Give Into Me

“Come on, come on, into my arms.” Caroline strummed the strings of her guitar softly, as she sat impatiently at the desk she had set up in her bedroom. She was spending her Friday night attempting to write more of a song she had gotten an idea for several weeks ago. So far she only had a title and a chorus, the verses proved to be substantially harder to write as her mind drew a blank each time she sat down with the intention of completing the song.

“Come on, come on, give into me.” Caroline breathed the last line and strummed a little harder then dropped her hands from the guitar. She listened as the chords faded out until she was only left with the sound of her pencil tapping lightly against her open notebook.

She sat there for what seemed like forever until she felt her stomach growl, telling her it had been far too long since her last meal. She glanced over her shoulder at the digital alarm clock on her nightstand, her eyes widened at the glowing red numbers. The last time she had glanced at the clock had been when Danielle left for drinks with some friends, which had been just after six thirty, it was now almost ten o'clock.

Caroline dropped the pencil and placed her guitar so it leaned against her desk before she left her room and wandered into the kitchen. She searched the cupboards until she found an unopened box of her favourite cereal stashed away behind several packages of kraft dinner. Caroline sat alone at her kitchen table munching on sugary cereal before she heard her cell phone going off in her bedroom.

She dropped the spoon into the bowl and moved quickly towards the room the ringing device was in. Of course just as she got the mobile phone in her hand, the ringing promptly stopped. She sighed heavily, walking back to the kitchen with her phone in hand. She sat back down, one hand reaching for her spoon and the other held her phone as she studied the number that had called her. It was local, she knew that much but the number itself wasn't familiar.

Figuring if it was important the person would call back, Caroline set it down on the table as she resumed eating. But just as she went to take her second to last mouthful, a loud knock on the door interrupted her.

“What the hell.” She mumbled to herself. She was starting to feel like she wasn't going to be able to have a quiet night in and get in her much needed writing time.

Caroline marched towards the door, somewhat annoyed but mainly just anxious to get back to writing and brainstorming. It had been far too long since she had completed song, let alone sat down and focused only on writing. She was itching to get back into it but the person on the other side of her door was preventing that from happening.

“Yes?” She spoke as she whipped the door open. Her eyes widened slightly at the all too familiar face in front of her.

“Hey,” Matt greeted as he stood on her doorstep sheepishly, his hands buried deep into his jacket pockets.

“Um, hi.” Caroline managed to sputter out, not being able to hide her surprised expression. He smirked at the way her mouth hung open briefly and her brown doe eyes looked up at him. She shut her mouth and flashed him a tight lipped smile in response before it dawned on her that she hadn't told him where she lived.

“Can I come in?” He asked casually, Caroline responded by stepping aside and letting his large frame pass through the open doorway. She shut the door promptly behind Matt and followed him into the kitchen before questioning further.

“What are you doing here? Los Angeles isn't all that close to Huntington.” She asked as he looked around the kitchen that they stood in. He looked over the dark granite counter top and the cherry wood of the cabinets.

“I was in the neighbourhood doing band stuff. I called you first but you didn't answer.” Was all he said before he caught sight of her bowl of almost empty cereal and laughed. “You still eat that stuff?” He asked with a smile, but Caroline simply looked at him blankly.

“Matt.” She said sternly, her hands placed firmly on her hips. The look in her eye told him she wanted a non bullshit answer.

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. “I just wanted to see you, we didn't get to talk much at studio the other day when Brian stole you away so I...” He paused, peering at her meekly as he continued. “I might have bribed Johnny to get your number and address from Lacey's phone.” He flashed an awkward smile as she sighed.

“How did that go by the way?” Caroline asked, with raised eyebrows. “Zacky told me he only walked Travis and I out because Brian wanted to talk to you alone.”

“Better than expected.” Matt said with a nod. “Let's just say we have an understanding now.”

"What the fuck made you think that was a good idea?" Brian asked, amazed at the reality of what happened. He was still angry but now saw his friends side of things a little more than before. "You hurt that girl more than you'll ever know. Jimmy said she was a mess up until the day she left."

Matt sighed, he knew he had hurt Caroline worse than anyone in her twenty six years of life but she hadn't been the only one hurt in the process. Even after Caroline had left for Nashville he had gotten several strong urges to call her and confess everything. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't still in love with Val, he had merely thought of a lie on the spot when she kept asking for a reason why he wanted to end it.

He wanted to tell her that it was her that he thought of constantly, even when on a whim he found himself back with his ex. The thoughts of her had always remained present in his mind. However, something inside of him could never quite give in and make those statements known.

“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I figured she'd do the same thing for me, I was trying to be selfless for once in my life.” He laughed bitterly before looking at his friend. “I was in love with her, I wanted her to live her dream not hold her back from it.”

