Rick's POV
I awoke with a beautiful smell in my nose. Opening my eyes I realized it was Kate's fur as my muzzle was buried in her chest from last night. Lately when we've been sleeping I've been cuddling her. Not like usual though. Normally we nuzzle each other to sleep or she nuzzles my chest but lately… I've really needed the comfort. It was kinda nice to be in this position, and her warm breasts right below me weren't hurting either. I closed my eyes again and inhaled deeply through my nose, taking in the sweet scent. I smiled as it filled my nose again but something ruined it. My phone vibrated in a way that let me know it was a text.
Normally when I slept I put my phone on the side of the bed, sleeping at Kate's was no exception so I felt every text I got. I sighed and carefully untangled myself, trying my best not to wake Kate up. Somehow I succeeded, and turned over. I stopped halfway through when Kate nuzzled into her pillow as if she was searching for me, her arm reached out just a tiny bit but she was still asleep so wasn't fully aware. I smiled at the adorable sight and gave her temple a kiss, making her smile and nuzzle the pillow once more. I was glad to still have her.
Finally I turned around completely to grab my phone. I turned the screen on to see that I had just received a text message from Stephanie. I had forgotten about us exchanging phone numbers. I decided to text her back which to my surprise she responded quickly.
S. hey. I haven't checked up on you yet. Is everything okay?
R. no, I would go into why but you already know. I miss her so much.
S. I bet. I wish we were talking under better circumstances.
R. Why are you back anyway? And where have you been all this time.
S. it's too long to type over text. Want to meet up? Maybe grab some brunch or something? I know a great spot.
R. I don't know Steph, I just woke up.
S. still calling me Steph huh? I guess some things never change. Anyway I insist. Please? It will give us a chance to catch up.
R. alright. Where?
S. Larry's they have really good breakfast food. We can eat outside too. Cute little spot.
R. Larry's? Alright, I can be there in about forty minutes.
S. sounds good. See ya there. : )
I sighed again as I placed the phone back down on the bed. I didn't really want to go but I wanted some answers. Honestly I was mad at her for ghosting us but I know why she did it, it was just a matter of sticking with it that's making me confused. I guess I should get a move on. I looked over at Kate again to see her still sleeping and smiled.
"I love you" I said, playing with her hair a little. Not long after I slid out of bed and decided to leave her a note after I got ready. Checking the weather I saw that it was going to be around the mid seventies so I wore a usual button up which was tan with black jeans. Put on a belt and watch and then wrote Kate a note.
Good morning my love. I just wanted to leave this for you when you wake up as you're far too beautiful to disturb. I just wanted to let you know that Stephanie wanted to catch up on things so that's where I'm going. If you still want to pack up the house later just message me and I'll be there. Won't be long. I love you so much. More than you'll ever know.
Love Rick.
I smiled at the cheesiness and the fact that I basically said I love you three times in a row, and then put the note on my side of the bed. Just above the sheets. I carefully opened and closed Kate's bedroom door which she had shut last night not because she wanted to have sex, but simply because of privacy. We hadn't had sex since the night of the storm. I still felt disgusted with myself for having sex so soon after my family's death.
Everyone in the house must have been asleep which is a rarity with Lilly around. Normally she's the type to wake up early but I guess since everything her sleeping schedule has been messed up. Still though when she showed up to the house that day I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was doing better. At least on the outside. Better than me at least. I stepped outside into the cool morning air, taking in its sweet scent and checking the time which read eleven o'clock. I walked over to my truck as the cool and beautiful morning breeze brushed past me. Once in my truck I rolled the window down to get some more fresh air and set off. As expected it was about a twenty minute drive until I got to the restaurant. I parked and then pulled out my phone to message Stephanie.
R. here.
S. I'm inside. Just say you're with Stephania.
After receiving the text I slid my phone back in my pocket and stepped out of the truck, walking over to the building as I pushed the button on my car key to lock it. I heard my truck beep as I walked and slipped the keys back in my pocket. I entered and was greeted by a young girl at the counter. She was talking to one of her co-workers when I walked in. she stopped immediately however to greet me.
"Hello, how are you? Are you by yourself?" she asked in that happy, retail tone.
"I'm fine… uh, I'm here to meet Stephanie" I said.
"Oh, she told us that you would be coming. Right this way" she said, stepping out from behind the counter. I followed her through the dining room and over to the outdoor area which was a porch like balcony that overlooked the street about twenty yards away. Stephanie was on her phone as we approached and looked up as she heard our footsteps. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt with black sweatpants. Much more casual than me. She looked up and smiled as I sat down. "You two enjoy" the girl said before walking away. Part of me didn't want her to leave because now I knew that I had to conversate with Stephanie. I turned to her and simply smiled.
