You're Not What I Was Expecting To Find

Once inside the taxi, Matt pulled Charlotte closer to his body and she relaxed. She breathed in his warmth and scent as it surrounded her. Her shaking stopped as Matt gave the address to the driver. He settled back in the seat, his arm around her shoulders as they drove toward their destination.

“Who did you call?” she asked, breaking Matt from his thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh, uh, just Zacky. He’ll tell Brian not to worry, let him know you’re with me.” Charlotte nodded in understanding.

“So are you from Huntington?” Matt asked.

“No, I actually am from Canada. I just lied about the ill grandmother.”

“Then how’d you end up in Huntington?”

“I didn’t want live there anymore.” Then she shrugged.

“So you moved out the minute you turned eighteen, right?” he asked, chuckling.

“Basically. My parents didn’t really care.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t exactly the golden child.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, I think I got written off the day I got my tattoo,” she told him and Matt’s eyes sparkled mischievously.

“A tattoo? Where? Can I see?” he asked excitedly. Charlotte laughed, shaking her head at his excitement.

“Yes. I’m not telling. And no,” she answered his questions in order.

“Ugh,” he whined, “That’s not fair.” Charlotte laughed as the cab pulled over to the curb. Matt glanced out the window at the street. He pushed open the door and took Charlotte’s hand in his. Once they were both out of the car, he handed the driver a bill, told him to keep the change and then turned to Charlotte, “You’re going to love this place. They have the best garlic bread.”

Matt and Charlotte walked into the restaurant and took a seat in a booth at the back. Charlotte noticed several kids sitting nearby twisting and turning in their seats trying to get a better look at the man sitting across from her. But when she glanced at Matt, he seemed unaffected. But he did notice her looking.

“They’ll probably come over after we get our drinks,” he told her. She looked to him, still not completely focused.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“They probably want my autograph.”

“Why?”

“I told you about the band, remember? We have fans,” He told her and she made an “O” shape with her mouth. She moved her gaze once again to the kids. “We can leave, if you want.”

She waved him off, “No, it’s fine,” then returned her eyes back to his. He looked unconvinced. “No, really, it’s fine.”

“Well, I guess you’re going to have to get used to it,” he said casually. Charlotte’s eyes snapped to his, which were looking down at the large menu.

“What do you mean?” she asked nervously.

“You don’t think I’m going to let you just walk away?” he asked as he looked up from his menu. He laughed at her expression. “You can’t lie and say you don’t like me as much as I like you. Your ears will give you away.” She looked down at the table, fiddling with the tablecloth. “I’m not actually going to force you,” he added, looking concerned.

“I know,” she said in a tiny voice. He sighed.

“We’ll just take it one step at a time, okay?” he asked. She nodded. Just then the waiter came over to ask what they wanted to drink but Charlotte still hadn’t even looked at the menu. Matt ordered water for her and a beer for himself before the waiter left them alone. They sat in silence until the kids who had been just looking before came over to their table.

“Hey, uh... you’re M. Shadows,” one kid said. He looked to be the leader. Charlotte watched Matt smile at them, his lip ring glinting in the light.

“Yeah, I am,” he confirmed.

“Is that your girlfriend?” another one asked. Matt glanced at Charlotte as her eyes snapped to his. Her eyes were wide and she had a panicked expression on her face. Might as well let her get used to it, he thought.

“Yeah,” he turned his attention back to the boys. “You boys want an autograph?” he asked. They all nodded eagerly and thrust napkins and pens at him. He signed them all, keeping light conversation still with that charming smile.

“Have you guys been to any of the concerts lately?”

“Yeah, we’re planning some pretty special stuff for the new CD.”

“Hopefully within the next month we’ll be back in the studio.”

The entire time Charlotte watched him be the role model he apparently was. Even though these fans interrupted a date, if she wanted to call it that, he was all smiles and being polite. Not once did she see him look annoyed, or frustrated at the boys invading his privacy.

As if reading her thoughts, he told her, “It comes with the gig.”

“I guess. Doesn’t it get annoying?” she asked, truly curious. He shrugged.

“Sometimes. But a lot of them are really sweet. It’s hard to be annoyed at them interrupting you when they have tears in their eyes just because they got to meet you.” His eyes turned serious. “I mean, some of these kids have told us our music keeps them alive, sane, normal. It’s mind-blowing to hear those things. That our music has touched lives like that. It’s fans like that who make us want to keep making music.”

Charlotte let out a breath. “Wow,” was all she said. Matt smiled again, the light coming into his hazel eyes.

“Do you know what you’re getting yet?” he asked. Charlotte shook her head no.

“What are you getting?” she asked.

“A cheeseburger. I always get a burger here.” He told her. She looked back down et her menu as she considered.

“I’ll have the chicken salad, then, I guess. Hold the dressing.” she said, hoping that a salad wouldn’t set her diet back too far. He nodded and signalled for their waiter and he walked over. Only after the waiter had left, their order written down on his pad of paper, did Charlotte look up. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good company,” she apologized.

“Of course you are,” Matt told her. “I know those boys kind of freaked you out, though. We can still leave, if you want. We can go back to my place,” those big doe’s eyes snapped to his, panic-stricken. Matt laughed. “Not like that. I meant order in, watch a movie.” Charlotte considered.

“But we already ordered our food,” She pointed out. He shrugged.

“We’ll ask to take it home. Just let me go talk to the waiter.” Then he stood up and walked toward the counter, leaving Charlotte at the table alone. The boys once again turned to look at her. She pointed her eyes in any direction but theirs. And she waited, just like that, until Matt came back a few minutes later. “It’ll be a few more minutes. Then they’ll pack it up for us and we’ll go back to my place. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” she told him, and then lowered her voice, “Those boys were looking at me.” Matt laughed.

“Babe, you’re beautiful. They should be staring. They just can’t touch.” Charlotte blushed and looked down, uttering a quick ‘thanks’ as Matt laughed.