Lawrenceburg, Kentucky

"You still owe me."

"What!? I went down on you twice last night!"

"So? That don't make up for twenty six years of fuckin trauma."

"Babe-"

"Nuh-uh." She shakes her head. "You still owe me."

"Fine."

Jenna takes a deep breath and runs a hand over her face. "Can't believe I'm doin' this."

"Let's do this together." Michael takes her hand. "C'mon."

They hop out of the Uber they ordered and head into the trailer park Jenna grew up in.

Jenna's quiet as they walk down the gravel drive, she didn't want to be dropped off right at the trailer. She needed time to mentally prepare herself.

Her childhood neighborhood is dumpy enough to labeled as "white trash."

Her family thought she was stuck up when she said she was going to college. Even more so when she told them it was in Nashville at a private school.

Lipscomb University is not something they were expecting. They were expecting Eastern Kentucky University more than anything else.

But she was set on leaving the state.

Jenna wanted to make a name for herself in the country music industry so she thought going to school in Nashville would help her get a leg up.

"I'm gonna throw up." She wheezes, pulling a face when a bubble comes up from her belly. "Bleg." She takes her vape from her pocket and takes a drag. "I just wanna apologize before hand, okay? Because you're like me, they're gonna tear you apart."

"God, Jenny, you make it sound like they're cannibals."

"Might as well be without the eatin' people." Jenna raises her hand and raps her knuckles against the paint peeling door.

"Jen?" Keith, her father, says when he sees her standing on his porch. "What're you doin' here?"

"I'm in Louisville for a couple days and decided to see y'all." She says, her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Oh, really." He purses his lips. "We don't hear from you for six years and you just decided to show up one day?"

"Dad-"

"Six years, Jen."

"It wasn't-" He slams the door in her face. Jenna looks over at Michael who might as well have steam coming out of his ears. "Michael, don't-" He pounds his fist against the door.

Keith swings the door open. "What!?"

"You really think this is her fault?" He says in a low tone. "Y'all were the reason why she stayed away for six years."

"Michael-"

"Who the fuck're you!?" Keith shouts back. "How dare you come to my house and insult me- my family."

"You call this a family?" Michael scoffs. "This is a broken excuse for a family. Y'all ain't a family when you exile your daughter for wanting to do something with her life."

Keith balls his hand into a fist.

"Michael..."

"Y'all should be proud as fuck for what this woman has done with her life, no thanks to you."

"Boy, you best be shuttin' that mouth."

"I don't mean no disrespect or nothin but damn. You should be proud of your daughter." He shakes his head. "C'mon, Jenny." He takes her hand and leads her down the street.

"Michael-"

"I'm sorry." He says shamefully. "I know I shouldn't have stuck my nose where it don't belong but-" She leans up and kisses him, her hand resting on the side of his neck.

"Thank you for bein' my backbone." She whispers, bumping her nose against his. "Now I owe you."

Michael chuckles, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her close against his side.

+++

"It's a Friday night, it's a small town girl. Everything is right and we rule the world. 2 twelve's in the truck back, beating a bunch of rock stars on a riverbank singing, Whoa, whoa, everything, whoa, whoa, everything we wanna be. We are, we are, we are tonight..."

Jenna sings to Michael, squeezing his cheeks in one hand as she sways, a drink in her free hand. He grins at her, his eyes full of love as he soaks in her voice. She's drunk but she's just enjoying herself.

She tugs on his hand and gets him to his feet, dancing with him when the song changes.

"All my exes live in Texas and Texas is a place I'd dearly love to be. But all my exes live in Texas and that's why I hang my hat in Tennessee..."

Jenna laughs through the song, her head against Michael's shoulder. He's fallen in love with her all over again.

The way she gets outgoing when she gets a few drinks in her makes his heart smile. The way she smokes, the way she laughs, the way she says his name, the way she hums in her sleep-

He's wrapped around her little finger.

"Hardy! Jenna!"

He looks up and sees Aaron coming toward them. "Hey, what's up man?"

"You guys were supposed to be on the bus a half hour ago!"

"Ah shit, sorry. We lost track of time." Michael says, reaching for his wallet.

"Aaron! Come dance with me!" Jenna shouts, grabbing his hand.

He says fuck it and starts dancing with her, laughing when she does.

Michael's heart hurts from how fucking much he loves her. He's never known love like this before but he's feeling absolutely blessed.

"C'mon! We should've left for Birmingham a half hour ago." Aaron says. "Let's go."

Michael grabs Jenna's hand and follows Aaron out of the smoky dive bar and down the street to the hotel parking lot the bus is in.

+++

Starkville, Mississippi

Jenna is in Michael's territory tonight. She's never been to Mississippi before but the way Michael lights up about it makes her grin.

