After Every Rainbow Comes a Storm

by Percsassy

Summary:

Luz opened the door.

She closed it.

She opened it.

She closed it.

She opened it.

It stayed open.

Hunter watched her stare into the empty room. He tilted his head up, hoping that maybe, just maybe, if he moved, he could prove that it wasn’t real.

Luz turned to face them, and he knew that it was.

 

Just your basic Post-King’s Tide fic, ft. The kids getting patched up at the Noceda Household and plenty of Hurt!Hunter!!! :)

Notes:

Hullo!!! This fic is EXTREMELY Self indulgent, and I wrote it immediately after watching King’s Tide!! I CANNOT write smut- I’m 14, for Titan’s sake!- so don’t worry about that!! ❤️❤️ OH! ALSO! I don’t have a beta, so any mistakes are mine!! :)

Luz opened the door. 

She closed it.

She opened it.

She closed it.

She opened it.

It stayed open.

Hunter watched her stare into the empty room. He tilted his head up, hoping that maybe, just maybe , if he moved, he could prove to himself that it wasn’t real.

Luz turned to face them, and he knew that it was. 

Hunter stared at her, and she stared back with a look almost as desperate as he felt. She broke eye contact first, blinking furiously as her head swiveled to face the ground. A quiet cry sounded, and Hunter felt his fists clench tightly.

He stared at the spot where Luz’s eyes used to be for longer than he cared to admit.

“Luz?”

Amity’s voice broke him out of his shaken stupor, and Hunter snapped his head around to face her with wide eyes. The lavender haired witch slowly pushed herself off the ground and limped over to her human girlfriend.

Amity grabbed Luz’s arms and pulled her into a ‘hug,’ then broke down sobbing in her arms.

Hunter turned to his other side and saw Willow staring at the couple as well, Gus crying on the ground next to her. Briefly, Hunter registered himself moving towards the boy he’d come to think of as a soft of little brother, but didn’t fully realize what he was doing until Gus was flinching away from the hand that Hunter had laid on his back.

Hunter had to admit that it hurt when the twelve year old gaped and recoiled in fear. 

Twelve, he reminded himself, Gus is only twelve.

The two boys stared at each other until recognition crossed Gus’s features and suddenly Hunter had an armful of sobbing pre-teen. Gus’s breathing came in short gasps, but Hunter couldn’t remember how to help.

His eyes widened and he froze, his own breath hitching as he and Gus made contact. He wasn’t sure what to do- he’d never comforted anyone, much less been comforted himself. That one time with the breathing didn’t count, and oh, right, the breathing thing .

A gentle yet calloused hand laid on his arm and Hunter sucked in a lungful of air, magenta orbs meeting forest green as Willow made a lame attempt at a smile.

“It’ll be okay,” she said simply, and Hunter could tell that she was holding back tears herself.

Willow hadn’t said ‘It’s okay,’ because it wasn’t. It just… wasn’t.

Hunter opted to nod, not trusting himself to speak.

The sixteen-year-old hesitantly wrapped one arm around his best friend and one around Willow, pulling them the both of them into something that strongly resembled and embrace.

Willow, caught by surprise, made a choking sound. “I-“ she started to speak, only to be cut off by a harsh sob. Hunter pulled her closer, his eyes squeezing shut as he entangled his shaky, gloved hand in her wet hair.

It occurred to him that it was raining, and that the rain was cold . Not boiling, just… cold. Maybe Belos hadn’t lied about everything. Maybe he’d just lied about Hunter . Maybe-

No . He cut himself off. He could deal with… that, whatever that was, later. He needed to help Willow and Gus instead of being selfish.

His grip around the two witches tightened as he heard footsteps approaching, and his eyes snapped open to meet full brown orbs.

“I know- my house is…” Liz trailed off, unable to continue. Hunter nodded.

He understood.

He helped Gus and Willow to their feet, keeping one arm around him as to comfort the boy. Hunter guiltily admitted that he was using Gus as a source of comfort, as well. 

