I must be dreaming.
Maybe the pain finally ruined my brain, and I was hallucinating.
Hunter crouched next to my bed, his eyebrows heavy. The sunlight was muted by my curtain, and it made Hunter's eyes seem darker than usual.
"Hey."
Even his voice sounded the same. Half asleep, I reached out a hand and touched his face. He froze.
He was warm, his cheek rough. I blinked, slowly coming awake. "I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"No."
"Hallucination?"
"No."
"A hologram?"
He raised his brows, his lips twitching up. "Is it that impossible for me to be in your room?"
I sighed and sat up. Cheddar was still asleep by my feet. Hunter, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and jeans, his feet in black socks, was indeed in my room, crouching by my bed. Okay. I wasn't dreaming.
The entire weekends flashed before my eyes again. Saturday morning. Our 'argument'.
My body ached all over, like I was ran over by a train. I glanced around my room. Thank God I hadn't left any underwear in plain sight. Although, there might be a bra or two in that pile of clothes on my desk chair. I really hoped not.
My period pain felt better. Much better. But I needed to use the bathroom, and I was afraid if I got up, my pants might be stained. I cleared my throat.
Hunter rose. "I'll wait for you downstairs."
Thank God. "Yeah. I'll be down in a bit."
He left the room, closing the door with snick. I rolled out of bed to the bathroom. I felt all greasy and sticky, so I took a quick shower, put on a thick sweater, fuzzy pants and socks. I glanced at the mirror of my bathroom. I looked half dead. My lips were pale, dark circles under my eyes, my hair a frazzled, damp mess. I sighed and pulled my hair in a ponytail.
I turned to leave, then thought better of it and pulled out the hair tie, putting on my wrist. I should at least look presentable. I dried my hair properly and decided to leave it down. It might or might not have something to do with the fact that Hunter liked my hair down.
I was still pissed at him.
I picked up my phone and made my way downstairs. Hunter moved around in the kitchen, searching cupboards and drawers. I often had my meals here with Stefan and Scott, and my brothers weren't small guys by any stretch of the imagination, so why did the kitchen suddenly feel small with Hunter in it?
"What are you looking for?" I asked.
He glanced over his shoulder. "Mugs."
I pointed to a cupboard above his right shoulder. He opened it and looked at the mug collection, then chose one with a cat tail as the handle and a 3-D image of a black cat on its side. A saucepan was cooking on the stove. The kitchen smelled faintly of cinnamon and ginger.
He set the mug aside and looked into the saucepan. I sat at the island. His broad back and shoulders looked tense beneath the gray sweatshirt.
"I'm sorry."
I blinked. "What?"
"About what I said on Saturday. I didn't mean it. I was just... angry."
I shifted on my seat. Okay. He apologized. Still, there was something missing. I wasn't over it.
Steam rose out of the saucepan. Hunter turned off the stove and poured the liquid in the mug.
"Why?" I asked. He turned. He looked ridiculous, holding the cat shaped mug with his big hands and muscled arms. Ridiculously cute.
His knuckles were red. He slid the mug my way and quickly retrieved his hands. But I saw them. "Why what?"
I stared at the mug and wrapped my hands around it. He made me tea. It was hot and it smelled good, and it made my throat tighten up. Ugh. I hated the mopey mood of my period.
"Tea?"
He nodded. "Tia Sofia, our house keeper, says it's good for period pain."
I raised my brow. Well, there was actually a boy who could talk about female periods without wincing or making a disgusted face. I think I just fell a little bit harder for Hunter Jamison.
"And how did you know I have my period?"
"Lia," he replied, tucking his hands into his jean pockets. "I asked her about you since you weren't answering your phone-"
I frowned and checked my phone. Oh. "I forgot it on airplane mode."
His shoulders deflated, and I knew him enough to see the relief crossing his features. "Oh."
I turned off the airplane mode. My phone dinged. Then pinged again several times in a row. Hunter. Several missed calls and a few messages.
Hunter turned and washed the saucepan. I took a tentative sip of my tea. Ginger and cinnamon and the sweetness of honey. It settled down like a soothing balm in my belly, relaxing my muscles. That felt nice.
