Mason Carter had a big dog.

It was Rottweiler and it was female. Her name was Angie. Mason purposely gave her that name, because well, Angie definitely did not suit that dog. She was big and muscular, with floppy ears and big muzzle that from the inside featured razor sharp fangs. She was kept in his backyard and tied to her doggie house with a chain. She loved to play fetch and didn't like other female dogs. Even though she would constantly bark very loudly, both Mason and his mother loved her. That's why Mrs. Chloe didn't give it away once when her son passed away, even though it was hard to take care of a dog that big.

Bambi was always afraid of her. She was afraid of dogs that big, because when Angie would stand on her back legs, she would be as tall as Bambi. A dog that big could give her just a little push and she would fall over. A dog that big could bite off her fingers. A dog that big had to be trained well so it doesn't tear other dogs when it sees them on the streets.

It was December around Christmas time. Nothing that eventful happened in this two weeks. Mrs. Wilson announced to the class there would be a ski trip next week about which Bambi and her friends were very excited.

She hadn't visited Mason's mom yet. His death still didn't feel real to the girl. She started visiting psychologist, her name is Layla. She is probably the sweetest woman on planet Earth, and she told the girl she had a hard time grieving and that her emotional state was probably connected to her grandparents' death. Bambi wasn't really impressed by that.

She was planing on visiting Mason's grave soon. She didn't know how could she pull it off and if her parents would willingly drive her there, but she had to give it a shot.

One morning, when magnificent crystal snowflakes of various and beautiful patterns were slowly falling to the ground, Bambi's parents, Darcy and John, without saying anything to their confused daughter, took Bambi on a road trip. She didn't know where were they going, as she watched out the window the NYC trailing off far far behind them, disappearing from her sight.

"Will you please tell me now where are we going?" She whined to her parents, pleading them.

"Nope. Not yet." Her father smiled and turned on the radio, setting volume high. The music filled their car, Darcy dancing in her seat and singing the lyrics. Bambi didn't resist an urge to smile at her parents, being glad they were cheerful again. These months everything was dull. She was glad to see all three of them hanging out again without those worried facial expressions.

She didn't know how long were they driving, but at some point her dad parked in front of someone's house Bambi didn't know.

"What are we doing here?" She asked curiously as she eyed her parents. She felt like this would turn into another therapy session with random psychologist again, and she was not really in the mood for it.

"Don't worry, you will love it." Her mother winked as they got out of the car and walked to the front doors of the house. Bambi felt nervous and anxious, but she trusted her parents because if it was something serious, they would tell her. Her mother rung a bell that was placed on the wall, and they all waited in silence. Shortly after, footsteps could be heard and then the door opened. There stood kind looking dark skinned woman with a gigantic smile plastered on her face.

"Hello! You must be the Moody family." She grinned, Bambi not really knowing if she was trying to make a joke or not.

"Good afternoon! It's nice to finally meet you!" Darcy replied kindly as well as she shook hands with the woman. "This is my husband, John, and my daughter- Bambi." She mentioned at the two, both of them awkwardly waving.

Even though Bambi said her father was a tough and brave man, he was extremely socially awkward. He didn't know how to deal with certain social situations and that's why his lovely wife did everything. She was the head of this family, as she should be.

"What a wonderful name." The woman smiled at her in awe. "I'm Mel. Come in."

The little family stepped into her house. It was huge and neat. Nothing was made out of leather, not even the sofas. There weren't vases around nor things made out of china or glass. Bambi took few steps and suddenly she stepped on something that let out a loud squeak, and it made the confused girl jump in surprise. She glanced down at the floor and espied a yellow rubber duck, lying there helplessly. The woman probably had children.

She was examining the house as her parents talked to Mel about whatever, and then she heard her father ask. "Where are they?"

Where are who now?

The youngest girl felt confused as ever. She didn't understand why were they in that woman's house nor what was happening. Why would her parents decide to visit this place? When she looked at them, they looked very excited, specially Darcy, while John wore little smile on his face.

What the hell.

"Oh they are in the backyard. Come with me." Mel answered on the question as she began to walk through the house, Bambi walking slower than usual as she examined the place more. She glanced at the wall and noticed many pictures of... dogs. And not any kind of dogs, big and powerful dobermans, winning bunch of prizes and contests with Mel and another man who is probably her husband holding golden trophies.

