AN- Hey everyone. It's been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry for my absence. My mental health is basically the equivalent of a dumpster fire at this point, and has been for quite some time now. I know most of you who followed me for my content are probably angry at me for my disappearance, and I know that nothing I do can make that up to you. But, I want to try to be the author I once was again. I've always prided myself on quality, and had I been updating regularly with the mindset I have had, then none of my chapters would've met even my own standards, let alone yours. A side note before I let you start reading, I no longer have access to Word which I was using to write previously. Instead I'm now having to use a new software that I am unfamiliar with and isn't as polished as Word, so if there are a few grammatical issues or if my format seems a little different this is why. Anyway, I'll leave you to it now. Enjoy.

Monday came faster than I wanted it to. After Jason and I parted ways, I spent a long time just staring at the ring he'd given me. I should've been happy to receive such a generous gift, and while I was I couldn't help but feel a little bit angry. Angry at Garth and Janice for doing what they'd done. Angry that the world could be so unfair and cruel. But I think most of all I was angry at myself for not saying anything to Garth. Granted Jason had surely left him with a black eye, but he deserved so much worse.

I jolted awake in my bed, my alarm scaring the fur off of me during my dream. I groaned and turned it off, giving me at least the embrace of silence while I got ready. It was 6:30, I had a couple minutes to spare so I checked for any messages from my parents. Sure enough mom had sent me a few pictures of them from the ship. The last one was a picture of her and dad standing side by side, her arms resting on his chest while his free arm was around her neck. They looked so happy and content with one another. They didn't seem to have a care in the world.

So happy it was almost unfair, it made me a little jealous.

After I was done with the vacation photos I rolled over to Snapchat. One from Lilly, one from Alex, and...one from Kate. I decided to open Alex's first. Nothing special, just a picture of a bowl of cereal where the spoon had fallen down in the milk.

"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined," it said. It made me smile as he usually did. I loved his sense of humor.

Next I decided to go for Lilly's, since I practically already knew what Kate's was going to be. She'd sent several it seemed. The first was a picture of Sheldon and Bentley enjoying a strawberry with a few hearts drawn on to express her apparent delight. The next one took me by surprise. She was standing in front of her full length mirror in a pair of bright purple panties with a matching bra, each adorned with frilly lace around it.

'Look what I bought' it read. How she'd managed to get that without Eve or Winston knowing, I doubted I'd ever find out. And her final was a follow up to the previous.

It read 'what do you think?' with her winking. I responded with a shocked expression.

'Holy shit, you look so good in that.'

I didn't even have time to process my thoughts before I found myself opening Kate's. I hadn't even realized I'd done it, or for what reason. Perhaps the arousal Lilly's underwear clad gram brought me had my subconscious dying for more erotic imagery. I caught myself and looked to the door, making sure it was shut, then slipped my in my earphones. Didn't want Percy to catch wind of this after all. I took a deep sigh and opened it.

Immediately my crotch twitched.

There she was, the former girl of my dreams, with her muzzle wrapped firmly around the cock of someone I couldn't stand. What wasn't in her mouth was being worked by her right hand. For once they weren't at a party, as I could hear every moan she let out, every grunt he made while she worked his tool.

Her head pulled back and was followed by her hand before going back down. It wasn't like something out of a porn video, she wasn't making emphasized sucking sounds or going at a ridiculously fast pace, she was going slowly and letting out small subtle moans of was far more intimate than something you'd see online.

Suddenly Humphrey began to breath faster and placed his free hand on her head. Her hands moved to his thighs, holding them spread as she picked up the pace with her maw. All at once his legs started to spasm and she shoved herself down onto his tool causing him to grunt. She whimpered in protest as his hand held her in place, but made no attempt to actually pull away from him.

After a few seconds of panting she pulled away and held her mouth wide open. It was filled with a thick pool of his seed. It began to roll down her tongue before she quickly shut her mouth and made an emphasized gulp, opening once again to reveal a clean pallet.

"Mmm Hummy cummy in my tummy," she purred before it ended.

The mix of emotions I felt blended about as well as orange juice and toothpaste. I was aroused by the sight, disappointed that it wasn't me, but most of all I was angry. Angry at myself for watching it, and even more so for enjoying it. I wasn't supposed to be attracted to Kate anymore, I was falling for Lilly. I gripped my phone tightly, and had it not been in a case I probably would've bent it. When I realized what I was doing I took a deep breath to calm down.

I rolled and stood, not allowing myself to dwell on the thought for too long. I pulled my headphones out and pulled up Spotify, surely some music would've been enough to help take my mind off it. I also like to listen to it while I showered. I stripped on my way to the bathroom and queued up my Amon Amarth playlist. They were my favorite band to listen to when I was angry or just needed a release of emotions.

I flipped on the shower and started to scrub myself down as "War of the Gods," began. I had to resist the urge to sing along and risk throwing out my throat, as well as not embarrass myself in front of Percy's. As the water flowed across my body I sighed and threw my head back. The past couple days seemed like a blur. So much had happened, relatively speaking that is. My life is usually quiet and laid back, but over two days I'd shared a bed with my crush, witnessed Jason lose his girlfriend of 3 years, cracked a rib, and received concert tickets to my favorite band. It was enough to make my head spin.

