Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hunter was quite pleased with himself. 

Scratch that. He more than just pleased. 

He was over the moon. 

Delirious. 

ECSTATIC.

He’d done it. He’d actually done it.

The soft chirping voice in his mindscape was thrilled for him, the fluttery palisman soul much more active and talkative than usual. 

Camila was thrilled too. Darius was a bit more reserved, but happily congratulated him nonetheless. 

But when Hunter excitedly found Luz to tell her about his latest accomplishment as the world’s most normal, average, everyday teenager, she was…much less impressed than he thought she’d be. 

“What do you MEAN you asked Willow out over Penstagram?!” she howled, grabbing him by the shoulders and lightly shaking him like a rag doll. “You didn’t do it in person?! Romantically?! With flowers or something?! Hunter, what is WRONG with you?!”

“How…Luz, stop shaking me please…thanks. How exactly was I supposed to do it in person?” he asked, like she had just proposed casually free climbing to the summit of the Knee in sandals, shorts, and a t-shirt. “I can barely get out three words to her.”

He gave her a smug grin and tapped his temple. 

“…but I can manage at least SIX over text!”

“Wanna. Go. Out. That would have been three words!” Luz said with a low growl, reaching up to grab his shoulders again. “And I don’t wanna bring this up, but I HAVE to. If you can’t talk to Willow like a normal person irl, how exactly are you planning to go on a date with her?”

Hunter’s eyes narrowed. 

“I…figured I would cross that bridge when I got to it.” 

Luz groaned, lightly head-butting her brother in the chest.

“You’re gonna kill me. You’re gonna kill your little sister. NOW who’s the one who doesn’t think things through?!”

Hunter rolled his eyes, and patted her head. “I’ll…think of something. But for now, can you just be happy for me? I have a whole week to figure it out. And in the meantime…do the words 'tunnel of love' maybe RING ANY BELLS? GLASS HOUSES, LUZ.” 

Luz flushed red, sighed, and pulled away to cross her arms with a pout. 

“Yeah. Okay. You got me. You know what? Yeah. You got me good. Who am I kidding, this is great news.” 

She lifted her head to give him a small smile.

“Good job. And good luck.” 

Her smile melted into a more…skeptical expression. 

“…you’re gonna need it.”

Chapter Text

Luz’s warning haunted Hunter. 

With every square on the calendar that got crossed out with a large red X, he grew more and more alarmed. 

Sunday the 11th stared him in the face. Taunting him with those romantic doodles decorating a scribble that said “Date with Willow.” 

Damn those cute little hearts! 

(It didn’t matter that he was the one who had drawn them in a fit of intense joy).

“Maybe…maybe Luz is right,” he fretted on Tuesday. “I was so focused on asking Willow out, I failed to consider that I will need to actually…talk to her?! On the actual date?!”

He briefly wondered if she would be cool with communicating with their scrolls while they had dinner. 

He immediately rejected that thought as being completely stupid. 

And he needed to come up with an idea that would be markedly less stupid. 

…which is why he was currently in the Noceda basement, talking to a mop.

It was wearing a pretty green dress, with its fibers twisted into a familiar set of twin braids. 

…and it was also wearing an old pair of Camila’s glasses and a flower crown.

“Oh, Titan. You look ravishing tonight, Willow,” Hunter said in a low voice, grabbing the mop and twirling it smoothly. “You are even more gorgeous than the time you picked up that huge potted plant without even trying.” 

The mop was silent, yet it seemed to appreciate the compliment.  

“It must have weighed at least seventy-five pounds. And you hauled it across the Hexside greenhouse like it was NOTHING,” he purred, leaning in to gaze into the mop’s…pretty…eyes? 

He smoothly dipped his “date,” lowering his eyebrows as he dialed up the charm.

“I’ve had the most insane crush on you for months,” he moaned. “It’s driven me crazy. And finally being here…with you…alone…together…oh, Willow…may I please kiss you?!”

