Groundhog Day

Mei groaned when she woke up. Her head hurt, her mouth was dry and she was pretty sure that if she would open her eyes her eyes would burn out because of the intolerance of light. She never should have gotten drunk last night, but there was no other way to forget what was happening at midnight. She just wanted the time to stop 5 minutes to 12, before the clock would strike and bring her into her terrible thirties. She remembered thinking it. Hoping the time would stop.

But here she was, clearly the time had passed, bringing that terrible headache with it. Meaning she did turn 30 last night.
“Ugh, I’m not old enough to be 30” she sighed as she turned on her back and opened her eyes. For a moment she was confused about the scenery. Then she remembered her best friend talking her into getting a hotelroom for her new year’s eve, her new year’s eve on the verge of being 30.

Mei had insisted on them both getting their own room in an attempt to be able to go through this hell that she called her birthday by herself, but she knew that wasn’t going to take long. She knew it would be a matter of time before Kim would break through the door that was connecting their rooms.

Lucky for Mei she was an early bird and Kim was more of a sleep the whole day kinda girl. A glance at the time told Mei she had at least a few hours to herself before the party would commence (her best friend’s words, not hers). She leaned back in the fluffy pillows and enjoyed the comfortable bed. Okay. This had been a great idea. It was definitely better than waking up in her own small apartment.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand. As expected she had received a lot of messages, people congratulating her for her birthday. It made her feel a little better. She even had to stifle a laugh when she noticed the joke Kim had pulled on her.

Message from Johnny
Happy Birthday!!! We are going to do some crazy partying tonight! Get ready and get you 30 on!! X J

Message from Brian
Congratulations with your birthday! That hot ass of yours isn’t looking a day over 21! Don’t sweat it, I’m pretty sure the ageing beautiful doesn’t only apply to handsome men like me! Love you! X!

Message from Jimmy
Crazy girl! Happy birthday to you! I swear, if you let anyone sing for you before I did I’m not taking you on the great birthday adventure I planned out. Let me know when you are awake, and let me sing to you. Love youuuuuuuu!!!!

Message from Zack
Goodmorning beautiful. I wish you the best of birthdays. I hope you will enjoy it immensely. I’m gonna spoil you later on. 30 is special! <3

Mei shook her head slightly when she read the messages. She had a weird sense of déjà vu, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. But hell, how drunk did her best friend think she was for her to believe that these guys would actually send her birthday messages. It did instantly lift her mood though. So when she heard the door in the other room open, she called out.
“I MIGHT BE OLD BUT I’M NOT CRAZY, KIM! AND BY THE WAY! YOU FORGOT MATT!”

“Figured you would forget me. Get your ass out of bed, breakfast is waiting” the aviator wearing singer peeped his head into the room, and disappeared right after. Like it hadn’t happen at all. Mei shook her head and thought about what her brain showed her just now. She must still be drunk, that couldn’t have really happened just now. M Shadows in her room? That is just plain out ridiculous. But there was that nagging feeling again. She already lived through this day. But something was different. She didn’t get it.

A little voice in her head was telling her that she needed to think harder, believe the proof, believe the new truth. Like… what?! She was going crazy. Turning 30 was making her crazy. She swung her legs out of bed and headed for the bathroom. There was no way she was going to be able to relax now. She needed to wash this weirdness off of her. After her shower she would wake Kim and they could have breakfast. It was her day after all, her best friend shouldn’t complain.

The warm water of the shower made her feel good and she quickly had the bathroom all fogged up. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed her quiet time. She didn’t feel 30. At least that is what she kept telling herself.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear the door open. That is why she was completely startled when the door of the shower cubicle flew open. Her hands and arms instantly flew over her body, covering the most important parts.
“What the…” she started, but got interrupted by the man she thought she saw this morning, but dismissed he thought of.
“What the hell?! I said breakfast was ready and you go and take a shower?” His voice wasn’t smooth like his singing voice. His voice wasn’t friendly like she always imagined it would. It was gruff and grumpy.

For a moment Mei was stunned by the man that was in her room. The man that came into the bathroom unannounced, while she was naked. Naked! Fuck!
“Get out! Get out! Get out!!!!” she screamed at him. He shrugged and turned her back at her, indeed getting out.

She quickly turned down the water and grabbed a bathrobe before heading back into the bedroom. The sight she found there made her stop dead in her tracks. On her bed were two men she never in her expected to meet, but she should have known better after that shower.
“MEI!!! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you!” Jimmy flew from the bed and got hold of her, spinning her around. “Oh! I’m so happy you are celebrating your 30th birthday with me! It was your best choice in 30 years of living! I have the best present for you!”

