When Hope Begins to Fade

Amber had expected talk walk in to an empty apartment that Friday evening. Who could blame her for that since both the apartment’s residences had been gone all day with only one returning now? Once she unlocked the door Amber removed her keys and turned the doorknob, pushing the door forward.

Without a glance at the sofa she headed straight to get a drink of water, not thinking about the possibility that someone else was there with her. She had just sat the glass down when there was suddenly a voice in the apartment. “Fine, don’t tell me hi.”

Amber turned around and looked at the sofa in shock. “What are you doing here? You are in L.A. Alyce, you aren’t coming back until tomorrow.” Amber looked at her best friend skeptically, as if Alyce would disappear into thin air if she didn’t.

“Well I am sitting here aren’t I? Kellan got done a few days early so we came home. Thought I’d come over when I knew it would be just you. Here is that spare key that you’ve been looking for since I left. And don’t worry, I didn’t make extra copies of it.” Alyce sat the key down on the coffee table and grinned at her friend.

“Time to find a new hiding place.” Amber mumbled to herself as she snatched the key off the coffee table. “So how was L.A.?” The truth was that the friends hadn’t saw each other in weeks, and it hadn’t been the first time. In the past few years their lives had changed drastically very rapidly.

“It was L.A., crowded and busy as always. What did I miss here? Anything good at all?” Alyce glanced around the apartment looking for any changes. When she concluded that it was the same she looked back at Amber. She gave her best friend a look over as well, just to make sure that she hadn’t went for any drastic changes in appearance.

“Honestly you didn’t really miss all that much. Nothing worth reporting anyways. So did you get the part?” Amber sat back on the sofa as she took note of the gleam in Alyce’s eyes. When Alyce had made her career choice she’d chosen to follow the same path as her boyfriend, so she put her talent of being Queen of the Dramatic and set out for an acting career.

“I don’t know yet, they said they’d call me in two weeks. How’s the store?” Unlike Alyce, Amber had yet to make an actual career choice. She was torn between photography and journalism. She’d ended up staying working with her mom and aunt, now reaching status of manager.

The real reason that she hadn’t actual chosen was simple, Matt. Working with her family allowed her to take months off here and there and go on tour with the guys. When she did accompany them on tour she usually helped with merch, which had been exactly what she’d done full-time for their first tour. “Its good.”

“Well guess what!” Alyce’s excitement finally burst through as she broke into a grin.

“I hate guessing and I suck at it. How about you just tell me?” Amber wondered what the news could possibly be as her friend clapped her hands and squealed.

“Kellan surprised me with plane tickets to Hawaii this morning! We leave Wednesday!”

“Again? Don’t you two ever get tired of going to Hawaii Alyce?” Amber immediately regretted her choice of words.

“No, we don’t. Do you ever get tired of going back to Vegas?”

“Good point. That’s awesome then, have fun!” Amber didn’t want to let her mood ruin Alyce’s so instead she hid it. She would feel like a hypocrite for allowing anyone to catch on to her feelings. When she’d spent months gone Alyce hadn’t said anything, instead she just went with Kellan to L.A. and started on her acting career. But now that Alyce was gone every few weeks Amber missed her, now she was leaving again.

“Well anyway I was thinking that you and Matt should come hang out with Kellan and I tonight, since its been weeks! Hey I forgot to hug you!” Alyce lunged herself at Amber, tackling her with a hug.

“You did forget! Shame on you! But we can’t tonight, dinner with the parents then we were going to meet up with the guys. I’m sorry.” Alyce pulled back and stared at Amber with a look of sympathy.

“The parents as in his and yours?”

“Yeah, all four of them and us.” Amber didn’t dread dinner with Matt’s parents or Esme, it was the Anthony part that she feared. Anthony wasn’t the biggest fan of Matt in the beginning and his approval rating went down the first Amber accompanied Avenged Sevenfold on tour. After the tour Anthony’s approval rating of Matt went up slightly and stayed there on and off, depending on if Amber was home or not.

“Your dad still isn’t Matt’s biggest fan is his?” Alyce’s question broke Amber’s train of thought at once.

“Not even close. He was just starting to like Matt and then we moved in together. We are almost back to square one.” Amber looked away from Alyce’s gaze to the door of the apartment as thoughts filled her mind. At least I hope that’s why he still doesn’t like Matt.

“Okay well tomorrow is Saturday so you are coming shopping with me, no other option for you! Call me in the morning after you wake up.” Alyce stood up and grabbed her things, not bothering with any explanation for Amber about her sudden decision about their plans for the following day.

“Why are you leaving already?” Amber watched helplessly as her best friend walked towards the door of the apartment. Alyce laughed and turned around to face her again, smiling widely.

“Because I’m sure that you need to get ready for tonight and I’m sure that your boyfriend will be home soon. Besides I will see you tomorrow morning even if you don’t want to see me. Have fun tonight!”

“Alright, fine. Bye Alyce.” The door clicked closed behind Alyce leaving Amber alone in the apartment. The clock said that it was 5:45 now and she and Matt weren’t meeting their parents until 7:30. Sitting back on the couch and throwing her head back she closed her eyes, deciding that she’d take a shower in 5 minutes.

