[TW: Mentions of blood]

Hunter's POV:

As the days went by, I felt I was really building a connection with Luz and her friends. They had started inviting me to sit and eat lunch with them and that quickly turned to us all hanging out after school too.
I was so happy with it, finally I was able to fit in with people around my age just like Darius had said. I was finally proud with myself and my accomplishments.
And even though the beatings from my uncle were getting more and more painful, it was worth it.
But one day, after the first beating of the day, I went back to my bedroom. I had quickly cleaned up my face from the blood and then sat around until I got a ping in my scroll.
I opened it up to find a notification from... Willow! I felt my face flush red even though I couldn't fully understand why but quickly pushed the feeling away and read the message:

Willow:
Hey Hunter, would you like to go the Bonesborough carnival with me, Gus and Lumity?

I felt my heart skip a beat after reading through it. Willow invited ME to a carnival?!
I felt so thrilled and so I decided to text back:

Hunter:
YeS pLeaSe

I'm still really embarrassed by the fact my typing is so terrible but I didn't let that stop myself from having that warm feeling inside.
So I got dressed out of my school uniform a grabbed hold of my cardinal staff. I quickly texted Darius to tell him I would be off and then jumped out of the window and flew to the carnival.
Once I was there, I walked up to the entrance immediately to find my four best friends. Luz and Amity were chatting while Gus was looking out into space but then I saw Willow.
She was staring at me with a smile on her face. The black haired girl was wearing a beautiful orange and yellow dress with a blue ribbon and brown boots. Willow looks so beautif-
WAIT WHAT AM I SAYING?!
Anyway, I ran up to the gang and we chatted for a few minutes before entering. Willow took hold of my hand as we walked along and it felt so nice. Her hand seemed so smooth although I couldn't properly tell because I wear gloves all of the time-
"Hunter, why are you still wearing your gloves?" Willow asked, beaming at me with her sage green eyes.
I felt lots of sweat flow down my forehead as if it was a waterfall.
"Oh uhhhhh-" I stuttered.
Luz and Amity could sense something was going on so they both looked over at us, which just made the situation worse for me. Willow's smile quickly turned to a frown as if she had been thinking she was being nosy and let go of my hand.
I continued stuttering until we heard Gus calling us,
"Guys! Let's go on the roller ghoster!" He said, pointing at the carnival ride.
"Okay let's go!" Luz replied, grabbing Amity's hand and then running away with her.
Me and Willow stood there awkwardly until I saw she look at me.
"Sorry for the question earlier," She apologised, "Let's just forget what I said and go and have some fun!"
I felt a smile creep onto my face and quickly nodded in response. We locked our hands together again and caught up with the others.
But as I sat down on one of the carriages, I started to feel really anxious again. I had never been on a roller ghoster before and it looks like it goes up... quite high.
Willow could sense I was nervous and gave me a warm smile.
"Don't worry Hunter, it looks scary but I know it's safe!" She reassured me, "I can hold your hand the whole time if you want?"
"Y-yes please!" I replied, my voice sounding more eased.
We locked hands again and then the rude started...

---

After the ride, I felt like throwing up. I had only just had food like an hour ago and it all felt like coming out again after all of the bunps and curves of the ride.
But as we lined up in a queue to get the pictures that were taken on the ride, I could here sniggering behind me. I turned around to see Luz and Amity with smug smiles on their faces.
"What?" I asked.
"Nooooothing!" They replied in unison.
We all went up and got our photos but after I heard Luz say to Willow,
"It it okay if I can just have a quick private chat with Hunter?"
"Yeah sure! I don't see why you need permission from me though," Willow replied.
The Latina girl smiled back at her and then took my hand before dragging me behind one of the booths.
"Alright, what do you want?!" I asked.
"I can tell you like Willow," She said very straight forwardly.
I felt my face go red all over, similar to how Amity's face does when she sees Luz.
"What do you mean?" I asked, full of confusion.
"You two hold hands all the time, make jokes with each other and you seem a lot more comfortable with her than with the rest of us! Similar to like how I feel with Amity!" She explained.
"Oh, so is that what it means to like someone?" I came to the realisation.
"Pretty much yeah!" Luz responded.
I turned away and tried to process everything. I thought me and Willow were just friends, but I guess my reactions to seeing her were more than just platonic...
"And that's why you should give her a kiss!" Luz said with a smug smile.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"To tell if you really like someone and to make your feelings clear, a little kiss on the cheek is all you need to do! Amity did it to me and that's how we started it all off!" She explained, saying it was like no big deal even though it was.
I mean, the idea sounded nice... but then I started having doubts,
"But what if she feels uncomfortable?" I asked.
"I'm sure she won't!" Luz replied, "Now go and give it a go!"
I nodded reluctantly and then we walked back over to the rest of the gang who had been waiting for us. Luz informed her girlfriend of the plan and her reaction was a mix of smugness and anger.
Either way, it looked scary...

---

After we went on a few more rides, we decided it was getting late and decided to head to the food stalls to get something to eat.
Once we had gotten our food, we started eating and chatting again. It was all well and nice until the sky had started getting darker and I started feeling eyes on me again.
I looked over to see Luz and Amity were staring at me, signalling it was time. I felt so uncomfortable, but I knew I had no choice.
"W-willow, could w-we speak in p-private please?" I turned to the girl sat beside me and asked.
"Uh yeah, sure!" She replied, her voice sounding a little skeptical but in no way unwilling.
We got up and out of our seats before heading behind one of the booths.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Willow asked.
I started stuttering and sweating heavily again. I felt eyes on me once more like Lumity were watching us and it felt all too overwhelming.
The black haired girl beamed up at me and I felt she was too innocent and undeserving of someone like me, but I just wanted it over with.
So, I took a deep breath, and then leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were so soft and I wanted to stay in the position forever, but nothing can ever last forever.
After I leaned back, I felt my face feel all flustered, which probably meant that I did like her. And she was blushing heavily too, which meant she probably liked me back.
But then, she turned away.
"I-i n-need to go," She mumbled and started walking off.
I didn't understand what was going on so I tried to catch up with her. I put my hand on the back of her shoulder but she quickly swiped it off.
She stared at me in a look I had never seen her give me ever before as tears began forming in her beautiful green eyes.
Willow then turned back around, running away with her tears falling to the ground ad she continued crying.
I didn't get it until I realised something-
I had kissed her on the lips... not on the cheek... oh no, that's what people who are in a relationship do!!!
The rest of the gang had obviously seen her crying and then caught up with me.
"What's happening?" Gus asked, being the only one put of the four of us who didn't know anything about the plan.
I wanted to tell him, but it felt too embarrassing. Tears started forming in my eyes but I quickly tried to cover them because after all...
Crying is showing weakness...
I took hold of Flapjack's staff and then shortly after, flew away...