Humphrey's POV

Why do I feel so heavy? I thought as I slowly began waking up to the sound of my alarm. I tried to open my eyes but the bright sun through the crack in my curtains was blinding. I can't even roll over either. Slowly I open my eyes and the first thing I see is the top of Nikki's head. She's snuck into my bed again. I don't understand why she doesn't just ask to sleep with me, it's not like I've ever turned her away.

It was then that I noticed the shirt I'd worn to bed was no longer on me, but instead, she'd taken it to wear as pyjamas. How nice of her, stripping me down in my sleep.

"Nikki, are you wearing my shirt..." I grumbled, managing to open my eyes a little more. She had her head nuzzled under mine, with her face buried in the fur of my chest.

"Mmhm." She hummed the affirmative into me, not moving. I let my head fall back and let out a satisfyingly long yawn.

"Nice panties." I chuckled, stretching my arms above my head and letting out a sigh as I let them fall onto her bareback.

"Mmmm." She grumbled in protest. "Stop looking." She was almost inaudible, refusing to lift her head from under mine.

"Don't actually." She added quietly, pushing on me and lifting her ass into the air, brushing my chin with her tail.

"Stop that," I ordered playfully, batting her tail away and lifting my leg, putting it over her and pulling her back down onto the bed.

"Wait, we have to go or we'll be late!" She asked, pulling her head up from my chest with wide eyes.

"Woah, my alarms just gone off, we can wake up slow. Relaaaaax." I responded carelessly, putting my hand on the back of her head and gently bringing it back down to my chest again. I always feel so at ease when Nikki is with me, but I can't really explain why.

"Hehehehehe." She giggled, squeezing me and rubbing her face on my chest.

"Hey, Humphrey..." She spoke up again. Her voice didn't sound as happy and excited as it did a few seconds ago.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Does it bother you that I like being those close to you? Y'know... Holding your hand when we're walking together; sleeping in the same bed as you and stuff... Doesn't it make you uncomfortable?" She asked, pushing on me again and sitting up on my legs.

"Heh... What made you ask that?" I pondered, propping myself up on my elbows.

"Well... As much as I hate the idea, you won't be single forever, and I feel like this sort of thing would make people uncomfortable. Look at what the people at college say already..." She muttered, folding her arms across her chest and looking down at my stomach.

"I-... Nikki, I stopped giving a shit about relationships ages ago, why would that suddenly change now? Besides, you're my little sister, and you're really the only family I've got. Why would I want to put distance between us for someone I don't even know?" I asked with a smile.

"I dunno... I just..." She stammered, before letting out an annoyed growl. "Uuugh! I don't know! Fuck my life!" She snarled, throwing herself into me and wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I love you, Bro... You've always been there for me and we've always acted like this together... I guess I'm just scared of the change when it inevitably comes... I'm scared that one day you will want us to stop acting this close..." She muttered, scooting herself right into me.

I could feel my heart falling as she explained herself. These thoughts have crossed my mind too. How are things going to work if Nikki ever gets a boyfriend? Part of me never wants her to, because I want her to stay my little sister. I don't want someone taking her away from me. That's exactly how she's feeling too. I know, however, that if I ever met a girl, she would have to be okay with how close Nikki and I are.

It's so common for most siblings to bicker and fall out over such petty things, but Nikki and I are the polar opposite. I don't think I ever met anyone, excluding my parents, who loves me as much as Nikki does, and I love her just as much. Why would I want that to change just because; one, of some girl; and two, because other people don't like that we're close with each other.

"I love you too Niks. Stop worrying about all that stupid crap. I won't let us drift apart, and I know you won't let that happen either. We're going to be just fine; you and me, like always." I said softly, petting her hair and gently scratching behind her ears.

"I hope so." She muttered, hugging me even tighter.

I wish people could understand us. If people were in our shoes; their parents having passed away; the remnants of their families living miles and miles away; maybe then they would understand. But, I would never wish that on anyone, not even if I hated them. I just wished people would understand. Gently I planted a kiss on Nikki's head, before resting mine back against the bedframe, staring up at the ceiling.

"Come on..." I started, pushing the shitty thoughts out of my mind and forcing myself and Nikki up.

"I've got to go," I added.

Nikki moaned a sound of protest but did as I had asked, getting up and off me, stretching her arms above her head as I followed in getting out of bed, and heading over to my chest of draws.

"'Wanna pick out my outfit for today?" I asked, firing her a playful glance over my shoulder. Almost instantly her face lit up, and she hurried over to me, pulling open my draws and sifting through my clothes.

I watched her with a smile as she threw a pair of black Calvin Kleins onto my bed, followed by black ripped jeans with roses sewn onto them, a white T-shirt with Japanese characters on the front, and a picture of a fancy cat and a koi-fish on the back, and finally, a white hoodie from my hooks along the door, with Tokyo written on the front, and a red stylised sunset on the back.

