I Saw Your Heart as It Overtook Me

I sat quietly in the passenger seat as Matt and I drove around Huntington, looking for someplace to grab some lunch because we're a couple of lazy motherfuckers who don't want to cook. Matt started cussing to himself as he adjusted the speed of the windshield wipers to a faster setting.

Yeah, we were caught in the middle of another storm. But I can't really complain; I'd really choose listening to the steady sound of the rain pounding down rather than sitting in the hot sun. I don't know why. Maybe because when it's raining and all cold it's easier for you to get cozy whereas when it's hot out, you spend most of your time trying to keep cool. That's my argument.

"Baby, you wanna eat at T.G.I. Friday's?" He asked, pointing out one ahead of us.

I wrinkled my nose, shaking my head.

"Well, where do you wanna eat then?"

"Hooters." I said, waving my hand in the general direction that I knew a Hooters was.

"Hooters?" He asked, glancing sideways at me.

"Yeah, Hooters. You know, the place where a whole bunch of chicks with big boobs work?"

"I know what Hooters is." He said, blushing slightly.

Matt changed lanes and stopped at a red light, signaling for a left turn. He started to strum his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, frowning at the rain that started to fall even harder.

In my opinion, the louder and harder the rain, the better ... just like sex ... Anyway.

I reached over and turned on the radio so that it wouldn't be do damn quiet between me and Matt. I skimmed through the channels on his Sirius radio and came across Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone.'

"Oh hells yeah." I said excitedly as it started blaring out of the speakers.

Matt just laughed at me as I started to sing along and dance around as much as my seatbelt would allow me too. I stuck my tongue out at him and started to sing to him as the light turned green and he took off.

"She got you jumpin' off the track and shovin' into overdrive. Highway to the danger zone. I'll take you," I flicked Matt across the nose, "right into the danger zone."

"Dude, that actually hurt." Matt whined, rubbing his nose a little.

"Sissy." I mumbled, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"Am not." He said childishly.

"Am too." I mocked.

He flashed me a quick grin and focused back on the road as he threaded his fingers with my gloved ones.

"Hey, it's our song!" He said excitedly as 'Danger Zone' finished off and 'Abracadabra' by The Steve Miller Band came on.

It's not really 'our song,' it's just Matt's song he likes to sing to me because he said 'it fits me perfectly.' Even though we were already parked in front of Hooters, Matt made us wait until the song was over and he sang it to me before we went headed inside.

"Fuck." Matt said, pulling his hood over his head. "I can feel my balls shrinking up."

"Yeah, and I can feel my nipples getting hard." I said, winking at him.

"Oh really?" He asked in his 'seductive' voice.

"Yup." I laughed.

I ended up running the rest of the way to the front door because 1) the rain was starting to soak through my sweatshirt and 2) I was trying to get away from Matt who trying to feel how hard my nipples actually were for himself.

"Hey, yous get back here." He said, grabbing a hold of my scarf when he caught up with me inside.

"Yous?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be hatin' on how I's talk."

"Whatever." I mumbled, grabbing a hold of his hand and took off in search of a vacant table.

"How about that one?" Matt asked, pointing to a booth in the corner.

"Naw, it's too dark and creepy." I said.

"Fine ... How bout over there?"

"Now you're talkin'."

We made our way over to the table Matt spotted and took a seat. A waitress came by and asked us if we wanted anything to drink. I ordered a Mountain Dew while Matt ordered Sprite. The waitress left us to decided what we wanted for lunch and we started to flip through the menu.

"Hmm ... What are you gonna get babe?" Matt asked, narrowing his eyes at the paper.

No, he wasn't mean muggin' it, that's just how he looked when he was having a hard time making up his mind.

"I'm gonna get a Philly Cheese Steak." I said as I started to fold a nearby napkin into some origami.

"That's sounds good too." He mumbled to himself. "Piss ... I don't know if I wanna get a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a bacon burger, or a mushroom burger. I wanna get them all." He said, turning his gaze to me.

"Well ... why don't you just get a hamburger and ask them to put cheese, bacon, and mushrooms on it?" I asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Oh yeah ... That's an ingenious plan."

