KAREN: Daisy got back before Chris did, about two months later. Warren was moving on, thinking she was gone forever. I knew she wasn't though, because she was still fully moved into the laurel canyon house where Eddie lived. She wouldn't have abandoned things like that. She put too much meaning into it, into her image and lifestyle in LA.

BILLY: I was just trying to hold this thing together.

"So you want to start the set with Aurora?" Daisy asked as she picked up the setlist. "That's what we decided, yeah." Billy shrugged. "Interesting." She played with the gum in her mouth as she looked through the whole list. "Warren, when you're ready.." Billy tried to start off the rehearsal. "And these are the songs you want to sing?" Daisy cut in before they could start. "That's right." "So no Regret Me, no Look At Us Now?" Her brows furrowed as she placed her hand on her hip. "Well if you wanted to weigh in, the time for that was weeks ago. When we first started rehearsing." Billy stared blankly at Daisy. There was a moment of silence.

"Do you guys need a minute?" Karen exasperatedly said what the rest of the band was thinking. "No. Warren, count us in-" Billy started. "Yes, actually, we do." Daisy ended it by spitting her gum out into the setlist, then walking out the back door. Billy followed as the rest of the band dropped their heads.

Graham walked over and slowly slipped money to Eddie. Karen caught sight of this and immediately figured they were doing something dick-ish. "What the hell are you two doing now?" She slumped over and switched off her keyboard so she could rest her arms on it without making unnecessary noise. "Oh.. nothing." Graham looked guilty. Karen shot them both a look.

"Fine.. we were betting on who would be back first.. Christine or Daisy.." He sighed. Eddie elbowed him in the rib. "Ow, man." He said quietly. Warren spun around, looking upset. "Are you two serious?" Karen's brows furrowed as her mouth dropped slightly open. "Yeah, what the hell?" Warren added. There was a moment of silence as Eddie and Graham dropped their heads. "You two put money on it and excluded me?" Warren threw a spare drumstick and aimed at their heads. It missed Graham, but hit Eddie in the head. "You're all idiotic." Karen's head fell into her hands.

"Hey, can I try your keys?" Warren smiled goofily. Karen hesitated before standing up. "Don't break them." As Warren walked over he handed her his sticks. She smiled back and went over to his drum set. Eddie and Graham started playing some random tunes as everyone just started messing around and enjoying themselves and their lack of expertise in each other's skills.

A few moments passed before Billy re-entered the room, and with him, the thickness of tense air. The room went quiet again. Billy stood at the microphone and held his guitar, putting his strap over his shoulders and letting the instrument hang. Warren and Karen slowly started to switch back to their correct instruments. Billy crossed his arms as Daisy entered. "It's gonna be a long tour so if you'd prefer to sit this one out, please be my guest-" "There is no tour without me, you dumb son of a bitch." She stated as she turned around to the band so they were in the conversation as much as Billy was, but she was still in charge. "We're playing Regret Me." She turned back around to her microphone. "Fine." Billy sighed as he followed and turned to his mike. "And Look At Us Now." "No." "Yes." "I said no, Daisy!" Billy raised his voice as Daisy looked at him, with an amused, sort of surprised, wide-eyed, slightly grinned expression on her face.

"Warren, count us in, for the love of fucking god!" Billy sighed. "What'd I miss?" Some random ass man walked into the room. Everyone turned, confused. This was a private studio, so obviously it wasn't some guy off the street, but, it's what they all assumed. "Who the fuck is this guy?" Eddie said, tired of all the piling shit going on.

"Everybody," Daisy started as she smiled and turned her head towards the band. "This is Nicky. My husband." She grinned with an arm extended towards him. "Hi." Nicky stood in the center of the doorway. Warren turned around to look at Graham who was smoking beside him. His eyes darted to Warren at the same time as they had the same thought. They both turned back to look at Billy, who was practically glaring at Daisy before he turned to Nicky.

