Rick's POV
I felt myself wake up yet again, the sun coming in through the windows made me squint while also making me want to go back to sleep. I groaned very lightly and reached for Kate as I noticed she wasn't in my arms like she usually was while we slept. She wasn't there though. She must have woken up earlier which was normal. Opened my eyes again to confirm that she wasn't there and I was right. I could still smell her sweet scent however. It littered her bed, making me want to hold her even more than I already did. I stretched, still feeling sore from yesterday. As Kate said we tried our best to get as much done as we could at the house. Even so it wasn't enough. Although there was little to nothing left. All we really had was two more rooms and the furniture in my room, however thinking about it we could have used certain things as furniture when me and Kate moved in together. But on second thought it was too much to hold onto, especially because we didn't really know how long it would be until we moved out of her parents.
Part of me dreaded going back there because I knew that the next time would be the last time, and I still wasn't ready to say goodbye. But I made Kate a promise, and I always keep them. Especially if it's for her. Not that she was doing it for herself. It was for me… as hard as it was to believe sometimes. I turned over to the other side of the bed to grab my phone. The time was twelve o'clock. I began searching through my notifications, specifically to see if Kate had gone anywhere because I was already starting to miss her. I did find texts, but it wasn't from her. Stephanie had asked if we wanted to hang out again. We had just hung out yesterday though… but on the other hand I guess me and the others hung out everyday before… I went to message her and unsurprisingly she got right back to me.
R. hey sorry. I just woke up. What's going on?
S. hey. I just wanted to talk with you about some things. Rather not speak about it over text. Want to come over my grandmas? We can hang out here.
R. maybe. Kate wasn't next to me when I woke up so I'm gonna find her first and then I'll get back to you okay?
S. alright.
I sighed and took the covers off of me and rolled out of the comfy bed. After putting on a shirt and pants I walked outside the room and turned to my left to look into Lilly's room. She wasn't in there. Neither of them were actually. I walked over to the bathroom and did my usual things. Pissing and brushing my teeth. I made my way down the stairs to see Eve in the kitchen. I walked in to see her pulling things out of the freezer, most likely to get them defrosted for dinner. She looked over at me as I entered the kitchen.
"Oh, hey Rick. sleep well?" she asked.
"Yeah. just fine, thanks. Have you seen Kate?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's outside with Lilly" she answered, nudging to the living room which housed the back sliding door.
"Thanks" I said, walking past her to go through the kitchen.
"Hey Rick, before you go" Eve called to me, making me turn around. She stopped doing what she was doing to fully face me with a sympathetic expression on her face. "How have you been feeling? With everything happening I haven't asked. I know it's a lot but you're really hanging in there. Do you wanna talk?" she asked.
"I'm fine thanks… I just… I don't know how else to describe it, it just hurts" I explained. Eve nodded, keeping her expression.
"Well if you need anything, anything… you let me know okay?" she offered.
"Thank you" I nodded. Eve went back to doing her thing, giving me the okay to turn around and head outside. Once I did I saw Kate and Lilly sitting on the deck chairs talking with each other. Kate was wearing black sweatpants, and a pink T-shirt with her adorable gray sweatshirt unzipped. While Lilly wore dark gray sweatpants and a yellow sweater. I believe it was the same one she wore that night at the peer. The two girls looked at me, stopping their conversation as the sliding door sounded the alarm that I had walked outside.
"Sorry" I apologized.
"Oh you're fine Rick. take a seat" Kate said, slightly looking over at another chair. I picked it up and brought it over to the pair and placed it down before finally sitting.
"What are you two doing out here?" I asked.
"Eh, just wanted to enjoy the weather. Talking about Shaky" Lilly explained. Kate didn't add anything, instead she just took a sip of her coffee which was homebrewed. I thought I smelled coffee coming down the stairs.
"What about him?" I asked. Kate swallowed her sip of coffee.
"Me and Humphrey talked yesterday. Apparently Shaky heard about Stephanie and he thinks that we're trying to replace Angel" Kate explained while still looking forward instead of at me.
"What makes him think that?" I asked.
"Because I apparently took her place when she left, so now it's her turn to come back and fill Angel's gap. Humphrey tried telling him that wasn't the case but he ran off. We tried calling him but he didn't answer. We figured he needs his space" Kate explained.
"He's not in danger is he?" I asked.
"No, I've been texting him. I'm the only one that he'll talk to" Lilly said, holding up her phone to me. Indeed they had been talking. Her phone was too far away to read anything though but at least Shaky was okay.
