chasing the dream, catching you

Chapter Four

When I went into the studio this morning, I was met by Maddie at the front. I was talking to Rachel about some things.

"Hey, you ready for today?" She asks. We started walking down the hall.

"Yeah, I guess. You know, he called me last night and text me. I didn't answer though" I say.

"Well, maybe your writing session with him will go by quick" She says.

"I've got one with him today and Runaway June today. Tomorrow I've got you and Tae and Old Dominion. I haven't met them yet" I explain.

"They're great" She says. We made our way to the writing room.

"Well, I guess I'll see you on the other side" I joke.

"Let me know how it goes" She says. I nod my head before walking in. Morgan was playing around on his guitar. He had on his favorite boots, Jean's and of course a cut off flannel.

"You ain't very good at answering phones" Was the first thing he said to me.

"You're not very good at goodbyes" I say.

"Damn it, that was five years ago" He says.

"I'm still bitter" I say sitting down.

"Yeah, clearly" He says.

"Can we just write, so I can get away from you?" I ask.

"Remember when we couldn't stay away from each other?" He asks. I sigh. I was so mad at myself, because I did remember that. "Remember when you would climb out your bedroom window at night just so we could drive down to the creek and look up at the stars?

"Remember when Carter caught me?" I ask. He laughed.

"How is Carter?" He asks.

"She runs Whiskey House now. She loves it" I say. "And, she's raising her daughter".

"Man, oh man. Whiskey House. I haven't heard that name in a while" He says. I somehow managed to become bitter again after that.

"Who can you blame for that?" I ask. He rolls his eyes.

"God, what happened to you? When did you turn into an ass?" He asks.

"Hmm, let me think, I think it was right around the time my heart got ripped out of my chest" I say. He threw his hands up.

"So, you're blaming me?" He asks.

"Yes, I'm blaming you. You left. You said that we were doing this together, but then, you left. Who does that?" I ask.

"I left because I wanted to make a name for myself! I told you to come, but you stayed with your mama when she was sick. I would've done the same thing. I wanted to give myself a good future. I wanted to give...I wanted to give us a good future" He says.

"Any chance of there being an 'Us' left when you did" I say. He sighs.

"Cal, I-I don't know what to say to you except I'm sorry. I really do mean that" He says. I swallow.

"Maybe one day I'll believe you" I say. He shakes his head. I knew he was hurt from my actions and I knew that he was sorry, but I just couldn't forgive him yet.

***
I left my writing session with Morgan at 3:30. I didnt have one with Runaway June until 4:00, so I went outside to get a bottle of water from my car. On my way in, Morgan was going out. He saw me walking from my car.

"You still got that ugly yellow jeep?" He questions.

"I do" I say. He rolls his eyes.

"I told you the day we went to pick it out that it was ugly" He says. He and I picked out my first car together when I was sixteen. All these years later, I still had it.

"And I told you that I wasnt going to listen to you" I say.

"Well, when did you ever listen to me?" He asks.

"Never. But you were the same way. We argued over something every single day" I say with a smile.

"Yeah, and we had a lot of fun making up afterwards" He says. I felt myself turn red.

"Just another thing Carter caught me doing" I say. He cackled. "Shut up, you know she was mortified". He laughed even harder. I couldn't help myself either. Our laughing was interrupted by Hannah and Naomi walking over to us.

"What's so funny?" Hannah asks.

"Nothing, babe. Just laughing at Cal's ugly car" He lies. I guess he hadn't told Hannah about us either.

"Oh, leave her alone" She says. She looks at me. "Next time he's being mean, just tickle his side. He hates it". All I could do was smile. I kind of hated that she was telling me how Morgan was when I clearly knew him better than anyone else did.

"She knows how to get to me" Morgan says. Hannah raised an eyebrow. "She already tickled my side when I said something to her earlier". He makes up. Hannah brushed it off.

"Well, I've got to set up. I'll see you later" She says to him. He kissed her cheek before she walked away. Naomi looked at me and then Morgan with a look on her face.

"Both of you just lied out your asses" She says. Morgan and I just looked at each other.

"Tell her" I say.

"We...We used to date. High school sweethearts. Long, Long story" He says.

"Hannah doesn't know?" She asks.

"No" I say.

"Well, if there isn't anything there still, dont tell her, but if there is...be honest. With Hannah...and yourselves" Naomi says. I could sense that she was incredibly protective. Morgan swallows.

"Well, let's get to that session" I say and walk away with Naomi. Before we went into the room with Hannah, she stopped me.

"Hey, I'm not mad or angry at you or Morgan. I-I just know what it's like to have feelings for someone that you don't think you can be with. If you or him still have feelings, you need to act on it. Hannah will be fine" She says. All I could do was nod. I didn't think she was mad or anything, but now I was kind of wondering how I was feeling. After seeing him yesterday, I didn't know anything anymore.