Love Like A Delinquent (Remake)

{ Chapter 14 }

Me and Hunter were in our bedroom and things were quiet. Hunter had his legs crossed and stared down at the mattress, completely ignoring me. Well, trying to.

"Come on, Hunter."

"No," he muttered. 

"Hunter,"

"I'm not fucking going out there,"

"Hunter-"

"No."

I sighed. Chris had told us all a few days ago that he was going to have some work friends round for dinner. He'd explained it to Hunter that all he had to do was come out and have food, then he could leave. But when me and Hunter came out of our room to meet the 3 men sat around the table, Hunter's eyes went straight to the alcohol and he ran out.

After going after him, Hunter had explained to me that his Dad was a heavy drinker and that seeing older men drink around him, made him feel uneasy. He could drink himself, but going anywhere near those men was terrifying for him. And now he was refusing to come back out.

"Sit next to me. They wont hurt you,"

"I know but-"

I took both sides of his face, staring at him. "Hunter, you're going to be fine."

"Can I sit on the counter so I don't have to be near them?"

"Sure,"

He nodded a bit. "They were staring,"

"What?"

"Chris' friends. They were staring at my arms,"

Hunter looked down, running his fingers from his wrist to his shoulder. I sighed, not really sure what to do. It had taken Hunter a while to feel comfortable wearing short sleeves around me, Chris and Mom. In fact, it was only a few months ago that he'd walked around the house in nothings but boxers. 

I smiled a little, walking over to Hunter's drawers where I fiddled around until I found an Asking hoodie. I tossed it over and he returned the small smile as he slipped his arms into the sleeves.

"Better?" I walked over and offered out my hand. Hunter nodded, intertwining his fingers between mine and pulling himself up.

 "You're gonna be ok," I assured him

 *

"So Hunter, are you interested in becoming a doctor as well?"

Hunter looked up at Max, cracking his fingers nervously. His eyes shot to the drink in Max's hand and he looked back down again. It was a few moments before he finally managed to choke out a "no."

"Really? I thought that you'd want to take after your Dad,"

"Why the fuck would I want that?"

Everyone stopped eating and became silent. It took Hunter a couple of minutes to realize that he had misunderstood and he stared at the floor in shame. No one really knew what to say. The other men whose names I hadn't caught awkwardly sat in silence whilst Chris shifted uncomfortably.

Hunter's breathing increased and I knew he was scared. Did he think they were going to hurt him because he said that? His fingers gripped desperately onto the counter and he hung his head. Feeling helpless, I grabbed his hand. I pulled him from his position and dragged him back into the bedroom. I could hear Chris mumbling something to the others but I ignored it. I closed the door and watched as Hunter sank down to the floor, his knees curling up to his chest.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean it. I thought he meant-"

Knealing down, I took his hand. "It's ok. No one's mad. You got confused. Don't worry about it, ok?"