Hand of Blood

The six of us piled out of the bus, that had now been parked suitably rather than taking up half of the road, and all looked around the dark street, the setting sun getting lower with each minute. The amount of heads we turned was astounding. I suppose it wasn't everyday a huge bus storms into your town and extremely excitable young adults emerge from it.

As we all stood in some kind of formation on the street, Kayla bouncing on her toes uncontrollably, our gazes all eventually settled on Moose. The moment he realised it, his gaze shifted around everyone accusingly. "What?!" He exclaimed, scowling at our expectant eyes.

"Lead the way, idiot," Jay sighed, placing his hands on the drummers shoulders and pushing him town the street. I laughed softly as Moose glared back at Jay and shook him off, before eventually doing as instructed in the least conforming way possible, his shoulders hunched and hands firmly in his pockets.

"Some people," Matt stated with a small smile from beside me. I glanced at him as we followed the group from the back, and smiled back at his comment.

"Some people," I agreed with a nod, folding my arms across my chest as we continued walking. There was a slight chill in the air, but it was overall a nice evening. Not bad for the walk we were currently taking, anyway.

I felt a light nudge in my side and turned to Matt. "Are you sure about this?" He asked critically, his voice quiet as to not catch the attention of the group barely a meter in front of us.

I nodded and smiled lightly. "Of course, I wouldn't have said so otherwise," I said softly, appreciating his concern. In all honesty, I was freaking out that something would go wrong this evening. You could argue I was just being pessimistic, because nothing went wrong last time, after all. I just felt uncomfortable out of my familiar surroundings. It was normal for anyone.

My body jolted suddenly as it connected with Padge walking in front of me, who had abruptly stopped in the middle of the street. I frowned as I took a step back to give him space, before glancing around his broad body to see what the problem was. I could see Moose glancing around the street with a slightly distressed look on his face, that he was trying, and failing, to hide.

"Are we lost?" I asked in a blunt tone, raising an eyebrow. Moose instantly spun round and glared at me, before turning away again. He then proceeded to start walking in the same direction as before, clinging desperately to his pride.

"No, we can go this way," he replied gruffly, as the group started moving after him again. "It's just the... Scenic route."

+

After a good ten minute walk, Moose announced our arrival at the club with great triumph, which was harshly ignored. I did feel sympathy for that man sometimes. The decent sized building already looked like it was bustling with people, lights and the low, muffled sound of music escaping into the darkened street, with a long queue leading from it. That must have meant it was a good place then.

"Let's go!" Kayla chirped, bounding up to the back of the queue and dragging Padge with her. My gaze instantly turned upwards, timidly, to Matt, who inclined his head after them, pushing me onwards with a small smile. I weakly returned it before slowly taking my place behind the couple, my eyes nervously flickering over the rest of the people around. I glanced behind us to find that Jay and Moose were a few people behind us, considering they had started argueing between themselves while others quickly lined up behind me and Matt. I shook my head lightly before turning my attention back forwards, taking a deep breath to try and calm my nerves.

I had never felt so out of place in my life. Everyone around us, every face, just looked older than 21; mature and responsible. I could honestly say I never imagined I looked a day over 18. Someone just had to notice, there was no possible way I could get away with this. I was wearing a band shirt for gods sake. Mature people don't wear band shirts, do they? Maybe I was just even more naive than before. Perfect, not just underage, but a stupid, immature underage person at that. Maybe I was thinking too much.

The queue moved a step forward, and I shuffled on my feet accordingly, panic rising. My eyes frantically scanned the crowds, looking for anyone marginally young looking, before my gaze automatically settled on Matt. He seemed to become aware of my gaze, as he glanced down at me and smiled lightly, completely unaware of my mental breakdown. As a result, I found it hard to return it, and Matt frowned in response as the queue shuffled a little bit closer to the doors. His eyes flickered away from me to the front of the queue, which he could clearly see considering his height advantage, before he looked back at me with a hint of realisation in his eyes.

"Oh," he mumbled quickly, before I felt his hand clumsily clamp itself to mine. I rose an eyebrow as my gaze shifted between our hands and Matt's eyes, and he smiled reassuringly at me. That's when I realised that this must have been part of mission-get-Brianne-in-the-venue, as I glanced over at Kayla and Padge who were arm in arm. It made sense, too. I smiled back at Matt, which seemed to relax him a little bit as well. His once sloppy grip on my hand rearranged itself, his palm pressing against mine as he carefully threaded his fingers with mine. It was a lot more comfortable, in every sense, both the action itself and the point that we both felt 'okay' with it. An odd thing, contact. Something I wasn't used to at any rate. Not that it meant anything, as it was just to get us through the moment, and through those club doors.

