Seize the Day

“This is the last time I’m letting you talk me into going to a strip club when we’ve got something to do the next day,” I told Matt as we were getting dressed.

“Hey, you seemed pretty into it at the time.” He winked at me and slapped my ass lightly.

“And you were certainly into it too, until you dragged me out of there awfully quickly.” I returned both the wink and the slap. “Even more into it once we got in that cab, I suppose,” I giggled, remembering the previous night’s events. Not that the slight twinge of pain between my legs was really going to let me forget. I winced as I stepped into my jeans, that twinge becoming a little greater at the pressure. “Ow. I think you broke me!”

“Aw, come here, want me to kiss it?” he cooed at me.

I laughed. “We don’t hardly have time for that, now do we? We do have somewhere to be, you know. Besides, we need to at least let everyone else know that we’re alive.” We hadn’t made contact with anyone since we’d left the club.

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, nuzzling into my neck. “I’m sure they know we’re alive. I mean neither one of us are exactly quiet, you know.”

I slapped his arm. “Shut up! I can’t help it!” I laughed.

He kissed my temple, then paused. “You know, I meant what I said last night,” he whispered into my ear finally.

I shivered slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Just as we were drifting off to sleep, he’d murmured “I think I love you.” I was far too exhausted to have responded at the time. I was so near to sleep, I barely even heard it. I’d thought maybe I’d dreamed it.

I turned in his arms to face him. “I know. I heard you. And, crazy as it sounds, I think I love you too.” I dropped my head to kiss his chest. “Actually, I know I do,” I said without looking back up to him.

He lifted my chin up to meet his eyes. “I love you,” he said, calmly and confidently.

“I love you too,” I said as he closed the space between us to kiss me deeply.

---------------------------------------

Sunday on the convention floor went by without event. Zack had completely sold out of the second shipment of VU merchandise, as well as everything else on the table, so we didn’t even have anything to pack up and ship back to California. After one last round after the doors were closed, chatting with the other celebrities, we all started to head back upstairs to the hotel to pack up our things and head to to airport.

“Hey, Vivienne,” Michelle called, from where she stood with Gena. “Come here a second, we have a question!”

They were standing next to a tarot card reader’s table, looking at the decks she hadn’t packed up yet, so I assumed it was something Scarefest related they wanted. “I’ll be right up, babe,” I said to Matt, kissing him on the cheek.

“What’s up, lllllaaadies?” I drawled as I neared the girls.

“Um, you have to tell us exactly what happened last night!” Gena squealed, as soon as she knew the guys were out of earshot.

Oh good god, are you serious? I thought. What are we, in 8th grade? “What do you want to know?” I huffed, already knowing the answer.

“Well, we all saw Matt leave with the biggest boner ever,” Michelle started.

“And that’s saying something,” Gena added in. We all giggled.

“Yeah, and?” I asked.

“Oh, come on. Spill it!” Gee trilled.

“Fine, we left the club, got it on in the cab, got to the hotel, got it on in the hotel. Good enough?” I said. I still couldn’t keep the grin off my face, though.

“That’s not everything, is it?” Michelle mused. “There’s something else you’re not tel… Oh my god!” She interrupted her own statement, loudly. The couple of vendors that were left packing things up all looked our way.

“What?” I said, again, trying to keep a poker face.

“He said it, didn’t he?” she gasped. Gena joined her in looking at me, mouths agape.

I sighed, and giggled. “Fine. Yes. He told me he loves me. I told him, too.” They started squealing and jumping up and down like school girls. “Happy now?” I beamed.

“Yes!” they both said, lunging at me for a hug.

“Ok, I can’t breathe, and the guys are going to wonder where we are,” I said into Michelle’s shoulder.

“Nah, I’m sure they’re giving Matt the same rundown,” Gena said, letting go of me. “Well, maybe a little more vulgar, but that’s only because Matt’s not usually one for the kiss & tell, so they’ll try to drag it out of him.”

Michelle still hadn’t let up on her vice-like hug. “I’m so happy for you, V!” she said, her voice still and octave higher and several decibels louder than it needed to be. She stepped back just a bit. “Listen, I know you’re still a little leery of talking to me, because of my sister, but let me promise you that doesn’t need to be the case. Like I told you before, she’s my sister, but Matt is one of my best friends, and very much a brother to my husband. I’m so happy for the both of you, you can’t even imagine!”

“Thanks, Michelle,” I said, returning her hug. “That really means a lot to me. And it’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, it’s just that I’m trying to keep the situation the least amount of awkward it can be, for everyone. I just don’t want things to be weird for you and Brian at a family thing or anything if it comes up, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand. But believe me, Val was worried that she’d broken Matt and his heart forever when she left. And we all through she might have, honestly. Seeing him with you though, it’s like that break-up never happened. That’s all she wants to know – that he’ll be ok,” she explained.