The mop gasped a breathless “Yes, yes, yes!”  

Hunter pursed his lips. 

He slowly leaned in. 

And he very fortunately stopped himself at the last second. 

“Oh. That would be kinda gross,” he muttered softly, still holding the mop in a passionate embrace. 

He sighed and let it go. 

It fell to the floor with an earth-shatteringly loud clatter. 

“I don’t think this is something I can exactly…train for,” Hunter finally accepted. “And I think I’m kinda screwed.” 

Chapter Text

Hunter sat at a table in a busy restaurant. 

He fussed with the vase of flowers at the empty spot across from him, nervously sprucing it up for its intended recipient. 

The place was so crowded.

And hot. 

Why was it so hot?!

…and then she walked in. 

She was so cool. She was so pretty. 

How was it even possible for anyone to be that cool and pretty? 

Oh, she was like a dream. 

He actually groaned, and had to support his chin on his hands to prevent himself from falling to the table in a swooning fit. 

“Hey, Hunter,” Willow said, formal and smooth as she reached his table. 

“Hi,” he said, his eyes wide and hopeful and so full of devotion. 

“How are you this evening?” she asked, hovering next to his seat. 

“Fine-I will, I mean…I’m ok-fine. I’m fine!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Ohhhkkaaayyy.” 

“So how are you-did you have a nice-is it-WEATHER! THE WEATHER IS GREAT! HAHAHA! Titan, is it hot in here? Why is it so hot in here?” Hunter babbled, grabbing his napkin to anxiously scrunch it in his sweaty hands. 

Willow sighed. “May I sit down?” 

“YES, PLEASE. Go ahead, of course you can down sit there! Sit down! Sorry, I should have said sit down! I’m-“

“Okay. You know what?” 

Willow leaned towards him, placing her palm on the table as she stared into his eyes…

And then she reached for the vase of flowers that Hunter had so painstakingly picked out for her and slowly upended it over his head, water and all. 

As he stared at her in shock, she leaned in even closer to glare in his face. 

“I don’t have time to waste on someone so…useless,” she said, her voice lowering into an admonishing snarl. “You can’t even talk to me like a normal person. Is this the reason you never have anything to say to me? Is this the riveting conversation I’ve been missing out on? Pitiful.”

She rolled her eyes. 

“Dealing with you is awkward and…painful. Is this the thanks I get for giving you a chance? I grace you with my presence and my reward is an evening of insufferable babbling. What a shame. You should have just stayed quiet. I liked you better that way.” 

Hunter looked up at her with wide eyes and lowered ears, completely devastated. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

Willow turned to walk out on him, her shiny hair floating on her shoulders as she shot him one last cold, disparaging glare.

“I know you can do better, Hunter,” she said softly. 

He shuddered violently, sobbed, and grabbed his chest, like he’d been stabbed in the heart. 

And in the same breath, he jerked awake. 

His face was soaked, and not with vase water. 

He gazed at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the basement ceiling, his eyes blurry with tears and his chest so tight with fear and hurt. 

The clock on his nightstand clicked to midnight…

Chapter Text

12:00 AM 

Hunter wiped at his face, attempting to dry himself off. 

“Willow would never say that,” he told himself over and over as he rubbed at his eyes. “It was just a bad dream. She’d never say that.” 

After the sobs slowly subsided, he leaned over to turn on a lamp. 

He shoved aside a clock, and picked up one of the books that sat on his nightstand. 

Palisman Carving for Beginners it said on its handsomely worn brown cover. 

It was a gift from Eda. 

“Don’t make a big stinkin’ deal over this,” she’d said as she handed it to him. “But this is the same book my pops gave me when I was just learning to carve.”

He grabbed a pen and his favorite notebook, put on his reading glasses, and cracked the book open to chapter eight.

He started taking notes. 

Fifteen minutes later he was slowly falling asleep, his note-taking equipment still scattered across his lap as he leaned on the huge stuffed cardinal that Camila Luz and Vee had gotten for him.

