A/N: Sorry for the later than usual posting, but its been hectic here lately and had some things I had to deal with before I could finish knocking this chapter out. Everything seems to be going better this past week except the fact that we are picking up at work to the point of little time for anything else. So my postings will be a little farther apart than I was hoping for, but I promise they will come. Anyways, on to the story...

The next couple hours flew by and before Humphrey knew it, it was almost eight at night when he glanced up at the clock. "Damn it, I still need to take a shower and get ready, " he said to himself as he saved his progress on Assassin's Creed Black Flag before turning the Xbox off. Stretching as he stood up, he checked his phone for any messages that he may have missed while being absorbed into the game. To his surprise though, there wasn't any. He plugged the phone into the charger and headed up the stairs to his bedroom to gather everything he needed to take a shower. Humphrey let out a deep sigh before rummaging through his closet for a shirt and pair of jeans to wear. 'There we go' he thought to himself as he pulled out a black Dickies work shirt with [HOONIGAN] on the back and a pair of his favorite stonewashed, loose fitting boot cut jeans. Then pulled out a plain white t-shirt form his dresser before slipping out of his room and back down the hallway to take his shower.

As the hot water from the shower head washed over him, he closed his eyes and let his mind wonder what tonight would behold. 'Salty was gone out on a date with Sweets to see Jurassic World, a movie about a fully functioning dinosaur park that's based 22 years after the first movie called Jurassic Park. Which I've been wanting to see it myself, but I'm wasn't going to be a third wheel tonight and I can't really think of anyone to see it with since Claws seems to work all the time. Which is the down side to messing with someone older. *sighs* There's always Kate, but I'm not sure if she would want to see it and if she did she probably wouldn't want to go since we are only friends.' He pushed his thoughts to the side as he finished up his shower, dried himself off and got dressed before walking downstairs to text Kate. 'Who is probably wondering where I am at this point,' he thought to himself as he was reaching his phone, when the blinking blue notification light caught his eyes. Unlocking the phone and opening the message application, he had this one waiting on him from Claws.

Claws – Humphrey, I have to work late and I might not make it back over there tonight. If not, I will make it up to you the best way I know how.

H - That's fine, I think I'm going to get out for a bit. Just LMK

He backed out of their conversation after replying and scrolled down to Kate's name.

H – You about ready?

K – Just waiting on you like always. :) Have you decided what we are going to do tonight?

H- Waiting on me? What's that supposed to mean… Usually I'm waiting on you.

K- LOL… Nothing

H- *Rolls eyes* Uh huh… I'm on my way

K- K see you soon then

Humphrey locked the screen on his phone, grabbed his keys and walked out the door into the garage before stopping in front of a car covered with a grey car cover. As he leaned down and lifted up on edge of it, unveiling a waxed lime green paint, black lip and a projector fog light before recovering it. He stood up and let out a sigh as he reached down to rub the hood of the car while whispering "Soon girl, I promise you soon you will back out on the road again." As he opened his eyes, he walked over to his Hugger Orange Camaro, took the T-tops out and placed them on the work bench instead of their holder in the hatch. He looked her over to make sure there wasn't any spots missed when he cleaned her earlier before climbing in and cranking her over. She cranked over one time before letting out a loud roar that echoed off the walls of the garage that housed her, before settling into a deep rumble as the rpms leveled out at a fast idle. Humphrey reached over and hit the garage door button to open the door before plugging his phone into the usb port on his in dash cd player. Searching for a decent song to start the night out with, he finally settled on White Trash Millionaire by Black Stone Cherry before pressing in the clutch and sliding the Hurst shifter into first gear. He eased her out of the garage until she was clear of the garage door, hit the button again to close the door and eased her gently onto the street to head to Kate's house.

15 min later...

I wonder if I'll ever learn
How many times will you let me burn
I think you like to watch me bleed
Is that the fuel you need?

