Chapter Text
*RING RING RING*
Hunter and Gus were startled awake by the annoying ringing of their alarm clock. Hunter fumbled like a fish out of water to turn it off. The older boy then sat up, struggling to keep his eyes open, while Gus begged for five more minutes. They were a bit more groggy than usual because they had stayed up quite late, as Gus had found a movie that they decided to watch together. After getting dressed, the two boys went upstairs to the kitchen to make themselves breakfast. They found some cereal and began pouring it into their bowls. Gus poured milk into his while Hunter decided to keep his cereal dry. The older boy took a bite of it, still trying to wake up for the day. For a short while, the boys stayed quiet and ate their breakfast, but eventually, Gus decided to speak up, “Dude, that movie we saw last night was so good!”
“It was fun,” Hunter admitted with a small smile. “The fight scenes were really intense, and the story was engaging.”
“I know, right?" Gus agreed, beaming with stars in his obsidian eyes. "Zombies are such an interesting concept. Like, they’re corpses that have been revived, and they try to kill people to join them, I guess? That’s so cool!”
Hunter froze.
'Corpses that have been revived.'
Those words rang in his head like a thousand bells. It reminded him that he was a grimwalker. A clone of a person, one that has been dead for centuries. Was he the revival of a corpse?
Was he… a zombie ?
Zombies were monsters . They hurt people. Was he a monster, too? That made him feel horrible, and his good mood was now ruined. He slumped down, frowning as his eyelids hung low.
Gus noticed that Hunter looked a little sad. “Hey, are you okay? You look upset all of a sudden.” The younger boy asked.
Hunter began sweating. There was no way he could tell Gus what was really wrong, as it would give away his grimwalker identity, so he scrambled to think of a lie. Luckily for him, Camila came downstairs to the dining room table. She put her purse on the table and began rummaging through it. “Good morning, mijos." She greeted, "I have to work a six-hour shift today. I should be back by the time Luz gets out of school, so I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to answer the phone, but I’ll check in on you all if I have the chance.”
“Gotcha! Adios!” Gus beamed. Hunter simply waved.
Camila smiled. “Adiós. Muy buen español!” Camila added as she went out the front door and left for work. The boys returned the smile, then continued eating their breakfast. Hunter hoped Gus wouldn't ask him if he was okay again, as he didn't feel like having to come up with an excuse.
Thankfully, Hunter didn't have to, as moments after that whole exchange, Amity and Vee came racing down the stairs, “CAMILA!” they both yelled. They were panting heavily, sweat dripping down their napes. This shocked Gus and Hunter, having no idea what they were so worked up about.
"Where is Camila?!" Amity asked.
"Uhh, she just left for work." Hunter nervously replied.
"Already?!" Vee gawked.
“Vee, can you call her?!” Amity panically asked.
Vee nodded and frantically dialed Camila’s phone number. The phone rang, and deadbeat silent suspense filled the room. They waited and waited, but, just their luck, the call went to voicemail.
Amity and Vee grew desperate, trying to call her again.
No dice.
They called her a third time.
No response.
"Darn it!" Vee shouted. "This isn't like her!"
"Okay, can someone PLEASE explain to me what the heck is going on?" Hunter asked in a slightly annoyed but concerned tone of voice.
“Yeah, what’s wrong?!” Gus said.
“It’s Willow,” Vee explained. “She’s sick!”
“She woke up really cold!" Amity explained, "And she literally has ice growing on her skin!”
Hunter and Gus' stomachs dropped at the news. "WHAT?!" they shouted. Hunter immediately jumped out of his seat and ran upstairs to Luz's room, with Amity, Vee, and Gus following him. Hunter was about to burst open the door when Amity feverishly tugged his yellow sweater. “Hunter, wait!” Amity called. “This disease is clearly dangerous, and Willow is really, really sick. It could affect us too!”
"What, so are we supposed to just let her lie there to suffer without help?!" Hunter barked.
"Hunter, listen to me. This is serious. " Amity retorted, trying to knock some sense into the blonde, "It could spread to all of us. How are we supposed to help her if we're taken out by this disease too?!"
