Carmen sighed as she watched the other anthros that passed by, not of them giving her a second glance, and a few of them moving away from her. She wasn't sure if it was because she was a Skunk that they were moving away, that she was wearing a plaid red shirt with a black studded belt, with a Misfits shits and leather jacket, the fact her hair had dark red streaks dyed into it, or that she was a bigger girl. 'My money is on the fact I'm a Skunk,' she thought to herself as she sipped at her drink. She got up with a sigh and dumped what was left of her food into the trash can and tossed the tray on top of the can. 'Fuck this, I'm hitting the club tonight,' she said as a group of rabbits and cats moved to give her a wide birth. She left the mall and hopped into her car, her fluffy tail curling over her lap to keep it out of the rear view mirror. She grinned as the engine roared to live and the pulled out of the mall parking lot.

It wasn't long before she pulled in the lot for Aborted Violence, her favorite club in town. Well, the only one that played Punk and Rock music in town that is. There were a few people in line that night waiting to get in, but Carman just walked right past them up to the bouncer at the door. She smirked as a couple of cats gave her a dirty look and moved away from her, whispering about how bad skunk 'always' smell. She smiled when she seen the large Dobby standing at the door trying his best to not roll his eyes at the fox decked out in hot topic gear who was with the two cats. Seems fox boy told them he was well known in the club… Go figure, a fox lying to try and get into someone's pants.

"Hey George," Carmen said with a smile and mischief in her hazel eyes. She had to struggle not to laugh when the fox made a face and stepped away from her. With the rep foxes had, he though she was the bad one? Really?

"Carmen. How have you been gorgeous?" George said with a smile, happy to stop talking to the fox. The fox on the other hand did not look happy about this.

"Been sad without your handsome face to brighten my day. Who's playing tonight?"

"System Dove. Heard the bassist saying they wanted you to sing for them again tonight."

Carmen laughed, "Well, hate to tell them tonight I'm just here to have a good time not sing. See you inside later tonight, right sexy?"

George just chuckled and opened the door for her, "It will be me or Fred in there tonight." Carmen could help but laugh when she heard the fox start yelling at George about letting a 'filthy skunk' inside and not him just as the door closed. She walked into the club proper and was greeted with the sound of Bad Religion's "Better Off Dead". She smiled as the music rolled over her and made her way to the bar. There was a small mosh pit going near the stage and people near the back of the dance floor just dancing. Most of the tables on the side had people just sitting and enjoying some drinks and the music. There was a wide verity of different species in the club tonight. Hedge hogs, lions, a leopard or two, dogs, a few birds and a few other Skunks. That was one of the things she loved about this club, they didn't care what you were as long as you loved punk. No one here though skunks were filthy, smelly, or anything like that, they were just like everyone else.

"Hey Carmen. You going to sing with the band tonight?" the squirrel behind the bar asked as he started making her usual rum and coke.

"Not tonight, Izzy. Just here to unwind after a horrid day at the mall," she said as she took the offered drink and took a drink.

"People still giving you shit about being a skunk? God, people need to grow up. Some of the coolest people I know are skunks," Izzy said with a shake of her head. "Speaking of skunks, the skunk of you affections is here again tonight."

Carmen set her glass down and turned to scan the crowd, "Really? Wade is here? Did he ask about me?"

Izzy giggled at how quickly Carmen smiled and started to look for Wade. "Well he asked if you would be singing again tonight. I think you have a fan," she said in a sing song tone.

"I have plunty of those. I just want him to let me know if he likes me or not. I'm getting tired of this second guessing shit," Carmen said as she turned back to Izzy.

"He still hasn't admitted that he likes you? The man has been asking about you and hanging out with you almost every night for the past two weeks. I would have figured he would tell you he likes you by now. Lord knows that man is not one to keep his opinions to himself."

"You would think," Carmen said with a chuckle.

"Well, speaking of the object of your affections…." Izzy said as she walked away to help another customer. Carmen's eyes got big for a moment before she forced herself to calm down. She could fight of stage fright easily, but the nerves that came with talking to someone you have the hots for, not so easy.

