A/N: Hooray, my favorite chapter, which means I really want to hear your thoughts on this one. We are finally getting towards the end of this, which is good since the timeline took place a year and a half ago. There's an f word in here, but I censored it, which automatically makes it okay. It's the only one in the whole story, cut me a break. I hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't sue, blah blah blah

Chapter 19

Hunter opened the door and found her staring down at the ground, "I came to get my stuff," she said, her voice shaking a little. He sighed and stepped out of her way.

"He's not here so you can relax," he said and she stopped taking a deep breath. Then she continued to her suitcase, stuffing her clothes inside, "Maybe you should talk to him. He feels bad about everything."

"He should feel bad," she said simply but he noted the anger in her voice, "What have I ever done to make him say things like that?"

"You know, I can't take sides, Kate," he said and she stopped packing for a moment. She slammed the suitcase shut.

"Just shut the hell up, Hunter," she said under her breath, "You are taking sides, you're taking Shawn's. Stop pretending you're not."

"Look, he's got a lot on his mind and he's confused. He didn't mean that stuff. I know Shawn, he wouldn't say stuff like that," Hunter tried to explain and she finally looked up at him. Her appearance struck him as somewhat scary. Her eyes were red and her face was flushed.

"What are you to me anyway?! Are we even friends? I mean all we ever do is argue! You know that Shawn was wrong. Everyone in their right mind knows it!" she shouted, getting up in his face.

"It's your fault, too. You never come over anymore! You never come talk to us! It hurts Shawn! He really cares about you! He needs you!" he argued.

"You're the one who always wanted to leave me behind! Weren't you happy? What do you want from me?! All you do is yell at me!!" she screamed and she cursed inwardly feeling as though she was about to cry.

"What do you expect me to do? Give you a big hug and blame everything on Shawn?! You know I'm not like that!" he shouted.

"No Hunter, all I want is for once in your life for you to treat me like a goddamn real friend!!" she screeched and he didn't respond. She started to sob uncontrollably and simultaneously fell to her knees. He stared down at her completely unsure of what to do.

"Kate, come on. Don't do this. You know I'm not good with this stuff," he said.

"NO! You stupid bastard! I hate you both!! What do I have to do to make you two care about me?!" she screamed, her voice trembling terribly. Hunter was confused. He always thought that she was in it for Shawn. He never thought that she wanted to be his friend as well.

"Katie, please get off the floor," he asked but this time she didn't even respond. She stumbled to her feet and went straight into the bathroom. He could here the sound of her throwing up and despite what every instinct in his body was telling him he went inside. She was kneeling next to the toilet, trying to wipe the taste out of her mouth, still crying just as hard. He walked over and offered to help her up, but she ripped her arm away from his grasp. He forcefully pulled her to her feet and he pulled her into his arms.

She was so surprised that she stopped crying for the moment. He was reluctant and uncomfortable, she could tell, but he was still trying. She quickly latched onto his neck and cried into his shoulder. After he became a little more comfortable, he began rubbing her back. He picked her up as if he were holding a little girl and carried her over to the couch. He sat down and let her continue to cry on his shoulder. Whatever worked, he supposed. She finally began to calm down and he began to speak again.

"I like having you around, ok? I say some stupid things sometimes, but I don't always mean it. We argue a lot but that doesn't mean I don't care," he explained and she turned her head slightly so she could breathe a little easier, "I'm not good with the emotional stuff. I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression, I really do consider you a good friend."

"So do I," she confirmed and then sniffed causing her to laugh a little.

"You better not tell anyone about this. I don't need anyone finding out I'm a little soft," he threatened and she laughed again.

He flipped through the channels on the TV as Katie slept with her head on his lap. Unfortunately, they had forgotten about the other room resident. Shawn slipped in quietly. He was slightly drunk and he didn't want Hunter to find out. As he walked in he saw something he wasn't expecting. His emotions ranged from surprise to pain to rage.

"You f---king bastard!!!" Shawn shouted and Hunter's eyes shot to the side. She lifted her head slightly dazed and she saw Shawn glaring down on them. If the situation could have gotten any worse, it did.

"Shawn, just calm down. It's not what you think," Hunter said getting up and trying to keep him calm.

"What the hell am I supposed to think when Katie's got her head shoved in your dick?!" Shawn answered crudely becoming more and more upset.

"I was sleeping, alright?! He's my friend, too! You're jumping to conclusions!" she shouted and he slapped her hard across the face.