“There's probably a better way you could've gone about it.” Brian said pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest. Matt nodded in agreement, after thinking about it for three years, he couldn't help but agree. “Are you still in love with her?”

“I thought over time it would go away, and for a while it felt like it did.” Matt explained. When Caroline left and severed all contact with him and most of their mutual friends, he had tried to focus on the band, which for the most part had been successful.

However, he'd be lying if he said he never regret saying those words to Caroline. Sometimes he would lay awake at night and wonder what life would've been like if things had happened differently. What if he had taken a different approach that day? What if he hadn't listened to Danielle at all? Would they have ended up happy? Would he have found him self happily engaged to her instead of spending three years engaged to a girl he never intended to marry?

“Then the second I heard her voice on the radio man, it's like everything came rushing back.” Matt sighed, letting his shoulders drop and his back to hunch over slightly.

He wasn't big on expressing his feelings but he knew that was something he'd have to work on if he were to win Caroline back. She was never one for playing games. She wanted things straight up, with no bullshit attached.

Brian slowly nodded his head but still had questions he wanted answered. “So why haven't you told Caroline about Danielle's involvement in all this? I mean, yeah Caroline would be pissed, who would blame her but wouldn't it be easier for her to know you weren't a complete fucking dumbass? Which you still are by the way.”

Matt laughed, not because he thought Brian's comment was funny but because of his over protective nature when it came to Caroline.

“Yeah, that would be the easiest thing to do. But Danielle is Caroline's best friend, she's looked up to Danielle ever since they were little.” Matt sighed heavily thinking back to the times Caroline had explained how much she wanted to be like her sister.

“I'd rather Caroline hate me than Danielle. Sometimes being hurt by family hurts a lot more than just some guy.”

“You're a better man than I.” Brian complimented, knowing that if he were in Matt's position he wouldn't hesitate to reveal the truth. “You know, chances are, it'll eventually get out, right?”

“If it does then I'll deal with it when it happens, but until then I'm going to try to earn back Caroline's trust.” Matt said softly as the room was stagnantly silent.

“Fuck, I really sound like a chick.” Matt muttered which caused both men to laugh. A lighter less tense vibe now filled the room. Matt got to his feet, taking a few steps towards Brian.

“I'm glad you care about her, I know you wouldn't be grilling me this hard unless you did.” Matt slapped a hand onto his shoulder, with a smile.

“You know, you kind of sound like her dad.” Matt commented recalling a time when Caroline's father had done something similar to what Brian had. However, Matt remembered feeling much more fearful for his life under the heated and intimidating gaze of the older man as opposed to one of his best friends.

“I just feel really protective of her.” Brian shrugged turning towards the door with Matt's hand still on his shoulder.

“If this is any indication of what it's like to have a daughter though, then I fucking want a boy. I couldn't handle this shit for the rest of my life.” Matt laughed loudly as they went on to search the studio for their other band mates.

“That's good.” She nodded but before Caroline could get another word in she heard the front door open, and Danielle's voice call out to her.

“Caroline, you still here?” Both Matt and Caroline froze, mentally panicking, each for their own reasons unknown to the other. As they stared at one another, a masculine laugh followed Danielle's call.

Before Matt knew what was happening Caroline's hands reached out for him. She gripped his wrists roughly as she pulled his large body towards the direction of her bedroom upon hearing her sister's heels click against the faux hardwood floor of the apartment. He helped her by following her lead and eventually found himself inside the bedroom as Caroline swiftly shut the door and leaned her back against it.

He watched her breathe a sigh of relief as her once tense body relaxed slightly, until a faint knock came from the other side of her door. Her jaw clenched as she turned around to talk through the door, not wanting to open it in fear that Danielle would push her way inside and find Matt. Which would only cause unnecessary drama between herself and her sister.

“Yeah?” Caroline said, all the while her eyes were locked with Matt's. A muffled explanation that Danielle had brought a potential hook up over to casually hang out to see if things were going anywhere was heard by both Matt and Caroline. He fought the strong urge to smile at small girl rolling her eyes at her sisters antics.

“Don't worry, I'll be in here most of the night writing.” Caroline told her sister who yelled a faint thank you then resumed entertaining her guest. “I'll only leave if I need food.” Caroline muttered sitting herself on the end of her lazily made bed.

“I hope you don't have anywhere to go, they'll probably be a while.” Caroline said as Matt shook his head and began removing the jacket he had on. He was left in a simple white t-shirt which revealed his vast array of tattoos, Caroline's eyes scanned them appreciatively. It was the first time in three years she had seen most of them as the past few times they saw one another, he had been wearing long sleeved pieces of clothing.

Matt slipped the discarded piece of clothing on the back of the chair that sat in front of her desk. His eyes were immediately drawn to the open notebook on top of the wooden surface, a smile crept onto his lips as he realized what he had discovered.

