Fallen

I pulled the straps for my purse onto my shoulder then grabbed the to-go box from my passenger seat. My other hand was busy with a water bottle as I hit the door to my car with my hip, slamming it closed. Thank god the studio had “push” doors for the entrance rather than pull, because I probably wouldn’t have been able to manage everything in one trip. I made my way toward the elevator rather than the stairs, somehow squatting just enough to be able to press the button to go to the third floor. I closed my eyes, trying to remember which way down the hall I was supposed to go when I reached the floor.

“Where do I sign up for my turn with you?” I opened my eyes to meet Brian’s brown ones, a playful smile on his lips. “Matt didn’t mention you stopping by.”

“He forgot his food in my fridge,” my cheeks heated up. “I thought I’d be nice enough to bring it by since I was going to be in the area.”

“Let me repeat. When’s my turn?” Brian chuckled. “Right this way.”

I licked over my lips then sunk my teeth into my bottom lip as I followed him down the hall toward a closed door. He turned the knob on it and entered the room, holding the door open for me and announcing that they had a visitor. Four pairs of eyes landed on me, one of those people I hadn’t met before. It was their new drummer, I think Matt said his name was Brooks. My eyes scanned through the others until they landed on those hazel orbs I was growing to adore.

I smiled softly and shook the to-go box, “I figured you’d want this.”

“The food or you?” Matt smirked then stood up, walking toward me and grabbing the box from my hand. He looked down at me then pressed his lips to my forehead quickly before pulling away, “It's about time we took a break from this damn song, boys. You have time to kill today, Liv?”

“I can stay for a little bit,” I responded quietly, then smiled when Zack patted the seat next to him for me to sit down. I walked over and sat next to him, throwing my knees over each other and cracking open my water bottle, taking a gulp. “Same song?”

“I think we’re going to need to trash this one. Matt has a different idea for it than the rest of us do and it’s just turning into a headache,” Zacky shrugged and slinked an arm over my shoulders, pulling me into a side-hug. “How’s work going? I saw you’re having another baby boom.”

I rolled my eyes, “You have no idea… It’s like every unit is having babies and our poor veterinary team is scrambling to make sure they are on top of it all. I’m just glad that we don’t have any babies that need to be hand-raised this time. That bear is enough of a pain in my ass as it is; the last thing we need is another version of her… or worse, a lion version of her.”

“Sounds horrible… all those cute baby animals,” Zack laughed. “Ten told me that Carson’s has his own zoo in his room. He’s obsessed with it and I’m going to need photos so that I can re-create whatever you did.”

I grinned, thinking of what I had done for Carson last year with all his stuffed animals. “It’s pretty easy to make and I probably have all of the supplies at my place if you want to come over and bust it out one day.” It was just dowel rods, stretchy cord and a wooden base that said the words CARSON’S ZOO at the top. It was where he kept all of his stuffed animals, and being my son, he liked to try to sort them out between carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

“An arts and crafts day… I like it,” Zack grinned and pulled his phone out, scanning his calendar. “Just pick a day that is free in here and let’s do it.”

I grabbed his phone and chose a day, then handed it back to him with a smile. “Ten can come over and we can find something for the boys to do that is arts and crafts. Carson likes to paint, but he gets it all over the place, so as long as it’s not paint I’m fine with it.”

“Why can’t I be invited for arts and crafts?” Johnny spoke up, a frown on his face. “I have a child, too! Frankie would love a zoo!”

Zack scoffed, “Too bad so sad, Seward. You don’t even know where she lives.”

I laugh escaped my throat at Zack’s comment, causing Johnny to look at us both slightly confused. “I see everyone has been hanging out without me. I understand; I’m too cool for all of you.”

“They don’t hang out with me either, dude,” Brian chimed in. “Liv had a get together and we weren’t invited. It’s time to revolt.”

“You don’t have a kid. You’re not going to get invited,” Zack retorted at Brian. “We’ll include you next time, short shit. But not you, Syn. Parents only.”

