The sun was shining through the window. An unwelcoming wake up call. Eddie groaned and closed his eyes tighter. As his morning fog started to fade, the memories of last night came flooding back. He couldn't help, but to smile thinking about it. The way her lips felt against his. How soft her skin felt. The way her body was reacting perfectly to his. The sound of her moaning his name. Eddie rolled over eager for round two—actually round four, but who was counting.

He was surprised when he rolled over and found the bed empty beside him. "Loren?" He didn't hear the shower running, but he got up and checked anyway. She wasn't in there. Eddie scanned the bedroom and noticed that her clothes were gone. She wouldn't have just left, he thought. He put on a pair of boxers and headed down stairs. "Loren are you here?" He looked in the kitchen and once again she wasn't there. As he made his way back in the living room he noticed a piece of paper ripped out of his song book on the piano. As he read the note anger filled his body. "You have to be fucking kidding me." He stormed back up stairs.

Fourteen Hours Earlier…

Loren stood outside his door paralyzed. She knew she would have to knock soon. No doubt Jeffery called to announce her arrival. She could hear him shuffling around inside. Loren took a deep breath and knocked the memories of the last time she was here came rushing back to her.

Three And A Half Years Ago…

Eddie had asked Loren to work on a song for his next album. Chloe was on location for a photo shoot, so she knew it would be safe to go over there. She barely had a chance to knock on the door before it swung open, revealing an upset Eddie.

"Tell me it's not true." You could hear the anger in his voice. Loren looked at him puzzled. "Well hello to you too Eddie."

He glared at her. "Are you seriously dating Tyler?" Loren sighed and shook her head. "How did you hear about that?"

Eddie opened his laptop and the TMZ website was up with a photo of Loren and Tyler kissing in front of the café. "Not from you obviously."

"I know I should have told you-" Eddie slammed his laptop shot. "Damn right you should of. How did you two even meet?"

Loren smiled slightly at the memory. "We just met a couple weeks ago. He was a customer at the café and we just kind of hit it off." She shrugged her shoulders. Eddie shook his head. "How stupid can you be?"

"Excuse me?" Loren had been calm for the most part, but now she could feel her anger start to surface. "You are stupid Loren. He's dating you to get to me."

Loren scoffed. "Are you fucking kidding me right now Eddie? Your ego is making you delusional. Not everything is about you."

"He only wants you, because you're mine." Eddie yelled. Loren looked at him as if he had grown a third head. "Wait a second I'm not yours Eddie."

"I thought you were smart. You think it was a coincidence he was your customer. Think about it. He hates me, has been stalking Chloe-" She through her hands up in the air stopping him in midsentence. "There are two sides to every story Eddie. And you want to talk about stupid. You believe every fucking word Chloe tells you about him even though she pathological liar."

"Do not talk about my girlfriend like that." Loren crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, but its' okay for you to talk about Tyler like that?"

"I am just looking out for you." His tone was harsh and Loren just kept getting more upset with the way he was acting. "I don't need you too Eddie I'm a big girl."

"You're a naïve girl." Eddie pointed his finger at her. "Especially if you think Tyler won't end up hurting you." She sneered. "Well you're an idiot if you think Chloe isn't using you."

"You are not dating him Loren. You need to end things now." Loren laughed sarcastically. "Do you hear yourself right now? You do not get to tell me who I can and cannot date."

"I'm not going to stand around and watch you date Tyler." He yelled even louder. "Then don't"

"What?" His voice was filled with confusion.

Loren took a deep breath calming herself down. "I put my feelings for Chloe aside for our friendship. If you can't do that for me then we're not friends anymore."

Eddie looked at her stunned, he didn't want to lose her. Yet he couldn't get over the fact she was dating Tyler. "Then I guess we're not friends anymore."

With nothing left to say Loren grabbed her bag and walked out the door. Never looking back.

Eddie opened the door with a wide smile. His eyes immediately looked Loren up and down. She was only wearing skinny jeans and a tank top, but she looked beautiful as always.

"Hey you made it." He opened the door more and motioned for her to go in. "I said I'd be here. I'm here." Her voice was cold. "So you are." He mumbled, shaking his head. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Love what you've done with the place." Eddie scratched the back of his head. "Pretty sure nothings' changed."

