Lilly's POV
As I felt myself become conscious, I also began to feel my warm surroundings again. There was no need for alarms with me. While Kate and Humphrey, and I'm pretty sure everyone else in the group needed an alarm to wake up, some of us multiple, from what I hear Shaky always sets at the very least three, I was the only one who woke up without it. It was always early as well. About an hour and a half before going to school. This happened ever since we moved here from Canada, I wasn't sure why it started. At first I hated it, always being up so damn early and staying awake the whole day, but I learned to use it to my advantage. Freshen up, get ready, eat some food, and as for staying awake, I got used to it. There was only ever a couple of times where I didn't wake up and even then, Kate was the one to actually wake me up since she used an alarm. Still though, like everyone else I would lay there for a bit and appreciate the comfort of my bed. Outside of these blankets it was always so cold, even with my coat. After about ten minutes though, I always got up. Then I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, shower, and then get ready. I always have to pass Kate's room to get to the bathroom though and on the rare occasion she leaves her door pen I always take a quick glance inside. She's a very peaceful sleeper, the thing is though is that like everyone else her hair and fur are a little messy. This probably wasn't a problem for Kate though, I'm sure even with that set back boys would still choose her over me when it came to just looks. Part of me always resented her for it. This didn't mean that I didn't love her though, and after all she couldn't help her natural looks, but still… I couldn't help but feel bitter about it. We were sisters, so how the hell was she so much better off?
After getting ready I went downstairs and made a bowl of cereal. I wasn't picky when it came down to what cereal I would normally choose, but I still had my preferences. There's normally at least four boxes of cereal in the pantry, and I could choose any one of them without really caring, however I always chose captain crunch if it's there. I guess mom takes notice of it because there's always a box and I never ask for it but it's there. I'm not complaining. I get a bowl and pour the cereal, then the milk because despite what some may say that was the correct way to do it. I saw Humphrey make a bowl of cereal a couple times when he spent the night and that psycho always put the milk first. I always cringe when I see him do it, yes it bothered me that much.
After pouring my milk, I would normally sit and watch youtube on my phone. Thanks to my pop socket, I always had a nice stand for it. Such a simple but genius invention. Anyway, I sit and watch youtube, sometimes going for seconds on the cereal until Kate comes down the stairs. I can hear her getting ready upstairs, so it's only a matter of time before she comes down and asks me if I'm ready to go. One thing I notice about her is that she is always messing with her long, thick hair while she descends the stairs, almost as if she is still fixing it up. It's as if she doesn't even try to be as pretty as she is… actually she isn't. Resentment… I tell her that yes I am ready to go, and then toss my bowl and spoon in the sink before grabbing my bag and dashing out the door after her. It's only then do I get a feel for how cold it is outside. During the beginning and end of the year, it's always so nice out, especially near the end where it's still a bit cold but summer is almost here, so you get that nice morning dew on the grass, and that perfectly cool temperature, with the prettiest of smells, and I'm not sure what it is but I swear the coloring of the morning light is different as well. All in all it's perfect. In the middle though, it always seems as though it's cloudy, the sun is just barely coming out, over the horizon and everything is covered in frost from the cold night before. Speaking of cold, it's freezing, so much so that fur is just not enough to keep you warm, so jackets are always welcomed, but even then you still get hit with the freezing cold, the jacket rubbing against you also seems to freeze instantly, sticking to you and making you feel cold anyway so much so that it almost doesn't do its job. Thanks to Kate though, she always blasts the heat as soon as she gets in the car. After that it's just a matter of Kate going to dunkin donuts for a coffee, and then getting to school. She always asks me if I want something but most of the time I say no. If anything though I'll ask for a hot chocolate, which is what I did today.
