Hunter was tall and well-built. Melody liked how strong he felt against her or in her arms. She wasn't accustomed to dating. She always had her heart wrapped up tightly, and the last relationship of any significance was with a woman. She was still in the adjustment phase of dating a guy, but it had all been flowing easily in the right direction. It wasn't a perfect set of circumstances by any means, but she had never been searching for perfection. Quite the opposite, she knew everything in life was flawed in its own way. If it appeared as perfection, it was usually a mask with scar tissue below. That was the epitome of both of them, really. She didn't have to try with Hunter. To her, that was a sign of how genuine he was.

"That's a really tough call, sweetheart. But this is 2016 and social media is more of a staple than toilet paper or food. They'll find out one way or another. Wouldn't it be better that sort of bad news coming from someone like you, who gets it? Then, say, they do find out on Facebook, they'll wonder why you didn't tell them and it will break down your whole therapeutic relationship with them. Especially Justin. Poor kiddo has a lot of trust issues. I've seen him at his worst too, and we all need to do what we can to help to keep him on the straight and narrow." She gave a lot of thought to his question, her cheek resting against the top of his head as they fell into silence. "I don't know how I coped. Put my own shit aside so I could be there for him. He needed me. Mostly, I was just terrified he'd die."