Wow..... sorry this took like an eternity

School's keeping me pretty busy unfortunately :P stupid college......

Thank you to everyone who reviewed: PrincessJaded, I'm Right Here, lilanimegal00, and BlueFlower21, you're awesome amazazing! (I can tell it's been a while because i used to have how to write your names memorized)

anyhow i hope you enjoy, and if you don't tell me why!

All the lights in the stadium went out but one. The one light shone on Matt who cradled his guitar's neck in his hand. They'd reached the part of the show for Matt's solo. He stared at the ground considering what he would do tonight. Matt had gotten to the point where he could hear what he would play before he could play it. Whatever was in his head came out onto his strings.

First what came from Matt's guitar was sad and almost a little dark. The melodies were slow and bittersweet. His lines started sweet but ended on a note that sent a shiver down your spine. Matt was thinking of the time he spent with Mimi. He was glad for it but disappointed for how it turned out.

The mood of Matt's music turned darker as he hit a hard power chord. Matt gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. His amps spit out flurries of distorted notes. He was still thinking of Mimi but now he was angry. It didn't seem fair to him that the he and Mimi should be apart. In the time he and Mimi spent together they seemed to get along so well. He'd never felt that any girl was as special as Mimi. He was certainly a better option than Shawn. At the thought of him Matt played a minor scale run to a horribly dissonant chord.

As his last chord hung in the air Matt noticed an audible difference in the cheers he was receiving. He usually received more. Matt knew that is was probably because this wasn't as cheerful as what he usually played for his solos. He didn't care though. This was the one time during the show he got to truly express himself.

He did end up throwing the crowd a bone playing some lighter, hopeful strings of notes. Matt, himself was hopeful though. Hopeful, that Mimi would finally return his affection in a real way. The two hadn't spoken for about a week. Matt had really wanted to but knew he needed to give Mimi her space.

The last note of Matt's solo hung in the air along with the vocal adulation of the crowd. Matt went into a guitar riff then stopped abruptly as the final light went out. The lights came back on and Mimi was back onstage with the rest of the band. Matt tried not to make eye contact with Mimi.

The light from the sun was making Matt's eyes hurt a bit. He'd just woken up and it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The after concert party had gone for a while and he'd stayed up for a while waiting for a knock on the door from Mimi. It was starting to drive him crazy that he couldn't talk to her.

Right now Matt was out on the streets of Los Angeles with five hundred dollars of cash in his packet. He put on a pair of sunglasses so he would be harder to recognize and because of the sun. Matt was doing something he had started a habit of doing while on tour. He would wander around the city looking for street musicians. If he saw one he liked he'd give some of the money in his pocket away. It was something Matt enjoyed because he got to here some artists' creativity and he liked to support musicians.

There was a vocal quartet that got one hundred dollars of Matt's money. Then Matt gave fifty dollars to a girl playing her violin. A jazz trio earned one hundred dollars fro him as well as a man playing drumbeats on pieces of trash.

Matt was walking through a park when he heard the sounds of an acoustic guitar playing the rolling melody of a familiar tune. He walked toward the noise of the resonating strings to a man sitting on a park bench. He was wearing an olive green fedora and had a similarly colored blazer. His face was roughly shaven like he didn't have a real razor to shave with. The guitar he was playing hung from his makeshift strap made only of a single piece of string. The instrument was colored a honey sunburst but had the wear of an aged instrument. The guitarist closed his eyes allowing him to concentrate only on what he was hearing. Matt did the same and allowed just the unadulterated hum of the man's song fill his senses.

"Many times I've loved, and many times been bitten, many times I've gazed along the open road. Many times I've lied and many times I've listened, many times I've wondered how much there is to know. Many dreams come true and some have silver linings, I live for the dream and a pocket full of gold." Sang the man in a passionate blues voice.

The rest of Matt's money went in the man's guitar case. After placing his money there Matt took a seat next to the man on the wooden bench.

"Mellow is the man who knows what he's been missing, many many men can't see the open road." Matt sang with the man who didn't even seem to notice Matt. That was fine as far as Matt was concerned.

The noise of the guitar rose building towards a climax. Hearing this growth in musical tension Matt reached for the harmonica in his other pocket. The guitarist hit the consummating chord and Matt started to play a harmonica solo. At that moment Matt wouldn't have cared if he were blind. It was enough to be lost in the notes and harmony coming out as he was playing.

The jam session ended as the guitarist began to slow down. Matt sensed the end was coming and hit the last note with him.

"That was some pretty impressive playing there, son." Said the man with the guitar.

"Oh thanks." Said Matt rubbing the back of his neck. He'd never been very good at taking compliments.

"You must have the blues." said the man.

"Oh yeah sort of…" muttered Matt, "I'm Matt by the way."