"Is anyone home?" Lewis knocked on the open door of the Dunne's household as he stuck his head in. "Lewis!?" Camila shouted from the kitchen as she walked over to the front door. "Hi, Cami." He smiled as she came into view, holding Julia. "Oh thank god, can you hold her for just a sec?" She asked. "Of course." He accepted as he held Julia and spoke to her as one would talk to a baby. Camila went back into the kitchen and Lewis sat on the sofa, with Julia on his lap, playing with his hair and poking his face or jacket. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet that had pictures in it. He went through them with her to entertain her.

"So you're back in LA?" Camila grinned as she came into the living room and sat beside him. "Yeah.. Do you know where Christine is? I called the house but Eddie said he hasn't seen her in months?" He asked, gently bouncing his knee under Julia. "Oh, honey, she's still not back. Did you talk to her? Did the number work for the hotel?" She smiled as she studied his being. He was wearing an outfit similar to that of the welcome party she threw when they moved into the home they were currently sitting in. Not fully buttoned cream button up, burnt orange tweed sports coat, corduroy dark brown flares, and suede boots. He made it look fresh.

"Yeah the number worked, she said she'd be back soon I just didn't know how soon she meant.. That was a few weeks ago." Lewis explained. Camila nodded her head. "The band will be happy to have her back." She smiled earnestly. "Is she dating Robert Plant?" Lewis almost cut her off. His face was interesting as he did not want the answer he knew he was going to get. He looked almost sick. Camila put a hand on his shoulder. "Yes." She said as Lewis dropped his head. "What's Robert Plant?" Julia said. "A long haired hippie.." Lewis mumbled. Julia looked up at her mom. "He's a singer, baby. Like daddy, sort of." Camila smiled as she leaned in and gently squeezed Julia's little hand before letting go so she could keep inspecting the photos she held. She was about two and a half.

CHRISSY: When we got back to California, Robert bought me a car. A brand new, 1976, deep reddish brown, Cadillac Eldorado. And it was all mine. I was so happy, driving that thing through the streets, not even going anywhere. Gas wasn't as expensive back then so it wasn't a big deal. Also, I was living like I was rich, even though I wasn't. I was getting by just fine and I didn't even have a real job.

"Two beers? Or should we go fancy and get something in an actual glass?" Robert grinned as the two sat in some stools. "Beer, definitely." Chrissy smiled back and leaned in for a kiss. "So where do you want to go after this?" Rob looked at her as he brushed some hair out of her face. "I already called the Riot House.. Unless you want something more calm." Chrissy kissed him again. "No, Hyatt house is fine. I guess I figured we'd be staying in a house since you lived here." He replied. "Is that a problem?" Chrissy sat straight. "No, of course not. I love the riot house and there's no one I'd rather stay there with than you." He moved close and kissed her slowly as their beers arrived at the bar. Chrissy performed her little necklace trick and they both started drinking. A few drinks in, they started moving on to whiskey and pills, taking what now would be considered a ton, but then was considered to still be sober enough to drive.

"Phone call for uh, Chrissy Berry." Some kid, too young to be in this type of club, called from behind the bar. Chris turned to look at him, slightly surprised that anyone would be calling her, as he just motioned the receiver end towards her. She reached over and answered, "Hello?" She said as she put it against her ear. "Hi, is this Chrissy Berry?" an unfamiliar man spoke on the other end. "The one and only, how can I help you?" She answered, being fairly tipsy, if not drunk at that point. This wasn't the first time she had gotten a call from some fan or company or something. She was just surprised that anyone knew she'd be at the bar on this day at this time. The man on the phone chuckled, delighted, almost as if he was nervous and now suddenly relieved that she didn't shout at him. "This is Ben Fong-Torres, I work with Rolling Stone magazine." He introduced himself. If anything was going to sober Chris up, that was it.

