Behind The Scenes

Chapter 8 (Part Two): Things are sweeter in Tennessee

Matthew felt the wine freeze in his throat and it took less than two seconds for him to choke on it and had a coughing fit. The entire table was looking at him, Tristan was patting his back and Aly seemed as shocked with the news of their own wedding as he was.

"Come on boy, I haven't got all day" Jack said, placing a chicken thigh on his plate.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Aly's voice was restrained, but it was noticeable that all that calmness was fake.

Maddie poured Crawford a glass of water, who finally managed to stop coughing.

"What do you mean Alyssa?" Jack replied. "We need to sort this out soon. I know you'll probably want to get married in LA, but please, don't make the ceremony some type of circus freak show, I don't have enough patience for that." The father finished and Alyssa ran her hands through her hair.

"Marry? Dad, are you crazy?" She said in a squeaky voice, and the whole table turned to her. "We're not going to get married!"

"You're not going to what?" This time it was Jack's voice that went up a few notches.

"We're not going to get married." Alyssa answered, unwavering, what made her own father have a completely ironic fit of laughter.

"YOU MUST BE KIDDING!" He yelled and was interrupted by Cheryl.

"Jack, please..."

"THERE'S NO PLEASE IN HERE CHERYL!" Jack got up, placing his hands on the table. "How will this kid be raised without a family? This kid is irresponsible, but better a father who lives drinking around than no father!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Hayes-" Matthew interrupted, sensing his voice a little strange. "You should not believe everything the media says, I-"

"I'm not talking to you...yet." Jack replied. "How in the world did you get yourself a guy like this Alyssa? He appeared on the newspaper again yesterday! How do you let something like this happen?"

"Dad, ENOUGH!" Aly screamed and her sisters widened their eyes. "This is not the fifties! I'm not gonna marry him just because you want me to!"

"You're going to marry him because you're pregnant," he mocked her.

"I'm not going to do it at all!" Alyssa said too loudly. "I was grown up enough to make this child in the first place; I'm big enough to make my own decisions too. AND I'M NOT GOING TO GET MARRIED ONLY BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO!" The actress yelled before throwing the napkin on her empty plate and running straight into the house.

Alyssa was going to slam the door behind her when she noticed Matthew was right behind.

"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING." The girl screamed, with her eyes red. "I can't believe it! Matthew, we're screwed... SCREWED! My dad's going to make our lives a living hell and everyone is gonna end up finding out and we'll be on the crime pages and-"

Matthew held Aly by the shoulders and shook her.

"Could you just stay still?" He whispered-yelled, locking the door, then took a deep breath. "Getting married is out of question."

"I know, that's why I-"

"I'm not done yet, dammit." He said, still holding her. "I'll think of a way to get this idea out of your dad's head."

"No one gets anything out of my dad's head," Aly grumbled with a cracking voice, and Matthew rolled his eyes.

"I will fix this." Crawford confirmed. "Nobody takes Matthew Crawford out of the market that quickly."

"I hate it when you speak about yourself on third person," Aly complained, arching a brow.

"And I hate it when you start crying like a little kid," the actor replied. "And don't even try to blame it on the hormones!" He added, seeing the girl snort.