"Come on Colt, get up or we'll get caught in traffic again." Will strides into my room and pulls my curtains across, letting in the early morning light. I turn my head on the pillow towards the window and gaze out over the high rise buildings, birds sweep past the room and the sun climbs up the shard warming the sky into a yellow glaze on the retreating dark night.

"Why, where are we going?" I drag a pillow over my head whilst he scuttles around my room.

"Studio." He yanks the pillow away from my face and I wince, my eyes still adjusting to being open.

"Why? What are we doing." He stands at the end of the bed and hesitates,

"Uhm, ironing out a few things and... recording." He looks at me sheepishly,

"Okay...?" I scowl at him, he is one hundred percent hiding something from me, grogginess weighing down my muscles, I roll over and bury my heavy eyelids into the mattress. Too tired to question him, he waltzes out of the room into the living room of the suite.

I swipe my hand down my face with a groan, my callous palms running across my stubble. Five more minutes and I'll get up, maybe ten...

"Mr Jax," The door of the SUV swings open and two black-suited men stand either side of the car door, blocking some of the flashes that come from the mass crowd forming around the entrance to the label building. The building itself stood out like a saw thumb but a majestic one... if that's even a thing, sometimes just looking at it gives you a sense of pride, knowing you're part of something that big.

I step out of the car and am escorted down the carpet towards the entrance by four muscle machines, all wearing black suits which are double buttoned, they all walk in perfect synchronisation with their hands locked behind them. I pull the hood of my hoodie lower over my forehead, obstructing cameras from getting a picture of my bruised, battered face. I keep my face down looking at my air forces but out of the corner of my eye, I can see, probably hundreds of screaming fans all pushing against the barriers, waving their hands frantically in the air and screaming at me. I roll my eyes and hurry into the lobby, don't get me wrong, it's great I have so many fans but sometimes I just want to go out like a normal person, stop the whole Colton Jax persona for five minutes.

I'm hustled into the lobby with the muscle machines closing the doors quickly behind me, suddenly interns and PA's flood into the reception area and surround me, all clutching pens and note pads, files and arms fulls of coats that they are currently gathering from my entourage. Each one of them gushing with something to say. Eventually one of them pulls me gently away from the chaos towards the lifts, I actually recognise this one, with her red auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail and round-framed glasses. She gives me apologetic eyes and a warm smile, I know she's Castros PA... shit, what's her name... Joline? Emma? Or was it Jules? To be fair, I don't stick around long enough to know the lower chain of staff.

"Sorry about that Mr Jax, it's been a bit of a chaotic week and we were all very excited about your arrival today! Especially now that everything is a go with the tour! Honestly, I'm pretty jealous you'll be working with Gigi, she's amazing and so talented!" She lets out an awkward chuckle noticing my face has blossomed into the most unpleasant look. Like I've said before, everyone worships the ground this girl walks on. Will finally joins us in the lift and it starts ascending. The PA breaks the most uncomfortable silence,

"She's already here, by the way, she's in the far studio at the end with Oaken."

Will nods giving me a sly side-eye, what the fuck is he talking about...

"Who? Am I recording with someone today?" I ask abrasively.

He nods and turns to the woman,

"Does she know?" Will asks, she shakes her head sceptically.

Will's acting so sketchy today and it's weird, maybe its someone who's big right now... that's why it's being kept under wraps, stops the press getting a hold of it. A smirk spreads its self across my face,

"Who is it...?" I cock an eyebrow at him which makes him laugh.

"Just a... uhm.. a good old friend!" Him and the red-head both smile, I can see her turn into her notepad trying not to laugh...

"Are you fucking with me... good, old friend, seriously Willam?!"

Gigi is stood behind the mic in the booth with a mardy expression, oh boy this is going to be fun. I presume she still hasn't forgiven me and I really can't blame her, I admit I was out of line... I just hope she does soon because I kind of enjoyed the Gigi from the gym the other morning... only a bit though.

She places her hand on her hip and glares at me, she's wearing a thigh-length tweed skirt accompanied with an Aretha franklin T-shirt, it's too big and hangs over the belt attached to the skirt but you can still see her defined curves beneath it. Something I never really noticed before was the small splodges of ink on her arms, I couldn't see what any of them were from back here, but the fact this girl is inked is an even bigger turn on... that and her fiery attitude.. she'd burn the fucking house down.

Gigi walks out of the booth and rolls her eyes at the man behind the mixing desk, again, I'm sure I've worked with him before but I have absolutely no clue what his name is. He snickers in the chair and rolls himself away from the forever rising tension.

"Morning lovely, how are you?" Will asks, pushing me further into the room.

"Well, I was doing alright... until I saw Mr Arrogant here..." She doesn't once make eye contact with me but I can see how puffy and red her eyes are, she looks like she'd been crying again, Will laughs causing me to whack him on the arm.

"Well, today I thought we could... get things rolling a bit and... have a writing session between you two...?" he says pausing every few seconds watching my face cloud over. 

