Celebration || NYE Group Para
Hunter narrowed his eyes but stayed quiet. He was tired of going around and around on this, but some other time he was going to ask just what he’d have to do to earn the agency to take care of himself. He simply shrugged when she said she knew it sucked.
It felt a little different talking about his parents. Maybe it was because the Bakers had asked him more about his life, his childhood, his friends and family. They’d been empathetic without making him feel bad. “Sometimes I wonder if things will ever change with my parents and I. If they’ll accept me unconditionally. If we’ll ever have some kind of relationship. I feel like Jay really wants to meet them, but I don’t want to open him up to what they’ve pulled on me for years. How would I even introduce them? Mom, Dad, remember that thing about me that you don’t like to talk about, well meet my boyfriend.”
Hunter laughed. “It’s so easy. The first night we had dinner after he first moved to the city, we just talked and talked and talked some more. And the night before the museum, he brought me coffee and helped me with last minute details.” He shook his head. “I should have been nervous and anxious, but we kept talking, and he made me laugh; and that’s the part I remember. Coffee, music, balloons, inhaling some helium for the funny voices…” Hunter trailed off.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “There is nothing to be worried about. I just didn’t want to have them in my face.” Although he felt bad about leaving without saying bye to Sebastian, maybe Quinn had a point, and they’d had a good talk before everyone had arrived.
But then the door opened and Sebastian was standing there. Hunter could feel something rolling off him; anger, worry, disappointment, annoyance, regret, he couldn’t quite tell. He sighed. “It was nothing. I just needed some time to myself. Yes, Quinn found me with pills, but I wasn’t going to take them. I’d found them and I was kind of surprised because I thought we got rid of all of them after Thanksgiving.” He shrugged. “Yes, I was tempted. But I thought you were seeing how weird tonight is and then….” he trailed off. “It got to be too much, quickly, and I just wanted to be somewhere familiar, less overwhelming.”
Hunter offered Seb a small smile. “Go back to your party and your guests Handsome,” he said. “Enjoy. But please be safe, be careful. I know it’s not my place to worry anymore but I do and I probably will keep doing so. I’m going to head over to Jays.” Hunter paused and looked at Sebastian. “Unless you don’t want to be alone later. That could be…weird. Maybe Jay and I could come back.” Don’t say Marc is staying, he thought.
Quinn sympathized with Hunter as he spoke of the Bakers and his family. She shared, “I’m sure Jay just wants to help you make the best of that situation. I’m sure you’ll talk through how you guys want to approach it, or if you want to at all. You’ll figure it out. Puck and I got some closure with his dad and have established some boundaries with my dad - we’ve had to accept that it is what it is. We’ve just made peace that our mothers are enough.”
Quinn had never seen Hunter like this. “In just a few months...you and him...it’s really transformed you. Your texts haven’t done this justice,” she breathed, feeling inspired by his speech. “It’s been like a Nora Ephron movie. Hunt, I’m so happy for you.”
Sebastian watched Hunter sighing and shrugging, trailing off. It was disappointing to hear and see all this but also a huge relief that it wasn’t as bad he imagined. He came over and put one knee on the bed, caressing Hunter’s cheek in his hand. “You scared the shit out of me, Babe. How many times do I have to tell you not to go off by yourself? Just take one of us when it’s too much,” he said softly, massaging the back of Hunter’s neck. Then he looked down and felt better when he saw Hunter’s smile, small as it was. “Glad you won’t stop worrying about me, Hunt. But it’s more fun if we keep getting into enough trouble to make everyone else worry about both of us.”
The door opened and Jay came in, looking calm and easy. “I heard my New Year’s Date was still here and I decided to ruin our plan. I was getting impatient,” he said, smiling at Quinn, Sebastian, and most of all, Hunter. He said to Sebastian and Quinn, “We’re going to need the room.”
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