Give Into Me

“Still smoking like a chimney I see.” Caroline commented jokingly as Brian lead them through the long stretch of hallway inside the studio. She was stuck walking directly behind Brian while Travis had the pleasure of walking behind her. Which meant she got the brunt of the strong smell of freshly smoked cigarettes filling her nostrils.

“Hey, I'll have you know I only smoke a pack a day.” He defended as he stopped at a door, resting his hand on the door knob. Caroline placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side.

“If I remember correctly that's how much you smoked back in the day.” Caroline pointed out to which he innocently shrugged.

“Exactly, so I haven't gotten worse. That's gotta mean something.” He flashed his infamous smirk before opening the door to the section of the studio they were occupying. Brian held the door open for both her and Travis.

Stepping inside, she saw a man she didn't recognize sitting at the computer and soundboard, he played with some buttons and switches before an all too familiar voice filled her ears.

“So try and love me while you can, and take the time to understand.” Matt sung softly, his voice was smooth and melodic. She hadn't heard him sing like that in quite some time, it brought a smile to her face.

“As long as I can touch your face, you know I'll never leave this place. If only in my mind...” He continued as the drums kicked in when he hit the chorus. His voice went louder, sending goosebumps to break out along her skin.

“I don't mind. Mother cries. Find me on my better days.” Caroline watched Matt stand in the recording booth, his eyes closed tight as his voice hit the notes beautifully. “To lose it once again. But I seem to find out better ways to consciously pretend.”

Caroline watched in awe as he carried on further into the song, admiring the rasp and deep tone of his voice. He was able to control his voice a lot more since she had left, his tone was smoother and could carry out notes she had never heard him attempt before. He had really come a long way since the start of the band where a majority of his singing consisted of loud, angry screams.

“You might want to stop staring.” Travis whispered in her ear, as she felt her cheeks begin to flush. He chuckled at her then made his way to the couch in the corner where Zacky was on his laptop. Brian was on the couch as well as he attempted to annoy the rhythm guitarist by making strange, high pitched noises in his ear.

“Dude, would you fuckin' quit it?” Zacky snapped, his eyes never leaving the screen of the computer which left him unaware of the two guests inside the room with them.“Damn.” He shook his head before his fingers began typing.

“Nice way to greet your guests Zachary.” Caroline joked, flashing the green eyed man a sweet smile when he looked up. His mouth hung open slightly at the sight of her. He tossed aside the computer, almost hitting Brian in the process, to wrap her in a friendly hug.

Caroline shut her eyes as Zacky's arms held her tight to his body, she opened them as he began to squeeze a little tighter. A small laugh escaped her lips at his enthusiasm. She had to admit that all the reunions, sans the one with Matt, had gone far better than she expected.

Caroline sighed as Zacky released her from his hold. She smiled at him once again before her eyes drifted to the lead singer exiting the recording booth behind him. A small half smile graced Matt's lips as he slowly moved towards her.

Zacky glanced over his shoulder to see what she had been staring at, he caught Matt approaching. As Zacky made his exit, he playfully nudged Matt's muscular arm when they passed each other. Both Matt and Caroline laughed awkwardly before Matt broke the silence between them.

“I'm glad you came.” He stood before her, with his hands awkwardly at his sides. Caroline had known Matt long enough to know that he was unsure of how to act around her. Especially with an audience in the room, watching their every move.

“Me too,” She agreed with a nod. “You sounded great by the way. What was that song called?” She asked curiously before Matt told her it was called 'Tonight The World Dies' and began telling her about some of the other songs they had written for the rest of the album.

However, Matt didn't get to talk to her long as Brian chose that moment to steal her away. The guitarist placed his hand on her back and moved her across the room, towards two chairs and an acoustic guitar. Matt narrowed his eyes at Brian's back, feeling slightly jilted at the fact that he had only gotten a few words in with Caroline before she was rudely stolen away by one of his friends.

Meanwhile, Brian insisted that as her former teacher it was only fair that Caroline show him her skills, it had been three years and he wanted to know just how far she had come. Being the good sport she was Caroline happily took the guitar and played a little for her old friend, his eyes instantly lighting up as she played some chords that back in the day she would've never even tried. Brian smiled like a proud father at her abilities.

Before Caroline knew it an hour had passed, and she had only realized the time because Johnny tiredly stumbled in. The guys ragged on him briefly for being late to which he lazily flipped them off. A permanent frown was on his face as he moaned and groaned through out the entire afternoon.

