The rest of their weeklong break was spent in bliss. While the tabloids followed their every move and attempted to gain information about their budding romance, Billie and Ezra barely noticed and remained shrouded in their own bubble. Both of their management teams had predicted nuclear fallout over a public relationship, but neither could have guessed the generally positive tone of the articles published during their time in New York.

It was as if the media could see the physical change in Ezra's disposition, as if their relationship made him more sympathizable for the public. Suddenly, Billie wasn't being portrayed as just some girl in his endless black book. The media, instead, opted for a redemption narrative Ezra had long been overdue for.

He was getting better. Though it had only been a week, Billie could see a noticeable change in him. His love for music and life slowly resurfaced, and Ezra began talking about the future as if he planned to be a part of it. He was more coherent in those few days than he had been all throughout the tour, and Billie selfishly lapped up that pure attention focused on her and their relationship knowing she'd have to share once the week ended.

His sobriety wasn't fixed overnight, and she would be a fool to think otherwise. Still, Billie felt like he was changing for the better. He had been sober the entire week without one slip up, and she knew he could make it through the rest of this tour with the right support and environment.

While the media buzzed about their relationship, Monica and Jeff remained relatively silent. Truthfully, Monica had only been worried before they had secured an investor. With the money safely placed in a trust, she had no reason to be concerned about Billie's love life any longer. With the media being so positive about their relationship and Madison signing the contract to remove the voicemail, Jeff really had no complaints.

At the end of their break, the two flew out to Seattle to meet up with the rest of their bandmates to begin the rest of the tour. They had two days for preparation before they would perform and head to their next stop. Truthfully, Billie was nervous seeing the girls after running off with Ezra. Though they had decided boys and money would never get between them, part of her wondered if they resented her decision to go public with the man who had been hell bent on ruining their career in the beginning.

She barely got a chance to unpack or talk privately with them before Monica waltzed in and hauled them into a meeting with Grand Motel and Jeff. As they walk into one of the rooms located in the venue they'd be playing in the next few days, the air isn't as tense as she imagined it would be.

Ambrose and Jude are seated across the table chatting while Ezra is over by the refreshments, eyes wandering over the selection. The sound of the door opening alerts them of the girls' arrival, and all of them look up and offer smiles. For a moment, Billie thinks she's dreaming. It's as if nobody cares that her and Ezra's face was plastered on every major tabloid.

"We'll go over some logistics in a minute," Jeff greets, "We're just waiting on one more person."

Billie heads over to the refreshments and offers Ezra a warm smile. "Can I get you a coffee, Mr. Moore?"

Ezra can't help but let out a chuckle, head shaking. "You know, a guy makes one mistake and he can never live it down."

"Can't believe you thought I was the coffee girl," she teases with a grin.

"Well, if it's any consolation, you were the prettiest one I'd ever seen."

"Very sweet, but doesn't absolve you of your terrible error," Billie replies before reaching for two cups hidden behind the coffee dispenser. He offers her a thankful smile before they get their drinks and sit at the table.

A familiar woman from Mad Sounds enters the room and takes a seat next to Jeff before he clears his throat to alert everyone they'd begin now.

"I'm sure you know why we're having this meeting," Jeff states, "We're nearing the end of the tour, and we've got some minor kinks to work out."

"What kinks?" Daria questions with a wary tone.

"As you know, we only have six more shows before the tour concludes. The final two are set in Los Angeles, but the one before those is at a music festival in Las Vegas. Grand Motel is scheduled to headline one of the nights," Jeff explains, "It appears now that girlcrush will also be scheduled to perform that evening."

"You mean to open for Grand Motel?" Billie clarifies.

"One of the acts canceled," Monica chimes in, "and I pulled some strings to get you girls the spot. You'll be headlining separately."

The girls can't help but let out excited squeals, which even causes Monica to conceal her own grin. Ezra gently squeezes Billie's knee from underneath the table, and she turns to him and offers a smile. They hadn't even finished the tour, and opportunities are already falling into their laps.

"Congratulations," Jeff offers neutrally, "We all knew big things were coming for girlcrush, and this opportunity will only be the beginning. That's why Lucy is here to chat with you."

Billie can feel her stomach twist as she remembers where she's seen this particular executive. This is the woman that had offered girlcrush a deal to sign with Mad Sounds. Though they had received funding for their own label, the offer still hadn't quite expired.

"Hi, girls," Lucy greets with a far more inviting tone than Jeff's, "It's so great seeing you again. The board has been very pleased with your success and performance throughout the past few months."

