Breaking Space-time Chapter 34: Deleted Scenes, a power rangers fanfic

Chapter 34

The Extras

This is a collection of deleted scenes that didn't manage to make the cut for 'Breaking Space time'. Either I decided to go in a different direction, or they were ideas that didn't aid to Alex/Hunter's relationship progression as much as I would like.

Thought you guys might like to catch a sneak peak of what might have been :)

They are in chronological order.

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Chapter 5 – Alternate Argument

Notes: I knew for chapter 5 Alex and Hunter were going to have a large argument of some kind, I hadn't really decided where, or with whom, it would be. What follows is the vague outline I had planned out before I settled on Fran in Jungle Fury Pizza.

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Hunter: "Six months. Six frickin' months I have spent with…that and you'd think at some point we'd level with each other, be like, 'Hey, you're a ranger and I'm a

ranger and we're both trying to achieve the same things and lets maybe not try to keep ripping each other's throats out.' But nope. That hasn't happened. Instead we keep doing this." Turns to Alex. "You know what, fine, I give up. You win. No friendship. No teamwork. You hate me, I hate you. I'm a nuisance who should sit in a perpetual time out while you and your "professionalism" and "procedure" and whatever the hell you want to call it save the freakin day!" Waves hands in exasperation. "Watch out everyone, it's Alex Collins, if you so much think of having an original thought, personal awareness, or creativity, he will suck out your soul!"

Alex: glowers "You're overreacting."

Hunter: "Hear that everyone?! I'm overreacting. You wanna know how long I've been overreacting? Six months. Because being any more lively than super-robot man automatically makes me an overreactor!" Points to world around them. "Fear me world! I am Hunter Bradley, and I shall not be contained by your societal restraints! I will go running though-"

Police man comes up.

PM: "Excuse me."

Awkward pause

Alex: "I think you will be contained by our societal restraints."

Hunter gives him an, "oh yeah" kind of look

They end up having to run away from police officer.

Gasping for breath somewhat.

Alex: "You are immature, irrational, and impossible to deal with."

Hunter: "And you're a dick."

Alex: snaps "That's it. We're done. I don't care how long it will take, you are going home."

Hunter: spits out sarcastically "Thank you."

Alex: glowers at him, eyes murderous as he casually replies, "It's nothing."

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Chapter 11 - Alex's attraction to Hunter Take 1

Notes: What follows is the first take of Alex realizing a physical attraction to Hunter.

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His only saving grace upon the discovery of this was the fact that Alex consistently woke up before Hunter. How he out-stealthed the blond by removing himself from the situation without the other ranger knowing was beyond him, but after a certain point Alex wasn't going to look too closely at fortune's favors.

It would have been more manageable, more easily ignored, were it not for the very unfortunate, very real attraction he seemed to be growing for Hunter.

It was so outrageously ridiculous that the red Time Force ranger had rejected the idea outright for a very long time – they had only just gotten past barely-restrained hostility, they weren't even truly friends yet, by any means, but despite all of these very logical arguments, there was something there.

A desperate need to self-destruct, Alex had thought bitterly, but still, the feelings persisted. The small, growing thing.

The physical appeal had always been there, Alex had known that. He had also disregarded it immediately, as physical appreciation would not be constructive to their current situation, but it had been there.

But now it seemed, with Hunter's new resolve to be congenial – sarcasm and wit aimed not at Alex, but including him, friendly, almost – it was enough. Enough to spark that initial physical attraction he had disregarded weeks ago, a small stubbornly childish thing culminating in confused fondness Alex could only find fit to describe as a crush.

He remembered the signs from Jen well enough to recognize it for what it was now. There was no use in denying it.

Much though Alex wanted to.

It was mortifying and unethical, in a sense. While they were only a few years apart in age (were it greater, there would be another concern) but Hunter was Alex's responsibility. His part in the mission was purely a result of Alex's neglect and as such, it was up to Alex to return him in not only one piece, but as physically and mentally healthy as possible.

These feelings, as base as they were, edged on a violation of power that was not only inappropriate, but borderline deplorable. Alex needed to get himself in check.