Humphrey sang as he pulled up and parked in front of Kate's house, stepping out of the car before walking up to her front door. He stopped as he reached the door, with the butterflies in his stomach fluttering about. Unsure on why he was nervous some, he knocked on the door and waited about thirty seconds before Kate opened the door wearing a pair of cut off shorts and a blue tank top.

"Come on in Humph" Kate responded as she motioned for him to come in.

"Where is everyone?" Humphrey asked as he followed her into the living room

"Mom and Dad went out to grab a bite to eat and possibly catch a movie. Lilly… Um I think she's at a friend's house for the night. Do you care to give me a min, I need to go upstairs to my room and finish getting ready. You can wait here or if you want, you can come up there and talk to me." Kate replied as she walked over to the staircase and looked back at Humphrey, who seemed more nervous now that he knew that it was just her and him alone there in the house.

"I think I will just chill down here in case your parents come home, as I would hate for your mom to go crazy for me being up in your bedroom alone" He replied as he sat down on the black leather couch, sinking into it somewhat. ""Which i thought you was ready?"

Kate smile and replied "I'm almost ready and I figured you might wanna come talk to me while I finished, but that's ok." She teased as she walked up the stairs towards her room.

Humphrey thought about what she had said and really wanted to go up there, but he was scared of her Mom even though he had known them his whole life it seems. 'Nothing would happen between us if i go up there though' he thought to himself as his mind started to wander. 'She could've invited me up there to confess her undying love for me or even slip me a kiss' he thought as he laughed softly at the craziness of his thoughts. "Whats the worse that could happen?" he said to himself as he got up from the couch and walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her bedroom. As he walked slowly down the hallway past a closed door that he was pretty sure was her parents, he wasn't entirely sure which of the last two doors was Kate's. It had been about a year or so since the last time he had been up here, but he was pretty sure it was the last door on the left that was closed and not the door across the hall. "Kate, are you in there?" He called out as he leaned against the door.

"Give me a second" she replied from the other side of the door. About a minute or so later, she opened the door and what Humphrey saw took him back to the days that they hung out all the time. She stood there in holding the open door wearing her favorite pair of Kik Girl 30" black Rave pants, purple Hurley tank top and her favorite pair of Van's Cosmic Cloud skate shoes. She motioned for him to come in as she walked back over to her dresser, grabbed her cell phone and cash before spraying on some Vanilla Noir." I think I'm finally ready Humph."She said as she turned around to see him lost in checking out her room. "It's changed a lot since the last time you was in here hasn't it?"

"Yea it has a little bit," he laughed nervously as he looked at the band posters hanging on the wall ranging from Three Days Grace, Pop Evil and Hinder to Guns and Roses, Linkin Park and Tom Petty. As well as her old Element skateboard, that he was sure she hadn't been on in a few years judging from the dust. "If you're ready, lead the way" he replied as he stood up and began to follow her out the door. He stopped short of the doorway as he passed her dresser, when an old picture from a few years ago caught his eyes. It was of Kate, her Dad, his Dad and him standing in front of both racecars at some race track it seemed. As he gently touched the picture and closed his eyes it all came flooding back to him. It was a few weeks before the night of his Dad's death, as they had went to an invitational down at Sawtooth Dragway for a no prep, heads up style shoot out with $5000 on the line to win. His Dad Had taken 2nd place and her Dad had taken 5th place out of a field of 120 plus cars. A single tear snuck its way out from his closed eyes as Kate returned to see why he wasn't following her, only to find him at the picture. She came up and wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I miss those days Humph and I really miss your Dad as well. He was like a second father to me and always knew how to have a good time while trying to look to the brighter side of things, which I guess is where you get it from." She said softly into his ear, trying to make him feel better, but not knowing if she was helping or hurting the situation. "You going to be ok? We don't have to go hang out if you don't want to, we can hang out some other time if you want."