"Uh… hey" I smiled nervously.
"Hey, I'm so glad you came. I feel like we have a lot to catch up on" Stephanie said. My smile faded.
"Yeah… we do," I replied. Just then we were interrupted by our waiter to see if we wanted anything. Given how it was breakfast I ordered chocolate milk, same as Humphrey would. Stephanie ordered some fruit punch and then the waiter left.
"So… I understand if you're mad at me" Stephanie said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Yeah I am. Not as much as you might think though. I'm glad you decided to come back but… why were you ever gone? What happened?" I questioned. Stephanie raised her finger.
"Well hold on, the waiter will be back any moment with our drinks. Lets just look over the menu and order something and we can talk while we wait for the food" she explained.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because it's private, '' Stephanie admitted. Immediately I began to question why she would choose a restaurant of all places then, but it was outside and the only other people out here were the old couple in the corner so I guess we got lucky.
"Okay…" I replied.
"Sorry, I just don't want anyone else to hear me… before I do tell you though I just… promise that you wont judge me?" Stephanie asked.
"Promise" I said, holding up my right hand. Stephanie smiled.
"Good, so I guess in the meantime… you did it" she said.
"Did what?" I asked confused.
"Kate, you got her. How?" Stephanie asked.
"Uh… well I don't really know. A lot happened but… I was over her house one day and she ran into me. We had an extremely short conversation and then she sat next to me in class the next day. We hung out a bit and-"
"Wait, she just sat next to you out of nowhere? Why?" Stephanie asked.
"I asked her that a while back. At the time I was just grateful that the love of my life was talking to me. But she said that it was how I talked to her that day. I didn't hit on her or anything I just… treated her like an equal" I explained.
"An equal? Why? what does she normally get?" Stephanie asked.
"Hit on. But she got to know me a bit and then she got hit by a car and I had to rush her to the hospital-"
"What? hit by a car?" Stephanie said, cutting me off again.
"Yeah… some idiot got mad and drove off without even looking at the road" I answered.
"Wow, so you saved her," Stephanie said.
"I guess… There was no ambulance near us and I wasn't gonna wait so I put her in my truck and took her to the hospital. She went into surgery and when she was done they let me see her. She was still out cold but when she finally woke up I was holding her hand. I think from that point on she just felt safer when I was around. I think that's why she kept holding my hand even after she woke up" I explained with a smile, remembering everything. The steps it took to get here.
"So you saved her and she fell for you" Stephanie asked.
"Not exactly, we were really good friends for a while. Holding hands, I would get a kiss on the cheek. That type of stuff. Angel was always telling me to go for it but I never would. I would tll her that I just wanted things to stay how they were and not ruin anything" I said.
"Well has it so far?" Stephanie asked. I shook my head.
"The only fighting we've ever done was recently because of the stress. But I was drunk so I barely remember anything" I answered, the mood going dark now. Stephanie's face seemed to drop a bit as she realized what she brought up.
"Rick I'm-"
"It's fine, really I-"
"Alright guys. Got your drinks. Ready to order?" the waiter asked happily, completely oblivious to what was going on.
"Oh uh…" I began, looking across the table. Stephanie snapped out of it and ordered strawberry pancakes. I got French toast with a side of ham steak. The order was written down and the waiter said it would be right out. The morning breeze blew again, making me enjoy the scent and feeling that it brought. I loved this time of day.
"Anyway… we never fought before, and I don't think we ever could honestly" I said.
"Well, how long have you two been together?" Stephanie asked.
"Around November. So about five months" I answered.
"Wow, almost half a year… I guess I was wrong… I'm glad that I was, I just… I really liked you" Stephanie said, again looking sad. She also looked away as she said it.
"Steph I… I liked you too… maybe it would have worked but I loved Kate, I always have" I said. Stephanie nodded.
"I know… hey have you two… gone all the way?" Stephanie asked. I knew this would come up eventually.
"Yeah. we make love a lot… we both find it a great way to show how much we love each other" I explained.
"That's why they call it making love" Stephanie said. She looked upset as she leaned on her hand. I knew that she was the one that desperately wanted to be in Kate's place.
"It didn't happen right away. We were friends for awhile until one night we all went to the boardwalk-"
"All? Whose all?" Stephanie asked.
"Oh, all of us. Me, Kate, Shaky… Angel… you know, the group" I answered.
"Oh…" Stephanie said, again looking sad as her ears fell flat.
