Coming Clean [Millennium: 05-30-2018]

The hallways are already filling up with talent and he knows she'll already be here – she's nothing if not consistent, a creature of habit. His hair is shaggy, a hint of a copper tint to it now that summer's coming and as he catches sight of himself in the glass display case, he wishes he'd thought to shave before coming. No time for that now. The man continues walking until he gets to a closed door. He pauses, nervous now. His closed fist comes up and knocks three times before dropping his hand to his side. A few seconds later there's a loud crash from inside the room and then the door opens to reveal a red-faced redhead. She stares at him for a few seconds before she steps back and the door slams shut again. Just as he's about to knock again, it opens and now she's wearing her glasses and Kasey Summers is blinking up at him in confusion.

She stares for what seems like way too long. He looks good in a pair of well-worn jeans, a faded gray long-sleeved shirt, a black sports jacket over the shirt, and black boots. Seeing him here, now, cuts right through her and she swallows hard, trying to think of something to say to the man who broke her heart long before it became the fashionable thing to do.

"Uhm," she sighs, "…hi?"

"Kasey, hey." He offers her a friendly smile. "I know this is like double-u-tee-eff… but do you think I could take a few minutes of your time?" Both hands go up in front his chest, as if to fend off an attack. "After those few minutes, if you want me to throw myself out, done."

She continues to stare at him in a mixture of shock and wariness, slowly folding her arms across her chest. "Not a word for like two years and now… you're here out of the blue?" Not to mention on a night of a huge opportunity that might put her back on track. But of course, Hunter Donimari had always done what he wanted to the beat of music only he could hear. "What the hell?"

"Yeah, ahhh, see that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." His right hand comes up and scratches the back of her neck. "Do you, ahhh, think that'd be okay?"

Kasey rolls her eyes, taking a step back into the room. "Fine. Whatever."

"Thanks." He says this with a nod as he follows her into the room. "So, where to begin…" Hunter clears throat a few times. "Okay, so I'm not gonna beat around the bush…" He is making himself look at her even though he feels shame. "I'm sorry, Kase…. For all of it. I fudged up big time and I've gotta live with my mistakes."

She shakes her head, turning her back on him to walk across the room in a huff, throwing herself on the couch. "Well, there's the understatement of the year. Century, maybe? Like… what happened to Miami and the place on the beach and…" she bit her lip, shaking her head.

Hunter lets out a deep breath, unsure of what to do with his hands now. "Just disappearing was a mistake. I shoulda talked to you and told you what was happening with me." His eyes focus on the floor of the room. "I'm a piece of shit and you deserved better and still do."

"I'm not mad." She sighs, "it happens. People leave. They get sick of me and they go away. The one after you, he… he did the same thing. Bailed on me out of nowhere. Told me it was for the best and I wouldn't understand and so I moved on and then wouldn't you know it? He came back and BOOM!" She claps her hands together, startling him, "all the feels came back and I pulled the same trick and walked out on a really, really good guy. For nothing, I might add. It all fell apart. And yeah, that was probably my fault because I… I didn't trust him like I did before. You know how that goes, right?"

Hunter nods, "I do." He pauses, trying to choose his words carefully. Finally, he meets her eyes. "I'm not here to play any of those games. I'm not trying to get you back. I just wanted to apologise. You deserve the world and I'm sorry I dropped the ball. You are a great girl and I'm really happy you and Nick found each other." Even though there is a smidge of jealousy, Hunter puts it aside. "He's a really good guy and you deserved that."

She closes her eyes for a few seconds, hugging herself. "I dunno what I deserve. The universe keeps shitting on me at every turn so it's pretty damn hard to stay positive these days."

"Yeah, I get that." The words are mixed with an exhale. "Kasey… I'm sorry for it all… I'd like to try to be a good friend to you. If you'll let me." He's looking at her a bit of a sad expression on his face.

She blinks, staring at him the same way she had when he arrived, like he had suddenly sprouted an extra head. "Wait so you wanna be friend-zoned? Voluntarily? Because…" she trails off, looking thoughtful.

Hunter thinks for a moment and then nods. "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm doing." He says this with a laugh but then looks at her sincerely. "I care a lot about you and I want to be in your life, if you'll let me."

Kasey nods. "Right. Okay. I mean, I'd really like that because I kinda miss your big, goofy ass." She picks up a pillow off the couch and throws it at him, sticking her tongue out when he catches it. "You gotta buy me ice cream, though. And you must tell me exactly what happened and why you bailed because I know it wasn't my injury...you were already pulling away before that. Was it because you were regretting asking me to marry you? Like….we so coulda waited. I mean...I just wanna know what I did wrong if anything."