"Yeah, I know. I was just trying to make small talk."

"Oh." Eddie clapped his hands together. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea?"

"Beer." He looked at her slightly surprised. "Beer?" Loren nodded. "No way I'm doing this completely sober." She had a point he thought. "Okay, beer it is. Make yourself at home."

As Eddie made his way to the kitchen Loren spotted his guitar in the corner of the room. She had lyrics in her head all day and just couldn't help it. She picked it up and started playing a few cords. Eddie walked in as she began to sing.

"My heart's beating better alone

And if it is broke

Why let you know?

This heart's not your skipping stone"

Eddie's phone went off from a text startling Loren. Eddie cursed under his breath. He want to hear the rest of the song.

Eddie walked towards her and handed her the beer. "Thanks." He nodded. "No problem. What was that you were playing on?"

Loren bit her lip and looked away from Eddie. "Just a song I'm working on for my album." Was Loren blushing? "Oh yeah? Will you play it for me?" Loren quickly put the guitar down. "I don't think so." The shy innocent Loren he remembered was coming to surface. Eddie couldn't help but to smile.

"Please. I'll play you one from mine." Loren laughed as she sat down on the edge of the couch across from Eddie who was sitting by the piano.

"Wow is this I'll show you mine if you show me yours type of thing." Eddie took his time to look Loren up and down as he smirked with images in his head. Loren had grown up to be a quite stunning twenty-two year old. Loren realized he was staring and knew his mind went straight to the gutter. "You are such a perv." She throw a pillow at him which he easily missed as he laughed. "You started it."

"How about we get to work on the song for our parents?" She asked changing the subject. "Alright, alright. Got any ideas?"

"Actually I do." Eddie looked at her shocked. "You do?"

"Why do you look so surprised?" You could hear a tad bit of annoyance in her voice. "Uh, no reason." He said as he turned to face the piano.

"Bull shit. Tell me." Loren made her way to the side of the piano, facing him. He sighed in defeat. "I'm just a little surprised you have an idea already. You haven't been so-optimistic about love lately."

"Do you blame me?" Loren glared at him. Was he serious right now? "No I completely understand why you've been that way. That's no way to live your life though."

"Lets' just work on the song." She muttered annoyed with the conversation. "Whatever you say. So, what's your idea?"

"It's actually something Max said to my mom the night they got engaged. It's just kind of stuck with me." His eyebrows furrowed together. "What'd he say?"

Three hours later they had the song completed. Neither could believe they had gotten done so fast. They figured they would tweak it if they had time at the bungalow, before the wedding.

"That was productive." Eddie came back in the room with two more beers in his hand. "And fun." He handed Loren her third beer. "Admit it, you had fun."

Loren rolled her eyes. "Yes Eddie, I had fun. Is that what your ego needed to hear?" Eddie smiled proudly. "Yes, thank you."

"You're ridiculous." She laughed.

"Seriously though I've missed this." She smiled that shy smile of hers. "Yeah, me too."

Eddie dramatically clapped his hands over his mouth. "Did you really just admit that?" Loren smirked. "Must be the beer talking."

He chuckled deeply. "Must be" Suddenly he could hear Loren's stomach growl. "Are you hungry?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I could eat."

"If I remember right, you could always eat." She playfully smacked him. "Hey."

"There is a great deli down the street."

"Do they have pastrami, it's my favorite." Her face lit up. Eddie couldn't help, but think of how cute she looked that way. "Mine too, and they just so happen to have the best pastrami sandwiches in town."

"I'll take two please!" Eddie smiled. "Coming right up."

Jeffery delivered the food not to long after they ordered. The two set up in the living room and started eating. Eddie smirked as he watched Loren down her first sandwich.

"Not gonna lie, it is nice to have a meal with a girl who actually eats." Loren giggled and nodded her head. "Tyler was on a no carbs kick the last few months we dated, so I completely understand."

Loren's smile quickly faded. Eddie looked at her with concern. "It's weird talking about him—them with you." Eddie nodded understandingly. "Yeah it is, but then again we are the only two people that can talk about them and understand what we went through."