I tried to sigh out my nerves as this new connection between Matt and I automatically drawing us together physically, my head tiredly resting on his now closer shoulder. I could literally feel myself shaking lightly from the fear that I'd ruin everyone's night. I could just go back to the bus, of course. It wouldn't be a problem... Except everyone would probably disagree with me. I looked down grudgingly at my Misfits shirt. Seriously, what person over the age of 20 wears a shirt with a huge fiend face printed over it?

"You look nice," Matt said softly, his voice catching me off guard as he appeared to notice my hatred for my outfit.

I laughed softly and turned back to him, shaking my head lightly. "Smooth," I stated, causing him to grin sheepishly and nudge my side again.

"Just trying to help," he mumbled back to me, making me smile in return.

"I know you were, Matt," I said lightly. "Thanks," I added with a hint of sarcasm. He scowled at my playfully before turning his attention back to the front of the queue. We were moving forward again, and every step seemed to make it worse. As soon as we stopped, I started shifting back and forth on my feet uncomfortably.

"You're nervous," Matt stated in a matter of fact tone. I raised my gaze back to him and looked at him blankly for the fact of him stating the obvious. He smiled at me simply, squeezing my hand lightly for reassurance. "Don't be, the bouncers don't look to pressing," he added simply. "I'm not sure why it's taking so long. I haven't seen them check one person," he explained curiously. It really didn't boost my confidence, but I appreciated his attempts. I was in two minds whether I wanted to just get this over and done with, or put it off for as long as possible.

"How's your hand today?" Matt asked randomly, instantly stealing my attention. I glanced up at him thoughtfully, before holding my free hand out in front of me and looking down on it. The cuts across it from the glass last week were nearly healed up completely. I was curious to how long they would scar for, if at all.

"It's good," I replied simply, completing my evaluation. "You know changing the subject doesn't help," I added, looking back up at my friend.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I wasn't," he defended. "I just wanted to know how my patch up job went."

I grinned and shook my head. "Oh no. You'll get big headed now, won't you?" I asked playfully, causing Matt to laugh and attract Kayla and Padge's attention. They both glanced back at us with confused expressions, before the queue moved forward once again and they turned back around. It was their turn. That meant we were next. My panic levels instantly went through the roof.

It took about a minute before Kayla and Padge were ushered in to the club without any hassle. To be honest, the bouncers seemed to be so interested in their walkie talkies, that they decided they could take their time on letting people in. As me and Matt walked forward, one of the bouncers held out a hand lazily.

"Hold on a second," he grumbled, his eyes landing on us. I could have sworn he done a double take over me. Alarm bells instantly rang in my head, as I could imagine was the same for him. He knew I was too young. He knew it. I slightly side stepped into Matt, my hand now no doubt crushing his in my panic, while the bouncer, who was now turned away talking into his radio, glanced over at me from the corner of his eye. He so knew it.

I suddenly felt my hand get tugged lightly to the side, my gaze instantly diverting itself to Matt. He had slightly turned his body so it was facing me more, causing me to frown at him, puzzled. His eyes locked with mine intently, and I could feel him trying to speak in the silence, as his teeth lightly bit down on his bottom lip. It was just the second time I had seen him do it ever, confusing me further. I hadn't worked than one action yet.

Without another word, his gaze flickered away from mine as I became aware he was getting closer to me, closing the height gap between us. Before I had a chance to register it, his body moved perfectly against mine, his face burying itself into my neck, causing my heart to skip. My breath momentarily stopped as it got caught in my throat in surprise.

"Relax," I felt Matt whisper against my skin, a smile in his tone as he hovered beside me. Part two of his master plan, then.

I found myself chewing on my own lip nervously as my pulse decided it wasn't going to return to normal, despite my mind being fully aware this wasn't real. I felt Matt's lips accidentally, yet ever so lightly, graze the base of my neck, causing my body to shiver by reflex from the soft contact. I knew he had felt the shudder through my skin, his breath continuing to dance up my neck and leaving me numb as my eyes lightly closed by instinct. I noticed myself slowly moving into his touch, my free hand gently rising to rest on his arm. I was getting caught up in this way too much, but my thoughts were running away with me. It was making it difficult to believe this wasn't a casual act. It was making it difficult to think at all.

"You better be smiling right now," Matt breathed into my ear playfully, causing a grin to simultaneously creep across my lips, electric pulses sparking through my nervous system. His hand that was still linked with mine squeezed tightly for second as he slowly maneuvered backwards, his own skin softly moving against my jawline as he stayed close. My eyes opened slowly to see Matt looking back down on me, a smile claiming his face as he had watched me lost in the moment. I bit down on my bottom lip again as I suddenly felt embarrassed, heat rising in my cheeks. If anything, Matt's smile grew a little more as he noticed, his forehead lowering against mine gently. I suddenly found I could hardly move under his watchful gaze, his steady breaths falling over my skin, almost like he was teasing me. I felt like I was waiting, but for what?

