Morgan and Dani drive separately to Sneedville, it's about an hour and half away. She keeps looking in her rearview mirror at Morgan who's head bopping to some radio music, his truck doesn't have USB or Bluetooth. She smiles to herself as she pulls into the dirt drive that leads to her wood plank house. She's home. Morgan parks behind her. "What're you doin' here?" She asks, grabbing her duffle from the hatchback.

"Makin' sure you get home safe." He says as he takes her bag off her shoulder. They get to the front porch and he opens the door for her.

"Thanks." She smiles, stepping in. "Hey!" She gives her dad a hug, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Daniella!" He shouts, squeezing her tightly. "Babygirl, I missed you. It's been too long."

"I'm here now." She says as she takes a seat at the table. "Morgan made sure I got home safe."

"Good. How's school goin'?"

"Real good. I'm almost done with my four years then I gotta take two more years then I am a full blown lawyer."

"That's so excitin'." Morgan stands awkwardly in the kitchen. "C'mon boy, sit down." He smiles slightly as he sits next to his ex-girlfriend. "How's it going with your roommate?"

"Actually, him and Morgan were working on a song last night."

"What happened to baseball?"

"I tore my rotator cuff before the university signed me." He sighs. "Cost me my college career."

"But he's been writin' music. He's on the radio." Morgan smiles to himself. "That, uh, summer song."

"It's called 7 Summers." He leans back in a chair. "And Hardy and I- we wrote another one yesterday."

"It's real good too."

"Well, I might have to listen to it some time if my babygirl likes it." Morgan blushes and nods. "So why are you in town, Wallen?"

"I bought that house off Jack Trent."

"Really? You bought that?" He nods. "Well I have to say, I'm proud of that."

"Well thank you." He smiles. "It's not a college diploma but it's still a big thing."

"Stop comparin' yourself to me." She whispers. "You're doin' great on your own." He rolls his eyes causing her to glare at him. "Seriously, stop."

Her dad holds up his phone. "I gotta take this..." he says awkwardly, walking out.

"Your phone didn't even ring!" She calls after him, sighing loudly. "Morgan, you have to stop saying that your life is shit because you didn't go to college!" She's pacing around the kitchen now. "You're doing great with your music-"

"It's shit because I lost you!" He suddenly shouts back, standing. "You're goin' to college without me and I'm here without you."

"You never told me you weren't going until I was moved in. That was dirty on your part."

"Okay, I'm sorry." He huffs, she scoffs then starts to walk away. "Where're you going?"

"Upstairs." She snaps. He grabs her hand and pulls her back, pressing her against the counter, his blue eyes narrow down at her.

"I thought things would be back to normal when you came back, I thought we could give us a second chance," He whispers, his lips close to her ear. "We'd be together like we were before you left." She looks up at him with a fire he hasn't seen in years. His belly tightens as he pushes any sexual thoughts out of his head.

"I thought we'd be takin' classes together, we'd have our own place together-" she's cut off by a hard kiss as he pushes her back against the cabinets. She gasps as he moves down to her neck, his hands sliding across her back, holding her close against his chest. She pushes him away, "God, you think you can just charm your way outta every situation!"

He stands in the middle of the kitchen, his arms crossed. "What the hell do you want, Daniella?"

"I don't know! I just- it's just-" She has her hands in her hair as she exhales heavily, her eyes locking with his. Her cheeks go pink as she shakes her head. "I don't know."

"I think we need to get some beer and go back to that spot." He says calmly. "Instead of fightin', let's just be kids again." She stops pacing and looks up at him. "Enjoy this summer before you gotta head back to Knoxville."

"I just have a week." Dani whispers.

"Then we're wasting time fightin'."

She grabs her duffle and mumbles, "Gimme a couple minutes." Then heads upstairs to her old bedroom to change out of the sweats she's been wearing and into her favorite thin strapped red sundress and cowboy boots.

She returns to the kitchen and grabs her purse. "I'll drive." He says, biting his lip.

+++

After picking up a twelve pack of Bud Light, a bottle of Southern Comfort and a 2 liter of Coke, they're now on their way to that spot by the river. He's got the radio station that plays all of her favorite songs and she can't help but sing along, any anger she had before is now gone. He backs in and parks his truck, hopping out. "C'mon now baby!" He calls, grabbing the fold up chairs from the bed then heads to the riverbank. She joins him after grabbing his old discarded cowboy hat from the footwell, putting it on her head.