"Yeah, me and Kate went up on the Ferris wheel and had our first kiss. After that we took the picture" I explained. Stephanie looked confused.
"What picture?" she asked.
"Oh" I said as I quickly pulled out my phone and swiped to the picture of all six of us that night. I meant to hand the phone over but froze, looking at Angel. She seemed so happy. Like everything was going right and then…
"Hey, you okay?" Stephanie asked, snapping me out of it.
"Huh? Oh" I said, handing the phone over. Stephanie took it but kept her eyes fixated on me. "What?" I asked.
"You got a…" she began, pointing to her eye. I checked my eye and noticed that a tear had formed. Probably from looking at the picture.
"Sorry" I said.
"It's okay… I know it must hurt" she said, finally looking down at the picture. "Wow… you all look so happy… I wish I would've been there"
"Why weren't you?" I asked. Stephanie looked up to me again and handed me the phone. I took it and put it on the table as I waited for her response.
"Well… the day after I left your place when we got in our fight. I was crushed. I wanted so badly to be with you and it was just too much. So I decided to forget about it, I took my own advice and got rid of what upset me. I talked with my mom and she switched my school. It took some getting used to but I managed to make some friends. They were nice but… they weren't you guys. Even after everything I still thought about you guys, and you as well. My heart still ached until this one boy started to crush on me. His name was Michael and he was my first real boyfriend. We went out on dates and everything was alright until one day…" Stephanie spoke but seemed hesitant to go on.
"Steph… I wont judge you I swear" I promised. She looked nervous as she continued.
"Um… we started out with foreplay. He would finish me, I would finish him. That type of deal. We did that for two weeks until finally we decided to go all the way. It was my first time so… I was devastated that it wouldn't be with you…" Stephanie explained. She paused for a moment, hiding her face from me.
"Go on" I urged.
"We went to my bedroom and we did it… it was okay but… it was nothing like I had ever felt before. He was a nice guy and all, but I wasn't in love with him you know? I couldn't get into it. I never told him though, we would just try different positions until finally I thought of something…" Stephanie stopped again.
"Steph?" I urged.
"Promise?" she asked.
"Promise" I said.
"I… I pretended that I was making love with you…" she said, blushing madly and now not even looking in my direction. I sat in awe as I processed what was just said to me. "I got into it… really into it, I just had to close my eyes and imagine your scent instead of his… I came so much the first time that he didn't know what he did differently. He said I was more passionate and was really confused as to why I was just getting more wet and excited and… kissy" she explained.
"So… what happened?" I asked.
"We were going at it again and when we both hit our climax I… I screamed your name… I guess I had just gotten used to it…" again I sat quietly as I tried to process everything. She continued. "He heard that and… we got in a fight, I tried to tell him that I wasn't cheating on him and he didn't believe me so… I told him everything… he left the house, ghosted me, and since then I've just been living with my grandmother. I just go to school, and come home. My friends wanted nothing to do with me after they figured that I was some type of whore. I don't know what I was thinking but… I've felt so alone for so long, that when I finally ran into Lilly that day I realized how much I missed everyone and decided to just come back"
"So… you never tried dating again?" I asked.
"Yeah… I did. I had another boyfriend but he was just an asshole. I was a lay for him and that was it, then I tried dating this girl I met in science class but scissoring isn't all it's cracked up to be… and the last one was a guy who we just agreed that it would be a friendship with benefits type of thing. He's cool but… it's just sex, something to take the edge off when I need it" Stephanie explained.
"And you're… okay with this?" I asked.
"I have to be. Nothing against you but I feel like my ship for love has already sailed. It won't ever happen" Stephanie pouted. I felt a wave of guilt wash over me, making me reach my hand over and lay it on top of hers.
"I'm… I'm really sorry" I said.
"Don't be, you were just following your love. I'm glad it happened, really I am. I'm happy for you, I just don't know what that means for me. Hopefully I accept it one of these days but until then… Can we still be friends?" Stephanie asked.
"Of course" I smiled warmly. Just then our food came out, making me let go of Stephanie's hand but also giving us a chance to rework the conversation. Stephanie cut into her pancakes and looked over at me.
"So how was your first time?" she asked.
"Well… from the sounds of it only you lost your virginity that night?" I asked.
"Sadly yeah…" Stephanie answered.
"Well not only were we each other's first kiss, but we were each other's first so it was really loving, but not clumsy. You would expect that from two virgins but that wasn't it… we were so horny and overdue that night that we just needed to release ourselves. Leading up to that point was nothing but sexual tension" I explained.
"That's nice… but… wow you were really her first kiss? The sex I can get passed but she really never kissed anybody? She had three boyfriends, you don't think she kissed any of them?" Stephanie asked.
