Denial

“Where is my shirt, I just put it down here….” Matt was looking around the dressing room. He began to think he was going out of his mind, he put his favorite shirt out to wear and it had disappeared. Now he took another shirt and again… it was nowhere to be found.
This dressing room seemed like the Bermuda triangle, things were disappearing for no reason. Matt looked around and pulled the last shirt he brought with him out of his bag. He turned around to grab his deodorant and quickly turned back to his shirt, determined to not let it out of his sight this time.

“Stop! What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Just as he turned around, he saw Jason snatch away the shirt from where he had put it.
“Did you take the others too? Give them back, this shit ain’t funny!” He looked at Jason annoyed, he was supposed to be a roadie, he was supposed to make it easier for him, not harder.
Jason turned around to him with a smirk “Izzie told me you wouldn’t need a shirt tonight, she asked me to make sure you’d remember”
“That… that…” he was total loss of words and got cut off by Jason before finding them again “A bet is a bet, Shadz, man up” Matt growled and grabbed his phone from his pocket, hitting the speed dial button.

“Yes, love?” Izzie answered on the second ring.
“Tell Jason to give me back my shirt, we need to go on in 30”
“You don’t need a shirt” she said triumphantly.
“I do need a shirt, you haven’t won the bet, I won’t be performing shirtless” Matt stepped out of the dressing room, getting away from his bandmates for a minute.
“Izzie, be serious, Johnny didn’t even want you to introduce him to her, your plan didn’t work. I won!” He smirked as he came to that conclusion, even though he was well aware that his friend definitely showed some interest for the girl. He wouldn’t admit that to Izzie though, he was planning on winning this bet and he had only a few minutes left to drag the victory over the finish.
“He was definitely interested! What did you think what would happen? He would do her right there? We didn’t exactly set the parameters” Izzie said smartly.

Matt thought about that for a minute as he paced up and down the hall.
“Where are you?” he asked, quickly thinking of a plan.
“Almost back to the venue, why?”
“Okay, let’s set the rules, to decide who will win.”
“I’m listening”
“We have 30 minutes to the show… Or better… 25. You bring the girls here and then we decide on who will win.”
“When do I win? I mean.. Johnny has taking interest in her, you saw that too, so I think I already pretty much won” She sounded smug and he couldn’t wait to wipe that tone out.
“No. We need something concrete”
“What? Like a kiss or something? That’s not realistic, honey” Izzie let out with a sigh.
“Hmm, you might be right.. Okay.. what about Johnny has to talk to her for at least five minutes and he has to tell her he will be happy to see her after the show.. or something in that line. Can you agree on those terms?”
“Yes. But no cheating! You are not allowed to give him a lot of tasks so he won’t have a chance to talk to her.”
“Fine, but you can’t go locking them somewhere”
“Partypooper” Izzie groaned, making Matt smile.

“Shake on it?” He heard her voice echo. He not only heard her through the phone, but also live, as she was entering at the opposite site of the corridor.
Izzie quickly walked over to Matt, putting on her serious face and shook his hand as if she closed a business deal. A smirk came on Matt’s face and the corner of Izzie’s mouth was also tugged by a smile and he quickly bent over to kiss her. They were both smiling into their kiss as Izzie let her hands wander over Matt’s naked torso.

“Seriously, Sanders! Is that how you treat your friends?!” Tammy yelled at Izzie as her, Mia and Nessa came through the door Izzie had just used a minute ago. They were out of breath and made their way over to them slowly.
“What did you do?” Matt whispered to Izzie’s lips.
“Had to get rid of them for our negotiations, so I ran away from them”
“You are crazy” Matt laughed.
“Only about you” she smiled back at him as she let her finger trace the deathbat tattoo on Matt’s stomach. “It would be such a shame if this godliness was covered tonight” she cooed.
“Don’t even try to talk me into this by complementing me. I’m not falling for it”
Izzie moved away from him “Such a shame” she muttered.