Monica's demeanor changes almost immediately, and suddenly Ezra pulls away from his grasp on her knee. He reaches for the white lighter in his pocket, which causes Jeff to give him a cautionary glance. So, instead, he begins toying with the flame. Ambrose and Jude even focus on their hands. Billie can sense a sudden change in the air she can't explain, but it appears that the boys can.

"I'm sure you've been alerted that girlcrush has received monetary investment for their independent label," Monica reminds, and Lucy only nods.

"Mad Sounds was pleased to hear that investors see value in your brand and music," she assures, "And that's why we've decided to offer a new deal for you to consider before anything is finalized."

"The money is already in a trust," Monica replies, "The girls have already decided on what they want to do."

"You should let the girls speak for themselves," Lucy warns with that same smile still gracing her features, "Especially when the deal is far better than the one we offered before."

The girls look at each other briefly, signaling that they're open to hearing what Mad Sounds is offering. They had all agreed to start this label, but they would be foolish to ignore a counteroffer.  "Go ahead," Monica prompts.

"We're doubling your signing bonus," Lucy explains, "Mad Sounds wants you to move to LA after the tour and begin working on your debut album, instead of waiting like we had proposed originally. In addition, instead of opening for Grand Motel in their next tour, we're offering you an opportunity to co-headline."

"Co-headline," Callie breathes, "You mean we'd perform for our own fans?"

"Your name will be on the ticket," she assures, "We know that there's overlap in audiences between your bands, and we think it would be profitable to have you collaborate instead of competing against each other."

"What made you come to that conclusion?" Daria snorts, arms crossed over her chest.

"Grand Motel has been a trending topic for the last week and a half. Their most recent single has just hit top ten in the country because of it," Lucy explains, and it suddenly begins to click for Billie. She looks over to Ezra, who is no longer toying with his lighter.

He straightens up in his seat, body leaning forward to get a better look at Lucy. "What does that have to do with anything?" He questions in a short tone.

"Your relationship with Billie has proven to be very fruitful press and profit wise. I am sure you can imagine what a surprise it's been to everyone how well the media has reacted to it. Because of that, we're willing to offer the rights for you two to make music together independently."

"You mean as solo artists?" Billie clarifies, and she can sense every member of her band's eyes on her.

"Exactly," Lucy replies with a nod, "The only stipulation is that girlcrush does not release any music that shows your relationship with Ezra or any other members of Grand Motel in a bad light." For a split second she glances over at Callie, who nearly sinks into her chair. "We'll review your finalized songs and reserve the right to terminate them if need be."

"So, you're paying us off as insurance?" Sloane scoffs, "You think he's going to fuck up, and we'll ruin Grand Motel's career over it. All you want is to control their competition." She arches across the table, finger pointed at Lucy. "And you think we're that fucking stupid to fall for it."

"Sloane," Callie murmurs, hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. Sloane shrugs her touch off immediately, attention focused solely on Lucy. "You've got your hand so far up everyone's ass here that no one takes a shit without your go ahead, but not us. I've never met a label that has so little faith in their talent than Mad Sounds, and I'd rather be a nobody at The Collective than be famous and work for you."

Billie can't help the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Sloane didn't need to confer with the rest of them to ensure that they still wanted to create their own label. Had this been the kind of dream offer they hoped for, then Ezra wouldn't be clenching his jaw and white knuckling his coffee.

Perhaps Sloane had been perceptive to it, perhaps she had more faith in Ezra than she let on. Either way, they wouldn't make the same mistakes Grand Motel made. They didn't need a label or another band to secure their success.

"I think Sloane said it all," Monica replies coolly, "Our contract to perform for Mad Sounds terminates after this tour, and girlcrush will not be renewing it."

For the first time in the meeting, Lucy frowns. She begins gathering her things, attention turning to Jeff. "We'll be in touch," she states before nodding at the rest of them and heading out the door.

"Is that all we had to do here?" Monica questions impatiently, "I've got a few phone calls to return."

"That's all," Jeff nods, "Always a pleasure, Monica."

"I wish I could say the same," she dismisses, fingertips placing a pair of shades on her face before standing up from the table. "Good work girls."

As Jeff and Monica both clear out of the room, the two bands sit at the table in silence before Ambrose clears his throat.

"I think we owe you an apology," he admits, "Especially for our management's behavior. You don't exist as artists to clean up our messes. I think I speak for us all when I say that we don't see you as that."