Laying his right arm on top of her arms that was still wrapped around him, he took a deep breath and seemed lost for a minute before replying with a sadness in his voice. "Yea I'll be ok. Lets get out of here and see what's going on in the warehouse district tonight." He removed his arm from on top of hers a she slowly pulled away from him and started back down the hall way. Opening his eyes, he slowly ran his fingers along the picture as he followed her down the hall an towards the front door. Once they was outside and walking to the car, Kate looked over at him and wished to herself that she knew what she could do to cheer him up. "I'll just let it ride for now and see if he brightens up as the night goes on.' She thought to herself as the reached the car and Humphrey opened the door for her.

"Aww, such a gentleman" she playfully teased as she sat down and he closed the door, before walking around to his side.

"Anything for the pretty lady" Humphrey joked as he hopped over the driver side door through the open window and T-top opening, sliding down into the seat like a Nascar driver. "So what would you like to do? I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier, I just assumed that we could hang out with everyone else." He asked as he fired the Camaro up and plugged his phone back into the usb port, before clicking his seat belt.

"Whatever you feel like doing Humph. How about we just wing it and see we are at the end of the night." Kate responded as she clicked her seatbelt and rested her elbow on the window edge and rested her paw on the front part of the t-top opening above the windshield.

"Sounds good to me" Humphrey replied as he eased out on the clutch while easing into the gas at the same time, heading down the road towards where they knew everyone would be. They traversed the city until coming across a desolate road on the outskirts of town, and eased the Camaro down it at a slow pace as he dodge pot holes and such. They had finally arrived in the warehouse district of Jasper, in which everyone used as hangout spot on Saturday nights. Humphrey noticed that everyone and their mom seemed to be out here tonight with their rides and the place was jamming with the sound from everyone's sound systems as they neared the main drag from a side street. The neon lights under the cars and in the engine bays casted a wild color array onto the surrounding buildings and street, almost like an urban version of the northern lights. There was about at least a hundred or so cars lining the sides of the street from what he could tell as they pulled up to the stop sign with the blinker on to turn in. Humphrey looked at the scene before them and asked "Kate, would you be mad if I didn't really want to be around everyone tonight? If I just wanted to drive around with no place to go?"

"No, but I thought that's the whole reason you polished her up earlier?"

Humphrey laughed and replied "It was, but I really don't think I am feeling it right now."

"Then how about we go do something else like cruising through some country roads or tear up some city streets Humph."

"Ok. I just didn't want you disappointed, that's all." He replied as he clicked the turn signal off and eased the car through the intersection, heading towards the main drag.

"I'm not disappointed Humph. I'm spending time with my bestie and I'm not spending my Saturday night at the house, so what more could I ask for?" Kate replied as she watched the buildings go by.

"I just wanted to make sure" he smiled.

Within a few minutes, they were pulling onto the main street that runs through town and every uses as a road to cruise up and down. As they started what everyone calls a lap, which was essentially cruising from one hang out spot to the next and back again, they talked about school and the upcoming mid terms. As they stopped at a stoplight, something caught Humphrey's ears. It was the rumble of another car pulling up next to them at the light and it sent his stomach into a feeling of nervousness and excitement at the same time. A slight smile came across his face as he glanced over to see the dark blue front end of a 1967 Boss 302 Mustang pulling up with dark tinted windows, lowered on black 18' Boss 338s and a polished BDS 6-71 blower topped off with a polished scoop peeking out through the hood. His breathing got shallow as the Mustang stopped directly beside him and then he got what he was looking for when the unknown wolf in the car revved his engine, the whine from the supercharger piercing the night air. Humphrey glanced over at Kate as she seemed to respond to his silent question with a shrug of her shoulders and replying, "Eat him."