With his shining personality, it was not particularly difficult.

Unfortunately, Hunter - despite the carefree air he attempted to exude - was not a constant chatterbox. Even with his efforts, he could not speak every moment of the day, could not provide Alex with the ammunition he could convince himself was entirely irritating to stave off this…these feelings. Not that the blonde ever would be now, under the weight of Adam's critical stare.

The Black Ninjetti ranger, much to Hunter and Alex's surprise, seemed to be a new fixture in the Commander's abode. While neither of them spoke of it, it seemed like an arrangement that both the Commander and Mr. Park had unanimously agreed to. They why of which Hunter had attempted to badger out of Commander Myers a grand total of one time, before immediately rethinking his strategy under the threat of withheld…something or other. Nice cream, or something, Alex hadn't been paying attention. As the Ninjetti ranger was aware of their situation anyway, Alex had no qualms to his continued presence.

And it was nice, for someone to be in Alex's. Even if it was more on the basis of human decency than it was for Alex's wellbeing in itself, he appreciated the results.

But even when Hunter wasn't going out of his way to be obnoxious, he couldn't help the moments when he was simply…him.

There was still a lot about Hunter Alex found grating – his carefree, or seemingly carefree, approach to their missions, his dismissiveness, his dry comments that bore no sensitivity to the conditions of their surroundings or the people they were protecting, Alex found it all remarkably annoying.

But there were moments of stillness, when Hunter would throw off the façade of loos whimsy and focus with killer deadliness, moments where he was the perfect soldier. They were few and far between, but it could never be said that Hunter ever actively hindered the mission. When it got down to it, he did what was needed, when it was needed. If with an excessive amount of complaining only he deemed appropriate.

Alex regrettably found himself becoming accustomed to the bitter rambles. Even welcomed them, when the needed to pass the time.

It was worrying.

A physical attraction was worrying enough; Alex couldn't afford to get emotionally invested in a person who should by all rights not even be there. Hunter was an unsanctioned individual who would probably require a memory erasing when this was all said and done, or at the very least, a vow of secrecy. Even if they managed some kind of friendship – the very idea was childish – there would be nothing for it. When the mission was over, Hunter was due back to his time and Alex back to his, and there was no room for negotiation in this matter, especially not for things as trivial as wants and feelings.

With this irrefutable truth lingering in their future, Alex shut down the majority of his conversational urges. He was cool, professional, not openly antagonistic, but not nearly as amiable as he could be. There was no room for attachments in hi line of work, it was one of the reasons they supported isolationism. Some agents went undercover in the past for months, years even, to correct altered events. It was one of the reasons they had developed the memory wiping technology in the first place, to free agents from hindering associations they couldn't have further contact with.

When this mission was over, there was a good chance Alex's mind would be erased as well. It was probably for the better, he supposed.

It was his one salvation, in this trial.

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Chapter 12-ish - H first gets super attracted to Alex

Notes: Hunter considering relationships. I think I ended up with something like this in the actual story, but this was a rough first draft of Hunter realizing his attraction to Alex.

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It wasn't like- and it should be noted here and now, for future purposes, that Hunter set off to do these things with the intention of pissing people off, because he didn't. That was rarely the goal. Anger was a strong reaction, strong reactions made for memorable interactions and ultimately, if Hunter could help it, he didn't want to be remembered. It was kind of a ninja thing, to be one of many in the crowd. Unnoticed, not warranting a second glance for you were deemed harmless and unworthy of further inspection. That was really all Hunter wanted in life. Just- to do his own thing without the judgments or considerations of others because hey, he got it, he was weird. Hunter, of all people, would never make the mistake of considering himself average. The ship on that possibility had sailed a long time ago, now it was all about getting by. Getting by, without anger, or super-hilarity (because that was another strong emotion people correlated experiences to) or, dare he think it, love.

Hunter had always excluded the third possibility on the very clear basis that it wasn't going to happen- not for him. He could dream, maybe, he could hope and feel the phantom weight of his dead parents' guilt, as though they were shaking their ghost heads at his reluctance to try, or his inability to consider it, but Hunter was a realistic person. He had issues. Piles of issues. Pie-fuls of issues, with paranoia ice cream a la mode and emotionally stunted sprinkles piled on top.

