It's been a couple months since Maggie and Morgan hooked up and things have pretty much gone back to normal. He's been fucking around at her house ever since; welcomed, of course. She's glad to have him back but she's still kind of hurt about what happened between them.

Maggie sighs to herself as she sits on the couch of her small music room, her notebook in her lap while Morgan is busy working on something outside. She turns around and taps a few notes on her keyboard before she plays a couple chords.

"Tonka Trucks and G.I. Joes, jumpin those sills with Luke and Bo, plastic cap guns in the swimming hole, don't get no dirt on your church clothes. Win or lose, we cheer for the Braves, ten percent in the offering plate, Sunday chicken and a NASCAR race, sure'd be nice to get back to that place..."

"Mags?" Morgan calls from the kitchen, his grease stained hand around an ice cold beer after working hard on fixing her flat tire. "Babe?"

"Yeah?" She yells back, furrowing her brows as she concentrates to write down her words. She pushes the keyboard back on the table and heads out to the kitchen to see what he needs.

"Couple things, one; your oil is changed and two; I just got off the phone with Christian and he wants us and Michael on another tour when you drop your album next month."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Except this tour'll be more states and cities." Maggie can't help the smile that grows on her face. "So, get your cute ass down to the studio and lay a couple more down so we can go on tour together."

Maggie laughs, shaking her head. "I'm so close to finishing up a couple tracks but they're not country; they're more rock and roll."

"Genre bendin' huh?"

"Hey, Sage and I grew up on rock and roll and country so it was only a matter of time."

"Well, whatcha got?" Morgan asks, dropping his empty beer bottle in the recycling can before grabbing a lemonade.

"I'm probably gonna scrap 'em anyways. Y'know how people get with how some songs on the radio don't sound country no more-"

"They sound more pop, right."

"I don't want people makin' a big stink 'bout somethin' I'm already kinda self conscious 'bout, y'know?"

"If you like it, do it." He shrugs, gulping his drink. "Maybe me and Michael can give it a listen and give feedback? Gus too."

"Sure. I'm actually headed there later, after lunch." She says, running her hand through her wild curls as she turns to the hallway. "I gotta shower." She looks over her shoulder. "Care to join me?"

Morgan immediately sets his lemonade on the counter and follows her back to the bathroom, stripping his sweaty, dirty clothes off on the way there.

=

Michael and Morgan are speechless as they listen to their girl belt out a couple songs they've never heard before. She's right; it is kinda more rock and roll than country but damn she can pull it off. Gus chuckles to himself as he presses a couple buttons on the switchboard in front of him, shaking his head.

"What's so funny?" Morgan asks, defensive about the girl in the booth.

"Nothing."

"Why are you laughing then, Pullman?" Michael crosses his arms.

"It's just amazing how she can make anything sound good. These tracks, her voice-amazing."

Maggie clears her throat, the sound echoing through the speakers. "How was that?"

"Amazing." Gus says, writing down something. "Wanna try another one or give this one another shot?"

"We can try another one." She nods, adjusting the bulky headphones around her head. "Yeah, let's try Heavy Is The Head."

Gus presses a button and the track starts. "Shit, this ones kinda dark." Morgan mumbles. "That bass- woah."

"Black dog drinks from the water tryna cool his tongue. Like the king finds no peace, work is never done. Night falls, smoke on the water, darkness closes in. Cold white hand in the deep will drown you for your sins..."

"Woah." Morgan repeats. "This is a fuckin killer track."

"It's a lifelong expedition, second guessing your decisions. Tryna find out what's been missin', pages keep on fillin'..."

"Wait." She stops. "Hang on." Maggie let's herself out of the booth and sits on the floor at the table, her notebook open in front of her. She mumbles to herself as she scrawls stuff down on the sheets with her black pen. "Here, Morgan."

"Me?" She nods.

"Your voice would balance with hers." Gus comments, looking over the brunettes shoulder at the new music additions. "Y'know rough with smooth."

"Shit, okay." Morgan takes a deep breath as he reads over the words while the track plays. "I hope I can do this song good, baby."

"Just don't wimp out, man." Michael says. "Give it all ya got."

Morgan rolls his eyes, reads over the lyrics a few more times before he steps into the booth with Maggie. "Y'all ready?" Gus asks, Maggie nods for the both of them and he starts the song.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Heavy is the head that wears the crown..."

As soon as the track ends, Maggie lets out a loud squeal as she bounces on her feet. "Holy fuck!"

"Sounded amazing!" Gus laughs. "Any other you want to do?"

"Yeah, actually." Maggie takes a swig from her water bottle. "The one where it's like 'buh buh buhdah buh'." She clicks her tongue. "Oh fuck, it's- it's-" she snaps her fingers before she gives up and heads to the coffee table for her notebook. "This one! What's Your Country Song?- yes!"

"Get back on in there, baby." Morgan winks, opening the door to the booth.

