A/N: Why this chapter took me so long, I have no idea. But it's worth the wait. It's a long read, going on almost 4,500 words, so it's two times more than what I usually put out.

So, let's get to it, shall we?

ENJOY


After dressing and getting over the initial fear over even asking Emma out for a study date, Hunter walked downstairs and got into his Toyota. As soon as the garage door was all the way up, Lewis walked inside, got into the passengers seat and buckled himself in.

" So how'd it go yesterday?" Lewis asked as Hunter backed the car out of the garage and shut it behind them. He drove down the road towards their school.

Hunter shrugged, " I guess it went well." he said, glancing over at his friend, " I sort of have a new plan of action now."

" And what's that?" Lewis asked, seeming intrigued…and a little cocky. Of course his plan had worked like he said it would.

" I'm going to ask her to study with me tonight." Hunter said, the corners of his mouth tilting up. He glanced over at Lewis only to see both of his eyebrows raised. " What?"

" Nothing." Lewis said, " I just thought, you know, it'd be more pow." he said raising his hands and wiggling his fingers.

" More pow?" Hunter asked. He thought it'd been a good plan.

Lewis shrugged, " You know, I thought it'd have more pizzaz."

" Did you really just say pizzaz?" Hunter laughed.

" I did as a matter of fact." Lewis replied, and Hunter rolled his eyes. " But I mean if you think it'll work.."

" Trust me. It will." Hunter replied confidently, though he wasn't entirely sure. But if it didn't go his way, well, at least he tried, right?

...

The first periods of the day had dragged on endlessly for him. Between Miriam's constant chatter, that'd become an everyday thing, and his math teacher basically teaching him algebra in a different language, it seemed that the hours were ticking by oh so slowly.

But finally the bells had rung, he'd gone an eaten lunch with the crew, and he was now in Spanish, next to the biggest crush he'd ever had.

Emma Gilbert.

After they'd sat in their respective seats, Senor Rodriguez quieted the class and began to speak.

" I am allowing you all to have a review period." He said, his Spanish accent heavily leaking into his English, " We have a big test tomorrow on Chapters 4-8, and it counts for about 25% of your grade."

The entire class groaned in unison then, and Mr. Rodriguez shushed them, " But, it should be very simple, because you all will take this review sheet and go home and study, right?"

" Si, Senor." The class said, but didn't sound enthusiastic or relieved by his comment.

Walking along the rows, the teacher began to pass out pale green packets to each student. When Hunter got his, his mouth dropped. He looked up at the teacher. " You're joking." he said, looking from the paper to him and back again.

" No, actually I'm quite serious." Rodriguez replied, " Unless you want to fail the class, lower you GPA, not go to college, and then end up on the street hastling pedestrians for money, senor."

Hunter's mouth formed a straight line. Damn, why'd he go into so much detail. Thinking of a reply, he smiled, " Well I'll be sure that you're the first one I'll hastle." he said smartly, and heard Emma talk beside him.

" He got you there, didn't he?" Emma chuckled, and Hunter smiled once again.

Rodriguez looked like he didn't find it at al entertaining at first, but then smiled like the others. " I guess he did." he said, and walked away.

As he did, Hunter sat back in his seat. This was the perfect opening for him. What's more important to study for than a test that big? Nothing, that's what.

Channeling his acting chops, he picked up his bag, and shoved the review packet in with a sigh. Just like he predicted, Emma looked over at him oddly.

" You're not going to do it?" she asked, her voice laced with confusion.

Hunter inwardly smiled, it was working so far. " Well I mean, what's the point?" he said, looking over at her, trying to look as hopeless as possible without seeming fake. " These last few chapters have been ridiculously confusing. There's no way I'm going to be able to pass that section of the test, so whatever."

" Hunter…" Emma began, turning her body towards him. She looked like she believed him, which meant he hadn't sounded too ridiculous, " That's no way to look at it. If you study hard… "

" That's the thing. I don't even know how to study right for Spanish." Hunter said. He thought that sounded a bit dumb, but he just went with it. " I mean, if I had some help maybe. But.." he trailed with a shrug.

Emma nodded, " I see what you mean. Most of the time it is easier to study with someone, rather than studying alone."

