Celebration || NYE Group Para
Quinn nodded, glad to hear Hunter talk out his feelings about Sebastian and reassure himself in the process. She was expressionless when Hunter glared at her about Marc. She didn’t know why she thought she’d get anything more than in response to her offer. “Fine,” she said, with cold look back. “Excuse me for asking,” she said in a polite tone.
She listened to him complain about being treated like a child. This was was 100% predictable. She felt badly for him but she wasn’t going to apologize for her actions. “Hunt, if I walk into a room and you have a bottle of pills in your hand, I’m going to flush them. Seb always wants me to flush them, because that’s what he would do. That’s because we know you and your upper body strength will always overpower us. This isn’t our first time at this rodeo.”
She softened and sat down next to him, saying sincerely, “I’m truly sorry that we’re making you feel badly, I do. But we don’t think of you as a broken child. We think of you as an adult who has a dangerous habit. Like I said, we all have dangerous habits, and we would all intervene for each other if we were really concerned. Seb and I have done this routine a number of times, but we’ve decided to not do anything, like 90% of the time.
“It’s just what Santana and I would do if I found Sebastian drinking alone and smoking like a chimney, or if she, Tina, Sam and Seb found out I hadn’t been eating enough. You’re not broken, you’re just human. And we love that you’re human. You’re too darned perfect otherwise.” She gave him a small smile. “The good news is, this is the last insane, dangerous party you’ll ever be at alone. I’m sure Jay will do a much better job at intervening than I am. Hell, he’ll probably do everything he can to make sure you won’t ever feel like this again, either.”
Quinn grew more concerned as she listened to him go on about Mark and Sebastian and the rest. She knew he would absolutely intervene if she was in trouble and he could help, but she didn’t respond, forcing herself to just listen. He was talking himself out of his unreasonable statements, but he was just so anxious. She said kindly, “That’s great you and Seb are going to have regular dinners. And I love that you’ll come to our McKinley gatherings.”
She bit her lip, thinking. “Hunt, where are your prescription pills, for your anxiety? Maybe you stop drinking and take a dose of those. I think they’ll make you feel better than the cocktails. Then you might feel better on your walk before you go home to Jay. Oh, by the way, I love that you were able to hook the most good looking, kind, Stanford educated guy in New York City. You deserve him.”
She noticed her phone blowing up with texts from Sebastian. She picked it up and looked up at Hunter. “Seb wants to see you, do you want to see him? Should I make sure Marc’s not out there with him?”
Hunter laughed. “The number of times anyone has taken my pills and flushed them is countable on one hand. Even if I probably deserved it many, many more times. Including the night at the museum.” He didn’t bother to mention that no one seemed to care then. “Go figure, one time I actually haven’t taken anything, I’m honest as fuck about shit, and I’m not even allowed to take care of it on my own.” He shook his head again in frustration.
When Quinn mentioned Sebastian smoking and drinking excessively, it made Hunter think back to the night Sebastian had come back from Café Lalo. He sat down on the bed. He wondered if anyone knew how much pain Sebastian had been in that night. But it wasn’t his place to say anything. Even if it was one of the reasons Hunter felt compelled to keep all his wits about him.
Hunter snorted. “I am so far from perfect. I’m hardly even good enough sometimes. Not for my parents, not for Sebastian, not for you.” He shrugged as if that was just a simple statement. “I somehow doubt it will be the last insane and possibly dangerous one, but hopefully the last I have to be at alone. If Jay was here, I would have taken the pills to him directly. And we would have taken care of it.” He nodded his head. “It’ll be good to work on just being friends. He and I aren’t so different in some ways. It’s nice to know someone understands. I’m not sure if Catie will give me much of a choice. And the caroling at Christmas wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever done.”
“I didn’t bring them,” Hunter replied, eyes narrowed again. He felt like it was hypocritical to flush one set of pills and then encourage him to take others. He recognized the difference between the two, but he hadn’t taken the first set. Was he tempted, sure. But he hadn’t taken them, he hadn’t really tried to hide them, and he hadn’t lied about what they were, which now he realized he probably easily could have. “I didn’t want to have them on me, and be tempted. I knew if I needed them, I could always leave, or go to Jay’s and get them. However, considering I plan on drinking with Jay when I get home, I didn’t want to take them.” Hunter shook his head, and laughed lightly. “Oh, I didn’t hook him. He completely hooked me. I don’t think he even intended to. But he sure is beautiful. Inside and out. And smart. Talented. Passionate. Kind. Creative. Witty... and I can’t believe he’s with me.” The more he talked about Jay, the more Hunter relaxed, a genuine small spreading across his lips.
“Is he pissed with me?” Hunter asked. “Because I don’t want to go another ten rounds with Seb. I’d rather just leave. And yes, please make sure Marc isn’t with him, although I know I really don’t get to say anything about who or how Seb spends his time now. “
