Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-57-

Music City.

Home.

Neons blurred together, buildings passing by as Delilah stared at them in a daze. She'd grown up here, these places surrounding her, their demons trying to chase her down and haunt her yet she never let them pin her down.

Those bars with young, drunken couples and bachelorette parties there for one final night out before they got married to one man for better or worse. The boy sitting on the sidewalk with a beat up guitar, playing a sad tune with his guitar's case open beside him, a few crumpled bills laying inside. His music was beautifully written, lyrics reflecting on a rough past, his six string working overtime to help him get out of the same situation depicted in his song.

This town was a million different things.

It was beautiful, so gloriously stunning when you took a stroll down the Nashville strip, yet the things you saw there—like the bar room brawls, the young guns racing by in rat rod trucks with teeth rattling bass and popping exhausts, the young women falling in love with boys that had trouble fun grins, the famous musicians that didn't care about their fans and pushed them aside like they were nothing, walking around as if they're everything (as if they would still be where they were without the people they just pushed aside), the sad, sad people that sat on lone barstools drinking away their sorrows and the troubles of life..

Nashville was a place of beginnings and ends for so many people.

Looking around her now, Delilah realized that Nashville was more of a bittersweet end than a hope-filled beginning.

Delilah's attention caught on one specific neon sign. She stared at the glaringly bright colors of it. Old, dust coated memories came flooding back to her the longer she watched it fade through the side view mirror.

That was the bar she used to frequent with Colt. The bar his true colors shown in. The bar where she got her first man inflicted bruise, right on her cheek, the color a horrific blend of purple, and yellow-green. She hated that bar. She pressed her nails into the palm of her hand. The hand that had cuts on the back, the hand that no longer wore concealer to hide her imperfections.

A gentle touch on her knee brought her back to the present time. She turned her head towards him, his face blurred by tears she didn't realize were burning behind her eyes.

Oh, how she had gone so far after falling so hard. From being heartbroken and scared, cowering from the warmth of a loving embrace, shying from the touch of her family—and anyone else, for that matter— to being here, with Ryan, a beautiful daughter, playful animals that loved her just as much as she adored them, and a family she loved being around.

And the physical touch she no longer fiercely feared, but craved, and loved. So, so far, has she gotten from that sad girl who suffered in silence and cried in her trucks, using the hums of the engine to cover their sound.

Ryan glanced over at her. "You okay baby? What's wrong?"

Neon light reflected on his glasses, casting his face in a subtle glow. His blue eyes, so familiar and full of warmth, an almost glowing blue in this light.

It was a shame that there was a time in her life she considered giving a love like this up in exchange for a man like Colt.

"I'm fine."

Who was she kidding?

That man knew each and every one of her tells for when she lied. She knew the sideways glance he gave her, and half-ass grinned and turned her head away. She began talking and rested her hand on top of Ryan's, her scarred fingers over his tattooed ones. He squeezed her knee, encouraging her to continue when she stuttered and her voice went quiet.

She told him everything. He listened. She cried. He held her close with one arm while he drove.

—

Once Ole Glory safely cleared the strip, Delilah had moved into the middle seat and rested her head on Ryan's shoulder. She was tucked beneath his arm, her hand on top of the one he had resting comfortably on her thigh.

Stars bloomed overhead, brightening the inky black of the nighttime sky. Ryan smoothly turned the truck onto a narrow two lane road and pressed down on the gas, letting the truck roar like she was made to do. Ole Glory made it up to ninety-five before she slowed back down to a comfortable fifty-five.

While he drove, his fingers brushed gingerly over the scars on Delilah's hand and sang along with the radio. Earlier, she'd reached under the seats and took out the Shenandoah CD she stashed there last year. He'd left it for her.

She hummed along with the music and listened to him sing the lyrics to Moon Over Georgia.

Blots of white and yellow hung within the darkness, giving light to the night and casting a pale glow onto things below. Trees lined the road, most baren besides the towering evergreens and the twiggy baby oaks with sparse leaves and skinny branches.

But all I had to offer her was the moon,

And she took the moon over Georgia,

She'd rather have a million stars in the sky than a gold mine.

Ole Glory was no stranger to this road. Nor was Delilah, or Ryan, yet the two of them driving down here together was strangely unfamiliar territory, even though this road has been traveled by them both a thousand times.

On the left-hand side of the road, a long split in the trees revealed a mini-mall that was three buildings long with one conjoined parking lot. It wasn't far off from the road.

The first of the three was a small, family-owned jewelry store that would custom make pieces for you. That was where Ryan got her necklace, the same one that hung around her neck as of now, and his.

They had two massive windows at the front with some finely made diamond necklaces, a pair of dangly ruby red earrings shaped like teardrops, and a lineup of rings all different sizes and shapes.
Some rings had emeralds, some rubies, some clean-cut diamonds, others rough pearls made in a range of colors. None stood out to her.

Just as Ole Glory passed by, she saw it.

She couldn't make out the details, but that ring.. oh, it was gorgeous. Most of it was out of view by the time she noticed the box it was in, and the glimmer of it caught her eye. Next time she came back, it was definitely coming back home with her.

But for now, it could be put in the background. Rings didn't matter. What mattered now was the redheaded man beside her, their baby girl at her grandpa's house and the truck she was in.

Oh, was she in for a ride.

The man beside her was completely, utterly and irreversibly in love with her.

When she met him, she didn't know it was possible for one human to love another as much as she now loves him.