swore i'd never fall in love again but i fell hard

Charlotte smiled sadly when Zacky spoke, nodding her head in agreement. He was, and she was getting more and more tempted to tell Zacky the truth. She couldn't risk it though. She couldn't have Christian getting used to Zacky, and then Zacky taking off after deciding he didn't want to be a father. She snapped out of her little daydream when he spoke again, and she stood up, letting Christian sit on the floor with Ichabod still. "Um, just a secretary for the elementary school." She said, sighing quietly. She had all these plans to go to college, had even gotten into Yale but that all stopped after she found out she was pregnant.

---

Matt paused when he saw Ariana fall down onto her knees, and he slowly walked up behind her, giving her a few moments to herself. "I'm sorry, Ari, I didn't know she was coming," he said, truthfully. "I'm so sorry for hurting you," he sighed, knowing that he had probably just ruined every chance of them ever getting back together, or even just being friends.

Zacky smiled at her, "That's nice." Zacky said to her lightly as he watched the tiny boy with the dog. He smiled at her as he took and cleared his throat a little. "Are you two hungry? The food should be done." Zacky said to her and smiled.

---

Ariana turned looking up at him. She got off the sand and stared at him. She wiped her eyes and sighed, "I knew better to come here." She said lightly and pulled the sleeves of her shirt down. "I need to go." She said in a half lie starting to walk away from Matt when he grabbed her arm, "What Matt?" She asked slightly.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders before nodding. It paid the bills so she couldn't complain much. "Yeah, sure," she said, with a nervous smile. She picked up her son before heading out into the back garden where everyone else was. A few of them turned to look at her, recognising her instantly. She felt like she was in high school all over again. The tall one she remembered as Jimmy, headed straight over to her, cooing at the baby.

"Hey, Zacky, this baby is the splitting image of you!" He called out to the guitarist with a laugh, making Charlotte's heart stop and her eyes widen in fear. She tried to laugh it off, but if anything, she just looked guilty.

---

Matthew grabbed her arm to stop her from walking, letting out a sigh. "Don't go, please," he murmured, sadly. "We don't have to go back to the party, we can go somewhere by ourselves." He suggested, looking all hopeful. "Or we can go back and I'll ask Valary to leave. I'll do anything, please, Ari." He said, biting down on his lower lip, slipping his hand into her's.

Zacky shook his head at Jimmy, "Ignore him." Zacky smiled at Charlotte, "What will he eat?" Zacky asked and smiled. Now that he thought about it as he took and looked at the kid. He bit down on his snake bite a little and looked at Charlotte, "Charlotte, is he....mine?" Zacky asked nervously staring at her.

---

Ariana looked at his hand inside of hers. She couldn't help how it felt so right that his hand was there. But she couldn't give in. He had to prove to her, that he wouldn't do what he'd done again. She gently pulled her hand from his, "Ok." She said lightly.

Charlotte nodded stiffly when Zacky told her to ignore his friend, relaxing a little, even though most of the people in the garden had turned to look at them. She went to reply to Zacky, when the man looked down at her son and asked if Christian was his. Her heart stopped and she couldn't even reply for a few moments. Her worst fear had come true. "I-I have to go," she said in reply to him, her voice barely above a whisper. She held Christian close to her as she hurried out of the back gate, walking quickly to her car.

---

Matt found himself letting out a breath of relief when Ariana said okay, even though she'd pulled her hand from his. "Great," he murmured, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Do you want to head back or go somewhere else?" He asked, before realising he was still wearing the stupid apron. He huffed out a laugh and tugged it off, dropping it down on the beach. He was sure someone from the party would find it - no doubt they would be heading down to the beach later.

Zacky took off after them as he saw her already having the kid in the car seat. He took and grabbed her arm lightly, "Charlotte, is that my son?" Zacky asked her again as he stared at her. He could tell something was wrong, and he'd struck a nerve in her.

---

"Somewhere's else." She muttered hugging to herself as she saw the apron hit the ground. She took a deep breath and sighed a little. She turned her attention back up to Matt and watched him lightly.