I shook my head and pulled my gloves off so I could work better with my origami project. Just then the waitress came back with our drinks.

"Alright, here you are." She said, setting them down in front of us. "Did you guys decide on what you'd like to order?"

"Yeah, can I get a Philly Cheese Steak please?" I asked.

"Of course." She replied, writing it down on her note pad thingy. "And for you?" She asked, turning to Matt.

"Um, I'm gonna have a hamburger ... But can you put cheese, and bacon, and mushrooms on it?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we can make that work for ya."

"Thanks." I mumbled as she went to give our order to the cooks.

I took a drink of my Mountain Dew and watched Matt as he let his eyes wander around the restaurant. They lingered longer in some spots than they did in others, but they slowly drifted back to me.

As we got into a little staring contest I found myself wondering what he was thinking about. I mean, what did he think about when every time he looks at me? What did he see? How did he feel?

I felt his fingers brush against the top of my gloveless hand and I blinked glancing down at it.

"Ha, I win." He laughed when I realized he was hoping I'd do that.

"You're a fucking cheater." I retorted, crumpling up my awesome origami that I was working on and threw it at him.

It bounced off the middle of his forehead and landed perfectly in his drink.

"Oh, nice." He said sarcastically, fishing it out.

He let it drop in the middle of the table and it made a very wet, splat went it came in contact with the wooden surface. We both stared down at the soaked napkin for a couple of seconds and then looked back up at one another.

"What?" I asked.

"What?"

I didn't reply for a couple of seconds.

"You know I used to be a Hooters girl." I said out of the blue.

"You were?" He asked, cocking his head to the side a bit, still looking at me.

"Yeah."

"Hmm ... " His eyes slowly drifted down to my chest and he nodded a little as if he were agreeing with some thing he just thought up. "You were probably like the hottest Hooters girl ever babe." He said seriously still staring at my boobs.

"Oh, you know it bitch." I mumbled, sipping some more on my drink.

I glanced over Matt's shoulder and actually did a double take.

"Hey, is that Johnny?" I asked, pointing behind Matt.

He turned around and looked in the direction I was pointing.

"Hey it is Johnny ... Hey, who's that with him? Hey ... it's a chick." He said, sounding almost as if he were in disbelief.

"Hu-ho, Johnny boys on a date." I said, squinting my eyes as I tried to see who it was. "Dude ... It's Shawna." I said excitedly.

"What? No way." Matt whispered. "Dude ... It is ... Let's go bug them."

"Matt, no." I protested. "Can't you see they're on a date; leave them alone."

"But ... " He trailed off, seeing the stern look I gave him. "Fine then ... Oh look, the foods here."

Sure enough the waitress stopped beside our table and set our plates in front of us.

"If there's anything else you guys need just let me know." She said politely.

"Alright, thank you." I said as she took off.

I picked up my Philly Cheese Steak and started to scarf it down. Matt just sort of looked at me like I was crazy so I flipped him off and started to chew what I had in my mouth.

"Dude, I freaking love their Philly Cheese Steaks." I said after I managed to swallow my food.

"Yeah ... I can tell." Matt grinned, squirting some ketchup on his fries.

"Dude, let me get one of those." I said, referring to his fries.

"Dude, get your own, these are mine bitch."

"Matt." I whined. "I just want a couple."

"But I need all these; if I don't have them I'll shrivel up and die."

"You're an id-"

"Hey guys, mind of we join you?"

Matt and I instantly stopped arguing and turned to find Johnny and Shawna standing by our table. They both had a smile on their face but I think Johnny's smile was more out of nervousness than anything else.

"Of course hun." I said, patting the empty chair beside me.

"Thanks." Johnny said, taking a seat beside me.

"I'll be right back." Shawna said. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Alright."

Johnny's eyes followed her as she made her way back towards the front door, hanging a left to the bathrooms. I nudged him in the side to snap him out of his stupor.

"W-what? Oh, yeah, that sounds good." He said, trying to play it off.

Matt and I just busted up laughing.

"Dude Johnny, you have it bad my man." Matt laughed.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Johnny mumbled.

"Suuurrrreee."

