Where Were You When My Walls Came Falling Down?

It’d been 3 weeks since then and we were one stop away from Ocala, the guys had 2 shows in the place we were at to play and then 2 at the last stop before they had a 3 weeks break. However much fun the guys had on tour and loved it Matt always gave them a tour break because it was easy to burnout when you toured constantly and when you were as hyperactive as they were. Everyone needed time to relax and unwind, Jeremy had persuaded me to leave the tour today and go back to his before the guys joined us when they finished and I was terrified of meeting his parents.

We’d been travelling an hour and I saw him staring out the window smiling “Look at you being all excited to be home” I teased and he nodded “I love this place, I’ve been away a long time. I toured for 10 months and then we’ve been together 6 months now so in the last 16 months I’ve been at home for roughly 6 weeks,” he explained. “Mom and dad are working but we’re going around there’s for dinner tonight, so that gives us the whole day to chill out at home” he offered and I nodded.

“Okay we’re nearly there, literally 2 minutes” he stated looking out the window, we got to his house and he paid the driver dragging me inside as he carried the bags. He dropped them on the floor inside the door grabbing my hand “Come on I’ll show you around” he said pulling me with him; his house was pretty good even I had to admit it.

“I thought you said you’d done nothing to the house?” I asked “Well I hadn’t but the guys offered when they found out you were pregnant because they thought it would save us having to do it” he explained and I nodded “Right get changed we’re going to look around town, I want to see what’s changed” he said and I did as I was told. He walked out the house his fingers linked through mine showing me places around town “It’s pretty” I stated and he smiled “I think the boys did a good job of our house” he said as he put his arm around my neck, “It’s good to be home” he added kissing the side of my head.

“Jeremy!” someone shouted and he looked around “It is you, dude how are you?” a guy said walking over “I’m great Steve, you?” he asked ”Yeah! Your mom said you were back today, thanks for the wedding invite,” the guy stated. “No worries man, you coming?” “Yeah, I hope the weather stays good” the guy replied, “Yeah, this is Jess” Jeremy introduced “Hey I’m Steve, we used to be neighbours as kids” he said shaking my hand “It’s nice to meet you” I replied smiling. “Anyway I best get back to work, glad your home and I’ll see you at the wedding. It was good to meet you Jess” “You too” I said “Yeah see you Steve” Jeremy stated smiling as the guy walked off.

“Darling on the topic of the wedding I’ve not seen anything to do with it apart from our suits, do you think we should check it out?” he asked “Like what?” “Well there’s the cake, the rings, the flowers, the venue and everything to do with that, mom even picked the food” he admitted “Jeremy has your mother done everything for this wedding?” I asked and he smiled. “Your such a mommy’s boy!” I teased “No I’m not! I could hardly do all the cake and stuff when we’re on the road and you were hardly jumping to do anything, Mrs lazy arse” he replied as I nodded.

“Well do you trust your mom?” “Yeah she’ll want it to be perfect,” he stated, ”Then it’ll be fine, she’s seen the dresses and the boys suits so she’ll have done it all perfect I’m sure” I replied and he nodded. “So you still don’t want to see where we’re getting married?” he asked, “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t really mind” “Well we’ll leave it until the day then, just think in 5 days time we’re getting married” he said smiling and I nodded pushing my hand in his back pocket as we walked along.

“Hey I’m going to go see if one of my friends is in the record store, go buy us a coffee will you and I’ll meet you over there” he said pointing to the shop and I nodded, he smiled crossing the road as I walked into the shop. I stood in the queue before reaching the front and ordering, not drinking coffee was one of the sucky things about pregnancy although now I could smell it and not feel sick so Jeremy was making up for lost time and drinking it constantly, he’d had set strict rules on what I was and wasn’t allowed and water was about my limit.

“Your not from around here” the girl stated who was serving me and I looked at her “No I’m from Baltimore” I answered and she just nodded looking me up and down “What you doing here?” she asked; I didn’t like the way she looked at me, it was like she was judging me as I stood there. “Oh I’m on a work break and visiting, well I’m moving out here I guess” I replied realising that this actually was going to be home now.

“Bit of a change isn’t it?” she said “Yeah you could say that” I stated smiling, “So where are you moving to, in town or out of town?” “Oh I can’t remember; it’s in town. About 10 minute walk from here I think” I answered her and she nodded. “It seems really nice here although it might take a bit to get used to” I offered, “Yeah it is but some people don’t appreciate it” she cut back and her tone told me the ‘some people’ comment was meant to mean me.

