Chapter 37 - KMCF

"Yeah, but so am I," Hunter whispered with each breath brushing against my lips. He then caressed my cheek and blew on my lips.

I opened my eyes to see him grinning. I frowned a bit, but brushed it off with a laugh. "You're so annoying," I said with a smile.

"I know," he rubbed the back of my hand before getting up to get a drink.

As he did so, I thought to check on my phone. The first thing I looked at was the time and it was a little over twelve. "Oh," I wished I could've stayed a bit longer, but I couldn't be late to work two days in a row. I needed some sleep, "I have to go."

I got up and shoved my phone into my bag. "Now?" Hunter asked with a sad undertone.

I couldn't help but frown, I didn't want to leave either. "Yeah, I have work tomorrow."

He walked me to the door and hesitated a bit when opening it. He pulled me into an unexpected hug. His scent wrapped around my nose and I melted in his arms. "Who will help me eat all those cookies?" He joked.

I pulled away and grinned, "we made too much, didn't we?"

Hunter nodded, while caressing my cheeks. Each stroke tickled my senses and I couldn't help but smile. We stared at each other for what seemed like forever.

He sighed, "I almost don't want to let you leave."

I laughed, and took hold of the hand that wasn't caressing my cheek. "I don't want to leave either," I said ever so softly.

I love you.

"I-" I paused, afraid to say what I was going to say. Afraid to say it first, afraid that it would lose its magic. "I'll miss you," I resorted to saying, hating myself a bit.

Hunter smiled a tiny bit, so tiny it looked like he was disappointed, like he was expecting more. "I'll miss you too."

Slowly, I let go of his hand and he dropped the hand that was resting on my cheek. I turned to walk away, knowing Hunter's eyes were going to watch me until I got into the elevator. Our night together was incredibly wonderful, yet I felt so empty and disappointed. I shouldn't have been afraid to tell Hunter that I loved him, it was the truth after all. I wanted a better relationship than the one we had before, and I was getting it. I shouldn't be ruining it. I turned on my heel and walked right back to Hunter.

His head tilted to the side, "what's wrong?"

"I love you," my heart racing. "I should've told you that instead of I miss you, but I was afraid." In between my ranting, I saw a genuine smile growing on Hunter's lips. "It was stupid of me to be afraid, I mean I love you and that's the truth. Why should I be afraid of the truth? I really want us to work and if I can't even tell you that I love you, then we won't work out. So I just want you to know that I love you a lot, and that I shouldn't keep that-"

"Jen," Hunter called out and then started laughing. His hands cupped my face, and he leaned forward as he said, "can I?"

The moment I nodded, his lips pressed onto mine almost immediately. We kissed slowly, where each movement had a different and unique sound, and made my heart race faster and faster. I held on to his shirt as we kissed, afraid that I would fall over or that my knees would give way. I could never get used to Hunter's kisses. They made you feel lightweight, like you could almost fly, like you were free to do anything and everything.

Hunter and I were in our own little world, completely oblivious to everything but ourselves. We were so distracted, we didn't hear the elevator doors chime open.

"Oh," gasped a female voice. We pulled our lips from one another and turned quickly to the voice. It was Laura. My face got red, so I looked down at my feet.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Laura apologized, sounding slightly flustered.

Hunter didn't say anything. He only pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around my waist. By then I couldn't look down anymore, I stared up at Hunter, whose green eyes met mine.

"Uh, I just wanted to give you the contracts," Laura started to pull out a buldgy folder from her bag, "Keller finally looked over each of-"

Hunter cleared his throat, interrupting Laura. "Laura, as much as I love working, right now is not the best time. Right now," He paused. "Right now, I just want to kiss my girlfriend."

Kiss my girlfriend.

I looked at Laura, who looked just as surprised as I was and then back at Hunter, who looked completely unbothered by what he had just said.

Laura nodded and turned to walk away. When she got back into the elevator, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Kiss your girlfriend, huh?" I said, smiling, after a long silence.

He pulled my waist even closer to his hips, "yes." He then brushed his lips against my ear, "you are my girlfriend, aren't you?" Hunter spoke in a low, whisper-like voice that unsurprisingly sent tingles down my spine.

I swallowed hard, finding it very difficult to talk with his lips still very close to my ear. "I know. It just feels very official when you say it out loud."

Hunter pulled his face back, far enough to stare at me. He suddenly frowned, and I thought I had said something wrong or awful. "Your parents," he uttered.

A deeper frown than Hunter's grew on my face, "what's wrong? What about them?" I asked, almost in a panic and hoping they were alright.

"Official," he repeated the word as if it had lost all meaning. "Your father hates me, Jen, after everything I've put all of you through," he sighed. "Are we really official without their say so? As old school as it may sound, it's only right that I do this for everything I've done to them and to you."