His best shot - in his hypothetical world where he entertained best shots and not the ultimate demise of the guy who had murdered his parents – was another ranger. Hunter knew that. He also knew that, hell no was he ever dating anyone on his team. After the Cam/Dustin debacle of too many months ago, Hunter had finished entertaining the idea of an inner-team relationship. They were too close, he was too…not their type, apparently. He didn't begrudge it, there wasn't anything to begrudge, this was all hypothetical, stupid.

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Chapter 16 - Awkward attraction - Trapped

Notes: I made a couple different attempts to work the forced-awkward-physical-proximity cliché to make both Hunter and Alex both aware of their physical attraction towards one another before I ended up with the club scene. The club worked out better because they had a clear goal they could use as a distraction, along with the crowd of people, pounding music, etc. – so this was ultimately cut, but still a fun concept :)

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Their lives were such a cliché. Just, one big 'ole ball of shameful cliché and predictability, wrapped up in every writing trope that would have Dustin cheering at his soap operas.

He was trapped.

Technically, he and Alex were trapped, but Hunter was doing his very best to pretend that Alex didn't exist right now, otherwise he would have to pay attention to the thigh that was thrust between his legs, or the chest squeezed tight against his own or the unforgiving walls that jabbed them into this corner, or the fact that there was barely any room to breathe, let alone room to hide from the rangers doing battle in just the other room.

They hadn't thought this one out. It wasn't even either of their faults, they had just cut it close which happened, which could be forgiven, but right now it really couldn't be because sometimes Alex moved his leg and Hunter discovered he would really prefer if the brunette just never did that again ever.

This was such a cliché.

They were hiding – well, hiding and moving through what was either a utility space, or a vertical crawl space (was it even a crawl space then?) or a thing that definitely wasn't a hallway that they were using as one, because they really needed to get away from the fighting before Alex's timer went off. That had been very important. Hunter remembered that being important.

It didn't seem all that important now, now that they were about halfway into the space/sham-of-a-hallway, with all the excessive touching and the moving and why hadn't the gone one at a time?

Oh wait, they had, but then the wall/space ended, and they were trapped in a tiny corner, waiting for the timer to go off and hoping to high hell the battle didn't come down here, to their tiny corner, where neither one of them could move because that would be far too convenient for Hunter's libido.

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Chapter 16 – Awkward attraction - Tango Maureen

Notes: Another take at the awkward physical attraction trope. I'm not sure why I settled on 'The Tango Maureen' from the musical Rent, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time. The end intent was for Hunter to jokingly drag Alex into a tango and then woosh, they're so close awkward eye contact, stammered blushes – you know, the works, but I abandoned the idea before it could really come to fruition. Hunter's commentary on Eric, however, I think makes the inclusion of this deleted scene worth it.

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"The Tango Maureeeeen, gotta dance, 'till your diva is through-" the cd player sang. Hunter twisted around the living room, moving through his forms with practiced ease. There was something comforting about it, some repetition that felt a lot like one of Alex's coping mechanisms so Hunter didn't think about it, but it was still nice.

Guy had to train, after all.

"You pretend you believe her, 'cause in the end you can't leave her-"

Go figure. Go freakin' figure that Eric would have the Original Broadway Cast recording of Rent tucked away in his CD cabinet. Yes Eric. Everyone totally believes you are straight with your super straight macho arms and your super-straight live-in boyfriend and your super-straight secret collection of Broadway's finest shows.

Like, Hunter wasn't one to stereotype – or, he was, but only when it applied to him and came in handy for potentially stabbing someone in the back – but Eric was like, the most repressed gay dude he had ever met who was totally fine with his sexuality. It was weird. So very weird.

But tonight was not about Eric's quirks and its possible complications on his flourishing relationship with Adam (with whom he had vacated his house earlier that evening, with the promise of 'adult's night out' and 'don't burn my freakin' house down'), tonight was about training. With music.

