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

Chapter Thirty-Four

❝bully (pronouned ˈbʊli or bull-ee), noun
to harass someone repeatedly❞

Ryan woke up in the middle of the night.

Not because of a nightmare or because something hurt, or anything like that. She just woke up for no particular reason.

It had been about two weeks since she and Hunter had gotten together. It felt magical. He was so sweet to her, so gentle, and so loving that she couldn't even remember what Markus looked like- not that she wanted to anyway. Right now, Hunter had his arms wrapped around her, spooning her while breathing softly. He was still fast asleep.

She quietly got out of bed and looked at the time. Three am. She got to the place where Hunter had shown her how to get onto the roof, and along with her robe, she went up there, sitting down. She looked out to where the fields were, and where she could see the skyline of Nashville. Her brain was buzzing- people with dyslexia had that tendency. She looked out over the city, imagining how her life would go from here. It was perfect- almost too perfect. She knew that things were never ever smooth sailing- she had learned that the hard way.

"Ry?"

She turned around, and suddenly, the buzzing in her head seemed to fade away. He was the only one who could have that effect on her. She felt calm, at peace when he was with her. "Hey. I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, you didn't. I just realised you weren't there. What happened?"

"Nothing. Just woke up."

He came closer. "Is... everything okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I dunno." He sat down beside her. "I'm glad you're doing better. It's nice to see you happy."

She leaned on his shoulder, and he put an arm around her. "It's so relaxing to just be here, with you."

"C'mon. We'll go back to bed and talk there."

"Okay."

They went back to bed, and Hunter hugged her. "Tell me what's wrong, my love."

"Nothing's wrong."

"You'd tell me if there was?"

"Of course."

He pulled her closer and embraced her, caressing her hair. "You're so beautiful when you don't wear makeup."

"Hunt, you're being silly."

"I'm crazy about you," he said, kissing her again. "You're so beautiful. I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

"You're perfect, did you know that? You're so beautiful and so perfect."

"Don't act like I'm perfect. We know that that's not true. I love you, too, but I'm not perfect. Maybe, rather, we accept each other's flaws, and love each other for it. But I'm far from perfect, Hunter."

"Who said you need to be perfect? You're perfect to me. That's what matters. I know you're not perfect, and neither am I, but I love you because you're perfect for me."

She smiled slightly. "I haven't seen you so happy for a while."

He was quiet for a little while. "Tell me a little bit about yourself. I barely know anything about you."

"Like what? I'm not very interesting." She chuckled. "Ryan Lockhart, twenty-five, living in Nashville with the man I love."

"So? You could say the same about me. Hunter Hayes, thirty, living in Nashville with the woman I love."