Where We Left Off (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 2 of the HunTia Trilogy)

Chapter Nineteen

*THE NEXT DAY: TIA'S BIRTHDAY*

HUNTER'S POV:

"LIKE IT'S MIDNIGHT IN VEGAS,
MARDI GRAS IN NEW ORLEANS,
NE-"
We both wake up to the sound of my ringtone. Tia answers the call before I can reach out and grab it, and we start tickling each other, trying to get the other to surrender. In the end, I lie on the bed, half dying, while Tia says "Hello?"
I can hear Dann's voice on the other end. He sounds impatient.
"Oh, you want to talk to Hunter? He's uh..." she trails off, hesitating. Her phone starts ringing as well.
"BUT I DON'T WANT GOOD AND I DON'T WANT GOOD ENOUGH,
I WANT CAN'T SLEEP CAN'T BREATHE WITHOUT YOUR LOVE,"
"Can you hear that, Dann? He's singing... in the shower... with his drums, guitars, and other instruments that I can't remember right now. So he can't come to the phone." I burst out laughing, and try to get up, but she tackles me onto the bed and sits on me so that I can't move. I could easily push her off, but I choose not to.
"I can take a message," she says, trying hard not to laugh. "Wait, what?!" Her sudden seriousness makes me look up. I remember on this exact day last year, I had been nominated for a CMA. That time as well, Tia answered the call.
Déjà vu.
I check Tia's phone, and it's Peyton. I quickly answer.
"Peyton, is it important?" I ask.
"No, just making sure we're cool for dinner tonight?"
"Dinner?"
"It's Tia's birthday," she says in a 'duh' tone.
"Oh. Oh yeah. Okay, yeah, it's cool. Come over whenever. See you tonight!" I say. She hangs up, and I resume listening to Tia's side of the conversation with Dann.
"Can I tell him?" she asks excitedly. Dann's reply makes her frown. "You may be his manager, but I'm his wife." She listens some more, before saying "Fine, we'll tell him together. I'll put you on speaker." She climbs off me, and I sit up, feeling curious.
"Hunter, can you hear me?" asks Dann.
"Loud and clear."
"Okay," says Tia. "Three... two... one!"
"I WANT CRAZY JUST WENT PLATINUM!" they both yell together.
I stare at them.
"No, seriously, what happened?" I ask.
"It went platinum! Happened just this morning!" says Dann happily through the phone.
"You're joking."
"No joking around here, Hunt. You just went platinum!" squeals Tia.
"Oh my gosh." I'm stunned. This is amazing!
"Well, I'm busy now, but we'll celebrate tomorrow in the studio. No recording today, you need to celebrate with Tia. Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, Dann!"
"Congrats on I Want Crazy!" he says, before hanging up.
Tia kisses me. "Good job!!"
"It still seems surreal..." I mutter to myself.
"Who called my mobile, by the way?"
"Peyton. She wanted to know if dinner was still on for tonight."
Tia groans, flops onto the bed, and cocoons herself in the bedsheets. "No."
"Tee, come on. We have to tell our families that we're expecting a baby."
"I'm too tired," she says, her voice muffled.
"We don't have to make dinner, we could buy something."
"Awww," she complains. "Please?"
I unwrap her enough to reveal her face. "It's your birthday, remember? We have to celebrate it with your family, they haven't ever celebrated it with you before."
She sighs. "Can't argue with that."
I grin triumphantly. "Exactly."
"You're really annoying, did you know that?"
"Yeah, I am," I agree, making her laugh. I'm glad, she's been really stressed lately.
"Hunt, what's for breakfast?"
I think for a minute. "Do you feel like making anything?"
She shakes her head. "Not really. Like I said, I'm tired. Pey said that I don't need to be there today, Trey isn't busy."
"So let's have a day to ourselves," I suggest. "Breakfast at Starbucks?"
"Sure!" she agrees happily. "I remember how last year, we went to a hotel, and we danced." She smiles at the memory.
"I remember that I asked you if you'd ever have kids."
Tia looks up at me. "Who would've thought, huh?"
"Who would've thought?" I echo her. I think about all the things we've done in that year. The laughter, the tears, the amazing memories, and the not so great ones.
I wouldn't trade in any of it for the world.
Tia takes a shower while I sit and strum my guitar for a little while. I'm not really writing for this record anymore. I'm already adding to the list that could be my potential record after this one.
Once I take a shower as well, we go to Starbucks, and while waiting for our coffee and sandwiches, a girl approaches us.
"Are you Hunter Hayes?" she asks.
Tia groans just loudly enough for me to hear her. "Here we go again," she mutters under her breath.
I offer the girl a smile. "Hi! Are you a fan?"
"Yeah!"
"Hunt, I'm gonna go get our food, they just called out our order," says Tia stiffly.
"It's fine Tee, it'll still be there when we come back," I say quietly. "I think this fan is nice."
"Are you Tia? Tia Hayes?" asks the girl sounding incredibly excited. Tia looks back at the girl.
"Yeah. You know who I am?" she asks, surprised.
"Uh, who doesn't?! You ended up ranking first on iTunes, and I absolutely love your music."
She cracks a smile. "Really?"
"Yeah! I was so excited when I found out you were getting married! HunTia has to be like, the best celeb pairing in history. Can I take a picture with you?"
"HunTia?" I mouth to Tia. She shrugs, looking as confused as I am. We take a photo with the girl anyway. She leaves, and I get our coffee and our bagels from the counter.
"Told you that she seemed nice," I say.
She puts a hand over my mouth. "Shut it, Hayes."
I laugh, and hug her.