Memories Won't Let Me Cry

Matt's POV

"Brian, sit down." I demanded as he got up from the couch to look out the window for the umpteenth time in the past few hours.

"I’m just checking-"

"Stop it. They’re not going to do anything to your precious car."

He sighed and threw himself down on the other end of the couch with his arms crossed.

"If there is so much as a scratch on that baby, it's your ass." He snapped and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"How is it my ass? I never took your car."

"No, but your girlfriend did and since I can't do anything to her because she's a girl and I don't hit girls…" He turned to look at me with narrowed eyes and nodded. "It's your ass."

At a loss for words I shook my head and stood up to go get a beer.

Synyster Gates may be the best guitar player in the world, and he may be my best friend, but he's a fucking idiot.

I was just going back into the living room when the front door opened and the three girls walked in, chatting amongst each other.

Brian lurched from the couch and ran towards the door, practically pushing Lyndsey into the wall in his haste to get outside to check his car over.

Lynds rolled her eyes at me and I smiled at her.

"No shoes?"

She made a disgusted face. "No."

I chuckled. "You don't need any more shoes anyway, baby."

"Yes, I do." She whined.

"Matt, don't you know?" Jimmy said as he walked by and into the kitchen. "That girl can never have enough shoes. You'd think after three years, you would know that by now."

"Thanks for reminding me, Jim." I said sarcastically and he saluted me before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Matt?"

I looked to see my sister standing by the front door, looking irritated.

"I need to talk to you."

"Uh-oh." I mumbled and Lyndsey smiled as she patted my chest.

"Good luck."

I gaped at her. "What, you're not going to protect me?"

She scoffed. "Protect you from her? Have you seen your sister? Sorry, sweetheart, you're on your own with that."

I stuck my tongue out at her before following my sister outside.

She was standing on the grass near the edge of the lawn with her arms crossed, watching me with blank eyes as I made my way towards her.

"So what's up, sis?"

She waited until I reached her before she reached out and shoved me backwards really hard, smacking my chest with enough force that it actually stung.

"Ah!" I grabbed my chest and held her hands when she tried to do it again. "What the hell, Memphis?"

"You," She hissed between gritted teeth, pulling one hand away to jab her finger into my shoulder. "Are an asshole."

"What? Why?"

"Are you seriously going to play dumb with me?" She laughed, but the sound was bitterer than anything else.

"No, but I don't know what you're talking about." I defended, pulling my tee shirt down. "What did I do to you?"

"I'm not talking about me, moron, I'm talking about Lyndsey. The girl that you apparently love more than anything and want to marry. I'm talking about the fact that you have a kid, and haven't told her."

My jaw dropped and all I could do was stare at her. For the first time in my life, I was speechless.

Memphis crossed her arms again and cocked her hip as she waited for me to talk.

"Care to explain, Matthew?"

I fought back the urge to tell her not to call me 'Matthew' because I hated it, and she knew that.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Memphis."

"Maybe not. But you might want to give me one reason why I shouldn’t go in there and tell Lyndsey, right now. She has a right to know."

I narrowed my eyes at her, trying not to show her that I was starting to panic. "You wouldn't."

"Maybe not, but she still deserves to know, Matt."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brian come up but when he saw the way that Memphis was looking at me, with fire in her eyes, he turned around and tried to leave the situation.

"Get back here, Brian." She snapped and because he knew what was good for him, Brian swiftly turned around and came right back to stand beside me.

"What's going on, guys?" He asked nervously.

Memphis answered by reaching up to smack her hand across his forehead.

"What is the matter with you?"

"Me?" He sounded shocked as he rubbed his head. "What's the matter with you?"

"You're supposed to be her best friend, Brian. How the hell could you keep the fact that Matt has a kid from her?"

Brian looked in shock as he turned dark eyes to me. "You told her?"

I shook my head as my sister explained, "Val did."

"What?" Brian hissed. "That bitch. She promised-"

"She didn't have a choice. We were standing there, talking, and then this little kid who looks suspiciously like Matt came running around the corner. She had to tell me. But now I want to know, Matt, were you ever planning on telling her? Better yet, why didn't you tell her to begin with?"

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know. Because I was scared, I guess."

"Scared that she would leave you?"