"You started without me?" She asks, nodding to his opened beer. "How rude, Wallen."

"Sorry darlin' you were takin' forever." He sips his drink. "But I did make you your drink." It's the Southern Comfort mix. "Tastes like coke, gets ya drunk like whiskey."

"Good for the heart, huh?" She tips her hat a him, making him laugh.

"Good for the soul." He smiles, kicking his boots off along with his socks, then he cuffs his jeans a few times before standing. He walks towards the water, stepping in, waving for her to join him. She kicks her shoes off and tosses the hat into her chair, making her way to the river. Morgan looks down at his toes in the water, paying no attention to the girl behind him as she pushes him down. "Oh you're dead." He says as he resurfaces, his once dry t-shirt now soaked and clinging to his body, his jeans the same.

She squeals as she wades away from him, laughing when she feels an arm around her waist, pulling her against him as he drops into the water. "No!" She giggles, pulling away from him. Her dress is now soaked.

"Just hang it on a limb, darlin'. It'll dry." He says as he peels his shirt off, tossing it over a sycamore branch, doing the same with his jeans. "That always worked out pretty well." She rolls her eyes as she tugs her sundress off, hanging it on a different tree limb, leaving the two in just underwear. "Might as well." He shrugs, stepping out of his boxers before leaping back into the lake. "You too good for country livin' now that you're in the city?" He calls from the water. She flips him off as she unhooks her bra and slides her panties off, joining him.

She tosses her head back, wetting her hair down. "You were right, I needed this." She feels the buzz start in her chest as she floats in the water. "Free bird."

Morgan nods, doing the same. "It's nice to have you back home."

"It's nice to be home."

+++

It's near four am and the young couple is asleep in the bed of his truck, just like the good old days. Morgan's holding Dani from behind, snoring softly into the back of her head as she has her arm on top of his, breathing steadily, her head is heavy on his arm making his fingers go numb. They swam for a couple of hours as their clothes dried, got drunk, then passed out in his truck.

Something stirs in Morgan's mind as he wakes up and reaches through the small slider in the rear windshield for a scrap paper, the cardboard of the case of beer will work, he starts scrawling down words for a new song. She stirs next to him, turning on her back as she rubs her eyes. "Whatcha doin'?" She mumbles out, still half asleep.

"Shh."

"Huh?"

"Shh!" His hand tries to keep up with his brain as he scribbles down words. "This is good." He smiles to himself. "Gotta call Hardy." He hops over the side of the truck and grabs his phone from the bench seat.

She groans as she looks up at the stars, pulling a blanket up to her shoulders. "You comin' back?" She calls.

"Hang on darlin!" He responds as he starts talking to Hardy. "No man I know it's late- you just gotta listen to what I just wrote- c'mon man... yeah I can call you in a couple of hours."

Dani reaches for her mostly dry dress and pulls it on, not bothering with her boots as she climbs out of the bed, her feet touching the soft grass. She stands in front of Morgan, sliding his phone into his pocket before taking his hand to the riverbank. She starts humming a random tune, dancing with him in the bright moonlight, smiling as he twirls her. They share laughs as they stumble, still kind of tipsy. "Free bird, baby." She whispers to him after he twirled her against his chest. He hums in response, holding her close, his heart thumping hard. "I missed my country boy." She admits, her head on his shoulder. "I missed this."

"Then stay." He immediately regrets opening his mouth.

"What?" She asks, pulling away slightly.

"Don't go back, stay here with me."

"I graduate in a year, I can't just throw away that work and the money."

"I'm sure they have online stuff now, right?"

"I don't know." He hooks a finger under her chin, nudging her to look up at him. "That's a pretty heavy thing to say, I have that place with Hardy-"

"Hell, y'all can live with me."

"I don't know, baby." She shrugs. "I'll think about it, okay?"

He nods and rests his chin on the top of her head, swaying slowly.

+++

"Hardy? What're you doin here?" Dani asks as she answers the door the next afternoon.

"Morgan asked for a jam sesh here." He says, letting himself in. "Is this not his place?"

"No it isn't. He's the next road over."

"Well, c'mon then."

"What? No I'm not goin."

"Why not? You love sittin in on my brainstormin."

