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avatarmerida · 1 year

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Purposely Forgetful

Feels like it been forever since I’ve written some fluff, so here’s a little something I whipped up while I’ve been working on some other projects.

———

It was a lazy, casual day with the Emerald trio hanging out at Willow’s house. Gus laid on the couch, editing his human appreciation blog on his scroll while Willow and Hunter sat on the ground in front of him drawing up strategies for their next flyer derby practice. From the corner of his eye, Gus could see the pair getting closer and closer as Willow’s head was hovering over Hunter’s shoulder preparing to fall when-

“Well would you look at the time? I should really get going.” Hunter said as he started gathering his things to shove into his bag.

“Awh, so soon?” Willow fake pouted on the ground beside him. She was joking, but a part of her really was upset that Hunter was always the first to leave. Especially when they were getting so… cozy.

“Yeah I uh, told Darius I would… help him… organize his closet.” Hunter said, rising to his feet. “But I’ll see you later?”

“Oh I bet you will.” Gus said with a smirk. Willow missed the glare Hunter shot at Gus as she wrapped him in a quick goodbye hug.

“Message me when you’re back safe, k?”

Hunter nodded as he headed to the door and Willow leaned against the corner of the couch with a dramatic sigh. For some reason, planning new flyer strategies seemed less fun now.

From her seat on the couch, Willow spotted Hunter’s signature notebook resting on the armchair across the room. How had it gotten there?

“Oh shoot,” she said walking over to grab it.

“What did he forget this time?” Gus asked, not looking up from his scroll.

“It’s his- wait, how did you know he forgot something?”

“He’s been ‘forgetting’ things a lot lately,” said Gus, emphasizing his disbelief with air quotes.

“Has he really? Huh, I guess I didn’t really notice.” Willow realized, picking up the book.

“Yeah, ever since we were in the human realm, he’d forget a lot of stuff, especially in your room.” Gus said with an unmissable amount of sarcasm.

“Really? He must be distracted or something.” Willow shrugged, scanning the chair to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything else.

“Maaaaybe.” Gus went on. “All I know is, he would come down to the basement and look at the clock, wait a bit before saying he forget something and would rush back up with an excuse to see you again.”

“What? I don’t think that’s-.”

“Or you’d come down and bring it to him, either way it worked.”

“Hunter doesn’t need an excuse to see me,” said Willow, shaking her head.

“He does if he wants to see you alone,” countered Gus.

“What? That’s not-.”

“Either you’ll run out it to him before he’s too far away or he’ll come back to get it when everyone else has left.” Gus said plainly. “Am I wrong?”

Willow had to admit it did sound familar.

“Last week I watched him take off his jacket and set it on the back of the chair, and look straight at it before he left like he was making sure he left it somewhere you’d see it.” Gus said.

“Okay, well I do kind of remember that,” said Willow with a small smile. She had found the jacket after everyone else had left and tried it on, admiring his neeest collection of patches. She was astounded he still had room for more at this point. It was oversized on him but his height made up for it somewhat but when Willow wore it the sleeves far surpassed her fingertips and it was long enough where it covered her shorts. It was still warm somehow, and wearing it felt like an embrace from the sun. It made her feel very cool so she had taken a selfie in the jacket to send to Hunter to inform him that he had forgotten it. A part of her had hoped he wouldn’t ask for it’s immediate return.

“He made the picture of you in his jacket the background on the phone Camila gave him,” Gus said as thought reading her mind.

“Whaaat? He did not.” Willow scoffed with a blush.

“He definitely did,” said Gus with a dramatic sigh. “He’s always staring at it. He’d probably make it his scroll background too if he didn’t think you’d see it and think it was weird.”

“I wouldn’t think it was weird,” she said softly, not so secretly relishing the idea of Hunter wanting to see the picture often. She did look cute. “Why would he care if I think that’s weird?”

“Cuz he likes you,” Gus said simply. Willow was somewhat aware of this, well at least she had suspected it. She was more familiar with having a crush than being one, but her experience still help her deduce what she hoped to be true. But she also knew that crushes could fade, and she suspected that she might be Hunter’s first crush. She remembered how confusing and bubbly her first crush had been, but she also remembered how it was as short as it was intense. As much as she knew she returned Hunter’s (supposed) feelings, she didn’t want to rush him because she didn’t if he was still figuring it out or if he wanted these feelings acknowledged.

