It was almost one o'clock in the morning. Beth was still awake, her sweat-soaked clothes clinging to her skin. She had curled into fetal position in the center of the bed, and was staring at the bedroom door. Much of what she had done since her meeting with Jeremy Willakers was a blur. She had parked on the outskirts of Nashville and jumped out of the car. The souls of her feet ached from the long, intense run that had followed. The soreness in her eyes and the tight, salty skin on her cheeks reminded her that she had spent a long time sobbing: while her feet pounded the pavement, while her knuckles were turning white on the steering wheel of her car, while she had taken the stairs that led to the apartment. She could not remember eating, but there were dirty dishes in the sink. She did not remember going for another run at eleven p.m., but she had not returned until fifteen minutes ago. She did not recall how she had ended up here on the bed, but here she was.
Hunter finally made it home, and her brain snapped back to the present time, pulled abruptly from its idle wandering. Her body remained unyielding, but her brain registered the pad of his soft footsteps, the opening and closing of the refrigerator, and the dull thud of his guitar case on the tile in the kitchen: familiar sounds that made her ache with a ghost pain. Soon, she would not be hearing those sounds anymore.
His face finally appeared in the doorway, and he flicked the light switch in the bathroom a few seconds later, never looking her way. He probably thought she was sleeping already. She wished she was sleeping.
He closed the door behind him, and she heard the swish of the shower head pouring water down the drain. She was hit with a powerful need to be in his arms. She mustered her strength, forced her sore legs out of bed, and opened the bathroom door quickly. Hunter nearly jumped out his skin, not having expected her, as he was only half dressed in anticipation of his shower.
She did not run into his arms immediately, as she had wanted. She felt suddenly shy, imagining that the secrets in her heart had dyed her skin scarlet, and if she touched him, he would be stained as well.
"Beth?" he asked, a blush coloring his cheeks. His eyes darted to the jeans he had discarded, then to the black shirt he had tossed on the counter by the sink. Her eyes did not follow his, but locked on his face as she moved toward him timidly. When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around his middle and clung to him tightly. The sobs started again, and she could feel a palpable shift in Hunter's body when he registered that she was crying. He tensed, and his hands stroked her back in a half-crazed rhythm. He managed to maneuver her over to the shower, so he could shut off the water, but then he picked her up and carried her back to the bed, where he let her curl up in his lap.
When she finally stifled the racking sobs, she straddled his hips and put her hands on his shoulders, staring intently into his eyes.
"Hunter, we need to have a serious talk," she said pathetically.
He nodded. "I would say we do, Bethany. Why are you crying?" He ran his fingers over her cheek, and she held his hand there.
"Hunter..." she sighed. She had forgotten for a moment that she was forbidden from telling him about the FBI, or explaining why she was about to break his heart. Would it be easier to simply get up and leave? Pack her bags, change her phone number and simply disappear? She could come up with an excuse when she returned, and beg his forgiveness. She rejected the idea. She and Hunter had already been through one brutal separation; she could not think of doing that again, especially without giving him any reason at all.
"Just...let me think for a second, okay, Hunter?" He nodded warily, and she closed her eyes, still holding his warm palm to her cool cheek.
She had already made the decision to confess her past with Trenton to Hunter. This mission complicated that plan. Mere hours ago, Trenton McDermott was nothing but a horrible memory. She had only chosen to divulge what had happened to her because she had believed that Trenton was no longer a threat. Now that he was coming back into her life, and she knew she was in danger once again, could she tell Hunter? She hated knowing that if she told him, he would worry about her, but she also hated the thought of lying to him about her situation.
There was also the fact that she would be breaking the law if she told him about it now, and she had to consider the ramifications of such an act. She trusted Hunter implicitly; he had never once been quoted revealing pertinent information to any of his thousands of fans in all the years he had been famous. One little national secret was not likely to break that streak.
Then again, what if she returned and he had moved on? If she broke up with him or left without explanation, she was running the risk that he would find someone else.
The thought of him with another woman decided her: she was about to break the law.
"Okay, I think I'm ready," she said, opening her eyes unsurely. His face was filled with concern and caution, and she slumped her shoulders. "This is going to be a really uncomfortable conversation, Hunter."
