"Do you have everything you need?" Walker's mother asked as she passed her gaze over the two boys once more. His father stood about a step behind her, drawing energy from the mug of coffee in his hand.

"Yup," Walker replied. His gaze was a little far-off, as if he hadn't fully woken up yet.

"Think so," Forest chimed in agreement. Despite the distance he traveled to get there, he was more a morning person than his cousin. "Thanks for pickin' me up so late last night. I'm real sorry 'bout that delay."

She dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. It happens to everyone," She insisted with a sincere smile, "Y'all better take a lot of pictures." She went in and swept each of the boys into a hug and pressed a kiss on their cheeks. 

"Yeah, mom," Walker murmured and blocked a yawn with his hand. His father came up to him and pulled him into a brief hug in the middle of it, earning him a soft grunt in surprise.

"Stay out of trouble." He was always saying that, but he didn't always heed that warning when he was younger. 

The boys said their goodbyes as they migrated to the door. Walker had a duffle bag slung onto his back and a guitar case grasped tightly in his hand. Forest has his backpack which had the neck of a ukulele case conspicuously sticking out the top of it and a suitcase that looked more like an old-fashioned, over-sized tan leather briefcase. Together, they marched out of the front door and made an immediate turn to cross the lawn to go over to the neighboring house.

Walker heard a sharp intake of breath from Forest and smirked.

He leaned in a little closer to Walker and lowered his voice. "That's her?"

"Uh huh."

"She's on the television."

"I told you." Forest fell silent as they neared the unspoken line separating their properties and Walker raised his to greet his friend. "Hey, Harper. Hey, Mr. Parker." The walk, while short, got his blood circulating enough to wake him up decently. The smile that donned his face had just a touch of drowsiness to it. 

"This is my cousin, Forest," He said, slapping the boy on the shoulder, "He came in late last night from Texas." She already knew this, but Forest didn't know she knew this, so for his sake, he repeated himself.

Forest stood stock still, unable to take his eyes off of Harper, the very first celebrity he ever met. The slap on his shoulder jostled him out of his daze and into the interaction. "I, uh, h-howdy," He got a grip on his words and extended a hand to her, "Nice to meetcha."