Just to Live

After Matthew put Tabitha in her bed when she passed out, he went to his office and locked the door. He waited a few seconds in case anyone was looking for him. Once he knew the coast was clear, he jumped up and down and flapped his hands like a drowning bird. “She likes me!” he gasped, smiling like a little child.

He took a few moments to compose himself and returned to the party. As he returned, everyone forced him to sit in a chair and open all his presents. Then, they all left, not as drunk as he assumed.

All four of his best friends showed up in the living room and decided to stay there for the rest of the night.

While Brian, Johnny, and Jimmy were in the kitchen finding food and drinks to eat, Zacky and Matthew were in the living room taking out their favorite DVDs.

Zacky tilted his head when he saw Matthew only picked chick flicks. “What happened to you? You look really happy.”

The smile he wanted to let go finally burst free. “Dude, she likes me! She told me!”

“What did she say?”

“She said she’s happy here ‘cause her mom and sister are here and she doesn’t want to leave me either.”

“You realize she could’ve meant you’re a good boss and she enjoys her job.” Zacky didn’t want to crush his hopes, but it was better than a false belief.

“Oh…” Matthew looked downtrodden. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Sorry to bring your hopes down, but I don’t want them up if you aren’t sure.”

Matthew blew a raspberry. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“No stress on your birthday. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

~

The next day at lunch, Jimmy and Johnny still hadn’t gone back to their trip. Matthew was happy, he liked that all his best friends were home for once. He was so used to touring with them and having to see them constantly that he still wasn’t used to them not being there.

While the five best friends were having lunch, Matthew talked about Tabitha and how he started developing some feelings for her. Brian saw it coming, Zacky already knew, but Jimmy and Johnny were shocked. They almost choked on the drinks they took a drank from, but forced it down with a burning throat.

Matthew laughed nervously. He didn’t want his friends to judge him for liking someone so young. But then again, they were his best friends. Jimmy ended up asking Matthew about Tabitha more. Quite surprised, Matthew went on to say that he wanted to talk to her more, but it’d be too obvious if he suddenly began to talk to her at random hours of the day.

“I have an idea, but I don’t know if you’ll like it,” Johnny said.

“Lay it on me Christ!” Matthew joked, remembering when so many people referred to him as M. Shadows.

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. “How about giving the girls a day off a week?”

“Actually, that isn’t a bad idea. Most of the girls ask for time off to visit their families anyways,” Brian answered.

“We trust them,” Zacky added.

“That’s true,” Matthew nodded. “And I would definitely be able to spend some time with her.”

“Don’t forget,” Jimmy began, “there’s a good chance she’s going to spend her free day with her mom and sister.”

“That’s true too. Aww.”

“But, maybe you could offer to take the three of them somewhere and use Erika as an excuse. And if they ask why they’re the only ones going, you can say everyone else went home to visit friends and families.”

“What if she asks about other stuff?”

“Make it up as you go.”

“Okay. Who feels like going with me to tell them?”

“I’ll go,” Johnny offered.

While on their walk to the Relaxation room, Johnny mentioned that he was worn out from traveling around so much. He didn’t mind going to new places, experiencing new things, and meeting new people, but sometimes he felt like he needed a break. He talked about their band. Matthew agreed about everything. He missed touring and he felt guilty that Jimmy and Johnny were the ones who had to travel so much. It was difficult for either man to have a social life or kick back and relax for once. They were going to discuss the matters to their friends whenever they had the chance.

Johnny walked into the room first, followed by Matthew. All the women turned their heads toward the door. “Mister Johnny! Mister Matthew!” they all said.

“Call us by our names. Trust me,” Johnny said.

Matthew nodded his head. “Hi ladies. We have an announcement. Johnny here helped us all decide to give you Sundays off. You’re free to go out and do whatever you like. I know a number of you wanted to visit family so that would be your day to do it. However, we expect you back here before 10 p.m. the same day. This new rule is effective starting tomorrow.”

Before the door closed shut, Matthew could hear the excited chatter resonating throughout the room.