A Love Story: Piece by Piece Part 12

When we got back to our apartment, Erin, Brandon and a friend of ours decided to watch a movie. Just as the movie came on and we were all snuggled up, my phone received a text message. I wondered who on earth was texting me so late. I honestly hadn't a clue who it could be. I looked at my phone and it was a random number.

Hmm...

Erin asked me who it was, and I opened my phone expecting to read a text from someone who had accidentally sent it to the wrong number. But my heart stopped upon reading it.

"Hey, it's Hunter. It was so good seeing you tonight. I really hope we can hang out soon."

"Umm..... it's from Hunter."

I was sincerely in shock.

"WHAT????? Heather, what does it say????"

I read it out loud and everyone else was just as excited as I was.

"Hey! I know, I'm glad we ran into each other! I agree, let's hang soon."

A few minutes went by and I thought that was that. But he had actually texted me. He actually wanted to hang out. Despite what my mind settled for after seeing him that night, I just might see this boy again. Ok, let's get this movie started.

Another text.

"What about tomorrow?"

"He asked me to hang tomorrow!!!!!!"

"No way!! Heather, you have to! It's Hunter! I mean, HUNTER LAMB. The boy you used to ALWAYS talk about!"

"I know. But I'm scared. I didn't actually think he would try to hang out with me.... I'm nervous."

"Ummm and? Get over it. Tell him yes."

Well, here goes nothing.

"Yeah, tomorrow sounds good! I get off work around 3:30."

"Text me your apartment number after work. I'll be there at 5:30."

And just like that, we were inseparable. June of 2005 began my adventure into the life I now live with Hunter Lamb. Don't get me wrong, he played it safe at first. He brought over a friend that next day and we met up with a bunch of people at Chick Fil A. But he made sure to hang out with me the next day.... and the next day.... and the next day..... and by the end of the week, he asked me and my bff to go to a Mae show in Nashville. Wouldn't you know that that would be the night that I ran into Mr. Heart Breaker for the second time in the year since he forgot that he was pursuing me. I mean, not just ran into him- he was straight up behind us the entire time we were waiting in the looooong line to buy a ticket. Though I have to say, it felt good to rub it in his face that I was there with an extremely attractive guy, and I definitely conveyed to Mr. Heart Breaker that I, too, could act like we never had a brief past.

But I still had to keep my guard up. What if I was reading into Hunter all wrong and he just wanted a girl that he actually had something in common with to be his friend? So I decided to leave the venue for the first two bands to go eat with some friends. I swear, Hunter almost begged me to stay, but I "was starving", or so that was the excuse I used to not just hand him my heart. A few days after the show, I went to Birmingham to visit family for a week. I told myself that I wouldn't think about him while I was there, but that was a little hard to do, in that, he texted me the entire week I was away. But no, it was all in good fun. He called me his best friend. I was ok with that, I guess. I mean, it would be a little weird if we had decided right away to date. And for all I knew, that's not even what he wanted. So best friends we were.

In mid July, he and Hayden had plans of flying to California to visit their family for 3 weeks. I wasn't sure how I would handle being away from Hunter for that long, but I knew it would take a lot of taming my heart and mind because I was just his best friend. Him and Hayden decided they wanted to stay at our apartment the night before they left because they had asked me and my best friend to take them to the airport at 5:30 in the morning. No harm, right? They were just our friends sleeping on our couch. I mean, we had our rooms to retire to when it was time for bed. Gosh, he wasn't asking to spend the night because he liked me, or anything. We made a big pallet on the floor to watch a movie. Me, Hunter and bff were on the floor, and Hayden decided to stay on the couch because he would most likely fall asleep. Not long into the movie, my best friend AND Hayden both fell asleep. Hunter kept grabbing my hand and pulling it close to his chest. Kind of like something a little boy would do with his mother. I could feel his heart beating really hard and really fast.

Is he trying to hold my hand?

I wasn't sure, so I pretended to "readjust" to get comfortable and pulled my hand away. He was laying on his back and pulled my hand right back up to his chest.

I think.................... I think he IS trying to hold my hand.

Well, if he wasn't going to straight-up hold my hand, then I would just settle the whole dang thing myself. I waited for the opportunity when he would take a turn in "readjusting" to get comfortable and then I slid my fingers in between his and we locked hands. He didn't look at me, but then he lifted our hands in the air and I got worried that maybe he did it to pull our hands apart. So since I so boldly was the one to grab his hand, I so boldly asked him "Do you want your hand back?" He just smiled and shook his head no.

I realized I meant more to him than just a best friend. We held hands for a while and then our hands got really gross and sweaty so the hand holding had to stop. He eventually fell asleep, so I quietly got up and crawled in my bed.

The next morning, I guess I expected Hunter to feel like my boyfriend, but he didn't. He was a little backed off. Great, he regret holding hands. We drove all the way to the airport with awkwardness lingering in the air. We pulled up to the gates and all exchanged hugs. I had no idea what to expect over the next three weeks, so I expected nothing.

A few days later, I got a phone call from an unknown number with an area code that obviously was not local. Well, if you know me, then you know that under no circumstance do I answer unknown numbers. Whoever called, though, left a voice mail. That's always exciting.

"Hey, it's Hunter. I'm at my parents' house and just wanted to say hey....but.... I don't think you can call me back because they live in the mountains and......my cell phone doesn't get signal so you have to have an extension.............. and....... I don't know the extension. Um, I guess I'll just try and call you later....."

Wait a minute. Hunter called me? All the way from California? Curse my stubborn self for not picking up random numbers!!! My best friend was with me when I listened to the voice mail and saw how upset I was.

"DUDE. Seriously, DON'T CRY. Please.... He'll call again. Ok, you're crying. I'm walking away now."

This was some sort of positive sign that he wasn't going to just act like we hadn't held hands the night before he left. Please, God, please let him call again.

A few days later, the same number called me, but I didn't get to my phone until the last ring and by the time I answered, it was too late. I was about to burst into tears because I couldn't believe that I had literally been waiting by my phone for DAYS and he called me again, just like he said he would, and I missed it!!! I was determined to talk to him. I redialed the number, knowing that I didn't have the extension number, but thought maybe I could talk to an operator and find him. Desperation. The phone rang and instead of being directed to an automated voice service asking me to enter my party's extension, someone actually said hello.

"Uhh.... may I speak to Hunter?"

"This is him... Heather?"

He answered!!! He was blown away that calling him back worked. He told me his parents lived in a camp and there was a main number to call, but in order to call a certain house, you had to have the house's extension. I think I called back so quick that our lines were still connected, bypassing the whole extension part. Thanks, God :) We talked for a while. He was so sweet. We were both so nervous and I don't remember a thing about our conversation. But he hadn't forgotten about me. He was thinking about me all the way across the country....

The last week he was in California, I went on a week-long mission trip with my church. We had no way of texting each other and I knew that we wouldn't be able to talk on the phone. I was beyond excited to see him when I got back. I thought everything would start falling into place. All signs pointed to a relationship now that we had held hands and he made a point to call me on his vacation. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong.......