Maya’s POV

“You are all that matters to me, M. and I will not lose you. I will fight for you no matter where you are. I love you and I won’t let you go so easily. I will fight for us as long as I need to. Do you trust me?” Matt looked at me hopeful and this kind smile on his face was making my heart beat faster but again, no words left my mouth, but I nodded my head, at least that’s what I could do.
“You trust me, Maya?” Matt asked again and I again nodded and whispered a “Yes”

“Good, we will make this work. I won’t let you leave, babe. Never” Matt pulled me into his arms and I was glad that he didn’t push any further and that I didn’t have to look into his eyes, because I knew that again I would see disappointment there, would see his love and not the complete satisfaction that he earned.

That night, Matt made sweet love to me, he was the best boyfriend anyone could think about and I knew exactly why.
He wanted me to accept the fact that no matter what I would decide, he would be there and he would support me.
While more and more thoughts now were running in my head about: me going back to college, being away from Matt, could I even concentrate when he was away?
Could I concentrate if I would do online classes like Ave had suggested?

I shook my head, I needed to get my head straight, it would be only 6 month, nothing more, then I could finally start with Ave my dream and make our own business, Matt and I could easily last 6 months apart, it’s not like we wouldn’t see us at all, just not the entire time.
Could I stand not being able to reach him? And there were my thoughts again crossing in the wrong direction and I sighed.

“Babe, you okay?” Matt sat next to me at the breakfast table and I knew we were already pretty late, soon Ave and Jess would come down here as well and we would leave for the booth.
“Yeah, still thinking… I really pushed the thought of college away, and you just poked that little bubble, but you are right we should have been thinking about that earlier, but the time had been running, shit I don’t know where the months have gone…” I sighed and let myself fall into Matt’s side.

He laid his arm around me and kissed my temple “I have no idea, but I’m just glad we had that time, and much more will follow, no matter what, babe.” Matt smiled and I nodded.
“I know…” I smiled up to him and he gave me the sweetest kiss, when a scrapping of a throat made us look up.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need to leave soon..” Jess said and I sighed “I know, is Ave ready?” I smiled up at Jess and she looked a little helpless.
“I called her but she didn’t pick up and I knocked on their door but again no one opened… I thought she might be here with you” Jess shrugged and of course Jimmy wasn’t far behind Jess and I was glad they fit so perfectly together, Jimmy deserved happiness and someone for himself.
“Knife Girl.. Shads.. how is it going?” Jimmy sat down and grabbed Matt’s coffee cup from his hand and sipped with a satisfied grin.

“Just how I like it, hot and sweet” Jimmy said and winked at Jess who blushed and Matt shook his head at Jimmy “Very discreet, Rev”
“What? I could have meant Maya too” Jimmy winked at Jess and me and I rolled my eyes and Matt pointed at him “You better not buddy, if someone is allowed to say that, it’s me.”

“Hey” Ave’s voice sounded from behind us and Brian was at her side, his arm around her shoulder, both had a big smile on their faces so they probably found a solution?
I still had to talk to Ave about it, because I think my decision has also formed but would it matter if Ave’s was different then mine?

“You gotta go already?” Brian frowned when Jess and I got up and we nodded.
“Yeah, we wanted to open up earlier, so we might close up earlier too, if our bosses allow that so we have enough time to get ready for the after show party… how does that sound?” I asked putting a small kiss on Matt’s lips and I felt his eyes the entire time on me, damn he made me go crazy and I really mean in a good way.

“I think we can agree to let you close early.” Matt said and slapped my butt when I moved around his chair “And make sure to wear something nice, so I can show you off again later” He grinned and I blew him a kiss.
“Bye big guy” I waved a final time when Ave and Jess pulled me away and I heard Matt and Brian’s deep chuckle as they watched us go.

Again not much work waited for us at the merch booth and I took the chance to grab Avery and talk with her about our plans, or rather hers. She told me that she and Brian had agreed on her taking the online classes so she could stay, but of course she wanted to talk to me about it as well.

“What do you think, M? We could stay… I mean, I don’t want to leave you, what do you think?” Ave asked and I heard the uncertainty in her voice, and I knew if I would give Ave just one word and ask her to be with me, she would come, but I didn’t want that. I wanted Ave to make her decision and I would make mine and then we would meet up again, following our dream together.