CHRISSY: I knew Ben Fong-Torres. I loved writing, even from a young age, and I carried around my notebook everywhere. For the most of it, it 'covered' as a diary, but really what I wrote in there was commentary about the experience I was having as told from the best third person point of view I could tell. I never told anyone, even now I don't tell people, which is why then, what was to come of that phone call surprised those who knew me so greatly. Anyways, I knew Benny. I knew his name. He knew everybody. Like, everybody. As an.. "Aspiring writer" (spoken with air quotes and a very berry-esque eye roll..) I always imagined that if I ever spoke to him, it would be me trying to convince him. But thanks to Rob, it was him who convinced me.

"You've caught the attention of many of our readers, you won't believe how many phones are ringing off the hook about you. And it's not just us either, I've heard from friends over at Creem and 16, they all want you." He rambled as Chrissy tried her hardest to focus and absorb every word. "Well this is the first I'm hearing about it." She lied as she managed to keep her cool. They wanted her, they called all the time, but she didn't want them. They were all trying to get something on her as a girlfriend, not her person at all. She didn't want to be seen as the girl who dates the famous people, even if she did, and even if she enjoyed it. If she was going to have any say or addition to her name it was going to be for her experience and who she was, not who she was seen with. But hell, this was Rolling Stone. She couldn't seem too eager, she was going to make sure they did everything in their power to get and keep her, because apparently, she was worth it.

"Well, I'm glad, because then we have no competition." Ben joked on the line. He knew there would be no competition regardless, I mean, this was Ben Fong-Torres with Rolling Stone magazine. "So what, you want an interview?" Chrissy questioned. "Well, to start off with, yes. We'd like to set up a radio interview with you, maybe multiple, just here and there. We also would like to get an article in our pages about you, and then hopefully, if you'd be up for it, get an article from you about the Zeppelin tour." There was a minute of silence as Chrissy felt like he was pulling her leg. "And, we'd pay you obviously, we don't expect your time for free. How does 10,000 sound?" Oh my god. "10,000??"

"Okay.. fine, 20. But if I give you any more we might go broke. That'll just be for the interviews, of course, writers get paid differently, but still well, don't you worry. Do you have a pen? Let me give you the number, and where can I reach you for the next month? We have to work quickly, dear.." He started talking so quickly that Chrissy had to hold onto the bar as she found herself scrambling to figure out what was needed from her and for her. "Yes, yes, uh, I'll be staying at the Riot House for that time, under the name Eva Anderson. I'm sorry, you want to do this within the month?" She started to feel a little concerned and pressured as she realized the deadline was approaching. "Well yes, we want to get your issue out before the Zeppelin issue, and their tour just ended, so we can't spend too much time on this. I suggest you start writing so it'll be done by next month's deadline which is... October 26th. We can get it out for the November issue." It was currently September 21st. That's just over a month's time to get 7-8 months worth of random notes organized into a rolling stone worth article that would define her name forever. She'd never even written a proper article before, not since high school anyway. But she knew better than to turn this down. "Okay, and you want my interview before that? Can't it be in the same issue?"

"Oh no, honey, we want you on the cover."

CHRISSY: I remember shooting my head over to Robert, just absolutely blown away but not wanting to shout at Benny on the phone, as if Rob could even hear.. But he knew. I found out a few years later he had pulled a few strings. He never told me though, he didn't want me to feel like I had to rely on him. When I asked him about it he told me I deserved it and would've gotten it eventually, he just had a favor due and wanted to 'cash it in' on me. The next few days were crazy. Photoshoot to interviews to.. Writing and organizing notes, to .. more photo shoots? I don't remember it that well, I was high.

~~

"KHJ LOS ANGELES - Good afternoon boss angeles! The Real Don Steele here, warning you, it's gonna be a hot one today.. Don't touch that dial though, got some pretty coooool surprises coming in after this tune, fresh off the press. Ladies and Gentlemen, this, is Aurora by Daisy Jones & The Six.."