“Maybe.” was all Willow said as her finger traced the careful way Hunter had written his name on the bright yellow notebook Luz had given him. The spine was bent and the pages warped from writing and doodles, it never left his sight so when she received the message casually inquiring if he had forgetten it there she knew it had to have been left there on purpose. Otherwise there would be a panicky audio call or a separate message in all caps marked urgent in the group chat.

“Was that him?” Gus asked, already knowing the answer as he heard Willow’s scroll ding. She simply nodded as she took a picture of herself holding the book to confirm its location to which Hunter quickly replied that he would be back to get it later, if that was alright.

Later, she though. When no one else is around.

She gave Gus’ words some thought, remembering instances where he had come back to retrieve something or when she had brought it to him. It had just been them, but how had that made a difference?

“He saw it in a movie,” Gus offered, as though answering her thoughts again. Was he reading her mind??

“What?”

“A few movies, actually.” Gus said. “Where one person leaves something and when they go get it or the person returns it they have like a moment.”

“A moment? Like what kind of moment?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know what kind of moment Park,” scoffed Gus, still not looking up from his scroll. He didn’t need to to know she was wearing a smitten, goofy expression.

Had they had a moment and Willow just hadn’t realized it? Was that possible?

When she brought down the shopping bag he had left in the girls’ room months ago, she had ended up staying in the basement for an hour helping him arrange the patches he had bought.

After flyer derby practice when he came back to get his water bottle, they had ended up sitting on the bench watching matches on her scroll.

When he came outside looking for his umbrella he had allegedly left nearby, he had stayed with her in the garden and listened to her talk about how well the strawberries were doing.

They never did find his umbrella. Thinking about it now, Willow was pretty sure he didn’t even have one.

Those were moments. Small ones, sure, but they added up to Willow. Maybe asking her directly to hang out one on one seemed too forward in his eyes or too intimidating. This way, he had an excuse to leave just as much as he had an excuse to be there. Willow would be lying if she said when she noticed the things he left behind she insisted on being the one to bring it to him.

“Why doesn’t he just… ask me?” Willow said as though she hasn’t been wondering this in the back of her mind for months now.

“Luz and Amity made him watch period pieces, apparently they’re all about the slow burn.” Gus explained. “He also might think there needs to a chaperone? I don’t really know. But I do know the one time I went to bring him something he forgot, he looked disappointed to see me which has never happened before.”

“Woah, that is serious.”

“I’ll let him know I’m leaving so he can come over and gawk at you in private,” said Gus, getting up from the couch.

“Gus, you don’t have to-.”

“Nah, I’m meeting up with Matt anyway,” shrugged Gus. “Vee and I are gonna try and explain DVD’s to him. He’s gonna feel so embarrassed for thinking they’re food.”

“You also thought they were food.”

“Yeah, but I only ate like one and a half he’s eaten like six,” countered Gus. “Have fun with your little moment.”

Willow rolled her eyes endearingly as Gus made his way to the door.

“And if you still don’t believe me, if you look closely at the shapes he drew on with marker, you can tell they used to be little hearts with your initials inside,” said Gus, sticking his head back in one last time. “He tried convincing me it was a glyph.”

———

When Hunter did make his way back to Willow’s, he knocked gently on the door. Everyone else knew to just come in, but Hunter always insisted on doing things the formal way. Willow was realizing this was true about everything he did.

She was standing there, waiting for him holding his notebook tightly to her chest as she ran her plan through her head one last time. How could she be sure it was the right time?

“Thank you Captain,” he said, a smiling spreading across his face as she opened the door. He was clearing trying to seem as though he was relieved it was safe and not as though he hadn’t been totally certain this whole time.

“Of course,” she said. She was overly aware of how his fingers lingered as they brushed against hers, each holding one end of the notebook like an indirect hand hold. They had held hands before, on purpose, so why did this feel… like more? Was it because it was unclear if the contact was intentional? Was Hunter trying to create a moment or was he hoping to stumble into one?

