I'll Be The One

Chapter 25:

=Normal POV=
[Tuesday, 2/12/2019-5:30 pm]
[Archipelago; Arc Isle]
[McViking]

It had only been a week into the second semester and Hunter returning to Dreki Apartments. True to his word; he didn't talk to anyone, except maybe Flynn for apartment-related things such as bills or shopping. Hunter did come out if the others were visiting, but he kept his headphones in and be out long enough to cook dinner. If Hunter noticed the others didn't have food coming or hadn't eaten yet; he would make a meal big enough for everyone. However, he'd choose to eat in his room. Hunter was doing well in his classes; he already had his dissertation topic picked and approved. The friends continued to respect Hunter's wishes of leaving him alone unless he spoke to them directly to tell them about the food they could help themselves to. Hunter still worked his three or four days at McViking, and he kept minimal contact with Gregory, just to let him know things were alright. Hunter wouldn't talk to his father, but knew Greg was updating him.

Currently, Hunter was at work; he had five hours left until close at 10 pm. Unfortunately, Hunter felt sick and it was proving difficult to focus at work when the dinner rush was about to start in the next fifteen minutes or so. "Boss! I need your finger!" one of his employees called back. Hunter slowly got to his feet and moved to Drive-Thru to approve whatever was needed and then he stood there a minute.

"Boss?" asked one of the girls. Hunter didn't answer.

"Hunt?" another tried. Hunter closed his eyes a second; he felt vomit rise into his throat, but he held it back.

"Hunter?" asked the sandwich maker.

"Yeah…Fine," Hunter nodded to the concerned employees. Hunter felt like he was going to puke again.

"Dude, I don't think he's alright…" one of the workers whispered to the one beside him.

"Hunter? Hey…Are you okay? You don't look so good," no sooner than the words left her mouth, Hunter bolted out from behind the counter and to the men's room. Hunter entered the one stall, slid the lock shut, and threw up once he was on his knees. It happened two more times as he sat against the wall, panting tiredly.

After five minutes; the workers were worried. "Scott! Go check on Hunter…" the corner person called to fry worker. The male, Scott, nodded and left his spot to get to the restroom; he walked in and looked around.

"Hunter? You okay, boss?" Scott asked.

"Y-Yeah…Everything good out there?" Hunter replied.

"Things are fine; we're just worried about you," Scott stated.

"I'm good, just get back to work. I'll be out in a sec," Hunter said.

"Alright," Scott left the bathroom and returned to his place. "Says he'll be right out," A minute later and true to his word, Hunter returned and started working again. The others didn't say anything, but they were going to keep their eyes on him. Not more than twenty minutes later, Hunter rushed back to the bathroom. "Okay, time to send him home…"

"Let's call Steven, see if he'll come back for Hunter's sake," one of the girls offered. Another male nodded and grabbed their phone to place the call, heading to the back to explain things. Fifteen minutes later, a male entered the building and clocked in.

"Where's Hunter?" he asked instantly.

"Just went to the back with some water, Steven…Thanks for coming. He keeps saying he's fine, but we know he's not," the front register person informed.

"I'll take care of it," Steven headed back and found Hunter in the office. "Go home, Hunt,"

"What are you doing here?" Hunter inquired quickly.

"Doesn't matter. You're sick, and throwing up…You shouldn't be here in that state," Steven mentioned. "Come on, you've been here since 9 am, boss. I can handle the last four hours…Go home and rest. I got this…" Hunter sighed; he couldn't exactly fight the reasoning. "You alright to get home?"

"I'll be okay. Thanks, Steven. Call me if there's an issue…" Hunter said, gathering his things and preparing to leave.

"Will do, but we should be alright. Hope ya feel better," Steven smiled. Hunter nodded and headed to exit the building. Hunter reached his car, taking a moment to settle his stomach before flipping the ignition and heading for the apartment.

. . .

[6:15 pm]
[Dreki Apartments]

Getting inside the building and through the apartment door, Hunter saw everyone over. The room seemed to fall silent once he was inside fully.