"W-Well, Vee, you know human stuff the best. Do you have any idea what she could've caught?!” Hunter asked in a panicked tone of voice.
"I'm sorry, I have no idea. I've never heard of a human disease like this before," Vee explained. "I think we should keep trying to contact Camila and wait until she returns."
Hunter let out a loud, frustrated growl. To him, everyone just seemed more concerned about themselves rather than Willow, and she clearly needed help. Hunter didn't care about the risks. All he cared about was making sure that Willow was okay. "Well, if you want something done right, you just do it yourself." Hunter growled under his breath, "I don't care if I get sick. I'm going in," He hissed as he opened the door to Luz's room.
"Hunter, wait-!!" Amity screamed, trying to pull him back, but Gus rested his hand on her shoulder.
"Just let him do this," Gus said.
"What?! Why?!" Amity gawked.
"Hunter will be fine," Gus assured. "He's, how do I put this, built different."
Amity sighed, "Well, yeah. He is pretty stubborn. There's probably nothing we can do to stop him."
"Gosh, I hope he'll be okay." Vee reminisced.
Meanwhile, Hunter rushed to Willow's side. He was shocked to see her state. She was paler than snow, and ice crystals were forming all over her body. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf. Hunter was stunned. They really weren't kidding. He got on his knees on the side of her bed, "Willow, Willow, it's me," he murmured.
"H-Hunter?" Willow croaked, barely moving. Hunter then put his hands on her arm, shocked to feel how cold she was. "Oh my Titan, you're freezing! Do you need more layers?! I'll get you more clothes!"
Willow slowly nodded, "Y-Yes…p-please."
Hunter rushed to the closet and dug through it to get the warmest clothes he could find. Afterward, he rushed to Willow and helped her put on these extra layers over her pajamas. “Here. Does this help?” Hunter asked with a worried tone.
“Y-Yes, but I’m still really…c-cold,” Willow said.
Hunter couldn’t bear to see Willow like this. He knew he needed to find something to keep her warm, so he figured that he could get some blankets for her. Hunter got every blanket in Luz’s room and wrapped them around her. “Here, is that better?” Hunter asked.
“Y-Yes…” Willow replied, but Hunter could still see her soft shivers and her teeth chattering. He couldn’t believe she was still cold even with all of that. He ran straight to Camila’s room to get more blankets and ran back to Luz’s room to wrap them around Willow. He also sprinted downstairs to the basement to get some of his and Gus’s blankets. He was so focused that he didn’t notice the rest of the crew in the living room.
“Come on… come on…” Vee muttered quickly but lightly, tapping her tail on the floor impatiently, waiting for Camila to answer the phone.
“What are those loud footsteps?’ Amity inquired, confused about what was going on.
“I’m guessing Hunter is running around the house. Maybe he’s getting something for Willow?” Gus guessed.
“Titan, whatever the case may be, I just hope he’s not getting himself sick,” Amity mumbled worriedly.
Hunter grabbed all of his and Gus’ blankets and sprinted upstairs to Willow’s room. Once he returned, he wrapped Willow inside them as if she were a cute chubby kitten in a blanket. Hunter would have asked her if she needed anything else, but he was so out of breath from running all over the place. Thankfully, all of his sprinting had paid off, as Willow seemed to finally be a little warmer. "Thanks, Hunter," she said. Willow smiled warmly, making Hunter’s galderstone heart melt like butter. Even though she was clearly sick, just seeing her smile made Hunter think that everything would be okay. Willow started resting for a bit, and things finally seemed like they were looking up until- “Oh no!” Willow suddenly shouted.
Hunter was startled by Willow’s sudden interjection, afraid that something else had come up, “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I need to water my petunias today, but there’s no way I’ll be able to do that with how sick I am!” Willow’s smile had disappeared from her face, causing Hunter to frown. “I’ve spent so much time taking care of them too….”
