chapter 22

                                    

                                          
• • • •
                          
on our way
                          
My auntie texted me, I shook my head, straightening up the living room a bit more.
                          
This morning I had received a text from my aunt informing me that she was going to drop Hunter off for me to watch him for a couple of days. Hunter is my cousin. It was totally last minute, but I gave in and told her I would do the job just fine.
                          
Niall was out at the moment, he had to pick up Harry because his car broke down around an hour ago.
                          
This whole day had been very hectic after I came home from the grocery store.
                          
The door bell rang, and I quickly rushed over to open it up and be welcoming to Hunter and Aunt Callie.
                          
"Dakota! So good to see you." My aunt pulled me into a hug. I smiled, over her shoulder I saw Hunter looking down at his hands and being the quiet 12 year old he is. 
                          
Hunter is way too quiet for a 12 year old though. He's been through a lot...
                          
"Hey Hunter, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while." I spoke, leaning down a bit and giving him a hug.
                          
"Fine. Not much going on." he mumbled, only loud enough for me to hear.
                          
He must have millions of things going through his mind.
                          
"Well, I'm sorry to cut my visit short, but I have to catch my plane." Callie spoke, pulling Hunter and I into a quick hug. I nodded and she left the house quickly, leaving me alone with depressed Hunter.
                          
"What do you want to do?" I asked, he shrugged and stayed quiet, like usual.
                          
Hunter had depression no doubt. I remember when he didn't want to wake up. I was at his house, so I went to his room to give him some company. He told me he was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. But he woke up into a nightmare. The day he developed depression is something I hate to think about, let alone discuss. It was a hard time for everyone, he just took it even harder.
                          
"Are you hungry at all?" I asked, giving him a little space from speaking, once again, Hunter shrugged in response. Instead of staying there with that answer, I grabbed his hand and we went into the kitchen, him following me behind.
                          
"How about soup? Chicken noodle, I remember it's your favorite." I smiled, he gave me a fake grin and nodded. The fake grins were something we all had to live with, to him it was just a normal smile I guess.
                          
I walked into the pantry and opened up a can of soup, taking a pot out as well.
                          
"Who's house is this?" Hunter spoke, catching me off guard. Once again, he never spoke much, so this was new.
                          
"Well um, this is my house now. I um, I share it with my boyfriend." I replied, he nodded and began spinning on the stool he had taken a seat on.
                          
That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, just as long as he sees the end in sight. He's such a quite kid. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end.
                          
He's only 12 and he's already thought about this kind of stuff. His mum told me a couple months ago that he had to start taking pills for it. The doctor was even shocked he developed it at such a young age.
                          
The sound of the door opening from the front room sounded the house and I heard Niall's footsteps going into the living room.
                          
"That's him right now, come on Hunter." I smiled, grabbing his hand again and taking him to the loving room.