Take A Walk (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 5 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Sixty-One

*reunite*

When Hunter woke up in the morning, two weeks after his nightmare, he was exhausted.

Today was Spencer's regional finals in swimming. Since Oliver had been released from the hospital and sent to several different psychiatrists, they had started talking again, though they seemed much colder toward each other after Oliver's outburst. Red had been gently talking with Pippi the whole time, and Harper was quiet, but happy that her son was okay overall.

Elle was still sick, but the first trimester was long over, and they could start- albeit tentatively- doing treatments for her leukemia. Robin and Jordan were going strong, and overall, everyone was doing much better.

Ryan smiled at him, pulling a shirt over her head, and he gave her a small smile back. "Morning, sleepyhead," she said, kissing his forehead gently. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah. As well as I can these days."

"Good." She kissed his forehead again, then said, "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Hmm?" he hummed, sitting up in bed and reaching for his glasses.

"Hunt, honey," she said gently. "You'll... understand... why I'm worried about you, won't you?"

"What do you mean, worried about me?" he said airily.

"You know why," she said. "The... these nightmares that you keep talking about, and you can't even stay in a room without me anymore... and don't get me wrong, I love the sex, I always have, but... you're not usually like this. Is everything okay?"

He smiled slightly at her, kissing her. "Why wouldn't everything be okay, darling? I love you. I'm just showing you that."

"Look, Hunter," she said. "It's like... it's like when we had sex that first time, afterwards it was so often, right? Like, we had sex all the time. It's like that again."

"And you're upset?" he asked, sounding a little concerned. "Honey, if you're uncomfortable-"

"No!" she said quickly, then cleared her throat. "N-No, that's not... not what I mean, I just..."

He chuckled slightly, before kissing her again. "Is it so strange that I'd fall in love with my beautiful, beautiful wife all over again?"

"Hunter, come on," she breathed, and he pushed her shirt up, off, and she sighed. "Hunt, baby, this is what I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like you're obsessed with me."

"I am obsessed with you." He pulled her closer, bringing her into his body and kissing her again. "I can't resist you. I'm so in love with you."

"It's like you're trying to forget something else," she said firmly, and he froze. "Like you're trying to distract yourself from something, something that you can't forget."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I..." She pulled away, feeling disgusted that she even had to ask. "Are you... cheating on me?"

"Jesus- no! No, Ryan, I wouldn't ever- I- no, I'm not cheating on you!" he said, aghast. "What the hell gave you that idea?"

She let out a slow sigh of relief. "No, I believe you. I do, I promise. It just... felt so strange. I'm not wrong though, am I? You're trying to drown the memory of someone else by submerging yourself in me."

He stayed silent, and she said softly, "Why has Lilly popped back into your head?"

"I... I don't know."