All the Aches in the World

Chapter 10 : Day One

"Don't call me that." Hunter scowled.

"Why not?" It was curiosity that spilled the question from his lips, but he delivered it with a fine amount of distaste.

"We aren't married yet," Hunter seemed to growl as he stalked towards the door. Elliot narrowed his eyes at his back, muttering something even he couldn't decipher under his breath as he watched the blond leave the room. He stood there for several seconds before sighing, shoulders dropping. He turned and quickly showered and dressed, before going and shoving clothes into the nearest bag he found. He had little patience to go through everything at this second. There would be plenty of time to come back for other essentials, and besides, it wasn't like he was making Hunter's apartment his new home. It was temporary. Just for a year, then he would be back here as if he had never even left.

He was halfway through a quick, yet efficient morning routine when he suddenly realized Hunter Morgan was suddenly loose in his house. Throwing the clothes in his hands onto the bed, Elliot rushed from the room on quick feet, bounding down the stairs before skidding into the dining room where he found his family in the middle of what seemed like a joyful breakfast.

Elliot gaped.

The view of his siblings even sitting at the dining table, his step-mother smiling around her giggles, and Hunter like the missing piece in the middle of it all. A content look on his face and muggy eyes being brighter than he saw at all before.

"Elliot!" Luna turned her smile onto him as he entered hesitantly, as if walking into another dimension. His eyes narrowed as his family turned to him.

"What's going on?"

"Breakfast," Ethan supplied with a raised brow. Elliot had the age old urge to whack his brother behind the head.

"You haven't sat down for breakfast in this house in months."

Ethan grunted but didn't reply. He hadn't so much as spent more than a few hours in this house, let alone congregated with the family for any meals they could scrounge together. He was the exact stereotype of every teenage boy; quiet, broody, and a fierce need to rebel at every command or suggestion given to him. And Elliot was afraid he would find his brother to be worse in the wake of their mother's death. But this. This, he did not expect.

He carefully sat himself down beside his sister as she gave him a small nod of acknowledgement. Light eyes remained on her, watching her steady breath, hazy eyes. Though this was the most he had both seen of her this week, and seen her eyes lighten once again. Not like she was before...everything. But enough. A glimpse.

"Should we head out?" Elliot directed to Hunter, finding the longer he sat here the more uncomfortable he would grow. Hunter raised his head. "You said we had a busy day," he supplied when the blond didn't respond right away.

"You should at least eat something first," Luna answered instead, pointing to the spread of breakfast before them. Pancakes and butter and bacon and eggs. It was the same thing almost everyday, and still, it felt like a whole other household he had woken up to. "You can't get through a busy day without some fuel."

"I've gotten through worse days with far less," Elliot muttered. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat. He felt stormy eyes fall onto him, but he ignored the man across from him.

Luna sighed. "Yes, yes, we are well aware. But alcohol just makes things worse."

Elliot didn't respond, but his eyes lifted beneath his lashes, catching Hunter still looking over at him. The mask of blankness on his face, but there was something curious in his eyes, something Elliot didn't want to entertain at all.