#i feel like the huntlow brainrot has gotten stronger

[potato-an0n]

I'm in the process of rewriting a fic that was supposed to come out before king's tide but I was going through writers block and I just didn't feel satisfied with it but now that they're in the human realm, ideas are flooding and hopefully it'll be done soon!

Anyways in the meantime, enjoy this one shot I also feel like I need to write out in the middle of the night and will turn into a fic one day!

Willow has never felt this helpless in her life. She's stuck in another realm, away from her dads, unsure if her parents are alive or if they know if she's okay, worried about her team, her school, witnessing her home be torn apart by some insanely powerful child.

But that doesn't matter to her right now, her feelings can wait, her friends need her right now. Gus, Luz, Hunter and Amity are just as devastated as her, so she can't wallow in self-pity right now.

"Hey Willow.....are you okay?" Amity asks, breaking Willow out of her thoughts.

"I'm fine! I'm holding up just fine!" Willow tries to convince Amity but she's not convinced.

"Willow, I know you're trying to stay strong too but I know you're also affected by this and I just want you to know that we also support you too," Amity reassures to her.

Willow sighs and breaks her facade for a bit.

"It has been hard not going to lie, but I don't have time to wallow in self pity, you guys are the most important to me and I'm going to do everything to be there for you guys!"

Amity knows she's only gotten to the surface, but she doesn't push any further.

"You're strong Willow, stronger than all of us....just know we're also here for you too," Amity reassures to her.

Willow gives Amity a soft smile, "Thank you Amity."

----

Willow notices Hunter has been avoiding her recently. Well, not avoiding her completely, he would talk to her, but only when she initiates the conversation.

She notices that Hunter has gotten closer the rest, even Amity, Vee and Camila. Camila would show him maternal love for the first time, he and Gus are best bros, he's still annoyed of Luz, but they have like a frenemy relationship, he somewhat bonded with Vee, both sharing a connection through experiencing abuse from Philip, and he even started talking to Amity. While she's happy for him, she can't help but feel hurt that he's avoiding her and is hardly talking to her.

Some time later, she was about to go into the kitchen but paused and hid behind a wall when she noticed Gus and Hunter sitting in the kitchen table, looking like they're having a discussion.

"You haven't told Willow yet!" Willow heard Gus shout.

Tell her what?

"Shhh, I'm working on it!" Hunter quietly shouts.

"You've been avoiding her! You can't keep doing this to her! She'll find out eventually, but she'll be more hurt of the fact that you didn't trust her enough."

Hunter sighs, "I know Gus, but I want to tell her when I've gathered enough information."

Gus sighs and gets up from his spot, "Whatever man.....it's just....even though we've all been through a lot, Willow is good at bottling up her feelings and emotions for the sake of others, and even herself. I know you're personally not ready and afraid but, she won't see you any different. I know you deeply care about her, more than you think, but you need to tell her."

----

Ever since that conversation, Willow has been on edge. Of course she doesn't show it, but she feels she's about to break at any moment.

The house was quiet, Luz and Camila are picking up some food so it was just the five in the house. It was when Hunter entered the living room and saw Willow was the only one there, reading a book on botany and he tried to quietly sneak out, but Willow noticed him.

"Not so fast Hunter!" Willow says in an upset tone of voice as she slams her book and walks up to him. Hunter nervously smiles at her and chuckled a bit. "Hey Willow....uhhh, Gus and I have something important to do so-"

"Stop lying to me! What's going on with you? Why are you avoiding me?"

Hunter looks away from her and sighs.

"I'm sorry Willow......but I'm not ready-"

"Enough of that! What are you hiding from me?! What are you and Gus hiding that's so important it's making you avoid me?"

Hunter doesn't answer her until he sees a tear drop onto the floor and hears soft sobs coming from her, shocked to see her crying for the first time.

"Willow-"

"Is it because I'm still weak? Still half a witch Willow? Is that why you're hiding things from me? Am I that weak to the point where you don't want to talk to me anymore?.......that you don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Hunter froze, unsure of what to say but before he could do anything, Willow ran out of the house, wiping away her tears with her sleeve.

Amity and Gus ran downstairs when they heard the door suddenly open and slammed shut.

"What happened?" Amity asks. Gus gives Hunter a disappointed look but before he could say something, Hunter bolted out of the house, going to find Willow.

----

Hunter manages to find Willow sitting behind the statues of what looks to be Philip and someone else that looks a lot like him. Despite some traumatic memories coming back, he sucks it up and approaches Willow, who currently has her head buried in her knees, clearly still upset. She hears footsteps and looks up to see it was Hunter.

"Go away! I don't need you to see me like this.....I want to loose another friend because I was too weak....."

Hunter panics a bit and tries to comfort her as he sits next to her but she curls up even more.

"But you're not! That's not true! You're the strongest witch I know! But you're also kind and smart, wise and very brave....you helped us through our darkest times despite feeling just as devastated as the rest of us....." Hunter pauses a bit due to his whole face turning red and Willow looks up at him and lets out a shaky sigh.

