"You were unsure which pain is worse - the shock of what happened or the ache for what never will" -Anonymous

Role Changes: Oh boy, like my original story, Tony is married to Eve, meaning Garth has a totally different father and Winston being just... some wolf for now. I already have a screwed up story on my hands, don't I?

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Fire In JCDT Plaza

Humphrey's home

Monday 19:45

Humphrey's P.O.V.

I've finished moving my gaming console back to my room and washed the dishes. Now I just needed a nice, hot shower before heading to bed early.

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Nearby...Quinn Residence

Lilly's P.O.V.

"So... how was the meeting?" I ask my sister. She shrugs her shoulders with a fake smile. "It was alright, discussed whether or not stricter dress codes should be implemented or not, y'know stuff the principal would normally discuss with the vices and deputies." Kate answers as she walks slowly up the stairs. I frown at her behind her back.

"Are you and Garth y'know, friends?" I ask her. She stops dead in her tracks and turns around to face me. "Yeah... why?" She answers cautiously. I lean on the hand rail and sigh at her. "Come on, you know exactly what I'm asking. Why didn't you tell mom and dad - why didn't you tell me?"

Her tail stiffens up. "Don't tell mom and dad, please." She begs. "You know our parents are okay with dating, why hide it?" I ask her. Kate clenches her fists. "Maybe with you, I don't think you'd understand." She states before turning around and storming up the stairs. 'What?' I think I just dived head first into uncharted waters there. I've lived with Kate almost my whole life and I've never seen her act this way before. And what she said, she sounded upset with me about something, or maybe mom and dad. "I need a shower."

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Humphrey's P.O.V.

After showering, I didn't quite feel like going to bed early anymore. Since I had the console already plugged in my room, I figured I could play a few games before packing in.

"I forgot the controllers in the living room." I facepalm at myself after realizing this when I check in the drawers. I leave the room and stroll down the passage... slowly this time. I make my way down the stairs to avoid having that accident from earlier happen again. I could hear that the TV was still on as I approached the living room.

"-fire in the plaza. Witnesses say they heard explosions from all five surrounding buildings." I hear the voice of Veronica Frazier, a reporter from Tell-Tail. She said from all five buildings... that means Kate and Lilly's parents were definitely caught up in this accident. "Shit...!"

What if they were already on their way home? I hope for the best case scenario in that they're already on their way back to their daughters. "I gotta call Kate ASAP..." I say outloud then hurry back up to my room. I slip on the last few steps but regain my balance just in time then proceed to run through the passage. As soon as I get to my room, I find my phone already ringing. I grab the phone and see that Kate's called me first. I slide my finger on the screen to answer the call.

"Kate, you seeing this?" I ask her. "Yeah, Lilly isn't taking it too well and I'm just as scared." I could hear the worry in Kate's voice as she told me. "Have you tried calling them?" I ask. "Of course I've called them! They haven't picked up, it goes straight to voicemail!" Kate snaps at me, causing me to flinch away from the phone. "Kate, I know you're stressed out but you really have to calm down. All we can do now is cross our fingers and hope for the best, okay?" I tell her. I hear Kate taking a few deep breaths then exhaling through the phone. "I'll try. Thanks Humphrey."

"No problem, try and comfort Lilly for the time being." I say to Kate before we hang up.

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This was a dark hour for the sisters and I. Their parents became my guardians for a few years after I lost my own. I've got a strong sense that Lilly's experiencing the same shock and fear as I am right about now...

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Lilly's P.O.V.

I haven't felt this pain in a long, long time. If I lose mom- ... Eve and Tony(what have I done...), I'll be left with nothing. I wouldn't want to carry on living anymore if I lose both my biological parents and my surrogate parents.

I hear Kate knocking on the door to my room. Instead of responding verbally to let her in, I walk up to door and open it myself. Kate frowns almost instantly after seeing me. "This isn't like you, Lilly. Try and keep-" She says but I stop her midway through her second sentence.

"I've already lost hope and I can't be cheerful at a time like this." I say to Kate. She just shakes her head at me. "Humphrey called, well more like I called him but anyway... he wants us to stay calm, and for you especially to keep your head up. He knows exactly what you're going through right now and the same goes for you knowing the same for him."

"Maybe it's because we have the same cursed luck..." I mumble. "No, it's more like you two were built to understand eachother." Kate says getting me to tear up. It's true that there's no wolf I know that's second to Humphrey who knows what it's like about to lose your parents for the second time. I wipe my tears with the sleeve of my sweater and thank Kate. She offers a hug and I accept it with widely open arms.

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Humphrey's P.O.V.

50 Minutes Later

I jump from the couch in the living room after realizing I've fallen asleep while watching the news. It looked like the fire and rescue team had already entered Q.W.T.H Tech Company which is Lilly and Kate's parent's firm. I stretch after getting up then notice that the headline had changed while I was out.

27 INJURIES, QUINN CEO'S FOUND DEAD

I fall back onto the couch after reading the headline. I continue watching, shook to the core as the news camera turns back to Veronica. "There's no doubt that this was an attack on the main five Cilantro Plaza buildings. It's been reported that the CEO's of the Q.W.T.H company were found with bullet holes. This seemed to have been an organized assassination of the CEO's. No other casualties reported as of yet but we will keep you updated."

