Lottie huffs as she makes her way to Riley's bedroom. She groans when she throws herself on his unmade bed. Riley glances over his shoulder and laughs "You okay Lot?" He's sitting on the edge of his bed with his guitar in his lap. He moves his acoustic to the side and lays next to her, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"Calvin's gettin' married and he wants me there."

"I'm assumin' this is back home?"

"Yep." She sighs heavily. "Will you go with me?"

"Yeah." He nods, taking her hand in his, brushing his thumb across the back of her hand. She smiles, her tired eyes watching their fingers before they start to close sleepily. Riley just lays and looks at her, their intimate moment replaying in his head as he runs his fingers over the side of her face and hair lulling her further into sleep.

Riley sighs. He knows how much she hates being home. She has good reason. His parents practically raised her as their own because her folks are assholes and emotionally unavailable but they valued their oldest, Calvin like a prize.

They were always there for Calvin's games or willing to help Calvin out if he needed money but when Lottie asked for help or invited them to one of her choir shindigs, they shut her down. She never felt loved by them but she kind of got along with her brother even under the circumstances.

He would be there for brotherly things like when her Jimmy needed something fixed, he'd tell her what it was so she wouldn't be taken advantaged of by the guys at the shop. He doesn't really know how to show his love but him actually taking time out of his day to talk to her is good enough for him. After all, he is his father's son.

+++

"I don't wanna go." Lottie mumbles, gripping the strap of her duffle. "Riley, don't make me go." Riley groans as he sits on the kitchen floor with her, their backs against the cabinet doors and their legs stretched out in front of them. "They're just gonna make me feel bad about myself again."

"We can just stay for the day, right? After the reception or whatever, we'll come home."

"Thrown in a burger, cheap alcohol and a shitty movie, you got yourself a deal."

Riley laughs and pats her knee, giving her thigh a squeeze before standing. "C'mon, we gotta get on the road."

"Riley." She whines when he pulls on her hand. He laughs again, getting her to her feet. "C'mon." She groans as they head to his truck.

He tosses their bags into the bed of the truck. "Can you pull up directions?"

"Take forty to sixty five." She sighs, tightening the lap seat belt.

About an hour into their trip, Lottie starts to get restless. She's bored and slightly horny, she hasn't been laid since that night with Morgan and that was a few weeks ago. She's gone longer without getting fucked but that intimate moment they had still in her mind.

She crosses her legs and looks over at him, her lip tucked between her teeth as she leans back against the door. "Whatcha need, baby?" He asks, one hand on the thin steering wheel and his other elbow resting on the lip of the window.

"Just, y'know..." She blushes, licking her lips. "Can we talk about what happened?"

"With what?"

"Us... that one night..." Riley's blush goes from his ears to his neck. "When we almost..."

He smiles shyly. "Sorry about that."

"Would we- would we've done anythin' if we didn't have that fight?"

"Maybe."

"Give it to me straight." She says, picking at the label on an empty water bottle.

"You are one good lookin' girl, Lottie." He says. "I don't want to ruin our relationship."

"That's why you didn't want to sleep with me?" Her voice gets soft. "You are such a sweetheart." Her words make him blush again.

Damn, she's good at making him blush.

"Lot, I respect the shit outta you." She leans over and presses a sweet, innocent kiss to his temple which makes the blush on his face darken. "Sorry if I made you feel awkward."

Lottie looks down at her lap to hide her smile. "Morgan and I got into a fight the other day."

"What?"

"Some nasty words were exchanged and I- I just feel so awful but that's not the worst part."

"What's that?"

"He told me he had to take a pay cut for me to get signed."

Riley rolls his eyes, merging onto another highway when they pass the state border. "I call bullshit. He's probably sayin' that to make you feel guilty but it's hard tellin'."

Lottie sighs. "Are we there yet?"

"Uh," He glances at his phone. "An hour."

+++

Riley pulls into the trailer park Lottie grew up in and he feels his chest tighten. He takes the third road and glances over at the girl on his right. She fell asleep a few minutes after they entered the Alabama state line. She's got his sweatshirt balled up behind her head against the window and her feet on his lap with her legs stretched out across the bench seat. He reaches down and rubs her sock clad foot making her stir.

"Mm- what?" She mumbles, crossing her arms over her torso.

"We're in your neighborhood."

"Uh-uh, it's not my neighborhood." She yawns, sitting up. "I'll never claim this place as my home."

Riley sighs quietly, pulling into the gravel driveway. "We're here."

"We can just leave. They- they won't even know we were here-"

"Baby." He takes her hand. "I'm gonna be right there with you, okay?"

"Let's just get this over with." Lottie slides out of the cab of his truck and fixes her clothes. She grabs her duffel and, with Riley right next to her, heads up to the door.

She hesitates, her hand hovering over the handle. She squeezes her eyes shut as she opens the door.

The scent of oil, cigarette smoke and dryer sheets smack her in the face as she takes a few steps in. Lottie drops her bag in her old bedroom then heads outside to the back deck where her mother always sits. Riley follows.

"Hey Mama." She says pleasantly, sitting in the chair across from her.

"Lottie." Cathleen smiles, a lit cigarette between her yellowing fingers. "Long time, no see." Her eyes go to the tall boy next to her. "Riley, nice to see you again."

"You too, ma'am."

