Drunken Company

As Misty leaves to go to the kitchen, Alec slowly pries himself from the couch to stand. His body ached, and he knew it wasn't from the work he was doing - it was just from stress. Looking at his palm, he studies the stitches and the wound that had been itching all day. He hoped she'd agree to take the stitches out later.

Padding to the kitchen in his bare feet, he rubs his eyes with the heel of his hand in an attempt to make them feel better. Just waiting and watching for a few minutes until Misty has everything spread out on the counter, he joins her to build a sub.

Taking advantage of the array of food items, he really wasn't sure what he thought would taste good right now, but he'd just pile everything on and find out. As he lays some cheese on, he gives Misty a sidelong glance as she makes her own sub. 

He had a question... and he was pretty sure he knew the answer... but he hadn't seen too much around here to prove it. It seemed to be pretty obvious anyway, but it would be nice to know for sure so he didn't say or do anything stupid. 

"So, um..." He clears his throat. "You and Jason... You guys just hanging out all the time or... are you dating?" 

Sitting on the top rail of the pasture fence, Hunter feels the buzz in his pocket. Retrieving his phone and seeing Katie's message, he sighs. He really didn't want to talk. 

After finally recovering from being sick earlier, he'd taken a shower then had gone to find Sparky and help exercise some of the horses. It hadn't gone so well - he'd had trouble with a couple of the horses and though Sparky hadn't gotten mad, Hunter at least felt displeasure with his own performance. He hadn't had a bad day since he'd come - but today, everything seemed to be going wrong. Even when he'd tried to clean some stalls, he'd accidentally let one horse loose, then later had somehow lost control of the wheelbarrow and spilled manure all over the place. And on top of all that, eyes had been on him all day. No one asked him any questions - no one even treated him any differently. But they were watching him. Wondering. Hunter couldn't tell if Katie had told anybody what had happened or not. But it was obvious that they at least knew they'd shown up this morning from being somewhere else. What did they think of him? Did they think he and Katie had been up to no good? Did they think he'd been getting himself in trouble - which would be partially true? 

All in all, running on adrenaline alone, with nerves shot to boot, Hunter found himself unable to do anything right and unable to stand the stares any longer. He'd retreated to the pasture instead of joining Eric to cut down some brush. And now... Katie wanted to see him. 

Looking at his phone again, he weighs his option. He didn't want her to be mad at him. He felt stupid and guilty for earlier. He didn't want her to think less of him... but that would be nearly impossible. He knew good and well that his stunt had lost him some respect at least. Never before had that bothered him. Never before had he cared. And now... after being here for such a short while... couldn't he do what he wanted anymore? What was it about this place that made him feel guilty? He didn't like it, and he was starting to wonder if it was this place alone that was giving him nightmares. He loved it here during the days and he'd had a blast - more so. But the nights were terror and he hadn't had any problems until coming here. It was a conflict he didn't understand but maybe he didn't need to. 

Finally sliding down off the fence, he pockets his phone and wanders in the direction of the tree. It takes a few minutes, but eventually he does come, approaching slowly.

Stopping just a couple feet away, he hooks his thumbs in his pockets and looks down at Katie wearily. "Your drunken company has arrived..."