It's been a few weeks since you tried to explain what happened on the set of the music video and you still haven't told Hunter yet. He's been in and out of the studio, and he's been busy preparing for his upcoming tour so you didn't want to distract him. However, today your video premiered this morning on CMT hot 20 countdown and everybody's been talking about it, even your friends. You haven't heard anything from Hunter today, which probably means that he's too busy and he hasn't seen it, or he already saw it and he doesn't want to talk to you until later.
To get some advice, you decide to meet up with your friend Mel at the local cafe close to your house.
"Hey!" Mel spots you quickly and pulls out a chair, sitting across from you.
"Hey," you reply.
"What's going on? Is something wrong?" She asks.
"Yeah." You nod slowly. "Did you see the music video?"
"No I didn't. What about it?" She says.
Before you can answer her question, the waiter comes by and takes your order. Since you had lunch not too long ago and you're not hungry, you just decide to order a cup of decaf coffee. Mel orders the same.
"Now, what were you going to say?" She asks, looking at you.
"The music video didn't go exactly how I expected it to. It started out fine at first, but Kristen started being a jerk and she wanted to end the music video with a...kiss," you say, your voice lowering at the end of the sentence.
"So...I'm guessing that Hunter wasn't in this music video?" She asks.
"No." you say softly. "I had to kiss this actor named Adam, and it was super uncomfortable. The real problem is the fact that I still haven't told Hunter about it..."
"Why not?" She raises an eyebrow.
"I just didn't know how to tell him. Well, I tried to but he got distracted and I---"
You stop in the middle of your sentence when you hear your phone chime. Quickly, you dig into your purse and pull your phone out. As you turn the screen on, you sigh heavily as you read the text message you just received from Hunter that reads: "We need to talk later."
"Shoot," you whisper.
"Everything okay?" Mel asks.
"No. I'm pretty sure that Hunter just saw the music video." you reply, tossing your phone back into your purse. "He wants to talk later on."
"Then just talk to him. Mal, you couldn't hide it forever, and at the end of the day its not your fault. Just apologize and tell him why you didn't explain everything sooner..." she says.
"I'll try," you say.
After staying in the cafe and talking to Mel for a few hours, you head home a little after six pm. When you open the front door, Hunter is sitting on the couch in the living room watching something on the TV. Cole is lying on the floor in front of Hunter and it looks like he's sleep.
"Hi Hunter..." you say softly.
"Come here," he says, gesturing for you to sit next to him on the couch.
You do as he says and he points to the TV. Its turned on some news channel and they're doing commentary and showing random clips from your music video. Your heart sinks as they show the kiss scene and begin to share their different opinions about it. You can't even bare to watch and you look away.
"LOOK AT THAT KISS! That is so passionate and it looks like they're both really into it. I gotta say I would ship those two together if it weren't for the fact that Mallory is married to Hunter Hayes!"
"I have to disagree. Mallory loves Hunter and she's already expressed how uncomfortable she is working with other guys. If you paid more attention you could tell that she doesn't seem that into the kiss. I think its best that everyone gets Mallory's opinion on it rather than assuming that she automatically enjoyed herself because Adam is an attractive guy."
"Either way, this is the music industry and this is fame and you can't always get your way. I say if Mallory has to kiss other guys in her music videos then she should be enthusiastic about it. Every woman gets tired of their husband sometimes so maybe working with other guys is a breath of fresh air for her!"
"Again, you're not making sense. If you actually knew about Hallory then you would know how both Mallory and Hunter feel about the situation."
"That doesn't even matter. Relationships---ESPECIALLY CELEBRITY RELATIONSHIPS, crash and burn all the time! Just because they CLAIM that they love each other DOESN'T mean that they actually love each other. THAT COULD JUST BE A SHOW THEY'RE PUTTING ON FOR CAMERAS!"
"You know what, this is ridiculous. We're gonna go on break and we'll be back soon..."
Before the show goes on break, Hunter quickly turns the TV off and you keep your gaze away from him but you know he's looking at you.
"Mallory, look at me," he says firmly.
Slowly, you turn to face him. You already felt guilty before, but seeing his facial expression just makes it too much to handle. He looks hurt and upset.
"What the heck is that?" He asks, briefly pointing to the TV.
"Hunter, I'm sorry. I-I just didn't know what to do and Kristen didn't give me a choice and there was just a lot of pressure," you say.
"Mal, I understand but why didn't you tell me that sooner?!" He raises his voice and Cole jumps up, obviously startled.
"I was scared, okay?" You say, your voice cracking. "And I did try but you've been busy!"
"Obviously you didn't try hard enough!" He shouts as he stands up. "Mal, I was right there and you didn't want to tell me! Do you know how much that hurts?"
"Hunter, for the last time, I said I was sorry!" You yell. "What else do you want from me? Do you want me to erase the music video from the internet? What's done is done!"
"I want your honesty! And I wish you could erase it off the internet! Now I have to deal with a bunch of ridiculous questions about your music video because you couldn't say no to a dumb kiss! This makes our relationship look bad and honestly its making me question where we stand," he shouts.
You stand up and face him, crossing your arms. "And what is that supposed to mean??"
"If you couldn't even tell me about a stupid music video kiss, how do I know if you're hiding something else from me? Is there something else you'd like to come out with?" He blurts out.
"You know what, you're being a real jerk right now!" You yell, your eyes watering. Hunter has accidentally said some hurtful stuff in this relationship, but that last comment was just too much to handle.
"No, you are. I thought we were better than this but obviously not," he shrugs and turns around, leaving and heading towards the direction of the bedroom.
"Hunter, can we just talk about this?" You say, lowering your voice as you follow him and enter the bedroom.
"No. I'm not in the mood for talking right now. I'm leaving," he says, grabbing his car keys off of his nightstand.
"What do you mean 'you're leaving?'" You ask.
"Mal, I need a night to myself, okay?!" He shouts again.
Before you can say anything else, he moves past you and heads towards the front door. Even though you call his name several times, he doesn't respond. All he does is shut the door behind him, and just like that he's gone.
