It was the end of a long four years of college for Mallory. She had gone straight out of high school to escape her life in the small town of Whitefish Montana which was breathtaking in its beauty, the tall mountains all around, the bright blue sky during the day and star filled dark sky at night. It was beautiful, but such beauty couldn't take away the pain she had been in.

Before she graduated high school, she was taken by a group of men and held captive for about two years. She was raped brutally over and over for days on end it seemed. She was abused and broken and wanted to die during that time she was taken. One mistake one of the men had made when they were taking her somewhere else had made it possible to escape to a nearby bar. She had run inside, and the crowd inside all turned and looked at her, all knowing who she was.

Everyone ran over to her before she had fallen to the floor. The next thing she knew, she had woken up in the hospital with IVs in her arm and doctors and nurses all around her. She tried to speak, but no sound had come out of her mouth. One of the nurses had noticed she opened her eyes.

"Hey there, you're safe now, Mal, you're safe." She said in a soft voice, getting the others' attention. The doctor who had her chart turned to her and sat in a chair next to the bed.

"Hi Mal, it's so good to see you. It's been too long. Do you know where you are?" She nodded and closed her eyes.

"Safe." Is all she said.

"That's right, you're safe. We have contacted your parents and they will be here soon." A tear had fallen onto her cheek.

"We'll let you get some rest and come back and check on you in a little bit." She closed her eyes and went to sleep. A knock on her door had woken her a little while later, and her parents came walking in the room. They stopped at the foot of the bed, and she froze, looking into their eyes.

"Hey, sweetheart." Her mother had said, getting closer. She tried to speak, but her voice was really hoarse from screaming for so long that she couldn't make much of a sound. She looked on her bed and tried to press the call nurse button, but her mother had stopped her.

"You don't need to be drawing attention to yourself now, do you?" She had said with an eerie look in her eyes. She had a look of horror on her face and tried to scream, but no sound still would come out of her mouth.

"I have no idea how you got away, but I will make sure you will not make it long." She said in a low voice before speaking again.

"We have to go now, dear. We love you, we will be back." She said loudly as they walked out the door.

She shook her head to get the memories out of her mind for the time being. She was standing on the street in downtown TN. She had gone there to try to make her dreams come true. As she was walking down the street, she noticed one of her favorite country singers standing in her line of sight. She closed her eyes and walked up to him.

"Hi. My name is Mallory, and I just wanted to tell you I think you're amazing. You are my favorite singer, and your songs speak to me on a deep level. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I truly mean it." She looked into his bright blue eyes, and he smiled at her.

"Hi there. Nice to meet you, Mallory. I'm Nick Waters." He shook her hand; his touch was warm on her skin.

"It's nice to meet you too. Ok well um I guess I'll be going. Have a great day, Nick." She turned to walk away, but he had put his hand on her shoulder, making her flinch and turn around quickly.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?"

"Yea, it's nothing, really." 'Nothing doesn't make someone scared like that with just a simple touch,' he had thought to himself.

"What can I do for you?" He smiled that dreamy smile that she had seen on TV and in his music videos, making her heart flutter.

"Would you like to go have a cup of coffee with me?" He asked, searching her eyes.

"Sure, I would love that, I'm new to town, so I don't know many places yet. I was actually out today to take a look around at everything on at least this street. This city is so full of life and so beautiful and busy."

"I haven't really noticed how busy it is anymore, not with living here all my life. Where are you from?" He asked because he noticed she had an accent, not TN, though, but definitely a country accent.

"Montana." She closed her eyes. 'Please don't ask me why I'm here or ask me about my life there,' she thought to herself.

As if he could read her mind, he looked at her and said, "Ready to go get that coffee?"

She opened her eyes and smiled. "Yes, let's."

"So, what brings you to this amazing city? Music, I assume?" She sighed, hoping he hadn't asked that.

"Yes, I went to college for music and arts, and it's always been a passion of mine, so I figured I'd come and try to see what I can do about it. Back home, I used to sing all the time, at fairs at local get togethers, events stuff like that, and a lot of people told me I could make it, so here I am."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'd love to hear you sing sometime if you're up for it, that is."

"I'll think about it, but for now, let's just get some coffee." She smiled, and they had found their way into a café and waited in line. People took notice of them as soon as they walked in. They weren't looking at her so much as Nick. They waited in line for a few minutes before they had placed their order and waited a few more minutes for it to be done. They grabbed their cups and walked out onto the busy street.

"Thank you for the coffee. It's delicious." She took a slow sip.

"Mmm, yes, delicious." She smiled. He looked at her like she hadn't had good coffee in a long time.

"That good?"

"Yes, try yours, and you'll see." He took a sip and looked at her and nodded.

"Yea, that is good."

"Told ya." She laughed.

"So where were you headed when you noticed me, anywhere specific or just exploring?"

"A little of both, exploring while I was headed to a record company to see if I can get a meeting with anyone who would listen to my recording."

"Oh? Can I listen?" She handed him her cup so she could get her iPod out of her purse and load up the song for him to listen to. He had put the earbud in one ear, and she hit play. They walked as he listened, and she watched his face for any kind of reaction, and to her surprise, he seemed to like it. When she assumed the song was over, he took the ear bud out of his ear, and he clicked through her iPod and tapped a few times. "I emailed the song to myself."

"Ok, why?"

"Because that was amazing. Your voice is so full of passion and fire; it gives me chills. I want to help you and send you in the right direction to the right people to take care of you. How did you get the sound to sound the way it does?"

"Would you believe I recorded that song in my bathroom? Has great acoustics" He laughed.

"No kidding. I can see why a lot of people told you, you could make it, your voice is truly beautiful." She blushed.

"Thank you, that means a lot coming from you."

"You're welcome. So now that you don't have to go to the record company to try to get someone to listen, which is hard to do and can take days if not weeks, what would you like to do?"

"Don't you have things to do considering you know you're kinda famous?"

"Nah, I just finished my new album and have a few days off before I start shooting a video, so I'm free." She smiled, looking up into his beautiful eyes, feeling warmth starting to form inside. She shook the feeling out of her, 'can't let anyone get close, never. Can't let anyone hurt me again,' she thought to herself.

"That's great, I can't wait to hear it, I know it's going to be wonderful."

"Thank you, but you never answered my question. What would you like to do?"

"Honestly, I would love to spend a day with you, in my whole life I never would turn it down but trust me, I am too messed up to let you get caught up in my mess of a life. I came here to get away from my hometown for a lot of reasons, and knowing you want to spend time with me, I can't let you get into my mess."

"Ok, I can respect that, but if you change your mind, give me a call. I'd be happy to show you some of my favorite spots, ones that aren't in the city." He had handed her his card, and she put it in her purse along with her iPod he still had in his hand.

"Again, thank you for the coffee and good luck with your album. If you have any news on my song, just send me an email since you now have my email address. It was a pleasure meeting you, Nick."

"It was nice meeting you too, Mallory. Have a great rest of your day, my dear." He tipped his baseball cap and turned around and walked out of her sight before she had gone on exploring the rest of the street.