*AN-Hey guys, I know it took a while to update this story, but I've got a couple chapters in reserve so expect another update in the next couple of days. I wanted to wait a while to see the reception this story would get, and it was positive. So, I'm going to continue it. Also, for anyone wanting an update of 'Hutch', don't worry that is also coming in the next couple of days. Enjoy!

I'll spare you the boring part about the wait. After a quick x-ray, the doctors confirmed Eve's suspicion. I did in fact have a cracked rib thanks to that little jackass bulldozing me with a metal door. It wasn't anything serious, and it would heal on its own, but they did advise me from taking another hit like that. They were nice enough to offer some painkillers, but I kindly refused them. I doubted it would be much of an issue. As we were leaving the hospital I made a mental note to kick Humphrey's ass for what he'd done though.

*Ding*

My phone went off right as we got back to the truck. Lilly called Eve to tell her the news, I guess Eve had wanted her to, so I took the moment to check my phone. It was a text from my own mother.

Hey sweetie, your father surprised me at work with tickets for a two-week-long cruise in the Bahamas for our anniversary. I hate to leave so soon, especially without saying goodbye, but the cruise starts the day after tomorrow and we needed to leave as soon as we could. We put $2,000 in your bank account in case you wanted to order out or go out with your friends while we're gone. Love you 3

This wasn't anything new. My parents had always been the spontaneous type, especially my dad, so I didn't even think twice. I'm sure you could make the argument that it wasn't right to just up and leave for a week-long cruise without even seeing your son, but I honestly didn't mind. Maybe it was because they did this sort of stuff all the time and I was just accustomed to it, or maybe it was because I understood that they liked to live their own lives still. Either way, I was happy that they were happy.

That was sweet of him. Thanks for the money, although I'm sure $2,000 was a little overkill. I hope you guys enjoy the trip, be sure to take lots of pictures for me. Love you.

I decided it best to leave out the part about my cracked rib. Mom was extremely protective of me, and she'd be home in a heartbeat if she knew I was hurt. Even if she wasn't she'd be worried sick about me the whole time and forget to enjoy herself. The guilt of having her be miserable during what was supposed to be a relaxing trip would've been far worse than a little chest pain. Plus, I liked having the house to myself.

You're probably also thinking '$2,000 holy shit are you rich?' Well, not really. Sure we have a lot of disposable income, but we were by no means millionaires. Most of our money came from dad. He was a business contractor. Basically, companies would pay him 'x' amount of money to build a building for them, what he didn't use he kept. It paid relatively well, considering he still had to pay his workers.

Mom on the other hand, was a tech geek like me. She worked IT for a lot of local businesses. It was low stress, and she had her own office space downtown so it wasn't a bad gig. Most days she just sat at her office and helped people with their computers over the phone. I'd gone with her a couple of times, and honestly, I was bored the whole time. No one ever called. She said when she's not helping people she tinkers with old computer parts she either buys at thrift stores of people give to her, usually because they don't work anymore.

"Mom wouldn't tell me what she was gonna do the next time she saw Humphrey, said it 'wasn't appropriate for school'. Normally I don't like it when she gets violent, but in this case, I can make an exception," she explained as she crawled back in to drive.

"On the bright side it gets us out of class for the day, which means long weekend," I said, trying to keep her positive.

"True. OH CAN WE GO TO THE PET STORE AND LOOK AT THE TURTLES," she practically exploded out of nowhere with excitement. Most people liked dogs, cats, and even lizards. Lilly, on the other hand, liked turtles.

"Don't you have a pet turtle already," I asked raising a brow.

"Well yeah, but he needs a friend. We're gonna go look at the turtles," she said definitively. I couldn't exactly say no to her. Aside from the fact that she was driving, she was just so damn cute it was impossible to deny her whatever she wanted.

As we cruised towards the local pet store, I felt a certain uneasiness fall over us. One that I usually got when Lilly was trying to keep something from me. We were the best of friends sure, but when it came to certain things Lilly liked to hide stuff from me. Usually it was stuff I would get upset about. Not at her mind you, but rather a certain person attending Jasper High.

"He texted you again didn't he," I asked finally. Immediately she blushed and tried to pretend like she didn't hear me. Yep, exactly what I thought.

Lilly was easily the most beautiful girl attending Jasper High, some would argue Kate was prettier but they were wrong. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise when I tell you that other people had their eyes on her. But on in particular, along with myself, kept all the others at bay. Garth Newsome, or as I liked to call him Garth Nuisance.

Garth, was captain of the school's football team and Jaspers number one meathead fuckboy. He had an infamous reputation for sleeping with every girl in our class, including Kate (I'll explain how I know later), but Lilly was that one who would always reject him. It was a relief knowing that she'd never fall for him, but he wasn't the type to take 'no' sitting down. She didn't like to tell me about him trying to contact her because she knew how I felt about him. She always insisted she could handle it, but I wanted to make sure that he knew he didn't do anything he'd end up regretting.

Maybe it's cruel, or makes me a bit of an asshole, but I didn't care. I wouldn't sit around and let him break her heart just so he could get into her pants to stroke his own ego.

"The usual. A snapof his dick," she sighed.

"Remind me again why you haven't blocked him," I asked with a raised brow.