"I don't know, I guess. Look, Memphis…" I sighed as I prepared to be completely honest with my sister and Brian, even though I knew I could tell him anything. "This sounds crazy and corny, I know, but I fell in love with that girl after the first time that I met her. I need her in my life and I didn't want to jeopardize any chance of ruining what I had with her."

"Do you really think you would have lost her? You think she would have left you, even though it's obvious you didn’t cheat on her?"

"Come on, Memphis," Brian said quietly. "If you were dating someone and they suddenly told you that their ex-girlfriend just had their baby, even though that guy hadn't cheated on you, what would you do?"

She looked ready to answer before she bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know."

I crossed my arms as I waited for her to keep going.

"But you'll need to tell her soon, Matt; because the longer you leave it the harder it will be-for her. Because everyone seems to know about it, and she's going to feel pretty bad. And sooner or later that little boy is going to grow up, and he's going to get old enough to start asking questions. And I'm sure it won't be pretty when some little boy shows up at your house, wanting to see his daddy."

I sighed. "I know."

"You better get in there before she comes out to see if I killed you yet." She laughed and shoved me towards the door.

"Are you two coming in?"

Memphis started to nod but Brian took her hand. "No, we're heading back to my place. We need to talk."

She nodded slowly and walked with him to his car.

I entered the house and frowned when Lyndsey wasn't in the living room. I heard voices from the kitchen and made my way there, smiling when I heard my girl talking with Jimmy, and hid around the corner a little bit to hear what she was saying.

Lyndsey's POV

I followed Jimmy into the kitchen after he decided that he wanted to make a sandwich.

"Jimmy, do you ever stop eating?"

"Um, let me think about that…" He said as he bent down to root in the fridge. "No."

I laughed and hopped onto the counter to watch as he pulled out everything he would need for his meal.

"Do you want one, too?" He didn't give me time to answer and swiftly said, "Yeah, you do."

I laughed. "Okay, then, I do."

"I knew it." He tapped the tip of my nose with his finger before opening up the bag of bread.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes." He sang the word and I laughed again.

"Can I ask you something?" I posed the question hesitantly.

He glanced at me. "Of course, babe."

I looked down and started playing nervously with the edge of the counter as I slowly asked, "What do you think of Val?"

He stopped what he was doing to look at me before asking suspiciously, "Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Come on, Lyndsey, what made you think of Val?"

I sighed and folding my hands in my lap to stop my nervous fidgeting. "We ran into her…in the parking lot at the mall today."

He looked away to continue making the sandwiches, and kind of avoided my eyes. "Oh. And did she say anything to you?"

"No, not…not really. I just…sometimes I get the feeling that Matt's keeping something from me, and I just wonder if it has to do with her." I shrugged and forced a smile. "Pretty insecure and stupid of me, huh?"

"You're not stupid." He sighed. "And I think it's natural for all girlfriends to feel some sort of insecurities when it comes to their boyfriends' exes."

I stared at him with wide eyes and he laughed. "Surprised at my smartness, huh?"

I laughed with him and shook my head just as Matt came around the corner.

"What are you two doing?" He asked, smiling at me.

"I am making sandwiches." Jimmy boasted. "Want one, Shadows?"

"Mmm," Matt narrowed his eyes speculatively at me as the smirk widened across his lips. "Maybe later."

I was about to ask him why he was looking at me like that, but then he was in front of me, pushing my legs apart as they dangled off the edge of the counter so that he could stand between them. He braced his hands on either side of my waist and immediately caught my mouth with his.

I was a little surprised, but my eyes immediately fluttered closed when his lips met mine and circled my arms around his shoulders, threading my fingers in his short hair at the back of his neck as he stepped closer at the same time that he gripped my hips and slid me down the counter a little, so that our bodies could press more intimately together.

He groaned into my mouth and deepened the kiss, the cold metal of his lip ring brushing against my lips again and again. I kissed him back, moving against him restlessly.

"Um…" Jimmy cleared his throat, and I opened my eyes a little to see he was waving his hands at us. "Hello. Still here. Still making my sandwich."

I laughed and Matt pulled away just long enough to breathe, "Go away."

Jimmy huffed and I heard him stomp out of the kitchen, but not before he shouted back, "I am never making you a sandwich again, Lyndsey."

I waved my hand at him before returning my fingers to his hair as the front door opened and closed.

"Where are Brian and Memphis?" I murmured against his lips.

"Gone." He replied quickly before pulling me off the counter, my legs wrapping around his
waist as he carried me upstairs.