Hunter was sitting on the couch in Philippa's apartment. His head leaned back and his eyes closed. In his mind, he dreamed of a small patch of grass in the woods. There was sunlight shining through the tall trees and the faint echo of birds chirping and tweeting. It was peaceful. It was quiet. He was reclining on a red blanket, leaning back on his elbows with legs outstretched in front of him. He reached over and took a sip from a glass of lemonade. It tasted fresh and sweet. He set it down and looked to his other side to see a plate with a turkey club sandwich on it. He picked it up and took a bite. The combined crunch of the bacon and the lettuce and the lightly toasted bread made him smile.
"Did I do okay?" Hunter finished chewing and looked up before swallowing. He saw the silhouette of a girl. The sunlight behind her made her blonde hair glow like gold.
"It's delicious. Much better than I could do." Hunter said with a smile. He set it down on the plate and held out his hand after brushing crumbs off on his shorts.
"Oh, please. I'm shocked I didn't cut my hand off." She said with a smile. She took his hand and fell into position on the blanket next to him. She stumbled at the last minute and her hair fell and obscured her face. Hunter smiled at her as she sighed and tried to blow the hair out of her face.
"Let me help." He said as he reached a hand up and brushed a few locks behind her ear. He kissed her on the cheek before repeating the action on the other side of her face. He saw the radiant smile, he had come to love. The soft smooth skin he longed to caress. The hair he wanted to bury his face in and bask in the smell of. "Ellie, how did you get so beautiful?" He asked with a smile, looking into her bright blue eyes that seemed to look like the ocean in the reflection of the sunlight. She giggled softly before kissing him on the nose.
"Well, there's the wrinkle cream and the facial cleanser...." She said teasingly. Hunter laughed before rolling on top of her and kissing her on the lips. He could feel her hands on his back and his shoulders. Hunter had never felt happier. He broke the kiss and smiled against her lips. Suddenly, her arms slid off his body and fell to her sides. He pulled away from her and looked into her face. It was no longer perfectly tanned and full of life. It was pale, dark, sick. His hands felt warm against the red blanket. He pulled back onto his knees and looked at his hands. They were covered in blood. The red of the blanket flowed away into a pool around her body. Hunter fell backward off the blanket and watched in horror as the pool of blood grew larger and larger, flowing closer to him inch by inch.
Hunter woke up with a slight start. His body was covered in a cold sweat and he could feel tears around his eyes. He was back in Philippa's apartment.
"Hunter? You alright?" He looked down to see Philippa looking up at him from her spot on the couch, her head on his leg. Hunter blinked a few times before nodding.
"Yeah, I just...zoned out for a second." He said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye and forcing a smile across his face. He looked up to see Monsters, inc. playing on the TV. He sighed quietly, remembering back to one of his first nights with Philippa. They had watched that movie and she had fallen asleep next to him. He carried her to her bed. She looked so peaceful. "I'll be right back. I uh...I need to use the restroom." He said in the quiet tone he had gotten over with Arabella. Philippa lifted her head and sat up.
"Hurry back. I don't want you to miss the best part. 'I'm Mike Wazowski!'" She said with a grin. Hunter forced a laugh and stood up. He walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He shut the lid to the toilet and sat down. He took a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. He felt like garbage.
"So, you're dating a girl's half-sister because she doesn't want you? Not only that, but every time she kisses you, hugs you, touches you in anyway you're imagining it's her half-sister." Hunter looked over to see Imaginary Hunter laying in the bathtub. He shook his head and folded his sunglasses before putting them in the collar of his shirt. He lifted up his foot and tied the red converse shoe with a wing on the heel before setting it back down on top of his other foot. "That's pretty low, man." He said with a nod.
"I know that. Don't you think I know that? That's why I feel like crap. I'm lying to her." Hunter said with a sigh. He leaned back against the toilet tank. "I can't believe that I would do this. It's been two days. I have no feelings for her. Whatsoever. She doesn't deserve that. She deserves to be with someone who actually wants to be with her. She liked me out of convenience and then she threw me away." He said with a shrug. "She came back. I took her back. I'm just a schoolgirl crush for her. I was the only guy she liked because I was the only guy she knew."
"It seems you know what you have to do then, eh?" IH said with a shrug. He stood up and brushed off his brown leather jacket and adjusted his watch. He rubbed his pendant for good luck and smoothed it against his shirt. "Let's go, then. You have a girl to break up with." He said with a half-smile. Hunter nodded and stood up before walking out of the bathroom. He looked at Philippa for a brief moment before sitting down next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh. Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath before sliding away from her. He turned to look at her.