"We're gonna go over to his place and talk with him but we want to get your house cleaned up first. We don't have much left, we can finish it today" Kate said before taking another sip of her coffee.
"You know, you guys didn't tell me that Stephanie came back. Why not?" Lilly asked. She lowered her phone and looked between the two of us.
"Because of Angel" I answered. Lilly didn't say anything, she just avoided my eye contact as her ears fell flat.
"Have you heard from her since yesterday?" Kate asked, finally looking at me.
"Uh… yeah actually. She wants me to go over to her place today" I answered.
"Really? Why?" Kate asked.
"I don't know, she said that she has some things to discuss," I explained.
"To you? Why just to you? What about the rest of us? You weren't the only one that she left" Lilly said, a little aggravated. I shrugged.
"She said she wanted to talk to you guys again, she even asked for your phone numbers" I explained.
"You gave her mine?" Lilly asked. I nodded. She didn't seem to mind. For a second I thought she was gonna be mad. Thankfully that wasn't the case. I think she was just happy that Stephanie cared enough to ask for her number.
"Anyway, she wants me to head over to her grandma's place for a bit so I might do that, and then if you want we can finish up the house" I planned. Kate nodded.
"Lilly, would you want to go?" she asked.
"Hm… would you really need me?" Lilly asked back.
"Well, Humphrey said that he would meet us there, we just need to give him a time," Kate explained. Kate then turned to me and looked at me, wanting an estimate of when I would be there.
"It depends on what Stephanie wants. Shouldn't be more than an hour" I said. I pulled out my phone and began texting her again, asking for her address. I received it almost instantly and from what my maps were telling me, it was gonna be a twenty minute drive. I guess that's what happens when you move to the next town over.
"When are you going?" Kate asked.
"Probably now so we can just get this house thing over with" I answered.
"You know Rick. I haven't been talking to you much since everything. I feel kinda bad. I'm sorry you have to say goodbye to everything" Lilly said. I looked up from my phone and sighed as I slid it back in my pocket.
"Don't be, we were all going through our own things. If you want we can hang out sometime. Just the two of us" I offered.
"I'd like that" Lilly said. I really enjoyed hanging around Lilly, although we never hung out just the two of us. I couldn't even remember if we ever did. I guess it was just awkward because I knew she had a crush on me. This was back then but even now she was still pretty vocal about it, saying quick whips and things. Not that I thought she would try something, I knew how much she loved Humphrey.
"We should all do something sometime. It's been so long" Kate said. I felt a heartache as I thought of all getting together like we normally did.
"I don't know Kate. No matter how long we wait, the first couple of times we do that are gonna hurt. We're all gonna notice who's missing, and why" I explained. Kate looked saddened at what I said. Not because I said no but because she knew it was true. "I should get going. I love you guys" I said.
"Love you too Rick" Lilly said. I looked over at Kate for a moment.
"C'mere" I said, leaning forward. Kate giggled and gave my lips a quick and wet smooch. After our lips parted Kate looked me up and down.
"Are you going like that?" she asked, referring to my extremely casual clothes. She knew it was only my thing to wear these types of things around the house. White T-shirt and black sweatpants.
"No. Why what's wrong with it?" I teased.
"Nothing, just not your style is all" Kate answered. I chuckled and then stood up to go back inside. Once in Kate's room I went up to change. I hadn't yet unpacked everything but I did have my bags still. I really had to put this away when I had the chance. It wasn't fair to Kate for cluttering up her room. Not that my room was ever messy, we were just still in the moving process. I wore my black jeans from yesterday, as I knew I would be at the house again, and kept the white T-shirt on. Of course I put a watch on and since it was getting warmer I wore my black jacket again instead of my brown one. I wouldn't be wearing it much until winter came around again. When I walked back downstairs Kate and Lilly were still outside. Eve however poked her head around the corner.
"Hey, going somewhere?" she asked.
"Yeah. just meeting someone before we finish up the house. Will I See you there?" I asked. Eve's expression changed to a somewhat saddened one.
"I don't think so Rick. I'm getting old, I need a break. You guys should be able to handle the rest" she explained.
"Alright, but you're not that old," I said. Eve smirked.
"I'm forty-eight years old Rick. it doesn't seem that old but trust me, it is" Eve replied.