"Hunter?" Flynn asked, checking his phone. "I thought you were closing tonight?"

"Got sent home," Hunter replied.

"Did corporate send you home?" Flynn inquired. Hunter shook his head to him. '"Then…How? You're the GM, don't you make that call?"

"Did you get hurt or something?" Madison asked, unsure if Hunter would even answer her.

"I-," Hunter started, closing his eyes. Feeling the vomit rise again, he pushed it back once. Sadly, it came back as Hunter moved to the half-bathroom off the kitchen; he shut the door behind him. The silence made it easy for the others to hear Hunter throwing up a few times.

"He's sick…" Harper frowned. After five minutes and a total of Hunter puking three times; he came back out.

"Not sure how one of the other managers found out I was sick, but he showed up at 6 pm and told me to go home. Couldn't exactly argue it…" Hunter informed.

"Do you know what it is? Making you sick?" Madison inquired.

Hunter shook his head. "Just kind'a came on around 12:30, maybe 1-ish,"

"Something you ate at school?" Roxanne wondered.

"Didn't have class today…Been at work since 9 am…" Hunter mumbled.

"You should probably take a hot shower, then get a water bottle and try to sleep," Harper suggested.

"Likely gonna," Hunter said as his phone started ringing. Hunter slid the icon to answer and tapped speakerphone. "Yes, Steven?"

"I didn't call you while you were driving, right?" Steven asked.

"Just got home, so what's up?" Hunter inquired calmly.

"So…I know I sent you home, but…Uh…We're having a crisis…" Steven said nervously.

"Oh, my Gods…What happened now? Who got hurt?" Hunter stated.

"No one! No one got hurt, boss. I think our system just crashed…The registers are frozen; can't do anything. I don't know what computer or button to hit to reset things…" Steven replied.

"For the love of…" Hunter stopped and sighed knowing it wouldn't do any good to complain. "Alright, listen to me. First off, have everyone stop panicking…I can hear it from here. Secondly, check the office computer and tell me what it says," Hunter remarked as he grabbed his laptop from his bag, and sitting on the couch in the open spot.

"No signal," Steven reported.

"And are the registers saying offline, or just frozen on the order taking screen?" Hunter questioned.

"Completely frozen on the OT screen. The DT time board as well…" Steven responded.

"Yeah…That's a system crash…" Hunter sighed. "Are there customers right now?"

"No," Steven said firmly.

"Good," Hunter opened his computer and glanced at the big screen. "Can I borrow that real quick, Flynn?"

"The TV? Sure," Flynn nodded. Hunter hooked the HDMI cord up and flipped the channel to HDMI-2.

"What do we do, Hunter?" Steven asked.

"Just shush up and gimme a couple minutes. Tell the order takers to back up and not touch anything," Hunter said.

"Got it. Hey, guys. Hunter said back up, don't touch anything," Steven called.

"Okay!" the crew members replied. Hunter set the phone down on the table, getting on his knees and clicking through a few things, typing when necessary. None of what he was doing made sense to the group of friends, but they stayed quiet. Hunter kept working until he felt sick again; he pushed through it and kept going.

"Hunt…We're getting customers…" Steven mentioned.

"Apologize, tell them we're having slight system errors and there will be a few minutes wait. I'm almost done," Hunter informed. After another two minutes, he pressed the enter key.

"Every screen just powered off!" Steven panicked.

"Oh, my Gods…Will you relax? I know they powered off…" Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Where are you? Did you come back?" Steven asked.

"No, Steve…" Hunter sighed. "I'm still home,"

"Okay…Now everything is rebooting…What did you do?" Steven inquired.

"I restarted the entire system from my laptop…" Hunter responded.

"How in the name of Thor did you do that?!" Steven exclaimed.

"I, uh...Hacked into it and temporarily rerouted full control to my computer here; then did a full system reset…" Hunter cleared his throat a bit. Silence on the other end. "Oh, come on…You act like what I did was a big deal…I kind of work in computers all the time…"

"Hunter…Hacking our system is like…Intelligence Agency level of hacking skills…" Steven remarked.