Johnny's cheeks started to turn a violent shade of red and he began fumbling around with my unused fork.

"We don't mean to tease you Johnny." I said, placing an arm around his shoulders. "But you should have known it was gonna happen if you came and sat by us."

"Yeah." He said quietly. "B-but, I was just too nervous to sit alone with her over there. I don't know ... " He trailed off, mumbling some other words to himself.

"Hmm ... Sounds like you do have it bad for her."

I flashed him a smile as I removed my arm and started back up on my food. Before long Shawna came back and she and Johnny sat quietly, waiting for their food to arrive.

"So ... You're in the process of moving down here huh Shawna?" I asked, not liking the awkward silence.

"Yeah ... I found an apartment close to the school. Amber was gonna help me move in when her and Zacky got back from their honeymoon."

"Well, if you wanted to move in sooner we could help you out." I said, motioning to myself and Matt.

"Oh, thanks."

"Yeah, and something tells me that Johnny wouldn't mind helping out either." Matt added.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Johnny said quickly, his face instantly turning red again once Shawna flashed him smile.

Lucky for Johnny their food just arrived so he had something to turn his attention away from the situation.

"Dude ... Don't let Zacky know this ... But I actually miss him." I said, reaching over to finally snag a couple of Matt's fries.

"Hey, not cool ... Just for that I'm gonna tell your brother how much you miss him." He said.

"Fine, fucking nark."

"Hey, watch your fucking mouth." He retorted.

"Fuck off you fucking snatch."

"Y-"

"Both of you guys shut the f- dude ... its M. Shadows." Someone else said. "And Johnny Christ."

We all turned to look in the direction the voice came from and spotted a couple of teenagers sitting in a booth across from where we were sitting. They both got up and walked over to our table, looking back and forth between Matt and Johnny.

"Uh, hey, what's up guys?" Matt asked, forcing a smile.

"Not much man. Dude, you guy's band is awesome." One of them said.

"Oh, thanks."

"Hey, can we like, get your guys autograph or something?"

"Yeah, sure."

Matt and Johnny had to sign their names on a couple napkins because it was the only think they could find.

"Awesome, thanks guys." They said, heading back to their table.

"Dude, I don't know what's weirder ... A couple of sixteen year olds that had enough nerve to tell us ... well, nearly tell us ... to shut the fuck up or a couple of sixteen year olds asking you for your autograph." I said.

"What's so weird about them asking for our autograph?" Johnny asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"You was with us on the warped tour; we'd sit around signing shit for like half the day." Matt added.

"I know but ... I mean, I've never seen someone come up to you on the 'street' or whatever and ask you." I said quietly picking at the remains of my cheese steak.

"Oh ... Does that bother you?" Matt asked.

"No, it's just ... " I trailed off hearing my cell going off.

I looked at the ID and saw Zacky Cell flashing across the screen. I flipped it open and held it up to my ear.

"Brother I miss you."

"Oh ... I miss you too sis." Zacky said, clearly sounding like I caught him off guard.

"I know, cause I'm awesome."

"Ha, sure sis." He laughed. "Anyway, we're at the airport. Syn was supposed to come pick us up but Lissa took him to the doctors because he got a cold or something. So ... do you think you can pick us up?"

"You're at the airport? You guys weren't supposed to come home for another week though. Why'd you cut it short?"

I looked up at Matt and cocked my head to the side a bit when it looked as if he were trying his hardest to avoid me.

"Because we have to go back on tour." Zacky said slowly. "Didn't Matt tell you that? The label told us a few days ago."

"No ... He didn't." I said quietly.

"Oh ... Well, er ... Okay ... "

"I'll come pick you guys up pretty soon." I said. "Let me finish up my lunch."

"Alright, thanks."

"See you in a little while."

I hung up and stuck my cell back in my pocket and looked back over at Matt.

"So how long are you guys gonna be gone?" I asked.

"Two months." He said, just above a whisper.

I let out a long sigh that clearly showed my frustration. I wasn't mad that they were going on tour again, I was just mad because he didn't tell me.

"And when do you guys leave?"

" ... Tomorrow ... "