Hunter seriously had no idea what he was doing. There was a whole array of different clothes in front of him, but he didn't even know where to start. He was told to "Find something that's your style!" but that was the problem-he didn't even know what the heck his "style" was.

"Just see if there's something you like. If anything catches your eye, or you think you'd want to wear it, add it to the pile," Viney said.

And so Hunter looked around for a while, looking at each-and-every shelf and clothing rack there was. He wasn't going to lie, he felt much more comfortable around Willow than the others (she was the first to talk to him and accept him, and she was the only one he had a private chat with on Penstagram), so he unintentionally ended up following her around the store like a lost puppy at one point. It was easier that way anyway since she helped him pick out several articles of clothing. He had three simple t-shirts so far (since they were cheapest-two of which had graphics on them), two pairs of pants, and a yellow hoodie. He'd get more clothes a different time, he didn't want Willow to spend anymore on him than she had to.

"Anything else?" Willow asked him cheerfully as he held the pile of clothes in his arms.

"No, this is plenty," he replied. Willow nodded, and the two of them got in line to purchase them. Skara, it seemed, did some shopping of her own and was right in front of them. "I'll pay you back as soon as I can, I promise. Thanks…For this."

Willow smiled and shook her head. "No need! It's the least I can do right now." Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Willow held a finger up to his mouth to shush him. "And before you ask 'are you sure' yes, I'm sure."

Hunter was honestly kind of…surprised…that she didn't want him to pay her back. He wasn't used to people doing nice things for him just because they could. If they did, it was because they wanted something from him in return. So Willow…Let's just say Hunter appreciated her a lot right now. With all the stuff he was dealing with right now, her doing this, taking him out today and everything, it…meant a lot. It meant more than he could ever express.

Once everyone met back up outside the store, bags in hand, Willow turned to the group. "Anywhere else you guys want to go? Caleb and I should probably leave soon, but we can stop somewhere else first if we make it quick!"

"What about lunch real quick?" Viney suggested. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Plus, I bet Caleb's never eaten out before, right? What d'you say, it's on me!"

"I could eat," Gus said, shrugging.

"Me too," said Skara.

Willow glanced at Hunter. "What do you think?" she asked him in a whisper. "You up for getting lunch with everyone? You don't have-"

Hunter shook his head. "Lunch sounds good. Viney's right, I've never really gotten the chance to eat out before." He did want to spend a little more time with the others, afterall, and they did come all this way to meet up with him and Willow.

"Where do we want to eat then?"

Was sitting down for lunch really such a good idea though? They'd been moving around so far, but would sitting in one spot long enough to have lunch be safe?

As the others discussed where they would go for lunch, Hunter quickly observed the area around him. He hadn't seen any wanted posters yet, but he was careful to look at every inch of wall he could see so that he didn't accidentally miss anything. So far so good…Even the scouts in this area didn't seem to be on high alert for anyone or anything, so it was safe to assume that they didn't have orders to bring him in right now. Hmm…Maybe Belos really was going to keep this whole thing a secret. He couldn't be too sure though, he still felt nervous about being here, out in the open, even if he was wearing a cloak to disguise himself.

Everyone decided to go to Bones Appetit for lunch, since it was the closest, but as the team started to make their way there, Hunter paused in his steps. He stared at the wall in front of him, then looked at the wall to his left, then behind him. No matter where he looked, posters with his face on it…no, not his face, the Golden Guard mask was staring back at him along with the words 'Join the Emperor's Coven!' He knew it was just a silly poster he'd seen dozens of times before, but that was before…That was before last night happened. Now, all Hunter could see was the broken masks of all the other guards…all the other Grimwalkers that Belos so mercilessly killed. All the Grimwalkers he created to fill their empty minds with his lies.