"Not what I expected, but fair enough," I stated with a laugh, pulling off my boxers and tossing them into the wash basket before beginning to change.

"What, you look really good in it," Nikki replied with a jokingly flirty eyebrow raise, pulling off her panties and leaving my room, heading towards her own to get ready.

"Hey, Nikki... About Lily's sister..." I started loudly, pulling on boxers, then my shirt before grabbing my jeans.

"What about her?" Nikki asked strolling back into my room still naked, but with her arms full of the clothes she was going to wear today.

"Well, how come I've never met her before? We go to the same university right, and when I've come to get you from theirs, I've almost never seen her. What's her deal?" I asked all at once, pulling on my jeans before grabbing my cologne from the shelf above my desk and spraying some on my neck.

"Oh... She's, uhh... She's not really a people person. She went through a lot of shit with old friends in college so she just avoids people. She doesn't really have any friends." Nikki responded with a shrug, putting on a fresh pair of salmon pink underwear.

"Really? She looks like she'd have loads of friends..." I said, pulling on my hoodie and looking at her in the reflection of the mirror as I messed up my hair a little.

"Yeah, she did, back in school..." Nikki started, pulling on a black v-neck t-shirt. "Now, everyone thinks she's just a snappy bitch." She added, grabbing a pair of ripped blue skinny jeans as I turned to her with a confused expression. I always thought of Kate as a lot of things, but as a friendless, 'snappy bitch', that doesn't add up.

"She's nice when I stay there... for sure... but she's paranoid..." Nikki said between strained grunts, struggling to pull her jeans up around her ass.

"Ugh, push my ass in will ya?" She asked, backing up to me a little. I sighed and did as I was asked, using my large hands to push her ass in so she could pull her jeans up. I quickly shifted them out of the way before they got caught and smiled up at her, shaking my head.

"Thank youuu." She sang, firing me a wink as she grabbed what was my black Adidas hoodie until she stole it from me.

"Anyway, what's got you asking about her?" Nikki fired a question back at me as I picked up my pre-packed bag from the floor.

"Kate? Nothing really, just... In all the time we've known the Wilson's, I've never properly met her. I just wondered about her." I said honestly with a shrug.

"Okay... Well, if you do try and talk to her, take it easy. I don't want her hurting you, even if she doesn't mean to." Nikki said, firing a glance at herself in the mirror before pulling me into a hug.

"I will don't worry. But, if she's not really got any friends, I'd like to try and be the first. She already knows me, right? Maybe it'll be okay." I said softly, hugging her back tightly.

"Maybe, but she's unpredictable, so don't let yourself get too invested," Nikki warned, tip-toeing and giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"I love you." She smiled, before letting me go and starting out of my room.

"I love you too, sis." I smiled after her, slinging my bag onto my shoulder and following her down the stairs, grabbing my car keys from the small hooks on the wall as I waited for Nikki to get her bag.

"Ready?" I asked as she emerged from the kitchen with two packets of granola bars, those ones that always make a colossal fucking mess. Nikki nodded, going to open the cereal bars before I held up my hand to stop her.

"Not in my car, you know how messy these fuckers are," I said, raising my eyebrows at her. She let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes at me as we headed out of the house.

Sure enough, a light coat of snow was covering the road, but thankfully there wasn't much of it left on my car. As a small shiver rode down my spine I unlocked it, pulling open the driver-side door and pushing my bag into the back-seats with Nikki's.

"You sure you have everything? Speak now or forever hold your peace." I asked as she closed the doors and strapped herself in.

"Pretty sure I do." She said, grinning over at me.

"Alright, but it's not my fault if you don't." I said with a sideways nod, pushing the keys into the ignition and starting the engine, which surprisingly didn't take as long as I thought considering it was a cold start. I fired a glance at the clock on the dash. '9:19 AM.' Classes for me always start and half nine, and I'm pretty sure Nikki's do too, so I have no reason to worry about us being late today.

"How about I make us a fry-up or something for dinner today? We haven't had one in so long." I suggested, putting the car in gear and slowly starting up the drive, onto the road as we began the drive, first, to Nikki's college.

"Oh, that does sound good..." She cooed, licking and then biting her lip. I nodded with a smile before turning out onto the main road.

I'm surprised how clear the roads are considering the snow we had. I was expecting them to be a little bit icy, but the entire journey gave me no trouble at all. Nikki got to college with a while to spare so she could see her friends, and I'd made really good time in getting to Uni too. so praise to the drivers of gritting lorries.

As I pulled into the Uni car park, I spotted Hutch, leaning on the bonnet of his black Audi A1. I tooted my horn twice as I pulled up to the spot beside him, startling him to the point he almost dropped his phone.