My heart squeezed, and some of my lingering anger melted off. "Thanks. It helps."
I sipped on my tea in silence. Hunter washed the saucepan and put it on the dish rack. Then he turned and watched me.
"You didn't say," I said.
"What?"
"Why were you angry? Saturday."
He sighed and leaned against the counter. "It's a long story."
"Mhm."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "My family is complicated."
I sipped on my tea and kept quiet. He looked at the island with a small frown, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to begin.
"My father married my mother because she fell pregnant with me," he said. "I don't know the whole story, but I know that it was... ugly, I guess, is one word to describe it.
"My father didn't want to marry her, and my grandparents didn't want to, either. But they worried more about their reputation, they knew my mom would make a scene and..." he shook his head. "Anyway, they got married. Right now, they're only married by name. They don't care much about the family or me."
"Then why stay married?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Money. Mom wants my father's money. Dad wants my grandparents' inheritance. My grandparents are old school. They're dangling their money in front of my father in order to get him to behave and keep a proper family."
And he was the victim of his greedy parents. My heart hurt for Hunter. For the child he'd been, living under the same roof of two parents who used him as a pawn to satiate their greed.
"My grandparents visit every once in a while, and when they do, they expect us to be the picture-perfect family they want," he said. "They visited last Saturday. I knew they were coming. I just didn't want to sit through another stupid lunch where they pretend everything is fine. But my mom called and..."
"And you had to go," I mumbled.
He gave a nod. "I'm still not eighteen yet. They still have power over me. Their latest threat is to ship me off to some private school in England."
That was why he wanted to get out of this town as soon as he turned eighteen. Now I understood why he'd said that the night of the party.
"I was mad at them," he said, raising his dark eyes to mine. "I was mad at myself because I'm helpless. And I took it out on you because I was irritated with... how close you and that guy were."
I blinked. "Chester?"
He nodded. I smiled and shook my head. "Chester is like a little brother."
"He definitely doesn't see you as a big sister," Hunter grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "Aha. So that's why you were extra prickly."
He made a face. "Prickly?"
"Yep." I downed the last of my drink.
Hunter sighed and moved around the island to sit next to me. He leaned his elbows on the island and linked his hands in one fist. "I'm sorry. I'll try to not be extra-prickly in the future." He glanced at me. "Just... bear with me. I'm not really used to people... caring much."
Because his own parents never cared about him.
I nudged his side with my elbow. "I do. I care about you. Even when you're being prickly."
He smiled a little. "You do?"
I nodded. Then I pulled the hair tie in my wrist off and wiggled my fingers. "Give me your hand."
He did. I slipped the black hair tie around his wrist and snapped it.
"Ow," he said.
"Every time you think that no one cares about you, just snap it. The sting should remind you," I said. "I care about you. Even if no one else does. I'll always do."
He stared at me, unblinking. He pursed his lips and gave one nod, then took my hand and kissed my knuckles. "Thank you."
The last of my anger at him faded away. Hunter was like an unpolished gem with sharp edges. Handling it carelessly would get you cut, but beneath that hard, dusty exterior, there was a brilliant jewel.
We moved to the living room. I snuggled under my blanket and turned on the TV. Hunter closed the blinds and sat down next to me.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" I asked.
"No. I'm being a supportive boyfriend," he said. The light of the TV sliced across the dim room and played across his eyes.
I snorted and leaned back. The pain was still there, but it was bearable now.
"How are you?" Hunter asked.
"Better."
"Still in pain?"
"Just a little bit. It's bearable," I said. "What do you want to watch?"
"Whatever you want."
"You'll regret that," I warned him. He shrugged.
Fine. I turned on the drama Lia and I had been watching this weekend. I was sick, so she would forgive me for watching the rest without her.
I inched closer to Hunter and leaned my head against his shoulder. He shifted and wrapped his arm around me. He radiated a ridiculous amount of heat, and he smelled like his cologne and very faintly of cigarettes.
"So, who did you fight?" I asked.
He stiffened. "Someone."
"Was anyone seriously hurt?"
"No," he said. "I stopped before it could get serious."