The radio blared as the familiar started playing. It was mid September in LA, meaning the weather was still fit for summer. Rehearsals were in full swing, the band had begun to align their goals and songs, and although no one in particular was having a good time, they were getting their job done. Lewis stood over a hot stove in the Dunne household, boiling pasta, as Camila tried her best to coax Julia into eating her steamed vegetables.

CAMILA: Lewis helped out a lot while Billy focused on getting the tour set in stone. I wouldn't have asked for the help, but if Lewis hadn't been there I would have been raising Julia on my own, basically. Lewis felt like a live-in nanny, honestly. Chrissy still wasn't back. She was in LA, but she was at the riot house, far out of reach until whenever she had planned to come back. We didn't know her alias. And that killed Lewis. Especially since her face and name were all over every other newspaper.

The guitar faded out as the boss jock's voice came back in. "Now that was Daisy Jones & The Six, here on The Real Don Steele Show. It's a real kickin' song, don't you think, C?" "Why yes, I do think so Donny." a low, calm, woman's voice replied to him. Lewis dropped the fork he held in his hand into the pot of boiling water. Without thinking he reached in to grab it, followed by him throwing it at the wall, waving his hand in the air in front of him, and screaming faux curse words such as "son of a motherless goat" and "holy french toast". He ran his hand under the faucet, cold water running, when Camila rushed in. "What the hell happened?" She asked, looking around to make sure her kitchen was still intact. He pointed at the radio sitting on the counter, then turned the volume up with his free hand before returning to his position in the sink. The two voices were laughing at a joke that they had missed due to the kerfuffle that caused this whole mishap. "What, it's a radio interview?" Camila was thoroughly confused. She left her toddler in the other room alone for this? "Wait, listen." Lewis defended himself. "Would you like to introduce yourself?" "Well, what I'd really love is for you to do it for me." "Oh I'll do it for you, babe" the two joked, "Everyone already knows the name, sweetie" "You think so?" "Oh, I think so."

Lewis frantically looked over to Camila, who was wearing a huge smile on her face

CHRISSY: They wanted to put me in all this stuff, but they didn't want to advertise me as a groupie. It was still the 70s, and groupies were seen as sluts with no self worth. They weren't going to promote that to such a big audience, they were anticipating me to become a role model. They wanted to say I was a traveling journalist who knew how to party. Like I was a plant by them this whole time. I said, no that's bullshit. So for now I was undecided. [grin]

"Ladies, gentlemen, the beautiful voice you're hearing, other than mine of course, belongs to none other than the one and only Chrissy Berry.."

"Can you fuckin' believe this!?" Warren shouted to Graham as he rested against the wall on his stool behind his drums, arms crossed, sticks in hand. Graham was sitting on an amp nearby, sipping on his two separate glasses of alcohol and water. There was a portable radio sitting between them, tuned to the same station. "I can't tell if you're happy or upset about this.." Graham chuckled as he tapped the ash off the end of his cigarette and into a shared but small tray sitting beside their radio. Warren had been smiling like a big dope but shouting as if he had felt the opposite. "No, no this is.. this is fucking awesome!"

"This is awful!" Lewis shouted, quickly lowering his voice as he realized Julia was only a doorframe away. "Why? I think it's great!" Camila's smile stretched from cheek to cheek. She walked over and kneeled down to get a first aid kit out of a drawer. She pulled out a large bandage as she wrapped it around where had burnt himself. "She deserves fame, but not for this.. she was so smart."

"Why are we crowding around the radio?" Karen walked into the recording room to find that Eddie had joined the other guys in a circle as they all leaned in. "Shh!" Eddie exasperatedly hushed Karen, who rolled her eyes. She popped open the beer bottle she had held in her hand.

"Now, you were there, in the studio, when they recorded this song right? What can you tell us about them?" "Oh, they're a big group of lovelies, really. So passionate about the music, It was great to watch. I'm very lucky to have been there."