As he snuggled up to the the plushie he watched birds of all sizes and shapes and colors fly through his imagination in a dizzy dance.

He finally fell into a deep, comforting sleep. 

Chapter Text

“LUZ!” Hunter yowled, bowling into her as she tried to wrap a set of string lights around a tree branch in the Noceda garden. 

“You’ve gotta stop doing that,” she said dryly. “But while you’re here, can you help me with this?” 

“No. I mean, yes, if course I’ll help. But first…I need help too. I just had a horrible realization. What if…what if Willow wants me to…”

He couldn’t even finish the horrifically terrifying thought. 

“What if she wants you to what?” Luz asked patiently. “Talk to her?” 

“NO. Well, yeah, that’s still a problem. But I just realized I’ve got an even bigger one!”

“What?” 

“What if she wants me to…kiss her,” Hunter mumbled, staring at the frosty ground to hide his bright red face. 

“Uhh…if you want to kiss her too, then just…kiss her. Easy peasy.” 

“But…”

“Hunter. Trust me. You don’t need to overthink it,” Luz said, shooting him a small nostalgic smile. “Your first kiss is gonna be WAY better if you go with the flow. If it just kinda…happens. You’ll know when the time is right.”

“But…”

“Here, tall boy. Take the other end of the wire and drape it over there.” 

He dutifully helped, his extra height making short work of the lights. 

The worked silently for a few minutes. 

“Oh. Actually, I do have one piece of advice,” Luz said as she unwrapped another string. 

“What?”

“Make sure to tilt your head. You don’t wanna poke her eye out.”

Hunter’s face flushed scarlet and he grabbed an extension chord, refusing to dignify a cackling Luz with a reaction.

Chapter Text

Hunter stood in front of the bathroom mirror. 

He silently traced the large scar on his cheek, the indented skin rough against his fingertips.

“Should I…try to cover this up for tomorrow?” he wondered, frowning at the tired look in his eyes. “And my eye bags are awful…I look like a mess, don’t I?” 

A ghostly apparition in the mirror made him clench the side of the sink with shaky hands. 

“Oh, no. Not again,” he whispered. 

An hour later Hunter was back in front of the mirror, holding a brown paper bag.

He pulled a bottle out of the bag and held it up to his cheek.

“Yeah…that should work. I think?” 

He briefly considered texting Darius, or running downstairs to frantically consult Camila, or…augh, why did Gus have to go on a skiing trip this week?!

He grimaced and pulled out his scroll. 

No. There was another option. 

“Heeeyyyyy Blondie. What’s going on?” 

Hunter sighed. 

“Hi, Eda.” 

“Well, don’t you look nervous. Luz already filled me in on your latest romantic exploits,” she said, leaning her cheek on her hand as she carelessly lounged on the Owl House’s couch. 

She shot him a finger gun and winked. “Nice work!” 

“Thanks. But…er. I have a question. You…wear makeup all the time, right?” 

“Nah. I was born with black lash lines and dark red lips,” Eda scoffed, posing with her hand under her chin. “I am naturally gorgeous.” 

Hunter sighed again. 

“Naaahhh. That last part is true, but yeah. I definitely like my eyeliner and lipstick. Why do you ask?”

“I…uh. Kinda want to cover up…”

He gestured at his cheek and held up the bottle of foundation. 

“And uhh…would this work? And how do I put it…on?”

He glanced back at Eda hesitantly, like a kid who had been caught playing dress-up with their parent’s clothes. 

“Now why in the world would you want to cover that up?” she asked, her eyes widening in disbelief. 

“I dunno. I just…I looked in the mirror earlier today, and I have my first date ever tomorrow and my…scars usually don’t bother me, but…I…just…”

He trailed off.

