𝐒𝐒. I'll take you there

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❝On stage, I make love to 25,000 different people, then I go home alone.❞

( janis joplin )

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Rhiannon, having long left Teddy in the dust earlier that night, stood swaying back and forth as the beautiful crimson dressed singer, Simone Jackson belted her heart out on stage. It was hoot night at the Troubadour, a night Rhiannon often dragged Teddy to with her insistence that someone was 'insanely talented' every other week. Usually, they didn't meet his standards, but tonight would be different.

Applauding eagerly as the last notes drifted away, Rhiannon watched Simone untangle the mic cord as she spoke.

"Thank you, that was track two off of my album, I got some copies for sale by the bar." Simone said, grinning lightly as she looked to the shadows backstage. "And now I'd like to introduce a friend of mine, she's gonna take you on a spin around the universe. Come on dup, Daisy Jones!"

As the scattered cheering and applause appeared, Rhiannon watched curiously as red headed girl with a slowly white shirt and acoustic guitar made her way across the stage. Rhiannon stepped forward to get a better look at the girl, her interest obviously peaked.

"Hi, I'm Daisy." She said, smiling to Simone as she made her way off stage. Nothing more was said from the new singer, instead words were replaced with he gentle plucking of guitar strings. "The days were wide open, at the heart of all my joy..."

Rhiannon's eyes flicked from the red headed singer to Teddy at a table in the back. He returned her gaze, nodding lightly as he took a drag from his cigar and returning his eyes to Daisy. Rhiannon did the same, a small smile appearing on her face.

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Rhiannon Price: You know the feeling you get when you know everything is about to change?

Daisy Jones: That night could've so easily disappeared into the back of my mind but then I saw her. Swaying back and forth to my song as if I'd finally said everything she needed to hear. I just knew... I knew everything was gonna change. And it did. That's what happens when you meet a girl like Rhiannon. [ laughs ] Not even a girl like Rhiannon, no they don't exist. That's what happens when you meet Rhiannon.

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"Simone Jackson, as I live and breathe." Rhiannon exclaimed, walking up behind Teddy as he spoke to the singer at the bar. "You were incredible."

"Well thank you." Simone said, smiling at the girl who grinned back at her. "That means a lot from Rhiannon Price herself."

Rhiannon waved her off at that, rolling her eyes.

"Don't even, one day you'll be selling out stadiums and I'll get to say how lucky I was to hear you at hooters night at the troubadour." The blonde girl said with a grin, winking at Simone as Teddy sent her a look. "Now where is your friend?"

Simone turned to find who Rhiannon meant but found her walking up behind them. Good timing as always.

"Well here she is." Simone said, turning back to the musical duo in front of her. "Daisy Jones, Teddy Price, and of course you know Rhiannon. Y'all should talk."

Rhiannon raised an eyebrow at that but Daisy discretely nudged the smirking Simone at that but the singer merely walked away, leaving Daisy with the Price's at the bar.

Teddy didn't waste a minute, handing a silver card to the young singer without another word.

"Ellemar Records." Daisy read aloud.

"You interested?" Teddy asked as Daisy looked back at him, eyes flicking momentarily to the curly haired blonde at his side who sent her a small smile.

"In what exactly?"

"Working on some music together."

"Well, I don't know." Daisy said, taking a drag from her cigarette as she spoke. "What do I need you for?"

Rhiannon had to bite back a laugh as Teddy stumbled with his next words.

"Uh, well." The producer started, vividly reminded of that day when he had first met Rhiannon. "I just like what I heard. And I think, with a little bit of my help, I could take you to the next step. All you need is some shaping-"

"Shaping?" Daisy cut in, rising a brow at what he said.

"Yeah." Teddy said, suddenly on edge particularly as he was obvious a source of amusement for Rhiannon beside him as they spoke. "I mean, I'm saying... Look, you're new, right? And nobody is all the way out there their first time out-"

"She was." Daisy cut in, gesturing with her cigarette to the blonde beside Teddy who winked at the girl. "And I don't think I wanna be shaped. But it was nice to meet you."

