Chapter 33: Hangover.
Humphrey's POV:
I awoke the following morning to the familiar sounds of my alarm, looking around in confusion for a moment after I silenced it at the not so familiar surroundings. A few seconds later the shroud of sleep lifted from my mind properly and I remembered where I was, the events of the previous night coming back to me. I saw that my phone's battery was all but dead and breathed a sigh of relief that it had lasted long enough for the alarm to sound this morning as I got out of bed and headed into the ensuite bathroom to shower.
Without my toiletries there was only so much that I could do but once I was showered, dressed and had done what I could I inspected myself in the mirror, nodding as I was confident I was presentable enough for now. 'I wonder if anyone else is awake yet?' I thought to myself as I left the guest room, slowly and quietly moving through the silent house. I wasn't altogether sure what to do but found myself heading towards the kitchen and figured a coffee certainly wouldn't go amiss. 'Would they mind?' I wondered a little uncertainly as I approached but was spared of my concerns as I heard some faint sounds from the kitchen, figuring it was most likely Silas.
I knocked gently on the door before entering, my suspicions confirmed as I saw Silas at the sink, washing what appeared to be a batch of freshly picked vegetables. He looked over at me without stopping what he was doing as I entered the room, a slightly amused smile touching his face as I sat at the small bar in the middle of the room.
"Good morning Humphrey. You're up early, I trust you had a good sleep?" He said as I stretched and stifled a yawn, looking around a little and spotting an old-fashioned coffee percolator in the corner. It was a highly ornate piece that looked more like a work of art than a kitchen utensil, made entirely of crystallized glass with gold fittings.
"Morning Silas. Yeah it was fine thanks..." I replied, pausing for a moment before adding, "Mind if I make myself a coffee?" I gestured to the percolator in the corner. He followed my line of sight and chuckled a little.
"Of course but please, allow me. I couldn't allow a guest to do so themselves and besides... this machine does require some practice to be used correctly." I laughed a little and nodded my thanks, watching curiously as he began to make the coffee. He wasn't joking about needing experience to use the old machine, since each and every step seemed to require some very minute adjustments to work appropriately. Silas was clearly an expert however as in less time than it would've taken on a modern machine he placed a mug of coffee before me, the delicious aroma that it emitted making my mouth water.
"Thanks" I said as I took a small sip, sighing in satisfaction as I tasted what was undoubtedly the best coffee I'd ever had.
"My god, this is amazing." I said in an excited tone, looking up from the mug in my hands at Silas with a broad grin.
"My pleasure. It's always nice to prepare food or drinks for someone who appreciates it." He said, laughing as he returned to the vegetables. I tilted my head a bit in confusion as I took another sip, prompting Silas to explain further.
"Unfortunately Miss Kate and Miss Lily are not fans of coffee and I'm afraid that Mr. Winston has grown rather accustomed to my cooking." I nodded my understanding at the situation before Silas excused himself, heading out with a tray of food. The coffee was so good that I was too distracted to even notice Lily entering the kitchen until she spoke as she took a seat at the bar.
"Morning" She said in a sleepy voice, startling me as turned around quickly before grinning as I saw who it was. Unlike Kate's, Lily's hair was black and stood at angles that seemed almost physically impossible in the messy state that it had taken that morning. Although she bore quite the resemblance to Kate, with her hair dyed it was more difficult to tell that they were sisters, only when you studied their face could you tell that they were closely related. Lily was also smaller than Kate, not just because she was younger but in build as well.
"Good morning Lils." I said.
Lily's POV:
"Lils?" She asked him in a mock insulted tone, raising an eyebrow at her sister's mega-crush who's grin faded slightly.
"Oh... I'm sorry. It just seemed right." Humphrey said, sounding contrite as his eyes asked her for forgiveness. She held him on the rope for another few moments before letting out a giggle.
"Hmmm... It's okay. I'll forgive you for now." Lily said, her light tone belied by her expression as she eyeballed Humphrey who smiled broadly.
"So did you sleep alright? You look a little bedraggled." Humphrey teased with an amused grin that grew as she gave him a look, clearly not amused by his energy so early in the morning. It was certainly true though as her hair was sticking at wild angles and Humphrey just laughed at Lily, forcing her to eventually give up on glaring at him. She began to smile a little herself and looked a little closer, taking the chance to study the boy before her.
"And you, Humphrey, look ridiculously well groomed for someone who just woke up." She replied after a moment, a bit of a smirk on her face.
"You don't say... Want some OJ or something?" Humphrey offered with a grin. Lily smiled and nodded so he went and found a glass and poured her some, placing it on the bar counter in front of her. As he did so he seemed to notice something, doing a small double take and looking into her eyes. His face was quite close and Lily felt herself begin to grow a little hot.
"Y-yes?" She almost squeaked as he stared intently into her eyes. A moment after he blinked and leaned away, gently scratching his nose and blushing in apparent embarrassment.
"Oh, sorry. I was just looking at your eyes, the purple colour is amazing. I thought they were contacts but..." He explained, giving her a shrug as she let out a small sigh. It wasn't the first time someone had been interested by her eyes but she hadn't had it happen in a while and she smiled at him with a small shake of her head as she continued studying him. Even if she wouldn't admit it aloud, Lily knew that Kate liked Humphrey quite a lot and she could see why, he was definitely hot.
