Welcome, Friend!

Coping

Rebellious

Hunter was sent out to go find Dexter.

To be fair, he more insisted he go find Dexter, despite Mrs. G informing him it would be best to leave him alone.

Hunter knew that wasn’t how Dexter worked.

He knew Dexter thrived off of attention when stressed, he had the need to be seen during those times.

But he also knew Dexter hated to make himself a “problem.”

So that’s why Dexter had ran off, probably to go sulk in his own feelings about what had happened.

Hunter glanced down at the sling that held his arm, a shiver running down his spin at the thought of how badly south it could have gone if Dexter hadn’t found him when he did.

He sighed and simply wandered, following the smell of Dexter.

He had grown to love the smell, having been around it for so long and it being attached to the boy he loved.

The smell got stronger, so he knew he was getting close.

But he also got a whiff of something…smokey.

It smelt awful.

It was almost like the smell of a skunk faintly, but Hunter knew it wasn't.

Hunter pushed through some branches and greenery of the forest, until he was greeted to the sight of his best friend.

With smoke traveling into the sky.

Hunter couldn’t help but frown.

He wordlessly walked over and sat down next to the vampire.

Just as he expected, there was a blunt in between shaky, beat up fingers.

“Hey,” Hunter said casually as he got comfortable.

It took Dexter a moment to respond, with him blowing smoke out of his mouth, he muttered a small, “Hey,” right back at him.

There was a beat of silence between them.

It was a beautiful sight before them.

Forest hills and mountain tops visible with the crescent moon lighting the clear night sky.

“Do you wanna…talk about it?” Hunter finally asked. He knew why Dexter felt so troubled.

“What’s there to talk about?” Dexter asked right back, almost seeming bitter, “My dad’s a killer, theres a war currently going on between the humans and monsters, and we got jumped by some old human fucks who thought we were satan himself. We’ve already discussed all of this a million times.”

Hunter frowned.

“Well,” He started, “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

Dexter sighed, “Not that I can think of, unless if you were to magically get unharmed,”

“Dexter, you do know it wasn’t your fault, right?” Hunter asked, “I mean, there was nothing you can do,”

“I could have been there,”

“No, no you couldn’t. You had a guy trying to hunt you down!” Hunter said, “It’s not your fault, it's no one's fault besides for the people who hurt us, Dexter…”

Dexter frowned, “It’s just- ugh- none of this should have happened! None of this would have happened if my fuck ass father had just accepted the times had changed and that we weren’t drinking human blood anymore!” Dexter put his face in his hands.

Hunter rubbed Dexter’s back.

There was another beat of silence as Hunter tried to silently comfort Dexter.

Hunter’s gaze went from the blunt in Dexter’s hand to how Dexter was wearing his jacket.

“Is that jacket yours now?” Hunter decided he would try to lighten the conversation up a little.

“Huh?- Oh shit- I forgot I was even wearing it” Dexter said as he looked down at the oversized varsity jacket.

“Did you forget to grab shoes too?”

“...Yeahh-” Dexter said, cracking a small smile.

Hunter smiled at that. He adored seeing Dexter smile, especially because of him!

“You should also know you shouldn’t be smoking while stressed or you’ll have a bad trip,” Hunter stated as he took up the blunt and pressed the butt to the ground to put it out.

Dexter sighed and rolled his eyes, “Whatever…I just need something to get rid of this stress,” Dexter muttered.

“I mean, I could try to distract ya for a bit!” Hunter suggested with a big smile, showing off all his sharp fangs.

The corner of Dexter’s lip tugged into a darling smirk, “I’d like that…”

Hunter got off the ground, offering his good hand to Dexter to help him get up. “Come on, Mrs. G and us were worried about ya when you ran off,” Hunter said as he pulled Dexter off the ground.

“Ah- How far away are we anyways? I uh- just sorta walked until I found this place.” Dexter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Not too far,” Hunter said as he grabbed Dexter’s hand, he didn’t miss how Dexter’s face seem to gain some color at that, “Come on let’s go,”

Dexter followed after Hunter.