Chapter Nine

Hunter knocked hard and persistently at the Parks' door, panic only restrained by sheer force of will. That wouldn't help now; he had to be rational.

The door opened to reveal both elder Parks, Eun looking relieved and Gilbert unsure. "Come in, Hunter," Eun said, guiding the boy past the threshold and into a warmly decorated living area.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked. He had a pretty good idea of what this was about, but he could easily be wrong.

"We were on a camping trip this weekend," Eun explained, easing him down to the couch. "There was an … incident."

"What kind of incident?" Hunter asked.

"I think it would be best if Willow told you herself," Eun said.

"We've tried talking to her," Gilbert said, still standing and arms loosely crossed. "But she won't open up." He winced a bit before sighing. "Perhaps you can try?"

"Why me?" Hunter asked seriously. "Why not Luz or Gus, or even Amity? Why do you think I'll be able to help?"

"Call it father's intuition," Eun said cryptically, eyes glittering behind his glasses. He pointed toward a short hallway. "She's the first door on your right."

Hunter nodded and made for the indicated door. He lifted a fist to knock, hesitated, then steeled himself and gently tapped the wood with his knuckles.

"I don't want to talk, Papa," he heard Willow say.

"Never been called 'Papa' before," Hunter quipped.

There was a pause before the door opened enough to show half of Willow's face, her visible eye wide with surprise. "Hunter?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Your papa got ahold of me," he said with a nervous smile. "He hoped you would talk it out if it wasn't with one of them." His smile faltered. "Can I come in?"

Willow nodded and swung the door open enough to let him pass. Hunter looked around for a moment at the plant-themed decor — because what else would Willow decorate with? And it was both elegant and cute. Lil Rascal, who had been perched on his shoulder since they landed, fluttered to Clover's bed and they nested before quieting to give their partners a bit of privacy.

Hunter rubbed the back of his head as nerves flared up. "So, I know you're not okay, but … do you want to talk? It might help-" Hunter grunted as Willow slammed into him with a hug, her arms around his waist and her face buried in his vest as her frame shook. He froze in shock before settling his arms around her, trying to offer what comfort he could. 'So soft,' he caught himself thinking.

Titan, he was so out of his depth here.

"How much did they tell you?" Willow whispered hoarsely.

"Just that you were all camping and something happened," he said truthfully.

Willow drew back a little and sat on her bed, gently pulling him to sit beside her. "We camp a lot," she said. "It's a family thing." She sniffled and brushed her hair behind her ear, and that was when Hunter realized she was still in her hiking clothes, though her shirt was unknotted to cover her navel. He blushed at the sight of her bare arms and her legs displayed by the short hiking shorts. He pinched himself to focus.

"Around sunset, a big barrier spell arose in the distance. I got curious and used crawlway vines to get there fast. And I saw-" she paused and swallowed, "I saw the Emperor's Coven — the Golden Guard — kill a wild witch."

Hunter pressed his lips in a thin line, placing a hand over Willow's to try and comfort her. "That can't have been easy," he decided to say. He'd been desensitized to death years ago, but he was somewhat aware that such a thing wasn't entirely normal.

"That wasn't the hard part," Willow admitted. "After the Golden Guard killed the witch, one of the scouts found me. She tried to arrest me as a wild witch because I haven't joined a coven."

"And what happened?" Hunter asked, the memory pricking his temper.

"The Golden Guard stepped in, called the scout off. He told me I wasn't in trouble …" She seemed to curl in on herself, her lips pressing together as fear shone in her eyes. "And he warned me that the Emperor was not a merciful man," she whispered. She swallowed and took a breath. "It's the same thing he said to Luz and Eda after he forced them to kill a selkiedamus." Hunter winced at the memory of that.

Willow drew her hand from his and held herself, rubbing her palms over her bare shoulders. "It made me think of Lilith capturing Luz, and how terrified I was for her. It made me think of them all escaping the castle." She trailed off and screwed her eyes shut, removing her glasses to rub her eyes.

"That's not all, is it?" Hunter said, some instinct telling him it was so.

