I looked like autumn had suddenly broken out the next day. The afternoon with Hunter the day before had left a mark on me. Literally. And not only one, but at least six, from what I could see.

Right now I cursed myself for allowing Hunter to give me a hickey, even though I knew that if he'd ask me again right now, I'd let him.

All over my neck were dark bruises that I definitely did not want my parents to see, so I had decided to wear a loop scarf along with a matching beanie in an attempt to conceal them. While they hadn't even looked twice, Nate hadn't believed that I was only wearing this because I felt like it and had quickly lifted the secret of my hidden marks. My ears were still ringing from his excited shriek.

There was a small mirror in my locker, one that had been left there by whoever had owned it last year. It came in handy sometimes. After glancing around to make sure no one was near, I pulled the scarf down to expose my neck. With a grimace I lightly poked a particularly dark bruise, wincing at the pain.

When I suddenly heard footsteps approaching me, I immediately adjusted my scarf and spun around.

"Admiring yourself?" Hunter teased with a smirk as he stopped next to me and leaned against the lockers.

I rolled my eyes at him, but there was a smile tugging at my lips while I gave him a once over. "Good morning to you too."

"Can I see?" Hunter asked curiously and pointed at my neck.

I nodded, laughing. Hunter's face lit up as he stepped closer and lifted the scarf over my head. He whistled approvingly and gently trailed a cold finger over the marks, making me shiver embarrassingly obviously.

"Proud of yourself?" I sarcastically asked.

Hunter shrugged, still grinning. "A little. Should I try to spell something out next time? Something like If found, hand back to Hunter Adams."

I scowled at him and took the scarf out of his hand. Pulling it back over my head, I said: "And who says there'll be a next time?"

Hunter raised a brow at me and chuckled. "Well, yesterday it didn't seem like you didn't enjoy it..."

My cheeks immediately heated up at the memory, but I mustered enough confidence to say: "What I mean is: Next time it's your turn." I was obviously joking; Hunter had expressed his distaste for hickeys and the like before, so I had no hope at permission to do so any time soon.

That was why I was so surprised when he just shrugged and said: "Sure, feel free."

"Are... are you serious?"

"Yeah, I don't mind."

I frowned at him and shut the door of my locker. "Okay, but I do. I don't want to do something to you that you're not comfortable with."

"What do you mean?" he said, sounding confused.

"You told me you don't like hickeys," I clarified. "So I'm not going to give you one."

"You got that wrong: I don't like hickeys from unimportant hook-ups. I wouldn't mind one from you... or a dozen, if you want to get even," Hunter laughed, gesturing towards my neck.

It was absolutely ridiculous how happy just that one sentence made me and I did my best to restrain the broad grin that threatened to take over my face. "I'll come back to that offer next time we're alone," I promised and was stunned to see that Hunter's breath actually seemed to hitch.

Before I could comment on that, Alexis skipped towards us and slung an arm around Hunter's middle. "Hey! You two look happy... what's that about?" she said, smiling brightly. She had curled her hair today and was wearing an extremely oversized hoodie that reached down to her knees and high boots.

Hunter grinned down at her and propped his elbow on her shoulder. "Hey, honeybee! Are you giving me that hoodie back anytime soon?"

Sticking her tongue out at him, she ran a hand through her hair. "Nate just blushed and nearly dropped his books when he saw me, so... I think I'm gonna keep it for a while."

"Well, you're not exactly making this easy for him..." Hunter said between laughter.

I mustered her curiously and asked: "What's going on between you two anyway, Alex?"

She shrugged casually, but there was a suspicious look in her eyes when she answered. "Nothing. What's there to be?"

"I don't know, I mean, Nate obviously likes you and-" I broke off when Hunter shook his head furiously and made a gesture as if cutting his throat with his hand.

The smile had vanished from Alex's face and she looked almost upset. "He doesn't like me," she said, not meeting my eyes. "For some reason boys tend to see me and think a few stupid pick up lines will be enough to make me hook up with them. But that's it. No one ever tried to get past that."

