Matt Stell as himself

It's been about a month or so since Matt had called Haley for her to get her things. She really hasn't had time to get them and he's tired of stepping over the box of shit on his porch.

Matt Stell ducks his head as he crosses the threshold into the smoky dive bar, a big box in his arms. "Hey Haley." He nods, stalking to the bar.

"Matthew." She acknowledges, setting a drink down in front of another patron.

"Surprised you're still here given how much you said you missed home." He sits himself on a bar stool, dropping the box on the bar top next to him.

"Thanks for bringin' my stuff by." She says awkwardly, swiping the box from the counter, kicking it under the sink. "Can I get you somethin'?"

"Yes ma'am. I'll take-" Haley turns and slides him his go to starter; a simple shot of whiskey. "You remember."

Her cheeks hint at a blush but she hides it when the door opens. "Hey y'all!" She shouts to her favorite regulars. "The usual?"

"Actually, I'll take a whiskey sour, tonight." Caleigh says, sitting one seat down from Matt with Michael on her left. "Thank you, ma'am." She shoots her a wink as she serves Michael.

"So what've you been up to since, y'know." Matt asks, trying to have a pleasant conversation with his ex-girlfriend.

"You're lookin' at it." Haley says, sighing quietly. "Workin' like a dog."

"Like usual." Matt comments. "Still don't have no time off?"

"That's right. Only take time when I need time off."

"You just took a week off." Caleigh blurts out, earning a dirty look from the bartender. "Shit."

"Where'd you go?" Matt asks, looking between the couple on his left.

She takes a deep breath. "East Tennessee."

"What's in East Tennessee?"

The door jingles open and Morgan sits himself between Caleigh and Matt, giving his girlfriend a bright smile. "How ya doin', Hales?"

"Better now. How's about yourself?"

"I'm swell, darlin'." Morgan chuckles. "Old Fashioned, please."

"You got it, babe." She winks, whipping up his drink. "What were you up to?"

"Finished movin' the boxes inside, just gotta unpack 'em now."

"I don't work until six tomorrow, I can help you."

"Oh, I don't think much work'll get done." He flirts, biting his lip after take a swig of his drink. He looks at the large man on his right. "What's up?"

"What's up." He spits back at the shorter brunette. "Matt." He extends his hand for a shake.

"Morgan." He nods, politely returning the gesture.

Caleigh and Haley share a look before they excuse themselves to the opposite end of the bar, leaving the three guys to chat amongst themselves.

She somehow sweet talks Randy into covering for her while she and Caleigh squeeze themselves into the tiny bathroom. "Dude- Dude- I- He wasn't very kind to me when we was datin'." Haley admits. "He didn't like beat me or nothin' but it was verbal shit like I couldn't do nothin' right or why did I do what I did-"

"You need to take a deep breath, baby." Caleigh says, her hands on her shoulders to ground her. "In and out." Haley huffs, wiping away stray tears. "Calm down and start again."

"Matt- the guy sitting next to you at the bar- is my ex-boyfriend. He was an ass to me and cheated on me when he was on tour. I- I didn't tell him I's seein' someone new, didn't come up." She sighs heavily, sitting on the closed toilet. "Holy fuck, this- this is a lot." Haley takes a deep breath in before she stands, silently heading back out to the bar.

She's greeted with Morgan's fun laugh mixed with Matt's charming one. To be fair, Morgan is the kind of guy that'll talk to anyone

"Hey baby, you okay?" Morgan asks, worry lacing his brows.

"Baby?" Matt looks between the two. "Y'all're together?"

"Yeah." Haley confirms, looking down at the counter.

"Huh." Matt zones out, his eyes sticking on a neon beer sign on the wall behind her. "Imagine that. How long?"

"I dunno, couple months?" Morgan shrugs.

"Somethin like that." Haley scratches the back of her head.

"Well, see y'all 'round, then." Matt says awkwardly, tossing a couple bills onto the bar before he turns on his boot heel and heads out the door.

"Oh my god." Haley drops her head in her hands, feeling completely overwhelmed with what the fuck just happened. "Oh my god."

