INTERVIEWER: "Start at the beginning, when did you first fall in love with music?"

IVY: "Oh, that's going back a while."

1961 Austin, Texas

Eight year old Mabel Ivy Grey smiles as she lines up her stuffed animals and Barbie dolls along her bed, making sure they're sitting comfortably, before rushing over to the pale blue ukulele which is perched on the stand beside her closet.

"How are you Hollywood?" She yells into her hairbrush with a wide grin, before imitating the sound of a roaring crowd, "That's what I'm talking about! I've got a special song lined up for ya'll tonight!"

Her southern drawl was definitely something she would need to work on if she were to become a star in the future and not just some country singer, but she'd figure that out when she got there.

She begins to strum the ukulele but is interrupted by her bedroom door being opened, "What are you up to, sweet pea?"

"Momma, you interrupted my concert!"

Her mother, Marjorie Grey, smiles warmly at her youngest child, "Well, I'm sorry, peach, but you gotta get some better security at these things, they just let me backstage without any trouble."

Mabel glances through the open door, down at the stuffed dog she had sat in front of it, "Buttons, you're a useless bodyguard."

"He's tryin' his best, peach, don't be so hard on him or he'll quit."

Mabel laughs at her mother's words, "He'd never!"

"He might, you're a tough cookie, Mabel," Marjorie smiles before ruffling her daughter's hair, "Now come along downstairs, you're Daddy's gonna be home any minute with your brother and we gotta get started on dinner."

INTERVIEWER: "It sounds like she's very supportive."

IVY: "Yeah," she smiles softly, a far off look in her eye, "Yeah, my Momma was my biggest supporter, she was my whole world."

INTERVIEWER: "Sorry, was? I didn't know that-"

IVY: "Don't apologise," she shakes her head, "It all happened so fast, one minute she was fine and the next..." She sniffles a little and reaches forward to grab a tissue from the box on the coffee table table, dabbing her eyes, "Sorry."

INTERVIEWER: "Take your time."

IVY: "And the next she was going through this new treatment at the time, chemotherapy. The doctors said it would make her better, that it would cure the cancer, but it felt like she was just getting sicker and sicker."

1968  Austin, Texas

"Momma?" The fifteen year old girl gently knocks on the room where her mother lay in bed. The elder woman had an ivy-green head scarf so that she wouldn't get cold after the hair loss, and her pale complexion was sickly, almost grey. A matching green cardigan swallows her frail frame, but it had always been her favourite and kept her warm.

Marjorie Grey wasn't doing well, and the whole family knew it.

"Hey, peach." She croaks out, beckoning for her daughter to perch on the bed beside her, "How are you, sweet pea?"

"I should be asking you that, Momma," Mabel bites her lip to try and distract herself from the lump forming in her throat, "Are you feeling okay? Would you like me to grab you some honey tea?"

"No, peach, I'm okay." She shakily lifts her daughter's hand to her lips to kiss it gently, "Thank you though."

Mabel's lip trembles, but she takes a breath, remembering the reason she came into the room with her pale blue acoustic guitar - her mom had gifted her it, joking that it was the older sister to her ukulele.

"I, uh, I wrote a song."

Marjorie smiles, "That's wonderful, sweet pea!" She coughs a little, "Can I hear it?"

"It's for you." Mabel nods before beginning to strum her guitar.

"I'll paint the kitchen neon/Ill brighten up the sky/I know I'll never get it/there's not a day that I won't try/ and I say to you/ ooo-ah soon you'll get better/ooo-ah soon you'll get better/ ooo-ah you'll get better soon/ cause you have to"

She continues to strum her guitar, tears simultaneously streaming down both her and her mother's face as she gets to the bridge,

"And I hate to make this all about me/but who am I supposed to talk to?/What am I supposed to do?/ if there's no you."

"Peach?"

"Yes, Momma?" The young brunette looks up at her mother with bloodshot eyes and the woman smiles sadly,

"I love you, more than anything in this whole wide world, even strawberry milkshakes."

Mabel laughs at that, despite the mascara coating her cheeks.

"You are a strong little songbird, you know that? No matter what happens-"

"Momma-" Mabel shakes her head, cutting her off but is shushed as her mom places a hand on her wet cheek.

"Listen to me, peach, no matter what happens with this disease. I want you to chase your dreams - I'll be with you," she points to the girls chest, "Right here. Your Daddy and brother will be supporting you too, you know it. I want you to become the greatest singer there ever was, sweet pea."

"But I'll miss you, Momma." Mabel sobs out and more tears fall down Marjorie's cheeks as she pulls her in for a hug.

"I know, peach, but do it for me, okay?"

"Okay."

"You're one tough cookie, Mabel, never forget it."

IVY: "She passed away a few days after that, I was broken. My Daddy and Toby, my brother, were there for me, of course, but I was always a Momma's girl. It was hard to get back into music after that."

INTERVIEWER: "I don't doubt it, but look at you now. She would be proud of you."

IVY: "I know."

