The next day, I woke up late. I groaned as I was blinded by the midday light filtered in through the blinds. I grabbed the closest thing to me and covered my eyes. It ended up being Hamish's arm, but I didn't care. I rather him wake up and suffer with me than have him be sleeping peacefully. I felt Hamish move against me, going from his back to his side and pulling me close. He nuzzled his head against my neck, using my body as a shield from the light.

I gladly faced him, my back to the light, and breathed in his minty rain scent. We stayed like that, half awake and half asleep.

And God was it the best feeling in the world.

Until Hamish's phone started to ring. We both groaned and I mumbled something like, "Ignore it," which Hamish replied something like, "Gladly,"

The person calling was sent to his voicemail. It was silent once more until it rang again, which we ignored being too comfy in bed snuggling up against each other to care. The third and final call made Hamish snarl in annoyance. He blindly grabbed for it and answered in a sleepy and annoyed voice.

"What?" He said into the phone, voice muffled by being buried in my neck.

"Uh, dude, don't you remember we have to deal with things?" Randall said from the other line. "Like, I don't know, figure out about this creature roaming around the campus and killing people?"

Hamish gave a groan of annoyance into the phone in response. "Are you still in bed?" Randall exclaimed, then said away from the phone to someone—presumably Lilith—in a rushed and surprised voice, "He's still in bed,"

"Wow," Was Lilith's response. "He's always up at dawn," She remarked, taking the phone. "Did you and Mazikeen break the bed last night?" She said, her voice full of amusement.

"Go to hell," Hamish muttered and hung up, tossing the phone somewhere on the bed. "I guess sleeping in isn't an option," He joked, looking at me with tired eyes. I gave a chuckle as I stretched, my limbs aching. "Someday, Mish," I said, running a hand through my hair to try and tame it; which is fruitless. It was a mane that was more of a curse than a blessing.

Hamish patted my head, trying to help with my hair, but just ended up laughing when he tried to de-tangle it. "You look like a lion," He remarked, giving a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. I shooed his hand away.

"Just what a girl wants to hear in the morning," I sarcastically said. "Sorry," He said. "The first hour in the mornings is me defrosting from the nights' rest," He joked.

Rolling my eyes, I rolled out of bed, not bothering to find any clothes. I was going to take a shower anyways. I felt Hamish's eyes on me as I dug around for some presentable clothes to wear after the shower, and chose some ripped black jeans, a white undershirt, and one of Hamish's sweaters; the one that was tan with thinner, darker tan stripes. Looking back over my shoulder at Hamish, holding up the sweater, I said, "Hope you don't mind me wearing this today,"

Hamish shrugged, slowly getting up from where he was laying. "Go for it," He said, stretching. Seeing the muscles rippling as he did made me smile.

I chose a black lacey bra and matching underwear, bundling the clothes up, and was walking out the bedroom door when I heard Hamish shout out, "Mind if I join you?"

I popped my head back in the bedroom to see Hamish walking over to where his clothes were. "Sure, I don't mind," I said, just as he chose his attire for the day. I turned and walked into the bathroom, setting my clothes on the counter and turning the shower on. The shower was big enough for both Hamish and I if we were in our werewolf forms. That translating that it was a big walk in shower.

I looked in the fogging mirror to see my hair was just as I imagined; a big, fluffy, curly mess. The bathroom door was ajar as I stepped into the shower. I dampened my hair first, the water bogging it down to where it was flat again. I heard the door open and smiled when I saw a familiar figure through the glass.

"Starting without me?" Hamish said in mock offense. I barked out a laugh. "Only rinsing my hair," I said to my defense just as Hamish stepped into the steamy shower. He stood directly under the running water, his hair and skin instantly water-run. I looked up at him, wiping the water from my eyes as I went on my tiptoes and reached past him to grab my shampoo.

I put some in the palm of my hand, it smelling of vanilla, and I massaged it in my scalp. Hamish grabbed his own two-in-one and put some in his own hand, stepping out of the directory of the water. I hummed to myself as I made sure my hair was lathered in the shampoo and waited a few moments before rinsing it.

As I was rinsing, back turned to Hamish as I go to grab my conditioner, I felt one Hamish's hands on my hip, and the other running through my hair. I wasn't bothered by it, and let him, leaning my head back in response. Hamish grabbed the bottle of conditioner from my hands and put the liquid in his, and lathered it in my hair.

