"I can't believe we're going on a tour together." Michael says when he sits across from his girlfriend at the restaurant he chose for lunch.

It's been close to a year since they got back together and it's been going great. If there's any discrepancies, they talk about it. They don't hide anything from each other any more.

Not like they really did in the first place except for that whole Morgan and Jenna kissing debacle.

"I know!" Jenna beams back, tucking her long legs under herself as she leans against the table. "It's finally happening!"

Michael smiles back, taking a gulp from his drink. "It's with Morgan too."

"Course it is." She replies. "Ain't that just how it works?"

"Is that- is that not okay?"

"No yeah." She nods. "It's just last tour was just bad shit happenin' left and right. Maybe Morgan is bad luck."

"No don't say that. You're gonna jinx everything."

Jenna laughs as she takes a bite of her fries. "I'm excited. It's gonna be so much fun."

+++

Their teams are at the Nashville Airport; Jenna's hand has been tight around Michael's. She's got more flying experience under her belt but it's still nerve wracking and Michael is prepared to help her in anyway she needs it.

Morgan is hardcore third wheeling with his two friends but he's fine with it.

The three board the plane, Jenna's in the window seat, Michael's in the middle and Morgan has the aisle seat.

"I'm gonna throw up." She mumbles, looking out the window as they coast around the airport. "Jesus."

"Hey." Michael rests his hand on her knee, his thumb brushing across her skin. "Take a deep breath." She just clenches her jaw in response. "Babe. Jenny." She tears her eyes from the spinning airport runway and looks up at her boyfriend. "Take a deep breath."

She nods and does as she's told. Michael keeps rubbing calming circles on her knee.

She's always had to deal with daily anxiety- some days are worse than others- and having Michael there to talk her through panic attacks helps immensely. He know that it's something he can't just take away so by giving her a calm presence it helps.

He's her rock.

She has no idea what she'd do without him.

When the plane is finally in the air, Jenna rests her head on Michael's shoulder, her arm linked around his. She's exhausted.

She hasn't gotten much sleep for the past few weeks because of this flight. She took two motion sickness tablets to knock her out.

And man do they work.

Michael looks over at Morgan who is also trying to sleep to make this four hour flight go quicker. He says fuck it and rests his head against Jenna's as she sleep on his shoulder.

+++

Denver, Colorado

"You nervous?" Michael asks as he changes his shirt.

"Yeah." Jenna responds, tugging her sweats off, leaving her in a pair of simple navy panties. "You?"

"Kinda." He looks over at her. "You're gonna do fine."

"No, I know but there's always that what if."

"What's the if?"

"What if I fall? What if I choke and forget my words? What if-"

"How many times have you done this before?"

"Bouta hundred?"

"And how many times has that happened to you?"

"None."

"See?" Jenna rolls her eyes playfully. "C'mon, let's have a shot."

Jenna pulls a pair of jeans on along with a Riley Green shirt and of course, no shoes. Michael's in a Jelly Roll shirt and jeans with boots.

"Hey there you guys are!" Aaron laughs, a bottle of liquor in his hand. "We started drinkin' without you!"

"C'mon!" Jenna says, taking the bottle from him. She takes a few gulps then passes it back. "Let's fuck this show!" She cackles, taking a hit from her vape.

"Wait, wait, wait." Morgan grabs her arm.

She yanks her limb from his grasp. "What?"

"You needa eat somethin' cause that whiskey went to your head."

Jenna rolls her eyes and picks up a bag of chips. She has a couple handfuls then she's sneaking off to the stage.

Pure adrenaline and whiskey is coursing through her body as she bounces on the balls of her feet. She's ready to do this. She wants to make Michael proud of her.

He's already proud of her, regardless of her performance. He loves this woman with everything he's got and isn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

"How we feelin' tonight, Denver!?" Jenna shouts, her body feeling fuzzy and fake. "Fuck yeah!" She laughs, adjusting her monitors.

Michael leans against a case behind him, watching her let loose for first time in who knows how long. She's really enjoying her time out on the stage instead of feeling incredibly uptight and anxious.

She licks her lips as she slings her electric guitar over her shoulder, popping a pick from the mic stand. As soon as she plays the shit out of the opening riff, the crowd goes wild.

"There's a reason why we put a week of work in, so we can do whatever we want on the weekend. It's when you take your blue collar off and let your neck turn red. Everybody does it just a little different. So when we wind up all the same, what's the difference? Yeah, you better get to livin' it up before you wake up dead..."

Michael had no idea she could fucking shred a guitar like that. He's impressed by her fingering. The lead guitar shifts over to Pauly, her guitarist, and she takes over the chords as the song goes on.

This is the fun party song she was looking to write.

"A-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..."

Her hands drop from her guitar to pick up her drink from the mic stand, downing the rest of whatever was in that cup. She tosses the double stacked solo cups out to the crowd when the song closes.

She's on her road to getting hammered, she has to pace herself if she's going to make it through this set. It'd be incredibly embarrassing to get too shitfaced to finish her set.

Her next song is one on the piano. This one is kind of an anthem for girls everywhere. It's not really country but she's her own woman and she'll play any music she damn well wants to.

It's her career and she's doing what she wants.

"I drink tequila straight, haven't brushed my hair in days and I'll kiss on the first date if I'm really feeling it

I don't even own a dress, bite my nails when I get stressed, do whatever for attention if I'm needing it

Controversial, so outspoken, I've been told I'm not ladylike..."

She stands from her keyboard. Jenna glances over at Michael with an ornery smile as she reaches behind her and maneuvers her bra out of her top. She throws it on the stage then sits back down.

Fuck bras! Society is telling women what they and cannot do with their bodies and that's absolute bullshit.

"But I'm a lady like, whoa, I could bring you to your knees and get you kicked out the Garden of Eden. Untameable, unframeable, Mona Lisa. Oh, kiss you like a whiskey fire, turn around, leave your heart in a riot, lipstick in a cigarette pack on the dash. I'm a lady like that..."

Social media is a bitch.

To certain people, she can't do what she wants and that ain't right. It's her damn life and they get the fuck out of it.

Tossing that bra on the stage represents her being her own person- her own woman.

"You kiss me good morning and you kiss me goodnight. You're the first thing I see when I open my eyes. Baby, I love that, sure do but don't wanna wear out that tune..."

She is really feeling herself now. She has truly fallen in love with performing and it's nice to finally be at peace with getting on stage in front of a huge number of people.

"I'm emotionally complicated all I'm sayin' is I can go from I'll always love you and you're still the one to Before He Cheats and Ready to Run, I'm in love with the boy, but this one's for the girls between stand by your man and goodbye, Earl. My country playlist is real persuasive. Boy, you're in trouble, my heart's on shuffle, babe..."

Jenna feels like she's on cloud fucking nine right now and her heart is battering in her chest. She bounces off stage and tackles Michael with the biggest hug she's ever gave him.

He laughs and kisses her sweetly. "You are one cool chick, Jenna James." He says when he sets her on her bare feet. "You're an icon in the makin'."

She giggles, practically high from how pumped she was for her show. "Wow, that was great."

"Hell yeah, Jenna!" Morgan shouts with a beer in his hand. "You killed it out there."

"Thanks!" She pants back. "I gotta pee." She brushes past everyone to head to the bathroom.

She's never felt this pumped after doing a show and it might just feel amplified because of the drinks she's had but she is loving it.

+++