Phoenix by Olivia Holt can be easily found on Youtube. Listen to the iHeart Radio Session recording. I also recommend Carry On, which is mentioned at the end of the chapter.

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Assuming Jack

Kim sang her song Phoenix once with just her and Grace, Grace using a tambourine for rhythm. My mind was blown. Kim wrote this for me? She believes in me stronger than anyone ever has. This song tells me more about how she sees me than I ever knew. I'm starting to learn that Kim lets herself out through music like I do with Musings.

"Let's run that one more time." I say, going for the Austin Taylor acoustic I used last time.

Kim holds up three fingers and drops them one at a time. When the third finger falls, we put out one of the best performances I've ever personally heard. Kim and Grace are great together. With my eyes closed, my heart guides my fingers across the strings and before I know it, the song is done.

I'm drunk on the music we've put out today. My eyes are still closed, because I feel like I must be sleeping. My friends, this house, this music, this girl... it has to be a dream.

Soft lips touch mine. I know those lips, and they tell me I'm not dreaming, that this is the most pleasant reality I've ever had. "Jack?" Kim asks softly. "Are you okay?"

I gently rest the guitar on the ground and pull Kim into my arms. She gives a little hop and she's on my lap. "I'm better than okay. I'm happy." I whisper into her neck. I kiss her where my words had just heated her skin. I enjoy the way my lips can make her shiver.

"I'm glad to hear that, Jack. We should either dissolve this jam session or keep playing before we do something the others will regret seeing." Kim kisses my forehead and goes back to the mic, her lip biting smile in place. Ladies and gentleman, I am officially hard.

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Lunch time rolls around, or at least my lunch time. Lunch time in the U.P. is roughly 12:00-3:00 pm, incase you care. I saw that the kitchen is fully stocked, so this could be fun.

I don't want to get rusty on my cooking abilities, so I think I'll offer to cook for the house. Milton and Grace are still around somewhere, so I'll offer them, too.

The kitchen has more than I could ask for in a house kitchen. There's nothing really in bulk, there's a lot of ingredient variety. I'll make a list and even a menu, just for fun. And there's the fact I'm literally paid to live here. I'll make Jerry wash the dishes. Haha!

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Assuming Kim

"Lunch!" Jack shouts from what sounds like the kitchen. Did he make all of us lunch without talking to us? I was kidding when I told him he had to cook for me!

Grace and the guys follow directly behind me. "Jack, you didn't actually have to... why are you wearing an apron?"

Jack just smirks. "There's a menu with order names, descriptions and carb and calorie counts. Next to the menu is a notepad and pen. Write your name next to your order. First come first served." Jack informs us and I'm speechless for a second.

"Jack, as much as I appreciate all of this, you don't have to turn my kitchen into a restaurant. You're my bodyguard, guitarist and boyfriend. You're not my servant."

"Speak for yourself, Kim. I'm not turning down Jack's offer to cook me three square a day." Rudy says, his eyes trailing down the menu Jack made. "Is breakfast all day?"

"How much time did you put into this?" I'm afraid of his answer.

"Roughly two hours." Jack says as he looks at the order Rudy put down. "Coming right up."

"So while Chef Jack is doing his thing, what exactly is our schedule looking like?" Jerry asks from his stool at the counter between the dining room and kitchen.

"Got a hot date, Jerry?" Grace smirks and I can't help but laugh at the two.

"Just you." Me and Grace's jaws both drop.

"I never agreed to that!" Grace shrieks, sounding offended.

"You will." Jerry smirks and shoots her with finger guns.

"Urgh!" Grace groans at the ceiling, rolling her eyes at Jerry. "Jack, just make make me a grilled cheese and tomato soup!" Grace tries to storm away.

"Oh no no no no! Get back here and write it down or you have to wait till dinner!" Jack yells at her from across two rooms.

"URGH!" Grace's cries of indignance are getting worse. She quickly scribbles it down, death glares Jack and then storms off again.

