(Kate's Pov)
I woke from my slumber to the sound of knocking on my bedroom door, causing me to roll over and glance at it. I let out a small yawn and turned my attention to the surrounding pink room which was lit up dimly by the light from outside. Judging by the amount I'd say mid day or so. I stretched my arms out and legs out in all directions before grudgingly rolling off the bed to walk over to the door. After a second I felt the handle to the door and opened the door expecting to see my mom standing there.
"Uh…hey.. ..you're mom said to tell you that..uh..that lunch was being prepared" I heard a male voice say. After promptly rubbing my sleepiness from my eyes, I saw it was Humphrey. My heart jumped a bit not expecting him to be the one standing there. He looked really tense and uncomfortable at the moment, as he was almost standing like a board in a fence, his eyes looking everywhere but at me. Even when I asked him a question, his attention seemed to study everything but me. I decided not to dwell on the suspicious feeling I had. Before I was able to ask a question again, he said he was going back downstairs and promptly left.
I watched as he made his way down the hall briskly to the top of the stairs, briefly stopping to look back at me before disappearing down them. I just gave a smile and waited till he left, returning to my room and closing the door. "That was weird" I thought as I walked over to my bed, reaching over to grab my phone. As I picked it up I noticed myself in the mirror hanging on my closet door adjacent to me. The silence in the room was interrupted by the sound of my phone falling to the floor as I stood dazed at my reflection.
I studied the image in front of me, which proceeded to show me only in my underwear. My eyes slowly widened as I remembered that not even a few moments ago, I had just presented my current self to someone I barely knew. I felt my stomach turn to knots as the realization set in. "OMG!" I screamed in my head as I fell face first onto my bed, sliding down till I rested on the floor of my room. My face felt like it was on fire as my embarrassment rose. No one but mom ever knocked on my door, so the thought of my appearance has never been an issue.
"How was I even supposed to fix this?" I said out loud hiding my face in my hands, trying to dull the fluster appearance I currently donned. This couldn't be happening to me right now, right? It was all part of my dream and I'm about to wake up for real now, right? I sighed knowing that wasn't true but a girl could hope, especially in this situation. I pictured how uncomfortable Humphrey had looked during the exchange, which totally made sense now. If I was being honest, he seemed more embarrassed about the whole thing then I did. I mean I've never had a guy see my body before, but I was confident in my own body. I shook my head from the thought as I stood up and picked my phone back up.
I dreaded going downstairs right now, knowing that things would be awkward. But if i didn't go down right now, mom would be the next one up to find me, and there was no way i wanted to explain what just happened to her. Mom was a very understanding person most of the time, but when it came to boys and me and my sister, she was a lot less understanding. A chill hit me as the hair on my back stood on end. I wasn't sure if it was just the ac or the thought of mom, but either way i decided to get dressed quickly. I threw on a clean pink tee shirt and some blue jeans, adjusting my hair that had been messed up from sleeping, before heading out into the hall for the stairs. I slowly made my way down them, quickly coming up on the bottom step. As I reached the final step I stopped and waited.
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, as I took a deep breath and prepared myself for whatever was about to happen. I heard mom asking about me letting me know it was time to get this over with, and with that I stepped out around the corner.
"Ah there you are honey" I heard her say as I walked in. I just smiled but didn't look over. In Fact i avoided everyone's looks, taking extra care to avoid one in particular. I quickly made my way over to my seat, and sat down. After a moment I glanced in his direction, and the gods decided that today was the day to curse me, because his big blue eyes were looking right at me. We both quickly looked away from each other in embarrassment. I'm pretty sure his being embarrassed was making me feel extra embraced.
I guess the sudden movement did not go unnoticed because my sister just looked at the both of us, eyeing each of us suspiciously. I looked over at her to see what she wanted, but she just started not saying a word. She looked back at Humphrey, causing me to follow her eyes back to him. He was still looking at the wall away from everyone.
