Chapter Thirteen

And the sky will be empty of one of its stars once you're gone. The sparkle in my eyes twinkling out with you.

Iquickly jot down the words in my notebook as they come pouring out of my mind and into my hand. I look down at the page and reread the words, giving them a small smile.

The sudden inspiration I'm feeling is only adding to the overwhelming happiness I feel today.

The day is finally here. The start of the second leg of this tour. I'm so excited to be back up on stage with my fans. With my people. I know the break wasn't that long, but it felt longer than it actually was.

With everything going on in my life right now, being up there and playing my music surrounded by people singing my songs with me is the only thing keeping me grounded in all of this. I can't wait to get back to that place and heal.

"That's fine. And will that be ready before tonight?" I hear Archer's voice coming from close by. I glance behind me and see him talking to one of the crew members.

I look back down at my notebook and pretend to be writing. Hopefully he'll think I'm busy and keep walking.

After a few seconds, I hear footsteps approaching me. I roll my eyes. Of course he can't take the hint.

"Hey, Alison. Do you have a second?" Archer's voice is soft but hesitant.

I close my notebook and take a deep breath before looking up at him. I honestly don't have the mental capacity to deal with whatever it is that he needs from me right now, but I know how he must be feeling. I've been there before. First time stepping out on a big stage in front of all of these strangers and performing lyrics that have come directly from your heart.

Well, I guess in a way his lyrics have also come from my heart thanks to his quote on quote inspiration. I slowly look up at him, trying my best to give him my full attention.

"Yeah, I have a second," I say to him, keeping my face blank.

"I just wanted to say thank you again," Archer starts.

I hold my hand up to cut him off. "I know. You've said it a thousand times. You don't have to keep saying it. I know you're super thankful for this opportunity. I get it."

"Okay, sorry. I don't mean to keep repeating myself and annoying you, I just want to make sure you really know how much this means to me."

"Believe me, I do."

"Okay, good." He nods his head and looks around the room, then back to me. "What are you working on?" He points at the notebook in my hands.

"Oh, uh . . . just a new song. It's really rough right now. Just some lyrics that popped into my head," I trail off.

"Wow, touring and writing at the same time. Look at you. When does she sleep?"

I smile. "I'm always writing. I can't help it. When words or a melody come to me, I have to get it down or it won't leave my head."

"Believe me, I get it." Archer smiles at me. "I always feel like my most genuine self when I'm writing music."

I look up into Archer's eyes. He meets my gaze and smiles at me. I stare at him for a couple of seconds and then snap back to reality.

"Uh, yeah, same." I quickly pull my gaze from his and give my head a little shake. What is it about his eyes that always seems to throw me off?

"Well, I'll leave you to it," Archer says as he stands up. "I've distracted you enough. See you out there." He smiles at me as he turns to head away.

"Archer, wait," I say as I stand up. He instantly stops and turns towards me with his soft eyes.

"Yeah?"

I pause for a second and look down at my foot as I twist the toe of my shoe on the floor. "Why didn't you ask to see what I wrote?" I point to my notebook as I slowly look up at him. "The song I'm working on."

He looks at me as he tilts his head in a quizzical manner.

"I mean, anyone else would've begged me to show them. They would've loved to be able to brag that they got a sneak peek at the newest Alison Quick song. Why didn't you ask?"

Archer holds my gaze for a few seconds. His eyes go from confused to serious to soft. His brow furrows a bit.

"Well, I guess you already answered that question yourself. Everyone else would've asked to see it. I'm not everyone else. I just figure when you're ready to share it with me and the world, you will. I wouldn't want anyone asking to see my work before I was ready to share that part of my heart."

I nod my head. He smiles at me and then turns to leave again. I open my notebook up and read the words on the page in my head. I quickly look back up at Archer's retreating frame.

Even Willow, who is basically my sister, would've asked to see what I wrote.

But Archer didn't.

He gets it. He understands what this is like. He understands how hard it is to put your most private feelings into a song.

For the first time in a long time, I start to feel like I'm not completely alone in all of this. I wouldn't have thought in a million years that Archer would be the one to make me feel a little less lonely in this world.

I grab my pen and start putting more words to paper.