My fingers sting as they press down against the guitar strings. It's only when I turn my mind off and look down at my fingers, I notice how red and numb they are. I rub my fingers together, only to feel the indented grooves in the pads. How long have I been in the studio? I look towards the clock on the wall to see its eight thirty at night.

"It doesn't feel that late." I stand up and stretch my back as I look towards the large window at the back of the recording studio. The sun has disappeared and instead the glow of the moon shines over the bustling city.

The sound of the door opening snaps my attention to the entrance. I watch as Alex pokes his head through the door before moving his whole body into the room. I don't particularly like anyone in the room with me, but Alex turning up here is different.

"How are you?" he wearily questions.

"Good." I nod my head slowly.

"How's the song coming along?" he questions.

My reaction is slow, but I shrug my shoulder and remove the guitar strap from around my neck. I place it on the stand before moving towards my book to snap it shut from his prying eyes.

"It is coming along good as well." I plaster on a smile.

The song isn't coming along, in fact, there were no songs to be coming along and I don't want him to know that. Alex would stress out and probably miss his flight if he knew there's a possibility I'm not going to make the deadline for the label. But this is something I need to do for myself, and Alex still has a hard time getting his head around that concept. It's cute that he worries about me, and I adore that quality in Alex.

"Will you play me what you've written so far?"

"When I'm finished, you'll be the first to hear it, I promise." Alex deflates but nods his head.

"Okay."

For the last couple of months, I've been working on my next album. I pitched a few songs and the concept yesterday, but the new direction and sound to the album doesn't sit well with the head of the label. He's scared the music will be rejected by my audience and prefers I go with something similar to my last two albums.

So, I've been sent back to the studio to work on a new song and an album concept for them. I'm supposed to send it in tonight, but I have nothing. It's hard to write about topics or themes I can't identify with anymore. I'm not that seventeen-year-old, naïve girl who walked into the industry, I've changed and morphed into someone else. I don't want to be a one track spinner, I want to create music. I want to create art.

"Make sure you take a break, okay? I don't want you over working yourself." Alex lightens up and smiles at me.

"I will." I smile back, "I'm was about to head home, in fact." Grabbing my book off the table, I shove it in my bag along with a few other things I have on the table.

"Rest up, and please try to enjoy this next couple of weeks." He moves towards me and wraps his arms around my waist. I lean up and press my lips against his automatically.

"I will." I nod my head, "Lucy and I are going shopping tomorrow for inspiration designing." I laugh.

"I'm happy then." He squeezes my body tightly against his chest as he nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.

"How much are you going to miss me?" I tease.

"Lots, and lots." He lifts me up before dropping me on my feet again.

"And I will miss you too," I add.

"I'll try and speak to you every day, I promise."

"And I shall endeavour to answer the phone." I giggle.

I used to be so attached to my phone, now it's no surprise if I can't find the darn deceive because I always leave it on silent and put it down. I think this annoys Archer more than when I used to be addicted to social media.

"I'll call everyone until I hear your beautiful voice." Alex strokes the side of my cheek before leaning down to steal another kiss from my lips. I hear his phone beep, which sends me jumping back from the loud ringtone.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the message, I bet it's the boys grilling him on why it's taking him a long time to say goodbye. I swear, every time he leaves, things get slightly harder but a little more bearable.

Alex and I are often on separate tour schedules and occasionally run into each other on crossover cities or events. It's not the relationship I anticipated when I first thought about dating, but we're working on it. Social media is a tool to help us keep up to date with each other's lives. But I miss being able to run into his arms and having the opportunity to snuggle and tell him about my day. Text messages and emoji's don't always help uplift my spirit.

"Are they demanding my head yet?" I chuckle.

"No, but they are mine." Alex remains immersed in his phone as he shoots a quick text message back to his band mate who are impatiently waiting downstairs for Alex to re-join them once more.

"That's not good, you should go," I encourage.

"Are you trying to get rid of me that quickly?" he raises an eyebrow.

"I just don't want you to miss the flight, like last time." Alex's face drops and he pouts.

"Come on, that was a one-time thing." My mind filters to the last time Alex stopped by to say goodbye, he ended up missing his flight by five minutes. Apparently the airport doesn't care too much for late celebrities.

"One more kiss and I'm off." He swoops down and presses his lips against mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and hungrily pull his body closer to mine. His arms start running over my body. As I take a step backwards, I forget about the guitar and fall straight on my bottom.

"Okay, it's time for you to leave now." Alex tries to hold the laugh in, but his face turns the slightest shade of red before the giggles escape his lips. I pout and throw my phone at his body with the intention to hurt him.

"You're so mean," I scream in defence.

"You're too cute baby." He offers his hand to help me up, but I ignore it. I collect my phone off the ground and then stand up. I move towards the table and collect my bag and mask.

"I'm going to copy the audio and then we're going." I walk out of the booth and leave him behind. I go to the audio desk and start copying across the recording to an external device and then delete the recording from today.

"Ready?" he asks.