I looked at him with raised brows. "You stopped? On your own?"
He nodded, his eyes on the TV.
"You didn't beat up Chester, did you?"
He rolled his eyes. "No. It was just a random guy who was looking for a fight."
Well, then.
The drama resumed where I had left it. The female lead was sitting with her boyfriend's mother in a garden. The familiar tone of the Korean language, Hunter's warm, big presence next to me and his smell, all relaxed my muscles and relieved the tension of the weekend. I hadn't known how draining it'd been, not being on good terms with Hunter.
"That's a nice house," Hunter mumbled, admiring the house in the TV.
"It is. The garden is perfect." I smiled. "We should have one just like it in the future."
Hunter squeezed me to him. "With a bigger garden."
"And a higher fence, so that our cats don't jump out."
"How many cats will we have?"
"At least two, not including Cheddar."
As if hearing his name, Cheddar materialized out of nowhere and jumped on the couch. He walked over my lap and settled in Hunter's. I guess he was warmer.
"What about dogs?" Hunter asked, absently petting Hunter.
"I don't know. It really depends. I always wanted a golden retriever," I said. "But they're one of the most adopted dog breeds, and I want to get a dog whose chance of getting adopted is low. "
"Like what?"
"They're mostly old dogs or mutts no one wants," I said.
He hummed. "So, dogs and cats."
"And kids," I said, turning my head to grin at him. He was already looking at me, his eyes soft. "Lots of kids."
He smiled. "As much as the pets?"
"We'll see. But at least three," I said, looking at the TV again. The rich boyfriend's mother threw the glass of water on the woman's face. Classic k-drama move, right there. "We should also have a koi pond, while we're at it."
"A pool and a pond," Hunter said.
"With a little bridge over the pond."
"How big is that house, exactly?" Hunter asked, a smile in his voice.
I chuckled. "Big enough to have a koi pond and a bridge. We should work hard then."
"We should."
"Oh, we should also have a little gallery for all your photographs."
Hunter hummed.
"Did you take any over the weekend?"
"No. I wasn't in the mood," he said but pulled out his phone. "But I got some before we went to the shelter."
He showed me the pictures he took. The sunrise behind the distinctive skyline of our town. A golden retriever next to a bouquet of flowers in the flower shop near our school. I scrolled through. "You should get a professional camera," I said.
"I'm still looking up which one is the best," he said. "I can't decide."
"You should ask someone who has some experience," I said. "Oh, I know. Do you follow any professional photographers on Instagram?"
He made a face. "I don't really use Instagram much."
I opened the app on his phone. "Let's see."
We ended up hunched over his phone, looking through professional photographers accounts. And, despite his reluctance, I made him an anonymous page on the app where he could share his shots.
Then we watched the rest of the drama episodes in relative quiet, occasionally adding details to our future house. And in the last episode, Hunter quietly handed me the pack of tissue on the table when I started tearing up. How did he even notice?
Then my stomach growled.
"I guess we should feed that little beast in your stomach," Hunter said.
I elbowed him. "Rude! You should at least try not to notice something as embarrassing as your girlfriend's stomach growling."
He chuckled. "It's pretty difficult not to notice. I think there's a little dinosaur in there."
I elbowed him again, even as I laughed.
"I'll have bruised ribs at this rate," he mumbled. When I glanced at him, he was smiling.
Hunter ordered sushi. Lia sent me a message around lunch time.
Did Hunter come? Are you okay? Did you make up?
I smiled and shot her a response.
Yes to all the above.
Her response was immediate.
GIVE ME DETAILS!!! 👀👀👀
I chuckled. She was going to burst from curiosity.
Later.
Hunter opened the blinds and put the sushi on the coffee table. We had lunch.
It was silly to think we'd had a fight a few days ago. I felt closer to him, now. As if the fight was a hurdle that pulled us closer. And I saw the same realization in his eyes. It felt like we would never fight about anything again.
I knew him a little better, and with every new thing I learned about Hunter Jamison, I fell a little more in love with him.
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I hope you enjoyed it! Vote and comment!
Much love <3 <3 <3
M.B.