Give Into Me

There was a painfully long commercial break after Matt had seen the hurt look in her eyes. He had actually counted down the minutes that it took for the show to return and it ended up being far too long for his liking. When the show did return Caroline looked to be in brighter spirits, and the interviewer continued with her questions.

“So Caroline, I'm curious, what's something about yourself that would surprise your fans?” Caroline thought over the question for a few seconds, her eyes looked up to the ceiling.

“Oh I got it!” She said suddenly, which made him laugh, she was always so full of energy. “While I love country music, growing up I listened to a lot of heavy metal. Pantera, Metallica, even a little bit of Slayer here and there thanks to some friends of mine.”

The woman looked absolutely stunned at Caroline's answer, then moved onto her next question. “I have to ask as a big fan of him, how was it working with Riley Tucker on Me and Tennessee?”

“It was great, it really was. He's so talented both vocally and musically. I'm glad that my producer approached him otherwise it probably wouldn't have happened.” Matt grit his teeth at the excitement that filled her eyes talking about him.

“Why's that?”

“I'd just be too nervous to, as an artist just starting out you don't want to bother other artists to collaborate with you.”

“Well since we're talking about him so much, why don't we bring him out?” The woman introduced the man, and Matt scoffed slightly at his appearance.

Riley was tall, around Matt's height, with messy all over the place brown hair which somewhat reminded him of Brian's hair at times. Riley was fairly lean like Jimmy had been, though with less muscle than the drummer. He was dressed like your stereotypical country boy, white shirt with a plaid shirt over top and a pair of blue jeans.

Riley took a seat on the small couch next to Caroline, his arm instantly draping around the back of the couch and Caroline. Matt clenched his jaw and continued to watch despite his annoyance with this Riley character already.

“Riley welcome to the show.” The woman greeted warmly.

“Thank you, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.” He smiled at the woman then to Caroline who smiled back at him. “And just to be clear, I would've said yes had you asked me to sing with you.” Riley directed to Caroline who blushed and slapped his arm lightly.

Matt took a deep breath trying to ignore Riley's obvious flirtation with Caroline and the fact that he'd made her blush.

“She's too much of a sweetheart to say no to.” He moved his arm from the back of the couch to around Caroline's shoulders, pulling her body close to his and squeezed. Matt waited for Caroline to look uncomfortable and push him away but she never did.

“Do I sense some sparks here?” The woman asked an eager smile on her face. Matt groaned at the question, one because it was just like a typical journalist prying for a story and second because he was scared to know the answer. Caroline shook her head no and Matt felt his fists that he didn't even know were clenched, relax at her response.

“We're just friends.” She insisted with a reassuring nod but the look in Riley's eyes told Matt that, that wasn't the case for her duet partner.

“I understand you two will be touring the United States and Canada together.” Both Caroline and Riley nodded.

“Yep, it's just under two months long, and we'll be playing all kinds of venues. Big ones, small ones, you name it.” Caroline explained all the while excitement filling her eyes. “It all starts October 10th, so just over a month away.”

“How exciting! I understand you have a show tonight at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.” Matt perked up at the mention of her being in Los Angeles, now he really regretted saying no to Brian.

“I do, it's my last one before preparing for the tour so everyone come on out.” Caroline looked at the camera as she spoke the last part, and Matt felt like for a moment he was looking her in the eyes again but that moment was ruined when the camera panned away to the woman interviewing them.

“Do you want to give our viewers a little sneak peak? Preferably that gorgeous duet of yours?” Caroline and Riley both agreed, and headed over to where the instruments and microphone were.

The whole time Riley had his hand placed firmly on the small of Caroline's back instantly sending a surge of jealousy rush through Matt's veins. Caroline strapped the guitar around herself, Riley merely stood there and waited for her to prepare. The band behind them began playing and Matt watched Caroline join in. Riley leaned in towards his microphone to sing and Matt took the opportunity to fully listen to the song this time.

“Baby I think we both know it's gone wrong, wrong, wrong. And I know you don't think we can carry it on. Baby I think we both know it's gone bad, bad, bad.” The camera briefly panned away from Riley singing, and went over to Caroline just in time for Matt to see a flash of sadness pass through her eyes.

“Think of all the good times we had, drivin' to your house, remember when we first met?”

A longing gaze was set to her left. With the camera so close he could've sworn he saw tears forming but before he could tell she looked down, hiding her eyes from him.

“Dancin' on a Friday night, under the moonlight, talkin' til the night was gone, in the back of my truck with the radio on...”

The moment those lines registered in his mind that's when it hit him why she looked so sad.

“I like to know the story behind each and every song I put out there, every song I write has a meaning or tells a story of something I've experienced.”

The song was about him and Caroline. He hadn't made the connection the night before due to his overwhelming surprise at not only hearing her singing voice but knowing that she was doing what she had dreamed of since they met.

The first time he had met Caroline was at a local house party, he had come with Brian and Jimmy. It was a typical Friday night for them but tonight was slightly different, tonight Jimmy was eager to introduce Matt and Brian to his new girlfriend.

