This is a way too long chapter so I had to split it in two.
Hope you'll like it ^^
Chapter XI A.
(In the meantime)
"No, Bells, maybe you didn't hear me. You won't go out from here until you tell me what the bloody hell you did!" Dom ordered him, as he locked the door to prevent Matt from leaving.
"I didn't make any mess, let's say that I set someone's investigation on the wrong track." Matthew grumbled.
"Sorry, I guess I missed some steps. What did you do today? Did you go out with Gaia or did you pop up at Scotland Yard?" the blond made fun of him.
"Ah-ah, funny. Of course I went out with her, but she's the one investigating, asking me some odd questions, such as if I use PC usually, if I like chatting on line and stuff like that. She suspects something," the redheaded clarified.
"She suspects that the guy on the web is you, right?" the drummer realised.
The singer confined himself to nod.
"Excuse me, but... shouldn't you be happy about it?" Dom added.
"You're joking, right? It's a tragedy!" Matt despaired.
"I guess I missed some steps again!" his listener snorted.
"Why can't you see, Dom? Who assures me that she doesn't care about me only because she thinks that I could be the guy on the web?" Matt explained with an unnatural gesticulation, a clear sing that he was getting nervous.
"Matt, dear, you're aware of the fact that the guy on the web is you, right?" Dom asked him with apprehension.
"Of course I am, but it's not the same! I have to find out if she likes me for who I am... or if she is still looking for end_of_the_world," Matthew stated.
Dominic looked at him puzzled and Matt read the question in his eyes.
"I mean the guy on the web. It's my username," he explained.
"Well, it suits you!" the blond chuckled. "Anyway, how do you plan to make her choose between you... and you?"
"It's simple. Not only that I made her believe that I'm not the guy on the web, but I asked her out as the guy on the web tomorrow in Milan," the guitarist confessed.
"But tomorrow we're playing in Bologna!" the drummer reminded him.
"I know. So this is perfect, this is going to puzzle her, so she won't think anymore that I could be the guy on the web," the redheaded declared.
"What if she accepted the date? Would you make her go there in vain? Poor, dear girl!" Dom commented.
"I've never said that," Matt shook his head.
"Oh, I got it. You mean that you'll pay a guy and send him there, pretending to be end_of_the_world!" Dom deduced.
"No bloody way! It would be just useless!" Matthew protested.
"You said that we are going to play in Bologna, but at the same time you don't want Gaia to go to Milan in vain, and you don't want her to meet any other guy who is not you either, then how..." Dom summed up, as he stared at his friend, more and more shocked.
"No! Damn you, Bells, you can't screw the show up!" Dom yelled, acting like a perfect talking cricket who was dealing with a very stubborn Pinocchio.
"But it's for a good reason..." he justified.
"Tom will kill you!" Dom tried to make him change his mind.
"If she chooses Milan, I'll have to go there!" Matthew warned him.
"Warner will ask for your head on a plate!" his best friend insisted.
"You would do something totally crazy for Jessica, wouldn't you?" Matt had him up against the wall.
"Low blow!" the elder guy complained.
"It won't be such a tragedy as you guess. You will simply tell everyone that I don't feel well and I can't perform. No one will dare to disturb me in our tour bus where everyone thinks I'm resting," the younger guy exposed his clever plan. "And we'll make up for the lost show, I swear it. I would never ever let our fans down," he added.
Dominic smiled.
"You've already thought about everything."
"Thinking is my favourite hobby, especially if it requests machinations!" his best friend laughed. "So in the worst case ever, can I rely on you?" Matt asked Dom, getting closer and looking at him seriously.
"Damn you, Bells, after all those years you still ask me such idiot things," the blond replied, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder. "Of course you can, I just hope you won't need it," he added.
"You tell me! I want her to choose the real me, not the virtual me. Plus, I'm really dying to sing that song to her..." the redheaded commented, a little bit concerned.
(In the meantime)
"Hey, Jess, are you already sleeping?" Gaia called her.
"No way! I'm just lying in the bed, trying to keep my eye closed and relax, but it's useless, too much adrenaline, you know?" Jessica replied, getting up. "Why? Wassup?" she wondered as she sat beside her friend, in front of Gaia's opened laptop, the only feeble light in the room.
"It's not him," Gaia stated a little upset.
"Who is not who?" her friend wondered, puzzled.