"But you're-"

"Pretty?" she asked, bitterness sounding in her words. "So I've been told. But I don't want to be just the dumb blonde beauty queen who's worth a night. I'm more than that, but no one seems to care."

I was silent, tempted to object and tell her that Nate was not like that, that he looked past her looks and the make-up. But then I decided that that was none of my business; it was theirs to figure out. I knew Nate well enough to be sure he wouldn't appreciate my help on this one. So I just said: "Alex, any guy who pays just a shred of attention will realize that you're more than that."

"See, even Jules noticed," Hunter said, twirling a strand of Alex's golden locks around his finger. "And he usually really doesn't pay attention to girls."

I narrowed my eyes at him, which he acknowledged with an unimpressed smirk.

Alexis chuckled, the gloomy expression suddenly gone. "Honestly, Jules, how do you put up with him?"

"Excuse you, Miss, who wouldn't want a piece of this?" Hunter asked in the same moment that I said: "Honestly? I have no idea."

"I see," Alex laughed, before she said, suddenly excited: "Oh, I nearly forgot! The shops start to sell prom dresses and suits today! I thought we could all go shopping together?"

I tried not to look too opposed since I knew that she had poured her heart into this year's prom's planning. "Uh, I don't think I'll go to prom to be honest."

Hunter and Alexis looked equally bewildered.

"What do you mean, you're not going? Of course you are!" she exclaimed.

"I'm not really into that stuff, you know..." I said, getting uncomfortable under their disapproving stares. "I would've come if I still was with Emily because she would've dragged me there, but..."

"Fine, then I'll drag you there," Hunter said confidently. "It'll be fun!"

A nagging voice in my head pointed out that the prom was still a few months away and I didn't even know if Hunter was still interested in me by then, so I just settled on shrugging vaguely.

"Come on, Jules, please," Hunter said and gave me puppy eyes. "You don't even have to be there with me if you don't want to. And you don't have to dance either. Just be there."

I tried to hold his gaze, but it soon became too intense and I directed my stare at my shoes instead. "Okay, fine. I'll be there," I groaned.

Hunter smiled happily while Alexis clapped her hands in excitement. "Awesome! So you're coming shopping with us today as well?"

"Sure," I sighed.

"Great, so that's settled. I'll meet you guys at Hunter's around five?"

After Hunter and I agreed, she walked off and only turned around once more to say, clearly amused: "By the way, Jules? Cold compresses help against hickeys."

I stared after her in shock, one hand flying to my neck and cussed quietly while Hunter burst out laughing.

+++

"Which one do you like better?"

I shrugged awkwardly and stared at both of the dresses that Alexis was holding. "Aren't they identical?"

Alex rolled her eyes at me. "No, this one is a way different shade of blue and has a different embroidery... plus, it has a lower neckline, see?"

"Alex, I honestly have no idea. You're asking someone who only ever wears five pairs of the same jeans and some worn out hoodies from Primark."

Behind me, I heard Hunter laughing quietly as he finally got out of his seat. We had been sitting in front of the fitting room for at least thirty minutes now, trying to give Alex advice on what dress to buy. "Try the left one on," Hunter said. "And give me those, I'll return them."

Alexis nodded and handed him the four dressed she had already tried on and ruled out before she disappeared behind the curtain again. Hunter winked at me as he walked past me to bring the dresses back to their hangers.

When he returned, I asked: "Do you often do this?" Hunter seemed strangely experienced, as if he was going shopping with Alex on a regular basis.

To my surprise, he nodded. "Mhm. We always go shopping together. Why do you think she has such good style? Only because of my brilliant advice."

"It's the other way around," Alex called out, barely muffled by the curtain.

"Shut up, woman," Hunter shouted with a grin.

The elderly woman walking nearby in that moment sent him an enraged glare, to which he replied with: "Sorry, granny, wasn't talking to you!"

The look of anger on her face got even more evident, so I felt obliged to say something. "Excuse my... friend, miss. He's still practicing respectful social interaction."

She squinted at me and pressed her purse closer to her chest. "Well, then tell your boyfriend to shut his trap!"

