Answered Prayers (a Hunter Hayes Fanfic)

Prequel Two

Hunter's Point Of View

From the time I could first walk and talk I knew I wanted to be a singer.  Although the talent didn't truly run in my family, music was in my blood.  It ran through my veins, helped shape me into the man I am today. 

By the time I was four I was already doing small gigs in my hometown of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. When I was on stage, I felt as if nothing in the world could stop me.  I knew even then, that the stage and the world of music was where I was meant to be. 

I was never the popular kid in school, not the most athletic, not the guy that every girl fought to have.  I was just Hunter, the geeky student who had braces and wore glasses rather than contact lenses.  Girls never knew my name, unless you count Ainsley Britain.  She was my first girl who saw me for who I was, she didn't seem to care about my popularity, my looks or the fact that I wasn't a star athlete on the football field. 

Besides my parents, she was one of the few others that truly believed in me and supported my passion for singing and song writing. 

By the age of seventeen I was playing gigs every weekend rather than doing things that any other student in high school would do.  By that point, it really didn't matter what the others thought of me.  I knew that I wasn't like a normal teenage boy.  I never went to raging parties and got drunk. Never had intense make out sessions with a girl I barely knew.  I spent my Saturday night tracking demos for a record that I one day dreamed of making.  I designed sketches of tour buses that I would hope to call mine. 

By eighteen I had graduated from the small high school I attended, moving to Nashville to further pursue my dreams in music rather than going off to college and getting a degree.  I was extremely lucky that both of my parents were so supportive of my music.  None of this could've ever happened without them by my side. 

When I moved to Nashville and settled in, I began writing and recording more than I ever had before.  My dreams were so close to being a reality and there was no stopping me now.

Within about a year, I was signed with a record label and my dreams had began blooming into something real.

Ainsley was also sticking by my side through the crazy yet beautiful madness of Nashville.  She was the inspiration behind so many of the songs I wrote.  She was the reason for my first number one hit, "Wanted".  All of those lyrics meant to go straight to her, from my heart.  I wanted her to be mine.  I wanted the two of us to be so much more than friends.  I hadn't felt that way about any girl before. 

Ainsley Britain was my first real love. 

Three years passed.  Things were so crazy in my life, both personally and in my career.

When my first record was released, my life truly became a whirlwind.  I toured with big names like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood and ended up getting consecutive number ones.  My career as a country musician was flying full speed ahead and it was the best feeling in the entire world.

Although, things in my love life were a completely different kind of whirlwind. After almost two and a half years of dating Ainsley, she betrayed me in a way that I never thought she could.  I caught her at a bar, completely wasted and kissing another man.

It wrecked me. My heart was truly broken for the first time and it was not the easiest of things to handle.  Although, to cope, I threw myself even deeper into my music.  It ended up not being the worst thing in the world.  When there felt like there was no hope and nothing to hold onto, music was there to help me heal and move forward with my life. 

__ 

Two more years went by. I had a new love in my life and things were really great with my music.  Inspiration for new songs was flying at me, I was touring most of the year and even had the chance to fly out of the country to share my love of music with my fans who were not in the states. 

My girlfriend Libby Barnes was my saving grace.  She reminded to take the time to breathe.  That it was okay not to be the perfect man who had to live up to crazy expectations that came along with life in the spotlight. 

My career as a musician didn't exactly come with the easiest lifestyle in the books but it was also one that I wouldn't trade for the world. I woke up each and everyday thinking about how lucky I was. How incredible it felt to be surrounded by amazing loved ones who never wavered when supporting my crazy dreams. My fans who believed in my music, sometimes even before I did. I always knew in the back of my mind that this lifestyle I lead in no way came easy ... but I was extremely lucky to have been going down the road to success at a relatively good speed.

Life was everything I could've dreamed of and more ... Until one day ... it wasn't.

A/N: Hey everyone! Hunter has been introduced and you now know the basics of the story. This concludes the prequels and I will post the official first chapter next. Side note: Both of these prequels take place one year prior to where chapter one will start off.
Also, I'm sorry that this is a little bit short, kind of a filter, but it'll all make sense once the story really takes off.
Thank you for your patience! Please leave feedback in the comments and let me know what you think. XoXo ... Kay