"Oh Eve, you're fine" I said as I turned to the door and stepped out. Eve laughed as she went back into the kitchen. As I read earlier, it did take me around twenty minutes to get to Stephanie's house. And when I did I realized how weird it was that she no longer lived with her mother. I didn't get much out of her when we talked, but I think it was just something to do with it being closer to her school so she moved in. I walked over to the door and knocked on it three times, looking around the yard as I waited. It wasn't long before I heard the bolt unlock and the door open. My head turned back to the door and sure enough, there she was.
"You made it. Have trouble finding the place?" Stephanie asked as she stepped to the side to let me in.
"No, just followed the GPS" I said as I stepped in. Stephanie closed the door behind me and instantly I was hit with the smell of the elderly. It wasn't a bad smell, it just smelled like… I don't know how to describe it hard candy? Niknaks? Old shit? It reminded me of my grandmother. Except here there was no hint of good old fashioned Italian cooking. We made our way through the extremely small house and walked past her grandmother who was sitting on the couch watching soap operas.
"Hey grandma. This is Rick, remember the old friend I was telling you about?" Stephanie said. Her grandmother slowly turned to me.
"Oh, this is your friend. Oh he's real handsome" she said. I laughed nervously.
"Um… thanks" I said.
"We were just gonna head to my room and hang out for a bit. Call me if you need me okay?" Stephanie said.
"Alright. I could use some water" her grandmother said. Stephanie nodded.
"Okay grandma, coming right up" she said as she took her grandmother's empty glass and walked over to the kitchen which seemed to just be a part of the living room. From the looks of the house it was just a living room as soon as you walked in with the kitchen mixed in, and a hallway along the wall that had the bedrooms and bathroom. Really small place. I waited for Stephanie to fill up the glass and looked around the room, spotting several plushies on small chairs and somehow a china cabinet with all types of plates and shit.
"So do you play any sports?" her grandmother asked, making me look over at her again.
"Oh uh-"
"Here you go grandma" Stephanie said, placing the glass down on the small table next to her chair.
"Thank you sweetheart" her grandmother said.
"Come on" Stephanie whispered, taking my hand and leading me to the hallway. It was only one turn to the left before we reached her room. It seemed very small and cramped. Just some poster, a table for her TV and whatever notebooks and things she had next to it, her book bag leaned against it with a small trash can that held some empty water bottles and chip bags, and the next to those things was a fan and a bed, and then in front of the bed was her one and only dresser. No closet. On top of all of that there was only one window. This room was really cramped. "Sorry for the mess, it's just hard to find room for all my shit" Stephanie explained as she sat on the bed. She patted the spot next to her and so I took it. Now we just both sat on the foot of her bed.
"So… what did you need to talk about?" I asked.
"Well… it's about the others. I really want to start talking to them again but I'm afraid that their gonna be mad at me" Stephanie exclaimed.
"Well… you did kinda just up and leave" I said.
"Yeah but… ugh, who am I kidding? There is no excuse. Even if they did understand that I was upset, that has nothing to do with them" Stephanie said, looking forward at the wall.
"I mean… I honestly think that they'll be more happy than anything to hear from you. I talked with Lilly this morning and she's really excited to hear from you" I explained.
"Oh yeah? So she's looking forward to it?" Stephanie asked.
"Yeah" I answered.
"And she's not mad at me at all?" she pushed. I thought for a moment.
"Eh, maybe a little cross" I said, earning a chuckle out of me and her. Stephanie sighed.
"Should I just go for it then?" she asked.
"I would. It can't hurt to call but, give Shaky a bit. He isn't in the best spot still" I warned.
"Because of Angel?" Stephanie asked. I nodded. "Oh… they were together weren't they?"
"Yeah… he really loved her," I said sadly.
"I… I wish I could've seen them. I remember Angel had the biggest crush on him so… I wish I could have seen that dream come true for them. How were they?" Stephanie asked.
"Happy, they were really happy. We all were" I answered. Stephanie sighed again and then we were sitting in awkward silence. Nothing but soap operas being heard from down the hall. I looked over at Stephanie and looked over her outfit. White tank top with navy blue shorts. It looked cute on her. Her eye turned to me and then she smiled.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing, it was just quiet," I said.
"Yeah, sorry. Why don't you take your jacket off? It's not cold in here is it?" Stephanie asked.
"Oh, no I can take it off. I just didn't want to be rude and leave it somewhere" I explained as I took it off and simply put it behind me on the bed.
