A Forbidden Love

On the plane ride I could not sit still for a second, all I could think was about my Dad. My mind jumping to all different possibilities, all not good. Was he on life support? Was he in a full body cast? Was he dying? Are we going to walk in on him getting zipped up into a body bag? Matt was silent throughout the whole plane ride, probably thinking of Dad too. I can see that he was beyond nervous about what we were about to do. He hasn't seen our Dad since I was a baby, and he probably hates him for taking me away and leaving him and our mother. I was thankful that he was here with me though. I couldn't have done this trip alone. I just hope nothing bad goes down when we are with our Dad, praying that someone doesn't say the wrong thing.

After getting the information we needed from Ashleigh, we were now standing outside our Father's hospital room. I could sense Matt's uneasiness so I took his large hand in mine and gave it a light squeeze as I smiled up at him, Matt looked down at me with a small smile on his face and took a deep breath before nodding and opening the door. My breath got caught in my throat as I saw our Dad laying in his hospital bed before us. He was covered in bloody bandages and bruises, a few cuts on his face. I fought back the tears that threatened to spill over. Mary, our step mother, was sitting by his side with his hand in both of hers. She glanced up at us, smiling at me then a wary look as she eyed up Matt. Clearly not approving Matt's appearance. Mary was not one for the tattoos, piercings, crazy wild hair. Mainly the whole rocker/rebel look. She was a classy, elegant lady, I guess you could say. She did everything by the books. She kissed Dad's hand before walking up to us, a small smile upon her red lips.

"Hello, Elena." She nodded. She was the only one that called me that, no matter how much I protested. "Who's your friend?" She glanced at Matt, a slight frown.
"Hello, Mary. This is my brother, Matt." I side hugged Matt, his arm around me tightening. Mary's face was one of shock.
"Your brother, you say?" I nodded.
"Yeah, we recently just discovered this news. Hasn't my Dad told you?" I asked her. She shook her head. Her blond curls lightly hitting her face.
"No, never. Has he known about Matt?"
"Yeah, he knows of me." Matt said, a tiny hint of anger in his tone. "He left me and our mother when I was only 5 years old."
"Oh. I'm so terribly sorry, dear." Mary frowned, looking over at our Dad. "I'm sure you both would like to see him now?"
"Yes, please." I nodded. Matt's hand around mine tightened as we walked towards our Dad. Matt sat down in the chair as I sat on Dad's bed, taking one of his hands in mine as I lightly kissed it. "I'm here, Dad. And Matt's here with us too." I whispered.
"I'm sure you both want some time alone." Mary said, getting up.
"Actually, I would like some alone time with Dad. Do you mind, Ell?" Matt asked me.
"Of course not." I jumped off Dad's bed, kissing the top of Matt's head. "Take your time, bro." I said before leaving him, heading out of the room with Mary by my side.

Mary and I headed into the cafeteria on the first floor of the hospital. Once we sat down with our meals, we had a tiny conversation.

"Elena, how have you been in California?" Mary asked, nibbling on her salad.
"I'm great. I love it there, I have met some great people and the view is amazing."
"Any boyfriends we should know about?" Mary smiled.
"No." I looked away.
"What's the matter, Elena? You can tell me." I sighed as I looked back up at her. "Guy problems?"
"You know it." I laughed to myself.
"Who's the man?"
"Matt's guitarist, Syn." I cleared my throat. "I mean, Brian."
"Matt's in a band?"
"Yeah, Avenged Sevenfold." She nodded.
"What's up with this Brian boy?"
"Well, I guess you can say we've been flirting a lot since I started working for Avenged Sevenfold. And just recently, I met Michelle." I paused. "Brian's girlfriend." I kept my eyes on my fries.
"Oh, Elena. Please do not tell me you fought with a girl over a guy."
"No, I didn't fight her. Just argued with her. I stopped talking to Brian for about over a month now since then. And it's hurting me not talking to him. I feel like I've done something wrong. Am I wrong for ignoring him?"
"No, you are not wrong for ignoring him. He should have told you from the beginning that he had a girlfriend. Instead of having you find out the worst way possible." She paused, taking a swig from her water bottle. "Do you like Brian, like do you love him?"
"No, I don't love Brian."
"Are you sure about that?" I didn't know what to say. "How does he make you feel?" I shrugged.
"He makes me feel, I don't know. I get butterflies when I'm around him. I love seeing him and being around him. He makes me laugh nonstop. His hugs are amazing. His smile drives me nuts. And his eyes, oh those chocolate brown eyes. I could stare into them for days and never get tired." I drifted off, thinking of him. Picturing him with his smirk, his eyes shining brightly. Mary smiled widely.
"Elena, my dear. You love him. You really love him by the sound of it."
"I can't love him. He has a girlfriend. And Matt doesn't want us together, I can tell by how he acts when Brian's around me."
"Matt and what's her face are no one special. They can't stop love. You love him and if he loves you like I'm pretty sure he does, you two will end up together happily. It all just takes time, don't you ever give up on him."
"Mary, he's a rock star. A cocky, smart ass one at that. Those types of rockers lie! He's clearly lied to me already about having a girlfriend-"
"Did you ever ask him if he had a girlfriend?"
"Well, no. But-"
"Then it's not only his fault."
"But he should have brought it up before leading me on like he has."
"I agree with you on that one. But maybe they were never even together from the start?" I had to give her credit there. The way Syn acted when Michelle arrived at the party wasn't how I'd imagine if she was his girlfriend. It was more of an ex greeting. I don't know. What the hell am I supposed to do?