"To answer your question Jerry, I'm not sure." I shrug. "Rudy?"

"Uhh... you have your annual Seaford Christmas Bash to prep for, a radio interview to push it, and Selena wants to Skype you later about Hands To Myself." Rudy answers my question without even looking at his phone's planner.

"The only thing I need you and Jack for is the radio interview. You guys pretty much can do whatever until then." I turn to see Jack staring at me expectantly. "Yes Jack?"

"It's 2:00. Kitchen's only open for another hour. After that you make your own." He sounds so serious.

"Did you just put operating hours on my kitchen?" The nerve!

"Yup. At least my service hours, anyway." Jack smiles and slides his menu towards me.

"You can seriously make a chicken parmesan sub right here, no problem?" I'm officially impressed.

"Is it on the menu?" Jack asks, his look telling me I need to answer.

"Yes..."

"Then yes I can." Jack smiles brightly. "You can either watch or I'll let you know when it's up."

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Assuming Jack

Getting Jerry to wash the lunch dishes was no problem. After I cooked for everyone, he willingly jumped into the sink. He said it was like old times, but it was always slow and he didn't have to get sexually harassed by Helen the old waitress. To make him feel at home, I smacked his ass.

With lunch all said and done, I have time to head to the basement dojo. I don't have a gi here, so I settle for warm up pants and my Reebok trail shoes. These things could damn near let me run up a mountain.

I stretch out and pull my shirt off. I hate working out in a shirt. They just get sweaty or in the way. Maybe it's my physical self image, but there's just something else about a no shirt work out. It just feels better.

I get through my body resistance exercises and I go to town on the heavy bag. I'm breaking a hell of a sweat and I feel like I just got out of the shower.

I can't help but smile when I see the body dummy, just waiting for me. I hope he likes to play catch, because he's about to catch my fists and feet.

I'm not tearing it up long before I hear a knock on the dojo door. "Yeah!" I call as I deliver a spinning back kick to the back of Geoffrey's head. Yes, I named him!

The door opens and I let out with a big roundhouse before turning to see who entered the dragon. I feel a little self conscious when I see it's Kim. I'm shirtless, a hot sweaty mess and I probably smell horrible. "Hey." I simply greet with a wave as I reach for my discarded t-shirt to wipe the sweat from my face.

"Hey." Kim replies with no more than a whisper. She's nervously biting her lip and staring at my uncovered torso.

"Oh shit, sorry." I apologize as I rush to put my shirt on. She's seen me shirtless before, so I don't know what the problem is, so I won't ask.

"No, leave it off." She says with s bit more confidence. So that's what that was.

"What's up?" I ask. Does she need me for something, or did she just come to check on me? While I wait for her to find her tongue, my eyes travel down her body. Her hair's down and unbelievably sleek. She's wearing a jean jacket that cuts off at around belly button height, a black He Is We t-shirt under it. Stone washed skinny jeans and white converse finish the look. She literally has millions, but she dresses like girls I went to school with. But oh how they couldn't do this look her level of justice.

"I just ended my Skype call with Selena." Kim can't hide her smile.

"I'm guessing you're good to cover it?" I lean back and rest my elbow on Geoffrey's head.

"That we're covering, Jack." Kim smiles. I don't know why, but I can feel my lips twitching up. Is hers just that contagious, or am I happy to be a part of something and that's just now registering? "Next time we Skype, she wants to meet you and see us perform it."

I'm a little taken aback by this. "You want me. To play with Kim Crawford. In front of Selena Gomez?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Just remember that you have nothing to worry about. You're a hell of a guitar player, you're already dating me, and Selena's gonna love you." Kim's voice is 100% confidence. "Go shower up and change. We have to be to the radio station at 7:00. We need to eat and Rudy is going to want to talk to us."

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Assuming Kim

I leave the basement before I have to physically attack Jack and have my crazy way with him. I know it's going to be a while before... ya know, but if he thinks he's going to be in the driver's seat for our first time together, he's going to be in for a fight.

