Lilly's POV
"Lilly? Hey Lilly" I heard a familiar voice say I was gently shaken awake. I opened my eyes up to see Humphrey standing next to my bed.
"Humphrey?" I said tiredly as I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What are you doing here?" I asked. The light smile on Humphrey's face faded away.
"Kate. she wanted me to bring her to where Rick was…" he explained. He didn't finish his sentence but he didn't need to. I tilted my head as I began to feel the familiar feeling of dread. I still couldn't believe he was gone… along with my best friend…
"Did you?" I asked. Humphrey nodded. I looked up and over to my door as if I was expecting Kate to be there. Of course though she wasn't.
"She isn't doing well… I fear for her mental health honestly" Humphrey confessed. I sighed.
"Yeah… so do I… fuck Humphrey, why would you take her there? And why did she want to go there anyway?" I asked.
"Because she wanted to… I felt bad about it but… I couldn't tell her no. I warned her but she didn't want to hear it… how are you doing with everything?" Humphrey asked. I rubbed my eyes again and laid down, patting the spot next to me on the bed. Humphrey walked around to the other side and sat down on the edge, taking his shoes off before laying next to me.
"I miss him, Humphrey… I miss Angel… I can't believe they're both gone just… I feel like we're all getting picked off" I explained. Humphrey turned over to face me, nuzzling into the pillow as I looked to my left. "I know we haven't talked much… Are you doing okay?" I asked. Humphrey sighed and shrugged.
"Seeing Rick like that… It really bothered me. The way he reached out… not wanting to pass" Humphrey cracked before catching himself. I felt bad, but maybe he needed to get it all out.
"It's okay Humphrey… you can let it out" I said, rubbing his arm. Humphrey didn't begin to cry though. Instead he moved closer, snuggling into my neck. I wrapped my arm around him and sighed again. Why did all of this have to happen with our family?
"He couldn't even talk Lilly… he tried but… he was in so much pain… but he was willing to fight through it as long as he could see your sister again… he loved her so much," Humphrey explained. I rubbed the back of his head, running my fingers through his soft hair as I tried not to cry.
"I know… I know he loved her, '' I said. Humphrey began to sob now. I comforted him as much as I could before offering him to sleep with me. He accepted, crawling into the blankets explaining how he was woken up early. I tried making a joke about how some jerk did the same to me but… it didn't land. Humphrey got into the bed and snuggled me, wrapping his arms around me as I tried to comfort him some more.
"I wish I could've helped him," Humphrey sobbed.
"I'm sure you did all you could '' I said. Humphrey didn't reply. He just kept sobbing until eventually we both fell asleep again. We didn't wake up until a few hours later. I felt Humphrey playing with my tail as I brushed up against him. I pulled it away from him.
"Sorry" I said.
"Don't be, you know I love your tail" Humphrey said. I giggled and let it fall back onto him. He began to play with it again as I relaxed back into the bed, turning to him once more.
"You know you don't have to go home… you can stay here if you want I'm sure my parents would understand if you wanted someone to be with" I explained. Humphrey seemed to bite his lip as he looked away from me. I could tell he didn't want to be here but why?
"That… sounds great just… it's Kate. I want to make sure she's okay but… it's hard to be around her. We're all feeling really bad right now but her… I know she feels the worst and I'm not good with those types of things" Humphrey explained.
"What do you mean? When Angel passed you spent time with me" I said.
"Yeah but… I wasn't around Rick, and he got hit the worst… I wasn't around Shaky either" Humphrey explained, making me realize…
"Hey Humphrey? Does Shaky know about Rick?" I asked. Humphrey hesitated as he turned his full attention back to me.
"No… he doesn't…" he said.
"What? You didn't tell him? Why not?" I asked with a hint of anger in my voice.
"Because he still isn't over Angel and I didn't want to put this stress on him" Humphrey answered, not helping his case at all.
"None of us are over Angel Humphrey… how long were you gonna wait?" I asked. Humphrey didn't answer. I scoffed, shaking my head before sitting up. "Can you take me over there?" I asked, pulling the blankets off of me. Humphrey now sat up, watching me as I began to put an outfit together.
"You want to go over there and tell him? Why don't you just call him?" Humphrey asked.
"Because, this isn't something that you just tell someone over the phone. Humphrey, his brother in law, just died, do you think I should really be so lazy about it?" I asked. Humphrey sighed and put his shoes back on.
"Well Lilly I would take you but I don't have my car" he explained. I paid and turned to him with a pair of shoes in my hand. My fingers holding the pair together.
"You don't have your car? Then how did you get here?" I asked.
"Kate drove me," Humphrey answered. He turned to me and saw the confusion still on my face. "She told me to tell you to drive me back" he added, I groaned and sat down on the bed to put my shoes on.
"Alright. I'll drop you off and then head over there" I said.