"Morgan pissed me off. He said that I should stay here and not go back to college." They stand in silence. "I said I couldn't just leave, I've been workin' so hard and all that money my dad and I have put into it would just be wasted and we're livin' together."

"I can talk to him about it." He offers, readjusting his ballcap. "Yeah I can do that, ask him what he's thinkin'."

"That'd be great, Hardy." She sighs heavily. "I would totally stay if it wasn't for all that money we scraped together for tuition."

"Not to mention a college degree and your best friend." She chuckles. "You just need to relax, okay? Spend some time with yourself."

"Since when are you spiritual?" He groans. "Are you high?"

"Not one bit, darlin'. Are you gonna hang out with us today?"

"No I think I'm gonna get in touch with my spirit."

"Alright then. Hey, I'll see you in a couple of hours alright? I'm takin' you and Morgan out for lunch."

"Ugh, fine." He gives her a friendly kiss on the head. "Have fun!" He tips his hat towards her as he heads to his old green '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee and speeds off. She sighs heavily, turning to the stairs to go up to her bedroom.

+++

"So how are things with lovely Miss Dani?" Hardy asks as he plops himself on the plaid couch.

"I think they're fine." He shrugs back, picking up his guitar. "Missed havin' her around, y'know?" He takes his dip can out of his pocket, smacks it against the palm of his hand twice, then pulls a pinch out to stuff between his teeth and cheek.

"Nice to be back home with her, right?"

"Yeah, good memories with a great girl." He nods, tuning his guitar. "Why?" He looks over at him.

"I dunno. Just seeing her back in her hometown makes my heart happy. She's totally different here than in Knoxville."

"I told her she should stay here." He mutters shyly. "I told her she shouldn't leave."

"Wow, that's bold." Hardy raises his eyebrows. "Why did you say that?"

"I don't know. It felt right havin' her home and here with me again." He rubs his hands against his face and then through his growing hair. "But once I said it, I knew I messed up." He sighs heavily, turning to his notebook. "But last night we hung out down by the river and I wrote this." He hands him the scrap of cardboard.

"Whatcha know 'bout that." Hardy mutters, holding up the scrap. "You need a folder or some shit, man."

Morgan rolls his eyes. "Just read it."

"Oh I am, don't worry." He leans back against the couch and holds it up, his lips moving as he reads. "We can get on out where the cowboy hats flow?" Morgan nods. "Interesting. How did you come up with this again?" He blushes in response. "Ah, got it."

"What do you think?"

"It's great, good. This is half a verse, though. You'll be city girl buzzin' over country boy lovin'- this is great, man." He nods, looking up at Morgan. "Gimme a couple of minutes to figure somethin' out."

"Beer?" Hardy nods, grabbing his own guitar, starting to strum around. He returns with two Shiner's, setting them on the wood coffee table in front of the couch. Morgan sits quietly, thinking about more lyrics. "Whatcha know 'bout thumpin' skeeters with your fingers...?"

"Pshh!" Hardy waves his hand back at him, trying to focus. "Whatcha know 'bout that. That's catchy." He says as he pulls his phone out of his pocket to call Dani. "Hey girly, we need your expertise." He says to her over speakerphone.

"Aren't you the prodigy?" She fires back, making Morgan laugh, her voice sounds a little sleepy. "Whatcha got?" Morgan sings along as Hardy strums, the two chuckling throughout the song. "That's good, yeah it's nice."

"Just nice?" Morgan sounds little hurt.

"It needs something." She clicks her tongue. "Lucky for you I'm a two lane tour guide?"

Hardy claps and nods. "That's genius!"

"Get your country boy heartbreaker certified. And instead of using cold cans, use long neck. It flows better. And if this is about us, use some of the things we did last night in there too, makes it personal."

"Oof, she got you." Hardy bites his lip from snickering. "Thank you darlin'. See you in a bit."

"Of course. Talk to y'all later."

Morgan sighs, fiddling with his fingers. "Do you think she'll stay?"

"It's hard to say. Hey, Wanna grab lunch?"

"Sure, yeah. Let me grab my hat." Morgan steps into his boots as he reaches for his worn out hat that Dani tried to have him get rid of, it's basically falling apart. "I know this great diner, it's called Charsey's." Hardy texts Dani, telling her to meet them there at the diner.