“I’m more used to New York and this is a bit slower” “I thought you said you’re from Baltimore?” she asked “Yeah I live in Baltimore but I work in New York often” I explained. “So you’re a city girl then” she stated, “Oh no not really, I’m originally from a real small place in Texas; I miss the open spaces” I admitted. She nodded “Are you from here?” I asked trying to be polite “Yeah, lived here my whole life; I see people like you come and go. Here’s your order,” she said handing me it and I took it.

“Thank you, it was nice talking to you” I stated and she just nodded looking at the TV and I shook my head walking out the shop, I crossed the road walking into the shop Jeremy had said he was going. “Hey” a guy said as I walked in the door “Hi” I replied and I saw Jeremy sat on the counter “Ergh you can piss off, stop following me around!” he shouted and I rolled my eyes “You want to drink this or get a nasty burn from it?” I asked and he laughed. “Chris this is Jess, Jess one of my friends Chris” he introduced and I smiled at the guy who’d spoken to me as I walked over to them.

“Who’s the dick in the coffee shop? She kept giving me a right attitude and funny looks, she wants a good slap” I said handing Jeremy his drink and he laughed taking it from me “She’s a catch right?” he joked and the guy laughed “She made it sound like I wasn’t good enough to be here and she kept giving me them looks, you know the ones where they’re blatantly thinking ‘You’re a prick’?” I asked and Jeremy nodded. “What she look like?” he asked, “Dark red hair, it was dyed that colour. Shorter than me, tanned, a bitch” I listed as he shook his head to say he didn’t know.

The guy laughed, “You know who it was?” he asked “Nope, who?” Jeremy replied looking over at him as he drank “Lisa” “Lisa! As in Lisa?” Jeremy asked and the guy nodded. “She’s been working there about 3 months now, don’t you worry she looks at everyone that way and she’ll give you a worse look when she finds out who you are exactly” Chris explained and I looked at Jeremy. “Lisa as in your ex Lisa?” I asked and Jeremy nodded “That’s the one” “Well she seems lovely Jeremy, nice choice” I joked and he laughed.

We stayed talking for ages before a group of people came in and we left, “Fancy grabbing some lunch?” he asked and I nodded “Come on, now or never for me I guess” he stated “What?” “We’re going in there for it, I have to see her sooner or later and it might as well be now” he said. “But…” “But nothing, I have to face her and well she might be more accommodating if she’s working” he stated as he opened the door walking in and I followed him.

We stood in the queue and he glanced up at her looking away quickly “What’s with the nerves?” I asked, “Because lets just say the last time we spoke it didn’t end so well, I haven’t spoken to her since we broke up. Our last conversation involved her telling me all these things she hated about me and I got upset and I cried and then I got angry that she’d treated me that way and I started on her and she cried and then there was lots of shouting, she threw a couple things at me and I said some real mean things and she stormed out. It was carnage,” he explained.

“So why are we in here then?” I asked “Because I don’t care, it’s just I really don’t want her to shout at me and call me names in public. If this is where she works then we’re going to have to see each other and it might as well happen now when she’s not aware I’m back, that way she hasn’t had time to think of what she wants to say to me” he admitted and I smiled “Okay but she hates me already, thinks I’m not good enough for your shitty town” I joked and he laughed “Your not, this place is better than you any day” he teased.

“That’s why you’ve not been home since we got serious” I stated and he smiled as we got to the front and he sighed looking up at her “Can I…Jeremy what do you want?” she snapped “Well I was hoping to get some lunch” “I didn’t mean that, why are you here?” she asked “I’m home” “Since when?” she questioned. “Since today” “Well it was nice of you to tell me” she cut back “I wasn’t aware I had to tell you, can I order now?” he asked and she shook her head as he ordered “I’ll bring it over” she snapped looking at the person next to him as I stood behind him and he sighed turning and pushing me lightly towards a seat.

He sat looking out the window in his own world as I watched the people going past, I heard something and saw her putting food on the table and Jeremy looked at her “Thank you” he said politely “I’m not doing it because I want to, it’s my job. Trust me if I thought I’d get away with it you’d be wearing your lunch” she snapped at him and he nodded. “Why are you home?” she asked “Because I am, I live here Lisa; I am allowed to be here” he cut back “Yeah well we’ve not missed you” “I never expected you to miss me” he snapped back.

