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“Tiger!!” Ringo shouted as he sped walked down the street, eyes darting every which way to try to find his little pooch. Though he’d only gone missing not five minutes ago, it was pitch black already, nearly midnight. He should have just stayed inside and he wouldn’t be dealing with this problem, but no, he just had to come watch the stars.
“Tiger!” This was getting ridiculous. Surely, if the poor dog could hear him, it would have come running to him, right? But still, he was six blocks down, and there was no sign of him. Had he gotten stuck somewhere?
He then heard the jingle of a collar, and a bit of hope ran through him! Thank god! But as he got closer to it, a huge dog ran out of the bushes and barked at him deeply before scurrying off back to his home.
Just then, Ringo fell to his knees and cried out. The lump in his throat became so big that even swallowing hurt, and if it weren’t for the asphalt beneath him, he would have completely collapsed. His world caved in on him as he grieved his lost dog, sobs starting to wrack his body.
“Hey!” Heavy tears fell from the lids of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. “Hey, is this your dog?” He perked up upon hearing the words, mind focused less on the person saying them and more on the small white dog in their arms. When the strange man set it down on the ground, it only stood there.
“Tiger,” Ringo whispered, patting hard at the spot in front of him. “Tiger, love, come here!” Suddenly, the lost-looking dog found Ringo and ran to him, jumping into his chest. “Oh, Tiger! Baby!” Ringo squeezed him tightly as he fell onto his bum, immediately feeling how violently the little dog was shaking.
“H-he was standing in my garden. Looked a little disoriented, and I didn’t know if he was alright, but when I called out to him, he came over.”
Ringo opened his mouth to say thank you, but all that came out was a choked sob and more tears. Instead, he stood up from the ground, Tiger still firmly in one of his arms, and he leaned forwards and wrapped the other one around the stranger.
“Oh!” Although taken a bit by surprise, the man didn’t resist, returning the hug.
“I’m so glad you found him! I don’t know what I would have done…” He fought back the urge to profess how lonely he was in his own home, and how he probably wouldn’t have had any will to do anything without Tiger.
“W-well, I’m glad, too. He seems like a very good dog, and I can see that he absolutely adores you.” When the hug ended, the man stuck out his hand. “I’m George, by the way. I live just down the road. Are you nearby?”
“Y-yeah, I live over by Alder Street… Erm, I’m Ringo, er, Richie, I mean, you can call me whatever you want. I don’t mind, really.” He blushed and craned his neck to kiss Tiger’s back to hide the red on his cheeks.
“Heh, okay. Why don’t we meet somewhere sometime? I mean, I’ve got a dog, and I’m sure he’d love to meet Tiger, y’know.” Ringo nodded eagerly. “Oh, lovely! What about in the park on Saturday? Unless you’re busy. It’s fine if you’re--”
“That would be great,” Ringo said and smiled.
“Perfect. Does ten work good for you? In the morning, of course.” Ringo nodded, now a tiny bit giddy. “G-great! I’ll see you then!” When George turned around and started to practically skip away, Ringo couldn’t help but giggle.
In losing the only thing close to family he had, he may have just found another.