him to commit acts of prostitution from an early age and refuses to leave with her. When Rita summons the police to remove Hunter from Michael's and Ben's custody, Michael flees Pittsburgh with Hunter leaving Ben to stall the authorities. Michael and Hunter return to Pittsburgh in time for the custody trial with Melanie hired to represent Hunter. Rita does win custody initially, but the judge overhears her callous and homophobic remarks regarding Hunter's HIV status and awards custody to Ben and Michael. During the fourth season, it is revealed that Hunter is in a heterosexual relationship with a girl, Callie Leeson. At first Michael is upset by the idea of a heterosexual son, but he learns to accept it, even agreeing to have dinner with Callie's parents. However, Callie's parents confront Michael and Ben once learning Hunter is HIV positive after reading in Callie's diary. Insisting they are acting in the interest of protecting Callie, they forbid the relationship to continue. Hurt and angry, Hunter reveals his history as a prostitute which further disturbs the Leesons and shocks Callie enough for her to break off the relationship herself. During season five, Callie's parents expose Hunter's HIV status to the school at-large during a swim meet when he accidentally cuts his forehead and bleeds into the water, which makes Hunter a target for bullying and hatred at school. This culminates in the school's principal calling a meeting for the concerned parents in an effort to disarm them. Amid pressure to withdraw from school, Hunter is able to take a stand against the accusations leveled against him by the parents at the meeting and resolves to stay in his high school. However, he soon finds out that Callie has a new boyfriend and is extremely upset by this. He also feels slightly pushed aside because of the arrival of JR which further divides Michael's and Ben's attention. Feeling isolated, he decides to leave Pittsburgh much to the shock and dismay of Michael and Ben. While Michael attempts to be more stoic, Ben is particularly devastated over Hunter's abrupt departure and becomes moody and irritable. Finally, the couple receives an E-mail from Hunter, telling them that he is OK, which seems to ease their sadness. After Michael is severely injured in the bombing of Babylon, a worried Hunter returns home. After a chat with Debbie, he decides to stay for good. He