror of what was? He was scared of the truth. And he felt weaker as they entered.

As the silence grew, so did the loud beating of his heart. A sweat ran down his cheek while he wondered about the outcome of this little trip.

Beth slowed down just to make a turn. This caught Jack off guard, but he was happy that she didn't focus ahead. He still feared the truth about whether or not he'd be able to go home.

Wait, if it was possible, why couldn't he?

More questions poured into his mind as Beth brought the car onto a dirt road. Where it led did not matter to Jack. He was too focused on something else.

"So this is what they mean existential crisis." He muttered aloud. "Damn man, why am I scared of going back?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." He answered quicker than he could think. That little slip made him feel embarrassed. "Oh, we stopped. At an old-looking cabin, in the middle of the woods, far from civilization, and I forgot my phone-"

"Yup, this is my place. Too far from town, even farther from work."

Jack followed Beth as she stepped out of the car and made her way to the cabin. It looked so harrowing, and it made sense that this cabin was… disorderly. Roots and plants were growing on the side, cobwebs covered several corners, and the windows barely allowed any light through. This place needed some tending, and he knew that Beth wasn't the one for the job.

Everything made some sense, honestly. Driving to this place took more than an hour, and if he had to estimate the time it'd take for Beth to get to work, it would certainly be a long ride. So the fact that Cooper allowed her to live with him and his cousin made things clearer.

"You thought I was homeless, didn't you?"

"I didn't want to assume, but kinda at first." He answered truthfully. Who could blame him? Beth seemed like a feral mess, and the fact that she lived in the forest in a cabin cemented that image.

"Alright, be honest with me then. What did you think my place looked like before coming here?"

"Some place out of town, and seeing that this place fits the bill, I think I got it right."

"Mr. Psychic over here," The mood started to get better. "How about you predict the winning lottery number for me?"

He gave her a small grin before speaking. "Oh, that? It's my date of birth. It's up to you to figure it out though."

"Now that isn't fair," Beth gave Jack a playful punch on his arm. "Come on, I got some beer in the cellar, and hopefully it's cold enough to enjoy."

"We have work tomorrow, we can't just drink the pain away."

"What pain? And don't worry, I'll only bring out a couple."

The interior was… reasonable.

Everything was covered in dust as if Beth did not care or simply believed that there was no point in cleaning. Made some sense, of course, she was gone every week from what Jack could tell. There wasn't even any electricity. He could barely see since the windows were covered in a thick layer of dirt. All Beth had to light up the room was some old lamp, which told Jack that this cabin was not connected to any power lines.

He tried his best not to gag at how dusty it was, but he caught himself in a series of coughs the moment he sat down.

There wasn't much to say about the cabin other than how unkempt it was. He had expected some taxidermy or something close to such a decoration. But seeing as the society they lived in, it might be seen as controversial if you put an animal on a wall. But the idea could still exist. The apes of this world apparently kept pets, so taxidermy was not unreasonable.

Once he was settled, Beth retrieved a few bottles of beer from the cellar. A few were just deceitful; she did bring a few for Jack, but Beth brought a lot more just for herself. A whole crate of them, just for one gal who was as skinny as a twig. Jack was honestly impressed.

"You sure with all that?" He waved a bottle at a large amount of beer on her side of the couch.

"Got nothing to lose these days, so might as well enjoy it. Sorry if I don't have anything fun, I usually just… relax whenever I'm home."

"So why do you live all the way out here?"

"Mom moved to the city after dad died- Don't feel sorry, I heard it all before and by now, I don't care if anyone is sorry for him dying." She took another gulp from her bottle. "Not like it'd change anything. Anyway, mom sold the house and moved out of town, said I could join her and get a new life, but… it's a long story."

"Right, well, I'm guessing it's about Maria? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Beth glared at him for a solid minute, but then went back to her drink. "This will either come from her or me, so I might as well fill you in on our little story. Can't trust Cooper with this also."

