If Only Tonight

Life After The Storm:
Chapter Seventy Four: The Chase

Days passed, and nothing happened, Matthew found himself aggravated at the way things had been going. Though she showed no signs of what was going on in her head, her actions proved otherwise. Wallpapering the rest of the bathroom, and leaving him to paint the walls and polish the railing along the stairway, he felt like she was once again avoiding him. The only comfort he had was listening to music on her phone. Having been replaying the same three songs over and over again, even without the phone he could hear the songs playing in his mind.

"Need help?" He heard her ask from behind him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"You're done with the wallpaper?"

"Yea. Just finished. Hand me the other brush." Mia told him, as she walked up the stairs to stand beside him.

Caught between doing what she said and fed up with the way things were stagnant between them, Matthew mischievously held out the paintbrush. Before she could take it from him, he moved quickly, stroking the side of her face with the wet paint covered bristles.

"Matthew!" Mia exclaimed, looking shocked and surprised, she wiped the paint from her cheek. Snatching the brush from him, she waved it close to him, threateningly. "I'm going to get you, for that!"

"Yea, if you can catch me." Slipping under the railing, Matthew jumped from the stairs as she came after him.

It didn't take her long to corner him in the main room of the basement. Feinting side to side, Matthew knew she was waiting to get back at him, the brush held tightly in her hand. As soon as he tried to pass her, she grabbed him by the hand. Taken by surprise, he froze on the spot. She was never the one to reach out first. Her touch overloading his nerves with signals, as he saw her come closer. Drawn to her, he bent to kiss her, his lips meeting hers, her hand caressing his cheek. As he pulled away, he saw there was mischief in her eyes.

"I got you!" She snickered, holding up her paint covered hand.

"Mia!" He groaned, running a hand on his cheek. Sure enough, pale green paint smeared on to his hand.

"That was evil." Matthew told her, unable to stop himself from grinning at her cleverness.

"You deserved it." She countered, walking back to the stairs.

"What! I did not!" He argued, following her.

Handing him a second paint brush with a smirk, she dipped hers in to the tray of paint before starting to work on the wall.

Moving to stand close to her, Matthew unhappily started to paint beside her. When she turned to face him looking as though she was going to say something, Matthew didn't hesitate, tired of watching himself around her, he gave in to his temptation.

Dropping his brush on to the tarp covered stairs, Matthew caressed her cheek, moving forward, their lips about to meet when she pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Matthew demanded, weary from the constant tug of war of emotions.

-----

Her heart pounded, as his fingers ran across her cheek, his blue eyes captivating her. About to give in, Mia stuck to her resolve; she had already made the mistake of kissing him once today.

Moving away, Mia turned back to face the wall, forcing herself to lift her hand and continue painting.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, sounding bewildered.

"Nothing." Mia replied, trying to keep her voice even, forcing her hand to remain steady.

"Then why do you keep pushing me away?" Now he sounded frustrated.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him, unsure of how to face him. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Every time I kiss you, you kiss back...and its like your okay with me. And then you suddenly push me away, like you remember what I've done." Matthew mumbled, as though confessing his fear.

For a moment, Mia didn't say anything.

"Maybe because I do remember. You can't just expect me to forget just because you kiss me." She told him, slowly. "Neither of us talk about what happened."

"I don't know what to say." Matthew admitted, leaning against the unpolished railing.

"Neither do I." Mia confessed, sitting down on the paint can at the top of the stairs.

Each one staring at the other in silence, Mia didn't know what to tell him. What could she possible say?

After a few minutes of silence, she got up.

"I'm going to take a shower. Just rinse the brushes. We can do the rest tomorrow."

With that she left him staring after her.

-----

Waiting for her, or rather hoping that she would appear soon, Matthew sat on the couch after cleaning up. Her smart phone with him, he listened to the same songs again.

He still couldn't get over how they said exactly what he felt.

Finally hearing her walk down the creaking stairs, Matthew looked up to see her go in to the kitchen.