“Bleh. Okay, it’s time to be emotional for a minute,” Eda grumbled. “Listen to me, Blondie. Those scars might be a tough reminder of the things you’ve been through. But they are also a reminder that you survived those things.” 

She held up her metal arm and tapped it with her long nails. 

“They are a reminder that you fought hard, and beat the odds. That there were people who helped you. People who love you.” 

Hunter looked away, unsure how to respond. 

Eda smiled. 

“I can totally help you put together a killer makeup look for your date. But…are you sure you wanna cover up those super cool scars?” 

Hunter thought for a moment, then silently shook his head. 

“That’s what I thought. Proud of you, kid.” 

After a few more pieces of date advice and outfit suggestions, they ended the call. 

Hunter looked at himself in the mirror again. 

And he saw that sad, tired blonde man again. The one who looked almost exactly like him. 

“My scars are a big part of what make me…me,” Hunter said to himself firmly, gripping the sink, staring the man in the face. “They make me unique. They make me my own person. Separate from…you.” 

He looked back in the mirror. 

This time, he only saw himself and his badass scars. 

“…I think I need a haircut, though,” he muttered.

Meanwhile, across town in the vet clinic staff room, Luz was plotting with Vee.

“We’ve gotta follow them. To run interference if Hunter needs help,” Luz said firmly as she scribbled in her sketchbook. “He can barely talk to Willow. What if he has one of those famous Hunter meltdowns right in the middle of the restaurant?” 

Vee winced, putting down the hexes hold‘em card she was about to eat. 

“Are you…uhh. Sure that’s a good idea?” 

“Duh! We need to be there for him! He can barely get out three words at a time to her! I know because I’ve counted!” 

Vee sighed. 

“Alright. I’ll go. But to be honest, I’m only tagging along to keep you in line.” 

“That’s totally fair.” 

They shook hands, deadly serious. 

Chapter Text

Oh, Titan. 

It was time. 

Hunter woke up, glanced at the calendar on the wall, and barely staved off a panic attack. 

Every hour that passed made him panic more and more. 

When it was time to start getting ready, Luz had needed to wrestle Hunter’s scroll out of his hands to prevent him from cancelling. 

“Oh, no. You’re not backing out now,” she growled, attempting to shove a struggling Hunter into the bathroom. 

But he was way slipperier and stronger than she anticipated because oh, right, he used to be the freaking Golden Guard… 

“Mom! He’s trying to make a run for it!” Luz howled as Hunter parkoured down the stairs to flee for his life. 

“HUNTER NOCEDA. YOU WILL GET IN THAT SHOWER RIGHT NOW,” Camila barked from the kitchen table. “AND YOU WILL GO ON A NICE DATE WITH WILLOW. AND YOU WILL HAVE THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” 

Hunter had already bolted back upstairs and locked himself in the bathroom. 

“Dang. I wonder when I’ll get my mom voice,” Luz muttered, heading into the kitchen to search for a snack.

“Around when your children start talking back to you,” Camila said with a wink, turning back to her tablet as she continued working on some clinic paperwork.  

Luz blew some bubbles in her chocolate oat milk and nodded thoughtfully. 

A half an hour later, Hunter shakily entered the kitchen. 

“Is this okay?” he mumbled, pulling at his sweater. “Eda helped me pick out an outfit yesterday.”

“Aww. You’re turning into one of her owlets, just like me and King,” Luz cooed. “You look great! I woulda never pictured you in a turtleneck, but I guess owl momma knows what she’s doing.” 

“Perfect. I agree with owl momma. All black is very stylish. Now promise me you won’t try to run again,” Camila said, leaning her elbow on the table as she stared at Hunter proudly. 

“…promise,” he muttered. 

“Listen to human momma. She also knows what she’s talking about,” Luz stage-whispered. 

“Now shoo. Have a good time,” Camila said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. 

The front door clicked shut behind him. 

“I…uhh. I need to go find Vee! We’re gonna…go to the movies!” Luz said quickly, jumping up and leaving her empty glass in the sink before tearing out of the room. “Bye mom, love you mom!” 