"The guy on the web. He sent me a message, saying that he managed to get free, so he wants to meet me, tomorrow, in Milan," Gaia informed her.
"But tomorrow…"
"Right. Tomorrow there's the Muse show and it's not the kind of duty you can get free from. So, see? It can't be Matt, it was just a coincidence. Stupid me for thinking that!" Gaia grumbled.
"Well, you said that you couldn't live with that doubt. Now that you found out the truth what do you plan to do?" Jessica asked her, going back to her own bed.
"Well, you know, end_of_the_world…"
"Who?" Jessica frowned.
"Sorry, I didn't tell you, it's the username of the guy on the web," Gaia explained.
"Disquieting. What is yours?" her friend asked curiously.
"Eternally-missed."
"Nice," Jessica approved.
"The point is that End fascinates me a lot, we've spent whole weeks making each other feel strong emotions through our messages. Plus, all the mystery makes me want to give him a face, a body, a voice, a defined identity," Gaia commented as she walked back and forth around the room.
"But…" Jessica deduced.
"This morning, my very first thought was 'today I'm going to see Matthew!' and since he left, I'm doing nothing but think that tomorrow I'm going to see him again. I feel so good with him, there's a sort of connection between us, a special feeling, just like with End. No, wait, maybe with Matthew is even stronger. Matthew is so…" she commented, without finishing her sentence, as she took the stuffed swan on her bed and held it tightly.
"I guess you've just answered to my question," Jessica stated with a knowing smile.
"I guess so," the other smiled as she got ready to reply to the private message.
(After a while)
The morning after at the Polloni house, at 9:00 a.m. the girls were ready and they had packaged their things, including elegant dresses for the night. Luckily, Jessica always took with her a dress for special occasions.
"Gaia, Jess, are you sure you're not late? Don't you have to take the train? Please, Gaia, don't tell me that you want to drive to Bologna, because I don't know if I want to give you my car," the mother commented, concerned.
"Don't worry, Mum. No car. No train. Matthew told me he would think about everything," her daughter explained.
"Matthew? Do you mean the Muse singer? Gaia, this story again! Quit it, Gaia, now you begin to make me worry... a lot! You lost your mind," the woman stated, looking at Gaia in concern.
"Mum! How can I convince you that it's the truth? I'm studying psychology, I guess I know a thing or two about the sense of reality!" the girl snorted, exasperated.
Someone rang the bell and when the woman went to open the door, she came face to face with a chauffeur, seeing a white Limo, parked outside, near the gate.
"Good Morning, Madame, I'm here to take the ladies to Mr. Bellamy and Mr. Howard," the Italian man explained and then he turned to Gaia and Jessica: "I guess you are the lucky ladies," he added, with a smile.
Gaia smiled back at him and then she translated everything to Jessica and she also smiled at him.
Before leaving, Gaia approached her shocked mother who stood with her jaw dropped.
"So do you believe me now?" she giggled, kissing her cheek.
Her father had observed the whole scene from the sofa, but when he saw his wife in that state he walked to the woman, hugging her to force her out from her state of shock.
"You know, my dear, I guess that our daughter didn't lie," he commented as they watched their daughter get in the Limo with her friend.
(In the meantime)
Muse were on their way to Bologna.
Matt sat close to Dom, in the middle seats, Chris was at the back seats, with his Kelly and he had eyes only for her.
Tom was at the front seat; he was busy talking on the phone with many people at the same time.
Matt got up for the umpteenth time, waling though the corridor and coming back.
"Dammit, Matt, calm down!" Dom snapped as he was bustling with his mobile.
"I just can't. I want to know where I'll be tonight, but at the same time I'm too afraid to find it out," Matthew grumbled, passing a hand though his flaming hair.
"Just wait for Gaia's answer and then you'll know what to do," the blond advised him.
"Actually, she has already answered. Yesterday night," the redhead informed him.
"What? So what the hell are you waiting for? Go read it!" Dom exhorted him, a little bit rudely.
"I can't, it's stronger than me, I guess I'll wait until the last moment," Matt admitted.
"Tell me, did you manage to sleep at least?" his best friend asked him.
"Yeah, but I had dreams about her who sent a message to me and I was too afraid to read it," the front man replied ruefully.
"You're a hopeless case!" Dom laughed as he decided to add something to the text message he was writing, before sending it.
(In the meantime)
Jessica and Gaia were inside the limousine as they were having fun winding up and down the window that separated them from the chauffeur, giving them the proper privacy.
