Too Close For Comfort

Chapter 3

***Two weeks later***Matt’s POV***

“Matty, what’s up?” Lacey walked up to me as I sat outside on a picnic table at a restroom off the interstate in Kentucky. I watched her as she sat down beside me, a Coke in one hand and a pack of chips in the other.

“Nothing. Just stretching my legs.” I leaned back on my arms, adjusting my aviators before looking over at her. I had to mentally prepare myself to not look at her chest. I was starting to feel bad that I was checking Lacey out so much. I tried to act like it was nothing, but it was something that just seemed to keep happening. She wasn’t wearing anything different, but I don’t know, maybe I was just horny and any girl was attracting my attention, and the only girl around that was attractable was Lacey.

“By sitting on a bench?” She smiled at me before offering me her drink. I took it from her and took a few sips of it before sitting it between us. I watched her as she opened up her chips, leaning them my way before she started eating. I shook my head no, taking another drink of her soda instead.

“Shut up.” I took another sip. “So what have you been up to for the last three hours?”

“I tried to sleep, then I listened to music, and then I was going to watch TV, but the creepy old guys were watching porn again. So I called Zacky and woke him up, and then I made him get online and play tic tac toe with me.” She laughed before taking back her drink and taking a sip. I looked her over for a moment, noticing how she’d been keeping her hair down a lot lately, and the sun reflected off the chestnut colored strands perfectly. Her sunglasses covered her eyes, and the rest of her face was bare. She hardly ever wore make-up while working; it would end up all smeared. ‘There’s a few games I’d like to play with you.’ ‘Oh shut up.’ We both turned our heads as we heard someone approaching. It turned out to be Zacky, decked out in a hat, sunglasses and a hoodie. It didn’t help that it was like 90 degrees outside, way too hot for a hoodie. But Zacky hated the sun, so this was normal.

“I hate the fucking sun.” He muttered as he sat down at Lacey’s feet.

“Aw, poor Zacky. Is the baby melting from the sun?” She sat her chips down and rubbed her hands on her pants before rubbing his shoulders.

“Yes.” He leaned back onto her legs and let her continue to massage his shoulders. After a few minutes she stopped.

“Feel better?” His only reply was a nod. We all sat there in silence until the drivers called out to us that it was time to leave. We all walked back to the buses, and I watched as Lacey waved bye as she stepped onto hers and we continued onto ours. I passed through the front area and made my way back to my bunk, making sure I closed the curtain. I really didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now.

I tossed around for a half hour before deciding to call Val. I dug around until I found my phone and scrolled through my recent calls and found her number, hitting send and holding it up to my ear. It rang four times and I was about to hang up, but Val actually picked up.

“Matt? Hi.” She didn’t sound too excited. Already a bad sign.

“Hey Val. I haven’t heard from you in a few days.” I stretched my arm out, placing it under my head.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been really busy.” How do you get so busy that you don’t call your boyfriend for three days?

“Doing what?” I could tell this was going to be a bad conversation.

“Stuff.” I didn’t respond too quickly, hoping she would say more. She didn’t.

“Oh.”

“Matt, I really can’t talk right now, I’m bu-“

“Busy? No, we have something really important to talk about.” I rolled towards the wall and rubbed my face in irritation.

“And what is that Matthew?”

“Us. Our relationship. You.”

“What about me and us?”

“Val, you’re not the same fucking person anymore. And you don’t even seem to care about us anymore. And I’m sick of it.”

“You’re sick of it? Oh really?”

“Yes, I am.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that we need to talk.”

“What do you want to talk about? You want to whine about how I’m actually trying to do something on my own for once and it pisses you off?”

“Excuse me?”

“Since when did you turn into such a pussy, Matt?”

“Oh, wanting to actually spend fucking time with your fucking girlfriend makes someone a pussy.”

“Matt I want my own life, I’m tired of you expecting me to be stuck up your ass all the damn time!” She screamed into the phone.

“Then excuse me for wanting to fucking see you. All of a sudden you turned into a fucking fame whore. The Val I fell in love with didn’t fucking care about having famous fucking rich friends.”

“Whatever. You’re just scared that I’m going to actually be famous and you’re going to be a nobody. You’re just a dick-less bastard on a ego-trip.”

“I’m scared? That’s why I’m paying for all this shit? You fucking bitch, I’d like to see you be able to do all this on your own!”

“Well why are you still with me then, if I’ve changed so much?”

“I’m asking myself that right now.”