The sound of silence was all that met Amber’s ears for several minutes, the sounds of the city were blocked out by the walls and the light hum of the air conditioner. Overall it proved to be more relaxing than she had originally anticipated it would be. When she opened her eyes again it was 5:53, so she stood up and headed for the bedroom.

After picking out a pair of jeans and a shirt she headed for the bathroom. The apartment door was locked so she knew that if anyone came in while she took her shower it would be Matt.

***

Matt walked into the apartment to hear the sounds of the shower running. He smiled to himself as he tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter. Amber’s voice was mixing in with the running water, telling him that she was singing in the shower again. He took a seat on the couch and listened to her as she sang, smiling as he listened.

After the shower cut off he gave her a few minutes before he walked to the bathroom door and knocked. “Matt?” Her voice wasn’t too distorted as it came through the bathroom door.

“No Amber, it’s Jimmy. Of course its me.” The door opened to reveal a fully dressed Amber smiling.

“Shut up Matt,” She hugged before he kissed her. “Hi.”

“Already getting ready?” Matt walked into the bathroom and stood behind his girlfriend as she brushed her hair out.

“Nope, it only looks like I am. If it appears that I’m getting ready I must be. We should probably find a new hiding place for the spare key too, Alyce was sitting in the living room when I got home.”

“Did you scream?” Matt’s amusement made Amber roll her eyes at him. Amber had walked in the apartment to find Alyce sitting there soon after they moved in and she had scram. Ever since that one incident Matt had never let it slip by when Alyce showed up that way.

“No Matt I did not scream. That was one time, let it go.” She watched him in the mirror as she sat her hair brush down and pulled her hair over her left shoulder. Matt grinned and moved forward, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You don’t want to go tonight do you?” Matt watched her facial expression change as she applied the eye shadow. He knew that she wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of dinners that included Anthony, and he also could feel the tension around her the minute he asked.

“Not really. I don’t like the fact that after five years he still doesn’t like you. Even more than that I hate that I don’t know why he doesn’t like you. I thought that we’d settled the families issue years ago.”

“Remember Amber before we moved in together he was starting to like me. Now I think I have a pretty damn good idea why he can’t stand me yet again,” Matt placed a gentle kiss to the side of her neck before continuing. “We are living together and he hates it.”

“Yeah well its not his life,” Amber crossed her arms over her chest and pouted into the mirror, knowing that Matt was watching. “And now it is really starting to piss me off.”

Matt laughed and she cracked a smile before he replied. “He’ll get over it eventually. In the meantime try not to let it piss you off too much.” He removed his arms from her waist and left the bathroom without another word.

“I guess I’m going shopping with Alyce tomorrow, she says that I don’t have a choice. Are you going to hang out with the guys?” Amber’s voice traveled into the bedroom as Matt grabbed a clean pair of jeans and a tee-shirt.

“Well have fun with that! Yeah I think so but I’m not sure yet. Brian was talking about having everyone over at his place for a barbeque tomorrow night, so if he does then I’ll kidnap you back from Alyce if I have to.” Matt answered her question as he made his way back towards the bathroom. The two met in the doorway, Matt holding a change of clothes for after the shower and Amber holding the blow drier.

“I’ll just run away. I take it that you guys played baseball outside the studio again today?” They moved aside so that they were on the opposite side of the door way.

“Yes we did. Zacky beat me though.” Amber walked into the bedroom and plugged the blow drier in seconds before she heard the shower come on.

***

When Matt parked at the restaurant Amber could already see her dad’s car approaching the turn to the restaurant’s parking lot. Just as she drew in a deeply nervous and shaky breath Matt placed a hand on her knee with a smile. “It can’t be any worse than when we broke the news about moving in together. Its just dinner with our parents, nothing will go wrong.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek because opening the driver’s door.

“Yeah that is what you say now.” Amber climbed out of the car just as her dad turned into the parking lot. She could already picture the glare he would have for Matt this time. Matt grabbed her hand around that time, blocking out the thoughts that she didn’t partiality like, and walking the two headed to wait by the door.

“Well everyone got here on time tonight,” Matt chuckled as he saw his dad drive into the parking lot. He could already see Anthony getting out of the car and he felt the unease in Amber’s hand as her grip tightened. “Amber it is just dinner. We’ve been though a lot worse, calm down babe.” He kissed the top of her head, causing her grip on his hand to loosen slightly.

After the usual hellos they went inside the restaurant and were seated. “So what do you two have planned for tonight after this?” Matt’s mom asked glancing between the couple with a warm smile.

“We were just going to hang out with the guys.” They both answered at the same time, making both their mothers smile and Matt’s dad to chuckle to himself.

“Amber don’t you spend time with your friends anymore?” Anthony sighed and looked away from Matt.

“Dad the guys are my friends! Besides I’m spending time with Alyce in the morning since she is already back from L.A.” Amber’s voice was laced with annoyance as she spoke, hating that she had to explain it again.

“Anthony, not tonight. Well it sounds like you two will have lots of fun tonight.” Esme smiled at her daughter and Matt as she spoke. Anthony scoffed but he closed his mouth and didn’t speak again until the waitress showed up.

