Will Tomorrow Ever Come Chapter 14: Hallelujah, a degrassi fanfic

Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Hallelujah (Property of Leonard Cohen)

A/N: This is the day after Craig and Ashley spent with Sean and Ellie. This chapter is going to setup what the course of the next part of story is going to be. Umm there will be a little bit of drama but not that much. Last chapter I said that the song I used as the title would be showing up, well I was wrong, I could have put that in but it just didn't work. But I promise that It will have some significance within the story. Thanks to everyone who reading my story and giving me feedback, I really appreciate it.

As she opens her eyes she notices Craig is sleeping on his side with his back turned to her, she smiles a bit. She moves in closer and kisses him on his shoulder, she doesn't want to take him up but at the same time she wanted to feel the touch of his body even if it's his shoulder. During the night Craig had some how lost his wifebeater, Ashley's eyes moved all over and saw that it was placed on a small desk on Craig's side of the bed along with his car keys and his cell phone. She couldn't help but notice Craig's well toned body, yea he was always tall with a well built frame but he never looked like this, he didn't have a body builder's body, he wasn't a muscled up freak, but the one word Ashley would use to describe Craig's physique would be "cut", all of muscles were well defined and he had a definite six pack. She started to notice the numerous tattoos on his body, during high school if you would have asked Ashley whether or not Craig would get tattoos she would've said, "you're crazy, Craig would never do anything like that". But times had definitely changed, she counted about 7 of them but she knew that they're more but the other side of his body was being covered. The first one she has her eyes focused on is the one of behind his ear, the one that meant so much to her; they didn't really discuss it, but the fact was that he had her initials tattooed on him, that a piece of her will always be with him. She moves her eyes up and down his body, on his wrist there is another set of initials and asks herself "what does J.M.M mean? Okay names that start to with a J that he would get tattooed on him well there's his mom Julia, Joey, and little Joey; Although his last name is Jeremiah and I don't remember him having a middle name, so that knocks him out of the running. It's comes down to his son or his Mom, it could go either way." Craig groans a bit moves around a bit, Ashley is scared that her staring at his tattoos could be the reason why he is waking up but soon she is relieved when he was back to sleep. But as he moved around he placed his left arm out of Ashley's line of sight that revealed a tattooed that Ashley started to examine, it was a staff that had various notes; in her head she started to play the notes that were tattooed on his body. She didn't know what the song was but she was sure that it had some special meaning to him, she knew that every tattoo has a story to it and she wanted to know what every single of them meant.

A/N: Just so you guys know "A Staff" are those lines (4 or 5 lines depending on the song) you see in musical books that have musical notes written on it.

Craig starts to move around a little more, this time he strokes the back of his head with his hand then moves to scratch his hair. He yawns a bit and opens his eyes; they are watery so he starts to wipe them. He rolls around and is startled by the fact that Ashley is staring at him. "What the hell?" responses Craig

Ashley winces, the one thing she set out not to do backfired on her. She has that gloomy look on her face and says, "Sorry baby if I startled I just didn't want to wake you."

Still half a sleep Craig shyly grins at her and uses his hand to caress Ashley's face, he takes his thumb and brushes it up against her cheek. His body is now completely facing hers and with his other arm and sides it underneath Ashley's body placing it in the middle of her back. He gently inches her closer to him and plants a kiss on her lips that she wishes would last forever, even though both had a major case of morning breath nether one cared. As Craig removes his lips from Ashley's he looks into those blue eyes that has always entranced him and says, "never apologize for that, the fact that I get to wake up next to you and have that scent of yours all over this house is something I can never repay you for."

"Aww" responses Ashley as she slides her body on top of Craig's and they begin to make out. During the make out session Ashley rubs the tattoo of her initials with her thumb, Craig notices this and says, "you probably want to know the story behind it, don't you?" Ashley nods in response; Craig proceeds to lightly stroke her hair, he looks into her eyes and says, "some time after I initially got out of the hospital I got it done. Sean went with me to get it; at first he tired to discourage me from doing it. But I needed to do it, because I didn't think I would ever see you again. I always felt that I had even a little piece of you I could make through each day, that's why I had it done. Each tattoo I have has some sort of special meaning to me, memories of the past whether they are good or bad. Honestly I think I am done with getting them, I mean I'm into double figure."

Ashley uses her fingers to travel up and down his body, she stop at the initials she was looking at earlier. Craig notices the fact that she was examining that particular tattoo; he grins at her and says, "It stands for Joseph Marco Manning."Ashley kisses it ands says, "Aww. Well that answers that question," Craig stares at her with a puzzled look. She looks back at him and says, "I didn't know if represented your Son, your Mom, or even Joey although his last name doesn't end with an M."

