If I Only Had the Heart

When Monday finally came, Kylie was dragging her feet to get to the studio. She didn’t particularly want to go in today considering she had yet to talk to Matt again since their fight. When Jordan left the previous night, she had warned Kylie that she needed to talk to her ex. Kylie had brushed her off and sent her cousin on her way. But now that it was Monday and she had to actually see the tour manager again, she was feeling sort of sick to her stomach.
As the nervous girl walked through the parking lot of the studio, she realized the guys weren’t there yet. She opened up the door and walked in, looking for Bendeth. “Hello?” she called out. She found him sitting in the control room, talking on the phone.

He put his finger up, signaling for her to hold on, and finished up his conversation. “Okay Jake, I’ll see you in a few minutes. Alright, bye,” the producer said, ending his call.
Kylie gave him a curious look and said, “Who’s Jake?”

Bendeth laughed. “My nephew from England. He wants to get into the music business, so he’s coming to visit for a few weeks.”

She nodded. “That’s cool. Is he going to like, intern here or something?” she asked, getting a little nervous that Bendeth might be on the verge of telling her to hit the road.

“Something like that, but more so you showing him some basics and stuff like that.”

Kylie let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “Sounds fun to me. When’s he getting here?” As she said that, the door to the studio opened.

“Hello? Uncle Dave?” called out a boy who Kylie assumed was Jake.

“Come on, come meet him,” Bendeth said, getting up and walking out towards the front door. “Jake!” he exclaimed, enveloping the boy in a hug. When the separated, he said, “This is my assistant Kylie. She’s staying out here for a few weeks to help me with some songs. She’ll also be showing you some of the basics of the music business.”

Jake smiled and stepped forward. “Hello there,” he said, his accent prevailing.

Kylie smiled, taking in Jake’s features. He had shaggy brown hair that was covering his eyes a lot of the time. He had broad shoulders and semi-muscular arms, as if he worked out enough to keep in shape but not to build so much muscle as, say Zack. He had dark brown eyes and his skin was rather tan, but still pretty white compared to Kylie’s skin. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a black hoodie over it and a pair of jeans. He was handsome, he just wasn’t Kylie’s type. “Hi,” she said, reaching her hand out to shake his outstretched one.

“He’s going to stay here for the day, or at least part of it, and then I’m going to have Kylie drive you over to my place. Sound good?” the producer asked Jake.

He nodded. “Sounds wonderful.”

Bendeth smiled, and at that moment the guys all walked in. “Ah, perfect timing, you can meet the band. Jake, this is All Time Low,” Bendeth announced, stopping all of the guys in their tracks.

“Hey,” Alex said first, nodding in the boy’s direction.

“That’s Alex,” Kylie filled in, frowning at Alex’s rude behavior. “That’s Jack, that’s Zack, and that’s Rian.” All the guys said hello. “Guy’s, this is Bendeth’s nephew Jake from London.” The guys nodded and smiled before leaving to follow Bendeth into the control room. “Where’s Matt?” she asked Jack, the last one to leave the room.

He shrugged. “Don’t know. Finishing some work at the house maybe?”

Kylie nodded and let the guitarist leave. “Well, we might as well start off by getting to know each other a little bit,” Jake suggested.

She smiled. “Sounds good, let’s sit.”

The two sat down and started talking, getting to know the basics about each other. While Kylie was in the middle of raving about her love for music, Matt walked in. He first saw the new guy, sitting alone with Kylie. He next saw Kylie’s large smile, partially due to the fact that she was talking about her passion and also because Jake was nice and she was enjoying herself. Matt immediately frowned. “Kylie,” he said, his tone very business-like. “Did you get my voicemail the other day?” He ignored the fact that he didn’t know this guy. He had a feeling he didn’t want to.

Kylie rolled her eyes. “Yes, but I didn’t get a chance to listen to it. Jordan was in town.”

Matt nodded, eyeing the guy sitting across from her still. “Oh, well it just said I need to talk to you.”

“Okay.”

“So?”

Kylie sighed and looked at Matt. “So what Matt?”

“Can we talk?” he asked, getting irritated.

“I’m busy, Matt. Later,” she said, turning to face Jake again.

Matt mumbled a fine and stalked past her. Kylie laughed. “That was my ex-boyfriend. I didn’t think he’d be jealous, but he obviously is. So excuse me for not introducing you properly, but I had too much fun doing that.”

Jake laughed. “No, it’s fine. Glad to be of help.”

In the other room, Matt was pissed. “Bro, what’s your problem?” Alex asked.

“Nothing.”

“Liar. You’re pissed because Kylie’s laughing and not in such a terrible mood anymore and it has nothing to do with you.”

Matt just stared at Alex, his mouth agape slightly.