No shit it was an attack. Why would the Plaza be attacked so openly? I can't imagine what must be going through Kate or Lilly's heads right now-

I start hearing soft knocks coming from the front door. I prayed it wasn't the sisters because I wasn't prepared to confront them about the news. Even I'm emotionally upset about this. I get up from the couch and go the door. I unlock it then open the door slowly and see both Kate and Lilly standing by the door, devastated. Kate looked like she'd been crying the whole way here but Lilly looked worse. She'd completely lost the glow in her eyes, her face was dull and she couldn't lift her head.

I opened my mouth but I couldn't get any words out. "We know, it's okay." Kate says, trying to smile with streams of tears running down the sides of face. "We've been a bother for you all day but Lilly needs to be with someone she's really close to and understands her. Could you take care of her until she becomes herself again?" Kate requests.

"Of course, no problem." I reply and let Lilly in the house. "What will you do?" I ask her. "I'm gonna stay home, I probably won't be coming to school for some time too. I'd understand if you and Lilly wouldn't." Kate says before turning her back to me. "I'm so sorry Kate, this is something you can't get over easily." I finally say. She turns to face me again with a cheerful smile on her teary face. "That's why you're here. Lilly has a big heart but that heart, as huge as it is, is still fragile. I don't know if she sees it but you're the only wolf on Earth who can make her smile in times like this." Kate tells me before she starts walking off. "I'll see you tomorrow." She says. I nod then close the door slowly.

I turn around and see Lilly sitting on the living room couch, bent over with her head resting on her folded arms. "Oh crap..." I say under my breath. "Humphrey..." Her voice sounded dry and hurting as she said my name. I walk to the couch and sit beside her. I couldn't say anything unless she felt relaxed with speaking to me about tonight. "Do you understand what I'm feeling? Kate says you do but... do you really?"

I was about to answer but hesitated on giving my honest response. "I'd be lying if I said I could feel a hundred percent of what you were feeling but I do understand more or less the same pain you're experiencing. Eve and Tony (again, what have I done...) where like my surrogate parents but I didn't spend even half as much time with them as you have. I get that you're feeling way more hurt than I am." I say to the griefing Lilly.

"What do you feel right now?" She asks.

"A large sense of depression, like another piece of my life was taken from me. I'll miss how they always greeted me. I'm angry at myself because I didn't spend more time with them. Most of all, I feel sad not only because I won't be seeing them but because you've lost more than any wolf could gain in their heart."

Lilly lifts her head after I've spoken. "That's poetic... in a depressing sense." She says. "Sorry, I'm not used to talking about this stuff." I apologize to her. She just shakes her head at me. "Can I ask you one more thing? You don't have to answer if you don't want to..." Lilly says.

"Shoot." I say. "When you lost you parents, how did you cope?" Lilly looked me dead in the eyes as she asked this. Her eyes, slightly glowing, meant she was serious and truly wanted to know my pain back then. "I can answer that but first off, I want you to know that the afternoon I lost my parents was... violent. As a five year old pup, seeing both my parents get shot in the head was a traumatic experience. It took eight years for me to get around my PTSD, eight years of psychological therapy, eight years of sleepless nights, eight years of... pain." I tell her. "Did you find any happiness in those eight years?"

"Yeah, I met Shakey in elementary school. He was the first friend I talked to after that incident. Because he and I were so relatable, it was easy for me talk about that day later on." I answer with a soft smile forming on my face.

"I see, so like you and I-" Lilly says. "Yep, Kate wanted you and I to talk about this together because even though she's your step-sister, she still doesn't quite understand what you're going through." I finish. Lilly finally smiles again but it was short lived. "She should have came here too, it was her first time and it nearly broke her as much as it did me." She says, showing worry for her sister.

"She said she'd need time alone, she definitely does need help coping with this loss." I tell Lilly. She nods her head before yawning. "I guess I'll show you to the guest room now." I say as I get up from the couch. "Thanks again for being so kind." Lilly says to me. I shrug my shoulders then smile. She gets up from the couch then I walk her to the guest room.

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I made sure to bring an extra blanket to the room because it was a bit chilly tonight. Lilly takes off her shoes and makes herself comfortable on the bed. "If you need me, you know where my room is." I tell her before turning around and walking to the door. "Good night." She says. I respond with a nod then turn the lights off for her. It felt strange having her sleep over at my place for the first time, but it also felt like caring for a younger sister. I exit the room then close the door before strolling through down the passage to my room.

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A/N: Oof, this chapter's went on a little longer than I hoped it would be but it's more or less my target word count. Thanks for reading!

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The Lounge: Depression

Lilly: I'm back bitches.Garth: The queen has returned!Humphrey: I diagnose you with SIMP.Garth: Shut the fuck up. Lilly's back and that's the most important thing.Kate: Sad... if Lilly's the queen, what does that make me?Humphrey: MY queen.Garth: (-_-)Lilly: I see TMELIHS's base synopsis isn't too different in AELIHS.Garth: Doozie of a chapter. This gave me Shinji Ikari's crippling depression.Lilly: Alright back to working on the WipEout story...Blazin' Blitz: Wait, I'll be working on AELIHS for awhile.Lilly: Hm... so no WipEout?Blazin' Blitz: Mm-hm...

(This chat didn't mean anything since I didn't post it back then and decided it should be posted in bulk like the others)

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To Be Continued...

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