Breaking Free

Chapter 20

Hunters p.o.v

After my encounter with Heather, I decided to go back home, back to Katlyn, and make things right with her. I wanted to do what I should have done a long time ago, I was going to man up and try my best to give her the affection that she deserved. People do not always have to be in love for them to be in a relationship, we would give it a chance and hopefully, things would work out.

I just hoped that one would day I would be able to reciprocate the love.

Upon reaching the house, I found Katlyn seated by the doorstep, she lifted her head at the sound of my car. I parked and walked toward her while she just stared at me. As I strolled, my anxiety kicked in, suddenly I did not feel as confident and sure as before, I felt like just walking past her but I did not. "Hello Katlyn," I said awkwardly and she responded, uncertain of what was going on. "I want us to talk," I added, and that instantly got her attention. "Okay?" she replied disdainfully but still followed me inside the house.

Katlyn's P.O.V

To say I was surprised would be an understatement, Hunter was asking me to be his girlfriend. It felt so surreal, at first I could not comprehend what was going but then it downed on me and I froze in place. I should have at least said no, I should have told him that I needed time to think about what he had said but I just found myself saying yes! Like the idiot that I am, I said yes to Hunter even though he had been nothing but a pain in the behind. I knew this was probably going to end badly but I loved Hunter, and I did not mind giving it a try as he said.

Going back to my room I sat on the bed and smiled to myself like the blockhead I was, If it was someone else I would have probably told them to know their worth, but look at me now, overlooking red flags. I had been waiting for this day for so long, how I slept every night and only had Hunter as mine in my dreams but now it was reality. It did not happen the way I desired it to happen, I thought he would one day fall in love with me and acknowledge how much I was willing to do for him. None of that happened, I knew he was not in love, he didn't love me, I was not sure if it was pity or loneliness that made him want to make me his girlfriend, and honestly, I did not care. I knew it was wrong to be this desperate but I was already in too deep at this point.

Feeling hungry, I decided to go and get grab something to eat. I walked into the hallway and my smile faded as I looked at Raven's pictures, Hunter asked me to be his girlfriend but he still kept pictures of Raven all over the house. I shouldn't be upset because this was expected but I was, once again I expected too much from him.

Walking around, I find the house empty. I had no idea where Marshall or Hunter was so I just proceeded and made a sandwich. I made some orange juice and sat on the kitchen island while I ate my food. The house was too quiet and the emptiness gave me shivers. Since I came back from that bad place, I hated silence, dark places, and isolation. I never wanted to be left alone, whenever I sat alone in a quiet place I would replay what happened in that crater of demise, all those people that lost their lives. Sometimes when I slept, my mind took me back to that rotten place, the weeping, and smell of death would invade me whole and my body would be paralyzed by the horror of that evil memory. I wished there was a way of forgetting that misery, and pain but I knew I would always remember what happened in that place for the rest of my life. Such experiences were hard and impossible to forget, plus I had scars that served as a constant reminder. 

I was buttered and bruised, my body, and soul stained with so much pain and suffering, it was a miracle that I had survived. I thought of the old man Pett who was killed right before my eyes, it was painful to see his lifeless body fall to the ground, knowing that I would never see him again, he was gone. The only person that treated me like a human, he loved me genuinely, what hurt me the most was that I could not do anything to save him. He took care of me and clothed me but the one time when he needed me the most, I was too helpless to save him. I should have done something, called for help, I should have fought more but I didn't. 

I realized that my love for Hunter was just a destruction from all of my anger and bitterness, it was the only thing between me and total insanity. I needed something or rather someone to leave for. It was funny how I always wanted to take care of Hunter but I completely ignored my own trauma. If anything I had been through more than him, Hunter had a lost Raven, the love of his life but from the beginning, I had been losing. I lost my family before I knew them, I had nothing, and no one except that kind-hearted old man, whom I watched die like an animal. And soon I lost my will to live when they captured me but Heather came into the picture and I wanted nothing but to see her happy, and healthy.

I rubbed my forehead and groaned loudly, I hated these thoughts, I didn't want to think or remember all this, I just wanted to be okay. I stared into the emptiness until some minutes later, I saw Hunter walk in.