=Hunter's POV=
(Monday, 1/22/2018-12:00 pm)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Berkian Academy-Cafeteria)

Yesterday marked two weeks since the talk with Keith Strondsen, and after a lot of awkward topics…I was given his blessing to continue dating Nicole. I was honest with her father about my past relationship with Ashley, and the awkwardness that came up was him asking if I was sexually active. I reported not currently, but had sex in the past, with Ashley. I explained the breakup and how it was basically left unresolved and told him that I had no intention of sleeping with Nicole any time soon since we'd only been together for about a week. It's about to be a month now on the 23rd of January, which was tomorrow. I plan to take Nicole out on a date since I don't have practice and I took the night off work. I knew Nicole had almost had sex with one of her ex-boyfriends, but I didn't know about the other one she mentioned being a recent breakup and. She seemed very shy and nervous to talk about it, so I didn't pester or ask her to tell me. I was convinced something bad happened, I just didn't know what. Keith told me that he understood how teenagers worked with raging hormones, but if possible when a time came we considered going all the way, could the parents be in on it, just to ensure precautions were being taken.

It was an odd request, but how could I deny him? My dad knew I had sex, or had in the past. All he asked is that I keep condoms on me, and if it was happening at our house; to give a heads up so he or Glenn didn't have to be home to give them their privacy. I did admit all this to Keith, and he promised whatever we said would be kept between us. Keith liked and respected me, so I didn't want to give him reason to believe otherwise. He only asked that if Nicole and I were going to have sex; to do like I would for my dad, and let them know. So I guess that meant they wanted warning it would be happening, but also time to get Nicole prepared and speak with her about how it might go. I understood, I really did. I got the talk from Glenn, and my dad at the same time about puberty and all the changes I could go through. And I got the sex talk when I started dating Ashley. I admitted all this to Keith as well, so I guess he was more at ease about letting me date Nicole. I got the blessing to stay with her after promising that I would never hurt her, or do anything until she was ready.

I was also told that they were okay with foreplay because they knew that Nicole had done that already, but of course, to be mindful of where they were and to please send word if they were going to be at the Strondsen residence. With that, Keith gave me his cell phone number, and Ella's. He only asked that we get a bit into our relationship before jumping into that kind of thing. I gave my word to all his conditions and requests, then we headed back downstairs to join his wife and Nicole. I hugged her tightly and Keith informed that everything was just fine; I was invited to stay for dinner too. I went home around 8:30 pm as we had school the next day. I needed a shower and to wrap up some homework. It was a great day, and I'm glad it happened. I felt a lot better about dating Nikki now that her parents knew and I had their blessing to keep dating her. Of course, I revealed all this in a private Skype call with her later that same night. We had our headphones in, and kept our voices low. She apologized over and over again for her father's persistence and questions, but I said I didn't mind because of what I earned in being honest.

It was another day of school for us today; everything and everyone seemed to be good. We were in our second semester, and enjoying health class over gym now. Go figure that our biggest topic are sex, and everything accompanied with it such as STD's and pregnancy. Everything else was little like good personal hygiene, even puberty talks because some people went through it late and could still be going through it now. I, unfortunately, was one of those late bloomers…But never admitted to it when asked if anyone in the class dealt with it late. Because I would have been the only one who raised my hand, and I would have felt really embarrassed too. I hit puberty at fourteen; I know I'm still going through it. It's not all bad, I hit most of the worst through the beginning of high school, but still. I wouldn't have wanted to be the only one who said something. Or maybe there were others who were afraid like I'd been.

Right now, we're in lunch, with half an hour more to go. Nicole was working on the fourth Harry Potter book still, but joining in the conversations when needed. If she finished it this week, we could make it a movie night on one of the weekend days.

"So, babe…I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tomorrow night?" I asked Nicole when she broke from her reading to get a drink from her water bottle.

"I'd love to. Where are we going?" Nicole inquired.

"Wherever Milady desires," I smiled as I saw her cheeks pink a bit.

"Well, if it's my choice…Can we go to Hooligan's Diner?" Nicole wondered. "I know it's small and less fancy, but I like simple and I haven't been there yet. Heather tells me it's great."

"It's a really good place. My parents had their first date there back in…I don't even know without actually figuring it out. I think dad told me they met when she was eighteen, and he was twenty-three. Or maybe they met a little before she turned eighteen and held off dating until twenty-one? I can't remember. I know they went every year on the anniversary of getting together, and that's where he proposed too." I shrugged some. "But yeah, we can go there. I'll pick you up at 5?" I asked.

"Yeah, that should be enough time to get homework done and then head off." Nicole smiled.

"How much more of the book do you have to go?" I asked while eating a few of my chips.

"Couple more chapters. Definitely have it done by the end of the week." Nicole stated.

"Guess we'll be planning another movie night for this weekend?" I laughed a bit.

"Can't wait. I love our movie nights." Nicole said.