"Wait are we—"

But her sentence was cut off once when the woman opened the door that lead to huge backyard and instantly loud and dozen of barks filled the air and Bambi's jaw dropped down to the ground. There was literally a pack of dobermans running towards them, their tongues out and eyes wide.

Well, when she said pack, she meant two adult dogs with many many puppies. And Bambi felt her heart warm up. "Oh my god." And then her mouth spread into a giant smile.

"Imagine some mental disorders or even grieving as a bad dog." Layla said one day when the girl was sitting in her office on the chair. This was their fourth session and Bambi's psychologist said the young girl was finally warming up to her. She was finally able to talk about things she was feeling in front of unknown person. Bambi Moody was a girl that was friends with many people but opened up only to few. She needed to feel deep connection in order to spill the darkest depths of her mind to someone. That's why therapy was hard for her. "Some people have smaller dogs, some people have bigger dogs. Some dogs are less aggressive and quick at learning, some are more aggressive and slow to catch up on some things. You won't always know what this dog you have wants from you. Sometimes it will make you angry. Sometimes it will bite you and hurt you, bring you the pain. You will try to train it, but it will be hard. It will bark at people that you want in your life and push them away and sometimes even bring you some things. It will always be there with you, following you because you're its' owner. Sometimes it will sleep with you in the bed and you won't feel it, sometimes it will bark loudly and smash things in the middle of the night to wake you up. But in the end, you can train your dog, accept it, calm it down, and learn how to live with it."

Bambi got down as puppies surrounded her, jumping at her knees and barking adorably, licking her hands with their tongues, some even lightly biting her from excitement. She picked up one gently and carefully, setting it in her lap. The black puppy with brown patterns got on its back paws and put its front paws on girl's chest, reaching her jaw and licking it viciously. It was warm and the feeling of euphoria spread through Bambi's body like drug. She didn't feel this happy ever since she got drunk that night and jumped in the hot tub.

The memory made her cringe. She wished Peter Parker could delete that memory he possessed. She was acting so irresponsibly and foolishly, and even though the thought of that innocent boy had to listen to her talking about peeing and other gibberish, she was glad at the same time he was there to keep her safe. She could had gotten a serious fever if she stayed in that wet shirt. And then just as she thought her night couldn't get any wilder, she had a tea session with freaking Spider-Man. She didn't even let everything from that night sink in yet. She was to embarrassed of it. She didn't speak to Peter nor Spider-Man.

Suddenly, an adult doberman licked her entire cheek, nuzzling her with its big muzzle, and Bambi laughed even harder as she turned her head to face the big dog and gave it a kiss on top of his muzzle.

"Which one do you want?"

"What?"

Suddenly, realisation hit her like a cold wave followed by a slap across the face. Her parents were getting her a dog. Her eyes widened in shock as her head snapped to look at the three adults that were all looking pleased and happy.

"Surprise! Merry early Christmas!" Darcy exclaimed as she did jazz hands. She glanced at her husband from the corners of her eyes, then elbowed him. "John. Jazz hands." She whispered angrily before John's eyes widened and raised his hands to do jazz hands too.

"You're getting me a dog? Are you for real?"

"So. Doberman or Rottweiler." Mason asked one day when they were casually chilling at Bambi's room and the girl was scrolling through her Instagram page before finding a video of doberman playing with kittens.

Mason loved dogs, and he also knew a lot about them. When he was around 12, before he got Angie, he did lot of research on dogs, and suddenly he knew everything about various species. When they would walk down the streets of the city, the boy would always stop when he saw the dog and ask owner of it if he could pet it. Later when the owner would already leave their sight, Carter boy would always, always say a fun fact about that species. It was one of the reasons why Bambi Moody was fascinated by Mason Carter.

"Neither. Both are scary." Bambi shrugged as she continued to scroll down, looking at memes and whatnot.

"I think doberman suits you."

"Why?"

"Dobermans are really people-oriented dogs." He began to explain as the girl beside him turned off her phone and turned her whole attention to him. "They often bond only to one person and literally be loyal to death, maybe even a little possessive over their owner. They want to be super close to their owner all the time, they follow them in different rooms, they will sleep with them in bed or lay down on the couch with them in pass-me-that-remote style."

"And why do you think it would be for me?"

