accidentally dating - a morgan wallen fanfiction

five

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THE two friends had stumbled from nissan stadium in a post-concert haze and somehow found jason, who had been waiting outside to pick them up in his truck.

as had been prearranged, jason ubered the girls to music row. music row was the one street in nashville that was bar after bar, home to several famous country music stars' bars like kid rock, alan jackson, and even eric church.

as the two girls started walking down the street, they gazed in the windows, searching for an atmosphere that enticed them.

having not agreed ahead of time on which bar they wanted to hit first, the girls kept walking down the street along with various crowds of people talking amongst themselves until they finally stopped in front of one of anna's favorites.

the neon glow of toby keith's bar bled onto the sidewalk, painting the damp asphalt a beautiful shade of red. the atmosphere was one of her favorite things about this bar, right behind the classic neon signs that decorated the windows and the metal signs sporting various lewd statements that never failed to make her laugh after she had a few drinks.

inside, the air was thick with amber beer and the mournful twang of a country ballad.

the live music was another one of her favorite things, but that was fairly common in a bar in nashville.

the girls waded through the heavy cluster of people near the door hand in hand as they walked deeper into the building to the bar.

"hi, charlie. the usual, when you get time, please." anna spoke to the bartender behind the counter who had flashed her a smile as soon as she approached.

"sure thing, angel. give me a sec." he replied to her, already reaching under the bar for her favorite glass.

not that anna frequented music row, but when she did grace downtown nashville with her presence it was always a friday night and she always made sure to drop in and say hi to her favorite bartender in all of nashville.

at first, charlie just served anna her drinks and would offer her refills when she asked but sooner or later, he started to see her more often right behind rachel.

charlie welcomed the sight and always proclaimed to everyone in the bar that the two girls were his favorite customers in the entire state.

after a few weeks of their meetings, charlie had anna's order down and had even designated a special cup just for her that he would always use when he mixed her rum and coke.

beside her, rachel slammed the tall shot glass charlie had slid to her down with a decisive thump.

"second round's on me," she declared, her voice barely a squeak over the din. "tonight's about drowning our sorrows, not nursing them."

anna offered a weak smile, swirling the amber liquid in her glass. she couldn't help but chuckle to herself at rachel's sudden post-concert depression that she was now trying to drown out.

truth be told, drowning her sorrows was exactly what anna needed. except her sorrows wore a familiar knock-off stetson cowboy hat and a crooked grin – the very same grin that had just sauntered into the bar with her sorority sister clinging to his arm to stay upright.

the blonde on his arm was wearing a white sash that said 'bride-to-be' and she was flashing her new engagement ring to anyone in the near vicinity that would look.

it couldn't be him, could it? not here, in this little bar in the middle of music row. there were plenty, quite literally more than twenty bars for him to choose from. but there he was, unmistakable.

her heart did a traitorous little flip-flop in her chest. it was the first time she had seen him since their break-up. she took a very stiff drink from the glass charlie had just passed her, relishing in the slight tingle of the spiced rum.

charlie glanced over her shoulder to see what she had been looking at. he had observed her behavior and knew that something had bothered her.

"damn, that was fast." he spoke once he had put it together in his mind, his eyes trained downward at the top of anna's head.

her head was hung low, and her mouth was still connected to her bright green straw. charlie could see the liquid slowly draining from the sides of the glass cup.

suddenly, the dimly lit bar felt suffocating. she grabbed rachel's arm tightly and squeezed.

"bathroom break?" she croaked, her voice thick with unshed tears. her hand trembled against the pale skin of rachel's arm.

rachel's gaze followed hers and anna watched as her face hardened.

"fucking bitch," she muttered, squeezing anna's hand in silent support. charlie nodded his head and reached over the counter to grab the girl's drinks. he covered them with his hands and slid them back towards him, picking them up and setting them underneath the bar to make sure no one dumped anything in them if he got busy.

the bathroom offered little solace for anna. staring at her own tear-streaked reflection, she felt a surge of anger replace the sadness once again. who did he think he was, waltzing back into her life like nothing happened?

she was not going to let this ruin rachel's perfect night. especially not after everything had gone so well at the actual concert.

she had actually had fun and done as rachel had said.

she had forgotten about him for the night.

emerging from the bathroom, a newfound resolve simmered within her.

she and rachel linked arms as they strutted back over to the bar to retrieve their drinks from charlie.

charlie had just slid her rum and coke back across the wet wood top when someone bumped into her back harshly. her stomach collided with the top of the bar and a small squeak left her lips. 

quickly, two large, rough hands reached around her waist to steady her.

"shit, i am so-" the man started, his voice deep. he had a dark ball cap pulled low, obscuring most of his face, but there was something about the way he held himself, a certain nonchalance, that sparked a flicker of recognition within her. "oh my god, it's you." his voice was lower, much lower than before.

he yanked his hat off and threw it back on his head, backwards this time like it had been at the concert.

"morgan?" her jaw dropped open as she stared up at the man in front of her.