"Hey- hey." Morgan says, leaning up to give her arm a calming squeeze. "You're alright, I'm alright. Everything's alright, alright?"

"Dude, stop sayin' 'alright' so much." Michael says, pushing his empty glass forward. "But seriously, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just thought I'd never see him again." She waves everyone off. "Stop lookin' at me, I'm fine."

***

Haley is tossing and turning in her bed, she can't get comfortable enough to fall asleep. She huffs, grabbing her phone as she sits against the headboard. "Hello?" A cute, groggy voice asks on the other end.

"Hey, it's me." Haley whispers. "I can't sleep."

"What's up?" Morgan rubs his eyes.

"I dunno. Kinda still frazzled, I guess." She sighs. "It was weird seein' him again."

"I bet." There's some rustling coming from his end.

"What're you doin?"

"Nothin'." She can practically hear the ornery smile on his face.

"Morgan-"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, baby." He says followed by keys jingling.

"Morgan- and you hung up on me." She groans, tossing her phone on her bed.

After about half an hour of sitting by herself, Haley's front door swings open. She jumps, grabbing the 12-gauge shotgun from her closet, making her way to the living room. "Ah!" Morgan shouts, backing himself against the door, dropping what's in his hands as he raises them with his open palms toward the girl pointing the gun at him. "It's just me!"

"What the fuck, man?" She huffs, putting the safety on. "You scared me." Haley sets the weapon on the coffee table before kneeling down to pick up the things on the floor. "What're you doin' here?"

"You said you were feelin' down." He says shyly, taking the pizza box to the kitchen table. "So I figured I'd surprise you."

Her heart melts, her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "I don't deserve you."

"I know." He playfully elbows her. "C'mon, girl!" He sits himself on the couch, kicking his sock clad feet up on the coffee table while his girlfriend cuddles up next to him, the two watching random movies until they pass out together.

***

"I'm going home in couple days and I want you to come with me." Haley tells Morgan, her legs crossed as she sits on the couch.

"Really?" He raises his brows.

"Yeah. We've been datin' for a while and I want you to meet my brothers and parents."

"Really?" His brows turn worried.

"Yeah." She nods. "Will you go?"

"Of course, baby."

Her face breaks into a huge grin. "Really? You'll really go?"

Morgan's confused. "Of course, why wouldn't I?" She looks away and bites her lip. "Matt didn't want to go, did he?"

"No, he was just always busy with somethin'." She sighs, shaking her head. "But, you'll love 'em."

"I'm sure I will." He says, reaching over to tuck some hair behind her ear. "When do we leave?"

"The day after tomorrow." She squeals, beyond ecstatic to see her ma and 'em again after a couple years of city living, but she's kinda nervous to see them all again, knowing she's going to shit from them, she can't wait.

***

"You ready!?" Haley shouts, her Ariat boots thumping against Morgan's wood floors. "C'mon! We shoulda been on the road by now!"

"Hang on!" He yells back, sighing heavily. He woke up late, slept right though his alarm and he feels pretty bad.

Haley wanders to his bedroom, leaning against the door frame, her blue eyes raking over the half dressed man in front of her. "You're missin' somethin'." She says with a small smirk.

He looks down at his bare chest then up at his girlfriend. "You like what you see?" He teases, his hair still damp from his earlier shower.

"Yeah but I think you'd look better in my shotgun seat and on the road down to Lynchburg!" Morgan rolls his eyes as he turns back to his bag. "C'mon, chop chop little onion!" She shouts, clapping with each word as she heads back outside to her car, waiting impatiently for him to join.

He finally does, ten minutes later. "Before you complain anymore than y'already have, I overslept." Morgan says once he drops himself in the passenger seat. "Wait, this ain't your car."

"It's a '77 Dodge Ramcharger." She says, backing down the drive. "It was my daddy's."

"This car is sick, baby. Why don't you drive this one instead of your 4-Runner?"

"It's real old. I only drive it every once in a while." She says, merging onto the highway. "I love this car. Hour and a half, we'll be home!"

Morgan laughs, cranking the window down as they speed down south to Lynchburg, Tennessee.