Liz is back to the grind of serving drinks and waiting tables to faceless customers with that dark haired, dimpled cutie on her mind.

"Girl, you look like you got bit by a love bug." Her boss, Anna says with the biggest grin on her face. "'I imagine your trip to Music City went well."

Liz blushes slightly, pulling scraps from the tear away top of her notepad. "Met some of the locals and they showed us how to party right. They're so much nicer in Tennessee than they are here."

"Yeah, they don't know how annoyin you are." She teases, playfully elbowing her. Liz rolls her eyes and laughs. "Meet anyone interesting?"

"Yeah. Coupla guys at a bar." She smiles, picking up a couple plates. She walks away to drop off the orders to a pair of handsome blue collar boys. She shamelessly flirts with them knowing it'll boost her tips. They watch her walk away, their tired eyes trained on her ass in those tight jeans of hers.

"What're their names?" Anna asks when she's back behind the counter.

"Cliff and Michael." Her pretty smile widens at the mention of the two sweet southern boys. "Nice guys."

"Sounds like more than just nice guys." Anna smirks. "Table seven."

Liz nods and heads to the table, her customer service voice activated and her flirty smile on.

Liz is currently sitting at a table, counting out her tips after the pub is closed. She has her money organized by amount, bills facing the same way and her phone starts ringing.

"Yeah." She answers, not looking at who's calling.

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey! How are you? How's Nashville?"

"Not the same without you here." Michael smiles. "How's Tex-ass?"

"Lonely." She chuckles. "What's up?"

Michael laughs in response. "Is it a crime to call you just 'cause?"

Liz giggles- fucking giggles. "C'mon now."

"You've just been on my mind." He finally admits, blushing furiously at his own words. "Kinda hard to stop thinkin' 'bout you."

"I am kinda the best." She smiles, tapping the keys of the calculator next to her on the table. "Shit."

"What? Everythin' okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just made over a hundred bucks in tips tonight."

"Wow. Good for you, Liz."

"Sorry, I know that's not real excitin'."

Michael chuckles. "I gotta get goin'."

"Oh, okay." She says kind of deflated, her heart somewhat aching for this guy she hasn't seen in a month. "Talk later?"

"Absolutely." He grins. "Night, Liz."

"Night, Michael." She hangs up and drops her phone on the table.

"Michael from Nashville?" Anna asks from out of nowhere.

Liz jumps, her hand clenching around a stack of ones. "Jeez- you know I hate when you do that!"

Anna chuckles, sliding into the booth across from her. "Do I hear weddin' bells?" She starts humming a bridal song.

"Oh stop! I literally just met him."

"So? My folks met on a Tuesday and two days later got hitched." Anna says, taking a drink from the dark red plastic cup in her hand. "They's been together for thirty some years."

"Wow." Liz gnaws on the inside of her cheek. "When you know you know." She starts stacking her bills together before sliding them into an envelope. "Gotta get home."

"Don't stay up too late thinkin' 'bout Michael!" Anna teases, locking the door behind Liz.

She playfully flips her off as she heads to her 1980 Toyota Land Cruiser and speeds to her house.

"C'mon, man," Morgan sighs to his best friend. "You can't just push 'em feelin's to the side."

Michael gives him a look. "I'm not disregardin' 'em. I'm just makin' sure that it sounds good."

"What's this about anyways?"

"I met this girl at a bar a couple weeks ago-"

"Ooh." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "How'd that go?"

"She's so unique and down to earth yet confident. I've never met a girl like that before." He gushes, looking down at his notepad. "Liz, that's her name."

"Liz what?"

Michael rolls his lips into his mouth as he fixes his glasses. "I think it's Tanner."

"Liz Tanner." Morgan echos, grabbing his phone from his front pocket. "Elizabeth Jean." He reads. "Damn son!" His eyes go wide at her appearance, a blush forming on his cheeks. "She seems like a real good girl." He scrolls through her Instagram page. "Uh oh."

"What?"

Morgan shows him a picture of the girl he's fawning over with a handsome cowboy. They look pretty cozy in the bed of what's probably his truck. "Who's that?"

He shrugs. "Just says 'how beautiful it is to wake up and love you all over again' with a heart but it was posted a couple a years ago."

"Oh, c'mon man." Michael pushes his hand down. "Why- why are you stalkin' her?"

"She's taken over your head, man." He teases. "Texarkana, huh? She's a waitress- oh! Look at that sick car!"

"The fuck is that?" He squints at the image. "A Toyota what?"

