005. ━━━ ❛ GET BEHIND ME. ❜
real life. . .

"RODDY, SWEAR TO GOD, if you're late tomorrow, you're out of the band."

"why is that the first thing you have to say?" roddy responds, feeling defensive as he runs a hand through his hair and shrugs. "couldn't run the band without me."

quinton narrows his eyes at roddy, and he receives a bunch of side eyes from his bandmates until nick rolls his eyes and speaks from under his breath, sending roddy a glance as he sits on the stage floor next to him. "he means he'll work on it."

"sure," quinton blows a bored breath from his lips, leaning back where he sits with the palms of his hands rested against the floor of the stage. he then glances around the group all sat on the stage, focusing on his bandmates. "we're gonna have to put in a lot more effort tomorrow because the sound system here is pretty shit, i can't lie." simultaneous groans follow his words and maisie and sunny share a glance, the pair being the only ones unaffected by such.

"it sounded pretty good when you played the killers," maisie comments from where she sits on the floor. her and sunny are both sat up leant against the back of a speaker, chris sat criss-cross on the other side of sunny mindlessly hitting drumsticks on the floor and filling the large room with tedious background noise.

"that's because it's a recorded song, mason," matt responds with a sigh from where he stands behind another speaker, his elbows rested on the top of it as he balances his weight against it. maisie rolls her eyes as matt glances to quinton. "so you're saying we're going to sound like shit," he states blankly.

"we're only going to sound like shit if you play like shit," he tells him sternly, causing maisie's eyes to slide from him back to matt, watching the way he clearly refrains from rolling his eyes. quinton's focus then goes from matt to one of his brothers, his attention going to chris and his noisy drumsticks. "you need to practice cherry waves so you don't fuck it up again."

chris' face instantly scrunches up into an offended one, the boy quickly growing defensive. "i wouldn't have fucked anything up if roddy's timing wasn't so horrendous," he exclaims, dropping his drumsticks and instead running a frustrated hand through his hair as roddy's jaw drops at how quick he is to point fingers. "he started singing five seconds late, it's obviously not my fault that made us offbeat."

"oh fuck off, chris," roddy murmurs under his breath after scoffing.

"can you guys not be civil for one fucking day?" dylan joins the conversation now, her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she scolds the two like they're children.

"maybe if chris wasn't on my ass twenty-four seven," roddy shrugs unbothered, earning a look of disapproval from nick as he talks and ignoring it to the best of his ability.

chris laughs dryly at his bandmates choice of words, his face remaining serious when he replies, "maybe i wouldn't have to if you actually took the band seriously."

wide eyed looks are shared among the rest of the group, sunny and maisie scooting closer together for comfort as they both don't have a clue of the events leading to such words from him. quinton and dylan share a glance specifically, a hint of amusement on dylan's lips and quinton giving a warning look not to voice her input as well.

beats of silence pass after chris' words, roddys jaw changing from dropped to clenched. matt taps his hands along the surface of the speaker he's leant against, his eyes on nick as he analyzes his brothers expression while he looks at roddy. roddy and nicks whole dynamic has been confusing maisie ever since she found out about it and she can't lie, the longer she spends here, the more she wants to know about it.

"you don't have a clue what you're talking about, chris," roddy eventually responds, him and chris glaring at each other from their respective sides of the stage.

chris opens his mouth to reply first, but matt decides now is the best time to voice his agreement. "nah, he's right, rod," he speaks up seriously, shooting a look to roddy as he clearly grows offended all over again.

"whatever," he scoffs, eyes momentarily flickering over to maisie and causing her heart to skip a beat as she can already sense his mention of her before the words build up on his tongue. "you were just missing practice for the same girl you've been complaining about for as long as we've been a band, i don't want to hear shit from you."

maisie's eyebrows raise at his words, feeling multiple eyes jump to her as she forces herself to glance over to matt. she watches his eyes narrow just slightly and the way his jaw ticks. "now you're the one who doesn't have a clue what he's talking about, roddy," he says seriously, lips rising into a sarcastic tight-lipped smile when he adds, "so do me a favor and shut the fuck up, yeah?"

maisie's eyes widen at how intense this is getting. from next to her, sunny has to contain a gasp. she hadn't expected their band to have so much drama but fuck, is it entertaining to watch unfold.

maisie is sure she can see roddys teeth grinding along with steam coming from his ears when nick pulls his eyebrows together next to him, shooting a look in matt's direction. "matt," is all he says, his voice in a warning tone.

matt narrows his eyes, him and his brother holding confusing eye contact for a prolonged moment before matt breaks and sighs. "whatever," he blows a breath from his lips, looking elsewhere.