"Is that-?" "Shh!" Eddie hushed Karen again. She glanced at Graham who looked at her through his eyebrows and smiled. "oh my god, it is.." She awkwardly ran over and sat beside Graham on the amp. He subtly put his arm around her waist, so the others wouldn't notice, and offered her a cigarette, then lit it for her. "We're lovelies.." Graham grinned. "Plant's turned her british.." Warren mumbled.

WARREN: The tension between Eddie and I was still there, but we had been so close for so long we both decided to not let it get in the way of us. He apologized to me and explained what happened and I said Christine was right and he didn't do anything wrong, he just said plenty wrong. I lied, of course, I wasn't ok with them almost being together, I was almost happy he was a jerk so it hadn't progressed. He was back with Mila though, which calmed my nerves just a bit. That wasn't a him thing though, I didn't like seeing her with anybody. Which was something I had to get over still. After a minute I started questioning myself, like Daisy or Cami had, as to why I did care so much..

"So, you've really turned into quite the star lately" "Oh, I really wouldn't say that" "You should. We get at least 15 calls a day for you, and I'm sure every magazine has been trying to get a hold of you. I'm sure you've seen the articles." "No, we don't really read those, the fellas don't buy them so I never see them either. Is it true that they mention me?" "Mention you, honey, there's articles all about you. Your clothes, your dating life, your experience.." "My experience?" "Do you know how many girls would kill to have officially dated members from 2 of the most famous bands of the decade? And rumored to a third.." the two chuckled. "Well there's a lot more to me than the men I date." "Like what?" he egged her on, "Well, you'll all find out soon enough.." "How so?" He continued to talk with added dramatics to build up false tension. She smiled, "Let's just say.. you were right, I have been getting a lot of calls. From some pretty big names." "Oh, Chrissy, babe, don't tease me like this." he groaned. "Sorry Don, you'll have to find out with the rest of the world." There was a faint chuckle from her on the air. "Well.. I suppose so because folks, I hate to say it, but we are out of time. This is Let 'Em In, Wings."

The interview ended as the music came back in. "Who's the rumored third?" Warren looked at the other 3. "You, dingus." Karen tossed the bottle cap she held playfully at Warren. "Really? Since when has that been out?" Graham held his cigarette in his hand as he fixed his hair. Eddie shrugged with his blank expression. "Hey, what do you think they were talking about at the end?" He asked. "An article? That's what it sounded like.." Karen sipped her drink. "I'm not trying to sound rude but, why? I mean, she's a groupie. Why are so many people interested?" Graham looked at Karen for an answer, genuinely confused. The other guys shifted their gaze to her too. "Why am I the one being asked this?" Her brows furrowed. "I think it's been established that we're all a little slow sometimes.." Warren said slowly. The others nodded and Karen rolled her eyes. "Well, it's like.. I don't know. Pattie Boyd. She had all that drama with Eric Clapton and George Harrison. People love her. She's considered a style icon." She shrugged. "But, she was already a model before the Harrison/Clapton stuff. Chris was .. not that." Eddie added. "Well she's also very.. happy. People like that shit, I mean we all love her. She's great. She has a quality that draws people in. Besides, every rockstar girlfriend is in the papers, she just stuck."

KAREN: If the world we were experiencing was a pitch black room... Chris was the light bulb under a lamp shade covered in moths. Moths who wanted a piece of her, a story, a cover, a photo, an outfit, a touch, a wink, a kiss blown your way, to breathe the same air, anything. Anything on the other side of that shade. On the surface level, you see this extremely happy girl in what is viewed as a dark world of what was then considered 'heavy' rock, like Zeppelin. You want to know what makes her different. What makes her shine when she's deep in the mud?

CHRISSY: The October 1977 issue dropped, with me on the cover. It was an insane moment, it all happened so quickly, literally within a month.

