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The first month of Maggie's tour is in the books!

After their first date in Knoxville they went to Virginia, North Carolina down to South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and now they're in Alabama.

At the Zydeco in Birmingham, Alabama.

Maggie quickly adjusted to tour life and has become closer than ever with Michael, Caleigh, and Morgan. They're staying in Birmingham for two days; they have a day off tomorrow so they get to sleep in a real bed and take real, hot showers for the first time in weeks and they're all excited as hell.

The three musicians and Caleigh have a couple hours to spend before the concert starts so they're sitting on the backside of the venue playing cards. Morgan's sitting on a cooler against the wall with Maggie between his legs while Caleigh and Michael are in folding chairs. Mags has her pack of cigarettes beside her with a lit one between her pretty lips. "I can see your cards, Gracie."

"Quit peekin'!" She laughs, holding her cards against her chest.

"Hey, Morgan. I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. Why do you call her Gracie?" Caleigh asks, looking at him over her sunglasses.

"Yeah. Why do you call me Gracie?"

"I dunno. It's your middle name." He shrugs. "Everyone calls you Mags or Maggie and I just wanted somethin' different, and it just kinda stuck." He's blushing hard as he keeps his eyes on his hand.

"That's so sweet." Caleigh grins, scrunching her nose up at them. "Awe. Did you guys grow up together?"

"Kinda." Maggie says, looking up at him from over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'd say we did. We've know each other since kindergarten and we were always sat next to each other."

"Wallen, Wilson." Hardy nods.

"Yeah and I don't think we were actually close friends until like seventh or eight grade." Maggie says, tapping the ash off her cigarette. "And then we started talkin' after a baseball game, freshman year, and then you asked me on a date."

"It was a real good first date." Morgan snickers under his breath, earning an elbow to his calf.

"What was it?" Caleigh asks, sliding her cards into the cup holder of the chair.

"We went about half an hour outside of town and went swimming-"

"Skinny dippin'." Morgan interrupts.

She rolls her eyes. "And then he asked me out after that and we dated until graduation."

"Why'd you guys break up?" Maggie and Morgan both clench their jaws as they look away. "Woah, sorry."

"Touchy subject?" Hardy asks, reaching over to hold his girlfriends hand.

"Somethin' like that." She mumbles, looking down at her hands. "It's his fault though."

"It is not! It's your fault! You said you'd still be there!"

"Me!? You come home in the spring and you don't tell no one where you're going? I waited for you!" She gets to her feet.

"Yeah right." He rolls his eyes as the other couple sit awkwardly.

"I told you I got kicked out but I came back for you! Your dad told me you left!"

"Naomi told me you-!" He shouts back, standing too.

"Shut the fuck up!" Hardy cuts him off, rubbing his temples. "God, you guys think the same thing. It was just shitty communication."

Mags and Morgan start talking over each other. "Y'know, y'all're both adults. You figure it the fuck out. C'mon Caleigh." He takes her hand and heads off to somewhere that isn't the backside of the venue.

"You're a fuckin idiot." Maggie says, shaking her head. "How did you hurt your arm?"

"Side armed a pitch, somethin snapped in my shoulder and now it pops when I raise my arm." He sighs, raising his arm to make his point.

"I'm sorry." She says, glancing up at him. "And I'm sorry that you hurt your arm."

"I'm sorry too." He sighs again, running his hand through his hair. "C'mere." He pulls her in for a tight hug.

"We hated each other for no reason." She laughs. "Anyways, I gotta get dressed for the show." She says, lighting another cigarette before she starts walking toward the back door. She's stopped when she feels a hand around her wrist. "What?" Morgan says nothing as he leans down and kisses her softly. She bites her lip as she pulls away, silently letting herself back into the venue after she stubs her cigarette out in the ash tray next to the door.

=

Maggie looks at her reflection and smiles. She's in a tank top with a pair of denim shorts and Riley's flannel over top along with her favorite sandals. She let Caleigh do her hair into messy double dutch braids.

She takes a deep breath as she paces around in the wing waiting for her time to go on stage. Maggie cannot stop thinking about the way Morgan kissed her, the way his hand felt against her cheek and the way he looked at her before and after. She bites her lip as she looks at her pink toenails poking out of her black sandals.