A smile replaces the puzzled look on Craig's face and he says, "Oh, ok. I don't have any tattoos on me that reference Joey, he is strictly against it for whatever reason." Craig moves his body so that his back is facing Ashley, who notices two angels one on each shoulder blade, each one has some writing underneath them, Ashley has to admit that they are beautiful, they have a very gothic look to them but not too demonic. Craig jerks his head to slightly face Ashley and says, "The left one is for my mom, and the right one is for Casey."

Ashley smiles at the fact that these two people were so special to Craig that he uses angels as a way of honoring them. By this time Craig is about to maneuver himself back to facing Ashley but she stops him and asks, "It's kinda been driving me crazy but I need to know what the hell this means?" pointing to the tattoo with musical notes on it.

Craig shakes his head at her and says, "I'm hurt by the fact that you don't know what song it is, even if it's has been so long, I thought you would have instantly knew what it was." Craig sighs grabs his tang top and puts it on along with his sneakers, he moves over to the window and looks out to the park outside. Without looking back at her he says, "I'll give you a huge ass hint Ash, it was the first time I ever told you that I love you," and with that Craig walks out the door. Ashley looks down and says to herself, "how did it get so bad so fast. What did he mean the first time he told that he loved me? Oh my God, Shine, that was the first time he told me he loved me." As Ashley grabs her shoes and runs out of the room, as she went down the stairs she notices that every room expects for Joey is empty, she hopes that he downstairs in the kitchen and that he will forgive him for not knowing. As she reaches the kitchen she automatically noticing that it empty so is the living room, she sees that the door to the backyard is slightly open she walks outside making sure that she closes the door behind her. Ashley looks around a bit and sees that Craig isn't in the backyard and remembers that he was staring out into the park, and thinks to herself that it would be a good place to look, even though the only thing she has on is her nightgown it didn't really matter because her top priority is to find him. She walks around the park for a bit and then see someone sitting a nearby bench; she automatically knew it was Craig even though he had his back turned to her. She crept up to the bench making sure that he didn't have the opportunity leave to, but as she reached the bench he moves his head and she can tell that he notices her presence. As she sits down with him she cautiously make sure that she doesn't say anything, she would be willing to wait forever until he was ready to speak.

She didn't have to wait long, Craig lifts his head and says, "I'm sorry if I was a little overdramatic back there, it's just that I was hurt by the fact that you couldn't recognized what song it was."

Ashley moves in a little closer and says, "you don't need to be sorry Craig, I'm the one who should be sorry the fact that song is so special to the two of us and I didn't recognize it, I feel like such a jerk," she places her head on his bare shoulder.

Craig lets out a big sigh and says, "why do I always become a little emo boy when I'm around you. Outside of my mother and Angie you were the first person I ever said "I Love You" to. The look in your eyes when I sang that song has always stayed with me because it was one of the happiest moments of my life and that's why I had it tattooed on me. I just had an "old Craig" moment. You would think after all these years I would have grown out of my little bad habits."

Ashley moves over and positions herself into the straddling position, Craig leans his head against her chest, it's so warm he thinks to himself, he just lets it out. She had seen Craig cry many times before but not like this, she was surprised, as he cries harder he holds her tighter, not wanting to let her go. As she wraps her arms around him, she notices that people are walking by and staring at them; she didn't care she just let him get it all out. Ashley just closes her eyes, after 10 minutes or so all she hears is silence, she opens her eyes and looks down to see Craig wiping his eyes, he doesn't say anything he just places his hand on his covering his eyes and forehead.

Ashley gives him a sad smile and says, "Hi baby, you feeling ok?"

Craig removes his hand from his face, then kisses her shoulder and looks off into the distance. His eyes are so red that the color of his eyes are being distorted, he looks back at her and says, "I have no idea why I did that, wow the last time I cried like that was when my mom died."

"It's ok Craig, you just need to let go of all that pain you've been carrying around for so long, let me ask you a question?" responses Ashley, Craig answers by nodding his head, she continues "did you cry at all after we broke up?"

Craig just sighs, he kinda winces, he then looks up at her and says, "I really didn't, umm I mean for the first few months I was in the hospital, then I had a lot of physical therapy. I'm not going to lie to you I dwelled a lot on everything but honestly I don't think I ever cried about it, hmm that's just odd," Ashley notices that Craig has a puzzled look on his face.

Ashley starts to stroke his hair, she kiss his forehead, she then lifts his head so that their eyes meet, she looks into them and says, "I don't know how you are going to feel about this, so I am going to come out and say it. After everything that happened that spring I just broke down, I was thankful that I was able to get through my finals that year, but as I soon as I was done, I went straight home and I cried that entire summer. I was such a wreck that the only person that I let see me was my mother, I just cried until I was dry, maybe you needed to do the same thing. That's just my opinion, for whatever it's worth."

