AN: Well, I've had absolutely nothing to do over the past few days, leaving me a lot of time to write (hence this massive update). You'll learn more about Rae her history with Jimmy and his problems. Also, there will be more bumps and some new developments in Rae and Olivia's relationship. Quite a bit of drama to come. As always, leave your comments and reviews. Enjoy!

Chapter 32: The New Wild Magnolia

The next few days went by relatively quickly. Ashley helped Rae put makeup on her face to cover the bruise so her teachers wouldn't ask questions. Both she and Maureen couldn't believe Charles had hit her. She assured them that she was fine and they didn't need to worry. Maureen had offered to tell her father so that he could straighten him out but Rae's answer to that was an enthusiastically emphatic no. The last thing she needed was Charles talking to Elliot. Rae and Olivia tried not to let Charles' threat change their relationship. They continued talking everyday and alternating between their apartments. Rae's first show with the band was this weekend and she'd invited Olivia to come see her. The only problem was that she'd also invited Maureen, who would definitely question Olivia being there. So they agreed that Olivia would only come if Maureen's parents said she wasn't allowed to go.

It was now Friday and the girls were at lunch. The bruise on Rae's face was almost gone. Every time she saw it she thought of her conversation with Charles. She had yet to hear from him about his decision in regards to her and Olivia's relationship. As much as she tried not to think about it, this week had been hell not knowing whether if at any moment their secret relationship would suddenly become not so secret. She just continued to put her focus on tomorrow night's gig with the band.

"You guys are still coming tomorrow night, right?" she asked before taking a bite of her veggie burger.

"Uh duh. Wouldn't miss it" Ashley said excitedly.

"I don't know. I'm still waiting for my parents to decide. My mom says it's fine as long as my dad says it's ok. Of course, he was down right against it" Maureen said sadly. "I was able to convince him to at least think about it." Sometimes she hated that her parents, well her dad anyway, still treated her like a kid. She would be eighteen soon and they still treated her like she was in grade school.

"Maureen, I told you not to even ask them. All you had to do was ask if you could spend the weekend at my place. They didn't have to know about the show" Rae said in an I told you so tone. The band's gig was at a bar and Maureen had made the mistake of telling her parents, well her dad, that fact. "I know, I know. I just don't like lying to them. I mean I'm almost eighteen. You'd think they'd trust me at least a little bit."

"Please. You have parents that actually care about what you do and who you do it with and who want you to be a kid for as long as possible" Rae pointed out. "I wish I'd had as much"

"Ok, so changing the subject from this "debbie downer" topic. Are you ready for the show?" Ashley said nudging Rae with her elbow. "Yeah, I think I am. It's been a while since I've sung in front of people but I think I'm ready" Rae said sounding semi confident. The girls finished their lunch and headed back to finish out the school day. They said their goodbyes at last bell, Rae telling Maureen to call her and let her know what her parents decided. One part of her wanted both her best friends there and another part of her wanted Olivia there. The best scenario would be if they all could be there but she knew that wasn't going to happen. Not this time anyway.

Charles texted her later that evening to tell her that he would he keep his mouth shut for now. She knew that the "for now" was because he was trying to figure out what she had on him. If he could figure it out he could work on fixing it and then his ass would be covered. She breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge that she and Olivia had more time to just be themselves without other people interfering. She ate leftovers from take out she and Olivia had the night before and did her homework. Olivia was still at work and didn't know when or if she'd be able to break for the night. She just hoped that whatever the case was, she'd be able to break for long enough to come see her show. "That's if Maureen can't make it" she thought. She really didn't want to hope that Maureen's parents said no but at times she couldn't help that the thought crossed her mind. She put a good dent in her homework and then went to bed.

The next day she woke up to her phone ringing. She reached over to the night stand and grabbed for it. Her hand hit it and sent to it sliding across the floor. She groaned aloud knowing now she'd have to get up and get it. It stopped ringing before she could gather the energy to get out of bed and get it. Instead of immediately going for her phone, she got up and went straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She returned to pick up her phone and see who'd called. It was Matty and he'd left a message reminding her that they were meeting at four for rehearsal and that their set started at nine thirty. She sent him a text pretending to chastise him for waking her up and letting him know that she'd gotten his message. The clock read twelve fifteen in the afternoon. She sat on her bed and dialed Olivia, hoping she would answer. She hadn't seen her since Thursday and hadn't talked to her since yesterday afternoon. She wanted to know how the case was coming and if she had a chance of making the show. She didn't answer so Rae shot her text to call her when she could. Her next call was to Maureen to see what her parents had decided about her coming to see the show. She said her mom was still ok with but that her dad said was still thinking about it. She'd tried calling him a couple times but he wasn't answering the phone. Rae told her to keep her updated and ended the call. Ashley was the next one on her list. She was hanging out with Scott, who would be coming to the show with her tonight. They were going to lunch and she invited Rae to join them. Figuring she had nothing better to do, she agreed to meet up with them.