"Did you grow up on a tractor? Did your daddy let you drive? Are you whiskey bent and hell bound even though your momma tried? Did you cruise down a backroad with your Dixieland delight? Are you on the Chattahoochee on a barefoot blue jean night?"

"Sounds good, Mags." Christian says once she hangs her headphones up. "Ready to release your third record?"

"Hell yeah I am." She smiles. "Last song is recorded and I got an album shoot for next week."

"Good, glad y'all got that figured out." Chris nods. "Don't know if they told you but, my plan in to throw the three of y'all on another tour together once you drop your record-"

"Hmm, yeah, Morgan did tell me that." She nods. "And that sounds amazing, Christian."

"Cool, I'll start bookin' some hotel rooms for y'all." He excuses himself and heads back to his office.

"Okay, Mags, last chance to record any songs for the album." Gus says.

Maggie smiles and slips back into the booth, sliding the headphones over her ears.

"Tip 'em back 'til you can't walk, cut loose like a chainsaw, plastered like a drywall, hammered like an old bent nail, jacked up like a four-by, 'bout as buzzed as a Bud Light, long gone as last night, loaded like a buckshot shell. There's more than one way to get straight up sideways, straight up sideways..."

=

"You singin' here tonight?" Maggie asks the boy under a Mississippi patched hat and behind a pair of big glasses.

"Yeah, I'm on at eight." He responds politely, slinging his guitar over his shoulders.

"Cool. You write your own songs?" He nods. "Me too."

"Oh neat. What kind of music do you write?"

"Well, mostly country songs but sometimes that rock and roll slips in." The two share a knowing chuckle. "How long have you been doin' music?"

"For as long as I can remember." He says, setting the acoustic in the stand next to the barstool on the stage. "I actually have a degree in songwritin'."

"Well la-dee-da." She laughs. "That's pretty cool."

"What about you?"

"For as long as I can remember."

"You sing?"

"I try not to, don't have a good voice." She shrugs. "You?" He nods. "And you play guitar?"

"I do."

"Me too, and the piano."

"You got any songs on you?"

"You gon' steal 'em?" He snorts and shakes his head. "I've got-"

"Ladies and Gents, Hardy!" The man at the mic shouts, applauding to the man she's talking to.

"If you wanna hang out here, we can talk more 'bout music."

"Sure! That sounds good."

"Cool." He shakes her head before he steps onto the platform, draping his strap over his shoulder before he starts playing a song that sounds familiar.

After his set, Hardy and Maggie are sitting at a table talking about music like promised. "I actually work at Big Loud in the city. I can get you a meetin' with my boss if you want."

"You'd do that?" Her blue eyes get wide. "What do I owe ya in return?"

"Nothin, baby, just southern hospitality."

=

"Mags!" Gus shouts down the hall, chasing after her, Morgan and Michael as they head to the main door. "Wait!"

"What's up?"

"Your album is done- I just finished it up."

"Really?" He nods. "So what's the problem?"

"You don't got a title."

"I knew we was forgettin' somethin'." Maggie shakes her head. "Can I text you in a few hours? These guys are gonna help me brainstorm."

"I can give you an hour. The album's gotta go out at midnight tonight-"

"Fuck." Maggie glances between Michael and Morgan. "Okay, I can get you somethin' in an hour." She turns to the door. "C'mon y'all."

The three head down to a different bar to help get some ideas rattling around in their brains. They sit quietly for forty five minutes before Maggie's head snaps up from the table. "I got it."

"What?"

"My last album was called 'From Nashville to Asheville' so, I could keep with that and have this one either 'Hancock County' or 'Sneedville, Tennessee'."

"Hmm." Michael taps his lips.

"Hancock County, Tennessee." Morgan says as he sits down at the table with three drinks in his hands. Maggie smiles at him as she takes her glass, Michael nods as he picks up his beer.

"Hancock County, Tennessee." She repeats. "That's original, yeah. I like it." She grabs her phone to call Gus and tell him the verdict.

"So, my third album; Hancock County, Tennessee is hittin' the shelves pretty damn soon and then well all be on tour together again!" She's excited for this tour unlike last time. "I can't wait, y'all!" She squeals with that pretty smile on her face.

"We can't wait either, Mags." Michael says, giving her hand a friendly squeeze.

=

1. Somebody Like That - Tenille Arts

2. Breakin' Your Heart - Lainey Wilson

3. Dreamcatcher - Lainey Wilson

4. Pretty Heart - Parker McCollum

5. Straight Up Sideways - Lainey Wilson

6. Some People Do - Old Dominion

7. Must've Never Met You - Luke Combs

8. Somethin To Be Proud Of - Montgomery Gentry

9. We Didn't Have Much - Justin Moore

10. How They Remember You - Rascal Flatts

11. What's Your Country Song? - Thomas Rhett

12. I'll Follow You - Shinedown

13. Hell Yeah - Montgomery Gentry

14. Heavy Is The Head - Zac Brown Band (feat. Chris Cornell)