Chapter 32: Afterparty.
Humphrey's POV:
2am.
We continued chatting for a while before I noticed that everyone was beginning to nod off and checked my watch. I had to blink once or twice to focus and clear the alcohol shroud a little before I could see that it was already after 2am. At this point Sam and Brittany were already asleep on their sofa and Kate was nodding off as well, Angel and I were still more or less awake having been the least drunk of the five of us. I slowly dragged myself off the floor, stretching and yawning as Angel got up as well and walked over.
"I guess it's probably time to go. Wouldn't want to overstay my welcome." I said quietly with a grin as she walked past me, gently slapping my stomach and smiling as she passed me.
"You'd be welcome to stay but I don't think there's enough room as it is." She said apologetically, looking over at Sam and Brit. "I don't even know if Chris and Abby are still here."
"It's fine Angel, thanks. It was a great party by the way." I replied, moving to start picking up cups off the ground and tables. There would be a lot of cleaning up to do and I would've felt bad had I left without doing anything to help. Angel just smiled at me as she watched for a moment before doing the same.
"That's good to hear. It was largely for you anyway." She said, pausing as a sly grin came over her face and she moved a little closer to me, the cleaning temporarily forgotten. "So... how was it?" She asked slowly, glancing over at Kate and then back to me. I didn't answer immediately or try to stall by playing dumb since I knew exactly what she was asking. I'd noticed that she and Kate seemed to be a little closer than the others and wondered what I should say, eventually deciding to just come out with it.
"It felt..." I began slowly.
Angel's POV:
Angel's smile widened as Humphrey described how he'd felt. She'd been rooting for him and Kate since about the second day she'd known him and from what Kate had told her, even her parents, who'd scared off every other potential boyfriend by reputation alone, liked Humphrey.
"Hmmm? I see." She said, raising her eyebrow and giving him a look that said it all. Humphrey just smiled sheepishly, blushing a little as he continued cleaning up quietly.
"Please don't tell the others." He said softly after a long moment without looking at her. Angel couldn't help but laugh, although she kept it quiet, surprised he was so concerned about the others finding out about how he felt. To her it almost couldn't have been more obvious how the two of them must have felt but she was closer to Kate than the others so maybe that was a little unfair.
"No promises. But..." She said slowly, pausing as he looked over at her with a hurt expression that made her smile. "If you can make sure Kate gets home okay I'll consider it." She finished and he smiled, shaking his head at her.
"I can do that." He replied, taking the cups he was holding into the kitchen before returning to the living room.
"I have a feeling her parents would kill her if she stayed the night without telling them and it's too late to call now." Angel continued, stretching and letting out a big yawn. 'That should do for now. We can clean the rest tomorrow.' She thought to herself as she surveyed the room. Humphrey walked over to Kate, gently shaking her shoulder as he said her name, trying to wake her.
"Kate, wake up. It's time to go." He said softly. Angel couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two of them, seeing how cute they were together. She was happy for her best friend, since she knew Kate was a great girl and it was about time that a guy got it together and saw that too, not that Kate made it easy for Humphrey, being so clueless about everything.
Humphrey's POV:
I steered Kate towards the door, holding her shoulders to keep her steady as I bid Angel goodbye and left the house. I'd been hoping that her short nap would've been enough to sober her up a little but it hadn't done squat except for re-energising her. We started walking towards Kate's house, chatting a bit in the quiet night as we moved through the suburbs.
"Come onnn..." Kate implored to me, doing her best to hold the pleading expression on her face before breaking out in a fit of giggles. I just shook my head, letting out a sigh as I turned her around to keep her walking and to prevent her from tripping. 'This is gonna take a while...' I thought to myself as Kate leaned her weight back against my hands so that I was practically holding her upright. We'd only made it two blocks and if that was any indication the forty minute walk to Kate's was going to take at least twice that.
"Kate you need to go home. Your parents will be worried. Plus you're drunk." I said slowly, adopting a tone I might use on a small child. Clearly she didn't like hearing that because she suddenly spun on the ball of her foot, an angry look on her face. It would've been impressive dexterity given the state she was in however she almost immediately overbalanced, falling backwards towards the pavement as I dived after her, worried that she'd hit her head. It was too late for me to catch her so I grabbed her arm and threw myself sideways onto the grass and pulling her along with me as she yelped in surprise.
I hit the ground, the grass doing a little to soften the impact and a moment later I felt Kate land on top of me, causing me to grunt a little. I looked up, or down depending how you look at it, to see that she was fine before letting out a sigh and slumping back onto the grass. Kate clearly thought this was all hilarious because she burst out laughing as she pulled herself up to sit on top of me, poking my chest with a finger.
"And you say I'm drunk?" She said, a smug look on her face as she laughed at me. "You're the one falling over." I couldn't even find the words to point out how she was wrong, not to mention I didn't even think it would work so I just shook my head at her. We stayed that way for a moment before getting up and continuing on in roughly the same manner as before. Kate's energy burst only lasted about half way to her house however, forcing me to pick her up and carry her on my back the rest of the way as she napped on my shoulder.
I was getting pretty tired myself as I finally trudged up to the gate at the Spencer's property, my watch showing that it was 3:14am. I looked up at the camera for a moment but nothing happened so I turned my attention to the walls on either side of the gate, eventually spotting what appeared to be an intercom button.