Charlotte had just gotten her son in the car, thinking she'd be able to get away from Zacky and his friends for good, but when she felt his grab onto her arm, she sighed and turned to face him. She stared at him for a few moments, tears building up in her eyes before she nodded. "Yeah, he is," she whispered, looking down at the floor. "Its fine, you don't have to have anything to do with him, I wasn't expecting anything." She said quickly, closing the door beside Christian's car seat.

---

Matt nodded when Ariana said somewhere else, and he started walking along the beach, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. "So are you working back here now?" He asked her, looking over at her as they walked along the beach, side by side. He was going to try hard to make things right between them.

Zacky took and felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He done the last thing he'd thought he'd ever do. He pulled Charlotte into him and held to her. "Charlotte." He whispered lightly and looked down at her. "Please. Please. Let me a part of both of your lives. I"m not the same prick I was in high school." He said lightly to her.

---

Ariana kept her arms hugged to her and nodded, "Yeah." She said lightly as she let a soft sigh escape her lips. "I have to go in tomorrow morning." She said keeping her eyes forward. "How do you like being a famous musician?" She asked him.

Charlotte couldn't help but let out a noise of surprise when Zacky pulled her close, leaning into him for minute before she realised what the hell she was doing. She pushed him away angrily, shaking her head. "No fucking way," she said, frowning up at him. "I am not going to let you ruin his life, he deserves someone better than you." She spat, knowing it was a cruel, low blow.

---

"Yeah?" Matt asked, with a little grin, genuinely excited for her. "Is it everything you ever hoped it would be?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her. There was a little beach hut that sold snacks further along the beach and he figured it would be a nice, quiet place for them to go to. "It's good," he nodded, letting out a little laugh at the thought of them being kind of famous. It was crazy. Everything they had every dreamed of. "Sometimes, uh, sometimes it can be hard being away from home for so long." he admitted, with a little shrug.

Zacky looked at her and sighed knowing he deserved that for what he'd put her through. He'd crushed any dreams she had and everything. Zacky looked away sighing, "I deserved that." He muttered a little and looked back at her. "I am being serious. Please. Let me prove to you that I have changed." Zacky pleaded to her.

---

Ariana glanced over at him nodding, "I'd say so." Ariana said before turning her eyes back in front of her. "Yeah. It is everything I had hoped and more. I get to help people, so." She smiled lightly and kept walking as she shoved her hands into her shorts pockets.

Charlotte sighed, running her fingers through her hair when Zacky spoke about proving that he'd changed. She highly doubted it, but at the same time, knew it wasn't fair for her to deprive her son of a father. "What about when you're on tour for months at a time on the other side of the world?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Or when you get bored of being a dad and decide you can't be bothered anymore?" He added, looking back at her son.

---

Matt nodded, the little grin on his features growing when she spoke about getting to help people. "So Brian told me about your new house and all your renovations," he said, walking up towards the beach hut that had a few tables and a bar, with some cheesy music playing in the background. It was pretty empty though, so he couldn't complain much.

"That won't happen. I could never get tired of something that precious." Zacky told her and looked at her. "When we go on tour, you two can come with us. If you can't come then, i'll skype with you every night and make sure that the tour isn't that long. So I am not away from him that long." Zacky said looking at her.

---

Ariana sat down at one of the tables and looked at Matt. She nodded her head, "It needed some minor repairs." Ariana told Matt and smiled lightly. She took and let a sigh escape her lips lightly. "So how do you deal with being on tour and everything?" She asked curiously.

Charlotte rolled her eyes when Zacky suggested going on tour with them. That was ridiculous. She couldn't stand the guy, the only reason she was still talking to him was because of her son. "You get one chance," she said sternly. "If you mess this up, then that's it. You'll never see him again." She said, still very worried about Zacky being introduced into Christian's life.

