I was sat on the couch in the green room with all the guys from Hollywood Undead reminiscing about past tours and fun times we’d had together. It was nice having so many familiar bands on this tour all except for Asking Alexandria I had toured with or worked for in the past and it felt good to be catching up with old friends.
I was just talking to CC from Black Veil Brides about whether Taco Bell was better or this Portuguese restaurant in the UK called Nandos we couldn’t really decide so we called it a tie and I sipped at a beer leaning back in the couch listening to all the other conversations going on.
It was the last night of the tour and after this all of the boys from Avenged were going to be staying with me at my house in New York for three weeks until they had to go back to Huntington Beach and start work on the new album.
Needless to say, Matt and I were still barely talking to each other, the occasional pass in the hall or a tense ‘hi’ was all I could seem to get out of him these days. I had yet to receive and apology form him for hitting me but at least it hadn’t happened again. The first few shows after the whole ordeal I had been skimming past all the questions about the large bruise he’d left on my cheek but at least I’d had the pleasure of watching him squirm every time he saw it.
I had now moved on to talk with Charlie Scene from Hollywood Undead when I began to hear two people who were engaged in a hushed argument, approaching the dressing room.
“You need to apologise.” The first snapped.
“I know that Syn but how do I get her to listen?” Matt replied.
“Go talk to her now.”
“She barely acknowledges me, she might just walk away.”
“Well Matt, you won’t know until you try.”
“But…”
Matt didn’t get a chance to protest further because Brian had just shoved him into the green room and everyone turned to look at him. He tried to leave when he realised that he was currently the center of attention but Brian was blocking the door so he had no other option than to come over to where I was sitting.
“Natalie… Can I talk to you for a second? Alone.” He coughed awkwardly
“Sure, why not. You not planning to kill me are you?”
I laughed a little, just to lighten the mood, but nobody else lookd at all amused and Brian shot me a warning glance that was heavily implied with a ‘play nice’ so I shrugged and held my hand out for Matt to help me up so I turned to tell Jordan I’d be right back and Matt led me over to an empty room just across the hall. I’d already noticed out of the corner of my eye the rest of Avenged Sevenfold run into the green room to find out what was going on.
Matt sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for me to do the same. We’d been gone maybe ten seconds but already I could hear everyone else talking about us trying to work out what was going on, making guesses about what was going to happen, a couple of them taking bets and I laughed at their indiscrete gossiping.
“What’s so funny?” Matt asked, a sad smile on his face.
“Just the way news spreads like wildfire round here, can’t ever keep a secret.”
I smiled right back at him but being Matt, he saw right through it and frowned. We may not be anywhere near as close as before, he could still read me like an open book and there was no doubt in my mind that he always would.
“Look, Natalie, I’m so sorry about the other night. I’d give you an excuse, a reason for my actions, but there isn’t one. I was drunk and I wasn’t thinking. It’s not an excuse I know. I still shouldn’t have done or said any of it. It’s not your fault that Jimmy’s gone, I don’t know why I blamed it on you, I guess I was just trying to find someone to blame and you were there. I’m sorry Natalie.”
I thought about his apology for a minute. It was definitely heartfelt and wordy. I knew that he meant everything he said; I knew that he’d stopped drinking as well since then and to be honest I had missed him more than anything so I decided to accept it and force the two of us to move on from it.
“It’s okay Matt. I understand, you remember I was the same when my brother died.” I said quietly.
He breathed out a sigh of relief and opened his arms wide sending me a questioning look before I launched myself at him and wrapped my arms tightly around him as he did the same. As soon as I felt his perfectly sculpted arms wrap around me, I melted into his warm embrace. For the first time in over three years I felt safe and protected again. There wasn’t a lot that could ruin this moment except for the fact that I was still waiting for an apology for what happened that spurred my fight or flight instincts in the first place but I was definitely not going to be the one to bring it up right now.
