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All of them were tired.
A week and a half had passed since the kids had fled the Boiling Isles and subsequently become trapped in the human realm. A week and a half of despair and frustration, sprinkled with periods of trying to distract from the misery. An endless cycle of tirelessly working to figure out a way back, and then trying as hard as they could to live normally.
But they couldn’t live normally. There was no more “normal”. After the Day of Unity, nothing would ever be “normal'' again.
That didn’t stop them from trying, though.
“Okay,” Luz sighed, re-capping her marker and setting it down on a nearby table. “I think that’s enough portal business for today.”
The old house was looking pretty spiffy since they had made it their clubhouse-slash-base, but that didn’t hide the fact that it was an old ass house, meaning wild animals had settled in the rotting walls long before they’d even arrived. The gaping possum-shaped hole in the portal door diagram was more than enough of a cue for them to call it a day.
“Yeah,” Willow agreed. “We’ll just… fix it tomorrow.”
Normally, Luz wouldn’t have stopped working on the plans at this point, but the rest of them could tell how exhausted and drained she was; the inconvenience was just the sealing spell in the bury box. Besides that, she still had a ton of house chores to do, most of which she’d been putting off since the first week. Everyone else was helping, too, but they were still guests. Needless to say, she was always busy with something.
Hunter was not busy—and it was killing him.
“Yeah,” Luz said, gazing at the hole. “Tomorrow.”
Three of the kids took off back to the Noceda house, presumably to distract themself with chores or entertainment, but the remaining two seemed unready to leave.
Before either of them knew it, the room was empty except for Hunter and Amity.
Hunter stood staring at the ripped portal diagram, while Amity gazed at her drawing of her family. The two remained in complete silence for what felt like an hour. Hunter side-glanced over at Amity for a split second; the unsettling stillness in the air around them bled into Hunter’s mind, invoking the realization that, wow, they had not been alone with each other since the Eclipse Lake incident. Holy Titan.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that they’ve both been subtly avoiding each other on purpose since they got there. They were fine in groups, but one-on-one? He didn’t want to go there. She evidently didn’t want to go there. But, they were bound to wind up talking eventually. Might as well get it over with.
Crap, it’s been a while. He should say something.
“So,” Hunter regretted speaking as soon as he opened his mouth, “how—how are you, um, doing?” He cringed at his stutter and choice of words. He was definitely not one for small talk—and neither was Amity.
She paused, then closed her eyes. “Do you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to partake in your ‘small talk’?” Heaping hellfire, it’s like she read his mind. Amity Blight was nothing if not blunt and to the point.
Hunter stewed in the waves of frustration coming off of her. Something about it felt chillingly familiar. Oh no, he realized. A thought rushed to the front of his mind: She’s still mad at me, isn’t she?
With that very idea came a cascade of guilt and anxiety swirling in Hunter’s chest. Of course she’s still mad at you! Not even two months ago you literally fought her and threatened to hurt her girlfriend and now you’re both living under said girlfriends’ roof! And now you’re just supposed to be friends because, what, you switched sides and are all buddy-buddy with everyone else? What is wrong with you? Why are you even here?
Apologize already!
“I’m sorry,” Hunter blurted out a little too loud, still refusing to look at Amity. “For everything. More specifically, for being an evil jerk and fighting you for the key and—and threatening Luz and putting her in danger and generally just being the worst —”
“Hunter!” she interrupted him. He finally turned to see her look of… maybe concern or surprise? He had never been good at reading expressions. Her features relaxed slightly. “It’s fine. It was forever ago. I forgive you.”
“You shouldn’t,” He immediately spouted. “And I completely understand if you don’t. You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I’m not,” She said empathetically, trying to look him in the eye. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” Her agitation had totally dissipated now, which just confused Hunter even more. She started again, “You…”
…I… what ?
Amity paused to gather her words, visibly struggling to verbalize whatever it is she was going to try to say. With a sigh, she finally settled on, “Luz was always right about you, you know.”
Hunter furrowed his dark brows. The heck was that supposed to mean? "What do you mean?” he asked her.
“I mean that, as soon as she actually met you—the real you—there was no doubt in her mind that you would end up doing the right thing,” she explained. “She believed in you from the beginning. She believed in all of us.”
“She did?” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Amity said fondly. “And even after I told her what happened at…uh…” Eclipse Lake. “... Y’know. She still couldn’t bring herself to be mad at you.”
The filing system in Hunter's brain desperately tried to sort this new information into its pre-existing database. It was failing miserably.
Amity casually sat down on one of the beanbags. She began to ramble and gesture emphatically with her hands: “I mean, of course she was still worried about me because we literally battled it out and you took the key and we all almost got caught by Kikimora and her goons, but…" her hands flopped into her lap. “...neither of us could hate you.” Her golden eyes flickered up. “Especially when I saw so much of myself in you.”
Hunter’s eyes widened. Something finally clicked in his brain, but the right words for it failed to piece themselves together.
“But I won’t pretend that I understand exactly what you went through,” she quickly added. “Because I don’t. And you deserve better.”
No, I don’t, a part of him thought, throat tightening at the notion. He traced the outline of the hole in the wallpaper with a delicate finger. “My whole life tastes bitter now,” he mumbled. “And I can’t fix it. No matter how much I want to.”
“Hunter." Amity's brows furrowed tight. “It wasn’t your fault. You were being used. You didn’t have a choice. You know that, right?”
Hunter sighed and leant his back against the wall next to the hole. “It’s just…” he started, crossing his arms. “All of you have been good and clean and kind and I’ve made so many mistakes.” He clutched his forearm, jaw tight and shoulders tense. “So why should I get to be here? Why should I get the happy ending, huh?”
He slumped down the wall and buried his face in his knees. “I don’t deserve to be here.”
Amity got up from the beanbag and plopped down beside him. She glanced at his sulking form once more, hesitating, before saying, “I’ve… made a lot of mistakes. I wasn’t very kind for most of my life. I’m far from what you would consider ‘perfect’. Heck, I almost killed Luz the first day I met her!” Amity spread her arms out comically, which almost made Hunter smile. “But my mistakes aren’t all that I am.” She turned to him. “And you definitely aren’t yours either. People don’t need to be perfect all the time to be deserving of love. You’re a person, after all.”
Hunter slightly winced at that last statement, but otherwise, the tension in his chest and throat melted away. He relaxed his legs a bit. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
Amity stood up. “Because you’re one of us now, silly,” she said playfully. “That stuff is in the past. And, as cheesy as it sounds, what matters now is that we’re all together, yeah?”
“...Yeah,” he whispered. A soft grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “So… does this mean we’re friends?”
She chuckled. “Yes, Hunter. We’re friends.”
Friends…
The two of them gathered their palismen and headed out the old, creaking door.
“Wait,” Hunter stopped Amity at the stairs. “Did you really almost kill Luz when you first met?”
She laughed. “Now, that is a story that she’ll have to tell you.”