"god," dylan let's out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as she tries to break up some of the tension. "you guys make me feel like i'm in fleetwood mac."

"please dj, we just reached a hundred thousand followers on instagram," quinton responds knowingly, shooting her a dubious look as he refrains from laughing. "you wish we were fleetwood mac."

"true," she hums without missing a beat, an unashamed smile on her lips. she then changes the subject, "we should just be glad we haven't had to do a gig at lamar's in a while."

instantly, there is a noticeable shift in the atmosphere due to dylan's words. like a domino effect, the faces of her bandmates all drop one by one, causing maisie's eyebrows to immediately furrow. she looks over to sunny and she shares the same confused look, but it is as clear as day how unbelievably tense the room suddenly feels. maisie notices how quickly expressions around her become uneasy and how chris' eyes instantly flicker over to watch sunny's face change. maisie watches closely how quinton's face grows serious as he quietly clears his throat. "dylan."

dylans face pales and returns to normal all at once from quinton's voice, confusing maisie on how quickly she hides the panic that just seemed to set in for her. "but uh.. anyways," she struggles momentarily to come up with another subject, maisie glancing over to sunny who purses her lips. "i was a little late too last time, so i also probably need to practice more."

"yeah," quinton responds, glancing down to his laptop in front of him and taking in a breath before beginning to go into depth over stuff maisie doesn't fully understand.

her mind spins as she continuously plays back the weird mention of 'lamar's.' she knows this is the first day she's ever willingly put herself around this group of people, but she can't help her curious state. she feels so intrigued—maybe because the man she's sworn to hate since she was a child is front and center of all of this—but she just needs to know what the fuck is going on with this band. this band is the same one she has been warned to stay far away from since she was a child, sure, but that kind of only makes the urge worse.

it's as if matt can hear the thoughts plaguing maisie's head from his distance away, because when she glances at him, his eyes are already on hers. his expression is an indifferent one, his eyebrows slightly screwed together as he seems to be analyzing the way her face continuously changes. she raises her eyebrows at him due to the eye contact, but he only narrows his eyes in response, as if warning her to drop whatever theories he knows she must be constructing.

she internally curses matt for knowing what she is thinking and forces her eyes elsewhere as she decides to pull her phone out from underneath her for the first time tonight. her face then immediately drops as her heart falls to her ass.

mom
Where the hell are you?
You better get home right this fucking second, Maisie.
34m

"fuck," she speaks quietly out loud, clamping her eyes shut momentarily as she powers her phone off.

sunny quickly turns her head towards her. "what is it?" she furrows her eyebrows, so maisie turns her phone on and flips it around to her. she takes a moment to read over the words before sighing, "fuck."

"that's what i said." maisie frowns.

"well," sunny takes in a breath, thinking for a moment before deciding to just begin standing up. maisie's frown deepens, feeling bad for ruining their fun as she stands up as well. eyes of the group go to them as they readjust themselves and sunny explains, "i have to take maisie home."

"already?" matt is the very first to respond, his voice a questioning one.

"my mom texted," maisie offers as an explanation. "she'll flip her shit if i don't come back now."

"damn," chris blows a breath from his lips, his mouth twisting to form a frown as his eyes linger on sunny. "that sucks."

matt notices this and takes a step back from the speaker he was leant against. "why don't you stay sunny?" he proposes, coming around to stand in front of the speaker instead as maisie's eyes narrow slightly at him. he notices she suspects what he is up to and resists a grin, focusing on sunny as she opens her mouth to assumedly explain why she can not. "i'll take mason home," he offers nonchalantly, maisie seeing right through him as sunny's face instantly lights up. this dick.

"really?" sunny perks up and yeah, maisie is officially stuck with matt.

matt nods his head, his eyes on maisie as he so clearly resists a shit-eating grin she knows he wants to display very badly. "great," she pushes her lips together, forcing a tight-lipped smile. "that is just great."