Craig gives her a smile, she knows that she what she said had hit home and that she understood his disposition at that moment. With his right arm he inches her closer to him and with his left hand and he intertwines it with her hand. Ashley closes her eyes in delight, she was definitely sure that he was back to his chipper self. She opens her eyes to meet his and he asks, "Why are you so good to me? I cry like a little baby over nothing, and all you do is comfort me, I'm starting to question your sanity I mean come on, ever since you've known me all I do is get something good, obsess over it, fuck it up, pine after it and repeat."

She takes her free arm and wraps it around his neck and says, "Because you are so good to me, I'm just returning the favor that's all. Don't say that ever, ok I have to admit there was a period of time where you were like that but you are not like that now. In the few days that I've been around you I have seen the change in you, you have grown up so much. Please don't ever doubt yourself, be the guy that I fell in love with more than 16 years ago, that happy, idealistic and romantic guy that I know is in there," pointing to his heart.

Craig gives a giant smile and says, "I think we better get home, I don't want Joey to start worrying where we are."

Ashley removes herself from her position and says, "that would probably be best, people were starting to stare at us and my nightgown is wet." Ashley wraps her arm around Craig's as they walk home, as soon as the walk through the backyard gates they both notice the kitchen lights are on, Craig looks at Ashley and asks, "did you leave the lights on?" she shakes her head. They both run up to the door and open it; they see Joey sitting at the kitchen table eating some cereal. He gives them both a puzzled look, then shrugs and continues to eat his fruit loops.

"Are you guys ok?" asks Joey

Both Craig and Ashley chuckle, Ashley heads upstairs while Craig stays behind and says, "yea were fine, I just had to get some things off my chest. We thought you were asleep, I would have made you breakfast if I knew you were awake."

"Dad I'm 10 years old, I can do things for myself. I don't always need you to baby me. Look you have to work through some issues with your girlfriend, by the way is it alright to call her Ashley?" asks Joey

"You would have to ask her. I get that you're growing up and you need to be able to do things on your own but don't just think I'm going to let you do whatever you want," replies Craig

Joey nods in agreement, and gets up to place the dishes in the sink.

"I'm going to do upstairs, don't forget to wash your plate, ok?" responses Craig as he starts to climb the stairs. As he enters the room he sees Ashley rummaging through her bag looking for clothes to wear. He decides that it would be best if he takes a shower and maybe that would wash away all the pain. He grabs a pair of boxer out of a drawer and goes into the bathroom, as he turns on the shower he makes sure that the heat is turned on as much as he could stand. As the water crashes down on him, as he closes his eyes he lets himself go, he doesn't even hear the bathroom door opening; he feels a soft touch on his shoulders. His eyes remain close as she wraps her arms around his waist, a smile creeps on his face, he grabs one of her arms and kisses the palm of her hand. As he turns around he can see how beautiful she is in the water, he see that the water is attacking her hair; he takes her body and pins it against the wall, he starts to kiss her collarbone she lets out a not so subtle moan, as she closes her eyes she starts to bite the side of her bottom lip. As he lifts her up she wraps her legs around his waist, she is shocked by how strong Craig has become over the years. He lays sweet kisses on her chest; Ashley wraps her arms around his head holding him tighter with every motion that Craig makes, every thrust makes her moan louder and louder. They only stop when both their skins have become palmly from the hot water, as they finish taking their shower Craig holds Ashley in his arms and just looks at her.

"What, do I have something on my face," asks Ashley

Craig chuckles a bit, moves some wet hair that is covering her face and says, "Nothing, I'm just simply in awe of you. Every single inch of your body is perfect; every part of your soul is perfect."

Ashley has a giant smile of her face, she uses her hand to brush his face, and she looks into his eyes and says, "You know if it was any other guy, I would think he was full of shit, but the way you look at me makes me think that actually believe that I'm perfect, even though we both know that you're wrong, I'm so flawed that it's not even funny."

Craig shakes his head and begins to tickle her; she can't contain her laughter, which causes Craig to smile. He looks into her eyes and says, "even your laugh is perfect, trust me when I tell you that you are the perfect woman, even every single flaw that you say you have is what makes you perfect."

As she moves in to kiss him, they hear a knock at the door.

"Dad, are you in there?" asks Joey

"Yea, son. What's up?" replies Craig

"Leo is downstairs waiting for you. He said that you had a meeting Friday but you bailed on him," responses Joey

"Tell him, I'll be right down," answers Craig

Craig looks back at Ashley who says, "You didn't tell me that skipped your meeting with your manager."

"Sorry I was on cloud nine, after you came to see me. I stayed a little longer to sign autographs and take pictures. And I really didn't want to have the meeting yesterday because I wanted to spend the day with you, I hope your not mad," replies Craig

Ashley looks at him with a mischievous smile then says, "Well one side is telling me that it's so sweet that you couldn't get me out of your head, but the other half is telling me to slap you upside your head because you know better than that. Just go get dressed and I'll be right down, okay?"