Brian rolled his eyes at Zack’s comment, mumbling something to himself about stupid ass kids. I found myself back in conversation with Zack about something he was struggling with Ten on. Ten was persistent on cursing, especially now that he noticed that it made his mother and father both laugh the first time he did it, and they just couldn’t seem to kick it to the curb. I talked to him about when Carson went through that phase, and how he ultimately fell out of it… but sometimes the little boy would still blurt out the world dick or fuck in the middle of a store and humiliate me. I noticed while I was sitting there that Matt didn’t say much, he just ate the food that I had brought him and kind of kept to himself or just talked with Brian. At one point words were shared between the two of them that caused them to both look at me out of the corner of their eyes, smirks on their lips as they laughed over something.

I uncomfortably shifted in my seat, not knowing what the two men were talking about. Johnny was engulfed in conversation with us about some craft beer he had tried, Brooks had joined the conversation now, too. Zack noticed my uncomfortable feeling and gave me a small smile, maybe trying to make me feel a little better in the situation. I hadn’t liked how Brian approached me earlier, asking when his turn with me was, and then Matt’s snarky conversation would’ve been something I only expected him to say in private, not in front of his friends.

I was just feeling too awkward sitting here, so I grabbed the straps to my purse and went to straighten out my back, “I think I’m going to head out.”

“Already! You’ve only been here for a half hour!” Johnny pouted, “I didn’t even get to tell you the best IPA out of the tasting, yet.”

“Rain check?” I smiled at him as he shrugged and nodded. “IPA’s aren’t really my thing, anyway. I’m more of a wheat kind of girl… or just give me a boring, old Miller Lite and I’m pretty damn happy.”

I stood up from my seat and pulled my purse onto my shoulder once again, heading toward the door. Matt’s eyes followed me with every step I took, and he got up from his spot on the black sofa and followed me out into the hallway after I said goodbye to everyone. I could feel Brian’s eyes on my backside as I walked away. Once the door closed, Matt’s fingers interlaced themselves with mine, squeezing my hand lightly. We paused outside of the elevator and he pulled me into his chest for a hug, nudging my cheek with his nose as he looked down at me. I lifted my head up and his lips fell onto mine softly, something I would’ve expected earlier, not now.

I pulled my face from his and looked at him. He furrowed his eyebrows, “Thank you for bringing me my lunch. I was a little flustered trying to get out the door late this morning thanks to you.”

My cheeks heated up a bit, remembering why Matt was late getting to the studio. I dropped Carson off at daycare this morning, Val had the boys, and came back home to Matt still in bed. I may or may not have woken him up with a blow job that turned into forty-five minutes of sex, and an hour shower. He was already ten minutes passed the time he was supposed to arrive, when he left my house that was about thirty minutes away from the studio. Things had been going really well between us over the last couple of weeks. My relationship with River was growing, as was Matt’s relationship with Carson. They had a couple of “boys only” outings and hangouts, which I was appreciative of seeing as Car really needed an authoritative male figure in his life. Carson had confided in me that he really enjoyed Matt’s company, and that he hoped Matt would stay around longer than Brandon did. That made my heart hurt, and feel full, all at the same time.

“I’m planning that I’ll be out of here by four today. Do you still want to do what we talked about?” Matt asked while hooking his thumbs in my belt loops, playing with them. I nodded my head and he smiled, “I think they are really going to like it.”

“I think so, too,” I smiled up at him. “But if you’re going to be out of here by four, you better get back to work. I’ll pick everyone up around five, so try to be at my place before I get there and have everything ready. It’s all in the spare bedroom, you just have to pull it out and put it in your truck.”

“Yes ma’am,” Matt laughed and leaned down again, kissing me firmly. “See you in a few hours, pretty lady,” he gave me a small smack on the butt before pulling his arms away from me.