"Or we could not talk about them at all." Loren chuckled nervously. "Or that."

Eddie watched Loren's wall go right back up. He had seen a glimpse of the old her and he didn't want that. Things were still awkward between them and Eddie had to make things right.

"I do want to say one thing." Loren put her sandwich down and looked at him. "Okay?"

"With everything that happened I realized what an idiot I was being—Loren, I've regretted every day that I let you walk out that door." Loren wasn't expecting him to say that. "What?"

Eddie sighed. "It was a mistake. I know we only knew each other a few months, but we were really good friends—at least I thought we were."

"We were." She whispered looking away from him.

"I shouldn't have let him ruin our friendship."

"No you shouldn't of."

"What I'm trying to say is—I'm sorry." Loren glanced up and their eyes locked. She could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I forgive you."

"You do?" He was stunned it was that easy. She exhaled. "Yeah I do, and I want to say I'm sorry too."

"You are? For what?" His eyebrows bunched together in confusion.

"Well—for being such a bitch." Eddie bit back a chuckle and Loren just smirked "After what happen, I just haven't been in the best mood."

"Understandable." He put his hand over hers. "And it goes without saying that you're forgiven." Loren smiled slightly. "I have an idea."

"Oh yeah?" She asked him curiously. "We start fresh? Leave the past in the past and be friends."

"Yeah okay—friends." Her smile grew. "Friends."

Eddie and Loren had finished their food about an hour ago and were sitting on the couch, talking about the 49ers and Packers game.

Eddie shook his head surprised by the topic of conversation. "I cannot believe I am talking sports with you."

Loren laughed at this. "Well when you are living on a tour bus for months at a time with three guys it's kind of hard not to pick up on some things."

"Well I'm impressed." She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Thank you."

Before they knew it they were sitting on the balcony and Eddie was talking about how he read a lot when he was on tour with his parents which lead to the topic of their favorite book. Which lead to an argument over 'good' literature.

"You're crazy! I love Catcher in the Rye; I've read it like twenty times." How can someone not like that book, he thought. "That book is awful, how can you like it?" She scrunched her nose at the thought of the book.

"What? It's a classic how can you not like it?" He acted offended by her words.

"It is about a boy having a mental breakdown as he wonders the city. How is that good literature?" Eddie put his hands in the air and waved away her words as he swallowed his mouth full of food. "It's not just about him having a mental breakdown. Loneliness is the emotional manifestation of the alienation Holden experiences; it is both a source of great pain and a source of his security." He explained confidently. A speech he has memorized defending his choice.

"Yeah, well it's still one of my least favorite books." She said refusing to accept defeat by his explanation.

"Oh? And what is good literature in the opinion of Loren Tate?" He turned his body to face her better. "To Kill a Mocking Bird, of course. I read it for the first time when I was ten." She stated quickly without even having to think about it.

"Wow, a story where the bad guys win in the end makes a good story in your eyes?" He scoffed taking another big bite of food. "Oh there is so much more to the book then the convection. The book's explores the moral nature of human beings, which is whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by dramatizing Scout's transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen evil, to a more adult perspective, in which they have confronted evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world." She explained with a soft but forceful tone.

"Wow and you got all of that when you were ten?" Eddie was taken back by her heartfelt explanation.

"Well maybe not to that degree, but it wasn't that hard—I already had a pretty good understanding of the good and evil in the world." She sighed and looked away.

"Wow, you were the cynical ten year old."

"Yeah, well I had to be." She said sadly.

Eddie wanted to know what Loren meant by that, but when he saw the hurt in her eyes before looking away he decided to change the subject.

They started sharing stories about touring. And tried to figure out who was more of a workaholic, Kelly or Jake. Hours past, but it only seemed like minutes. They were catching up on three and a half years. As the night went on the empty beer cans started to add up.

As a chill started to set in the night air the two made their way back inside. Loren looked around. Nothing had changed since the last time she was here, yet everything had changed.

"How do you stay here?" Eddie eyed her as she acted peculiar. "What do you mean?"

"With all the memories. How on earth do you stay here?" She motioned around as they sat on the couch. "My mom helped me choose this place."

