Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

By the time 4:30 rolled around and Ellie finally made it back to her apartment, her exhaustion had caught up to her, though she knew she needed to push past that. She had still been awake when Matt had crawled into bed beside her, which he called her out on, and they had stayed up another hour or so just talking, mainly about home and all the success that Matt and the guys had achieved with their band. Needless to say, Matt hadn’t even flinched when Ellie’s alarm went off in the morning and she crawled out from underneath his arm. He was serious about catching up on his cuddles, but regardless of whom Matt shared a bed with, they’d wake up with his arm or leg thrown across their body. His deep slumber worked out well, since when Ellie checked her friend’s phone for messages, there were none. This didn’t surprise her though, there never was any concern raised if one of the group went missing for a night. Why get worked up over what was almost always a hook-up; the boys always made it home after their one night stands, usually with a hilarious story to tell.

Ellie found a piece of paper left out on her counter. She picked it up and read it, smiling at Matt’s messy handwriting.



Ellie,
Took your bear for a walk so you'd have more time to get ready. Don't worry, the guys don't know it's your house I stayed at, so you won't have any surprising break ins from excited friends. I plan to use you as a surprise tonight. Dress nicely; we're going out after, not like that's anything new.
I made my momma's pasta dish that you love so much. It's in the fridge. Sorry if it doesn't quite meet her standards, but I did clean up. That counts for something, right?
See you tonight,
Matt.



The thought of his mother's amazing pasta dish sitting in her fridge made her mouth water. She placed the note back down on the counter and immediately preheated her oven. She made a mental note to buy him a drink later on as a way of saying thanks as she changed out Berkley’s water dish for cleaner water. Her phone vibrated against the objects in her purse and she checked it quickly, figuring it was directions to the venue. The message was indeed from Matt, but it told her to be ready for six, as he was sending a cab to pick her up. She replied with her thanks, for not only the cab arrangement, but for taking Berkley for a walk. She threw in a comment about her excitement over the pasta dish before plugging her phone into the wall to charge. Ellie went into her fridge and grabbed out the meal Matt had prepared for her before he had left. She popped it into the oven and headed to shower quickly.

Ellie spent the shortest amount of time as possible in the shower. All she was really doing was freshening herself up. She was extremely thankful that her roommate worked immediately following her classes on Fridays. Ellie wasn’t sure how she’d explain herself to her friend, especially within the tight timeframe she had to be ready.

Within ten minutes she was checking on the pasta in the oven with one towel around her body and another around her hair. Satisfied the dish could use a few more minutes of heating time, she dashed back to her bedroom to start changing. Tearing apart her closet, Ellie decided on a tight black dress with a plummeting neckline. Matt had mentioned they were going out later, but she didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard. She went to her lingerie drawer and sighed. The neckline on her dress meant she would be unable to wear a bra, which wasn’t a problem given her figure. However her only choice in underwear was a seamless black thong. It was incredibly unsexy, but the dress she chose called for it. Ellie dropped her body towel and slipped into her undergarments before shrugging on the bathrobe that hung behind her bedroom door and heading out to enjoy her meal.

“Did you have a good day with Matt, Berkley?” Ellie asked her dog, who was sitting at her feet. He cocked his head slightly and sniffed around, making it clear that he was only interested in the food. Ellie chuckled to herself as she finally took a bite. She groaned with pleasure over the taste. Matt had been able to remake the dish to perfection. It looked like a simple casserole dish of cheese covered pasta, but no matter how many times Ellie had tried to remake it, there was always something missing. She guessed it was a secret Sanders family recipe and decided to enjoy it while she could.

After wrapping up what she couldn’t force herself to eat, Ellie headed to the bathroom. She took the towel off of her head and moussed her dark hair so it would hold its natural waves, since she had about a half an hour until the cab was to arrive. She brushed her teeth quickly and decided on a simple coat of mascara for makeup with a nude lip. Her friends had formerly known her as a blonde who rarely ever wore makeup. Her black hair changed her appearance dramatically. She was slightly interested in how they were going to react, not only to seeing her again, but to her appearance.

By the time six o’clock had indeed rolled around, Ellie had changed into her dress, fussed over her hair one last time, fed Berkley for the night, and transferred the necessary contents of her purse to a small silver clutch. She slipped on a simple pair of black flats before saying goodbye to her disinterested pup and heading out, pausing only to lock the door behind her. The cab was waiting for her when she reached the front of the building. She slipped into the backseat of the car and greeted the driver before pulling out her Nokia to tell Matt that she was on her way. Upon reading his response, she asked the driver to bring her to the back of the venue. Matt had cleared her entrance with the venue security and arranged for her to silently slip in through the back. He would be waiting there for her. The driver cautiously agreed. Ellie knew he was silently judging her, but she was more focused on the butterflies she was experiencing as she drew nearer to a reunion with her high school pals.