"You waiting for me baby girl?" I asked with a laugh, mocking him with pursed lips and kissing sounds as he clutched his hand to his chest.

"Dude, you scared the fuck outta me." Hutch laughed, shaking his head as I shut off the engine, grabbed my bag and got out.

"Sorry bro," I laughed as we locked hands and pulled each other into a 'bro hug'. That's how Hutch and I have always greeted each other. Unlike Salty, Shakey and Mooch, Hutch stayed in Jasper and came to this uni to study Carpentry, which honestly looks like a shit tonne of fun.

"That thing sounds awesome. You put the new exhaust on it?" He asked, nodding over his shoulder as we left our cars and headed up to the university.

"Yup, she's a monster bro. I was looking through parts last night with Nikki, and I found a pretty cheap carbon version of the wing, so I was thinking of getting that. Then again, I would rather get the 'why so serious' sticker for the tailgate." I explained with a thoughtful expression.

"The wing does sound good but I think your cars are in a good spot now. The last thing anyone wants to do is go over the top with their ride." Hutch replied as we jogged up the stairs and into the warm building. Hutch let out a relieved sigh, rubbing his hands together as we strolled towards the coffee machine.

"True. What about you, did you get those black alloys you wanted?" I asked as Hutch grabbed a paper cup from the stack beside the machine, put it onto the small tray, and pushed 'cappuccino'.

"Mom found some for a really good price, so I've ordered those instead. Should be here next week if coming over and helping out sounds like something that tickles your pickle." Hutch explained, firing a smirk over his shoulder as we watched the machine fill his cup.

"That would successfully tickle my pickle for sure," I responded with a nod.

"Oh, by the way, there's apparently a car meet going on tonight. I don't know if you'd want to go to this or just sit it out, but I thought I'd let you know." Hutch added after taking a sip of his coffee. A car meet. I haven't been to one of those since I brought the VXR...

"I mean, I'll ask Nikki if she wants to go to this one, although I'm pretty sure they moved her shifts to Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, so I don't see why she wouldn't," I said, thinking out loud for the most part.

"No pressure from me bro, but your VRX's the Yin to my A1's yang, never one without the other, brother," Hutch said, to which I let out a loud laugh.

"Hutch, the black side is yin, you fucked it up again." I chuckled, shaking my head.

"You kidding? I'm ageing too fast man..." He said, running his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

"Listen, I got class soon, so I'm gonna bounce," I said, patting his shoulder before turning and starting toward my class.

"Easy breezy big fella'," Hutch said after me, holding his thumb up at me.

"Easy breezy," I replied, holding mine up over my shoulder before jogging up the stairs towards my class.

I'm pretty sure Hutch is my long-lost brother or something. Ever since I met him we just clicked, and it's like I've known him for years. His mom's a legend too; I'm pretty sure they moved here together to get away from his deadbeat dad, but I haven't asked because I don't really want to bring something like that up if I can help it.

Kate's POV

The sound of my alarm clock never fails to make me want to kill someone. This is the exact reason I've not made it my favourite song because then that song wouldn't be my favourite.

"Kate! That's the third time your alarm's gone off! Hurry up and get ready!" Mom hollered up the stairs.

Wait... The third time! I screamed at myself, sitting bolt upright and throwing myself out of bed. Quickly I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. '8:49 AM'. I've only got ten fucking minutes to get ready and get to uni!

Okay, clothes... Ummm... Fuck, fuck, fuck... I rambled to myself, pulling of my pyjamas and tossing them onto my unmade bed, yanking open my draws and grabbing the first items of clothing I could see; pale blue skinny jeans and a tight white, long-sleeve T-shirt. I then took the white underwear set from the top left drawer and pulled them on. Would I even have time to eat breakfast today?

Ah, fuck going into uni with no food. I wouldn't skip a meal even if the world was ending. Running downstairs and collecting my already packed backpack from the hook, I headed into the kitchen, where mom had already set out an apple and a cereal bar.

"Eat on the move, you'll be late for your class again otherwise." She instructed, finishing the small amount of washing up she'd done, folding the apron she was wearing and hanging it over the back of the chair and walking past me.

"Ugh, and you're going to be late anyway because of the f-... Snow." Mom snarled to herself, before letting out a sigh and calming herself down. "Come on, let's go.

"Yes ma'am," I replied, grabbing the two snacks from the table and following her out the door, grabbing my grey fleece jacket as we went.

It was freezing. I stepped out onto the snowy drive and sunk almost up to my ankle in the white powder. Yeah, it's gonna be a long time till I get into uni.

"Is uni even open today? It can't be with snow like this." I spoke up. Mom wasn't listening. "Mom," I repeated, trying to get her attention.

"Yes, Kate?" She replied sharply.

"Is uni even open today?" I asked, again.

