After Andy (#6 in the 'Outcast' Series)

Chapter 54

Chapter 54:

Matt shut the door of one of the other rooms backstage. He looked to me once he was sure we were the only ones in the room.

"I just wann'ed to have a bit of a chat with you about something regarding tonight," he began as I crossed my arms, just watching him. "Andy's parents are gonna be here tonight; I invited them along because I thought that maybe they'd wanna support you with this and it's a hometown show so yeah...I uh, I didn't know if you actually still kept in contact with them or not, so I thought I should tell you now instead of you finding out...later..."

"It's fine Matt; I still keep in contact with them," I said, Matt nodding; I saw a bit of relief on his face.

"Alright, good; that could've been so awkward if you didn't and haven't seen them in years."

I gave him a bit of a smile, Matt briefly smiling back; he was still stressed by the looks of it.

"So is that all you wanted to tell me?" I asked.

Matt shook his head.

"Ah no," he said. "I kinda invited someone else down for the show tonight and I thought you'd like to know about it."

I frowned. "You seem to have a lot of secrets you're keeping from me tonight."

"Oh believe me Ashley, this' only just the beginning," Matt said with a slight smirk; it made me a bit uncomfortable. "But look, everything will be fine tonight; everything will go fine tonight. You need to stop worrying about everything so much."

"Maybe one day I'll be able to stop worrying," I said, Matt shrugging. "So anyway, who'd you invite besides Andy's parents?"

"He's ah, he's a friend," Matt said, making me look at him with an unamused expression. He sighed. "It's Jinxx; Jinxx's up here from California. I invited him up because I thought maybe he'd like to be here for the first time you got up onstage for a proper show and he's your friend. I just thought maybe it'd help you out a bit."

"Matt, I appreciate it but you don't have to go to all this trouble to make me feel better or in your case, to constantly say sorry to me about Andy," I said seriously.

"Well then, you're really gonna hate what I have planned for tonight..." Matt muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Didn't say anything; you're hearing things," Matt said with a smile, making me shake my head. "Now how about you go find Jinxx; he should be in the same room as Vic since that's where I got him directed to once he was inside."

"I really do appreciate it Matt," I said, Matt giving me a nod. "Thank you."

"Come find me if you have any problems," Matt said as I left the room. "I wanna see you down in the end room when Ronnie's band comes off stage!"

I left the room, going down to the next one in line, as that had been the one I'd come from earlier on. Sure enough, right at the back of the room was Jinxx, talking to Vic about something. Vic looked over, a smile lighting up his face as he saw me headed over.

"Ashley!" he said, Jinxx following his gaze. I halted, Vic indicating to Jinxx. "Look who showed up!"

"Matt just told me he was here," I said with a bit of a smile, Jinxx smiling back. I looked to him. "I have to say, I'm kinda surprised you didn't tell me Matt had invited you up here for tonight."

"He was pretty insistent on me not telling you; I guess he wanted it to be a surprise."

"Matt seems to enjoy keeping secrets," I stated, Jinxx shrugging. "I have a slight feeling that this isn't the only secret he's keeping involving tonight."