"Well, you don't like to be lonely."

And it was true. Bambi hated the feeling of being alone more than anything in this world.

"Yeah, we so damn are. We talked about this for a long time and I think it would be great for all of us." Her father explained as he picked one puppy up to, talking to it in baby voice and pouting at it. He acted like a goddamn child, and Bambi loved it.

She couldn't explain the feelings that were swimming around her head in that moment. She wanted to cry out of happiness but also these weeks she hated the idea of crying no matter what emotion caused them. Her heart felt like it was about to explode in bright colours of fireworks all around.

"Are you sure you guys want this?" She asked them just in case to be sure even though she already knew the answer. Once when her parents set heart on something, they will get it. And seeing both of them happily playing with dogs too, she guessed they probably wanted this too.

"Of course. Pick one."

She looked over the crowd of puppies. Some were black and brown and some were fully brown. They were about 2 months old, she could tell. Mel said they all were vaccinated with everything they needed and they already had passports, what probably meant they were given names as well, but Bambi really didn't care about a name. Almost every single puppy was trying to suffocate her by their love, except one quiet black pup that was sitting not too far, examining the new person carefully. It held its head high and its muzzle was tightly shut. The way it held itself- it looked like a loner, leader... it looked like, like—

"Alpha, come here." Mel called out when she noticed the girl staring off at a pup, and he instantly dashed to their direction, just then he came to the girl, softly licking her hand.

Alpha.

Like that antagonist doberman from Pixar's Up movie.

"This one." She said as she gently stroked a fur at pup's head, making him close his eyes in pleasure.

"Ohh, you picked the smartest one." Dark skinned woman laughed as the youngest girl locked the eyes with that small creature.

"Yeah. I did."

Bambi thought she was dreaming entire day. She couldn't even think of a possible universe in which this kind of thing would happen. She got a dog. And not any kind of dog.

Alpha was really smart, and he was quiet all the way home. He lied in the girl's lap and slept there entire ride, not letting out any kind of bark or sound of protest once.

Her parents explained they were preparing this for a long time. They had already bought many things for their new family member but kept it hidden from the girl. It was supposed to be her Christmas gift but in the end, they got him earlier than they expected. Bambi was waiting for a moment for her to wake up, even though she didn't want to.

She always wanted a dog, and her literally favourite species was doberman. How did it come to that point, since literally only a year ago Bambi was scared of every big dog in existence, no one really knew. The brunette was thanking her parents for the thousandth time that day when they returned to their house.

Alpha curiously sniffed every corner of their home as his eyes darted around, adjusting to his new home. He looked like explorer discovering a new land, or a whole new world. Bambi felt even sorry for him, since he was taken away from his siblings and parents. She didn't know what kind thoughts swarmed in that little mind in that moment.

Animals were different than humans. Bambi wondered if they grieved too, if little ones cried after they were taken away from their families to be in a new one, she wondered if a mother ever thinks of her little ones if they ever part their ways. She wondered if this dog felt sad. She wondered if this dog would forget about his first two months after spending a while at his new home.

Darcy gave Alpha a bowl of water and food, placing it in the living room. The little pup immediately launched itself on it, splashing the water with its tongue.

Days passed quickly with him in there.

He ran around the house just the next day as if he was living there forever, Bambi running after him and laughing as her the sound of her footsteps and dog's claws hitting the floor filled the entire home. They would play tag all day, she chased after him and then she chased after her.

Bambi thought she mentioned this for hell knows what time, but Alpha was incredibly, incredibly intelligent. He adjusted to the new home quickly. They began to potty train him, and he got their idea fast. Darcy and John pulled out at least ten different dog toys out of their closet where they kept them hidden before. They loved to play tug with him, he would bite the end of his toy hard and growl a little.

One late night when Bambi was on her phone preparing to finally go to sleep, she heard soft whining from her side. She looked down only to see Alpha sitting there and looking up at her with the biggest puppy eyes.

"Hey buddy." She greeted quietly so she wouldn't wake up her parents. "Wanna get up here?"

