I Saw Your Heart as It Overtook Me

I sat there on the couch with Matt sitting on the floor, resting between my legs. I could tell he was fighting off the sleep that was clawing at his body because of the fact every few seconds he would nod off a little and suddenly jerk his head back up. I smiled to myself and began to run my fingers lightly through his soft hair.

"Baby, why don't you just go to sleep?" I whispered into his ear.

"Eh, what? I'm not tired." He lied.

I laughed a little to myself and kissed his neck softly before I sat back, resting my head against the couch, glancing around the suite we were staying at for the night, since the guys had the day off.

It's been a couple weeks since me and Matt's little 'misunderstanding' and me telling my brother out the ring. The conversation taking place afterwards between me, Matt, and Zacky pertaining to the blasted ring was actually normal.

Well, that is, if you counted Zacky getting mad, throwing an empty beer bottle against the wall so it shattered, and later stepping on it with his bare feet once he had cooled down and forgot about it normal. However, Zacky was able to get over himself and about a week after that the rest of the girls came and joined us on tour; since then Amber's been able to keep his mind of things.

Everybody's been doing good, as far as relationships go. Jimmy and Alyssa look on the verge of getting engaged, Johnny and Shawna seem as if they've been together for ages, Zacky and Amber are still acting like newlyweds (which I guess they still are), and Syn and Lissa are still as wild as ever. Yes, we were all a bunch of happy campers.

And despite my 'mutilated' hand, I've still be teching for Jimmy ... it just takes me a little longer to get things set up. The shows have been going great and there's just two weeks left of tour and once we get home the guys are heading into the studio to record their next record.

"Yo, what are we gonna do tonight, since you guys have tonight off?" Lissa asked, trying to make conversation.

"I vote we go to the bar." Johnny said, raising his hand.

"Uh, hello, the bar's only fun if you're allowed to drink." Amber said, sticking up for her impregnated self. "I vote we go bowling." She added, flashing me a little wink.

I just laughed and flipped her off before letting my hand go back to wandering through Matt's hair.

"How about we go watch a movie?" Shawna asked from her spot on Johnny's lap.

"Yes, I second that motion." Alyssa said. "What do you think babe?" She asked, looking up at Jimmy.

"Eh, sure, whatever." He mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. "That'll be fun."

Alyssa looked around to the rest of the guys.

"What say you?" She asked.

Zacky, Johnny, JB, and Syn murmured their 'yeahs' but Matt only responded by a little snore. Hmpf, so much for 'not being tired.' I sighed a little and leaned forward, shaking Matt a little, just enough to wake him up. He turned his head a little to the side and looking at me with a half opened eye.

"Baby, we're gonna go watch a movie in a little while." I said softly. "Why don't we go back to our room and take a nap?"

"A movie?" He asked, frowning a little.

"Yeah. Why? You don't wanna go?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I made us a dinner reservation for us at that restaurant down the street." He said softly, looking down at his hands. "But if you want to go to a movie instead I can cancel it. It's just that today was the first day we've got off si-"

I cut him off by pressing a finger to his lips.

"I'd rather go to dinner with you babe." I grinned, which in turn made Matt grin.

"Really?" He asked.

"Wait, let me think about it." I said, trying to sound serious.

Matt's smile faded a little and I couldn't keep a straight face anymore.

"Yes, really." I laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Now let's go take a nap."

Matt stood up and turned around, holding out his hand to help me up off the couch. I took hold of it and let him pull me to my feet. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders while I wrapped mine around his waist, hooking my finger through one of his belt loops, and we took off down the hallway and to our room.

Matt opened our door, pulling me inside and within a few seconds he had us both stripped down to our undergarments and underneath the soft covers of our bed. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his body with my back to his chest.

"Mmm, I love you baby." He whispered.

"I love you too baby." I whispered back, closing my eyes.

Although I wasn't really tired, the sound of Matt's soft, steady breathing seemed to cast a spell over me, urging me to sleep.

I woke up a few hours and rolled over to Matt's side of the bed, finding it empty and cold. I opened my eyes and looked around the room to find that I was all by myself. I sat up and hugged the blankets to my half naked body, scratching the back of my neck. I saw that Matt's bag was sitting on the table opened, looking as if someone had recently dug through it.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and saw that Matt's clothes were still on the floor where he had left them. I shrugged my shoulders and stood up, pulling on his basketball shorts and wife beater. I stretched a little before heading out into the hallway and to the main 'living room' of the suite.

What with the lack of noise and people, I figured that they had already headed to their movie. My thoughts were confirmed when I saw the note that they had left me on the counter saying so. I crumpled the note up and threw it away, frowning a little because there was still no sign of Matt.

"Matt, baby, are you here?" I called out, walking back into the hallway.

Silence.

I let out a long sigh as I went back into our room and saw a pair of black high heals as well as a dress laid out on the foot of our bed. I raised an eyebrow and walked towards it, finding another note lying on top of it.

Hey baby,

I'll be back soon, I have to go get something real fast before we go to dinner. As you can see I already picked out your outfit for tonight so while you're waiting for me, you might as well squeeze your sweet little ass into it. Don't worry, I won't be gone too long.