Jack waited patiently to finally learn of what troubles the two girls had in the past to achieve such fury from Beth.

"Back before I stopped going to high school, Maria and I were dating. Two of us were so into it that we couldn't stay far apart for too long. Heck, back then I'd stay at her house more often than mine. Started calling Mrs. Delgado mom even. Everything was like a damn dream for us until it all went down the drain. We got caught up with some bad crowd and spent more time partying instead of studying. Just because we feared that we won't be living a life that mattered. One thing for sure, we ended up doing terribly at school."

She paused for a second, her eyes empty as she stared at the ceiling.

"Maria's family got a debt that can't easily go away. At one point somewhere in the past, she realized how bad of a problem it was. So one night, she came to my house and we spent some time together. She asked me to promise that if she disappeared, I'd take care of her family. Thought she was just joking at first so I said yes, then when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. Maria's mom didn't know where she went, not even her sister. She just… vanished."

Jack could tell that Beth was furious, the hand that held her bottle shook as it clenched tighter around it. He tried to comfort her but she brushed it off and continued.

"Five damn years she was gone." Her teeth bared and a low growl escaped her. "Her mom got sick, I had to take care of her family for five stinking years. You have any idea how much I spent keeping her house intact? Stella kept asking about her for the first two years Maria was gone. And Jack, I couldn't give her a good answer. I just gave it to her straight that she frickin abandoned everyone!"

Beth stopped herself before she could lose it.

"We were all worried, honestly. We knew she was still around because every month, Maria sent home an envelope filled with cash. We didn't know where it came from, but it made sure the house stood. Five long years. By the fourth, my mom sold our house and I had to live with Mrs. Delgado. I could've forgotten it all and lived a better life in the city. But I couldn't just abandon the people Maria had left behind. I wasn't like her. I cared about them."

A bottle smashed against the wall, and glass scattered everywhere. Yet Beth ignored the mess and instead reached for another. It was her sixth one.

"Five years alright, then she showed up. She was too damn late for sure. You know what she asked about first? She wanted to know if her family was fine, but not me. Not ever me, like I'm a damn tool just to toss out once she was done. No "hello", not even a sorry!? No, she just ignored me. Can't say it ended with a song and dance. I just lost it, all that frustration built up got out and I pummeled her into the ground. Craziest part was that she just took it like she wasn't scared if I did something I'd never forget."

"You attacked her?" He said with disbelief.

"Almost killed her too, if it weren't for her sister. Can't say I regret any of it. After that, I just left, and… well I tried to get my life together. Looked for a better job, but no one wanted to hire some hot-headed flunky, which made a lot of sense considering how many people I fought with."

Beth stopped, she hadn't finished yet but she allowed Jack to soak in all the information she dumped on him. They just sat there, both with drinks in their hands.

He wasn't sure if she was intoxicated yet, especially with the number of bottles she emptied. Certainly was a surprise when only a single one was shattered.

"What exactly did you and she decide on just so you can have a roof over your head?"

"She wanted me to drive for her, and I'm not sure if I should tell you why."

Beth scoffed at him. "You should get out while you still can, one day she'll just toss you out like everybody else, once she get what she wants. There's plenty of space in my room if you got nowhere else, Jack, bet Jose won't mind."

"Beth, I can't just leave, Maria kinda needs my help."

"You deaf? I said she's just using you! Everyone in town knows what she is like! Bet you that this town owes Maria more and doesn't see how wrong it is! They're all just as much of a tool as you are, Jack!"

"Me? Or you?" He said as naturally as he breathed. It didn't really form in his head, simply that he spoke without thinking. This caught Beth by surprise, which was evident by how close she mimicked a fish with her mouth opening and closing. "We all got issues, even Maria. I'm gonna hear her side of the story before I think of an opinion on all this. But I do know for a fact that her leaving like that caused a problem for everyone. Especially with her sister. Beth, Maria needs help with Stella, and you know that I'm sure."