"I.....I was a late bloomer....I didn't develop my magical abilities at the same time as my other classmates did...everyone called me half a witch Willow, Amity was forced to break ties with me and her old gang picked on me for years......after Luz came to the Boiling Isle, got switched into the plant track, and had that grudgby match against Boscha, my life changed for the better. I was becoming the witch I finally wanted to be, I never wanted to feel this helpless again......but after what just happened......I-I've never felt so terrified in my life! I'm in another realm! I just saw our world get warped! I don't even know if my dads are okay! Heck! Is the flyer derby team okay?! Principle Bump?! Hexside?! Everyone we love......are they alive? Do they know we're okay?!" Tears started streaming down Willow's face, letting go of her of her pent up emotions. "It's just.... a lot....but I had to bottle up my emotional baggage for your guys sake because you guys matter more right now and all we have is each other, and it hurts me that you've been ignoring me while you're getting closer to everyone else and I heard that you were hiding things from me and avoiding me.....I don't know..... I just thought you didn't trust me enough to help you.....that I was too weak to be there for you......."

Hunter's face softens a bit and although he's still not ready yet, it's even more painful for Hunter to see her this hurt because of him.....again. So he takes a sharp inhale and moves closer to her.

"I'm sorry......Willow.....I...I never meant to hurt you......the truth is.....I'm scared. You and Gus are my first real friends I ever had and I was scared that if I told you guys what I found about myself.....that you'd see me differently but really..... I guess telling you guys would make it feel so.....real.....and I'm not ready to confront it yet....but you deserve to know...." Hunter takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself.

"I'm.....I'm not a witch.....and not I'm not a human.....I'm.....I'm a grimwalker....I'm a clone of someone else, mostly likely of him..." Hunter points at the statue that looks a lot like him. Willow looks up to see that he does look a lot like him and while she is still shocked at the news, she doesn't anything yet and waits for him to finish.

"I found out that I was a grimwalker when Luz and I were in Philip's mind. That's why I ran away and lived at Hexside for a bit until Gus took me in for a bit and Darius. Anyways, Gus found about everything when he tormented Philip with his memories and saw.....everything...." Hunter felt tears streaming down his face as well.

"I was doing some reading about grimwalkers and even that....it still hurts to this day that I was created to be his punching bag, well in Luz's words.......only to then be killed off by him anyways.....I'm still afraid of Philip, a part of me doesn't want to believe in all of this but at the same time....running away from the truth will just make things worse and hurting you in the process.....it's one of the worst things I've ever felt....."

Willow suddenly pulls him into a tight embrace, burying her face into his shoulder.

"You know, there may be hundreds of copies of you in the past but you mean the most to us....to me.....you're still our Hunter and I'll make sure Philip will never hurt you again!"

Hunter's face started turning red again but instead of getting flustered, he softly smiles at her and embraces her back.

"You mean a lot to me too Willow......I'm sorry I haven't been showing it recently. You were hurting too and someone should’ve been there for you too…..I should’ve been there for you……but there’s also something about you.....that makes me feel weird things that I have never felt before in my life. Like, I feel sick but..... I oddly like it and never want it to stop-"

Willow pushes him back a bit, her face all red from blushing and eyes puffy but wide with shock.

"Did you just confess your feelings to me after emotionally opening up?"

Hunter gave her a blank stare, confused at what he just said. Willow knows Hunter is not familiar with romance concepts and crushes but she didn't think he'd be that oblivious, then again, Gus had to explain to him why Luz and Amity kissing is a big deal.

"When you said you're feeling weird things that you've never felt before and that I make you feel 'sick but oddly like it' you basically just told me you like me and not in a friendship way either, beyond friendship actually, like Luz and Amity..." Willow explains as she feels her cheeks heat up a bit.

Hunter's face started turning really red again and panics a bit.

"Wait! It wasn't supposed to come out like that! I mean- what I said is true but I didn't mean to say all of that- I-I mean I- uh-"

He was interrupted by Willow's chuckling and held his hand for comfort. He swore she looked even more beautiful in his eyes.

"It's okay Hunter.....I know the timing is way off but.....I also feel weird things around you too. To the point where I feel sick but oddly like it."

Hunter was still in a state of shock, but can't help to let out a goofy smile and squeeze her hand back.

"Uhhh so what now?"

Willow softly smiles at him, "I don't know to be honest but......lets just say it's a start of something beautiful."

Before Hunter could respond, Willow gives him a quick smooch on the cheek and pulls him up.

Hunter is on cloud 9 ! He feels happier than ever, but also confused (Gus and Luz need to prepare for his never ending questions on crushes and romance and being the best crush ever) meanwhile Willow is feeling jittery as well! This is the first time someone has romantic feelings for her and it's someone she also has been crushing on for awhile. Even though they're technically not boyfriend and girlfriend yet, she knows this is the start of something beautiful and is looking forward to it despite the dark future they'll have to face when the time comes.

But in the meantime the two walked back to the house with red faces and hands intertwined.

______

So I impulse typed this last night and fell asleep while writing this so yeahhh. Anyways, apologies if my grammar is whack, again, typed this on impulse and determined to get this done today (also consider this my apology for my angst hc one shot I posted not too long ago).

I'll put this on ao3 one day.