Days of the Old

“Hey, Patey?” Matt called, sticking his head through the gap he made in my door. He’d been knocking for the past five minutes, and I refused to answer him, so I guess he thought it was okay to just waltz in. “Everyone’s going out for dinner tonight, so you might want to start getting ready. Nothing fancy though, we’re just going out for a change.”

I didn’t answer him, hell I didn’t even acknowledge him, simply staring up lifelessly at the ceiling. It was only five days into my grounding, and I was pretty sure I was going to go insane out of boredom. Matt had stuck to his guns, and refused to let me do anything he thought I considered ‘fun’. I was surprised he was even letting me go out tonight, but it was probably only so he could make sure I was eating.

My ribs still hurt like hell, but not as much as they did on the first day. I always had to be careful though, if I moved to fast or jumped or something, the pain would come back tenfold.

“Jimmy said that if you give me any trouble to just go get him. He said he’d carry you over his shoulder if he had to.” Matt said, now fully in my room, but his hand still rested on the doorknob. When I still didn’t answer him, he sighed and turned back around, leaving the door slightly ajar when he left.

Basically, in the past five days, this was all I did. Stare at the ceiling and ignore Matt. That was all there really was to do. I would get through it though, no way in hell was I letting Matt have the satisfaction, or even let him think that his 'grounding' might actually be working, because it wasn’t.

One thing surprised me though, was that I actually missed being on speaking terms with him. I actually wanted to talk to him, to be able to just hang out with him and not always be on edge. But I just told myself that it was because I had no one else to talk to, not even Tyler or Dannii. No one. I had distanced myself from everyone since Matt had ‘grounded’ me.

There were moments when I was wondering what the heck was stuck up my ass, too. Back when I was with Tyler and mom, I never held grudges like this. Part of me thought I was just trying to push him away, and the other thought I was never even close to him in the first place.

“Mini!” I heard Jimmy’s voice echo down the hall, insanely loud. I gasped and sprung up, but then immediately regretted it as a shooting pain rippled through my torso. I held back a groan and remained sitting on the bed, resisting the urge to hunch over and grab my ribs.

His fast footsteps abruptly stopped once he got to my door, and then he pushed the door open with his foot, grinning. “Calm yourself Jimmy,” I say hurriedly, praying that he wouldn’t throw me over his shoulder like Matt said he would. That wouldn’t do any good for my ribs. “I’m getting ready now. I’ll be down in a few seconds okay?”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Geez, Min. You’re no fun.” He said, pouting. I smiled and then swatted my hand in his general direction, still sitting.

“Are you gonna, you know, leave?” I asked, which only made him pout even more.

“Well, humph! I’ll remember that when the unicorn apocalypse happens! And I’ll be the tactical machine who is built to save people from the zombie unicorns! But no, not you Mini, because I will remember!” He yelled, before hastily turning around and sprinting out of my room.

I couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “You’re insane, Jimmy!” I called, but didn’t raise my voice too much. Even that would cause some serious pain to my ribs. When I was sure he was long gone down the stairs, I slowly stood, wincing as I did so, and hobbled into the bathroom to run a brush through my hair.

After slowly but surely getting to my closet, I slipped on some easy skate shoes, picking them because I didn’t have to bend over to put them on, and made my way out of my room and down the hall at a leisurely pace. As long as no one else was around, I could act as banged up as I really felt.

No one was waiting impatiently at the door for me like I thought they would be, and upon further inspection, I found all of the guys hanging out in the living room. “Where are the girls?” I asked quietly, leaning against the wall.

Everyone’s head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and they each grinned at me. They were probably just happy that I wasn’t holed up in my room anymore. “They’re gone shopping. They said they'd meet us at Mo’s.” Matt said, but I still didn’t acknowledge him.

Smokin’ Mo’s was a BBQ down on Main Street, I hadn’t been there yet. I was about to ask why the girls hadn’t hauled me off to the mall with them, but then remembered I was grounded. I was just surprised they had actually listened to Matt.

The home phone began ringing, and Matt brushed passed me as he went to search for it. “Your shoe’s untied, Toni.” Johnny pointed out, and I glared at him for using that nickname again before glancing down at my shoes. Sure enough, one of them was untied. I sighed and left it, knowing that I would more than likely fall over if I tried to tie it then.

