Stay

Brian had only felt his cheekbone crack once. The band had just started touring and it was obvious that three weeks into the first stretch of the tour everyone was getting annoyed with each other. Brian and Matt's strong personalities clashed one night when the argument of who's turn to drive came up. The two, in their frozen and exhausted state, decided to be men and fight over who gets to sleep while the other drives. It took ten seconds for the rest of the band to realize this was a terrible mistake. It took an entire minute before they all heard the sickening crack of Brian's cheek under Matt's bruised and bloody knuckles.

This time, it took half a second for Matt's fist to collide with Brian's right cheek. The familiar sound of cracked bones echoed through the kitchen as blood poured out of the corner of his lips. The impact sent him to the floor of his own kitchen.

"You're a fucking asshole!" Matt screamed, picking Brian up by the collar before shoving him back into the ground, "How could you do that to me!?" He continued, ignoring Michelle's high-pitched pleas for him to stop.

Matt slumped when Jimmy's arms wrapped around his shoulders, roughly yanking him off Brian's limp body. He leaned against the wooden cabinets of the kitchen, heaving from the amount of energy he exerted to get Brian on the ground. It wasn't until he caught his breath did he realize he was crying.

He pushed Jimmy away, bringing his bloodied hands up to wipe his eyes. It only resulting in making him look even more barbaric than he had when ramming his best friend's face into the ground. He choked back a sob, looking over as Brian groaned to gain consciousness.

"I went over a year," Matt whispered as Brian started to realize what had just happened, "I went a year wondering where she could have run off to. I went a year wondering where the hell she could have been."

Michelle looked away, guilt filling her insides. Once a year had gone by, the guys had run into Grace once again. It was Grace who confessed Eden's whereabouts to Matt, without knowing she didn't want to be found in the first place. Of course, Grace couldn't provide a proper address. Eden was smart in covering her tracks. She knew Matt would go sniffing eventually.

"You knew she was at Princeston," Michelle defended, her gentle hands roaming the bruised and cracked cheek of her husband.

"Did I!? Because the next day when I checked the student housing enrollment, her name wasn't there!" He yelled and Michelle looked away, "I confided in you, Man. I went to you wondering what I should do, because I couldn't find her where I thought she would be."

Matt thought back to his days searching for Eden. He remembered having to jump through hoops to get ahold of the student housing enrollment list. Low and behold, only to see that Eden's name had been removed only twenty-four hours beforehand. The school refused to give him any information of her whereabouts, sending him into a fit of panic. He remembered going to Brian, asking him for advice on how to handle the situation. He wanted to know how to make his heart not hurt.

"We should have told you," Jimmy stated softly and Matt turned to him.

"You all knew?" He asked.

Jimmy nodded, "Brian told us before he found you knocked out in your house. He flew Eden up to San Francisco. He had her stay with a friend. Him and Michelle payed for Eden's first year in a leased apartment. Once she got a job, her lease ended and she took over the payments," Jimmy explained.

Matt turned back to Brian, now sitting up and leaning against Michelle's shoulder, "You purposely kept her from me?"

"We thought you would go back to Val. We didn't think you actually loved Eden. We just thought you were confused," Michelle stated softly.

"I finished the divorce the next day!" Matt yelled.

"And you thought we expected that!?" She yelled back, "As soon as it happened we realized our mistake, Matt! I knew you loved her, but we also made a promise to Eden. We promised her to let her heal. We thought time apart would help you two."

"And then what happened? She slowly turned into what she is now?" Matt asked.

"I didn't think that would happen," She whispered, "When you guys left for tour she changed. She became cold and mean. She stopped answering our calls and avoided contact with us. We tried to see her when we stopped there for a show," Michelle stated cautiously.

Matt remembered stopping in the Bay area. He remembered Brian and Michelle heading off for 'date night' for a few hours. He remembered them coming back earlier than usual, only for them to say their dinner wasn't that great and there were no good movies out.

"She didn't want to see us, obviously. She said it was work and school getting in the way, but it was pretty clear to us. She wanted to move on. We thought leaving her alone would let her move on. Maybe she wouldn't be in pain anymore," She continued.

"That obviously wasn't the case, though," Jimmy cut in, "Judging by seeing her now."

Michelle shook her head, "She got worse. Instead of healing herself she tried to cover it up and pretend she was fine. She buried herself in work and turned into the boss from hell to hide the fact that she's heartbroken."

Matt put his head in his hands, "I lost her..." He whispered, "I lost her because all you assholes decided to keep her away from me!" He yelled.

"Matt..." Jimmy tried to cut in.