"Lazarus," Said the man giving Matt a firm handshake, "So what's on your mind?"

Matt wasn't sure if he should tell this man. He didn't really even know him. But what harm could it really do, Lazarus didn't know him either.

"It's this girl." Matt finally admitted.

"Ah, the root of many men's problems," Lazarus said nodding, "What's her name?"

"Mimi Tachikawa." Said Matt with a little sadness in his voice, "You've probably heard of her."

"Can't say that I have." said Lazarus looking off into the distance thinking, "Actually I may have seen her on a billboard."

"You think I'm crazy don't you?" asked Matt believing that he might be.

"Well let me first ask you something. There are thousands maybe millions of guys who wish they were the man next to her. Do you love her because you want to please yourself or because you want the best for her? I'm pretty sure most guys only want her to make themselves happy." said Lazarus looking Matt straight in the eye.

"I do care about her." Matt said after a short pause.

"Then no you're not crazy." said Lazarus.

"But she's with some guy that doesn't care about her. It doesn't seem fair." said Matt with a hint of anger in his voice.

"The world isn't always fair, son," Lazarus said plainly, "But you just keep caring for her and if she's really as great a girl as you think she'll see it."

"Yeah, alright," sighed Matt.

With that Matt put his lips back onto his harmonica and played the blues.

Steam rose from around Mimi's hotel kitchenette. She observed each pot and pan making sure everything was going well in each. When there was something wrong she intervened by adding some more of another ingredient or stirring the mixture. She loved cooking. If she hadn't gotten so famous for her singing she probably would have gone into it professionally.

She took a quick glance over at Shawn, watching a football game on TV. It had been about a week since they'd seen each other last and a lot longer since Mimi had cooked for him. The mixture she was whipping up now was something new. She was excited to see how it would turn out. She had some pork tenderloin cooking with a sauce made from some of the meat's juices, mushrooms, and a few spices. Beside the sauce in her pot she was frying some zucchini in another sauce she'd made.

The smell of her work wafted up to Mimi's nose. She took a big sniff and was satisfied. She took her pork tenderloin out of the oven and poured her sauce on it. Then she took her zucchini off from the hot stove, still sizzling. Then for the finishing touch Mimi scooped out two scoops of rice from a rice cooker.

"Dinner's ready!" shouted Mimi to Shawn who was still on the couch.

"Dinner's ready!" Mimi repeated, after being ignored the first time. After this yielded no response she crept up behind Shawn and started massaging his shoulders.

"Mmm that feels nice." Said Shawn relaxing into his position sitting down, "You have no idea what my week has been like."

"Well you can tell me about it over dinner. I made something special!" said Mimi excitedly.

"Oh…" said Shawn surprised, "You shouldn't have."

"It's no problem I actually enjoy doing it." Said Mimi, "C'mon, everything is ready!"

"No," said Shown not moving from his seat, "I mean you actually shouldn't have. I have to go to one of my friend's birthday dinners. I thought I told you about that."

"Um, no you didn't," said Mimi looking at the food she had just made disappointedly.

"Oh, don't be like that," said Shawn getting up to comfort Mimi, "I'll just go to say hi, then we'll sort of split off from the rest of the group a little bit. How's that sound?"

"Hmm…" Mimi looked down and saw Shawn's hands wrapping around her waist. With a sigh she said, "Alright, where is it?"

"You're the best babe!" said Shawn, "It's downtown, we'll go in an hour."

At the restaurant Mimi wasn't spending as much time with Shawn as she had wanted. He was spending what seemed like a long time talking to other people. Of course Mimi had people to talk to but she really just wanted to spend time with her special someone. Right now she was excited because Shawn and her finally had a table a little ways off from the main group. She sat down and waited for Shawn to join her.

"Alright, I'll call you later Kelsey!" Shawn called across the restaurant to Mimi.

"Make sure you do!" shouted Kelsey in the same fashion then blowing a kiss.

"Who was that?" asked Mimi as Shawn sat down.

"Just some girl, I've worked with in a few films." Said Shawn.

"Well this is nice," commented Mimi looking around her, "We practically have the restaurant to ourselves over here, huh?"

Mimi turned and looked at Shawn. He was looking back at the direction of the party.

"Shawn!" shouted Mimi.

"Huh? What is it babe?" asked Shawn turning to look at Mimi.

"Uh, I was talking to you?" stated Mimi slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I just got a little distracted." Apologized Shawn, putting his hand on top of hers.

"It's okay." Said Mimi, "Just don't let happen again."

"Deal." Said Shawn.

However, untrue to his word, Shawn didn't always listen when Mimi was talking. Even when he was looking at her he didn't respond to things Mimi asked. She would generally forgive him but each time she got a little more irritated.

"Shawn, do you just not want to spend time with me?" Mimi finally asked, frustration finally getting the better of her.

