Dry Counties.

"Mike.... This is real isn't it?" I answered him with another question, his dark eyes stared at me with a seriousness I've never seen in them before. He spoke serious... A serious I've never heard him use before.

"Kimber... Yes, This. Is. Real. This is....this is it." He ran his thumbs over my hands, and flashed me a small nervous smile. as he stuttered and continued to play with my hands.

"Yes, mike.... Id love to live with you." I whispered lifting my head up to meet his eyes. He was smiling from ear to ear, then all the sudden he leaned over the table, placed his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me into the most passionate kiss I had ever experienced.

"I love you " I breathed as we parted, his hand still holding my neck as his other held my cheek stroking it softly.

"I love you more than anything Kimber, I hope you know that." I gave him a warm smile.

"I know that mike, your my everything." We heard someone clear their throat from behind us. I whipped my head around to see tony grinning like a mad man, he winked at mike before opening the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. Mike flipped him off causing tony to raise his hands in defeat before he disappeared into the backroom again.

I just sat there and stared at the beautiful man sitting across from me. He was once just a mysterious beautiful stranger to me, and now he was the beautiful mysterious man that I was going to live with, he was no longer a stranger, no longer a man I couldn't read, he was like an open book to me now, a book I liked to read as much as possible he was everything He was MINE.

"Come on baby, lets go for a walk." Mike said standing up and extending his hand to me. I took his hand in mine letting him pull me out of the booth.

Mike surprised me by picking me up bridal style and walking me off of the bus,
i giggled loudly and wrapped my arms rightly around mikes neck. I closed my eyes as we went down the steps, not wanting to watch if we happened to fall. However, we didn't, and mike kissed my cheek.

"open your eyes you big baby, your fine." Mike said in a teasing tone. I stuck my tongue out at him and glared before wiggling out of his arms and placing my feet firmly on the ground. I kind of fell a little not expecting the drop from his arms to be so long, but he was over a foot taller than me.

"Your ridiculous" Mike commented while rolling his eyes as I fell forward a bit before regaining my composure and smiling like a goofball up at him.

"Well... your mean." I stuck my tongue out and started running towards the venue.

"KIMBER!" Mike yelled after me, I heard him laughing as I got farther away. I tried to catch my breath as quietly as possible as I hid behind a trash can near the back.

"Oh, come on now kimber, You can do better than that." I heard him laughing, he sounded close but I couldn't tell where he was and I didn't want to try sneaking a peek and giving away where I was, Until I heard a loud "BOO!" and felt someone grab my foot.

"MIKE!!!" I screeched loudly before he covered his mouth suppressing more of his own laughs.

"Damn baby, Save that for the bedroom." He winked as I hit him on his shoulder playfully.

"Your perverted" I scrunched my nose up and pushed myself off of the ground, Mike quickly grabbed my hand and started swinging our arms as we walked around the empty venue.

We shared a comfortable silence, mike only released my hand to light up two cigarettes in his mouth, he passed me one, making me smile as he reconnected our hands and took his first drag. I enjoyed these moments with mike. He come off to everyone like he's nothing more than just a tough exterior with a shallow personality. Which is the farthest from the truth, Mike was one of the most intelligent and kind hearted guys I have ever met, Of course he wasn't perfect, clearly you can tell from his past. We all make mistakes, that's the truest statements you will ever learn in this path of life. I truly loved Mike, for all that he was, and is. Mistakes and all. I love seeing this rare side of him. The side where he worries about others more than himself, the side where he's vulnerable, yet still the strongest person I have ever met all at the same time. He always had me memorized.

"You know? I honestly cant believe how far we've come" Mike stated taking a long drag and releasing it as if it was a big breath of "fresh air" to him.

"Me either." I laughed lightly and did the same as Mike with my own cigarette.

"Finding love outside a creepy gas station in a town I've never been in, definitely not a common love story." Mike stated kissing my cheek.

"Hey, falling in love with a complete stranger that I had sex with within an hour of meeting them.... doesn't sound to lady like of me" Mike laughed his rich throaty laugh that I loved so much, before wrapping his right arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him as we finally started walking back to the bus.

"Well, I don't care what anyone else thinks, I love you Kimber, I know we fell in love under the weirdest of circumstances, but I don't regret a single thing, the past couple months with you have been like a dream. I've never felt more relaxed, and happy in my entire life...and I've literally been "living the dream" everyday of my life." Mike made air quotes referring to his rock star lifestyle. Vic was right Mike really has waited a long time to let go of all the bitterness he's held inside all these years.

"Mike, I know I don't open up much, I know I'm hard to read, but I don't regret a single thing. Your the only person, and the only thing that matters to me anymore, I'm here for you through thick and thin Mike, Ill NEVER leave your side, I cant wait to live with you, and be with you just like we are now, but with a little more privacy. It'll be absolutely perfect." I gave mike a huge smile as he bent down and kissed my lips gently.

"Your amazing Kimber. Don't ever change." he whispered and hugged me to his chest as we stopped right outside the bus door.

How could I have gotten so lucky?