Take A Walk (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 5 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Thirty

❝young (pronounced jʌŋ or yung, noun)
having lived or existed for only a short time.❞

Phoenix was singing.

Elle was sitting on the couch, watching him in the living room, happily singing to himself songs from the 'Aladdin' soundtrack. "Mr Aladdin, sir, what will your pleasure be..."

"Nick?"

"Yeah?" he said, looking up from his notepad.

"Why are you singing?"

He shrugged, then went down to his paper. "Let me take your order, jot it down, you ain't never had a friend like me... Life is your restaurant, and I'm your maître d'..."

Ryan was suppressing a grin behind her knitting needles, and sat down beside Elle. "I think his meet-up with his 'friend' went well," she said.

"The girl he always talks about? Ebony?"

"You should've seen him when I picked him up last night. He looked like he'd been hit by lightning."

"You're the boss, the king, the shah! Say what you wish, it's yours, true dish! How 'bout a little more baklava?"

Nita was lying down beside him, tail wagging. It was like she felt the happiness that he was feeling, too.

And Phoenix was happy. He'd never been this happy before.

She was so beautiful.

Were they something more now, something more than friends? Did he have to ask her about it? Did she want something else? Well, with the way she was talking to him the night before, with her heart on her sleeve, maybe she did. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to kiss her again. What wouldn't he do to kiss her again?

"Ma, can I go to the park?"

"To see Ebony?"

He bit back a smile. "Maybe."

"It'll be good for you to get some fresh air," said Ryan. "Go with Elle?"

"No, I... I think I'll stay in today. Feeling tired."

"Do you want me to tell Drew to come over?"

She was quiet, then shook her head. "If he... if he comes over, can you tell him I'm sleeping?"

Ryan frowned. "You don't...? Okay. No, that's fine. I'll let him know."

"But... but tell him to come up. Tell him it's okay to stay with me. Just that I'm probably sleeping."

Elle didn't know what she was saying. She didn't know what she wanted. She wanted him to stay but another part of her was guilty for not allowing him to be too close, and then the other part told her that if he strayed too far, he'd give up, and another part told her that she was stupid for trusting him at all. She missed when her source of comfort was him. What was she to do if the only person who knew her better than she knew herself was one of her greatest fears?

Phoenix's happy look faded slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Elle distantly. "I'm gonna go lie down."

"Call if you need anything," said Ryan, before looking back at Phoenix. "Are you okay to walk there yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Nita!"

Nita trotted over, and Phoenix gave his mother a kiss. "I'll be back soon," he said, before leaving the house.

He walked through the streets of Nashville, getting to the park near their house where he had first met Ebony, and he sat down underneath, waiting for her. It took a little while, but soon, he saw her walking up the small hill to greet them beneath the trees. Nita started wagging her tail, and Phoenix murmured, "Stay," to make sure she didn't jump.