“What do I owe you?” Ellie asked as the cab came to a stop behind the venue. She looked around to see Matt standing with his back against the wall of the venue. His left leg was bent and lifted so the bottom of his foot was against the wall. He held a red solo cup in his right hand, which if Ellie would have had to guess, would be filled with some sort of cheap beer.

“Not a thing, it’s been covered. Have a good one.” He replied. Ellie noted the lack of interest in his voice, so she plainly thanked him and hopped out of the cab. Matt greeted her with open arms.

“I fucking love you,” Ellie laughed as they pulled away from their embrace. “That pasta was perfect. I never realized how much I missed home until that meal!” Matt grinned at her comment before pulling open the back door to the venue.

“Doors open in half an hour, so let’s get you in and settled. I really want this to be a surprise, so I need to get back to the guys soon or they’ll come looking for me,” Matt was walking backwards down the narrow hallway as he spoke. Once the hallway opened up to the venue, Matt reached into his back pocket and handed Ellie a VIP lanyard before directing her to the staircase to the mezzanine, which was where the bar was located.

“It’s an 21+ show,” Matt continued with a flat tone, a fact that would have restricted their access to a bar a mere 2 years prior. “I figured you’d like to find yourself some space where you get a great view and can get yourself a drink or two. Besides, I didn’t want you to be spotted by the guys in the crowd.”

“I doubt they’d recognize me anyways,” Ellie laughed, subconsciously playing with the ends of her black waves. “I don’t even think you would have recognized me if I hadn’t acted like you were familiar.”

“Hey, all I know is that I’m very happy with how the last 24 hours have played out,” he shrugged, while raising his arms in defence. “Now get your butt up there and enjoy the show. Dressing rooms are located behind the right side of the stage. I’ll see you after the show.”

“Thank again Sanders, go kick some ass,” Ellie threw her horns at her friend as he began to make his way in the direction of the dressing rooms. He waved briefly before turning and breaking out into a slight jog.

Ellie flashed her VIP pass at the security guard who stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the balcony and her ID at the bartender when she had reached the top and asked for a beer. Scanning her seating options, which were slim, Ellie decided on a seat at a tall round table that was at the centre of the railing of the mezzanine. She debated whether or not she should take the seat at a table of two when she was by herself, but figured she could always move should someone come along and request the seat. Besides, the mezzanine didn’t really seem like the place where the concert was meant to be viewed from, it was more like a place for attendees to come up for a drink before heading back downstairs.

Slowly, the crowd started to fill in the floor. Few people began to make their way up to the bar, flashing their wristband that designated them as over 21 to the bouncer at the bottom of the staircase, only to come up, grab a drink, and descend the staircase once again. It didn’t take long for the bar to fill out at all. The floor was full of kids that reminded her of herself at a younger age; either desperate to get as close as possible to their favourite band or overly excited to jump into a mosh pit.The venue actually reminded her a lot of Chain Reaction, the venue which she and the guys had been to many times in order to catch all the local Orange County metal bands play. Had Matt not mentioned that she needed to dress nicely for the latter half of the night she probably would have stood around on the ground floor so she could hop in and out of the pit as she pleased.

“Is anyone sitting beside you?” a short blonde asked, pulling Ellie from her thoughts. The woman looked older than the rest of the crowd, but Ellie wasn’t one to judge.

“Nope, I’m by myself for the night,” Ellie smiled at the woman, who then took the seat on Ellie’s right and introduced herself as Brenda.

“My son’s in the crowd. I’m getting too old for general admission shows,” Brenda smiled. “You must be a pretty big fan to come to the show by yourself.”

“I’m actually a friend of the band. Well, an old friend,” Ellie started. She continued on to indulge Brenda with a redacted explanation of how she had moved across the country to go to school, only to run into the band’s vocalist the night prior while she was at work. Ellie kept up a harmonious conversation off and on with the woman through the first two bands, whom Ellie had never heard of and didn’t particularly enjoy.

Finally, the lights and background music cut out. Not even a second of silence was had before the crowd started screaming. The strobe lights started at the same time as the smoke machines at the front of the stage. Five guys clad in all black ran out from behind the stage in no particular order. Ellie had to laugh at the sight before her; the guys had their faces coated in a white powder and their eyes rimmed in black. It was definitely a different look compared to what the guys had looked like in high school. They were no longer the lanky punk kids that she used to get into trouble with. Ellie was half expecting Jimmy to come out in the god awful kimono he wore throughout their senior year, before she reminded herself that a lot would have changed in their lives during the four years they had been apart.

Feedback from the amps screeched briefly before Matt snagged the microphone from the stand. Propping one leg up on one of the amps at the front of the stage, Matt stared ominously out into the crowd. Simultaneously, all lights cut out and he screamed:

“Darkness coats us!”