"I don't know, you're the one who goes there dear, not me." She responded. "You can't call in and find out either, you don't have time." She grumbled. "Honestly, after god knows how many years of schooling, you should at least be used to getting up on time." Mom grumbled as we headed to our respective sides of her SUV and climbed inside.

"Sorry, okay..." I replied sharply, sighing and looking out of the window as she started the car and pulled up out of the driveway.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just nervous." I started.

"Why?"

"I'm worried about what'll happen if I run into Humphrey today. I don't want to see him." I explained, folding my arms across my chest as mom drove quickly onto and down the main road towards Uni.

"That is not the attitude to have, Kate." She said sternly. "Besides, you haven't even spoken to him, so what is there to worry about?" She asked curiously.

"I haven't spoken to him because I always eat my lunch in the giant terrarium part of the school. You know, that new garden area in the dome they opened up? Not many people go in there over lunch break cause they're all out doing other stuff." I explained.

"I see. Well, he is a very easy person to talk to, and I know that once you really get to know him you'll probably really like him. Just, please, give him a chance Kate. You can't throw him into the pile of awful people you've met when you haven't even met him." She replied with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I-... Fine, I'll try talk to him if I see him. I'm sure he'll recognise me anyway." I said with a shrug.

"Good girl. I know there is always a risk of history repeating itself, but just because that chance is there, doesn't mean it's going to happen. You never know, he might just be the best friend you've ever had." She responded with a warm smile. I let out a small chuckle and raised my eyebrows.

"We'll see..." I muttered, and we continued the journey in silence.

Surprisingly, there was almost no traffic on our way to the university, and within ten minutes, we were in the car park.

"Right, have a good day, I will see you later." Mom said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek before I grabbed my bag and jumped out of her SUV.

"Love you too," I said, watching as she reversed out of the spot she'd briefly taken, and sped off down the road. I really have to get my sleeping schedule in order, because the anxiety of almost being late for classes is fucking me up.

As I walked across the car park, I spotted the easily recognisable cars of Humphrey and his friend Hutch. So he comes in on Thursdays huh? Great. Honestly, I really don't know what I'm going to do if I run into him. I feel like it should be easy for the two of us to talk and get on, but still, he reminds me too much of the guys that bullied me in high school, and that's not an easy thing to shake off.

Now I think about it, I'm pretty sure Hutch was the one I bumped into yesterday. I wonder if he's mentioned that to Humphrey yet? Ah, what's it matter, Humphrey's probably heard of the 'Pint-size Predator' by now. I thought I'd escaped the pathetic nicknames in college, but apparently not. Honestly, it's not as bad as college was, because no one really calls me 'Pint-size Predator', but I know that's the name I've earned myself for being snappy. I don't really like being snappy, but everyone sees me as that already, and it's too much effort to try and change it, so why bother?

As quickly as I could, I made my way up the stairs and into the University building, wasting no time in heading to my class. Thankfully I got here before I actually had to be here, so I'm not late at all, all thanks to mom.

"Ahh Kate, good morning!" The voice of my Creative Writing teacher, Alexandra Wootton, met my ears.

"Alex, good morning," I responded as he made his way over to me, a wide smile on his face.

Alexandra Wootton was known by everyone in the university as being the awesome uncle everyone wanted. He was middle-aged, around forty-seven, if I remember rightly, and his fur was a pale and stormy blue colour. He was always cracking jokes with people, always confident around everyone, and he was such an awesome teacher. Not only that, but he has a husband too, who's basically the same person, just a little bit older. It's always so wholesome, to see them walking around together.

"What's the rush? Not another late start?" He asked, resting his weight on one hip and raising his eyebrows at me. If there is a reason I come into uni besides my course, it's for Alex. He's the closest thing to a friend I've got, and for that, I'm grateful to no end.

"I'm here on time aren't I?" I asked rhetorically, to which he chuckled and patted my shoulder.

"Come on, there are a few people in class already, so I had better get set up." He grinned, nodding for me to follow as he started down the hall towards the classroom.

"You'll be pleased to hear that I'm having you all do a little bit of prompt work this morning, a fun start to the day." He spoke up again as we drew nearer the class. Upon hearing this, I felt a little excitement awaken in my stomach, and a smile spread across my face as I fist-pumped in my mind. Maybe today won't be so bad after all.

"What about the rest of the day?" I asked curiously.

"Same as yesterday, I'm afraid. Not many enjoy it, but it has to be done." He said with a screwed-up expression and a sideways nod.

"Way to kill the mood..." I muttered, half-seriously. Thankfully, Alex took it mostly as a joke and chuckled to himself as we rounded a corner, and headed into his classroom. Sure enough, eighty-five percent of the class was here, so at least I wasn't the only one running a tiny bit late. All that matters is that I'm going to have a good start to my day, and with that going on, there's not much that will bring that down.