Not As It Seems (Huntbastian) [Discontinued]

XX

"Oh my god, did you guys hear that last night?" Jeff asked as soon as Hunter sat down at the table.

"Hear what?" Hunter asked.

"The scream that sounded like someone was being murdered," David chimed in.

He paused. "Oh. Um, yeah, I heard it."

"I don't know how someone couldn't, it woke up just about all of Dalton," Wes said reasonably.

Thad snorted. "More like all of Westerville."

"What do you think was going on?" Nick asked.

"I'd say a nightmare, but who'd have a nightmare dark enough for them to scream like that?" Jeff pointed out.

Hunter messed with his food, fork held idly in his hand. He hoped Sebastian would tell him what happened when he woke up. Clearly it was something from his past, as he said it wasn't just a dream. But what was it? Was it a memory of his parents? Were they beating hi-

"Earth to Hunter." He blinked out of it, realizing Jeff was snapping in his face. "I asked you where Sebastian was. What's so interesting, anyway?"

"Sebastian's asleep. And I was just... thinking." Hunter knew that they all knew a different Sebastian than he did. They knew the suave, confident, just about perfect Sebastian. He knew the insecure one, the broken one, the scared one. How would they react if they found out Sebastian was the one that had screamed?

"Asleep? How?" David asked in disbelief. "After I heard that scream, I was up all night."

Hunter shrugged. "I mean, using crutches all day has to be tiring."

The PA system chimed, announcing that classes had been canceled due to a possible security threat, but to not panic and come to them with any information.

Thad grinned. "Well, thank you to however screamed. I had a quiz I was 100% not prepared for."

"Does that mean you're going to study?" Wes asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, it means I'm procrastinating even more."

They all laughed, Wes rolling his eyes fondly.

"I'm going to see if Sebastian's up yet," Hunter said after a while, leaving the dining hall.

He was quiet when he unlocked the door to their dorm, but it soon was revealed that he didn't need to. Sebastian was awake, sitting up in his bed.

"Hey. How're so feeling?" Hunter asked softly. Sebastian looked over, momentarily surprised.

"Oh, um... I don't know. Kind of shaken," he said awkwardly, looking down and shifting uncomfortably.

Hunter walked over to him. "Sebastian, what's wrong?"

"I lied to you," he blurted out. "I said that I miscounted, that there were actually only three flashbacks, but there was four. And the whole 'Live While We're Young' thing..."

He sighed, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back against his headboard. "I- I was raped," he said quietly.

"Oh my god, Sebastian, I'm so sorry," Hunter said, heart breaking.

"And I- I'd rather not talk about it, it was a while ago, but you deserve to know. It's what the nightmare was about."

Hunter nodded understandingly. He wasn't going to pry. "Well, if you're up for it, everyone's going to Nick and Jeff's dorm to probably watch an unhealthy amount of movies in a row and eat way too much popcorn."

Sebastian laughed, relieved. "That sounds great."