"Hello?" I said cautiously as I held the button down, releasing it after a moment and waiting for a reply.
Thankfully I didn't need to wait long for a response.
"Good morning." Silas said through the intercom. It was hard to tell listening through the intercom but I got the sense that, from his tone, now was not the time to mess around or mince words. I took a deep breath and pressed the intercom button once more.
"Hello Silas, it's Humphrey here. I've got Kate with me." I said, getting straight to the point as politely as possible. I released the button and looked over at the camera, shifting Kate a little on my back, trying to get her to wake as well as show to Silas who we were. I felt Kate begin to stir just as the gate began to slide open, rubbing her eyes and looking around in confusion.
"Where are we?" She asked me as I started down the driveway.
"You're home silly." I replied with a laugh, tilting my head away a little to look at her. A look of realisation spread over her face as she looked around, recognising the familiar surroundings as she woke up properly.
"Want me to put you down?" I asked, still grinning at her as I walked, the gravel crunching a little under my shoes. Kate shook her head, resuming her position on my back as she rested on my shoulder.
"No. It's cold tonight and you're really warm." She said, making me chuckle as I shrugged a little, somewhat relieved that she sounded a little more sober than before. As I topped the steps to the door it opened before us to reveal Silas, who was standing there with his usual impossible to read expression. I set Kate down which made her pout a bit but she didn't say anything in front of Silas as I grinned a little nervously, opening my mouth to speak but being cut off before I could as Silas spoke.
"Good morning you two, please come inside. Mr and Mrs Spencer are waiting for you in the parlour." He said, his tone of voice giving nothing away as he stepped aside to let us in. I swallowed as I headed inside upon his suggestion, nervous on Kate's behalf that her parents were still up and waiting for her. Kate on the other hand looked downright scared as she followed me in, glancing up at Silas before looking away as she hurried inside. I felt her take hold of my sleeve as I led the way upstairs and to the right, heading to where the parlour was located.
We stopped outside the door and I turned to Kate, giving her a comforting smile and pat on the shoulder before I knocked gently on the door, opening it as I heard a muffed 'Come in.' from inside.
"Ah Humphrey, it's nice to see you again." Eve said as I entered the room slowly. She was standing up by the far wall wearing a night gown while Winston was sitting in the same armchair that he'd been in when I'd visited for dinner, still wearing a suit which surprised me. I nodded to both of them with a smile, trying to get them in a good mood for Kate's sake.
"Hello Eve. Winston. It's great to see you both again. I'm sorry for showing up unannounced like this." I said, lowering my head a little as I apologised. I was invited inside so it wasn't really necessary but I figured that it couldn't hurt either as Eve smiled kindly and Winston waved away my apology.
"Nonsense. You were bringing our daughter home, we should be thanking you. Besides, you're most welcome here anytime." He said and I thought I saw the corners of his mouth twitch up a little as he nodded to me before turning his attention to Kate, who was still half hiding behind me. He and Eve both gave her grave looks for a moment but remained silent, clearly holding back for the moment but with plenty to say.
"That means a lot to me. Thank you." I said earnestly. It had been a long time since I had ever felt like I really belonged anywhere and to hear something like that caused a surge of respect for the two adults before me to swell up in my chest.
"I hate to cut things short Humphrey but it's late and Winston and I need to talk to our daughter. I insist that you stay the night however. Silas tells me you walked here? You must be tired and there is a guest room you can use." Eve said as she walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder. At the mention of a 'talk' Kate had shrunk back even more, almost completely hidden behind me as she tightened her grip on my hoodie sleeve. I smiled at Eve as I seriously considered her offer, since I was really tired and didn't fancy the long walk home after all that had happened.
"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to cause trouble..." I said slowly after a moment, my voice trailing off as my unspoken question of confirmation hung in the air. Winston just nodded to me as Eve waved her hand airily, dismissing my concern and instructing Silas, who it seemed had appeared from nowhere at exactly the right moment, to prepare the guest room for me. It seemed more and more that he was impeccable however, as he told her it was already done as he had inferred that I might be staying. I thanked Kate's parents once more as I left, giving her a supportive squeeze on the shoulder as I followed Silas through the house.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble." I said once he had closed the parlour door and we began walking away. I could hear Winston saying something to Kate but couldn't make out the words through the closed door as Silas shook his head.
"There is nothing for you to apologise for Humphrey. This is not the first and will certainly not be the last late night I am faced with as butler here." He said, chuckling slightly. The guest room that I was given was in the house's left wing, on the ground floor. The layout was a little different from upstairs but it was roughly directly below Kate's room and was similarly furnished, although without any of the personal touches. I thanked Silas and he bowed a little before he left me alone, closing the door on his way out. I looked around the room and saw that there was a nice looking ensuite bathroom but was too tired to bother with a shower, pulling out my phone to message Charlie.
H: Hey Charlie, I am staying at the Spencer's tonight. Will be home tomorrow morning.
I didn't bother with too much info since I doubted she would see it until tomorrow morning anyway and once I got home I could explain. 'At least this way she won't worry if she wakes before I get back.' I thought to myself as I stripped down to my briefs and slid into the enormous bed, the alcohol in my system quickly pulling me into a deep sleep during which I dreamed about a wolf pup being scolded by its parents.