Camila narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Hello. Reservation for Hunter Noceda?” 

“Right this way!” 

A terrified Hunter was led to a table near the back of a busy restaurant by a bubbly waiter.  

The young man took one look at the teenager’s stricken face and given him a knowing smile. 

“I’ll bring you bread and water while you wait,” he said, kindly. “Two waters…right?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“First date?” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“…ever?”

“Uh-huh."

The waiter laughed, and winked. 

“Congratulations. You’ll be fine,” he said softly before leaving to take care of another table. 

The water and bread had just been dropped off when the voice that Hunter had been absolutely dreading to hear rang across the restaurant. 

“HEYA, HUNTER!” Willow yelled eagerly with a big wave. "I'M HERE!"

The conversation in the restaurant lulled.

A few diners turned and glanced at the short girl who was barreling towards that sickly looking blond kid in the back. 

There were shrugs. Knowing smirks. A soft chuckle or two.

Willow came skidding to a stop at Hunter's table with a loud huff. "Hi! Hello!"

Hunter's eyes shot to the vase of flowers in the center of the table and he started sweating. 

“I’m so sorry! It took me a little longer to get here than I thought it would!” Willow said quickly, hanging her coat and bag on the back of her chair. “Have you been waiting long?” 

“…no. It’s okay.” 

“Phew! I didn’t want you to think I was cancelling on you or something!”

Hunter grimaced with guilt. 

Willow settled in, and shot him a bright smile from across the table. 

“Oh…ahh. Can I…move the flowers? They’re kinda in the way,” she asked. 

“Sure,” Hunter squeaked.

He watched her grab the vase. 

He winced. 

She smoothly slid it to the side and let it go with a grin. 

“There! Now I can actually see your adorable mug.” 

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. 

But what she’d just said suddenly hit him like a sack of bricks. 

He tried to stop the blush. 

He failed to stop the blush. 

“So…um. Did you have a good week off from school?” Willow asked. “Did you do anything fun? Was it nice and relaxing?”

“Yeah. Umm.” 

“RELAXING! HA! AHAHAHA!” 

“Are you okay?” Willow asked. 

Hunter's eyes, completely by chance, landed on his scroll, which was innocently sitting on the table face down. 

“I have no choice…I have absolutely NO OTHER CHOICE.”

He frantically grabbed it and started typing. 


  Sorry


  I'm feeling really



  shy

Willow’s scroll buzzed. 

She checked it and her eyes softened. 

She typed for a while while Hunter stared at her, his blood-pressure skyrocketing into the stratosphere. 


  It's ok!


  I'm really nervous too!



  But I'm already having a good time and I'm just


  Happy to be here with you!


Hunter looked up from his scroll, hopeful yet still very cautious. 

Willow gave him a small smile. 

Oh. 

It was a nervous smile. 

Wait.

She wasn’t lying to spare his ego? She was nervous too? 

Hunter blinked, and shyly smiled back. 

Willow giggled softly, looking away from him for a second. 

Hunter’s smile grew wider. 

“You…you’re…” he tried. 

He looked down at the tablecloth. 

“You look really nice,” Willow blurted.

Hunter’s eyes shot back to her.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“…you look nice,” he murmured, playing with the fancy cloth napkin on the table.

He heard Willow inhale sharply.

“…really?” 

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

“You always do,” he managed to say, as if it was the most obvious statement ever uttered by a sentient being in either universe.

“Aww…oh, Hunter.”

He looked up. 

Willow was staring at him, her face lit in the glow of their table’s candle, with a wide, smitten smile. 

“You are so STINKING adorable. And sweet,” she said softly. 

His stomach flipped. 

Across the room, Hunter’s two siblings watched his every move from their hiding spot behind an open menu. 

...and they were in very poor disguises, which included sunglasses and oversized hats. 

Luz lowered her sunglasses. 