Thankfully my mind didn't dwell on it for too long and went back to that vision of Lilly wearing that cute underwear. That was far more risqué than anything she'd ever done, that I knew of anyway. I know it seems like I'm making a big deal of something so trivial, but that wasn't like Lilly. She was far too innocent to do something like that out of the blue. Maybe that was the point, maybe she wanted to take the risk. To show me that she wanted to be more than friends.

I hated this relationship stuff.

None of it made any sense to me. I wasn't daft enough that I didn't know this was a sign, but I was ignorant to the point that I wasn't sure what she meant by it. Was she just horny and wanted to show off some kinky lingerie? Was she just comfortable enough around me to show me the underwear she'd bought? The more I thought the more I began to wonder if maybe I was just digging too deep into it.

I decided to talk to Percy about it and get his opinion.

I flipped off the shower and quickly dried myself off before dressing myself. An long sleeved orange shirt with the 'rebel alliance' symbol, jeans, and grey sneakers suited me just fine. As I paced around my room gathering my things, I came upon the case Jason had given me last night. Inside was the ring intended for Janice. I hadn't taken the time to get a good look at it since he'd given it to me. It was beautiful. Gold, solid not just plated, with a large diamond on it. Real no doubt.

'Jason,' I thought. Today was going to be a day and a half for him. He'd see his ex, who'd probably break down at the sight of him, and Garth who he'd laid out in one punch. Surely Garth wasn't going to take that sitting down, it wasn't like him to let something like that go. I knew if the two ran across one another there would be a fight. Garth might start it, but Jason would finish it. And it wouldn't be pretty at all.

I slipped the case in my pocket and took a deep breath; it was going to be a long day.

"Morning sunshine," Percy greeted as I stepped from my room. "You alright? You look like you just got back from a war."

"Yeah," I lied "just a rough night is all."

"Awe miss your little cuddle buddy," he teased. I just rolled my eyes through a blush and grabbed my keys.

"Whatever, lets get going, don't want to be late," I changed the subject so quickly I'd forgotten what I'd intended to talk about.

"Whatever you say," he chuckled and followed me. We hopped into my truck and drove off towards Jasper High.

"Alex probably won't be at school today," he said shorty after we pulled out onto the road.

"Is he alright," I asked.

"Yeah, just wants to skip. Something about going to check out a car for himself that way we don't have to share one anymore. If I had to guess though, he's too pissed at David to come. I think he has anger issues sometimes," he let out a small sigh and looked out the window.

"He's just protective of you. You're his brother after all. Besides, David is a dick. I don't even have to be around him and I'm pissed at him. I've known you and Alex all my life I can't stand the thought of him saying or doing anything to either of you."

Percy smiled a little and turned to me,"You're sweet Hutch. Oh did Alex give you those concert tickets like he was supposed to?"

"Yeah," I nodded and motioned towards the glove box "I put them in there when he gave them to me. I was hoping to surprise Lily with them."

"She'd love that. She's also going to love the ring you have." I almost felt the hair on the back of my stand up.

"H-how did you-"

"Jason told me last night. He wanted me to make sure that you gave it to her today." From the corner of my eye I could see him sticking his tongue out at me. I blushed and shifted uneasily.

"She deserves better than me Percy. A lot better. I like her, fuck I love her, but she deserves someone who can offer her a lot more than what I can."

"Oh Hutch be quiet, don't lie to yourself like that. Think about it, have you ever even heard her talk about anyone else besides you? I mean honesty, every day in chemistry I get the pleasure of hearing about how cute you are, how sweet you are, and how badly she wants to suck your-"

"Alright I get the point," I interrupted before he could continue any further. He smiled deviously, knowing he'd never tell if that last part was made up or real.

"Ask her out today. You two would be cute together."

"...alright I'll ask her out okay?"

"You better. Trust me on this, you might not be able to see her perspective but believe me when I say she's head over heels for you."

I normally wasn't a very nervous person. Even under stressful situations I never found myself getting the least bit unnerved. But the rest of the ride to school was downright terrifying. I knew the next time I saw Lilly I'd have to ask her out. I had no choice, if I didn't Percy would do it for me. I figured if it was going to happen one way or another it might as well be me asking.

Somehow we managed to get to school earlier than most everyone else, a rarity for me. Pulling into my usual I noticed the only one that mattered. Lilly's Jeep was parked close to the front door. She and Eve often rode together so it wasn't much of a surprise that she would be so early.

"Hey, Hutch, what exactly happened last night. All Jason told me was that he gave you a ring. When did he even show up."

I felt a pit in my stomach.

"It was a little bit after we went to bed. He was having trouble sleeping and so was I so we went for a drive. Ended up running across a party out in the woods. We found Janice there, with Garth."

"Oh my god are you serious?!"

"Dead serious," I shivered remembering the confrontation. "That's one side of Jason I hope I never have to see again. And if I do, I just hope I'm not the one on the receiving end of it."

"What did he do?"

"Knocked the fuck out of him. I'd be surprised if it didn't break Garth's jaw. It was almost like a cartoon. I mean Jason hit him so hard he spun around twice and face planted," I shivered "I never really knew just how strong he was."

Upon reaching the front door I grabbed for the handle, hesitating almost immediately. I wasn't sure if it was my nerves getting the better of me about asking Lilly out, or if it was something else. I practically had to force myself to open the door.

"Nervous?" Percy asked.

"Like you would've believe."

"She's not going to say no."

"We'll see about that," I took a shaky breath. I pushed my way into the building and made a bee line for the nurses office. I figured I might as well do it before I chickened out.