"You're fine… hey, have you seen the new scream movie?" she asked. She seemed a bit more excited now, shifting the mood.
"Yeah. I thought it was pretty good, some of the decisions were shit but overall I liked it" I explained.
"Same. check this out though" Stephanie said as she stood up and walked over to her desk which held the TV. She reached under it and pulled out two ghost face masks and then walked over and sat down again.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Oh well, since the movie came out stores have been selling them like crazy. I guess to celebrate how well it's doing. So I know you have a signed one with the whole cast so I figured when I saw these, that you would want a clean one. You know for decoration" Stephanie explained. She held out one of them to me. I took it and stared at it, kinda feeling wrong for taking it, I didn't know why.
"Um… Thank you. You didn't have to get this for me" I said. Stephanie shrugged.
"Well a bunch of people were buying them. I know my school had a small party where they binged all the movies and almost everyone had the costume on" Stephanie Explained. That actually sounded fun.
"Well I don't know where I would put it right now because of Kate's room. She really loves horror but I don't think she would decorate her room like I would" I said. Stephanie gave me a confused stare.
"What did you two move in?" she asked. I nodded.
"Yeah, her mom wanted to give me a place to stay since I lost the house," I said.
"Oh… I forgot you lost the house…" Stephanie said.
"Well, once we move out and into our own place we'll probably have a little horror room where the two of us can nerd out" I said, making her laugh.
"You know, you two really don't seem like the nerdy type" Stephanie said.
"Oh yeah? What type do we look like?" I asked.
"Uh let's see, Kate looks like the typical pretty girl that doesn't take anyone's shit, and then you look like the rough leader type" Stephanie explained.
"Rough leader type" I laughed.
"I mean, you did build that shed in your backyard and everything. You are pretty handy" Stephanie complemented. I put the mask down to the left of me and turned to her again.
"Oh yeah?" I asked.
"Definitely" she replied.
"So… off topic but I have a bit of a perverted question, you don't have to answer if you don't want to" I said.
"Oh no," Stephanie laughed.
"It's not that bad I promise" I said.
"Okay Rick, what is it?" Stephanie asked.
"So… this is a tiny room. Definitely cozy" I said.
"What are ya gettin at?" she asked smugly.
"Is this… where the magic happens?" I asked. Stephanie overdramatically looked up at the ceiling and laughed.
"HA! Yeah, a little bit. My grandma never hears us but it's not like he's over every day. It's more like every other week when my itch is unitchable" Stephanie explained. I nodded.
"Well, you haven't really said much about him. What's he like?" I asked.
"Well… like I said he's still just a friend. I wouldn't want to date the guy. But basically he's kinda slim, fit for a guy that doesn't work out, but he works a lot. So he doesn't have time to invest in a relationship anyway" she explained.
"What's he do?" I asked curiously.
"He works with cargo and machinery. Gets paid eighteen dollars an hour full time and so he takes every hour he can get" Stephanie answered.
"Does he share?" I asked with a slight smile.
"Yeah, if I ask for something he'll get it for me, but it's not like some simp trade off. I like to work for what I have. So whenever I'm not at work I'm here taking care of my grandma or hanging out with friends" Stephanie explained.
"Oh? What do you do?" I asked.
"I work at a movie theater. It sucks but I guess I could be doing worse" Stephanie answered.
"Wait, you work at the movie theater? Which one?" I asked, my tail beginning to wag.
"The one here, so if you went to your theater it wouldn't be the same. But it has its perks, look at all the posters I get?" she said, waving her hand around her room.
"Wow, that is nice," I said. Stephanie giggled.
"So… back on this guy, you're not emotionally invested at all?" I asked.
"Well like I said we're just friends. I would be sad our friendship would be over but I would probably find someone else to have sex with. I know it sounds slutty but I really need it sometimes, and looking for a boyfriend is out of the question. It's not that I don't wanna commit to a guy, I would love to but… you know…" Stephanie explained, making me feel bad again.
"You love me" I said, finishing her sentence for her. She nodded sadly as she looked away from me.
"But… I'm glad we're still friends… but while we're on the topic…" Stephanie started.
"What?" I asked after noticing her hesitation.
"Well I've just dreamed about it for so long that… I just have to take a shot…" Stephanie began. I felt nervous as I knew what she was probably gonna ask, even though I didn't want to believe it. "Would it be asking too much if… I could have sex with you? Just once?"
"Uh… Steph I…" I began, stuttering on my own words.