"And your point is what?" Hunter asked. "I'm good at what I do…"

"Hunter…How did you get skills like that? They don't teach you that it engineering…" Steven reminded.

"If I told you; I'd have to kill you. So, how about we don't discuss this, ever? Now…Your system should be back online…" Hunter informed.

"Yep, all good! Thanks, Hunt," Steven said as the employees were cheering again.

"Uh-huh…Oh, one question before you go…How'd you know I was sick and came to send me home?" Hunter questioned.

"You're not going to believe that I'm just that good, are you?" Steven mumbled.

"No chance. I'm the only manager in the building who can check camera from my phone, and you opened this morning. You had no reason to come back, or a way to see me…So out with it," Hunter remarked.

"Freddy called me, said you had rushed off to the bathroom a couple times within thirty minutes," Steven admitted. "Please don't get mad…They were just worried about you, Hunt. Come on…You know we're like family here,"

"I'll let it slide this once, but don't let it happen again. Employees don't make the decision to call in another manager; that is my choice," Hunter warned.

"Got it. I'll pass the message along," Steven informed.

"Good. Anything else before I go pass out in my bed?" Hunter asked.

"Yes, one more thing…My numbers still aren't working on the safe, and I was in a rush, so I forgot my keys at my house…" Steven enlightened.

"Upper right cabinet over the desk, back left on a silver hook; there should be a master key to the doors and a safe key hanging behind the big red binder. You can use my numbers for tonight, and when I work on Thursday; I'll fix the issue with yours not working," Hunter said. "Ready?"

"Go ahead," Steven confirmed.

"0296. And I expect those keys back on the hook your next shift, understand?" Hunter stated.

"Yes, sir! Thanks, Hunt! You're the best. Love you, man. We're gonna be sad to see ya leave again in June," Steven said.

"Oh, don't go getting all emotional on me…For fuck's sake, Steven. I'll still come visit and check in…" Hunter mumbled.

"Awe…You do love us!" Steven chuckled.

"Fuck off. You're all pains in my ass!" Hunter grumbled.

"I'm just teasing, Hunt. Relax…Odin above; you need to get laid…" Steven laughed. "Then maybe it could be a pleasure?"

"As true as that may be; I swear to the Gods, Steven…I can make you disappear…It only takes a phone call," Hunter huffed.

"Okay, okay! You win! I'll shut up," Steven panicked. "We all hope you feel better!"

"Thanks," Hunter said. "And I love you all too. Goodnight," Hunter ended the call, disconnecting his computer from the TV; then getting the wire and setting his stuff in his room. Hunter grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. "We're gonna have to go shopping in a few days, Flynn. We're running out of essential stuff. I thought you went Monday?"

"Parents are on vacation, so no work for me to do for them," Flynn shrugged.

"Was that your way of telling me you aren't getting paid this week?" Hunter arched a brow. Flynn nodded. Hunter rolled his eyes as he went into his room for a second; he came out two minutes later while setting money on the table in front of Flynn.

"What's this?" Flynn asked.

"Take it, and go shopping tomorrow," Hunter informed.

"Hunter, I think you gave me too much. Your half of the food is only $100…There's like $250 here," Flynn looked at him. "I mean…Gimme a list of what you want, and I'll bring you back the cha-,"

"I know what I put down, Flynn," Hunter headed for his room. "I think that should cover both of us. Might not be part of the agreement, but I'm not an asshole and I'm not gonna let my roommate go without over something so small as a vacation his source of income is currently on. And don't worry about paying me back; I ain't worried over it when it's for the house and we both use what it goes towards. So, take it, and go shopping tomorrow. I'd go too, but I have class and I'm sick. Now, I'm gonna shower and get some sleep. Goodnight to all of you," he closed the door to his room.

"Wow…" Avery smiled a bit.

"That was…Really nice of him to do," TJ said.