"isn't it?" matt adds fuel to the fire as he tilts his head at her, beginning to walk in the direction of the steps and then turning his head around, "now come on mason, we have to take the side door."

"side door, the fuck?" maisie repeats judgmentally, her face scrunching up as matt begins making his way down the steps. she then snaps out of her slight trance where she is just standing and glances around the group, noticing all of their amused expressions excluding roddy and offering a short, "bye guys," before speedily following matt's trail.

when she catches up to matt, he is already halfway through the main floor area. he turns his head at the sound of her nearing footsteps. "took you long enough," he mutters.

"oh shut up with your stupid side door," she responds childishly, a huff of breath leaving her lips as she stops once they're side by side. he raises his eyebrows and stops as well, turning to her expectantly. "who is lamar?" she asks immediately. she just can't help herself; her curiosity is a curse.

his face changes almost instantly, and maisie makes mental note of it. "i knew you weren't gonna let hearing that go," he states knowingly, shaking his head to himself as he rubs the edge of his jawline for a moment before looking at her seriously. "i'm telling you, it's better to forget you ever heard that name."

maisie's lips shut and form a frown on her face as she stares at his unchanging features. his mouth is set into a thin line and his eyes remain serious, so she knows she shouldn't pry. "but-"

"but nothing," he cuts her off without hesitation, rolling his eyes and quickly reaching forward to grab ahold of her wrist. her jaw instantly drops and he pulls her towards him as he quickly spins around. "now let's fucking go, we could be outside on our way to my car already if you would stop talking so much," he scolds, causing her to scoff as he practically drags her along with him through the place.

maisie remains silent on the way to their exit to prove a point to herself—not because matt said so. she keeps her eyes trained on his hand wrapped around her wrist instead of their changing surroundings as they decipher through the club. she can feel the coldness of the metal of his rings against her skin and it is too distracting for her to be able to focus on anything else, so she keeps her head down. if her eyes trail up to the tattoos littering his veiny arms a couple times or so, so be it. it's not like there is anyone around to catch her, so it is justified in her eyes.

she is only snapped out of her daze when matt removes his grip on her wrist, causing her to look up and notice they've reached the door. matt nods his head towards it, gesturing her to follow after him once he opens it and steps outside first. she trails right behind him and when the door closes behind her, she realizes it's led them to the middle of a dark alleyway. she takes one look at all the dumpsters and dark shadows she can't see into, and quickly spins around to face matt. "you could have said the side door that leads to the creepy alleyway so i wouldn't have fucking come, matt!" she whisper shouts as if there is something dangerous out there.

he is immediately rolling his eyes at her dramatics. "yeah, the creepy alleyway that leads to the parking lot, mason," he tells her knowingly, squinting his eyes at her in a way that in the dark lighting provided, unfortunately really does him justice. if maisie suddenly understands why all of the band's fans freak out over the guitarist, she decides not to voice her thought. he then—of course—offers his, at this point, signature smirk, before adding, "don't be a pussy."

she then narrows her eyes intensely at him. "you did not just say that to me," she says, seeing a challenge in his words.

he only shrugs, taking a step back. "parking lots the opposite direction your facing," he tells her before grinning innocently. "lead the way, mason."

"don't mind if i do," she huffs, refusing to back down from something he is so clearly testing her with. she spins around to the direction he told her and crosses her arms over her chest, determinedly beginning to walk down the alleyway.

matt walks a small distance behind her, allowing her to feel like she's truly the one leading him. the two move in silence until they're halfway through the alleyway. that is when somehow, before maisie herself notices the other persons presence, matt spots a man leant against a buildings wall hidden by the shadows of a nearby dumpster. matt's heart skips a beat as he quickly picks up his pace, instantly becoming aware of how close maisie is to entering the man's line of vision and passing him. once he is close enough, before maisie can even sense him speeding up behind her, he swiftly slides an arm around her waist. immediately, her body tenses under his touch, but still, he calmly pulls her back into him. his hand rests firmly on the low of her stomach when he leans down to quietly whisper in her ear, "get behind me."

maisie, sensing something is off by the odd tone of his voice, slowly turns her head around to look into his eyes. "what?" panic instantly begins to creep upon her as she manages whispered replies, "why?"