“Yeah, no sorry, she can’t come to the phone right now, she’s grounded.” Matt said as he stood next to me. My ears pricked at this and I whipped my head around to stare at him wide-eyed. It couldn’t have been Dannii, because she had phoned and asked if I was abducted yesterday, so it had to be Tyler.

“Is that Tyler?” I demanded, stepping forward so I could get a better look at Matt. He barely even glanced at me, and then I knew it was. “Dude, give me the phone!” I yelled, reaching as high as I could without irritated my ribs. I had to talk to Tyler or I was sure I was going to burst. I had relied on our short conversations more than I thought I had.

Matt grabbed my hand and held it so I could take the phone from him. “Okay, I’ll be sure to let her know.” He said, just before taking the phone away from his ear and hanging up, looking at me in annoyance.

“Matt, this isn’t fucking fair! I have to talk to Tyler, he’s my best friend!” I was quickly growing frustrated, this was the first time in a while that Tyler phoned me, not the other way around.

“Payton, you’re grounded. Not being allowed to talk to friends is part of the deal.” Matt said, as if I were slow. I narrowed my eyes at him and wrenched my hand out of his grip, taking a step backward.

But then, I stepped on my fucking untied lace, and I couldn’t regain my footing no matter how much I stumbled, always seeming to step on my laces. As if stumbling around like an idiot wasn’t embarrassing enough, I ended up flat on my ass on the floor. I heard a distinct crack come from my ribs.

A burst of searing pain erupted from my upper half and I groaned, wrapping my arms around my middle, still crumpled on the floor. The pain I’d been experiencing before was nothing compared to this, and I slowly curled into a ball, trying to compress myself as much as possible.

Matt was by my side in an instant, he tried to gather me in his arms but I only constricted even tighter, biting my lip as the pain seemed to ripple throughout my entire body. “Payton, what’s wrong?” He asked frantically, while I still held myself tightly. I couldn’t speak; the pain was far too intense. Four pairs of feet were surrounding me, and that was when I came back to reality and uncurled slightly, trying to get up, but Matt pushed me back down.

My hands were still pressed tightly to my ribs, and Matt clued into what was wrong with me and had to literally pry my hands away. A collective gasp was heard throughout the room when Matt pulled the side of my shirt up slightly, exposing part of the ugly, still black and blue bruise that covered the entire right side of my torso.

“Did—did Andy do this to you?” Matt asked, shocked as his eyes snapped up to meet mine. I looked away and attempted to pull my shirt down, but Matt once again wouldn’t let me. His fingers went to the center of the bruise, right where it hurt the most, and I winced as his fingers gently prodded.

“Ow, what the fuck Matt?” I demanded, trying to pull even farther away.

He frowned and glanced up at the guys, who hadn’t uttered a word since I fell. They all still wore shocked faces, while Matt’s eyes shone with worry. “I think we’re gonna have to go to the hospital.”

That seemed to snap the guys out of it, and they all sprang into action. “I’ll phone the girls and tell ‘em dinner’s off,” Zacky said as he whipped his phone out, Jimmy and Johnny ran around the living room screaming about how they didn’t know what to do, and Brian crouched down next to Matt.

“Guys, it’s not that serious. I’m fine,” I mumbled through my teeth, completely lying. Something had happened, something had moved when I fell, and I knew that I more than likely wasn’t fine.

“I’m gonna start the car!” Jimmy screamed abruptly, and Johnny nodded frantically along with him.

“Me too!” He said before running out the door, chasing Jimmy all the way. I rolled my eyes at their antics.

Placing a hand behind my back, Matt gently pulled me up into a sitting position. “Can you walk?” He asked, and I simply nodded before trying to get up on my own. As soon as I moved so much as an inch, pain racked through my ribs and I ground my teeth, not being able to believe how much a little fall could affect my ribs. That worried Matt even more, and for a moment he actually looked scared. He sighed and as gently as possible, gathered me up into his arms and stood, avoiding my ribs as he cradled me to his chest.