“Well, I’ll save you the trouble. I’m done Matthew. This isn’t right, we clearly want different things now.”

“Fine, that’s it, we’re done. I’m sick of always arguing with your ass every time I talk to you.”

“Fine. Goodbye Matt.” And with that, she was off the phone and our relationship was done. 12 years, over and done with. I knew it was coming, who couldn’t? She wouldn’t change and I couldn’t handle and didn’t want to be with the new her.

I rolled back onto my side, and it seemed like everything suddenly became quiet. I stared at the top of my bunk for a few minutes, just trying to make sense out of what just happened. We were done. We were no longer a couple. I thought about deleting her from my phone and burning her shit that I had, but I’m not childish. I’m a grown man, and I needed to act that way.

***That Night*** Lacey POV***

I glanced at my phone to check the time. 10:46. And I was bored out of my mind. There was no show tonight, so we were parked at a hotel. And only half the crew got hotel rooms, so I was part of the half that didn’t. I didn’t really like sharing hotel rooms anyway, so I didn’t really mind staying in the bus. I had already gone and gotten dinner with some of the guys from the opening band, and I had called Jimmy, but all the guys went out for drinks, so I was alone, just me and the TV. I was alone in the bus too, I think everyone decided to go out and drink on their night off. I almost considered going in the back and playing guitar hero, but that’s really no fun to play alone. So I just continued to sit and watch the marathon of whatever show was on. I wasn’t really paying attention to it anyway.

I looked behind me as my phone went off, the loud lyrics from ‘the end of heartache’ by Killswitch Engage blaring over the sound of the TV. I picked it up and looked at the id before answering it.

“Lacey!” Someone’s been drinking. And judging by the sound in the background, he wasn’t the only one.

“Yes Zacky?” I replied just as cheery as him.

“You need to get over to the bus right now.” I’m not going to judge any more weird-ass drinking games of theirs. Not after last time.

“And why is that Zacky?”

“Because we’re all drunk and Jimmy convinced Matt that it was a good idea to get rid of Val’s stuff.” Why would he do that? Did they have another fight?

“And why is he getting rid of Val’s stuff?”

“Because she broke up with him earlier. And he’s trashed.” Oh shit. That’s not good, those two things together could be really bad.

“No way.”

“Yes way and now he’s setting all her stuff on fire.” He’s what? They are drunk and setting stuff on fire? I’m not sure that’s- wait a minute…

“WHAT THE FUCK ZACKY??” I screamed into the phone before quickly closing it and grabbing my keys and running off my bus, barely taking time to lock it up before running over to where the band’s bus was parked and where the parking lot was lit by flames. I ran up to the group of guys that were cheering and being stupid, pulling a bottle out of Matt’s hands before he threw it into the fire. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing Matt?”

“Val broke my heart, so now I’m burning her stuff.” He didn’t look at me as he chugged down the rest of his beer.

“Oh that’s mature, Matt.” I scoffed as I looked around. He pulled the hair spray bottle back out of my hand and threw it into in the flames before I could stop him. I smacked his arm, and jumped back when there was a loud bang from where the bottle exploded. I looked at the other guys, who were gladly passing Matt stuff and began to grab stuff out of their hands as I started to rant at them.

“What is wrong with you guys? This shit is illegal and I don’t want any of you to get into trouble, STOP IT NOW!” I pushed them away from the fire, and began to take their beers away and dump them and Val’s stuff into another trash can in the parking lot. “I can’t believe you! All of you! What would you have done if you did get arrested?” None of them said anything as I screamed at them, trying to gain control of the situation. They all began to stare at the ground. I was glad they were feeling bad. “Now all of you go now, take your drunk asses to the hotel and go to bed right now!” I glared at all of them and they slowly made their way to throw away their beers, and walk across the parking lot, to where the hotel was located. I looked over at Matt and just watched him. He was looking into the flames and wasn’t saying a word.

Soon, we were the only two left out there. I had never seen him like this before. His eyes looked dead, and I was scared. This wasn’t the Matt I had known for years, this is what remained after Val broke his heart.

“Matt, let’s get you to your room.” I touched his shoulder, but it gained no response. He continued to look into the orange fire. “Matt?” He looked over at me finally, and my heart broke as I saw the tears falling down his face. Without speaking, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close to me, my face becoming smashed against his hard chest.

“Why did this have to happen?” I muttered something before realizing that he probably couldn’t understand me.