After Jimmy put her down, Johnny hugged her and congratulated her with her birthday. He was smiling and held her hand a little longer, looking at her “I’m sorry for Matt. He’s an ass. You know how he can get. He shouldn’t have walked in on you, that was a dick move.”

Holding Johnny’s hand brought memories back to her. Memories of Johnny being there in her room. But that couldn’t be right? She was just plain old Meike.
“Over there are all our gifts, it’s your outfit for today!” Jimmy got her attention again and dragged her to the pile of clothes that was lying on a chair. One look at the outfit brought more flashes of memories, but nothing she could really get a hold of. This was too weird, but it was here. She could touch it, and they could touch her.

“We will leave you to get dressed, maybe hurry a little? We have a sound check to go to.” Mei nodded, but she wasn’t feeling her answer. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did know she already did this day, she lived it. As soon as the men left, she grabbed her phone. She searched for her best friend’s number, only to find that there was no Kim to be found.

A quick look at her facebook page made her feel unrooted. It was her page, but it wasn’t her life. There were pictures of her with all the avenged men, pictures of ‘her’ apartment that didn’t seem like anything she left yesterday. This is your life. There was the voice again.

There wasn’t very much time to linger in her thoughts because the door flew open again. This time it revealed Brian. His hair a perfect out of bed look, his clothes disheveled. He immediately walked over to her, kissing both her cheeks and then planted one on her lips “That’s how they congratulate people in Europe. Better get used to it!” He smirked “Congratulations hottie! Did you like my gift?”

Somehow she then decided that if this was how her day would look like, she would go with it. It was probably a dream, but she didn’t care. If these men wanted to give her amazing clothes she would accept. Apparently this was her life. Good girl.

“Which one was yours again?”
“The lingerie of course! Can I watch you put it on?” Brian sat down on the bed, making himself comfortable.
“Yeah. No. Get out you big flirt. ” she giggled.

Brian left de room laughing loudly and Mei got ready in record time. She loved the way she looked in her new clothes. In the common area of the room she found the missing member of the band. Zack also congratulated her and then pushed her out of the door “Come on. We are very late. The others went ahead.”
“What are we late for again?” Mei asked carefully.
“Soundcheck, duh”

The trip to the venue was quick, or it at least seemed so, seeing Zack was talking her ears off. Mei had completely shaken the weird feeling. She knew something was off, but she had decided to just let this happen. She had a feeling she would really enjoy this day and that was more than she had expected from her 30th birthday beforehand.

Realization that she was truly living this dream, hit her when she entered the venue. She was greeted and congratulated by every crew member they came across and some even brought her presents. They all seemed to know her. Well even. When she entered the big hall and she heard he fiddling of guitars, the warming up of Matt’s voice and the testing hits on drums she knew his was going to best day ever!

Zack quickly made his way onto the stage and the guys started sound checking for real. Mei stared at those five men on the stage and couldn’t suppress the smile. Even in sound check they were amazing, and even in sound check Matt couldn’t remember his lyrics. She let out a laugh when he fucked up again, making him direct his gaze to her. “Are you fucking laughing at me? You could totally wait in another room instead of distracting us” Matt spoke harshly in his microphone.
“Dude!” the others let out “It’s her birthday, don’t be a fucking ass!”
“I just don’t get why she is here, she isn’t doing anything”

“Mei don’t listen to sourpuss, we are very happy you are with us” Jimmy’s friendly voice sounded from behind the drums and the other three nodded. Matt just looked angry.
“Maybe we can play a song for you? To make up for Matt here?” Zack asked. Mei nodded with a big smile that became even bigger when the guys started ‘A little piece of heaven’. Matt wasn’t fully with the program, which made the song not even close to as much fun as it was normally.

When the last notes were played, Matt stormed off the stage, leaving the other 4 looking after him. Johnny motioned Mei closer to the stage. “Maybe it’s better if you wait for us backstage. I love to have you here, but Matt really needs the sound check. Apparently he has something up his ass or something, don’t take it personal… you know how he can get.” Johnny nodded reassuring, but Mei didn’t really feel it. She felt sad that the others accepted her so openly, but Matt didn’t. But she knew Johnny was right, they needed the sound check. And if that only worked without her, she would leave.