"Hunter, what's wrong?" She said, shutting off the movie. "Are you sick? I can call Dana and she-"
"I'm fine, Philippa, but I...I've been lying to you." He said quietly. She furrowed her brow and looked at him with sad eyes. "When you broke up with me, I...I was hurt. I had never put myself out there like that and when you broke it off, I was expecting it, but that didn't make it hurt less."
"I'm so sorry for all of that. I never-" Hunter shook his head.
"That's not it. After I left camp, I thought that I would never be able to like someone like that again. That was until about 2 weeks ago. I don't love you. I can't love you...I can't love you because I love Arabella." He said quietly, a lump forming in his throat. He looked at her. She seemed confused and sad.
"Arabella? How...But why...I-"
"I'm so sorry, Philippa. I didn't want to keep lying to you and I didn't want to keep lying to myself. I felt bad leading you on these past 2 days...And I didn't want to do it anymore. If you never want to see me again, I'll totally understand and I won't bother you ever again." Hunter said slowly before glancing up at her once and standing up. "Goodbye, Philippa." He said before turning to leave.
"I understand." Hunter turned around to see her looking at him and nodding. She stood up and stepped close to him. "I was awful to you. You didn't deserve me asking you to give up everything one second and then letting you go the next. You shouldn't be sorry." She said smiling softly up at him. "I should be. I'm sorry, Hunter. I really am." She straightened his jacket and patted him on the chest a few times before chuckling quietly. "If you still feel torn up about it, how about this? You go find Arabella and once you two are together, you ask her to give me a job. I'm great with hair." She said giving him a wink and a kiss on the cheek. Hunter blinked a few times before letting a smile spread across his face. He looked down at her and hugged her.
"Thank you, Philippa." He said quietly. He broke the hug and sprinted out of the apartment. He was high on the thought of seeing her. He had a good feeling about this. He imagined himself walking in and telling her that he loved her and she would respond in kind and they would be together and they would put in a movie or they would watch TV and he would make fun of the women on The Bachelor. I would be happy and easy and simple and natural. He wouldn't have to force happiness. He wouldn't have to think about his words before saying them. He could be himself because that's who she loved.
In a few minutes, he was at the door of her building. He froze and looked up at her balcony where a tarp flapped in the wind due to the broken window. "Hunter?" Hunter looked to see Tom looking at him. He was still wearing the jacket that he had given him days earlier. "Where have you been? That jagoff Chad has been around and Ms. Foster has been miserable." Hunter smiled slightly. He felt bad that she was miserable, but at the same time he was glad because he knew why. He smiled big before hugging Tom tightly. Tom stiffened in surprise before hugging back.
"Tom, they don't pay you enough." Hunter said with a grin. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a more pressing matter. No offense. I'll see you around!" with that Hunter sprinted into the building and up the stairs. After a few seconds, he was at her door. He took a deep breath and knocked. The door creaked open to a silent apartment. He raised an eyebrow. "Ellie? You here?!" He asked the silence as he walked inside. He heard the faint sound of running water and smiled. He walked toward the bathroom and stood outside. "You know, you really should lock your door." He said with a grin. No response. He looked down to see a small pool of water running from under the door. Water and...Oh, no. Hunter pushed open the door and looked at her in the tub. "ELLIE! NO! NO! NO! NO!" He shouted as he hurried over and knelt down by the tub. He shut off the water and pulled her out of the water. "Why did you do this?! This isn't how this was supposed to happen!" He shouted frantically as he pulled off his jacket and used it to wrap her wrist. He cradled her limp body in his arms. Her body was cold. He felt her face. Cold. "Wake up, Ellie! You have to wake up! You can't be dead! This isn't fair!" He said as he patted her cheek gently. He checked her pulse. "You're alive!" It was incredibly faint, but it was there. "You...You...You're a demigod! You have to have nectar or ambrosia or something around here! Where is it?!" He gently set her down and burst from the bathroom and headed straight for the kitchen.
He immediately opened one of the cupboards and scooped everything out. "It needs to be here! Somewhere! Where is it?!" He shouted as he scooped everything out cupboard after cupboard. "Come on! Come on!" He searched frantically for the small square until he found it in the back of a cupboard behind a can of chicken noodle soup. He grabbed it and immediately tore it open, making sure not to touch it. He held it in the plastic and ran back to her. He put her head in the crook of his elbow and fed her a small piece of the square. "Come on. Come on. Come on. Be alive. Be alive." He whispered as he held her close to his chest. Nothing. He fed her another piece and held her even tighter, tears starting to well up in his eyes again. "You didn't even say goodbye to me..." He said as a tear poured over his eyelashes. He fed her another piece and held her close. He didn't care that he was wet. He didn't care that he had her blood all over him. He just wanted her back.