Gunner paused a moment and looked down at Hope's hand that was on his
arm. He'd never noticed how light and caring her touch was before. "I
know," he responded quietly. Whether he was thinking straight or not, he
knew Hope meant it, and he knew that she could force his hand if need
be. She and Con had done it before. And the funny thing was, somewhere
deep down, that was a comfort in a strange sort of way.
Turning
back to the mess, he let Hope see herself out. And after she'd gone, he
continued to clean up. These were documents and records that should
have been thrown away long ago. They were things that others would have
assumed he'd thrown away the last time he'd tried to get rid of his
obsession. But he hadn't. He'd kept them in the back corner of his
closet, unbeknownst to anyone else.
Once the mess was
back in the box, Gunner knew he should go to work like he'd told Hope he
would. But after a shower and getting into clean clothes, the
exhaustion was enough to send him to his bed. Lying down in the company
of his pillow, he tried to regain some energy. He needed to go to work.
He needed to meet Bree for lunch. Yet neither was enough to get him up.
He
would call Bree and cancel their plans for today, saying he didn't feel
well, but was fine enough that she shouldn't worry. And he would not
return to work as planned. Instead, he would sleep a restless sleep,
holding himself on the brink of something darker than he wished to think
about...
...It was after midnight. Everybody was gone,
except Ty and Hal. It would seem unusual for Gunner to come to work at
this hour, but for a man who had slept most of the day, being wide awake
at home was less than fulfilling. It wasn't Elite work that he was
after though - just the use of his computer and records.
And
in the morning when others would arrive, he would go relatively
unnoticed in his cubicle, having fallen asleep at his desk, surrounded
by papers and photos of suspects he'd dug up.
"What? And have you cook your own meal?" Jared smirked as he watched Grace work on his legs again. "I'd say having you over to dinner for the first time is a good enough reason to make sure you don't have to work at all."
He bit his lip as a new and painful spasm hit his lower back. "I'll, um...think of something," he reasoned." He threw her a coy grin. "That's what I do best, you know. Fly by the seat of my pants."
Having been roused from a light nap by his phone, Hunter laid on his couch as he answered Katie's call. He couldn't help his surprise. "Wow, really?" He'd been sure Kyle would have turned her down flat. "That's...that's good."
Right? This was what he wanted, wasn't it? A chance? Now that it was a reality though, a bit of fear surfaced. What if, despite his efforts, Kyle still said no? What if he still wanted nothing to do with Hunter, even if he did try to show he'd changed? And what about Alice? How did she feel? Did she have as much distrust for him as did her fiance?
Realizing he'd paused the conversation, Hunter cleared his throat. "Um, so yeah, I'd like to go. Thanks for setting it up." He glanced out the window to the afternoon sunshine. "How about I pick you up after work?"
It was a perfect day for a motorcycle ride, providing a good excuse to pick Katie up on his bike. And a few hours after their phone conversation, they were headed just out of town, Hunter quite comfortable with Katie's arms around him...
Kyle sighed and nodded at Alice. "Yeah...yeah, everything is okay, I think." He pocketed his phone and stood to wander over behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and setting his chin on her shoulder. He gave her a loving squeeze and a light kiss to the cheek.
"That was Katie. She wants to bring Hunter to the wedding as her date, so...I said he could come out here today and talk." He let Alice go, moving around to see her face. "I hope that's okay with you. I didn't feel comfortable just saying he could come to the wedding. Katie seems to think he's the cat's pajamas, but I'm just not so sure. He's got a lot of talking to do before I'd let him back into our circle of friends..."
Hunter knew the way to the estate, though it did take a little thinking to take the right roads. It had been many years since he'd been here...with Kyle...as kids...as best friends. There had been many a time he'd been invited to come out here with the family for a grand backyard campout or even birthday parties. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Arriving at the long driveway, Hunter pulled to a stop and just stared across the rolling lawn. He remembered being impressed as a kid with how neat the place was, but now, to think that this was Kyle and Alice's home...it was rather overwhelming. He could only imagine how they would creatively use the size of the estate for church events and for the band. It was much too big of a house for just two people, but knowing their hearts, Hunter knew that this place would most likely get put to good use. Most couple starting out would have very little - Kyle and Alice had certainly been blessed, that was for sure. And it might take just a bit of doing to not be too jealous.
Hunter reached back and gave Katie's let a pat before continuing on up the driveway. His nervousness only increased, and he hoped he'd made the right choice by coming. Parking near the garage, he let Katie get off first before dismounting and taking off his helmet. Looking around the place, it felt just a little smaller than it had when he'd been a kid, but it was still big enough to be impressive. "Well..." He looked at Katie, the nervousness showing in his eyes. "Here goes nothing." Taking her hand, he aimed for the walk that led to the front door.
Inside, Kyle had just sat down to another glass of lemonade, hot and sweaty from having been working outside all day. It was worth it, but he was pretty worn out. "So I was thinking-" His sentence to Alice was cut off by the doorbell. Quirking an eyebrow, he bristled just a little. "And I would imagine that would be our guests."
Mustering up his gumption, he rose from the kitchen table. Answering the door, his eyes first went to Katie and he smiled. "Hey, K.T." He reached out to tweak her chin teasingly. "Good to see ya." Seeing Hunter's arm around her, on the other hand, did little for his enjoyment. He glanced up at Hunter next, locking eyes with him. At least he was clean shaven and sober this time. "Hunter."