Maureen called while Rae was out to lunch with Ashley and Scott and said that she was really sorry but she wouldn't be able to make it to her show. Her father finally called her back and said he didn't feel comfortable with her going to a bar, even if it was just to see a band play. Rae told her she understood and not to feel bad. She knew that she would be there for her if she could. Maureen wished her good luck and made Rae promise to call her tomorrow and tell her all about it. She tried calling Olivia again after she hung up with Maureen. She figured if Maureen had gotten in touch with her dad then maybe Olivia wouldn't be too busy to answer. The phone rang and rang and rang with no answer. She was starting to get the feeling that Olivia wouldn't be able to come regardless of Maureen's absence. She hung out with Ashley and Scott until she had to meet the band.

Everything went great at rehearsal. The guys were excited to have Rae come back on stage with them. Once they were done, she headed over to her mom's for dinner. It was uneventful given that Jimmy was upstairs "sick" and Charles was conveniently called away on a work emergency. So it was just Rae and her mother that evening. It was now seven thirty and she was home getting ready. She was in the bathroom trying to decide what to do with her hair when she heard her phone ringing in the bedroom. She looked at the caller id and saw it was Olivia.

"Hey!" she answered excitedly. She didn't give Olivia a chance to say anything. "I've been trying to call you all day. Maureen's not gonna be able to come tonight. Her dad said no so you can definitely come and we'll be fine" She took a nervous breath before going on. "That's why you're calling right? To see if it's safe for you to come? Please say you're gonna be able to come." She finally stopped talking and waited for Olivia to say something.

"I...I'm sorry babe. We're still here working. I really want to be there for you but I don't see us getting out of here anytime soon" Olivia said sadly. Rae sat on her on bed and sighed. "It's ok. I...I understand" She was so disappointed. She was really looking forward to Olivia seeing her perform. She'd picked a song especially for her and the guys had agreed to add it to their set. There was no point in her singing it now. "Ummm...I'll call you...after the show I guess and let you know how it went" Olivia could hear the sadness in her voice. "Ok. Good luck. I know you'll be great."

"Thanks" she said softly before hanging up the phone. This really sucked. It was her first time back on stage and Olivia was gonna miss it.

Rae arrived at the club at eight thirty to meet with the guys. They all hung out at the bar and talked to pass the time. Rae told them to forget about the song she'd asked them to fit in since Liv wouldn't be able to make it. She sat by herself for a bit and tried to clear her head. The last thing she needed was to be thinking about Olivia when she should preparing to go on stage. Ashley got to the bar at eight forty five and immediately knew that Rae was upset about something.

"Olivia's not coming" she said explaining her unhappy mood.

"What? But I thought she would come if Maureen didn't show?" Rae shook her head. "Work?" Ashley asked. "Work" Rae repeated. "Where's Scott?" Rae asked noticing Ashley was without her date. Ashley gave her a knowing look. "Work?" she asked. "Work" Ashley repeated.

Rae tried to cheer up but it was hard. She hadn't seen Olivia in two days and she'd barely been able to talk to her because she'd been working. Now she was missing her performance because of work. She just had to find some way to put it all in the back of her mind because she had to be ready to go on stage in less than forty minutes.

"Ok, come on. Stop frowning. You look...hot" Ashley said taking in Rae's appearance, "and you're gonna kill it tonight." She put her hands on both of Rae's shoulders. "Come on, let me see a smile" she said talking to her like a parent trying to get a good picture of an uncooperative child. "Come on!" she yelled. "You know I'm not gonna stop until you smile" she said in sing songy voice. Rae gave Ashley her best smile in attempts to get her to leave her alone. "Ok, that was totally fake but I guess I'll give you an A...minus for effort" Rae laughed genuinely at Ashley's remark. "Yes, success!" Ashley exclaimed taking a seat next to Rae. They sat and talked to help her to keep her mind off of Olivia and focused on the band's show.

Twenty minutes before she was supposed to go on she started to get really nervous. She thought of all the things that could possibly go wrong. She started to second guess her decision to do this. She tried to take deep, calming breaths. She imagined that Olivia had shown up just in time to see her go on. She imagined her coming up to her beside the stage, kissing her, and holding her. The thought of being in her arms helped her slow her breathing. She began to relax and gain her confidence back. She could hear Liv's voice wishing her good luck. Olivia made her feel like she could do anything. She held on to that feeling and everything else disappeared. Matty came up to her and placed his hands on her arms.

"You ready for this?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"As ready as I'm gonna be" Rae said with all the confidence she could gather.