WARREN: Above her photo, it said, America's Favorite Lovergirl. I felt so immensely proud, it was weird. I went from her idol to her friend to her fan. I couldn't help being giddy though, I wanted to call her so badly but I couldn't. I was hoping she'd call me. She didn't. I wanted to celebrate with her. For her. But, I hadn't seen her in months. It was starting to feel like I'd never see her again.

DAISY: Shit, It made me so happy to see that damn article. I couldn't hide it. I saw it at like a fucking.. Grocery store. I wasn't even shopping, I was driving past a store and there was a magazine rack outside and it caught my attention because.. obviously! She was so girl-next-door and even though she was a girl who had fun and could party, she was still a smart, intelligent, traveling rock and roll journalist. I bought like three just because I made the driver pull over, and I was high and excited and wanted to show Nicky, so when I grabbed it I grabbed a bunch and I sort of.. Just threw my money at the workers, who recognized me and wanted me to just take them for free. But I didn't.

LEWIS: It's a good thing I pulled this box out earlier, let's see... here it is. I saved it, of course I saved it, my best friend was on the cover of Rolling Stone. I was so happy, especially when she called me about a week later. The thing was, though, when you actually read what's in print.. let me see.. [clears throat]. 'Chrissy Berry was born in Greenwich Village, New York. On May 23rd blah blah blah.. She grew up with her mom, Martha, and childhood dog, Spark.' there's more than that in there but, a lot of it was phony. It wasn't Christine. It was this.. Chrissy. This idea of a person, this shell. It was fiction.

CHRISSY: Magazines are hard to navigate. But thanks to Rob, he had made sure they made me look good. It represented who he saw me as, and solidified my name and image as me. I was still a traveling journalist who knew how to party, but I was also just a girl looking for some fun. A smart girl, a powerful figure, with confidence. Sometimes, you have to kill the person you were born to be in order to become the person you need to be. The person you want to be. That cover story was the death of Christine Wallace. I was on the top of the world. That fragile girl who had a bad dad and grew up in the middle of nowhere with no one was gone, and a bombshell was born. It did result in a letter though, from my dad. Calling me a dirty liar and that if I had really deserved this it would be for.. A lot of words I can't imagine a real father would call his daughter. He said a lot in that letter, a lot that I still remember but a lot that does not need to be repeated out loud to anyone for any reason.. For the record though, I burnt it. Lit it with a cigarette lighter I kept on my nightstand. I tossed it in a fireplace and then celebrated with Robert. I was happy, and he couldn't hurt me anymore. I was on top of the world and to me, he was 6 feet under. I was getting so many calls, hell, I almost became a model. I took up some of those offers later on, I'm sure you've seen those.. [grin] About a week later though, I was freaking out. I had to write what would become the cover story of a first person perspective selling point about Led Zeppelin. I went from feeling 10 feet tall to feeling about 3 inches..

"Cmon, you have to work.. I have to work." Robert grunted, not wanting to get up but figuring they should. "I don't want to.. What if I just drop the article. I'd rather just spend my time here, with you... It's been an eternity since we've just sat together. Awake." Chrissy clinged onto his body as he attempted to roll out of the bed. "Chrissy.." He groaned, sitting up. She sensed something different in his tone and stature so she sat up beside him, slightly behind him. "What's wrong?" She kissed his shoulder, working her way up the back of his neck. "Nothing, just.. There's a lot riding on this next album, it feels like we are rushing and.. I don't think it's going to be as great as a lot of people are hoping." "Well, the concert album is coming out soon, no? That'll hold them over? Give you a little extra time?" She started rubbing his back. "Yeah I just don't know if I have it in me to make this one.. No one comes for the new stuff, only for the old stuff. Even your favorite song is dazed and confused.."