INTERVIEWER: "So, how did you get back into music?"

IVY: "I found myself a boyfriend," she shakes her head with pursed lips, "He was a dick."

1972 Austin, Texas

"Hey, Johnny," Mabel smiles softly at her boyfriend, it's been four years since her mother's death and one year since meeting her boyfriend John Daniels. The brunette can practically feel the eyes of Toby Grey burning holes in her head as she answers the door to her older boyfriend, but ignores her brother.

TOBY GREY (Older brother of Ivy Grey and writer of 'Ivy Grey; blooming into brightness') : "I hated that guy."

"Hey, baby, the band and I are playing a gig tonight and Ricky's club - you wanna join?" He pulls the cigarette from behind his ear and takes a drag, leaning against the doorframe.

"No, she doesn't." Toby yells from the sofa behind her and she rolls her eyes,

"I'd love to, Johnny."

IVY: "I shouldn't have gone," she looks down, chewing on her lip.

TOBY: he clenches his fists, shaking his head in shame, "I should have forced her to stay home."

Walking through the masses of people in Ricky's, Mabel pulls the skirt of her black satin dress down as much as she can and twists the rings on her fingers anxiously as she begins the futile attempt to search for her boyfriend.

He hadn't been answering her calls all night, she was used to that. He was never exactly the most reliable, but she assumed that was just because he was a busy guy and had already left the house by the time she was calling. He was several years older, in a band and had his own problems to deal with - she assumed she was a bad girlfriend for being so clingy all the time.

She was naive back then.

"Baby!" She hears a slur from the other side of the room and looks over to see her boyfriend surrounded by the rest of his band members, "Come on over!"

She smiles a little at his enthusiasm, he was never this happy to see her - it was probably just all the drugs and alcohol in his system though.

"See, what did I tell you, Ian?" He exclaims, grabbing her shoulders a little harshly, "She's a pretty one, ain't she?"

Ian, a dirty blonde with an unkept moustache, leans closer to the teenager with a slimy smile, she could smell the cheap liquor on his breath from a mile away, "That she is," he twirls a strand of her curly hair around his finger as she chuckles uncomfortably.

"I don't know, John," another voice speaks up, the guy she had seen playing drums a few times, "It's pretty hard to tell under all those layers."

Mabel had to question what layers the man was talking about in her head, she was in a tiny dress and cowboy boots.

John laughs obnoxiously before attempting to slide the strap of her dress down her shoulder, "You're right, c'mon baby, let's get rid of some."

"Enough, Johnny." She mutters so that only he can hear as she tries to fix her dress.

His smile falls completely and he grips onto her wrist, hard enough to leave a bruise, "Don't speak to me like that, kid."

With that he drags her through to the back, the rest of his band following after them.

INTERVIEWER: "That's awful"

IVY: "I went home that night in a torn dress and missing a boot, I had bruising around my throat and I could feel their hands all over my body."

TOBY: "I would've gone out and killed him, but my baby sister needed me."

IVY: "I could barely talk, I was just stuck in that room, with those men. I could feel everything repeating, I could hear their disgusting words about my body replaying over and over in my head. I was repulsed and I don't think I've ever felt as ...worthless as I did in that moment."

TOBY: "I knew what had happened as soon as she walked through the door, she didn't need to say anything - it was written all over her face. I guided her into the bathroom and told her to shower...she couldn't even.." he shakes his head, wiping a tear away that had fallen, "She just kinda stared at herself in the mirror, she looked, I don't know, disgusted?

I repeated myself, told her to shower and that I'd make her some honey tea. That's kinda what our family always did if you needed to feel better, it was our mom's thing. But she just didn't move."

IVY: "I couldn't move, I didn't want to see the marks on my body from where I'd been prodded and grabbed at. I didn't wanna see the bite mark that the drummer had left on my hip or the hickeys that John left on my thighs.

It was Toby that ended up showering me that night," she shakes her head sadly, "My brother had to undress me and see all the marks that those monsters left on me, he was in tears the entire time but I couldn't speak, I was so nauseous."

TOBY: he takes a deep breath and finishes wiping his eyes with the tissue before continuing, "Afterwards, I got her dressed into some sweatpants and a pyjama top and then I wrapped Mom's ivy cardigan around her shoulders and tucked her into my bed."

IVY: "I didn't wanna sleep alone."

TOBY: "I really should've killed that son of a bitch."

INTERVIEWER: "God, I am so sorry, that's terrible."

IVY: "At least one good thing came from my ex boyfriend, my first song since Momma passed."

INTERVIEWER: "Dear John?"

IVY: "Dear John."

"Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone/ don't you think nineteen's too young to be messed with?/ the girl in the dress cried the whole way home/ I should've known."

Mabel, or as she had decided to start going by, Ivy sings her lyrics on stage in a bar that her brother had found on the opposite side of town from Ricky's. She strums the light blue guitar and smiles at the crowd that was beginning to form around the stage.

"And you'll add my name to your long list of traitors/ who don't understand/ and I'll look back and regret how I ignored when they said/ run as fast as you can."