I turned to face him, giving a small smile as I ran my own hands through his hair, rinsing the shampoo-conditioner lather from his hair. Once we had finished, I grabbed my scrubber, pumping the bodywash onto it and washing my arms first. Hamish did the same with his, but doing his chest first, then his arms, and working his way down...

I focused on my body, scrubbing the scent of sex and sweat from my skin. I was bending over to get my legs when Hamish leaned over me, placing a hand on my hip to steady me and himself as he placed his scrubber back where it belongs. I straightened and stood under the water, letting it wash the suds away. Hamish engulfed me in a tender hug, letting the water run over us as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"I want to say something," Hamish murmured in my ear.

"Yes?" I asked, not moving a muscle. A million things ran through my mind—all of the potential things I have done wrong. Whenever someone says that, I think the absolute worst.

"I wanted to say-" He started, pulling away to look at me. I took a step back to look at him properly when he did but only to slip. I cried out in shock and surprise. Hamish instantly caught me before I fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking me over quickly to see if anything was broke—like that was a problem. It would just heal, I thought sarcastically. My legs where shaking from the almost-fall, but other than that I was okay. Stupid suds... I thought, cursing the soapy water on the bottom of the shower.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head embarrassment creeping up on me. "Just mis-stepped." I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "You were saying?" I prompted, looking at Hamish.

He only shook his head. "It's nothing, we need to be going here shortly," He said, a voice saying this discussion is over for now, and shutting the water off. "Come on, Z," He said, guiding me out of the shower and handed me the towel. I dried myself off, slipping into my desired clothes, and towel drying my hair. Hamish quickly clothed in similar fashion, and we were both done in a few minutes. I quickly brushed my teeth and put on deodorant before walking out of the bathroom.

I hung up the towel and wondered into the kitchen in search for some food. "I don't think we'll have time to make something; what about picking something up on the way there?" I suggested loudly enough for Hamish to hear me from the bathroom. Hamish walked out and was giving a nod. "Yeah, we can do that. Anything in mind?" He asked me, hugging me from behind and placing his head on my left shoulder. I gave a shrug.

"Anything you want, Mish," I said, turning my body to face him. He looked up at the ceiling giving a dramatic groan. "You are so indecisive," He complained.

"Okay, fine," I said. "Let's go get some Subway sandwiches," I said, putting a hand each on his shoulders and leaning back. Hamish gave me a smile. "Okay," He said softly, kissing me sweetly, a hand running through my damp hair. While he was kissing me, I snuck out his keys from his pocket. I pulled away with a smirk, holding his keys up.

He rolled his eyes, snatching them back. "You're so not driving," he said, grabbing my hand and lacing his fingers with mine and pulled me out the door.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

After eating Subway sandwiches in Hamish's car, we headed to the Den. Once we entered the door, we heard Lilith shout out a "Finally". Randall walked into the entry way and looked between us, raising and eyebrow.

He looked at me and shook his head in mock disappointment. "You're leading him down a wrong path, Maze. First, you influence him to sleep in, then you make him be late. What's next? He'll want to start not buttoning his shirts all the way to his neck and stop wearing ties?" He scoffed, a smile betraying that he was joking and not being serious.

Randall walked over and engulfed me in a bear-hug—rather wolf-hug?—and was laughing. I hugged him back briefly, and he set me back down, leading us to the living room where there were open books on every available surface.

"So," I started. "What are we looking for?"

"Well, if you were here earlier, you'd know what we narrowed it down to." Lilith jibbed; a smile plastered on her face.

"Ouch," I said, looking up at Lilith from one of the books I picked up just as Hamish said, "That's harsh,"

Lilith shrugged and handed Hamish the book she held in her hands. "We think that it's this," Lilith said, pointing to the page. I looked over Hamish's arm to see something being said about a Golem.

"What makes you sure it's a Golem?" Hamish asked, flipping through the pages about them.

"Well, promise not to get mad," Randall started, causing Hamish to look up at him. "Go on," He prompted.

"You didn't promise," Randall pointed out childishly. "I'll promise after I hear what it is; because then depending on that is how my mood will go," Hamish said, looking at Randall, who then gave a dramatic sigh. "I've been tracking the Golem, and man was it hideous." Randall gave a shiver.

