A/N: Thanks to Ragemoon for letting me borrow Shi! Sorry I didn't give you props before sister. Okay, on with the story!
Aftermath
Chapter Two: Triggers
"Oh God," Hunter whimpered, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He jumped away when he felt a hand touch his shoulder tentatively. He turned, and when he saw it was Cam he relaxed a little.
He knew ran through Hunter's mind over and over again. Cam reached for him again tentatively only for Hunter to recoil again.
"He knew, he knew, he knew," Hunter whispered repeatedly, as he started rocking to comfort himself.
Cam shook his head, and asked, "Who's he, Hunter? Who knew what?"
Hunter turned haunted eyes to Cam. "My foster father knew. He knew that Jake was raping me every night. He knew, Cam, he knew and he liked it."
Cam was shocked. "I think you should call Becka. You can't get into this state every time you get another memory." He got up and looked for Hunter's pants. Fetching the piece of paper, he got the phone next to the bed.
"'Lo?" came the voice after several rings. Cam paused to see that it was 2 in the morning. "Who is it?" she asked, a little more clearly.
"It's Cam, Hunter's boyfriend. He just had a really bad nightmare, and he's rocking back and forth and I'm afraid he's going to have a nervous breakdown if this keep happening," all of it rushed out in his worry for Hunter.
"Okay, let me talk to him," she said, and took a deep breath. Poor kids, don't know how to deal with this yet. Well, that's what I'm here for, she thought.
"Hunter?" she asked, as she heard the phone being transferred to him.
"Yeah," Hunter said in a shaky voice. "It's me. Sorry to call you so late. I just had an—another nightma—memory come back."
"Don't worry about the time. I'm used to getting up at night anyway. Would you like to talk about the nightmare, Hunter?" Becka asked gently.
"He knew. My foster father knew that Jake was ra-raping me," his voice was still shaking and he sounded like he wanted to cry.
"I'm sorry. Then we know where Jake got his penchant for doing that. Now you also know where Jake learned to do that. His father may have done that to him," she said calmly. "Now, I want you to look at something in the room, like a picture. Can you do that for me?"
"Y-yeah, um, there's a picture of my family together next to my bed," he said.
"Okay, now, I want you to focus on that picture of your family, on every detail and I want you to describe it to me," Becka said quietly, praying that the way out of the trigger would work.
"We're at the park that day. It's really sunny. There's a rainbow in the background, and Blake and I were tossing around a football, because in the picture he's holding it in his hand. This was a few years before my parents we-died. Mom has her hair in a ponytail, and there are curls popping out everywhere. She's wearing a blue tank top and khaki shorts," Hunter felt himself calming as he focused his mind on the picture, and the moment the picture was taken. "Dad is wearing a Cubs baseball hat* and a black polo shirt with jeans. There are a few oak trees in the background, and the fence has vines growing all over it. That's it." He took a deep breath, feeling his heart beating at a more normal pace.
"Good, that's very good. Now, I want you to remember what you just did. If this happens again, try to remember where you are. If Cam is there, look at him. Ground yourself in the moment, where you are and when you are. Remind yourself that you're not that little boy anymore, and Jake isn't there to hurt you."
"Okay," Hunter said. "Thank you Becka." His voice was quiet, and wasn't trembling so much anymore.
"No problem. You can call me anytime you need me. I'll see you next week Hunter. Oh! I forgot, there's going to be a small outing, a picnic sort of deal on Sunday, so I wanted to extend the invitation. Everyone from group is going and bringing friends and family with them, so you feel free to do that too. Okay?"
"Yeah, sure. We'll be there then," Hunter said, feeling a lot calmer and anticipating the picnic.
He hung up the phone, got up from the bed, and stripped his soaked shirt off, tossing it into the pile of dirty clothes in the corner of his room. He sighed heavily, rubbing his hands over his face, jumping a little when arms enfolded him from behind.
"Feeling better?" Cam asked. He caressed Hunter's skin with a thumb and was glad to feel him relaxing into the embrace.
"Yeah, much. Thanks for making me talk to her," Hunter said half-teasingly. Taking another deep breath, he extracted himself from Cam's hug to get another shirt and pair of boxers.
He stayed turned towards his dresser as he redressed, and Cam looked his fill, growing warm from seeing his boyfriend's beautiful body. He tried not to think about it, because Hunter had just woken up from a nightmare and probably wouldn't welcome the thoughts Cam was having had he knew them.
But Hunter felt his gaze, and felt flattered, appreciated, and a little nervous at the thoughts of going further with Cam that flitted through his head. He shook the feelings off, except for the one that was urging him to go snuggle with Cam.
He walked over to the bed and got back in, feeling Cam get in on the other side as the bed bounced a little. An arm snaked around his waist from behind, and he could feel Cam's comforting warmth inches away. He snuggled back into him, felt the arm tighten, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*******
In Storm Chargers the next day Hunter was putting more supplies on the shelf when he heard a, "Yo, Hunter!" from his brother.
"Hey bro, didn't see you come home last night," Hunter teased. He couldn't help but rib his little brother a little bit.
"Yeah," Blake replied, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. He fidgeted in his navy shirt and jeans. "I was with Tori." He left it at that, but Hunter just laughed and ruffled his hair, Blake ducking out of the way as soon as possible.
"So, how'd the meeting go?" Blake asked, leaning against the shelf Hunter was stacking on.
"It went pretty well, all things considered. There were a few other people there who told their stories that night. Oh, that reminds me, there's this picnic thing tomorrow for the group and any family or friends we want to bring," he was already thinking of himself as a part of the group. "Do you wanna go?"
"Sure. Hey, maybe it'll be good for Tor, since, well, you know, that thing with Jenny and all. It might help her too," Blake suggested.
"Yeah, it might. Think the rest of the guys will wanna go too?" he asked hesitantly, pausing in his work to look at his brother.
Blake looked sure, "I'm sure they'll wanna go. Any excuse to hang out and have some fun, and plus, they'll want to support you."
Hunter smiled, relieved, "Cool, thanks. I'll go tell Dustin, as soon as I'm done with this. I think I'll let you tell Tori though." He grinned. "She likes you better than me."
Blake laughed, and went off in search of his girlfriend. He found her near the waxes for surf boards, and slid his arm around her waist.
She'd been less than forthcoming with her feelings about what happened with Jake, but she'd been more relaxed in the last month than she had the previous two. "Hey babe," she said, looking up at him with a smile.
"Want to go to Hunter's group picnic tomorrow?" he asked quietly, unsure of how she'd react.
Her smile dissipated. "I—I don't know. I guess I could. Are you going?" At his affirmative nod, she sighed heavily and wrung her hands together. "Okay, I'll give it a try. Is everyone else going?"
"Someone has to ask Shane and Sergio, and Hunter's asking Dustin right now. Cam's a given."
Tori's thoughts were whirling. How would she get through it if people started telling their stories? If Hunter started talking about Jake? She had a bad feeling, and she knew why. She was going to have to face her demon before long.