CARRINA JACOBS

Six weeks have passed since that night with Matt, but it feels more like six years. So much has changed in my life, and none of it has been for the better. I quit my job at Leviathan, per Matt's request (or should I say demand?), and have moved from my apartment into his spacious house so that he could, for lack of better words, keep an eye on me. Grace has tried on numerous occasions to milk the truth out of me, but I've done nothing but lie to her...something I never did until I met him. And she knows it.

Grace started dating Brian shortly after the dinner we had on the boardwalk, and while she suspects that he knows something about Matt's nefarious activities, she seems happy. However, every time we have a dinner or a barbeque at one of the guys' houses, she tries to pump me for information. Why can't she just get it through her head that I don't want to talk about it? I'm happy, aren't I? I live in a beautiful home, have a stupidly famous boyfriend, and am supplied with anything and everything that I've ever wanted.

Don't get me wrong. Matt's good to me. Most of the time. Sometimes he'll come home drunk and slap me around, but then again, I should've cleaned up the house a little more while he was out, and I definitely shouldn't have been talking to Zacky. That was a mistake I've tried very hard not to make again.

*Two weeks earlier*

"Carinna?"

I turned around, slightly surprised to hear someone else talking to me besides Matt. Zacky stood, leaning casually against the counter, with a small smile on his face and a glass of Jack and coke in his hand. "Oh hey, Zacky. Do you guys need some more drinks?"

The guys had been working in the studio that Matt had set up down in his basement, and only came up for more drinks or food. Zacky shook his head, setting his half-full glass down on the counter. "Nah, I just came to see how you were doing. We don't see you much anymore."

I shrugged, drying a glass off with the pristine towel that I was holding. "I'm alright. I've just been busy with stuff, ya know?"

He nodded, tracing the rim of his glass with his finger, his bright green eyes searching my face for...well, I have no idea what he was looking for. Suddenly, his eyes stopped somewhere near my collarbone and his body tensed up. "What is that?"

I shifted uncomfortably, readjusting my zip-up hoodie with one hand and pushing my hair out of my face with the other. "What are you talking about?" Who was I kidding? I knew exactly what he was talking about, but also knew that I would have way more bruises than this if I went into detail about Matt's idea of a "good time".
See, here's the thing about Zacky. He's just an all-around nice guy. He can be an asshole when he wants to be, but he's just a sweet, goofy person once you really get to know him. I'd instantly taken a liking to him once I'd gotten to know him, but never really said much to him, and definitely never spent much time alone with him. Which would explain why I kept looking around nervously, waiting for Matt to pop up unexpectedly and accuse me of something that I didn't do.

"That fucking bruise! What the fuck happened?" But I could tell immediately that he knew where it came from, and who had inflicted it upon me. Zack was no stranger to his friend's tantrums, and I'm sure I wasn't the first girl that Matt had been with to be seen with marks.

Suddenly, he was inches from me, his fingers gingerly holding the lapel of my hoodie away from the bruise. His other hand ghosted itself over the bruise, barely touching the skin. It sent chills through my body and a tightening deep inside that I hadn't felt in ages. I could smell the mixture of cologne and smoke that radiated off of him, and I breathed in deeply before looking up into his eyes. "I ran into a door?"

He knew I was lying. Hell, who wouldn't know I was lying? He locked his eyes on mine, the moment frozen in time for what seemed like forever, before I heard a loud bang on the doorway of the kitchen. The noise shocked me out of my stupor and Zacky turned around, not moving away from me.

Matt stood with both hands gripping the doorway, his eyes locked on the closeness of our bodies and the exposed bruise on my chest. "What's going on here, guys?" His tone was chilling, not matching the smile on his face but definitely complimenting the murderous glint in his eye.

I couldn't move, considering Zacky was still standing too close and had me trapped in the corner of the counter. I moved my hand up and self-consciously covered the bruise with my hoodie before hugging myself protectively. "Zacky was just getting some beer for you guys, and he asked me where I got the bruise from. Damn door..." I rolled my eyes and laughed, watching Matt like a mouse watches a feral cat.

Zacky's body visibly tensed up in front of me, but with his back to me, I couldn't see his expression. However, from the look on Matt's face, I could tell it was nothing friendly. Matt chuckled and opened the fridge, pulling out a case of beer and handing it to Zacky. "Here man, take these on to the guys. I want to talk to Carr for a minute."