Before our group formed, Kate always parked by herself. I would always hop out to meet with Humphrey and Kate would occasionally say hi, I'm so glad we're past that, now we park in our usual spot and all meet up before heading in. I get to meet up with Humphrey like I always did, but also Angel, Rick, and Shaky. Kate parked and turned the car off, like I said before I hopped out and greeted Humphrey. I always gave him a hug and a peck on the lips, while Kate was more of the deep hugger and strong smooch. Whatever floats her boat. Shaky and Angel though, they alway just seemed to hug and begin talking, no kissing. They still loved each other though.
"Hey Lills" Humphrey said as I continued to hug him. I could smell his cologne and like always it smelled so good. He was always the type of person where when you get close to him you can smell it. Always pleasant.
"Hey, did your mom say anything to you when you got home?" I asked, breaking the hug and leaning on his car.
"Why? Did something happen on the trip?" Kate asked, standing across from me and Humphrey. Shaky also stood next to her and as for Rick and Angel, they had not shown up yet.
"Honestly Kate, it's such a long story. I'll tell you guys at lunch" Humphrey said. I placed my hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn to me slightly. When he came over yesterday we had watched some movies, and then he told me everything. I honestly don't know how the hell you date someone with a kid and never once get their name, or even make an attempt to talk with them. I was mad at Lyle, yes, but I was also kind of mad at Myra as well. The fact that she is dating someone and being so blind is beyond my understanding. I couldn't be too mad at her though because Myra was one of the kindest people I've ever met.
"That's alright. Everything else okay?" Kate asked.
"So far, yeah" Humphrey answered.
"Heads up guys, Rick and Angel are here" Shaky said. We turned our heads to see Rick pull in next to Kate and turn off his truck. Angel and Rick stepped out not long after. We waited in silence for the two to walk around Kate's car and meet up with us. Angel of course hugging Shaky, and Kate going for the hug slash make out session.
"So Lyle really didn't say anything?" I asked.
"No, at least not that I know of. I'm just worried about the next time he comes over. It's gonna be awkward as hell" Humphrey said. I brushed his shoulder again.
"Your mom will see that he's an ass, just you wait" I told him. Humphrey seemed to take comfort in that and gave me a slight smile.
"Hey Lilly" Angel said, snapping me out of me and Humphrey's moment, and bringing me into a hug. I hugged her back as I always did.
"Hey Angel" I smiled. She broke the hug and took a step back.
"Hey Humphrey" she greeted.
"Hey" Humphrey replied.
"So I hear that things didn't go too well yesterday, gonna tell us at lunch?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, I would tell you guys now but I don't wanna be rushed" Humphrey explained.
"It's fine, besides, me and Rick kind of went through it last night as well" Angel said.
"What happened?" I asked.
"She told me that she would tell me at lunch, probably after Humphrey's story," Shaky said.
"At least things are going okay for you, Shaky," Humphrey said.
"What are you talking about? You guys get all this excitement, and I'm just over here being… bland" Shaky ranted in a joking way.
"Believe me Shaky, you want to be bland for this" I told him.
"Can you even fight Shaky?" Angel asked.
"Never had to, but I'd like to think so," Shaky answered.
"What about fighting?" Kate chimed in, Rick standing next to her, holding Kate's hand.
"Angel asked me if I could fight," Shaky said.
"Why? Does that have something to do with last night?" Kate asked, turning to Rick with a somewhat stern facial expression. Rick chuckled nervously as he looked away from her and scratched his head.
"What do you want an army?" I asked.
"What? No no, don't listen to Angel, she's a spaz" Rick said, earning him a punch to the arm from Angel. He laughed and gave her a kiss on the head. I giggled and then checked my phone, revealing that class was going to start in about six minutes. I turned the phone to the group.
"I think it's time to go guys, see you at lunch?" I asked.
"For sure, bye guys" Shaky said. He then began walking with Angel over to the school.
"Nice call, later sis" Kate said. She then began walking with Rick to the school as well, except they were holding each other's hand, talking about something. I wasn't sure what.
