The Great Pretenders

Chapter 33

Just a filler...Matt's POV only. You'll get a nice long one for Lucy's POV on the next update. Story is close to being over!

Matt's POV

I drove around for a few hours before realizing that I needed someone to talk to. Someone who could help me make sense of all the crap that had been happening for the last month. I was confused and scared and I needed someone who would help me sort through the mess and not make it more difficult.

Someone who would realize my world had literally just almost caved in and who could help me catch my breath.

It wasn't long before I found myself in front of Jimmy's. As I exited my car, I hoped like hell he was home.

I knocked the door and Mrs. Sullivan opened the door and smiled. "Hey Matt! It's good to see you."

I shifted from one foot to the other "Hey Mrs. S, is Jimmy around?"

She motioned for me to enter "Sure, sure, he's upstairs, still in bed. Guess you guys had a fun night."

"Yeah," I laughed a bit "we did."

The sound of the guitar drifted toward me as I got closer to Jimmy's door. I opened it to find him sitting against his headboard, his long legs stretched out and his bare ankles crossed, and the guitar cradled to his chest. He wore a bit of stubble, a Danzig T- shirt, and black athletic shorts.

His blue eyes lit up when he saw me "You look like you've seen a poltergeist."

"Rough morning," I replied.

He nodded and resumed his strumming without looking at his fingers.

"Lucy and I were faking our relationship so we could make Harrison and Val jealous. It was going good but we started to...mess around and...now we're done."

He nodded expectantly, unfazed "I knew that. Or at least figured as much. So you're done? Too bad. I like her a lot. She's a good catch."

I sat on the edge of the corner of his bed. "I saw her this morning. A couple of hours ago." I started to feel a hollow emptiness in my stomach. "She thought she might be pregnant."

He stopped playing. "Is she?"

I heard Mrs. Sullivan calling for one of the girls and the corresponding shrieking of teenage girls. It was a brief distraction but I shook my head. "No."

"Congratulations," he said strumming again.

I continued nervously. "These pregnancy tests people buy...You have to-Maybe you already know this. You have to wait three minutes to get the results."

"Okay." He nodded slowly waiting for me to continue.

"The thing is...That three minutes while I was waiting...I had-I had all these thoughts running through my head."

"I guess that's understandable."

"Things like how I was going to tell my parents. Whether I trusted me and her to make the right decision on what to do. What would it mean for the band. I wanted to just walk away. You know ..." I trailed off

"A panic reaction. I'm familiar with the symptoms." He said frankly."All kinds of shit runs through your head at a time like that. Forget about it."

"How am I supposed to do that? I reacted like a total douchebag. I hurt her."I felt as though I wanted to cry.

Jimmy's eyebrows crashed together. "Don't bring yourself down to that level. I've seen you with McKenna Haner. You're gentle and patient. If she'd have been pregnant, there's no way you'd have turned your back on your kid. You'd have been right there for them while he or she was growing up."

"Yeah?" I asked hoarsely.

"Yeah," he repeated "But I don't think that's all there is to this talk. Right?"

He was staring at me intently "I think...that...I may be..."

"In love with her?" he finished.

"Yeah." I agreed, finally happy to have it said outloud.

"You tell her yet?" he asked.

I shook my head furiously "No. I thought she wanted her ex, not me. I saw him give her a hug while she was crying. I thought she was professing her undying love to him. Turns out she was crying because of a damn soccer game."

"And she caught you flirting with that chick last night," he said as it all started to make sense.

"I fucked everything up." I said miserably "And then this morning, I was angry and freaked out."

"So you weren't comforting at all then?" he asked.

"No."

He shook his head at me. "C'mon Matt. You know better."

"I was SCARED," I yelled louder than I wanted to.

He put his guitar down and pulled his legs in to sit indian style "Take your fear and your jealousy and multiply it by a thousand. And you'll get how she was feeling this morning."

"I know," I replied miserably.

He looked disappointed "Do you? Cause if you love her like you think you do and like I think she does you, you probably need to get over there and do some fast talking."

"Is it fixable though?" pleading clear in my voice.

His expression softened. "Of course it is. I mean if you love her and want to try to make it work. Not just go through the motions like with Val."

I nodded because that's what I needed to hear. It was what I wanted to hear but I needed Jimmy to help me see that it was the right thing. "You're right. Thanks man."

He nodded "Now, are you satisfied or do we have to fucking hug?"

I let myself laugh as the knots in my stomach finally eased.

I could breathe again.