Hunter nodded in agreement. " Right." he said, and was waiting for her to offer to study with him. But she didn't catch on. " Here's a thought." Hunter said, turning towards her, " Maybe we could study together." he said, as if the idea had just popped into his head and he thought it was fantastic.

Emma then nodded, wearing the same incredulous expression as him, as though she hadn't thought of it. " That's not a bad idea." she said.

YES. YES YES YES YES YES YES! Hunter shouted in his head. It wasn't at all a date, but hey, it was something, and she didn't say no.

" Awesome." Hunter said and smiled big, not being able to hold it any longer, " Your place or mine."

" Mine is fine."

" Sounds good."

" See, I told you I could do it." Hunter said to Lewis as they drove home from school. Lewis and Hunter said there goodbyes to the girls, and left off. Hunter was meant to meet up with Emma in an hour at her place to study for the test, and Hunter was pumped.

Lewis chuckled, " I actually didn't know it would work." he said, looking over at his friend, " You must have pretty good acting skills."

" You'd be surprised." Hunter smiled. No way was that a thing that he did in his spare time, but he could act as much as necessary to get what he wanted. And if a little lie about needing to study was necessary that's just what he'd do.

" So what do you plan on happening tonight?" Lewis asked, sounding curious, " Are you going to go for it?"

Hunter shrugged, " If I don't wimp out, definitely." he replied. That was the only thing. He wanted to spend time with Emma out of school, but he also wanted to tell her how he'd been feeling for the past month. The only thing was, he didn't know if he'd get shy when the time came.

Hell, he'd wanted to tell her before tonight, but every time he'd try and every time he had an opening he'd change his mind. Honestly, all he was afraid of was definite rejection. He didn't want her to tell him she didn't reciprocate his feelings and he didn't want the door of opportunity to close on him forever. Then he'd really be down.

" When are you heading over?" Lewis asked Hunter as they pulled up to Hunter's house and parked in the driveway. He shut off the car, took out his keys and looked at Lewis.

" In like 15 minutes." Hunter said as they both stepped out.

Lewis nodded, " I hope everything goes well."

" You and me both, bro." Hunter said. " You and me both…" he walked up to the door that led into the house from the garage. " I'll update you in the mornin'."

Lewis nodded, " Got it." he said with a small wave and walked across the lawn to his own house as Hunter shut the garage door.

After it was completely shut, Hunter rushed into the house and upstairs to change. He didn't know if that would be odd, since they were just studying. Would it be unnecessary to change clothes? He didn't want to ruin his cover by doing so.

It wasn't an official date, just studying.

" Casual then." Hunter decided as he jogged up the stairs and down the hallway to his room. Opening the door he walked over to the dresser, took out a pair of comfy black sweatpants and threw it behind him onto his bed.

He continued to rake through all the clothes he had in his drawer, until he finally just picked a simple wife-beater. It'd been at the top of the pile, and Hunter didn't know why it wasn't the first thing he'd picked up to begin with. He threw it onto the bed, along with his sweatpants.

Grabbing a clean pair of socks, he gathered up all the things he'd taken out, and walked to the bathroom. Even though he'd taken a shower that morning, he didn't smell as fresh as he'd wanted, and spraying himself with Axe wouldn't do anything. So he decided to take another one. It didn't hurt to be clean.

He hadn't realized he'd taken so long until he'd after he'd hopped out of the shower. Wrapping his white towel around his bare waist, he walked over to the bathroom counter and picked up his cell that sat atop it. Checking the time he realized it was five minutes to four. Meaning he had about ten minutes to be up and out on the road. He didn't think being late would look good.

Putting the phone down, he rushed to open the bathroom drawer and take out a comb and brush. He combed his dark brown hair out, and then shaped it in its usual style. He put that stuff away and then scrubbed his teeth with the toothbrush until they were so white the could probably blind you.

Finished with all that, he quickly walked to the other side of the room, where his clothes were. Putting them on, he shoved his cell in his pocket, grabbed his keys, and ran downstairs to his car. He started it, put his belt on and rushed out to Emma's.