"I guess that leaves just us," Humphrey said. I took another sip of my hot chocolate and held it to Humphrey.
"Want some?" I asked. Humphrey accepted and took a small sip to test it, by now though it was nowhere near as hot as it was, so he took about two gulps and handed it back to me.
"Thanks," he said.
"M-hm" I replied.
"So today is friday, we're probably gonna get snowed in on tuesday, so do you want to come over tonight, maybe spend the night?" Humphrey asked. I took another sip of my drink.
"You know I'm still in heat Humphrey, I've been taking those pills and we've barely had sex recently. So if I come over…" I suggested.
"You want to have sex?" Humphrey finished. I nodded. "We can do that," he added with a smirk. I laughed.
"Alright, I'll have to ask my mom though and I can probably get a ride with you after school" I said.
"Sounds great. See you at lunch?" Humphrey asked.
"Yeah, see you at lunch" I said happily. One small kiss on the lips later and I was off to class. It was the usual doing work in between talking to usual friends. But within the group I didn't see anyone until third period which was my science class. Since the group got together and really started hanging out, Shaky had started sitting next to me and tried distancing himself after a while. I started sitting next to him and asked why he was doing that. He told me because he didn't want to seem weird or pushy. I laughed and told him it was nonsense. Since that day we've sat next to each other ever since. Today we were mixing chemicals and listing certain reactions and characteristics. It was boring but not much work, especially since Shaky offered to pretty much do everything. All I did was hand him bottles when he asked for them. We didn't say much apart from our usual hello's when we got into class, but once the project started going was when the conversation began.
"Partners?" Shaky asked. I giggled.
"Partners" I replied. Shaky began setting up beakers as I put on my safety goggles, he did the same afterward. Our teacher gave us our chemicals and then it was just a matter of following instructions on a paper and writing down reactions.
"So do you know what happened to Humphrey? I got a little bit out of him yesterday over text but not much else" Shaky explained. I watched as he poured liquid into one of the beakers and read the paper for further instructions.
"He did tell me, he talked to my mom about it too. It wasn't a good time" I said.
"What wasn't a good time? Humphrey on the fishing trip or him telling your mom?" Shaky asked.
"Fishing trip" I answered.
"Well at least give me a little something. We still have two classes after this until lunch" Shaky complained. I sighed.
"Lyle's just a dick, that's all" I said.
"He's a dick, but why is he a dick?" Shaky asked.
"Humphrey will tell you," I said. Shaky shot a glance at me with a smirk.
"Why so secretive?" he asked.
"It's not secretive, it's that Humphrey is gonna tell you at lunch. Come on, it will give you something to look forward to" I said. Shaky laughed.
"Is my life that boring to you?" he asked.
"No, but I wouldn't really know, we don't hang out like that outside of the group. Angel would know" I told him. Shaky wrote down one of the reactions and began mixing the next set of chemicals.
"Angel… I feel bad, all we ever do is watch Dexter and it's fun for me, but what about her? Everytime I ask her if she wants to do something she just tells me that what we're doing is fine" Shaky explained.
"Maybe she just likes spending time with you," I said.
"Maybe, but I want her to be happy. We can always sit in front of a TV, I don't want to be that guy she watches TV with and that's all" Shaky said. I thought for a moment.
"Well… what about sex?" I asked. Shaky shot me another glance, this time without the smirk.
"There's gotta be more to the relationship than just TV and sex Lilly" he said.
"Well, when's the last time you took her out for dinner? Or did something fun?" I suggested.
"She always tells me that she doesn't want to do those things, maybe she doesn't but I feel bad not treating her" Shaky said.
"I get that, why don't you just talk to her about it?" I asked.
"Because on the off chance that she really does want to do just that, then I don't want her to feel like the boring one. I love being with her" Shaky answered.
"You know you can talk to her and explain that you don't feel that way" I said.