"Land Cruiser, vintage." He chuckles. "She's for sure your type. You must got some pretty damn good game, man."

"She's beautiful."

He suddenly picks up his guitar and starts playing a couple chords. "That's good." Morgan nods, sitting back against the couch. "Damn son, got some pretty good game for a broke boy." He mumbles then grins. "That's it."

A couple months have passed and Liz is starting to get antsy. She's bored and lonely. Michael's been busy with his job and his responses have been sparse. That's really fueling her loneliness.

Currently, she's pacing around her place. She picks up her phone to call Michael. He answers much to her surprise. "Hey, how's it goin'?"

"Sorry I've been kinda MIA, lately." He says, sighing slightly. "Been crazy busy."

"Just wanted to check in and bug ya." She smiles at the laugh he lets out. "What's been keepin' ya from me?"

"My manager talked me into puttin' out my own music." He reveals slightly nervously.

"No way!" She grins and he almost instantly feels better. "About damn time!"

"Awh, c'mon now." He blushes. "It's so weird to actually do all this stuff for myself."

"I bet but I know you're gon' do great."

"Thanks." He smiles again.

"So, I've got some exciting news too. I'm heading back up to Nashville for a long weekend."

"Are you really?"

"I am."

"Well shoot, if you wanna, you can stay here. I promise I'm not Jeffrey Dahmer."

Liz cackles, shaking her head. "That's incredibly sweet of you, hon. I might have to take you up on that."

"When do you leave?"

"Oh, probably when I get off work Friday night and get there by five."

"In the morning!?"

"Yeah."

"That's not- you shouldn't- that's real late." He's in no position whatsoever to tell this girl what she can and can't do. She's a big girl, he trusts her to make her own choices.

"Yeah, you're right." She sighs. "I'll figure somethin' out, okay?"

"Okay." He nods. "Just, y'know, let me know what's goin' on."

"Yeah of course. I'll talk to you later."

"Sounds good."

She hangs up and drops her phone to her bed before she picks it up again to call Anna. "I know it's late but-"

"It's late? It's three in the mornin'! This better be good, Elizabeth." Her usually sweet voice hisses back.

"It's there any way I could work the first shift on Friday so I can get off at like three instead?"

"Liz-"

"Aw, c'mon! It's my birthday weekend!"

"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"

"Maybe."

"Ugh! Fine! Whatever!" She groans, hanging up on her.

Liz cackles to herself as she sits against her neatly stacked pillows, a pretty grin stuck to her face for nearly the remainder of the night.

She's spending her birthday in Nashville she can't wait.

+++

It's a grueling seven hour drive from Texas to Nashville and Liz is hungry and tired. After making it into the big city, she decides on a quick bite in a local restaurant. Liz's blue eyes watch a handsome boy walk across the room, a smile appearing on her face when she looks over at him.

She can't help but admire how cute he is. Sure, she's talking to Michael but they're not technically together so she doesn't feel bad for looking- admiring.

The guy gives her a flirty smirk back as he adjusts his Hancock County Co-Op hat. He turns and talks to the gal behind the counter then glances over his shoulder back at Liz. The girl comes up to her table with her order set in a to-go bag and drops it off. "That boy paid for ya." She tells her. Liz grins over at the guy and shoots him a wink.

"Hi." Liz smiles, sauntering her way over to his spot at the counter. "You paid for my food? Why?"

"Why not?" He smirks back, leaning against the counter. "I'm Morgan."

"Liz." She flashes her million dollar grin at this cute boy.

"Liz? Liz Tanner?"

"Uh." She pulls a hand up against her chest, giving him an extremely confused yet cautious look. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, Liz."

"What?"

"You're Hardy's girl, huh?"

"How did you-"

"I'm Morgan, his best friend." Her face splits into a relieved yet still cautious grin. "Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." She catches him off guard with a hug. "I told him I's gonna be in town tomorrow but I left a day early to surprise him."

"He'll be tickled to death." She blushes slightly. "We'll be at the studio all day if you wanna stop by."

"Okay, yeah." She nods. "Where at?"

"Big Loud. Here, gimme your number." She furrows her brows slightly. "If y'all don't work out, I'll delete it. Don't worry." He smiles warmly and it calms her nerves. Liz takes in a deep breath then punches in her number. "I'll text you the info, 'kay?"

"Okay, thanks." She smiles again. "See you there then, right?"

"Absolutely. I'll see you later."

Liz turns back to her table and picks up her paper bag and denim jacket. Her boot heels thump against the wood floor as she heads to the door. She shoots another friendly smile over her shoulder at Morgan then heads out to her car.