The Story of Us (Book 1 of "The Story of Us" Series) [Completed]

Chapter 12 - For My Broken Heart

[Harley]

At first, it didn't hit me that I could have died if I had boarded that plane to Los Angeles. But after a few days, seeing the aftermath of what they now call 9/11, I can see why everybody around me was freaking out. I could have died. I wasn't even 20 years old yet and I could have died. In fact, my management and members of my band did die. Everybody but Scarlett, who decided to visit a few members of her family in Boston instead of being in my music video.

That kind of really messed me up to be honest. Sure, after I arrived in Toronto, Nick and I made up and everything seemed okay but reality kicked in. I hit me that I had lost some of my closest friends in my band and my management. I had to make statements to the press. I attended the funerals when they were finally held and everybody and their brother wanted an interview with me because I was almost involved.

After that fact that I really could have died hit me, I kind of stopped putting things off. I left my record label and let the labels come to me with new offers. During that time, I also had to find new management because I had used a private company where there were only two artist, myself and Faith Hill. I didn't know who else to go to so I asked my Mom to step back in.

I finally signed with a new label before the end of the year that gave me more control over my music and my career. I wasn't the one being told what to do anymore. I was the one making the decisions and my mother, as my manager, finally understood that.

One of those decisions was that I was going to take my time writing my next album after taking a break. I went overseas with Nick to finish the Black & Blue tour and we spent Christmas at my house that I had bought in Atlanta with my family and part of Nick's family. It was around that time that I think my parents finally realized that Nick and I were serious about our relationship. With my Mom managing my career again, she saw how serious I was about being with Nick and for once, it brought us a lot closer like we were when I was younger.

After that Christmas, Nick started working on his solo record. We went to different writing sessions together in Los Angeles and Nashville. It was kind of like we were in college together. We were learning things about writing and producing music and most of all, we were together doing it. As Nick started recording his album, I started writing some for my album but I was getting a lot of movie and television scripts. My Mom suggested I give it a shot and Nick did too. I had never been one to be shy and was in my drama club in middle school, so I gave it a shot.

I went to a few auditions for some television shows and ended up getting a small guest appearance on "Friends" as a babysitter in one episode. That was my first taste of acting and the bug bit me.

As that summer ended, Nick filmed his first music video for his solo album and I landed my first movie role starring opposite Paul Walker in a romantic comedy. But then I broke my leg by falling off a horse and had to give the movie role up to someone else. It depressed me. I couldn't go with Nick as he promoted his album and couldn't do much of anything but sit and watch television. It was during that time that my Mom and I had a lot of long talks about the future and about Nick.

I remember we were sitting in my parent's living room, watching "Help Me" premiere on TRL and my Mom told me that she thought Nick was the one for me because we had been through so much already. That's when I confessed to her that I had already picked out my wedding dress and planned the wedding in the back of my lyrics notebook. It was simple things like that, her being more of a mother than a manager, that made us close again.

But by the time Nick's album was released, I was up and moving again. He started performing shows by himself and I was right there with him. By that time, I had almost taken a year off and had done nothing except some writing and the "Friends" appearance. My new label was getting itchy.

So at the beginning of 2003, Nick started to tour to promote his album "Now or Never" and I started working with producers on a new album, but I wasn't happy with what was coming out. In a way, I wasn't inspired. I had written songs about what happened in 2001, with Nick, with what almost happened to me, but after my break, but I didn't want my album to be totally about that. I didn't want it to be a depressing album.

I needed something to inspire me, but I never wanted to be inspired the way I did.

[/Harley]