Dear God (Avenged Sevenfold)

Dear God

     As quickly as Natalie's life was improving since she had gone out to California for a month's visit it had quickly evaporated into a category 5 disaster. It all started with the phone call she received from Myles one night about Ava. No matter what Myles or the doctors had said she knew deep down that Ava did it on purpose and Natalie didn't know whether to be pissed off at Ava or worried sick. Ava who always had her head together and had the world by the balls she thought, even though Todd was a major dick he could offer her so much more than she could ever dream of...well maybe not as much as Matt could but that was a different story altogether. Natalie had begged Matt to go with her to Florida so she wouldn't have to see her best friend in such a fragile state, choosing to trust Brian with their daughter for at least a few days.

     There was the other disaster she thought with a heavy sigh as she fixed one last curl on Bryleigh's head before the wedding. She had dragged Matt into the hospital to see Ava and instead was met with such hostility and anger that she was taken aback...this was not the Ava she knew and loved and while it wounded her deeply she had a feeling that Ava was doing it on purpose, that she was purposely pushing her away before she got married. Well, she thought with a heavy sigh, she got her wish because she was soon going to be busy with her new husband and her new life to pay any mind to Natalie. Natalie wasn't sure what she was going to do now that Brian had completely fucked everything up between them and therein laid another disaster. Natalie scowled as the beautician applied makeup to her face and thought back to the evening she arrived back in California after seeing Ava in the hospital. She had left Matt behind to rush home, both to get away from Ava's fury and hatred and because she missed Bryleigh whom she hadn't been apart from since she was born. Instead, she came back to find Bryleigh distraught over her leaving and Brian beside himself as he all but thrust their daughter at her before she barely had dropped her suitcase.

     "Brian what is going on?" she questioned as Bryleigh clung to her neck tightly, her thumb in her mouth. She watched as Brian paced the kitchen for a minute, looking for something before he finally turned to her. "She did nothing but scream and carry on after you left. Nothing I did or said would calm her down. She only fell asleep because she wore herself out and then spent the night puking all over her floor. I no sooner got her mess cleaned up than she'd do it again!" Natalie frowned as Brian carried on, obviously not used to handling a sickly toddler by himself she kicked herself in the ass for leaving him alone with Bryleigh for so long. "I'm sorry Brian but that's part of being a parent...whether they're sick or not it all comes with the territory." Natalie watched as he grabbed his keys, his smokes and his wallet, storming over to the garage door. "Yea well...maybe I'm not cut out to be a father after all" he muttered before slamming the door shut behind him.

     Bryleigh broke down in tears as the sound of peeling tires left the garage and she yet again was conflicted between intense anger and sadness. She should have known this was all a huge mistake but she let her heart get in the way and in the end she cost not only her happiness and well being but her daughters as well. Natalie stuck around until 2:00 a.m. that night, hoping that Brian would appear so they could try and talk things through but after numerous voice mails and texts to his phone he was nowhere to be found, signaling to Natalie that her time here in California was over. Natalie packed what she could manage quickly and without emotions, calling for a ride to the airport with absolutely no emotion. It wasn't until Natalie walked out the door with the suitcases that she felt utterly deflated, she had nothing left but Bryleigh...sweet, sweet Bryleigh who was thankfully sound asleep in her car seat for the entire ride to the airport. It wasn't until they were getting ready to board a flight back to Florida that she woke up, looked around and with a heart breaking sob, called out for Brian. Natalie choked back tears as she soothed her daughter, too young to understand everything that had happened.

     She half expected her phone to be flooded with phone calls and text messages when she landed back in Florida but there was one lone voicemail on there from Matt, asking what the hell happened and where did she run off to. Natalie ignored Matt as well, knowing it was better for her to just distance herself from anything and anyone related to Brian. She tried to patch things up with Ava as they tried on gowns but that was a disaster as well considering she opened her mouth and told her exactly what she felt about her marrying Todd instead of going to Matt...poor Matt who was obviously stricken in love with Ava. She didn't want this wedding to go on any more than Matt did but here they were at the church, the morning of the wedding and Natalie felt numb and nauseous. Her and Ava were still not right with each other and she had a sneaking feeling that Matt and Brian would show up at the wedding even after everything went to hell. The thought alone of seeing Brian after a few weeks made her stomach twist in knots till she felt like puking down the front of her fancy dress.

     "Ladies. It's time!" Natalie stood on shaky legs as they were ushered into place to begin the procession. She took this time to concentrate on getting Bryleigh to cooperate, pushing the idea of Brian being out there out of her mind for the time being. As soon as those doors opened though she saw him and felt her gut drop completely as she steered Bryleigh out onto the liner for the aisle. Their eyes met for a brief second but it was long enough to make Natalie want to stab his eyes out with her nails. He looked absolutely gorgeous all dressed up but she didn't give herself the luxury of looking at him any more as she began her walk towards the altar. She knew both Matt and Brian were watching her walk by, muttering to each other as she made her way down the center of the church. Finally Ava appeared on the arm of her father and while Natalie couldn't see Matt's face from where she stood, she knew his eyes were on her and her alone...why couldn't Ava see what a HUGE mistake she was making?!

     Natalie began to tune out the beginning of the ceremony, holding onto Bryleigh's hand in order to keep her behaved and quiet. That is until the entire congregation gasped loudly. Did Natalie hear correctly? Did she just hear Matt state that he objected this wedding?!