Blaming Yourself

"Alright, the boys can sleep out here while the girls stay in Luz's room tonight." Camila held out blankets to the group.

Hunter's grip on Gus's shoulder tightened while Willow clung closer to the two boys and Amity backed up toward them more. Luz just stood in front of her mother, staring at the floor. Camila could tell that they weren't going to separate. "Alright, you can all stay in Luz's room tonight then. Mija can I talk with you in the kitchen, Now."

Camila turned to walk, Luz just followed silently looking back to the group. Amity started to reach out toward her but was stopped when Hunter placed him hand on her's and lowered it, shaking his head. Willow released her grip on Hunter's shirt and started setting up an area for them to sleep in Luz's room. Gus shook slightly, but left the older boy's side to help his friend.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Amity asked, hugging herself slightly.

"She probably wants to know what happened to us." Hunter grabbed a set of pajamas that Vee had brought out for them and handed them to Amity. "You're soaked, you should get changed."

She sighed and took them, making her way to the restroom. Hunter helped Willow and Gus finish setting up, sending them to get changed after Amity returned. One by one they changed and got ready. Luz returned a while later already changed into dry pajamas and carrying a first aid kit. They took the time to get bandaged up before settling in. It took a long time before they were finally all starting to doze off. And while the others finally fell to sleep, Hunter stayed sat up with his back against the base of the bed.

He was used to not sleeping well, or very much. He peered over his shoulder at Gus, who he had insisted take the bed. He looked so sad, like he was hurting. He looked down next to him at Willow. Her glasses sat above her, in front of Hunter's leg. She looked so peacefully sad, wrapped up tightly in her blanket.

Slowly the blonde looked down to his hands in his lap. He pulled up the sleeves of the white shirt her wore. Running his thumb over the sigil on his wrist, he winced. It stung and burned still. He heard a shifting in front of him and looked to where Amity was curled up with Luz. While the purple haired witch was asleep, the human next to her was awake and staring at the ceiling with a pained face.

"How can they all sleep?" she whispered to herself.

"Good question." Luz jumped a little, causing Amity to stir a little. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Luz slowly pulled herself out of Amity's arms. She stood quietly and motioned for Hunter to follow. They silently made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them and heading to the living room. They took a seat on the couch together.

"Sorry, I just didn't wanted to wake them. They've had a long day." Luz explained in a hushed voice. Hunter just nodded, staying silent. "You can't sleep either?"

"Nah." Hunter shook his head. "I don't sleep very well on normal occasions, so it'll be a while before I can sleep again." This time Luz nodded. "What did your mother and you talk about?"

Luz looked ready to cry, hugging her knees to her chest. "I told her about what happened, everything since I left the home."

"If that was it, you wouldn't have reacted that way when I asked." The blonde stated, eyeing the girl.

"I'll get you all back there. But I made her a promise before that once I came home, I'd never go back." Luz looked down, tears brimming her eyes. "A stupid choice I know."

Hunter looked at her with empathy, placing a hand on her shoulder. She wiped at her eyes before continuing.

"I can't go back with you guys, I can't do magic in the human realm," Her voice grew in volume and pitch as the tears began to pour out. "Everything I've done since leaving home has been a waste of time!"

Hunter grabbed Luz and pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly and rubbing the back of her head lightly. She continued to cry loudly, but luckily was muffled.

"It wasn't for nothing. If you hadn't stayed, I'd still be Belos' puppet." He reassured. "And we'd all be dead."

After a few moments, Luz was silent again. She pulled away and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "But for all we know, everyone might already be dead."

"Not everyone." Hunter stayed close. "Willow, Gus... Amity."

Luz smiled sadly. "I guess your right, what am I even going to tell Amity?"

"Maybe we can change your mother's mind?" He offered. "We can at least try."

Luz smiled a bit brighter. "And what's your deal then?"

Hunter scoffed, leaning back on his palms. "Where do I start?" The girl chucked softly. "All joking aside. I'm the oldest and I failed at protecting you guys."

"Oh come on, give yourself credit-"

"No." He barked back. He hadn't meant the force behind the word. Hunter took a deep breath before continuing in a more hushed tone, leaning forward on his knees. "You pretended to be me, I would never have been able to forgive myself if you had gotten killed in my place."

Luz just watched him sadly before he continued. "It's my fault he was able to make that portal work to begin with, and I helped him for so many years. It's all my fault." He ended in a whisper, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Hunter, we were able to escape because of that door." Luz reminded him. It was her turn to comfort him. "You may have started out on the wrong side, but what matters now is you're here with us. And you did protect them."

Hunter smiled softly before dropping his face back to a frown. "I guess I still have some stuff to think about." Luz leaned her head on Hunter's shoulder, he reciprocated, leaning on her as well.

"I think we all do."