"And the next day you are booked on a radio show and then you have a interview that afternoon. The label wants you to fit in some studio time after that. They don't want to lose any more time on the album. We have been discussing possibly moving up the release date of your album."

Lennon nodded as her tired brain tried to catch everything Jordan was saying. She had barely been awake when he knocked on her door.

"The label wants to know if a February release date is possible?"

The question cut through all the noise in Lennon's head and she looked at Jordan to make sure he was being serious.

"February?" She asked, shocked.

"I know it's a lot sooner then we were thinking but the sooner it is released the sooner you could tour to support it and still be free to open for someone over next summer."

She could feel her chest tightening at the invisible pressure he had just laid on her. She turned and started to pace, her brain trying to calculate all that it would take to release the album so soon.

"I don't know," she said honestly.

"We don't have to make a decision today but the label wants the decision made soon. Speaking of, I have a tentative meeting with the label set up for the week we get back, to discuss the album."

Jordan must have sensed that Lennon was hitting overload because he shut off his iPad and stood.

"I know it's a lot but we don't want to lose any of the momentum the tour is creating."

"I know," she quietly agreed.

"One last thing," he said, as he was on his way out of her room, "Matt wants to confirm you and Kade are an official couple by the end of September so we have a few dates planned for when you get home."

"Ok," she said.

Lennon stood motionless as the door shut behind him, unsure of what to do. There were a million things she needed to think about but her brain was a dense fog of details, unable to form coherent thoughts. She paced, the weight of all Jordan had told her heavy on her shoulders. The door to her room opened.

"Lennon have you seen my guitar capo?" Max asked.

He began to look around the room.

"What?" Lennon asked, stepping out of her storm of thoughts.

"My capo. I put it on the dresser last night. I thought I saw you move it. I was planning to go jam with some of the other openers before the concert and I need it. Have you seen it anywhere?"

"No, Sorry."

Max began to throw a pile of her clothes around as he continued to look. Lennon didn't think as she grabbed her room key and left, the door slamming behind her.

"Lennon, there you are," Ace said, walking down the hallway towards her. "I was talking to Max and we were trying to come up with a plan for tomorrow. We have the morning off so we were thinking about going to this park that has over three hundred statues made by this one guy."

Lennon kept walking, only half listening to what he was saying. She needed coffee before she could begin to try and sort out her brain enough to think details.

"It sounds pretty cool. It's not to far away but we would have to go early because we have our flight tomorrow. Do you remember when it is? Is it two or three?"

"Sure," she said, pressing the elevator call button.

"So is it two or three?" he joked.

She looked at him confused, unsure what his initial question had even been.

"I would ask Jordan," she said.

Waiting for the elevator suddenly felt impossible and she turned to search the floor for the stairs, walking away from Ace without saying anything else.

When she reached the lobby she hoped the open space would help combat the encroaching thoughts but she still felt like she couldn't breath.

She had barely stepped outside and onto the sidewalk when she was swarmed by a crowd of chattering girls. Bodies pressed close to her as phones were lifted in front of them. Voices speaking rapidly in a foreign language surrounded her. Lennon's heart beat erratically as she spun, looking for a way out.

A hand cut through the thick crowd, guiding her back into the hotel. Lennon's voice was shaky as she thanked the doorman. He nodded. She stepped away from the doors and frantically looked for the coffee. Didn't people in Norway drink coffee? She thought as her search was unsuccessful. She felt on the verge of tears when someone called her name.

"Hey, so I've been thinking of switching up our duet," Kade said, walking up to her. "I was thinking about it last night and we could cut the song short after the first chorus and transition into Coming Home, the duet from Hey Farewell's second album, I sang it with Laurie Larson. The melodies would blend well together, they have similar chord progressions. Since we only have a week and a half left of the tour I thought it would be fun to switch things up."

Lennon tried to take a deep breath.

"I could lead the transition with a small bridge of G to C and D which will lead perfect into the first verse of Coming Home. I think it would make it more interesting," Kade said.

"What's wrong with it now?" Lennon asked harshly.

"Nothing's wrong with it except we have been doing the same thing for almost three months now. I thought - "

"You thought what? That you could just change it up without talking to me. Did you even stop to think about any one but yourself? We don't all have forty million assistants to make our lives work," Lennon said, wildly waving arms. "Some of us are already working hard enough. I don't need another job."

"It doesn't have to be another job. I thought it would be fun," Kade said, defensively.

"I can't take on anything else."

