This Is a Reason for Broken Wings

We were pretty busy that morning and didn't have too much time to really sit down and talk. My lunch break finally rolled around and I sat around outside waiting for my brother. Just as I pulled a cigarette out and put it to my mouth I heard some keys jingling around behind me and I turned around to see Lissa and Amber locking up for lunch.

"Hey, your brother just called and wanted us to meet him at the restaurant." Amber said.

"Oh...okay." I said quietly, putting my unlit cigarette and lighter back in my purse.

"Shot gun!" Lissa called, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Loser." I laughed.

"So..." Lissa said, trying to break the uneasy silence that had settled around us since we departed from the shop. "Matt's some sort of hero now, huh?"

I mumbled something under my breath, staring intently out the window.

"What was that?"

"Yeah, I said." I replied.

"Does that mean you guys are cool now?"

"Nope."

"Come on Lauren, what do you have against Matt anyway?"

"Let's see, besides the fact that he's a cocky, arrogant, asshole?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yeah...Besides all that."

"I don't know..." I mumbled.

"You know...You and him act just alike."

"I'm a cocky, arrogant, asshole?" I joked.

"Yeah, most of the time."

"I...oh." I said, getting caught off guard.

"I know that this seems like a long shot...But you and him should just sit down and talk. You know, get things cleared up. Make a 'pact' if you will."

I sat there in silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah...You're right." I said quietly. "That is a real long shot." I added with a smirk when Lissa turned around to look at me.

"Whatever...You should at least thank him for helping you out last night...He didn't have to do that you know."

"I know." I sighed. "It's just that...You know how awesome I am with making amends with people."

"Yeah...But you're gonna have to do it sooner or later."

I remained silent for the rest of the ride to the restaurant, thinking to myself about how I was to go on about this. I was so observed in my thoughts that I didn't even realize we had already arrived at our destination until Amber and Lissa was already getting out.

"It doesn't look like Zacky's here yet." Amber said, looking around for his car.

"Well, we might as well go inside and reserve our table then."

They took off and headed for the front door but stopped when they noticed I was hanging behind.

"Go ahead, I need to smoke my cigarette real fast since I was so rudely interrupted earlier." I smirked.

They shrugged their shoulders and went inside, leaving me to take a seat on the warm sidewalk as I pulled my cigarette and lighter back out.

"You know those are gonna kill you one day, sister."

"Yeah, one day they're gonna kill you too." I said, not bothering to turn around and look at Zacky as I lit up.

"You got me there...So might as well give me one too." He replied taking a seat beside me.

I laughed slightly pulling out an extra cigarette for him and handed over my lighter. WE sat there for a couple of minutes, each of us observed by our own thoughts.

"So..." Zacky said, handing back over my lighter. "What's the good word?"

I thought for a few seconds. "I've been clean of marijuana for about 48 hours." I smirked.

"Wow!" He joked. "Sister, I'm so proud of you." He laughed, putting an arm around my shoulders to give me a little hug. "48 hours is a big step."

I laughed some and took one last drag from my cigarette, putting it out on the cement beside me.

"So, are you ready?" I asked Zacky when I saw that he had done the same.

He shook his head and stood up, taking a look around the parking lot as if he were searching for somebody.

"We gotta wait for a couple more people." He said, offering his hand to help me up.

- || Matt's POV || -
I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and instantly spotted Lauren and Zacky waiting in the front. I let out a long sigh as I looked around for a parking stop.

"There's one." Johnny said, pointing it out.

I pulled up in it and shut off the engine, looking back over at Lauren and Zacky. I couldnt help but let my eyes wander over Lauren's stunning figure as she stood there with her brother, talking and laughing about God knows what. There was something about her that ensnared me, something about her that left her in mystery. And fuck, how I longed to unravel that mystery surrounding her.

"Well, hurry the fuck up before I tell Lauren that you're checking her out." Johnny said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"What? Man, fuck off." I mumbled, pulling my seatbelt off and got out.

Johnny was still laughing to himself as we made our way across the parking lot.

"Hey, it's my home girl." He called out as we approached them from behind.

"Oh, hey Johnny." Lauren smiled, turning around.

My heart sank slightly as her smile faded when her eyes landed on me.

"Um...hi Matt." She said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

"H-hi Lauren." I stuttered.

Fuck, why the fuck did I have to stutter just then? My eyes darted over to Johnny and I felt a sudden urge to knock that stupid smirk right off his damn face but I was able to resist.

"So...Let's go get something to eat." Zacky said, breaking the uneasy silence.

I tried to avoid Johnny as he smirked back at me after linking arms with Lauren and followed them inside. I saw Amber and Lissa already waiting for us in a booth and we made our way over to them. Lauren took a seat next to Lissa and scooted down the bench while Johnny made a motion to follow her but Zacky grabbed him by his arm and made him sit on the other side of him.