Before either of us even had the chance to say we weren't together, she was already gone. Hunter shrugged, chuckling quietly, and turned around just in time to see Alexis stepping out of her changing room.

Hunter and I gasped in unison as we stared at her. Next to Alexis, Cinderella would've paled. She looked like a princess out of a Disney movie; the baby blue fabric clung tightly to her figure, enhancing all the right spots. Her blond hair fell loosely over her bare shoulders and her eyes were shining just as brightly as the small beads scattered all over the dress.

But on her face there was a sour expression as she pulled the dress up to show off a little less décolleté. "This itches."

Hunter groaned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, eyeing her closely. "Don't worry, if you go to prom looking like that, you won't be wearing it for long."

One corner of her mouth quirked up at that, but she still didn't seem too pleased.

"You're looking stunning, Alex," I said. I briefly considered snapping a picture for Nate, but then I decided against it. The poor boy couldn't have a heart attack before he even got the chance to ask her out for prom.

She scrunched up her nose as she twisted in front of the mirror and said: "It looks alright, but I can't have two uncomfortable pieces of clothing. The high heels will be bad enough, but an itching dress, too..."

Hunter shook his head, chuckling. "You'll figure it out. Jules and I will be on the second floor looking for suits then, okay?"

She nodded and ushered us away with a wave of her hand.

Hunter walked around me and wandered off without looking back to make sure I was following. I had to jog to catch up with him. "Let's find you a suit, shall we?"

I grimaced but followed him down the escalator to the area with menswear. "Is that really necessary? I'll look stupid."

"You won't," Hunter said while flipping through a rack of suit jackets. "What colors do you want?"

"Uh... black and white?" I said and looked around. "Shouldn't we ask an assistant for help?"

Hunter shook his head. "Not necessary. I've been buying and wearing suits since I was like thirteen, when my dad had colleagues or clients over for dinner."

I perked up at that. Hunter had never really talked about his dad before, so I was excited about every little detail. "What does your dad work as?"

"He's a surgeon... quite a famous one in his line of work. There are a bunch of stars running around with a nose modelled by him."

"I don't think I ever saw him..." I mused.

He shrugged. "Yeah, he isn't home a lot. He's in L.A. most of the time." Before I could ask any more questions, he had already gone back to focusing on the task at hand and suddenly picked a jacket and pants out of the dozen, holding them up victoriously. He then continued to walk around the shop and grabbed a basic white shirt and a black bow-tie. "Try this on. I'll be there in a few minutes, yeah?"

I figured that refusing wouldn't get me anywhere with Hunter, so I accepted the clothes he handed me and looked for an unoccupied changing room. There I made quick work of stepping out of my clothes and put on the pants.

Just as I was half-way finished with buttoning up the shirt, the door opened behind me and two arms wrapped around my torso.

I squealed, startled, and felt Hunter laughing behind me. "Looking hot," he whispered into my ear.

I immediately felt goosebumps travelling across my body and looked at him through the mirror. "I'm not even fully dressed yet."

"Exactly," Hunter said, smiling innocently as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

Of course he didn't stay that tame for long: seconds later I felt his lips lightly grazing over my neck, right above one of the hickeys. "I really, really like these," he murmured.

"The hickeys or the clothes?"

"The clothes too, but the hickey's even more."

"Oh, really," I said drily, raising a brow at him. "You love to have me branded like this, don't you?"

He shrugged reached around me, doing up the remaining buttons. "I like that reminder that you're mine, sugarpie."

I looked down in embarrassment and lack of a good answer as I felt my cheeks heating up.

When I broke away from him and pulled the jacket over the shirt, he leaned against the other wall and said thoughtfully: "Huh. Sugarpie doesn't really feel right anymore... That was my teasing name for when you were stupid and pretended to not like me."

"Maybe I still don't," I said mockingly, but couldn't keep a straight face as he scowled.

"Alright, now sugarpie seems appropriate."

"It's a dumb name that can never be appropriate. Especially not for flirting in a changing room."