"Damn it, Jack." She growled as she held her head in her hands. "Stella… I should've done better. But that doesn't excuse what Maria did, she left us."

"Right, and she came back. You told me that her family was hitting some hard times, which justifies her actions in a way. You gotta see it from her point of view, Bethany, she and her family were knee-deep into debt from what you told me."

"Are you really trying to put her in the right?"

"No, I'm thinking reasonably." He said. "I have no right to pick a side, Bethany, I'm just some outsider that got caught in all this."

"Stop calling me that." That was all she said before she forcefully changed the subject.

Seemed like she was beaten and couldn't form an argument. Jack was right, he had no stand in all this. As always, he reminded himself that he was an outsider.

Jack looked over to her as a question formed in his head: should he let her know about his little secret? Well, it wasn't like she'd believe him that easily. But a story needs to be paid with another. It felt right that way to him.

So with that decided, Jack told her something only a few know. Her reaction was hard to read as she seemed to be intoxicated already, but he could tell that she was still focused enough to hear him.

"You serious? No way, that can't be true." She said as she caressed his cheek gently.

He preferred a smooth face, so it really surprised Beth by how soft his skin was. So much so that she couldn't help but touch his cheek. Jack soon had enough of it and pushed the hand away with a disgruntled look.

"That can't be right… Are you making fun of me?"

"I wouldn't believe myself either, but that's the truth, I am indeed human."

"Prove it then! Show me that you're actually human, and not just messing with me!"

He gave her an odd look. "Beth, I can't just prove that. I'm here, it's all you can have, really."

"Now I know you're joking around. Pretty sure a real human would've shown me some evidence by now."

"Well…" He'd rather not use it, but he doubted that he couldn't just prove it so easily. What makes him human? His philosophy degree could help him with the question, but not with Beth. "Maria believes me, and if I had to bet on it, I'd say Coop would believe it as well."

"Maria?" Beth clearly didn't like that he mentioned her. "Fine, if that backstabbing cat believes that you're a human, sure, I do too. But I still want proof."

"Fine, I'll bring my phone tomorrow and I'll show you what my family and friends look like. Also, I think… wait, I have movies…"

"What?"

"I have movies!"

"Really? Like, human movies?"

"Yeah! They're all back at Maria's place!"

"So, you got proof that you're really a human, which is a bunch of movies that you just carry around? You're far from home, and you didn't just sell your collection?"

"Beth, I know you're an odd one, but I won't just get rid of things that make me feel happy. Those movies are from my childhood, back when I still saw a better world."

"Great, old movies from what? The 80s?"

"I'm not that old, I'm twenty."

"No way you're younger than me!" She was in disbelief. "You're already in some defeated state in life, I was sure you were older!"

"Sheesh, just because you and I are in the same occupation doesn't mean we're the same at all. I don't smoke for one."

"Don't go and use fancy words on me, buster, else I show you why I'm stronger than you. Just cause you finished some college doesn't mean you're smarter."

"Indubitably." He said smugly.

Though it might have been seen as playful when Beth pinched him in the arm, Jack felt a sharp pain after. He slowly believed that she was stronger than him, and that scared Jack a little with the fact that perhaps even the smallest fox could overpower him. Still, this world had its benefits. Everything was running smoothly, for now, not any hardships yet or any of the sorts.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon chatting. After some time was spent, the two decided it was best to head home before it got too dark. They still had some work tomorrow and Beth would rather not suffer the consequences of drinking too much.

Jack had learned a lot, but something deep in him wondered why he needed to hear Beth's side. No, that wasn't why he followed her. He had just wanted to hang out, but it turned into something else. At least it ended with one.

Now there were some plans that the two made once they finish work tomorrow. Jack promised to bring some of his movies so she'd finally believe him, and Beth said she'd bring some snacks. She had also told Jack she knew a good place where no one would disturb them.

For now, the two just enjoyed the quiet ride back to town.