The only reason Hunter knew the show himself was because of Tori – or, more specifically, Tori's older sister. The eldest Hanson was a theater major who specialized in musicals and, what do you know, that led to the only Hanson Hunter cared about being in possession of way too many recordings of musicals which she then (with Dustin's help) thrust upon Team Ninja Storm's unsuspecting hides.

Hunter wasn't even a big fan of the music from the show itself, there had just been something kind of nice about finding a familiar cd among Eric's collection, and putting on one of the least-terrible songs while he worked through his indoor-safe training.

It helped that is seemed to provide a source of continuous confusion to Alex. That was a plus.

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Chapter 24-ish - Hunter: reflecting on Alex

Notes: This tidbit was written to take place sometime after Hunter had been returned to his own time period. It didn't end up working in the long run because Hunter turned out to be way too angry with Alex to reflect upon him in such a lighthearted manner (this scene was written as a one-off when I was working on the beginning of the story, as something to work to). It was conceived before their parting became horribly dramatic and jarring. So really, this is the alternate version, where Alex drops Hunter off after they've completed their mission, on semi-okay terms.

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To be fair to himself - not that the world tended to play with such a trivial concept – Hunter was not entirely sure when his constant burning annoyance for Alex stick-up-his-ass Collins morphed into the highly illogical urge to ride the man's well-sculpted thigh like it was his personal steed, doing less-than-civilized things to the rest of the man's body, slaving to discover just what it would take to get that perfectly-in-order hairstyle into messy disarray.

There were many things Hunter did he was not proud of, so he wasn't all that bothered by another addition to the ever-growing list, but seriously mind, what the fuck?

In a small way Hunter welcomed it, just because Alex had a horrific (nonexistent) personality didn't mean his body was capable of being objectified. Nope, the constant grating that were conversations with Alex seemed to do nothing but encourage Hunter's perusal of him, as though it were some kind of insult. A blatant lack of respect that rendered Hunter incapable of falling into quiet apathy until the storm had passed. Oh no, not this time. This time Hunter had a target and an outlet and he used both of those vigorously. Mostly because it helped him get a handle on Alex, throwing something at the other ranger he had no obvious reference for dealing with gave Hunter a measure of control. But it was also partly because Hunter was kind of a dick and done with being separated from his brother, from his team, and tended to become just a little bit of a horrible human being when under extreme duress.

…okay, so it hadn't necessarily been "extreme", but you spend a few months with a by-the-book, socially oblivious jackass and you see how you feel about being reasonable.

You don't. You don't at all.

The fact Hunter had managed to go so long without throwing punches had been a source of continual amazement for him. He deserved just, by his rough estimate, a mountain of cookies for his efforts. A freakin' avalanche of Dustin-cooked pastries.

And in his defense, again, because no one else was going to put forth an argument for himself, Alex wasn't a bad looking guy. When he wasn't talking, or frowning, or…obviously thinking about talking and saying more horrible things, when he found a moment in his hectically busy schedule to just be at peace and do nothing annoying or curt or horrible, he was a good looking guy. And Hunter had this thing where he liked looking at attractive males, something about his libido finding them kind've awesome, so he had taken that as his one consolation in this storm. Sure, he was going to get talked-down to and treated as a burden and annoying and less on the mere basis of being present (something that wasn't even his fault) but he got some goddamn eyecandy so screw it, Hunter would take what he could get.

There was also, and there was a slight chance this was a result of partial-insanity on the basis of 1) he was Hunter Bradley and 2) after a certain point, spending a prolonged amount of time with one person, and only that person, sort of did things to your head, Hunter may or may not have had just a little bit of…fun.

It had been fun, okay? Screwing with Alex had been one of the most enjoyable things since smacking Choobo into a weeping and broken pile onto the ground, since watching his brother smile and grow to trust the rest of the team slowly but surely, making friends, and as pathetic as it was to admit, bothering Alex had somehow reached that level.

In the real world, filled with average people with average problems, Hunter recognized this could be labeled as harassment. And maybe it was. And maybe it was some tragically awful commentary about him as an individual to say that he did not care in the slightest, because it worked. It helped him survive.

And it was enjoyable.

Flirting with Alex had given him something to cope; it had given him a way to fight back.

