Secret Love (Hunter Hayes Fanfiction)

Finally

Thank you all again SO MUCH for the awesomeness of yesterday's chapter spree! :D You are all so epic!!! Here is your finale, as promised! :D BEST CHAPTER YET. For me, anyway. xD I've been wanting to post this FOREVER.

Enjoy.(:

Two weeks later, Hunter finally decided he was ready to tell Beth how he felt. He had it all planned out in his head: what he would say, how he would say it, what he would wear, and where the declaration would take place. The only thing he didn't know was how she would take it. Ideally, she would say something along the lines of, "I love you so much, Hunter Hayes. Let's spend eternity together and never be apart." But he wasn't sure that was entirely realistic. 

Nothing had changed between them since the rock climbing incident, but he was still finding it harder and harder not to come clean. He had been biting his tongue more and more often, and he'd been unable to take his eyes off of her as of late. He was sure she was beginning to notice, because she'd been blushing a lot recently, and every time she looked at him with her cheeks flaming, she looked unnaturally shy. 

Yeah, it was definitely time he came clean, if for no other reason than that she had a right to know why he was staring at her like a psycho. Now all he had to do was find her and carry out his well-thought-out plan. 

He was going to whisk her away, to his studio. He was going to sit her down in the exact spot where she'd asked him to be her first kiss, and he was going to play "Bethany" for her. And when he'd finished, he was going to tell her how much he liked her (he would avoid the word "love" at all costs; he couldn't afford to scare her away) and that he really wanted to see if they could be something special (even though he was 100% sure they could). It would be the perfect moment, as long as she said yes. 

He blew out a nervous breath, crossing through the backstage access door and walking down the empty hallway. They had hours yet before the show started, and the backstage crew had finished setting up half an hour ago, so the place was practically deserted. 

As he drew nearer to the stage, he heard the sound of a single guitar, and the screeching of a very familiar, terrible singing voice. He laughed to himself, turning the corner and seeing exactly what he'd expected: Beth was standing on the stage with his guitar in hand, strumming and singing and dancing like a person only does when they think they're alone. 

She was playing one of Hunter's songs, "Everybody's Got Somebody But Me", and she was completely oblivious to the fact that he was in the room. She danced around, singing off tune and off pitch, her eyes closed and her mind filling the stadium with thousands of fans. They screamed for her, and she twirled around and bounced happily. 

These last two weeks had been positively wonderful, and the only reason was Hunter. She had felt some kind of a shift in her heart these last two weeks, as though the walls she'd put up to fend him off were finally crumbling, piece by piece. Suddenly it didn't seem to hurt so badly to feel this way about him. He made her feel safe, like her trust was being put in the right person. It was a frightening thing for her, but she wasn't scared. Hunter made it easy.

Hunter watched her dancing and singing and strumming, and he felt the nervousness in his chest evaporate. She was so beautiful, so care-free, so stunning and absolutely perfect. He threw his plan out the window, instead heading straight over to where she was still twirling in circles and standing there, unobserved, as she finally stopped revolving with her back facing him. 

He walked forward, laughing a little at her, and feeling all of his emotions far too powerfully. 

He put his mouth right next to her ear and whispered the words he'd wanted to say for a long time, making her jump.