Hunter swallowed hard. "Hi, Kyle. Thanks for...well, I... um..."
Kyle stepped back and gestured inside. "Come on in." Following them inside, he hollered ahead to Alice. "Hey, Alice? How about showing Katie around?" He'd just as soon get Hunter alone before being a chummy foursome.
All Hunter had time for was an awkward nod hello to Alice before he and Kyle were left alone...which was pretty awkward in itself. He hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets and rocked on his heels nervously. "Um...thanks for letting me come out here."
"Yeah." Kyle wandered to the living room where he took up a seat in one of the chairs. "Katie said she wants to bring you to the wedding."
"Right." Hunter eased down on the couch, just sitting on the edge and leaning his elbows on his knees. He studied Kyle's face, seeing distrust written all over it. "She does, and...I'd like it too, but...I'd understand if you said no."
Kyle remained silent, just looking Hunter over. What had the years done to them?
Hunter cleared his throat. "Look, Kyle, I'm sorry." The words came out easier than he'd thought they would. "I'm sorry for being a rotten friend when we were with Break Out, I'm sorry for losing touch 'cause I was jealous, and I'm sorry for hitting you the last time we met." He sighed deeply. "And I'm sorry for anything else I forgot to mention."
Kyle's eyes softened just a little. "Why, Hunter?"
"Why what? Why am I sorry?"
"No. Why did you turn into someone else? What happened?"
Hunter shrugged lamely, his leather jacket creaking with the movement. "I dunno. I just...guess I lost sight of what was important. I was jealous you got Alice. Then I felt left out and abandoned with Break Out - sorta relived the whole abandonment thing from my dad, I guess. After that, one thing led to another and I just got farther and farther off the right path."
Was he really as repentant as he sounded? Kyle just wasn't sure. "Well, for what it's worth, you look better today than you did the last time I saw you."
"You mean sober?" Hunter grimaced. "Yeah...I've, um...I've been working on that. Kinda hard to hit the bottle when you got somebody like Katie to pay attention to."
"Oh?"
"Well, yeah." Hunter blinked, seeing the question on Kyle's face. Then his eyes widened. "But it's nothing...I mean...we're not...I'm..." He stopped and rolled his eyes. "Look, Katie's been good for me, alright? She's helped me get my head on straight again and I think we got something good going. I know you think I'm a jerk, and you're right - I was. But I'm trying really hard not to be and I just..." His sentence trailed off as quite suddenly he was hit with a wave of emotions. His eyes dropped and he took a moment to regain control. "I just want to be friends with you again. I don't have many friends any more since I've been trying to avoid the rough crowd lately and...and I miss my best friend." He shrugged again. "I know your friendship is too much to ask for, but...I figured it was worth a shot."
Kyle couldn't help it that his heart was touched. He couldn't help but hear the sincerity in Hunter's voice, even if he didn't want to believe it. But was he really ready to let Hunter back into his life? "I'm...sorry things have been so rough for you. I wish I would have known you took the Break Out thing so hard so I could have done things differently. I wish I would have tried harder to stay in touch."
"Naw, nothing was your fault."
"Not even Alice?"
"Well..." Hunter looked back up as the first grin came to his lips. "Maybe that was your fault. But it looks like it was meant to be after all. I mean...look at all this..." He chuckled. "Imagine you, having this place, having your own band, getting married...It's like all the pieces just fell into place for you. I gotta admit, I'm still a bit jealous, but it's hard to be bitter when I see how good things are turning out for you."
Kyle cocked his head. "You really mean that?"
"Yeah...yeah, I do."
Another sigh surfaced as Kyle stood. Hunter automatically stood as well, and Kyle gave him a good long look. It was hard to turn someone away when they were obviously trying very hard to repair things they had damaged. And even though Kyle hadn't wanted to believe Katie that Hunter had changed...unless he'd lost all skill for reading people, it was true - Hunter really was trying, and really had changed from the drunk guy who had slugged him. "You gonna cause trouble at my wedding?"
"No." Hunter shook his head. "And I won't even object when given the chance...'cause any good reason I could come up with would just show what a stupid guy I am."
Kyle finally grinned. "You're not stupid. You're just a bit of a knucklehead sometimes."
"Yeah, well...I guess I'm a slow learner."
"Mm-hmm..." Kyle set his hands on his hips and let another pause linger before speaking again. "I accept your apology, Hunter. And...as long as it's okay with Alice, you can come to the wedding."
Hunter let out the breath he'd been holding.
"But..." Kyle held up a finger. "Should you cause any trouble at all..."
"I know, I know." Hunter raised his hands in surrender. "You'll kick me in the head and I won't even fight back."
"I mean it."
Hunter's hands dropped. "I understand. If I were you, I'd be leery too. But I really am gonna try to be a better friend, if you'll let me."
"Oh...I think maybe I can. Come on." Kyle headed for the back door.
"Where are we going?"
"I think the girls are out back. You want to say something to Alice, too, don't you?"
Hunter really hadn't thought about that, but he knew it was only right. He owed Alice as much of an apology as he'd given Kyle, no matter how awkward he felt. "Yeah..."
Kyle found the girls out on the back patio and offered both a smile. "Hey, you two. Seen all you can see yet?"
Hunter joined them, choosing to stand rather close to Katie and giving her a look that was something like a cross between sheepishness, relief and awkwardness.
"Alice..." Kyle set a hand on her shoulder. "I told Hunter he can come to our wedding, as long as it's okay with you."