Zacky looked at me and nodded ever so slightly to Lauren, indicating for me to sit by her. I frowned slightly because I knew I had no other choice and took a seat beside her, adjusting my hat, in what I was hoping was a casual way, to cast a shadow over my black eye. I stared intently at my glass of water that the waiter had set in front of me, feeling Zacky's eyes on me as if he was expecting me to pick a fight with Lauren then and there.

"So..." Lauren said quietly. "What's good around here?" She asked, flipping through the menu.

There was a slight murmur of voices that rippled around the booth.

"I don't know...Why don't you ask Matt...He's the one who wanted to eat here." Zacky mumbled.

I felt her shift uncomfortably beside me as if she'd rather starve than ask me what I recommended for lunch. As much as I tried to stop myself, I couldn't help but smile a teeny bit as the sound of her voice reached my ears.

"Um...what would you suggest?" She asked softly.

"Uh..." I trailed off, glancing slightly at her bandaged left hand.

I guess she noticed I was looking at it because she moved it out of my sight, hiding it underneath the table.

"The club house sandwich is pretty good." I said, looking back down to my menu. "I think you might like that."

"Alright."

Soon the waiter came back to take our orders and Johnny was able to keep the silence from settling in at our booth by telling us a story about the first time he ever spent the night in jail. Before long our food came and we sat there chowing down on our meal.

"Get out of here punk." Lauren said suddenly, slapping Zacky's had away from her curly fries.

"Dude, I just want to try one." He retorted.

"Then just ask." She smirked, handing him a couple.

I sat up so that my back was leaning against the back of the bench, slowly picking at my own fries as I stole some glances at Lauren. Why the fuck was I so damn shy around her all of a sudden? Zacky let out a very obvious fake cough, motioning to Lauren with his eyes once I looked at him. I looked back over at her and saw her struggling with the ketchup bottle.

"Here." I said, offering to open it for her.

"I got it." She mumbled, finally twisting off the cap.

I frowned slightly and started to fiddle around with my fries.

"Do you want some of this?" She asked.

I let some pretty wild and crazy ideas run wild through my mind for a few seconds before I snapped out of them and looked at her.

"What?" I asked.

"I asked if you wanted some of this ketchup." She said quietly.

"Oh, um, no, I'm cool." I mumbled as I felt my face turning slightly red.

Some time later the waiter came back to see if we were done.

"Alright..." He said, collecting up some of our empty plates. "Will this be altogether or separate?" He asked.

"Ours is together." Zacky said, motioning around to him, Amber, Lissa, and Johnny. "And those guys are together." He smirked, pointing at me and Lauren.

I heard her sigh loudly while shooting Zacky a cold glare, who in turned continued to hold his trademark smirk. When the waiter came back my hand automatically shot towards the bill he had placed in between me and Lauren but she had already beaten me too it.

"I got it." She said quietly, digging in her purse from her credit card.

"I could get it." I retorted, trying to take it the bill away from her.

"No, no, I'll get it...Since you saved my life and all last night." She said quietly.

"But...A thank you would have just done fine." I said, still trying to pry the bill away from her. "I'll get-"

"Fuck! Just fucking let me pay for the damn thing!" She said angrily, tearing it completely out of my hand, shooting me down with her eyes.

"I...Okay." I said weakly.

"I mean...Fuck..." She trailed off, sighing loudly. "Look, I really am thankful that you were there last night to help me out, I really am. So please just let me at least buy you lunch or whatever...It's the least I can do." She mumbled, handing her credit card over to the waiter and he gave her the little receipt to sign.

"Hey, you're a left handed freak like your brother?" Johnny asked excitedly, stating the obvious as she started to sign.

"Um...yeah." She said, giving the paper to the waiter and stuck her credit card back into her purse.

There was an awkward silence that fell over the table as we sat there and stared around at each other for a few seconds.

"So...I guess we'd better be getting back to the shop." Amber said.

"Yeah. I got someone coming in at 1 o'clock so we'd better haul ass to make it back in time." Lissa added as we got up.

"I'll be right back." I told Johnny as I headed off to the bathroom.

When I got out I found didn't see any of our gang in the lobby so I figured that they went outside. When I got out there I couldn't help but laugh a little as I saw Lauren running down the parking lot, chasing after Zacky's car, while Amber's was in front of his.

"Wait! Fucking stop right now!" She yelled but it was too late seeing as how they had already pulled out of the parking lot and onto the busy street. "Bitches!" She yelled, shaking her fist as if they could still see and hear her.

I hopped in my car and took off (Johnny had obviously taken off with Zacky), pulling up slowly beside Lauren, who had already taken off walking down the street.

"Do you want a ride?" I asked shyly.

"Oh, no, that's okay...I'll just walk...It's not that far." She said, not bothering to stop or look at me.

"It's a ten minute drive." I laughed slightly.

"Uh..."

"Just get in."

She finally stopped and cocked her head towards me, biting her lip slightly.

"Please?" I asked.
- || End of Matt's POV || -