Brian walked ahead, opening the door for Matt, and then again when Matt placed me in the back of his SUV. This is not happening, I kept telling myself, Jesus. Why does everything I lie about always fuck up?

Both Matt and Brian were in the front seats in a split second, and the rest of the guys were in another SUV in front of us. As Matt turned around in his seat to back out of the driveway, he looked at me in frustration. “I cannot believe you broke you ribs and didn’t fucking tell anyone!”

“They’re not broken!” I protested, lying down in the seat so I was staring up at the ceiling of the SUV. I took a deep breath to calm myself, which only resulted in another spurt of pain from my ribs. I let out a groan and held my ribs, realizing that I could then only take short, shallow breaths.

“Payton, are you okay?” Matt asked frantically, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

“Focus on the road, douche bag.” I mumbled, still clutching my ribs. Brian snorted, not being able to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah, man. By the sound of it she’s okay.” He said, still chuckling. Matt however, didn’t find it funny in the slightest, but complied and kept his eyes on the road, glancing me again through the rear view mirror every few moments. I could live with that.

We arrived at Huntington Beach Hospital much sooner than I would have liked, and after he parked by the doors, Matt came around to carry me in. “Nuh uh, they’ll make a big deal out of it if you carry me in! Put me on a stretcher and shit, fuck that.” I rambled, while still lying down. I just wanted to stay there in that position as my ribs didn’t hurt half as much when I wasn’t moving, and the leather seats were more than comfy enough for me to spend the rest of the night on them.

“No,” He said, his tone firm as he reached in further for me. “You’re hurt enough now, you’re not walking anywhere.” There was no reasoning with him, and I couldn’t have stopped him from carrying me in even if I tried.

After two whole hours in the waiting room, we were finally admitted into an emergency room, and after a doctor poked and prodded my ribs to the point where I was about to beg for mercy, he figured that a few x-rays couldn’t hurt.

Another hour went by, and the guys had become accustomed to taking turns in the room with me because only two other people were allowed in. Matt was always one of them, of course, and it was Zacky’s turn this time. Matt hadn’t said much, but after the doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me, he looked more worried that ever.

Zacky made light conversation with me, joking around and whatnot. He probably thought I wasn’t talking much because I was worried about my ribs, but I couldn’t help but think about how concerned Matt looked. He couldn't have been that worried about me, could he?

Up until then, I honestly hadn't thought about how my actions could affect him. I knew it was incredibly selfish of me, but I hadn’t realized that the things I kept from him could actually be hurting him. And I actually felt bad about it.

The doctor came back then, my x-rays in hand. He put them up on the x-ray view box, turned around and smiled. I took it as a good sign. “What’s the verdict, doc?” Zacky asked nervously, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed beside me.

“Well, what Payton had were three hair-line fractures,” I was right. “But one of them developed into a larger crack when she fell.”

Matt and Zacky looked relieved, but before anyone could speak Jimmy burst through the curtain, grinning. “So she’s not gonna die?!”

He smiled kindly at Jimmy, probably thinking he was mentally challenged. “No, Payton is not going to die. But she’s going to have to take it easy for the next few weeks so nothing like this happens again.” I just know they’re going to go over the top with that. “I’m going to prescribe some strong pain medication just in case over-the-counter pain medicines don’t work, okay?”

We all nodded simultaneously, and he disappeared behind the curtain yet again. Zacky got up and walked over to stand next to Jimmy, who was still grinning and looking relieved. “Mini, don’t ever scare us like that again!” Jimmy said loudly, pointing at me.

“We’re gonna round the guys up, okay Matt?” Zacky asked, glancing between Matt and me as he nudged Jimmy. Matt nodded, still silent, and they smiled at me before leaving.

I clasped my hands together and went back to staring at the ceiling, dreading the next few minutes of silence until the doctor got back with my prescription. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Matt asked suddenly, looking at me in interest. That caught me off guard to say the least, and I honestly didn’t know how to answer. I shrugged, and Matt let out a long sigh and looked at me pleadingly.

“Can—can we talk about this when we get home?” I asked hopefully, not feeling comfortable with having one of those conversations in the middle of an emergency room. Thankfully, he smiled and nodded, which helped ease the tension.