“I think you and Brian made the right choice. If you think that’s what you want to do and Brian agrees, then that’s perfect, little Gnome. I thought about a lot of things today and I… I made up my mind… in more than one thing actually.” A smile formed on my face and Ave frowned “And what would that be?” Ave asked and my heart started to beat faster, only at the thought.

“I will go back to the UCLA, Ave. I will finish it… It’s just one semester, Matt told me he will support me no matter what and that he will stay with me through whatever I decide and I want you to make the right decision for yourself and we meet back up, when we graduate and then follow our dream, okay?” I asked and Ave looked a little stunned “You don’t wanna think about that again?” Ave asked and I shook my head “No, it’s the right thing to do, for both of us… Matt and me. I can’t be here when I know I need to finish school properly, and let’s be honest if my big guy would be around I wouldn’t learn much anyway” I winked at Ave and she chuckled “Well… we’ll see about that”

I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I also knew that this was what I always had dreamed about, that I graduated just as planned, and I was glad that Matt supported me with that, even though it would be tough. He made a promise and honestly this was the first promise in years that I was willing to accept. I knew Matt didn’t give promises easily, he would keep them and that was why that big guy meant so freaking much to me.

“When are the guys up on stage?” I asked Avery and my heartbeat increased again.
“In about 20 minutes, I think… why?” Ave asked and looked at me with a lifted eyebrow.
“I need to do something, right now. I waited too long!” I got anxious I wouldn’t make it in time. I needed to head to the bus first, too. Had to change quickly and get ready.

“Will you cover for me, Ave? I will be back, when the concert begins, I promise” I took Ave’s hand in mine and she frowned “Are you alright, you scare me a little… what is so important?”
I jumped from one foot to the other and realized it was very important and it was overdue.
“Ave, please?” I asked again nearly begging and Ave nodded “Sure, go… and good luck” Ave winked when I dashed into the roadie bus.
I went to the bathroom and made myself in the fastest possible time presentable, threw the shorts and shirt away and put on the dress that Matt loved so much on me, with a lot of skin showing and with a deep cleavage, the black color making me fit to his usual outfit and made me grin.

When I knew it was only 5 minutes until the guys had to be on stage I dashed towards the backstage area to be greeted by Matt Berry “Hell Maya, what the fuck… you look amazing…” He said grinning and looked me up and down “Thanks dear, where is my Matt?” I asked looking around not able to see him, I wasn’t too late, was I? I needed to see him now, right now… or I didn’t know if I would be able to say it later, now I had the courage and all the thoughts I had about him yesterday and during this working day made it only clearer.

“They are up next, you can’t talk to them now, hun..” MB said and I sighed “Please, Matt.. Just 1 minute, I don’t need more. It’s important.” I begged and he looked at me “It looks important…
Ahh, Fuck me… fine. Wait!” MB turned around and left me, they announced Avenged and I knew that I didn’t make it in time, my shoulders slumped down and I turned around, when a hand sneaked around my waist and a familiar voice sounded in my ear “Babe, I gotta be on stage now, what is so important?” Matt stood there, turned me to him and he looked concerned.

“I love you, Matt.” I said and Matt’s mouth was agape. He didn’t reply just stared at me and I had to smile, a warm feeling was spreading through my veins, and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, it was exactly what I felt for him and it was the truth.

I tiptoed and gave him a kiss, he still just stared at me when he was dragged away by Matt Berry and had to go on stage.
I smiled, he didn’t expect that and I was feeling like on a high, Brian was right, this was the best feeling in the world, and I couldn’t wait for the after show party and how Matt would finally react when he saw me there again.

Brian’s POV

I was feeling so good I didn’t even know if I could wipe that smile off my face ever again.
Just before we went on stage I looked at my phone, like normally we had to hand it over to Matt Berry, so I checked a final time and saw an unknown number had tried to call me.

Weird, who would that be? Unknown number? Well, I didn’t have time to think about that anyway, I had a show to play and a great after show party to attend to.
I couldn’t wait to meet up with Avery there and spend the night with her, after we had fixed the problem with her going to school I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I mean, damn… I haven’t even thought about the possibility of her taking online classes, so she could stay with me.
What would Larry think? He wouldn’t be too keen about that fact, but she still stayed in school and he could still keep an eye on her if he really wanted to I mean.

Would Maya do the same, she sounded not as serious about that as Ave, or was I mistaken and she just felt offended by the way we talked about it, fine we weren’t know for our finesse but I mean we had to get to the point and I had done that, I don’t like beating around the bush.