Travis had also looked fairly rough but held it in far better than Johnny did. However it all became too much for him as Brian was recording a solo, repeatedly.

“Caroline, my head is killing me.” Travis interrupted the threesome of Matt, Caroline and Zacky. Zacky had been telling her all about his girlfriend, who he had been with for well over a year, but Caroline hadn't yet met.

“Okay, um, I guess I'll see you guys later.” Caroline answered standing up as Zacky and Matt followed suit. She was now stuck between them.

“You're not leaving until I get a hug.” Zacky said and pulled her into another tight hug, but kept it shorter than his previous one. She smiled at him before turning in the direction of the door which happened to be on the other side of Matt.

She gazed up at him, catching his hazel eyes stare down at her. Her body reacted before her head could and she found herself wrapping her arms around Matt's torso, pressing her body securely against his.

He was timid at first, taken aback at her sudden showing of affection, but he relaxed into the embrace as soon as his brain had time to process what was happening. His arms slid around her waist, holding her body loosely against his.

Caroline's head rested softly against his chest, she could hear his heart beating loudly against her ear. She sighed faintly to herself before her eyes caught sight of Brian staring intently at her and Matt embracing. The look on his face was one of anger, Caroline knew it wasn't directed at her but at the man in her arms.

She swiftly pulled herself away from Matt, not wanting to cause any tension between the boys. She waved goodbye to Brian who faked a smile as she departed with Travis and Zacky, who had offered to see them out, in toe. Leaving just Matt and Brian alone in the room. Matt sat himself down on the couch, running his hands over his face, leaning back into the plush piece of furniture.

Brian immediately seized the opportunity before him. He cleared his throat loudly to strike Matt's attention. The lead singer looked up to the dark haired man in front of him, not missing the angry scowl adorning his face.

“What the fuck Matt.” Brian's voice carried loudly through out the room which took Matt somewhat by surprise.

Matt held up his hands in surrender. “What?”

“Don't play fuckin' dumb. You know what I'm talking about.” Brian insisted, looking Matt dead in the eyes. Brian realized that Matt would only continue to play stupid if he didn't come right out and say what he was talking about. “Caroline.” Brian said through grit teeth.

“What about her?” Matt narrowed his eyes at his band mate. He wasn't really in the mood to get into an argument but Matt had never been one to back down from a fight, regardless of who it was.

“Please tell me you aren't fucking around with her again.” Brian spoke in a warning tone, indirectly telling Matt he'd better behave or else the guitarist would definitely have something to say about it. “Cause honestly, what you did to her was fucked up. And that's coming from me.”

Matt found himself getting angry, as his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. He was tired of being the sole one to blame when it came to what happened with Caroline.

“You don't know what you're talking about.” Matt said bitterly.

“I know what Jimmy told me.” Brian raised his voice slightly. Brian remembered being told by the late drummer the story of what had happened between Matt and Caroline. Jimmy had seen Caroline two days after Matt had broken up with her, which was also the last time they ever saw each other face to face.

“Yeah, well Jimmy didn't know shit okay!” Matt yelled angrily, getting to his feet. Silence filled the room as Matt realized what he had said about their late friend. Instantly wishing he could take it back. “I-I didn't mean it like that.” Matt mumbled, struggling to find the right words instead of speaking out of pure emotion.

He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck. “Jimmy didn't know the whole story. No one does.” Matt spoke ominously, peaking Brian's interest. “Except for me and someone else.”

Brian's brows furrowed before asking “Caroline?”

Matt shook his head, his eyes meeting Brian's as he said. “No...not even Caroline knows.”

“Caroline! Open the door, I have a surprise for you.” Matt laughed as he knocked loudly on the door. He took a moment to look down at the Tim McGraw tickets in his hand.

Caroline had been talking about wanting to go for several weeks and Matt had contacted an old acquaintance of his and managed to score tickets for both of them. He wasn't super excited for the concert itself, he was more so excited to see the look on her face when he showed them to her. He quickly shoved the tickets back in his pocket as he heard the locks on the door jiggle.

“Hey,” Matt said upon seeing the door to Caroline's apartment open, expecting to see her face appear but instead was met with Danielle's. “Oh, is Caroline home?”

“Uh, no she's not but she should be home soon. You can come in and wait for her.” Danielle smiled warmly, stepping aside so his muscular frame could fit. She shut the door once he was inside and followed him into the apartment.