“Okay. he's smiling,” she whispered to Vee. “Oh. She’s laughing. Good sign.” 

A small cough from the booth next to theirs caught her attention. 

“Luz…Vee…” a familiar voice murmured. 

Their heads slowly rose over the side of their booth, in unison. 

Camila was sitting in the booth beside theirs, staring back at them with her hands clasped. 

“Mom. I. Oh.” Luz said, her face slowly dropping back below the side of the booth until only her sheepish eyes were showing.

“You two are spying on Hunter?” Camila asked wryly. “On his first date, no less?” 

“Just to make sure he doesn’t freak out!” Vee said, resting her cheek on the side of the booth. “As moral support!”

Camila gave them both a dry look. 

“Well. Alright.” 

She got up and motioned to her two sneaky kids. 

“Let’s ask for a table around the corner. Out of sight. We can have our own nice family dinner together.”

She glanced back at Hunter and Willow’s table. 

Willow was giggling at a bright red Hunter, who was staring at her like she was the only person in the restaurant. 

Camila smiled as she remembered another nervous boy who had taken out an equally nervous girl to this restaurant so many years ago. 

“I think your brother is doing fine, and would appreciate some privacy.” 

Willow asked Hunter a few more easy questions, attempting to get a simple conversation going. 

He alternated between quick verbal answers, and texting with his scroll. 

“He doesn’t have this problem with anyone else,” she thought with a frown, remembering all the times she watched him infodump to anyone who would listen. “He’s usually such a freaking chatterbox.”

Their waiter interrupted her thoughts to take their orders. 

She ordered some delicious sounding pasta. 

And then she watched as Hunter easily ordered himself some pasta too, even smoothly grabbing their menus and flipping them in the air to present them neatly for the waiter to collect. 

Then he turned back to her, and his face froze in an awkward smile. 

Willow’s heart broke a little. 

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” she asked softly.

Hunter’s eyes widened. 

“What?! No!”

“It’s just…you’re always so chatty with everyone. Even strangers. And I dunno…I don’t mean to make you so shy and nervous! But if there’s something I can do to make you feel more comfortable around me, I’m-“

He held up a finger to stop her and grabbed his scroll.

He frantically started typing. 


  It's because you're too amazing


  It's because you're the most intimidatingly awesome person I've ever met


  It's ok


  I can handle it


Willow deliberated for a moment. 

“There’s…something my dads did for me when I was little. Whenever I was nervous to go to school.” she said.  

She reached up, and started untying the red ribbons she’d used to secure her braids. 

As Hunter watched wide-eyed, she quickly fluffed out her hair into dark waves. 

She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. 

As she slowly took it, Hunter briefly panicked.

His hand was WAY too sweaty for anyone to be holding it, let alone Willow. 

But she wasn’t holding it.

She was tying something around his wrist? 

She pulled away and said a soft “There!”

Hunter glanced at her, completely shocked. 

She had given him one of her ribbons. 

“There. Now we can be anxious buddies!” she said with a smile, showing off her own ribbon bracelet. “Every time you look at it, remember that I’m just as nervous as you, and we can get through this scary stuff. Together!” 

She smiled sheepishly. 

“That’s yours to keep. Err. If you want to keep it, I mean!”

“I want it,” Hunter said quickly, grabbing his wrist like the ribbon was a priceless artifact.
 
Willow smiled even harder. 

And Hunter suddenly realized that every single thing he had said or done that night had caused her to smile or giggle. 

She hadn’t judged him for being tongue-tied. 

She wasn’t weirded out. 

Because she was just as nervous as him. 

And because…

Maybe, just maybe…

He had been doing everything right all along, and he had already gotten her to like him without even trying? 

“She…likes me?” 

Hunter’s eyes widened. 

“She likes me.” 

For the first time that evening, he confidently smiled back at her, brightly and so very excited. 

“She likes me!!!” 