The dog wagged his tail as he stood up, still looking up expectedly. The brunette smiled and picked him up from the floor, putting him on her chest before the pup began to gently lick her entire face, making his owner laugh quietly. Bambi found peace in him. It will sound totally weird because she got him few days ago, but she felt connected to him. She felt comfort, she felt being loved already. She wasn't alone. He was there for her all the time. Because that's what animals do. They give you comfort and love with no words, just pure action and them being with you. Except cats. Those little jerks would watch you get seizure and still sit on your head while you're dying.

"I love you." She whispered to him in baby voice and kissed the top of his nose. "It's you and me buddy. It will always be you and me."

She felt like this was a start of something new. She just got a friend for life. This dog would never leave her, and she knew it. Dobermans and all dogs in general were loyal. They were man's best friends, and only death parts those two.

She didn't like to think about death. She didn't like to think about anyone dying, because every time she did, she would remember it all. Her grandparents. Mason. Oh god, Mason.

Mason left. Without saying goodbye, without hearing Bambi's goodbye. It bothered her. It bothered her and she still felt confused. She still waited to wake the fuck up, because she was sure as hell she didn't enjoy that part of this dream. She kept herself busy and didn't let herself think about it. She made pancakes and baked other sweets, she watched movies and series, she read books. She did what she did all those years ago when she lost two people she loved the most. She did everything in her power to not think about it because every time she would find herself stop for just a second and not do anything, she remembered it. She reminded herself there was a pain, a pressure in her chest. So she kept herself busy. Because she didn't want to face it.

She didn't want to accept it.

How could she?

"I love you, Alpha." She repeated with teary eyes as she gently ran her hand through his short black fur, and soon she fell asleep with him lying on her chest with no sound and no picture in her dreams... but it was warm. It felt warm after so many sleepless nights and terrible dreams.

***

"Oh. My. Sweet. Thor's. Abs." Mary Jane's jaw dropped the day when she and the rest of Bambi's little group stepped into her home, seeing her new family member for the first time. Alpha immediately started barking as he was jumping all over the redhead's legs.

"He is adorable." Gwen's lip pouted as she stared at the pup, getting down on her knees so she could reach him. "Hi, little angel!" She said in high pitched voice to him after he turned his whole attention to her.

"Meh, I guess he's fine." Harry shrugged his shoulders as he said jokingly, trying to keep his face neutral.

"Jerk." Mary Jane laughed as she elbowed him. "He is cuter than you."

"What?" The boy raised his furry eyebrows at the shorter girl. "Absolutely not." After that sentence, Alpha licked the redhead's cheek and Harry's jaw dropped. "Bambi!" He whined to the girl.

"What?"

"Take away that rat, he's stealing my girl!" He said in childish voice as he pointed his index finger at the puppy who was now all over Mary Jane, who seemed to enjoy this too much.

"Your girl?" Bambi repeated his phrase with raised eyebrows before quickly glancing at Gwen, who just mouthed 'I don't know' and shrugged.

Bambi wasn't really getting updates on the two lovebirds these days. She wasn't even surprised by that, since the group wasn't spending time as they used to. She wanted to change that. She didn't want to push her friends away.

They went up to her room, with Mary Jane carrying Alpha in her hands. "He's heavy." She commented as she put him down on the floor, wincing.

"Oh trust me, one day he will be heavier than you." Harry said as they entered brunette's room.

"Are you jealous of a dog?" Redhead asked in high pitched voice as she grinned in pride, obviously amused by this.

As the two bickered, dark skinned girl exchanged glanced with other one, both of them smiling happily. "Are you excited for the ski trip?" Gwen asked her so they don't have to focus on the other two friends. Harry was talking some nonsense to Alpha with pointed finger at him, and then suddenly the little pup bit his finger (but not too hard, don't worry), making the boy yelp in surprise.

"My father will hear about this!" He growled to the dog on the ground who had smug look on his face.

"Alpha! No biting!" Bambi sternly told the dog before turning her attention to Gwen again. "I guess I am. I have never skied nor snowboarded before though, so I'm nervous."

"Don't worry, I'm sure some macho ripped guy will willingly help you." The girl beside her winked, making Bambi roll her eyes. Before she even thought about it, she saw Gwen's face immediately fall, painted in regret and guilt. "I mean—"

Bambi knew the girl thought it would hurt her since Mason was the guy she thought she would always end up with her, love of her life. She knew one day she would move on and find somebody else, but at this moment she didn't really want to.

