"Hey listen," Michael starts, sitting on the bed next to Liz as she's reading some article on farming. "Cliff and I are set up to go on this retreat thing over the weekend."

"Okay." She mumbles, pressing her thumb over the word she's stopped on. "Morgan not goin'?"

"Nah, he said he wanted to sit this one out or somethin'."

"Great, maybe he and I will hang out, invite Haley."

"Sounds like fun." He smiles, leaning over to kiss her on the side of the head. "We're leavin' Friday afternoon."

Liz sits up and tucks her legs under her. She reaches over and brushes her thumb across his lip. "You be careful." She whispers, her lips barely touching his, teasingly close. He bites then licks his lips, his breath hitches. "I mean it."

He pulls back to grab her with one hand around her throat and one on her hip, pinning her against the bed. His hands relocates to either side of her head, her legs hitched over his hips. She gasps quietly, her eyes locking on his face.

She opens her mouth to say something but Michael swallows her words, his hands moving under the baggy shirt she's wearing. Her eyes flutter closed when he starts kissing her neck in just the right way. She shutters slightly, her fingers twisting through his hair.

"Shit..." She breathes out when his kisses move down her chest to her breasts. She audibly whines when he pulls back. "The fuck are you doin'?" She borderline snaps at him with an incredibly dirty look she sends his way.

"I gotta get goin'." He smirks back, adjusting his clothes.

"No fuckin way." She grabs him by the back of his shirt and yanks him back. It's her turn to get him trapped beneath her. "You started this, you finish this!" He suppresses a laugh at her words, nudging her off of him so he can pull her panties off before he kicks his boxers to the side, their shirts following.

+++

"You be careful." Liz says, giving her fiancé a hug. "Say hi to Cliff for me."

"Will do, baby." Michael leans down to kiss her. "I love you."

"Love you too." She sighs, watching him toss his guitar case and bag into the backseat before he slides into the drivers seat.

"He'll be back Sunday night." Morgan says, squeezing her shoulder in a brotherly way. "Don't you fret, Lizzie."

She rolls her eyes as she shuts the front door. "What's Miss Haley up to tonight?"

"She said she's goin' to Lynchburg." He shrugs, picking at the tab on his pop can. "Somethin' 'bout pickin' up a tractor or tractor part."

"You didn't go with?"

"Nah, she didn't ask so I didn't invite myself." He shrugs again. "Ain't too worried 'bout it. I trust her."

"Good. She's a good one, Morg. Don't fuck it up."

"Yes ma'am." He gives her a playful salute before he sets his empty pop can on the coffee table.

A few hours have gone by and Morgan is still hanging out with Liz. She doesn't mind, she enjoys his company and once he realized she was talking to Michael, his flirting stopped. Now he acts like he's the brother she's never had. It's pretty cute and sweet.

"Man, I'm bored." Morgan says, dropping his head back against the couch with an over exaggerated groan following.

"We could go bar hoppin'."

He lifts his head. "You're into that?"

"Hell yeah. What? Did you think I was some borin' private drinker?" She chuckles. "I'm gonna get dressed." She stands from the opposite end of the couch then heads upstairs.

Liz gets dressed in a pair of ripped skinny jeans, a crop top and a flannel; real simple yet cute. She steps into a pair of black duck boots then picks up her bag. "You ready?"

Morgan stands. "I'm drivin'."

"Whatever." She says, locking the front door behind them. He opens the passenger side door for her, shuts it then scurries to the drivers side. She chuckles, buckling up as he throws his truck into drive and heads downtown.

+++

Liz and Morgan are both drunk.

They didn't think their plan all the way through. They're both trashed with no way of getting home. And the worst part is, they're both somewhat reckless while drunk.

They're bad influences on each other.

Liz keeps her arm tightly looped around Morgan's as they wander around downtown- downtown? They couldn't have gotten too far walking, they're probably still downtown. That pedestrian bridge is still in view so they're probably still downtown.

Broadway probably.

Morgan has the two walking toward the Cumberland River with an ornery smile on his face. "C'mon." He says, his arm dropping from hers so he can grab her hand. He looks both ways before crossing a street, pulling her to a shady looking set of concrete steps on the backside of a nice looking church.

He slips on a step and skids the rest of the way down on his ass into a huge mud puddle, groaning when he stops. Liz cackles at him but it's short lived when the same thing happens to her. She laughs at herself anyway as she stands back up. She watches Morgan pull his t-shirt off followed by his jeans and boots before he suddenly jumps into the water.

"You idiot." Liz shakes her head, telling herself she won't do the same thing he's doing because he's a dumbass but she finds herself stripping down to her bra and panties before copying him.

He laughs as he splashes her. "Man, we're like the same person."

"Nuh-uh. Far from it, baby." She says, leaning back to soak her hair. "Not even close."

"Yeah huh!" He says childishly. "We totally are, Lizzie. It's like we were twins and then we got split up at birth-"

"We don't look alike, dumbass." She teases.

"True."

"Hey!" There's a deep voice that shouts from the bridge that's accompanied by a bright white light up above. "Who's down there!?"

"Shit." Liz and Morgan say, looking from the light above them to each other. Their faces split into matching trouble-making grins as they scramble to the riverbank to grab their clothes and shoes.

They make it up the wonky steps without tripping then they're booking it down the crowded strip, still in their underwear drunk, muddy, barefoot and completely soaked.

