Perfection Doesn't Exist

After the show, Jesse went in search of her uncle. She never really liked hanging around after shows like this because the girls screaming were enough to give her a headache. Unfortunately, Matt found her first. “Hey,” he said to her, grabbing her arm lightly to stop her from speeding away.

“Oh, hey.”

Matt smirked. “Please, don’t sound so enthused to be here,” he joked.

Jesse smirked back. “Well of course I’m enthused to be in your presence, Matty.”

Matt rolled his eyes at her. “Well that’s good because your uncle came and found me earlier and asked me to drop you off at home.”

Jesse’s smirk quickly disappeared and was replaced with a confused frown. “Seriously?” she asked him skeptically.

Matt laughed at her, which caused her to scowl at him. “Yeah seriously. He said something about having to go pick up your aunt and cousin at the airport and having to jet because he almost forgot about it.”

Jesse nodded. “Oh, ok. Well, uhm, can we jet then? I’m tired and want to go home.”

Matt just nodded and said, “Give me fifteen minutes,” which caused Jesse to sigh, but agree. She followed him backstage where the guys were signing stuff and taking pictures and whatever else the fans wanted them to do. The rest of the crew was packing up, occasionally getting stopped and asked for a picture. Jesse sat down on a crate and started messing with a few strands of her shoulder length, brown, wavy hair. Wearing a pair of ripped jeans and a thin, dark aqua blue thermal, Jesse shivered because she was sort of cold. It was the beginning of December, after all. She chose a stupid outfit, but did look cute.

Finally, twenty five minutes later, Matt came waltzing over to her with the rest of the guys following. “Jesse, you remember the guys,” he said as a sort-of intro.

Jesse rolled her eyes inwardly. “Yes, Matty, I do. Scumbag one,” she said, referring to Alex, “Jack, Zack, and Rian. Hi guys,” she said with a smile at all of them except Alex.

Alex smirked at her. “Come on, Jess. I made one bad impression and you hate me for life?”

Jesse glared at him. “Correction, Alex. One, don’t call me Jess and two, you’ve made multiple bad impressions because every time I see you, you make an ass of yourself.” Jesse smirked when she successfully wiped the smirk off of his face and turned to the rest of the guys. “It was nice to see you guys again, but I’m tired and Matt’s my way home so I’ll see you guys later.” She turned to Matt and said, “I’ll be waiting out in the front,” and the she walked away.

When she was out of earshot, Jack laughed and said, “She hates you, man,” to Alex.

Alex smirked as well. “I know, but that’s what makes it fun.”

Matt rolled his eyes and said, “Whatever, I gotta get her home. I’ll see you guys later.”

Alex and the guys nodded a goodbye, and Matt left.

Jesse had her knee bent and her foot resting against the building while she waited for Matt. Finally he came out, but the damage was done. She was shivering and freezing from being outside in the cold. Matt shook his head at the site of her and said, “You moron,” causing her to jump.

She scowled at him and said, “Can we p-p-please find your car because I’m f-f-f-freezing.”

Matt nodded and took off his black zip up sweatshirt, revealing his white thermal. “Here,” he said to her, tossing her his hoodie. She nodded a thanks and quickly put it on while they walked to his car. They climbed in and he turned the heat on full blast, waiting for it to warm up. While they waited, Jesse messed with the radio, changing CD’s until she found what she was looking for. "Maybe I was desperate for this, maybe I let it get too far. So far my favorite mistake and I made it all for nothing," filled their ears, making Matt smile at the younger girl seated next to him. “Really?” he asked her.

Jesse smirked as well. “Yes, I happen to love this song.”

Matt laughed and put the car into drive, now that it was toasty warm. “You never cease to amaze me, Jess. Which by the way, what was up with you telling Alex not to call you Jess?”

The brunette shrugged. “He’d taint the name and make it sound like a bad word which I don’t want.” Matt was confused as to what Jesse had against his friend, but didn’t push it.
Matt was quiet, so Jesse spoke up. “Are the guys excited to start recording?"

He nodded. "They are, but they're also stalling. They want to get this record recorded, but they also want it to be more than perfect. It's getting a little difficult, and they've barely started recording."