---

Matthew sat down in a chair opposite Ariana, shrugging when she asked how he dealt with being on tour. "It isn't so bad, being on tour with my best friends is great," he admitted, with a little smile. "But I Skype and call home a lot, you know," he admitted. He looked up at a waitress headed over to them straight away, asking if they wanted some drinks. He ordered himself a beer and then looked over at Ariana, waiting for her to order.

Zacky nodded his head to Charlotte. "I won't mess up." He said lightly and looked at her. He was just glad she was giving him a chance to be a part of his son's life. He took and smiled at her. "I...I better let you go since you're wanting to leave." Zacky said politely and smiled.

---

Ariana ordered herself a long island tea and smiled at Matt. She took and sighed a little, "That's good that you do that and all." Ariana said and looked down. "So other than that, what have you done in the past two years?" Ariana asked.

Charlotte nodded when Zacky said he'd let her go, but she soon found herself sighing, wanting to give him a chance. "Do you want to hold him before I go?" She asked, a little reluctantly. She had to stop being so selfish though and think of her son. She turned and opened the door, unbuckling Christian from his car seat and holding him on his hip. For some reason, the boy was thrilled to see Zacky again and he immediately reached his chubby arms out to the man to be held.

---

Matt thanked the waitress quietly before looking back at Ariana and shrugging. "Not much, we've recorded an album," he said, looking down at the table. "We've just done that and touring mostly, they both take up a lot of time." He said with a little laugh.

@ Jackson Teller;

Zacky smiled taking Christian into his arms. He smiled at his son as he took and felt the tears forming, "Hey little man." Zacky said to him and watched the tiny boy put his chubby hand up to his lip and trace over his snake bites. Zacky grinned at him cuddling him close to his form. He took his hat off and placed it on Christian's head and smiled at him. "You are an awesome little guy." Zacky smiled at him.

---

Ariana nodded her head lightly and looked at Matt and nodded her head. "I'd say so." She said lightly staring at him a brief second before looking down at her lap.

Charlotte bit down on her lower lip, panic immediately rising in her when Zacky took her son from her arms. After a few moments of him holding Christian, she began to relax a little. "I don't know if you have any questions about him," she said, quietly, resisting the urge to reach out and take her son back. She had to let Christian get used to Zacky. "I mean, because you don't really know him well." She said awkwardly.

---

"We're at home for a while now, though," Matt said, looking at the small menu on the table. They didn't have much choice for food. "Writing a new album and then recording it before we go back on tour." He said, looking up at the waitress who had brought over their drinks. He thanked her quietly and then nodded when she asked if they were ready to order. "I'll have a burger and fries please," he said, and then looked to Ariana, waiting for her to order.

Zacky looked at her and nodded, "Is he allergic to anything? What's his favorite way to sleep? His favorite toy to play with?" Zacky began asking the questions. He had a million questions, and one for her. But he knew the answer to it. Zacky watched Christian grab to the small chain he had on his neck. He let a soft laugh escape his lips as he bounced him a little while holding to him.

---

Ariana looked at Matt and shook her head, "I'm fine, thank you." She replied to the waitress and sipped her long island tea. "Sounds like a lot of time and work into it." She said lightly staring at her glass. "I seen one of your shows in NYC. Brian doesn't know, but I got a ticket and went to see it. You guys were good." Ariana said lightly knowing she'd saw Val at the side stage and when they'd went off they'd made out like hot. She cleared her throat trying to push the memory back.

Charlotte blinked at the sudden load of questions from Zacky, watching him interact with their son. "He has no allergies, he falls asleep laying on his front with his butt in the air," she said, with a little laugh. "His favourite toy is his stuffed Donald Duck that he can't sleep without." She said, turning back to the car and getting her son's toy out and showing it to Zacky. As soon as Christian saw Donald, he reached out to grab it, a huge smile on his face. Charlotte laughed again at her son, handing him the toy,

---

Matthew raised his eyebrows in surprise when Ariana said she'd seen them in New York, and then grinned when she said they were good. "Thanks," he said, all bashful. "That was an insane show, one of the biggest we've played." He said, thinking back to that night. Valary was there, but he decided not to think about that too much.