"I know, but it's the execution that makes me nervous, '' Shaky replied. He then wrote down another reaction to the chemicals. "Hand me that?" he asked. I turned and saw what he was reaching out for and gave it to him. "Thanks" he said as he got back to work.
"Well it is friday, are you hanging out today?" I asked. Shaky nodded.
"Yeah, she says she just can't wait to finish season six," he said.
"Take her out, tell her you don't want to do that, or do it later, tell her that you feel like you're not doing good enough" I suggested.
"So belittle myself?" Shaky laughed.
"Basically" I answered. Shaky laughed again and went back to work.
"You know, we should hang out more," he said.
"I wouldn't mind, you have my number right?" I asked.
"Yeah, so just shoot me a text or I'll do it, doesn't matter" Shaky said. I nodded in response.
"I really gotta start hanging out with Angel again, we're always happy to see each other but we haven't hung out since…" I stopped myself from finishing the sentence but Shaky had already taken notice.
"I'm sure it has nothing to do with that, she's probably just spending a lot of time with me," Shaky said. I watched him work for a minute until finally finding the urge to say something.
"I never apologized for that" I blurted out. Shaky stopped working completely and then turned to me.
"I'm not mad at you, I never was," he said.
"Then who-"
"I don't know… I never knew who to be mad at in the situation… that's why I was just… crushed" Shaky said.
"Oh Shaky… I'm so sorry, it was my fault. I promise she didn't want to do it" I said.
"I know, Humphrey told me… but I'm not losing my family again" he replied. I felt a kind smile grow on my face. Shaky took notice and smiled back. I still felt bad about it, but I was glad that he was never mad at me for it, and that we moved past it.
"Alright Humphrey, spit it out. I want to know everything" Kate said as she sat down at the lunch table, interrupting a conversation between me and him. We had been discussing plans for tonight. My mom had already given the yes for the night and so we were just discussing what we were going to do. But now that everyone was at the table it was time for Humphrey to tell everyone what had happened yesterday.
"Alright, so I get there and he teaches me how to bait and such. You know, putting bait on the hook and casting a line, I thought it was going fine at this point. But I started trying to get to know him and that's when he starts talking to me about my mom, about you guys as well" Humphrey explained.
"The hell did he have to say about us?" Angel asked.
"I'll get to that, but when he was talking about my mom he was saying how spoiled I am, that I don't appreciate her or respect her, that he was gonna make a man out of me because I was too prissy," Humphrey explained.
"Prissy?" Kate asked.
"A pretty boy," Humphrey explained.
"So what he just insulted you out of nowhere?" Angel asked.
"Well first he started talking about his childhood, how he was abused by his dad and that his mother was the only one to take care of him, then he started saying how I shouldnt take my mother for granted because of that, and then he started talking about everything else" Humphrey said.
"So he had a sad childhood, why does that mean you have to go through hell?" Rick asked.
"I don't think he was saying that, I think his intentions were good but he just… he's an ass" Humphrey said.
"That's not even the worst of it" I added.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
"I'll let you tell them," I said to Humphrey. Everyone now stared at him, waiting for him to talk. He chuckled before saying anything.
"So I noticed he kept calling me kid, and that was all that he called me, kid kid kid. So eventually I tell him that since he's dating my mom that he should call me by my name" Humphrey said. Kate's face seemed to drop a bit as realization hit.
"Humphrey I swear to God if you say what I think you're about to say" she said.
"What?" Angel asked.
"He didn't know my name," Humphrey said.
"Oh my God, are you fucking serious?" Kate laughed.
"What's so funny?" I smiled.
"You just can't be serious, please tell me you're exaggerating" Kate requested.
"I asked him to say my name and he just stayed quiet," Humphrey said.
"Does your mom know about this?" Rick asked.
"I don't think so, and I really don't plan on telling her. Eve told me I should but I'm probably only going to tell her bits and pieces" Humphrey said.
"I don't get that, why only tell her bits and pieces?" I asked.