At this point, Hunter looks away and his demeanor shifts. He'd taken a seat in a chair and is leaning over with his hands clasped in front of him. "It wasn't the proposal…. It wasn't the injury and it definitely wasn't you." Hunter had always been a big and lovable goof, even during times of sadness. Him being so quiet and somber was something new. "Right before you got hurt, I found out some stuff about me and where I came from…" He swallows hard, his shoulders moving up and then down with a sigh. "I found out that the bastard who terrorized my sister…. Clay, is actually our sperm donor." He looks up at Kasey, his eyes watery, and he quickly blinks them away. "It.. knowing what he was and what he did… It fucked me up, Kase." Frowning, Hunter sits back in the chair, his hands gripping the armrests. "I couldn't talk about it, with anyone. That's why I didn't tell you and I shut down. It was never you." He goes silent, the heaviness of what he'd just revealed weighing on him.

"Oh…" It's more a soft exhale than a real word, like he just sucker punched her with the truth. She'd been expecting something else. Some bumbling excuse that wouldn't make sense, but she knew all about Clay the bastard stepdad of doom and the things he'd done to Hannah and Lex over the years. "Ohhh my God. I didn't...wow. How did you just find that out now? That's crazy. He's crazy and I mean holy shit. No wonder you dropped off the face of the earth." The words come out in a rush as she shoots to her feet and almost dives into his lap, spontaneously hugging him tight. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. You didn't have to alone. I would have...even though I had my own shit… I would've been there for you. I mean, all the time in the freakin' world and you know, it was supposed to be us and I don't know why you…" she trails off, burying her face against his chest. He still smells the way she remembers and it breaks her heart.

The hug takes him by surprise, but he returns it, still refusing to look at her. Truth be known, he didn't want her to see how raw he still felt. Finding out that he was biologically Clay's had stripped him of something that he still didn't know what it was. Hunter just knew he felt empty. "Rebecca told me… it was outta spite more than anything, I thought she was going full of shit. Then I called Han and she confirmed it. She told me that she knew for a few years but didn't say anything, cause she still had trouble with it." He shrugs. "After that phone call, I went off the grid. Had trouble coping with it." Finally, he looked at her. "I'm sorry I never came clean."

"You're not like him," Kasey says softly, stepping back even though her hands are still on his shoulders, "much as I wanna see you as the bad guy… you're not. I mean I'm the bride of Satan over here compared to you -- you've always been the sweetest guy in the world. God… I mean the things I did after? Oh man. I was such a royal bitch and I was so angry. At everything, Hun… not just you. The injury… I mean I lost that title and I was gonna do that hardcore thing. Remember you tried to talk me out of it and then I had those light tubes smashed over my head and you were picking glass out of my hair and telling me I could do anything I set my mind to and then like a total spaz I wipe out that landing and almost kill my stupid self. It all went to shit, you know. Every company I went to after I came back folded up on itself -- I know how to pick 'em, right?"

He nodded, remembering all too well. They had gone through a lot together and he wished that he'd reached out to her, told her about his messed-up genetics. "If they didn't last, then they weren't the right ones, Kase. You are so damn talented and I'm proud of you for not giving up." Hunter gave her a smile, it was a tired one-- whenever he talked about his biological father, it wiped him out. "Thank you for welcoming me and talking to me. I'd been wanting to do this for awhile but was being a coward."

"Better late than pregnant, right?" She laughs, shaking her head.

Hunter laughs along with her, his expression brightening up. "Can't say I disagree. By the way, I'm gonna be in the audience, tonight. So you'll have some extra cheers."

She grins, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet as she claps her hands in delight. "I'll try not to fuck up spectacularly then."

"You are gonna be great."

"Of course I am," she shakes her head, "it's against Kate Steele. She sucks more than a Roomba!"

He joins in the laughter, feeling lighter as he moves to his feet. "And after the show, I'mma buy you a giant cupcake to celebrate. Then I'mma buy one for your moose."

She squeals in delight, launching herself at him for another enthusiastic hug. "YASSSSSSSSSS CUPPYCAKES!" Reluctantly, she steps back and looks away, blushing bright red. "You should… uhm… go find your seat and stuff. I'll look for you after the show, okay?

"Sounds good, Red." He says, laughing and returning the hug. "One more thing…" he says as he gets to the door. "Kick ass tonight!"

"All the ass! All the time!" She fires back, feeling a prickle of tears at the reminder of what they used to say to each other before she went out to fight in Femme Fatale Wrestling, back when she'd thought she had it all figured out. What she wouldn't give to have those halcyon days back now.