When I Was Your Man

Matt was woken up in the middle of the night by a loud bang at his door. Karma’s bedroom was just beneath the roof, and he was somewhat surprised he’d heard the door with all those loud raindrops. It sounded like there was a thunderstorm outside, which set the mood for a horror flick.

How cliché, Matt thought as he grinned bitterly to himself. Over the years of agony, of misery, of not being able to be with Karma he'd learnt to cope with a weird sense of humor. And he had kept that to this day. Of course, a knock on the door added to the spooky theme. As Matt imagined some bony hand trying to grab him, or someone with a scythe trying to get a hold of him, he breathed loudly. God damn it, I’m watching way too many horror flicks.

Matt cursed loudly as he realized he had somehow managed to wrap his sheets around his legs three times while he was sleeping. He almost fell out of bed trying to untangle the mess. His mind was still foggy, and he realized he probably did a couple of too many shot challenges.

God damn it, who in the world could that be? I’m gonna kill them anyway. Who the fuck would wake up a drunk rock star in the middle of the god damned night? In his girlfriend's house. Well, why am I in Karma's house anyway? He took a deep breath, deciding that the latter question would have to wait. For now, he needed to find out who was ringing her doorbell for the fourteenth time in a row.

Matt almost stumbled over the leather jacket he’d carelessly thrown onto the floor when he came home. It was crazy how naturally he was moving through Karma’s house even though he hadn’t been there for too long. He’d thought about going to his own house, too, for that night. But somehow, Karma’s house felt like his home, and he knew where he needed to go. The sheets, the house, everything smelled like Karma, and it took him in.

He grabbed his phone from the hall stand to check the time, but was startled when he saw that he had countless missed calls from Val and the local police station. All of a sudden, he was wide awake. What the fuck happened? Did something happen to Karma? To Val?

Matt turned the key to open the door. It was only then that he realized his fingers were trembling like crazy. Almost like he was on withdrawal from a drug he never took. The door swung open and revealed a very wet Val, who looked like she’d just walked here through the pouring rain. She was dripping, her clothes could not have been any wetter, and she looked like she was cold, too. That was one thing Matt liked about Southern California: It never rained.

But when it did, it fucking poured.


“What?“
The question sounded harsh, maybe a little too harsh. But then again, it was in the middle of the night. No-one could expect him to be all happy and giddy when he was just very abruptly woken up. Right?

Val came inside, leaving a puddle of rain water behind on Karma’s expensive mahogany floor. Matt made a mental note to blame the inevitable stain it would leave behind on her. “Seriously, you wouldn’t look worse if you’d actually fallen into a pond,“ Matt heard himself chuckle, then realized how inappropriate the comment was, seeing as something had to be terribly wrong.

Despite the bad feeling in his guts, Matt clung to the hope that it wasn't a catastrophe. Maybe she just locked herself out or something. But the stern look on her face told Matt there was something terribly wrong.

“Matt, we have an issue. They found Daniel.“ She swallowed audibly. For a second, Matt wondered why that was all so bad. Daniel was a terrible guy, that was for sure. But...

“That’s… great news, right? Let’s make that bastard pay some alimony!“ Matt still didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation, maybe because he was still in shock. Someone from the police station called, after all. What the hell was that supposed to mean then?

Val motioned for him to come with her, then walked into Karma’s bathroom. She climbed into her shower and closed the curtain before throwing out her clothes one after another. She was breathing heavily. Matt just leaned against the sink and waited patiently until she was ready to talk.

The water started running, but she remained quiet. He knew it was a bad sign for her to need that much time, that it was something terrible that must have happened. She had to be in utter shock. Matt didn’t dare think about all the possibilities. But why is she coming to me in the middle of the night? I mean, yeah, I’m always there for her, but if it’s just something with Daniel she’d usually wait until the next day.

Anything only involving Daniel couldn’t be that bad, right? Matt knew Val wouldn’t even care if he was dead. She just desperately needed him to pay for his kid because without Matt and Karma's support, she would have been broke long ago.