Stamping out her cigarette with one last look to Rhiannon, Daisy walked away. Teddy was silent for a moment, watching her go. Rhiannon nodded, a smirk finally finding it's way onto her face as she glanced at Teddy.

"I like her."

"Of course you do." Teddy grumbled, swigging his whiskey as he rolled his eyes at Rhiannon. Noticing she was still there, he sent her a look. "Well go on!"

Eyes widening as Teddy shoved her in Daisy's direction, she quickly scampered off as Teddy chuckled to himself.

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Teddy Price: Again, because of me, y'all got Daisy and Rhiannon. Why I'm not continuously praised, I have no idea.

Daisy Jones: She just... followed me outside. Then we got to walking and then to talking and then before I knew it, we were sharing a bottle of crappy corner store wine on a bench in Beachwood. We just... kept talking and never stopped.

Rhiannon Price:Β I liked her... I really liked her.

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

"You wrote 'Stumbled on Sublime'?" Rhiannon asked, watching as Daisy took a swig from the bottle they were sharing.

"Are you surprised?"

"Of course not." Rhiannon snorted, taking the bottle from Daisy and looking down it to see how much was left. "I just finally realised why I can't stand the sound of that fuckers voice."

Daisy laughed, a real laugh, one where you throw your head back and let the sound come from somewhere primal within you. Rhiannon hoped she would make her laugh like that again.

"I mean come on." Rhiannon continued, tossing the empty bottle aside as she spoke. "You know when you listen to music and you can tell if the singer was smiling when they sung it? Well I personally think you can tell when someone stole the song! And he did!"

Daisy laughed, leaning into Rhiannon in her hazy drunken state. Leaning her head of red hair onto the girls shoulder as she laughed, Rhiannon didn't stop.

"I mean the lyrics 'she's all around your head, shΠ΅'s goin' around the corners of your mind?' that's absolutely incredible." The blonde said, leaning her own head on Daisy's as she rambled. "I hate when people ruin a good song."

"Guess what? Daisy mumbled, playing with the cheap rings on her fingers as she slurred out her speech. "That exact line was inspired by your song."

"No way."

"Way." Daisy grinned, begging to hum the lyrics to Kind of Woman. "Kind of woman that'll haunt you. Kind of woman that'll haunt you. She matters to you."

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Rhiannon Price: Hearing her sing my song back to me, somehow filled me with more happiness than any crowd singing it back to me could've. It was as if we'd been friends forever. Just two girls in this fucked up world, sharing a bottle of wine on a Friday night, loving our music.

Daisy Jones: She said to me on the walk home 'Daisy Jones if I don't hear your voice coming out of my record player very very soon, you're going to have hell to pay.' And for the first time, someone other than Simone wanted to hear my voice. [ silent for a moment ] I can't describe how that feels.

Simone Jackson (disco pioneer): And then suddenly, I had two of them. When Daisy was over, so was Rhiannon. And I loved them both more than anything but really, how many times can someone listen to a Carole King record? If you asked them... enough times to drive Simone crazy.

Rhiannon Price: When I woke up the next day, I was met with Teddy pulling me out of my bed and tossing me some clean clothes. 'We're listening to a band today.' He said, and then turned around and left. I remember I called after him just before the door closed, 'what are they called?' And he yelled back down the hallway, 'The Six!' [ laughs ] My first thought was, what stupid name.

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"He cornered you... in the middle of the night..." Rhiannon said, following Teddy through a seedy looking grey hallway. "And convinced you to listen to his band?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"What's his name, I want to shake his hand." Rhiannon grinned as Teddy scoffed. Voices appeared in the room as they got closer, obvious arguing from the band they were about to watch.

"This is gonna be a long day." Teddy sighed as they entered the room.

The band went silent, taking in the sight of infamous music Producer Teddy Price and the unexpected sight of Rhiannon Price in all her untamed glory following in behind him. Their eyes followed them as Teddy took a seat on the chair facing them and Rhiannon sat on the table, much closer to them than the music producer but far enough away so she wouldn't go deaf.

