Chapter Text
Hunter walked into Hexside, ignoring everyone as he walked to his first class. Everyone was staring at him. Probably because of the whole concert incident and the fact that disappeared for weeks, or maybe they had all found out he was the golden guard. He felt his throat closing in as he passed by Bard track students in his class. He gripped his bag straps and went into the classroom. He sat in his seat and kept his head down, trying not to be noticed by anyone. When everyone had arrived, his teacher began the lesson, talking about their next project. Luckily it was a solo piece, but everyone had to try an instrument they hadn't played before. It was perfectly fine with Hunter, he loved learning new things. But everyone else groaned. The teacher gave them the deadline, ten days to master and compose a piece and everyone hesitantly started shuffling towards the instrument cabinet. Hunter went in last and pointed to a random instrument labelled 'electric guitar, donated by Eda Cawthorne'. Hunter smiled and picked up the guitar, it couldn't be that different from the violin right? He slung it over his shoulder and started strumming. It was pretty bad, but he was still learning. He went back to his seat and brought out the music book, flicking to the component about the electric guitar. It was probably from the human realm then, as the boiling Isles didn't have anything like this as far as he knew, although how Raine got their hands on it he never knew. He read about chorus and ways of strumming and he started making up a random melody. It wasn't as loud as he would eventually want it, but he didn't want to disturb his classmates. He remembered something Luz had forced him to listen to, a nice pattern he easily replicated. He felt everyone glaring at him as he started to actually complete the work. Eventually the bell rang and Hunter started to leave, putting the guitar back in the cupboard. He grabbed his stuff and walked out, making sure to avoid all of his classmates. He had no idea where he would go. He could try and go to the old Detention room, but chances were everyone would be there, and he hadn't seen them since the concert. He could have tried the roof, but Ed had shown him and he wasn't about to take advantage of Ed's kindness when Ed didn't like him. And so, he went to the one place he generally ended up.
----
Unfortunately the Grudgeby team was practicing that day, but Hunter had been invited to watch and possibly try out. He didn't want to try it out, but the fresh air helped him clear his mind. He felt another presence walk past him, like someone was there that he couldn't see.
"Who's there?" He scowled, not expecting an answer.
He heard a soft sigh and a sniff, and an Illusion dropped "You know, I thought you'd want to catch up with all of your friends." Ed smiled, wiping his face.
Hunter gasped and guilt started crashing down on him like a tidal wave. "I- I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. Guess that didn't work out."
"Yeah. It didn't." Ed growled.
"Look I'm sorry-"
"I don't care. I just don't. Luz told me what you did for her and I'm thankful but… I don't want to talk about this right now."
Hunter understood why. He had hurt a lot of people, Ed included. He couldn't expect them to immediately reconcile. "Okay. I'm here if you're ready."
"Sure." Ed mumbled, walking away.
Hunter wanted to chase after the boy but he knew it wouldn't do much. If Ed wasn't ready, it wouldn't be worth making everything worse. And he never wanted that.
----
Ed sat on the roof, feeling the wind in his hair. He kept wiping tears off of his face and looking back down at where Hunter was. He hated the way he was acting. Sure it was justified and everybody accepted it as a perfectly normal response, but it was just… wrong. He just felt wrong. He looked back at the wall of pictures he and Em had put up, and picked the picture of him and Drew. He had finally managed to put how he felt into words, and sent a letter to them, just as a friend. They did the same and sent a letter back. And that was when he found out that the golden guard had approached them. He had actually screamed and broken a wall, much to his mother's alarm. It would have been fine if Hunter had just flat out told him when they first met. It would've taken most of the pain away, but no. He had to hide everything and break Ed's heart. And now here they were. Trying to avoid each other. Maybe it was right for them to talk. Maybe it would end up alright and they would end up together. Ed wanted that. He wanted to be with the other witch but… he just couldn't ignore the feeling that Hunter had lied before and would probably do it again.
----
Hunter walked outside of his classroom, playing his new melody over and over in his head, making sure that he didn't forget it. He didn't know where to go anymore, so he figured he would just walk aimlessly. He did hate it, but it was better than disturbing everyone. He looked ahead and saw someone walking right towards him. Edric. Hunter turned in the opposite direction and started running. He wasn't fast enough as Ed managed to grab his arm and stop him.
"Hunter, I'm ready to talk."
Hunter turned around to face Edric, hope in his eyes. "Okay. Where… where do you want to go?"
"Here's fine. Okay. After the concert, we kind of… how can I put this?"
"We kissed." Hunter said.
"Yes. Yes we did. And I don't know about you but I liked it. And then everything else happened. At the time I was in shock and I was very upset and so I was probably very irrational but now I'm slightly calmer so we can have a proper conversation. Okay, did you get close to us, us as in the friendship group, to get closer to Luz."
Hunter took a breath in, time for the dreaded truth.
"I did. But she already knew so I thought it would be okay."
"Did you plan the event at the sleepover?"
"No. I don't entirely know how it happened."
"Were you going to tell me you were the golden guard? Or about Drew? Or the stupid mission?" Ed was losing it slightly. Tears forming.
"I- I couldn't."
"You couldn't? You couldn't just tell us? We wouldn't have cared! I wouldn't have cared!"
"Ed I didn't mean to-"
"Did you actually like me?" Ed screamed, causing people to stare at them.
"Yes. I do." Hunter admitted, tears welling in his eyes, "But you don't believe me, do you?"
Ed had started crying. It was clear he was becoming uncomfortable. "It's not that I don't believe you, I just don't know if I can trust you."
Hunter wiped the tears from his face, trying to subdue the feeling of the tidal wave again. "I know. I get it. Do you want to like… schedule spaces at break so we don't see each other or?"
"I don't want that. As much as I don't trust you, I li- I love you more."
"Oh." Hunter started smiling slightly. Maybe it could work out after all. "Do you maybe want to… go on a date? With me?" He asked, his voice small and shaky.
"I do but… I don't think I'm ready for that stage yet. Not right now."
They both started crying, broken hearted.
"I understand. I guess I'll see you around." Hunter breathed, trying and failing to remain calm and composed.
"Yeah. I'll see you around."
"Okay." Hunter started walking to his lesson, wrapping his hands around himself and starting to sob.
----
He walked into the Detention room and joined his friends, ignoring all of their panicked glances. It was his fault really. If he hadn't utterly betrayed them they wouldn't hate him. That was why. They still detested him. They just lied to Luz to make her feel better. Or she lied to him about it. Either way they pitied him. They probably just wanted him to go away without hurting his feelings. It wasn't like he deserved it or anything because he hurt their feelings- karma was like that.
"Hunter? Hunter, are you okay?" Luz asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
She didn't care.
"I'm fine. Just thinking. Did you need anything?"
"Oh we just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out with us tonight. Eda said she was going on a mission and we thought you might want to come." Luz responded.
They only wanted him there out of pity.
"I'm good, thanks. I have a project I have to work on."
"Oh. Okay."
They went back to their conversation, discussing what the would be doing that night.
In truth, he didn't want to bother them. They were still close and he was still the outsider. He just hoped it would get better.