"I spent years holding pure hatred towards her mother and Grace because I thought they were keeping her from me!" Matt confessed, "The whole time it was you."

"I know," Michelle nodded, looking back down at Brian who had fallen back into unconsciousness, "We need to get him to a hospital," She looked back up at Jimmy.

"What ever," Matt stood up, brushing his bloody hands off on his pants.

Grace watched the entire scene before her, putting the pieces together. It was clear what was happening now. Matt didn't help her from the kindness of his heart. She could see that he never really liked her. It explained why Matt was so quiet around her. Why he chose to just handle her financial situation directly though the school and not through her.

"Matt, wait!" She called and Matt spun around.

"You stay out of this, Grace!" He yelled and she stepped back, eyes wide as she looked up at him.

"You only talked to me because of her, huh?" Grace asked and Matt rolled his eyes, "Answer me!"

"I don't owe you anything, Grace!" He yelled, "Stop thinking about yourself for once!"

Matt didn't wait around for another response from the younger girl. Instead, he turned around and made his way through Brian's house, tossing the front door shut behind him.

He needed her. He was upset and angry and looked pathetic with all the blood and tears on his face. He just wanted to take her in, hold her, breathe her. He needed that release to bring him back to reality.

-

My mind couldn't process what Zack had just said. I didn't even realize how silent I was until we pulled into the driveway and the car turned off. I looked to the left, seeing a taxi waiting on the front curb, "Why is there a taxi here?" I asked, turning around to see Amy in the back seat.

"I found a hotel. I realized how rude of me it was to barge in to your mother's house without asking. You have family things to sort out, Eden. I'm perfectly comfortable taking care of work from my hotel room," She explained quickly.

"Of course," I nodded. I could tell she was uncomfortable. Amy had seen me livid plenty of times, but never had she known so much about my family or Matt.

It took us about twenty minutes to officially get Amy out of the house. She had left me all the information I would need to get ahold of her. She figured it was best if she worked alone, only staying close by in case she needed me. She also promised to be back to attend the funeral with me, as true friends do.

"You have a great friend," Zack smiled once I waved off the taxi until it had disappeared completely.

I sighed, "I only have one, but she makes up for my lack of others," I replied and he frowned at me.

"Earlier today," He coughed, shoving his hands in his front pockets, "She said something interesting. She said she never thought she'd see the day you'd show appreciation towards her," He hinted.

I nodded, falling back into the couch comfortably. I pulled a pillow onto my lap, clutching it tightly before turning to him. He too sat down beside me, but not before grabbing a case of beer for himself and a bottle of wine for me. It was as if he could read minds.

"What can I say? I'm a bitch," I stated.

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I'm a terrible person, Zack," I stated as he poured a full glass of wine for me, "As soon as I got my job, I started planning how I would get to the top. I lied and cheated. I'd take credit for work that wasn't mine and I'd sabotage all my competition. I wasn't exactly fair," I stated.

"Eden..." He whispered, not sure what to say.

"I had no heart," I shrugged, "I knew I was never going to feel again, so I took it out on everyone around me. Amy was the only one to see me differently," I replied honestly.

"How did she see you?"

"She saw me as a small and broken hearted girl who took all her pain out on everyone else. She bit her tongue when dealing with me and took all the ridicule I sent her way. It's why I kept her around. She comforted me, even if she didn't know what was going on. I didn't tell her much about Matt. It hurt too much to talk about him."

"You shouldn't have been alone," He shook his head, "We should have been there..."

"You guys were," I replied, "It was my fault for pushing them away. I didn't want to send Michelle and Brian away, but I had to. I thought clinging to you guys was making it worse," I explained.

"Eden," He started.

"You don't understand, Zack!" I exclaimed suddenly, tears filling my eyes, "I was so angry with Matt. I hated him. But once I settled into my new home and the anger washed away, I realized how heartbroken I was. The anger was a mask. I tried so hard to forget. Do you know how hard it is to forget someone who's songs come on the radio, or who's face is plastered on the local music store? It wasn't fair.

"It wasn't fair that I tried so hard to replace him, and nothing would fill that void. I tried so many times to fuck my feelings away, and each time they would come back even worse than before. I was so broken without him, Zack. I still am. And I wish more and more every day that I can forgive and forget and maybe I'll be happy again, but deep down I know that won't happen. I think that's what hurts the most."

Zack looked at me with such a sad look in his eyes. He sighed heavily before setting his beer down, scooting over on the couch until he was in arms length of me. He didn't hesitate to pull me into his arms, giving me the warm hug I needed. And even if I was only in his arms for a moment, it was enough to make me forget about Matt just for a little while.