Gena was fishing around in her pocket when I looked up at her, trying to find the phone that was buzzing. “Yep, they’re looking for us now,” she giggled looking at the display. She showed us the screen, flashing a text message from Zacky.

-- hey gee. where are you girls?? hurrrryyyyy! --

We all laughed and turned to head to the hotel lobby. As we turned the corner to get to the elevators, Matt and Brian were just stepping off one.

“Hey! There you are!” Brian said as he grabbed Michelle and spun her around.

“Where have you been?” Matt asked me, running his hand through my hair.

“My god, boys, you make it sound like we’ve been separated for more than 15 whole minutes,” I chided, ducking away from Matt. Unfortunately, I forgot how long his arms are. He snatched the back of my t-shirt before I could actually get away, and pulled me close to him. I gave in and snuggled up to his side. “We were having girl time. You should let us do that sometimes, you know!” I looked over to Brian and stuck my tongue out at him. He just continued hugging Michelle and pretended not to see me. Gena had disappeared. Upstairs to find Zacky, I’m sure.

“Let’s go get our stuff,” he said, pulling me toward the bank of elevators. Michelle winked at me and chatted with Brian, deliberately keeping him back a ways from us, allowing us to have an elevator car to ourselves. “So, did they give you the pop quiz?” he asked, backing me into the corner of the small box.

“Uh, yeah. You too?” I asked, trying to keep my cool.

“Yeah, they’re pretty fucking relentless, aren’t they?” he laughed. He grinned at me, that grin that made me nervous and excited all at the same time. He took another step toward me, and let out a low, throaty chuckle. Being that I was already against the back wall, he was pressing into me, his feet planted between mine. He leaned forward slowly, closing the space between us. As he felt my breath hitch, he chuckled again. “Hi,” he breathed into my ear.

“Um, hi,” I stammered. You’re never going to get over that, are you dipshit? I cursed myself. Just fucking spit it out! I hope one day, I’ll be able to be a normal human being around this man.

“Cat got your tongue?” His voice was deeper and rougher than normal, purposely. He knows exactly what that voice does to me, I thought, feeling the little explosions of fireworks in my belly.

“Uh huh, something like that,” I managed to gurgle out. He just laughed again, keeping his mouth right at my ear and nibbling lightly, sending shivers through my body.

With that, the elevator stopped, he stepped away, and walked out into the hallway, laughing manically all the way down. Myself, I stood in the elevator car, jaw hanging to the floor staring after him.

“Gotcha,” I heard him call over his shoulder as he neared our room.

“You fucker!” I yelled, hoping no one was in the hall of the hotel. Luckily, no one was. “That was not fair!” I took off in a dead sprint behind him, barely catching up to him before he got to the door of our room. As he stopped to unlock the door, I jumped on his back, piggy-back style. “Caught you!” I said triumphantly.

“Only because I let you,” he scoffed. “And only so I can do this.” In what felt like one quick motion, he opened the door, took two large steps to the bed, flipped me off his back onto the bed and straddled my hips.

“Oh,” I sighed. He looked down at me mischievously, those dimples on full display, melting me into a puddle. “Ok, you seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

“Just how I like it,” he almost growled, kissing and licking at my neck. Abruptly, he slid off the bed, stood up and walked toward the bathroom. “Too bad we’ve got to get our stuff and get out of here, huh?”

Yet again, I was left alone, wide eyed and mouth gaping. I heard him laugh in the bathroom, and I started whining. “But, baby…” I pouted. “Can you just come here and lay with me for a few minutes. I promise, hands to myself.”

He stuck his head out the bathroom door and smiled. Not the “I’m-up-to-something” smile he’d given me a couple times already this morning, but a genuinely happy smile. “We’ve got a little while before we actually have to leave, I guess,” he said. “We can cuddle and hang out for a bit.”

I grinned at him, and patted the bed beside me. We laid there in each other’s arms for 20 minutes or so, just talking and cuddling. “You know, I really like this,” I told him.

“Good, because I do too,” he answered, hugging me tightly. “Thank you,” he said softly.

“Thank me? For what?” I pulled away just a bit to look at his face.

“For everything. Again,” he said. “For setting this up, getting us out here to meet some new fans, for letting Johnny have his moment with Freddy Krueger, and for reminding me how to be happy.”

“Oh hush, you big sap,” I giggled. “I thought you were some big manly man or something!” I leaned up to peck his lips with mine. “I’m kidding, and you know you’re welcome. Thank you for making me happy.” We kissed again, the passion nearly palpable.

“Are you sure?” he whispered.