Craig just smiles and slaps her on her ass, and exits the bathroom, Ashley just laughs. As she brushes her teeth she notices Craig moving around, when she enters the bedroom she sees that Craig has already left the room. She puts on some shorts are that are neither short nor long, and a black t-shirt, she dries her hair and places it in a ponytail. As she heads downstairs she could hear the conversation that Craig and Leo are having.

"Craig why didn't you call me on Friday to tell me that you would not be able to show up for our meeting, on top of the fact that I had to hear on the radio that you are retiring, I thought I was your manager, I mean aren't these the things that we talk about. I'm also your friend, if you had these feelings why didn't you just come to me about this," responses Leo.

Craig sighs and says, "Look Leo, I need to slow down, I need a chance to catch my breath man. That's the plain and simple truth, how long have we known each other, a little more than 13 years, right?" Leo nods in agreement. Craig continues, "My son is growing up before my eyes, and I've done so much to be there for him, I've cut back on my schedule a lot to be in his life. But I honestly don't want to look back in 10 years and regret the fact that I didn't see my son become a man. I need to be in my family's life, and by the way it's not like I'm just going to stop completely, we still have the tour coming and all the promotion we have to do for it, so stop worry about it so much."

Ashley is in the kitchen drinking some water, she smiles at the fact that Craig is such a good father, that he is willing to give up his career gladly so he could be with his son. That was the man I fell in loving with him she thinks to herself, she had never been prouder of him.

Leo sighs he hates when Craig is right, in a defeated tone he says, "Alright I give in. But you have haven't answered my question we didn't you show up on Friday to our meeting, better yet why didn't you call me to tell me, so I didn't have to wait around like an idiot."

Craig gets up, which causes Leo to get up as well. Craig has a huge smile on his face, which just puzzles Leo. He looks at him and says, "Umm Ash, I know that you're in there. Could you please come in the living room?"

Ashley walks in with a confused look on her face and says, "How did you know I was in there?"

Craig raises his eyebrows and says, "Remember, I know you better than anyone else. I knew you would be listening in on our conversation. Leo, you remember Ashley right?"

Leo shakes his head and says, "You mean you're ex, the one who you know."

Craig winces and groans at Leo statement. Just as he was about to response to Leo Ashley steps in front of him and beat him to the punch. She shakes his hand and says, "Yea that would be me, wouldn't? Look I know I don't have any involvement in this decision, but I think Craig is trying to do what he thinks is best, so I'm going to support him."

Craig looks at her and smiles, he comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her. Kisses her on the side of her head and says, "You have as much input on this matter as anyone else." He turns his attention to Leo and says, "And before you say anything, yes she is another reason why I'm planning on slowing down. No she didn't say anything about it, but I need her to be in my life."

Leo scratches his forehead and looks at the happy couple. He shakes his head while he chuckles; he meets their eyes and says, "Well that answers the question whether or not you two are back together. I'm happy for you guys, it's odd to see a couple go through so much and still get back together do many years later. Hmm, it's just hard you know, I'm going to honest with you and not beat around the bush, you are my most high profile artist. Although I hold you to be a dear friend, from a business aspect I'm up the creek on this one, I just don't know what I'm going to do," Leo sits down on the couch and lets out a huge sigh.

Craig kisses Ashley on the cheek, disconnects himself from her and moves over to where Leo is sitting. He pat him on the back, he could tell that he is dejected. He smiles a bit and says, "That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. The plan is to buy out the record company for the rights to my label, as soon as I start signing artist and bands; I want you to handle the managerial aspect of the label. You will have input on whom I should sign but the ultimate decisions will come down to me, what do you think?"

That once dejected look on Leo's face is replaced by a huge smile he just hugs Craig, he gets up and moves over to Ashley and hugs her as well. They are both completely shocked by his reaction, Leo looks to Craig and says, "Of course I'll help in anyway that I can, I just didn't think you would think of me when making these decision, and I know that you'll be successful at it, you have such an eye, or ear or whatever for talent that I know you won't steer us wrong."

Craig chuckles a bit, and says, "well thanks for the bode of confidence, I really appreciate it."

"Look, I leave you two lovebirds alone. But Craig we still have to meet to hammer out all the details about the tour, can you come in tomorrow in the morning?" asks Leo.

"Well, I have to drop Ashley off in the morning to work but after that I'll head over there and we'll have breakfast," responses Craig.

"Alright, I'll see myself out. You two have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow Craig, bye Ashley," replies Leo

"Bye Leo," answers Ashley

Craig walks him to the door and Leo leaves. As soon as he closes the door, he looks back at Ashley who just smiles at him. He goes over to where she is standing; he wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her then proceeds to toss on the couch. He slides himself underneath her and begins to nuzzle his nose against her; Ashley begins to kiss his neck. Craig starts to move his hand up and down her thigh.