"As stupid as it sounds guys, I really dont want to look like a tattle tail, or some type of little bitch" Humphrey answered.
"Humphrey, dude I think the situation is past that" Rick said.
"Yeah, if my dad brought a girl around that did half the shit this guy did, then that relationship wouldn't last long" Shaky said.
"If you want to do it tonight then I'll be there to back you up" I told Humphrey. He seemed to ponder the idea.
"Your going over to Humphrey's tonight?" Kate asked. I nodded.
"M-hm" I hummed.
"So what did he say about us?" Angel asked again. Humphrey snapped out of his thoughts and began answering the question.
"So he starts talking about how easy my life is, and how I shouldnt have anything to complain about because I told him that I was a little stressed. I said how RIck got stabbed and how I had to worry about him and my relationships in the group, his response to that was that I needed to wise up, that I wont see any of you after high school, that I'll move on and we're not a family because family is blood. That goes for all of us, any relationship in this group will be over after high school and we'll never see each other again" Humphrey said. I noticed a couple of reactions. I noticed how Angel rubbed Shaky's hand slightly, and how Kate glanced at RIck only for Rick to shake his head ever so slightly. It was as if Kate was asking him if he planned to leave her.
"But… we are a family," Kate said. We all looked over at her. "Right?" she asked. As much as we talked about it we never really confirmed it with each other.
"Yes," Rick said.
"I'll never leave you guys," Shaky said.
"Same, I love you all," Angel said.
"You won't see me leaving," I said.
"Fuck what he says, you guys are my everything" Humphrey said. And with that everyone had finally confirmed what we had thought for so long. All it took was going around our lunch table, fucking finally.
"So… we kind of had a shitty night as well," Angel said.
"Really? What happened?" Kate asked. Rick sighed, causing Kate to turn her head from Angel to him.
"Those pricks from yesterday, they showed up at my house and were about to hurt me again. Probably worse than what Garth did" Rick explained.
"And you werent gonna tell me?" Kate asked angrily.
"I'm telling you now," Rick replied.
"Hold on, this happened last night?" Humphrey asked.
"Yeah, just last night" Angel answered.
"What happened?" I asked.
"My dad pulled a gun on them, they ran away as soon as he did" Rick said.
"They?" Kate asked.
"How many were there?" Shaky asked.
"Four" Angel answered. Kate then rested her head on Rick's shoulder and sighed. She sounded upset.
"When are they gonna leave us alone?" she asked. Not sure if it was to him, us, or simply herself.
"Was Garth there?" I asked.
"No, and apparently he didn't even put them up to it, they were just doing it to do it" Rick answered.
"You're shitting me," Shaky said.
"Nope, our story is shit free," Angel replied.
"Did Hutch warn you?" Kate asked, lifting her head up to meet Rick's nose with her own.
"I don't think he knew," Rick said. Kate sighed and rested her head on him again.
"You should have shot the bastards," I said. Everyone then turned to me. Kate specifically looked a bit surprised but she was too upset to care.
"Well we have a gun now, so if they come around we will" Angel said.
"Do you want to come over for the night? Get away from it all?" Kate offered, looking up at Rick again. Rick smiled and brushed her cheek.
"I'd love to, but I can't. I have to stay and make sure they dont come back" Rick said.
"Then I'll come over if that's okay with your folks" Kate replied.
"I don't want you over right now Kate, it's bad enough that Angel is there, but I don't want you in danger" Rick explained. Typical Rick.
"Doesn't matter, I'll message my mom now and come over after school" Kate said as she got off of him and began texting.
"Guess you have to get lucky in your own room" I teased. Rick simply shook his head at me.
"Lilly, please talk some sense into her" he begged.
"No use, she already made up her mind. Besides, Kate can take care of herself" I said.
"And we have the gun," Angel added.
"You people are all stubborn," Rick said, making us laugh.