He revved his engine in response and turned his attention to the traffic signal looming overhead. As the light turned yellow for the cross street, Humphrey quickly raised his rpms while pressing the clutch with one foot and the brake and gas simultaneously with the other foot. The Mustang stood up on the convertor, with the supercharger whining loudly and a mean exhaust note escaping the side exiting exhaust from just in front of the rear wheels. Both cars were on the brink of over powering the rear brakes when the yellow light clicked red and their red light flashed a bright green. Humphrey's Camaro and the Mustang both lunged forward through the intersection like predators lunging after their prey, with Humphrey barely just a bumper ahead on the other side. *Chirp* Humphrey's tires screamed as he jabbed the clutch, slammed the shifter into second gear and released the clutch, while never letting up off the gas. The Mustang grabbed second gear about the same time, making up the bumper and pulling a fender ahead of the Camaro. Humphrey never took his eyes off the next intersection, which would ultimately decide who would be the winner of this impromptu street race. Kate on the other hand, was pressed back into the seat from the torque with a smile on her face, one paw on the center console and her other paw gripping the arm rest on the door. The shift light flashed in his eyes and just as quickly went right back out as Humphrey grabbed the next gear. He was starting to gain ground on the Mustang as it grabbed the next gear as well. The adrenaline was flowing through everyone's veins as the next intersection was closing in fast and Humphrey knew he was running out of real estate, so to speak, to close up the gap. They was bumper to bumper now with the rpms raising quickly again towards redline and a supercharger screaming in Humphrey's ears as the exhaust from both cars and the supercharger's whine echoed off the tall buildings lining the street. Knowing it was now or never as the shift light banged back on in his eyes, he slammed the shifter into the next gear and hoped for the best as the Mustang seemed to be holding its own coming up on the intersection. As they shot through the intersection at over 117+ mph, Humphrey looked over to see his opponent's passenger side front wheel beside him meaning he had barely got the win. He took his hand off the shifter and triumphantly made a fist and punched the air above the t-top opening as him and the other driver backed out of the gas and applied the brakes to slow their land missiles back down near the speed limit before they came across a random cop trying to nap in a dark alley way.

"That was fucking amazing!" Kate screamed over the exhaust, looking over at him with pure excitement as the rpms was coming down from the attic.

"I'm going to be honest, I really didn't think I was going to win the closer we got to that intersection" Humphrey replied excitedly with a smile on his face. "That was one of the best races I have had and Kate, I'm glad you was here with me to experience it."

"I knew she had it in her" Kate said with a laugh as she rubbed the top of the dash pad. " She was just toying with their emotions, isn't that right girl?"

Once they were finally back down to normal speeds again, the Mustang pulled back up beside Humphrey and gave him two quick beeps of his horn. To which Humphrey returned the gesture before the Mustang turned off at the next intersection. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins as they cruised down the street towards the local Mc Donald's, where they would pull in into the parking lot and cruise around the building and back out onto the street to complete the lap.

"I know I wasn't really in the mood to race tonight, but I wouldn't mind finding another unsuspecting victim." Humphrey said with a smile as he cruised the cars around the restaurant and back out onto the street.

"That would be fun and going 2-0 would put you in a better mood, but from the looks of it everyone is out in the warehouse district tonight." Kate replied.

"Yea but I'm still not really up for that big of a crowd... Hmm..." Humphrey seemed to think for a minute before turning the car left instead of going right, headed towards downtown instead of up towards the warehouse district.

"Humphrey, where are we going?" she asked curiously as she realized that they was headed the opposite direction of the usual path back down towards the warehouse district.

"You'll see" Humphrey replied as he eased the car down the street just barely over the speed limit and the light from the half moon gleamed down on them from above. It wasn't long before they left the limits of Jasper and into the countryside. He glanced over at Kate as she stared out the scenery outside of the car. "Its rather beautiful out here tonight isn't it?" He asked her as they came to a stop sign and made another left, heading farther out into the countryside.

"Thank you Humph" She replied as she blushed under her fur.

"I was referring to the countryside" He replied with a small chuckle as he slide the shifter into the next gear, effectively dropping the rpms and exhaust note to a manageable level.