I rolled my eyes and told him goodbye before getting into the elevator and having him disappear from my vision. Today was a Wednesday, and I had told Val that Matt and I were planning a surprise for all of the boys tonight. I managed to request today off, as I usually had tomorrow off and got Friday off due to switching a day with a co-worker earlier in the week. Val wrote a note to River’s schools saying that he would be out for the next two days, and we weren’t going to take the boys to daycare tomorrow. Our plan was to go up to Big Bear as soon as we got to the house with the boys and stay there until Friday afternoon. I had to work this weekend, so it was going to be a short trip, but that was also probably better seeing as Matt and I weren’t yet official and we didn’t want to push our luck too much.

I just had to head to the grocery store and Target for some last minute items, then I was going to finish packing my bag and pick the boys up from daycare. I had to go get River from Val’s on the way back to the house, so hopefully Matt would be ready to go by the time we got there.

Matt’s P.O.V.

I didn't like that I had to act as if things weren’t what they were between Liv and I, but it was what I had to do. I knew that Zack had caught on to my behavior since his eyes were cutting into me like knives when I walked back into the studio. I had seen that I made Liv uncomfortable, and that bothered me. I just knew that if I caved and told everyone that I was into her for more than just sex, they would chew me out and it would cause more issues. I would have to tell them eventually, but I just wanted to hold off until it was official. She liked me, I liked her. She had told me that the only ones who knew about me were here closest friends, so it was pretty even with just Val and Zack knowing about her.

“Alright, let’s just crack this out one last time so I can go home,” I sighed and walked over to the booth to do my vocals. “Simulation. Take one-hundred and ninety seven.”

Somehow I managed to lay the vocals perfectly this one last time. I pulled my phone out and sent a text to Liv, saying I finally got the song done correctly and that it must’ve been because my good luck charm came by. I exited the booth, knowing a smile was across my face at her reply. You could see my dimples from five miles away, especially with the way this girl made me smile. Johnny played the vocals back, now over the rest of the music, and it worked. It finally fucking worked.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was three-thirty. I had just enough time to run home, grab my duffle bag, shower then head to Liv’s to meet her and the boys. We were going up to Big Bear for the next two and a half days, and I was really looking forward to quality time with not only the kids, but being with Liv in a different environment. I was ready to start making memories with her; even if we weren’t technically together yet.

“Dude, question,” Brian ran up next to me as I slid my hoodie over my abdomen, straightening it out around my waist.

“What’s up?” I asked while re-adjusting my hat. Liv always gave me a hard time about wearing hats… called it my signature look.

Brian grinned, “Is she up for grabs? You know, like, do you think she’d let me hit it, too?”

Internally, I wanted to punch my bandmate and long-time best friend in the face for that statement… but Brian was being Brian. He was a womanizer, and he thought that what was going on between Liv and I was nothing but sexual. “Doubt it. Remember, the only reason I got there is because I bonded with her over having kids. You two don’t have anything in common.”

He pursed his lips and made a humming sound, “True, but what’s wrong with trying, right?”

“Come on, man. You have to be faithful to Michelle at some point or other. You two are finally married and she wants to start a family. Keep your dick to yourself and stop trying to chase after younger women,” Zack spoke up from behind us.

I turned to look at him, his green eyes focused on me, an angry look on his face. I didn’t feel like dealing with him right now, but I was glad that he chimed in so I didn’t have to blow my cover. “I wouldn’t waste my time, Syn. She’s obviously got high standards and good taste, why would she go from me to you?” I chuckled, “I have to go. Don’t bother me, either. I’m taking the boys up to Big Bear as a surprise and don’t want any interruptions unless it’s serious.”

“Alright, Shads,” Bri laughed. “Just don’t be surprised if you come home and your high standard beauty is in my bed instead of yours.”

Notes

Sorry for the delay in updates!
Hoping to crank another out in the next couple days.

Please leave feedback!!! It motivates me to update more frequently.

P.S. Sorry I'm making Matt have this conflict, but I think it's important.
P.S. x2 Sorry I always make Brian a jerk.