Aiden was still clinging to him with his warm face buried deep into Hunter's chest, little sniffles leaving his nose every few seconds like the stubborn kitten he was.
And Hunter couldn't move. Not because he was tired. Not because the space was too small. Not even because Aiden was gripping him like he might vanish.
It was because something in his chest—his damn heart was aching. So much warmth was blooming there that it almost hurt.
He didn't understand this boy. Aiden had just seen the full reality of his life. And still, this beautiful idiot was holding him like he was the one that needed comfort.
He wondered when it all started.
Was it their first year of high school? When Aiden had screamed at his own group of friends just because they were making fun of Hunter? Or how he proudly told everyone that Hunter is his best friend from now on.
Or maybe it was the way their eyes always seemed to find each other in crowded rooms. How every time Hunter caught Aiden looking at him, his chest would fill with something light. As if all the darkness in his life couldn't reach him anymore.
Whenever he would heard Aiden giggle, he would forgot what he was supposed to be mad about. Whenever Aiden looked at him with those big, sparkly eyes full of mischief and something dangerously close to affection, Hunter would forgot all his pain, all his hunger, and all his stress.
And then one morning, without warning, Hunter opened his eyes and realized that Aiden had become the most important person in his life. Not just a friend or crush but everything.
His sunshine on the worst days, his warmth in a cold room and his calm during a storm.
And it was terrifying.
Because people like Aiden? They didn't belong in broken rooms like this. They didn't belong in places where the walls cracked and the ceiling leaked.
They belonged in light. In laughter and in safety.
Yet here Aiden was, crying for him, clinging to him, and trying to save him.
Hunter let out a quiet breath and gently cupped the back of Aiden's head, resting his chin on top of it.
"You really are something else."
Aiden sniffled and rubbed his red nose against Hunter's hoodie. "I'll t-take that as a compliment."
"You shouldn't."
"I will anyway," he grumbled, wiping his face into Hunter's chest like a damn child.
Hunter smiled a little. He could have all the money in the world and still never afford a heart like Aiden's. And yet, here Aiden was, handing it to him freely. Like Hunter was worth it.
God, how was he supposed to let him go now?
How was he supposed to protect someone so bright…without burning himself in the process?
But for now he held Aiden tighter. Because maybe love wasn't in big and loud confessions. Maybe it was in quite and heavy moments. And full of impossible warmth.
But it was also the kind of love Hunter knew he could never have.
Because Aiden was a star. He lit up every room he walked into without even trying, his smile was like the spark of something sacred, and his laugh the kind of thing people spent their whole lives trying to hear again. And Hunter…he lived in the shadows. In silence, in alleyways and broken rooms with water-stained ceilings.
Aiden had a home with polished floors and picture frames on walls. A mother who called him in for dinner. A warm bed, a fridge that was always full.
Whole Hunter had a mattress on a old creaking bed and locks he had to double-check twice before sleeping. He doesn't had a kitchen, his taps leaks, and silence thick enough to drown in. He was all bruises and broken things.
Aiden belonged to a world Hunter had only ever seen from the outside, behind glass like some lost kid at a toy store window. Aiden didn't know what it felt like to wonder if the lights would stay on, or to flinch every time someone raised their voice. He didn't know what it was like to grow up fighting for things other people took for granted.
So, Aiden standing in front of crying and begging him to go with him hurts more than anything. Because even now, with Aiden looking at him like he mattered more than anyone else in the world, Hunter knew this love would never truly be his. He could taste it, ache for it, even die for it but he couldn't keep it.
This love…it was like trying to hold sunlight in his hands which would slip through his fingers every time.
He clenched his jaw, trying to bury the ache deep down. He didn't want to ruin this moment, but it was already rotting from the inside.
And Hunter would never let him know. Because even if Aiden was willing to walk into Hunter's darkness, Hunter wasn't willing to drag him there.
He stared at the one person who ever made him believe love could be soft and warm. The one person who looked at him like he wasn't a mistake.
"Come here," He sighed and sat Aiden on his bed.
Aiden looked up at him through his watery eyes. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them with hid arms which made him look even more smaller and timid.
Hunter crouched in front of him, not sure what to say. His hands hovered awkwardly in the air before he finally placed them gently on Aiden's arms.
"Hey…" Hunter said softly, almost afraid of his own voice which might scared the precious boy. Aiden buried his face in his arms and shook his head. "Aiden…look at me."
"I just…I don't like this place. I don't like seeing you here."
Hunter gave a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the mood, though his heart was pounding. "I don't love it either. But I'm fine here, okay? I'm doing well now. I've got a job and I'm saving up. It won't be long before I get to a better place."
But Aiden just sniffled harder and turned his face away. Hunter felt like he was failing a test he didn't know how to study for. He sat beside him with a tight heart and reached up to gently cup Aiden's face, guiding it back toward him. Aiden's eyes were red and wet and far too bright for Hunter to handle.
He wiped the tears with his thumbs which were clumsy and a little shaky. "Hey, don't cry. You're gonna make me cry and I look ugly when I cry."
Aiden let out a broken laugh at this imagining Hunter's crying face which was somehow funny in his head.
But Hunter's smile faded as he took a shaky breath. "I'm gonna say some things now, and you're probably not gonna like them. But I need you to hear them, okay?"
Aiden looked at him, eyes confused and still leaking tears waiting for Hunter to speak. Hunter pulled back just slightly, needing distance from the ache inside him.
"Sometimes…sometimes, Aiden, things just don't work out. Even if you want them to. Even if they feel right."
"What are you talking about?" Aiden titled his head in confusion.
"I'm talking about this." Hunter gestured vaguely between them. "You and me. We come from two completely different worlds, Aiden. You live in a house with warm lighting and a fireplace and rooms you can get lost in. You've never gone to bed wondering if the roof was going to leak on your face. You've never had to figure out if you could afford dinner or the bus fare. See, how just seeing a tiny room you had a whole meltdown."
Aiden opened his mouth to argue, but Hunter held up a hand.
"And I'm not saying that makes you bad," he said quickly. "You're not. You're just…not me. You can't understand this life. And I don't want you to. I don't want you to have to live in a place where you hear people screaming next door at 2 a.m. I don't want you to see how dark it really gets here when the sun goes down. I don't want to drag you into my world, Aiden. Because no matter how much I care about you it's not fair to you."
He expected Aiden to finally get it. But Aiden just stared at him with a bewildered face. After a while as if something ticked his small brain he sobbed.
"…Are you breaking up with m-me even though we're not even dating?"
"What—?" Hunter blinked in pure disbelief and panic.