“Am I sure what?” I asked. “That you make me happy?” He nodded, but didn’t look at me. I lifted his chin, bringing his eyes to mine. Those bright hazels bored into mine for several long seconds before I spoke again. “Fuck yes, I’m sure. I haven’t been this happy since, well, I haven’t. Ever. And it’s because of you. It is you.”

Slowly, that bright, infectious, amazing smile crept back onto his lips. He just ran his hands through my hair for a quiet minute. Finally, he found his words. “I know you’re worried about the situation with Val. I can’t say that I blame you, but I can say that there’s no point. I was with her for a very long time, but it was because I didn’t know that I didn’t have to be. I never, ever, not even one day, felt with her as happy as I have every day that I’ve spent with you. I just stayed because it was expected.”

I just nodded, not knowing how else to respond. I can’t imagine that any of that is true, I thought to myself. There’s no way that they weren’t happy all that time.

Again, as if on cue, he continued. “I mean, we were happy, it’s not that we weren’t. I just didn’t ever realize how forced it was.” He nuzzled into the crook of my neck. “Not like with you. Even though I’ve known Valary for our entire lives, literally, this is so much easier with you.”

I tried, but I couldn’t keep the corners of my mouth from turning up.

“Whatcha grinnin’ for?” he asked with a laugh.

“Oh, nothing. I just like hearing you go on and on about me, that’s all.” I kissed the tip of his nose. “Actually, you know that’s not even a little bit true. But in this case, I’ll let it slide. All I have to say is that I agree.” I rolled over, attempting to get out of the bed. “Now I feel like we need to shotgun a beer, play some Call of Duty, and or throw a football,” I said laughing. “That was far too serious and emotional a moment, and I just about can’t even deal with it.”

He reached up and grabbed the waistband of my jeans, pulling me back to the bed. “Shut up,” he said playfully. “I can be emotional too, you know.”

“Oh yeah, The Hulk is very in touch with his feelings,” I joked. “Come on, we should get our stuff packed up.”

We both sighed and slid off the bed, heading for our luggage. After getting everything packed up, and triple checking the room to make sure nothing was left behind, we met up with everyone else in the hotel lobby.

Alex met us downstairs to see us all off. “Um, I’m allowed to come visit you, right?” she asked. “I damn well better be!”

Matt answered before I got a chance to. “Of course, kid. Anytime you want, just let us know.” He held his arms open, inviting her to come in for a hug. When she walked over to him, I heard her breath rush out of her lungs as he squeezed her.

“Baby! Don’t kill her!” I teased. He released Alex, and she playfully gasped for air.

“Oh my god, V!” she choked. “How can you stand to hug this man every day?” She rolled her eyes as Matt walked over to me and treated me to the same life-sucking bear hug.

“I manage somehow,” I said after he let go.

Zack, Brian, Johnny, and the girls all took their turns hugging Alex and thanking her for showing them around town.

“Matt’s right though,” Zack said with a grin that he knew would turn Alex into mush. “Anytime you want to come visit, you’re absolutely welcome. Between the bunch of us, we’ve surely got a guest bed you can crash drunkenly in.” He winked, and Alex’s ears went tomato-red.

“Uh, thanks,” she said, suddenly turning shy.

“Anyway, we’ve got to get going. Those TSA bitches suck when it comes to getting these girls’ luggage on a plane.” I gestured to where Matt, Brian and Johnny were standing, opposite Michelle and Gena. The girls giggled while the boys glared. I reached for Alex and hugged her tightly.

“Is that all you’ve got?” she giggled. “Your hugs used to be awesome. Now that I’ve had theirs,” she said cocking her head toward the group of men who were suddenly very smug, “you seem like a big weenie.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s the price I pay for dating The Hulk and befriending his band of superhero brothers.” I giggled as Alex pulled away from our hug long enough to gawk at me for just a second.

“”I fucking love you, dude,” she said, laughing and squeezing back into the hug.

“I love you too, man,” I said into her hair. I separated us but still had my arm around her.

“Seriously. Come visit us anytime, ok? I’m sure I can get you the airfare to make it happen. I miss you!”

“I miss you too. Be good, ok? And fucking call me sometime?” She wagged her finger at me like a mother. “And you!” she said, spinning to face Matt. He threw on a shocked look. “You take care of my sister, ok?”

He saluted. “Yes ma’am I will.”

“All right, we’re outta here,” I told her. “You be good too, you know.”

“Meh. I’ll try,” she scoffed, wrinkling her nose.

We rolled our luggage out the door, all taking one more second to wave at Alex standing in the lobby.

“Bye!” Brian screamed as soon as he hit the doorframe. Alex busted into guffaws of laughter.

We finally got everything loaded into the cars and headed for the airport. We had a long flight ahead of us, and I was not looking forward to it.