"Because Kate likes to drunk snap me from his phone when she needs a ride. Humphrey holds her phone so she doesn't accidentally text mom or dad. She might drive me insane, but she's still my sister," she explained with a hint of disgust in her voice. Lilly wasn't too fond of the way Kate had been acting, and her distaste seemed to grow by the day. She would never say anything though, she was far too sweet.

The part about Humphrey holding her phone was something I didn't know however. It definitely explained the snaps I'd been getting from Kate, or at least I thought she was the one sending them. Remember how I said she only talked to me when she was drunk? Well that's not entirely true. It was less of a conversation, and more of a visual thing. To put it bluntly, her and Humphrey fucking, usually with a short statement about how good it was. I always assumed it was her trying to make me jealous. This was how I found out about her and Garth.

As for why I hadn't blocked her yet, I guess I'm just a masochist in that way. Something about the jealousy I felt just made it easier to move on. I never told Lilly though, nor did I have any plan to. I highly doubted she wanted to know what I'd seen. And, on the bright side, it did confirm that I was bigger than Humphrey. So at least I had my pride.

"So who were you texting back there, your girlfriend," Lilly teased, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Not unless I'm in an incestuous relationship with my mom," I replied.

"Hey whatever floats your boat man," she giggled as we arrived at the local pet store. The "Pet Palace" was a family run business that had been in Jasper long before I was ever even conceived. Despite its age though, it was a very upkept place. Course they were also the only pet store for miles around, so it was hard to lose money without any competition.

I followed behind Lilly as she practically skipped inside. I didn't like doing it, because it made me feel guilty, but I couldn't help staring at her gorgeous rump. Her tight-fitting jeans just wrapped around her petite figure so well, it just wasn't fair. The way her tail swayed back and forth with her hips was practically intoxicating. Sometimes I felt like she knew I stared and was just doing it on purpose.

"Awe look how cute they are," she gushed at the tank of tiny turtles. There were at least a dozen miniature turtles swimming around the tank. Admittedly they were pretty cute, if only because they were so small.

"Remember when Bentley was that small," I asked. Bentley was Lilly's pet turtle. I was with her when she bought him, I'd never seen a girl so happy about getting a reptile.

"I do. He was a little poop head. I'd always give him fruit and how'd he thank me? Hissing at me."

"Lilly, he still does that."

"Yeah but now it's because he loves me."

I bought Lilly another turtle because she wanted it, even though she insisted I didn't have to. It's just so damn hard for me to not do stuff for her. By the time we left the pet store my chest was feeling much better and so I offered to drive so Lilly could play with her new pet. She and her family lived in the suburbs of Jasper. They had a cute 2 story house with a 2 car garage that looked like identical to the others around it. Almost like something off a TV show. A red brick place with a black shingled roof, white trim around the windows. And the interior was just as nice. Parked in the driveway was Lilly's jet black 2017 Jeep Wrangler, freshly washed no doubt by her father Winston.

"Thanks for buying me a turtle Hutch, you're seriously the best. You want to come inside for a while," she offered.

"You sure your parents wouldn't mind," I asked. Even though I knew Winston and Eve I still felt odd being in their house without their permission.

"Sure wouldn't," Winston said, appearing from the garage.

"Daddy," Lilly said happily as she greeted her father with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Look, Hutch bought me another turtle."

"Awe he's a little cutie, looks just like Bentley did. Speaking of which, I cleaned his tank for you," he said hugging her back. Winston was by far one of if not the nicest person I'd ever met. He was Staff Sergeant in the RCMP and didn't often spend a lot of time at home during the day. I guess I'd been thrown off since I didn't see his cruiser anywhere. "Hutch, where have you been? Haven't seen you around here in ages."

"Just busy studying for finals," I replied, turning my tuck off and stepping out to talk to him.

"Smart as you are I doubt you'll have any problems. Eve called and told me about your injury, mainly to let me know you might drop by. I'm not too happy about what happened. Eve and I disapprove of that kid, but, Kate is her own woman. You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, I should be fine as long as I don't put a lot of weight onto my chest," I gave my sore chest a soft rub.

"Good. Say, you hungry? I was getting ready to grill some burgers," it was a hard offer to refuse. Aside from being one of the nicest people I'd ever met, he was also one of the best cooks. Apparently, his mom had spent a lot of time touring Europe while she was in university and so learned a lot about fine cuisine. She taught him everything she knew.

"You know I can't say no to your food," I shrugged.

"Ah you know I can't take a compliment," he said pulling his propane grill out of the garage. Lilly had disappeared through the house to go put "Sheldon" in his new home, leaving me and Winston by ourselves. I didn't mind though, I'd never felt shy or nervous around Winston. He was almost like an uncle to me.

"Seems like you've been busy, shouldn't you be relaxing on your day off?"

"Probably. But with the weather being nice and warm I can't stand the thought of sitting around and doing nothing. I've washed all the windows inside and out, cleaned the gutters, cleaned Lilly's turtle tank and her Jeep, all that's left is to cut the grass. Which I plan to do after a quick lunch break. I'm kinda glad you stopped by. I want to talk to you about something."

"O-oh? What's that?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Lilly's been complaining about some kid named Garth lately, says he keeps flirting with her. Well from what we gather he's not exactly her type, nor is he the type I want my daughter dating. You'll keep an eye out for her, won't you? Make sure he doesn't do anything he might regret?"

"Of course. Lilly's my best friend and I'd never let that meathead touch her," I swore which made Winston smile.

"Good, now let's have a burger."