“Some people just change Matty. There’s no reason why it happens, stuff just goes to their head, and I think that’s what happened with Val. Maybe she’ll come around and everything can go back to normal, maybe she won’t.” I pulled myself away from Matt to put out the fire using the ice and water in a cooler the guys obviously used to keep their beer cool before wrapping an arm around him. “Let’s get you to your room.” This time he walked with me.

Silently we made it to his room. He would stumble every few feet, and I would fly to the side with him, and then somehow catch my footing. This wasn’t fun. And this was how the whole trip was. The whole trip.

“Okay, we’re here.” I stated as I got him into his room. He stumbled to the bed, and I just awkwardly stood in the room, not sure if I should stay or go. Matt didn’t say anything to me, he just fell back on the bed and covered his face. “Um, Matt? I think I’m going to go now. If you need me, just call me.”

“Can you stay with me? Please?” I bit my lip and thought for a moment.

“Maybe you should just go to sleep Matt. I’m not going to disappear, I’m going to be on the bus. I’ll come back first thing in the morning, ok? Promise.” He lifted up his head and I could already see the puppy dog eyes.

“Don’t. Stay with me please. I don’t want to be alone right now. I want you to stay with me, I need you to stay with me.” God I hate drunk Matt. He’s so damn persuasive. As I thought, he stuck out his bottom lip. That was not fair!

“Damn you Matty.” I kicked off my shoes, and placed my keys on the wooden desk, taking off my hoodie, and sitting it in the chair. I walk over to the bed and pull back the too-white comforter. “Come on Matty.” I watched him scoot up the bed fully clothed. “Matt, you’re going to sleep like that?”

“Mmmmhmmmm.” He muttered and kicked his shoes off. He continued to scoot up. “Matt, you’re going to sleep in your jeans?” He mumbled a yes. “Matty, take them off, you’re not going to be comfortable in them.” He complained some. “Matthew Sanders, take off your jeans, I’m not going to deal with you hung over and bitching about not sleeping because your jeans made you uncomfortable. And you know you will, you have before.”

He grumbled some but did as I said. Once he had struggled to pull them off, he climbed under the covers, and I climbed in beside him. I sat up and he cuddled up beside me. I was slightly surprised that he cuddled up to me, but I didn’t stop him. He wrapped his arms around me, and his head rested on my stomach. I switched the lamp off beside me and began to rub his back. I didn’t speak, I just lightly scratched his back. I stopped once he began to snore lightly and attempted to get up, but he wouldn’t loosen his grip on me. When I tried to pry his arm off me, he tightened it. ‘Damn Matt.’ I thought as I tried to figure out how I was going to get loose. And soon came to the conclusion that it wasn’t happening, so I had to find a way to get comfortable. I scooted down a bit so that my back wouldn’t completely kill me and somehow fell asleep.

***

I woke up early the next morning, probably because I’m not used to sleeping with any other people in the same bed. Especially one that’s extremely close. As in pretty much laying on top of me. As in their hand in my shirt and on my boob. I just rolled my eyes and pushed his hand away. I doubt I could get used to that. I wasn’t really into cuddling and sleeping that close to someone. Ugh. I got way too hot, like now. I was all sweaty. Ew.

Noticing that this was my chance to escape, I got up and decided to get a few things ready for when Matt got up. The clock said that it was almost 9:30, so wake up calls would begin in thirty minutes. And Matt wouldn’t be too happy. I walked into the bathroom and fixed a glass of water and sat that beside the bed, on the table. I walked over to his bag and dug into the huge pocket on the left side where the bag logo was and found his bottle of aspirin, dumping four of them in my hand, placing the bottle back in the pocket. I placed them beside the water, before deciding to check on the guys that I knew would be up. I stopped when I saw a menu beside my stuff. I picked it up, glancing through it while I walked to the phone. I called room service and placed an order, getting waffles, sausage, 2 eggs over easy, and grape and orange juice. It would be twenty minutes before it would be here, so I decided to check on the other guys. I left the room, leaving everything except the key and knocked on Zacky’s door and then Johnny’s. I didn’t dare try Brian’s or Jimmy’s. I made it back to the room in time, the guy was coming up the hallway as I was opening the door. I quietly thanked him for the food before rolling it into the room and tried to figure out the best way to wake Matt. I climbed up to his back and began to poke him. I continued this until he rolled on his back and grabbed my arm.

“Stooooop.” He whined as I started to poke him in the stomach with my other hand.

“Wake up sleepy head.” I smiled at him as he peeked his eyes open and grabbed my other arm.