And then somewhere down the line he had to pull a Hunter Bradley and ruin the entire arrangement, because apparently he had become serious.

Yeah, he wasn't sure when it happened either. Only that it did.

Now those half-jokes he had been meaning, all those times he had openly scoped Alex out, the "affectionate" nicknames he had used to make Alex's face scowl in that especially irritated way…Hunter missed those.

Which was, in itself, a horrible shame; because Hunter thought he could do better. Really, he knew that sounded just, pathetic, coming from him, but he honestly thought he was either going to grow old and die alone, or he would manage to find a person of either equal or greater insanity to be the yin to his yang.

He did not expect this person to be Alex Collins because there were so very many things that made Alex Collins the world's biggest annoyance. Like how he never deviated from the rules and blindly followed his superior's orders, putting his faith in them like they would get the job done, or how he was always so goddamn serious, and always demanded more of people, like whatever small improvements they made were nothing, clearly they should be doing better, and how nothing came before the mission.

But there was also the fact he was secretly the world's biggest nerd, and even he could laugh at some of Hunter's jokes, and that he was determined to do the right thing, even when he wasn't sure what it was.

Hunter Bradley hated Alex Collins.

…and he also missed the stupid lug's face like it was no one's business, and it wasn't, so excuse him for getting a little bit ticked off when the rest of the team kept asking about it. Besides, he had promised Alex he would never mention anything about their little "adventure", so it wasn't like Hunter could do it if he wanted to. He might not be a man of many things, but he could keep his word. Hunter could do that much.

And if he spent the rest of his life (and let's be realistic, it would probably just be like, the rest of this month, it wasn't like Hunter was capable of long-term feelings) missing that stupid Time Force Ranger and thinking about doing increasingly sexual things to his inexperienced and wonderfully well-maintained body…

Well, guy had to have his hobbies right?

Right. No judging.

None.

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Sometime after chapter 25 - Alex – Reflecting on Hunter

Notes: This, like the scene before, was written before I had a majority of the story done. Based in a reality where Alex and Hunter's friendship hadn't blossomed as much as it had, where they managed snarky civility and lamented being attracted to someone they didn't entirely understand. It didn't end up working with the story as a whole, but it is a kind of amusing sidenote.

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There was a horrible chance that Alex, future Time Force red ranger, was attracted to a kid about a thousand years behind him, technically long dead in his state of the world. The very thought made him mournful, of what was lost and also, Hunter, honestly, his brain, while never particularly kind, had always been straight forward. To himself, at least. Being attracted to Hunter felt something akin to a punishment, correcting an injustice Alex had no hand in, but there it was. There it stubbornly remained.

Maybe he really did hate himself, for failing the team, back when he had reclaimed the red morpher from Wes.

But, realistically, Alex knew it was simply how he felt. And the only thing you gained from putting rhyme or reason to feelings was a mild case of insanity so really, there was no point but to accept it and move on.

Hunter was dead.

Right now, at this moment, Hunter was dead.

And because Alex lived now, at this moment, sans Hunter, he would have to continue to live, sans Hunter.

It shouldn't be impossible. He had done a very good job of living that way to this point.

He could do a few decades more.

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Chapter 32 - A & H heartfelt talk extras

Notes: I ended up switching to Hunter's POV in chapter 32 for the content covered below, but I had this much written out before I decided to cut off chapter 31 where it was.

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It was as conflicting as ever instinct Hunter managed to instigate, determined and passionate – so very Hunter – but also desperate, in a way, like there was a shy veil of timidity underneath it all Hunter tried to drown out with overwhelming bravado of everything else.

The blond latched onto Alex – and it was happening, this was happening – one hand a vice against the back of his head, yanking him down to meet the ninja halfway, the other stealth encapsulated, sneaking underneath the hem of his shirt and resting atop his scar between breaths. His palm splayed across the marred skin, warm and real, and yet so very unimportant because Hunter Bradley was kissing him.

