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Hunter's POV
I stood there, stunned. Melody was in love with me?
What....?
I watched as she walked away, arms wrapped around herself to block out the chilly breeze in the air. She was in tears, and I couldn't help but feel it was my fault. Was it my fault, though? Or is this just Melody overthinking everything? Or both? Snapping out of my thoughts, I focused back on Melody. I can't just let her walk away, hearbroken. So, I did the only thing I could do.
I ran after her.
"Melody! Wait!" I exclaim, catching up to her. People were giving me rude stares as they looked from Melody, the shivering, crying girl, then to me, the confused boy chasing after her. "Melody, please!" I call, getting closer. I was now a few yards away from her. I could hear her crying. She turned around and looked up at me, her eyes glassy. "Leave me alone, Hunter!" she yells, pulling her arms closer to her for warmth. I shook my head, slipping my arms out of my jacket. "Here, at least put this on," I say, extending it out to her. She just looked at me. I sighed, draping the jacket over her shoulders. She hesitantly put her arms into the sleeves, which went past her hands by at least three or four inches. "Thanks,'' she sniffled, pulling her hair out from under the jacket so that it hung down her back.
"We need to talk this out, Melody. I feel like this is my fault," I say, looking at her. She looks down for a moment, before nodding her head as she hiccuped, a few stray tears escaping her eyes. I lead her over to a nearby bench and we sat down. I watched as she played with the extra bit of sleeve that went past her hands. "I'm sorry, Hunter," she says, finally looking at me. "For everything. I shouldn't have told you that, because I never intended to. I just screwed this up for everyone," she continued, her voice still a bit shaky. I shook my head, reassuringly putting my hand on her's. "No, no you didn't screw this up for anyone. You were just upset, and it slipped out. I'm not angry at you, I'm just confused," I explain, hoping to get the message across that I wasn't going to be upset with her.
"You should be, Hunter. It's selfish of me to think about you like that now that you've got a girlfriend," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I sigh, looking around for a moment. "It's not selfish. I've felt that way before, too. How...how did you even know I'm with someone?" I asked, curiously. She looked down. "I saw pictures of you two on TV earlier today," she admits. Pictures on TV?
Uh oh.
She must've seen the pictures of Jessie and I out to dinner when the papparazzi found us.
"Oh," I say, not sure of how else to respond. "Yeah," she answers. "When you said you didn't intend on me finding out about this...what did you mean?" I ask hesitantly. I don't want to make her even more upset. "There's nothing for me to 'mean', Hunter. I didn't intend on you finding out. It's that simple," she snaps, giving me a quick glare. "But if you must know," she starts, sighing. "I wasn't really into you in Nashville. Quite frankly, I wanted nothing to do with you. But, when I got back to California, I started thinking about everything that happened in Nashville. You always treated me so well, despite the fact that I went out of my way to make you miserable, and I realized that I should've been nicer to you," she started, getting up from her seat on the bench. She leaned down and took her high heels off, holding them in her hand. "Where are you going?" I ask, standing up as well. "I want to walk down the pier, if that's alright," she answers, brushing herself off. She wrapped my jacket around her, her hair blowing in the wind. I nodded, following her lead as she walked barefoot down the boardwalk.
"Anyway, I began thinking about all the times I'd yelled at you, made fun of you, was rude to you. You never gave up on me, with helping me, I mean. I would push you away, but you'd come right back, and I liked that. Thus, I started falling for you. But, it doesn't matter now," she continued once I'd caught up to her. I can't imagine how horrible she felt when she saw those pictures today. See, now I'm in an awkward situation. I'm dating Jessie, but Melody just told me she loves me.
I have no idea what to do.
She doesn't even know that it's Jessie that I'm dating.
"Well, I mean-" I was cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I looked down and saw that Jessie was calling me. A picture of her flashed on the screen. Melody noticed, and looked at me with wide, teary eyes. "It's Jessie, isn't it?" she asked, her voice beginning to shake. "I-"
"Hunter, there's a heart next to her name. I'm not stupid. It's Jessie, isn't it? You're dating Jessie?" she asked, a hurt expression on her face. "I...yes. I'm dating Jessie, but I-"
"Save it, Hunter. I don't need an explanation. Have a nice night," she said, quickly wiping her eyes. She slipped out of my jacket and shoved it into my arms, quickly putting her shoes back on before walking away from me, down to the opposite end of the pier. "Melody, wait, please!" I call, starting after her. "I don't want to hear it, Hunter!" she called, not even looking over her shoulder. I could hear the sadness in her voice, and for a split second, I wanted to be annoyed at Jessie for calling me, but I couldn't be upset with her. She didn't know any of this was happening with Melody, it's not her faullt.