For a second, Matt allowed his mind to drift off to one of his favorite topics, the unjustness of the American social system. But when he realized the utter ridiculousness of him sitting there at the edge of Karma's tub in the middle of the night with something being terribly wrong, he mentally slapped himself for thinking about such things. He was in shock. That was how he dealt.

“Val?“ He asked after some time of not hearing anything. “Get me something to wear from Karma. A hoodie or something. We have a long night ahead of us,“ she commanded, and Matt obeyed. He got out Karma’s customized dark red Vengeance University hoodie - special edition, only one of them existed - and some pants. After doing some thinking, he decided to bring her some new underwear, too.

Finally, after dressing herself, Val was ready to talk. And the news were worse than he imagined. “They found him because he just got married. In Vegas.“ She began.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry…“ Matt said, but she cut him off.

“That’s not even the worst thing. It’s actually… Who he got married to. It’s Sarah. I think the two of them are… planning something… They called me because well, I've reported him missing. Then they asked me if I knew her. And I said I did, and that we're all afraid of her because well, they could look all of that up on the computer. And then they told me it might be something very serious they're planning.“ He felt his eyes widen.

What the fucking hell? Sarah? “I… Fuck!“ And in Vegas? Oh my fucking God?! Matt’s mind was going crazy. “But… that’s where the GnR show is gonna take place! With Karma!!!“

“Exactly!" Val's eyes were wide open. She was as concerned as Matt. "The police told me something pretty interesting, and that’s what they’re suspecting. With all the charges we've all tried to press against both of them, they knew something had to be up. It's... uh... If… If they’re married they don’t have to testify against each other if… if they do something…“

Matt swallowed. His throat felt incredibly dry. His palms were starting to sweat as if his body was trying to take the wetness intended for his throat there.

“Oh my God, seriously?“ Matt understood. He didn’t know what crazy plan Daniel was having, but Sarah certainly made sure everyone knew she wanted to have Matt back. At all costs. Matt shivered as he thought about her, and the craziness he’d seen in her eyes just days earlier.
“Fucking hell…“

“I called you like twenty times because I can’t just wait and not do anything… We… We gotta go to Vegas, Matt. I just need to know what the fuck’s going on.“

Matt nodded. His fingers trembled a little bit. He did not know if the situation, the lack of sleep or his level of alcohol intoxication was to blame. It was just a little more than four hours by car, if he sped, they’d probably make three and a half hours. And it was in the middle of the night, there was no traffic. Or an hour drive to the airport, an hour of waiting, checking in and whatever, and another hour flight. Waiting until you got out…

“Did you check for flights?“
“Next one in three hours, we’re driving,“ Val commanded, and Matt was glad in a way. Driving could at least clear his head.

They got in the car and Matt thought if he was sober enough to drive for a second, but then realized he probably was. There was not enough time to think about that anyway, not now.

“Vegas, here we come,“ he announced, then pulled out of the driveway. They stopped for coffee and sandwiches at the local gas station, then Matt steered the car directly onto the empty highway. He pressed the pedal down on the ground. There was something terribly wrong with all of this, and he needed to get to the bottom of this. Maybe Karma was in great danger.

Notes

Hey everybody!
It's me. I guess you didn't think you'd hear from me again. But here I am - alive and well.

I am overwhelmed at the fact that so many of you have reached out to me. I said in one of my last chapters that I am going through a rough phase, and I still am. But I want to clarify that it is not as bad as some of you feared it would be. I am not suicidal! I am not ill. I am not dying! Someone of you - unfortunately they never responded so I do not know who this is! - even found my Instagram and messaged me there and wanted to check up on me. This, frankly, is a real wonder to me since I do not even have my first name posted on here. I would love to know how you found out in the end.

Concerning this story: I am almost done with writing it. I have been for a long time. But now checking this page and seeing a lot of people reaching out to me will give me the motivation to finish it. I will post chapters, I will update and this story WILL have an ending. I promise.

I have a couple of DMs that I will respond to as soon as I can. Just know that I am alright. Thanks so much for your concerns. It makes me very happy to be part of a community where we all look out for each other!

With much love,
Seventhtrumpet