Live Through This Lie

Matt’s P.O.V.

“Please wake up.” I whispered into Val’s ear as I lay next to her on the bed.

It’d been almost an hour seen Jayden had royally fucked up. The guys had tried to convince me to leave Val’s side so when she woke up she’d have sometime to recuperate but I couldn’t bring myself to leave her lying in the bed alone. And they should know the minute I leave it will be to go cause Jayden as much pain as she had caused me in the last hour.

I looked up from my spot on the bed when I heard the door creek open. Zacky walked in and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“How are you holding up?”

“How would you be doing if you’re facing the prospect of losing the best fucking thing to ever come into your life?” I retorted.

“Matt,” Zacky sighed “you have to be ready to face the fact that things might not work out.”

“Don’t fucking say that.” I snapped, sitting up and putting myself face to face with Zacky.

“Look the guys and I just want to make sure you’ll be okay. The chances that Val won’t remember what she saw is low. Very fucking low. So when she wakes up, you’re going to have to explain to her what happened. And you’re going to have to accept the fact that she might not be okay with all this information. If she leaves, she leaves. There’s nothing you can do to stop that.”

Before I knew what I was doing, I’d pushed Zacky off of the bed and unto the floor.

“Get the fuck out.” I whispered harshly as I glared down at him.

Zacky stood up and brushed himself off like it was no big deal. He headed towards the door, pausing only once to look back at me. When he was gone I returned to my original spot, laying on the bed with Val. I could hear the guys whispering out in the hall but I ignored it in favor of watching Val.

“Come on sweetie, get up.” I whispered in her ear yet again.

When I got no reaction from her, I chose to lay there in silence, just listening to the faint sound of the guys’ voices outside. Suddenly I heard a lighter, more feminine voice. A voice that could belong only to Jayden, who hadn’t followed us back to my place. The voice got a little closer and seconds later Jayden stood in the doorway.

“Can we talk?” She asked in a low voice.

I shot out of the bed and barreled towards the door. When I reached her, I wrapped one hand around Jayden’s neck and pushed her back out into the hall and up against the wall.

“Why the fuck are you here?” I spat at her.

“I just wanted to talk.” Jayden whispered. I knew that my hand wrapped around her neck had no effect whatsoever considering the fact that she barely needed to breathe.

“Talk?” I snapped “You want to talk about why my girlfriend is laying in there unconscious because your pathetic ass can’t do shit right?”

“Matt I-”

“NO!” I cut her off, with a squeeze to her neck just out of anger. “Why the fuck are you even here? Everything was going fine until you showed up. It amazes me that anyone would trust you with the job of getting something as important as this done. It fucking shocks me that they would send you here knowing that you’re incapable of handling shit the right way. I fucking wish I never even picked you off the street that day. You’ve been nothing but a pathetic waste of time and space.” I removed my hand from around her neck and let her slide to the floor.

Seconds later Jayden was nothing but a blur, running for the door. I watched as the guys chased after her but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I knew I might regret what I said later but right now Jayden was the reason the love of my life was laying unconscious.

I turned around and started to walk back into my room and found Val shifting around in the bed. I ran and sat down by her side.

“Thank God you’re okay.” I said, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug.

“Matt. Oh my God Matt. Holy shit.” Val stammered before pulling out of my arms.

“What’s wrong?”

“You won’t fucking believe what I saw. We have to tell Zacky. We have to warn the guys!” Val shouted, jumping up from the bed and running towards the door.

“We don’t have to warn the guys of anything. And you need to relax.” I said as I grabbed her and sat her back on the bed.

“No we do.” Val struggled to get up again. “I saw Jayden, she was killing a guy. With her teeth, Matt! And I know how fucking strange this is going to sound but you have to believe me. I think Jayden’s some goddamn freak of nature and we have to go tell the guys!”

I sighed and looked at Val again, thinking about all the time we’ve been together. Zacky’s words started dancing through my head.

… explain to her what happened …face the fact that things might not work out … she might not be okay.

I looked down at the ground and then back up at Val’s hectic face.

“Jayden’s not some freak of nature, Val. She’s just like me.”

“No she’s not, Matt! She’s different! I saw her do it, I fucking saw it!” Val continued to struggle in my arms.

“Val, Jayden’s just like me and we’re different from you. But you have to listen to understand.”

Val gave me a shocked look and stopped struggling.

Here it goes

“No fucking way!” Val shouted. It’d been about forty-five minutes and I just finished explaining every little detail to Val. Everything from what I was to what I was doing in Huntington Beach. She been surprisingly quiet the entire time but I figured this was because she was too stunned to say much.