The meet eyes and Ashley says, "Wow, I'm not complaining but I think we're making a habit of this. I mean every time we are alone, we both that we'll end up naked and happy."

"I just think that we are just reconnecting and I'm going to honest with you every time I'm around you I just can't keep my hands off of you," responses Craig.

"Well I'm not going to lie either, I feel like jumping your bones every time I'm around you," replies Ashley. Unable to contain their laughter both laugh hysterically, the position they remain in seemed so comfortable that they fall asleep. They wake up around 4 in the afternoon; Craig is the first to start moving around, which causes Ashley to open her eyes. They both notice that they have a blanket covering them, neither one of them has any clue where it came from. Both lay with their eyes open in their original positions for a while; Ashley rests her head in the middle of his chest, she can feel the beating of his still heart against her ears, so calm and relaxed she thinks to herself. Craig kisses the top of her head; he can smell the scent of her shampoo, a mixture of lavender and roses.

Joey walks into the living room, notices that they are both awake; he sits on the coffee table and looks his father in the eyes.

"Hey you are guys are awake, you know you two were out for awhile, so I saw you two asleep so I decided to place a blanket over you, hope you don't mind," both Craig and Ashley shake their head in order to say it was alright. Joey continues "umm dad, I wanted to know if I could go watch a movie with Uncle Sean and Scotty?" asks Joey

"Well, what time would you be coming back, remember your tutor will be coming around 8 tomorrow morning," replies Craig

"Well the movie starts around 5, I don't know maybe 8 cause I think we are going to eat afterward, is that ok?" responses Joey

Craig nods in agreement, just as he was about to say something they hear a loud horn coming from the driveway. That must be Sean Craig thought to himself, Joey walks over and kisses his father on the forehead and says, "Bye Ashley, bye dad, Love you."

"Love you too, be safe" responses Craig

As soon as Joey closes the door behind him and Sean pulls out of the doorway Ashley turns her attention to Craig and says, "Wait Joey has a tutor?"

Craig nods his head and responses, "Yea, well when we moved out here it was in the middle of the semester, I didn't want him to fall behind. So I hired a tutor for the rest of the semester, who by the way is a really cool person, Joey loves her, and when the new school year begins he'll be in public school."

Ashley nods her head and says, "Is she hot?"

Craig laughs hysterically and says, "Yea, if you like ladies who are in their 60's who are a little wrinkly."

Ashley lightly punches Craig in his stomach and says, "Shut up, I didn't know how old she was. For all I know she could've been some hot 20 something who wears way too revealing clothes."

"You were pre-maturely jealous, weren't you?" answers Craig

Ashley rolls her eyes and says, "Yes, is that what you wanted to hear. I'm sorry is it my fault I have a hot boyfriend who has tons of money, who is sweet, compassionate, honorable, and has millions of fans, especially of the female persuasion."

She attempts to get off of Craig, but he stops her and says, "I will never leave you, you're right I have millions of fans, and you're right most of them are women but I am only the fan of a certain young lady. And when I'm out there performing there is only person that I sing to, and that is the honest to God truth."

Ashley places her chin on Craig chest; she sighs a bit and says, "Wow, I think I just had my own little emo moment."

Craig chuckles a bit and says, "Well, I can load my Ipod with all your favorite emo bands, and you can listen to your heart's desire."

"Very funny Manning, but I'm sure your Ipod would reject it. Plus it would take me away from my hubby wubby," responses Ashley

Craig starts to play with Ashley's hair and says, "Well we couldn't have that, could we?"

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions but I need to know where we go from here, I mean this has been the greatest three days of my life but I'm too much a realist not to begin asking questions," replies Ashley.

Craig smiles at her and responses, "You're right this weekend has been amazing, and I know that we are still getting back into the flow. Look I honestly don't know what the future holds for us but the one thing I do know is that is my future is with you by my side, I'm not going to lie to you, when I go on tour it's going to be hard because I know that your life is here, but so is mine. I mean I know that you have your own life and your own apartment, but I mean eventually I would want to come live with me and Joey, and maybe one day have another addition to the family, I don't know if you want a child but that's what I want, what do you think?"

Ashley repositions herself so that they are looking directly into each other's eyes and proceeds to kiss him. She rests her face on the side of his, she notices the subtle amount of stubble on his face, and she whispers into his ears, "that's what I was hoping you would say since I was 15 I knew I would eventually be the mother of your children, that fact has never changed. My lease is up in 2 months, we can see how it goes and if in 2 months it's what we both want then I'll come live with you, is that a fair enough deal."

Craig kisses her forehead; Ashley knew that they had come to a reasonable agreement. Just as Craig was about to say something he could hear the rumble of Ashley's stomach, she starts to blush uncontrollably.