"Me too." I nodded as she leaned over and kissed my cheek before going back to reading. The time continued to tick by for when lunch would end and we'd get to our classes for the rest of the day. At some point, I closed my eyes. I kind'a wanted to sleep for a bit, but I had practice first. I was still dealing with a lot of fatigue, headache, being sore, and what not. I was getting short of breath, dizzy, and light-headed. I got random fevers, swelling in my ankles, the palpitations were happening more frequently too. Something new was the feeling faint, and another thing was that there was a slight blue tinge at the tips of my fingers. I've played it off that I was doing art stuff and it was only remnants of what I had used not washing off completely. The chest pain was becoming a little painful, and I still had a cough, but was keeping it down with cough and fever suppressants.

There was no need to make everyone freak out; I'm totally fine. I'm just busy and getting older. I never really rest unless I'm sleeping, so I'm good. Besides, if it were anything to worry about; I'd have been forced to the nurse or a doctor by now. Maybe I'd bring it up at my appointment in February, and just have it confirmed by my doctor that everything is all good. I don't need everyone to worry about me, I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself. I snapped out of my thoughts and opened my eyes when I got shoved hard and looked right to see Shane there.

"Dude, wake up!" Shane remarked.

"I am awake." I said.

"You weren't before and haven't been for the last twenty minutes, Hunter." Heather said.

"Yeah, you were out." Raelyn said chuckled with Travis.

I had fallen asleep? "You put your head down and just slumbered off, babe." Nicole informed softly. "The bell rang a few seconds ago and you were still sleeping. We tried to wake you lightly, but it wasn't working, so Shane shoved you." She added. I guess I had nodded off.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even realize that I fell asleep." I admitted.

They all looked at me funny. "Hunter, are you sure you're okay?" Ashley wondered now.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"You normally don't fall asleep in the middle of the day, much less ever at school." Fisher pointed out. "Unless you're getting sick again."

"No, no. I'm fine. Guess I was just comfortable. Let's get to class, before we're late." I got up, tossed my trash and walked with Fisher and Nicole to our next period. Thankfully reaching the room before the bell rang. I thought about what they said while sitting in class. I normally don't fall asleep at school. Like ever. I just needed to get a good night's sleep tonight, that was all. I'd be fully rested for my date with Nicole. Our one month anniversary of dating.

. . .

=Normal POV=
(Wednesday, 1/24/2018-4:45 pm)
(Berkian Academy Gymnasium)

Hunter and Nicole's date on Tuesday went great. They had a lovely dinner together and just talked about anything they could think of, the topic was mostly past birthdays since they basically shared one. Hunter's being the 28th of February, unless it was a leap year, and then Nicole's on the 1st of March. The two were discussing to possibly throw a join party on the 3rd or 4th of March as their actual birthdays were during the middle of the week, and Hunter had a game Saturday morning at 9 am, following the Friday night practice.

"Good job, great hustle, boys!" Dimitri called to them after the play was run, he was clapping his hands. "We got time for one more run. What play do you wanna try, Hunter?" He asked.

Panting a bit, but taking a drink from his water bottle; he thought about it. "I think we should try the modifications to Strike, Coach. It was sloppy against Meathead from back in December's game before the break. We changed it up a bit to make sure whoever makes that shot can't get crashed into like I did. Had I landed any differently, the injuries could have been worse." Hunter said.

"Yeah, I agree." Travis nodded.

"You couldn't hurt your back, ankle, or ribs more than you did. We're lucky it wasn't worse than it was, or it could have been a hospital trip." Shane added. "He's right, we should run Strike with the mods and see how it works. We're gonna be against Berserker and Murderous in the coming weeks and neither of them care much about a little physical contact."

"Well thought out, and very true. Alright, let's run it and then you can clean up and hit the showers." Dimitri stated. The boys got back into position and prepared to go on their coach's whistle to run the play. The other team got ready too. The whistle blew as they started things; it was going good and so far, working how they needed it too. However, just before Hunter went to score the basket, another his own team missed their footing on an untied lace on their sneaker. The male lost balance and knocked Hunter and he missed catching the ball; it hit him in the chest. Hunter couldn't even grasp it; his eyes widened as he let the ball bounce away and he gasped, trying to catch his breath. Everything got blurry to him as he panted.

"Hunt! Shit, I'm sorry, man…" His teammate quickly said. Hunter cringed and tried to stand up straight; he attempted to calm his breathing and let the guy know he was okay, but hell his chest hurt now.

"You good, Hunter?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm alright." Hunter replied.

"Good work, boys. We'll work in it again on Friday; hit the showers." Dimitri said to them.

"You sure you're good, Hunter?" Elijah questioned when he saw Hunter just standing there, blinking his eyes a little and then shaking his head. "Hunter?" He tried again. Hunter nodded and went to walk with the rest to the locker room. Unfortunately; it hit him hard and he just dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Hunter!" Devon yelled as he and Elijah hurried to him.