“Val, just understand-”

“NO! Get the fuck off of me.” She shouted as she renewed her struggles.

“I fucking love you Val.” I said, fighting to maintain my grip on her shoulders.

“GET OFF!” Val shouted as she kneed me in the groin.

I toppled over and clutched myself, moaning in pain. When I looked up Val was already out of the room. I stood up slowly and moved as fast as I could to the door. I reached the door to find Val racing down the stairs and out of the house.

“Shit.” I groaned, falling back onto the floor.

I pulled out my cell and dialed Zacky’s number.

“Zacky man, she woke up and then when I explained everything to her she ran. You have to help me look for her.”

“Matt I can’t. Just give her some time maybe when she’s calmed down, she’ll come back.” Zacky gave a rushed reply. It sounded as if he was running.

“No I need to talk to her. You need to help me find her.”

“I can’t right now.” Zacky repeated. “Val’s not the only one that ran away. We can’t find Jayden.”

I paused, stunned for a second. When I was over the mild shock of Jayden being missing, I remembered my current situation with Val.

“I need to find Val damn it! Who knows what the fuck she’ll do or say.”

“Look Matt, you’re just going to have to wait it out. Either she’ll come back or she won’t. I can’t talk anymore but call me in a couple of hours and let me know what happens.” Zacky said before hanging up.

I went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Turning on the T.V. I set out to distract myself for a while. Every five seconds I would glance at the clock and then over at the door. Clock, door, clock, door. After a while I couldn’t take it anymore. It’d been almost three hours since Val had run out on me. I stood up and grabbed my car keys. Fuck waiting, I was going to find Val right now.

I climbed into my car as I thought of where to look first. Knowing Val, the first place she would run was to her sister, Michelle’s place. I sped down the empty streets until I reached Michelle’s apartment. Hopping out of the car, I ran up the flights of stairs until I reached her floor.

“Michelle!” I shouted as I banged on the door.

Seconds later the door flew open.

“Keep it the fuck down!” Michelle said as she stood, arms crossed in the doorway. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

I pushed right past Michelle and walked into the apartment calling Val’s name.

“Get the fuck out!” Michelle exclaimed as I stamped down the hallway, throwing doors open.

It wasn’t long before I found Val sitting Indian style on a small bed. I walked cautiously into the room and stood in front of her.

“It’s okay.” Val said to Michelle who had run in after me.

Michelle glanced from Val to me before leaving the room.

“What do you want?” Val asked, shooting me a glare.

“To talk.”

“There’s nothing left to talk about. I’m pretty fucking sure I heard it all back there.”

“Val I know this is all coming as a shock to you.” I took a seat on the corner of the bed. “But you have to understand that it’s who I am. It must seem surreal and strange but it’s true.”

“Obviously it’s true you douche bag. I saw Jayden sink her teeth into a guy so clearly fucking vampires exist.”

“And you’re okay with that?” I asked confused.

“Right now, no. But it’s not the hardest thing in the world to accept. Not after seeing it first-hand.”

“So what is it?” I asked, moving closer to her on the bed. “Why’d you run?”

“I ran because I was shocked and scared but I got over that in about an hours time.” Val started. “I didn’t come back because I was pissed at you. I still am.”

“Pissed?”

“Yes pissed, Matt!” Val raised her voice. “How the fuck could you keep something that big from me for all of this time? If I hadn’t found out the way I had, how much longer would you keep me in the dark for?”

“Val, I was going to tell you eventually?”

“Oh really? When? In two weeks, after Brian’s birthday and you all packed up and left? Is that when you were going to tell me?!” Val screamed.

“Val, I love you I love you more than life itself. I need you to believe me when I say I was going to work it all out. I know I was wrong for keeping it a secret for as long as I did but I wasn’t sure how you’d react and I wasn’t ready to risk letting you go.”

“Well you don’t have to.” Val said, finally calming down. “I know it’ll probably take a while to get used to and you’re going to have to put up with a lot of my annoying questions now but Matt you’re not going to have to let me go.” Val climbed into my lap.

“Really?” I whispered.

“Really.” Val pushed her lips onto mine and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I slid my arms down her back and up her shirt, caressing the skin there. Moments later Val pulled away and gave a small laugh.

“We’re still in my sister’s place, remember.”

“Hey you started it.” I said, pulling her close to me again.

“Don’t worry; we’ll have plenty of time for that later.” Val said planting light kisses on my neck.

If I have it my way, we’ll have plenty of time to spend together.