"Damn girl, you're really hungry aren't you?" asks Craig

"What can I say Craig, I've got a health appetite," replies Ashley

"Well there is only one way to cure that, do you want me to cook you up something, or do you want to go out to eat?" asks Craig

"Let's go to a restaurant, you've been cooking for everyone lately so this time I want it to be where we both are waited on. Let's just go out and have some fun, because we've been house rats the last couple of days," responses Ashley.

"Fair enough, what are you in the mood for?" asks Craig

"Well, I haven't had Indian food in forever, I mean if you don't mind," replies Ashley

"That's sounds great, but I need to get dressed, is that alright," responses Craig

As they get ready, Craig looks over to Ashley every now and again. He just stares at her body, yea of course this was his soulmate, the woman he loves, but he has always been attracted to her physically, she in his eyes was the most beautiful woman he has ever met. She doesn't have the body of a model but that's a good thing, she wasn't a skinny, or boney, she never looked like an anorexic. She was curvy, in his eyes she was perfection he loved every curve, every inch of her body. As Ashley is applying her makeup on in front of the mirror she sees Craig fixated on her, she can't contain the amount of redness on her face. The look on her face is only replaced by a huge grin, she knows what Craig is thinking, and the fact that any man would ever look at her that way makes her feel special. But knows that she is hungry and right now that means more to her than how she's feeling about Craig looking at her, so she takes her gaze off of him and returns to doing her makeup, which isn't a lot. This seems to affect Craig as he continues to get dressed, his outfit consists of black dress pants, a black undershirt and burgundy dress shirt, but he doesn't go without adding his own personal touches to what he is wearing; he puts on his all black chucks, and a necklace with a pick attached to it. She wears an all black strapless dress with high heels. In the car on the way to the restaurant it's quite silent, but it isn't awkward it's beautiful as if the world has come to a stop and the only people in it are Craig and Ashley. When get to the restaurant, they just smile at each other, when they get out of the car, some people that walk by spot Craig, he waves over to them, Ashley had gone to the show and seen had rabid his fans were, but she had never had the chance to witness random people noticing Craig, she had to admit that it was strange. As soon as they get to the door, Craig and Ashley notice that two of the female waitresses giggly like school girls looking at Craig. As they get seated the eyes of the entire restaurant are on the couple. The only one who doesn't seem to care is the waiter that was assigned to him, the guy looked like he just wanted to get through a shift in otherwise ordinary life, he was not rude, or pretentious he actually seemed like a really nice guy. Both Craig and Ashley had curry; they spent most of the dinner feeding each other. Some pictures were taken; Craig automatically knew that they would end up on TMZ the next day but he was cool with him, they always did right by him besides the fact that Ashley was the only girl that he would ever want to be taken a picture with for the entire world to see. As they finish their dinner, Craig leaves a huge tip; they get up and walk hand in hand to the door only to be stopped by the waiter.

"Excuse Me Mr. Manning but don't you think that this is excessive," says the waiter holding up the tip to Craig's face.

"Nah dude, you went above and beyond what you were suppose to do, you treated us like any other customer and I really appreciate that. And you seem to need it more than I do, remember man happiness isn't something that comes to you, you have to find it because if you don't search for it you will always regret it," responses Craig.

Craig's statement seems to work it's way through to the young waiter; he smiles at Craig and says, "Well you two have a very nice night, okay?" then proceeds to turn around and walk in the other direction.

Ashley leans into Craig and whispers into his ear, "that was very sweet of you honey, I think you just made the highlight of his life."

"Well you have always been the highlight of my life little lady, why don't we get out of here I know this nice little place," responses Craig.

"Are you trying to seduce my Mr. Manning, cause I think it might just work," replies Ashley.

"Alright, giggity giggity," says Craig

Ashley just shakes her head at him and says, "I think someone has been watching Family Guy one too many times."

"Seth MacFarlane is a genius, and he should be commended for his work," responses Craig.

Ashley just shakes her head and says, "let's just get home," she tries to catch herself but she could, she regrets finishing her statement she knew that it wasn't what she wanted to say but it definitely what she wanted to mean.

"You said it, you called it our home. I will only say this once, because I don't want to make a thing out of it but, home isn't home to me if you're not there with me and Joey," says Craig.

Ashley doesn't say anything but Craig knows that on the inside she is doing summersaults. She grabs Craig's hand and pulls him to the car, she pushes Craig so that his back is up against the passenger side's door, then proceeds to kiss him passionately, they think that they are the only two out there but then Craig starts to notices some music in the background. This also catches the attention of Ashley, who turns her head in the direction that the music is coming from.