Matt had assigned himself as designated driver for the night since Jimmy was meeting up with his girlfriend and Matt didn't feel comfortable letting Brian be the designated driver. Normally if they attended a party Val volunteered to do that job but she and her family were away for the summer so Matt took the responsibility.

The house party had been located in the up scale neighbourhood of Huntington, a neighbourhood he would one day live in himself but back then it seemed like merely a dream. Matt parked his truck on the side of the street and followed his friends into the house, loud music and a haze of smoke greeted them immediately. Nelly's Ride Wit Me filled the house and Matt cringed, not exactly his type of music. Matt tried to ignore it as the three boys searched through the large mess of sweaty bodies. It only took a few minutes before he saw Jimmy excitedly walk over to a blonde not too shorter than the drummer, and a brunette that was at least a four inches shorter than the blonde.

Matt walked towards the three, Brian had already gone off in search of alcohol which only reinforced Matt's decision to be the driver for the night. As he approached he could see Jimmy and the blonde kissing, the brunette looked looked away from the couple and her deep brown eyes locked with his hazel ones. He flashed her a dimpled smile, Matt noticed a blush spread across her cheeks and she broke eye contact, looking back to the kissing couple next to her.

Matt got closer as Jimmy and the blonde decided to get some air. His curiosity was now peeked with the cute brunette standing across from him.

“Matt!” Jimmy clapped a hand on his best friends shoulder, he motioned to the two girls in front of him. “This is my girlfriend Danielle.” Jimmy yelled over the music, Matt nodded at the blonde, then shifted his eyes to the brunette.

“And this is her little sister Caroline.” Jimmy ruffled the brunette's hair, she swatted his hand away playfully. “Let's go find somewhere private.” Jimmy wiggled his eyebrows at Danielle, not being subtle whatsoever. Matt laughed softly and rolled his eyes, he caught Caroline do the same.

“I can't leave Caroline by herself, she's only seventeen.” Danielle yelled over the music, holding onto Caroline's hand tightly. Jimmy looked at his girlfriend, a look of disappointment crossed his features then his blue eyes were set on Matt. Suddenly he broke out into a large grin and excitement filled his eyes once again.

“Matt can hang out with her.” Jimmy said, putting an arm around Matt's broad shoulders. Matt felt both sets of female eyes on him, he looked to Jimmy skeptically. “Right Matt?”

Matt wasn't sure he wanted to be held responsible for the girl despite how cute she was but Jimmy's eyes pleaded him to say yes. Matt glanced over to Caroline, he couldn't tell if she minded that her sister basically said she needed a babysitter.

“Sure,” Jimmy thanked him, as did Danielle before Jimmy dragged her up the large staircase in search of the nearest vacant bedroom.

Matt stood next to Caroline awkwardly with his hands stuffed into his pockets, hoping that she would somehow initiate conversation, she never did. The music through out the house was now Butterfly by Crazy Town and Matt inwardly groaned, he hated the song with a passion.

“So you come to a lot of these parties?” Matt asked trying to take his mind off the lame music, Caroline shook her head.

“Not really my scene.” Matt smiled at the sound of her voice, it was sweet and girly like he had expected. “Why are you smiling?” She asked, and tilted her head to the side.

Matt smiled wider, “Do you wanna get out of here?” Matt watched Caroline's reaction. He figured she probably assumed he meant it in a sexual manner by the scared and unsure look gracing her features.

“It's not a line, honest. This music is just fucking terrible.” He added with a dimpled smile, Caroline took a deep breath then nodded her head. Matt placed his hand on the small of her back as they weaved their way out of the house and left the loud and awful music behind them. When they got outside Matt inhaled a deep breath of the fresh clean air.

“Where are we going?” Caroline asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Matt pointed to his truck sitting a small distance away.

Caroline stopped walking a couple feet short of the truck, causing him to bump gently into the small brunette. His sense were immediately over whelmed by the scent of her perfume or shampoo. He wasn't sure what it was but it smelled sweet like vanilla with a hint of musk that was intoxicating. It was the kind of smell you just want to bury your head into whatever it was coming from and lose yourself, however given that he had just met this girl that probably wasn't such a good idea.

Caroline smirked at the Ford emblem on the back of his truck. “A Ford, I approve.”

“Just got it last week, you're into cars?” Matt opened the tailgate to the bed of his truck, Caroline looked from the flat bed to Matt before he motioned for her to get in.

She shook her head. “No, Ford's my last name.”

“Well then, maybe I'll have to name her after you being the first girl inside of it and all.” Matt smirked and she hesitantly got in, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Meanwhile Matt went to the cab of the truck and stuck his keys into the ignition, only turning on the radio. He opened the small window that separated the cab from the bed.

“What would you like to listen to?” He watched her bite her lip, as if thinking it over.