"What? No, if you're going over there to tell him everything then I want to be with you" Humphrey explained. I quickly changed my shirt and then stood by the doorway, turning back to Humphrey.
"Alright. I have no problem with it. Let's head out" I said. Humphrey followed me out into the hallway as I made my way to the bathroom. The last thing I wanted to do was explain what happened to Shaky with morning breath. As I walked to the bathroom though I stopped in front of Kate's room. I Felt my heart sink as I began to feel nothing but sorrow for her. I went to open the door but Humphrey stopped me.
"I wouldn't," he said. I turned to him, and then back to the door and knocked. After waiting about five seconds with no answer I cracked it open, poking my muzzle in to peer around the door. I looked at Kate's bed to see that she was sleeping. Poor thing, must have tired herself out, and I'm sure she wasn't in a good spot after going where everything happened. I sighed again and shut the door, at least she looked peaceful now. I hope she was having good dreams, maybe dreaming about her and Rick… maybe they were doing something they loved. Playing chess, hanging around that spot that Kate told me about on the boardwalk. Something about they're happy place. Or maybe Rick was coming to her spiritually. I don't believe in that stuff but in this case… I would be happy if something like that happened. I turned to Humphrey and glared at him. "What?" he asked.
"I can't believe you took her there," I said, continuing my path to the bathroom. I went in there and brushed my teeth before turning back to go down the stairs. When I reached the bottom I saw that mom and dad were outside on the back porch. I didn't bother saying anything to them, I just grabbed Kate's keys and stepped out onto the front steps. Humphrey closed the door behind us, letting me lock it before we went into Kate's car. After adjusting the seat and putting on our seatbelts we began our journey to Shaky's. Hopefully he was alright.
The ride was silent. Just an awkward nothing as I drove. It wasn't until we pulled up to Shaky's place and I saw his car in the driveway when I broke the silence.
"Good, he's here" I said as I began to get out.
"Wait… Lilly… are you mad at me?" Humphrey asked with sadness in his voice. I turned to him and then took my seat back in the car, thinking of the right answer.
"No… I just don't know why you would take her there. Even if she asked you shouldn't have, because now you've put all the images in her head, and she probably feels worse than she already did. But knowing you, you didn't see it that way" I explained. Humphrey said nothing, he just sighed as he sat in the passenger seat.
"You know back when Rick was in the hospital the first time… I found it really hard to keep going, and he was alive… I wanted my brother back… and now that he's actually gone and I had to watch it happen… I feel sick… just full of pain and heat ache… I want him back… I want Angel back… I want us all to be together again" Humphrey started to sob. He was right, I remember when he went to pick up his truck and began to cry in it. But now it was worse… it was so much worse.
"You were right about what you said when it first happened though Humphrey… Rick and Angel… they're together again, and not only that but Rick is with his parents as well. I'm sure it's not how they wanted their son to go but… they're together and that's all that matters… it just doesn't bid well for the rest of us" I explained with an ache in my own heart. Humphrey wiped a tear from his eye and then stepped out. I followed him, going all the way up to the front door and knocked three times as loud as I could without banging. No answer. I rang the doorbell twice, no answer. I knew Shaky was here.
"Think he's okay?" Humphrey asked. I shrugged and pulled out my phone to call him. It rang twice before he picked up.
"Yes?" he asked, sounding like a wreck. I hadn't seen him for awhile, I hope he was alright.
"Shaky. I'm at your door, could you open up?" I asked. The phone hung up almost instantly and I was left speechless.
"I guess not," Humphrey said with his hands in his pockets. I put my phone in my pocket and sighed, turning back to the door.
"He needs to know," I said.
"Just call him back, tell him you need to talk to him" Humphrey said, making me turn back to him. I turned around a third time though once I heard the door unlock. It opened up and Shaky stepped into the door frame, squinting at the afternoon sun as it beamed on us. Shaky looked like a wreck. His hair and fur was a mess and he hasn't changed his outfit since the last time I had seen him. He really let himself go.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked tiredly. His tail wagged slightly, showing us that he was actually happy that we were here.
"Hey Shaky… can we come in?" I asked. Shaky said nothing, he just turned around and walked inside. I followed him in as Humphrey did the same, shutting the door behind us. Once it closed the outside noises stopped, it was completely quiet now. Nothing but the sound of Shaky walking over to one of the couches to sit down.
"What did you want to talk about? Anything specific?" Shaky asked. I walked over and sat next to Shaky. I didn't exactly know how to do this so I just rolled with it. Humphrey sat down on the spot to the right of Shaky, waiting for me to break the news to him. I wasn't even ready though.
"So… how have you been? It's been awhile since we last talked" I said, making Shaky laugh lightly.
"That's why you came out here? We coulda done this over the phone. Come on, why did you two really come out here?" Shaky asked, looking between the two of us. Left then right, then left again.