"Oh... yea it really is isn't it." Kate replied totally embarrassed as she realized she had heard him wrong. "Sorry, I guess I heard..."

"Kate, it's ok" he replied purposefully interrupting her mid sentence. " You're beautiful tonight as well."

She looked over at him with a huge smile as her heart raced from his reply, which totally took her off guard. "Awe, thank you Humphrey."

"Well it's only the truth, but you are welcome" He replied as he turned the car down another back road, going even farther out into the country.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?"

"You will see soon enough as we are almost there" as he increased the gas to get up the hill that was looming ahead of them. Once atop the hill, he turned to Kate and started to slow the car down. "Ok Kate, now close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them." He instructed as he turned onto a gravel drive that looked rarely used as the grass had grown up through the rocks and was almost a foot high.

"Humph, you know I hate surprises"

" I know but just do it, I promise you it will all be worth it in a few moments."

"Ok" she replied as she closed and covered her eyes with her paws. She couldn't help but wonder where it was exactly Humphrey was taking her as she had seen he condition of the road they was creeping down. 'Knowing Humphrey it will be worth keeping my eyes closed, but this road has me a little uneasy' she thought to herself as she felt the car coming to a stop and the engine being shut off. "How about now?" she asked jokingly as she already knew the answer, but hearing the emergency brake being set and his seatbelt unclick made her wonder anyways.

"Not just yet, impatient aren't we?" He teased as he opened his car door and getting out, walking to her side of the car and opening the door. "Keep your eyes closed and hand me your paw please?" he said as he reached down for her paw.

"Ok" she replied with a slight reluctance and a bit of nervousness in her voice, as she truly was unsure what was about to happen. All she knew was that they were out in the county on some unknown back road and it seemed like a scene from a horror movie. Maybe from one of those stories you hear about where the girl gets raped or murdered, which made her a bit more uneasy. "Humphrey wouldn't do that, he's not that kind of wolf.' She thought to herself as she allowed him to lead her away from the car and across the grass a short distance before stopping. 'At least I hope not.' Her thoughts was quickly interrupted by the sound of Humphrey's voice.

"When I tell you to, you can remove your paws from your eyes and open them." He whispered in her ear. "Are you ready?"

"Yea" Kate responded with the feeling of nervousness in her stomach as she could feel him stepping back away from her.

"Go ahead and open them" he instructed as he moved to where he could see her face when she opened her eyes.

Kate took a deep breath and opened her eyes and what she saw in front of her completely blew her mind. "Oh my God Humphrey... Where... Better yet how did you find this place, its amazing!" She exclaimed as she was in complete and utter awe as she checked out the view. In front of them was an open area between two groups of trees and a cliff that over looked the city of Jasper. The whole city was lit up with all the street lights, the lights from the vehicles below and the warehouse district was colorfully lit from all the cars' custom lights and neons. The scene looked as if it was from a post card with the city down below all lit up, the half moon just above the mountain range in the back ground and the stars scattered across the night time sky. After she got over the initial shock of it all, she looked for Humphrey, who was no longer standing beside her. Instead he was sitting on the ground near the ledge leaned back onto his paws with his feet out in front of him, seemingly lost in thought. She walked over there to him and sat down beside him in the grass. "Everything ok?"

"Yea... so you really like it up here?"

"Like I said earlier, this view is amazing Humph. I got to know though, how did know about this place?"