He kept the twelve-year-old close as they made the short trek to Luz’s human house, keeping himself occupied by mentally noting everyone’s injuries.

Willow had scratches on either side of her face and a cut on her arm that her hand kept hovering over.

Amity leaned against her girlfriend as they walked, her left leg dragging slightly behind her as she limped along. Hunter made sure to keep that in mind. Otherwise she seemed mostly unharmed, the only objection being the scrape on her left cheek.

Luz had a particularly nasty cut on her eyebrow, one that Hunter knew from years of experience would probably scar. She had a light scratch on the opposing cheek, and her pants were ripped at the hem, showing off a similar scrape beneath the lining.

Gus had a pretty deep cut on the right side of his face and his ear twitched painfully every time a raindrop hit it.

They walked in silence until they reached their destination. When they came to the door Luz raised her fist to knock, but stopped at the last moment. Her hand hovered over the door as she debated whether or not coming home had really been the best idea.

A weak cough from Gus made her decision for her and she knocked before she could chicken out, arms falling limply to her sides as she stepped back.

The door opened and a woman who looked like an older, less traumatized version of Luz’s mom opened the door. The woman- Luz’s mother, Hunter presumed- raised her hand to her mouth, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she glanced over all of them before meeting her daughters eyes.

“Hey, mom,” Luz greeted, obviously fake enthusiasm lacing her tone, “I’m back!”

They all just stood there, rain pouring down and wetting their hair and clothes and dripping off of their shivering bodies in rivets before Luz’s mom let out a shuttery gasp and threw her arms around Luz.

Hunter straightened immediately, the blank look on his face turning to one of fierce protectiveness as he tightened his hand around Gus’s shoulder, the other clenching at his side lest he need to intervene. None of his friends were going to get hurt on his watch. Not anymore.

The woman pulled away and took Luz by the shoulders, finally seeming to process the other four kids standing in front of her.

“Oh, come in, come in, you all just be freezing!” She ushered them inside, leading them into a room with a couch before hurrying to grab towels. She returned before anyone could sit down, throwing a towel to each child and watching them dry eachother off with wide eyes.

“Oh, poor mijos , you all look absolutely drained . I’ll go get you all some fresh clothes”

Hunter made a strangled noise at the wording, shivering at the memory of the life slowly being drained from his body.

Movement caught his eye in the corner of the room and Hunter swiveled to see a basilisk slithering towards them with some sort of red and white box. He opened his mouth to warn everyone, but all that came out was a hacking cough.

He ignored it, quickly snatching the box and raising it to detonate the basilisk and-

And then Luz was there, protecting it, He tried to tell her to move, that it was dangerous, but once again all he could do was choke. His throat felt like sandpaper, though his mouth was still perfectly wet.

“Hunter,” Luz said gently, taking note of his wild eyes and panicked breaths, “it’s okay. This is Vee. She’s my… my sister.”

Hunter lowered the box and stumbled back, legs propelling him aimlessly until he hit the couch. He nodded jerkily, then slumped down on the couch between Willow and Gus, opening the odd case.

Inside were bandages similar to the ones he’d worn whenever he got a new scar, whenever he needed to learn a lesson. 

The basilisk- Vee , Hunter reminded himself- now in a human form that looked eerily similar to Luz, tried to take the supplies from him, but Hunter scrambled away. He surprised himself by letting out a weak protest, hating how vulnerable the way his voice sounded made him seem.

Vee started to protest, but Luz’s mom came back into the room and she just complained to her instead. Luz’s mom- Camila , Vee had said- asked if she could have the ‘first-aid kit,’ please.

Hunter practically threw the box into her arms, but not before grabbing some supplies to help bandage Gus, and hopefully enough for Willow as well.

He knelt at the base of the couch and started to clean Gus’s wounds, thankful for Willow, who spoke to him in soft tones to distract him.

