"We're sorry to see you go." Christian says as he looks at Lottie from across his desk. "Can I ask why you're leaving us?"

"Ever since I was younger, it's been my dream to be signed at a label with my best friend and thanks to Morgan, I got signed here. Your company was a great one to start out at but I gotta be with Riley."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Thank you so much for everythin' you've done for me, really."

"Well, thanks for settin' the bar so high for everyone else. I gotta say I was impressed by your work ethic and how social you can be. Hardy said he loves working with you."

"Yeah, he's a good guy." She smiles. "I, uh, gotta get goin'." She stands and picks up her purse. "Thank you, Christian."

"Good luck, Ms. Cross."

Lottie quietly closes the door behind her then makes her way down to the lounge Michael is in.

"Hey, what're you doin' here?" Michael asks, standing from the swivel chair in front of a soundboard.

"Just came to say goodbye."

"Good- goodbye? Where're you goin'?"

"I'm gettin' signed to Big Machine."

"Is it because of Morgan?" He asks in a hushed tone.

"Nah, I just finally got a shot at where I've been wantin' to go."

"You ain't leavin' here without givin' me a hug." He wraps her in his arms then sighs. "Hey, you still got my number. Don't be a stranger."

"Thanks." She chuckles, tears forming in her eyes. She blinks them back when the door opens.

"The hell're you doin' here?" Morgan spits, stopping in his tracks. His blue eyes soften slightly when he sees tears in hers. "What's- what's goin' on?"

"It's nothin'." She sighs. "See ya, Michael."

"Good luck." He smiles down at her.

When Lottie shuts the door, she can hear Morgan saying something to Michael. She just ignores it as she heads down the hallway.

"Hey!"

Lottie turns on her boot heel and crosses her arms when she sees who's talking to her. "What?"

"You're leavin'?" Morgan asks, still walking towards her. "Why? Is it because of me?"

"That's really none of your business, right?"

"It is if it deals with me. Don't quit because of me."

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Y'know we've dated on and off for what, four years? And you think that you would be the reason why I'd quit music?"

"So what's goin' on then?"

"Morg, it's none of your business."

"Lottie-"

"I gotta get goin'."

She turns and he takes her hand. "Don't quit."

She gently pulls her hand away. "I'll think about it." She looks his face over. "Thank you, Morgan, for everythin'."

"Good luck with whatever you're doin'."

Lottie smiles then turns back on her heel, making her way back to the door. This feels bittersweet. She's gotten comfortable there with the guys but now she's going where she belongs: with Riley at Big Machine.

+++

Lottie sighs heavily as she sits on the couch, her head throbbing. She just got back from Big Machine and she got signed but the deal isn't as good as what Big Loud was offering her.

But, she's with Riley.

That's all that matters.

"Hey baby." Riley smiles, closing the front door behind him. "What's up?"

She shrugs. "Just tired." She looks him over. "What do you have?"

"Some shit to make supper to celebrate."

"We could just go out?"

"Do you want to?"

"I dunno." She stands. "I'm gonna shower." Riley watches her head down the hallway and sighs when he hears the bathroom door shut.

He feels bad that Lottie switched labels but he's glad they're together again. They haven't really made the attempt to move back in together.

That would just feel weird.

She told herself to give them a couple months before even thinking about moving in together again. She doesn't want that pressure of either being together together or just friends again.

Lottie comes back to her kitchen wearing a rather short baggy shirt and a pair of panties that her ass is hanging out of.

Riley licks his lips and clears his throat. "Uh, food?"

"Not hungry."

Riley sighs again as he puts the groceries he bought for her away. "You wanna watch a movie?"

"Hell yeah." She smiles, picking up a couple beers from the fridge before she heads back down the hallway to her bedroom, Riley close behind.

Halfway through 21 Jump Street, Riley finds himself laughing alone. He glances over at Lottie and sees she's passed out. He reaches over her and turns the volume down then pulls her against his side, his chin resting on the top of her head while his fingers rake through her hair.

She takes a deep breath in and stretches her arm out, resting across his belly, her head dropping to his chest.

Riley smiles to himself, beyond ecstatic to finally have Lottie back in his life.

Things got pretty depressing and lonely while they were apart. Riley was really struggling to keep going after that fight. He loved hooking up with her but he got too far in his mind, telling himself that they could never be together because of their incredibly strong friendship. He knows that he wants to be with her for the rest of their lives and he hopes she feels the same.

Riley yawns as his eyes start start to get heavy. He slides further down the bed until he's on his back, Lottie under his arm with her head still on his chest.

