The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Forty-Four

❝future (pronounced ˈfjuːtʃə or fyoo-cher), noun
time regarded as still to come.
see also: past❞

She opened her eyes tiredly. She could see the clock on his bedside table, which read 2:08am. Elle looked up at her boyfriend, the beautiful boy with dark hair and chocolate eyes. His hair, usually so perfectly styled, was curled from sweating, and was messed up in a way only she knew how to do. His lips were raw and red, and they tasted like raspberries. They were soft, too. They were so, perfectly soft. And his skin. His skin was warm, and there was so much more to it than his fingers, which so precisely played piano every day, and more than the softness of his cheek. There was some sort of quality of it that made her breathless, that made her tingle.

Their legs were tangled beneath the black covers of his bed, and she could feel where he was sweating slightly against her skin from the warmth of the duvet. His heart was beating steadily, a slow thud beneath the soft skin of his chest. The feel of his body against hers, even now, didn't feel foreign or uncomfortable the way it had with Chad. No, Drew felt like home. Drew felt like the only steady thing in a rocking, wild world. Drew loved her, and she loved Drew.

She reached up to stroke his cheek, and he opened his eyes. "You're awake," he breathed.

"Did I wake you?"

He laughed softly. "I wasn't asleep. How could I sleep? I've got you here."

She smiled, hugging him. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, baby. What a way to wake up on your seventeenth birthday."

She leaned up and kissed him, and he groaned softly, his hands on her waist. "Perfect," he muttered. "I love you so much."

Elle pulled away, stroking his cheek. "Well? How do you feel?"

He chuckled. "I'm on Cloud Nine, cookie. I mean... I'm a teenage guy, y'know. I've imagined this." He sighed. "It was... beyond anything I could've ever imagined. You were more than I could've ever imagined."

She couldn't help but smile, and he rubbed slow circles over her hipbone with his thumb. "So..."

"So?"

"I dunno." He kissed her forehead. "I'm still kinda... yeah."

"So am I. Elated, right?"

"Exactly. Elated."

"Y'know, when Chad... when he was my first time, Ma told me that even though it was painful with him, with the right person, it was bliss. And you know what? It was."

"Yeah. It was."

They lay there silently, and Elle said, "So... how was it? Did you-"

"I couldn't be happier. It couldn't have been better for me." He frowned slightly, the circles pausing for just a moment. "You were okay too, right?"

"Of course. It was perfect."

The circling resumed, and her lips met his softly. "I'm glad we could have this moment together."

"I love staying up late at night," he said softly. "It's only the two of us awake. The only people awake at two am are lonely, drunk, in love, or all three."

"I'm glad we're in love."

"So am I."

He kept holding her, then noticed something on her shoulder. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"A bruise," he muttered. "On your shoulder."

"It's nothing."