Tennessee Line to LA Lights (A Matthew Gray Gubler FanFiction)

Chapter 8

Stephanie was still on a high from the rush that had overwhelmed her after her debut the night before. She had politely declined Adrienne's invitation to go out and celebrate, opting instead for a quiet night at home, curled up on her couch with a good movie and some cheesy pizza. She had an opened bottle of beer, her favorite fuzzy blanket, the movie all queued up and ready to watch, when the pizza guy knocked at her door. She pushed herself up off the couch and made her way towards the front door. She pulled it open, cash ready, in hand, to give to the guy but the man who appeared before her, wasn't whom she had been expecting.

"Matthew, what...what are you doing here? Is that my pizza? Why are you carrying my pizza?" Stephanie couldn't stop the questions that came pouring out of her mouth.

Matthew Gubler just stood in the hallway, waiting for her to stop. It became clear to him that she wasn't going to stop soon, so he pushed past her into her living room. "Where would you like this?"

Stephanie automatically pointed at her coffee table, "How did you come to be in possession of my pizza?

"I paid the man for the pizza." Matthew set it down, his hands now empty. He shoved them into his pockets, his feet beginning to shuffle beneath him, the realization of what he'd come to do, setting in.

"So, what are you doing here? I didn't know that you were back in town, you hadn't mentioned anything to me about it. When did you get back?" Stephanie started spewing questions again, finally clamping her hand over her mouth to cease the line of attack.

Matthew grinned, "I came back on Thursday. I got in pretty late that night. As for why I didn't tell you, well I thought I'd surprise you at your show on Friday."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes, her eyebrows raising in sudden comprehension. "What? You were there last night? I didn't see you. Oh my god, you heard my songs." Her face started to burn, the heat slowly rising up from her neck.

Matthew nodded, "I was there, for part of it anyway. That first song, was that the one you did for Ricky Bates?"

Stephanie slowly raised her head up and down, her eyes not able to meet his.

"That second song, that was about me as well, wasn't it?"

Again, she nodded, not able to speak.

"I was going to come over last night, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I needed to calm down and I needed to focus my thoughts and I needed to make sure that I was making the right decision. Steph, I can't do this anymore."

With those words, Stephanie's head shot up and she stared at him, "What? Oh Matthew, you weren't meant to hear those songs, at least not yet. That, that is how I've dealt with everything and I needed a way to organize and process everything I had been feeling, everything that I had felt, for so long. My heart, it's out there. My emotions, they're raw. All of this, it's so new and scary and I...I just needed a way to think it through. I get it though, it was too much." Stephanie slumped down against the wall, pulling her knees tight up to her chest.

Matthew immediately knelt down beside her, "No, no that isn't what I meant. I meant, I can't do this platonic thing anymore. I can't continue to have shallow conversations with you and I can't keep pretending that all those old feelings aren't back."

Stephanie lifted her head, her blue eyes meeting his, "So, you aren't mad at me?"

"Oh for hell's sake girl, no I'm not mad at you. I was freaked out, that's all. It was a lot to take in and I wasn't quite ready to hear it. Did you come to LA because of me?"

Stephanie shook her head, "Not, not entirely. I was hoping that being near Vegas again would give me the opportunity to see you but I wasn't sure where you were at. Last I had heard, you were still in New York, so when I saw your TV show my first night in town, imagine my shock. Yet, it was a pleasant surprise. I could have picked several different cities to start over in, but I had a feeling that LA would somehow bring me back to that happiness that I once felt."