Lennon didn't wait for a response, turning to look for the door leading to the stairs. Guilt washed over her as she climbed but she just added it to the growing pile in her head.

She had never been so thankful to find her hotel room empty. She could feel the tears threatening to spill out and she tried to push them away. She sat on the edge of her bed and tried to calm herself. She thought about her morning and the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. She was exhausted and overwhelmed but the worst was that she had snapped at Kade and he hadn't done anything.

After London, they had slowly started to hang out and when it had become apparent that they shared a similar sleeping schedule, hotel lobbies became their hang out spot. They got along best when everyone was there. Will and Noah brought out a carefree side of Kade that she rarely saw and having Ace and Max around helped her relax and have fun. They taught Will, Kade and Noah the zombie game. It was simple. In a crowd, they would pick out who they thought would first be killed in a zombie apocalypse, who would survive and who would be a zombie slayer. Kade, Will and Noah had joined in enthusiastically.

******************************

Lennon made her way towards the stage when she got to the Oslo arena and watched as Hey Farewell finished their sound check. She waited backstage until they were done.

"Hey, can we talk for a second?" She asked as Kade walked off stage.

"Sure, what's up?" He asked, his tone hesitant. 

"Look about before, I was completely wrong to lose it on you. You were just bringing up an idea and I kind of freaked out on you. I'm so sorry."

He studied her for a moment.

"It's all good," he said.

"So are we good?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're good but are you ok?"

"I am now," she said with a small smile. "Jordan was talking details with me before I got some caffeine in my system and that's never a good idea."

He laughed.

"The good old caffeine, it can work wonders," he joked.

"It really can."

"What was Jordan talking to you about?" He asked as they slowly started to walk away from the stage.

"Everything!" she said, the overwhelming feeling threatening to come back. "The schedule for when we get back to LA. Interviews, time in the studio, the label wants to move up my album release date, which is crazy, oh and some dates we get to go on."

"They want to move up your release date? By how much?"

"They want to release it in February?"

"But aren't you just starting to record when you get back LA?"

"Yeah, but they want me to do a tour to support it and then still be able to support someone bigger during next summer and they don't want to lose the momentum that this tour has brought," she said.

He let out a little laugh.

"So when will you release the album?" he asked. 

"February," she said, unsure why she had to repeat herself.

"But you just said that was too soon," he said with a small frown.

"Yeah but the label wants - "

"Stop!" he said.

She stopped walking, unsure what he wanted her to stop.

"If you think that way you are going to burn out and end up hating all of this."

"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to catch up.

"I mean, when do you want to release the album?"

She thought it was a ridiculous question, one dumb enough not to answer. Most of her decisions hadn't just been her's to make the last three years.

"I'm serious," he said.

"We had been planning for a mid April release."

"Then stand by that," he said. "In the beginning it's easy to see the label as the only thing that is going to get you where you want to be, so you let them call the shots even though you dislike some of them, but don't. If you give in now it will only be harder to get what you want down the road. You might justify it by saying that once you have made it then you can call the shots, but if you don't start strong they will walk all over you regardless of your status as a musician."

"But I am nothing without them."

"If they dropped you, would you stop singing?"

"No," she said simply.

"Would you stop pursuing music as a career?"

"No," she answered more quickly, catching on to his train of thought.

"Then you have everything you need to make it. They will get you there faster but so will dating me."

He gave her a joking smile and she laughed.

"I'm serious though. You hold more power then you think," he said.

She was quiet as she thought about what he said. She wasn't sure she held as much power as he thought she did but the notion of holding any power at all changed the way she thought.

"Thanks. Sometimes I feel like I'm just hanging on to a life jacket in the big ocean that is the music industry and it's nice to get some advice from someone who not only has a lifeboat but a yacht."

He smiled.

"I like the analogy and I'm happy to help. If we had had someone telling us this when we started out, it would have kept us from making some bad decisions."

"Thanks," she said. " Well, I should probably get back to the stage for sound check."

"Ok."

**********************************************************************

Hey party people!

(And when I say party people I'm talking to those who consider a party to be a good book and a comfy chair.) How are you doing? I'm good! It's Sunday and I hit 400 views! Seriously I could cry because I love you so much and can't believe that you are reading my story. Thank you so much!

Also I have been searching for who Kade sounds like and I think its a toss up between Ben Rector, singing Brand New or The Killers singing Human. Check the songs out and let me know which one you think he sounds like.  Lennon sounds like Taylor Swift, second cd.

Vote, comment, follow, be a friendly fellow! ;)