From that point on, the crowd was bouncing off of each other. Ellie was amazed at how engaged every single person in the room was. The first few songs seemed to fly by, as the boys played one song after another with only a few seconds in between for Matt to grab a swig of water and glance at the set list.

“How the fuck is everyone doing tonight?” Matt taunted the crowd, which resulted in an eruption of screams from the entire venue. “We’d like to thank everyone for being here tonight. We’re Avenged Sevenfold, for those of you who don’t know us. For those of you who do, we’re really fucking thankful for your support.”

Matt was interrupted by a guitar sound that mimicked a cat call. Ellie hadn’t been paying attention to Brian at that point, but she knew that it came from him. Despite the fact that he had his back to the crowd while he was tuning his guitar, Ellie couldn’t take her eyes off of Zack. In fact, she was barely able to focus on any of the other guys at all that evening.

“We have a special treat for you guys tonight, ain’t that right Zacky?” Matt continued.

The guitarist made his way back to his mic stand to confirm Matt’s statement with a simple, “oh hell yeah.” Zack continued to point to one of the girls in the front row. Despite the distance Ellie was from the stage, she could tell that he had winked at the girl in front of him. She didn’t like it one bit, despite the fact that she rationally knew that she had no right to be jealous.

“This next song is off of our upcoming album that we hope to release later this year. You can buy the demo at the march booth so check it out after the show! This song is called Eternal Rest!”

The lyrics to the song didn’t resonate any specific feelings within Ellie, but watching how passionate Zack seemed to be about the new music they were releasing was captivating. He had a focused look on his face if he was eyeing his fretboard, but the second he looked out to the crowd and saw their very positive reaction, he grinned. The lights caught his snakebites as he tilted his head up to gaze upwards towards the fans on the mezzanine. Ellie froze. The distance made it hard to tell who he was looking at specifically, but Ellie was certain he had winked in her direction as well. She hoped like hell he hadn’t recognized her.

Brenda sent Ellie a knowing but sympathetic look, which made Ellie’s cheeks flush further. She was just another face in the crowd to him, but watching Zack do the one thing he had always dreamed of was mesmerizing.

“Looks like you two have some talking to do tonight,”Brenda grinned, once the boys finished their new song.

“Probably. Zacky and I have history, that’s for sure. Whether or not it will be addressed is one thing, whether it’s in either of our best interests to bring it up is another.” Ellie sighed. The older woman nodded and they both turned their attention back to the show, as Matt announced that they had two more songs left for the evening.

Ellie struggled to push the thoughts of her and Zack out of her mind and focus solely on the show. It had been four years; she figured she had to have gotten over him. She had dated in Miami - nothing too serious - but she had kept a few guys around for longer than a one night stand. Her studies had helped keep her focus off of the life she had left behind, and her job took up any free time that she had.

Yet here she was, sitting in a venue, watching her high school friends perform their last song of the night, with a crippling anxiousness over talking to them face to face for the first time in years. She tried to tell herself that it would be just like old times. Matt had even reassured her the night before that the guys held no ill will towards her, but she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that had taken up a spot beside the butterflies in her stomach.

All too soon, the band sent out their thanks to their crew, their supporting bands, and as they had stated as most importantly, their fans. The crowd began to clear out, and Brenda pulled Ellie into a brief hug, reassured her that the boys would be ecstatic to see her, then made her way down the stairs to find her son in amongst the stragglers of the crowd.

Ellie decided to wait a few more minutes before heading down the stairs. She rationalized that it made more sense to wait until the venue had cleared out, though in all honesty, she was stalling. She headed to the bar and ordered herself a Jack & Coke, slipped the bartender a $10 bill and downed the drink so fast she may as well have ordered herself a shot.

She could leave.

That was the first thought that entered her mind as she approached the stairs. She could walk down the stairs, take a sharp left and walk right out the back door that Matt had brought her in from. She was tempted. She had moved away for a reason. If she was meant to stay in touch with the boys she grew up with, then she would have.

Unless, of course, this was how she was meant to get back into contact with them.

Ellie mentally cursed herself for being such a mess. Though she looked calm and composed, she was internally set alight by fear, excitement, anxiety, and regret. A quick glance across the venue and she caught sight of Matt, who was standing on the right side of the stage, where he had described the dressing rooms were located only hours earlier. He was waiting for her. He waved in her direction, and Ellie started to descend the stairs.

It was too late to run now.

Notes

Wow. I was really excited to sign in to see that there's been some views on this story! To my subscriber & voter, thank you so much for the vote of confidence on the first chapter.

I'm sorry that this is quite the filler chapter, but the I am in the process of editing the next 2 chapters, so hopefully I'll have at least one more update this evening. If not, tomorrow for sure.
xx