I can't be in close proximity to him when he's like this; shirtless, muscles hot with blood pumping through them, his hair and oh my god, that body slick and shining with sweat! Fuck, calm down Kim!

I come up stairs to see everyone lounging around, just watching TV. I spot Grace sitting in my favorite recliner. She KNOWS that's my chair. It's technically all my furniture, but that chair is double mine! I'll never tell her it has a massage function.

It's fun to be a little bitch sometimes. That being said, I take off at a full run and jump, twirling mid air to land Gracefully on Grace's lap. BOOM! did you see what I did there? I said BOOM!

"Kim, get off me! Your butt is crushing me!" Grace groans as I wrap my arms around her neck and hug her before turning to see what we're watching.

"Oh my god guys, really?" They're watching a rerun of a show I was on when I was like, thirteen.

"Yeah, it's so cool watching you when you were that young and seeing you now." Milton says with a smile.

"That young, Milton? We're nineteen!" I shout at him, honestly a little offended. I'm still really young! That young? I oughta slap this boy...

My thoughts are interrupted when Jack crosses through on his way up stairs, his shirt still in his hand.

"Holy Christmas nuts, Kim! You're boyfriend Jack is jacked!" BOOM! Do you see what Milton did there? I said BOOM! Sorry. I'm done now... Maybe.

"Milton, I'm right here!" Jack shouts from out of sight.

"Seriously Kim, when you're done with him, can I borrow him for about half an hour?" Grace pops an eyebrow at me, and I know my face is redder than a turnip. I quickly compose myself.

I stick my chin out and away from her. "I'm not sharing."

"STILL. HERE!"

The Living room breaks into laughter at Jack's expense. "So Jerry, how are you adapting so far?" I ask our curly haired friend. I haven't talked to him all that much yet.

"Ah, it's perfect here, yo! The house is awesome, you guys are great, I'm in a band! No complaints from this muchacho." So there's a happy Jerry for us.

"How's Jack taking it?" Rudy asks about our not so open addition.

I sigh as I wonder how to put it without being wrong or saying too much. "Jack likes it here, I think. It'll take him a while before he fully feels like he belongs. I think he's also having a hard time accepting that all of this is his now, and he's waiting for another shoe to drop."

"Jack will come around." Rudy tells me with a small smile. It's not long before the handsome devil himself returns.

Jack appears in the doorway with a plain black v-neck, a purple button down shirt with rolled up sleeves. His black jeans and black Converse American All Stars make him look like he just walked out of a magazine. "Kim, if we have to be at the radio station by 7:00, what time should I have everybody fed?"

I just shake my head with a smile and an eye roll. Jack just keeps insisting that he needs to feed the troop. "We should eat around 5:00 I think. Milton and Grace, it's just a quick interview, so I don't think you guys need to tag along."

"I should probably head home anyway. I promised my parents I would babysit my sisters so they could go out." Milton says as he stands up. "Jack, Jerry. It was a pleasure to meet you. I'll be seeing you much more, I'm sure." Milton bows and leaves.

"They live here now, Milton!" I shout to remind him he will be seeing them A LOT more.

"I just don't want to sit in a radio station while that purvey disc jockey drools all over you again." I wish she wouldn't have said that.

Jack drops the spatula he was playing with. He chuckles darkly. "Can I get a repeat on that one, Grace?" Jack's fists are clenched at his side now.

"The guy that's going to interview Kim is a total sleazebag. She'd have to wear a full body parka to not have the guy eye grope her."

"Damn it, Grace..." I curse who I thought was my best friend. Now Jack's gonna be on edge all day.

"I'll give this turd ball something to look at." Jack mumbles as he throws a hamburger ball into a frying pan at a disturbing velocity.

"Way to go, Grace!" Jerry throws s stick of gum at her. What the fuck is that?! "That guy's gonna be lucky to get out of the interview if he looks at Kim the wrong way."