IVY: "Luck seemed to be on my side for a change that night."

INTERVIEWER: "What do you mean?"

IVY: "What were the chances that a certain music producer called Teddy Price was on vacation in Austin, Texas and called in for a drink in the bar I had my first gig in?"

TOBY: "Now, I'm not saying I am responsible for my sister's success - but," he shrugs with a smug smile.

IVY: "He said he liked that he could tell I really meant my lyrics - he said the way I sang it was raw and that he could tell I'd been through some shit. He thought I had real potential to become a star."

"Los Angeles?" Ivy's eyes widen as she shares a look with her older brother before looking back to the producer, "But what about-"

"This is a once in a lifetime offer, kid, you won't become the next big thing by playing in bars in Texas, now, will you?"

"Don't call me kid." Ivy's smile falls subconsciously, her mind reeling back to the last time she was called it but her brother speaks up, effectively cutting of her thoughts, when he sees the man raise a brow at her words.

"Where would we stay?" Toby questions and he shrugs,

"You need a house? I can get you a house."

"But what about dad?" Ivy shakes her head at her brother who seemed to be being persuaded by the man, "We can't leave him alone."

"He wouldn't be alone, Ivy, he's got Grammy and Aunt June." Seeing her hesitation, Toby sighs and places a hand on her arm, "You know that Dad will kill you if he finds out that you said no to this kind of opportunity for him."

"I know."

"Mom didn't call you her songbird for nothin'." He whispers to her, "It's time for you to fly, sis."

"We'll do it." She turns to Teddy with a smile, "We'll move to California."

"That's what I'm talking about!" He grins, handing her his card and telling her he'd call her tomorrow.

INTERVIEWER: "So you moved to LA?"

IVY: "I did," she sends the camera a tight lipped smile, "It probably wasn't great for me."

INTERVIEWER: "What makes you say that?"

IVY: "I was in way over my head. The party life in California was something else and before I knew it, I was going out drinking and trying any type of pill that people would give me so that I'd fit in with the ones I thought were cool.

It didn't help that whenever I was drunk or high, it helped me forget that night with John..." she looks down with a sigh, "Back then, it was like I couldn't escape him. I was miles away from Texas but I was still always in that back room at Ricky's - I couldn't get out on my own, so the drugs and booze were my escape.

The worst thing about California though, wasn't the substance abuse and the parties. It was the people, they were beautiful. I was suddenly surrounded by all these gorgeous, slim, tanned girls, and while other people thought I was beautiful - I never saw it."

TOBY: "Her insecurities were on an all time high."

IVY: "I could always seem to pick apart my reflection in some way or another, I was either too pale, too tall, my shoulders were too broad, my teeth weren't white enough - it probably didn't help that I started smoking around then too.

The worst one though was my weight, I was never ever happy with my weight - which lead me to the worst of my addictions."

Los Angeles, California

Ivy dances around the random garden she had ended up in that night, other party goers oblivious to her presence, with a cherry daiquiri in one hand and a packet of Marlboro cigarettes tucked in the waistband of her denim skirt.

She watches as a beautiful red head walks past, heading towards another girl on the other side of the garden. Her attention is drawn to the pill bottle that falls from her pocket though.

Bending down, she picks it up to give it back but stops when she catches sight of the label.

Diet pills.

She looks around before opening them and pouring a few into her hand and swallowing them dry then washing them down with her cocktail.

IVY: "I was stupid back then," she shakes her head with a sigh, "I didn't know what the pills were and I didn't care what was in them, what they did to me or what the side affects could have been. I just knew they said diet on them and I was insecure.

Another thing I didn't know though, was the dosage. And the more I took, the happier I seemed to feel, the easier I could go on with my day without John haunting me, so I just kept taking them. I didn't realise I was getting high at the time, I didn't realise I'd end up reliant on those little white pills.

I don't think I realised it until I was scouring the parties for that red head again."

"Hey," Ivy smiles when she finds the familiar girl at a club on the Sunset Strip, "I'm Ivy."

"Ivy Grey, right?"

IVY: "Daisy knew everything about everyone. I don't know how, she just did."

"Yeah," Ivy nods, "Look, I was wondering if you knew were I could get diet pills?"

Daisy raises a brow, "Diet pills?"

Ivy nods, "Yeah," she pulls out the empty pill bottle, "These."

After a minute of contemplating, the red head nods, "Yeah, Ivy, I know where you can get them - follow me."

IVY: "So now, I had my source of pills and I had a new friend that could show me new ways of getting free pills if I wanted a buzz. I was hooked."

TOBY: "Teddy told her he wouldn't work with her as a solo artist if she didn't stop, said he'd seen too many people fail because of it and couldn't have another failure."

IVY: "But then he suggested I join some band that he'd recently found."

TOBY: "My sister never wanted to be in a band, she wanted to be the star - it was her way or the high way. But it was either the band, or no music career."

IVY: she shrugs, "I had no choice."