There's a pair of hands that suddenly grab her shoulders. Maggie immediately turns with her elbow ready to strike but her scowl turns into a grin when she sees Riley standing there. "You ass!" She laughs, giving her boyfriend a tight hug. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry." He smiles, his arm around her shoulders.

"Why- How- What're you doin' here?"

"Well, I'm home for the week and saw you were stoppin' in Birmingham and wanted to surprise you so surprise!"

"You're somethin' else." She can't stop grinning. "Shit, I gotta go on." She hands him her water bottle before pressing a kiss to his lips, bouncing onto stage shortly after.

Throughout her whole set, she doesn't stop smiling. The lights go down low as she sits herself on a stool with her guitar in her lap. "So, I'm doin' somethin' a little different tonight since someone very special to me is here tonight." She says as she cuffs the sleeves of her borrowed flannel. "This is a song that Jason Isbell wrote, it's called Cover Me Up." She clears her throat as she gives Riley a smile before she leans to the mic.

"A heart on the run keeps a hand on a gun. You can't trust anyone. I was so sure, what I needed was more, tried to shoot out the sun. The days when we raged, we flew off the page, such damage was done. But I made it through, cause somebody knew I was meant for someone.

So, girl leave your boots by the bed, we ain't leavin' this room. 'Til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom. It's cold in this house and I ain't goin' out to chop wood. So cover me up and know you're enough to use me for good."

Riley can't help but smile as her silky voice fills the building. He's in Birmingham for a reason. He's going to propose to her tonight.

Once she wraps up the song, she looks over at Riley who's already on his way to join her. He presses a kiss to her temple before her lips then starts to kneel in front of her, a small velvet box in his big hand. Maggie gasps, her hand covering her mouth as she looks down at him. He says those magical words, his heart pounding in his chest as he waits for her response.

"Hell yeah!"

Morgan feels his heart shatter when he hears her response. He feels tears form in his throat but coughs them away as he claps with Michael and Caleigh, forcing a broken smile as the now betrothed couple kiss again. Hardy glances over at his best friend who's barely holding it together.

As Riley and Maggie slip to the wing, Morgan storms off to the hallway. He grabs a bottle of whiskey on his way to the backside of the building.

She's fucking engaged.

Again.

To someone that isn't him.

Again.

He's completely twisted and hurt as he slides down the brick, the bottle of liquor tight in his hand as he brings his knees up to his chest, his head back against the building.

Michael sighs as he slides down to sit next to him. "You okay?" It's a stupid question. He's obviously not okay.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" He spits back, taking a gulp from the bottle. "She's happy, I'm happy. We're all fuckin' happy." Michael twiddles his thumbs, chewing on his cheek as he sits silent. "She's fucking engaged, Hardy!"

"I know-"

"Hey, you're on in like two minutes!" Brooks mutters before closing the door.

"Fuck, c'mon." He grabs Morgan by the arm and gets him to his feet. "Just ignore them and don't get too fuckin' drunk for your set." He says as he snags the bottle from him. "Just go sit your ass down on that couch until you gotta go on."

"I'm a grown ass adult, Michael-"

"Yeah, but you're a fuckin' idiot." He chuckles as he squeezes his shoulder. "I'll see if Caleigh'll hang out with them on the other side of the stage."

"No, y'all shouldn't be jumpin' through hoops for me. I'm fine. I'll fuckin handle this like an adult."

"Fine." He gives him a bro hug before running onto the stage with a mic in his hand.

Shortly after him, Morgan hypes himself up before he hits the stage, his heart broken, his head aching, and the room spinning. He coughs before slurring out a couple lyrics to a song. He's able to hide it as the crowd screams the words back to him. Somehow, he's sobered up enough to belt out 'Chasin' You' followed by 'This Bar' and soon enough, his set is done.

=

"Okay, okay!" Brooks shouts to the small group around him. "Keys." He passes out hotel room keys. Caleigh and Michael get a room to themselves, Riley and Maggie get a room to themselves and Morgan gets a room by himself. And, of course, he's sandwiched between the two couples.

He swears under his breath as he picks up his bag to head into the elevator of the hotel, shaking his head when he sees Riley and Maggie laughing to themselves as he fumbles with the key card in the door. Once he's in his room, he throws his bag to the floor and strips his clothes off to take a long hot shower. He rolls his eyes when he hears muffled moaning coming from Maggie and Riley's room so he gets dressed and heads down to the hotel bar to drink his pain away.