Memories Won't Let Me Cry

Matt grabbed Brian by the arm to hold him back from the approaching Andrew and I heard him mutter, “Syn, dude, don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Stupid?” Brian huffed and jerked his arm away with a roll of his shoulders. “I won’t do anything stupid. I’m just going to kick his ass, that’s all.”

“Brian, what the hell-“ Memphis tried to talk to him, but was interrupted by Andrew’s bellow.

“Memphis, get over here.”

I looked at Andrew with narrowed eyes because of the way he ordered her. He looked to be about Matt’s height, but he had dark blond hair that was styled in the short, buzzed cut that was standard for the Army. He was dressed casually in a white tee shirt, khaki’s and flip-flops but walked with the authority and swagger of someone who had a lot of power and intimidation, and knew it. Hell, I was intimidated just by looking at him and there were three other guys separating me from him.

I looked back at Memphis as she tried to reason with Brian and wondered just what kind of relationship they had. Andrew didn’t seem to be the loving and affectionate type, and that was just my first impression.

“Memphis,” Andrew shouted again, but he was closer this time, maybe about eight feet away. “I want to talk to you right now.”

She stood up to face him, and the tone of her voice told me she wasn’t happy.

“What the hell are you doing here, Andrew?”

“I came to see you.”

“I told you I would call you later.”

He glared at her. “Call me? Are you kidding?” He took a step forward and pointed at her. “You’re my fucking wife.”

“Andrew-“

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Brian snapped, taking a step forward so he put half of his body in front of Memphis. “What do you want with her?”

Andrew looked at Brian with narrowed eyes and smirked. “Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am, you need to answer my question. What the fuck do you want?”

“Does it concern you? No, it’s between me and my wife. Memphis, let’s go.” He took a step back and put out an arm for her, waving his fingers for her to follow him.

Memphis seemed to pause as she looked between her husband and the man that she had just moments ago claimed to still love. But then she walked towards Andrew slowly, looking almost hesitant to go near him.

Matt took her arm. “Memphis, you don’t have to talk-“

“Yes, I do.” She smiled reassuringly at him, looked at Corie and I before she turned to Brian.

“What’s going on?” Corie whispered to me. “Why does she look scared?”

“I don’t know.” I murmured back, my eyes wide as I watched the look of impatience cross Andrew’s face, his jaw clenching and unclenching with it.

I did not like Andrew. And I certainly did not like the way he was looking at Matt’s sister.

“If he has something to say to you, he can say it here.” Brian insisted, obviously not comfortable with Andrew’s behavior.

“Brian-“

Memphis was cut off by Andrew grabbing her arm roughly, hard enough that she gasped and stumbled towards him.

“Let’s go.” He snapped before dragging her off behind him.

I stared after them in shock, unable to believe what was happening even as Zacky said, “She’s in the fucking US Army, why doesn’t she just deck him? Why is she letting him drag her off like that?”

“Andrew, let go.” Memphis ordered, trying to pull her arm away.

Andrew stopped and said something to her and she shoved him away, the angry tone in her voice drifting to us on the wind, but not letting us hear her words. I started to stand up slowly, walking to stand beside Matt as we all seemed obsessed with the scene before us.

And then it happened. Andrew raised his hand and slapped Memphis, her face snapping to the side.

“Mother-fucking…” Brian growled before he ran off towards them, Matt and Zacky right on his heels.

“Oh, God…” Corie chanted from behind me.

But Memphis was already recovering and reared her fist back, putting enough force behind her punch to have her husband stumbling back, clutching his broken and bloody nose.

Brian intercepted them and pulled Memphis away, almost gently pushing her to the side before he grabbed Andrew by the collar of his shirt and hit him square in the jaw.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Brian screamed, going for Andrew again as he wiped blood from his face, smearing dark red blood on his tee shirt.

Matt caught his sister and didn't even spare her a glance as he pushed her behind him, looking at me and mouthing the words “Stay there” before looking back at Brian, ready to jump in at any moment to defend his friend and his sister.

But in the three years that Matt and I had been together, I had yet to listen to anything he ordered me to do. I ran towards them, knowing that Corie was right behind me, with the intention of getting Memphis out of the way as the yelling between Brian and Andrew got louder and more intense.

"Are you okay?" I asked her quietly, lifting her chin to see the bright red, palm-sized welt forming on her cheek.

She nodded and smiled a little at me, looking more pissed off than anything.

"Jesus Christ, I want to kill him." Corie spat, hugging her friend tightly. "Let me kill him."

"What the hell is your problem, asshole?" Andrew spat, squaring his shoulders and regaining his balance to face a livid Synyster Gates.

If there was one thing I knew about Brian Haner Jr., it was this: mess with the people he cares about, even loves, and you mess with him. And one thing you did not want to do is was piss him off; making Synyster Gates angry was almost as scary as making M. Shadows angry.

"My problem?" Brian scoffed. "My problem is that you put your hands on Memphis."

"She’s my wife, I can fucking put my hands on her whenever I want."

"No, you can’t." Memphis spoke up, pulling away from up to stand in front of Matt, shoving her brother backwards when he tried to push her back behind him.

"Babe-"

"Don’t you dare call me that." She screamed. "I’m not your 'babe'. Not anymore."

Andrew looked confused as Brian looked at her with a shocked, "What?"

Reaching into her front pocket, she pulled out a plain gold band and handed it to him.

"Take it."

Andrew stared at her and Brian grabbed his tee shirt to yank him forward.

"Take it, fuckhead."

Andrew reached out a hand and took the ring from her fingers with the question, "What does this mean, Memphis?"

"I don't know, Andrew." She replied. "What I do know, is I don't want you. Not anymore."

"Get out of here." Brian growled.

Andrew started to back away, panting loudly and then he pointed his finger at Memphis and threatened, "This isn't over. I'll be back."

I shivered, not liking the hidden message behind those words.

Matt stepped forward, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Yeah? If you ever come near my sister again, I'll fucking kill you. You won’t need to worry about finishing anything, because I'll finish it for you. Now get the fuck out of here."

Andrew sneered at him before turning to storm away from us.

Corie went to talk quietly with Zacky and before I knew it, my angry and irritated boyfriend was standing in front of me.

"Since when do you not listen to me when I tell you to stay back?"

I smiled innocently at him. "Matt, baby, when do I ever listen to you?"

He sighed and tried to look annoyed before those adorable dimples appeared and he pulled me into a hug, making me rest the side of my face against his chest as he played with my hair.

"Please listen to me next time." He murmured gruffly. "I don't know what I would do if something ever happened to you."

I pulled away to kiss him before we both looked over to see Memphis and Brian were standing a few feet away, their hands clasped together as they spoke quietly. She seemed to be doing most of the talking, but Brian didn’t look ready to interrupt anytime soon, though he didn't appear to be too upset, either.

"I wonder what she's saying." Matt remarked almost dryly and I shook my head as it rested against his chest once again.

"I wonder what's going to happen to them now."