All the Aches in the World

Chapter 6 : Rain on the Horizon

It was going to rain.

The ache in Savannah's knee whispered as much.

She leaned farther into the couch, resting her head against the back cushions and massaged at her knee—the one that wasn't fake. While both knees became sticky in the humid air brought on by rain, it was her real knee that left her whole body hurting. The pins placed there shifted oddly when bad weather hit. She was glad nothing like that happened with her eye.

Hunter was pacing the room, completely distracting Savannah from the show she had been mindlessly watching, taken over by Hunter's voice on the phone.

She was on her way to a meeting with a photographer about ideas for a shoot he wanted to do when Hunter sent an SOS text. She didn't think twice about rescheduling on the photographer before heading to Hunter's apartment. He had just been arriving when she did, on the phone with his dad and brows pinched.

That was almost four hours ago.

Now Hunter was speaking with his brother, after going through a list of other people had had to speak with.

After initially hanging up with his dad and moving on to the next person on his mental list, Hunter told her what had happened. That he was now engaged to Elliot Charles, the man that was supposed to be Hunter's rival, according to the public eye, that translated into every inch of their lives it seemed. The man who Hunter...had complications with.

To put it lightly, her best friend was freaking the fuck out.

But he hadn't broken anything yet, which was an improvement from any other stressing matter. At least that's what she hoped for and that he wasn't just waiting to explode later on when she wasn't around.

"I don't know what to do. He just–" Hunter groaned, pushing a hand through his hair. It was already a mess from his fidgeting onslaught. "He just stood there, and asked me to marry him, and now..."

Hunter fell quiet. Savannah watched him listen to whatever his brother was saying, shoulders relaxing, and breath steadying. It was strange to see him relaxed in this kind of world-shattering situation. He wasn't good at keeping his temper level. Anything could set him off, and he'd find himself with broken glasses, furniture. Once, he even punched a wall, not hard enough to puncture. through, but even to break a few fingers. It grew better the more he attended the gym, letting out the pent up energy and anger in that setting instead of elsewhere. But what made him keep that steadying calm was being reunited with his brother.

It was the week of Thanksgiving when Hunter got the call from Julian–formerly known as Gabriel, until he changed his entire identity. A horrid thing happened to Julian when he was younger, forcing him to leave his family and start a new life as a new person. They lost contact completely for years until just a few months ago.

Savannah had never seen Hunter cry before. But he sobbed when he got that call, falling to his knees in the middle of his apartment. They had planned to go out for dinner that night. Needless to say, Hunter didn't leave, barely moved from his spot on the couch, phone plastered to his ear like a lifeline.

It was on New Year's Eve, just a few weeks ago, when Julian surprised Hunter in person. Savannah had never met the man before, but she managed to steal his number from Hunter's phone one afternoon when he wasn't looking, and helped make plans to get Julian to Chicago. She claimed it to be her late Christmas present to Hunter. But really, she just wanted the twins to be officially reunited.

Surprisingly, it wasn't just Julian who came to chicago for New Year's, but his boyfriend Nolan, and his roommate, Kyle. Who just so happens to be Savannah's brother. She hadn't known her brother was roommates with her best friend's brother's boyfriend, a tongue twister to remember for sure. It was her own surprise to see her younger brother for the first time in a few years, and finally getting to meet his girlfriend Daphne, who she completely adored.