"Really? I didn't know that." Eddie smiled fondly at the memory. "Yeah, it was a few months before she died. I just signed my record deal and I had money from the movie. We searched for days together. Something that should have been dreadful ended up actually being a lot of fun-It was one of the last times we spent together one on one."

"I'm sure it meant a lot to her that she could help you pick out your first place." This time it was Loren covering Eddie's hand. "You see even though there are a lot of bad memories here with Chloe, the good weighs out the bad—and I'm not ready to let that part go."

"You know it's possible to move and hold onto those good memories?" Eddie smirked. "It's also possible to stay and let go of the bad memories."

"Touché." She took a sip of her beer.

Their conversation became light again as they started talking about their childhood. They traded stories about Mel and Ian and the crazy things they've gotten them into.

Eddie then told her about his parents bungalow and how they would go their when things got to hectic. Loren smiled knowing exactly how Eddie felt.

"I have a cabin that I go to when I need a break from the world. When I get there I feel like I can finally breathe again." He smiled a Loren. "That's the exact same feeling I get when I go to bungalow."

They had talked for another hour or so when the topic of songwriting came up.

Eddie got up from the couch and grabbed his guitar. "Play me the song you were working on earlier." Loren shook her head. "No way."

"Why?"

"It's personal." Eddie laughed. "You are going to put it on your album Loren."

"It's not finished yet." She blurted trying to get out of this somehow. "Play me what you have so far."

"Eddie." She pleaded. "Loren." He mocked.

"You are relentless." He smirked. "We've been over that. Remember it's part of my charm."

"There's that ego again." She laughed and took a swig of beer.

"Please." Loren sighed in defeat. She knew he wouldn't let this go. "Fine."

She took the guitar and swallowed hard. Loren hadn't played this song to anyone. Eddie sat from across from her eagerly watching her. Loren took a deep breath and began to play.

"I took in the most that I could

I never imagined that I would

Be feeling so misunderstood

I'm just following lines

You race in my mind like a car

You've beaten my heart so damn farther

And now I've been pacing the wall

'Cause you're under my hood

Never thought I could

Love you, no never

Never thought that I would

Ever try to be anything better

My heart's beating better alone

And if it is broke

Why let you know?

This heart's not your skipping stone

If I'm sinking water

Then why even bother?

Just leave it alone.

Mmmm

This heart's not your skipping stone

So maybe I should settle down

And find a new man, let him

Throw my world around

All his blueberry lies

I know there isn't a rule

Was left in the dust never

Was taught in school

Mmmm now, I'm a lovesick fool

Never knew that you

Could just hold me hostage

I'm losing my cool

Through the pain somehow

Don't want you to stop it

My heart's beating better alone

And if it is broke

Why let you know?

This heart's not your skipping stone

If I'm sinking water

Then why even bother?

Just leave it alone.

Hmm

'Cause this heart's not your skipping stone

All the time

I never let you in

Was a lie

I wasn't letting you win!

And all the days

You let me cry

Was a lie

My heart's beating better alone

And if it is broke

Why let you know?

This heart's not your skipping stone

If I'm sinking water

Why even bother?

Just leave it alone.

If it is broke

Why let you know?

This heart's not your skipping stone

If I'm sinking water

Why even bother?

Just leave me alone

This heart's not your skipping stone"

Before the last cord was even complete she put the guitar down quickly. She gave Eddie a nervous smile, who was standing before her speechless.

"So, what do you think?"

Eddie didn't say a word. Instead he got up and quickly made his way to her. He brought her into his arm and before either knew what was happening his lips captured hers. At first Loren was caught off guard, but after only a few moments her body quickly responded. Loren wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Eddie tentatively parted Loren's lips with his tongue sending chills down her body as she reciprocates every move he makes. Eddie grabbed Loren's waste, bringing her closer to him. Loren wrapped her legs around his torso which turned Eddie on even more. Eddie carried her upstairs, where things only became more heated.

So, what do you think? I really hope you liked it.

Do you want me to be more graphic during the romance scenes? I can easily switch the rating to M. Please let me know.

Don't worry I promise to update my other fanfic next. Like I said I had most of this storyline written out. I will finish both storylines though!

Please read and review. Your thoughts really help.

Thanks for all the love. I will fix the mistakes later.