"No," Willow said with a shaky breath. She replaced her glasses and took one of his hands in hers. "I've been having nightmares ever since the petrification ceremony," she admitted, voice tense. "Dreams of the Emperor's Coven kicking down my door and dragging me to the Conformatorium. Sometimes my dads are here and they kill them first, or my friends die trying to protect me." She drew closer, leaning into his frame as she fought back tears and she drew his hand close to her heart wrapped in both of her own.

"Why would … they do that?" he asked, emphasizing "they" in place of "us". Could it be the wild magic?

"Because I was the one who rallied the crowd to protest Eda's sentence," she admitted. She looked up at him, so very close and her eyes full of fear. "I was the one who said the Emperor was wrong, live on the crystal feed. I was the one who started the chant to let Eda go." Her voice broke and she averted her gaze.

Hunter's eye twitched as he recalled archives of that event. In hindsight, it was clearly Willow who had spearheaded the protest. Dread tried to harden in his gut, but it was burned away by pride. "That was you," he whispered. "I can't believe I never noticed." He couldn't help but grin just a little. "That took real courage, Willow Park," he said.

Willow's cheeks pinked and she looked at him in surprise and then away again. "It was dangerous," she argued weakly.

"Dangerous like taking on your principal, an Abominations expert, to get Luz to safety?" Hunter asked wryly. "Or like facing down a team of demon hunters single-handed? Or fighting a Greater Basilisk that caught you by surprise? Facing Boscha on the grudgby field? Using the Green-Thumb Gauntlet to take on Lilith?"

"How do you know about all that?" Willow asked breathlessly.

"Luz likes to tell stories," Hunter said. "You know that." And she had told him a suspicious number of Willow-centric stories after the Scarbury encounter and confronting him on his feelings for Willow.

Willow scoffed with exasperation and affection. "She's lucky she's my best friend," she grumbled lightly. Then the faint smile fell from her lips. "She makes me seem like some kind of hero."

"You are," he said seriously. "Who else our age has even half that kind of stuff under their belt?" He shuffled his hands to lace their fingers. "And don't worry about the Emperor's Coven," he said. "I promise they won't hurt you — I won't let them."

"You can't keep that promise," she said, eyes wide.

"Watch me," he said, his voice as hard and unyielding as stone. He meant it, and they both knew it.

Willow felt the chill of her fear leave her, replaced by the warmth of affection for this boy. Heat rose up in her belly and her cheeks darkened, her pupils dilating. Hunter responded with a blush of his own, his breath quickening. For the third time, they felt that mutual pull rise up.

Hunter caressed his gloved palm over her shoulder, the sensation making her shiver. She flattened his other hand over her heart, above her breasts, one hand gently holding it in place as she reached up and ran the backs of her fingertips over his cheek with the other. He sighed and leaned into the contact, his hand on her arm moving slowly to her hip. They both shuffled just a bit closer and their foreheads met ever so lightly.

"We didn't get to talk about this," he said, his voice huskier.

"No, we didn't," she said, caressing his cheek with her palm.

"Willow …" he whispered. "I- I really like you." He sighed through his nose. "But that doesn't come close to covering it." He turned his head and pressed a light kiss to her palm.

"I know," she said, running a thumb over his cheekbone and tightening the grip on his other hand still held over her heart. His hands felt like they burned even through the gloves. "... I feel the same way."

"So … what now?" he asked. "I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Me either," she admitted, feeling his gentle hold on her hip move to her waist. "But maybe we can figure it out together."

"I'm a cocky know-it-all," he said, drawing a little closer. "I have no skills with people and a cart load of issues."

"I was bullied for years," she countered, closing in too. "I feel like I don't deserve anything good I've gotten."

He snorted. "So we're both a little messed up," he surmised.

"We can support each other through it," she added. "And so can our friends."

Our friends. Not her friends, their friends.

"If you want," she added sadly.

"Oh, I want," he said fiercely. "Do you?"

There was no hesitation. "Yes."

And with that, their eyes fluttered shut and they closed the last shred of space between them to let their lips touch again.

