Jessie could sense the sunlight streaming through the window as she pulled the blanket up over her head. She was exhausted and didn't feel like getting up at this moment. She reached over to feel for Katie, but soon found that she was the only one in the bed. Her eyes were wide open now as she pulled the covers off of her and looked around. Katie was nowhere to be found. She looked over towards the closet and noticed a suitcase on the floor. Jessie's heart sank. Something must have happened since last night. Jessie was starting to think Katie must have changed her mind somehow and was planning on leaving again. She hastily got out of bed and began to look around the apartment. As she made her way through Katie's place, she noticed the mess was still there from the night before. This brought back memories of what had happened and Jessie, while still uneasy about Katie's sudden disappearance, couldn't help but smile. She glanced over at the front door and spotted a note taped up to it. She was almost paralyzed. She didn't want to move. She was afraid to find out what the letter said. She didn't think she could stand a rejection letter. Not after all that had happened. Jessie took a deep breath, walked over to the door and warily read the note.

"Good morning, Jess! Make yourself at home. Help yourself to some breakfast. I had to run an errand, but I'll be back soon. Love, Katie."

Jessie breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the time. It was noon. She hadn't realized she had slept so late. She wasn't very hungry, so she decided to take a shower while waiting for Katie. She turned on the water and found the right temperature. As she undressed, she felt a dull soreness in both of her arms. She looked up in the mirror and noticed a bruise on each arm where David had violently grabbed her. She shuddered. She was completely confounded as to why she had stayed with him for so long. She couldn't figure out why she would stay with someone who would do this to her. She continued staring at herself until the mirror was completely fogged up by the steam coming from the hot water. She stepped into the shower and let the water drip down her back. The hot water began to soothe her skin. She began to feel cleansed; renewed. This was a brand new day. And last night was the start of a brand new life. She smiled to herself as she thought of Katie.

As Jessie emerged from the shower, she wrapped a towel around her and walked out to the living room while drying her hair with another towel. She was greeted by a smiling Katie, who was cleaning up the kitchen.

"Hey! Well look at that. It lives!"

Jessie laughed. "Yeah. Sorry. I was just…exhausted. What time did you wake up?"

"I don't know…seven maybe?"

Jessie watched Katie as she continued to tidy up the kitchen. Katie noticed Jessie watching her from the corner of her eye, so she stopped cleaning and turned around.

"What's up?" asked Katie.

Jessie shrugged.

"Everything okay?"

Jessie shrugged again. "I don't know. I just…I thought you were leaving. I mean, when I woke up, you were gone and I saw the suitcase and--"

"The suitcase is for you," assured Katie. "I mean…if you want to use it. If you want to go get your stuff. You know…from your place." Katie started walking over to Jessie, anticipating her response.

"Yeah. Yes. I do"

"Okay. Okay, good."

"I just…I guess I haven't really thought this through. I don't even know where I'm going to stay," said Jessie.

"Well…I could take you to your mom's. Or your dad's….or I could…bring you back here. You know…until you figure out what you want to do."

"Yeah. Well, maybe I should go to my mom's. Just for now, anyway. Until I get things squared away."

Katie wasn't too devastated by Jessie's response. She knew that staying with her mom was probably the best thing for Jessie right now. And besides, Katie had every intention of being around to see Jessie through this. She would just be a phone call and a car ride away.

"Good. It's settled then. We'll go get your stuff later today," said Katie.

"Okay. I mean…I don't have much to go get. Just the essentials. Clothes. And your letter. I would grab my guitar, but…well…you know..."

Katie nodded and wrapped her arms around Jessie and pulled her into a hug. She could feel Jessie's damp hair against her face. She could smell the fresh soap on her skin. Katie couldn't resist and started slowly kissing Jessie's neck.

"I missed this," she whispered.

Jessie, who was enjoying ever second of this, responded. "Me too."

Katie pulled back and looked at her. She was beaming. She had no idea how Jessie would react this morning after what had happened between them the night before, but now that she knew Jessie was okay with everything, her heart was soaring.

"What errand did you run?" asked Jessie.

"Oh…well…I was actually hoping you'd still be asleep by the time I got back, but I guess I took a little longer than I thought. I just picked up a few things. Groceries and stuff. Um…why don't you get changed. Then you can help me put everything away."

"Oh fun! Just what I want to do. Put stuff away," teased Jessie as she headed back into the room to change.

After she changed, Jessie emerged from the bedroom and she immediately stopped in the doorway when she spotted something she hadn't seen earlier. A brand new acoustic guitar was leaning against the chair. Jessie was completely stunned. She looked over at Katie, who was leaning against the dining table, nervously awaiting Jessie's reaction. Jessie was speechless. She walked over to the chair, picked up the guitar and started to softly strum the strings. She was breathless. She couldn't say a word. She just looked at Katie unable to believe that someone would go out of their way like that with such a beautiful gesture.

She managed to finally choke out a few words. "Katie, I…a Gibson J-45? I don't even know what to say."

"I remembered you said you always wanted one. That every good musician needs a Gibson. I figured you were gonna need it for your show next week. It's your audition for Eli's band, right?"

