Day one of project Tennessee has gone off without a hitch.

I took a few days in LA to finish up with Ciara, then we were off. Maddy was in awe at the Jet, and of course Trace had to push her buttons about it, but she took it well and laughed it off.

Well, laughed then threatened to tell his mother the sordid tale of his adventures in a gay bar.

He shut up real fast.

As expected, my mother loved Maddy. She literally has not stopped talking about her. Every time I round a corner, she catches me and begs me not to fuck this one up.

Apparently I haven’t been very good at keeping girls around. I thought I was doing alright, but from what my mother tells me, I’m not a cool as I think I am. Leave it to my mom to tell me like it is.

Madison seems to be having a lot of fun, too. I took her around to all my favorite spots and I haven’t seen her stop smiling since she got here. I think my impromptu trip is actually working.

Damn I’m good.

“Hey you.” Maddy says, taking a seat next to me on the piano bench.

I lean towards her, kissing her, “Hey yourself.”

“Where’d you run off to? You left me with your dumbass friend and his dumbass friend.”

I laugh, “I wouldn’t call Shawn one of Trace’s friends.”

She looks at me confused, “They seem to be friendly towards each other.”

“Shawn’s gay.”

She bursts out laughing, “Oh god, no wonder he liked my shoes.” She laughs a little harder, wiggling her shoes around “You think I’d seen it when he commented on how well my outfit went together.”

I laugh, “He’s been a lot of help with the line for us.”

“I’m sure he has, he’s got taste, something I’m sure you were trying to make up for with Trace.”

I laugh, “Are you two ever going to get along?”

She shrugs, “Sure, when he stops acting like a douche bag.”

I just shake my head, “You do have to get used to him though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Hopefully because you’ll be living under the same roof.”

Her eyes grow wide, “Justin,” She sighs, “Justin I live in Miami.”

Wasn’t expecting that.

“So, you’re going back?” I ask cautiously.

“All my stuff’s there.”

“So bring it here. Or LA, whatever.” I shake my head, trying not to get angry.

“I can’t just move in with you.” She says, panic written all over her face.

“Why’s that?” I laugh to myself, “Hell that’s all we’ve done.”

“I get that, but we haven’t even known each other all that long and,” She groans, “Don’t get me wrong I would love to just move in with you, but Justin isn’t that a big step?”

“And meeting my mom isn’t?” I ask with a chuckle.

She closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, “You’re right,” She opens her eyes, looking up at me, “Meeting your mom is probably a lot bigger than living together, but.”

“Don’t but…” I interject, groaning.

“We haven’t even,” She lowers her voice to just above a whisper, “Slept together.”

“We can change that anytime you like.” I say with a chuckle.

“I’m trying to be serious here.” She says with a smile.

“Then let’s go get serious upstairs.” I say, wiggling my eyebrows at her.

“Justin, please…”

“Ok, fine we’ll talk about this. I love you and I want to see you as often as I possibly can and from what I’ve seen, living together is the best option for that. If you would rather not, then I definitely want you at least on the same side of the country.”

Her smile fades, nodding her head “I at least want my own apartment,” she shrugs, “Just in case I want… me time.”

“I’m sure I could find you a nice condo in the area.” I suggest, thinking it would be a hell of a lot easier to get a condo in the same area.

“I’m living off what my brother left me and the money my grandparents left me when they passed. I don’t really know if I can afford a condo in your area.”

I laugh, “Don’t worry about it.”

She shakes her head, “No, I will worry about it. If it’s mine then I want to pay for it.”

“You’re not big on gifts are you?” I asks, diddling with the piano keys, trying to keep this conversation a little less awkward.

She takes a deep breath, “I could always move in with Hadley for a little while. She’s right in Malibu, so it’s not so far away.”

My fingers pause on the keys and I sigh, “Maddy I want you with me. I can’t chance losing you again. I don’t care if it’s across the country or and hour away, I don’t want it.” I turn to look at her, to plead to her, “Please, Maddy. If you want your own room where you can lock yourself away from me when ever you want, that’s fine. Hell, I’ll give you the left wing of the house, but I really want you there so I can see your beautiful face every morning. I want to be able to kiss you goodnight every night. Maybe I’m being selfish, but I want this to work between us. I want everything to just go as planned.”