I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

"Do you want to go check it out?" asks Ashley

Craig nods his head in agreement, as they further and further towards the street the music gets louder and louder. It was coming from a keyboard; Ashley automatically knew it was coming from a motif XS8, not top of the line equipment but still a good keyboard. The minute that the musician in question appears Craig stands back for a second, he could swear that he was looking at a younger version of Ashley, she is extremely beautiful, he could tell that from her appearance that she was a little shy, big clothes and hair covering her face was big indicators. Her vocals are amazing, she was definitely a little raw, but her talent was definitely there, she was doing a cover of an old Leonard Cohen song, she was the second best female singer he had ever heard, second of course to Ashley. The girl just looks down at her keyboard, she thinks they are just another couple that will stay there for a minute or two and listen to their music and then be on their way.

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight

Overthrew you

She tied you

To a kitchen chair

She broke your throne,

She cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe I've been here before

I know this room; I've walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you'd let me know

What's real and going on below?

But now you never show it to me do you?

Remember when I moved in you?

The holy dark was moving too

And every breath we drew was hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there's a God above

And all I ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you?

It's not a cry you can hear at night

It's not somebody who's seen the light

It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

When she lifts her head up she knows that these aren't the eyes of some random people, she stops playing for a second, she looks in awe at her audience.

"You're… you're you," responses the girl

"Yea, I'm me," replies Craig

"Wow, Mr. Manning I love your music so much, I'm really nervous right now, I didn't think I would be playing in front of someone like yourself, do you have any request?" asks the girl.

"Do you know Landslide by Fleetwood Mac?" responses Ashley

"You love that song too," replies the singer

Ashley nods in head in agreement; Craig just smiles at both of them. The girl starts to play the song

I took my love, I took it down

Climbed a mountain and I turned around

I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills

Till the landslide brought me down

She stops playing for a second to stare at her audience, she can't believe that she is playing for a worldwide famous rock star, she lets out a sigh and continues playing.

Oh, mirror in the sky

What is love?

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing

Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

I'm getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down

Climb a mountain and turn around

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

"Wow, that was amazing, what are you doing signing in the street, you should be in the studio cutting an album, I mean have you signed with anyone?" responses Craig

"No, every demo I have sent out has been rejected, I guess I don't fit the mold of what they think a successful musician is," replies the girl

"Well they're just wrong, you have an amazing voice, what's your name?" asks Ashley

"I'm Emily, thank you for that but I'm beginning to think that I will never get anywhere, I mean I know I'm only 19 but I just want to look back in 20 years and be full of regrets, I guess my parents were right, I should've just gone to college to become an accountant, ," responses Emily.

"Well I'm Ashley and you're parents are wrong you are so talented that it's not even funny," answers back Ashley

"Emily, you are a great singer, don't ever doubt your abilities. Look you wouldn't happen to have a copy of your demo on you?" asks Craig.

Emily starts to search feverishly through her bag; Craig sees her pull out a burned CD. She hands it to him; he reads the inscription on the CD "Emily Portman. Please Listen!!" He chuckles a bit to himself, he sees the look in her eyes, that twinkle to reminds him of when he first got started in the business. He looks up at her and says "Look, give me a number where I can reach you tomorrow, if I like what's this demo I'll give you a call, we'll setup a meeting, and I would love to see more of a performance from you, preferably I would like to hear your own material and covers, okay?"

Emily jumps up and down. Happy as a kid on Christmas, but she settles herself down for a second she knows that nothing is guaranteed that for all she knows he could hate her demo and never call her.

Craig takes out a 20 of his wallet and drops it into a nearby bin where people could put tips in. Ashley just stares at him, for the second time in almost 20 minutes he had made two strangers happy, to see Craig willing to give in order to make people happy, in that instances she had seen the level of maturity that he has gained over the years. Craig looks over to Emily and says "We going to go home right now, and I promise you that the first thing I do is listen to this."

Emily nods as Craig and Ashley walk away hand in hand

As they get to the car Ashley looks over to Craig and says, "I've never been prouder of you Craig, till today. I mean with what you said to Leo, the waiter, and now that young girl. I never thought I could love you more but I guess I was wrong."

Craig just grins at her, he responses by saying, "I didn't do much. I mean Leo has been there for me for so long, that I felt that I needed to repay for that, and if I really I want my dream of having a successful label I need all the help I could get. The waiter well he needed it more than I do, I mean the guy is working as a waiter, his job is based on how much people are willing to give him, I have all the money I could possibly want if I don't give any of it back, I'll be nothing but a greedy individual. And Emily, well I mean come on you heard her voice, it needs to get out there, she needs to be heard by the public, she reminds me a lot of you when we were her age, so talented but so insecure about her abilities, she just needs a chance that's all."

"God I love you," responses Ashley

Craig starts to blush; he looks down for a second then gets in the car. He unlocks the door and the first thing Ashley does when she gets in the car is kiss Craig. As they drive home, Ashley puts on the radio, as she is changing the dial it goes from talk radio, which they both hate to pop music, which they hate even more. She settles on a classic rock station, they start to sign along to the songs that are playing. When they pull into the drive way Craig sees that Sean's car is parked on the street, which mean that they probably waiting for them. As soon as they open the door, Craig notices that Sean along with Scotty and Joey are watching the end of the Blue Jays game on TV.

