"Hey, let's go check this place out." Adam says as he hurries over to one of the many buildings at the zoo.

"What's in here?" Austin asks.

"I don't know but we'll find out once we go in." Adam answers. 

"Are we allowed in here? It might be for employees only." Avi says.

"Why are y'all asking me such hard questions? I've never been here before so how should I know the answer." Adam replies.

"Wait, Sweetie. Let me go in first just in case we aren't allowed." Jenika says as she leads a very paranoid Daryl to the building.

"You having fun?" Chance asks as Tim stops to take another picture of some bushes that had been trimmed to look like zoo animals.

"Yeah." Tim nods. "There's just so much to photograph. It's all so beautiful."

"That it is. Come on, everyone has gone inside. Let's go check it out." Chance says as he opens the door for his boyfriend.

Tim walks in and stops. The building was extremely dark and full of glass cases. Each case was illuminated with light.

His heartbeat begins to quicken as his eyes scan the illuminated cases. Thousands of spiders, both venomous and non-venomous.

His breathing becomes shallow as he begins to shake his head.

"No, no." He whispers as he starts to panic.

"Wow! Look at this. This is creepy." Chance says behind him.

"No, I can't!" Tim says as he turns and starts to leave but runs into Chance.

"Baby, where are you going?" Chance asks.

"No, I can't ...I can't do this. I need out!" Tim says as he pushes past Chance and runs out the door.

"What's wrong?" Jenika asks when she hears the commotion.

"I don't know. You stay with the others and I'll go check on him." Chance says before running after Tim.

Chance finds Tim sitting on a park bench. He was leaned over with his elbows resting on his legs and his face buried in his hands as he rocked back and forth.

"Hey, Angel. It's okay." Chance says as he sits down beside him and pulls the crying man into his arms.

"Please .. don't make me .. go in there." Tim says between sobs.

"Of course not. Honey, I had no idea you felt that way about spiders or I would have never let you go in there." Chance says while he ran his fingers through Tim's hair.

"There are spiders in the closet." Tim whispers so low that Chance could not make out what was said.

"What was that, Baby? I couldn't hear you." Chance says.

"There are spiders in the closet." Tim says softly as he looks up at his boyfriend. "I was locked in with the .. the spiders." He adds as tears roll down his cheeks.

"Oh, God. Baby, I'm so sorry." Chance says as he wipes a tear from his brown-eyed lover's cheek.

"Chance? What's wrong? Is he okay?" Tina asks as she and Sami bring their group to the spider house. She squats down in front of Tim, laying her hand on his knee.

"He panicked when we went inside." Chance says.

"I guess I should have warned you." She says as she brushes back Tim's hair.

"He's going to be alright. We'll just wait here for the others." Chance says. "Is there anything else that I should know?" He adds with a slight chuckle.

"No, he's okay with everything else." Tina smiles as she stands up and rubs the patient on the head. "These guys are wanting to go in so I need to go. Just take care of him which I know you will." She adds with a wink before walking back to her group.

"It's awfully hot. Would you like something to drink?" Chance asks before kissing Tim on the temple. "There's a refreshment stand right over there."

"Root beer." Tim nods. He had stopped crying, only a few sniffles were heard.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Chance says as Tim raises back up.

He returns just a few minutes later with a large styrofoam cup of root beer and hands it to Tim. He grins as Tim grabs the cup and quickly starts to drink.

"Dang, you must have really been thristy." Chance chuckles.

"I was. We've been doing a lot of walking." Tim nods. "I'm okay now if you want to go in. I'll wait here."

"No, that's okay. To tell you the truth, I'm not a huge fan of spiders either. They're pretty creepy." Chance says as he rubs his lover's back. "I'd rather be here with you."

"WOW!! PHOTOGRAPH, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT!! I GOT TO HOLD A GIANT TARANTULA!!" Adam shouts as he comes running over to join them. "IT WAS AWESOME!!"

"They tried to get me to hold it and I said, Hell no." Austin laughs as he sits down on the bench next to Tim.

"How's he doing?" Jenika asks as she and Daryl walk over.

"Much better." Chance answers.

"I want one." Adam says as he points to Tim's drink. "Can I have one? It was hot in there and it's hot out here. We need to go somewhere that's cool. Like maybe....... I don't know but anywhere cooler than here. I'll take a lemonade. No, wait, a sno-cone. No, I'll take a lemonade." 

"Okay, okay." Jenika laughs. "Why don't you guys just come over here to the refreshment stand and tell the lady what you want."

"Where are we going next?" Tim asks as the others head over to get them something cool to drink.

"Well, let's see here..." Chance says as he looks at the map. "That building over there is the reptile house. How are you with snakes and lizards?"

"I can deal with them." Tim nods with a smile. "I'm just not too sure about holding a snake though."

"You don't have to hold one." Chance chuckles.

"Virgil got bit by a snake once." Austin says as he sits down with his drink.

"Really?" Avi asks. "I can't wait to hear about this."

"We went fishing one time. I guess I was about ten at the time. There was tall grass all around the pond. My grandpa had told us to be careful and for us to stay on the path that there were snakes at the pond. Well, Virgil didn't listen and wandered off in the tall grass and got bit by a copperhead." Austin says before taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh, no. That had to be terrifying. What happened?" Avi asks, placing a hand to his cheek as if he was in shock.

Chance smiles as he hears Tim snicker quietly at his bearded friend.

"Well, it's obvious that he didn't die." Tim replies with a slight smirk.

"Naw, he didn't die but he got really sick. I was really worried about him." Austin sighs as he shakes his head.

"I can imagine. I would have been too." Daryl says, holding a serious expression.

"But he wants to conquer his fear of snakes." Austin says with a smile. "I'm so proud of him."

"And ... Just how does he plan on doing that?" Chance asks. 

"He wants to hold one." Austin replies.

They might have been crazy but they all knew that if a snake was handed to an imaginary person, that the snake would end up falling on the floor.

"Oh, Hell naw!!" Daryl says shaking his head.

"Uh, Daryl's right." Jenika says, slightly squeezing Daryl's hand to quieten him before he said anything else. "Virgil doesn't need to rush things."

"I'm scared of spiders too but there ain't no d*mn way that I'm going to hold one." Tim says.

"Maybe you can hold the snake and just let him pet it." Adam suggests. "Cause he might get nervous and drop it on the floor. And if it gets mad and bites me then I'll have to whoop Virgil's ass."

*********

I conquered the writer's block on this one!! YAY!!

Hope you enjoyed it.

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