He took a deep breath and then replied. "Last year for some reason Dad's death hit me pretty hard on the anniversary of the accident. I lost it Kate and I hate to admit it, but I didn't care to live anymore as my family is gone and I have nothing left. I mean I have you and my other friends and your parents have always been like another set of parents to me, but I'm all alone in this world." He started to choke up some but regained himself enough to continue. " So I turned my phone off and went for a drive with no place to go and no desire to come back. As I was out driving, I came across this road and you could tell no one had been back through here in a long time. So I pulled in, knowing I wouldn't be bothered, but at the same time I was unsure where the road went or what I would come across. Then I came out into this clearing, shut my car off and sat there while admiring the view of the city below and the mountains in the background. So now this is where I come when I want to be alone and not bothered. When my demons are screaming in my ear and I just want to lay down my battle axe and give up the battle, this is where I come. This is my sanctuary if you will. I wanted to let you, my best friend since we was kids, know where to find me if I cant be found. Every since I first seen this place I've wanted to show you the beautiful view from here Kate, but I wasn't sure just how to bring you up here until earlier tonight when we was in the car." He put his head down and closed his eyes, fearing he ruined the moment.

"Humphrey" Kate said as she looked over at him.

"Yea?"

"I know that we haven't talked a lot lately, but if you ever need someone to talk to I'm still here for you. I always have been and will always be there no matter what goes on in life. it doesn't matter if its 2am in the morning, call me ok." Kate responded as she scooted closer to him until her shoulder was resting against his and then she proceeded to wrap her arm around him.

"Ok" he replied as he leaned his head onto hers.

"You promise?"

"I promise..."

They sat like that for the next couple hours, just talking about the better days when his Dad was alive and watching the people below them move about like ants in a ant colony.

"Humphrey its getting late, what do you say we head home?" Kate asked as she stood up and stretched before letting out a huge yawn, which in turn made Humphrey yawn as well.

"It probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Get you home before your mom freaks out about you being out all night." He laughed as he stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants. "I wonder what time it is..." he said as he checked his pants for his phone. "You know I don't even have my phone on me, come to think of it. I guess I left it plugged into the cd player in the car."

"I think I left mine in the car as well" she replied while taking in one last look of the view of the town, before following Humphrey to his car and getting in.

35 min later...

Humphrey turned off his headlights as they pulled up in front of Kate's house and it seemed like there was someone still up judging from the lights on in the living room. Sliding the shifter out of gear, he parked the car and turned to Kate who as busying gathering her stuff together to head inside. "Did you have fun tonight?" He asked.

"I had more fun tonight than I have had in a while." She replied as she sat back against the seat with her stuff in her lap before teasing him playfully "Don't let it be so long before we hang out again, I might have to find me a new best friend."

"I'll try" he laughed as he sat there staring into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Better try hard, but I got to get inside before Mom thinks we are out here doing something." she said as she moved in for a hug.

Squeezing her tightly, he whispered into her ear "Ok, I guess I will see you tomorrow or something?"

"Sounds good to me" She released from the hug and exited the car before walking up the driveway towards the house. She looked over her shoulder to see Humphrey watching her walking up to her house, seemingly in a trance. She smiled while laughing softly to herself as she reached the door and said under her breath 'Silly boy.' She pulled out her keys and let her self in, turning around to let him know she got inside ok. As she shut the door and locked it, she heard his Camaro drive off into the distance, the sound from the exhaust fading as he headed home.

So how was it? When I mentioned the Mustang getting up on the convertor. It's a process of holding the brake firmly and pressing the gas to just before the point of braking the rear tires loose. It allows the car to be at the base of the power band when it takes off and not be sluggish off the line. A car with the factory convertor will usually go up to around 1500-1800 RPMs before will break traction and spin the tires in a rear wheel drive. They make them with bigger ratings like 2000, 2400, 3000, etc. which the higher the rating, the more rpms it takes to get the car initially moving. Most 3000 Stall Convertors don't allow the car to start rolling until around 1800 rpms with no brakes applied, but with the brakes applied it can be revved to 2800rpms and will flash to 3300rpms upon launch. just a little insight for those that are unsures. Remember to review and let me know what you think, so I know what I'm doing right or wrong. See you all next chapter...

P.S. The song Humphrey was singing when he arrived at Kate's, was Sick Sense by Pop Evil