Free Bird - Morgan Wallen

Twenty Two

Daniella smiles at the two guys looking around the boxes. "This one has your name on it, darlin." Hardy says, lifting it over his head, carrying it to her. She lifts the lid and smiles slightly. "What is it?"

"VHS tapes."

"Here's a VCR." Morgan says from the back corner.

"I'll plug it on in upstairs in the den, okay?" Hardy picks the box up for Dani and follows her up, setting the box down on the coffee table. "Which one do y'all wanna start with?" He asks, looking through the box. "There's a prom video, graduation..." She pulls one out of the box that just says Daniella Louise and pops it in the player then sits back on the floor against the coffee table.

The video starts with her folks talking to the camera, her mom was heavily pregnant and her dad, still in his Marines uniform, just gotten back from being deployed in Japan after six months. They look somewhat happy together as they talk to the camera, laughing. The video skips to the toddler version of Dani on her fathers shoulders as they walk around what looks like a fair. It shows her dad guiding her to throw a ball at a few bottles, cheering when they hit three, enough for a small pig stuffed animal. To this day, that pig is still on her shelf. The video skips again to her first day of school, her dad tearing up as his only child walks to the door of the building all by herself.

Dani chuckles sadly, wiping her eyes as the video skips again to her first day of high school, Morgan by her side to walk her to the building down the street. She laughs when she hears her dad mumble, "damn boy with that damn mullet." Morgan runs his hand through his growing hair. It fast forwards to when Dani moves out, it's just John sitting at the kitchen table, talking to the camera about his proud he is of his daughter and what a wonderful young woman she's become, tossing in a joke about his ex-wife. The video ends with him talking about her engagement with Morgan and how he still has a stupid mullet followed shortly by a black screen and Dani can't help her tears.

"Next one." She whispers, digging through the box, blinking back tears. She slides the Prom tape into the player, laughing loudly when she sees her and Morgan standing awkwardly by the front door. "Woah! Look at that mustache!" She points at Morgan's face. "And that stupid denim and flannel suit." She gives him a look. "I forgot that you wore that suit."

Hardy laughs, covering his mouth with his hand, squeezing his eyes shut, wheezing. "You went to prom like that? And you let him?"

"Shut up Hardy." Morgan grabs the remote and fast forwards to him giving her the corsage on her wrist, it matches his boutonniere. "Do you still have that dress?" He asks as he pauses the video.

"Yeah, it's in my closet."

"You should try it on for me." He smiles. She shrugs and stands, going up to her room to see if the dress actually still fits her. She steps into her navy dress, tugging on the zipper, before returning back to the den. "Holy shit."

"Wow." Hardy says. "You look great."

"Thanks y'all." She blushes. "I've got your denim suit upstairs too, Morgan." She says as she runs her hands over the curves the dress accents. The boys are practically drooling over the sight.

"Oh yeah." Hardy and Morgan say, laughing. Morgan runs up to her room and changes in record time, bouncing to then den, standing next to Daniella, recreating their prom pose.

"Oh my god." Hardy bites his lip, holding in his laughs as he takes their picture then sends it to them. "Y'all look great." He giggles.

Morgan spins her around, her dress fanning out as they laugh. "I'm gonna change outta this." She smiles, heading back up to her room to put her jeans and sweater back on.

"Next tape?" She asks, sitting back down on the floor, digging through the box again.

+++

"I'm tired." Dani yawns, leaning back on the steps as she watches Morgan sift through the boxes. "I'm gonna go to bed."

"I'll be right up, darlin'." Morgan says, sliding a box around. Hardy got bored and went up to the den to play some video games. Morgan shuts the basement door then heads up to her bedroom. He knocks on the door, smiling at what she's wearing, one of his t-shirts while pantless. "Hey." He smiles down at her, putting his hands in his pockets as he leans against the doorframe.

"Hi." She grins, grabbing his shirt to pull him into her bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

+++

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Dani asks Morgan, playing with his fingers, the sheets pulled up to her hips while they're barely covering his lower half.

"We're still on a break, right?"

"I mean, we don't have to be anymore." She mumbles as she runs the pad of her fingers over his chest. "I forgave you that one night." He sighs as he pulls her hair out of her face. "I miss you. I miss us."

He's silent for a minute before responding with "I know." Her phone suddenly starts ringing. "Who's Riley?" Morgan asks as he hands her the phone.

"Just a friend of mine." She shrugs, answering it. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Riley from the, uh, the bar."

"Riley, how ya doin'?"

"I'm doin' real good, baby." He chuckles. "I'm gonna be in Knoxville in a few days and I was wondering if you wanted to get together again?"

"Sure, I'd love to." She smiles, ignoring the look from Morgan. "See you then."

"Who was that?"

"A friend from Knoxville, gonna be in town in a couple days and wanted to know if we could meet up." She sets her phone on the nightstand. "Are you stayin' the night?" He quiet for a second. "You don't have to." She says stiffly. "Leave if you want, I don't want to pressure you." She slides bottoms and a bralette on, turning on her side away from Morgan who stands and gets dressed. "Guess I'll see you later then."

"Guess so." He grabs his hat, looking at Dani before leaving. "See ya."

Morgan bumps into Hardy on his way out. "Where're you goin'?"

"Home."

"I thought y'all were getting back together?"

"We just hooked up, we're still on a break." He mumbles back, looking down at his shoes. "Single life, amiright?" He smacks him on the chest before heading out. Hardy stands speechless. Is she just some cum bucket he can dump his load into when he's lonely? That what he gathers from the comment as he heads up to her bedroom, knocking on the door.

"What?"

"Are y'all back together?"

"I don't know." She drops the engagement ring in her jewelry box, sliding the drawer closed before looking at Michael. "Why? Did he say anything?"

"No." He says quickly, shaking his head. "Nothin'."

"I find that hard to believe, Hardy." She stands and pulls a zip up jacket on. "I told him how I felt and he just left."

"Yikes." He follows her down to the kitchen.

"I'm hangin' out with Riley later this week."

"Riley?"

"Riley from the bar in Knoxville." She retorts, twisting the cap off a Coors Light "Since I'm still fuckin' single."

"Yeah, I think Morgan's in the same boat, darlin." Hardy sighs. "If I was you, I'd just treat this like you are single." He squeezes her shoulder. "Do whatever you want, baby." She bites her lip as she hops up on the counter, pushing her hair back.

"Fine. I'm gonna go out with Riley." She nods to herself, setting her beer down to zip her jacket up. "Yeah. It'll be good for me."

"That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. I'll go with ya, y'know, for safety." Hardy says, grabbing a beer from the fridge, leaning against the counter next to her. "You'll have fun, okay?"

"Oh, I'm gonna make sure I'm gonna have fun."