Mine *don't read: being rewritten*

Epilogue

Riley drove calmly to Hannah's. There was no tears, no screaming, no music. There was just nothing. She didn't bother knocking when she arrived; she just walked through the door and found Alex and Hannah watching a movie on the couch. For a split second, she felt bad about interrupting, but then all she really needed to do was talk to her best friend. So she didn't feel too bad.

Hannah's head snaps up when she hears Riley come in. "Rye?" she asks softly. Alex looks behind her, like he's waiting for Hunter to follow her in.

"I - I left. I don't know... I just left him," Riley stumbles to try and find the right words, but she can't.

Alex's eyes go wide, and he looks at his girlfriend. "I need to go. I really need to go." He kisses her temple calmly before trying to untangle himself from her, and then he bolts out the door, almost forgetting to even put shoes on.

"Riley," Hannah says. She's as confused as she could be. Hunter and Riley seemed like the two that were gonna make it. How could she just ... leave him? "What do you mean?"

"I packed a bag. And I left." She takes a seat next to Hannah, dropping her bag on the floor.

Hannah turns to look at her best friend, her eyes wide. "Why - Riley - I don't," she's speechless.

"It's just, like," Riley can't put words together either.

Hannah puts an arm around Riley, and she leans into her. "It'll be okay, Rye. It'll all be okay."

-

Alex drives home as fast as he can without getting pulled over, which he nearly does. He runs up the three flights of stairs faster than he's ever run before. He opens the door only to find Hunter in the same spot that he was in when Riley left.

Alex's heart speeds up when he sees Hunter just staring at nothing. He walks forward, wrapping his arms around his best friend. That's when he loses it. Hunter lets out a choked sob into Alex's shoulder and his knees give out and Hunter uses him to support his weight.

Hunter cries until he has nothing left, and then some more. Alex holds him the entire time, his heart breaking for his best friend. He really doesn't cry often, but when he does it's awful. He sobs loudly, his face buried into Alex's shoulder.

He decides that it would probably be hard for Hunter to sleep in his own room, so Alex manages to get him back to his room. He hugs his knees to chest when he sits down, and he doesn't bother trying to wipe the tears from his face.

"I'm gonna get you some water." Hunter nods absently at Alex's words, not really paying attention.

He comes back a minute later with a glass of water and a box of tissues. Hunter tries to take the water, but he's shaking too much. Alex sits next to the broken boy, and slowly raises the glass to his lips.

Hunter curls up at Alex's side, and somehow falls asleep. Alex drifts off soon after.

He wakes up in the middle of the night and he's thinking about her. He slowly climbs out of bed, trying not to wake Alex. Hunter walks quietly back to the living room, and picks up the present she gave him.

He pads back to his own room and plays the video. He curls up in the middle of his bed, lying in it for the first time in a long time without her.

The video starts with a little message from her. I'm not very good at this stuff, but, hey, I tried. Love you! He shakes his head. "That's a lie," he mutters.

After the message, a song starts playing. It's "You and Me" by Lifehouse, and Hunter almost loses it again. A picture of them shows up first, and Hunter has to smile. The next is a video of a time a wasp got in Riley's house while they were all there - "all" meaning Hannh, Alex, Hunter, and Riley.