"Well… the other day when we went to go to dinner Rick and Humphrey went to go get gas" I began.
"Oh yeah? How was Stephanie by the way? Did she say why she left us for so long?" Shaky asked.
"I… we didn't go…" I said. Shaky grew confused.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because when Rick and Humphrey went to the gas station… Humphrey was in the store and Rick was outside and… someone killed him" I said awkwardly. Shaky's face went blank. He turned to Humphrey again who seemed worried for what might happen next. Then he turned to me again.
"Rick is…" he started. I felt my eyes tear up as I nodded.
"Someone killed him," I cried. Shaky buried his hands in his muzzle and then looked up from them.
"No… NO! How did that happen? Where were you?" Shaky asked angrily, turning to Humphrey.
"I… I was in the store…" Humphrey stuttered. Shaky got up and began pacing around the room.
"What the fuck… when did this happen?" Shaky asked as he cried, holding his arms behind his head as he continued to pace.
"About two days ago" I answered.
"Two days? What took you guys so long to tell me?" Shaky questioned angrily.
"I… I didn't want to make you worse" Humphrey admitted.
"Make me worse? What you mean because I'm still grieving over Angel because the rest of you fucks have moved on so God damn fast, and now you come to me with this shit?" Shaky asked. Me and Humphrey stayed quiet. "Who did it? Was it Garth?" Shaky asked. That's right, he wouldn't have known because he's been shutting himself out.
"No… it wasn't… Garth is dead too" I said.
"What? What the fuck! Who else is fucking dead, is Kate dead?" Shaky asked me, making me shut my eyes tightly as another tear rolled down my face.
"No… Kate's fine," Humphrey said. I opened my eyes again to see Shaky was now turned to Humphrey.
"Then… then who did it? Who killed them?" Shaky asked.
"G-Garth killed his d-dad and then himself… w-we don't know who killed Rick" I stuttered. Shaky said nothing and just came over to me, pulling me in a hug. I hugged him back and began crying again.
"I'm sorry… I just…" Shaky broke the hug and put his hand to his forehead while the other stayed on his hip. "Oh God… Rick" he said, beginning to sob.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you… Lilly just found that out as well and she wanted to let you know right away" Humphrey explained. Shaky did not respond. He just took a seat on the reclining chair and began sobbing. "Shaky… please… don't lock yourself out again, you know you're always welcome over at my place" Humphrey offered. Again Shaky didn't reply. He just sobbed.
"Shaky?" I called, kneeling in front of him. Shaky looked out from his folded hands as he kept crying.
"What's happening to us? We're all dying… I wanna be next… I just wanna go" Shaky said in a whisper.
"Shaky… no" I sobbed, reaching up for his cheek.
"Shaky don't talk like that. We've had to bury enough of us already" Humphrey replied. Shaky sniffed, trying to compose himself and then asked
"Did I miss the funeral?"
"No… we don't know when that will be yet" I answered. Shaky didn't reply.
"Shaky… why don't you come over to my place, at least for a while" Humphrey said. Shaky looked out of his hands again and over at Humphrey.
"Fine… but I wanna be left alone right now… I'll come over tomorrow" Shaky said. I didn't like the idea of leaving him by himself, especially after what he just said.
"Shaky, I think it's better if you go now" I said. Shaky shook his head.
"No… I just need some time to myself for a bit… but I promise I'll go over there tomorrow" Shaky explained.
"Shaky… you've had days to yourself, I don't want to leave you alone after what you just said" Humphrey said. Good, he thought that too.
"What you think I'm gonna kill myself? You think I'm that selfish? If I wanted to kill myself I would have done it already" Shaky said. I grew confused.
"But you said-"
"I said I wanted to die… not that I wanted to kill myself… besides I can only imagine what Kate is going through right about now. Maybe we can help each other" Shaky said, actually managing to convince me. I turned back to Humphrey who shrugged.
"You promise?" I asked. Shaky nodded.
"Yeah… I promise… just please give me some time" Shaky mumbled. I hugged him, catching him off guard. He hugged me back for a moment before breaking it. We shared a light smile and then parted ways. When we got to the car and hopped inside, I turned to Humphrey.
"What do you think?" I asked. He sighed.
"Shaky's always been true to his word. That and he made pretty good points. I just hope he doesn't break his promise for once" Humphrey answered. I nodded before putting the car into drive and heading to Humphrey's house. When we made it I parked my sister's car in the driveway. I waited for Humphrey to get out but he didn't. Instead he turned to me with sadness in his eyes.
"Hey… did you maybe want to… come in?" he asked. It had been awhile since I had been in Humphrey's house. Ever since the whole Angel thing I just haven't been motivated. And with Rick everything felt so much worse than it already did. I could really use the company.