Was he waiting for her like she had been waiting for him? Where they stuck in a never ending loop of “accidental” encounters, trying to collect enough moments to amount to something obvious? The familiar rush in Willow’s chest told her they had been in the strange loop for awhile now, unaware if progress was being made.

“Thanks uh, for having me over.” Hunter said leaning against the door frame, lingering in their farewell.

“Of course,” she said, twirling her braid around her finger. “Do you… have everything?”

“Um, yeah I think so.” He said, not trying too hard to make sure.

She fought back a wide smile. He would normally consult a check list to prevent being forgetful again. He was looking for an excuse to see her again. Alone.

“Well, actually now that I think about it, I did find something else that you left behind.” said Willow.

“You did?” Hunter asked, having always kept detailed track of his items and knew he had already retrieved the only thing he had “left” there.

“Yeah,” said Willow softly. “I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s yours at least.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“Hold on, lemme get it.” Willow pretended to search her pocket and come out with something in her fist. As Hunter reached out his hand to take it, she instead grabbed onto it to pull him down closer to her so she could place a firm and purposeful kiss on his cheek. When she went down from her tip toes to see his face, she was delighted to see it was a crimson mixture of delight and confusion. She bit her lip as he pretended to clear his throat and tried to remember what words were.

“I-I-I left that?” he sputtered, not sure what else to say but knowing he had to say something as his hand touched the spot she had kissed as though he was holding it in place.

“I think so?” Willow said as though they were talking about something common like a pencil. She could tell her face was starting to turn a matching hue to his as she pressed on. “Hmm, ya know what it might be mine actually. Buuut, you can hold onto it if you want and get it back to me when I see you next or ya know… whenever.”

“Yes, of course,” said Hunter as though she had handed him a satchel of diamonds for safe keeping. “I-I’ll hold onto it for you. Of course.”

“Okay then, great.” She said, her eyes darting to the ground as she kicked the invisible dirt.

“Yeah, for sure yeah.” Hunter was trying in vain not to stutter and sweat but his mind would not free him from the fresh scent of dirt and lilacs that her hair carried and the way it flooded his senses when she so effortlessly pressed her soft lips to his face. No romantic drama could’ve ever prepared him for this.

“And, uh, no rush, okay?” Said Willow as she rocked back and forth on her heels. “I was gonna give it to you anyway, so uh i-if you wanna keep it and don’t wanna return it I won’t be-.”

“Oh, did you want it back?” Hunter asked, a subtle sound of panic in his voice as he stepped down from the doorway onto the porch. Willow wasn’t entirely sure how to proceed. She had hoped she could leave the ball in his court, give him time to process the action and his feelings but now the part of him that was etiquette focused was pulling apart her messy metaphor. She did want it back, right? Or did she want him to keep it? What was the difference? Titan, this whole thing went smoother in her head.

“I uh…” she started, biting her thumb as she looked at him looking at her with wide, glistening eyes. She was trying so desperately to be cute and charming but should she just be direct? Had she left the loop too soon? Was Hunter actually just very forgetful, despite everything she knew about him suggesting the opposite?

“Do you wanna do something tomorrow?” He said quickly.

“What?” Willow asked, so caught up in her own internal spiral that she wanted to make sure she hadn’t misheard him.

“Do you… wanna do something with me? Like… just the two of us?” He asked again, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes looked to the sky. “Together.”

“Okay.” She said softly.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She said, wishing that time could move faster for them.

“Cool! Great! Awesome! Yeah I’ll uh, message you? And we’ll figure out what we can… yeah okay. So I’m just gonna…I’ll bring your… thing with me too. If you.. um decide you want it back.”

Willow wasn’t sure if they had arrived at the same meaning with the metaphor, but she had high hopes for how Hunter planned to return her kiss to her.

“Promise you won’t forget it?” She asked with a mischievous grin.

Hunter returned her smile as he placed his hand to his cheek as though putting the gesture in to his hand and then put it in his pocket for safekeeping.

“I couldn’t if I tried.”

#huntlow #idk I thought it was cute #willow park #Hunter toh #winter toh #toh #huntlow fanfiction #the owl house

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