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

Chapter Fifty-Four

*i've decided this book is gonna be longer than the others because fuck you that's why*

As they got to the waterfall, Spencer shook Oliver awake. "We're here!" he said softly, and Oliver smiled tiredly.

"So pretty," he mumbled under his breath, stretching. "Sorry. I slept the whole time, huh?"

"I feel like you needed the rest," he said, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the bus. "Ready for our day out?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," he said softly, and Spencer walked him out to the riverbed. The place was almost empty, save for a few young people who might've been in college or something similar. Spencer looked over at Oliver, who was biting his lip to keep from smiling fully, almost like he'd feel guilty if he did.

Spencer pulled off his shirt and his trousers. "Come on, we can swim in our pants, then dry off and go back home."

Oliver's eyes flickered once over Spencer's chest, before nodding, mimicking his actions. Spencer tried incredibly hard to avoid looking at him- he was like a marble statue that shouldn't be touched. He rarely tensed his abs, but when he did... boy howdy. Boy f*ckin' howdy.

He noticed that Oliver still wasn't quite smiling, and he took a running leap. "GERONIMO!" he screamed, flying into the water, and Oliver began laughing in shock.

"Jesus, you're gonna hit your head, and I ain't gonna be the one to tell your mom that you died."

"I'll be right, come on in! It's so refreshing, Oli," called Spencer, diving under the water again. He felt the water rush by him, and went back up for air, seeing ripples from where Oliver had just jumped into the water.

"Oh, it's cold!"

"What'd you think it'd be, Einstein?"

"Shut up, twat," said Oliver with a laugh, before splashing Spencer. Spencer laughed loudly, splashing him back, and they got a couple of dirty looks from an elderly couple.

After about an hour and a half of splashing around and jumping off the falls, they lay flat on their backs on top of a large rock, sunbaking. Spencer glanced over at Oliver to see him smiling softly, his eyes closed. "Feeling better?" asked Spencer, and Oliver just chuckled.

"You know me too well, Spence."

"Do you wanna talk?" asked Spencer, turning his head to look at Oliver properly.

He sighed. "I dunno. It's like... everything just keeps going downhill. Like, I think 'well, it can't get worse than this' and then it somehow does."

"Tell me about it." Spencer sighed. "What made you freak out this morning, though?"

"Mom's... getting worse. She gets angry because she's in pain, and she'd never hit us but... Pippi cries so much because she hates it when Mom yells, and I try to explain to her, but even I can't help but get pissed when she loses it at Pip. She's a kid."

"Parents are never easy, dude," replied Spencer. "My parents fought a lot before Red was born. After, too."

"Do you even remember that long ago?" he asked, staring at the blue sky. "I can barely remember my dad being around before he had to leave to go to the army."

"I remember one... event," said Spencer hesitantly. He didn't like talking about this part of his life, but maybe it was important. To get Oliver to trust him. "It was a long time ago. When I'd just come back from the UK."

Oliver didn't press, but the curiosity in the air was tangible in itself. "If you want to know, I'll tell you. I trust you."

"Go on, then," said Oliver quietly.