Crows| Micheal HARDY

Broke Boy

I ran back up the stairs, giddy from the excitement of an actual date. I hadn't been on one in years. I walked back up to the room, and there, covered by the sheets on the bed, was a tight dark red dress with a slit on the side. I chuckled. He must've thrown a fit when he saw this in my closet. To be quite honest, I wasn't completely sure why I brought it along.

I slipped the dress on and then looked in the full-length mirror beside the bed. Assessing my body. Part of me hated the scars I carried. Another part of me loved the reminder. However, I shook it off and walked over to the bathroom. Wondering how I would do my makeup, then, low and behold, he brought my make-up bag. I don't think I've ever smiled so hard. I sat up on the counter and began to put my make-up on, a red and black smokey eye and some blush. I smiled as I finished everything off with a red lip, then brushed my hair to get it somewhat straight.

After being satisfied with how I looked, I began to walk down the stairs. I saw Michael sitting on the couch. He quickly turned around, letting out a whistle when he saw me.

He got up with a pair of black heels in his hand. I went to grab them.

"No. Sit." He smiled. I sat down on the bottom step as he took my leg and wrapped the heel around my foot. After he got the heels on me, he grabbed my hand, kissing it as he pulled me up.

"So what's with the sudden change of heart, Romeo?" I joked.

"Little country thing like you deserves a date, even with everything that's going on, and we haven't quite clarified what we are." He smiled. The last sentence of his explanation sent a chill down my spine. I hadn't had time to think about us either. I fixed my face and hugged him. I realized I could think more about what we are after this date.

He picked me up and set me back down from the hug. After that, we moved into the truck. He threw on the radio, which played 90's country and moved out of the driveway.

-------------------

After what felt like forever in the truck, we stopped in front of a nice restaurant. The outside was decorated with old barn decor and burnt out wood. It was classy yet country in a sense. We were far from downtown Nashville. Something about the air was crisp and not like summer air at all.

We walked unto the restaurant, my red dress dropping down, my arm wrapped in his. He was bigger than me by a lot, I hated to sound like that girl, but he really was. We were greeted by a blonde woman with a nice blouse and bellbottoms on. She smiled and led us to the back of the restaurant. It was quiet in the back and darker. There were only a couple of people. One of those is Erich Church.

"OH my God, Micheal! Is that Erich Church?" I whispered, yelled as we sat down. He snickered.

"Yeah, the one and only, whatcha into his music?" He smiled. I dropped my jaw.

"I love Eric Church!" I whispered again. He suddenly got up, grabbed my hand, and led me over.

"Hey Eric! Don't mean to interrupt your dinner." Hardy smiled. Eric and his wife looked up and returned the hospitality.

"Don't worry, Micheal! We haven't even ordered yet. How're you?" Eric smiled. His accent was thick and not exactly country.

"Were good! I'm just working on this new album of mine." Hardy scratched the back of his head.

"And who would this pretty girl be?" Eric's wife spoke up. My cheeks flushed. I had hid behind Micheal this whole time.

"This is Ashley, my co-writer and date tonight." Micheal said, holding an arm around my waist to bring me into the light.

"My, how beautiful you are, sweetheart!" Eric's wife complimented me. I said thank you and bravely as I could. Something about the atmosphere was different. I was used to meeting celebrities, but something about Micheal was turning me soft.

We finished up our short exchanges and walked back over to our table.

"That was amazing!" I whispered to Micheal. He giggled.

"What can I get yall to drink?" The waitress said in front of us.

"One glass of Lemon Cello and a glass of Peach Moscato." Hardy ordered. He had remembered my favorite drink for when I felt nice.

"You remembered?" I turned my head to the side.

"Of course I did." Hardy said, looking down at the menu.

"Sorry if the lighting is too dark, they reserve the back for the 'big shots' who wanna have a normal night." Hardy explained and put quotation marks around."Big shot."

I smiled back at him.

"I don't mind." I smiled.

After our drinks came, everything else came naturally. We talked most of the night and got our food. Everything was so well cooked. It came to the end of the night as we walked back to Micheal's truck.

We stopped in front of the truck. Micheal looked down at me.

"I'd like to kiss you now if that's alright." He said above me, his tainted breathe hanging above me. I looked up at him as our lips collided. Everything in this moment was almost perfect, I wondered how long it would last.

He smiled slightly as we pulled away from each other. He brought his hand down to my chin and lifted up my face.

"What are we, darlin?" He asked.

"May I have the pleasure of calling myself yours?" He smiled.

My eyes grew. I smiled. Every thought in my brain wracked up at this exact moment.