Two days later, I am true to my word. I stand outside the O’Connor’s front doorstep, contemplating whether or not to knock. I don’t see Anthony’s care in the driveway; I’m assuming he’s not here – or more like I’m hoping.

I manage to raise my fist and knock on the door. After a few minutes, the door swings open. Hunter stands in the doorway, wearing nothing but red and black-plaid pajama pants. He looks half-asleep – why? it was already past noon – and he has to blink for a few minutes before he notices me standing there.

“Autumn?” he exclaims, his voice heavy with sleep. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He grabs my arm and pulls me inside.

“I needed to talk to Leda,” I explain quietly as he shuts the door behind me. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“You couldn’t have just called? Didn’t I tell you not to come around here anymore?” As soon as he says this, I feel the urge to break down into tears. I didn’t like the way he was talking to me – the way he sounded so angry and disappointed.

I fucking hated it.

“I’m sorry…” I say, my voice breaking. “I wasn’t thinking… I…” But before I can continue, he’s engulfed me into a hug. It’s quite possibly the best one I’ve ever had – even though he was completely shirtless, he was still really warm.

“It’s okay,” he whispers, rubbing my back soothingly. “I understand you’re still really confused right now.” I nod. “Do you want me to take you to see her?” I nod again, and he pulls away. He laces his fingers in mine and leads me down the hall towards Leda’s room.

Hunter knocks softly on the bedroom door. He doesn’t get a response, but he opens it anyway. Leda is lying on her bed, staring at the screen on her iPhone. She looks like she hasn’t gotten sleep in days – her eyes were more sunken into her skull, and she looked even thinner than usual, if that was even possible.

He has to clear his throat to get her attention. Her head snaps up, and as soon as she sees me, a look of relief washes over her face.

“Oh my…” She practically throws the device onto the floor, before making a few majestic leaps over to me. She stands in front of me for a moment; both of us are shaking. “Autumn…!” she cries, throwing her arms around me.

I hug her back tightly; sobs ripping through my body violently. I hadn’t realized how much I really missed her – how much I really needed her.

Leda pulls away after a minute or two of us crying into each other’s arms. “I thought you weren’t talking to me anymore,” she admits quietly. I shake my head.

“Of course not!” I tell her. “I was just… Trying to come to terms with what had happened.”

“Autumn, I am so fucking sorry – you have no idea.” She lets out another sob and pushes her dark hair out of her face. “I wasn’t supposed to let him touch you… He wasn’t supposed to…”

“Leda!” I all but shout, and she stops. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault – Anthony was just too strong for the both of us.” She nods, realizing I’m right.

“Look,” Hunter speaks up. “As heartwarming as this little reunion thing is, Anthony’s not gonna be gone forever. In fact, if I had to guess, he’ll probably be back within the next twenty minutes.” Leda and I exchange nervous glances. “Leda, why don’t you pack a bag for the both of you? I can drive you up to Austin’s. You’ll be safe there.”

That wasn’t a part of the plan. The only one who knows where the O’Connor’s live is Matt; Gus is the only one who would jump to the conclusion that I’ve come over to talk to Hunter and Leda. No one knew where I was – I didn’t tell anyone before I slipped out.

But I go along with it anyway. Gus will probably figure it out – I didn’t doubt it.

“You can borrow some of my clothes, if you’d like,” Leda says as she begins gathering clothing off the floor. She throws them in a pile on the bed. “I’m sure some of it will fit…”

She’s immediately cut off by the sound of a car door slamming outside. Hunter runs his hands through his sandy brown hair.

“Shit!” he exclaims.

I look over at Leda, who has completely frozen up. She stands completely still, holding an old Sleeping With Sirens tank-top in her hand. Hunter steps forward and snatches it from her hand before picking up a duffel bag off the floor and jamming everything she had gathered in it. I can hear the keys in the lock and I feel panic rise in my chest. He thrusts the duffel bag into Leda’s arms before grabbing both of our arms and dragging us out of the room and down the hallway.

He passes the kitchen, going further down the hall to an area of the house I’ve never seen before. At the end of the hallway is a door. He pauses at it, right as the front door slams shut. I can hear Anthony stomp his way down the hallway and I want to scream at Hunter to hurry and do something.

Right then, he throws open the door, pushing Leda and I through, and shutting it as quietly as he can behind us.

The back door leads to a small courtyard by the surrounding fence. He opens the gate and pulls us after him to where his truck is parked across the street.

“Get in,” he hisses. Leda makes me go first so I’m in the middle. Hunter puts the child lock on as soon as we’re all in; in case Anthony comes barreling out after us, I assume. He starts the engine and peels off down the street. Once we’re a good ten blocks away, the tension in the car slowly begins to evaporate and everyone begins to relax.

“You’re not wearing a shirt,” Leda points out suddenly. Hunter chuckles, and I can’t help but laugh a little as well. A couple seconds later, we’re all laughing; the fear of what just happened evidently dying down.

I lean back and close my eyes. When the car comes to a brief stop at a traffic light, Hunter reaches over and laces his fingers through mine, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

“It’s going to be okay,” I hear him murmur to himself. “I know it is.”

~

Austin is already waiting for us, it seems, when we arrive at his condo little less than an hour later. The second we step in through the front door, he runs up to Leda, wrapping her in a tight hug. It takes him a minute to look over at me, but when he does, he raises an eyebrow at me.

“Am I missing something here?” he asks, releasing her. Hunter places a comforting hand on my shoulder.

