The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The calm before the storm, Drew thought silently. He had never seen Hunter so angry before. He looked completely tense, and turned to Ryan. "Ry, where do they buy guns? Where can I buy one?"

"Hunter, that isn't funny," she said sharply.

"That's good. It wasn't meant to be. It's not a joke." He paced tensely, before picking up a vase, looking at it silently. His calloused fingers traced over the engravings in it, and he was still more tense than even Elle had ever seen him.

"Pa, it's not worth it," she said softly. "Please."

He suddenly roared in anger, throwing the vase onto the floor, where it shattered. "DAMN IT, ELLE!" he yelled.

"Hunter!"

"IT'S MY FAULT!" He let out an incomprehensible scream, picking up a metal mantlepiece and throwing that onto the ground as well, where it made a loud clang. "I CAN'T- oh God, I can't..." He fell back onto the couch, sobbing. "Ellie, I'm so sorry..."

The kids had all slowly snuck into the room at this point, where they watched silently. Spencer looked terrified. "Papa?" he said quietly.

"Kids, come on. I'm gonna take you all outside. Who wants to play baseball?" asked Drew, trying to sound upbeat, and took the kids outside, despite their protests. Elle was left behind, watching Hunter sob into his hands.

Ryan moved his hands away from his face and wiped his tears away, kissing his nose softly. "Breathe," she said softly. "This isn't your fault."

"I did this. I told you to keep it a secret, I should've told the media... Ellie, he blackmailed you into something... you're just a child, you're just my little girl..."

"I'm sorry, Papa," she said softly.

"Oh Ellie... I'm so sorry... if I had just told the media earlier he wouldn't have been able to blackmail you like this."

"It's not your fault."

Hunter looked at her with a broken look in his blue eyes. "We're finding your family on tour, Ellie. We're finding them no matter what."

"But-"

"No. I'm not letting you get hurt for my sake anymore. You're never getting hurt again." He walked out of the room, leaving Ryan and Elle in shock.

"You... you think it's because I did this?" asked Elle in a hushed voice.

"No, darling," she replied. "He's been through a lot. He just doesn't want you to go through it too."

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Drew tossed the empty box of popcorn into the bin, walking out of the theatre with Elle. "How was that?"

"It was amazing, I loved it!" she said, and he could hear a glimmer of the old Elle. "There was just- it was so-"

"Really well done," said Drew, and she nodded.

"Exactly."

He smiled slightly. "You okay? Do you wanna go back home?"

She nodded. "Sure. Do you want to grab lunch first?"

"Sure, where do you want to go?"

"There's an IHOP near here. Let's go there."

"Y-"

Within two seconds, a group of people with cameras ambushed them. "Elle! Elle, how long have you known that you were adopted?"

"Elle, who's this that you're with?"