"Hunter's a great guy," Harper stated.

"I…Can't believe he just gave me the money to shop for the apartment. No questions asked, no stipulations…" Flynn blinked.

"He said why," Drew pointed out. "He wasn't gonna let you suffer, and the house go without just because your parents went on vacation,"

"I know, but still…." Flynn shrugged. "He hasn't said much to me since he came back,"

"Flynn, he hasn't said much to any of us in a week…" Elijah reminded.

"I think he's still feeling pretty betrayed, and sick now," Trevor remarked. Tallon sighed a bit; for him, this was a lot more than wondering if Hunter would forgive him for the lie. Tallon worried that he wouldn't ever get the chance to tell Hunter that he liked him, and those feelings had grown since the night Tallon saw Hunter's hurt and shocked face when he learned the truth. For Odin's sake; the two of them kissed that night. By accident, yes, but it still happened, and it seemed they both enjoyed it. Tallon just wanted one chance to talk to Hunter; it didn't have to be long, but he wanted to explain things. However, regretfully; it didn't seem like Hunter was ready to talk yet and on top of that, he was sick.

"Well, we should probably go and let Hunter rest," Madison suggested.

"I was about to say the same thing," Seth nodded.

"Babe, can I stay a bit longer?" Harper looked at Flynn.

"Absolutely," Flynn replied.

"Alright. I'll see you home later, Har," Drew hugged his little sister, Harper. Everyone left the apartment and returned to their own, except Harper who was going to sit with Flynn a while longer; they'd probably watch a movie or something. Inside Hunter's bedroom; he took a long, hot shower before getting out and dressing into something comfortable. Hunter got into bed, drank a bit of water, and set his phone to charge on the nightstand. Hunter took a deep breath as he laid down and covered up, letting some thoughts run across his mind. However, how sick he felt made that difficult and he ended up being too tired to give things a deeper thought process.

Maybe I should just talk to Greg? Hunter wondered. He'll know what I should do. I'll see how I feel tomorrow, and if I'm better; I'll have him meet me for lunch or dinner. He added before yawning. Hunter got comfortable under the covers; then he slowly drifted off to sleep with idea set for the next day, where he hopefully felt better than he did right now.

. . .

[Wednesday, 2/13/2019-6:30 am]
[Dreki Apartments; A1]

Hunter tiredly woke to his alarm going off at his normal time to wake and start his day. Hunter tapped his phone screen to silence the beeping as he sat up and gave himself a minute. Hunter threw off the covers and moved to his bathroom, still trying to gage where he was at right now with how he felt after yesterday. Hunter relieved himself and went to take a shower. Unfortunately, it never happened. Hunter paused as he went to turn the water on, then quickly dashed back to the toilet to throw up once. Once that passed, or so Hunter thought; it happened again two more times.

"Ugh…" Hunter coughed, spitting once to get the remnants out. Hunter stayed on the floor, hoping the nausea would pass. Around 6:45 am, when Hunter hadn't thrown up for close to ten minutes; he stood up and located his thermometer in the cabinet over the sink. Hunter checked his temperature and wasn't happy to find that he did have one of 100.7. Hunter set the device away and pulled out a bottle of aspirin and fever reducer; he took two of those with a bit of water before moving back to his bed and sitting on it. "No…I just…Can't today," Hunter sighed as he grabbed his phone and e-mailed his teacher about being sick and missing today's class.

Hunter disliked missing his courses, but thankfully; he only had Advanced Languages today from 8 am to 10 am. Unfortunately; he was running a fever and had already thrown up three times. It was not in his best interest to attempt school, even if it was only for two hours. But a bonus was that he didn't have to work tonight either, so he could spend the day in bed and hopefully felt better for tomorrow. Hunter made sure to add into his e-mail that he'd do any make-up work assigned. Hunter set the phone back down and got comfortable; he still wanted to talk to his uncle, but perhaps it would be better if he waited and decided that talk for a later time today or another day all together. After ten or so minutes, Hunter drifted off to sleep.