+++

Lottie stirs awake the following morning. She goes to roll over but her brows furrow when she can't move. Her tired eyes land on a strong arm wrapped around her middle. She tenses but then relaxes when she sees that familiar bracelet around his wrist.

She runs her fingers over Riley's arm and smiles when he hums, ignoring the poke she's getting against her ass.

As Riley wakes, his hand slides up to her breasts. She smiles to herself and scoots further back against him, needing to get as close as possible.

She's super affectionate when she first wakes up.

Her eyes start to close again when she feels his hand rubbing across her back but she turns around and faces him. "Mornin'." She whispers, her eyes shut.

"Hey." He whispers back, his hand coming up to rest on the side of her face, his thumb brushing across her cheek. She hums softly, scooting closer to him for the heat radiating off of his body. "You okay?"

"Freezin'." She mumbles, trying to scoot even closer with her face smushed against his bare chest. Riley smiles as he wraps an arm tight around her, keeping her close while tugging her sheets further up.

"Sorry." He responds, his hand sliding down her side to her hip where he hooks her leg over him so he can start rubbing her thigh. She takes his hand and twists her fingers with his, her leg still over his hip. "Y'know, we haven't really talked about what happened."

"With what?"

"Us. That huge fight we had about us sleeping together."

"Oh." Lottie pulls back and sits up, ignoring the way her nipples are poking through her shirt rather noticeably.

At least Riley notices.

"Sorry." He says, sitting back too. "I- I just kept gettin' in my head instead of actually, you know, talkin' 'bout it."

"Was it my fault though? Like you said it was?"

"No, Lot." She just nods. "I loved doin' that with you. If I'm bein' honest, I've waited twenty some years to do that with you."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah." He blushes.

"High school?"

"Prom. I- I was gonna ask you to go with me but Hoss asked you first." He admits bashfully.

Lottie smiles at him. "I would've gone with you if you asked."

"Really? W- What 'bout Hoss?"

"I woulda probably ditched him like he did to me."

"Hoss ditched you? At prom!?"

"It's gone with the wind." She waves it off.

"Lot-"

"The important thing is that I'm not with him no more. It took me this long to realize he was just datin' me for the popularity, y'know? I know I wasn't really on the map but everyone knew who I was and when I was with him, everyone knew who we were." She looks down, messing with a random snag in the top sheet. "He told his entire baseball team when we slept together for the first time." Tears form in her eyes at the painful memories. "Even put me in a book with a score like everyone else did with their girlfriends."

"That fuckin-"

"I got an eight." She shrugs. "Not too bad but still a slap in the fuckin face."

"Well, you're an eleven in my book."

She scoffs, looking away. "It'd be me and that pretty girl you dated. The- the one who didn't like me."

"Cheyenne Grange?"

"Yeah, I didn't like her either." She side eyes him. "What's your body count?"

"My body count?"

"How many girls have you slept with?"

He tilts his head back as he counts in his head. "Four. You?"

"Three."

"What? Me, Morgan and Hoss? Really?"

"Yeah. After high school, I just really threw myself into my music and didn't even think about it 'til I met Morgan in that bar and he was it 'til you."

"Wow. Rank yours."

"That's kinda demeanin' ain't it?"

"This stays between us, 'kay?"

"Pinkie promise me, Riley Green." She states, holding her pinkie up.

He laughs and hooks his with hers. "I pinkie promise, Lottie Cross."

"Okay." She adjusts herself to sit across from him with her legs crossed. "So it'd be Hoss, You, then Morgan."

"Middle? Ouch."

"We only slept together once so I'm kinda bankin' on that one time." She defends herself. "You go."

"Okay. Cheyenne, then the two girls I met in Nashville, then you."

She blushes. "Thanks." She gets up. "I'm hungry."

Riley smiles to himself as he follows her out to the kitchen where she starts to make some breakfast.

"So what made Morgan the best?" Lottie looks up from the skillet she's using with an expression that has Riley smirking. "Just curious."

"I- I dunno. It was sporadic, I guess. Never the same thing, y'know? Kept me on my toes. Hell, he kept me on my toes."

"You miss him?"

"Nah." She turns and smiles at him. "Here." She slides him a plate then fixes herself one. "Are we gonna do it again?"

He's quiet for a second. "I don't know. I mean, we saw how well it went last time."

She nods, her attention on the fork in her hand. "And it could start some feelin's for each other right?"

"Uh, yeah." He forces himself to say but it obvious he doesn't mean it. Her eyes catches his and she sees a look in his eyes that she hasn't seen before.

There's a ringing phone that startles them. Lottie jumps and Riley goes to answer it. "Holy shit." She hears him say then laugh. "Oh my god! Lot!"

"What!?"

"We're goin' on tour!"