"Yeah, but…Katie this is…this is too much. I mean, it's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me, but it's too much. I can't accept it."

Katie walked over toward Jessie. "Jess, if you could see your face right now. If you could only see what I'm looking at, then you'd know. You'd know how worth it everything is just to see that look on your face. That look when you're holding this guitar…it's priceless. You have to accept it. You have to because I absolutely need to see that look on your face every day. It just brings light into my heart. Please."

Katie put her hand up to Jessie's face and leaned in to kiss her. The guitar was separating their bodies. Jessie held onto it for dear life, as if she never wanted to let it go. But if any reason was good enough to put it down for a moment, this was it. She gently put the guitar down and closed the gap between their two bodies as they continued kissing. When they pulled apart, Jessie just smiled at Katie.

"So…this means you'll keep it?" asked Katie.

"Yeah. It's my dream guitar given to me by…well…I guess you're something of a dream yourself, aren't you?"

"You're being cheesy. Cheesiness works for you. I like it. It's endearing," said Katie, as she pulled Jessie in for another kiss.

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The following week, Jessie was up on stage again, setting up for her show. She tried to keep her hands from shaking as she began to tune her guitar. She glanced over at Katie, who was serving drinks behind the bar. Just seeing Katie's face, knowing she was there helped Jessie to relax a little bit. Katie gave her a reassuring look. She could tell Jessie was nervous, so she walked over to the stage, bearing the perfect cure for nerves.

"Here. This should help calm you down a little," said Katie as she handed Jessie a shot of Patron. Jessie looked at it tentatively.

"Uh…so your goal is to get me to pass out on stage?" asked Jessie.

Katie laughed. "No. My goal is to loosen you up a bit."

"Well, I'm not doing a shot alone. Where's yours?"

"Right here," said Katie, as she pulled another shot off or her tray.

"So what should we drink to?" asked Jessie.

Katie stepped up onto the stage so she was face to face with Jessie. They stood there, gazing at each other, not really noticing the place was beginning to fill up. Katie had momentarily abandoned her post behind the bar, preventing people from getting their drinks. At the moment she didn't care. She smiled at Jessie, who smiled back. Neither of them said a word. They didn't have to. They both knew what they were drinking to. Katie raised her glass to Jessie's.

"Slainte," she said as they both leaned back and emptied their shot glasses.

Jessie could feel the alcohol burning down her throat and immediately felt a little better. Katie reached out and took the empty shot glass from Jessie's hand. Her fingers tenderly caressed Jessie's hand as she slowly pulled the shot glass away and smiled at her.

"Good luck, Jess. I know you'll do great."

Jessie watched Katie walk back over to the bar. At that moment, she felt like forgetting about her show and hanging out with Katie the rest of the night. But she knew she couldn't do that. This gig was too important. For a few different reasons.

As Jessie continued setting up, she continually glanced over in Katie's direction and caught her eye a few times. The past week had gone by so quickly. She and Katie had gone to get Jessie's things and brought everything to her mom's house, where she's been staying. David has pretty much stayed out of the picture. After she told her parents what happened with David, Rick paid him a visit and made it clear that he was to stay out of Jessie's way and never come into contact with her again. David complied and only put up a fight once. A couple days ago he tried calling Jessie and begged her to give him another chance. When she refused, he started yelling at her again. Jessie hung up on him and hadn't heard from him since. Things were better now; more peaceful. And now that Katie was around all the time, Jessie has never been happier. She has never felt more complete and contented. They hadn't had a repeat of last week's tryst, but they both knew there would be plenty of time for that. Jessie and Katie knew that what they had between them was forever. There was no doubt about it. It may have taken them seven years to get to this point, but at least now they'd have the rest of their life to make up for all that lost time.

While Katie was serving drinks, she saw Rick and Lily come through the door, soon followed by Karen. Eli's bandmates took their seats up front. Katie looked around for Eli, but couldn't find him anywhere. She remembered him showing up with his band, but he took off somewhere shortly after that.

"Katie. Can you grab another crate of Leffe from the storage fridge?" asked Katie's boss, as he was marking the inventory.

She looked over at Jessie, who wasn't exactly ready to start yet. "Uh…sure. I'll be right back."

She walked around to the back door and as she pushed the door open, she stopped suddenly in her tracks and tried to look away from the scene in front of her, but it was like a bad accident. For some reason, she just couldn't pull her eyes away.

Grace and Eli were caught off guard and immediately pulled away from their passionate kiss. They both had that deer in the headlights look. They stood there, all three of them, in the most awkward two minutes of silence any of them had ever experienced. Katie looked back and forth from Grace to Eli. Grace looked back and forth from Eli to Katie. Eli looked at his shoes, kicking the bottle cap in front of him.

More silence. Katie tried to speak, but really had no idea what to say.

"I…just…beer…," she pointed over to the storage space.

More silence.

Finally, Eli looked at his watch as he began to walk back inside. "Oh…uh…well, I should get back in there. Jessie's about to start."

Katie and Grace were left staring at each other. Katie smiled awkwardly and shrugged. Grace just sort of nodded, nonchalantly.

