On the road with Ryder Crawford (Haylor Fanfic)

XII - Bar Singer

(Please read notes at the end! Pretty please? 🐼)

It has started being a routine for me for three days, work at the café, hang out and watch Ethan, then head to Nashville Live and play with the band.

I'm actually staring to earn good money with waitressing and doing nightly gigs that I know I can gather enough money for college tuition if I don't land any recording deal of some sort.

My mom and Abigail were very happy for me when they heard the news about the gigs with The Agency and even demanded a video of me performing, which Ethan gladly took during one of our sets.

As for Andrew, we haven't talked since the argument we had.

He hasn't reached out after I ignored all his texts and calls the day after he told me to do more cultured things out here.

Ethan has skipped performing today to meet some of his pals at the neighboring town.

I actually have spare time to hand demos, only this time I'm throwing in a memory stick containing the video of the band's performance.

So here I am walking around like a woman with a mission, giving out my heart and soul door to door like throwing stones in a wall hoping one of them sticks.

After two hours, my legs are burning so I decided to drop by the apartment to get a little bit of rest and freshen up for tonight's gig.

When I made a turn to my street, I can already see my building and find a tall lean man sat on the front steps, his head bowed low and face enclosed by his hands.

I walk closer, almost dropping the bag containing my demos upon realizing who the person is.

"Drew?" I mutter shakily.

His head sprung up and looked at me instantly, his eyes look tired and dull and his face visibly painted with fatigue and sadness.

He stayed planted in his spot as I walk up to him while looking at him curiously.

My whole body has turned to jelly but my feet were moving towards him on their own.

"How-When did you get here" I ask him cautiously as I reached him.

He swallows but says nothing.

He's just staring at me with eyes glossy and fallen from sadness.

Suddenly, he comes closer and then pulled me in, my head crashing on his chest and soon his warmth encloses my body.

All of the tiredness left my body in an instant as I take him in, his scent, his touch and his presence.

"O-oh God baby, I missed you so much" he says with a very gruff voice.

I snuggle my face to his chest "Mmmh, I missed you too" I say mutedly.

"Come home with me" he follow up.

My head shot up and my heart started beating at triple rate.

I look at him with a confused face, "What?" I half whispered.

He sighs and then looks at the ground and back at my eyes.

"Come back to Arizona with me. I bought us tickets for tomorrow's flight. Just... just come home Sil" he finishes.

It's as if a flame lit up inside me my ears felt like they would catch fire any second.

My hands start to shake and my heart feels like it was trampled upon.

I yank myself away from his hold and stare at him disbelievingly.

"If you... if you just maybe try and see how happy I am-" I trail but fail to finish.