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

Chapter Fifty-One

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"Do you understand how irresponsible you were?!" yelled Hunter as Phoenix looked down at his knees. Nita's ears were drooped, and her tail wasn't wagging like it usually was. "Leaving the house without telling any of us, without even leaving Ma a note?! What if she had called the police?! You realise people get fined for calling the police without reason?!"

"I just wanted to come on the tour," he said quietly.

"He can't go home," said Elle quietly. "We haven't got time for that."

"I want to find my parents," he said, his voice getting louder and louder. "I know it's her, Pa, I know that Charlotte Ruscoe has something to do with me!"

"Enough, Phoenix!"

"Stop yelling, both of you," said Elle weakly, putting a hand up to her head. "I know you're both angry right now, but..."

Hunter sighed, sitting down in a chair. "Now what?" he demanded. "Go on, then. Now what do we do?"

Elle shook her head. "We go to Arizona when we can."

"What?!"

"Stop. Yelling." She sounded tired. "We're going to Arizona. It's not much of a lead, but it's a lead nonetheless. That's all we've been going off, too."

"But-"

"I'm not going to argue with you on this, but we're not taking him back home so we may as well go to Arizona to find them." She stood up. "I'm gonna lie down."

"Alright," said Hunter, still looking angry but deciding it wasn't worth the argument. He looked at Phoenix again with inordinate disappointment, and left the room.

Elle looked at Phoenix, and as he opened his mouth to thank her, she said, "Save your breath. You're lucky we don't have time to take you back home, or I would've thrown you out of the bus and made you walk back."

He looked down, and Elle sighed. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Was it worth it? He looked at Nita, who looked sad that she had gotten yelled at by her favourite people. But he rubbed her head. Of course it was worth it. He had a family out there somewhere, and he was going to find them.

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"So you'll get there... in what, six or so more hours?"

She nodded. It had been a few days since they had left, and Elle was Skyping Drew from inside the bus. "Yeah. We stopped off in Charlotte and we're leaving now. Pa performed, they loved it of course."

"That's good to hear. Nick?"

"Hasn't spoken to any of us. I think he feels guilty, but honestly, God knows. He doesn't even talk."

"Hmm."

"How's Ma?"

Drew hesitated. "She's... she's getting on."

"Not pregnant again I hope."

"No, definitely not. She just seems... despondent."

"Desp- what?"

"Despondent, it means that she kinda just seems like she's lost hope."

"Oh. Do you know why?"

He shook his head. "She didn't talk to anyone today, says Mom. They came to ours for a coffee date, y'know, and they were talking and I was taking care of the kids, but even I noticed, she just... wasn't talking."

"I wonder what's up with her."

"I think she just misses you guys."

"I dunno, that doesn't make sense," she said, frowning. "Like, she's not missing us. At least, I don't think she would be."

"What do you mean?"

"She's been so distant from Pa. To suddenly miss us like crazy, it just doesn't make sense."

"Unless she wasn't distant from him at all."

"What?"

"You know what I mean. Don't pretend you didn't notice how weirdly they acted last week before you guys left."

She pursed her lips. "I... I guess I'll ask Pa what's been going on. He usually trusts me with that shit."

"Yeah. Let me know, too."

"Of course."

He mussed his hair, letting his hair fall in its natural state over his forehead. He was wearing a ratty white shirt, and he had dark bags under his eyes and a tiny bit of stubble on his jaw. Elle felt like he had never looked so good. He smiled, the ghost of a dimple appearing on his cheek. "Good news."

"Yeah?"

"I applied to a couple of colleges, and Nashville State replied. I might get to do a degree in journalism with honours."

"That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it is." He smiled. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to try and get a contract with the American Ballet Theatre. I think that'd be incredible, to be honest."

"You will," he said. "Everything's gonna work out perfectly."

She smiled tiredly, and couldn't stifle a yawn. "You look nice tonight," she mumbled.

He chuckled softly. "Well, I do try." He frowned. "No, scratch that. I didn't try at all. I mean, look at my hair, it's not even sort of straight."

"I like it that way. It's just like you, a bit wayward."

He rolled his eyes. "I hate you."

"I hate you more. You irritate me."

"Yeah, same goes for you," he said with a suppressed smile.

She smiled at him gently, leaning her head on the pillow and looking at him. "I miss you like hell."

"Yeah. I miss you, too. You know, I think I just miss always being with you. We're almost always together, and now I'm kinda just walking around alone again."

"Exactly."

"You look lovely," he offered. "I wish I was there with you."

"I wish you were, too."

"You need rest," he said, checking the time. "Did you take your pill?"

"Yeah," she said, settling into her pillow, before her eyes widened. "Hey, didn't you say you learned a new song on the piano?"

"Yeah, I did, hold on," he said. "I'll play it for you."

She nodded, and Drew opened the lid of his piano, and looked back at the screen of his laptop. "Try and sleep, okay?"

"Yeah."

He began to play, and she felt her eyes close slowly. Her mind was consumed by the music, and she drifted off.

When she woke up again, it was three am, and her earphones were stabbing into her back. She put them back in and listened to the video message Drew had left her.

"Hey, cookie. You fell asleep before I could say good night to you, so here you go- good night! Sweet dreams. I love you more than anything." He smiled, and the video ended.

She smiled, too. No matter how far apart they were, they loved each other. It didn't matter what happened now.

*A/N: expect extreme delays

nethii <3*