"Caleb? Are you-oh." Willow saw what Hunter was looking at and a very sad expression came to her face. "You guys go ahead, we'll catch up in a sec," she told the others, before turning back to Hunter and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Hunter stiffened and felt his stomach churn. He had to stay calm, he wasn't there, he was here with Willow, and everything was fine. Everything was fine, everything was fine…

He tried to ignore this sudden burst of panic and dread that he felt, but he couldn't. He knew coming to the marketplace today was a bad idea, he knew it! Hunter closed his eyes and sank to his knees, suddenly losing all strength in his legs. He heard some faint whispers in the background, several people wondering what was wrong with him, but ignored them. All he could hear right now was Belos' voice, his horrible voice. "I say, 'The Titan has big plans for you!' and he does what he's told. Unlike the previous attempts."

He was just being used. His whole life, his whole artificial existence, he and all of the other Guards were just being used.

"Caleb!" Willow exclaimed in alarm, quickly kneeling beside him. "Hey, hey, it's going to be okay. Just take deep breaths-that's it!" She took his hands in hers and led him through a quick little breathing exercise until he was able to calm down a little and open his eyes again.

Hunter quickly ran his sleeve over his eyes and stood up. His legs felt like jelly, and he had to partially lean against the wall, but he was up. "I-I'm fine," he said in a raspy voice. "S-sorry. Let's go catch up the-the others." He couldn't believe that he just collapsed there like that, and now he just felt embarrassed. If his hood wasn't still covering his head, Willow would have been able to see his ears brighten red. He took a step forward, but only stumbled instead. Willow quickly caught him though, and maneuvered his arm around her to help support him.

"Woah, careful! Do you need to sit down?" she asked with a tight frown. "We can have lunch with the others another time, you don't have to pretend like you're 'fine' right now. Maybe that's how you did things in the Emperor's Coven, but you're not there anymore."

"I…" She was right. When was she not, really? He'd always had to hide anything that could be considered a weakness, so he was used to lying about his feelings. He even lied to himself, sometimes…It was easier that way. Well, maybe not easier, but it was better. Hunter shook his head. He let out a bitter laugh. "I'm not fine. There, I said it." He looked at the poster. "I can't even look at the mask anymore without…" Without being reminded of the others-of Belos. "I just…It's hard right now…I don't even know who I am anymore. What I am."

Willow led him over to a bench, and he sat down, before burying his face in his hands and sighing. "There has to be information on what a Grimwalker is somewhere, right? I-I don't really want to find out more, but I do at the same time? I know it doesn't even make sense, I know, it's just…"

"...A lot to deal with right now?"

Hunter looked up and saw Willow smiling gently at him. "Yeah. I-I think I'd still be freaking out about it, but I don't think it's fully sunk in yet. It…It still just feels like one big nightmare…Like it was horrible, but it just doesn't feel real yet." He tugged on his hood and pulled it down a little more so his eyes were covered. "And I…I don't know what I'm going to do when it does feel real." He hated how his voice cracked at the end.

Willow patted his knee. "Well when that does happen, you won't have to figure that out alone! I'll be here, and I know the rest of the team will be too."

He wouldn't have to figure it out alone, huh? That would be a first. Hunter almost smiled at that.

They sat there for a couple of minutes, both silent. Then, "Do you still want to have lunch with the others or do you want to go back home?"

Hunter sat up straight and looked at her. He thought for a moment, before shaking his head. "Maybe another time, but I think I just want to be alone right now." He just hoped the others wouldn't be mad. Did friends get mad at canceled plans? He wasn't sure, but they didn't bring up him ignoring their texts for a week, so he hoped they wouldn't be mad about this either. He just…Wasn't in the mood to socialize anymore right now. It seemed like a good idea to invite them to hang out earlier, but now…now he just felt too drained. He just wanted to go back to Willow's house and curl up in a blanket for the rest of the day, to be honest.

"Okay," Willow said, standing up and giving him a half-smile. "I'll go let them know we're leaving then. Do you want to say goodbye?"

Hunter shook his head. He felt like a crappy person for not wanting to, but he was afraid that the others might try to talk him into staying if he did. He already felt like he was doing horribly in the whole 'making new friends' thing, but he could worry about that later. He just needed to get out of here.