Rhiannon waved at the band with a small smile as they pulled themselves together. Luckily, most of them smiled back.

"We just, uh." The obvious leader began as he spoke into the mic. Eyes flashing to Rhiannon as she watched him. "We wanted to say thank you for this opportunity. We're 'the Six' and this is 'Silver Nail.'"

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Karen Sirko (keyboardist): First impression of Rhiannon? Wow, she was... she was everything. A ray of sunshine with a cigarette between her lips. We became mates pretty quickly. In a world full of men, I was happy to have her and Camilla.

Eddie Roundtree (guitarist): Rhiannon came up to me after our performance in the parking lot and said, without a hello, 'you were amazing.' And I felt... amazing. [ sighs] Rhiannon has that effect on people.

Graham Dunne (guitarist): It was almost hilarious. There was this girl, wild hair and big green eyes, staring up at us as if we were her favourite band in the world. Bear in mind, she was younger and way way more successful already than we were. But somehow... I felt like Mick fucking Jagger in front of her.

Warren Rhodes (drummer): I talked to Rhiannon later, I don't know if it was right after the show or even a week later, but I said 'you know I've never heard the name Rhiannon' and she said 'I've never heard the name Warren.' Then next thing I knew, we were high off our asses scream singing Tiny Dancer in the living room. [ laughs ] She was a cool chick. We had a lot of fun.

Billy Dunne (lead vocalist): I wasn't really looking at her then. I had more important things on my mind. People think we played one song for Teddy Price and he gave us the deal, or that Rhiannon somehow convinced him to give it to us. Not true, for months he put us through the wringer.

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

The band stepped out of the whiskey a go go, closely followed by Teddy Price. Rhiannon laughed under Eddie's arm as she and Karen hooked arms, talking about some groupie in the crowd who'd flashed Eddie until he turned bright red.

"You sounded good out there tonight." Teddy said, watching as Billy lit the cigarette between his lips.

"Yeah, good but not great." The lead vocalist said. "I mean my voice cracked during 'Flip the Switch.' Eddie's chasing Warren on time every damn song."

Teddy only chuckled as Billy's eyes flicked up to him from his lit cigarette.

"What?"

"I booked you into a studio next week." Teddy said, smiling lightly as he watched Rhiannon tell some story as the band circled her but then he looked back at Billy. "And the label agrees it's high time you kids cut an album."

"Shut up." Billy said, a grin working its way onto his face.

"Nope."

"Shut up."

"It's true- No don't hug me, don't hug me." Teddy cried as Billy ran forward and embraced the music producer. This caught Rhiannon's attention as she and the band looked over at the two men.

"Why exactly are you attacking my landlord?" Rhiannon asked sarcastically as Teddy wiped the water from his jacket as Billy turned to them.

"Because it's happening." Billy exclaimed. "We're making an album!"

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Warren Rhodes: I'm pretty sure Rhiannon and i got high that night as well.Β 

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

"Did you tell him where I work?" Daisy questioned Rhiannon who sat opposite Teddy, as Daisy slid a strawberry milkshake in front of her. She hadn't even ordered it but Daisy had seen her order it enough to know it was her favourite.

"I swear I didn't." Rhiannon said, hand to heart. "He did this sneakiness himself."

"So you're stalking me now?" Daisy said, turning to clean some plates from the table of the diner she worked at now to help pay the rent with Simone.

"You think I didn't catch on to why Rhi comes here practically everyday?" Teddy asked with a raised eyebrow as Rhiannon slid further into her chair. "I want to work with you."

"You know I've heard that from a lot of music producers, Teddy." Daisy said, standing beside Rhiannon as she spoke, balancing a tray on her hip. "And it wasn't always music they were interested in."

"Ask around, hey ask Rhi, that is not me." Teddy said with a shrug. "Now look, maybe I wasn't a hundred percent clear with you at the Troubadour. Your songs, they aren't songs."

"Did you want to order something?" Daisy cut in, eyes flaming with irritation as Rhiannon watched Teddy with wide eyes.

