A Good Old Book Barrier Closed

"You do," Hunter nodded, wincing a little at the mention of Dawn's dead mother. "And I know the feeling--about the family I mean. I don't have any cousins or anything either, just me and my dad." He did have cousins, supposedly, on his mother's side. He just didn't know them, or even his mother's maiden name now he thought about it. "They were thinking about having another kid but...stuff happened. You know?" He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't usually like talking about his mum. Not, like, publically. His mum was special, she was his mum. Not a lie, not a story to be twisted. She was her own woman and she was kind and loving and the best mum a boy could ask for.

She just wasn't here.

He put on a smile, a little too wide. "What's your dad like? A right polite guy I bet cause you're all polite, granted he's french so who knows." His smile became a grin and he prodded her with his elbow. "I'm kidding, british humour, you know? The french are cowards, the english like to complain. It's a joke. Funny." He didn't really think it was, he hadn't met enough people to know if the joke was true or not.

Dawn looked horrified for a second, tensing and slowly easing at the mention that it was a joke. "Uh, Yh, my father really is polite, I completely respect him." said Dawn hesitantly, ignoring the snide comment. She honestly thought people shouldn't be classified because of others who are similar. "But he isn't French, he's English. He met my mother when he went to France, I've never really asked why he went there, though. I love him all the same" she shrugged and smiled sadly, as she missed him despite letters being exchanged between them. "He always says I look like my mother, but I don't see it at all, I don't have her wavy long hair and she had greyish-blue eyes. Even though I've never seen it in real life, I love her wavy hair." What was she doing? Saying all this to someone she just met. Just earlier she wanted to touch his hair as it resembled her mothers waves. She flicked her eyes towards the hair that hung over his eyes and forced them away a moment later. Oh well, honesty is always best...and he seems to understand the family feeling... "I hope I'm not being to forward and it's probably weird to ask, but can I feel your hair?" asked Dawn with a neutral facade that masked hope, giving in and forgetting the earlier comment.

Hunter leaned back on his heels. "Huh?" he cocked his head. "Yeah. That is weird. Very weird. Super weird! I mean, I like weird. But..." he rubbed a hand over his beanie, moving it to one side. "You do not want to see me with this hat off." He said. "My hair's, like, the worst. You don't want to touch it either. It's gross. And messy. And like. Weird. Not that weird is a bad thing!" He was starting to ramble again. He was out of his depth. Way out of his depth. People never asked to touch him. People didn't usually want to touch him.

"I mean. I get it. Like. You want closure, right? Cause your mum had hair like mine? But, I bet her's was wayyy longer. And cleaner. And, like, better. I mean, I don't even comb it most days. That's why I wear the hat, cause it's a mess. Did I mention that? Sorry. I must be sounding crazy." He leaned back further, looking like he was going to fall back onto his arse at any moment. He looked a little mad. But that wasn't exactly unusal for him. He always looked mad. Maybe he was?

Dawn flushed and panicked as she pulled her hand away from mid air, "Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't think-" With wide eyes she moved back along with the chair making a scrapping noise against the wooden panels. "I didn't mean-" She had completely lost her words and probably the ability to speak. She was just wondering what her mother's hair would feel like and she hadn't meant for that to sound creepy, but the more she thought about it, the more it did. She probably wasn't used to asking such a thing? Idiot! How could you? Scaring off people with your nonsense she scolded herself inside.

Dawn couldn't bring herself to look at anyone or anything, nor could she bring herself to move away. Tears collected at the bottom of her eyelids, but not enough to fall onto her red cheeks. She wasn't one to cry with embarrassment or in front of someone, but this was different, she was already emotional with the topic of her mother. Quickly grabbing her novel from the table, she covered her face and after a few breaths she collected her words," I'm sorry, I just thought I'd know what my mothers' hair feels like if I touch your hair... it just looks so much like my mothers' except shorter, if you know what I mean? And I love her hair, all I have is this hair curled a bit at the bottom. " She fingered the ends of her own hair and the tears disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared the more she talked, coaxing herself back to her usual neutral facade.