He nodded. "That's okay," he replied, then chuckled softly, as though trying to lighten the mood. "Just as long as you're not about to break up with me."
Her face fell, and she peeked at him guiltily. He shifted under her, gripping her chin anxiously and gazing at her intently.
"Bethany...you're not about to break up with me, are you?" She did not answer right away. She averted her gaze, but he forced her to look at him and repeated, "Are you?"
"Hunter, I..." she said pathetically, trying to pull away from his grip.
"Bethany, why? What did I do? What did I do?" She could hear the panic rising frantically in his voice, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"You didn't do anything! Hunter, please. Let me explain. I'm not doing it because I want to, I swear." She blew out a breath, and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Then why, Beth?" he pressed. She could see the hurt in his eyes, and it was exactly what she had been dreading.
She tried to get her thoughts in order, not wanting to confuse him any further. She stared at him pitifully, unsure where to begin.
"Does this have anything to do with what you were going to tell me the other night?" She nodded appreciatively. He had remembered! Perhaps that would make things easier.
"Yes, it does. Listen...there are some things you don't know about me. Things that happened before I met you and I never had the...I couldn't tell you..." her voice broke on even more tears, and Hunter wiped them away.
"Shh, it's okay, Beth. Take it slow. I'm here for you. Tell me what it is. It'll be okay."
She nodded and smiled bravely. "Before I took the job to work for you, I was an apprentice to a man named Trenton McDermott. He's one of the best backstage directors on Broadway, and we worked together for months on a production of West Side Story." Hunter nodded slowly. She had told him about her time on Broadway, but never with tears in her eyes.
"While I was there," she continued, helping him wipe the remaining tears from her cheeks, "He was very...inappropriate. On the night that West Side Story was over, he asked me to come to his office to fill out my discharge papers. When I got there, though...he...pushed me against the door and tried to...and I just barely got away. I can't...it's so hard to think about. I was afraid to tell you because I wasn't sure what you would think. I didn't want you to think you were dating a piece of garbage, or think I was stupid for letting him treat me that way. I just...Hunter, I love you, and I didn't want you to think that you were in any danger or that I was in any danger and just...oh, lord, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you." She rambled, nervousness racking her whole body at the blank stare on Hunter's face. What was he thinking? She forced herself to stop talking, and watched him intently.
His jaw was set in a rigid line, a clear indication of the anger she could see reflected in his stormy blue eyes. She was not sure at whom he was angry, but she hung her head guiltily, wishing she had not told him.
Long moments passed, but he finally spoke, blowing out a super-charged breath and pulling her roughly into his bare chest.
"I'm so sorry, Bethany," he breathed into her hair. "I didn't know. I'm so, so sorry you had to go through that. I swear I'll kill him." She could hear his fury in his voice, and it made her feel a bit better to know that his anger was not entirely directed at her.
She looked at him warily, biting her lip. "So, you aren't angry with me? You don't hate me?"
Hunter looked appalled. "Why on earth would I hate you for that? It wasn't your fault, Beth! No, I'm not angry. It was your secret, and I was not going to make you tell me. I figured you would say something when you were ready. No, I'm not mad at you, honey." He kissed her forehead lovingly. "I'm glad that was all it was. You had me believing you were about to break up with me. It'll all be okay, Beth. You'll see."
He ran his fingers through her hair, but his hand stiffened when he noticed that the shamed look on her face had not disappeared.
"That wasn't it, was it?" he guessed, and she shook her head sheepishly.
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, Hunter. I could get in really big trouble if anybody knew I told you. So you have to promise me that this conversation will never leave this room. You can't tell anybody. Not your parents, not Ned, not the boys. Nobody can know but you and me, okay?"
He nodded, but his eyebrows were wrinkled again.
"Promise me," she insisted, staring directly into his eyes.
"I promise, Beth," he replied.
She took a deep breath. "I was contacted by the FBI. I just met with them this morning, while you were gone, and they told me that Trenton is suspect for criminal activity. They want me to go to New York and observe him, get close to him so I can find some evidence."
His body was rigid beneath hers again, and she could see a flat refusal glowing in his eyes.
