Life Goes On (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 2 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twelve

❝stargaze (pronounced stɑːɡeɪz or stahr-geyz), verb
to observe the stars in the night sky❞

Hunter left Elle at Lucky's house, and bent down to Elle's level. "Listen, sweetie, I'll let you meet Azalea soon, okay? But you already know Felicia, and that's all that matters. For now, try to make friends with her, okay?"

She nodded, then hugged him. "Have fun, Papa!"

He smiled at her nervously, and stood up, and Parker looked at him. "You're good with the ladies, man. I'm sure you'll ace it."

"Thanks, dude. Look after my girl."

"'Course. Good luck!"

Hunter made his way back to his car, and began driving to Azalea's house. He wasn't sure how he felt about her yet- she wasn't too bad, surely.

He knocked on the door, holding flowers, and a little girl with dark hair opened it. "Mommy!"

"Hunter? Oh, I didn't expect you to be so early!" Azalea said, appearing at the door. She looked good, Hunter thought, with her fine blonde hair and her hourglass figure. "Let me put on a pair of earrings, hold on."

The little girl looked Hunter up and down, and he smiled at her. "Hey! Felicia, right? It's nice to meet you."

"Why can't Elle read?" she said, almost haughtily. Hunter frowned slightly.

"She can read. She just... doesn't."

"Well, the other day, Mr Davenport told her to read, and-"

There was another knock on the door, and a teenage girl walked in. "Hey, Felicia!"

"Hi, Rita!"

"Babysitter?" asked Hunter of the girl. She looked to be about thirteen.

"Yessir," said Rita. "Is Ms Faun here? I want to ask how long I'll need to stay, I gotta call Dad and tell him."

"I'll bring her back before ten pm, how does that sound?"

"Sweet, I'll text him," she said. "Thanks, sir."

"No problem."

"Right, I'm ready!" said Azalea. She was wearing a shimmering golden blouse with blue jeans, and she looked stunning. Her makeup was a little too heavy for Hunter's taste, but he didn't mind too much. One flaw wasn't a dealbreaker, not yet.

"Awesome. Bye, Felicia! Bye, Rita!"

Felicia pouted, and Rita waved.

As they were driving to a restaurant, Hunter said, "Felicia doesn't seem to like me much."

"She's not a big fan of country music. She'll warm up to you soon."

Hunter was quietly awkward. He wasn't sure what to do in a date scenario. The last time he had been on a date with an absolute stranger was when he was 17, and he had known Lucky for a week by that point. But now he was with a woman he had met just that day. What was he doing? What would Lilly say?

"Where are we going?"

"This nice restaurant just outside of town. It's one of my favourites."

Azalea was talking for most of the drive, and Hunter just nodded occasionally. He wasn't sure what he was doing. Soon, they were at the restaurant, and the waiter took them over to a nice seat near the window. Azalea asked for a bottle of red wine, and Hunter politely declined- he was trying to stay away from alcohol, ever since he had lost control back when Elle was two months old. "So, tell me a little about yourself," said Azalea, leaning her head on her hands in such a way that Hunter could get a good view of her cleavage. He blatantly ignored it, and instead stared at his menu.