Sighing, I call her back. "Hunter! Hey," Jessie exclaims happily. "Hey, Jessie," I reply, not as enthusiastically. "What's wrong?" she asks, now concerned. "Nothing, just tired," I lied. I hated lying to her, but I know if I told her the truth, she'd be furious with either Melody or myself, and I doubt Melody needs that right now. "You're lying, I can tell. You don't sound tired, you sound stressed," she observes. "I'm sorry, I ran into Melody and she-"
"Melody? Why did you see her? Is she still a spoiled brat?" she asks, disgust in her voice. "It's a long story. She's not really that spoiled you know, once you get to know her," I say, defending Melody. I know I'm with Jessie, but she doesn't know Melody as much as I do. "What do you mean, it's a long story? Is there something you're not telling me, Hunter?" she questions, her voice accusing. "What? No! I'll explain everything, if you'd just give me the chance, Jess," I say, hoping she won't get angry with me. "Go on," she answers, waiting.
I proceed to tell her about Melody, how she had her heart broken in the past and is now absolutely horrified at the thought of falling in love. I told her how Melody said she loved me, and that's when Jessie really got upset.
"She said she loved you?! Doesn't she know any better? I mean, I guess she's used to getting what she wants and when she doesn't get it, she pouts about it 'til she does. Typical snobby, rich girl," she scoffs, clearly jeaous. I knew this would happen. "Jessie, look, I know this is a lot to take in, but you have to understand-"
"No, Hunter. You should understand that we are dating. She shouldn't be chasing after you like that. You're mine, and I'm your's. She'll just have to get over it," Jessie interrupts, sounding angry. "You don't know the whole story, Jessie," I say, growing frustrated. I knew Jessie was doing what any girl would do. She was defending her boyfriend, which was normal, but she wasn't letting me explain everything. "What is there to know, Hunter? She's just a spoiled brat who didn't get what she wanted, and she wanted you. She can't have you, and she'll have to be a big girl and get over it, realize that the world doesn't revolve around her," Jessie continued.
"Say what you want, but just know that I'm telling the truth when I say that there's more to her than money and popularity," I say, running a hand through my hair. "Just drop it, Hunter. I have to go," she said, sounding frustrated. "I love you, you know that, right?" I ask. We'd first said we loved each other about a week ago, seeing as we were taking things slow for her sake. She said it first, so that let me know that it was okay for me to tell her the same whenever I pleased without having to worry that I was rushing things. "Bye, Hunter. I'll talk to you later,"
She hung up on me.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket, finding another bench to sit on. Putting my head in my hands, I replayed tonight's events in my head, trying to figure out what to do. A few minutes after I'd sat down, I saw a girl approach me. Looking at her, she looked not much older than fifteen.
"Hunter Hayes?" she asked, hesitantly walking toward me. No, Peter Pan. I thought to myself, forcing a fake smile. "That would be me," I say, looking at her. She smiled, taking out her phone."Can I get a picture with you?" she asks, holding out her phone. I took it with a smile, fake of course. "Absolutely!" I exclaim, as she sat next to me. We smiled as I snapped the picture, and I gave her the phone back. "Thanks! And I know it's none of my business, but you look down in the dumps. Are you okay?" she asked, looking at me with a concerned expression.
"Eh, it could be worse," I told her, chuckling. "Well, whatever's bothering you, I hope it blows over. Your Hayniacs want you to be happy," she said, standing up. I stood up with her, looking down at her. "Thank you. And you guys always make me happy, so I'll be fine," I reassure her. She smiled, hugging me. I hugged her back, and she pulled away after a moment. "I really do hope things get better, Hunter. I know your music has always made me feel better, so thanks for that. I've gotta go, it was awesome meeting you!" she exclaimed, before walking away. "You, too!" I call after her, waving.
At least I have my fans. They haven't gotten upset with me, not yet anyways.