"Hey there beautiful," came the baritone voice from behind her. She hoped the blush on her cheeks was not easy for him to see as she turned around to face Wade. He was wearing his normal black boots and blue jeans. Tonight he had a Devo shirt on with his trade mark leather black leather jacket and mo-hawk, looked like he has some dark green streaks in it tonight. When her eyes met his ice blue eyes, she struggled not to blush again and slightly swallowed.

"Hey there yourself, handsome," she said with a cocky smile. She stopped herself before she added that she wasn't singing tonight. One thing she had learned about Wade, he hated it when people assumed he was going to do or say something, so she wisely held her tongue. What she couldn't stop was the way her tail started to twitch a little whenever she got nervous. 'God, I hope he doesn't notice…' she silently pleated. Of course from his raised eye brow she realized that he did notice her tail and by now had figured out what it meant. 'Great...' she thought.

He moved next to her at the bar and waved at Izzy for another beer. The squirrel gave him a nod and after handing off the two drinks she was making started on his drink. "So, I take it you're not singing to night? Just here to chill and unwind from the rest of the world?" he asked as he took the pint of Yuengling Izzy handed him. Carman kind of blinked in surprise and quickly moved to cover it by taking another drink of her rum and coke. "By the way, you never drink before you go one stage when you do sing, so I figured with the glass in your hand you must be here just to chill out," He said without looking at her. He took a sip of his beer and then looked at her with those piercing eyes of his. Her heart skipped a beat every time he looked at her like that with those eyes. 'If he only knew how those eyes affected me,' she thought as she forced herself to think straight.

"Yea," she said trying to play it off, "Made the mistake of going to the mall alone earlier and got tired of the dirty looks real fucking quick." It wasn't like every skunk got the dirty looks and rude comments. You know just the ones bigger than a size . and who didn't have 'exotic' colored fur. Not to say Wade wouldn't get weird looks, punks got those looks all the time, and he looked 100% punk in her mind.

He laughed as he turned to lean back on the bar, "Don't know why anyone would give you dirty looks. I mean, why give dirty looks to someone as hot as you?" Almost as soon as he said that his eyes went a little wide and Carmen looked up from her drink then at him in the same amount of surprise. A blush crept on both of their faces as they had the same thought 'Did I/he just say that out loud?' Carmen noted that he tail started twitching a little, seems they had the same nervous twitch. Now that she was thinking about it, this was the first time ever noticed him nervous about anything.

The band started going into a cover of The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" as Carmen finally pulled herself together. "Well, you are probably the only person that thinks that," she said with an almost sad smirk as she went back to her glass. She downed the rest of her drink and was getting ready to call Izzy back over when she noticed him moving out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, anyone who doesn't notice that must be an idiot," he said facing her now, still leaning on the bar, "I mean you are smart, funny, beautiful, and feisty. Any man should be lucky to call you his girl."

"Then every other guy I've come across is an idiot then because no one ever notices and I have yet to meet a guy who wants call me theirs. Well, for more than a night anyway," She said with a shrug, no longer hiding her blush from him. Maybe he would finally ask her out; after all he just told her that he thinks she is hot.

"Carmen!" came the shout of her name from near the door and she winched at the sound of his voice. It was her ex. The last thing she needed was her ex to show up right now. She sighed and turned and looked towards the door. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Wade was already looking at her ex and his fur was starting to get a bit ruffled at the sight of him. 'Oh this can only end well…' she thought to herself sarcastically.

Her eyes narrowed as they fell upon stag that walked in wearing of all things a suit. Then again Connor was always an idiot and never seemed to understand things. IT didn't take long for her to realize that almost everyone was looking at him and her; after all just about everyone here knew her and how Connor treated her like shit. Hell, even the band had stopped playing… Great just what she needed tonight.

"Go home Connor, no one wants you here," came the voice of George from behind the stag. George just glared at the fool before him with his arms crossed over his chest. In fact a lot of people were glaring at him, which made Carmen want to smile a bit.

"Look George I just want to talk to Carmen. She has not been answering my calls or texts," came Connor's reply.

"You ever think there might be a reason for that?" said an albino raccoon who was sitting at a nearby table. A few others from around the club voiced the agreement.

"You should listen to George and leave me alone Connor. I have nothing else to say to you," Carmen said in an oddly calm voice, which had everyone who knew her worried.