"Did something happen between you two?" she asked a little louder than I would have appreciated. I never wished to be an only child, more than I did at that moment. "No" I quickly said back, trying to make her drop it. Instead she just seemed to get more suspicious as she set her phone down on the table, which was playing a music video. Doing this had now caused Stormy to look up to figure out what was going on.
"You're acting weird" she said, still eyeing me, glancing over at him every few moments. I noticed he twitched at the comment as well. I wanted to stop her before she got any further, making this worse for both of us. "He was just surprised by how pink my room was," I said , trying to make something up to please her. The only reaction I got was actually from a drinking Humphrey, who proceeded to choke on his water, causing him to cough vigorously. He quickly grabbed his side as he continued to clear his throat.
"You good there son?" Dad said as he reached over patting his back a few times trying to help. Humphrey did not speak as he just gave a smile and a thumbs up. Everyone's attention was brought away from Humphrey as mom walked over with the plates of food she had made for lunch. She placed the plates down in front of everyone, going back to grab the last two plates and returning to the table. I looked down at the sandwiches she had prepared into five little triangles, which were stacked in a pyramid with a pick holding them together. She smiled and sat down giving dad his plate and setting the final one in front of herself.
She gestured for everyone to go ahead and eat, and with that everyone began digging into the food. We ate in silence for the most part aside from the random cough or glass being placed on the table. After a few minutes of eating I had finished two of my triangles making my way to the third. My attention was brought up from my food by a chair sliding on the floor as I watched Humphrey stand up with his plate that was now empty.
"Oh Humphrey dear, would you like more? It won't take me but a sec to make some more for you." she said, also standing up from her seat, pausing as he raised his hand. "No thank you mam, I'm full. But thank you it was very delicious" he said with a smile as he made his way past dad who was also finishing his food. "God do all guys speedrun eating" I thought as I continued to nibble on my sandwich. Humphrey gestured to dad's plate, carefully reaching over and picking it up and carrying it with his to the sink. He turned on the water and set the dishes under the running tap, reaching up to pull his sleeves up. This was the first time I'd seen his arms, since he always kept them hidden in his hoodie. They were covered in his signature fluffy gray fur, which flowed with the curves and definition of his arm. He wasn't ripped or anything but he definitely was fit from working out.
Mom, noticing me staring, looked back to Humphrey, who was washing the dishes in the sink and the plates he and dad had used. Seeing this she jumped up and walked over towards him. "Humphrey dear, don't worry about that stuff, I'll take care of the dishes you just sit down and rest" she said placing a hand on his back, causing him to turn and face her. I'd never noticed it until now, but he was taller than mom, which was kind of shocking to be honest. I mean she was taller than I was, and that's pretty tall for a woman. But he was easily a couple inches taller, probably close to six feet or more. I guess he just always slouches and I've just never seen him standing up straight.
Mom didn't seem bothered by it though, as she just looked up to him smiling still gesturing to his chair. "Please Eve i could at least do this much after all you've done for me. Please eat with your family and let me take care of this" he said with a small almost unnoticeable smile, turning back to the sink of dishes. Eve just watched him for a second before quietly walking over and taking her seat at the table, looking at dad. "Such a good boy" she said softly, glancing back at Humphrey. Dad just nodded in agreement as they watched as Humphrey moved from one dish to another, placing them in the drying rack on the counter.
"I told you before, he always cleans. It's like a hobby or something" Stormy said in between bites of her sandwich. Mom looked over at her and Lilly, who was right beside her, was still glued to her phone. "Honey, please put your phone away at the table" mom said, still looking at Lilly before returning to Stormy. Lilly let out a small sigh, rolling her eyes and taking her headphone out and placing it with her phone on her chair between her legs.
