The First Steps (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 1 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Three

❝intimate (pronounced ˈɪntɪmət or in-tuh-mit
private and personal.
eg. she tried being intimate with him.❞

March 2013 rolled along. Hunter and Lilly had been together for a couple of months now, and Lilly's course, as well as Hunter's career were going good. He had bid Lilly goodbye a few hours ago, as he was going to Canada for the video shoot of 'I Want Crazy'. Hunter texted Lilly quickly.

Hunter: Hey baby <3 Just landed in Canada

Lilly: say hi to all the canadians! WOOHOO POUTINE GET ME A RECIPE COZ I WANNA TRY IT.

Hunter: Just so you know, in this video shoot, I'm going to maybe kiss a girl and I don't get a say in it and I'm sorry

Lilly: calm down, it's fiiiine :) not like you like this girl, it's just for the shoot.

Hunter: Yeah <3 I'll talk to you later, hon

Lilly: message me when you can <3

He put his phone down and saw Betsy looking at him. "I'm glad you finally found someone," she said. "Means that management won't force an actress on you when the time comes."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, if the fans think you're either asexual or homosexual, they'll make a fuss. If you don't get a girlfriend eventually, then management will hire an actress for you to pretend with, then you take your time finding the right woman. Stage a breakup, wait a month or two, then you can come out with the new girl on your arm at some award ceremony. They do it everywhere."

"I didn't know they did it in real life," said Hunter, frowning. "That's not right."

"No," Betsy agreed. "But sometimes, it's the only way for an artist to actually get big in the business."

He hoped that Lilly would stay with him long enough for that to never happen.

<><><><><><><><>

Back at home, Lilly had invited a girl from her class, Mimi, over to study. Mimi was a bit of a
girly-girl, a drama queen- the opposite of Lilly. She had unwillingly told Mimi about her relationship with, "NO FREAKING WAY! HUNTER HAYES?!" and she was hoping that Mimi wouldn't fangirl over anything. She didn't like the attention any more than Hunter did.

"Hi!" she practically screamed, making Lilly flinch slightly. She had had a headache all morning- she suspected it was because she missed Hunter.

"Hey, Mimi."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you invited me over!" she said, sounding annoyingly high-pitched. Lilly had to remind herself that they needed to work together for the exams that would be coming up soon.

"Come in, I made some mini pizzas."

"Yum!"

While they worked, Mimi babbled on about her new boyfriend (according to her, the thirty-eighth one, not that she was counting). who was just so...

"Tall, dark and mysterious. He is just the most amazing thing ever, and he is so hot," she gushed. Lilly didn't say anything. Hunter was light, short and openly honest. She liked that about him.

"And what's Hunter like?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Hunter," she said in a 'duh' tone. "What's he like?"

"He's very sweet."

"Have you guys done anything?"

"Done anything?"