Ten minutes later, Hunter's car was in Emma's driveway and Hunter at her door. He just hadn't knocked yet.

His hand was in a fist, and inch away from the door's wood, but he didn't push it forward. He didn't know why he was getting all choked up at that moment. He'd prepared, so it really shouldn't have been an issue. He sighed, irritated with himself.

Here he was, standing in front of a door, too afraid to knock. When had a situation like that ever happened to him? Never. He was never afraid, or nervous or shy around a girl. But then again, maybe Emma wasn't just a girl. Maybe that's why he liked her so much.

" Suck it up, Wright." Hunter said quietly to himself, " Stop acting like a chick. Be a man and—"

Then the door opened. And standing on the other side, looking at Hunter with his hand raised, and his mouth wide open was Emma.

Crap. Hunter thought. Way to look like a doofus.

" Hello, Hunter." Emma said as Hunter slowly put his arm down and brought it back to his side. She looked at him oddly, but otherwise didn't acknowledge his previous behavior. Thank god for that. Instead, she smiled, and stepped aside. " Come on in."

Hunter nodded, " Thanks." he said as he came in. As she shut the front door, Hunter turned to look at her. " Alright, so where are we studying?"

Emma looked at him and pointed behind her. " My room." she answered. She glanced at the living room and then back at Hunter.. " I haven't gotten a chance to really clean up in there so I figured we'd head upstairs." she signaled for him to follow her up, and he did.

" Plus, I have a computer up there so if we need any further assistance…"

" We have the good old internet on our side." Hunter finished, and Emma laughed and nodded.

" Exactly."

They walked down a hallway and turned into the first door on the right. She had a nice room. It was very clean, very kept up, very…blue. No, really. Almost all of her furniture was a light blue color. It wasn't bad, but it was obvious what her favorite color was. Not that he hadn't already noticed.

As he walked further inside, he noticed a spot on the floor. There were two nicely padded pillows on the floor, set around those pillows were papers from their Spanish class, a bowl of popcorn and two bottles of water.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. She'd really set up for the night. That was really nice of her and Hunter couldn't hide his smile. He looked over at her, and found she was smiling too. She shrugged. " I didn't know if you'd eaten yet, so…"

Hunter shook his head, " No, I hadn't." he said, " Thank you."

Emma nodded to him, " You're welcome." she answered. She walked over and sat down on one of the pillows, and patted the open one next to her. " Let's get to it, shall we?"

Hunter nodded and set his own backpack down behind the pillow, " Yup." he said, sitting down on the pillow beside her. He wasn't close enough that they were touching, but he was close enough to feel her heat. It was a shame that even that made him blush.

" So where do you need the most help?" She asked him, picking up a pencil from next to one of the sheets of paper.

It wasn't until then that Hunter realized he hadn't exactly planned this part out. He began to freak out on the inside. He didn't have anything he needed help on, so what could he ask for help on?

To bide his time, he turned around and opened his backpack. Pretending to search for something, he racked his brain. Asking about simple stuff wouldn't work. She'd see right through that. Hunter was having 'trouble', but Emma knew he wasn't an idiot, so if he asked for something simple, she'd know he was lying.

" Once sec. I think I marked it in my packet…" He said, trying to break the now unnecessarily long silence. Finding the review packet he took it out, and turned back to her. He flipped towards the back of it, thinking the more complex things would be farther in.

He was wrong.

The material began to get easier and easier as he went on. Maybe this test wouldn't be too hard at all. Which, at the moment really wasn't a good thing.

Just my luck, eh?

" Well, I've really been having trouble on thee, erm…" Hunter scanned the pages again. He could feel Emma's eyes on him and he knew she was wondering what the heck was taking so long. " How to conjugate past tense. You know the subjunctive form…er something." he said. He looked up at her for confirmation, to see if she was suspicious yet, and she didn't look it.

She nodded, and leaned over to look at what page it was in the packet. " Really it's simple." she said to him. She turned to the same page in her own packet. He looked over at it and saw that she'd already filled that page out. That didn't take her long at all. " It's really the same as every other verb, except they have an opposite ending…" she explained to him.

" Err, what's that mean?" Hunter asked, but knew he didn't sound very convincing.

