The next day was a very long travel day, since it took over twelve hours to get from Rio to Mexico City, which was their next stop. And, by now everyone on the tour knew what was going on between Heath, Meredith, and her former PA, which made for very awkward traveling conditions.

"I'm kind of bummed we aren't going to Machu Picchu," MJ confided to Heath, Poppy and Archie, during the flight, partially to make conversation, partially simply because it was true.

"Bless you, darling," Heath responded with a grin.

"You stole my line," Archie said, kicking his brother lightly in the shin.

"Don't you start, Heath Michael," Poppy begged. "This flight is going to be long enough without you egging this one on." She raised her eyebrow in her younger brother's direction.

"I really don't understand you guys," MJ said, leaning her head on Heath's shoulder. "You're both so smart, like crazy smart, arcane level of knowledge smart--" she looked between the boys, and added, "--Jeopardy! smart," as though this were the pinnacle of any level of intelligence she could imagine, "but you insist on making the dumbest jokes, all the time, and acting like jackasses most of the time." She shook her head. "Why is that?"

Poppy nodded in agreement. "I'd like to know the answer to this as well. Why do you both like to act like jackasses?" She looked between her brothers.

Archie looked over at his Heath. "I could be wrong, brother, but I think we might just be being insulted?"

Heath blinked owlishly back at Archie. "Really? You think so? But why would they do such a thing? They do purport to love us, both of us, a great deal, don't they?"

Archie sat up and put a look of deep contemplation on his face, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "You do make a good point, Heath Michael." He began to tap his chin with his finger. "Hmm, surely no one who claimed to care for us as they've both claimed would malign us in such a fashion, would they?"

And MJ could no longer keep a straight face. She sat up and leaned forward to kiss Archie on his smooth cheek. Unlike his older brother, who got stubbly, Archie's face was, at fifteen, still pink and soft as a baby's.

"Oh my god, Archie, you're just the cutest thing ever," MJ enthused. "Why don't you have a girlfriend?" She leaned back.

"Um, excuse me?" Heath spoke up. "The cutest thing ever? Surely you're mistaken? You meant the second cutest thing ever, right?" He tapped his cheek, and smiled smugly when MJ leaned in and planted a loud kiss on it.

"Better?" she asked with a laugh.

"You'd better believe it," he declared.

"How someone as good looking and popular as you could possibly be insecure is completely beyond me," Poppy said, smiling fondly at Heath. "But you're a man, so I guess it makes sense."

"Also, it's me," Archie added, smiling modestly. "It's perfectly understandable, brother, no worries."

As Poppy rolled her eyes, Sandrine appeared in the aisle next to them, looking expectant.

As they looked up at her, she made scooting motions at Heath and MJ, so MJ stood up and Heath moved over, so she could sit between his legs on the large seat.

Sandrine watched this maneuver and smiled.

"So I guess the rumors that are flying around about you two are true, then," she said, and the way she said the words made them a statement, not a question.

"They are," Heath said, with more than a little smugness and satisfaction in his voice. "Ideally the nuttier of my fans wouldn't find out for a bit yet, but yes, we are a going concern, as they say." He kissed MJ's cheek and gave her a squeeze.

"Well, bravo, I say," said Sandrine, in her Frenchest French accent. "Anyway, there are so many strange rumors going around that I thought a little infusion of truth might do all of us some good. I mean, I'm sure Sally and Maggie know the truth, but of course they're not talking, you know?" She spread her hands. "At this point in time, the only people talking are Mademoiselle Meredith and her little friends, and I'm willing to bet there's very little truth in what they're saying, you know?"

This time her glance included Archie and Poppy as well. "So, what the hell is going on with Meredith, the odious Jason, Heath, MJ, and the song? Hm?" When no one spoke, she continued.

"I knew, even before I saw the video of you two from last night, that Meredith and that disgusting surfer didn't write that song. The chord progressions were too complex, too rich, even the title reference was too intellectual for her. I've worked with her, or tried to. I'm sorry, but there's simply no way she could've done it."

MJ took a deep breath. "I wrote it," she said.