"I told you that months ago! It doesn't mean I don't love the new stuff!" Chrissy defended herself. "Well whatever your favorite song is now, is invalid. You know me too well, you're biased." He shrugged with a tiny smile. "I'm sorry about how much this is stressing you out.. you'll be able to do it, Presence was great! And uh, I know a great way you could get rid of some anxiety." She tried to cheer him up as she continued kissing him, but it didn't do very well. "I understand the stress.. Hell, I don't even want to do this stupid ass article anymore.. I just want to go back to how it was on tour.." "That would be great." Robert let out a heavy breath that was almost a laugh as he turned around to face Chrissy. She smiled. He put his arm around her and laid her back down on the bed and kissed her. She giggled as he started kissing her neck. "Why don't we just stay here. Take the day off." "I can't. You can't" He continued kissing her neck. She sat up. "Now what's wrong?" He asked. "I never see you anymore. Anytime we want to spend time together there's something else in the way. We can afford to miss one day." She looked up at the ceiling. "We can go out this weekend." "I can't, I have to go in on saturday, and sunday they want me to go in for Merv Griffin.. I'll be on, by the way, on monday.. I don't want to go, I want to stay with you. I want to go to the studio with you, I want to be with you. Otherwise.." Chrissy exhaled, not trying to say something she didn't mean, or didn't want to say. "I can never go with you because I'm always busy. You can never stay with me because you're busy.. " She went quiet. She picked her next words carefully.

"What if.."

"What if what?"

"What if we are taking on too much.. I mean, I can drop the article. I want to hang out with you. I'd love to stay in the studio with you." She turned to look at him. "No, you can't do that. You are going to write that article and it will be the first of so many. You're doing great things, and I love it and I love you.. I don't want to get in the way of that." He sighed. She wiped her eyes. "If we can never see each other, what's the point?" She turned back to face the wall.

"Chris, what are you saying?" He brushed her hair away from her face, trying to see what look she had on. "I love you-" "I love you too-" "but, I don't want to turn our relationship into a chore or a burden because we are to busy.." She sniffled, trying not to cry. "But-" "I don't want to be the thing that stands in the way of you having a great future." She wiped her eyes dry. He wrapped his arms around her, understanding, agreeing, but still wishing she'd take it back.

CHRISSY: I took that day off. We both did. It was kind of sad. Neither of us wanted to split up, it was like we were mourning it. The next day I was back in Laurel Canyon. Driving in the car he had bought me. It was me, the pages of notes I had written, and a fancy typewriter Benny had provided. Obviously, my clothes and stuff too.

Chrissy approached the door to the rundown house that was now mostly occupied by Eddie. She had a hand sewn bag on her shoulder, and a square briefcase in her hand. She looked down on the porch as she considered everything. She had been living her literal dream, and now it was like settling back down to the quiet life in a small messy house, cleaning up after men who didn't care. At least she'd be touring soon, hopefully that'd be fun and similar. She reached into a nearby plant pot to find the spare key, only to discover it'd been moved. She looked under the mailbox, and under the doormat, before just knocking. She heard some stumbling and chatter before the door swung open.

"Oh, hey Christine." Eddie was very casual, as if she was expected. "No one calls me that anymore, Eddie." she smiled slightly, not trying to make things even more awkward but also trying to get her point across. "Right, why would they, you've got the Berry thing going for you." He rolled his eyes in a snarky way. She didn't look amused. "Look, i'm sorry about-" "it was forever ago, forget it." Chrissy cut him off before this was relevant again. She had completely moved on from it, and did not want to dwell even if it did change their dynamic.

"I'm back from my trip, can you get out of the way?" She motioned her free hand into the house. "Of course, Chrissy." He looked behind him before moving out of the way. She could tell that he had someone over, and assuming that someone was a special someone, she just wanted to get to her own room as soon as possible.

"I wasn't sure you lived here anymore." he groaned as he stretched. "Why wouldn't I? All my shit's here." "You've been gone for like a year." "It's only been a few months." "well yeah but-"

Chrissy walked into her room and shut the door before hearing whatever else Eddie had to say.

