The Way Your Heart Sounds

Today was the night before Matt and Val’s wedding. While Val and Michelle were at the salon getting their nails done, Matt and Brian decided to come over to Jimmy’s so they could hang out, maybe get some writing done.

Matt was helping Jimmy get the microphone in his studio setup to record some demo tracks, while Brian was hanging out on the couch with Lauren.

“Has Jimmy been doing alright?” he asked her. Matt and Jimmy were out of earshot.

“Yeah, he’s been fine. Why?” she responded.

“Just wanted to make sure. I am his best friend, but he won’t really talk to me about what he
went through with rehab and all. I know he tells you, though, and I just worry a bit.”

“I know you worry. You’re a good friend. I promise he’s fine. He’s been doing really well with all of this,” she said. Brian smiled and nodded.

“I haven’t told you this, but I’m really glad you’re in his life now. He was starting to go down a pretty dark path, and wouldn’t listen to any of us when we tried to warn him or help him. This is the happiest I’ve ever seen him,” he said, looking over at his friend.

Lauren smiled as both of them looked over at Jimmy. When Jimmy noticed both of them
staring at him, he made a funny face and waved before returning to what he was doing.

“I’m happy he has friends as great as you guys,” she sighed contently.

“Yeah, minus Johnny.”

They both started cracking up, which caused Matt and Jimmy to look in their direction.

“What’s so funny, is there a kick me sign on my back or something?” Matt joked. Jimmy responded by roundhouse kicking Matt in the ass, which made him jump and cry out in pain. Lauren and Brian erupted in laughter again while Matt glared at the tall drummer. Jimmy stuck his tongue out at Matt, who slapped him on the arm as punishment.

“Fuck you, Sullivan. Let’s lay down this vocal track,” Matt chuckled, taking a seat.

After an hour or so, the guys were sitting there listening to some of Matt’s recordings, deciding what was garbage and what they should use for the demo. Lauren heard the doorbell ring, and left the studio to see who it was. She opened the door to see Val and Michelle standing there. They waved at her.

“We’re here to scoop up our men,” Val laughed. Lauren told them the guys were in the studio and invited them inside.

“How long have they been in there?” Michelle asked as they walked down Jimmy’s hallway.

“Basically since they got here,” Lauren said. She opened the studio door, and the guys were in the same position they were in when she left a few minutes ago. Val walked over to Matt and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey babe,” she said. He turned around and looked surprised to see her there.

“Oh, hey! That was quick.”

“Matty, we were gone for like three hours,” she answered, raising an eyebrow.

“No way… Okay, we’re almost done, promise,” Matt said.

Val and Michelle took a seat on the other side of the room with Lauren. They made conversation for a few minutes before the guys finished up what they were doing and made their way over to them, Matt and Jimmy still talking about what they were working on.

“You guys better not work on songs at my wedding, I swear to god,” Val warned. Matt and Jimmy both nodded, but Jimmy winked at Matt when Val turned around to grab her bag.

“We’ll finish this tomorrow,” Jimmy whispered to Matt, who nodded and smiled.

Once everyone left, Jimmy and Lauren spent the rest of the evening cuddling in bed while watching a horror movie. Jimmy’s mom called, and he excused himself for a minute while Lauren paused the movie. He returned with the usual goofy smile on his face, and plopped down into bed.

“My mom invited both of us to have dinner at her house next week,” he announced, leaning his head against Lauren’s shoulder.

“So I finally get to meet the woman I hear so much about, huh?” Lauren smiled and tousled his hair.

“Mhmm. Hey, what about your parents? I don’t think I’ve heard you mention them at all. I mean, if you don’t want them to meet me I’d totally understand. I’m kind of every parent's worst nightmare,” he joked. Lauren smiled and then sighed.

“I’d love for you to meet them. But unfortunately they passed away years ago.”

Jimmy frowned and nuzzled the side of her face affectionately.

“I’m sorry hun, I had no idea,” he murmured.

“It’s alright. My father was diagnosed with cancer when I was in elementary school. Ironically so was my mother when I was in college,” she explained. Jimmy shook his head.

“Jesus Christ. I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine,” he said quietly, looking down at the floor.

“It’s fine. My inheritance from my mother gave me my house, and paid off my student loans,” she shrugged. “I could have been in a much worse situation.”

“And you stayed in school while this happened?” he asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I took some time off of course, but I didn’t have to drop out for the semester or anything. My professors were wonderful, so understanding. They stretched deadlines for me so I could finish the semester.”

Jimmy nodded along while she was talking, but was quiet otherwise. Lauren figured he wasn’t sure what else to say aside from sorry.

“I wish they could have met you. They would have loved you,” she smiled, kissing his forehead.

“Really? Even with all the scary tattoos and stuff?” he laughed.

“Of course. You’re only the most lovable person ever.”

Jimmy grinned and squeezed her tight to him, then yawned. He asked if they could turn the movie off and go to sleep, since they were going to have a long day tomorrow at Matt and Val’s wedding. Lauren agreed, and picked up the remote to switch off the TV. She cuddled up next to him again, and they exchanged quiet ‘I love yous’ before nodding off.

The next morning, Lauren woke up and rolled over to see what time it was. She panicked when she saw it was already noon. They were supposed to be heading over to the wedding ceremony around two, and they both still had to shower and get ready. She turned around and shook Jimmy, who groaned and mumbled something about wanting more sleep.

“Come on Jim, it’s already noon. We gotta get up and start getting ready,” she said, a hand on his shoulder.

“No getting ready, I’m going dressed like this,” he mumbled. He was wearing nothing but boxers. Lauren snorted and yanked the blanket off of him. He whined and attempted to take the blanket back.

As they were fighting over the blanket, the doorbell rang.

“You have to answer it, I’m naked,” Jimmy said.

Lauren rolled her eyes and got out of bed to answer the door. Brian was standing there, already dressed, with another suit in a garment bag hanging off of his arm. For Jimmy, she assumed.

“Afternoon,” he smiled, “Where’s the big guy?”

“We actually just woke up. He's still in bed,” Lauren laughed awkwardly as Brian smiled a
knowing smile.

“Jimmy is definitely not an early bird,” he said.

Lauren invited him inside and he immediately went down the hall to go pull Jimmy out of bed. After she heard some brief whining and a thump from the other room, Jimmy emerged into the hallway. His hair was a complete mess, and he was still only wearing boxers. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head.

“You gonna shave?” Brian asked, pointing to Jimmy’s face. “You're looking a little scruffy there.”

Jimmy yawned and shook his head.

“Not feeling it,” he mumbled. Brian handed him the suit.

“You can shower first,” Jimmy said to Lauren. She nodded and kissed him on the cheek before heading into the bathroom.

Notes

Enjoy! :)