Following her, he saw her rummage through the fridge in search of something to eat.

"Hungry?" He asked, leaning against the wall.

"Kind of..." She answered, still not looking at him.

"We could-" Before he could finish his sentence, Mia cut him off.

"Please...just don't..." She said, looking at him, a pained expression on her face.

"Mia, just hear me out." Matthew tried again, hoping to talk to her.

"Not right now." She told him, sounding exhausted.

"Mia..." He called her, but she walked away from him, leaving the kitchen.

"I think I need a drink." He heard her mutter.

"What? I've driven you to drink?" He chuckled leaving the kitchen, but upon hearing the front door close, he knew at once she had not been joking. The distinct sound of the truck's engine starting reached his ears.

"Oh shit." Matthew muttered, running to the hallway closet to grab the keys to the Challenger that he knew hung there and bolting out the door.

With her phone tucked in to his pocket, he knew better than to try and call her. There was no chance Mia would pick up knowing it was him on the other end.

Turning the key to unlock the car door, Matthew grimaced. Please kill me if I ever do this again, he thought, starting the engine. Taking out her phone, he looked at the GPS. What was that bar called again? He wondered, remembering the only bar she had shown him. Salty something, he tried jogging his memory. Salty Dawg! Typing in the name, he found the map. Placing the phone on the passenger seat, he turned out of the driveway. He needed to find her, he wanted to tell her what had happened. He was ready to talk, the thought of losing her had motivated him, although rather late.

Parking at the bar, to his relief he saw the giant truck sitting among the other cars. She was inside, he thought a little comforted.

Walking in to the dingy building, loud music met his ears. A live band was playing on stage. Matthew looked around the crowds of people before spotting Mia sitting at the bar. Looking upset she was stirring a glass of Coke, he thought, glad that it wasn't anything stronger.

Not knowing how to approach her, he meandered his way to the front. Taking a deep breath, he decided on the best way to catch her attention. Matthew walked up to the stage, as the band finished their song.

"Hello. Excuse me. Hi." Matthew caught their attention.

"What do you want?" The guitarist asked him.

"Look, I need a favour." He started, pulling out Mia's phone, he showed them the song. "Can you please play this?"

"We don't do requests." The drummer told him.

"I'm sure you don't, but I need to get my girlfriend back." He still couldn't call her his ex. It didn't matter if they were over. He missed her and wanted her back, and saying former or ex made it seem like it would never happen.

"Wait...I know you." Said another one of the band members.

"You do?" Matthew asked, puzzled.

"Yea. I saw you play against TFC. You're the new guy on Real Madrid. Rossi, right?"

"Yea..."

"Okay, we'll play the Neverest song, but only if you give us your autograph."

"Sure." Matthew agreed, signing the sheets the man handed to him.

"Wait a minute." The drummer stopped Matthew from leaving the stage. "Who's going to sing?"

-----

Glumly stirring her drink, as she watched the ice cubes melt, Mia wondered why she had come here. Though she wanted to know why he had left her, a larger part of her was scared to find out the truth.

What if the reason wasn't something they could work together to get through?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a familiar voice. He can't possibly be here? She wondered, turning around, only to be stunned when she saw the face that greeted her.

Standing on stage, looking like he was way out of his depth, Matthew met her gaze.

"This song I think describes how I feel about this girl in my life. I'm so sorry about what I did...I just want you to know how much you mean to me." He told her, not breaking eye contact.

Enthralled, Mia watched, as he waited for the band to start playing.

"What am I thinking, if I'm not thinking about you? Nothing. What am I feeling, if my heart doesn't feel the truth? Nothing. This is a love, that I've never known, And it's got a strangle hold on me. This is a love, that makes me believe, I just wanna remind you, lady!" His mesmerising ice blue eyes never left her face as he sang. She couldn't believe that he was doing this for her.