Emma nodded, but didn't look suspicious. She looked more understanding. " It's a bit confusing. It took me a while to get it, but look…" she said, scooting closer to him. First their shoulder's bumped, then their knees, and to avoid the rather large dorkish grin he could feel coming on, he busied his mouth by stuffing a few pieces of popcorn in it.

It worked marvelously.

His eyes drifted to her, to see if maybe she'd been affected, maybe felt the same tingly feeling as him. Her lips quirked up ever so slightly, but besides that, nothing. She was either really good at hiding her emotions, or it didn't effect her at all.

He wished he could tell the difference.

It went on like that, for almost two hours. It was actually starting to frustrate him. He didn't want to try anything if he wasn't sure any feelings were reciprocated. It was getting late, and he was running of things to pretend to have trouble with…

Hunter began to fill out another page with a bunch of practice problems on it. Emma said it'd help him more if he kept writing the words over and over and that repetition was key. So he did. But, since he was getting frustrated, and tired, he didn't remind himself that he should take it slow. And to think of it, he'd been doing that with more than half of the other things she'd told him to do.

He hadn't noticed he was slacking, but by the way Emma was looking at him, she sure had.

" You're really catching on quickly Hunter." Emma said, looking over his shoulder.

Hunter grunted in response, not really catching onto her suspicious tone of voice. He couldn't tell she was starting to see right through him.

" It's almost like you didn't even need to study." Emma added, as Hunter quickly filled out the rest of the first page, which had close to thirty problems on it, and flipped it over to begin the next.

Hunter nodded lazily. " It's really easy." he said, " Probably gonna ace the test." he said, eyes still on his paper.

" Ace the test, hm?" Emma countered.

Hunter nodded again, " Yeah, no prob—" Hunter looked up from the paper and shut his mouth. Talk about word vomit. He brought his eyes to hers, and went cold seeing the look of suspicion on her face. Mhmm, she'd definitely caught him. He coughed, trying to pretend he hadn't said what he just said, even though there'd been too long of a pause. Suddenly, he'd decided that he didn't want to admit his real reason for studying.

" I mean, agh, Spanish…" Hunter started, trying to think of another intelligent reply. " Why does it have to be so difficult." he said, raising his hands and gesturing to further make his point.

Emma sighed and shook her head. She set her packet and pencil down in front of her, and turned to face Hunter. " You don't really need any help, do you?" she asked, and as Hunter readied to tell her another lie, she held up a finger. " Be honest, Hunter."

Hunter looked down, and rubbed the back of his head. He felt a bit like a toddler getting caught for stealing the last cookie out of the cookie jar. It wasn't exactly a time to lie. She caught him, the jig was up. He'd had a feeling she'd be too smart for that stunt. But he still couldn't find the guts to tell her why he came. Now that he thought about it, it really did seem like a childish idea, and he doubted she'd like it.

Still, it was worth a try. If there was any time to tell her how he felt, it was now.

He looked back up, and as his blue eyes made contact with hers, he didn't feel so nervous anymore. She didn't look angry, or agitated, that he'd wasted her time. Instead, she just looked genuinely curious, like she really wanted to know. And so, Hunter wasn't so scared anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Hunter began. " Honestly, Em, I just wanted to spend some time with you, outside of school, y'know? But every time I'd ask, you'd turn me down." he said. She looked a bit sympathetic and moderately shocked, like she hadn't noticed. " So, I figured, maybe if I made it so it wasn't really a date and wasn't really formal, you'd actually say yes for once. I knew it was just studying, but at least I could spend some time with you.

" And that Byron kid, he always gets to hang out with you. I figured I'd be able to see why him, instead of me." Hunter finished. He couldn't help but feel like a pathetic child. To him, he sounded so, needy. But he couldn't help the way he felt.

" You know about Byron?" Emma asked him. And Hunter wondered if that's all she got out of what he'd just said.

" I know that it seems you like him." Hunter shrugged, " Plus, you never seem to let him down, as much as you let me." he added quietly.