“Hey, you guys are back early, what a nice treat” Zack came out of the dressing room, buttoning up his shirt, while he kissed Mia hello.
Mia’s eyes were wondering over to Matt’s bare chest and even Tammy had no attention for Brian coming to see what all of the noise was about.
“Nessa, you want to take a look too? I don’t mind, I know my hubby is sexy as hell” Izzie said as she went over to stand next to Nessa.

Nessa leaned into the wall and took everything in with a smile. She had so much fun during dinner, she might have gained another 3 friends tonight. She heard a lot of stories about the men and she had seen them before at parties, but she was never properly introduced.
The one with the green eyes came towards her “Hi, seeing my own wife is drooling over my best friend, I better take my free hands to introduce myself, Zack, nice to meet you!” Nessa shook his hand and smiled.
“I better follow my better half on stage” the taller one with the dark hair winked at her “My name is Brian”
“Better Half? Seriously? I’m happy we married on equal terms, if you decide to make the Synacky rumors true, half of yours is mine” Tammy smirked.
“What? You were too busy watching Matt’s sixpack, how do you think that made me feel?” Brian fake pouted at Tammy, who immediately took the chance to offer some very real comfort by kissing him.

“Come on, I’ll take you to meet the other two” Izzie put her arm around Nessa, guiding her to the dressing room.
“Izzie…” Matt let out on a warning tone, but Izzie didn’t stop for a second, she looked over her shoulder and winked at Matt.
“What? There isn’t even a lock on the dressing room door!”

“You already met Arin, right? I saw you two talk?”
Nessa smiled at Arin “Yeah, we did, we talked about cars.”
“I think it’s so cool you named yours” Arin smiled and gave the girls a peck on their cheeks as a welcome, then blushing a little after he realized what he had just done so spontaneously.
“Eh… Did you meet Johnny?”
It was only then Johnny looked up. He had been trying hard to avoid the women and thought he had made it home free the moment the girls had left for dinner. But now they were back, just before the show. He noticed the chatter in the hallway, but decided to just stay here, hoping to sit this one out.

“Hey, I’m Johnny” He put out his hand for her to shake, while he looked her in the eye.
The minute the two locked eyes they knew they would probably have to put away all their resolutions to no step into anything romantic anymore.

Johnny felt something click, he looked into Nessa’s kind eyes and instantly realized she was different. His heart told him, and by the shocks it gave him to touch the skin of her hand, he could tell he was very much alive. His mind however, told him to not fall for the things his heart was telling him, his mind told him to keep his distance. His mind didn’t have that much faith in women anymore.

Nessa on the other end was trying to make her heart stop beating so fast. She was cursing her stupid heart for fooling her again, they had an agreement, no funny business, no liking men anymore. And now it was betraying her, because she knows the feeling. She knows what happened with her insides the moment she saw Johnny’s eyes. She knows what happened to her skin the second he touched her. No! Nessa told her heart, no. She wouldn’t be falling for anyone ever again. All the funny business her heart was throwing her now, was kept away by her head. Telling her that denial was key, telling her that as long as she didn’t admit. She would be fine.

Unfortunately for both of them. Their friends had noticed their little moment. Mia and Tammy moved next to Izzie and started whispering
“Did you see that? We need to help them in the right direction, Iz”
“Is she to be trusted? Johnny was hurt enough” Mia sounded concerned for her friend and Izzie smiled. She was certain, she knew they would fit and they wouldn’t hurt each other. So that was what she told the others, dragging them into her plan of getting the two together.