“Anthony got to her, too,” he announces quietly. Austin’s whole face seems to fall at this – he looks at Leda, and then over at me, as if looking for confirmation.

I’m almost sure the look on my face said it all for him.

“Oh my god…” he mutters. “Does Matt know?” I shake my head.

“I’m not living with Matt anymore,” I tell him. He looks confused, so I explain, “I’m living with my mom, instead. Things with Matt just weren’t working out for me.”

“Your mom?” But before I can reply, my phone, which is still safe in my back pocket, begins to go off – “Identity Disorder”by Of Mice & Men.

Gus’ ringtone – it was the only Of Mice & Men song he didn’t mind.

Austin looks slightly amused and I try to ignore him as I accept the call.

“Hello?”

“Oh, thank god – Autumn! Where the hell are you?” he shouts frantically on the other end. I pay no attention to the concerned looks Austin and Hunter are shooting me.

“I’m okay, Gus; calm down,” I tell him.

“Are you with those friends of yours?” he asks, now sounding a little calmer.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“God, Matt is livid. When Michelle called and told him that you were missing – why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “Gus, can you please just tell them that I’ll come home later? I just… I don’t know if I can handle facing any of them right now.” He goes silent for a minute.

“You’re lucky I love you, Tums.”

He hangs up.

“What was that all about?” Austin asks me almost immediately, frowning slightly at the phone in my hand.

“He was just worried,” I say. “That’s all.” He doesn’t look entirely convinced.

“What are we going to do about Anthony?” Hunter asks just then. I turn to look at him. “We can’t just let him get away with what he’s done.”

“I know,” Austin agrees. “But you know how things worked out the last few times. He’s just going to get away with it again; there’s nothing we can do.” Hunter looks like he’s about to cry. He runs a hand through his hair, looking between Leda and I apologetically.

“There has to be something we can do. He can’t hurt them again – and knowing him, he’s probably going to come after them.”

“Then they can just stay here,” Austin offers. “I’ve got plenty of room for the both of them.” He wraps an arm around Leda’s shoulders protectively.

“Are you alright with this, Autumn?” Hunter asks me gently. I nod, and he sighs before hugging me tightly. “You’re going to be okay. Austin will keep you safe.” He releases me, right before he plants a kiss on my cheek. He steps forward and ruffles Leda’s hair before waving to all of us and stepping out the door.

The three of us stand in silence for a minute. I can’t help but feel slightly stunned at the way Hunter had been treating me as of late; when he kissed me in his truck over a week ago, and today. And even though I could have sworn back at the beginning of the summer that I wanted nothing more than to be with Dillon, I could help but feel like maybe those feelings were just a stupid, ridiculous crush; and even though I felt similarly for Hunter, I also felt… different. Like maybe these feelings were more serious.

But why should I be thinking about dating right now, after everything I’ve been through?

“Autumn?” Leda grabs my arm gently. “Come on.” She begins pulling me gently in the direction of the guest room – her room. I send Austin a thankful nod as we pass, and in return, he nudges my shoulder gently.

“Let me know if you guys need anything, okay?” Leda sends him a quick thumbs up over her shoulder.

Once in her room, she shuts the door behind her and flops down onto the bed. I slowly sit down beside her and she closes her eyes.

“I’m really sorry this had to happen to you, Autumn,” she mutters after a moment or two. I hug my knees to my chest, allowing her words to sink in a little; allowing myself to try to be a little more empathetic about them.

“Like I said earlier,” I reply gently. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it is.” She sits up, staring me directly in the eyes. Her piercing blue gaze causes me to shiver slightly, but I don’t shy away like I know I want to. “It’s my fault Anthony got to you. I should’ve known that time I made you spend the night with me, that by the way he was looking at you, that he was going to try something with you. I just didn’t think…” Her voice breaks; she tears her gaze away from mine and presses the palm of her hands to her eyes to try and prevent the tears from spilling over. “I just didn’t think it’d be so soon. So sudden.” She sniffs before she finally looks up at me again. “I thought I could keep him off of you – away from you. But I guess Hunter was right; I couldn’t do it. And I am so fucking sorry.”

I grab her hand gently in mine. “I forgive you,” I promise her quietly. “Like I said, Anthony was just too strong for us. It would’ve happened eventually – you couldn’t have kept him away from me forever.” She nods sadly.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” She then lets out a small laugh. “You know Hunter talks about you all the time? Which is strange, because he doesn’t really talk much at all – you’re really something special.”

“I don’t know about that…” I reply nervously. I begin picking at my nails; they desperately needed to be cut.

“You are,” she insists, squeezing my hand slightly. “You may not know it, but you are. And you’re clearly doing something right if you’ve gotten Hunter to realize that.” I sigh and rest my head on her shoulder.

“Do you think that things will ever go back to normal? Like, the way they were before Anthony ever…?” She just shakes her head.

“Nothing will ever be the same, Autumn.”

“I know they won’t,” I say. “I just meant…”

“I know what you meant. And even if they do, it’s gonna take a real long time for that to happen.” She rests her head on mine. “But we’ll always have each other.

“No matter what.”

Notes

A/N: I think what I like most about writing is 99% of the time, the original story you had in mind gets totally fucked up along the way, so it's not even what you had originally planned. Like for instance, Austin was supposed to be in this story a hell of a lot more than he is. But oh well. I already wrote most of it.

Hope you all enjoyed

~WOLFY~