He loves his home state almost as much as he loves Jenna.

He is so pumped for the show tonight.

Currently, Jenna is on top of Michael's lap, teasing him with every subtle movement of her hips. There wasn't any room for her to sit so she's on her boyfriend and her legs across Morgan's lap.

They're watching some football game; the Vols verses the Bulldogs. The guys are split. Jenna doesn't care but she's living that tour life.

"I hope Tennessee wins." She whispers in Michael's ear, her lips pressing against his neck.

"Excuse me?" He asks, his tone serious. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

Everyone's attention is on them now. They've never heard him sound so pissed at her before and they're ready to protect her if needed.

"I said," She clears her throat. "I hope the Vols win."

Michael suddenly stands and tosses Jenna over her shoulder. She lets out a loud shriek, gripping the back of his shirt as he takes them to the back lounge.

The sound of groaning and moaning floats to the front and it's slightly worrisome to the rest of the crew.

"Hey!" Aaron shouts, weaving his way to the back of the bus.

He yanks the dividing shade open and gasps at the sight of Michael balls fucking deep in Jenna.

"Dude!" He shouts, throwing his hand in front of her crotch as she covers her breasts with her hands. "What the hell?"

"Sorry- I just- it sounded- ugh!" He quickly pulls the shade shut and shutters on the other side.

"I am so sorry, babe." He says, feeling awful for having her be seen in such a vulnerable position.

"No sweat." She replies, turning to push him on his back against the couch. She resituates on top of him, getting right back where they were before they were so rudely interrupted.

+++

Jenna feels at home here in Mississippi, as weird as it sounds. It's not just Michael that makes her feel like this but just everything about Mississippi feels like home.

The crowd is making her feel welcomed.

Southern hospitality at its best.

Tonight, she's belting out songs she's never played live before. It's a little nerve wracking but hours and hours of band practice helps a lot.

She's ready to do this thing, ready to kick ass at this show.

She's got one of Michael's Hail State shirts and a pair of cut off shorts, no shoes and she fits right in.

Jenna rushes out on stage with a huge grin.

She fucking loves her job.

"Sippin' on the top shelf, far away from rock-bottom way out when the good time's got 'em all. Hands up, singin' out loud, hangin' out with my party crowd but that neon moon got me thinkin' 'bout you, but you're something that I don't wanna do

Why, why, why, why, why do you always come around when the last girl's callin'? Tell me, why's your mem'ry feel the need to numb me down and give me back fallin' so deep in love like we were before?"

Her and Ern wrote this on a whim one late night and it's a good song. Who would've thought that them being sleep depraved would work so well.

Michael is practically a puddle of love as he watches her perform. He wants to do it and he wants to do it now.

Michael reaches into the case he's sitting against and grabs the small leather box. He pockets it quickly when Jenna comes off the stage, sweating.

"You did great, baby." He smiles, kissing her sweaty forehead.

"Try to follow that, Michael." She winks back, playfully smacking his ass. He watches her walk off, his eyes trained on her backside the whole time.

Morgan hits him in the gut. "You got some drool on your chin, man."

"Fuck off." He elbows him back, a blush forming on his cheeks.

+++

"This next song is," Michael adjusts his monitors as he catches his breath. "This next song is one I wrote for the love of my life." He giggles at himself, anxious for what's coming next.

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore."

Jenna scoffs at the first line, crossing her arms as she leans against a trunk.

"I'm tired of talking' 'bout babies and diamond rings and I'm so sick of drivin' clear across town every night from my place to yours, girl. I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore..."

This song isn't going too well so far and Jenna is prepared to chew is country ass out.

"Yeah I've been thinkin' a lot 'bout goin' on in on what we got. I got my eye on a twenty acre lot, with a fence in the dirt yeah but first girl, I wanna call up your dad, spend all of my coffee can cash and as 'what's it gon' be?' puttin' one knee to the floor, cause I don't wanna be your boyfriend anymore..."

Jenna's scowl shifts into a smile.

She listens to the words he's come up with and she starts to understand the song. When he hits the bridge, he looks over at her with a nervous smile.

He waves her out when his song ends. She shakes her head but glares at Morgan when he nudges her out there.

She takes his outstretched hand, her stomach jumping when he tucks his mic in his back pocket to grab some front from his front one.

Jenna's cheeks go red when he gets on his knee. "No way." She says. She can't hear a single word he's saying but the tears in his eyes sums everything up. When he stops talking, she nods. She laughs when he slips the ring on her finger.

When he stands, Jenna throws her arms around his neck, holding her close against his chest. "I love you." She says, kissing him hard.

"I love you too."

+++