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

Chapter Fifty-Three

❝gone (pronounced gɒn or gawn), verb
departed or left.❞

She didn't know how far she walked. But eventually, she flopped onto a sidewalk and began to sob.

She hadn't cried so hard since she was in kindergarten, and that kid had stolen her snack. She hadn't cried when her brother had gone missing. She hadn't cried when one of her students committed suicide. She hadn't cried when Elle had been diagnosed with cancer. She hadn't even cried this much when Markus raped her. This was something else. She couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe.

He didn't want her.

He hated her.

She felt like an idiot. Of course it was too good to be true. She took her bird necklace and ripped it off with a sob. The clasp broke, and she threw it into the street, where it glittered under the streetlights. She rubbed her eyes, beginning to get cold. Her face was burning, but she was shivering hard. It was too cold for her to stay out here the whole night.

Oh, she really was pathetic. She didn't care, did she? She could die out here for all she cared, and the only thing that concerned her was that Hunter wouldn't come to her funeral. Would he blame himself? Maybe he wouldn't hear about it until years later. Maybe, once they did an autopsy on her body, they'd find the remains of a broken heart lying in her chest. It had been so fragile to begin with. He had broken her, and taken everything with him.

Stop crying, said a voice in her head firmly. This voice was uncomfortably familiar- it was the voice that had lead her through her depression. She slowly forced herself to slow her tears, before finally stopping.

Find a place to stay. You'll get sick if you stay out here.

She took a deep breath, rubbed her eyes again, and stood up. As she was about to keep walking, a car slowed down, then stopped. She was reminded uncomfortably of when Hunter had slowed down the night he had picked her up. "Ryan? Is that you?" called the man inside the car, who sounded so much like Hunter that her heart began to race. She felt disgusted at herself. She was pathetic, she really was.

But no, it was Leo. "Where's Hunter, darling?"

"Not here," she said softly.

"What... what are you doing?" he asked. He squinted, noticing how red her eyes were. "Honey, if you don't mind me asking, are you drunk?"

"No, no," said Ryan quickly. "Totally sober. Just... just a bit upset."

"Upset? Why?" Leo noticed the bag in her hand. "Wait... where are you going?"

She shook her head, wiping away some tears that were about to fall. "I don't know, Mr Hayes. I really don't."

"Do you want me to drop you back off at Hunter's place? I was just visiting Elle..."

"N-No, sir."

"Wait... did he...?"

"He and I aren't together anymore," she said. It felt like someone else was saying the words for her- surely they weren't coming out of her own mouth. "We broke up."

"And he kicked you out?"

"He yelled at me to leave. He told me I could never be Lilly. So I did what he wanted me to. He doesn't love me, but I still love him. And if that's how he'll be happy..."

Leo was frowning deeply. "Ryan, honey, do you have someplace to go?"

She shook her head silently.

"Get in. The streets are no place for a woman at this time of night. Lynette and I have a spare bedroom."

"Okay." She was too weak to fight. So, without further ado, she climbed into the passenger seat. Then she hesitated. "Wait." She climbed back out, before crouching down in front of the car, where she had thrown her necklace. Picking it up, she examined it. She decided to keep it. To remind her that no one ever really had fairytale princes. The perfect relationship didn't exist.