Willow left for a minute, and Hunter watched as she walked over to Bones Appetit, where Gus, Skara, and Viney were waiting outside. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but when Willow was done talking, he was a little surprised to see that they all looked at him and gave him matching looks of concern. He quickly turned his head away to make it seem like he wasn't paying attention. He felt a slight blush crawl its way up his cheeks. Did he see that right? They looked concerned instead of angry or annoyed, did he see that right?!

It really was a new feeling to him, having people care. First Amity back in Eclipse Lake, then Luz last night, then Willow and the rest of the team…Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing being away from the castle, after all. Belos didn't even want him to have any type of relationships outside of the castle before, but now here he was, surrounded by friends who were worried about him even though he was ruining their plans.

The Emerald Entrails were pretty great. When Hunter first met them, he called them the best and the brightest. Now, with them again today, he thought the same thing.

Hunter and Willow headed back soon after, and once Hunter was inside her house again, he set his bag of new clothes down and took off his boots. He unclasped his cloak and set it aside, then he picked the bag up again and immediately rifled through it before pulling out the yellow hoodie and one of the pairs of pants. He quickly changed into them, extremely glad to finally be out of his uniform, and then sat down on the couch with a long sigh. He leaned back into the soft cushions and glanced over at Willow, who just came out of the kitchen carrying two glasses of water, one of which she gave to him.

"Are your dads at work?" he asked after taking a sip of water.

"Yeah. They'll be home in a few hours though."

Hunter only hummed in reply.

"Did you try all of your new clothes on? Did they fit?"

"They did. Thanks, uh…Thanks again." It really did mean a lot to him. It was weird, wearing normal clothes for once, but it was nice. Now he could get rid of his old uniform and do his best to forget about being the Golden Guard. It would be impossible to forget, of course, but he could stubbornly try.

There was another few minutes of silence, Willow understanding that Hunter wasn't much in a chatty mood right now, but then she fidgeted in the chair she was sitting in across from him.

"What is it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hm?"

"You look like you want to ask me something."

"Well…" Willow pushed her glasses up and twirled a strand of her hair, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with him. "You know how you need a place to stay more…long-term?"

A slight frown came to his face, but he nodded. He was afraid for this topic to come up, mainly because he had no idea what he was going to do.

Willow continued. "Luz…Told me that her offer for you to stay at the Owl House still stands. Eda's more than okay with it, and…They're both really worried about you. They know you need a place to stay, and, well…What do you think? I know it's probably not your idealistic solution, but…" She looked at him hopefully.

Hunter gulped and looked down at his lap. Flapjack flew over and perched right next to him on the couch. He didn't understand why Luz and the Owl Lady were being so kind to him, after everything he'd done. He didn't feel like he deserved their help. Wouldn't he just get in the way? Would it really be okay for him to stay there? He didn't know. He wanted to scream right now, he wanted to scream into a pillow because he just felt so incredibly uncertain about everything right now, and he hated it. But…What other options did he have right now? It wouldn't hurt to at least try it out, right?

"I-" but before he could even start his sentence, there was a sudden knocking at the door. A slow, careful knock. Hunter and Willow glanced at each other, before Willow summoned Clover into a staff and held it defensively in front of her. They both knew that whoever was at the door could be completely harmless, but there was also the chance that they could be a threat. Hunter wasn't safe for the time being, and for all they knew, someone in town could have spotted them and followed them here.

"Stay behind the corner," Willow whispered to him, and Hunter nodded nervously, taking a few steps back. He felt like a coward right now, but he was scared. He'd been scared walking through town, and he was still scared here. Heck, he'd probably be on edge until Belos was gone for good, if that ever happened. Flapjack flew into Hunter's hands, now a staff as well. Neither of them knew who was at the door, and the Parks weren't expecting anyone, so they had to be wary.

Willow spared one last quick glance at Hunter before wrapping her hand around the door handle, slowly opening it to peer at whoever was currently outside. Hunter watched as a confused frown came to her face, but he couldn't see who she was looking at.

"Aren't you-Darius?"