I groan causing Gigi to shake her head in disgust. Oh fuck, this isn't a good start, I wasn't groaning at her as a person it was more the fact I've got to spend the next few hours in a room with someone who hates me and probably will ignore everything I have to say because nobody thinks I can write a sodding song! It's the same with every songwriting session I've ever been to. She scoffs and looks at will as if to say how the fuck do you expect me to work this idiot. He looks back sympathetically rubbing his arm and shrugs slightly.

"We all think it would be great if you guys spent some time before we hit the road to try and build some chemistry... or something near too... a good working relationship. It'll be harder once were on tour to get the stability of writing sessions so you might as well start now!" We both scowl at him, arms crossed.

"Look, I'll be back in a few hours, I'm going to iron out everything upstairs and get your EP release date. Try not to kill each other..." He backs out of the room carefully and runs away from the door once it clicks shut.

Brilliant.

The room's filled with silence, you can hear the traffic from fourteen floors below. Gigi sighs and launches herself onto one of the sofas, kicking her trainers back and forth avoiding all eye contact with me. I figure I should probably try and make this less awkward, maybe start with an apology...

I walk over and sit down on the cushions next to her, I can feel her scoot away slightly but at least she hasn't gotten up and walked away yet.

I turn slightly to face her, she looks tired with the redness around her eyes but she's tried to cover it with false eyelashes and a layer of foundation.

"I uh, I just wanted to say I'm really-"

'Oh spare me the bullshit Colton! You're not sorry, you never will be!" she barks at me, now getting up and walking around the room.

" But I really am sorry, what I said was really out of line and you didn't deserve that at all," I say, surprised at my own sincerity.

"Then why did you say it? I understand the way we met wasn't the most conventional and I do apologise again for the way I spoke to you, you caught me at a bad time and it was unfair of me to take it out on you... but publicly shaming me like that... I didn't realise you hated me that much Colton." I can hear the hurt in her voice, it wobbles slightly in fear of letting me see her sadness.

Underneath all her fierceness is a core of vulnerability, a core that most people don't get to see but being the prick I am... I've got to see it in the worst way.

I leap up and walk towards her,

"I don't hate you Gigi, and I said those things because I was angry.... Because I'm... I'm a dick!" The corners of her mouth turn up slightly, "I'm so sorry that's not an excuse and I'm sorry I managed to ruin things again before they'd even started. I uh really enjoyed the gym with you the other day... even though I've now got a black eye to pay for it but at least were matching!" I point at her eye and we both chuckle slightly but she soon regains her pained expression.

"It's not you that's the problem, it's..." I stop myself before I open a whole other can of worms that I just don't want to talk about, this is the most honest and... well nice, I've been since.. well... a long time, it feels strange but Gigi just gives off that energy that makes you want to tell her your life story. I'm shocked by my attitude, I didn't expect myself to be so honest and sincere but I guess there's a first or everything.

"I just wanted to say I am really sorry and maybe we can just call a truce, for the sake of both our careers?" I hold out my hand towards her, praying she might take it so I can get through the next six months without a constant headache. She looks hesitant staring at my inked up hand.

"Fine. Truce." Her small, cold hand grasps mine and she gives a light shake.

I feel like a tone of bricks has just been lifted off my chest and I can breath lighter.

"Great... Thank you..." She smiles back at me and goes to grab an acoustic guitar by the mixing desk, she sits down and starts to strum.

"So uh... do you want me to come back in a few hours so you can focus?" I ask. I might as well save myself the disappointment and do something else for the next few hours rather than have all my ideas turned down and have her constantly ignore me.

She looks at me confused,

"No...? Why would you do that? We've got an album to write and I'm not letting you get out of it that easy Mr."

She pats the sofa next to her indicating me to sit down,

"Wait... you want me to help you write?" I ask sceptically, is this a joke?

"Well obviously idiot, it's your album." I look at her stunned, I might actually get some input on my own album,  "You look like you're about to pass out," she chuckles

I shake my shock, "Sorry, it's just... this is the first time I've ever actually been allowed to write on my own album... usually, the label just pays people to do It for me and I get zero input, it's nice to get a chance at writing what I want to for once." She looks at me with shock and pity, "Wow okay Colton Jax... that's a good start."

"What?"

She gets up and starts pacing the room,

"Don't get me wrong.. your songs are good and all... but they're ordinary and lacking... they're what other people want to hear... not what you want to say. Music has got to come from the heart and what you just told me, is from the heart. I'm not here to write you're album for you Colt, I'm here to help you write you're album. So let's start with that... writing about how you feel!"

I'm at a loss for words, for the first time... I feel like I've got someone on my side who trusts me and is willing to believe in me. She's giving me a chance to earn the labels trust and prove myself, giving me a chance to reconnect with my music and my emotions but I feel with this I may let slip more than I want to, I need to be able to distance some emotions from my writing. Maybe working with her won't actually be that bad... but I have a hell of a lot of making up to do...

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Hope you and all your families are staying safe and healthy during this time especially with such hot weather, it's boiling here in the UK but somehow is fulling my motivation to write!

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As always thank you for reading and I hope you carry on this journey until the end with me!

Thank you!

Iz x