Feel That Fire

Stepping into his house for the first time in months, Matt Sanders sat his luggage down and inhaled the sweet scent of home. It even smelled like Jasmine's wonderful chili, and he decided to check out the kitchen before heading upstairs. The sight that greeted him in his kitchen made his heart melt.

There were the two loves of his life. They were sitting at the bar and drinking a glass of wine each. Jasmine looked as beautiful as ever. Her hair was the color of dark chocolate and face bore almost no makeup with her bright blue eyes shining. Sitting next to her was the girl who had had his heart since the moment she was born.

Emmalyn Grace Sanders had the most gorgeous smile on her face as she listened to the story Jasmine was telling. Her caramel colored hair was pulled back into two low pigtails and she was wearing some pajamas. Her cream colored hand was wrapped around a wine glass, and that's when Matt noticed the black polish on her nails. He did a double take. His precious, "perfect" little sister would never paint her nails black. She used to turn her nose up to him and the guys when they did it. Holy crap, he wondered what else had changed about her. But he didn't get too far in his thoughts because both women noticed him at the same moment.

Shrieking, they both launched themselves around the bar to race towards him. Emmalyn let Jasmine take hold of him first. She watched as the two lovers embraced and kissed passionately. Feeling her face flush, she turned away to give them a moment of privacy. Before she was able to take two steps, a strong hand grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Where do you think you're going, squirt?" Matt smirked while pulling her into his arms. Emmalyn sighed with happiness. She'd missed him more than she thought she would. Sure he'd been on tour before, but never for this long at one time. It was hard being away from Matt. He'd always been her rock and comfort. He knew her better than anyone else and vice versa.

"I've missed you two so much. I'm so glad to be home," he said releasing his sister so he could wrap his arms around both women.

"Same here, hot stuff," Jasmine said with a smirk. "Are you hungry?"

"Hell yes! I can't wait to dig in to that wonder chili of yours," Matt laughed as the three of them began fixing their bowls.

A few hours later

Three tired bodies were stretched out in the living room. Matt and Jasmine were on the couch and Emmalyn was on the love seat. They were watching the end of "The Dark Knight" when the doorbell rang. Emmalyn glanced towards the couch to see its occupants asleep. Smiling as she got up, she went to answer the door.

On the other side was Brian Haner. He looked like shit, she thought. Her heart broke when she saw the tears in his eyes. Without saying a word, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her. Brian went willingly into her arms. Shaky sobs came from his body. Emmalyn brushed her hands over his hair and whispered sweet words into his ear.

A few minutes later, Brian pulled back slightly to look at her.

"Emmalyn?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just checking. You look different."

"Oh, thanks, I guess," she said uncomfortably. It killed her how important Brian's opinion of her was to her self-esteem. It was like she needed him to be happy with her or think she looked good. It had been that way for years. Just being this close to him would have been enough to cause her to have a breakdown a few months ago. She'd grown up a lot since the guys had been gone on this last tour. She'd shed her insecurities and felt more comfortable in her own skin. She just wished she could stop her heart from doing summersaults every time Brian looked at her.

"I meant that in a good way. You look older. More mature. It suits you. I like it," he said while stepping inside.

"Matt and Jasmine are asleep on the couch. Do you want some chili?" Emmalyn asked. He shook his head yes and they headed for the kitchen. Emmalyn fixed him a bowl of chili while he grabbed two beers from the refrigerator.

"So do you want to tell me what has you so upset?" she asked sitting the bowl in front of him.

"Well, I didn't have quite the homecoming I thought I would."

"What happened?"

"Michelle moved out. She said she couldn't handle this lifestyle anymore. I tried to reason with her, but she said that no matter what the band would always come first for me."

"Will it?" Emmalyn asked with an odd look on her face.

"No, of course not. But it's my livelihood right now. I want to be able to provide for my future wife and children. The band has the means for me to do that. Plus I love working with the guys. I couldn't imagine doing any other kind of work," he said while looking into Emmalyn's green orbs.

"Well, then I would say that whoever you love should understand that about you. Things happen for a reason, Brian. I know that doesn't make this any less painful, but have hope. You've always been destined to do great things, and one day you will find someone who can understand that about you and love you all the more for it."

Brian just stared at her as she got up to put his bowl in the dishwasher. He knew she was smart, but damn. She just blew his mind with that. Emmalyn didn't say a word as she grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to the bedrooms. She opened the door to the first room on the right. Brian recognized this room as one of the guest rooms.

"Get some sleep, Bri. I'll see you in the morning," she said turning towards the door to leave.

"Wait," Brian said grabbing her hand. "Thanks for listening and for your beautiful words. You are something else, Emmalyn Grace," he said while placing a kiss on her forehead. Emmalyn blushed in the moonlight and squeezed his biceps slightly.

"Night, Bri."