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

Chapter Twenty-Eight

❝home (pronounced hohm or həʊm), noun
where the heart is set in stone, where you go when you're alone, or where you go to rest your bones; not just where you lay your head, not just where you make your bed, as long as we're together, does it matter where we go?❞

"You know," said Mimi, snapping her gum, "I would never say yes to a marriage proposal."

Lilly, Tina and Rianna all looked around. "Why?" asked Rianna. Rianna, Tina and Mimi were best friends, and the girls had the false idea that Lilly was their friend too. She didn't know how to say no to them, so here they were, at her house and interrupting her study.

"Because," said Mimi, "I wanna live, you know?"

"But marriage is a beautiful thing-" Lilly tried to say.

"Oh, yada, yada, we know all your shit by now!" said Tina, and Lilly narrowed her eyes. "I like, totally agree with you, Mimi."

"But why? It doesn't make any sense," said Lilly. "I mean, just have a husband who'll let you go out partying or whatever it is you want to do."

"But being tied down to the same guy forever? How boring would it get?" said Rianna, twirling a lock of her platinum blonde hair, though you could still see the mousy brown growing at the roots.

"That's not so bad if you find the right guy-"

"Lilly?" called someone from the front door. The girls' faces all lit up, and before Lilly could say no, they had scrambled out of their chairs and gone to greet Hunter.

"Hi!" they all squealed, and Hunter smiled and talked to all of them, Lilly being left several feet behind. She gave him an apologetic look, and he gave her a crooked smile to say, "It's alright."

"Oh my gosh, you're so hot," said Rianna.

"Oh, come on," said Lilly, exasperated. "Just go home, it's not like you were studying anyhow."

The girls went outside, still chittering excitedly, and Lilly sighed, closing the door behind Hunter. "Sorry."

He chuckled. "A lot of fans are like that. It's alright."

She walked back inside, and Hunter followed her. "I have so much to do," she muttered, sitting down.

"You're tense, darling," he said, massaging her shoulders gently. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not tense," she said angrily, moving away. "I have work to do."

"Do you need some help?" asked Hunter, plopping down beside her. "I can write poetry!"

"Lovely, except I'm not doing poetry."

Hunter looked put out. "Would you like me to let myself out?" he asked.

"No, I'm sorry," she sighed. "I just got really behind on work because of those girls, and my head hurts because they were pretty much screeching and I'm taking it all out on you."

"Well, I think you should take a break," said Hunter, and the warm air from his breath rushed across her neck. "Why don't we watch a movie or something?"

"I can't watch a bloody movie, I'm studying."

"C'mon," said Hunter. "We'll watch a movie, talk for a while, maybe have a bit of a makeout session, then we'll study together. How does that sound?"

"Hunter-" she tried to say, sounding exasperated, but he kissed her, cutting her short and making her forget what she was about to say.

"That's settled then. Should we watch 'The Notebook'?"