“And how is everything planned?” She ask, biting her bottom lip.

“For me? The plan is to have you around every second of everyday. I want us to talk about everything, I want to see all your little quirks and I want you to see mine.” I reach up, running my finger along her jaw line, “I want,” I shake my head, “you know what? I want whatever makes you happy and if living with Hadley, which I still would like to meet, would make you happy then I’m ok with that.”

She smiles, “Or, I can just stay with her on occasion so we can have ‘friend’ time.” she shrugs, “I don’t know, like once a week?”

“Or every other week.” I says, chuckling.

She laughs, “Ok, every other week.”

“So does that mean you will?”

She slowly nods, “I guess it does.”

I let the breath I wasn’t aware I was holding whoosh out, “Woman you had me going there pretty good.”

She giggles as I start to play with the piano keys again, “Are we going to your mom’s tonight for dinner or are you being secret agent Timberlake again?”

“I thought we could stay here tonight, if that’s alright with you.”

She nods slowly with a smile, “That’s fine with me.” She watches me play for a minute, “What is that?”

“It’s one of the songs I wrote.”

“Can I hear it?”

I take a deep breath, nodding slowly. I glide my fingers along the keys, scrounging up some courage to do this. This was one of my favorite songs I wrote for her, but I never actually thought I’d be playing it for her.

“It’s better with a guitar, but I wrote it on a piano.” I explain nervously, taking a deep breath.

My fingers slowly start to move and I started singing,

I don’t know but
I think I maybe
Fallin’ for you
Dropping so quickly
Maybe I should
Keep this to myself
Waiting ’til I
Know you better

I am trying
Not to tell you
But I want to
I’m scared of what you’ll say
So I’m hiding what I’m feeling
But I’m tired of
Holding this inside my head

I’ve been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’ve been waiting all my life
And now I found ya
I don’t know where to
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’m fallin’ for you

As I’m standing here
And you hold my hand
Pull me towards you
And we start to dance
All around us
I see nobody
Here in silence
It’s just you and me

I’m trying
Not to tell you
But I want to
I’m scared of what you’ll say
So I’m hiding what I’m feeling
But I’m tired of
Holding this inside my head

I’ve been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’ve been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don’t know where to
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’m fallin’ for you

Oh I just can’t take it
My heart is racing
The emotions keep spinning out

I’ve been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’ve been waiting all my life
and now I found ya
I don’t know what to do
I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’m fallin’ for you
I think I’m fallin’ for you

I can’t stop thinking about it
I want you all around me
And now I just can’t hide it
I think I’m fallin’ for you

I’m fallin’ for you

Ooohhh
Oh no no
Oooooohhh
Oh I’m fallin’ for you

My fingers come to a stop and I take a deep breath before slowly turning my head towards her.

“That was,” she pauses, wiping a stray tear quickly from her cheek, “That was beautiful.”

“Thank you.” I sigh, “It was one of the first songs I wrote about you.”

She leans forward, placing her hands on my cheeks, kissing me, “Thank you.” she whispers against my lips.

“Thank you. You’ve been a really good inspiration for me.”

Her lips gently touch mine and for the first time I can actually feel how much she loves me and I know she can feel how much I love her. It’s about time I show her just how much I really do love her.

My hand sneaks around her waist, pulling her gently onto my lap. She straddles my waist, wrapping her legs around me as I lift her. She wraps her arms around my neck, never breaking our kiss.

We make our way down the hallway blindly, occasionally bumping into things. I get us to the bedroom, luckily without serious injuries. Laying her gently on the bed, I break the kiss long enough for a few short breaths before devouring her mouth with mine.

“I love you, Maddy.”

She smiles brightly up at me, “I love you.”

I run a finger along her chin nervously, “Let me show you.”

She rests her hand on top of mine on her cheek, whispering, “Ok.”