Sean gets up and goes over to them, he gives Ashley hug and shakes Craig's hand, he says, "where were you guys, we've been waiting an hour."

"Well we went to go eat, then we heard this young girl playing and we went to talk to her, she give me her demo so now I'm going to listen to it. Anyways dude go home, I'm sure Ellie is getting restless and thanks for taking him out, it's good for him to have some fun," responses Craig.

"Dude, don't trip. I love hanging out with him, he is like a second son to me. Well we better be taking off, Craig your right if we don't get home Ellie would start to get worried and that's the last thing she needs right now. Scotty, come on say goodbye to everyone and then let's go home," says Sean.

Scotty goes around and says goodbye to everyone and they leave. Joey looks really tired, the bags underneath his eyes are extremely evident. Craig picks him up and carries him to his bed and puts him to sleep. When he enters the bedroom he could see that Ashley had changed and was reading her legal briefs. Craig got changed as well, he put on some sweatpants and his wifebeater.

"Hey sexy, are you going to go listen to Emily's demo? Cause if you don't mind I would love to listen in" asks Ashley

"Wait that's right you have never seen the studio have you?" responses Craig

"Well duh, I've been dying to look inside of it, but I mean come on we've been busy with other things," replies Ashley with a huge grin on her face.

"Yea, I guess your right. But don't you have to read so you can be prepared for tomorrow," asks Craig

"Well yea, but I can read and listen at the same time, it's called multi-tasking Craig," responses Ashley

Craig just chuckle and extends a hand for Ashley who jumps up and gathers her notebooks and moves over and intertwines her hand with his. The minute they start heading down to the basement where the studio is housed Ashley's eyes look in astonishment that how beautiful the studio is. The room is padded with sound dampening walls, every instrument that Ashley could think of is in there; everything is top of the line. Craig looks at her and says, "Well they're a few things that I spend a lot of money on and this studio is one of them, I made sure that everything was the best. I know it might look lavish, but if someone is suppose to record a great album you need to do it in a great studio, right?." Ashley completely agrees as he makes her way to a nearby seat that is stationed near the main console. It's so beautiful Ashley thinks to herself, as Craig sits down next to her he know exactly what she is thinking he just starts to rub her legs. Ashley notices a bunch of notebooks that are on a nearby desk she points at them.

"Umm those notebook are full of songs that I've written over the years," responses Craig

"Wait, how many songs have you written in your life?" asks Ashley

"Maybe close to a thousand or so," replies Craig

She looks at him with big eyes. She can't believe that he has written so many songs. She then says, "Wow, more than a thousand you have released about 8 albums or so, an average of 15 songs per album that's about 120, what do you do with the rest of the songs?"

Craig just chuckles at the fact that she is trying to do the math in her head. He shrugs and says, "well we've recorded a little over 250 songs, and then each album we trim down to about 15 or so. Umm sometimes I write songs for other bands, I get a lot of money simply from the licensing rights so that's cool. But a majority of those songs I've just written for the sake of getting them out of my head, I mean you can read them if you want, I would really love your input."

Ashley kisses Craig on the cheek then proceeds to grab of a few of the notebooks and place them underneath her own so that they are not mixed up. Craig then loads the CD into the computer, he opens up Itunes and the music starts playing. Ashley wants to pay all the attention she could to Emily's demo but if she were to give her clients her best then she needed to read. There were about 5 to 6 songs on her demo, every now and then she peeks her head up to see Craig rubbing his chin listening intently to the music. As soon as the final track ends Craig lets out a sigh.

Ashley looks over to him and says, "So what do you think?"

"She's great, there is no doubt that, she is a little raw, she needs a little help with the structure of her songs but as she evolves as a songwriter that will take care of itself. The lyrics of these songs are haunting, see Ash that's the sign of a singer it's not how well you can play an instrument, but how well your lyrics affect the audience," responses Craig.

"So are you going to call her tomorrow?" asks Ashley

"Hell, I can't wait to get her into the studio to start recording her first album," replies Craig.

"Well that's gonna have to wait for tomorrow, come on baby let's go to bed", says Ashley.

As Craig shuts down the studio for the night Ashley makes her way upstairs, Craig had found an artist whom he could build his label around, someone with so much talent who could be a superstar. As he entered the bedroom he saw Ashley laying down on the bed reading her notes, as he laid down beside her he though of how great his life had become in the last three days, he had a great show on Friday, the love of his life was finally back in his arms, everything he wanted was finally coming true. He looks over to Ashley and says, "You're my everything, my soulmate and my best friend. My life is incomplete without you and Joey in it." Ashley doesn't say anything she just leans over and plants a huge kiss on him and returns to reading her notes. As he falls asleep he just thinks of how great his life truly is.