Hunter refused to let Willow’s hard work go to waste. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Willie. I could water your petunias for you,” he suggested
Hearing this, Willow's smile returned to her face. “Oh, I didn’t think of that! You’re so smart, Hun-a-a-a-ACHOO,” Willow interrupted herself with a loud sneeze. Showing that even though she had warmed up, she was still pretty sick. Despite finishing her sneeze, she did not finish Hunter’s name. To Hunter, something about Willow calling him 'Hun' made his stomach somersault. “The watering can is in the garage," Willow explained. "Water the petunias in the garden for about five minutes. Make sure each petunia gets an even amount of water. Thank you.”
Hunter nodded with determination, “Got it. I’ll be right back.”
Hunter went downstairs and out the door to the garage. He grabbed the watering can and did precisely as he was told. Hunter liked the idea of gardening solely because it was something Willow was interested in. He wanted to garden with her someday just to hear her talk about the plants. Seeing her get so excited over the plants was so adorable to him. Titan, he could listen to her voice all day long. That beautiful, soft, soothing, sweet, bubbly voice. His stomach erupted with ravenous butterflies, his ears became warm with blush, and his chest began feeling fuzzy. Maybe he could ask Willow if he could hang around in her garden with her one day. It'd be great to spend that time together. His stomach somersaulted just thinking about it.
He finished tending to the garden and hurried back upstairs to Luz's room. Willow had been sneezing frantically, but she smiled when Hunter entered the room despite her symptoms. "Hi, Hunter."
"Hello, Willow," Hunter replied, glad he could help, "Do you need anything else?"
Willow shuddered, "I'm still pretty c-cold…"
At this point, the only thing he could think about was cuddling her for warmth. Titan, that would be so cute and romantic. A faint red blush dusted Hunter's ears. He wanted to hug her soft, squishy body. He wanted to bury his head into her neck. He wanted to rub her back. He wanted to rock her back and forth-
Hunter snapped himself out of his trance. ‘ Stop getting distracted! ’ he internally screamed. He needed to focus on solving the problem in a realistic way. After all, there was no way Willow would want to—
"Uh, I know this might be a little weird, but can you cuddle with me?" Willow asked.
Hunter’s heart stopped, and his faint ear blush spread to his cheeks instantly. Willow had asked him to… cuddle with her? This seemed unreal. There was no way this was happening, but here he was, in Luz’s room, with Willow , the most beautiful, strong, and kind person he had ever met, who had just asked him to cuddle with her. "I… I thought you were a prodigy in plant magic, not oracle. Did you just read my mind?!"
"...What?" Willow asked.
Hunter immediately became red-faced after realizing what had just come out of his mouth. Willow probably thought he was so weird now, considering that he pretty much told her he was thinking about cuddling with her. “N-Nothing! I…I didn't say anything,” he sputtered with lots of broken-up, nervous laughter. “...I, uhm, I can cuddle with you if you want.” He said with a tinge of hesitation.
Hunter inched his way towards the bed and laid down next to Willow, and Willow wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her head into his chest. Hunter hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. Despite how cold Willow was, it did not affect him, as he had never felt so hot before. Titan, here he was, cuddling with the girl of his dreams. It was almost unfathomable to the blonde boy. Willow hugged Hunter tighter, feeling incredibly comfortable and warm in his arms. It was so soothing to her. It was the first time she had felt comfortable all day. It was so soothing. In fact, she began feeling very sleepy. Willow took in a yawn, dozing off. Hunter noticed this, and despite how awkward this was, he was enjoying this quite a bit. A lot more than he had ever thought he would. He pet Willow's hair, and it didn't take long for the sick, cold girl to fall asleep right in Hunter’s arms. Willow softly snored, which was a sound that was music to his ears. He loved hearing her snore, hugging her body, and overall just being in Willow’s presence. Titan, he loved this girl so much. The sleeping spell that had been cast upon Willow began spreading to him. He wasn't even tired before, but Willow's soothing embrace made his eyelids feel so incredibly heavy. Hunter closed his eyes, burying his face into her neck as he soaked in this wonderful feeling.