"I mean, you got some great beginnings to 'em, yeah of course, but I'm always in the same places at the end as I am at the start." Teddy continued as Rhiannon watched Daisy's eyes flick to her. "You just don't take me anywhere."

"Do you think that?" Daisy asked her.

"Daisy how many times have I said that I think that you're a genius." Rhiannon said, looking up at her red headed friend. "But Teddy is right, you don't have an album yet."

"Well maybe you guys don't know how to listen to them right." Daisy said, obviously affronted at her friends betrayal. Rhiannon went agape at that but Teddy merely sent her a look. "Did you think about that? Maybe I don't want my songs to fit in a box with a bow on it."

"Yeah well." Teddy said, pulling out some five dollar bills from his wallet as he began to stand. "Maybe you're right."

"What's that for?"

"You're time." Teddy said, standing from the booth as Daisy sighed and walked away. Rhiannon didn't leave however, she watched as the music producer walk up to the jukebox and slotting some coins into it. "And by the way, this is a song."

Son of a preacher man by Dusty Springfield started to play as he walked out the diner and Rhiannon sighed as she watched Daisy angrily put the plates away. Finishing her shake, Rhiannon placed down a dollar and stood from the booth.

"If it helps." Rhiannon said to Daisy's turned back as she pulled her signature fur coat on. "Your songs take me everywhere."

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Daisy Jones: Teddy wasn't the one who convinced me to do it. Of course he was a big part of it, sure. But [ sighs ] Rhiannon just... She just always knows exactly what to say.

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Camilla Alvarez (photographer/videographer): I met Rhiannon while the band were recording their album. It was a six day recording session so it was very very high tension time. But Rhiannon was just... a breath of fresh air. She and I would chill in the booth or wander the building when it was a little slow. I think I still have a couple pictures of when I tried on that furry coat of hers and she did my makeup in a random bathroom in the building. God, she was fun.

Rhiannon Price: I really liked Camilla. She took no shit, she was real. That's not something you find a lot in this line of work. So I was so happy when they got married. Warren and I got to be flower girls!

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

When Simone got home that night, she was met with a scene she had seen play out so many times.

Rhiannon lay with a book on her lap and a glass of wine in her hand, stretched out across Simone and Daisy's sofa as the latter mentioned girl strummed on her guitar, scribbling something down every so often.

Simone wasn't blind, she saw the little looks Daisy sent Rhiannon's way as she wrote and she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips as she watched. There was something so pure about the relationship between her two friends, something so utterly sweet. Two words she didn't think she would ever use to describe either of them.

"Hey." Simone said as she finally made her presence known before being quickly shh'd by Daisy.

"She's sleeping." Daisy whispered, pointing to the girl on the couch who's wine glass was very close to falling from her hand.

"Well how about we wake the sleeping beauty up." Simone said, setting her bag down on the table as she walked further into the apartment. "I heard your music, Dais, it's time to record."

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Rhiannon Price: I remember finishing off Daisy's recordings, I was at on the floor and leaning against Simone's legs as we listened to her sing. There's nothing like watching someone share their art with you. It's amazing. But then, the phone went off. It was Teddy and he was giving em directions to a hospital downtown, telling me to get there quick. I didn't know what he meant until he said 'just go, Billy can't.' And then I knew.

Camilla Alvarez: I never got to thank Rhiannon from coming when she did. When Billy didn't. But it was nice of her to come. You don't really want to be alone after giving birth so she raised my spirits a little.

Rhiannon Price: I was Camilla's daughters god mother [ laughs] I'm sorry it's just till so funny to me. I'd known her for what, nine months, and she trusted me of all people as her god mother.

Camilla Alvarez: I don't really know what I was thinking but I thought it was right... I still think it was right.

.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·.

Teddy watched Billy as he lay limp in the car seat next to him, driving him through he dark up to a rehabilitation centre he knew. Teddy only knew one other person he would've ever done this for and the thought of having to do it made him cringe.

He wasn't a religious man but at the junction in Downtown Hollywood, he prayed.

Don't make me ever drive Rhiannon down here, Teddy said to himself, don't you dare.

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