After-Aftershocks (Hunter- TOH Fanfic)

Chapter Four: Camila

I don't not speak Spanish or any language other than English because my brain doesn't work that way but I thought it fitting for Camila to speak some. So if anything is incorrect, please correct me! Otherwise I'm just spewing nonsense. I did a quick Google search for what Spanish/Hispanic people call their kids and I got chico as Camila's nickname for Hunter. It might be wrong so please tell me now rather than I finished the book and called Hunter a rat or something the whole time.

Camila sat down on the end of Hunter's bed as the click of the basement door sounded behind Luz. She left to give them privacy but it made Hunter feel trapped. He was shut in with an adult who caught him drinking alcohol and sneaking in the house at night! 

She may say she isn't mad but Hunter knew she was. She must be! He was drinking, making out with boys and a burden! She doesn't want to upset me because I'm fragile but really she's angry. I can see it, I can hear it, heck I'd probably smell it if that was possible! She just trying not to break the Boy of Glass, the abused orphan! 

"Hunter, I can practically hear the things you're thinking," Camila laughed "Please, just let me say my bit." She spoke without a hint of anger or malice but Hunter still felt it. He felt the hidden anger that just truly did not exist. "I know you were drinking last night. A lot it seems. I called Eda- and this I am a bit mad about because she hid this from me- she said you came home to her like this once. I would like to hear, why are you drinking chico?" 

Crap, I can't lie to Camila but also I do not want to burden her more! Ahh! I don't want to keep this all bottled up, I just want to tell her... I'm so selfish! "Well... um... stuff has been really rough and then I met this guy Apopis. He honestly made things worse. He t-told me-" Hunter said starting to choke on his own words, close to tears "He said that Willow doesn't like me anymore. At first I ignored him or tried. He just got so stuck in my head. He made me doubt Willow, making me feel guilty. He called me things like 'hot stuff' and 'pretty boy' which made my stomach turn but also I couldn't stop thinking about it... I wanted him to say something like that again. These thoughts made me feel even more guilty! Then I approached him to take him up on his offer to go over to his house. So, we got drunk together at his house. And- and he kissed me- I didn't want him to but he wouldn't stop, I couldn't get him to stop so I gave up. Afterwards he tried to get me drunk enough to forget about the kissing."

At this point Hunter had to take a pause, the painful memories hurt as they came up his throat. Camila just waited for him to be ready to continue, as she rubbed circles into his back. Hunter quickly cleared his throat and continued on "I felt so guilty after that day. I couldn't look Willow in the eyes. But for some reason I wanted it to happen again. To forget my troubles, get drunk and then suffer in the morning. It was like a relief from my guilt and then a punishment for what I'm guilty of. Also I forgot to mention- well I've never told anyone this but I hallucinate a Belos in reflections of stuff and dreams and he tells me awful things. He kept egging me on to drink another bottle that day with Apopis and afterwards kept berating me to drink again. I eventually gave in." Hunter madly laughed the last few sentences, staring crazily off to the mirror. 

Camila caught on to what Hunter was looking at, so she swiftly got up and placed a blanket over the mirror, carefully ensuring no reflection could be seen. She also closed the curtains so he couldn't see the windows see through images. As she did this Hunter seemed to come out of a trance. 

Now in a quieter world Hunter was able to think of what to say next. "I bought vodka. I brought it to his house last night and we drank a lot. We talked a bit, I told him I remembered our kiss and that I wanted to kiss again. I don't know why! It just- I needed- I wanted- I just blurted it out! And we kissed, it felt horrible and amazing at the same time. I felt so guilty but also I felt alive. There were... well not butterflies like with Willow, more like bees in my stomach. Buzzing around and... yeah I went home at some point and here we are." He finished shakily, sighing that it was all out there.

"Well... you're certainly dealing with a lot. Hunter you need to know that you can tell me anything. No one deserves to keep this stuff bottled up. You might not believe this but we have a lot in common. I had a bit of a drinking problem in the past. When I was a teen, I couldn't make many friends and I experienced a lot of bullying. And I started to sneak into bars with a fake ID. It was a problem I kept to myself for a year. Eventually my parents stepped in, I started to go to AA meetings. I think somewhere over 10 years sober." Camila told Hunter her story, gazing out to the room like she could see the memories. "Wow," Hunter said shocked "Yeah, even though you've only been drinking twice, that doesn't mean it won't be hard to stop. It's important you do though, alcohol isn't safe for someone your age especially at the high amount you've been consuming it. I mean vodka is a lot." Camila started out comforting him but by the final sentence she was talking to herself in bewilderment. 

They sat and talked. They cried and laughed out the emotions. Luz came back, talked to Hunter about him kissing Apopis. She assured him that he did not cheat on Willow. Luz and Camila promised to help Hunter stop drinking while keeping it secret from their friends. So all that was left was to see what happens...