CHRISSY: I needed to work. I wasn't there to do what I wanted, I was there to do what my wants were previously in the way of. So I stayed up till 3am writing. Then, suddenly, it was like everything hit me. You know when, after a concert or a party or something, you get an overwhelming sense of loneliness. That's what happened. I was at a 9 month long party and then one night I just went home. I felt awful, and I just broke up with the man I would've married if he'd asked. I cried for a minute, then got back to work for like.. Half an hour at best. I wanted to talk to someone. I needed to hear someone's voice, someone comforting, someone that would make me feel okay again. I tried calling Lewis, but he didn't answer. It was late and I knew Julia was there so I didn't call more than once, I didn't want to wake her up. So I called the second person I knew I could call. The person I wanted to call first, but figured I shouldn't. Now, I obviously had no choice!

"Hello?" Warren yawned as he picked up the phone. He checked his alarm clock. 4:21am. He was on his boat. "Warren?" She said quietly. "Who is this? .. Chrissy?" That made her heart warm. "Hi, I'm back home.." "Wow, wow that's great! Are you gonna be hanging out with us again soon?? I've- We've all missed you, the band has all missed you." He sat up as he held his phone close, as if it was the deciding factor keeping them talking. He was wide awake now. "Yeah, maybe.. I'm working now." "Yeah, I've heard! Rolling Stone, huh? Congrats!" He seemed genuinely happy for her, and that made her feel happy and proud of what she was doing. She had always felt like a bit of an outsider with the six, sure she was friends with them but they were all so close knit. She wasn't part of the family. This was not at all true to the rest of the band, but to her it felt like she felt like she came in too late. She enjoyed herself, she loved it, but after being with a group who not only appreciated but accepted and praised her for who she was, she knew that she'd take a day with them over any day trying to convince people of who she was.

CHRISSY: I was always there. But I wasn't one of them. After experiencing what I had with Rob, I didn't want to go back to that group where I constantly had to prove who I was. As I sat with that though, I realized they weren't the ones arguing with me about it. I called Warren that night and I realized that... I never had to convince him, because he always saw me. He was always going to support me. And he was going to be proud of me, with me..

"Yeah! Yeah..." "What, what's up baya? Why'd you call me so late?" He heard her voice shift as she went from happy to hear him to upset remembering what she felt previously. "Um.. no, nothing. I just feel.. I don't know, displaced. I tried to call Lewis but-" "He's at Cami's, did you call her place?" "Yeah. I didn't want to call more than once, I don't want to wake up Julia.." "Did you call-" "-no.. we sort of broke up."

Warren's mouth fell open as his eyebrows shot up slightly. He wasn't totally sure what to say. Sure, he was excited, but obviously this isn't something to be celebrated. He was holding back making any sound or speaking any phrase that related to his celebratory energy. His mouth moved as no sound came out.

"Shit." he managed to get out before overthinking too much. He came to his senses quick enough to follow up with, "I'm so sorry, you really liked him, huh." He bit his fist then punched the air and laid back down. "Yeah.. It's for the better. He was stressed with the band and me with this stupid article. We couldn't.. I don't know. Sorry, you don't need to hear this.." She sniffled as she reread some of her sentences sitting in front of her. "No, please, tell me everything." Warren reassured her. "No, no I can't. I think Eddie can hear me. I should probably hang up.." She sighed as she turned around to look at the door. "Is everything okay between you two?" "Yeah. Fine. I'm just planning on staying in my room until I get this done." She smiled to herself. "Well, when you're done, I'd love to see it." He smiled to himself. He really meant, he'd love to see her. But he didn't want to fumble anything, he didn't want to come on too strong or too soon after she just broke up with a man she had an almost year long relationship with, and obviously wished they hadn't separated. He had to be careful or else he might lose her again. He already did that once, and he tried to move on. Maybe it was that her face was everywhere he turned, but nothing would let her leave his mind.