“It’s so typical of you to just turn up and not tell anyone your coming back, you never think of anyone but yourself” “This is coming from you? Plenty of people knew I was coming home” he stated, “Don’t make out like I’m the bad person! You’re the one who did all the shouting, the one who made it clear how you felt, I would’ve thought you’d have told me you were coming home. You’ve not spoken to me since we broke up” she said glaring at him.

“I don’t have to tell you anything and the way I remember it involved you making your feelings about me pretty clear; you know what I don’t even care. I’m home Lisa and your going to have to get used to seeing me” “You know my friends always ask that if you come home would we hang out and try work things out, they told me I should try with you again because you were good for me” she rambled on at him and I could tell he didn’t care what came out her mouth.

“Lisa I don’t care what your friends said or say about me and what we were, that was then and this is now” he said as she carried on talking “Lisa…Lisa! We’re not going to talk and work it out, there’s nothing to work out” he stated making her shut up as he spoke “Jeremy there’s loads to work out” “No there isn’t, I’m engaged Lisa; I get married at the weekend” he cut across her and she stared at him. “What?” “I’m engaged” he repeated “But we…” “We broke up, you made your feelings clear and I got over us and moved on, there’s nothing for us to work out. I don’t want to work anything out with you and after the way you spoke to me back then I don’t want to be friends, we can be civil or enemies; your choice” he cut in.

“Who to?” she snapped “Well she’s been sat at the table all this time” he said and her eyes fell on me and I felt very uneasy “You! So this is why you’re here, you moving here for him! I knew you looked like trouble,” she snapped at me “And I knew you were a bitch” I replied and she looked at Jeremy “Why are looking at me, I ain’t defending you” he stated. “Why don’t you go back to Baltimore, you don’t belong here so leave already” “Ergh Lisa I’m bored now can you please just go back to your job and leave us alone, it wasn’t nice to see you and I don’t hope your well” he snapped and she glared at him.

“Bye then” he added and she turned walking away “Well she’s really nice, I hope that I can fill her shoes” I joked and he laughed starting to eat, we finished and sat talking before he went to pay and I walked over to him before we left. “We should get home, we need to be at mom’s in half an hour” he stated and we walked back, he insisted that I wasn’t to carry things and he’d been a pain in my ass since he found out I was pregnant.

I sneezed and he wanted me at a doctor, Vinny had been a bit careful to start with but then he’d given up and he pretty much let me do what I wanted to do; I never picked anything extremely heavy up but Jeremy went too far. If I picked a bloody cereal box up he gave me this look that said ‘be careful’, I was trying to find clothes to wear in my bag and settled on dress pulling it on.

“Fuck look at that!” he shouted at me and I looked at him worried “I never really noticed until now, look at you” he stated pushing me to the mirror and I saw what he was talking about. There was a definite bump appearing, it was small and if you didn’t know me you’d never think I was pregnant. “That’s our fucking baby right there” “Jeremy it’s a bump calm down you dick” I snapped and he smiled at me.

“This shit just got real” he joked and I rolled my eyes at him as he hugged me against him “How have I not noticed until now?” “Because you were being polite and thought I was just fat?” I asked and he laughed, “Yeah I did think you’d put on a few pounds, I’m joking! I guess you don’t normally wear clothes that are really tight on top so I never really saw it. You can’t wear that tonight though because the idea is that my parents don’t know” he replied and I sighed pushing myself from him to find something else to wear.

I settled on another dress “Does this one suit you?” I asked and he nodded smiling “Come on” he said dragging me outside and into his car. “I hate your driving” “No your just used to Jack” he stated “Yeah this is true, I don’t know why everyone gets so uptight about him, he’s good” “No he’s not, he dances around to music” Jeremy cut back. “Then don’t let him listen to it, he can drive good if you make him. You just don’t have the ability to make him drive good” I bragged and he smiled at me.

I felt decidedly sick with nerves when we got to the house “I don’t want to go” I stated, “They won’t murder you, they’re nice honestly. They’ll be nice to you” he reassured “No I’m scared” I whined making him laugh, “Well I’ve met your parents now man up and get in there!” he snapped at me and I smiled. “I might be sick,” I informed as we got out the car “Drama queen” he whispered and I nudged his shoulder as he laughed knocking on the door.