"Don't be silly, Jerry." Jack laughs. "I'll just rip his arm off and beat him with it." Jack smiles. I've only seen this side of Jack the day we met... Oh! Yeah, there's gonna be no taming Jack on this one.

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Assuming Jack

Rudy ran us through the game plan. We're not even there. We say nothing, we make no noise, we don't do anything to distract Kim. We only admit our presence if the DJ asks us a question. With that info fresh in our heads, we're ready for our first official public security detail.

Rudy parks and gets out with Jerry. He stands with his back against the vehicle as Jerry opens the door. I get out first, and then Kim. My eyes scan the parking lot for half a second before we swarmed by newspaper, TV and magazine reporters. This interview isn't a big deal, but Kim and her Seaford Christmas Bash are a big deal. It's the Christmas version of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve Celebration.

Jerry, Rudy and I form a wall around Kim and we push through the crowd.

"Wait a second, you're the man from the leaked videos of Kim Crawford! Who are you? How do you know Ms. Crawford?" It didn't take long for me to be noticed. They do their homework.

Rudy tells us not to speak, only to get Kim inside. As we approach the doors, we rotate formation so Kim can get in and we're covering her back.

"Perfect, guys. That's what we need to do on the way out, too. They're like vultures. They can smell you for miles, Kim. Miles I tell ya!" In case me or Kim haven't told you yet (A/N: Yes I did intentionally break the third wall. Kim and Jack are well aware they are each telling this story.), Rudy's a little intense.

"Alright. I see the on air sign. Let's go." Kim sighs. I don't think she likes this guy. Neither does Grace, if her reaction from earlier is any indication.

Rudy and I lead Kim to the DJ and Jerry stands outside. Is this overkill on security measures? Maybe. Are any of us willing to risk it though? Nope.

"Ah! Here's our special lady of the hour, Ms. Kim Crawford!" The DJ smiles and offers Kim a seat across from him. He offers Rudy and I chairs, but we both opt to keep standing, our arms crossed.

"Kim Crawford, the one the only. It is such a pleasure to have you. For the folks at home, she is more gorgeous in person." He's not wrong, but I don't like him saying it.

"I'm glad to be here. This is one of my favorite times of year." Kim says happily.

"Indeed it must be. You're Christmas Bash is all the proof anybody needs of that." The guy chuckles. "So what kind of festivities can we expect this year?"

Kim taps her chin as if thinking. "Here's my newest attraction, that took every strong I had to pull. Adult bounce houses!" Kim laughs as she sees the DJ's reaction. "I was able to arrange for my favorite traveling petting zoo to come back again this year."

"Are we going to get you in a dunk tank?" The douchebag asks with a raised eyebrow. What I wouldn't give to pluck out each hair of that eyebrow one by one.

"No, but we can put you in there with a pair of Daisy Dukes." Kim turns it around.

"I think people are more interested in your legs than mine, Kim." This guy's asking to get whooped. I can already hear his screams in my ears.

"I will also be performing with my band, now that I've been able to find a guitarist and bass player." Kim turns to me and smiles.

"Is this young man one of your new players?"

"Sure is, Devin. This is my new guitarist Jack Brewer." Kim waves me over. "Come say hi, Jack." I look to Rudy and he gives me a nod. I was not informed that this would take place.

Kim stands up and takes my hand. She pushes me into the chair and sits on my lap. Kim's the only one in the room who's not surprised.

"Hey Devin." What am I supposed to say?

"So Jack, how long have you been playing for the lovely Ms. Crawford?" Devin asks. His tone his jovial, but he's looking at me all wrong. He's got the wrong tone. I don't think he likes that me and Kim are an obvious thing, but why would I give a shit about what he likes?

"Just started this morning, honestly." I say with a chuckle, running a hand through my hair. I'm a little nervous. I've never been on air in any way before.

"Wow. She's gonna change your life, man. Stick with her, and she'll bring you places. I've been following your exploits for a while, Kim. I've also noticed that Jack here, is the same guy that's been in some public footage with you over the past week."

"Yep, this is true. So I'll also have my friend Selena Gomez performing, along with Coldplay, OneRepublic, and Imagine Dragons." Kim tries to steer back to why we're here.

"How exactly did you two meet?" Devin is losing track of why we're here. Should I step in? I look to Rudy and he waves me off.

"At a gas station, actually. We just kind of ran into each other and started talking. Next thing I know, we're leaving Michigan behind and heading home. We laid down our first track today." Kim tells him more than I would have. "Anyway, at the Bash I plan to..."

"Kim, what's the story behind the mall fight security footage that got out?"

"Alright Devin, Kim came here to talk to you about the party Saturday. That's what YOU asked her to come talk about. That's what she's trying to talk about. You're being a major tabloid leech and it's making you look like a sad radio journalist. Journalist is an overstatement." I've had enough of this jackass.

"You're right Jack, and I'm sorry. I got off topic and that's my bad. Anyways, back to this extravagant Christmas Bash." Devin's back on track.

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Assuming Kim

We get back home from the radio show, and Jack had been completely quiet since he blew up on Devin.

Jack went straight to the basement. He didn't even change first. Did Devin really get that under his skin? I give him a few minutes before I go after him. I'm technically his boss, but I'm also his girlfriend. I give a shit about him. I don't just have to, I need to and I want to. Jack bailed me out at the station, so I can only help him. It's fair change. We're there for each other, is what I'm saying. Different kinds of there at the moment, but there.

I knock on the door but I don't hear anything. I throw open the door to make sure he's okay, but he's not even in here! I go to the next door. Without knocking, I walk into my studio. It is my studio, after all.

And there's Jack. He's sitting on a stool with his favorite acoustic. His eyes are closed and he's rolling his head around his shoulders as his own music takes him. It's quiet and gentle, melodic and calming. I can't help the smile that's forming on my lips as I watch him work out his heart across the strings.

He finishes his tune and lifts his head. His eyes are still closed and he exhales deeply. "Hey Kim." He didn't even open his eyes and he knows it's me. "What's up?" His tone is completely betraying his eyes.

"I came to make sure you're okay." I say softly. I can tell he's not.

"I'm doing just great, Kim." Jack flashes a weak smile and goes back to plucking the strings.

"Bullshit." I call. "Jack, come on. You've talked to me about so much, I read Musings." I push. "What's going on, Jack?" I lean against the doorway, as I expect to be here for a while.

"Nothing big. Just some stupid stuff." Jack shrugs as what he's playing kicks up tempo. It's gonna be big. "It's just... I kinda lost it today at the station, you know? It wasn't my place, and I know that. It's my job to protect you, but physically." Jack sounds so sad! Does he really think he messed up?

"Jack, I'm glad you stepped in. I was too polite to do anything. I wouldn't have unless he actually insulted one of us. You saved me from looking like a bitch. You passed Rudy's test to see if you had the balls to step in. That's why Rudy didn't do anything."

"So, I did good today?" Jack looks at me a little hesitantly.

"You did great today, Jack. You're a bodyguard and it's your job to defend me. But you're also a band member and my boyfriend. I want you to protect me. In every sense of the word. And when people come after you as a musician, if we have to fight off crazy stalker fans, and when people come after you for being my boyfriend... I'll be there for you too."

Jack has some issues, and I have some that I haven't talked about yet. I know I know, how can I keep going after Jack when I'm hiding. First things first. I'll get to me, but I'm strong. Jack is too, but I have more support than he does. Before Jack, I felt lonely, but I wasn't as alone as Jack is. Does that make sense? I'll tell Jack about me eventually, but for me and for him, I need to make sure he's going to be okay. That's why I wrote Carry On for us, but I haven't revealed it yet.

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Don't forget to listen to all the songs I mention! They add a lot more to the story, I promise!