"You shut up you whore!!" he shouted and she stared at him in absolute shock.

"Shawn, what the hell are you doing?!" Hunter said both stunned and angry. She got up and quickly grabbed her suitcase, racing from the room.

"That's right, get out you slut!!" he shouted at her and Hunter spun him around so he faced him.

"This isn't like you at all! Why are you acting like this?!" he asked and Shawn just continued to glare at him, "Are you drunk?"

"It doesn't matter! You bastard, you took her from me! She was mine!!" he shouted in anger.

"I didn't take anything. Although after what you said, I doubt she'll ever come back," he said and Shawn shoved him hard.

"Shut up, you traitor. You're no best friend of mine! Get the hell out!!" he screamed and Hunter glared at him before grabbing his suitcase and stomping out the door, slamming it behind him. Shawn picked up the glass sitting on the table and threw it against the wall, "They're all traitors, especially you," he said pointing at the ceiling, "None of this ever happened to me before. It's your fault!!!" he said blaming anyone he could think of. He overturned the table and threw down one of the lamps. He slid down against the side of the bed and put his head in his hands and cried.

Hunter came back to his empty room once again. Steph had been pretty understanding about him spending so much time with her and the baby, but he could tell she had about enough of him. Not that it was that great of an arrangement to him either. He wasn't about to speak to Shawn, though. He talked to Kate at the last house show, but she didn't seem to want to talk about anything, and he was only reminding her of Shawn. He saw him, too, but looked the other way. He barely caught the guilty look in his eyes as he passed. He hoped he felt like shit, it's what he deserved.

So here he was, all alone in his hotel room. He'd immediately demanded a new room almost a week ago. He had recently come to the conclusion that being alone sucked. He hated to admit that he had missed Kate when it was just the two of them, but it was even worse without Shawn. There wasn't a duplicate of his personality. What was he supposed to do? He was always the bigger man, why couldn't it be Shawn for once?

"Because he's a bitch," Hunter said with a smirk. He sighed and lied back down on his bed. He laughed when he remembered how Shawn reacted after finding out Hunter was a father. He was too sensitive, and that's what he was worried most about
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What the hell had he done? That was the only question he could ask himself, over and over again. He had messed up everything. He sat on the edge of the bed trying to figure out how to fix it. However, that task seemed impossible now. He thought back on what he said, and an overwhelming feeling of guilt went through him. He raked his hands through his hair. He was so angry at them. He wasn't able to think straight when he saw them. There was no chance of talking to them. They wouldn't hesitate to slam the door his face.

He always did this. It wasn't the first time he had treated his friends like this. It was always Hunter who was the one to fix it. It should be him. And Kate, he felt… and she hated him. Who wouldn't, he called her a slut? He couldn't even blame it on the alcohol, he wasn't even that drunk. He was such an idiot. Summerslam was tomorrow and he didn't even think his partners would show up. Should he even show up?
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Chris knocked on her door for the third night in a row. The last two she had never answered, but he doubted she hadn't been there. She had asked to stay in her room a few days after the incident. She just looked so empty; it wasn't like her at all. She had mentioned a little of what had happened, but refused to let him do anything about it. Every time he thought of Shawn, his anger boiled over.

The door opened and she stood before him, her hair and face a mess, just as she had been before she had her makeover, "I'm sorry, Chris, I'd just rather be alone."

"Kate, you've been hiding in your room for the past week. You can't do this to yourself," he explained and she sighed.

"I appreciate your concern, but I just can't. I've wasted so much time… I just want to be left alone," she requested and he clenched his fists.

"Alright, but please consider what I said," he said and she gave her best smile before closing the door. He growled in anger. This was all Michaels' fault. Everything would have been perfect if he were not around. Kate and he would be happy together, but he destroyed it. It would be perfect… if he was never around.
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Katie leaned back against the closed door sliding down to a sitting position. She truly could care less about anyone at this point. She just never liked people to begin with. She never wanted to get close to begin with because they were so immature, stupid, and… inconsiderate. She tried so hard to please and never received anything in return.

Ugh. She was doing it again. She knew that wasn't true, even if she wanted it to be. She knew that they did give back, but she didn't want it to be that way. Then maybe her feelings could be justified and her reasoning for this hiding would make sense. She'd done this once, cut herself from everyone after being hurt. It never worked, though.

Because people weren't as heartless as she forced herself to believe.

End Chapter 19