"I knew it," Sandrine said with a smile. "And that horrible child stole it from you somehow, didn't she? And now she's trying to pass it as her own? No, my English is wrong--pass it off as her own? This is correct?"

Everyone nodded.

"She's already registered it with ASCAP?" Sandrine asked.

MJ nodded.

Sandrine shook her head.

"But we have proof on Heath's laptop that I wrote it first, and Heath's family heard me sing it, while we were on the break."

"Oh! And we saw it as well, didn't we?" Sandrine interrupted. She reached out and touched MJ's arm. "Remember when you were with us when we were writing? Way back at the beginning? When Meredith accused you of copying her work? She called you a cat or something. We saw your laptop when she grabbed it from you, remember? It was that song, was it not? C minor? Three four time?" She was shaking MJ's arm in her excitement.

"Yes, you're right, it was!" MJ agreed. She turned to Heath. "I was working on my own and Meredith grabbed my laptop and showed it to Sandrine and Stewart and Helen, too! So unless she's going to say she and Jason were working on it way back then--"

"We've already filed a lawsuit," Heath explained to Sandrine. "I'm going to tell Douglas about you and Stewart and Helen as well, if that's okay?"

Sandrine nodded. "I'm sure this will mean we're fired, but we've all had it up to here with her highness and her stupid tantrums, anyway. We can get hired tomorrow as songwriters with ten different artists."

"I'd hire you," Heath assured her.

"Well, if it makes any difference, since your version went online, streams and downloads of Meredith and Jason's are in the toilet," Sandrine told them. "Especially after your tweet."

"Wonderful!" Heath agreed.

"Well," I'd better get back and start spreading the truth," Sandrine said, rubbing her hands together with glee. "See you in Mexico City."

They landed without incident in Mexico City and settled into their hotel. All they had to do for the rest of the day was relax, unpack and have dinner. They did hear later that night that Meredith had a full-on meltdown over the fact that Heath planned to have MJ come onstage and perform the song with him during every show for the rest of the tour.

"Apparently they had to change suites because the bitch broke some lamps and pulled some paintings off the walls," Poppy told them, reading off her phone. She had a contact among the crew who was secretly feeding her info.

"Oh, you guys, could we not be too happy over all this?" MJ begged. "This is terrible. She must be feeling so awful and insecure and scared."

Sally later sent Heath a text saying that Meredith was flipping out over the lawsuit Douglas had filed, and over the knowledge that Heath and MJ were going to record the song the next day, right in the hotel suite, and release it. She wanted Sally to stop it somehow, and was furious that Sally wouldn't do anything about it.

"Aren't we breaking the law, though, Heath?" MJ asked as they were getting ready for bed. "Recording a song for release that we don't own?"

"Well, technically, yes," Heath admitted. "But everything but the law is on our side, you know?"

"Everything but the law?" MJ repeated. She shook her head. "I've always been a law-abiding citizen," she explained.

Heath smiled at her before he turned out the light. "I can see that about you, Meadow Rain," he said as he pulled her into his arms.

"You're just lucky that my dad's so out of touch with social media," MJ said as she snuggled into him. "He has no clue what's going on with me and my life, and even when we get to LA and see him, I plan to keep it that way, you know?"

"Sounds good," Heath agreed, nodding as he already began to feel dizzy and lose himself in the fragrance of her, the softness of her, her gentleness, her smooth skin, just everything that made her who she was.

"I just don't want you to worry, ever, about anything, okay?" he murmured. He kissed her, making the humming noise that made her tummy flutter.

"Heath, that's not reasonable," she said with a little laugh.

"Hm? Why?" he asked. "MJ, I didn't know people like you even existed in this world," he said. "Finding you was like walking through a horrible minefield of rocks, weeds, and rubble, and finding a beautiful little flower in the midst of all of it. It's worth protecting, you're worth protecting," he whispered. "So let me."

And MJ surrendered herself to him, in the darkness of the anonymous hotel room, giving herself to him, as he gave himself to her, the first person he'd ever found that he could give himself to completely.