Keep On Walking (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 3 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

❝broken (pronounced ˈbrəʊk(ə)n or broh-kuh n), adjective
(of a person) having given up all hope; despairing.❞

A month later, it was Ryan's off day. She played with Robin while also listening to the compositions her class had made as one of their assignments. Elle was practising dancing in her room, Phoenix was drawing again, and Robin was rattling a toy of hers, babbling. Her hair was a lot thicker now, and she truly was very beautiful.

Ryan wasn't tired anymore. She wasn't scared, or lonely, or anything like that. No, she... she was happy. Happier than she had ever been. Her body was back to normal, and she had no qualms about Hunter seeing her the way she was now. Her family was complete again, and they had found out that Naomi was pregnant with Will's child. Ryan's depression was nonexistent, and she was simply... better. She could finally connect with her daughter properly, and she found that being a mother came naturally, though she had been frightened at the start.

A car pulled up to the driveway, and she frowned. Hunter wasn't coming home for another couple of hours, so why was anyone here? Elle ran into the living room. "Is that Papa?"

"No," she said quizzically. "That's... not his car."

"So who is it?"

"I don't know." She stood up. "Make sure Robbie doesn't wander off."

"Okay."

Ryan walked to the door, hearing someone knock. "Just a moment!" she called, before opening the door. Her heart stopped. Her brain went blank. She went pale.

"H-Hey," said the man on the other side of the door.

Ryan slammed the door shut. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she yelled through the door.

"Relax. I just want to talk."

She laughed, sounding hysterical. "Oh, yes, talk. I can imagine!"

"Please open the door."

She sighed, breathing deeply, before opening the door again.

He had changed. His hair was longer now, and his eyes were still the same brown that they had been all those years ago. She still felt fear looking at him. His face, still thin and long, was... odd. He looked almost blank, void of expression altogether. She took another deep breath, and said, "Markus, what are you doing here?"

"I got out of jail on bail."

"Good that there's a registered sex offender on the loose," she snapped. "Why are you here?"

"I... I found your address. I wanted to start over with you."

"Start-" She laughed again, humourlessly. "Start over with me? Markus, I have long since moved on from you. I fell out of love with you from the day you asked me to marry you."

"Ryan, please-"

"Leave. Don't come back. Or I'm calling the police and getting a restraining order."

"Why won't you listen to me?!"

"Because I don't want to!"

"I've changed, Annie-"

"Don't call me Annie! No one is allowed to call me that!"

"Why not?"

She looked away. "Reasons that aren't your concern."

"Look... jail... changed me. I had issues, okay? But I'm... not like that anymore. Ryan, I love you. Always have."

She stared at him. "Oh, I see," she said. "So that's why you hit me. Beat me until I couldn't move. That's why you- you took everything from me. That's why you raped me."