“What's this?” He asked rhetorically, his fingers inching closer to the book. Caroline tore her eyes away from his arms to catch his hand moving towards her notebook. She jumped to her feet in an effort to grab it before him but he was too fast and beat her to it.

“It's a song,” She answered, as he teasingly held the notebook up in the air out of her reach. He read over her girly handwriting before letting out a soft laugh.

“Give Into Me? Sounds like a promising title.” He complimented with a large smile. “But where's the rest?” He glanced down at her with his brow furrowed.

“I've only got the chorus, the verses are giving me a hard time.” She begrudgingly admitted as his hands lowered the notebook within reaching distance.

“Maybe you just need a little inspiration.” Matt told her with a dimpled smile. Caroline ignored his butterfly inducing grin and grabbed the notebook out of his hands.

She then proceeded to question him on how exactly she could get inspiration while being locked inside her own bedroom with him. He insisted that beer had always helped the band write when they were stuck, to which she answered that drinking would merely cause her to write meaningless lyrics that she'd scrap the next day and it'd all be for nothing. Matt assured that alcohol brought out the lyrical genius inside of him.

Caroline finally gave in and excused herself as she stealthily tip toed through the apartment to the kitchen. She was almost home free when Danielle, on her way to the bathroom, caught her creeping by with a six pack of beer in her hand.

“Are you taking that to your room?” Danielle asked with a hint of a laugh in her voice. Caroline froze for a moment, unsure of how to respond without giving away that she actually had the lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold in her bedroom. “I thought you were just writing, not having a kegger all to yourself.”

“Yeah, well beer brings out the lyrical genius in me.” Caroline said with a reassuring smile. She imagined that Matt had his ear pressed close to the small crack of her open bedroom door listening with a smile on his face as she echoed his words.

“You think that lyrical genius could spare one beer for her sister?” Danielle asked with an innocent look in her eye, Caroline nodded and held up the six pack. Danielle took a bottle from the pack and continued on her way to the bathroom. Caroline ducked back into her bedroom only confirm her suspicions as she found Matt standing close to the door with a smile on his face.

“Shut up.” She muttered, shoving the beer at his chest. He simply chuckled and cracked open two bottles of beer, handing one to the girl in front of him.

He brought the bottle to his lips, letting a mouthful of the liquid slide down his throat. “Let's get started.”

By the time both Matt and Caroline polished off four of the five beers, all plans of writing had diminished. Instead Caroline lay on her stomach at the end of her bed as she watched the television playing some comedy show that Matt had decided on.

“Remember the first show you came to?” Matt asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had hovered within the room for the last thirty minutes. Caroline pulled her eyes away from the program and shifted them to the man on her left. Matt was less than an arms length away as he sat on the floor with his back pressed up against the foot of her bed.

Memories of the boys playing in a small venue with not more than a hundred people watching came back to her. When he hadn't been behind the drum set, Jimmy had spent most of the night attached to Danielle's mouth, only ever breaking away to inhale a drink or two. Zacky had brought a girl Caroline knew from school but the girl sat with her arms crossed over her chest the whole time, looking as if she'd rather be somewhere else. Brian, on the other hand had several girls swooning with his smooth words, but in the end just used them for free drinks. Matt had a group of girls wanting to talk to him as well but he ignored them as him and Caroline sat in a corner of the venue for a large portion of the night, strictly talking.

“Yeah, how could I forget? I didn't get home until four o'clock in the morning and my dad reamed you out for a good twenty minutes until you promised you'd get me home by midnight next time.” Caroline laughed softly. She could practically see her fathers angry expression in her mind as he forced Matt to join him on the front porch while she had watched from inside. She had never seen Matt so scared for his life.

Matt chuckled, his head leaning back so it was flat against her bed “Your dad was fucking scary. Every show after that you were home by midnight, not one minute late.” His hazel eyes stared up at her, watching her lips curve into a subtle smile.

Caroline cast her eyes down to the floor as she felt Matt staring at her, desperately trying to prevent a blush from forming on her cheeks. Her eyes caught sight of the last bottle of beer remaining from the six pack.

“You want that last beer?” She asked, causing him to lift his head back up. Matt took the bottle in his hand, and removed the cap. Caroline's eyes briefly set on his Jimmy tattoo as he did so, her smile faltered slightly at the painful reminder.

“We'll share.” He said taking a short sip before passing it to her.

With timid fingers she took the bottle, giving him a sideways glance before barely letting the bottle brush her lips. She moved the liquid around in her mouth briefly before swallowing it, an uneasy feeling starting to churn in her stomach.