"You what?" Hamish said, handing the book to me as Hamish walked over to Randall. "Why didn't you call? Send a text? Smoke signals for all I care?" Hamish said, his temper flaring. Randal flinched at every single question Hamish said. "We did—we tried, but you never picked up, then we tried Mazikeen's cell and she didn't pick up either." Lilith pipped up from where she sat. "We even went over to the apartment and knocked, but uh-" She gestured between us. "-we heard you two were busy so we didn't bother you," she said, a suggestive tone in her voice at the last part.

Hamish gave a sigh, hand massaging the back of his neck and looking a little guilty. I felt my face heat up and I had to physically turn away and look out the windows in the living room.

"Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Randall said from where he stood as Lilith looked over at me and asked, "Was he any good?"

"Lilith!" Hamish said, glaring at her. I looked over at Lilith, my hair a wall between both boys and my face when I gave her a look of amusement and mouthing "Oh yeah".

Lilith battled a smile forming on her face just as I moved my hair to the side, seeing Hamish looking at me with a quizzical expression.

I gave a shrug, looking down at the book Hamish had put in my hands when he was about ready to knock sense into Randall's head for going off and following the Golem.

"Another thing," Randall said, pointing out his pointer finger at all of us and waving towards and away from him like he's thinking. "There's this kid that was following it, too,"

I looked up at Randall as Hamish was nodding. "Do you know who he is?" Hamish asked. Randall shook his head. Hamish nodded his head, looking down. His face had a far away look for a moment as he thought.

"Maybe we should wait until night to follow it and pursue it," I said, putting the book in my hands on a few others that were on the coffee table. Hamish's eyes snapped over to me, a look clear as day saying "no".

I held my hands up in surrender. "Okay, that was just a thought," I said, as I looked over at Randall and knew he was going to go anyways. Come on, it's Randall we're talking about. Lilith might go to just in case Randall needs back up.

"So, what do we do now then?" I asked.

Hamish gave a sigh, rubbing a hand down his face. "We wait," He said, looking between all of us; first at Randall, then Lilith, and me being last. "But first we need to clean these up," He said, gesturing to the books scattered everywhere.

That being said, we all started to close opened books, stacking them five at a time, and each taking them back to where they belong. This took no more than a few minutes, considering there were four of us cleaning.

When we were finished, we all sat down, Hamish and I on the couch and Randall and Lilith sitting in the chairs.

We all were in our thoughts when Hamish asked, "Anyone want a drink?" to which we all agreed.

He made cocktails with lime garnishes, and first handed one each to Lilith and Randall. Then he made two more, handing one to me and keeping one for himself. I noticed that I had a little less than the others, but I didn't mind. They all know how I get with too much to drink, and it wasn't a good thing, or at least past wise. Not sure about now, though.

But now I was feeling good; nothing really to make me harm myself anymore. I had the best people in the world to make sure that never happens again. I looked at Hamish, then at my drink. I shrugged and downed it all in one go, avoiding the garnish, and held an empty glass.

All three were looking at me. "What?" I asked, looking at them. When I said that they all looked in separate directions all except Hamish, who gave me a grin as he drank his.

By the time it was dark, we were all chatting about random things; like how many times freshman would walk in Hamish's office and ask a "stupidly simple" question about something "stupidly simple"—Randall's words, not mine.

"This past week or year?" Hamish asked in return, to which Randall said, "This week,"

Hamish gave it some thought, counting off in his head. "Maybe twenty-four a day?" He said. "I lose count after it gets to the high hundreds," He shrugged.

"Oh, before I forget," Randall said, pulling out his wallet and handing a fifty to Lilith, causing her to pull out hers and handed Randall a twenty and ten ones. Lilith apologized that she didn't have three tens to give to him to make it even. Randall shrugged it off.

Hamish and I looked at one another, then back at our friends. "Uh, Randall, what's all that about?" Hamish asked, knowing if he asked Lilith, she wouldn't spill information as easy.

Randall looked as if he would rather just die right there or confess to a murder he didn't commit than answer. "Oh, um," He was having difficulties between telling us, or not.

"Just a simple transaction," Lilith spoke up, shrugging.