"They're just scared you'll outpace us," Jude explains, "and I guess we don't mind that as much as they do. Hell, if we weren't chained to Mad Sounds ... we'd probably join The Collective."

"Thank you," Daria replies with a tentative smile, "This tour has been pretty fun, bullshit and all. We wouldn't be here without you."

"Maybe one day you can join The Collective," Callie adds, "I know we'd all be honored." All the girls nod, even with Sloane's reluctance.

"I owe you all an apology, too," Ezra admits, eyes meeting Billie's before he looks towards the rest of the group. "I'm sorry my actions have made this tour difficult, and I'm sorry I didn't give any of you the respect you deserved. Billie was right when she spoke up at our first meeting. I'm not nearly as important as I thought I was to be treating anyone that way."

"Yeah, well, we're sorry for being dicks to you," Daria replies, "We should've given you a chance instead of believing the tabloids."

The girls nod, and Billie can feel her heart begin to swell. He had taken it upon himself to try and make amends with her best friends, and they were willing to look past it for both their sake.

"We're really happy for you and Billie," Callie adds, "You two deserve to be happy, and no one should get in the way of that."

"But if you break her heart," Sloane warns, "I'll break you." The girls all nod to that sentiment which causes Billie's smile only to widen.

"I won't let you down," he promises, hand reaching for Billie's for the first time in front of the group. She doesn't hesitate in intertwining their fingers, thumb rubbing over the back of his hand. "You're going to see a new Ezra from here on out."

"Not new," Billie corrects, "This Ezra has always been there." Both his bandmates nod, and it causes a proud smile to tug at the corners of Ezra's mouth.

"Congrats, man," Jude offers with a smile, and it's as if he's waving his own white flag when it comes to their discretions. "And congrats on the label. I wish I could tell Lucy to shove it like you did, Sloane."

"With a little practice, you'll get there," Sloane boasts.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving," Ambrose muses, "How about I call up Sky, and we all go get something to eat?"

Everyone nods in agreement before getting up from the table. As they decide on a restaurant, Billie turns to Ezra. "I'm going to stop by the bus real quick to grab a jacket," she explains.

"You want me to go with you?"

Billie shakes her head. "No, you stay here. I'm not worried about Sloane strangling you anymore." He instinctively rubs at his neck before letting out a laugh and kissing her temple. She slips out of the room with a fuller heart than she could've imagined.

As she makes her way out to the buses, her thoughts and excitement consume her. Billie barely sees where she's going when turning a corner and practically runs into a familiar figure. Her cheeks immediately flush as her eyes meet Monte's.

"Sorry," she breathes.

"Don't be," he assures, "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I've been meaning to talk with you," she blurts out, "about what's been going on."

"We already talked," Monte assures, "You don't owe me an explanation, Bill."

"I'm sorry," she offers, "For everything ... especially leading you on. I should've been upfront."

"You didn't lead me on," he chuckles, "No pressure, nothing serious. Remember?"

"Right," she smiles, stomach unknotting itself. Though their story ended, Billie is grateful to know him. If anything, Monte is one of the only genuine people she's met in life. Not once did he play any games, and perhaps she didn't need to view him as a loser in her own one with Ezra.

"I'm glad we bumped into each other, though. I took your advice and applied for some jobs that focused more on telling stories. I'm gonna be working for Rolling Stone after this documenting the underground music and art scene."

"Wow," Billie muses, "That's amazing. I'm really happy for you."

"I'm happy for you, too," he smiles, "I meant what I said about girlcrush doing something important. The Collective is going to be next level. Who knows, maybe I'll even be the one writing about it."

Billie feels so overwhelmed with gratitude that she can't help but pull him into a hug. "Thank you," she mumbles, and Monte lets out another laugh before hugging her back. After they part ways, her heart continues to swell. Billie finally enters the bus, and her fingertips reach for her phone and push out the case to pull out a note tucked inside.

"Dreaming is easy. Daring to make it reality is the hard part. Hope this helps."

She had held onto the paper ever since they received the letter. Evelyn had told them in the meeting she dared to dream, and Billie likes to think she dares too.

The dream she chased all the way out to New York is finally becoming reality, and maybe it's stupid to be carrying around a typed note from a woman who she barely sat five minutes with. But Evelyn had read the depths of her soul and answered her prayers. For that, Billie would be forever grateful.

Before long, a familiar knock taps against her door before Ezra peers inside. "You ready?" He questions, a smile still plastered on his face.

"I'm ready," she confirms, fingertips reaching for a jacket.