Love you babe,
Matt

I set the note back down on the bed and picked up the dress, examining it. It was a simple blood red halter top dress, cut asymmetrically at the bottom but it was still very beautiful.

"Well Matt, I have to hand it to you." I said out loud. "You've got good taste."

I grabbed the high heals and headed off to the bathroom down the hall. Since I had just taken a shower about an hour before I took a nap, I decided to just slash a little water on my face to freshen up. I stripped down to my panties and slipped the dress over my head.

Once I had it on, I smoothed it out and checked my reflection out in the mirror. Perfect fit.

I decided to just leave my hair down and applied a little bit of black eyeliner with a light coat of lip gloss. Just as I was putting on the heals I heard the front door open, which was followed soon by a single pair of footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Baby?" Matt called out. "Where are you?"

"In the bathroom." I called back, checking my reflection one last time.

I reached over and opened the door to reveal a very ... 'spiffy' looking Matt. He stood there with his mouth hanging slightly open while his eyes slowly scanned up and down my body. I let out a soft laugh and reached over, turning off the bathroom light.

"You like what you see?" I asked, stepping out into the hallway.

"I, uh, y-yeah." He stuttered, nodding his head.

He looked up, locking his eyes with mine and blushed a little.

"Um ... here." He said, pulling a bouquet of pure white roses.

"Oh." I said, taking them from him. "Thank you."

I stared down at them, unsure what to say next.

"You don't like them?" Matt asked, unable to keep the sadness out of his voice.

"What?" I asked, looking back up to him. "Oh, no, no. I mean, yes I love them." I grinned.
"It's just that nobody's ever given me flowers before."

"Oh." He said quietly, smiling a little. "Well, you don't have to take them with us to dinner ... I just ... wanted to get them for you because ... I don't know." He trailed off, reaching over to lace his fingers with mine. "But I'm hungry."

"Alright." I laughed as we started off to the little kitchen area to put my flowers in water.

After I had got them in a vase and put water in it, Matt and I headed out. As soon as we got outside to the street, the harsh winter air bit at my exposed skin, making me wish I had at least grabbed a coat. Matt must have felt me shivering a little because he stopped short and took his jacked off, holding it out for me.

"Such a gentlemen." I joked as I put it on.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." He replied with a little wink and laced his fingers with mine.

I smiled to myself as we continued on our little journey and before long Matt was pulling me inside of the restaurant. I understood now why Matt had gotten me a semi-formal dress because this place looked as if it had to be part of some sort of five star restaurant chain.

The waiting area was nice felt pleasantly warm as compared to the ice cold air outside. Matt led me up to the hostess, who greeted us with a soft smile.

"Hi." Matt said. "Um, Mathew Sanders, table for two."

"Mathew Sanders." The hostess repeated out loud to herself as she searched her list. "Alright, here you are. Jason here," she said, pointing to a waiter standing nearby, "will escort you to your table. He'll also be your waiter for the night."

"Okay." Matt said, pulling me along as we followed this Jason character through the restaurant, up some stairs to the second level of the restaurant, and to a table overlooking the rest of the place.

The waiter gave us our menus and went off to get us some drinks.

"Hmm ... what are you gonna get babe?" Matt asked as he studied the menu.

"I don't know." I said quietly. "I think I'm gonna get this steak with shrimp dealio. But I need you to cut my steak for me, aight?"

"Yeah, okay babe." He said, glancing at my gimped hand for a split second before focusing back on his menu.

"What are you gonna get." I asked softly.

"I think I'm gonna get this chicken parmesan." He said, folding up his menu. "It looks damn tasty ... much like someone else is right now."

I felt my cheeks flush a little causing Matt to laugh a little.

"You're a horn dog, Mathew." I said, eyeing the waiter as he approached our table with our drinks in hand.

"Like you're not?" Matt replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Shush." I grinned, giving him a little kick underneath the table.

"Owch." He huffed, reaching down to rub his shin.

I gave him a little smirk and looked up at the waiter as he set our drinks in front of us.

"Excuse me, where's your bathroom at?" I asked.

"Oh, it's right over there ma'am." He said, pointing to a little hallway that led off somewhere next to the stage the live band was playing on.

"Alright, thanks." I said, standing up and starting off towards it.

"Er, do you know what you'd like to order?" The waiter called after me.

"Oh, uh, he knows what I want." I replied, casting a sideways glance back at them.

I hurried the rest of the way to the bathroom because hey, I really had to go. I made it to the bathroom, did my stuff, and washed my hands. I studied myself in the mirror and wrinkled my nose, eyeing my hand that was still slightly swollen. I had taken the air cast off just for dinner because I knew I would be looking like a damn moron sporting it around with my lovely dress.

I headed back out and saw the waiter still talking to Matt at the table. Matt saw me coming and looked back up at the waiter, telling him something, who in turn nodded his head and took off.

"Hey." I said as I approached the table. "Had some trouble deciding what you wanted?" I asked.

