A week passed since Humphrey was treated in the hospital and he still wasn't given the clear on going back to classes. In fact, he was under strict conditions to actually stay in his dorm and relax. Apparently the doctor had miscalculated the time he would need to stay bedridden. Instead of the three days that he was originally prescribed the doctor said Humphrey should play it safe and stay in his dorm room for the whole two-week recovery, and after that, he would have to watch how much energy he used each day so he didn't overly fatigue himself. All this and that someone else would have to supervise him throughout the day to make sure he didn't use too much energy or overly stress himself during his two-week recovery.

It was embarrassing, to say the least.

Never had Humphrey felt like such a nuisance before. Each day one of his friends would take turns in watching over him while he had to recover. They were taking time out of their studies for his sake.

The thought made him sick.

Not because of his friends. No because of the fact that he felt he was holding them back. Actually, he was holding them back. Right now they had more important matters than looking after him but here they were, helping him!

Which now led to today. A day that none of his friends were actually able to watch him. Each of them had an important test to do today and after they had some sort of trip outside the college grounds for a while as some sort of volunteer work that they all had signed up for the month prior. In fact, Humphrey had also signed up to do that. Though now he couldn't due to... obvious reasons.

His friends looked guilty leaving him at the dorm to himself, which he quickly dismissed and told them not to worry about it. After all, they had lives to live. Why waste it on something so trivial? His reasoning didn't sit well with them of course.

But there was nothing they could do.

So the only choice was to let Humphrey stay home alone and trust the young man to not do anything too dangerous in his current state. And that took a lot more convincing than Humphrey originally thought it would take.

Seriously, it got to the point where Humphrey made an oath not to overexert himself when doing anything.

He thought they were being dramatic. Honestly, he thought everyone was being overly dramatic. He felt fine. Nothing out of the ordinary had been happening since he received the injury, to begin with.

He honestly felt like he could go for a long run, but he had to promise not to do that too. In fact, he was strictly told by his friends as well to not leave the dorm. Saying that if he did they would personally kill him. Of course, them saying that was nothing more than an empty threat. Hell, they made empty threats to one another all the time. But still, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were being a little dramatic over the whole situation.

Thinking about this sudden change in his life made him think about another change. He was talking a little more. Most of which was due to the medication that he had been given to well... help him with his recovery, they mostly served to make him drowsy but still, he was to take one every four hours. The medication actually made him much more relaxed. His brain wasn't in constant overdrive and he was just able to speak to his friends. It had been a long time since he was actually able to do that, it felt quite nice. He missed being able to crack the constant jokes like he used to.

Why was he so scared to talk? He had no reason to be.

Humphrey was always a relatively quiet kid, always struggling with a strong case of social anxiety and shyness. But in front of his best friends, he used to be able to let loose. He used to speak his mind and be loud when he was able too. It was as if he was a completely different person around them. It was a completely different Humphrey from what anyone else knew.

Only those three saw that side of him. The side that was the real him, the one that he had always kept hidden.

Why was he so scared to show that Humphrey to the rest of the word?

DING*

He was snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly he got a text from his computer. After around day three of him working in his dorm he and Kate decided to open a messenger while they worked. Sure they could have used their phones but Kate didn't want to use her phone in class. Something about it looking "unprofessional" as she put it. He honestly didn't understand it.

K: You haven't typed a single word in the last 15 minutes. You alright?

The message put a smile on his face. He felt a little pride making a girl worry for him. A first for the young man. On the other hand, as previously mentioned, he hated being a nuisance. And making someone worry for him counted as a nuisance.

H: For the most part been spacing out. Guess I'm a little worried about being in the dorm by myself with this whole treatment thing.

He immediately regretted sending that text. He didn't mean to lie to her, but he really didn't want to talk about his problems with her. Actually he hated sharing his problems with anyone. He had always had the mindset that he had to fix his problems. It was who he was.

His problems were his. And so were everyone else's problems.

He was always the designated problem solver in his group of friends. Whenever any of them were going through something harsh they turned straight to Humphrey. He was even the designated wingman for the three of them when they turned twenty-one, he somehow got each of them a date every time. That accomplishment always made him chuckle, after all, he was still the only one of them to never have had his first kiss. Or a girlfriend for that matter.

