He knew it was crazy.

Okay - maybe crazy wasn’t the right word for it. It was rash, sure, but as hands gripped the steering wheel of the parked car and he glanced over at the familiar, beige looking building for the tenth time in the last five minutes, Daniel McKay was finding it harder and harder to find any cons in the mental list of pros versus cons that he was creating in his head. He could use a friend - companionship was important in a person’s life, right? And the animals in the shelter could use a home; how many of them were taking up space, doomed to remain unloved?

Unloved.

Closing his eyes, he counted to five and then opened the car door.

A brand new leash remained bunched up in one fist, his other hand depositing his car keys in his pocket. The green coloring was a little too bright, the tag still dangling from the cord as he’d debated taking it back at least four times. Take it back, put it to use, take it back, put it to use. The decision had lingered, though as he stepped foot inside the bleak looking front room of the animal shelter, he knew the tag was as good as gone on the leash.

It wasn’t the animal shelter’s fault that their building looked sad. The colors on the walls looked even sadder than the pitiful faces of the many animals’ faces that were plastered on the corkboard near the front desk. The area was sparse, save for the sign-in clipboard and various flyers advertising veterinary practices and puppy training courses. The lady at the desk seemed slightly brighter than her surroundings, but not by much.

“May I help you?”

His voice was moving faster than his brain, Danny hearing the words fly out of his mouth before he had time to process them. “I called earlier about Gatsby. The Shepherd?”

“Oh,” the middle-aged woman said, glancing down at various sheets of paper that lay before her, as if she were busy enough through the day that she’d need to refer to her notes for reference. In truth, they’d had exactly four calls for the entire morning; she was, simply put, disorganized. “You must be… Daniel McKay, then?”

A slip of paper was retrieved and held up, handwritten notes jotted on the side. “Did you want to see him again, before you make your decision?”

“No ma’am, I’m sure that he’s the one.”

Eyes glanced above the note, meeting his as if silently judging. “He’s been returned once before. We just want to make sure that Gatsby finds the right home. It’s not good for a dog to be moved around so much, especially at his age.”

Danny could feel his cheeks reddening. It wasn’t his fault that the former owner returned him.

“Yes ma’am, I understand your concern.” His voice struggled to regain its warmth, a hint of offense taken by the comment. In his heart, Danny knew she was simply concerned. At the same time, did the shelter really have room to be questioning him, when they were already struggling with an overwhelming number of animals, as it was?

“I live by myself, so I think it would be good for both of us, to have someone.”

Okay, well, that came out far more pathetic than he would have liked.

If the lady thought so as well, she didn’t say. Instead, she pushed a buzzer and called for another volunteer to fetch the older dog from the kennels in the back. A second clipboard was retrieved from behind the desk and she pulled out a few forms from within one of her cabinets. Clipping several pieces of paper to the board, she handed them over to Danny, along with a pen.

“Please fill these out for us. The fee is normally one hundred and fifty dollars for a dog’s adoption but since Gatsby's on our Aging Angels list, he comes at a discount of eighty. Will you be paying cash or credit?”

Setting the leash on the counter next to the clipboard, he fished out his wallet and pulled out his debit card, offering it to her as he lifted up the pen and began jotting down his information. There were far more questions than he was prepared to answer - he expected to put his name and housing information, but his job? The size of his place? If there was a backyard?

Was this a dog adoption or was he inadvertently purchasing a child along with this??

His card had been swiped and charged by the time he made it halfway down the page. A few minutes longer and he’d finally finished, handing the clipboard back to the older woman, now that he’d given her what felt like his life’s story. It sort of made sense - ensuring a pet went to an appropriate home and not to someone who spontaneously wanted a dog…. Y’know, like he had. Though, to be fair, he’d always wanted a dog…

She was nodding her head as she glanced over his answers as the side door opened. Already straining on his leash, the large dog seemed overly excited when he noticed Danny standing by the front desk, which warmed his heart immensely. The dog wasn’t whining like he had when he’d seen Tristan, but he was clearly happy, regardless. One fatal error on the volunteer’s part and the leash snapped free, the dog dragging the cord along with him as he bounded forward.

Danny stooped down to open his arms in preparation for the assault, but nothing prepared him for the force of impact as the large beast managed to knock him over onto his butt as he practically jumped into the blonde’s arms.

The front desk volunteer and the one that had let Gatsby go both gasped, their worried expressions turning into smiles as the young man started to laugh, petting and rubbing all over the furry beast that continued to strain to lick his face, nuzzling and yipping his approval. It was almost as if he knew what Danny was here for and was thanking him accordingly.

It was at that exact moment that Daniel knew he’d made the right decision. As dark eyes looked up at him lovingly, his hand moved down to scratch behind the canine’s ears. Whoever said that money couldn’t buy happiness had obviously never adopted a dog because as far as Daniel McKay was concerned, he’d just purchased his newest best friend.