Deer are not known for how smart they are and Connor was a living example of that as he walked over to Carmen and reached out to grab her arm. His hand got within two feet of her maybe before Wade knocked out of the way and stood in front of Carmen.

"Look, she said she had nothing else to say to you. I would suggest you get out of here," Wade's voice almost a deadly whisper. This caused a few people nearby to move away but they still made sure they could see what was going on. George and the other bouncers moved a little closer though knowing how Wade could be when pissed. The Rotti, Fred was giving the grey wolf, Yukon, a worried look. Connor did not seem to notice any of it and foolishly narrowed his eyes at the skunk in front of him before one again trying to reach for Carmen.

Time seemed to move in slow motion for Carmen as she watched Connor reach for her and Wade suddenly reach out, grab his arm and twist it so that Connor hand was in the middle of his back. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath at that moment.

"I've tried being nice to you, but you seem to be to fucking stupid to get the message. Carmen wants nothing to do with you anymore. Hell, I fucking hear her tell you that myself. So, how about you take your fucking cheating ass out of here before we all find out whether or not skunks enjoy eating venison," Wade yelled at the deer as he pushed him forward away from him and Carmen.

Connor winched in pant then stumbled and fell to his hands and knees. He stood up and bushed himself off before turning to face the two skunks at the bar. Wade had rage and hate in his eyes and on his face, while Carmen seemed to be in mild shock over the whole thing. He straighten his suit before calmly stating, "I can see I am unable to talk to you while your little want to be bodyguard is around, so we will talk later Carmen." With that he started for the door.

"No, we wouldn't," her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, but in the silence of the club carried well. "I don't want to see you again, Connor. Don't call me or text me anymore, just leave me alone." For a brief moment after she spoke Connor's eyes were full of rage then changed back to calm and in control. For that brief moment Carmen was afraid. Wade moved closer to Carmen as continued to glare at the stag as he walked out of the club.

It felt like the whole club was staring at her after the door slammed close and it made Carmen want to crawl in a hole. She had never felt powerless or helpless until Connor walked into her life with his smooth talking and lies. She made the mistake of trusting him and for almost . years he treated her like shit, and in the end started hitting her. Of course she only told a few people about the abuse, but the regulars at the club weren't stupid. Most everyone had figured it out.

"Here Hon," someone said as they handed her a glass of sprite. Carmen blinked and looked up in to the Green eyes of her friend Vivica. She oddly the only owl that came to the club regularly and the only one she had ever seen with purple and green plumage.

"Thanks Vivica," she muttered as she took a drink of what she called 'The Miracle Drink' Vivica was one of the ones she told, so was Wade; which is way he acted the way he did. The Owl gave her a wink then walked back to her table she had with a corgi and a blue dragon. The band started playing again, but she didn't notice what song it was. She just sat there in a daze. Anyone who knew Carmen knew that she normally did not act that way and she hated when people brought attention to it.

"Hey, you going to be okay?" Carmen jumped a bit when Wade whispered to her. He was next to her again and had put his arm over her shoulders. That was the question. Was she going to be okay? She didn't know. Normally she would just smile nod and say 'Yea, I'll be fine.' But she could not lie to him. Something about Wade made her want to tell her the truth; might have to do with the fact that he was always 100% truthful with her.

"I don't know. I don't honestly know," was the shaky reply as she downed the rest of the Sprite to keep herself from crying. Wade then did something he had never done before in front of anyone, he grabbed her and hugged her close and just held her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware of Izzy and Vivica both muttering "Finally" at the display.

"I think we need to get you home after that," Wade murmured as he rubbed her back. She pulled her head back from his shoulder and shook her head with wide eyes.

"He'll head there next to try and talk to me. I don't want to home alone," she whimpered as she berried her face between his shoulder and neck, "I'm scared."

He looked down at her with worry in his eyes for a moment before he sighed, "Okay. I come with you to make sure he's not there. Come on, let's go." She just nodded and walked with him.

As they walked out of the door she hear most of the regulars telling her good night and how Connor was as asshole. A few people told Wade to keep an eye on her. Towards the back, one black wolf called out "I know someone who's getting some tonight6" There were groans throughout the club and even Wade rolled his eyes. Just as the door shut she heard, "Dude that was un-fucking-called for6" from the albino raccoon.