Ryan's POV

Lunch was most definitely a great idea as we were all digging into some of Louisiana's favorites: thin, crispy fried catfish, fried jumbo shrimp, seafood gumbo, shrimp creole. Boiled crawfish (Madi, being the absolute angel that she was, had actually peeled the crawfish for me.) I was very pleased to see that she was enjoying the food as well. Understandably, her appetite had been off the last couple of days, but she looked more like herself.

"So, where are we going?" She asked after taking a long sip of her sweet tea.

"Tulsa" I replied.

"Nashville." Chase answered at the exact same time, causing me to shoot him a look.

"The fans want a show, and dammit, I'm gonna give them a show." I argued. I know he felt that we should cancel the rest of the tour, but something in my gut was telling me to go on.

"So you're just gonna stand up on stage and sing? No guitar, no running and jumping around? Just you and a microphone? You can't be serious Ryan." Chase argued back.

"Yeah. I am. What's so wrong with that?" I shot back.

"That's not what the fans want to see." He came back.

"How the hell do you know what they want?" I demanded, the banter between us had Kevin's head going back and forth between us, an amused grin on his face.

"I know because I'm the one who puts these shows together."

"No, you just organize the dates. The band and I put the shows together." I smirked.

"You really think that's all I do Ryan?" He actually looked a little hurt.

"I know that's not all you do Chase. I'm sorry it came out that way." I tried to smooth things over. I looked at Madi. "What do you think we should do?"

She actually looked a little surprised that I asked her opinion. "It's really not my decision. It's your show. I'm just the opening act."

"Madi, you're not just the opening act. You are a part of this show, and your opinion matters to me." I said to her.

"Well, I'm not the one that got shot. If you feel well enough to go on, then we play. If not, we go home. It's your decision Ry. Your health is the most important thing." Madi said, smiling sweetly at me.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"I just wanna get the hell out of here. I don't care where we go. Yes, I would like to continue the tour, but only if you are up to it."

"The lady has spoken. We're going to Tulsa." I smirked at Chase.

Chase glared at me. "Do you honestly think the fans want to see you when you're not 100 percent? We talked about this, Ryan."

"Then maybe we should let them decide." I said, remembering the conversation Chase and I had yesterday or was it the day before? I honestly can't remember because things had gotten so crazy. I pulled out my phone and attempted to log into my Instagram account, but I couldn't remember the damn password. I never post anything on my social media. Chase does all that. Even the post about Madi and me going public was made by Chase. I sheepishly handed him my phone. "Can you please log me in? I'm gonna go live and ask the fans what they want."

Chase chuckled as he logged into my account. "See. I told you I do a hell of a lot more than just organize dates."

I didn't even respond, I just flipped him off.

                              🎶🎶🎶🎶

The fans were unanimous. They wanted a show and we were going to deliver. I had two days to work with the band on a revised set list. Most of all, we were happy to just be back on the road.

"What's that?" Madi asked, crawling into the bed next to me having just gotten out of the shower.

"The new set list. I'm trying to pick the songs with the strongest vocals." I replied.

"Well, all of your songs have strong vocals, so that shouldn't be too difficult. Of course I'm gonna say that because I'm your biggest fan."

For some reason that made me smile like a fool.

"I love that that one you sang to me is on there. What's this...new and a question mark?" She asked.

"Another new one I'm working on. I'm not sure if it's gonna be ready in time. Since I haven't touched my guitar, I haven't been able to put music to it, so not sure yet how it's going to flow. I'll bring it to the guys tomorrow and see what they think."

"I could help you." She offered.

If it were any other song, I would have gladly accepted her help, but this was one that I wanted to surprise her with.

"Maybe tomorrow." I said hoping she would forget about it. "Right now, I would much rather you get some sleep. I know you are exhausted."

"I am. I actually feel like I could sleep right now. I'm glad you went live tonight and interacted with some fans. They enjoyed it and you look like you enjoyed it as well."

"I did. It was fun. I don't know why I never did that before. I guess I was just too busy being an asshole." I said actually feeling a bit embarrassed. I honestly don't know why these fan's support me, especially considering I never show them any appreciation. That's going to change.

"Well, you're not an asshole anymore." She smiled at me.

"Thanks to you." I said, kissing the tip of her nose.

"No baby. That was all you. I'm just glad to see that the fans don't hate me." Her smile wavered a bit.

"Of course not. They love you. Why would you think they hate you?"

"I was worried they might blame me for you getting shot. Blakeleigh sure did."

"When did you talk to Blakeleigh?" I asked.

"She showed up at the hospital. Oh gosh. I never told you about that. There was so much going on."

"What did she say." I couldn't help but cringe just a little on the inside as I remembered what happened the last time Blakeleigh talked to Madi.

"Basically she said that it was my fault and that it should have been me." She replied sadly.

"I'm sorry baby. She had no right to even be there much less say something like that to you. What was she even doing there anyway?"

"She said she wanted you back. Then she said some other nasty things so I punched her."

I busted out laughing. I honestly could not imagine Madi hitting anyone. "Punched? Not just slapped?"

"Oh no, I punched her. Gave her a bloody nose. I may have broken it. I don't know. I wasn't in the mood."

"Well her latest nose job wasn't great anyway." I chuckled.

"That's what I told her. She should thank me for fixing it for her. Anyway, Chase kicked her out of the hospital."

"I love you." I grinned at her.

"So you're not mad that we sent her away before she could see you? Knowing she wanted you back?

"No, I'm not mad. I'm glad I didn't have to see her."

Madi hesitated for a few moments before she spoke. "Did you love her, maybe at one time?"

"No, I never loved her. I tried to convince myself I did. I don't know why...I was such a mess and it just made sense for us to be together. From an image standpoint I mean. Top male, top female artists. I tried to tell myself that she meant more to me than she actually did. For a while I managed to somewhat believe it, but still...I cheated on her...multiple times, yet I just kept going back and sucking up to her."

"So what she said that night she DM'd me was true?" Her voice was quiet and it alarmed me just a bit.

"Yes it was all true." I admitted. "I was the fuckboy she claimed I was. Back then it didn't mean shit. I didn't care. I thought I was living my best life. Damn was I wrong. Now, looking back, I'm not proud of it at all. No one, not even Blakeleigh deserves to be treated like that. Baby, I hope you believe me when I say that I will never do that to you. You are all I want and all I need."

"I trust you Ry." She stroked the side of my cheek with her hand, and my heart soared.

"Good because I would be the stupidest person on earth to even think about, much less do anything that would jeopardize what we have. I mean that Madi, you are it for me."

"I love you too." She placed a soft kiss on my lips.

"Why don't you get some sleep, pretty girl. When we wake up, we'll be in a brand new city, doing what we love."

"Sounds good to me. Are you staying up?"

"Just for a bit. I have a few things I want to work on. If the light bothers you, I can go in the other room."

"No it's fine. It doesn't bother me."

Within minutes, she was asleep.

An hour, maybe longer, had passed, and it was done. I smiled down at Madi who was sleeping soundly next to me, then smiled again as I closed my notebook and set it under my guitar. Damn I missed that thing. Maybe in a week or so I would be back to playing it, but until then, I believe we are going to put on a hell of a show and I was so excited for it. I was even more excited for the surprise I had for Madi.

I lightly kissed her forehead and watched a soft  smile curve her lips. She looked so peaceful. Hopefully she had left the nightmares behind in New Orleans.

I turned off the light and climbed into bed next to her. Instinctively, she moved closer to me, and I soaked in her warmth. I was a lucky man.