"Stop!" The voice barks as they jangle while chasing after them.

Liz squeals a laugh out, grabbing Morgan's hand as they make a sudden turn down a dark alley way. "Where in some deep shit, Morg!" She pants, looking one way down the alley while Morgan looks the other, their chests pressed against each other from how tight they're squeezed together.

"C'mon." He breathes, cautiously heading down the other side of the alley with his hand still around Liz's.

He's suddenly tackled to the sidewalk while Liz is pushed against the side of the brick building, both still laughing breathlessly. The two are handcuffed then escorted to a police car on the far end of the sidewalk. Morgan and Liz share a look then laugh again, still trying to catch their breath.

"You're a bad influence, Morgan." She mutters as they're both shoved into the backseat of the police car.

"Nah, I just know how to have fun."

+++

"You get one call." The same fit officer that arrested them says. He had let Liz get redressed in the privacy of the bathroom before he handcuffed her to the bench at the back wall of the station next to Morgan. Their handcuffs are looped through each other so they're stuck to each other. Officer Sampson unlocks the metal bracelets around Morgan's wrists first then grabs his upper arm, guiding him to the phone on the front wall.

Liz huffs as she looks down at her muddy clothes. She only has one shoe. She left the other one down by the river so she's just barefoot for the time being. She bounces her knee as she mindlessly rubs the bottom of her dirty feet against the carpet.

Morgan returns next to her and is cuffed back up before she's let go. "One call." Officer Sampson repeats, his hand on the small of her back as he walks her to the phone. He hands her a quarter then takes a few steps away for her to make her call.

She calls Michael against her better judgement because the only other Nashville number she knows has been arrested with her. Caleigh won't be any help from her place in Carlsbad and her sister is down in Plano so she's kind of tied with her options.

"Hey Michael." She says, taking a deep breath. "You busy?"

"No, what's up?" He sighs back, running his hand through his hair.

"Hey listen, I'm in jail." She states, still kind of drunk. "And uh, I don't know what's goin' on. Morgan-" She cuts herself off with a laugh. "We got arrested and I don't know what to do now. So if you can come by or whatever, come by but I think we can survive a night or two in jail."

"Shit, Liz." He sighs again. "Where are y'all at?"

"Uh." She trails off, looking over at the arresting officer. "Davidson County police station."

"Okay, I'm on my way." He hangs up.

Liz hangs the phone up and glances over at the officer. "Thanks." He nods and walks her back to the bench. He cuffs her back up to Morgan then walks away.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie." Morgan sighs. "This shit follows me around so much-"

"It's like you said, we're the same person. We're both troublemakers." She playfully nudges him before she rests her head on his shoulder. "I had fun tonight, though."

"Yeah? Me too." He smiles, resting his head against hers as he leans back against the wall behind them. The two somehow drift off into a light sleep, handcuffed together to a bench in a police station.

+++

"Hey, lovebirds." The same voice of their arresting officer says in a somewhat hushed tone. "Wake up, c'mon." Morgan groans quietly while Liz scrunches her face up, squinting as she looks up at Officer Sampson. He unlocks them from the bench to walk them into the interrogation room.

He tells them to sit so they sit at the table and they're soon uncuffed. "I thought y'all would be hungry so here." He sets a few bags of fast food on the table in front of them.

"Wow, thanks." Morgan says, rubbing his wrists.

"Yeah, you didn't have to do that." Liz smiles. "Thank you." He blushes at her pretty grin then steps out of the room, locking the door behind him.

"He's totally into you." Morgan mumbles around a huge bite of a burger. "After all the times I've been arrested-"

"All the times? How many!?"

"Two or three. I was wild in my youth." He says, twisting the cap off a water bottle. "Bunch of stupid underage shit."

"I've been arrested once and you're the only one who knows about it now." She takes a deep breath when she sees Morgan's face. "Yeah, I know."

"What happened?"

She laughs softly. "Me and Dylan. We got a little drunk and stole a few street signs. It was totally harmless, immediately surrendered to 'em cops and all but they tagged us with some lowkey shit since we was sixteen; underage. I loved that kid with my entire heart." She nods, picking at a fry. "Y'know, sometimes I think that Michael and Dylan are the same person, y'know, previous life type deal."

"I get that. Feels like I've known Hales my whole life."

"I hope y'all get married and have kids and just have such a beautiful life together."

Tears form in Morgan's eyes at her words. "I've never seen a couple more perfect for each other than you and Hardy. He really loves you." Liz blushes, pushing away her half eaten burger.

The door opens. "Elizabeth Tanner, you've got a visitor."

She nods and Michael steps into the room looking . "Hey." She breathes out, wrapping him in a much needed hug. She buries her face against his chest, taking in a deep breath. "Thanks for comin'."

"You're in such deep shit, Elizabeth." He mutters as he pulls back. "You too, Wallen. Y'all're both on my shit list. C'mon kids."

"Huh?"

"We're goin' home." Michael says, taking his fiancé's hand. "Let's go, Morgan."

Liz holds her arm out for him to take and he does, walking with his best friends to the main door.

"Thank you." Liz whispers to Michael when Morgan gets in the back seat of his Ford. "Really." He grasps the sides of her face, gazes down at her with eyes full of love mixed with frustration then leans down and kisses her.

"You're still on my shit list."