Hunter shifted in his chair as Rachel spoke, not feeling uncomfortable exactly about the subject matter, but not really knowing how to talk about it himself. He swallowed, wringing his hands in his lap.
"I..." he started, then closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you for saying that. Because I am a little worried about her hating me. Though not as worried as I am about hurting her. That's the last thing I want to do, especially after everything." He shook his head.
"I really like her, Rachel," he admitted, a passionate weight behind the words. "When I'm with her I feel so... Light," he tried to explain. "Like she's the sun and I'm coming alive in her warmth. I want to hold her and protect her and keep her close so no one can ever hurt her again."
As he finished, the buoyancy in him deflated, and he slumped back. "It's not confusing when I think about it," he says, meeting Rachel's eyes and hoping she might understand. "It's not like yin and yang, black and white. She touches something in me, we have a connection. But..." He bit his lower lip and shook his head again. "He does too. I have that with him too."