"You're gonna be great" he said giving her arms a light squeeze. "I know it."

It was finally time for the band's set to start. They did a few numbers on their own before they introduced Rae to join them. Her nerves left her completely when she finally held the microphone in her hands. She was on stage, vibing with the guys, working the crowd. She was having a blast. The occasional thought of Olivia would creep into her mind but she'd quickly push it away. They rocked out for three whole sets. Everyone loved her. They all crowded into a booth, same as they had the night they asked Rae to come back to sing with them again. People kept coming up to her telling how great she was and how they hoped she'd stay with the band. She was smiling so much her cheeks hurt. The only thing that would make it better would be if Olivia were there. She'd tried calling her after the show but, of course, all she got was her voicemail. She decided she'd just try again later.

"You guys were so amazing" Ashley yelled over the noise.

"It's all thanks to that girl right there" Matty said pointing at Rae. "We couldn't have done it without you. You rocked the house tonight."

"We...rocked the house tonight" she said correcting him.

"Hey, it's too bad your girl missed it" he said. Rae gave a solemn smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Next time" he said reaching over and giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

Colin ordered five shots of whiskey and five beers. They each took a shot and held it in the air, "To the new Wild Magnolia" he yelled. "Here, here" they said before throwing their shots back. "Hey now, just to be clear, I never said this was a permanent thing" Rae said looking around the table. "Oh come on, Rae. You saw the crowd tonight; heard them yelling for us, for you. We need you" Brad said raising his beer to her. "Yeah, we do. Anyway, I doubt you wanna walk away from the feeling you got from being on stage tonight" Matty said taking a long swig of his beer. Rae just smiled and thought about what they were saying. She definitely loved the feeling she got from being on stage and the response she got from the crowd didn't hurt. "So, what do you say?" Colin asked leaning forward on his elbows. Rae grabbed her beer and hoisted it up, "To the new Wild Magnolia" she said with a big smile. The guys all cheered and Ashley gave Rae a big hug and kiss on the cheek. They had another round of shots and beers and talked about upcoming gigs. Rae cut herself off for the night but Ashley had a couple more rounds with the guys. They cleared out of the bar around three in the morning. Rae paid for overnight parking as usual, except this time she had to pay for both her and Ashley's car. "Maybe we should just start taking taxis when we go out" she thought to herself. They took a taxi back to Rae's and immediately started getting ready for bed once they got inside. After trying Olivia again with no success, Rae changed into shorts and a tank top. Ashley went for boy shorts and Rae's cut off shirt.

"Is that the only thing you can find to wear when you come over here" Rae asked noticing she had on the same thing as last time she stayed over.

"No but it's as close to naked as I can get" she slurred with a wink. Rae laughed and shook her head, walking into the bathroom. She had just finished taking off the little makeup she'd worn and brushing her teeth when Ashley came up behind her. She wrapped her arms around Rae's slim waist and kissed her lightly on the neck. "Ashley, what are you doing?" Rae said softly. Ashley remained silent taking Rae by the hips and turning her around in her arms. She leaned in and kissed Rae hard on the lips. It Rae a moment to process what was happening. She opened her mouth to protest and Ashley took this opportunity to insert her tongue. She grabbed the back of Rae's head pulled her deeper into the kiss. Rae reached back and grabbed Ashley's hand pulling it from her head and pushed her away. "Ashley, what the hell!" she yelled. Ashley looked at her confused. "I have a girlfriend and you have a boyfriend" she reminded her. Ashley suddenly brought her hand to her mouth, bolted over to the toilet and retched up her stomach contents. "And you're drunk" Rae whispered to herself. She held Ashley's hair and rubbed her back while she threw up. Once she was done, she helped her to the bed and laid her down. She got some Tylenol from the medicine cabinet and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She came back and handed them to Ashley and watched as she swallowed them down.

"How many drinks did you have?" Rae asked. She'd only seen her have four shots and two beers which was about what she usually drank and it didn't make her sick. "Ummm...a few shots while you were on stage, two dirty martinis, and then the drinks with the guys" she said listing her consumption for the night. "Ashley" Rae whispered shaking her head. She just groaned in response. Rae took the cup of water from her and sat it on the night stand. She got under the covers and settled down to go to sleep.

"Rae?" Ashley whispered. "Yes, Ashley" Rae said amused by her friend's tone. "I'm sorry I kissed you" she said even though she wasn't really sorry. She was honestly hoping that Rae would've responded a lot better than she did. "It's ok" Rae said with a soft laugh. "Can you scratch my head?" Rae chuckled and rolled her eyes. She turned over and moved closer to Ashley and started scratching her head. For some weird reason, this helped her go to sleep. Sure enough, after about five minutes, Ashley had drifted off to sleep. Rae smoothed her hair and turned back over and went to sleep.