“Matt? Yo, Matt! Maya is hear and needs to speak to you for a second, seems important” Matt Berry came jogging over to Matt who frowned.
“Shit, what is it about?” Matt asked looking concerned and then we were announced from the mic and I cursed.“Shit, get Matt back here”, but he was already gone. What would Maya want from him so directly before a show, I just hope nothing happened.

“You guys, go to stage already, I will get Matt.” MB said and walked past me and I rolled my eyes, lately our shows were getting more and more confused from sound check to going off stage.
I shrugged, still I wouldn’t want it any other way as long as Ave was with me and we were happy, I would accept a little confusion.

When Matt finally appeared on stage he looked weird, I couldn’t really put his facial expression but I could see he was struggling with his concentration, what had Maya said to him?

Whenever I was near enough so I would be able to whisper something he walked away, as if he didn’t want to talk to me, was he not sure what to say? Then he got this let’s called it shocked expression off his face the farther to the end of the set we were coming and it turned into a huge spread smile showing off his dimples the entire time making the girly fans go crazy in the first rows and I could only shake my head, something was off here and I had no idea what it was.

“What’s going on with Shads? Had a quickie right before the show?” Zack asked while he stood next to me making one of our dueling solo parts.
“Fuck if I knew… maybe I should call Ave over right before a show too” I grinned and Zack shook his head turning away from me “You guys are disgusting”
“Jealous” I sang right back to him and he showed me the finger making the crowd roar with laughter seeing our little back and forth, even though they couldn’t hear what it was about.

When the show was over and we had done our deed with the fans throwing stuff away and waving final times, I moved off stage and handed my guitar over, not even waiting for the others to arrive.
I headed straight to our bus, to see if Ave was there getting ready, when I ran into Jason.
Perfect…

“Hey man, Ave is in our bus with Maya and Jess, getting pretty or something for the party, they have thrown us out.” Jason answered the question in my head and I nodded at him in thanks.
I moved over to the roadie bus to get a sneak peek but just when I got up the steps Jess showed up and pushed me back down.

“No way, buddy. I was send here to not let any boyfriend in, we will see us at the party.” Jess said and looked determined to do her job and I sighed, damn it.
“Where is Maya?” Matt pushed me away and wanted to go past Jess, who also pushed him away “Sorry, Matt. No can do. You guys see each other at the party. We will get ready and meet you guys there, just wait 30 minutes, an hour tops… okay?” Jess asked and Matt jumped from one foot to the other impatient.

“But I need to see her now” Matt begged but that still earned him just a stern look from Jess “Please go away. We will see us there, I promise it’s worth it.” Jess smiled and I nodded taking Matt’s arm and guided him away.
“Come on, let’s get ready, too.” I told him and he nodded then ran off and I rolled my eyes, something was really going on with that guy.

When I was ready I headed to the party by myself, since I was told my girlfriend would show up here in a couple of minutes.
I looked around and saw already a bunch of familiar faces, so I decided to get a drink for me and Ave and then do some small talk.
I haven’t seen my band members but knew they must be here somewhere or arrive at any second as well.

I had my second drink in hand and still Avery’s special oneand talked to a lot of people in the meantime but Ave hadn’t shown up, at least Matt was finally standing next to me, also two drinks in hand waiting for Maya with a tapping foot.
Seeing Matt that way was kind of funny I had to admit when suddenly a voice sounded behind us and a smile spread over my face.

“Look who is here, infrequent visitors” Jason Berry announced and at that I turned around, I thought he was talking about Ave and Maya at first but the rest of the sentence didn’t make sense and the persons I saw there, weren’t Ave and Maya and they weren’t the girls I wanted to see at the moment, especially not now.

“Val?” Matt’s voice sounded surprised and shocked while Val moved to take Matt’s second drink away and Michelle stepped forward to take the drink I had for Ave out of my hand “Good to see you, Brian”
“Michelle? What are you doing here?” I asked surprised and I just realized Matt and I still hadn’t talked to Maya and Avery about our past and now the past had come back to pay us a visit as it seemed.

“Hi, long time no see” Val announced and pulled Matt into a hug, while Michelle plastered herbody to mine and chuckled “It’s really good to see you again, been way too long, right?”
And I was too stunned to reply immediately, why were they here? Why now and what was this all about?!

Notes

Comments!!

What will happen now?!
Maya said the three little words !!
And...
Michelle and Val showed up! Uh-Oh! :P