Awoken

Chapter Thirteen

      The summer ended all too quickly and Zoe St. Clair, now officially employed by Bradleigh State, had rearranged her desk a total of nine times. She was working on the tenth when Hunter paid her a visit. Class would be starting in two weeks and Hunter, now without a fraternity logo behind him, was still considering himself a work in progress. Zoe felt the smile come on her face the instant he walked into her office. She already laid the groundwork for some solid boundaries while she was on the job: no making out in the office, no interrupting her during appointments, and absolutely no sex on top of her desk...again. One time was enough when a stapler left a bruise on the back of her thigh and he got poked by a pen. She wanted this to be a time of growth for the both of them. They may be a couple, they may very much be in love, but they were also adults. Mostly rational adults that once had sex on an office desk.

    "I see you're overthinking the arranging again", he nodded toward the desk, "why don't we hit up the diner off campus and unwind? You still have plenty of time before everyone is demanding your attention."

    "You just want to have more alone time with me", Zoe countered with a smile.

    He returned her smile, "Damn right I do. Brick has been spending entire weeks in Buffalo with Sam and Trent is going through an identity crisis. The other frat guys won't even bother talking to me now. It's a different world and a part of me hates it."

    "But you're still open to new things and I think you are doing an amazing job of keeping your cool with all things considered", Zoe said.

    Hunter rubbed the back of his neck, "I have another therapy appointment tomorrow. I hate opening up like that in front of a stranger. Rick's cool but he's still just some random dude who's treating me like a...I don't know."

    "A puzzle to solve?", Zoe asked, "I definitely remember a car ride to the Catskills where a certain frat boy told me that he loved to look at people as if they were puzzles. Ones he wanted to solve."

    "I've solved most of yours", he brightened up.

    "And I'm on my way to figuring out your own as well", she countered.

    Hunter put his arm around her waist, "I'm a lucky man. I wake you up in the middle of the night after a nightmare shakes me, I double check every alleyway we pass, and I make plans five years in advance. You still put up with me."

    "That's because I love you", Zoe answered, "and I know that, with everything you went through, you're in the process of healing. I know you'll never be able to forget being taken out into those woods, getting stabbed by Sean and half-buried alive, but you can at least move on from letting it rule your life. You are so much more than a tragedy. You're a living, breathing man who I feel lucky to call mine."

    Hunter sniffed and cleared his throat, "Yeah, I...well, I guess I should say thank you but it doesn't sound like enough."

    "Then I'll let you pay for dinner", Zoe returned.

      The summer was a lot kinder to Hunter than it was for Zoe. She was constantly running back and forth around campus, meeting different academics and faculty members who she'd be working with, smiling through it all. He was having terrifying dreams in the middle of the night, waking up in cold sweats, and wishing he didn't give up smoking so soon after the dust settled. A part of him wanted to run down to the gas station, by a pack of cigarettes and the biggest bottle of whiskey he could find, and medicate himself that way. It wasn't a long term solution but would at least get him through his senior year of college. Then he would look at Zoe, who would usually wake up the second he did, and all of those bad habits seemed unimportant. She would kiss him, whisper comforting words into his ear, and he would calm down. He knew he couldn't do this without her.