She made her way backstage, instinctively knowing which way to go. She already had her hand on the doorknob when she noticed Matt’s voice inside.
“You are a dick, Sanders, a fucking dick. Why the hell couldn’t you just act normal? Huh? Why did you have to make it all weird? There was no good reason at all to make it this weird, and you did anyway. Why? Why? Why?” His voice sounded angrier with the word and Mei wasn’t sure if she wanted to enter the room. She couldn’t contain her curiosity and opened the door carefully anyways. Matt was pacing up and down and he seemed to be in his own world completely.

This morning she had absolutely adored the necklace Johnny had gotten her, but now she hated it thoroughly. Because when she opened the door it let out a tingly sound. Small and tiny, but to her it sounded like a canon being shot and apparently it was enough for Matt to hear too.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I…”
“Why are you walking after us like a puppy? Walking after me like you want something from me?”

At that moment Matt fell from the pedestal Mei didn’t even realize she put him on. Anger overflowed her.
“What the fuck am I doing here? What are YOU doing here? You should be on stage, sound checking. Making sure your fans get the best of you, and you are out here. Pouting like a little boy!!!”
“Our fans always get the best! Never ever accuse me of something like that ever again!”
“Well… You are here, right? And not on the stage where you should be? Maybe you should reconsider your claim” she replied sassy.

When she thought he looked angry before, she had been wrong. His face became more and more red, and there was a vein in his neck that was about to pop. Mei didn’t care though. She was getting pretty angry herself. He had no right to go off on her like that. It was her birthday for crying out loud!

For a moment they just stared at each other angrily and then Matt pounced on her. In a few big steps he was only millimeters away from her. With his large body he pushed her smaller one against the door and shot fire from his eyes.
“You are making me so damn angry! You just don’t know when to stop!”
“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not doing anything but hanging out with my friends… On their invitation, thank you very much!”
“Well, not all of us want you here!”
“Well” she said smartly “Maybe the only one not wanting me here is the one that walked in on me in the shower this morning. What the hell was that?! Why are you being an even bigger asshole on my birthday?!” she spat.

Matt was silent. And so was Mei. They just glared at each other, feeling the other’s breath on their faces and suddenly realizing how close they were.

“You want to know? You want to know?!” Matt growled “Let me tell you all about it!”
“This morning when I came to wake you for breakfast you looked amazing. All sleepy and rosy. And I was barely able to get myself out of your room again. But then you didn’t come out for breakfast and my dear friends send me in again to get you. The sound of the shower running should have told me to get out of the room, but I just couldn’t stop myself. You were there and there was nothing that would stop me from taking a look.”

“That is just sick” Mei replied, the anger slowly flowing from her body by the intensity Matt was talking with.

“Oh it’s nothing. Believe me. I know you are off limits. Everyone warned me that you are off limits, but I have no way to stop it. Not after everything. So I need you to stop me. Right fucking now. Because believe me. If I start, there is no way I’m stopping ever again”

“Matt… what are you talking about?” Mei replied softly. His mouth was already so close to hers she could feel the ghost of his lips as she talked.
“This is what I’m talking about” his voice barely a whisper before he let his lips crash down on hers.

Mei wanted to think about how weird it was that she was kissing M. Shadows. She also wanted to think about what the hell he was saying. About what the fuck he meant with all of this. But the moment his lips touched hers, every coherent thought disappeared from her mind and the only thing that was there was Matt. She had been accused of being in her head too much, but this was all feel.

At first the kiss was hard, only stiff lips meeting each other, but soon Matt’s lips started massaging Mei’s. The combined actions of their lips made Mei gasp and Matt could have easily taken what he wanted, but he didn’t. Instead he moved his hands to Mei’s face and held it softly, while his tongue gently brushed her lips, asking for entrance.

Mei’s greedy hands in Matt’s hair, pulling him even closer to her gave him all the permission he needed. Their tongues where dancing together. Mei could feel Matt’s desperation and she was pretty sure he could feel her surprise.

They clung together like it was the last thing they would do. Matt wrapped his muscled arms around Mei, holding her close, planning to never let her go again. Mei grabbed the front of his shirt, holding on to him as if it was to dear life. All their passion and lust. Everything in between. They wrapped up in this stormy kissing session. Both of them nothing wanting to get up for air, but in the end, needing to.

Heavily panting Matt brushed her hair out of her face before he hoarsely whispered “Happy 30th, Mei.”

Notes

I hope you kept reading past the beginning ;-) Do you guys see where this is going? Have an idea on what is going to happen every chapter?

My dear Mei, happy birthday again... another chapter for you because it's your birthday and I know you will be too busy tonight! More tomorrow... hopefully :P

<3