"You okay?" Evan asks, his hands giving his girlfriend's tense shoulders a relaxing squeeze. "You're quiet tonight."

"Yeah, just a stressful day." Kate sighs back, her eyes closing at his touch. "Glad it's the weekend."

"Two days of relaxation." He whispers, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. "C'mon, let's take a shower." He takes her hand and pulls her to her bathroom.

+++

Her face replays in his mind.

Those big brown eyes.

Those pouty lips.

Morgan had no idea that Katie would be working where he is. She had no idea either. It was weird for both of them to see each other but they just went about their day.

Of course they're both stuck in their minds but they only exchanged a few words.

That look he gave her replays in her head and she blushes at the memory.

She didn't know she missed him.

He didn't know he missed her either.

She looked beautiful. Her hair was in that infamous messy bun and of course she was barefoot. Back home, that's how she looked all the time.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.

He sits up and looks over at his right, sighing when he sees the girl he met last night tangled up in her sheets. The longer he looks at her, the more and more she looks like Katie.

He silently slides out of her bed and starts redressing, carrying his boots out the door to put on before heading to his truck.

He internally cringes at how loud his truck idles, it is four in the morning though. He's got work in a few hours.

Morgan sighs heavily when he steps into his shower, happy to be back in his own home again. Sure, he had fun with what's-her-name but she isn't his Katie.

No one will ever come close to being his Katie.

+++

It's been a few months since Kate's been Michael's manager and she's honestly crushing the game. She has a few shows booked around Tennessee for him this coming month.

He invited her out to one- practically begged because she doesn't get to see how good she does and it actually hurts him.

Currently, Kate is standing awkwardly in the middle of the stage, reading over her list stuck to the clipboard. She's making sure everything on her end is according to plan.

Evan tagged along and she's glad. His presence helps keep her calm.

"You need to relax." He whispers against her temple, mindlessly playing with the ends of her hair. "This is gonna be a good show."

Kate looks up at him. "I just don't want to mess up."

"You're putting too much pressure on yourself, babe. Everything is going to be fine."

Kate sighs and nods, leaning up to kiss him. "I gotta get back to work."

"Come watch the show with me, okay?" She nods again then disappears into the wings.

Her brown eyes lift from her paperwork when she hears a familiar laugh.

A laugh that always makes her smile.

Morgan's laugh.

She watches him talk to Michael, her cheeks heating up when they both look over at her. Morgan quickly looks away and nods at what Michael says.

Kate walks over to them and pops a hand on her hip. "What?" She asks, looking between them.

Michael glances at his buddy. "He asked what was goin' on." He shrugs. "What I was doin' here. He thought it was just him tonight."

"Did- did I double book?"

"Nah, he's on at, uh, what time?"

"Eight."

"And you booked me for nine so there's no problem." He reassures her.

Ever since she started managing him, she's questioned everything she's been doing. She has no reason to, she's good at what she does.

She's doing better than Morgan's manager and Michael is trying to get him to switch over to her but he won't budge.

Maybe he should.

While Michael is performing the set she written out for him, Morgan approches her. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"What's up?"

"Do you have- is there-" He licks his lips. "I seen how good you's doin' with Michael and everythin' and I was wonderin' if you'd take me too."

She can't help the smile that pulls at her pretty lips. "Really? You want me to manage you?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're killin' it with Hardy."

"Come by my office next week and we'll talk." He nods then walks away, running a hand through his hair.

Kate looks down at Evan then over at Morgan. She doesn't feel the things she feels with Evan when she looks at Morgan. But, they have a lot of history together and that's probably why.

She shakes her head at herself as she heads down to join her boyfriend in the crowd.

+++

Morgan looks at his reflection in the mirror of the men's bathroom. He took a little longer to get ready this morning. He wanted to look nice for his meeting with his ex girlfriend- uh, new manager.

He brushes a stray wave back then fixes his t-shirt. He nods at himself then heads down the hallway to the elevator.

He takes a deep breath as he knocks on Katie's door, glancing at her through the window. She smiles and waves him in as she holds her office phone to her ear.

She uses her pen to point at the chair then holds a finger up to tell him she'll be a minute. He takes a look around her office and it's just what he was expecting.

She's got a huge Tennessee state flag pinned to her wall, her U of G degree tucked behind a big ass binder. She has a cut out of East Tennessee on the wall behind her and her desk has that cow paperweight she found at a flea market next to her computer.

Her name plate says Kaitlyn but she's taped off every letter except for three; K-A-T and added an E. She's never liked her full name, always said she never felt like a Kaitlyn and he-

"Okay." She sighs, hanging up. "So what's been goin' on?" She asks, smiling that smile that makes butterflies burst in his belly. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah. Couple years." He says, subconsciously clenching his sweaty hands into fists.

Is he mad at her?

He's still upset that she left him.

"So..." She starts, folding her hands together. She tells him about what she does and why she does the things she does. He's interested but not in her work.

While she's talking, he's reminiscing about their wild teenage days. He misses being back home with her and Taylor and Ford. He misses jumping off the old train trellis. He misses staying out all night.

He misses when life was simpler.

But the fact that she left without talking to him first- applied to a school in another fucking state without talking to him first still hurts.

He has no reason to be upset. That was her future plans, not his. She told him from the start that she wanted to go to school somewhere further away. He just never thought she'd actually leave.

"... As soon as you sign this, it's all set in stone and Katie Hurst will be your new manager." He smiles as she calls herself that nickname only he calls her.

Morgan hesitantly takes a pen from the mug on her desk and signs his name at the bottom of the contract.

"Okay, we are all set." She smiles. "Things will fall into place early next week."

"Awesome." He stands. "Thanks, Katie."

She smiles again. "You're welcome. It's nice to see you again, Morgan." He hides a red tinge in his cheeks as he turns to the door. His hands falters on the handle and he stops. "Somethin' else I can do for you?"

He turns and looks at the degree on the file cabinet. "How was Atlanta?"

"It was fun but," She responds, looking over at her degree. "It wasn't Tennessee, y'know?"

"Why..." He trails off.

"Why what?"

"Why'd you leave? Why Georgia?"

"I told you. U of G had the-"

"Was that the only reason?"

She sighs heavily, leaning back in her chair. "Morgan..."

"Was- was it my fault why you left? Because of me?"

"Why would you think that? Why would you ever think that?"

"Because you just- I don't- Katie-" He's obviously still bent out of shape over this and it's been almost five years. "I've been askin' myself that question since I found out you wanted to leave."

"The reason why I left is because U of G had the best affordable music business program. I got into Belmont but I couldn't afford it, you know that." She stands and leans back against her desk. "If I could've afforded to go to Belmont, I would've."

He grips the back of the chair he was sitting in. "Really? Y'ain't just bullshittin' me?"

"No, Morgan." She sighs, ignoring the way he's looking at her. "You gotta understand that I left for school and not to get away from y-"

Morgan suddenly grabs the sides of her face and kisses her. The way she's been looking at him tells him she's never stopped loving him.

She's surprised, obviously, her hands flying to his wrists as she kisses him back. He pushes her further back on her desk, her skirt riding up exposing her new thigh tattoo she got her senior year of college.

He pulls back to look at the bottom petals of the flower inked into her skin peeking out from the fabric. His rough fingers brush across the tattoo and she bites her lip.

"Morgan..." She whispers, her heart beating hard in her chest.

He steps away and picks up his ball cap. "I look forward to workin' with you, Miss Katie." He smirks. "See you 'round."