This Is a Reason for Broken Wings

- || Matt's POV || -
I hardly slept at all that night, what with Alex in the cell right next to mine. Half the time he was shooting stupid remarks at me while the other half I spent thinking about Lauren.

I wasn't really thinking about what her reaction would be when I told Alex that we were together, but thankfully she went along with it. Well, I guess I wasn't really thinking at all.

I didn't think that my heart would pound in my throat like it did when her skin touched mine. And I didn't think that the mere presence of her body pressed against mine would make me weak in the knees. Cheesy sounding? Yes, I know...But she had no clue as to the things she could do to me.

I didn't know if I necessarily 'liked' Lauren, like that you know. But you could call it a crush. Did I tell anybody else about this little crush? Fuck no I didn't...I couldn't...They'd never let the subject drop and Zacky's protectiveness over her would most likely triple.

But it's not like anything could ever happened between us...She wasn't willing to give her heart away and I was still some pathetic loser still heartbroken over his ex...Who still happened to be with the asshole in the jail cell next to mine.


The next morning I was released and the receptionist at the front desk was kind enough to let me use her cell to call someone to pick me up. I called up Zacky, seeing as how he was the only 'reliable' one out of the bunch.

"Hello?" He mumbled into the phone, making it obvious that I had snatched him from his sleep.

"Hey." I said sheepishly. "C-can you come pick me up?"

"Dude." He groaned. "Its like 8:30 in the morning."

"I know but...come on man." I begged.

"Ugh...I'll wake Lauren up and send her down."

"Oh, no, no." I said quickly, not really wanting to face Lauren just then. "That's okay, you don't have to wake her up...I can wait." I said, hoping my voice sounded naturally cool.

"No...I want to wake her up and make her miserable because I'm still pissed at her." He mumbled.

"Eh...Why?"

"She got drunk last night."

"Um...well, it's been three weeks since she's gotten drunk you know. For some alcoholics they crack down a lot sooner than that." I said, sticking up for her.

"True...It's not really bothering me that she got drunk...It's the stuff she did while she was drunk."

"What'd she do?"

"Just wait 'til you see her."

"Er...Okay." I said slowly, wondering just what he meant by that.

"I'll send her down then. She'll probably be there in half an hour."

"But, wait, I-"

I mumbled some curse words under my breath as he hung up on me and handed the phone back over to the receptionist, thanking her once again. The lobby was full of strange and questionable looking characters, ranging from your average bum to the man who looked like he could possibly be the next Bill Gates.

Feeling a bit freaked out by the old lady sitting next to me (who I swear was checking me out) I decided to go outside and wait in the nice cool, morning air. I took a seat on the cement steps leading up to the police station, eyeing the busy street. The heat was already starting to rise from the cement, making my body hotter than it would normally be.

My thoughts started to wander off as the day started to grow hotter, fumbling over last minute arrangements to be made with our tour, thinking to get a hold of JB to make sure he didn't have any warrants out before we left, wondering if I'd ever get to be able to hold Lauren in my arms once again.

I closed my eyes, letting my lack of sleep take over me and pull me into my subconscious state of mind.
- || End of Matt's POV || -

I huffed as I drove by the police station, finding no open parking spot, knowing that I had to park in the garage just down the street. Looking back one at time at the front of the station through my rear view I let out a little laugh spotting Matt passed out on the steps.

A couple minutes later I found a spot and was trying to find my way out of this damn labyrinth they liked to call a garage. I saw a sign that said 'Exit' and followed it, only to come across another sign that read the same, pointing in the complete opposite direction. I had no idea which way the station was now, nor did I remember where I had parked my car.

Wanting nothing more than to curl up into a ball and just go back to sleep, I finally heard someone else walking around as well.

"Excuse me." I said, spotting them as I turned around a corner. "Do you know how the fuck to get out of here?"

"Yeah." They laughed. "It's right this- Lauren?!" The asked, as they turned around to look at me.

"I...Val?!" I yelled, looking twice to make sure it was really her.

"Holy shit!" She grinned, rushing over to give me a hug.

"Damn girl! It's been six fucking years!" I laughed.

"Yeah." She smiled, pulling away to look at me.

Like I've said before, growing up it was always Lissa and I reeking havoc...However, there was also Val there, warning us against pulling some stupid stunt but usually caved in and joined us with the act in the end.

But when her parents were killed in a car wreck, she suddenly just sort of stopped hanging out with us. We'd still talk from time to time but she was always preoccupied with school, work, her boyfriend...

"So...I believe you know the way out of this maze?" I joked.

"Yeah, this way." She laughed. "So what are you doing here?"

"I gotta pick up one of my friends...He got thrown in jail last night."

"Oh, I'm here to pick up my boyfriend from there." She grinned, taking a sudden left and opened up a door that I didn't even know was there. "Eh, I've had to come down here a lot so I know this garage by the back of my hand." She laughed, seeing the expression on my face.

"Ah."

We fell into a sort of discomforting silence as we made our way down the steps to the sidewalk below.

"So, um...I trust you know the rest of the way to the station, right?" Val asked, stopping short to look at me.

"Oh, yeah." I mumbled.

"I have to make a couple more stops before I head over there so...um...It really was good to see you again Lauren."

"Yeah, it was good to see you too." I said quietly.

"I'll see you around then." She smiled at me one last time before she took off across the street.

My eyes followed her as I thought about how much she's changed since we were in high school. But eh, who doesn't change?