“Not sleepy. I don’t feel good.” I laughed.

“Poor thing.” He held my hands until he sniffed the air.

“Is that waffles?” Sniff. “And sausage?”

“And eggs over easy.” That got him up. I pointed to the table, where the medicine was. He smiled at me as he grabbed the pills and water and swallowed them down. I moved down to the end of the bed to get to the food. After he got up and used the bathroom, he joined me, and we began to eat. I pushed all of his food towards him, and made sure he saw his grape juice. After I started eating my waffle, I couldn’t help but look up at Matt and laugh. He looked at me strangely.

“What?”

“I’m never going to sleep with you again Matty.”

“And why is that?” He stuffed his mouth full of waffle.

“You molested me.” He laughed and looked at me. “I woke up and your hand was so on my boob.”

“Ew, now I have Lacey cooties.” He laughed as he wiped his hand on the cover.

“Oh shut it. Don’t hate on my boobs, you’re just mad because they’re awesome.” I pushed him and stuck my tongue out at him.

***Weeks later ***Matt POV***
Over the next few weeks it seemed that I was connected at the hip with Lacey. She would stop me from being sad and depressed about Val. At first I thought it was because she was the only one that I could talk to, but then it was like I needed her. Without her around, I was different. When she was working, I missed her. When I was performing and couldn’t see her, I missed her and was itching to spot her face. I wasn’t completely over Val, but I wasn’t thinking about her as much, I didn’t feel the need to think about her. I wanted to say that it was just because Lacey had done a good job of helping me. But it was because I was now thinking about Lacey. I had feelings for her.

It hit me one day when I was in my bunk, and Lacey was riding on her bus. I turned to get more comfortable, and smelled her shampoo. And the weirdest thing happened. I got this warm, maybe even fuzzy feeling. I guess some would say I got butterflies. It was just so strange. This had never happened to me like this before. I had fallen for Lacey.

And there was the fact I hated being without her. If she wasn’t on our bus, I would call or text her. I had to be in constant contact with her. I had to be near her. I had no clue what was going on. I was freaked out. I had never felt the need to be around one person so much. I had always been one that needed alone time. Now, my alone time was torture to me. The best part of my day was when I saw her for the first time. The best mornings were the ones that I woke up to her beside me. The only times I could actually sleep were the nights that she was laying beside me, talking to me about the most random things.

Lacey had taken up sleeping on our bus most nights. All I had to do was pout a little bit and she would cave. It had started out the day after Val broke up with me. I was still upset about the whole thing, and she had offered to stay overnight and keep me company. She made brownies and everyone sat around watching scary movies. And after everyone had gone to sleep, we sat in my bunk and talked about who we considered to be great lyricists. She blushed as she admitted that I was in her top five. At first I thought she was lying, but she went on to explain why she thought that.

“Well, you put everything into lyrics. You don’t write random stuff that only you can relate to, you write about stuff that everyone can relate to. And every song you write is a story. And to me, that’s really important. And no one does it the way you do

And now? I was sitting at the bar of the venue, waiting with the guys for sound check to start. Really, I was just watching Lacey, and pretending to pay attention to what everyone around me was talking about. She was running around, doing whatever was needed from her. But it was what she was wearing that had my attention the most. It was unusually hot in the building, so she had taken off her bright blue t-shirt, deciding to work in just the black tank top that she was wearing underneath. I watched as she moved around busily, making sure everything was coming along like it should. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and her bangs kept falling into her face. I chuckled to myself as I watched her try to blow them out of her face, only to have them fall right back in the same place. And it was hard to miss her breasts that threatened to fall out of her top every time she bent over.

Half an hour later, she was walking over to us.

“Ready for sound check?” She asked as she climbed into the empty seat beside me. Everyone grunted their answers as she attempted to get the attention of the female bartender who was preparing for the night.

“What are you trying to do?” I asked as I watched her wave and call out hello.

“I want some water.” She pouted as she continuously failed to get the girl’s attention.

“Want a beer?” Jimmy asked as he offered her the one in his hand.

“Uh, ew, no.” She made a face as she pushed it away.

“You are the strangest 20 year old ever.” He mumbled as he took a swig of his drink.

“Beer is gross.” She replied as she stuck her tongue out.

“Well, you turn 21 in a few weeks and you’ll be singing a different tune.”

“Whatever.” She smirked at him and turned back to the bartender.