"If Kate says she didn't then she didn't" I said a little defensive.
"Alright I'm just saying. You would think a girl like that would have at least kissed a boy, and from how you talk about her she's horny all the time" Stephanie explained.
"She's only horny because she loves me. I'm the same way" I said.
"Oh yeah? Anything else to note that happened while I was gone?" Stephanie asked. I took a bite of my French toast after finally smearing the butter and syrup on it.
"A lot, but I guess the biggest thing would be… hey do you remember Garth?" I asked.
"Pssh yeah. What about him?" she replied.
"Well, he kinda… tried to kill me" I said. Stephanie stopped her fork mid air, looking up at me before lowering it with pure confusion in her eyes.
"What do you mean tried to kill you?" she asked.
"Well he saw me taking Kate as taking her away from him and so we were at a party one night and he drugged me… and then took me out to the old silo just off new port and… he stabbed me, left me to die" I explained. Stephanie now seemed to grow worried.
"What… happened?" she asked.
"Before I blacked out I managed to send Kate my location and she saved me, I would have died if it wasn't for her. Not only that but she gave me her blood after I lost so much of mine… apparently we're the same blood type" I explained. Stephanie smiled.
"Wow. saving each other, humping on the regular, and you have the same blood type. You two are made for each other" she teased. I laughed and poked the next piece of French toast to eat. Stephanie's face went concerned again as she asked. "What happened to Garth?"
"He paid off the judge and got off scott free" I said. Stephanie scoffed.
"Ugh, I fucking hate people" she said.
"Yeah, but hey Humphrey's mom got an abusive boyfriend. That was a whole thing and he got locked up thankfully. Only for a few months, but I don't think he'll be coming around again" I said.
"Oh yeah? Tell me more'' Stephanie asked, again leaning on her hand, this time out of curiosity rather than sadness. We spent the next hour talking, laughing, catching up, and overall having a good time. When we left we decided to split the bill and as we walked out Stephanie was the first to speak.
"So uh… do this again?" she asked.
"Definitely. Just send me a text whenever and if I'm not busy I'll come" I said. Stephanie smiled.
"Okay then… oh before you go, could you text me the others phone numbers? I'd like to catch up with them too" she explained.
"You're gonna tell them everything?" I asked.
"No, not everything. That's between you and me. But send me those numbers?" Stephanie asked.
"Consider it done," I replied. Stephanie hugged me excitedly as her tail wagged.
"It's so good to be back… catch ya later" she said, breaking the hug and walking to her car. We split up, and I climbed into my truck, starting it up and rolling the windows down again. This time though I checked my phone to see that I had a missed text from Kate. She had sent it about an hour ago.
K. hey, everything okay over there? I'm heading over to Humphrey's for a bit and then we can meet at your place. Is that alright?
R. sounds great. Heading over there now
It was about a fifteen minute drive but I eventually made it to my old home. A place of sad echoes for me which now that I was out of there, I kind of didn't want to go back. Kate was right, I had to let go of this place. She wasn't perfect though. All the stuff about accepting Angel's death was just too much.
I pulled in to see not only Kate's car there, but her mom and Humphrey's as well. I prepared myself for what I was gonna be doing the rest of the day and got out. As I reached the door I saw it was opened and walked into Kate and Humphrey filling up boxes in the dining room. They both looked over at me as I entered the now half empty house.
"Hey Rick. everything go over well?" Kate asked. I really missed her. I smiled and walked around the loop that led me to the dining room. Kate went to stand up completely to greet me as she was bent down to grab a box, she went to say something when I cut her off to scoop her tongue up as I kissed her. Her hand was partially raised in the air as she was caught off guard. But she quickly relaxed, sighing into the kiss and giving me the sweet taste of not only her saliva but her breath as well. Our tongues clicked as we tilted our heads, making me feel her cute cold nose on the right side of my muzzle. I broke the kiss, making Kate gasp for air as our mouths disconnected.
"What was that for?" she asked, with a hint of amazement in her voice.
"I don't know, I just… I missed you I guess" I said. I then turned around and faced Humphrey who was still leaned over but looking up to stare at us.
"Hey Humphrey," I said.
"Hey man, everything went well I take it?" he asked.
"Long story but yeah, pretty much. What's the plan today?" I asked. Kate sighed.
"We… are gonna get as much done as we possibly can today… sound good?" she asked. I looked around me to see that most of the stuff was already either boxed up or gone. I felt a heartache, making my ears fall flat, but I sighed and pulled myself together.
"Yeah, let's do it" I agreed. It was a long day.