- || Matt's POV || -
I was running through the little patch of woods by Zacky's house searching for something...or some one for that matter. I didn't know exactly who I was looking for, nor did I know why I was seeking them.

Finally, after what felt like forever, I came to a sudden halt on the edge of the woods, spotting someone standing alone with their back towards me. I knew that she was the one I was looking for.

I cautiously made my way towards them and stopped just before I reached them.

"There you are." They said softly before I had a chance to say something. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" I asked, still unsure as to whom it was.

"Home." They said, turning around.

My breathing became shallow as Lauren penetrated my eyes with her steady gaze, lacing her fingers gently with mine.

"Come on, let's get going." She said, reaching up to brush her lips gently against mine.

I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her and press my lips against hers. I don't know why I didn't; I mean, this was a dream after all. But like all dreams, at the moment I didn't realize that it was a dream.

"Matt, come on, before I leave you here." She said with a smile that caused my heart to beat furiously in my throat.

When my legs still refused to work for me, she grabbed a hold of my shoulder and shook it gently as if she were trying to shake me out of a trance. Suddenly she reached over and slapped my face...Not hard but enough to bring me from my senses...And my sleep.

"Wha-what happened?" I asked, staring up at Lauren, who stood there, looking down at my spot on the steps in front of the station.

"What do you mean 'what happened'?" She asked, cocking her head to a side a bit as she looked down at me.

"Er, I mean...Eh, never mind." I mumbled, climbing to my feet.

I looked at her, remembering Zacky said to 'wait until I saw her,' and tried to figure out what was different about her. I saw no new tattoos or piercings (at least none that were visible), her hair wasn't dyed nor cut, her eyebrows were still perfectly intact. There was nothing that suggested she was wild and drunk the night before, resulting in her making stupid, intoxicated decisions.

"Okay." She said slowly, taking off back down the street, the slight breeze blowing her hair around.

That's when I saw it.

"Holy shit." I mumbled, staring intently at the 'love bite' on her neck.

Actually, 'love bit' is more of an understatement.

"What?" She asked, stopping to look back at me. "Oh." She mumbled, realizing that I was staring at her neck.

"Who'd you get that from?" I asked, feeling a wave of jealously surge through my body.

"Oh...um...I don't know." She muttered, adjusting her hair so that her 'marking' was hidden once again.

"Oh." I said quietly as she took off down once more.

"Did you park in the garage?" I asked, chasing after her.

"Yeah."

"Let's go this way then." I said, grabbing a hold of her hand to stop her.

As she turned around to look at me, my grip on her hand tightened involuntarily, causing me to release it shortly afterwards.

"I-I mean it's a short cut." I blushed, tearing my eyes away from hers.

"Oh, alright." She said, taking off down the alley I was motioning towards.

I stared after her for a couple of seconds, my eyes examining her seemingly flawless posture, taking in her radiant beauty.

Damn it Matt, a voice nagged in the back of my head, you know you're falling for her.

For once in my life I wish that I could ignore that nagging little voice, but as its words kept repeating over and over in my mind, I found the only way I could make it stop was to just deny it altogether.
- || End of Matt's POV || -

About fifteen minutes later I pulled into the driveway and instantly climbed out, letting nothing but the thought of my nice, comfy bed awaiting me upstairs in my room. However, as soon as I walked through the door I was greeted by none other than my brother, who help up a handful of what looked like frozen spoons in my face.

"What the hell is that for?" I mumbled, trying to shove my way past him.

"Hey, I'm not gonna let you walk around any longer with that damn...hickey on your neck now, so come on." He said, narrowing his eyes at my neck as if he were trying to mean mug the hickey on it.

"Ugh, fine then." I sighed, letting him pull me to the kitchen.

As I took a seat on a stool next to the island, I pulled my hair back so that it was out of my brother's way as he attempted to get rid of the marking on my neck. Before long we were joined by Matt, Syn, Lissa, Amber, and much to my dismay just then, Johnny.

"Hey." He laughed. "Where'd you pick that up?"

Zacky and I both shot him a death glare, causing him to recoil slightly on the spot. True I may have been drunk off my ass last night, but I still remember what I was doing, although at the time I didn't realize what I was doing.

Don't get me wrong, Johnny's still my good friend but at the moment I was angry with him...Why? I don't know, but I was.

"Wait a minute..." Matt said slowly. "You're the one that did that?"

"Y-yeah." Johnny stuttered, inching ever so slightly away from Matt. "Why?"

"No reason." Matt mumbled, looking back over towards me.

There was an awkward silence during which Lissa looked back and forth between me and Matt, finally giving me her full attention in the end. Her eyes burned into mine as if asking me if there was something going on between me and Matt.

With my blank stare I let her know that there wasn't, but I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to yesterday when he told Alex that we were actually together. I wasn't bothered by what he said...just caught off guard.

"So..." I said, trying to get the attention away from my hickey and my mind off of Matt. "Guess who I seen earlier, Lissa."

"Hmm, who?"

"Val! She said she was on her way to pick up her boyfriend."

"Oh really?" Lissa asked hesitantly. "That co-"

She was cut off when the sound of the front door slamming came to our ears. We all took a look around and noticed that Matt was no longer with our 'party.'

"Uh...Was it something I said?" Clueless as to what was going on.

"Actually...yeah." Syn said, rocking Lissa gently in his arms.

"Oh?"

"See...Matt and Val used to date..." Amber said slowly.