"You're my everything, You're my everything, You're my everything, Girl, you're the air that I breathe. You're my everything, You're my everything, You're my, You're my everything..."

In spite of herself, Mia couldn't get herself to look away.

"What am I loving, Girl if I'm not loving you? Nothing. What are we losing, if we're dreaming for me and you? Nothing. This is a love, that I've never known. And it's got a strangle hold on me. This is a love, that makes me believe. I just wanna remind you, lady!"

Before she could stop it, all the hurt and pain she had felt from finding out about his indiscretions rose up. If he had come back, she would have talked to him, but he hadn't. Matthew had pushed her away, and then wound up with someone else. Yet still she knew, if he had just come home and told her instead of pretending nothing had happened, Mia would have worked it out with him.

"I give it all, and even lose control, If we can both close our eyes and just dream, If you need more, girl I swear that I'll find it in me..."

All she had wanted was time to think things through, but he had made it next to impossible to be alone. At every turn she found herself confused by her feelings for him and the conflict of her conscience. She wanted to be with him, with all her heart Mia knew she loved him, but she needed to be sure that just because of a disagreement she wouldn't find him on the arms of someone else.

"You're my everything, You're my everything, You're my everything, Girl, you're the air that I breathe. You're my everything, You're my everything, You're my, You're my everything..."

The moment he ended the song and turned around to hand the microphone back to the band, amidst the cheers and applause, Mia took off.

-----

Momentarily losing eye contact with her, as he turned to thank the men who had allowed him the chance, Matthew handed them the microphone before jumping off the stage to find her.

Wincing as he landed on his injured foot, Matthew pushed through the crowd of bodies to where he had seen her sitting, only to find the seat empty.

"Where did she go?" He asked the bartender.

"The green eyed girl? She left." The burly man replied, pointing to the door.

Rushing out of the bar, Matthew got out in time to see the Ram turn on to the main road.

Quickly walking to the Challenger, he started the car and sped out of the parking lot, trying to keep up with Mia.

Turning in to the driveway, Matthew watched Mia slam the door of the truck and run in to the woods.

Where is she going? He wondered, cutting the engine, and chasing after her.

"Mia!" He shouted after her, but she wouldn't stop. "Mia, just talk to me."

"Mia!"

Finally she turned around, stopping in the middle of a clearing. He could see dirt trails leading through the forest in the moonlight. What was more, he saw tears shining on her face.

"Just leave me alone, Matt!" She told him, her voice breaking.

"You don't know how much it hurt when Felix and the entire team hid the fact you were getting signed on my birthday. The other two specialists, my closest friends, my entire roster, didn't breathe a word of your signing. Oliver and Nate tried to take me out to lunch. Instead, I walked in to the lounge to find Jon, and they were all there watching you sign your contract." Mia told him with anguish.

"You left me in the middle of a press conference. The journalists saw you leave and thought it was hilarious to ask me where you were going. Even the PR specialist, Ricardo, didn't know how to shut it down." He quietly listened as she told him what had happened after his departure.

"For almost three weeks, I didn't even know where you where or if you were alright. Aidan wouldn't tell me or your cousins. I worried like crazy for you. Our press conference was on every channel for a week or two...and I felt so bad about hurting you. Every time, I saw the look on your face when I said I was staying, I wanted to take it all back." Mia cried, tears running down her moonlit face, Matthew could feel the lump in his throat, he felt her pain. He hadn't known how badly he had hurt her.

"Then you went and kissed those girls behind my back, and came home thinking I would be okay since no one would tell me." She told him. "And now here you are, pretending everything is fine between us."

"That's not true. Just hear me out Mia." Matthew tried, hoping she would give him even the slightest chance to explain.

"No...just stop. You can't just walk back in to my life and expect we're going to be okay. I need some time." She said, dashing his hopes, wiping the tears from her face.

"Mia..." But she shook her head.

"I'm sorry...I can't...Goodnight, Matthew." Mia walked away leaving him in the forest, as he heard her trudge back to the cottage.