Jessica's mobile started to vibrate, informing her that she received a text message.
"Well, it seems that Dom is more early-rising than Matt, I haven't heard from him yet," Gaia commented.
"Who tells you that it's Dom?" Jessica struck back, as she drew out her mobile.
"So who it is?" Gaia asked her, rhetorically.
"How did you guess that?" Jessica wondered, astonished.
"Sixth sense!" Gaia stuck her tongue out as Jessica read the message.
'Good morning, honey, do you like the Limo? Are you already inside it, right? Please, don't jump to the wrong conclusion, I'm just asking it for Matthew: is Gaia there with you? It's just that Matt is freaking out and doesn't want to ask her... it's such a long story! A kiss. And this is only for you. Dom'
Jessica smiled, ready to answer, but reading the message once again she jumped to another important conclusion. Gaia was too busy looking outside the dark window to notice her friend's shocked expression.
(In the meantime)
Dominic rushed to read the answer.
'Good Morning to you, Charming Prince, because you're making me feel like I'm Cinderella who is going to the ball... with such a luxury carriage! I'm living a fairy tale with you, I can't wait to hold you tight. Tell Matthew that he can calm down, Gaia is here with me. Why was he so doubtful about that? Wait! Don't tell me that he... it's the...? Whatever the answer is, a big kiss, only for you. Jess'.
"Matt, tonight there will be our show and you're going to play that special song. Trust me!" he informed the redhead, winking at him.
"Do you mean that…" the front man smiled brightly at him.
"A little bird told me that. A little, very sexy bird!" Dom explained, showing him the display of his mobile.
"Thank you, Dom," Matt murmured, before rushing to his laptop.
Dominic watched him leaving with a smile, before answering the message.
'I guess that this is something that your best friend and my crazy, best friend have to face on their own. And this answered your previous question, but pretend I didn't tell you anything, OK? See you soon, Princess.' he wrote and sent it.
Matthew had already opened his mailbox, clicking eagerly on the message that, finally, didn't scare him anymore.
'My dear End, I don't know how to say that... just five days ago, I would have screamed a huge 'YEEESSS ', without excitations. But now... do you remember when I told you that I was divided by you and the best friend of the guy I was sure I felt something for? Well, finally, his best friend is the winner. Today I'm in Bologna, at the Muse show. I'm not telling you because I want you to reach me. It would be the worst thing to do, because it's him that invited me here. And it's him who I chose to be with.'
"She chose me. I mean... she chose the real me... instead of the virtual me!" Matt rejoiced, appreciating the fact that she hadn't even mentioned that the guy in question was the Muse front man nonetheless.
Gaia didn't shout it from the rooftops and that made her even lovelier.
The guy went on reading, because it was a rather long message.
'I'm sorry, but... although you're special and there's a fair probability that you could be my soul mate, I just can't renounce to something so beautiful and real that I'm living now for something that, after all, is only virtual. My dear End, I guess that maybe we deluded each other with too many sweet words, but it was such a wonderful delusion, you have to know it. Truth is that outside there's the girl you're waiting for, the right one for you, the one who will treat you in the beautiful way you deserve. A girl you can interact with... even when she is not on-line! ;). I'm sure you'll find her soon.'
"Well, sooner than you think," Matt smirked.
'Farewell, end_of_the_world.'
"Oh, no, my eternally-missed, there's no farewell between us," he thought as he came back to his seat next to Dom.
"Hey, Bells, you'd better remove that idiot smile from your face! Believe me, you look pretty stupid with it!" his friend made fun of him as he ruffled his hair.
Tom made Matt stop his smiling instantly.
"Here we go, I was looking just for you. Hurry up, Bells. Do you remember all the interviews you forced me to postpone? Well, I have three magazines hanging on, so quit fucking around and start working hard!" his manager ordered, giving him one of the three mobiles he was holding.
Matt obeyed and went downstairs to answer to the questions with more calmness.
Dom was pleading Tom with his puppy eyes and Tom already knew what he wanted.
"Yeah, Dom, you can go with Matt and chime in the interview, but not too much," he allowed him, rolling his eyes and smiling when he saw Dom leaving happy like a child.
After all, Tom knew how much Dom loved the interviews.
(End part A)
The second part will be veeeeeeeeeery important. Hope you'll like it ^^
p.s. 'A Natural Disaster ' and 'Change everything you are ' are on their way, too ^^
Hugs