Hunter was right, but I wasn't sure if my dad was going to accept us as a couple. I knew mom and Grace would, but dad wasn't someone who could let go so easily. He had seen how sad his daughter got with every passing day without her best friend. He bit his tongue whenever she asked questions. Keeping the truth a secret killed him slowly. It was very hard to forgive it all and move on like it never happened.

"And if he says no? Then what?"

Hunter shrugged after examining the worried expression I carried on my face. "Then we'll have to elope," he joked.

"Where to?" I asked, trying to hide my grin.

"I was thinking Vegas. We could get married in less than five minutes." Said Hunter, who was also trying to hide his grin.

By then my smile had already escaped and a laugh followed. When it died down, I realized just how serious my dad's approval was. "I just hope he says yes," I sighed.

Hunter sighed too, "me too."

I pulled away, feeling my time coming to a close. It was probably nearing one at this point, "I should probably get going."

"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow?" He asked with a small, encouraging gaze.

I nodded in reply and almost turned to go when I heard Hunter utter "I love you" in a pleading and desperate voice.

"I love you more," I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned away before my cheeks turned red.

** **

In a matter of days, Hunter and I decided to go see my  family. It was a little difficult to plan it out due to Hunter's situation. He couldn't go anywhere alone nor could he stay somewhere for a long period of time, the paparazzi would find him and use whatever means necessary to make a story out of his presence. We had to be very careful with how we were going to go about the whole thing. We came up with the idea of using my car because it would be less conspicuous. I would then pick up Hunter in the private parking garage later in the evening when all the cameramen used up their energy and when most called it a day. Though it was a simple and slightly easy plan, it was very easy for something to go wrong. Luckily, nothing went wrong and it was a smooth ride to my parents' house.

Hunter kept look out to make sure no one was following us or caught on to our plan, so his eyes were focused on the side view mirror and mine were focused on the road. It was a silent ride, I was lost in my thoughts, so I didn't really notice it. I wondered if this plan was really worth it because I knew my father could be difficult at times and this would be one of those times. Would he get mad at me for dating "the enemy" or would he be more mad at himself for hating the man his daughter loves?

Thoughts after thoughts, and finally the silence in the car was broken. "Jen?" Hunter called out in a low and almost hesitant voice.

"Yeah?" I gave him a quick glance before drawing my attention back to the road.

"This is what your life will be like dating me; hiding from the cameras, planning things ahead of time, choosing what car would be less noticeable, checking to see if cars are following us." Hunter turned away from the window and stared at me deeply. "Do you really want this? This life with me?"

I couldn't give him an answer with his eyes devouring my assurance and self confidence, not when I also had to steady the wheel and make sure I wasn't missing my turns. I pulled over next to a closed auto body shop, I turned off the car, leaving only our soundless breathing and long stares; the sun's shades of yellows and oranges as it was on the setting; the sounds of passing cars and the shadows that followed them.

"I know that you're the Hunter Manning. I know that eventually we can't hide our relationship from the public and I know that eventually is coming increasingly fast. I know that it might get tougher and even mentally exhausting to live like we're always running," I frowned, feeling slightly nauseous about coming to terms with reality. "Hunter, I know."

"Jen, do you really? It's easier to say you accept something than it is to actually accept it. It's done some terrible things to me, I can only imagine what it'll do to you. I don't want it to touch you or even hurt you," he sounded desperate, like he was pleading to the press and to fame itself.

"I don't want it. I don't want to wake up to cameras every morning or to falsified cover stories on  magazines. But, I want you and this life, only with you in it," I took his hands and smiled a little. "I guess you could say it's kind of like getting a happy meal with a crappy toy," I laughed a little, noticing I was comparing Hunter to a happy meal.

He laughed and nodded his head, "I guess you could put it that way, but I'm glad you see me as a happy meal." He grinned even wider, brushing my hair away from my face. "I just want you to be happy. I don't want you to regret anything, you deserve better."

"I'm happy with you," I smiled sadly. "So please stop pushing me away," I begged, almost whispering.

One or two cars zoomed past us in a hurry as we sat in silence. "I'm sorry," Hunter finally said. "I just love you too much."

"I love you too much," I said softly. I leaned towards Hunter, hoping to give my lips what they wanted.

"Jen," Hunter called out just as our lips were about to meet. "If you kiss me, we won't make it to your parents' house."

My heart skipped, understanding what he meant. I pulled back while my cheeks blushed a little. He laughed as I started up the car and joined the road.

** **
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•Can you predict what will happen next? Will Jen's father accept their relationship or not? Can Jen really handle Hunter's?

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