These thoughts brought him back to highschool. Freshmen year was great for him. He had joined the football and volleyball team. And won the talent show as a comedian. The first time ever in his school's history. And even though he was quiet most of the time he found a way to make a few friends who he was starting to open up more too. Then everything changed midway through his sophomore season. He was just coming off his best season in both football and volleyball and was ready to break the records next season. He was finally getting out of his shell and everyone was being great to him and his friends. Then it all changed after that faithful day. He isolated himself from everyone except his three best friends. Even then he didn't really talk to them. Then a year later he quit both sports teams. His team had their first losing season in over a decade. And they blamed Humphrey. Then he was outcasted by almost everyone. He remembered the school newspaper that came out after their final game. "From Phenomenom to Traitor." A full article meant to ridicule and blame Humphrey for his team's losing season. When he wasn't even on it. Suddenly he and his friends were hated and bullied.

And it was all his fault.

DING*

For the second time, he was taken out of his thoughts by a message from Kate. Though this time he could feel the tears that wanted to escape his eyes. He was such a crybaby now.

K: Wait you're alone in your dorm?

Humphrey didn't think about his response. He just did it.

H: Yep. Sean, Micheal, and Samuel are to busy today and decided to trust me enough to let me be alone in the dorm today. I honestly don't know what they're worried about though.

It took a while for him to get a response. Though it was surprising to see that she hadn't been working while that time had passed.

K: Right...

Right? Three dots? Was she okay? Was he reading to much into the message? Wait why was he reading the message? Well, that was obvious, but why was he reading into it? Did what he say even make sense? Was he able to not overthink for a single second?

He took a deep breath. He needed to slow down. He was stressing himself out with the sudden anxiety he was getting over something this small. It was just a text. That was reality. Sure the dots were new but what could they mean really? To his knowledge that answer was nothing. So he needed to calm down. The doctor said that he couldn't stress too much. So he needed to slow down.

Maybe he should make a coffee, take his mind off things.

Yeah, coffee sounded good.

With that thought fresh in his mind Humphrey stood up. He didn't feel strange doing it, only that his legs seemed a bit asleep, he hadn't walked around his dorm much since he was discharged. He still thought that everyone was over exaggerating the situation. He was fine. It was just one small attack. He doubted it would happen again.

With that thought in his mind, he left his bland room. He had nothing on his furniture except the essentials. No family photos. No posters. Nothing really that made the room his own. Anything that really identified Humphrey as himself was in his closet. Hidden from the rest of the world. The stuff in there was stuff only he knew about really. No one else actually checked in his closet. Sure his three friends had an idea of what could possibly be in there but realistically their guess was just as good as anyone else's. He had wanted to forget home as much as possible. He wanted to forget Gladwin, Michigan. He just wanted to forget his past as much as possible.

Ugh! Why can't I stop thinking about it!

He sighed. He needed to relax. Every time he thought back to his past he always began to stiffen up and stress. He just needed to forget it and move on. Why couldn't he just have permanent amnesia?

Another sigh escaped. Right now he should just focus on coffee.

Walking into the kitchen he went to the coffee maker. It was a cheap one. He had gotten it on Black Friday a couple of years back after the original one broke. And he didn't even want to think of the reason. He poured a bit of water in and turned on the machine. Next, he needed to grab his instant coffee from the cabinet. Easily done. Grabbing his favorite mug. It was a birthday gift from Sean. Just a big Patriots mug. Go Pats! Last, he needed sugar. Not that tough. The sugar was right next to the machine.

He scooped three spoons of sugar and one of the instant coffee beans.

Now he waited. It would take a bit for the water to heat up, it was a cheap machine after all, but Humphrey was in no rush. He had nothing to worry about.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Raincheck on that nothing to be worried about. Why was someone at his door? He knew for a fact that they paid the monthly rental fee for the dorm. And if it was the guys then they would just open the door. So who was at his door? Could they have the wrong door? Should he answer it? No probably not. Maybe the wolf on the other side left?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Nope! They're still there! Okay, maybe he should open the door... Maybe it was the mail? Yeah, that must have been it. Sam was waiting for that new game to be delivered for a while now. No, wait they'd put in in their mailbox cubby downstairs. So who could it be?

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Coming!" he said in a gentle but loud voice. Whoever it was clearly had no patience. Like seriously knocking on the door three times in the span of what? Ten seconds?

Wait.

Opening the door he was greeted by a blonde wolf who looked ready to knock on the door again. Of course, it would be her.

"Okay, you got here faster than I thought. Only three knocks," It was none other than Kate in front of him. What was she doing here!

Okay, I was gonna make this longer, but honestly the more I think about it the more of a good ending it seems to be! So there you go, because I'm evil you get another cliffhanger, kinda.

Anyway, I hope to see all you amazing people in the next chapter.