Jesse nodded and then the two were quiet for a little longer until Matt pulled off to the side of the road, confusing the hell out of Jesse. He put the car into park, turned his body to face the younger girl and said, “I have no friggin clue how to get to your place,” causing the two to burst into a fit of hysterics.

When Jesse could breathe again, she said, “Matt, seriously, we’ve been driving for five minutes. Why didn’t you say something when we pulled out of Rams Head?”

Matt chuckled and said, “I don’t know. I didn’t even think of it.”

Shaking her head, Jesse got out of the car, walked around the front of it, and walked over to the driver’s side. She opened Matt’s door and said, “Get out,” and Matt complied. She climbed into his seat, looked up at him and said, “What are you waiting for?”

Matt laughed slightly to himself and shook his head, then walked over to the passenger side and climbed in. Shutting both of their doors, Jesse started the car and took a peak at the clock. The digital numbers read 11:59, making Jesse shake her head. She pulled off the road and drove to a small 24 hour diner. She pulled into a parking spot and turned to Matt, saying, “I’m starving and it’s late. Let’s get a bite.”

Matt didn’t object, but instead followed her into the diner. They took a seat at a red vinyl booth and looked over their menus. The waitress, an older lady with short, platinum blonde, dyed hair and a name tag that read Margo said to Jesse, “What would you like, hun?” pulling off the perfect stereotype of a Baltimore lady.

Jesse smiled and said, “Coffee, a large order of fries and a cheeseburger, and a chocolate milkshake.”

Matt shook his head in disbelief at the amount of food Jess was getting and said to Margo, “Cheeseburger, fries, Coke, and I guess a strawberry milkshake for me too.”

Margo nodded and walked away, coming back shortly after with a coffee cup and a coffee pot, filling the cup for Jesse. She set a little pot of creamer on the table and walked away. Jesse poured almost half of the creamer into the cup, then dumped three sugars in, careful to stir it cautiously so she didn’t spill any. She took a sip and Matt laughed. “You’re basically drinking sweet milk with a hint of coffee flavor.”

Jesse shrugged and set her cup down. “So what? I like it.”

He just shrugged too and then the two fell quiet. Matt didn’t mind quiet most of the time, but Jesse hated it. Awkward silences gave her too much time to think. So she spoke up with something random. “Why is the first day of the holiday tour in Lancaster?"

Matt shrugged. “I don’t know.” The conversation stopped there.

When the food came, both dug in. When they finished, Matt left Margo a generous tip and paid, then the two left. Jesse drove home with no objection from Matt and when she pulled into her driveway, both she and Matt climbed out. She walked around the front and he followed suit. “Thanks for being my source of transportation tonight,” Jesse said with a small smirk/smile.

Matt smirked too and said, “No problem. I’ll see you later.”

Jesse nodded and walked towards her house when Matt stopped her. “Hey, Jesse! You did a good job tonight. If we fire Evan and need a replacement, we’ll call you.”

Jesse laughed and shook her head. “Thanks, Matt. Goodnight.”

“Night,” he said, and climbed into his car and drove off.

While Matt drove to his house, about twenty to thirty minutes from Jesse’s, he got a text message. It was from Rian and read: Kara refuses to come on tour, even though she said she’s going to miss me. Now Vinny’s going to be alone-completely alone- selling merch and we’ll have to listen to him bitch. Replacements? –Rian

Matt wasn’t one for texting and driving because he was barely coordinated enough to do one at a time, let alone both, so when he stopped at a red light, he called Rian despite the fact that it was almost one in the morning. “Hello?”

“She refuses?” Matt asked him.

Rian sighed. “Absolutely and totally refuses to come. She said she hates that she’ll be away from me for that long, but being in a small van with all of us is going to be more than she could handle so she said she passes on this one. Any ideas for replacements?”

Matt smirked and said, “You want to replace Kara?”

“Not the time to pull out your witty smartass remarks that only happen once in a blue moon, Matt. Seriously; Vinny could handle merch alone, but he won’t want to. He was counting on Kara to help. Now what are we going to do?”

Matt sighed as he pulled through the second red light. “I might have someone."