It was now 4 A.M. as Jason and I walked up to one of the biggest hotels in Tennessee. Jason may have dried my tears but I was still sad on the inside. I felt awful for running away like I did and leaving Savannah with that awful family, but if I would have stayed there any longer I might have killed Gina and her mother.

Jason opened the door for me, "After you, milady," he said with a charming smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

He escorted me to a room on the top floor then knocked three times.

The door was soon answered by a boy I immediately recognized as one of his brothers. He looked a little surprised to see me standing there with his brother.

"Uh…hey Jase; and you are?" he asked politely. Jason pushed past his brother while gently pulling me along.

"I'm Joey," I said quietly as I followed Jason's lead. The boy closed the door behind us.

Jason gently sat me down on a sofa in the living room of their hotel suite.

"I'll be right back," he whispered as he gently kissed my cheek.

The boy who had answered the door came and sat down next to me on the couch.

"I'm Nate," he stuck out his hand politely. I smiled at how nice he was and gently shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you," I said happily, trying to ignore the depression I was feeling inside.

Jason then came back into the living room followed by another boy who I guessed was his other brother.

"Joey, this is Shane," he introduced his brother; I shook his hand like I did with Nate.

Shane then sat down in a car next to the couch. Jason stood in front of all of us then cleared his throat.

"I bet you two are wondering why Joey is here with us at 4 o'clock in the morning," he started. His brothers nodded.

Jason then looked at me, almost for permission as if to ask if he could tell the whole story; I nodded.

"Well you see…Joey here is our Cinderella," Jason started but was interrupted be Shane, "You mean your Cinderella," he said with a sleepy grin causing Jason to blush.

"Yeah…uh…anyways, turns out her stepmother didn't want her competing and had a little meltdown after the show. I believe it is in Joey's best interest to stay here for the night," he said confidently.

"If that's ok with y'all," I injected quietly.

"Of course that's ok," Nate said truly understanding the situation. Shane only nodded before heading back to bed.

"Thank you," I said to the two remaining brothers that were still in the living room. Jason came and sat on the other side of me.

"So what happened? If you don't mind me asking," Nate said politely.

"Well, I came back to the coffee shop that my family owns because I was supposed to be working all night, but my best friend really wanted me to go to the Battle so she took my shift. My stepmother eventually found out…she ripped up my dress that I had worn and broke my guitar…it was my father's," I finished with a silent tear rolling down my cheek.

"Oh, wow. What did your dad have to say about that?" Nate unknowingly asked.

"Nate!" Jason hollered. I shook my head.

"No, no; it's ok. He…he actually died two years ago…car accident," I told him, tears falling a little harder now.

"Oh; I'm so sorry," Nate whispered to me. I only nodded just to acknowledge that I heard him.

Jason gently took me into his arms.

"It's ok," he whispered softly to me, "we're going to fix this…I promise."