" Hunter, I didn't mean to." Emma said, sounding incredibly sincere. So sincere, in fact, that he couldn't really be as irritated with her for rejecting him as he should've. " It's just that Byron—"

" How do you feel about him?" Hunter asked. He wanted the answer, but he was starting to get nervous. He could feel himself beginning to perspire.

She kept eye contact with him for a long time. It looked like she was debating whether to tell him what was up or keep it to herself. He honestly wished she could just be honest with him. He was honest with her.

Finally, she spoke. " It's a long story." she said simply, and Hunter frowned once more. Definitely not the answer he was waiting for.

" Well, I have a short one." He realized then, that it was now or never. He had to put it all out in the open. If she wasn't going to say anything, then he sure was. He was tired of waiting for signs and hints that he was starting to think weren't ever going to come. And even if she didn't feel the same way? Well, at least he went for it.

Hunter looked her right in the eye, shook off his nerves and spoke, " Look, Emma. I like you. A lot. And all I want you to do is to at least consider the fact that I might be good for you. " he said, and her face softened even more. If he wasn't mistaken, she actually looked like she was happy to hear the news. But again, he couldn't tell. And it was driving him to the point of insanity.

She looked at him, didn't speak, and the tension in the room was crazy. He could almost see the gears turning in her head, processing what he'd said to her. He knew then that she had been able to tell for a long time what he felt for her. And just by looking at her, he could see that she had some feelings for him. And even if there wasn't a lot there for him, there was something.

But there was something else that he saw. Some indecision. She was conflicted, but he didn't know about what. But he could bet money that it had something to do with that Byron kid.

She opened her mouth to speak, and something inside Hunter clicked. He realized, he didn't want to hear the answer. He had a feeling it might not be something he wanted to hear. So, he decided to let his actions speak. After all, actions always spoke louder than words.

Taking a deep breath, and another look at Emma, he leaned his head close and put his lips to hers.

Scaring him, she didn't move at first. Hunter opened his lids just a bit, just enough to see her face. She looked shocked, caught off guard, and in that split second, Hunter prayed to anyone who would listen that she'd just give in. It was obvious she wanted it, at least a little, because she hadn't pulled back.

And someone answered him. Slowly but surely, he saw Emma close her eyes and a pleased look come to her face. So Hunter went and closed his, allowing himself to sort of melt, and finally give in to what he'd been waiting for for a month. All the nervousness and fear he felt before as he spoke to her earlier suddenly evaporated, and his confidence returned. He felt good. It was a pure adrenaline rush, and he tingled all over.

Soon in, he began to move his lips against hers and she moved hers against his. She brought her warm hand to his cheek and her thumb began to graze his cheek.

Just as he was going to pull her closer, he was pulled out. Hunter's eyes flashed open, quick enough to see Emma scoot back and away from Hunter. In response, Hunter raised his eyebrows. What the hell happened?

He looked at Emma, and she looked almost scared. Almost…almost like she'd made a mistake.

" What?" Hunter said quietly.

Emma stood up quickly, " You need to leave." she said, walking out of the door. Hunter, groaning, jumped up and put his stuff back in his bag, before picking it up and going after to her.

" Emma?" He said aloud, following her down the hallway, " Emma? What's wrong?" He asked. He was ridiculously confused now. What the hell had he done wrong?

She continued to walk quickly, and he followed her all the way to the door. She had it open and was standing by it before Hunter even got to the bottom step. She wasn't looking in his direction, and her gaze was aimed at the wall ahead of her.

He walked out of the door, since it was obviously where she was aiming for him to go. She really wanted him out? Then he would go.

But he wanted a reason.

Hunter spun around, and looked at her. He sounded desperate now, " Did…I do something wrong?"

Emma shook her head, but he found it hard to believe. " No, I…I just…" she took a breath, before continuing. She looked at the ground briefly before looking him in the eyes, " Look, Hunter, I told you it's a long story." She said and shut the door in his face.

Hunter looked at the wood of the door, dumbfounded. He was completely and utterly confused. He thought it'd all been right. Hell, she'd kissed him back!

Hunter kicked the door, before turning away and walking off to his car. " Damnit!"


A/N: Aww, poor Hunter :(

Well, that's a REVIEW if you liked it, or have anything else to say. All comments are appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Taylor(: