Chapter One
Breakaway

Nashville, TN

"Looks like everything is set up on our end. You have another meeting on Tuesday just to run through everything again but everyone here at the label feels you're ready." The deep voice said from the speakerphone that was sitting on the desk in front of me. The large wooden table stretched the length of the room, the reflection from the tall floor-to-ceiling windows on the left side of the room shining off the finish of the table. It was raining, and the sound of the droplets pelting the panes of glass vibrated around the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Leonard. I really hope I can make you all proud." I said, leaning forward on my hands. The chair creaked under me as I did, the wheels moving slightly back.

"Kimberly, we know you are ready to crush this. You have all the faith in the world in you." He said and I could also picture the very round and robust man smiling on the other end of the phone as he sat in the board room of Big Machine Records. I was supposed to be there in person today but things needed to be changed last minute, resulting in a phone conference instead.

"I appreciate your kind words. I couldn't do it without all of you guys there. Thank you for this opportunity." I replied, a smile on my face. Mr. Leonard let out a laughed laugh.

"Thank you for your talent. We will see you on your opening night!" The phone hung up, the line going dead. Reaching over, I hit the button and disconnected the call. Leaning back in the chair, I put my hands behind my head. It was hard to believe that in just three days, I would be walking onto the stage of the first concert of my own headline tour. Glancing out the window, I watched as the rain pelted the pane some more. It had been three very long years since I had started my journey with Big Machine Records. Honestly, it wasn't even an ambition that I had seen myself aspiring to when I was a kid. In fact, it's pretty much the farthest thing from where I saw myself at this point in my life. But I mean, do we ever land where we thought we would find ourselves when we were just kids?

"Kim?" A voice called from outside the door of my home office. I turned in my seat towards the door as it opened, the sound of the rain hitting the skylights in the hallway coming into the room with Tristan Matthews. The 29-year-old guitarist stood there, an expectant look on his face as he rested his hand on the doorknob. I noted that he had his shaggy dirty blonde hair brushed back into a ponytail today, his blue eyes sparkling without the hair in them. Tristan was your definition of rocker attractive. Everything from his clothes and the way he stood told you that he was meant for life on the stage with his guitar. I stood up from the chair, closing the folder that was on the table next to the phone. I wasn't quite sure why I did it, instincts telling me to hide the contents of my contract from other eyes.

"Hey. How was practice?" I asked, hugging the folder to my chest. "Did you guys make it through all of the songs today?"

"Almost. I think we're going to need to tweak the order of some of the later songs to make things pace better but overall, not bad. How was the meeting with the board?" He asked, stepping towards me. Tristan was the lead guitarist for my band. He's been on tour with me since I was just an opening act for Carrie Underwood three years ago. He's stuck around since then, helping me with each gig through every city across the country. He is one of the best in the business in my opinion to have working beside me night after night. I was lucky to have him.

"It was short and sweet. Just went over some stuff with advertising and some radio spots I need to do. Hopefully, I can squeeze them all in before opening night." I replied.

"I'm glad to hear." He said, leaning in and giving me a kiss on the lips.

Tristan was also my boyfriend.

"Thanks. Are you hungry? I think Theresa is still in the kitchen. She could make something for you quick." I headed out of the office and into the hallway, the long pathway leading from the front door to the back door. There was wood paneling under my feet and a long white and gray runner rug that followed the length of the hallway. I loved my house. It was one of the first things I had bought when I signed my record deal. Before, I was renting an apartment in downtown Nashville where I still live but it just wasn't cutting it for me. Buying a house was something that I knew I wanted to do so I could have my own space. So, I did. It wasn't the biggest thing in the world especially compared to Taylor Swift's second home which was just up the road from me. But the smaller five bedroom, three bath was big enough for me. There was a nice open floor plan, a pool in the backyard, and a large garden that really sold me on the property. It had been the first home of an executive for the label and when she heard I was in the market for a house, she told me to come by for a look. I did and fell instantly in love. It was something of my own and something to show off all the hard work I had done.

"No. I'm fine. You know, if you're worried about getting all those radio shows done, I can help cover for some of them. I know all the party lines and what to say." Tristan said, following behind me as I headed into the den. It was to the right of the hallway, across from where the kitchen and the staircase were. All white leather furniture set was in here, grey and pink throw pillows on them for decoration. The walls were painted white, and bookshelves were built into two of the walls. There was a desk in here, a laptop set up on it next to my various desk decorations. I set the folder down on top of the laptop, reminding myself to put it back in its place in my filing cabinet later.

"Aw. That's nice of you but you know it has to be me. I appreciate it though." Tristan scoffed.

"I don't see why. I know exactly what to say. I've been listening to you practice it for three months now."

"I know but it's part of the media contracts. I need to make the appearances because it's my face on the tour buses." I gave him a small smile, wrapping my arms around his torso under his arms. "Trust me. I'd love for you to do all of them. I hate talking on the radio. But, it's part of the job. You can come with me though."

"Gee, thanks." He said, smirking down at me. He wrapped his arms around me too. "So, did you think about what we talked about last night?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, averting my eyes away from his.

"You know what I mean. About me moving in here." He said, rubbing my back. "Did you think about it?"

"I really haven't had much time to," I said, pulling away. I tucked my hair behind my ears and walked over to the couch, messing with the cushions. "I've just been so busy with my meetings this morning and trying to decide what needs to get done before we leave."

"Kim, that's why it would be so much easy if I lived here. I could help you with all of that stuff and make sure you aren't so overwhelmed."

"I'm not overwhelmed. I'm the right amount of…whelmed." I said, shrugging my shoulder. "Besides, I don't want you to give up your apartment halfway through your lease. And what about Dave and Mikey? You don't want to just leave them without a roommate."

"They will find someone. Nashville is full of hopeful musicians looking for a cheap place to live. And I can break my lease early. It would be worth it to move in with you."

"Tristan, I just don't know if I'm ready for that step yet," I said, setting one of the pillows down and facing him. "I mean are you sure that we've been together long enough for us to make that big of a step? You spend the night here a couple of nights a week when we are home. I think that's a good direction for us right now."

"Am I sure? We've been together for almost two years now. I think I've made more commitments with houseplants than we have at this point." He said flatly. He put his hands on his hips. "I know that this part scares you given your past, Kim, but I really think-."

"I'm not getting into this right now," I said, shaking my head. "This has nothing to do with my past. I just don't want to ruin the good thing we have going. And it's only been a year and eight months." I added, crossing my arms. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I just hate to think about you here all by yourself. Especially now that you are getting bigger and bigger in the spotlight. All it would take is one wacko to hop that fence for you to be at risk. I think you'd be safer if I was here."

"I have security. George is here. And we have police patrols here in the neighborhood every night. I am safe."

"George is a 70-year-old man with a bad knee." He said. "What is he going to do for you if someone breaks in? Beat them with his TV Guide?"

"Tristan, I'm just not sure, okay? There's a lot to consider when it comes to making a decision like this." Sighing, I looked around the living room. Honestly, I had no idea why I didn't want him to move in with me. It did make sense and everything he said was true. Just for some reason, I couldn't justify it to myself though. I felt like it would be robbing myself of my accomplishments if I let him move in in some weird way. I knew the house would still be mine and everything but I still liked the fact that it was my space and I didn't have to share it with anyone if I didn't want to. If he moved in, he would be here when I wasn't on tour and then there when I was. It sounded like way too much for this stage of our relationship. Though, maybe I was wrong. Relationships weren't exactly my strong point. I hadn't been in one in almost ten years. I wasn't exactly sure how they were supposed to work passed a certain point.

"Am I interrupting?" A voice asked from the doorway of the den. Tristan and I both turned to see the source and I smiled when I saw that it was my manager, Shayna Hill, standing there. The tall and leggy redhead looked between Tristan and me, her arms full. Her purse hung from her arm and she had a stack of what looked like mail in her hands. I also saw she had a book of what looked like headshots. Something told me I was doing some autographs today.

"No. Come on in." I said, gesturing for her to come into the room. She walked over, setting everything down on the coffee table between the two couches. Shayna has been my manager for almost two years now. I wasn't even sure why the label had insisted I needed one when she had been hired. I had just started my third tour as an opener, this time with Miranda Lambert. I was suddenly flooded with a huge surplus of fan mail and I had my first #1 hit on country radio. I didn't realize that success would bring so much extra stress and work. Thankfully, Shayna was well-experienced in the world of entertainment and took it all without breaking a sweat. She was juggling a caseload of clients when she first took me on but now, I was her only client which was something I think she preferred. Not only was she my agent, but she was also one of my closest friends here in Nashville.

"I'm going to take off. I have some more practice to do." Tristan said. He walked over and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "At least think about what I said, alright?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"I will," I whispered, nodding. He gave me a smile, brushing his lips over mine quickly before walking out of the room. I looked over at Shayna who was pretending to be sorting through the mail she had brought instead of listening to us. I heard Tristan walk up the hallway and pause for a second. I moved to walk towards the door to see what he was doing but I stopped myself. These non-existent trust issues everyone claimed I was running from were starting to get the best of me it seemed. The front door opened and I heard it close behind him, the automatic locks locking behind him. I sighed again, hugging my arms around myself.

"I think he means well," Shayna said even though I hadn't asked her anything yet. I glanced over at her again and saw she wasn't bothering to pretend with the mail anymore. She rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. "I mean big house, little old you. I'm sure that he has some justified reasoning behind it."

"But I like having it that way," I muttered, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"I know you do." She replied, smiling at me. "You've worked hard for everything you have. Sometimes, couples move at different paces in a relationship."

"I just feel like it's too quick to move in with each other. Am I wrong?" I questioned.

"No. I think you both are right. It just depends on how you feel about it though." She grabbed her pad of paper from the stack of items she brought in. "How'd the meeting go?"

"Fine. Everything is set on the label's end. I have another meeting to finalize something tomorrow I guess but other than that, I just need to make sure I show up."

"That's what I like to hear," Shayna replied, jotting something down. "I spoke to Glenn over at the bus company and your bus is all ready to go. Your stage clothing is all packed up in the supply unit and I was able to get a newer bus for the band. I wasn't sure if Tristan would be on the bus with you or not so I made sure he had a bunk on the band's bus too."

"Smart thinking," I said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "I still can't believe this is happening," I said, a grin spreading across my lips.

"You better believe it. 36 shows in the next 16 weeks. And all of them are starring you, Kim. You should be so proud of yourself. You deserve this."

"It sounds so long when you put it like that."

"I know. But it's going to fly by. Let's just focus on your first show right now, okay? Did you want to fly out to Pasadena or ride on the bus? Either works for me. I'll be tagging along for this one."

"We can just fly. That way, the buses don't need to rush across the country. I still don't understand why we aren't starting her in Nashville first."

"The label wants the first show of the tour to be a huge venue and Pasadena was chewing at the bit to sign up. We go from there to Vegas for the same reason. It's going to be crazy for the first couple of weeks but the shows seem to even out then. Once we're hitting all the cities in the middle of the country, you'll be heading into the back half."

"I can't wait." Standing up, I pointed at the mail. "What is all this?"

"Just some stuff I need you to sign for your budgets, and receipts. Stuff like that. I grabbed all your mail on my way up here too. I figured you could get ahead on your autographs too if we get some free time."

"I think I could squeeze in a couple hundred before we leave." I joked, causing her to laugh as she picked up the stack of mail.

"That's the spirit. If Tristan lived here, you could train him to sign your name for you." Rolling my eyes, I shook my head.

"I don't understand why he doesn't get it," I muttered, shaking my head. "Lots of couples don't live together. Why do we need to?"

"I'm sure he just wants to be closer to you," Shayna said, shrugging her shoulders as she continued to flip through the mail. I sighed, blowing my bangs from my face. Maybe she was right. Was I too hard on Tristan for wanting to move in here with me? It was a pretty big house. There was more than enough room for the both of us. And maybe he did just want to move on to the next step of our relationship. But I just didn't see where us moving in together would be a good idea right now. With the tour coming up, it wasn't even like we'd be here much.

"I don't know. I think I just need to think about it a little bit longer. He doesn't even know how long it takes me to get ready without my team yet." I said, smiling over at Shayna. When she didn't reply though, I saw that she was reading something with a look of concern on her face. "Shay? What is it?"

"I'm not sure. You might want to take a look at it though. I'm not sure how real it is." She held out a letter to me, one that was written on stationary that was a pale blue color. She held it out to me and I took it. I didn't recognize the handwriting as I looked down at it, clear and neat script on the page.

Dear Kimberly,

I pray that this letter arrives to you in time. You must return back to Angel Grove. Tommy is in trouble and only you can help him. Please come back at once.

I turned it over, looking for more but there was none. I reread it again, trying to decide if the words were actually saying what my brain was telling me. Tommy? As in Tommy Oliver? Tommy was in trouble? I thought about the last time I had spoken to anyone back home in Angel Grove. No one had mentioned anything about Tommy being active in his duties. Had something happened and he was kidnapped? What kind of help was I going to give him? It wasn't like I could just pop in and morph. What was I going to be up against?

"What does it mean?" Shayna asked, reminding me that I wasn't alone. I glanced up at her and shook my head.

"I don't know. When did this come?" I asked. She looked down at the envelope she had just ripped open, it was a similar blue to the stationary. "It arrived last Wednesday." She replied.

"Last Wednesday?" I asked, shocked. "That's almost a week ago. I thought these are supposed to be checked daily, Shayna!"

"The interns were out last week so we didn't have anyone to cover the fan mail until they came in. This wasn't in with the fan mail bunches though. This was addressed to here." She held it up and I saw that she was right. My address was clearly written across in the same handwriting as the letter. Very few people know my address for safety reasons of course. Whoever sent this to me must know how to reach me. If it had been a week and something terrible had happened to Tommy, I would have heard about it by now. Right?

"This has to be some kind of scary mail thing, right?" I asked. "I didn't get any other kind of letters or calls to the office, did I?"

"Not that I'm aware. I'm sure it's nothing. Tommy was your friend back in California? If something really happened to him, I'm sure your other friends would have reached out to you by now." She said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. I nodded. She was right. There was no way that Trini or Jason or Billy would just not tell me if something had happened to Tommy. But it had also been so long since I had called one of them. I couldn't even remember the last time I spoke to Billy. And Trini and I had played phone tag for the last two weeks it seems, never getting a chance to connect. I thought of the last time I had seen Tommy, the look in his eyes when I told him goodbye. Maybe they figured I wouldn't care if something had happened to him…

"Maybe you're right," I whispered, folding the letter up.

"Do you want me to contact the airport? I could get the label's plane ready in an hour. It's covered in your contract. I'm sure they'd understand an emergency."

"No. It's fine. The tour starts in two days and I can't just take off to the other side of the country right now. I'm sure everything is okay and this was just some kind of sick joke." I gave her a small smile and headed out of the room. She followed behind me as I headed towards the stairs case. Outside, I could see that the rain was still pounding the ground and there was a flash of lightning.

"Kim?" Shayna asked as I climbed the first three steps.

"Hmm?" I replied.

"You okay?" Pausing, I looked from her to the letter in my hands. She sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll buy you two days with the record company but you need to make sure your ass is in Pasadena for your opening show. I'll have Gary bring the car around and have them get the plane ready."

"I'll be packed in five!" I called out, running up the stairs.