"We can do it right now. in the bed… you can pretend I'm Kate if it helps" Stephanie offered, putting her hand on my leg. I looked up at her as I felt a sweat start to build. I really wasn't comfortable. Once our eyes met hers darted over to the center of the bed quickly before looking back at me. "Come on… please? No one has to know. I just want to feel you" she added.
"No… Stephanie no…" I said in a panic, standing up and shaking. She seemed upset, not because I told her no but because she now knew that she fucked up. I think it was just supposed to be a question, but once she got it out the hope of sleeping with me made her try and tempt me. "I'm sorry but… I'm with Kate… I love her… and were in a bond that I'm not gonna break… plus, we haven't had sex for about a week. It just hasn't been very motivating since Angel died. So for more reasons than one no… we cant have sex" I explained.
"I… sorry… please don't be mad ``Stephanie said with watery eyes.
"I'm not mad at ya Steph… but I think I should go" I said, kneeling down to her and trying to look her in the eyes. She was avoiding mine, looking down at her lap as her cheeks grew bright red. "Steph?" I said. Finally she did look up to meet my gaze.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay, your heat probably started or something. It's fine. But I think I should go, call the others and I'm sure they'll forgive you. We'll schedule something okay?" I said, trying to cheer her up. Instead she simply nodded. I sighed and grabbed my jacket and then turned around to leave.
"Wait!" she called. I turned around to see her holding the mask out to me.
"Don't forget your gift," she said. Now I felt like an even bigger asshole for accepting a gift after I just crushed her… again… I felt like such a dick. Slowly I reached for it and accepted it.
"Thanks" I said. Stephanie nodded.
"Of course… hang out again?" she said. There was a moment of silence before I answered her.
"Sure… we'll plan something" I said. It was then that I couldn't help myself. I knew her feelings for me and I also knew how it felt to be in her shoes, only her case was worse. I did have a loving relationship, I did lose my virginity to Kate, Kate did lose her virginity to me, and we were happy while she was alone… I knew the feeling. She loved me, and she cared for me, but she wasn't for me. I gave in and gave her a hug. She hugged me back tightly and held me close. "I'm sorry for putting you through this," I said.
"It's okay… don't be sorry just because you're happy… I get it…" Stephanie said. I broke the hug and looked into her eyes. "Kate's a lucky girl," she added. My eyes blanked, looking at the floor as I felt guilty.
"We'll talk okay? Just message the others" I instructed softly.
"I will" she replied, and with our arms still wrapped around each other we hugged again before splitting up.
"It was nice meeting you" I said as I passed her grandma.
"Goodbye" she said as I walked out. Once outside I took a deep breath and then walked over to my truck. I climbed inside and immediately I dialed Kate as I drove off. it was a few rings before she picked up.
"Hey. what's goin on?" she greeted.
"Nothing much, I'm leaving Stephanie's," I said.
"Already? Why?" Kate asked as I had only been there for at most half an hour.
"Uh, well she just wanted to talk about the group and how she should approach them after being gone for so long. Want to meet up at the house?" I asked, trying to quickly change the subject.
"Hmm sure" Kate said.
"Did I bother ya? What are you doing?" I asked. There was a brief pause.
"Um… kinda touching myself" Kate said, making me laugh.
"Yeah, it's that time isn't it?" I asked.
"Yeah, we'll have to buy some pills. Do you want to pick them up or should I?" Kate asked.
"Um, I'll do it on the way over there so you have time to… finish up and come over" I offered.
"Alright, I was pretty close anyway. I'd ask you to talk dirty to me so that I could finish but your driving so… wanna have sex tonight?" Kate asked.
"Sure" I chuckled.
"Alright, see ya soon. I love you" Kate said.
"Love you too. Bye" Isaid, hanging the phone up. I had so many thoughts running through my head. I took another deep breath to calm myself. Was it just heat? It had to have been. What was her deal? I find it hard to believe that Stephanie would try and just make a move like that on me, knowing about my relationship and how much I loved Kate. I felt disturbed, but mostly because I knew what I was putting her through. Part of me wondered what it would have been like though. She is really pretty, she just isn't Kate, nowhere near. Although Kate was impossible to replace, no one was as gorgeous as her, but the passion of that sex probably would have been unbearable because of the years she was waiting. What's gonna happen though. Kate was my everything, and I wanted nothing more. Stephanie would be fine, she just had to call the others and make a move and then things would be going somewhat normal again.