"just do it, maisie," he tells her seriously, his eyes searching hers as he tries to communicate that he is truly not messing around. she seems to understand this because she slowly takes a step away and he hastily lets go of his hold on her.

she must begin to think logically about what could possibly have him so worked up all of a sudden, because she begins looking around the area. matt waits for her to spot the man and when she does, it is obvious because her face pales. she then instantly looks back to matt and nods, going to step behind him. "okay."

after maisie is safely behind matt, he hesitantly begins walking along the alleyway again. maisie follows behind him dangerously close, wanting to cling to the back of his shirt for extra comfort, but refusing to give him the satisfaction of being able to think on it later.

maisie is on high alert as they walk and she refuses to turn her head in any direction, keeping her eyes locked on the back of matts head. she feels as if they are going to make it out without harm when a voice stops them in their tracks.

"matthew."

maisie's heart hits the floor for matt. "oh my god, he knows your name," she whispers quiet enough and close enough to matt for only him to hear. she feels as if she's suddenly entered a horror movie. there is no way she is in a creepy alleyway right now with a strange man who knows matt's name. she must be having a nightmare.

matt ignores maisie's whisper in his ear and looks over directly at the man. he's still in the shadows, so maisie can't truly see his face, but he's taken a step forward now so that he is not leant against the wall. she is scared shitless as matt makes eye contact with him, she can't lie.

it becomes apparent when matt speaks though, that whoever this creepy man is, he is not a stranger to matt. "not right now," he responds with a shake of his head, causing maisie to instantly need to know whatever underlying message he is talking about. what the actual fuck? she immediately thinks.

"not right now?" the man dryly laughs as he repeats matt's words, and she can feel matt tense from in front of her, which causes her to believe this is not a friendly face. "who do you think you're talking to?" his voice is so raspy that maisie definitely gets the feeling that he is older.

matt presses his lips together, and maisie has to peak her head out more than she is comfortable with to see his face, but this is one of the only times she has ever seen him visibly nervous. she almost wants to say the look he is giving him is a pleading one. "i'll be back in a bit," he offers. "okay?"

the man goes silent for a moment as he seems to take his words into consideration. maisie's heart is pounding when his eyes suddenly slide from matt to the girl his body is partially hiding. she feels a shiver go down her spine at the feeling of his eyes on her and matt notices too, because he reaches one of his hands back to further push maisie behind him. the uncomfortable moment goes on for unbearably long before the man finally gives in and steps back against the wall he was previously leant against. "don't keep me waiting."

matt shortly nods his head in response before immediately beginning to walk again, this time at a much quicker pace than before. maisie is hot on his trail and as soon as they reach the end of the alleyway and are out of the unfamiliar man's earshot, maisie immediately starts exclaiming, "what the fuck was that! why did he know your name?"

matt does not answer her as they walk, so she quickly snaps her head over to him as they finally reach the parking lot. "matt," she first says calmly to capture his attention. when he doesn't answer again and it becomes obvious he is remaining silent intentionally, she repeats herself frustratedly. "matt!"

he only rolls his eyes at her demanding voice, continuing to ignore her as he makes it to his car. quickly, he begins heading to the drivers side without giving maisie the time of day, so she stops at the trunk of the car and crosses her arms. "i am so sick of getting into this car," she complains out loud.

matt intakes a sharp breath as he realizes she is not going to drop the extra attitude until he addresses her. he pauses his journey to his car door and instead comes back around to face maisie at the trunk of the car. "oh, i'm sorry, is it not up to your standards, princess?" he questions mockingly.

"the car isn't my problem; you are!" she responds aggressively. "now, who the hell was that?"

matt clenches his jaw. "how about you mind your damn business?" he suggests angrily before lowering his voice and taking a closer step towards her. "now, you do me a favor and shut that pretty little mouth of yours and go get into the fucking passenger seat."

maisie scoffs at the way he does not ask her, but instead demands it from her. still though, she presses her lips together and manages a, "whatever, asshole."

💌

not to tease but i have so much lore planned out for this fic in my notes i can't wait to reveal it all slowly likeeee i could never give you JUST guitar!matt

<3
jaden