“Are you worried about germs? Cause if you are, we've shared a lot more than saliva.” He commented with a chuckle taking another mouthful. His words sent a faint blush across her cheeks. Matt noticed and a smile immediately spread across his face as he momentarily caught sight of the old Caroline shining through.

“I'm not worried about germs, Matthew.” She used his full name in a teasing tone, something she used to do often when giving him a hard time. “I just think I've had enough for tonight.”

“What?” He turned to look at her with a mortified expression “Did Nashville turn you into a lightweight?” He asked in a teasing tone, which caused her to roll her eyes.

“No, quite the opposite actually.” His eyebrows raised as he listened. “Which is why I can't drink beer very much anymore.” He chuckled animatedly, which in turn forced a smile out of her.

“Any crazy stories to tell?” He prodded, flashing a smile, hoping that would do the trick.

“Yeah...” She nodded, causing some of her hair to fall into her face. “if I could remember them.” Caroline giggled as she recalled far too many nights spent at the bar after her shows or at a tiny little pub that was down the street from her and Travis's apartment.

Matt's deep laugh filled the room, his eyes sparkling with pride. “That's my girl.” Caroline tried to ignore the feeling swirling in her stomach as those words left his mouth.

The room grew silent as his laugh died down and all that could be heard was the faint echos of the program they had been watching.

“How was it there?” Matt asked causing Caroline to look at him questioningly. He cleared his throat before clarifying what he meant. “Nashville, I mean. What was it like?”

Caroline could've sworn she saw a trace of hurt envelope his deep hazel eyes but ignored it as she recalled Music City, USA. A place she called home for three long years.

“It's amazing. This is going to sound really cheesy but there's just something about that city that's magical.” Caroline laughed at herself before continuing. “I loved everything, the weather, the people, the buildings but most of all the music. It's everywhere you look.” She gushed, a dopy smile on her face and a dreamy look in her eye.

“I think I dragged Travis to the Country Music Hall of Fame literally at least three times a month even though it never really changed from the previous time. I think he's sick of that place now.” Caroline sighed, her eyes shining brighter the more she spoke.

“I couldn't tell you how many times I went to the Grand Ole Opry, the vibe in that place is just incredible. I've honestly never felt that inspired before. I can only dream of being that successful one day.” Caroline finished, she bit down on her bottom lip to hide the eager smile threatening to form.

Matt sat silently as he let his eyes fixate on the girl next to him. He couldn't help but feel by the way she smiled and the obvious sparkle in her eye when talking about Nashville, that he might have made the right choice three years ago. He hadn't ever seen her this happy, not even when they were together and he told her of his feelings for her. Seeing the amount of happiness that had come of her heartbreak may have come as a blessing in disguise, though he'd never say that aloud.

“Matt?” Caroline laughed at his dazed expression. He blinked several times before he lazily smiled and apologized for zoning out.

“Sorry what were you saying?” He asked. He had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he had missed what she was trying to say to him. He turned his head slightly in her direction, catching a glimpse of her smiling face.

“I said, Danielle and her date moved it to the bedroom.” Caroline pushed herself up so she was sitting upright. “You can probably make a run for it if you're quiet.”

He waited a moment, pondering whether he should take the opportunity or not. He didn't want to leave but he also knew he couldn't spend the rest of the night locked up in her bedroom, especially if she didn't want him there. He got to his feet as she followed suit. He reached for his jacket and slipped it on as Caroline peaked out the bedroom door to check if the coast was clear.

She silently motioned for him to follow and he did, they tip toed quietly down the hall and eventually through the living room and kitchen. Matt saw Caroline breath a sigh of relief as she stopped at the front door, carefully unlocking and opening it for him. He approached her slowly, stopping just a few inches short of her.

“Did Zacky tell you about Johnny's on Sunday?” He asked, causing Caroline to jump slightly as she became aware of how close they were. She peered over her shoulder, her eyes meeting his.

“Yeah, he invited me and Travis. I'm not sure if I'll come yet.” Caroline answered softly as he nodded his head. He wasn't going to push the matter, he was just glad that she hadn't dismissed the idea completely.

Instead of stepping around her to leave as he planned, he found himself stepping closer to Caroline, wrapping his arms hesitantly around the small brunette. He felt her chest hitch as he caught her by surprise but her breathing steadied when she relaxed into the embrace. She pat his shoulder softly before her hand slid up to curl around the back of his neck, bringing back intimate memories for both of them.

Caroline pulled herself away almost instantly, her eyes set on the floor. Matt wordlessly stepped out of the apartment, casting one last glance at Caroline.

“Goodnight, Matt.” She smiled timidly before shutting the door. Upon shutting the door and resetting the lock, Caroline leaned her back against the door. Her eyes fluttered closed as she inhaled a large breath.

“So much for a productive night.” She breathed uneasily, making her way back to her bedroom.