Finally, after another ten minutes, the doctor came back and gave my prescription to Matt, and handed me an aspirin and a small cup of water. Then he asked if I needed a wheelchair. I was not that weak. We didn’t have to go there though, because Matt simply smiled and declined. He shook the doctor’s hand before he left, and I didn’t protest as he carried me back out to the waiting room, figuring it was better than being wheeled around.

All of the guys were standing around in the waiting room for us, all wearing their own looks of relief. “Lacey and the girls are at our house,” Johnny said, coming up to stand in front of us. “We’re gonna go there while you get P settled in, okay?”

Everyone said their goodbyes, which included Jimmy draping himself around Matt and I—expertly avoiding my ribs—and looking like he was about to cry. “No more secrets, capiche?” He asked once he pulled away. I gave him a broad smile and nodded, mostly because they had found out about pretty much everything I had been keeping from them.

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Patey!” He hollered as he got into the back seat of the other SUV, which only made my smile turn into an apprehensive one. He wasn't lying and I knew he was going to hold me to it.

The ride home was silent, and I guess Matt had taken it literally when I said we would talk at home. The house was empty and quiet when we got back, and he set me on the sofa in the living room and left, coming back with a blanket moments later. "Alright, do you need anything?" He asked, carefully sitting down next to me.

"My phone." I mumbled into the cushion, and he only sighed and remained silent for a few minutes. I was serious, I desperately needed to talk to Tyler.

"How about this, I'll give you a deal," He started, which made me turn slightly to stare at him. That aspirin was working quickly, and my ribs didn't hurt half as much as they would have if I had done that earlier. "I'll give you your phone back if you talk to me."

I laid there for a moment, thinking over my options. I had promised I would talk to him, and getting my phone back was just an added incentive to spill my guts. I let out a long breath, relishing the feeling of actually being able to breathe in deeply for the first time all day. "I'm sorry," I said, genuinely meaning it. "That was really the only thing I kept from you," I squinted my eyes shut, catching myself again. This was going to be harder than I thought. "Okay—no, that's a lie too."

"Take your time, sweetie," He said, happy that I even admitted to lying in the first place.

Shifting, I sat up slightly so I could meet his eyes. "Andy was—Andy has been messing with me since the first day of school. At first he was jealous of me because I was better at guitar than him, but then his girlfriend joined in. And she was jealous of me because he was putting so much energy in making my life hell," Matt nodded when I paused, his face expressionless as he soaked all of it in.

"But mostly the fights were always verbal, nothing physical except for the first day of school when he pushed me up against the lockers," Matt's fists clenched at this, and he breathed in deeply, forcing himself to calm down. "But then, about two weeks ago, I got into a fight with his girlfriend, Larissa."

Realization washed over his face then, but he still didn't say anything. He wanted me to say it all out loud. "Apparently he doesn't like having a disfigured girlfriend, and back last week—at the mall—was when he warned me. I know I should have told you about it then but I didn't and I'm sorry." I said quickly, rushing to get my apologies out before he could say anything.

He stared at me for a few minutes, not saying anything as he made sense of what I just said. "It's okay, Patey. I forgive you. I was just—earlier when you fell, I've never been so scared in my entire life,” As if I didn’t feel bad enough about it already. “Just please, P, don’t keep anything from me again.” He said, pleading as he moved closer.

I couldn’t help it; I reached forward and hugged him. I was mad at myself for being so selfish and not taking Matt into consideration before then. “I promise Matt. And I mean it this time. I’m not gonna keep anything else from you.” Matt seemed shocked that I’d willingly hugged him, but after a moment he gently hugged back.

“I’ll be right back,” He said, grinning once he pulled away. He jogged up the stairs, and came back a few minutes later with my phone in his hand. “You’re still grounded though, everything else but the phone still applies.” He warned, still smiling. I let out a groan, but happily took my phone from his outstretched hand.

“Now call your best friend, I’ll be upstairs okay?”

That made me grin at him before he left. “Thanks, Matt!” I called, staring at my phone. I felt better after I spilled everything I’d been keeping from Matt, but I felt even more at ease just knowing that I could talk to Tyler.