"What about you, G? I'm sure there's certain nerdy dark and mysterious girl that cold help you." Bambi quickly changed the theme as she winked at the girl, whose mouth tightly snapped shut.

"First of all, I'm pro at snowboarding." She corrected her friend, trying to make herself look less frustrated as she held her head high. "Second of all, how do you know about that?"

"How do I know about you bumping in Michelle Jones at the party few weeks ago? These two dumbasses told me everything." Bambi explained excitedly as she quickly threw a glance at the mentioned pair, who was, in fact still bickering about something as Mary Jane cradled the pup in her arms like he was her baby. "I know about you two furiously blushing and stuttering with wide eyes and romantic songs playing in background... ah, love." She continued sheepishly with soft tone of her voice as she teased the girl beside her.

"It wasn't that romantic song at all. It was Tongue Tie—"

"Oh my god, you even memorised the song!" Bambi faked a gasp. "Did you like, replay that moment in your head twenty times while listening to Lana Del Rey?"

"Oh my god, will you shut up?" Gwen laughed as she threw a pillow at her friend who instinctively ducked, the soft pillow hitting Harry instead, who made an 'oof' sound followed by Mary Jane's loud laughing. "What about you? We never really talked about what happened there."

Bambi didn't want to tell her she got insanely drunk that night. She didn't want to tell her about embarrassing herself in front of Peter and then later having bonding moment with Spider-Man. Hell, she didn't even tell her friends that she met the famous hero at all.

"I hanged out with Peter." She simply said the truth, or at least short version of if as she shrugged.

"Peter Parker?" Mary Jane popped into conversation, suddenly interested. She jumped on the bed next to the two girl, Alpha following her along. They all looked at Harry, expecting him to sit down too, only to find there was no space for the boy anymore. He frowned, looking directly at Alpha, who seemed to purposely tease him.

"Bully." Harry murmured as he sat down on the floor close to the girl, keeping close eye on his rival.

"Yeah. He's actually really nice to hang out with." The brunette continued, trying not to sound too enthusiastic since she knew how her friends would be.

"I like that guy. He seems nice." Mary Jane nodded her head as she messaged little circles behind puppy's ears.

"How come you hanged out with him?" Gwen asked confusedly.

"I don't know. We—" just happened to pee in the same place. "—found each-other."

"That can't be the whole story." Harry raised one if his eyebrows at the girl, not buying her short story. Bambi suddenly realised that she might as well just tell them. She wasn't telling them lot of things lately.

"We kinda jumped into the hot tub. I mean, he jumped because he thought I would drown I guess."

"Oh my god, did you see him shirtless?"

"Um... yeah." Brunette's cheeks reddened a little. She would never admit it out loud, but Peter Parker actually had... very, very good looking body. Like, that kind of I'm-so-strong-I-can-probably-stop-a-train looking body. "He actually has abs."

"He has a what?" Redhead's voice suddenly raised. "You're telling me Peter-fucking-Parker has abs?" Her jaw dropped on shock. "Bullshit."

"He does! Guys, he's ripped."

"No waaaaaayyyy." Mary Jane gasped with Gwen as they laughed childishly in high pitched voice, what resulted the only boy in the room to roll his blue eyes in annoyance.

"He can't have that good looking body." He joined in, clearly not amused. Everyone looked at Bambi expectedly, even the dog. She just shrugged as her lips stretched in wide smile.

"Oh my god he does." Gwen squeaked.

"Gwen, you're gay." They all laughed at Bambi's statement as the dark skinned girl pouted her lips, but then cracking a laugh as well.

"Are you two friends?" Dark skinned girl changed the subject suddenly. Bambi thought about it. They definitely weren't just people who knew about each-other. He helped her during her exam. She helped him when his uncle died, and he helped her, in a way too when Mason did. He was understanding and patient with her when she was out of her mind, he even borrowed her his t-shirt so she wouldn't catch a cold. She still wondered if Peter found some clothes that night or freeze to death.

The boy was kind, and he looked like he could be really good friend. He was gentle and caring and Peter Parker, out of all people, really got her. He understood her.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

***

Hello! So i got this 'depression/mental disorders as a bad dog' idea by one illustrator named Kaye Blegvad! You can check her "My Depression Is Like Having A Bad Dog" over here:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kayeblegvad/dog-years

That's it! The next chapter is pure fluff :)