***Later that night***

“I’m super excited!” She exclaimed as she busted into my room. I looked up from my laptop and noticed that she had not only put the blue shirt back on, but that she was also carrying a bag. “Have you found the times yet?” She threw the bag onto the bed and climbed bedside me, peering over my shoulder.

“I can’t believe that we are doing this on a Friday night.” I muttered as she wrapped her arms around me.

“It’s tradition Matty! They are playing Night of the Living Dead! Plus, you’re kind enough to let me use your shower!” she added the last part quickly.

“I am?” She nodded her head and gave me her bright smile. She was beautiful, that was the only way to describe her. “Just because I’m such a nice guy.” I tried to mutter, but my smile made it hard to make it sound serious.

“You’re the nicest and bestest Matt!” She gave me another quick hug and placed her head on my shoulder.

“You can go first if you want, since you’ll take the longest.” I smirked at her as she hit me in the arm, but she got up and took her stuff into the bathroom. Within minutes I heard the water switching on and I tried to concentrate on the screen in front of me, and tried to keep my mind off of the naked girl that was less than 20 feet away from me. I checked my email, getting the verification that Val’s credit cards had been deactivated; trying desperately to not think of Lacey soaping up in the next room. After ten minutes of avoiding my thoughts, I heard the shower cut off and the shower door opening. A few more minutes passed, and I could swear that I heard my name being called.

“Lacey?” I pressed my ear against the door, trying to see if she was calling me.

“Yeah?” I felt the door open, and suddenly Lacey appeared in front of me. In just a towel. Nothing else. It took a moment for me to focus.

“I thought I heard you call my name.”

“Nope, I hadn’t said anything, but you can go ahead and take your shower if you want.” I noticed her hand grasp the corner of her towel a little tighter. I let out a cough as I diverted my attention back to her face.

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll just finish getting ready once you’re done.” I watched her grab her clothes off the counter, the neon green bra that sat on top of the pile grabbing my attention. ‘Stop doing that!’ I mentally scolded myself, as I forced myself to nod in response. “I’ll just leave you to that then.” With that, she walked out of the room, and I could finally think again. And that’s when I realized just how ‘big’ of an impact she had on me. How could she have not noticed that? How could anyone not notice? This whole situation was getting weird, and I had no clue what to do about it. But first I had to relieve this ‘problem.’

***Lacey POV***

Holy shit on a bun! I sat on the bed, just trying to catch my breath. Matt just saw me in a towel. And I had to be imagining it, but I could have sworn that he was staring at me, like he was checking me out. ‘Of course you’re imagining it. He’s not going to be into someone like you. He’s a rockstar, he’s into hot girls, like the strippers at the shows, or models. Not you, not someone so plain. Just look at Val.’ I’m glad that I was there for Matt, because he needs someone to be there with him, and the guys wouldn’t have been there like I was. I laughed out loud, imagining one of the guys crawling into Matt’s bunk with him, like I did almost nightly. I shouldn’t be thinking like this, this stupid crush shouldn’t be back. I should have grown out of that years ago, once I started working with them. Damn Matt for being such a good guy.

I continued to damn Matt as I got dressed, but I paused as I heard a noise coming from the bathroom. ‘Was that a moan?’ I stiffened up as I listened carefully, trying to hear anything. After a few moments of silence, I shook my head. I must be going crazy. I had to be going crazy. Perfect. I pulled my socks on and started looking around for my hairbrush, when I realized I must have left it in the bathroom. Where Matt was currently, naked and taking a shower. I could just sneak in there and grab it really fast, he wouldn’t really notice. ‘And you could go perv on him!’ I snickered as the thought past through my mind, I just really needed my brush, that was all.

I stood up and pressed my ear to the bathroom door. The shower was still running. I could just sneak in and out, he’d never know. I slowly twisted the doorknob, knowing that Matt never locked a door, and gently pushed the door until it was wide enough for me to get through it. I tried to force myself to look at the counter as I walked in, but I couldn’t help but glance over to the shower as I tip toed back to the door.

The glass was foggy, but I could see Matt’s figure, his tattoos standing out against the white of the tiles behind him. I bit my lip as I watched his hand lower down to his- wait. Was Matt jacking off? Then that’s when I heard a moan again. Matt was definitely, for sure, masturbating. Oh my god. I felt my whole face turning red as the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

And with that, I quickly turned around and scurried out of the bathroom, back to Matt’s bed, where I collapsed as my hands covered my face and I let out a loud giggle. I just saw Matt choking his chicken. Holy cow.