“99.1, if you don't mind.” Matt nodded, he wasn't exactly sure what type of music that station played since he mostly just listened to his own CDs rather than the radio. He was a little surprised to find it was the local country music station.

Matt then joined Caroline in the back of the truck, closing the tailgate behind him. She was sitting on the edge of the frame, looking uncomfortable with the metal digging into her flesh. He laughed and grabbed the blanket that was folded up in the corner of the bed. He quickly spread the blanket across most of the hard metal and sat himself on one side of it. He pat the spot beside him, she slowly slid from the edge of the truck to the spot next to him. She stretched her tanned legs out in front of her while her arms were planted behind her holding her body upright.

“I thought you said it wasn't a line.” She looked at him nervously. Matt chuckled softly, he knew that he was probably giving her the wrong idea what with the blanket in the back of his truck and the radio playing softly in the background.

“It's not. This is what I do to relax.” Matt said laying himself completely down on the blanket. “Though I'm usually listening to Metallica and not...” Matt paused to listen to the song playing but he had no idea what it was.

“She's My Kind Of Rain by Tim McGraw.” She answered for him with a girly giggle then shifted herself so she too was laying down.

“You're a country music fan I'm guessing.” Matt stated the obvious and moved his arms behind his head, his eyes studying her.

A faint smile crossed Caroline's lips. “Yeah, one day I wanna sing it for a living. Weird for a California girl right?”

She turned her head to look at him, expecting him to agree like most people did. She had known a few people growing up who shared her love for country music, but more often than not she was met with a scoff or a confused look when she told them she wanted to be a country singer.

“In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the stereotypical California guy myself.” He chuckled referring to his half tattooed arm, lip piercing and ear gauges. “I think we'll get along just fine.” He added with a wink which was met with another girly giggle.

They lay silent for a moment, only the sound of the radio playing in the background, Matt took the time to look over at the girl next to him. Her brown eyes were closed as she listened intently to the music with her lips set into what seemed like a permanent smile while a faint hum escaped them. As the song ended her eyes slid open and it was then that Matt realized he had been staring at her the entire four minutes and sixteen seconds.

He tore his eyes away and cleared his throat.“So if these kinda things aren't your scene why'd you come?” She laughed softly before answering.

“Oh, well Danielle hates going anywhere alone and she said Jimmy wanted to set me up with one of his friends.” She paused as she tried to recall the name, meanwhile Matt perked up at the statement. He knew it couldn't have been him since he and Val had something going on which only left... “Brian, I think? So naturally Danielle dragged me along kicking and screaming.”

“Brian, huh?” Matt pondered the idea for a moment. Caroline seemed like the sweet innocent type of girl, one that you'd take the time to get to know her likes and dislikes. He couldn't picture Brian and Caroline together or why Jimmy had thought they'd be a good match. The fact that Matt was attracted to and intrigued by her had nothing to do with it either, or so he told himself.

“Interesting.” He said with a little more bitterness than he intended.

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Cause I can't imagine you and Brian working at all.” He replied with a slight chuckle.

“You barely know me!” Her voice squeaked mildly, he could tell by the way her hands moved violently along with the words coming from her mouth that she might have been slightly offended by the comment.

“True,” Matt started, he felt like he needed to fix the situation. “but you seem like a nice girl and I know Brian. He's a bit of a player, and you're the type that usually fall prey to guys like him.” Matt saw her features soften slightly, her eyes met his. “Just looking out for you.” He flashed a dimpled smile at her.

“Thanks for the warning,” She half smiled in return and looked back up at the sky.

“Anytime doll.” He laughed a deep chuckle then looked up at the stars, his hands rested on his stomach. Another song passed before Matt spoke again.

“So, uh, how about next time we do this, I get to make you listen to some Metallica?” Matt offered, hoping not to get an outraged look from the brunette then have her tell him no. Caroline's eyes shifted from the sky and over to him. “Maybe even a little Slayer if you're feeling crazy.” He added, he watched her lips slowly curve into a smile.

“I'd love to, Matt.”

He sighed heavily, running his hands over his face as he came out of the memory at the same time Caroline and Riley finished the song. Riley applauded Caroline, who stood with her guitar bashfully then did the best bow she muster with a guitar strapped over her torso.

“Thank you for coming today!” The woman who had conducted the interview walked back into view speaking into a microphone, Caroline thanked the woman for having her. The woman turned to the camera directed at her. “Be sure to catch Caroline tonight at the House of Blues in Los Angeles and if you don't then be sure to see her on tour in October with Riley Tucker! Thanks for watching!”

The camera panned out, he saw Caroline waving to the camera. Riley appeared next to her and pulled her into a hug just as it cut out and all there was left were commercials until the next program started.

It didn't take long for an idea to come to mind, he just wondered how it hadn't come to him sooner. He reached for the phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him, and dialled a familiar number. It was the first and only person that came to his mind who would probably go for it without asking too many questions. It rang twice before a deep scratchy voice answered.

“Christ, you up for a trip to LA? There's this show tonight I wanted to check out.”