Hayden Panettiere 's ex Brian Hickerson says he still dreams about a future with the actress ... admitting he would even marry her, despite their rocky past. Hickerson sat down with TMZ's Charlie Neff ahead of Hayden's upcoming memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning" ... and got surprisingly emotional when the conversation turned to the former couple's relationship. When Charlie asked if he ever thinks about marrying the former "Nashville" actress one day, Brian didn’t hold back ... "Yeah, of course."