It's been a couple of days now, and Hunter's been spending the nights with me ever since. It's amazing that we haven't gotten caught yet, and I know we're pushing it, but there's no way I was going to force him to go back to his house before he was ready.
It's a warm Saturday afternoon, and the entire track team is leaving on Monday for our final meet of the season, the Far East Championship. Needless to say, I am more than ready for all this to be over. I mean, don't get me wrong, track no longer gives me the nightmares it used to, but I'm still not a huge fan.
Despite the fact that it's the weekend, our whole team had to go into school this morning to make up for all the work we're going to miss while we're away. Hours of reading quizzes, math classes, and homework assignments isn't exactly my idea of a perfect Saturday. It was mind-numbing to say the least, but at least it's over now. The majority of us did pretty well. Zack and Jay barely passed, but besides that, I'd call it a productive morning.
Not willing to head home just yet, Hunter and I decide to stop by the park for a much-needed breather. We find a secluded spot by the lake beneath a massive tree and settle down for a rest. Hunter lies down with his head in my lap, eyes closed and half asleep. Lazily, I lean my back against the tree and thread my fingers through his hair. I glance down at my lap where he still has his eyes closed. He's resting peacefully, and I brush a few strands of hair back from his forehead.
We've been here for about twenty minutes already, and it's been the most quiet, perfect moment we've had in a long time.
Which is why I absolutely hate that I have to ruin it.
I take a deep breath. "Your mom called me again today," I say quietly. The entire time we've been here, I've been stressed out trying to find the right moment to bring this up. It took that long for me to realize there would be no right moment, and I might as well just rip off the band-aid.
He doesn't move, and I almost hope he didn't hear me, then he peeks one eye open. "Sorry, did you say something?" he asks.
"Unfortunately, yes," I reply, as he sits up. "Your mom called me again today," I repeat.
His face falls. "Oh."
"Look, I know it's not really any of my business," I begin hesitantly, "but are you going to talk to them?"
His face remains impassive as he leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Honestly Mia, I don't know," he says.
I shift uncomfortably. Pushing him to talk about this feels wrong, but it's been nearly a week now since he last spoke to them, and I'm not sure what else to do. "It's just, they seem really worried about you," I say.
Hunter nods and drops his gaze, staring at the ground beneath his feet. "Yeah, I know," he says, running a hand through his hair. "I know that I need to talk to them, and I know that they're worried about me. But what if I'm not ready to be mature about this? If I go now, I might just end up making things worse."
I shake my head. "You won't," I say. "Your parents might not be perfect, but they're still your parents. They love you. I'm sure at this point, they probably just want you to come home." Hunter nods, but he doesn't look convinced.
There's silence between us for a moment, and I worry that I said the wrong thing until finally, Hunter speaks.
"You know, there's a reason I'm fighting with my parents so much more now," he says.
Yeah, I know. Me, I think.
"And before you go blaming yourself, it's not because of you," he adds, arresting my train of thought. "At least not in the way you're thinking."
YOU ARE READING
Finding You
Teen Fiction"He rests his forehead on mine and closes his eyes. Instantly, my own eyes flutter shut. I can feel his lips so very near to my own. 'Mia..," he says, almost like a whisper, 'I'm not him.' I gasp as his lips almost brush mine. 'Please... I need you...