"Move, don't crowd!" Kyle demanded when the rest of the team was hurrying to get around Hunter and find out what happened. Jeremy got on his knees, checking Hunter's pulse on the neck and underside of his wrist.

"He's still breathing." Kyle confirmed once he checked to make sure Hunter hadn't stopped breathing.

"His heart rate is a little…Abnormal, but he was smacked in the chest with a basketball…" Jeremy pointed out. Hunter groaned a bit and shifted his head to the side before returning it back to it's position and working on opening his eyes. Once they were, Hunter blinked a bit to focus before bringing a hand to his head.

"Ow…What happened?" Hunter attempted to sit up, but Kyle and Jeremy helped him when he wobbled a bit and nearly fell back again.

"Woah, easy, Hunter…" Dimitri stated calmly. "Don't try to move too fast now…"

"What happened?" Hunter asked again.

"You knocked out, man." Shane told him as Hunter arched a brow. "Eli kept asking if you were okay, you tried to take a step and went down. You've been out for about forty seconds…"

"Guess that ball to the chest took it out of me." Hunter chuckled a little, cringing at the pain in his chest.

"Are you alright?" Devon questioned.

"Yeah, I think so." Hunter coughed twice. Yeah, that ball hitting him hurt a lot. "Yeah, I'm fine." He reassured as he forced himself to get up, making sure he didn't lose balance or seem like he was in pain. The last thing he needed was for his dad to be called and then not be allowed to drive himself home. Dimitri sent everyone to shower, and then they could leave. Hunter was coughing a lot in the shower; Shane and Travis were worried because they could hear it and heard Hunter mumbling about asking what was wrong with him, and that his chest still hurt and would likely bruise. One other thing they caught was him complaining about a massive headache so bad he couldn't see straight, and the nausea.

"I think we should tell coach…" Travis told Shane, as he nodded and they left to get back into the gym.

"Coach Bludvist…" Shane got his attention while he was talking to Kyle, Jeremy, Elijah, and Devon. Dimitri turned to face him, as the others looked too. "I think that hit Hunter took did damage."

"He said he was fine." Kyle reminded.

"Yeah, but you haven't been listening to him try to catch his breath from coughing up a lung for the past ten minutes." Travis rolled his eyes.

"And we heard him say his chest hurts when he tries to breathe, also that he's got such a headache it's make him nervous and unable to see clearly…I mean, I'm no medical professional here, but I think it took the wind out of him and maybe a concussion. He smacked the floor full force…" Shane informed.

"I have to agree… " Elijah nodded. "He looked out of it before he passed out."

"What do you suggest I do then? He's just going to say he's fine." Dimitri informed.

"Call his dad, or Glenn to drive him home. At least for tonight; I don't want Hunter to be the next student the school loses in a car accident…" Shane sighed.

"I will do that." Dimitri nodded, going to the office to make the call.

About twenty minutes later, Hunter emerged from the locker room while pulling out his keys from his backpack; only to have then snatched by someone. "Hey!" Hunter protested, seeing Glenn and his father there. "Um…Practice is over?" He mentioned. "And what are you doing here anyway?"

"Your coach called, and said you took a hard hit to the chest and passed out for just under a minute…" Spencer remarked firmly, hands on his hips.

"And I'm clearly up, walking, and fine…So?" Hunter pushed.

"Shane and Travis overheard you talking to yourself about still being in pain, that it hurts to breathe and your head hurt that you couldn't see clearly. So your coach called your dad to take you home, and I'll follow in the jeep." Glenn stated.

"Well, it was a basketball to the chest at full force and I smacked the ground…Of course it hurts, but I'm okay." Hunter said, yet knew he wouldn't win this. "But I know I'm not getting a say, so fine…" He muttered with a sigh, keeping his bag on his shoulder.

"Smart lad." Glenn chuckled.

"Thank you for the call, Dimitri." Spencer smiled.

"Anytime old friend. I hope you feel better, Hunter. See you Friday!" Dimitri said. Hunter just nodded, defeated, and left with his father to get outside and into his car. Glenn headed off to the lot to get Hunter's jeep from student parking, and then they were all headed back to the Haddock Household.

. . .

(10:30 pm)
(Haddock Home)

Getting home, Hunter got his keys back from Glenn and then went to his room to shower, again. He didn't like the school ones because there wasn't much heat when everyone used it at once. Plus, he didn't have his soaps or anything there, just the basic stuff. Hunter took his shower, and while drying off, messaged Nicole to let her know he was home, showered, and about to eat dinner but would call after to tell her how practice went. Sure enough, he did and she was worried about what happened, but Hunter assured that he was fine and felt great now that time had passes since the incident. The two talked until about 10 pm before getting off the phone. Hunter wrapped up his homework, brushed his teeth, took some pain killers and knocked right out on his bed. He desperately hoped that he would feel better tomorrow.