"Riley, honey, there's someone here to see you!" The woman that answered the door says, helping Maggie to the kitchen table. "Here, baby." She says, handing her a cup of coffee. "Riley!"

"I'm comin', momma!" He shouts back, his feet thumping down the steps. "What- Mags? What're you doin' here?" He asks, tucking his hands in his shorts pockets. "What's up?"

She looks down in shame, sniffling quietly. "I'm sorry." She whispers, wiping her face. "I shouldn't have came here." Riley leans against the kitchen counter after he pours himself a cup of coffee.

He's patiently waiting until she spills.

"I walked in on Morgan with another girl."

"Huh. What goes around comes around." He mumbles, licking his lips. "You okay?"

"That's a stupid question." She mutters, sniffling. "I'm so sorry for puttin' you through what I did. You're a really, really great guy and you deserve the fuckin' world, Ri."

"I know." He sighs. "Thanks." He glances over his shoulder at the doorway at his mom then rolls his eyes before sitting at the table next to his ex. "So, not to be an asshole or anythin but why are you here?"

"I don't know." She whispers, looking over at him. "I just got in the car and started drivin' and I ended up here." Maggie sets her HALO Waterfowl mug on the table. "Somethin' was tellin' me that you know how this feels."

Riley scoffs. "You bet your ass I do." Maggie nods, shivering slightly. He silently stands and disappears into the other room before returning shortly with a sweatshirt. "Here."

"Oh no-" Riley snags it back then helps her into it, pushing her hair out of her face before sitting back down. "Thanks."

"You hungry?" He asks, clearing his throat.

"No, I'm- I'm fine."

He raises an eyebrow. "Momma, where's the leftovers?"

"Fridge, top shelf." She shouts back before entering the room to fix their guest a plate.

"Thank you, ma'am." Maggie says softly, her mouth watering at the sight of real down home cooking. Maggie scarfs it down, her belly rumbling as the food hits her stomach. "I shouldn't be here." She starts to stand, her hand reaching for her purse but she's stopped by fingers around her wrist. "Riley..."

"Let's go for a drive. Clear your head, we can talk." He bends over and steps into his shoes, reaching behind him for a ball cap off the top of the fridge. "C'mon." He stands and grabs her purse holding hand. "We're goin' out, momma."

"Y'all be careful!" She shouts after them as the screen door swings shut behind them.

Riley hops into the drivers side of his truck with Maggie in the passenger seat before he throws the vehicle into drive and heads down the road.

=

Maggie sits on a blanket on the edge of a pond while Morgan stands, hitting rocks into the water with his old wooden baseball bat. He huffs and adjusts his hat, sitting next to his girlfriend. "I don't know what to do, Gracie. Whatever I do is gon' be the wrong choice."

"It's about what your heart tells you, not what your dad is tellin' you." Maggie responds softly, looking over the pond. He sighs, his blue eyes running over her pretty face. "I can feel you lookin' at me."

"I just can't believe that I got you." She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "C'mere." Maggie scoots close to him, leaning against his side. "I don't know what to do."

"Thing's'll figure 'emselves out, they always do."

"There's one thing I do know."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"I don't want to lose this."

"I'm not goin' anywhere. You want me to stay and I'll stay." She leans up and kisses him softly. "I promise."

=

"Psst." Riley nudges Maggie awake, his strong hand on her shoulder. "Wake up." She groans as she lifts her head from the side of the door and looks around at the big lake. "Mornin."

"Huh? What- what time is it? Where are we?"

"Jacksonville, Alabama." He smiles, sliding out of the cab to round the corner of the bed. "C'mon!" She chuckles, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she joins him.

"It's so much more warmer here than Nashville." She comments, tugging the oversized hoodie off her body before draping it over her arm. "The hell are we doin' here?" She asks, following Riley to the edge of the dock.

"Here." He shoves a cooler and blanket into her arms before jogging back to his truck for his guitar. "I'll tell you what the hell we're doin here, Mags." Riley sets everything down on the wood planks. "We're here as a couple of kids who need to relax."

"We're not kids, Ri." She sighs, kicking her sneakers off before she cuffs her jeans. "Hell, you're almost thirty."