“Of course I like you. Why do you think I said yes when you asked me out?” She said with a delighted laugh. 

And a completely mortified Hunter realized he had said that last sentence OUT LOUD. 

“Kill me now,” he mumbled, slowly letting his face drift down to the tablecloth. 

But before his forehead could smack against the table, Willow reached out to gently grab his hand with her calloused fingers. 

He inhaled sharply. 

Her hand was so much…smaller than his. 

“Of course I like you,” she said again, softer. “I…really like you.”

She squeezed.

He gulped. 

They locked eyes.

Hunter let go, grabbed his scroll again, and carefully typed another message, his face glowing red.


  I more than like you


  I've had a massive crush on you for months


  All I want to do is kiss you and it's really distracting


  I really like you too.


Willow actually sighed. 

 Hunter’s face felt like it was going to combust into flame and burn him alive. 

“Hey…wanna see a sick flyer derby stunt I found this morning?” Willow blurted. 

She held out her scroll so they could both see the screen, and played a short video for him on mute. 

They both watched, enraptured, as a professional team absolutely demolished their competition with a complicated fake-out maneuver that involved defensive vines, a decoy flyer who used their speed to distract the other team, and a third player who cockily dropped off a flag while everyone was distracted. 

“Isn’t it cool?! I thought that trick might complement our style of play!” Willow said brightly. “That plant move looks a bit tricky, but I think I could nail it with some practice. And Gus would be a perfect decoy since he’s so fast and flashy. And you’re obviously the best offensive player ever…”

Hunter’s eyes were now shining as he silently motioned for Willow’s scroll so he could watch the play over and over to memorize it. 

He was so focused, he’s didn’t even notice that Willow was watching him with wide eyes and a small shy smile.  

They were interrupted by the arrival of their food. 

The rest of the dinner was a blur. 

After a lot of encouragement from Willow, Hunter cautiously tried his pasta, which turned out to be one of the tastiest things he’d ever eaten in his life. 

They both easily finished their plates, and even joined forces to destroy dessert. 

And they were now outside, sitting on a bench, looking up at the few stars they could see through the downtown lights and gathering clouds. 

Hunter glanced at Willow. 

She was looking up, her smile calm and peaceful, her gorgeous eyes staring into the sky. 

She turned to glance at him.

The smile slowly slid off her face.

She swallowed. 

And Hunter suddenly registered just how…close she was. 

“You’ll know when the time is right…” 

He leaned in hesitantly, his eyes wide. 

To his shock, Willow leaned in too. 

She locked eyes with him, nodded, and closed her eyes. 

Hunter’s heart was pounding. 

The red ribbon on his wrist shifted against his skin, and he found just enough courage to lean in more. 

He closed his eyes. 

Somehow his lips met hers, gentle and soft. 

And with his lips, Hunter attempted to say everything he hadn’t been able to all evening. 

(And oh Titan, he told her how badly he’d wanted to do this).

If he had the opportunity to write her a novel, he would not have been able to get across everything he managed to in that thirteen second kiss.

He finally pulled away with a gasp, sucking in a big lungful of air. 

“Forgot to breathe!” he wheezed. 

“I did too,” Willow coughed, reaching out to grab his shoulder for support. 

They caught each other’s eyes and burst out laughing. 

They ended up in a hug, still laughing, their noses pressed against each other’s necks. 

“You made me dizzy,” Willow breathed, just loud enough for Hunter to hear.

His fingers dug into her coat. 

And he whispered something to her, his voice shaky but his conviction rock solid.

“…oh. Woah,” she said. “Um…really?” 

His bright red face nodded against her neck. 

She let out a nervous huff. 
 
“I’ve been trying to play it cool…but…” 

She trailed off and hid her face against his shoulder. 

“…same.”

After a few seconds of intense silence, he quietly asked her a question. 

“Duh, Hunter,” Willow whispered shakily. “Yes.” 

They kissed again. 

It started to snow. 

~Fin~