Zacky took the beer and walked to the door, glancing at me with a concerned look before retreating to the studio. Matt eyed me for longer than felt comfortable, his expression unreadable. I felt heat rising to my cheeks as I turned away from him to finish washing the dishes, chewing on my lower lip. Maybe I was going to luck out and he wasn't going to say anything. Fat fucking chance...

I felt his large hand wrap around the back on my neck, the pads of his fingertips digging harshly into my skin. "What the fuck was that?" His breath was hot against my ear, and I shut my eyes tightly, wishing to be anywhere but here.

"What are you talking about, Matt? I told you what happened." I sucked in sharply through my teeth, wincing against the pain as he snatched my around by my hair and pulled backwards so that I was looking up into the maniacal gleam in his hazel eyes.

"Don't fucking lie to me, you fucking cunt. He was standing way to god damn close and was a little too protective of you when I walked in." He snatched at my hair again, causing my to whimper in pain and drop the glass I was holding so that I could reach up to attempt to pry his fingers out of my red locks. "Now I'm going to ask you again. What. The. Fuck. Was. That?"

My eyes watered in both pain and defeat and I choked back the sob that threatened to tumble from my lips. I didn't know what to say or how to answer, because no matter what I said, this maniac wasn't going to be satisfied unless I told him I had fucked Zacky on the kitchen floor. Which obviously wouldn't be true, but it seemed like Matt was out for blood whether it was logical or not. "Nothing! I swear to God, Matt, nothing happened. He saw the bruise and pulled my hoodie open to see it. I told him I ran into a door and he didn't believe me. But I didn't tell him anything, I swear!"

Matt stared at me for a long time, searching my eyes for any signs of treason. Finally, he let me go, causing an audible gasp of relief to shoot out of my mouth as I held the back of my head, praying for the burning paint to subside. He leaned down and pecked my lips gently. "I believe you," he breathed against my lips, rubbing my arms gently. "You know I get jealous."

I laughed weakly and hugged him, resting my head on his chest. "No need to be jealous. I love you."

*Present*

That was how our relationship was. One minute, Matt was gentle and loving, and the next he'd snap. However, he would always return to the same sweet man that I fell in love with. That was probably why I didn't run screaming in the other direction. Grace would call me a fucking idiot if she knew what was going on, but I didn't care. She seemed happy with Brian, and I was happy with Matt.

However, I never could shake that feeling of security and warmth that I felt when Zacky touched me, oh-so gently. I couldn't forget the desire to touch my lips to his, or the concern and something else radiating from his eyes that night. Since then, I had ignored his phone calls and text messages, and avoided being in rooms alone with him. And trust me...he'd tried. I always made sure to delete his messages and calls from my phone's history whenever they came in so that Matt wouldn't come across them while he did his routine sweep of my phone to make sure I wasn't cheating on him or telling someone about his "temper tantrums".

Just then, a text message interrupted my online shopping, and I sighed heavily when I saw that it was Zacky...again.

Carr, please talk to me... - ZV.

I frowned, wanting nothing more than to just give in and talk to him. I pinched the bridge of my nose, my mind warring with my heart, before I finally caved.

I can't, Z. Matt gets upset when I talk to you... - Carr.

I attempted the go back to my shopping, but an incoming text interrupted too quickly.

WTF?! Why?! - ZV.

I bit my lip, wondering if I should get into this with him. They had been friends for so long...band members...brothers. Who was I to get in the middle of their bond with drama that could easily be avoided if I would stop putting myself in awkward positions. However, I did need to talk to someone about it. And soon. Grace would flip shit if she knew, and I would never be able to get her to understand the situation without her trying to kill Matt with no questions asked.

Meet me at the beach in an hour? Underneath the pier? - Carr.

I'll be waiting for you... - ZV.

I sighed and stood up, checking myself out in the mirror and reapplying some of the make-up that had worn off during my strenuous cleaning from earlier. Matt was "out"...whatever the fuck that meant...and wouldn't be home for hours. I told him I might go shopping later this afternoon, so I wasn't concerned about him hunting me down if I wasn't here. I grabbed my keys off of the foyer table and shot myself one more glance in the mirror before letting myself out the front door, locking it behind me.

Here goes nothing...

Notes

I'm baaaaaaaack!

I've been going through a lot, and depression really took over these past couple of weeks, but after reading WAY too many other fan fictions from this site and repeatedly listening to Waking the Fallen: Resurrection, I've decided to kick my writer's block in the balls.

This chapter's more of a filler, but I hope you like it anyways! Comments are always appreciated!