"Yes." I slip my mask over my face and head into the elevator with Alex following shortly behind me. When we get to the ground floor, we hurry out through the main doors to the waiting car. One of the other boys pokes his head out the window and starts throwing curse words through the air as he tries to get Alex back inside the car.

"See you in two weeks." He kisses me once more before jogging over to the car. He gets inside and waves as they pull away and drive off.

Before I can get tangled by the people beginning to swarm around, I slip back inside the building and head to the back door. I take off the mask and shove it in my bag before I walk out into the fresh air.

I have to walk down a back ally, but it opens up to the opposite street where there's nobody calling out for me. As I walk down the street, I catch Archer's car pulling into the bay. I run towards the vehicle and jump inside.

"Hey Archie," I cheer happily, "How are we this fine evening?"

"Better." He pursues his lips together at the sound of his nickname.

"You'll get used to it." I shrug my shoulders.

"Back to you apartment?" he asks.

"That's exactly where I need to go."

"Not a good day in the studio?" Archer asks.

"Mmm," I groan, "Not really. I can't write from a person I no longer am. If I was still going ahead with the album I want to produce, then I would have had a good day," I reply.

"What have you written today? Maybe you can tweak it?" he tries to offer.

"I can't." I shake my head, "The world is just going to have to wait for this album."

"I still want to hear what you've written, I believe this new content is a great stepping stone for you."

I slam my back against the chair and roll my head back so that I'm looking up at the roof of the car.

"If only they had your confidence in me!" I mutter.

"You will pull through, you did last time," he reminds me.

"This just makes me hungry for change, Archie. I can't wait to be free of the label and doing my own thing. I hate obeying the commands they put in place. I've really become a one trick pony."

"Hang in there Riley, the world works in mysterious ways." Archer pulls up in front of my building.

"Thank you," I quickly say before slipping out of the car and jumping onto the side walk.

I wave to him and watch as his car disappears into the traffic flow. Instead of returning to my empty hotel, I start walking through the streets, searching for inspiration from the shops and people around me.

I let myself get lost until I find my place once more. It's been a while since I last stood here. I look up at the large building and let the memories come flooding back. The time Dad and I first arrived at the hotel, to the time where Alex and I fought in the lobby over who had to leave first, to the moment I met Mr. and Mrs. Archibald. This is the place that helped spin my career into what it is, but destroyed a part that hasn't surfaced until now. Standing in front of the Archibald hotel felt weird, but somewhat comforting in my time of need.

"I've always missed the way the pancakes were made here." Despite no longer being a guest, I walk into the building and head towards the restaurant section to the right of the lobby.

As I make it to the entrance, I'm stopped by the serving girl.

"Room key?" She looks disinterested and bored, which sends a worried feeling to my gut. It's going to take more than take-my-money to get a seat in here.

"I'd rather pay by cash," I say.

"All meals are charged to the room. Are you even a guest here?"

"I'm friends with the owner, so no. All I want is dinner."

"Well, you need to be a guest then."

"They won't be pleased about how you're treating me," I grumble.

"Take that to your imaginary friends then." She shrugs her shoulders, "I have actual customers to serve right now."

"I'll be sure to tell Marina what I think of her husband's hotel!" Before I draw too much attention to myself, I start walking off before I look like crazy person – but I feel like my attitude has gotten the best of me. I just wanted some pancakes.

I look over my shoulder and see she's serving another customer. Which makes me feel better about the scene. As I turn back to what's in front of me, I smash into a hard body and I go colliding backwards onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry," I instantly say.

I grab my bag off the ground before looking up into his beautiful eyes.

"Uh-" All words and sense leave my brain as I stare up into his face.

"Riley?" He frowns, "What are you doing here."

"I-um-eh-pancakes?"

Nathan laughs and then leans forwards and offers his hand to me. Without a second or first thought, I latch onto his hand and he pulls me to my feet.

"Hey," he says.

Nathan looks equality stunned, which makes me feel better about the situation. My eyes soak up the tiny details, noticing the changes in his facial shape and that fact he's keeping a subtle amount of hair on his jaw line. Nathan looks all grown up now.

"I feel like pancakes too," he adds. "Even though it's a strange dinner meal."

"Yeah, your pancakes are amazing," I try to say, "Pancakes are good for everything and anything."

"Did you, um, did you want to grab some pancakes?" he asks shyly.

"Yes." I nod my head.

I look over towards the restaurant, and then back at him. Nathan bites his lip nervously before asking, "Do you have somewhere we can go? I could make you pancakes," he offers.

"We can go to my apparent, I guess?"

"I think your place will do." I tighten my grip on my bag and nod my head. Nathan starts walking out of the door, and I chase up to follow him.

I'd possibly spend many months and days dreaming about the day I'd see Nathan Archibald again, and no way did I think it would ever happen.

The world works in mysterious ways, and I need to get this out of my chest so that I can move on. Nathan deserves to know the truth and I'm finally going to get the chance to deliver it.