"So did you stay the night or something?" She asked him, taking a drink of juice as he started putting away all the now gleaming dishes. He nodded but said nothing as he moved back across the kitchen to put the juice away.
"How come?" She said, trying to prompt him to explain. She was surprised when he turned around, blushing a little as he did just that.
"Well... Kate was a little drunk and after I walked her home from the party your parents all but insisted I stay the night." He said slowly. He was smiling a little and Lily wondered if he was thinking about the previous night but she didn't get to ask as Silas chose that moment to re-enter the kitchen.
"Ah, Miss Lily. Good morning. Would you care for your usual breakfast?" Silas said, the very picture of professionalism and grace.
Humphrey's POV:
An hour later.
I thanked Winston and Eve once more before walking down the steps from the front door and sliding into the back seat of the waiting car. Silas closed the door behind me and walked around to the driver's side, getting in and putting it in gear. I looked around the interior of the car as he drove, admiring how high-quality it all was; there was no cheap plastic and the leather and stitching work was all impeccable. I was slightly annoyed that I had forgotten to ask Winston about this car when I'd spoken to him but unfortunately there hadn't been a whole lot of opportunity for me to do so meaning I'd have to leave it until next time.
Once we arrived back at home I waved Silas goodbye and headed inside, noting that Charlie's car was absent from the garage as I walked through it towards the house proper. Just as I was opening the door my phone rang and I answered it to find that it was Chris on the other end.
"Hey buddy, it's Chris."
"Oh hey man, how's it going?" I replied, grinning as I recognized his voice. I used my shoulder to hold the phone to my ear as I entered the house, heading up to my room with the intention of showering and changing.
"Okay... Actually better than okay. Except for a hangover."
"Hahaha well I think there'll be plenty of that going around today. So what happened last night?" I asked him casually. I'd been planning on waiting until school tomorrow but now was as good as ever.
"What do you mean?"
"You and Abby man. Where'd you go?" I prompted him, a grin creeping onto my face as he hesitated and I could almost see him blushing.
"Oh that... It was good man. We found some privacy and had some fun."
"Haha you sly dog! How long has that been going on?" I laughed as he admitted it. I was only slightly surprised that there was something there but I knew they hadn't associated much in public before I'd started at Jasper High so I was genuinely curious.
"We've been getting close for a week or so but that was the first time we did anything... What about you?"
"Nothing happened. We all just chatted for a while." I answered him casually, my tone conveying the shrug that I couldn't show him over the phone.
"Suuure. So anyway, you want to hang out?"
"I'm sorry man but I can't. I just got home and I got a bunch of stuff to get sorted before school tomorrow." I was actually disappointed that I had to refuse but I had to make sure all my homework was done, service my car and get some basketball practice in before tomorrow so there was really no time.
"Ah no worries man. Another time yeah? ... Wait. Got home from where?"
"Oh, I stayed the night at the Spencers..." My voice trailed off as I realized what he would think of that. Sure enough he gave a knowing laugh.
"Is that so? And you said nothing happened. So?"
"So what? Kate was drunk and by the time I helped her home it was late and her parents offered me the guest room." I explained, leaving Chris to utter a disappointed sigh. We chatted a little longer, mostly about the AE assignment we had before he had to go and I said goodbye before hanging up.
Kate's POV:
It was almost midday by the time Kate dragged herself from bed, groaning as she pulled open the window to let some fresh air into her room which smelled of alcohol. To say she hadn't slept well would be an understatement; it had been a rough night. After receiving a grilling from her parents about drinking, getting home late and so on they'd noticed that she was all but falling asleep in front of them and let her go with a promise that wouldn't be the end of it. Since then she'd been up at least twice to stagger to the bathroom and throw up.
"Urgh I'm never drinking that much again." Kate muttered to herself as she wandered into the bathroom to take a shower, catching a glance of herself in the mirror and noting that she looked about as rough as she felt. She uttered a content sigh as the water washed over her, going some way to soothing her pounding headache as she washed herself thoroughly.
Just as she finished dressing her phone notified her of a message and she wandered over, seeing it was from Angel. 'No surprise there.' Kate thought to herself with a smile as she opened it up. She wasn't sure if she was correctly remembering what had happened and if anyone could tell her it was Angel. She and Humphrey had been the least drunk the previous night but something told Kate that she didn't want to ask Humphrey to tell her as whenever she thought about him a specific memory popped into her head.
She read Angel's message and was about to reply but hesitated and instead called her, figuring it would be easier than going over everything via messages. Soon enough Angel answered the phone and Kate felt her spirits sink at Angel's tone, which she recognized very clearly and knew it meant that her memories of the party were either correct or the reality was even more embarrassing.
"Seriously!?" Kate said incredulously as Angel finished explaining all that had happened. 'Oh god...' Kate thought to herself, already blushing as she imagined how awkward things would be at school tomorrow between her and Humphrey. First they had kissed and then the way she thought she remembered acting on the way home...