Wait for Tomorrow

4 Years Later - Huntington Beach English Classroom

"Alright class: Weekend homework." Ms. Walker announced to a groaning class. "Oh, yes I know, homework, such a tragedy. It's extremely simple! And I bet most of you will like it. I want you to pick your favorite song by any artist. I don't want it to be too vulgar, but pick a song, and write me a quick summary of what you think that song is about. You'll see on Monday what we're going to do with it."

A kid in the back of the class raised his hand. "Hey! Miss Leigh! Could we use an Avenged Sevenfold song?"

Leigh had her back turned to the kids, writing their next assignment on the board. Her body instantly became rigid. "Uhm, yes, I suppose you could." She heard the kids cheer in the back of the class. "Okay, enough, enough! Get working on your next assignment. Turn it in at the end of class."

Leigh walked back to her desk, pulling out assignments and ungraded papers she had to attend to. She was halfway through the stack of papers when her classroom phone rang.

"Ms. Walker's English class."

"Ms. Walker, you have visitors in the front office." The frail voice of Mrs. Andrews flowed through. "Would you like me to send them up?"

Leigh stopped her work. "Uhm, sure. I guess that's okay. Thank you Mrs. Andrews."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

Leigh hung up the phone and could feel her hands trembling. She had a good feeling who it was, and she wasn't looking forward to it. She knew that the second they walked through the door the whole class would just go crazy. A knock at the door snapped Leigh out of her thoughts.

Shaking, Leigh stood up and walked to answer the door. One of her students noticed she was nervous, and asked her if she was okay. "I'm fine Steven, just keep working." Leigh could see Matt's face through the long window in the door. He smiled at her, and she stopped walking. She shook her head, telling him to leave.

Of course, Matt was still stubborn as ever and just walked right into the classroom. The whole class looked up at him, and he didn't pay attention to the uproar he just caused. All of Leigh's senior students chatted excitedly amongst themselves, pointing and whispering about their unexpected visitor. Leigh knew that she couldn't do anything about it now, so she turned on her heel and walked back to her desk.

Matt trudged behind her noisily. It had been another four years and he kept his promise. He came back, and he wasn't going to stop trying. He followed her all the way to her desk where she sat down, promptly ignoring him. She gathered her papers and put them all in a stack and set them aside. When she was done, she folded her hands in front of her and looked up at the man she'd once loved.

"Matthew."

"Leigh, I want to talk to you."

"Then talk."

Matt was disheartened at her bitter reply. He sighed and tired again. "Can I talk to you? In private please."

Not giving him an answer, Leigh pushed herself away from the desk and walked out of the classroom. "Class, keep working. I'll be back in a minute." When she walked outside, she was met with the rest of the boys. They all looked at her and smiled wide. She hadn't seen any of the guys in eight years and they all looked so different.

Brian's arms were covered in tattoos, as were Zacky's and Johnny's. Jimmy was tall and lanky as ever, smiling down at her. Her heart skipped a couple beats. She really missed those boys. Finally, she turned her back on them to face the one man she wasn't excited to see. "What do you have to say Matt?"

"I missed you. Let me take you out for drinks, tonight."

"I can't! I have a truck load of homework and quizzes to grade. I can't waste tonight drinking with you guys."

"Aw, c'mon Leigh," she heard the boys beg. Johnny spoke up first. "Come have a drink with us! We missed you."

"Guys, I would love to, but I -"

"Leigh, please. I promise this is the last time." Matt promised.

She sighed. "Fine."

[][][]

They boys and Leigh went out to the local bar. Brian and Jimmy were probably the ones, besides Matt, who missed her most. They constantly bombarded her with questions, asking her everything under the sun. Despite being dragged out here, Leigh was enjoying herself. Jimmy kept handing Johnny more and more drinks, laughing at his staggering form. Zach didn't really say anything, he just kept to himself, looking really down. And Brian and Matt were hanging on to Leigh's every word.

They stayed at the bar well past midnight and Leigh was slightly beside herself. The night was over and she knew that the moment the boys walked away, she was going to have to start working on her defenses again. Since her and Zach were the most sober, they drove home. Matt rode in the car with Leigh, and the rest of the boys with Zach.

The car ride home with Matt was a fairly silent one. Leigh could tell Matt was planning to do something, but she was too wrapped up in her own thinking to really give it any second thought. When they reached her apartment, Matt told Zach to just take the boys back and that he'd meet up with them later.

Matt and Leigh walked up to her door. The awkward silence was a deja vu and Leigh was hoping that the same thing wasn't going to happen. She carefully watched Matt, studying his actions. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary and he looked like he was about to just walk away. "I had a nice time tonight, Leigh. I don't think you know how nice it was to be with you again."

Leigh sighed. "Matt. . ."

"I'm not going to make a whole, big production out of this." Matt turned to face her completely and grabbed a hold of her hands. "But, just please, let me have this one night. Let me have you just once more. I don't care what we do. Just let me hold you, talk to you. Anything. And I will leave you alone. I promise to stay away and let you live on. Please?"

Leigh didn't speak: She didn't know what to say. She just turned around and opened her door, she didn't close it, but continued to walk further into her small apartment. She heard Matt walk hesitantly into her house, and smirk, thinking about the last time he was in her house.

"Do you want anything to drink? Coffee? Water? Another beer?"

Leigh waited for an answer as she pulled out her own beer from the fridge. She could hear him walking around, possibly staring at the pictures. Since he didn't answer her, she grabbed another beer for him. Walking out into living room, Leigh saw Matt standing in the far corner, staring at a one of the pictures on the side table.

"You kept this?" He asked softly.

"Yea, I couldn't part with it," she said, handing him the beer. She knew exactly which picture he was referring to. It was the one of her and the boys on the beach, just a week after Matt asked her out. Jimmy thought it would be nice to go to beach and drink non-stop. They all had agreed and ended up getting kicked off by the cops for "disturbing the peace." Leigh sighed at the memory and settled into the couch.

Matt watched Leigh carefully. He could see all of the frustration she was feeling on her face. He learned all of her facial expressions and memorized them for future reference. At this particular moment her eyebrows were pulled together and her lips pursed into a tight line. He knew that she was thinking about something, and it wasn't easy. Matt could literally see the battles she was having. He wanted to make her pain stop. He did the one thing her knew best. Sitting beside her on the couch, he curled and arm around her shoulders, linking their hands together.

Instinctively, Leigh curled into his chest and inhale his cologne. Tears sprang to her eyes as memories came at her in one big wave; and she wept. Her sobs jerked her whole body and Matt whispered softly in her ear, trying to calm her in vain, rubbing her arm consolingly. Finally he gave up, setting his drink on the coffee table. Scooping her up effortlessly into his arms, Matt carried Leigh to the bedroom.

Sitting on the bed with her, he wrapped both arms around her and let her cry; he let her pour her heart out. When she was finished she looked up at him, tear stains shining on her cheeks. Guilt wracked his body as he reached to wipe away her tears. And then Leigh did something he wasn't expecting. Especially from her.