"No, of course I want to spend time with you!" said Shawn.

"Then why aren't you listening to me?" Mimi demanded.

"I am listening to you." Argued Shawn.

"Then what was I just talking about?" asked Mimi crossing her arms.

"You were talking about your new line of clothing, right?"

"Yeah like ten minutes ago," said Mimi angrily, "I was talking about who was going to pay!"

"Oh, right."

"Listen to me, kay? So I was saying I would pay for the meal." Said Mimi, "I just got a bonus from my record company."

"Oh, come on let me get it." Said Shawn.

"No I got it, I've got plenty of money." Said Mimi.

"What are you saying I don't?" asked Shawn not happy about the implication.

"Well, I do make more than you do," Said Mimi in jest "Ow!"

Mimi's hand rushed to her face where she'd been hit. She saw Shawn's hand on the opposite side of her face from where she had been hit.

"I thought I told you never to talk about that." said Shawn in a low voice.

"I was just kidding!" said Mimi angrily at him, "Geez, you didn't have to hit me. You never have to hit me. I thought you were seeing someone about your anger issues!"

"I don't need that," responded Shawn, "Nothing's wrong with me! You just learn not to make me angry."

"You know what Shawn I have had enough!" stated Mimi, packing up some stuff into her purse, "I'm leaving Shawn! And I'm not coming back till you learn to control yourself!"

With that Mimi turned to leave. She took a step but found she couldn't take another.

"Shawn! Let go of my arm!" demanded Mimi. She struggled to break away but Shawn's muscles were not just for show. He had an iron grip on Mimi's forearm.

"Stop it Shawn! Let me go!" ordered Mimi in vain. She was about to scream for help but Shawn covered her mouth.

In another part of the restaurant the party was going well. People were drinking, dancing and having a good time. No one really noticed the blonde haired man drinking alone in the corner. He didn't really know why he was there. He'd been invited with one of his bandmates. He'd been abandoned for someone else as soon as they arrived. So Matt decided he'd have a few drinks then go somewhere else. Most everyone here ignored him.

As he sat there he couldn't help hearing some of the conversations going on. People talked about the latest celebrity gossip and other things of that sort. He mostly just tuned in and out but he heard Mimi's name uttered. Instantly his ears perked up.

"Yeah, Mimi Tachikawa ate the whole 20 oz. steak." Said one girl.

"Wow, how does she eat so much and still stay skinny." Said the other.

"I bet she's bulimic," Said the first girl, "You can't put that much in and still have a rockin' body like hers."

"Yeah, totally. Isn't she in town?" asked the second girl.

"Uh-huh," said the first girl, "She's actually at this party. In one of the other rooms I think."

"Probably throwing up!" said the second girl laughing.

"Yeah!" laughed the first girl.

Inside his head Matt started to debate whether he should talk to Mimi. On the one hand he didn't want to seem like he was obsessed with her, but he really did want to talk to her. Matt considered the proposition in his mind. Eventually, after staring into his glass he decided he'd just go and say "hi" and congratulate her on her performance last night. Lifting his glass, he took a sip of liquid courage and went to find Mimi.

After weaving his way through the crowd Matt found the door for one of the private rooms. He'd already been to one where people were doing drugs and was hoping for a better result from this one. When he peaked into the room, it was fairly empty as far as people were concerned. Soon he spotted a pile of pink fluff, unmistakably Mimi.

"Hey Mimi, I just wanted to stop by and…" Matt started to say but he noticed Mimi was moving strangely. Then he saw her turn her head. Her mouth was covered but her eyes screamed to him for help. Matt realized she was struggling with Shawn.

"Get off her Shawn!" shouted Matt running over to him.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do prick?" asked Shawn.

In response Matt threw his fist with all his might at Shawn. Shawn caught it with his hand and pushed it away. Shawn threw Mimi away and focused his attention on Matt.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time," said Shawn, rolling up his sleeves, "Trying to steal my girl."

"You don't deserve her!" shouted Matt.

"Yeah, well the only thing you deserve is this!" said Shawn aiming his fist at Matt's face. Mat tried to block it with his arm, but Shawn was too strong. It wasn't a clean hit but it still did its damage. The fight went on with Matt not able to land a good a=blow on Shawn. Shawn, however, was able to hit Matt fairly easily. Mat kept his guard up around his face but got hit just about everywhere else. Matt let his guard down just for a second to block one of Shawn's hands. That was all Shawn needed. With his other hand he punched Matt in the side of the head.

Matt fell to the ground. He saw the lights above him then it faded to nothing but black.

There you go! Please tell me what you thought of that because i am missing the days when i would get regular e-mails from this site :( that and it'll make this story better.

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If you like Taiora, which everyone should, check out I'm Right Here's: "remembering me" it's a great story and very well written :)

thanks for reading!