"Fuck!"

Riley launches a bottle across the hotel room.

"Dude-" Josh reaches out for his shoulder but Riley shoves him away.

"Don't fucking touch me." He snaps.

"What's wrong, man!?"

"Kate!" He yells back, the vein in his neck sticking out as he starts pacing. "She's engaged to Morgan, man!"

"So? Y'all ain't together no more." Josh shrugs, sitting on the desk in the hotel room. "She's moved on, so should you."

"I can't- I can't-" Riley picks up his wallet and phone then he's out the door.

"Where're you goin'?" He shouts after him.

Riley ignores him and keeps walking down the hallway, Josh shakes his head.

A few hours have passed and Riley hasn't come back. Josh is worried. He knocks on Kate's door.

She's yanked from her sleep by the incessant knocking. She pulls on a pair of shorts and gets to her feet.

"What?" She asks, her eyes barely open as she leans against the door. "What's up, Josh?"

"Riley took off."

"What?" She asks, waking up a little more.

"He just took off."

"Where did he go?"

"If I knew I wouldn't be here, Kate."

She nods and sighs heavily. "Let me get dressed and we'll look for him."

"We?"

"Me and you, we." She scoffs. "Gimme a few minutes." Kate shuts the door to get dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with her famed Vans.

"C'mon." She says, shutting the door behind her.

"I thought you'd be lookin' with Morgan."

"Morgan left a couple hours ago. He had some session booked in the morning that he couldn't miss." She responds, stepping out of the elevator.

"If I was Riley Green, where would I go?"

Kate snorts at that sentence. "He's probably at a bar." She pulls up her maps. "There's one down the street."

Josh keeps close to Kate as they walk down the dark street. "Why did he take off?"

He shrugs, his hands in his pockets.

They stop in front of a shady looking dive bar. Josh opens the door for her and she walks in in front of him.

"He's not here." She says.

"Wait." Josh grabs her arm. "He's at the bar."

Kate sighs and puts her hand on his chest. "Stay here." Josh slides into a booth and rubs his face.

"Hey." Kate says, approaching her ex as he's hunched over at the bar.

"The hell do you want." He spits back, a glass of dark liquid in his hand.

She hops on the barstool next to him and orders a drink. "You okay?"

"Yep."

"Ri, it's me. You can talk to me." He looks at her with bloodshot eyes. "Oh, Riley." She sighs, rubbing his shoulder.

He pulls away.

"I'm tryna help you, Ri." She says softly. "We gotta hit the road in a couple hours."

"Quit fuckin' naggin' me." He snaps.

"Hey, I get that you're in a shitty place right now but I am not the enemy here, okay? Back the fuck off."

"You heard the lady. She don't wanna go home with you." A guy says from the pool table.

"I can handle this, but thanks." Kate says.

"Fuckin' idiot." Riley mutters.

"Excuse me!?" The guy sets his pool cue down and starts toward him.

Riley opens his mouth to say something else but the guy hits him in the mouth, knocking him to the floor. That guy starts kicking the shit out of him.

"Hey- hey! Stop! Stop!" Kate pulls the guy back. "Stop." She says quietly. "Okay?" The guy looks at her then walks away.

"You're an idiot." She sighs.

"The hell happened?" Josh asks, helping Riley to his feet.

He groans, his hand pressed against his ribs. "He got me good." He chuckles, leaning against the bar.

"You idiot." Kate huffs, paying for her and Riley's drinks. She follows the two guys out to the street. "C'mon, back to the room."

+++

Kate takes over this whole situation from Josh so he can get some sleep before they're on the road again.

She sits him on the bed, tossing her purse on the desk nearby. "Look at me." Kate says, her hands grasping either side of his face. She brushes her thumbs across his lips then looks over his eyes and nose over. "Nothing's broken on your face. Take your shirt off. Lemme see your ribs."

Riley gives her a dirty look.

"Up, c'mon." He winces as he stands, his hand still against his ribs. Kate gently pulls his shirt off and she gasps. "Holy shit." She runs her fingers across a huge red patch that's already starting to bruise that's covering his whole left side.

"I'm fine."

"No, you ain't." She shakes her head. "C'mon."

"What?"

"Take a bath." She tells him.

"What?"

"Take a bath." She repeats. "You need to relax before you get back on that bus. I ain't gonna spend the next couple weeks with you in this pissy mood so get your ass in that damn bathroom and take a bath!"

Her tone makes him hop to his feet.

Riley closes himself in the bathroom and does as he's told.

Kate shakes her head at the blood stained on his Carhartt shirt and blue jeans. She knocks on the bathroom door.

"What?"

"I need to let your clothes soak. I won't look, okay?" She says, her hand on the knob.

"Whatever." He responds. He won't admit it but he's actually feeling relaxed in the warm water. Kate keeps her eyes on the clothes in her hands as she fills the sink.

She drowns the clothes then scrubs the stains with the bar of soap, hoping it'll work.

Riley watches her and bites his lip. "Y'know, you're really beautiful." He says, his eyes running over her figure.

"Thanks." She mumbles back, focused on the clothes she's cleaning. She slips back out of the bathroom after hanging his clothes up.

After soaking for almost an hour, Riley comes out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips, showing off his now bruised skin.

"Oh, Riley." Kate sighs, looking him over again. "You gonna tell me what got you so bent outta shape?"

"No."

She rolls her eyes as she stands from his bed. "Well, get some rest. I'll be back in a few hours before we get back on the bus." She gives his arm a squeeze then slips out the door

+++

Riley's lip is swollen and he's got a black eye along with fractured ribs. He's in so much pain but he keeps a brave face on as he performs. It's all the buzz on social media; people worried about him because he looks out of character but Katie is keeping her eye on him.

He's quiet now, withdrawn from his bandmates and gets his dick wet in whatever girls he meets.

She's never felt so done before.

She's so ready to go home.

This is their last show.

Everyone is itching to be done and home.

"Where the fuck's Riley!?" Kate shouts, her voice carrying over the kick drum that echos throughout the venue. "Where the hell is he!?"

She shoves past the guys and starts down the hall where she finds Riley slumped over a couch.

"Hey." She says, tapping his shoulder. He doesn't move. "Riley." She shakes his arm and he still doesn't move. "Riley!"

She smacks him hard and he grunts awake. "What the bejesus?"

"Dude, you're missin' soundcheck!"

He slurs something out, getting to his feet. He stumbles and falls against the wall, his hand covering his face.

"You're shitfaced." She states.

"You are." He mumbles, running his hands over the front of his shirt then tugs on the hem of his shirt.

"C'mon." She grabs his arm with the intention to pull him to the bathroom but he has other plans.

Riley pushes her against the wall, his lips firmly against hers, his hands sloppily groping her body.

She pushes him away and grabs his wrist, practically dragging him to the bathroom.

Riley pushes her against the counter, kissing her again but when she goes to pull back again, he gets a little rough.

His large hand grabs the back of her head and tries to keep her where she is. Katie shoves him hard, smacks him across the cheek again then splashes cold water in his flushed face.

"Ah!" He gasps, the cold water soaking into his shirt. "Katie-!?"

"Get sober, Riley. This is the last show. Do not fuck this up."

He nods, his cheeks red from embarrassment.

+++

Miraculously, Riley played his fine ass off for his last show. He's still mostly drunk but sober enough to where he isn't falling over.

As soon as the show is over, Kate is heading to the airport to catch a flight home.

Morgan doesn't know she's coming home that night, she told him she'd be back tomorrow.

She wants to surprise him.

And boy, does she.