She had just disappeared to go get the drinks when Anthony spoke again. “Well Matt she seemed to recognize you.” Matt nodded and smiled a bit.

“That’s been happening a lot lately when I’m home.”

"That doesn't bother you Amber?" Anthony turned his attention to his daughter. She groaned softly as Matt looked at her contently. He already knew the answer his girlfriend would give, it wasn't like she'd never noticed the amount of female attention that he sometimes received.

"Why would it bother me? He is a rock star and damn good looking one at that. I pretty much expect for other girls to look at him, its been happening for years." Amber smiled over at Matt as she spoke and Anthony rolled his eyes.

"Well Matt at least you know she supports you fully son." Mr. Sanders grinned at his son and Amber, holding in a laugh.

"No dad really?" Matt smirked back at his dad as Amber laughed a little.

"Shut up you little smartass."

"Here are your drinks," The waitress passed the glasses around, giving each of the people at the table the drink they had ordered. "What can I get for each of you for dinner?" Her focus seemed to be centered on Matt, she seemed to be trying to figure out where she recognized him from.

After everyone placed their orders she left the table and the conversations resumed. Other Anthony’s two out bursts Amber discovered that things were going very well for once. Now all she hoped was that they continued going this way until the end of the night.

“So where are you going to hang out with the guys at tonight?” Mr. Sanders asked as Anthony looked off into the distance.

“We said we’d met them at Johnny’s Bar, so we’ll probably end up staying there for a while.” Matt answered with a shrug as Amber took another sip of her tea.

“Amber I don’t know if she told you or not but Lisa has a date tonight. Some new guy that she met in her design class.” Anthony shattered Amber’s hopes that nothing else would come up over dinner the second he started talking about it.

Lisa and Johnny hadn’t stayed together more than a year, they broke up claiming that they had drifted too far apart and touring would drive them further apart. Amber and Matt saw through it though from the second they started telling them. The two obviously had feelings for each other but they weren’t ready to get any more serious than they already had. Amber had a feeling that they’d be back together soon though, especially after talking to Lisa a few days before.

“Nope I didn’t know that. I hope that she has fun with him tonight.” Amber clearly closed the discussion with that as Matt slipped an arm around her shoulder. Esme was about to ask something when their waitress showed up again. She was handing out everyone’s dishes and when she came to Matt’s order she gasped.

“You’re M.Shadows! I just want to tell you that I love you and your band, you guys are amazing!” She gushed as a blush crept onto her cheeks, fearing that she may have burst out too quickly.

“Yeah I sure am. Thanks, it means a lot to us to have fans like you.” Matt smiled at the girl and she quickly went back passing out the last few plates of food.

“Enjoy your dinner.” She mumbled with a smile before she hurried off.

“Well Matt it looks like you have a fan.” His dad grinned at him.

“Aww and I think she likes you for more than your talent.” Amber giggled making Matt, his parents, and Esme start laughing. Anthony even cracked a smile until he heard Amber quietly add in, “But I can’t say I blame her.”

***

“I told you it wouldn’t be that bad.” Matt grinned as he parked at Johnny’s Bar later that night. Amber released her seatbelt as he cut the engine. He looked over at her and she met his eyes with a sigh.

“I know, but I really wish that he could go without always throwing something or another in. It gets so damn annoying.” She leaned over and captured Matt’s lips in a kiss, which he naturally returned.

“It gets better as time does on. Besides all he can really do is make comments. Now are you really to go have some fun with the guys?” Matt grabbed the keys from the ignition as Amber opened the passenger’s door to get out.

Inside the guys and their girls had already claimed the usual spots, with Brian and Jimmy playing a round of pool. On the table they even had a drink for Matt and one for Amber. “So how was dinner with the parents?” Zacky asked when they sat down.

“Better than expected.” Amber answered as Matt settled his arm back around her shoulder. She leaned against his side like she usually did as he opened his mouth to answer Zacky’s question.

“I thought it went well.” He shrugged and took a drink from the glass in front of him.

“Amber!” Jimmy came over, leaned down, and hugged Amber tightly making everyone else laugh. She hugged him back as Brian sat down again with a laugh.

“Hey Jimmy!” He released her to return to his seat, taking a drink as soon as he sat down. Amber glanced around at the guys and girls; Jimmy and Leanna, Brian and Marriah, Zacky and Lilly, and Johnny who didn’t have a girlfriend. She smiled and took another drink from the glass she’d been handed.

“You are coming with me! We are playing pool.” Zacky grabbed onto Amber’s arm and pulled her towards the pool table. After a few shots he looked up at his opponent with a mischievous smirk on his face. “We have to get your sister and Johnny back together. You know that right?”

“Yeah I know. So I take it that you’ve been thinking of a plan?” Amber felt two arms wrap around her waist and instantly knew they were Matt’s. She smiled and leaned back against his chest.

“A plan for what?” Matt asked watching Zacky take his shot.

“We are talking about getting Johnny and my sister back together, that’s all.” Amber answered like was the most obvious thing in the world.