It was a chaste thing, just a drawn out peck … even so, it was pure bliss. They separated after a few seconds, their noses bumping and making them giggle. Willow moved her hands to cup Hunter's face and drew him in again, him moving his hands to the sides of her waist. This kiss was a little deeper, more passionate.

Hunter pulled Willow into his lap and she squeaked, then settled with her knees on either side of his legs. They peppered each other with light kisses before going deeper again. They separated only when the need for air grew too strong, parting with a soft chu.

"We should take this slow," Willow whispered breathily, eyes still closed as she kissed his forehead long and lovingly, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Yeah, we should," he said back, nipping the corner of her jaw. Willow gasped and peppered his face with light kisses. He growled and reached up to card his fingers through the navy strands of her hair. Willow took hold of his arm and pushed the hem of his glove up to kiss the skin of his wrist.

Right on the sensitive skin of his coven brand.

Hunter hissed and jerked his wrist free, snapping the trance they had found themselves in. "What's wrong?" Willow asked in shock.

Hunter took a deep breath and settled his nerves and heart. "We should take it slow, right?" he asked, a touch of his usual cocky charm lacing the words. Willow blushed and nodded before kissing his cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

"There's nothing to thank," he said, a pit of guilt condensing in his gut. "Do you feel better now?"

"I do," she said honestly, running her fingers through his hair. "I don't know if I've ever been better."

Hunter felt a braided sense of affection and unmistakable pride in his chest at those words. He gently drew her glasses down and kissed each of her eyelids. "Me too," he admitted, replacing the glasses.

Heavy knocking on her bedroom door broke them out of their love drunkenness. "Willow Park," Gilbert said sternly, "is that boy still in there?"

Hunter smirked and softly whistled for Lil Rascal, who fluttered to him and hid inside his clothes. He took Willow's hand and led her to the window, pushed it open, and hopped onto to sill like a cat. "See you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Oh yes," she giggled, leaning in for one more quick kiss before he leaned back and fell off the roof, bounding from wall to wall until he landed onto the cobblestones with a roll. He stood and waved like a fool, eliciting a giggle and wave from her, before he turned and ran off with a whoop of joy. With Hunter relatively out of harm's way, Willow closed the window and prepared to face her dads.

Had she been more aware, she would have seen a dark figure stepping out of the shadows on the opposite rooftop. Shrouded by the shadow of the moon, the figure tilted its head at its new assignment … from the Emperor himself.

"I just don't see what she sees in him," Jerbo ranted, pacing in the woods behind his house. Viney was catching up on her medical reading, jotting down notes every so often and listening with half an ear. Barcus was settled at the foot of a tree and was tracking his best friend with his eyes, his ears tilted with concern.

"Of course you don't see it," Viney deadpanned. "You're not into guys."

"So you're saying you do?" Jerbo asked incredulously.

"Nope, I'm in the same boat," she said with a smirk. She had long come out to her friends, though she held her dream of opening a veterinary practice in far higher regard than romance. "Y'know, theoretically."

"Theoretically?" Barcus yipped in his canine language.

"I mean, I can understand the theory behind it," she commented. "The guy's handsome in a clinical way, I suppose. He's really smart, at least from what I've seen. And that seems to be Willow's type."

"You're saying I'm not smart?" Jerbo shot with some heat.

"No, she said Hunter is smart," Barcus growled, rising up a bit. "The comment had nothing to do with you, Jerbo." He huffed and settled back on his paws. "Though right now I'd say you're not the sharpest thorn on the bush."

Viney chuckled. "And to finish my earlier thought, he's also got that whole 'mysterious new guy' thing going on. With the vague backstory, those scars, the palisman from the Bat Queen's subjects even though he wasn't at Hexside during the whole thing. I mean, Willow never struck me as that kinda gal, but who knows?"

Jerbo grumbled and continued his pacing. He grit his teeth and chewed on his lips as he turned the facts over in his mind. He was self-aware enough to realize that he'd been crushing on Willow for weeks. And why not? She was pretty, smart, and oh so kind. So unlike anyone on the Boiling Isles. The fact that she was a passionate plant lover was a bonus to him.