Alex reacted on instinct, moving before self-consciousness could sneak its way into his doubts and render him unresponsive. He hadn't – it had been a while, for him, and he had never with a male-

It was different, but in the respect that it was Hunter and awkward and forceful and right, because it was Hunter. The blond crowded against Alex, destroying whatever boundaries they had left with a decisive growl.

This wasn't how this was supposed to end. Hunter was supposed to hate him- and while the passions instigated by hatred and love could easily rival each other in strength, the distinction of aiding the fiend that murdered his parents should have safely sequestered Alex on the 'hate' side of Hunter's temperament.

"Wa- wait," Alex gasped against the blond's lips. His breath came in heavy gasps, chest heaving as he tried to regain his bearings. Hunter, in the meantime, gifted him with an annoyed glare.

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Chapter 32 - Hunter make-out time extras

Notes: Here is some extra running commentary from Hunter's POV before he starts macking on Alex. It was written before there were the additional chapters of Hunter readjusting to his time period again, so it wasn't really necessary to keep this part.

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So, there had been a plan, okay?

This plan – this brilliant, sparkling plan that had been a beacon of prosperity for Hunter to strive towards just as fast as his little, shriveled up heart would allow it – mostly revolved around not-thinking about Alex.

But in a different way. Not in the 'I-hate-you-so-much-it-buuuurns' kind of way as it had been when they originally met, or when they parted, and in depression, but in the 'at-some-point-I-need-to-stop-feeling-awful' kind of way that got Hunter through breakfast without needing to throw anything up.

You know, that kind of way.

It wasn't fancy. It wasn't particularly spectacular.

It wasn't even – if you asked Cam (and Hunter never asked Cam for shit, but the green ranger tended to shove his opinion wherever he saw fit, and most of the time that was at Hunter) the other teen would be more than willing to go into excruciating detail on just how bad plan it was in the long run. But it was, in fact, the only plan Hunter could settle on that didn't involve words like 'closure' and 'moving on' because while he was a guy of many talents, healthy concepts such as those were beyond him.

He knew it was bad. Blake knew it was bad. Even frickin' Dustin knew it was bad, but they had a unanimous and silent agreement that if they ignored the others' impending angst parties then their own rather impressive angst parties could be ignored in return.

Yes, Dustin had angst (sometimes). Don't let the sunny disposition fool you, you don't become super-duper chipper and latch only your friends for all your social experiences because you came from the most loving of households.

But Hunter was straying off topic.

That had been another tool in his gargantuan arsenal of not-thinking-of-Alex tactics. It was a tool he was rather fond of, and Shane's concerned face at Hunter's attempt to actually give a damn about the latest retelling of his stupid adventures at the skatepark made it all the worth it. Hell, Hunter had even joined in on a few of the red ranger's remedial skateboard lessons with Cam, though for the most part he just heckled and took pictures whenever Cam fell on his face.

It would have been more satisfying if the expression of restrained annoyance on the green ranger's face wasn't so similar to another stern ranger Hunter had spent far too much time with, if he hadn't recognized the steely glint in his eyes as the stubbornness that would not yield to the likes of physics when order and logic dictated this would happen, just like Alex-

If Hunter abruptly exited any of their skateboard-bonding times, the others were kind enough not to nag him about it. Too much.

Blake worried. But Blake always worried. It was a consistency Hunter could handle, even if they combined puppy eyes of despair from Dustin and the narrowed I-will-deduce-your-feelings inspections from Tori were bordering on the edge of too freakin' much.

For now, Blake could keep the others at bay when Hunter couldn't. Could keep them off of the emotional stuff and play into Hunter's plan of meaningless distraction. Anyone else would have seen that as a positive, but Blake- he knew better. Eventually, he was going to call Hunter on his shit. Hunter had just hoped that maybe by then, he would have his head sorted out.

In the weeks he had been back – moping, Adam had called it (but what the hell did he know, he was already shacked up with his grumpy-pants dream-man anyway; he had nothing on Hunter's angst) – Hunter had come to the steady realization that he would probably never get over Alex. That time (and wasn't that the stupid theme of their relationship?) would be the only cure for the baggage he had accumulated, and even that wasn't going to fix everything.

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Endnotes:

And that was all she wrote :)

Until next time :D