{ chapter 2 }

33.6K 611 131
                                    

I woke to Hunter's voice. He wasn't talking, or talking to me directly, but he was making sounds; sounds which sounded more like a cry for help than a conversation starter.

I rolled over in bed, staring at the 16 year old boy as he whimpered and muffled something completely impossible to understand. His eyes were clenched shut, his hands gripping at the sheet. He was shaking his head slightly, and breathing heavily.

A part of me wanted to get up and go over to him, hold his hand and stroke his hair, tell him it was ok and hold him until he calmed down. I hated his insides, but Hunter had a hard time getting up in the morning and living each day; it was hard to ignore his problems.

I didn't move though, because just when I decided that I would, Hunter stopped. His body froze, the whimpering stopped and his fingers stretched out from the sheets. He groaned, turned over, and stayed still. Within seconds he was in a peaceful sleep.

*

"Coffee?"

Hunter nodded as he sat down opposite me at the kitchen table. Chris didn't start work for a few days so he was staying at home watching us whilst my Mom went out to her reserved working placement at a motel. I was ok with this, because I loved Chris like he really was my family. He treated me well and I did the same to him. He had a hard time with Hunter, even if I hated the man, I wouldn't give him any more pain.

"Take these and I'll make some," Chris murmured as he set down a handful of pills in front of Hunter.

Hunter was one of those guys that hated taking pills. So when he was forced to take them multiple times a day, he got a little grumpy. But the guy loved coffee, so he'd do it.

Hunter had different types of pills. He had a high dosage of prozap for his depression which he took every 3 hours. He took another for his anxiety. Another for his anemia. And another to help him sleep, and stay awake at the same time. It was weird. Hunter just had really bad sleeping habbits. I didn't know the details, but he was either always sleeping or never sleeping. It was sometimes impossible to open his eyes, sometimes to close them.

"There you go," and Chris ruffled Hunter's hair as he set the coffee down in front of him. Hunter edged away from Chris and looked at the coffee, putting his hand on the cup even though it was boiling hot. And then he looked down, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Fuck off,"

*

"Hey Chris?"

"Aha?" He looked up at me from where he sat on the couch. There was nothing to do and it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. All was unpacked, daytime tv was utter shite, and we were just sat doing absolutley nothing.

"Hunter was being kinda weird last night,"

"Weird?"

"Weirder than usual,"

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno," I admitted. "I think he was having a nightmare or something. Not as bad as he normally has, there was no screaming or anything. He was just whimpering, and holding onto the bedsheets really tight, he looked terrified. What am I supposed to do when that happens? If he starts screaming in the middle of the night? I can't just sit there, but if I try help him then he'll attack me,"

"Look," Chris sighed. "Hunter's a difficult kid. But when he needs it, even though he physically rejects it, he needs affection. When you helped him with the panic attack yesterday, he accepted it. He didn't strike out because he mentally needed affection there and then, he needed to be reminded that he was ok. So what you need to do if anything does happen at night, is go to him. You shout my name, and until I get there you stay with him. That's all you need to do Kat,"

Love Like A Delinquent (Remake)Where stories live. Discover now