"Sure" I said, turning the key to shut the car off. We both stepped out and made our way over to his house. Humphrey unlocked the door and stepped inside. The familiar smell of his house hit me and immediately I felt like I was at my other home again.
"Humphrey is that you?" Myra called from the kitchen. I shut the door and then followed Humphrey where we saw his mom sitting at the kitchen island on her laptop.
"Hey mom" Humphrey greeted as he walked in.
"Hey Humphrey…" she paused when she saw me walk in behind him. "Lilly… oh I didn't expect to see you so soon after your other friend… how are you?" she asked with maximum sympathy in her voice.
"I'm… I could be better" I said with a nervous laugh. Myra reached out and cupped my chin.
"Oh you poor thing, you've been crying I see it. How's your sister? She was with the other one right?" she asked, letting my chin go.
"Yeah… she's not doing well. I've never seen her this bad" I answered.
"We're just gonna head upstairs. Is that okay mom?" Humphrey asked.
"Yeah yeah, you guys go on ahead. I'll be right down here if you need anything" Myra said. Humphrey and I turned back around and left, making our way to the stairs and then up to his room. Once there I walked in as Humphrey shut the door behind us. I sat on the edge of his bed to take off my shoes and then moved up to lay down on his bed.
"What are we gonna do Humphrey? Before there were three couples… it all worked out so perfectly… I figured that we would all make such an amazing family" I explained, turning to my side for a second to look at our photo which was across from Humphrey's bed and on his desk. By now Humphrey had sat down on the bed next to me and shrugged.
"I'd give anything to have them back… it's just too much" Humphrey whined. I turned to him and felt myself feel sorry for him.
"It's just hard to believe that… we're the only couple left in the group… it wouldn't have been the same before Rick, but now that he's gone too…" I rambled.
"I don't care what anybody says. Shaky, Rick and Angel are still family… I'll kill anyone who says otherwise" Humphrey growled, making himself angry.
"Kate… they loved each other so much that… I don't know if she'll ever move on, or be happy for that matter" I said. Humphrey laid down next to me on his stomach, facing me.
"If she moves on I don't know who it would be with… or Shaky… I can't imagine anyone else coming around" Humphrey said, and you know what? I was thinking the exact same thing. It would be so weird to see them with other partners. It just wouldn't fit, and I know that they would never be truly happy with them, because at the end of the day they would still have the same person from before lingering in their mind.
"I know Rick would want Kate to move on… but she's too stubborn to do that. She'll go the rest of her life single thinking about him…" I said.
"Well it's who she loved… I'm just so grateful that I have you" Humphrey said, sliding his hand on my arm. I used my hand to cover his as he held it and smiled lightly. It faded quickly though.
"I just… I feel bad Humphrey… I feel really bad…" I said. Humphrey leaned over and kissed me, connecting both of our lips. It had been so long since we had kissed each other, and I had forgotten just how sweet it was. I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling. I reached up, cupping his right cheek before breaking the kiss. I opened my eyes slowly to look into his own.
"It's okay… you're okay… we still have each other right?…" Humphrey said. I smiled and went in for another kiss.
"Yeah… we do," I whispered. Humphrey chuckled and kissed me back, opening his mouth until our tongues met, and they were wrestling each other harshly. I moaned into the kiss, making Humphrey break it and smile.
"Do you wanna…" he began. I giggled.
"Yes," I said. As soon as I said that Humphrey kissed me again, rolling on top of me as I helped him over, pulling him so that he was just where I wanted him to be.
Kate's POV
I kept my eyes shut as I awoke. I could feel nothing but another pounding headache. I reached up and held my forehead, grunting as a sharp pain came through. I needed to take something. I sat up, looking around the room. It was dark out. I reached for my phone and turned it on to see that it was eight o'clock. I sighed and sat up, digging in my drawer for sweat pants and then putting them on real fast to go with my T-shirt as I was about to leave my room. I just needed a pill or two to get rid of this headache, and then it was straight back here. On my way over to the door I stopped, noticing the chess board sitting on the TV stand. I whimpered at the sight as the memories came flooding back.
I left my room, looking both ways in the hallway to see if I was alone. My parents room was dark and open, as was Lilly's. I didn't hear anything downstairs though. I walked into the bathroom and took two pills for my headache before sitting down on the toilet for a quick piss. As I was peeing I pulled my phone out to multitask and see what my notifications were. One was a text from mom saying that her and dad were going to the grocery store and to text her what I wanted. I wanted nothing. Earlier made me completely sick and the last thing I wanted was food. But I also needed it. I wiped and stood up, pulling my pants up. I then stepped out of the bathroom and sighed.
"Rick… why did you have to go?" I asked out loud with a tear in my eye. I jumped though when my phone began ringing. I looked down in my hand to see a number that I didn't recognize. I stared for a good second before going to press answer. Just before I did though I jumped again in horror as I heard a window smash from downstairs. Someone had broken into the house.