"Well," said Grace. "This has been sufficiently awkward. So, I'm just gonna go. And be somewhere that's not right here."

Katie watched as Grace scurried back inside. Katie couldn't help but laugh. 'Oh boy,' she thought. 'Jessie's parents are gonna have A LOT to adjust to in the coming months.'

As Katie came back in with the crate, she immediately looked over at Jessie, who was at the microphone. Once she saw Katie, she was ready to finally start her show. She looked out at the at the crowd. The place was almost completely filled up. She picked up her new guitar and slid the strap over her shoulder.

"I just want to thank everyone for coming. Um…this first song…well, I just wrote it. And I wrote it with this guitar. And every word is true." Jessie looked over at Katie as she said that last part. Jessie gripped her guitar and started strumming. She usually closed her eyes during the first song, but not this time. She didn't want to miss a moment.

"Take my hand, break my stride
Make me smile, for every time I've cried
Hold my heart, in the palm of your hand
Don't listen to it breaking, I need you understand,
Have you ever been held before?
How can I make you see?
I've never been held before
Like the way you hold me

You make me feel like a river
Like a water overflow
I wanna shout it out from the mountain
I wanna sing it on the radio
I'd sell my soul like a sinner
If it means you'll never go"

Katie couldn't take her eyes off of Jessie. She let every word of that song sink in. She knew it was about her. There was no doubt in her mind. Just as she knew the one at her last show was about her. She tried to fight it, but she couldn't. Those damn tears would not stop forming as she continued to watch Jessie sing. Jessie was still looking right at Katie.

"I think the sun is finally rising
It's burning down because I miss you
I'm gonna walk right through the fire
'Cause all I wanna do is kiss you
Rain falls, but won't wash this away
I'll build a stone wall, to make you stay

You make me feel like a river
Like a water overflow
Wanna shout it out from the Mountain
Wanna sing it on the radio
I'll sell my soul like a sinner
If it means you'll never go"

Jessie could feel every emotion come pouring out of her. She put her heart and soul into this song and her entire body was getting into the rhythm. She had the crowed completely mesmerized. But the only one she cared about getting through to was Katie. And it was working. Jessie always had a hard time putting into words exactly what she was feeling. She wasn't one to often open up emotionally, so this was her way of telling Katie everything she was feeling about her.

"You make me feel like a river
Like a water overflow
Wanna shout it out from the Mountain
Wanna sing it on the radio
I'll sell my soul like a sinner
If it means you'll never go
Never go
Never go"

The song ended and the entire audience erupted in applause. The cheering lasted for what seemed like minutes as Jessie shyly smiled and said thank you. She looked out and saw the look on her dad's face. She could tell he was moved. She saw her mom beaming as she was wildly applauding. Eli's bandmates were equally as impressed, whispering to Eli, telling him they needed his sister in the band. Jessie looked over at Katie once more. Their eyes locked and Katie was completely enthralled. It took all of her strength not to run up to the stage and kiss Jessie right there in front of everyone. She knew that now was not the time. This was Jessie's night. And she was happy just being a part of it.

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EPILOGUE

It was a warm May afternoon. Jessie was outside on the porch, sitting in a chair strumming her Gibson. Katie walked out with two cups of hot coffee in her hands. Jessie looked up at Katie and put her guitar down as Katie handed her a cup of coffee. Jessie smiled and put the coffee down. She took Katie's hand and sat her down in front of her, taking the other cup from her hand and putting it down. Katie leaned back against Jessie as Jessie wrapped her arms around her, resting her chin on Katie's shoulder.

"So…the tour starts next week. Are you ready?" asked Katie.

"I'm never ready. But it'll be fun watching me panic, won't it?" replied Jessie.

"You're not nervous, are you?"

"Maybe…a little. But you'll never know that. I'll never let on," said Jessie as she nuzzled her face in Katie's neck.

"Well, I'll be there. I mean a musician is only as good as her roadie, right?" said Katie.

"You're not my roadie. You're my muse…who, coincidentally, will be carrying my equipment and bringing me drinks and setting up the stage…"

"Haha. Very funny. I think you've forgotten what a big deal you guys are now. Thirty-four sold-out shows? I think you can afford to hire people to that for you now," replied Katie as she took Jessie's hand in hers. The last two and a half years seemed to have flown by for the two of them. Jessie had filed for divorce shortly after her show that night at the club. She and Katie have been together ever since. They eventually told their families about the relationship. It was definitely a struggle, but it was a struggle worth fighting for. Jessie's family was a lot more supportive than they thought they would be. It seemed after the whole David debacle, all they really wanted was to see Jessie happy. And Jessie could honestly say she was. Katie, too. She had spent seven years running from the one thing that made her happy. And now she vowed to never run away again. With Jessie by her side, she knew there was nothing that could ever pull them apart.

They sat there looking out at the view in front of them. The Montana sky was turning from a bright blue to reddish orange color as the sun was slowly setting over their small ranch just outside Columbia Falls.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah. I know," replied Jessie as she gripped Katie's hand tighter. "You know I love you, too, right?"

"Yeah," said Katie as she turned around and gently kissed Jessie. "I was just checking,"

THE END