Sit, Stay, Roll Over ✓

(11) Wash It Away [m]

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I WOKE UP THE next day, the sunlight from outside the window directly shining on my face like usual, making it my unofficial alarm clock. I sat up, yawning as I looked around the room, checking if someone was there with me. But as I was about to get off the bed, I suddenly remembered something that happened before I fell asleep.

     "I hope you heard that loud and clear...my lovely sunshine," Hunter whispered in my ear last night.

     For a while, I thought it was just a dream, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was real. Hunter really whispered those words to me.

     "I know it's not going to be easy, but I really want you to forget about him as soon as possible because I don't have much time left."

     I finally got up from the bed and walked out of my room. Hunter wasn't in the living room, but when I got to the kitchen, I saw him cooking our breakfast, almost like he didn't just say anything strange to me last night.

     "Hunter?" I call out, and Hunter, who was even wearing an apron, turns and looks back at me, a smile implanted on his face the moment he saw me. "Oh, good morning daddy," he says, and I walked towards him to check what he was cooking.

     "Pancakes?" I ask, and Hunter nods his head and went back to cooking the cakes so they wouldn't accidentally burn. I stared at him for a couple of seconds, hoping he'll say something about last night. When it looked like he wasn't going to open it up, I moved closer to him and said, "Hunter, about last night—"

     "Do you want some coffee?" He suddenly asks, turning the stove off and walking towards the cupboards to make me some coffee.

     "No, Hunter, last night you—"

     "Wait, maybe I should just make you some tea. We're going to be busy today and I don't want you to drink any caffeine for now," he says next, obviously avoiding my question.

     "Hunter, please, listen to me," I say in a louder tone this time, but Hunter continues to ignore my plea. His back was facing me, but I could hear him sigh like he was trying to act calm. But when he looked back at me, a smile was now on his face, and Hunter hands me the mug that now had tea in it.

     "Drink that up while I finish the pancakes," he says, turning back to the stove so he could ignore me again. A part of me just wanted to let it go, but another part of me got fed up with how he was acting, so I put the tea down, grabbed Hunter's arm, and forcefully turned his body so he could face me.

     "Listen to me goddamn in!" I shouted, and the expression on Hunter's face finally became serious.

     Hunter takes a deep breath and removed the apron that he was wearing. "You fell asleep on the sofa last night so I carried you to the bedroom."

     "What?"

     "You're asking what happened last night, right? Well, you fell asleep again, so I carried you," he explains further, now making me furrow my brows in confusion. So was that really just a dream? Did Hunter really not say anything last night?

     "But you said something about knowing me longer than Todd, and then you didn't have much time..." As I try to recall what had happened when I was half awake last night, Hunter reaches out to touch my cheek, looking at me like he was worried about how I was acting. He then leans close to my ear and whispers, "I said no such things."

     Hunter pats my head right after and turns back to the counter so he could take the pancakes off the pan. "Do you want honey or chocolate syrup?" He asks, bringing the freshly made pancakes to the dining table.