Brave

Little Things

|Eldon's P O V|
Dance just ended, so I'm about to walk out with the guys. I didn't expect a pair of strong arms to suddenly wrap around my waist as I was about to leave the building.
I immediately turn around, wondering who it could be.
My eyes meet Hunter's, I'm shocked but I instantly smile, "What are you doing here?" I ask in disbelief. Looking at him it's hard to ignore the fact he's overdressed for the weather, it's actually pretty warm today for October. How is he wearing a sweater and full length pants in this heat? I put that thought aside momentarily, I look into his eyes, I missed those eyes.
"I'm back, I live here now." he says,
I swear I almost choke trying to speak,
"Oh my god that's amazing." I say, pulling Hunter into a tight hug.
"Ow." I hear him quietly wince in pain.
I let go of him, "You okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, it's just you touched a bruise. It's all good though. I missed you so much." Hunter says, I smile, "I missed you too." I say, locking lips with my boyfriend for the first time in weeks.
West jokingly whistles,
"Get a room lovebirds." James teases, lightly hitting my arm.
I break apart from Hunter smiling, I roll my eyes at them, "Whatever. I think I'll skip football tonight, I'm gonna spend time with Hunter." I say, grabbing Hunter's hand.
"That's cool, I had band anyways. Let's catch up some time Hunter. See ya." James happily says, walking to the music room.
"Well, I guess it'll be just Max and I tonight. Maybe the five of us can all go another night?" West asks, I exchange a look with Hunter, "Yeah, that sounds fun." Hunter says, politely smiling at West. "Cool, let's get going Max. Bye you guys." West says, excitedly fist bumping us both before exiting.
"My mom is getting everything settled with our apartment right now, so can I stay at your place for a few hours?" Hunter asks, I nod, "Sure, it should be fine. My parents are at work anyways."
We head to my house, our conversation was mainly about the studio, we were awkwardly avoiding talking about what happened in Madison. I mean I want to have a serious talk with him about his suicide attempt, like that was serious. It's something we need to talk about, but he's trying his hardest to avoid the topic. I don't want to upset him, it's really hard asking him about it. I didn't think it would be this hard to just man up and you know, ask.
We get into my house and head upstairs to my bedroom because a few of my brothers are home and we need some privacy. My brothers don't know about me being gay, they just think Hunter is a friend. If they did, I'd get teased all the time, so I just don't mention it. Heck, they think I like Michelle. I close the door and we sit down on my bed.
Hunter leans in to kiss me, I move back, "We need to talk first, then we can do that, okay?" I say.
Hunter sadly backs away, "Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?" he asks, slightly frustrated and nervous.
I pause, I look at Hunter and I can tell how much he doesn't want to talk about this. He knows what I'm going to say and I can tell he's dreading it. Maybe I should wait for him to talk when he's ready.
"Actually, you talk when you're ready." I say, Hunter smiles warmly, "Thanks."
"Now, we have some catching up to do." I say, leaning in to kiss Hunter. This time we do kiss, it feels like we haven't kissed in years, I'm so glad to have him back. Just simply tasting his lips again makes me so happy.
Suddenly I hear him wince, so I pull away. "You okay?" I ask.
Hunter shakes his head, "Can we just relax instead, cuddle? I'm still a bit bruised right now. I should be good soon though, but for now can we just-"
I nod and hold him in my arms, "Of course." I say, putting the warm blankets over our bodies.
We sit like this for an hour, comfortably enjoying each other's presence. It feels like we've come full circle, I remember the time we sat in Studio D like this. That was nice. It's the little things like that that I will always remember.