"Don't remind me." He smiles, leaning against a post with his long legs stretched out diagonally. "There is a couple breakfast sammys in the cooler with some drinks; tea, lemonade, beer." Maggie smiles and pulls out a beer can. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Thanks." She mumbles, pulling the tab off her can before pocketing it. "And I'm real sorry about-"

"Don't worry about it, baby." He says, crossing one foot on top of the other then adjusting his sunglasses. "The sun is settin'." Riley takes a deep, calming breath as he starts playing some song that she's heard before, his eyes closed as he soaks in the setting sun rays.

=

Maggie groans awake, her body throbbing as she inhales heavily. She lifts her head up and looks around; they're still at the lake except in the bed of his truck and they're both naked. "Oh shit." She mumbles, sitting up. Her eyes land on the pair of panties that are hanging from a nearby limb. "Fuck!"

"What?" Riley rubs his eyes then drops his hand on his chest.

"You threw my goddamn panties into that goddamn tree!" She hisses, pulling his huge Carhartt sweatshirt on before she balances her bare feet on the edge of the bed of the truck. "Help me!"

Riley groans as he stands, pulling his boxers and shorts up his toned legs. He simply raises his arm up and snags the skimpy lace from the branch. "Here." She huffs, tugging her panties back on under the sweatshirt. "Uh, you're welcome."

"Yeah, thanks." She rolls her eyes. "Shit, I have thirteen missed calls."

"From who?"

"Caleigh and Michael and Morgan." She shakes her head. Maggie sits on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. "Karma's a bitch, huh?"

"Absolutely, Maggie Grace." Riley says, sitting across from her still shirtless. Her big blue eyes rake over the marks she left on his tan skin. She then looks down under her hoodie to see matching marks. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She nods, tossing her phone through the slider of the back window. "You okay?" She asks, biting her lip as she gives him a once over.

"I'm real good, baby." He smirks back, leaning over to give her a kiss. "We should get goin'. Momma's probably worried outta her mind."

"We best hurry, I got a shit ton of ideas."

"For songs?" Maggie nods, tugging her jeans on. "Oh, I heard you quit."

"Nah, I just was on a hiatus because- I just needed a break." Riley nods, holding his hand out to help his ex out of the bed of the truck. "But, now I'm hittin' the street with new ideas." She smiles up at Riley with that heart stealing grin of her and it has him blushing.

After their three hour ride back to Nashville, Riley and Maggie are hanging out on his back porch. "I'd never get tired of this view, Ri."

"Yeah, sure is nice." He mumbles, his eyes stuck on the blonde in front of him. "So, need any help with 'em ideas?"

"Yeah, actually." She turns to face him. "Check this out." She taps her fingers against the body of the borrowed guitar before she starts singing some words scrawled down on a napkin in front of her.

"When you're lost and you're feeling all alone,

I'll be the north that points you home and the southern comfort in your bones and when it's hard to stand I'll be your strong..."

"Ooh, that's real good." Riley nods, twisting a toothpick between his teeth. "You just come up with that?" She nods. "Wow."

"'Scuse me, kids. Riley, honey, can you come in here?" He excuses himself and heads into the kitchen to see what his mom needs.

He returns shortly with a cell phone in his hands. "What's up?"

"Momma got annoyed with how much it was ringin'." Riley says, huffing as he sits back down, sliding the phone into her hand. "She said you got like ten calls in five minutes."

Maggie sighs as her phone starts ringing again. "Goddammit." She hits the answer button and holds the phone to her ear. "What?"

"Would it kill you to answer your goddamn phone every once in a while!?" Michael snaps suddenly. "Sorry, I did not mean for that to come out that way." Michael huffs loudly. "Where are you?"

"Why? So you can tell Morgan and he can come get me? No, I ain't tellin' you." Maggie clenches her jaw when she realizes she doesn't have any cigarettes so she boldly snags Riley's dip can from between them and throws a pinch in. It's disgusting but she needs that buzz nicotine gives her. "Fuck off if you're gonna talk 'bout him, okay?"

"Mags-"

"I get what happened was the universe fuckin me but he's the last person I ever woulda thought would do somethin' like that."

