The First Steps (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 1 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-One

❝flour (pronounced UK: flaʊər or flaar, US: flaʊɚ or flower), noun
part of the recipe for a sweet relationship❞

Hunter woke up that morning, feeling blissfully happy. He had fallen asleep happy. He woke up happy. He wasn't sure if he had ever truly felt quite this happy.

He looked down, expecting to see Lilly (since she had stayed the night), but instead found a letter addressed to him.

Hunt,

If what happened last night wasn't a figment of my imagination, come to my apartment and make me realise that it was true.

Ana ❤

Hunter stood up, unusually energised, and made his coffee, before getting dressed and brushing his teeth. He was ready for the day. Heck, he was ready to take on the world. This was going to be his day. This was the world's most perfect day. He finally had it all; his music, his fame, and the love of his life.

He was dressed in a plaid shirt with jeans, just like any other day, and quickly went to the bathroom to put in his contacts, but his hand slipped and he dropped them down the sink. But even that wasn't enough to deter him; he just found his glasses, slipped those on along with a Red Sox baseball cap, and got out the door. He bought a bunch of roses from the florists, tied it with blue ribbon, and went to Lilly's new apartment.

When he knocked on the door, he waited for a couple of minutes, frowned, then knocked again. He got a little worried. Today was meant to be a good day; was Lilly okay?

"Lilly?" he called through the door. When she didn't answer, he called her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Petal, I'm just outside your door," said Hunter, chuckling slightly.

"Oh! Crap, hang on."

Within seconds, she opened the door, and Hunter gave her the bunch. "For you."

Her gaze softened. "So it really did happen?"

He smiled slightly. "I think so."

She smelled the flowers. "Roses are my favourite," she said, smiling. "Come in."

He wandered inside, taking off his cap and ruffling his hair around a little to make it spiky. Lilly sat down, and he sat down with her. "When did you wake up?"

"You know, just randomly," she said. "It was kinda early, you were hugging me, but I didn't want to do the 'walk of shame', even though we didn't... you know. So I left after writing you a note, but I still wasn't sure, you know?"

He moved closer. "Can I...?"

"I guess you can," she said smiling, and he placed his hands on her back and kissed her passionately. She responded, and they found themselves both amazed and exhilarated by the experience.

"How did I live without you for so darn long?"

"I don't know how I survived either," she whispered, then smiled. "You want something to eat?"

"Let's do something fun," he said. "Just like we used to."

"Yeah. I don't want... whatever this is... to be all physical. I want some cute crap in the mix."

"Cute crap," snickered Hunter. "Alright, what kind of cute crap do you have in mind today?"

"Okay... let's..."

"As a first date," said Hunter, "let's just build a fort or something."

"Sounds good!"

They began dismantling Lilly's couch pillows and building a giant pillow fort. Occasionally, Hunter would lean over and kiss Lilly, then keep going like it never happened. Lilly loved it. It was like nothing had changed, except now, they could tell each other that they loved each other.