When he was finished Hunter moved onto Willow, speaking to her the same way she’d spoken to Gus, albeit a bit shakier. She sucked in a deep breath as Hunter applied antiseptic to her arm wound, and the sixteen-year-old apologized profusely.

After he was satisfied with his work, he slid back into the space between Willow and Gus on the couch. Amity and Luz had both been taken care of by Mrs. Camila and were settled in a well. Even the bas- Vee, was sitting next to Amity.

Camila surveyed them, and Hunter tensed as her gaze caught on him. 

“Hunter, was it?” He nodded. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, ma’am,” he replied, cursing the shakiness of his voice. 

Hunter, in fact, was not fine. His head throbbed from hitting the ground after being thrown through the portal, his chest burned from the scratches that laid hidden underneath his torn shirt, his temple throbbed where he’d scratched it in the fight with Be- Phillip, and his arm was on fire . 

He looked down at Gus who, in turn, was looking up at him with immense concern in his dark chocolate orbs. “I- I’m fine, Gus. No need to- ah -“ he cut himself with a pained gasp, gritting his teeth as Willow squeezed his hand. 

Willow’s eyes widened, and if Hunter hadn’t been in so much pain he might have felt guilty. She let go of his hand quickly and Mrs. Camila took his arm in her hand, tugging on his glove.

“M-ma’am, I-I’m okay, really, there’s no need to-“ 

Luz’s mom cut him off with a stern look, and Hunter braced himself for the blow that he knew was coming, an apology spilling from his lips as he scrunched his eyes shut.

“Hunter?” 

His eyes snapped open, and looked up again. Mrs. Camila was staring at him with a mix of concern and kindness, watching him as if he were a scared animal. He might as well have been. “I’m not going to hurt you, mijo ,” she said softly.

“But-“

“No buts. Can I take your glove off?”

“Okay,” he whispered.

Hunter glanced towards Luz and Amity to see them deep in conversation, the ghost of a smile flickering across Amity’s face as Luz touched her arm.

Mrs. Camila let out a soft gasp and his attention was drawn back to her, his gaze following her’s down to his wrist.

Hunter’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of his coven sigil, the skin around it bruised and inflamed. A long red scar that looked vaguely like a lightning bolt ran up his forearm, disappearing under the hem of his sleeve. His hand was swollen and when he tried to bend his finger, he found that only two of them would move.

“Ow,” he said lamely.

“Yeah,” Willow commented, hurt lacing her tone, “ Ow . Why didn’t you tell us, Hunter?”

She looked hurt and slightly angry by the fact that Hunter had hidden his injuries, and he was honestly confused. “I just… didn’t feel it,” he muttered guiltily.

“Can you feel it now?” Luz’s mom asked.

“Yes, ma’am-“ 

“Just Camila is fine, mijo .”

“I-I can, Mrs. Camila.”

“Okay, that’s a good sign. Now, can you move your hand like this?”

By the time Camila had finished examining him, Hunter was deemed to have three fractured fingers, a sprained wrist, and a mysterious new scar.

Camila bandaged him and had Vee drag some blankets and pillows into the living room for them to sleep on. The promise of warmth made Hunter want to drool, but sleep… not so much.

Camila wished them all a good night and told them to sleep well, and Luz have her a sad smile.

“We’ll try our best, Mami.”

She left and everyone turned towards Luz. 

“She’s… she’s nice,” Hunter admitted. “ Too nice.”

Someone giggled, and then someone else, and soon they were all in hysterics. 

At some point their laughter turned to tears and they all held each other and sobbed until their tears had run out. 

One by one, they all cried themselves to sleep, even Luz and Hunter.

They were broken. They knew that.

But maybe… maybe for now, that was okay.

Notes:

Welp, that’s a wrap! What did you guys think?!? Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!

I’m taking requests, but it’ll probably take me a week or so to finish them cos of my summer camp and studying to test out of Geometry!! I accept anything EXCEPT smut!!! Thank youuu!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Learning to Outlive Your Friends and Other Wonders of the Human World