She's a Little Bit Country, He's a Little Bit Rock N' Roll

We finally made it to the first stop of the tour and I couldn't be more excited. It's been way too long since the guys and I were able to tour the world doing what we loved. We've played a few shows here and there over the years in the states, but nothing too major.

It's actually been roughly four years since we played a show here in good ol' Portland, Oregon. This place was fucking hipsterville but my God I love every bit of it. The amount of art and culture that grows within this city is unreal. You won't find many places like it.

"Oooh that place looks cool! Can we go there Mattie?" Ivy smiled looking out of the window to a quaint little coffee shop.

"Of course, love. Driver could you pull over here?" I gestured toward the man in the front seat.

The car pulled off to the side of the busy street and we climbed out. Ivy couldn't contain her excitement as she ran for the door of the establishment leaving me behind.

I walked in to the dimply lit coffee shop and was instantly surrounded by various works of art and Indie music. I looked around to see the very excited girl of mine already ordering coffee, and I also noticed the boy that was taking her order seemed highly interested. I could almost feel a territorial growl in the back of my throat.

"Awe, Princess, what have I told you about running off like this? You had me worried to death." I kissed her forehead.

"Oh I'm sorry sweetheart! How can I make it up to you?" She raised her eyebrows and gave slight puppy dog eyes.

"This for starters.."

I leaned in and kissed her passionately, not caring who was around. I could feel the kid's jaw drop right then
and there. I looked at him and smirked before kissing the top of Ivy's head.

"Uhh..um...so one vanilla latte...and...for you sir?" He was so intimidated.

"I'll take a regular coffee. Black." I growled.

"Yes sir, right away!"

With that the kid scampered off and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Baby what was all that about?" Ivy asked sipping her latte.

"Oh please the kid was practically drooling on the counter. No one looks at my girl like a piece of meat." I grinned.

"And to think, I thought you were the one we had to worry about getting hit on during this tour." She chuckled.

A different employee brought me my coffee and took my payment. The kid who served us before was nowhere in sight. I think I may have scared him off. Oops...no, that's definitely what was supposed to happen.

Ivy grabbed my hand and we walked around the shop admiring some of the local artwork on the walls.

"These are fantastic...I could only dream of ever being this good someday." Ivy sighed.

"Sweetheart are you kidding? Your artwork is phenomenal. I saw a piece you were working on when I first stayed at your place. It was almost complete...it was of a boy."

"Oh...right...that one...it's taken me ages to finish." She chuckled nervously.

I could feel her tense up next to me. I knew something was off.

"Are you alright, love?" I furrowed my brows.

She sat down at a nearby table overlooking the city street. She stared out of it for a minute or two before making eye contact with me again.

"It's my brother...the boy in that drawing."

"I didn't know you have a brother."

"Had...had a brother."

The expression on her face was so pained. I felt so small and helpless. I shouldn't have brought it up, and I
wasn't going to pry for answers.

"He um...his name was Avery. He was four years older than me. He always dreamt of being a hero." She chuckled staring off into space.

"He joined the army when he was eighteen, I was only fourteen. I was starting my first year of high school when he left for basic training. He was my best friend. My mother tried to talk him out of it, but he knew what his goals were. He was just as stubborn as I am, no one could talk him out of anything he had his heart set on. Two years ago, he was deployed to Iraq for the second time. All of us had high hopes. He was on the battle front the first time, and he was tactical in his moves. He told us he had many close calls, but he believed he had a guardian angel watching over him that kept him safe. We all hoped he would have another safe return home, but...the calls to home and the letters stopped coming eventually. I had knots in the pit of my stomach for weeks. 'Maybe he just can't have contact with us because of their location' my dad would say. He tried to assure me, but my brother was a huge part of my life. I was connected with him more than any other person, and I just had this terrible feeling that something was wrong. Three weeks went by with nothing from his end. It got to the point where I couldn't sleep or eat for days. I was weak and anxious. One day when I was visiting my parents after my classes, we heard a knock at the door. We opened it to reveal two men dressed in uniform that handed my mother an envelope. We didn't want to open it. We didn't have to in order to know what it was. One of the men extended a hand to me, and I held mine out only to be met with my brother's tags. I blacked out after that and woke up on my parent's couch to the hysterical cries of my mother. A part of me has been missing ever since. What I would give just to be able to see him again. He is the one that actually introduced me to your music. He would have never imagined me dating you, and he sure as hell would have been highly protective." She chuckled wiping away stray tears that fell during her explanation.

My stomach sank knowing her loss, and there was nothing I could do to take that pain away. I hated it. I brought my hand up to caress her cheek.

"I'm so sorry, angel...I'm sure he was an amazing person. I would have loved to meet him." I sighed wiping away more of her tears.

"I think you two would have gotten along well. I know he's always with me, I can feel it. He's always going to be my protective big brother even if he can't be here on earth with us. He visits me sometimes, in my dreams. My mother tells me that's just my subconscious mind trying to help me cope but the dreams are so realistic, and our conversations always pick up right where they left off." She smiled thinking of their time together.

"Oh God I'm so sorry, we're in Portland and I'm being a depressing mess." She chuckled taking a drink of her latte.

"Ivy...please don't ever apologize. Your feelings are absolutely viable. A thousand times over. Thank you for talking about that with me. I know it's a difficult thing to talk about, and I am glad you put your trust to confide in me. That really means so much, and you know I'm here for you through anything." I kissed her hand and caressed it with my thumbs.