"Baby-"

"And when I walked in on him balls deep in that girl it just... fuck." Maggie stands, pacing around the stone patio that's down the steps from the deck. "I'm not comin' back for a while." Riley looks up from his phone, making eye contact with the blonde. "Or maybe I'll just go back home. Or maybe-"

"Magnolia!" He snaps. "Shut up for a second!"

"Don't- Do not talk to me like that, Hardy." She hisses back. "You have no idea what the fuck is goin through my head right now. You got no idea how I'm feelin'."

"Mags-"

Maggie let's out a frustrated scream as she hangs up and tosses her phone onto a nearby chair. "Asshole!" She runs her hand through her hair. "Fuck!" She sinks down into a puddle on the stones, her face in her hands. Riley sits next to her, rubbing her back. "Son of a bitch."

"Language, young lady!" Riley's mom scolds from the open kitchen window. "But I'll let it slide." She appears on the porch. "C'mere baby." She helps Maggie up and walks her back inside to help her through this situation.

Maggie tells her- this stranger- everything, crying out in frustration and pain. The short woman gives her a hug and a comforting rub on the back before she offers her some advice; look to God. "Maybe this is His way of telling you that-"

"No, it's payback for every nasty thing I've done in my life, momma." She sighs, wiping her face. "We've been through so much together that this just hurts so much more."

"Talk to him-"

"No-"

"Yes. You cannot get over this by avoidin' him. In order to feel better, to understand why it happened, you gotta talk to him. I'm not saying you gotta forgive 'em at all, just find out why he hurt you like this." Maggie nods and takes a deep breath, pushing her curls out of her face. "I'm sorry, baby."

"Thanks." She sighs, giving the woman a soft smile. "Thank you." Riley's mom gives her a quick hug. Maggie excuses herself and returns outside with Riley, sitting next to him on the steps. "I like your momma."

Riley puts an arm around her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You got any more ideas?"

Maggie looks over at Riley with a small smile as the clouds above drop heavy rains, immediately soaking them. She laughs, shaking her head as she keeps her eyes on her ex. Riley leans over and presses his forehead against hers, laughing with her. Maggie lays back against the wood planks and closes her eyes, letting herself get soaked as Riley lays next to her, his hand around hers.

"The hell are y'all doin'!?" Riley's mom suddenly shouts, startling them. "Get in the house 'fore y'all get sick!" Riley helps Maggie to her feet and into the bathroom. "C'mon, dear." She ushers the soggy blonde into the downstairs bathroom so she can take a warm up, shower, and get into dry clothes. She takes her soaked clothes and tosses them into the washer and dryer, replacing them with a couple of Riley's things; a big long sleeve t-shirt and a pair of too long black sweatpants.

Maggie sighs to herself as she pulls on the two sizes too big clothes and exits the bathroom. "Where's Riley?" She asks his mom in the connected laundry room.

"Upstairs, third door on the right." She responds, moving a lump of clothes into the dryer. "Do you need anything, baby?"

"Oh, no, thank you though." She smiles, genuinely smiles at the woman before heading up the grand staircase to the third door on the right.

She knocks on the door and there's no answer so she lets herself in, pulling the sleeves of her shirt over her hands as she looks around his bedroom. She scrunches her nose up at a picture of her and Riley standing at Big Machine; the day he recorded his first song. Maggie smiles at the framed records on his wall, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Whatcha doin' in here?" Riley asks, reaching over for a random t-shirt. "You look cute." He smiles at the sight of his ex in his clothes, the hem of the sweats drag the floor.

"Why are you bein' so kind to me?" She asks, pulling the sleeves over her hands again.

"Because I know what it feels like to be shit on like this." He says bluntly, sitting on the bed in front of her. "And I know what it's like to get your heart broke." He holds his hands out and takes her, pulling her closer to him with his legs on either side of hers. "Yeah, I know you're the one that hurt me but I can't bring myself to be an ass to you, not when you're feelin' like this." Maggie tears up and nods, holding her hands to her chest as she sniffles. "C'mere." Riley pulls her to his lap, his strong arms around her trembling frame as she cries against his shoulder. The two sit in silence as she lets it out and soon tires herself out and falls asleep in his lap.