"Hunter, I've already tried telling them no. It's the national government, for goodness' sake! You can't tell them no, Hunt. I have to go; I have to do what they say, or who knows what they'll do."
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't want you to go, Bethany. That's not right. Why you? Why does it have to be you? Do they know what he did to you? Did you tell them that?"
She shook her head. "Hunter, I just barely had the guts to tell you, nonetheless a bunch of strangers!" He grumbled and pulled out of her arms to lean angrily against the bed's headboard. "Trust me, I asked the same questions. They've been watching him, Hunter. They said he felt some sort of "connection" towards me, and they want to use it to get the proof they need to incarcerate him. I have a feeling they already know what happened. They even implied that I should...let it happen again...to get what they want."
Hunter gripped her upper arms, his face full of rage. "No. Absolutely not. Bethany, I don't want you going anywhere near that guy." He said it emphatically, and she wanted so badly to believe that his anger would be enough to keep her here, where she could be in his arms and she would never have to see that horrible man again. It would never work. They were dealing with powers that were greater than them. She had already accepted that she was not going to be able to escape this; she just needed Hunter to accept it, too.
"I don't have a choice," she refuted. "This is the United States government, Hunter."
His ire did not dissipate, but he released her arms and leaned back again, crossing his arms and grumbling.
"They expect you to pick up and leave? Do they know about us? Do they not understand how difficult it will be for us to keep a long distance relationship? What about your friends here? Your job with me? Do they know you're supposed to be going on tour with me next week? What about all of that?"
She gave him a wearied look. He really did not get it, did he?
"Hunter. I won't be allowed to talk to anyone from here while I'm gone. I have to sever all relationships until I get back. No cell phone communication, no internet, no face-to-face. They said that any connection to my friends...to anyone...it poses a risk of compromising the mission."
It did not look like Hunter really grasped what she was saying. His eyebrows furrowed again, and his crossed arms did not move. She watched as realization dawned on him, and the tears forming in his eyes nearly killed her. He uncrossed his arms and tried to move off the bed, but Bethany was still holding him there, and she tried desperately to draw his eyes back to hers.
"Get off of me, Beth," he said coldly, and the ice in his voice made her own eyes well with fresh tears. He pushed her aside and jumped out of the bed, pacing furiously.
Bethany just watched helplessly as he stormed back and forth, clenching and unclenching his fists. She had never seen him act this way before: the tears in his eyes were heart breaking. She hated doing this to him. Why me? Why did it have to be me?
An eternity passed before Hunter stopped moving, planted his feet on the floor and stared at her. She gazed back, feeling her own eyes grow wet. He knelt in front of her on the bed, and took her hand.
"I can't say I don't wish this weren't happening," Hunter said, and his understanding tone crushed her. He is such a wonderful man. "I know this isn't your fault. I love you," he finished, only looking up at her with his last three words. She could only imagine how hard this was hitting him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, feeling his arms go around her to hold her against his chest.
"Maybe we don't have to really break up," Bethany suggested. "We could just act like we broke up, you know? I mean, I wasn't even supposed to tell you about the FBI, so we're already breaking the rules..."
Hunter nodded. "We need to make it look like we've broken up, though, so they believe it."
Bethany sighed. "What did you have in mind?"
He pulled back to look at her. "When did they say you had to leave for New York?"
"Casting for the new production starts in two weeks. I have to be there three days ahead of time to meet everybody."
"That's perfect. I have an idea."
They discussed it at length, before his lips met hers and they did not speak anymore for a long while. As they were lying under the covers hours later, brushing their fingers lovingly over each other's cheeks, there was still one question hanging on their tongues. Neither asked; neither wanted to think about the possibilities.
What would happen while they were apart?
I know it helps little, but they're not ACTUALLY broken up. So it's still better.
So, can I get you guys to help me out here. Are we liking this sequel so far? Leave me a comment, or vote it up! Tell your friends! Message me!
Also, I just started writing Hunter imagines (which...they're weird, just as a warning), and I take requests, so if you want one, head on over there and read the introduction page! (: The cover photo is on the side. ----->
Thank you so much!<3
God Bless and Happy Reading!