A/U: Hey guys! It's been a long time since I've written a fanfic... About half a year to one year. That being said, please excuse me if this isn't really up to standard, I'm a little rusty. I hope it's still enjoyable though!

Note: I recommend listening to the song "For Good"by Wicked... and the Glee version's good too. P.S You may need a box of tissues.

Disclaimer: I(unfortunately) do not own Lauren Alaina or Scotty McCreery.

There had to be a reason why he met Lauren Alaina.

I mean, besides Thia, they were the youngest in the competition. They were put together in the group performance in Hollywood week. They spent most every day of their Idol journey together in school. They sung 3 duets together. They were put in the Top 2, and thus flew to Nashville for awhile.

If you still think this whole thing was a coincidence, well, that's that. But to Scotty McCreery, it was dagum clear that Lauren Alaina was not meant to be just another person in his life.

"Scotty Mac!" He heard her before he saw her. A look to his left told him that a certain blonde-or brunette, he still couldn't decide- was bouncing towards him at extremely high speed, and if he didn't brace himself in the next 0.3 seconds, they'd both be on the ground with more than a few bruises.

"Oof." He caught the laughing girl in his arms, grinning ear-to-ear. "What's gotten into you?" He chuckled, looking down at her. She beamed happily, oceanic eyes sparkling at him. "I don't know. It's just that, I haven't seen my Idol fam in a week, so I'm pretty sure I have the right to be happy right about now." She gave a little twirl, and he had to laugh. Only Lauren could have this much energy in the dead of the night. He saw Lauren eyeing Pia and Thia to the right of them, not paying any attention to him anymore.

"Bored with me already?" He laughed. "I'll let you go, baby. I know you wanna talk to Pia." He winked down at her, and she blushed. "I'll sit with you on the bus later, promise." She promised.

"Oh dear… Don't know if I wanna take up that offer." He laughed a little as she smacked him on the shoulder and watched as she fluttered over to Pia, her smile never leaving her face.

"She gets prettier every day." He nodded in agreement at Casey's statement, all the while watching Lauren talk animatedly.

"Well, it's not like you would know, you haven't been drooling over her in the past five minutes or anything." Casey teased him, noticing that the young country crooner's cheeks grew rather red. "Shut up Case. You know you would too if you were in my position." Scotty felt the tips of his ears burn as he said this. Oh brother. Casey just laughed and nudged Scotty.

"I'm just kidding, Scotty ol' pal. I would, she's a lovely girl with quite the character." He winked.

"Yeah, well." Scotty felt himself start to smile talking about Lauren. "She's grown quite a bit, hasn't she? Used to be so carefree, never bothering about what other people said about her."

"She has. The Idol journey has changed her for the better, and you too. What happened to the Scotty who forgot everyone's birthdays and eye colors?" Scotty laughed. Boy had Lauren given him a talking to about that one. "Dude, it's not my fault. I'm a boy!" He tried to defend himself, but failing miserably. "And I'm not? Well, actually, I'm not. I'm a grown man." Casey puffed his chest out, striking a pose. "All the more reason why you should agree with me that men are less… aware about these kind of things! This is the reason why Facebook was invented. The creator was a guy, wasn't he? And so naturally, knowing the male species, he added a built in calendar so that we would never forget birthdays." He grinned.

Casey rolled his eyes. "But still. You actually make an effort now. I can't even tell if you did in the past." He shook his head. "That girl does wonders for you. Gone is the Scotty that never used to speak out in the group of people… I think we all got the shock of our lives when you finally said something, even if it was just 'dagum'."

"I had to!" Scotty protested. "It was either that, or stay mute for the rest of my life, knowing Laur." Casey laughed. "I'll let you go on that one, I suppose. Girl can talk," he said, nodding his head in Lauren's direction.

It was true. And it was made known to everyone within the first fifteen minutes of their meeting. No one else had managed to get a word in.

"Speak of the Devil." Scotty snapped out of his daydream, suddenly realizing Lauren bouncing towards them. "Casey!" She squealed, wrapping her arms around their bearded friend." Scotty smiled at her - she was so precious. "What about me?" He inquired, quirking a eyebrow at her. Lauren rolled her eyes, but nevertheless pulled Scotty in. "Come 'ere, you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and once again he found himself blushing furiously. Dang it.

"Come on, I think the bus is ready!" She did a little happy dance and dragged the two men out of the airport and towards the chartered bus.

The air was dry and cool in the Philippines. Scotty shivered a little as a cold draft blew over him. Lauren smirked up at him, feeling warm and toasty in her puffy yellow sweater. He eyed her, knowing what was coming. Just as he expected, the minute she opened her mouth to taunt him, he cut her off. "Don't say anything, Laur. I know I should have brought my sweater." He pulled her close to him, basking in her warmth. "At least you're here to keep me warm." He murmured, face buried in her shoulder. She snuggled in, making herself comfortable against Scotty's chest.

"Of course." She knew he could tell she was smiling. "I'll always be here for you."