"What? Oh, yeah." He said softly. "Let's go dance." He added, nodding towards the little dance floor.

"Uh, but they're not even playing anything right now." I said slowly as he stood up and wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me out into the very middle of the floor.

"They will." Matt assured me.

I gave him a funny look as he gently placed my arms around his shoulders and wrapped his around my waist, holding me close to him. I opened my mouth to reply but stopped when I heard the pianist play the intro to Rod Stewart's "Have I Told You Lately."

"Hey, this is my favorite song." I said quietly, grinning up at Matt.

"I know." He said, nodding his head as we slowly started to move in time to the music. "That's why I requested for them to play it.

"Really?" I asked.

"Mmm." He mumbled before reaching over to press his lips flush with mine.

"Aww, baby you're such a sweetheart." I said softly as I pulled a little away from him. "Why are you so good to me?"

"Because." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "You're my spunky little angel."

"Spunky little angel?" I repeated with a hint of laughter in my voice.

"Mhmm, my spunky little angel." He said, nodding his head a little.

I let out little giggle before reaching up to press my lips to his once again. I broke the kiss and flashed him a little smile before I tightened my arms around him and rested my head on his chest.

Matt's POV
As Lauren tightened her arms around my shoulders, I tightened mine around her waist, holding her the closest I could to my body. I rested my head over her shoulder as we slowly revolved on the spot and wondered how in the world I could have ended up with someone as great as Lauren. She was truly one of a kind. I was so fucking crazy about her; the way she spoke, the way she laughed, the way she gave me a dirty look when she was mad at me ... I loved it all.

*******************

I shifted Lauren in my arms a little so I could reach into my pocket and grab the key to the suite. I grabbed a hold of it and slid it through the slot thing on the door handle and pushed it open as soon as the light turned green. Judging by the commotion coming from the living room area everyone else had already returned from their movie.

I stepped into the room, and started off towards a couch when a random pillow came flying out of no where, hitting Lauren on the back of the head. She instantly whipped her head around and caught sight of JB standing there, holding a beer and flashing a little smirk.

"You're so dead." She mumbled and I took that as a cue to put her down.

JB's smirk instantly faded as she kicked her heals off and he took off down the hall, Lauren running after him. A few seconds later there was a dull thud, followed by a loud 'ow' and some girlish screams. I laughed to myself and shook my head, taking a seat next to Zacky.

"So how was the movie?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his hands.

"Alright." He whispered.

I cocked my head to a side a bit and grabbed an unopened beer that was sitting on the table in front of me.

"What's up man?" I asked quietly, twisting the lid off and taking a long pull from it.

Zacky shrugged his shoulders once again and glanced across the room to where Lauren was now 'beating up' Johnny. Reasons so to why she was beating him up is beyond me.

"Come on man, just tell me what's on your mind." I said, nudging his arm a little with my elbow.

"I um ... got a call from my Auntie Pat." He said in just above a whisper. "They admitted my mom to the hospital this afternoon. She's not lookin' too good Matt."

I felt my breath get caught in my throat and shot my eyes in Lauren's direction.

"Zacky, we have to-"

"We can't tell Lauren." He said quietly, his voice breaking a bit. "My mom doesn't even want us to be there with her. I don't know why, but ... she made me promise."

"Come on Zacky, think about this." I whispered harshly. "Think about what the fuck you're saying. You're talking about not even being there to tell your mother goodbye for one last time or anything Zacky."

"Matt, fuck, I know, I just ... " He trailed off, his eyes starting to gloss over.

"Well, I can't keep this from Lauren anymore." I said, standing up.

"Matt, no. Matt, where are you going?" Zacky asked hurriedly.

I narrowed my eyes at him and took off across the room to where Lauren and Johnny were still messing around and grabbed a hold of Lauren's arm.

"Lauren, I gotta talk to you." I said, looking over my shoulder to see Zacky rushing over to us.

"Baby, what's-"

I cut her off by pulling her into the hallway, basically trying to get away from Zacky.

"You guys, come back here." Zacky said, trying to keep his voice casual but failed miserably at it.

Remembering the rooms didn't have locks on the doors, I took a quick left and pulled Lauren into the bathroom, shutting and locking it just before Zacky was able to stop us.

"Lauren! Open the door!" Zacky yelled pounding on the door. "Matt! Matt! Keep your fucking mouth shut! I swear to God Matt!! Lauren, open this fucking door!"

Lauren shot the door a frightened look before locking her vibrant green eyes with mine.

"M-Matt, what's going on?" She asked weakly, taking a step away from the door.

"Baby, I gotta tell you something." I said, my voice cracking.

"W-What is it?"

"Baby, you're probably gonna hate me for not telling this sooner but-"

"Matt!! Matt! Don't say another fucking word!" Zacky continued to yell.

"Matt, please tell me what's going on." Lauren begged, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

I bit my lip and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight.

"L-Lauren ... your mom's in the hospital." I said quietly.

"What the hospital? What's w-"

"Shh." I cried, rocking her slightly. "Baby, she has cancer ... and she doesn't have that much time left."
End of Matt's POV