"Does he always clean by himself? You two never helped him?" mom asked, gesturing back at the boy in the kitchen. Stormy seemed to focus on her brother for a moment as if in thought before she spoke up. "Honestly no, i suck at cleaning so I've never helped. And i dont think ive seen him and James do much together before." she said, still working her way down her last sandwich. "Hmm… I see. That seems like a lot of work for one wolf, don't you think?" mom asked, taking a drink of her water. I thought about her question for a moment as well, but I mean mom cleaned our house by herself without complaint. Then again, that being the case, maybe she knew something about it that I didn't. I'm sure there was a lot that went into cleaning an entire house by yourself.
"I donno, big bro takes care of all the house care stuff. He would do the cleaning, and the laundry, cut the grass, take out the trash…you know all the normal stuff" she said, eating the last bite of her sandwich. She picked up her glass of water and took a sip, before placing it back down on the table. She leaned back giving her stomach a satisfied rub.
Mom was about to ask another question but stopped as Humphrey walked over to the table, collecting mom and Lily's plates, sliding Stormys under the other two. He picked them up and walked over towards me. He looked down at me before blushing a little and looking away. I felt myself go flush as well, I'd almost forgotten about earlier.
"Do you mind if I take your plate?" he said quietly gesturing to my plate. I nodded and quickly picked up the plate and handed it to him, looking back up to him. He gave me a small smile and quickly made his way back to the sink. I let out a small sigh of relief as I returned focus to the people in front of me. "He's kinda cute when he smiles" I thought to myself.
After a few minutes he returned to his seat at the table with the rest of us. With that mom adjusted herself in her chair and sat up. "Alright guys, tomorrow is friday and Winston is off work so i figured i would take you girls out shopping" she said gesturing to Lilly and Stormy, who got all excited and giddy at the thought. "Really!" they both yelled in unison, making mom and dad laugh a little at the burst of enthusiasm. "Sure, i think it will be fun" she said looking to dad for confirmation, which was just a nod. "I can't wait! I love shopping!" Stormy said, almost jumping from her chair.
Mom just smiled as she turned to me still smiling. "Now as for you, you're welcome to come with us if you want. Or you can stay here if you want. It's your call sweetheart.``. I paused to think about whether I wanted to sit in a car with two kids yelling and screaming about shopping. It really didn't seem like a fun time for me. As I was thinking about it, I noticed Humphrey silently sitting in his chair, not saying anything. "What about him? Was he coming with us?Did he want to?" I thought to myself before returning to my mother.
"Uh.. I'm not sure. What about Humphrey? Are we taking him too?" I asked mom, gesturing over to him. Everyone's attention shifted to him as he looked up at me, looking lost as to what was going on.
"He needs to stay here and recover dear," she said, not looking away from him. "He still needs rest and time to heal his wounds, and I'm sure he still needs time to himself, so a quiet house will do him some good." I couldn't argue with logic that sound. He was still injured pretty good and most likely needed to be off his feet for a while longer. I mean they didn't even want him to leave the hospital and we took him anyway, so we need to be very careful.
"Well I have homework that I have to finish for school anyways, so i'll just stay here with him" i said looking at mom making her look back to me. She thought about it for a moment before giving a small nod. "That should be fine dear".
I looked over to Humphrey who was still looking over at me. His eyes bounced back and forth between mine, like he was looking for something. I looked away feeling embarrassed by the prolonged staring. When I looked back up he was looking away, which made me a little sad, but I looked away first so it was my fault. I wonder what made him so nervous around me?
With all that settled mom stood up from the table and pushed her chair in, dad doing the same. She walked into the kitchen and dad disappeared upstairs somewhere. Lilly quickly brought her phone back out, giving Stormy one of the headphones as they continued to watch their video on her phone. I just let out a small sigh as I looked across the table to Humphrey who was just staring at his knuckles, which looked a little better today. The swelling and inflammation had gone down some and wasn't looking as red.
"I wonder if mom cleaned them," I thought to myself as I stood up and made my way to my room to grab my phone. I figured I'd check in with the girls at school. I was so glad I didn't have to sit in any boring classes right now, making me laugh at the thought that the girls were suffering through classes without me. Knowing those drama queens, it's been the end of the world.