“And now you’re just pissed because I’m right. You’re jealous and you know it.” Alex got up and walked away before he could get reamed out by the tour manager.

Matt shook his head. He wasn’t jealous. If Kylie was moving on, then so was he. If this was how Kylie wanted to do things, then two could play that game and as far as Matt was concerned, it was game on.

***

It was ten when the guys finally got out of the studio. Luckily they had an off day the next day because Bendeth had some stuff to do. They decided to go out that night, mainly because Kylie had suggested it so they could show Jake around.

The guys happily agreed though, telling Kylie they’d meet her at Metal Skool at eleven. She went home and showered and changed and then picked Jake up. “Hey,” she said as he climbed into the car and she drove off.

“Hello,” he said back. “So what’s this Metal Skool?”

“It’s like a club, but it’s mainly a bar. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s fun though.”
“Sounds it. But don’t you have to be a certain age to get in?”

Kylie nodded and she pulled into the right lane. “You have to be twenty one. Why?”

Jake chuckled. “You flatter me, but I’m not twenty one.”

Kylie smirked. “Neither is Jack or Zack. Don’t worry, we’ll sneak you in.”

Jake nodded and a comfortable silence fell over the two. Now that Jake said he wasn’t twenty one, though, Kylie was curious how old he was. “So how old are you?”

“Nineteen.” Kylie nodded. She couldn’t deny that she was surprised, considering when she met him she thought he was at least older than her.

It didn’t take long to get to Metal Skool, and by the time Kylie found a decent parking spot and her and Jake got to the door, it was quarter past eleven. The guys, having been on time for the first time in their lives, were already inside, making the rounds.

Luckily, Jake had a fake ID so sneaking him in was easy enough. He and Kylie got drinks before they went in search of the guys.

Matt had spotted Kylie the moment she walked in the door. He hated the jealous feeling that overcame him as he saw Jake standing too close to her as they walked to the bar together. He tried to ignore the couple. He ordered a drink for himself and scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face. He only found Alex who came over to talk to him. “Hey bro.”

Matt nodded his hello and took a drink of his beer. “Hey,” was all he said.

“I take it you saw Kylie walk in.”

He nodded in response.

Alex scoffed. “You’re so jealous, it’s almost funny.”

“I’m not jealous. Kylie can do whatever she wants. It’s her life.”

Alex nodded. “That’s right, it is her life. You need to grow the fuck up and get over it. You dumped her, dude. You should be happy she’s getting over you.”

Matt glared at his friend. “Why would I be happy?”

“Because you apparently aren’t jealous and you don’t have feelings for her anymore, or so you say. So the only logical thing to be feeling is happiness for her.” Alex shrugged. “Look dude, I know you still care for her. Everyone knows that, except you and her. You two need to talk, but a real talk. Not a screamfest.”

Matt shrugged and Alex left him alone to think knowing he wasn’t going to get any further or get any more across with his friend tonight. Of course, Alex was right. He and Kylie needed to talk. They needed to figure stuff out. But they couldn’t do that if they weren’t going to act like adults. Matt had tried. He had called her several times, asking her if they could meet up and have a real talk. And of course, Kylie had ignored his calls. There wasn’t much he could do until Kylie decided to make a move.

Meanwhile, Kylie and Jake were making the rounds, talking to various friends and having a good time. “Want another drink?” Kylie asked Jake after they both finished their first beers.
He nodded. “Yeah, sounds great.”

Kylie smiled and said she’d be right back. She didn’t notice Matt by the bar until she was right next to him, ordering two beers. “Oh, hey,” she said awkwardly. She hated the situation they had put themselves in.

Matt nodded his hello. “How’s your new boyfriend?” Matt spat out, his anger and jealousy rising and coming out of hiding, surprising both himself and Kylie.

The blonde stared at her ex. “Seriously, Matt?”

They stared each other down, neither making a move to break the eye connection. “Kylie, we need to talk sooner or later. Unless you’re too busy with your new beau to talk to me.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, stop it Matt. It’s Bendeth’s nephew Jake. He’s from England, and he’s here to learn some of the ropes of the music business. The two of us wouldn’t even be out tonight if it weren’t for you acting so jealous earlier today,” she said, giving up her act.

“I’m not jealous, Kylie. You can live your life however you want to,” he told her, turning to leave. He stopped short and leaned in to Kylie’s ear. “We really need to talk, though,” he whispered, causing a shiver to go up her spine, and then he left.

Kylie may have acted like she was over Matt, but when he got that close to her and let his breath glide over her ear; it brought memories back and caused her head to spin. She hated that Matt still had an effect on her.

It was going to take a lot more than Kylie being stubborn, a little patience, and some alcohol for the two to get over each other.