I gave Lilith a long look, surveying her words. I looked over at Hamish, then down at my phone, messaging him.

—8:13 PM—

Me:

Definitely a bet going on.

Mish:

Obviously. Knowing them, it's likely about us.

Hamish replied, then looked up at me with an amused look. "So, what's the bet about?" He then asked Randall and Lilith, fixating his gaze on them.

They looked at one another before looking between me and Hamish. "Oh, pshh, it's nothing," Randall said, playing it off like there's nothing. Randall absolutely sucks at lying to his friends. And Randall knew it, too. His eyes were wide and he looked over at Lilith with silent panic.

Lilith shrugged. "Nothing important; just a little bet between us two after last night's events," She said, a glint of amusement in her eyes. I looked over at Hamish when she said that. "Let me guess," I started. "You have this whole bingo bet going on?" I jokingly said. Randall opened his mouth and said to Lilith. "That's an even better idea than a simple bet," He exclaimed. Lilith nodded along. "We'll do that next time," She concluded.

I rolled my eyes. "What's it about?" I prompted.

Lilith looked at me and Hamish. "First you have to promise answer some questions honestly," She said, leaning forward and bracing herself on her knees. "What sort of questions?" Hamish asked.

"Ones about what you did last night," Randall said. "Like-" Lilith cut Randall off. "No example questions until they agree," She snapped.

I gave Hamish a look of skepticism. "What do you think?" I asked. Hamish thought about it, then looked at the two werewolves. "You are actually curious?" He said, his expression caught between confusion and distaste.

"We have nothing to do right now anyways," Lilith said, shrugging. "We promise not to ask anything too personal," She said, holding her hands up in surrender. I knew her well enough that she could be lying.

Hamish then looked over at me. "Are you okay with this?" He said. "Are you? I personally don't care," I responded. After a moment, Hamish finally nodded. "Alright," He said. "But you have two questions each, no more, no less." He said, setting ground rules. "We can also Veto questions that we don't want to answer,"

Lilith and Randall exchanged looks and both got up and headed towards the entry way. "Where are you guys going?" Hamish then asked after looking at me with confusion.

"To discuss what questions we want to ask!" Lilith replied, yelling it from the basement. I laughed at that. "I wonder what questions they'll ask," I said to Hamish, moving my body to go flush against him. Hamish gave a shrug, draping an arm over my shoulders. After a few minutes, they came back and sat in their seats.

Randall spoke first, "Okay, my first question; What did you do last night to make Hamish sound like that?" I looked up at Hamish with a confused look. "You're gonna have to be more specific," I said. Randall shook his head, muttering, "Wow,"

"Okay, next question," Lilith said, butting away Randall's unanswered question. "Who topped and who bottomed?" Lilith asked. Hamish answered this one. "It was rather a..." He tried to find the right word. "Clashing of dominance," Hamish finally said. I laughed at his word choice, saying, "We both were bottom and top,"

Lilith gave a fist bump as Randall handed her a five-dollar bill. "Okay, my second question," He said. "Oral?" Randall asked simply.

I hid my face as Hamish gave a nod, one that was saying 'oh-ho-ho yeah'.

"Okay, okay, now my last question." Lilith said. "Did you shower together?" She asked. Hamish scoffed as I shook my head. "This morning," I said just as Hamish said, "You two are so invasive,"

Randall shrugged as he accepted a twenty from Lilith. I rolled my eyes as I got up, giving a stretch and heading to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out a soda. Hamish seemed to have followed me because I saw his arm clad in his long-sleeved maroon colored sweater reaching inside the refrigerator to pull out his own soda.

"You know, if you asked, I would have grabbed one for you too," I said, holding up the can of sprite. "I could grab my own," He said in mock offense. I laughed as he pulled me to him by grabbing my waist. He captured my lips in a delicately sweet kiss as I rose on my tiptoes to meet him halfway.

Hamish pulled away when he heard the front door open and shut. Looking behind him in the general direction, he gave a tired groan when he realized it was Randall going off on his own. "I expect this from Lilith, but not Randall," Hamish muttered. I gave him a look. "He's doing what he thinks is right," I pointed out, pulling away from Hamish's warm embrace.

"We'll talk with him when he gets back," I said, opening my soda can and taking a drink.