Still standing in the opening of the door, the men did the same. Brian immediately noticed Izzie’s handywork.
“Is she really trying to get all of us into relationships with her friends?”
Matt chuckled and nodded “She is. But she is right, didn’t you see?” The two others nodded and Matt shot them a pointed look “If you ever tell Iz I said that, I have to kill you. She is too cocky about it as it is”
“We need to give Christ a little push, he will overthink all of this again. Did you see his face?” Zack butted in.
“Yeah, we do need to give him some friendly pushes. But not tonight” Matt said decisive, making his friends look at him in question.
“Izzie and I have a bet. We can’t bring them together now. I will talk to him tomorrow” He looked over at Johnny and Nessa and saw Mia walking towards them, telling Nessa to sit down. Conveniently Mia took the empty seat opposite of Johnny, leaving only the one next to him, free. He growled.

“Shit, Izzie is going all out” he muttered under his breath “She even recruited the wives”
“What are the terms, what will decide who wins?” Brian asked the leader of their band and Matt quickly told them what he agreed on with Izzie.
“Okay, the talking part you might lose, it won’t be long before he can’t keep his mouth shut. But he will never go for the second part in this short amount of time”
Matt sighed in relief, Zack was right, he would definitely be allowed to keep his shirt on.

“So uh, Nessa, how do you know Izzie?” Johnny asked, trying to act as normal as possible. Nessa looked at the man, confused that he talked to her. The crooked smile he send her made her smile too, so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She turned towards him and told him about the photoshoot and how she liked Izzie and how she was really enjoying the evening. The crooked smile had turned into a full one now as Johnny tried to explain a little on his history with the guys. Time flew away and before they knew it, the 5 minute call was made.

The whole gang headed to the stage, Johnny still talking to Nessa. They seemed more comfortable with each other, even though they were both still holding back. All the girls said goodbye to their own men, while Johnny and Arin showed Nessa what everything in the backstage was for.

“Too bad, Iz, seems like I won” Matt towered over Izzie with a smile.
“Yes, seems like it, it’s not fair. You can see he likes her”
“Rules are rules honey” He kissed Izzie and then turned around to his band mates, seeing Brian tap his cheek with a smile.
Matt bend over to Brian to peck his cheek, causing everyone to roar in laughter.

They were all pumped and ready to go. They could hear the crowd go wild.
“Hey Johnny, you have something on your forehead” Nessa said, making Johnny wipe his face quickly, removing the bit of dirt Nessa had referred to. She giggled “You kinda looked like Harry Potter for a second”

“Uh Oh” Matt let out, overhearing the conversation. He felt Izzie move in next to him, she smelled blood and she was going in for the kill.

“You like Harry Potter?” Johnny questioned, looking at the girl.
“Yeah, of course I do” Nessa stated as if he was asking something really stupid.
“Let’s go guys! You are up!” Jason yelled, holding out his hand for everyone to put their phone in. They guys headed for the stage, Matt closing the line. He had a victorious smile on his face, but that fell the second Johnny turned around and yelled to Nessa.
“Cool! Maybe we should discuss that a little more after the show?” and with a smile he took his place on the stage.

“SHIT!”
Izzie grabbed Matt’s arm “Hand that shirt over!”
“Iz… I have to be on stage” Matt begged
“I can rip it off if you want to, but it’s definitely coming off. A bet is a bet!” Izzie smiled widely as she put her hands on his chest.
“Fine!” Matt handed her the microphone and aviators and quickly took off his shirt. The first notes of Shepherd of fire were already going through the room and he already missed the first cue when Izzie handed him his stuff back.
“Good boy” she winked as she smacked his ass before he ran on the stage.

The other women laughed loudly, knowing Matt being shirtless would get him a lot of shit from his bandmates and not to forget a lot of swooning from the fangirls.
“The only thing missing is a bowtie” Tammy giggled.

Izzie had a satisfied smile on her face, not only did she get to watch her handsome man perform shirtless, but she was certain her plan was working and it wouldn’t be long before her friends were happy again.

Notes

Goodmorninggggg! For me it's still weekend, so I didn't break my promise :P
I had to put that Matt kissing Brian thing in, I love that clip... For the ones who don't know it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=espLFBX9qvM

So girls, tell me what you think! <3