A Melody from the Heart

We enjoyed spending time together, which was something we never thought would happen. Maybe it was because we were so different that we got along so well together, but I’ll never know. All I did know at that time is that it was easy for me to be around her. We tried not to talk too much about our past personal live, because we both had a silent understanding that it was better to keep what was in the past behind us. We just liked paying attention to everything that was happening in the present and not what had already happened.

There was another thing that both of us were ignoring, though, and that was the fact that I didn’t live in New York. We were on total opposite sides of the county, and we hadn’t even begun to think about what it would mean for our relationship when I had to go back in just around a week. We didn’t talk about the status of our relationship, so it wasn’t exactly clear whether we were just having fun or whether we were going to try to make it something more, even though it would take a lot of work.

Something told me Audrey didn’t want to talk about long term relationships. I could tell she had some kind of commitment issues, but I still wouldn’t find out just why that was until after I left. That’s too far ahead of where I am now, though. Right now, we were just pretending that our time together wasn’t about to be cut short…

“No, No!” Audrey said, smacking Matt’s hand away from the pot she was cooking with. “That’s not how you do it! Haven’t you ever tried to cook anything besides toast?”

Matt laughed and then stepped back from the stove, letting Audrey proceed with cooking their dinner. It turned out that she was just as bossy in the kitchen as she was in every other aspect of her life. He found it more amusing than anything else.

“Alright, I’ll leave you in charge then,” he replied.

“I told you I was going to cook for you when I invited you over,” she said. “I know you’re probably not eating anything healthy. You probably just eat chips and drink beer all day.”

“You know me too well,” Matt said as he came up behind Audrey and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his face in her hair because she always seemed to smell so good. He could tell he had distracted her for just a second, as she leaned into him, but she quickly went back to the way she always was.

“You’re going to make me burn this,” she said with a little less force than usual. Matt could see she was trying to hide a smile at his attempts to distract her. He loved that moment when she let her guard down and let her softer side show. It was always just for a moment, but he loved seeing even that little glimpse of the girl that was always hiding behind that tough wall.

“At this point, I don’t really care much about the food,” Matt said, giving her a knowing smirk. Audrey just gave him an admonishing glance and turned her attention back to the stove.

“I’m making sure that you eat decently at least a couple times a week,” she said, trying to ignore his wandering hands. He smiled even wider every time her voice cracked when she was speaking. It meant he was making it just a little bit hard for her to keep her attention away from him.

Matt gave Audrey a quick peck on the cheek and then backed away, knowing she wasn’t going to take her attention away from the food cooking on the stove any longer. He noticed that the t-shirt she was wearing was all disheveled from him, and it had risen up just a little bit, giving him a view of her lower back. What he saw there made him do a double take.

“What happened to your back?” Matt asked, just a little bit alarmed. There was a dark purple bruise that was a decent size, and he was thinking how he never really had a bruise quite like that even though he was a rock star and had drunken nights quite frequently.

Audrey turned to look at her back, the stove now completely forgotten. He knew his question had caught her off guard, and she was flustered for the first time since he had met her. Matt could see her stumbling in her mind for the right thing to say, and as he saw her cool composure slip back like a mask over her face, he knew she had thought of something to tell him.

“I just fell down one of the flights of stairs while carrying groceries the other day,” she said, being careful to say each word just right so as not to betray herself with her voice. He watched as Audrey fixed her shirt so it covered the bruise again.

“That looks like it was a pretty nasty fall,” he said, a little suspiciously. There were a lot of steps leading to her apartment, so he wasn’t really going to assume she was lying to him. Matt brushed aside her alarm of him seeing her bruise and worried about her being hurt somewhere else instead. “Did you get hurt anywhere else?”

“Well, you know, I was just sore for a few days. It’s not really fun falling down a flight of hard stairs, especially if you have your hands full,” she said, turning back to the stove. He had a feeling she was concentrating on cooking now so she didn’t have to look at him when she spoke.

“As long as you’re sure you’re okay,” Matt said slowly. Whether she actually did fall down the steps or not, he was still concerned about her either way. “I never thought you would be clumsy enough to fall down stairs.”

“Neither did I,” Audrey replied. “It’s definitely not a shining moment of mine, but it happens to everyone. I’m just glad no one was there to see it.”

Matt could tell she didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It could have been because she was embarrassed, or it could have been for another reason, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to push her because he knew she wouldn’t budge. One reason why their relationship had been successful so far was because they stayed away from the topics that neither of them wanted to discuss, and he wasn’t going to change that now. He didn’t have that much time left with Audrey, and even though he didn’t like to think about that, he knew he wasn’t going to mess up the time they had left by talking about something touchy with her.

“So, how much do you have to work this week?” he asked, changing the topic. They had to figure out when they could spend time together before he had to leave for California again. Audrey was either really busy or free, depending on her rehearsal schedule. Matt’s free time was becoming less and less in these past few weeks since the release of the record was getting closer and closer with each passing day.

“It looks like this one is going to be pretty busy, unfortunately,” Audrey replied. He could tell by her voice that she was glad he had changed the subject. “I have a concert coming up a couple days after you’re gone, so the next week or so is going to be all about practicing.”

“We have a couple of appearances and signings we have to go to, so our schedule is pretty packed this week, too,” he said. “I’m sure we can find time somewhere. I think I’ll be completely free Tuesday and Friday.”