Hunter chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. I bit my lip as I looked at him; something about that gesture always made him twice as attractive, for some reason.

"I liked it. But maybe it's time for a better pet name." He grinned mischievously. "I'll try some."

"Oh dear," I muttered and finally turned around to look into the mirror.

"Dear? Great idea," he said, clearly delighted. "You're looking gorgeous, dear."

I couldn't hold back a laugh, because the words just seemed so weird coming from Hunter's mouth. "Not that one. My great aunt always calls me that."

"Well, that's a turn-off... But I'll find something else, sweetheart," he said. "For real though, you're looking so damn hot right now."

I mustered my reflection sceptically. In my eyes it looked like I was a little boy who was playing dress-up in my father's clothes. "Do you think? I don't know..."

Hunter rolled his eyes at me and then drawled, struggling to keep a serious face: "Ya lookin' fine, bae."

We both looked at each other for a second before we burst out laughing.

+++

Shortly afterwards, we were standing next to Hunter's car, carrying our bags. I felt kind of bad for buying the suit with my parents' money; I had told them I'd buy a suit for prom and, assuming I'd go there with Emily, they had readily given me as much as I needed. I chose to not ask myself the question if they would've been just as supportive if they had known it was Hunter who I might go with.

"I'll drive, okay?" Alexis suggested and held a hand out for the keys.

Hunter only cocked a brow at her. "I don't know... You're a girl. Can you even drive properly?"

Alexis immediately glared at him in disgust. "Hunter, I swear-"

"Just kidding, honeybee," Hunter laughed. "I've been friends with you long enough to know what will cause you to give me an entire feministic lecture."

Alex' angry expression quickly turned into a satisfied one. "Good. I thought you might want to... cuddle with Jules in the backseat or something."

Hunter glanced over at me and shrugged, dropping the keys into her palm. "Fair point. Here you go."

I snorted and got into the backseat, quickly followed by Hunter, who sat down in the middle seat so he was close enough to wrap an arm around me. Once we had fastened our seat belts, I rested my head on his shoulder and stayed like that for the rest of the ride.

I was almost disappointed how quickly we pulled up in front of my house. After saying goodbye to them and taking my bag from the trunk, I made my way inside.

As soon as I entered, I felt that something wasn't quite right. I had become pretty good at sensing tension and right now the air was practically crackling with it. With an uneasy feeling in my stomach, I dropped the bag next to the door and got out of my coat and shoes. The scarf I obviously left on.

Then I walked towards the living room, from where the muffled voices of my family came. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and stepped into the room, smiling nervously. "Hey... What's up?"

The faces of my parents were unsettling me even more. They both stared up at me with blank faces, a hard line around my dad's mouth. Maya was sitting on the floor playing with a doll and was the only one who smiled at me when I came in.

"Jules, sit down," my father said. It wasn't a request, it was a command.

I immediately did as I was told, sinking into the armchair on the opposite side of the small table, facing my parents. I noticed that my mom avoided looking directly at me; she was staring at her fidgeting hands in her lap instead.

"Where were you today?"

"I was buying a suit for prom, like I said..." I stated. The nervous fluttering in my chest became stronger as my anxiety grew. "Why?"

My parents exchanged a glance, before my mom finally spoke up for the first time. "Jules, please take off your scarf."

I could feel my heart skip a beat, my hands were clenching and unclenching nervously. "What, why-"

"Take it off," my father growled and started to get to his feet.

Gulping, I obeyed, slowly pulling it over my head. I closed my eyes as I heard my mom gasping. Then I suddenly felt my dad's hand gripping my chin, forcing my head to turn from side to side so he could get a better view. Only when he let go, I dared to look up at him. His jaw was tense, eyes narrowed.

I expected him to say something to me, but instead he turned to my mom. "See, I told you. The video is real."

It was in that exact moment that I felt my blood freeze in my veins, my entire body becoming stiff. "What video?" I rasped.

Dad turned around, looking at me coldly. Then he lifted his mobile and let me see the clip.

While the video started, showing Hunter kissing my cheek in the gay club, my dad asked: "Does this look familiar?"