"Is your friend okay?" Willow's dad asked, once all three of them were in the kitchen and out of earshot for Hunter.

"No," Willow said sadly, shaking her head. "But I hope he will be." She hated that she couldn't even say with a surety that he would be fine. Because she honestly didn't know. Hunter was…quite a bit different from your average teen, and that automatically made his problems more complicated to deal with. As far as Willow knew, Hunter had nothing outside of the castle. Nothing, except for some friends he'd only known for two weeks. If he wasn't welcome back at the castle, then she really didn't know if he had anything else going for him right now, and that worried her. How did you help someone who quite literally had nothing now, apart from his palisman and the clothes on his back?

Her papa's brows furrowed with concern. "What happened? Should I call his parents?"

"Um, well…" How was she going to explain this? "That's the thing…He doesn't have parents, from what I've heard. He…" A sheepish expression came to her face. "You're not allowed to freak out, okay?"

Her dads looked more confused than ever, but they both glanced at each other, then nodded.

"He's kind of…the Golden Guard?"

Silence. Then-

"What?!"

"Willow-"

"You said you wouldn't freak out!" Willow hurriedly said, waving her hands.

"But you-Willow, you know the Golden Guard? You're friends with him?"

"That panicked boy on our couch is the Golden Guard?!"

Willow shot a pleading look to her dads, and though it was clear they had more to say about this, they both stopped talking.

"It gets…weirder too, so you're going to have to promise me that you'll stay calm about all of this. Please, he's my friend and he-he needs help right now." She hoped her dads would listen to her. They probably didn't approve of her befriending the freaking Golden Guard, of all people, but she really needed them to listen right now. They needed to understand that Hunter was more than just Belos' right hand man, especially now.

"I promise," her papa said. "Whatever it is, you can tell us. Right, Harvey?" He looked at his husband, his eyes begging him to do this for their daughter's sake.

Her dad nodded. "We'll stay calm. Go on."

Willow clasped her hands together and shuffled her feet a little bit. "His name is Hunter, and he's also…The Emperor's nephew."

Her dads' eyes widened at that, but just like they agreed, they kept quiet while she continued.

"Hunter wouldn't tell me what happened, but Belos…" This was the part she was really nervous to say out loud because how in the world do you explain to your parents that the Emperor of the Boiling Isles, the freaking Emperor, wants to kill your friend? Willow wasn't entirely sure where her parents stood on the whole 'loyalty to Belos' scale, so hearing that their leader wasn't exactly a great guy could come as a bit of a shock to them. "Belos tried to kill him. Or-or at least I think he did. All Hunter said was that he couldn't go back to the castle or Belos would try to kill him."

Her parents stared at her, both clearly astonished.

"Can he stay here?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes. Hunter had nowhere else to go, and Willow wasn't going to let him camp out in the woods for who-knows-how-long if she had anything to do about it. "Just tonight, at least…Until we can figure out a more permanent solution?" She'd talk to Luz later. The Owl Lady was notorious for hiding fugitives, afterall. If anyone could keep Hunter safe, Willow bet she could. But tonight…Tonight, Hunter was depending on Willow and she didn't want to let him down. She couldn't toss him away to the Owl Lady, not right now.

Willow's dads looked at each other. There was a brief moment of silence, but then they smiled.

"Of course he can. We'd never turn one of your friends away," her papa said.

"He can stay here as long as he likes," said her dad. "But…I'm afraid we don't have an extra room. He'll have to stay on the couch, is that okay?"

"Yes, yes!" Willow said immediately, a smile blossoming onto her face. "The couch is perfect. Thanks so much, I love you!" She quickly hugged her dads and then went back into the living room, where Hunter was waiting. As soon as she appeared around the corner, Hunter turned to look at her, his face and hands now free of dirt. He still looked worried, so Willow quickly explained to him that he was officially welcome to stay.

"Are-are you sure?" he asked almost timidly.

"Yep! It's like I told you Hunter, you're always welcome here. My dads said you can stay as long as you need to, so don't worry about it, okay?"

Hunter nodded. "Thanks."

Willow went and got a pile of blankets and several pillows to make Hunter a makeshift bed on the couch. Once she was finished setting it up, she took a step back and placed her hands on her hips, before turning her attention back to Hunter. "Will this work? I know it's not much, but-"

"It's great. Thanks." Hunter managed a smile-a very forced looking smile-but a smile nonetheless.

Willow folded her arms and pressed her lips together tightly, as she looked at him. Her fingers tapped at her side. "Don't forget, I'll be here when you're ready to talk. If you want to talk, I mean. Just…Don't feel like you have to hold everything in, okay?"

All she got from Hunter was another simple nod.

"Well…It's pretty late, so I'm going to get to bed. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask!"

Another nod.

"Goodnight."

"...Goodnight."

Willow turned to leave, but before she disappeared from view, Hunter's scratchy sounding voice rang out quietly through the otherwise silent house. "Thanks, Captain…Really, I mean it."

Willow smiled to herself as she started to make her way up the stairs. "You're welcome, Caleb."