“I’m rehearsing both of those days. I’m sure we’ll be there all day, too, because of the people who like to slack off before an actual performance”

“What about Saturday?” he asked, watching Audrey as she turned all of the burners on the stove off. She then started bustling around the kitchen, getting everything ready so they could eat. She froze at his suggestion, but just for a moment.

“No, Saturday is definitely not good,” she said with a little bit of a nervous laugh.

“Why not? You never have to practice on a Saturday, and I’m sure I can move some things around,” Matt said. He sighed as she placed a plate of food down in front of him at the island counter. He took a seat on one of the stools. “As much as we’ve been avoiding talking about this, I’m leaving soon, so we have to get in as much time together as possible before that happens.”

“I know,” Audrey whispered with a sad sigh as she sat down beside him. “It’s just that Saturday is really not a good day.”

“Why not?” he asked. He studied her face as she took a minute to think. She chewed her food slowly and carefully before answering.

“It’s not good because I have to go see my parents that day,” she explained, avoiding Matt’s gaze. “It’s my father’s birthday, and as much as I try to avoid both of my parents, I really can’t get out of this one. Trust me, I would rather spend the day with you, but I have to do this. I’m not looking forward to it, but I haven’t seen them in months. The whole day is going to be filled with stuck up rich people.”

“Well, if it’s really going to be that bad, then maybe it’s a good idea if I go with you,” Matt said. “I mean, you’ll have me to talk to if you don’t want to talk to anyone else that’s there. I guess I’ll be kind of like a silent support system.”

“I appreciate the thought behind it, I really do, and I’m not trying to be a hard ass by saying no,” Audrey said, looking at Matt’s hopeful face. His expression almost made her cave right then and there, which was so unlike her. “It’s just going to be harder if you do go. You don’t know what it’s like to be around these kinds of people.”

One of the other reasons why she didn’t want him to go was because he definitely didn’t fit into her old world. Like she’s said before, Audrey never in a million years thought she would be dating anyone like Matt. If she brought him with her, it was just going to cause one huge mess that she didn’t feel like cleaning up. Her parents were going to disapprove just by glancing at him.

“I know you’re thinking they’re not going to like me,” he said, hitting the nail right on the head. “I’m used to earning the disapproval of parents all over the country. Trust me, it’s not going to hurt my feelings if they don’t like me. Actually, it works in your favor if they don’t since you don’t particularly care for them. It will say something like ‘fuck you mom and dad’.”

“Matt!” Audrey said in response. She couldn’t even imagine the mess if he tagged along to her father’s birthday. Not only would her parents be angry at her for bringing him, they would snub Matt just for the way he looked.

“What? I’m just trying to back you up. I’m only going to be here for about a week, so you might as well use me while I’m still here,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Audrey just shook her head, thinking how her parents would probably kick her out of the house for bringing him.

Actually, that didn’t sound like a bad idea. And with the way Matt was looking at her, she was having a hard time keeping her resolve up. No one had even been able to wear her down the way he could.

“Fine,” Audrey said, finally caving. “But there are some conditions you will have to follow because my parents are no joke. There’s a reason why I don’t like them.”

“Your wishes are my command,” Matt answered with an adorable smile as he kissed her sweetly on the cheek. It was so hard to be serious with him when all Audrey wanted to do was kiss that adorable look off of his face.

“You have to make sure you dress nice, and I mean nice. Most of the men will probably be in suits.”

“I’ll make Zacky go suit shopping with me tomorrow. He always did like to dress the sharpest out of all of us,” Matt said. “Does this mean you’re wearing a dress?”

“Yes, I am wearing a dress,” Audrey answered, rolling her eyes at Matt’s suggestive look. “Make sure you cover up all of the tattoos and piercings you can. They’ll automatically judge you for them before you even speak to them. And I guess you really should try not to start any conversations unless someone talks to you first, it will save you a lot of trouble.”

“So, basically, you just want me to stand there next to you and look like a good boy,” Matt said.

“Matt, I’m being serious. You don’t know how terrible it’s going to be there,” Audrey replied. She was already dreading seeing her parents and that was still days away. Now that Matt was coming, her stress level skyrocketed. “I lived my whole childhood under the constant eye of rich people who judged me if I chewed my food the wrong way. These people are vicious, and they love nothing more than to having something good to gossip about. Good gossip to them is talking about how their friends publicly embarrassed themselves.”

“Audrey, everything is going to be fine,” Matt assured her as he took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. She took a panicked breath in after Matt cut her off from her frantic speech. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior, and no one will ever know I’m in a band or anything else they would disapprove of. I just want to spend as much time as possible with you. Promise me you won’t stress yourself out too much over this.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises,” Audrey said. Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a reassuring kiss, one that made Audrey’s insides turn into jello. She was amazed that he still could make her feel that way even after a month of dating each him.

“I should have guessed you wouldn’t promise me that,” he said with a laugh. Matt pulled her back in to hug her once more. He wanted to tell her that sometimes, she didn’t have to worry about everything by herself. Sometimes, other people could help you get through the things you weren’t looking forward to.

Audrey hugged him back, secretly smiling into Matt’s chest. She would never admit it, but he was one of the best things that had happened to her in a long time.

“So, are you going to show me what that dress looks like?” Matt asked, raising his eyebrows. Audrey just smacked him on the shoulder playfully and hugged him tightly around the middle once more.

Yes, Matt was someone that had come so unexpectedly into her life, but she had unknowingly been searching for him for so long. Now that Audrey had finally found him, she didn’t even want to think about the fact that he would be leaving her almost as quickly has he had come.