"Y'all here for Calvin's wedding?"

"Yep." Lottie says, her eyes dropping to the open pack of Marlboro's sitting on the dirty glass table next to her full ash tray. "Can I get one?"

Cathy slides the pack to her daughter along with her lighter. Riley gives her a disapproving look as she lights up for the first time in years. She takes in a deep drag then blows out smoke, her body relaxing.

"How long has he been with this girl?" She asks, tapping the ash off her cigarette.

"Dated her in high school and got back together like last year." She shrugs, stubbing out her smoke before lighting another.

"That girl? What's her name, Aubrey?"

"Trixie." Cathy bites back a laugh. "Trashy name for a trashy girl."

"You don't like her?" Lottie asks, glancing over at her mother.

"Trailer park trash."

"Like we're any different." She chuckles but she's not joking. She's got close to zero respect for herself when she's home. It's like Alabama Lottie it's a totally different person than Tennessee Lottie.

Riley reaches over and rubs her back then squeezes her shoulder. "When's the wedding?"

"Tomorrow around three." Cathy responds. "Invited everyone in the neighborhood to the reception after. It's at the park down the street."

"Okay." Lottie nods. "Well, we're gonna walk around town for a bit." She states, standing with Riley's hand in hers.

"You're makin' Mamaw's pulled pork! Start that 'fore you go!" She shouts after her, shaking her head with a small smile on her face. "Supper's at five!"

Lottie groans quietly as she heads into the kitchen. She grabs the two-step ladder and pulls it over to the fridge. "Bet she threw away the damn recipe box Mamaw left me." She mutters to herself, standing on her toes as she rummages through the dusty junk on the top of the fridge. "Not Mama, Chuck would do that. Probably burned the damn thing." She huffs. "Wasn't his Mama."

Riley leans back against the laminate counter top, his fingers digging into the old cork underside, as he checks her backside out in those cut off shorts she's had since high school.

"Asshole." She mutters, closing the step ladder up before sliding it between the fridge and desk. "Guess I'm gonna wing it."

"Wait," Riley crosses his arms comfortably over his chest. "You're gonna wing this pulled pork recipe? The recipe you haven't made since high school?"

"Pfft. I've made it for you in Nashville but I just kinda went along with it." She says as she digs through the fridge for the pork. "You didn't mind."

"I love your cookin, though."

She gets the meat slab onto a cutting board. "Can you get the crock pot out? I think it's the bottom cupboard on the... left?"

Riley grabs it and sets it by the metal sink. "How long is this gonna take?"

"You got some place to go?"

"No." He laughs, reaching over to move a loose strand of hair behind her shoulder since her hands are covered in spices and meat juice.

"Should take me 'bout twenty minutes." She looks at his hand resting next to hers then up to his eyes and she takes a deep breath in, trying to shake those feelings she has for him that he gently shutdown.

He pulls back and clears his throat. He's got those feelings he's been trying to deny. Their friendship is way more important than hooking up.

He's pulled from his thoughts by a clang of the crock pot. "Let's go." Lottie says, drying her hands off. Riley grins, letting her take his hand to lead him out to the road.

When they hit the dirt road, Lottie kicks her boots off, her socks following. She missed this part of Alexandria, being able to just be barefoot.

But within ten minutes of walking, Lottie invites herself up on Riley for a piggy-back ride. He laughs, his hands locked around her calves as they head toward Lou's for the first time in years.

+++

"Lou!" Lottie grins, ducking her head to see said man in his kitchen. "How ya been?"

"Lottie Cross!" He booms back, squeezing his way through the back door to greet his favorite customer face to face. "What brings y'all back to town? Calvin's wedding?"

"You know about that?" Riley asks as the three sit at a picnic table.

"Yeah, Cathy invited everyone in town to the reception. You goin', Lottie?"

"Kinda have to." She mumbles back. Riley rubs a hand across her back. He feels bad, he really does. He knows how much she hates it here.

"Hoss is back in town. Came 'round askin' 'bout you." Lou says in a low voice.

"Why- What-" She's speechless. She hasn't really thought about Hoss since she moved away but now that that name has been brought up, she can feel her heart stutter.

"Ah, you'll prolly see 'em tomorrow." Lou raps his hands against the table top. "I gotta get back to work." He smiles at the two. "Nice to see y'all again. Everyone missed you." Lottie suppresses an eye roll and smiles back at him.

Riley's stomach twists. Hoss is here and he's looking for the girl he's falling for. He knows his chances have considerably diminished now that her first love is within arms reach again.

+++

On their way back through the trailer park, Riley's kicking dust up, consumed by his thoughts. "I know what's on your mind." Lottie says, linking her arm with his.

He stops and looks down at her. "You miss him?"

"I don't know." She whispers back, fiddling with her cross necklace. "I've moved on from him. It'll be weird now, right?"

"It's only weird if you make it weird." He teases back, playfully elbowing her in the side. "We gotta- we gotta get back." He sighs.

She grabs his hand. "You know you're my rock, right? If it weren't for you, I'd probably- hell, I don't even know what I'd be without you, Ri."

He smiles with a small blush on his cheeks. "C'mon Lot." He chuckles quietly.

"Seriously. I know this couldn't happen without you." She takes his hand, her touch sending sparks throughout their bodies and they both can feel it.