"Thank you, Matt. Really...it feels great to get it out. I never really talked it through with my parents or Pixie. She had a really hard time with losing him too. They actually dated for two years, and broke up right before he went off to Iraq the second time. It was a mutual break up, but she had a lot of love in her heart for him and always will."

"I can imagine so...I hope wherever he is, that he knows Zacky and I are going to take good care of his girls. Anytime you need to talk about this, or anything for that matter, don't hesitate. I love to listen." I half smiled.

We began to finish the rest of our coffee in comfortable silence while we looked around the room. I was thinking of ways to cheer her up, and as I walked over to the coffee bar to hand them my empty cup I finally had an idea.

"Excuse me, what does someone have to do to get their art displayed here?" I asked the woman at the bar who was drying off various coffee mugs with a hand towel.

"Depends on who's asking. You an artist?" She eyed me up and down with a raised brow.

"Musician, actually. My girlfriend Ivy is the artist. She loves all of your displays and I think her work is great. I have some photos on my phone if you'd like to see some of her pieces, though I realize the photos can't do them as much justice as seeing them in person would. She's really talented." I smiled handing over my phone to her.

After her eyes scanned through the variety of photos I took of Ivy's work without her knowledge, she looked up at me with a giant grin.

"The name is Tara. Tara Green. I'm the owner here. I think the question I should be asking is, what do I have to do to get her art displayed here." She smiled.

I looked over at the table to see Ivy looking at us with a confused expression.

"Is that her over there? The brunette?"

"Sure is." I grinned.

Before I knew it, Tara was walking towards our table. Ivy looked more confused than ever.

"Excuse me Miss..."

"Scott. Ivy Scott." She smiled extending her hand.

"Miss Scott. My name is Tara, I'm the owner here. This wonderful man just showed me some of your art work and I have to tell you honey, you have it." Tara smiled placing a hand on her hip.

"I have what?"

"It. Talent. Your work is absolutely gorgeous and your technique is flawless. Where did you study?"

"Oh...nowhere, actually. I've just always been into the arts as a hobby." Ivy shrugged.

"Well you certainly have a gift. I'll tell you what, if you can give me at least three of your pieces, there's a good price in it for you."

"Oh thanks, but I can't accept that. If you'd like some of my pieces I can just ship them to you. It's just something I do for fun, I'm not in it for the money."

"Well between you and me, you should be. You could make a killing off of this stuff. I simply can't just take pieces from your collection without offering some form of payment. It's not really in my nature. So I'll tell you what-" She grabbed my phone from my hands and scrolled through the photos to show Ivy which pieces she wanted, "You send me these three, and you have two grand on your hands little lady." Tara smiled.

Ivy's eyes widened and her jaw was practically on the floor. I chuckled at her shock. The shock turned into excitement as her eyes lit up and a giant smile formed on her lips.

"Miss Green that's entirely too much, please--"

"Sweetheart I insist. It would be a pleasure to have these shown here in my little slice of Heaven."

"Baby girl just shake the woman's hand and make yourself a deal." I chuckled patting Ivy on the back.

"O-okay, yeah sure, you have a deal." Ivy shook her head and smiled. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"Oh but, we won't be home for four months. We're on a world tour with his band. Is it okay if I ship them first thing when we get back?" Ivy asked biting her lip nervously.

"Of course, honey! As long as they're on these walls eventually! Let me go grab my checkbook. I'll be right back." Tara smirked and she sauntered off.

"What...just happened?" Ivy sighed in disbelief.

"You, my sweet, talented, beautiful girl, just sold your first pieces to an art collector." I grinned.

"Darling you really didn't have to-"

"Yes I did. I told you once and I will continue to tell you forever that you're extremely talented and your art deserves to be seen."

She was glowing. I could read the excitement on her face as Tara came back and handed her that check for commission. I was glad that my plan had actually worked.

After she finished her coffee and exchanged numbers with Tara, she grabbed my hand and led me back out onto the street. We had been in the coffee shop for a couple of hours, though it felt like no time at all.

"Okay it's one in the afternoon. We don't have to be at sound check until around five or so. We can explore further, or we can get some rest. You pick!" I kissed the top of her head.

"Hmm...can we go to the hotel and rest? It's been an emotional morning, I think I need it." She chuckled.

"Of course we can, baby girl."

I called the car back and we sped off back towards the hotel. Ivy nestled herself into my chest and let out a deep sigh.

"Hey Matt?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Thank you."

"For?"

"For being the best man I could have ever dreamt of finding. For being someone who is brilliant, and caring, and loving, and kind. For being someone I can picture a life with. For being you." She smiled and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

There's only so much perfection I can handle in one morning, but I have a feeling I'll have to raise my tolerance a lot higher. Every day with her will be perfect, and this is more than anything I thought I ever needed. This was where I was meant to be.

Notes

Hey hello hi!
I am so sorry about the lack of updates the past week. Work is crazy, and I actually don't have any days off this week until next Tuesday, but I had some extra time this evening to crank out a new chapter for you guys! I just finished re-reading my first version of this story, along with the sequel at work today. I forgot so much of the plot so it was nice to get it into my head freshly. I hope you guys enjoy this. Let me know what you guys think so far of the story!

Shout out to my commenters from the last chapter update:
unholy confessions;;
Avengedlover
Red-Lips-Like-Razors
o Baby Elephant o

xxoo,
Leagh