"Alright, you can go in now," I heard the bouncer grumble lightly, catching the corner of my gaze as he rolled his eyes at the two of us, and turned away again. I don't think either of us gave him any form of attention, the words floating over past our thoughts.

I swallowed hard, pushing away my shaking breath, as I found myself still unable to move, and with no direct desire to either. I was drowning in Matt's eyes in a way I had never experienced before, and I didn't want to come back. Not just yet. I saw a brief frown flicker through my friends gaze in a moment of confusion as he looked down on me immobile under his touch, before a look of realisation set in. Before he could hear my thoughts screaming at him. Before he could feel what I could.

I watched with growing fascination as Matt's eyes suddenly seemed darken with lust, watching me with yet more intensity as he waited for me to make some form of move. It felt like he was testing me, to see if I would back away. Reaching his own decision as his doubts subsided, or simply growing impatient, his gaze lazily flickered between my eyes, as he leaned that much closer, his eyelids softly closing as his nose brushed up beside mine.

Ever timidly, appearing to be unsure of his own actions, his head tilted slightly to the side, and I felt the blood surge through my veins as he pressed his lips against mine, softly but with still enough force to make it real; to stop my breathing as my own eyes fell closed. I instantly returned the pressure, my body instinctively moving into Matt's, as his hand rested on my waist to pull us momentarily together. It last a just a few seconds, just a heartbeat before he broke the contact, and instead allowed his lips hover beside mine as he exhaled heavily, my own lungs echoing his action. A small smile flickered across his lips as his eyes remained locked with mine, alive and curious.

"Come on, we haven't got all day," the bouncer scolded as he returned to his walkie talkie, heavily bringing me back down to earth. Just those few seconds seemed like endless minutes; I wanted it to be minutes. Hours. Longer.

I glanced over my shoulder to hear some wolf whistles from somewhere in the queue, causing me to bury my head into Matt's chest and smile shyly to myself. I felt Matt's light chuckle as he noticed my coyness, his arm on my waist briefly wrapping around my back in a comforting gesture. A moment later he smoothly stepped back from me, leaving me cold for lack of contact as he turned abruptly and tugged at my hand. After watching him blankly in a minute of complete confusion, I quickly followed after him, remembering why we were here. We quickly wandered through the glass doors of the club and into the dark interior under the gaze of the now watchful bouncers, my whole body shaking in aftershock.

I tried to focus on my breathing as I continued to walk shyly behind Matt, mind swimming with thoughts. I attempted to push them to the back of my mind as far as possible. This wasn't the time to think about them, nor the place. Hell, they shouldn't have been there to begin with.

I was soon guided over to where Padge and Kayla were waiting for us, standing beside a small table. I almost instantly turned my attention to the dance floor, where a familiar song was flowing from the large speakers, capturing my attention as Matt, Padge and Kayla all made small talk beside me, their words escaping my ears. I was feeling way to numb to contribute, as my mind started to relapse. I couldn't think straight at all, stubbornly convincing myself nothing had just happened. Surely it couldn't of. It just didn't make sense, because if it had, then I had really let my guard down this time, and I would never do that... Would I?

I jumped suddenly as I felt a hand land on my shoulder, breaking my thoughts track as my gaze snapped round to see Jay's smiling face. I quickly returned it, hastily throwing my thoughts away as both him and Moose joined the group. I started glancing around nervously as I felt strangely out of place amongst the people I had become so close to. My thoughts were driving me insane.

After a moment of realisation I glanced down to see my hand still firmly locked with Matt's. I took a deep breath before boldly letting go and withdrawing my hand, causing Matt's gaze to quickly turn back to me. I sent him a light smile, which he returned after a confused pause, apparently not noticing anything wrong as he turned back to his friends again. I sighed inwardly in relief and lowered my gaze, just as I caught Kayla creeping around the guys and over to me.

"I saw that," she said in a whisper as she stood at my side, nudging me with a mischievous grin on her lips. My eyes widened slightly as I looked at her, not knowing how to react. My cheeks started blushing deeply, which was going to completely give the game away anyway. What was it she had seen exactly?

"Aww, Hun. You're too cute," she cooed quietly, her smile never fading as she looked at me with a somewhat proud, motherly expression. I raised an eyebrow at her timidly and she giggled quietly, linking her arm through mine as the guys all turned round to bring us into the conversation.