“It's good that you came by, I've been meaning to talk to you about something.” Danielle said, as Matt noticed she was dressed in her white button down shirt and grey pencil skirt. He assumed she was leaving for work, which was good for him since he wanted some alone time with Caroline. Whenever she wasn't working, and now that her and Jimmy were no longer together, Danielle seemed to be attached to Caroline's hip.

Matt stood awkwardly in the center of the open living room and kitchen area. He raised his eyebrows at her comment. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Danielle said with a sigh, she stopped packing her things into purse to look at him. “Did Caroline ever mention sending her demo to Nashville?”

Matt nodded, as he remembered Caroline telling him she had sent away her demo to every producer she could look up. “Yeah, why?”

“Cause she got a response last week from a producer. He's legitimate, he's worked with some of the best, it's a really great opportunity.” Danielle smiled as she told him the good news.

“Wow, that's great.” Matt smiled, genuinely happy for Caroline. The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary was that Caroline hadn't told him of this, they usually shared everything. Danielle's smile faltered at his comment.

“Yeah, it would be if she was accepting it.” Danielle's features gave away that she was annoyed. “The letter the producer sent also had a one way ticket to Nashville inside.”

“Oh, well albums take two or three months, sometimes longer with a new producer. It--” Matt began but was promptly cut off by the blonde standing a few feet away.

“Matt you don't get it. She's not going for a reason.” Danielle sighed, staring intently at him as if waiting for him to get it but he never did.“You.” She breathed, a hint of bitterness lacing her voice.

Matt stood with his brow furrowed silently so Danielle took it as her cue to continue. “She seems to think now would be a bad time to leave. I've tried convincing her but you know Caroline, once she's set in her ways it's pretty much impossible to change her mind.”

Matt shrugged casually. “Well if she doesn't want to go I can talk to the producer in LA that I gave her demo to, he's a go--”

“You're kidding yourself if you think an LA producer is going to take a country singer/songwriter like Caroline seriously. They're too busy making their millions by scouting out the newest tween star. Nashville is her only real chance to make something happen.” Danielle's voice raised angrily with every sentence. It was almost as if Danielle were talking about her own dream and not her sister's.

“So what do you propose I do about it? Convince her to go? Get down on my knees and beg her to?” Matt asked, unsure of what Danielle expected of him. Caroline was her own person, she could make her own decisions.

“It's going to take something bigger than that. She won't go as long as you two are together.”

It didn't take Matt long to understand what she was implying. He didn't like it one bit. “Are you fucking kidding me? You want me to break up with her?” He was about ready to walk out of the apartment but something told him to stay.

“It's the only way to get her to go!” Danielle argued, her hands loudly slammed against the kitchen table.

Matt scoffed as he felt himself grow more and more pissed off. “There's got to be some other option. Something not as irrational.”

“Believe me I would've thought of it if there was.” Danielle answered in a sarcastic tone which only pissed Matt off further. “Do you really want her to be playing in those small dingy bars the rest of her life? Or would you rather her live the life she's dreamt of since she was little?” Matt couldn't argue with the questions Danielle posed because she did have somewhat of a point.

“She may say it's fine to pass up Nashville right now but what about five years from now? It's her dream, Matt. I can say with certainty that she'll regret giving it up.” Danielle spoke softly. Matt could have sworn he saw flash of sadness flash through Danielle’s eyes.

There was a brief silence between the two as Matt digested her words. Parts of his mind began seeing her point, but he still felt as if it were too extreme and that there had to be a better way.

“There's no other way Matt." Danielle said as if reading his mind. "She loves you too much.” Matt inhaled a shaky breath at her words. Caroline hadn't even said those words to him yet so hearing them for the first time from Danielle stung a little.

“Did you ever stop to consider that I love her too?” Matt's deep voice asked, his mouth spoke without thinking. He pondered his words for a moment, before smiling softly to himself. He was in love with her.

“Actually, that's what I was hoping for.” Matt looked at Danielle as she swung her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her coat with her other hand. He looked at her puzzled until she spoke again. "Like the old saying goes; if you love someone let them go..."

She walked towards the hall that lead to the front door, before leaving she looked back at him over her shoulder. "Do the right thing, Matt." Danielle said before disappearing out the door.

It didn't take Matt long to make his decision, he sat on the couch going over in his mind of what he would say to Caroline. However, before he could really think of anything she arrived home looking exhausted and calling out for her sister.

He cleared his throat to tell her he was there, too afraid to actually speak words for fear that he'd confess everything and not go through with his initial plan. Caroline jumped slightly and he had to remind himself not to laugh at the cute smile that appeared on her lips upon seeing him.

"Matt, what are you doing here?"