But self-awareness didn't necessarily translate to confidence. Jerbo had a wide cautious streak that verged on cowardice, and every single time he'd tried to work up the nerve to ask Willow out or otherwise confess his feelings, he'd shrunk away or simply made a platonically friendly remark. The selfsame self-awareness was enough to make him fear he was in the friend zone.

And then this Hunter Strong guy showed up. And out of nowhere, he and Willow had become the best of friends. He was talented with magic, clearly very smart — and Viney was right, that was a big part of Willow's type — and had that roguish handsomeness that Jerbo couldn't hope to match with his long face, round chin and upturned tip of his nose. Not like Hunter's strong jaw, stylish scars, nobly hooked nose and piercing magenta eyes unlike any Jerbo had ever seen.

Jerbo stopped pacing and rested his head against a tree, sighing dejectedly as he began to spiral. How had Hunter grown so close to Willow so fast?! Their working together for the first time could be a simple quirk of fate, but they had practically been joined at the hip ever since. They were always glancing at each other in class, they sat together at lunch, and Hunter always walked Willow out of the school before they parted ways for home.

And on a more personal level, it looked like the Titan itself was trying to keep him from confessing. Ever since Strong's arrival, it hadn't been his own cautiousness that had hampered his attempts to confess, it had been something to do with the new guy.

And then there was that "thing" in the greenhouse. Jerbo had gone after school hoping that Willow was taking care of the plants. He'd planned on asking her out without Hunter around to dampen his spirits … and he'd found them embracing on the greenhouse floor. In retrospect, he realized they had been crying. And he knew that he hadn't seen anything overtly romantic. But he'd immediately jumped to conclusions and, classic Jerbo, he'd fled rather than confront the situation.

"And I didn't lie when I said he was suspicious," Jerbo said, continuing his thoughts aloud. "He comes out of nowhere with his skills and just sweeps Willow off her feet? It makes no sense."

"Yeah," Viney drawled. "Maybe he's a spy from another school to steal away one of our best."

Jerbo's eyes shot wider as his friend's words sunk in and took root. Details and ideas started turning over in his mind until they settled into something like a conclusion. "You know what?" he asked. "I think you might be right!"

"I was kidding," Viney said guardly.

"Yeah, but think about it!" Jerbo said, gathering momentum. "The guy showed up the day after Willow and Luz and Gus had that big spat with the Glandus kids, right? What if he is a spy from Glandus to try and undermine Hexside after they lost so embarrassingly?"

"What I think is that a joke isn't the best place to start that kind of accusation," Viney said, clapping her book shut.

"Besides, this is all just conjecture," Barcus yawned. "You have no evidence, so what will this accomplish?"

"You're right, Barcus," Jerbo said, his tone unchanged. "I need to get evidence."

"That's not what I said," Barcus barked, his ears tilting back in concern for his friend.

"Thanks, Barcus, that's good to hear," Jerbo said, fully swallowed up in planning how to pin down Hunter's origins. He ran back toward his house. "Thanks for listening, guys! I'll see ya tomorrow!"

Viney and Barcus watched with wide eyes as the third member of their tight-knit group ran off to do Titan knows what. "Should we try to stop him?" Barcus whined.

"Nah," Viney said reluctantly. "We already tried, and it just went in one ear and out the other." She knelt and stowed her book in a bag that she then shouldered. "He's our friend, but we can't protect him from everything. He's gotta learn from his own mistakes." Viney summoned her staff, Ctesias in his inert statuette form at its head and his wings spread and ready to fly.

"So you think this is a mistake?" Barcus grunted as he hopped onto the staff.

"Oh yeah," Viney said with stony resolution as she took her place and guided Ctesias off the ground and toward Barcus's house. "There's no way this isn't gonna blow up in his face."

And chapter nine is a go!

I just found a fic on AO3 called "Flower Crowns" that is a unique addition to the Willow/Hunter fandom. Give it a try!

*And of course, check out "Of Balanced Stones" by Eldrich Raven on this very site or AO3. It's an amazing story so far!

If you liked this update, leave a review! I love reading you're thoughts on what happens.