THE GALLAGHER GIRL SERIES BELONGS TO ALLY CARTER AND ALLY CARTER ALONE. THIS IS NOT MINE.
My eyes snap open.
This can't be real. My mind snaps at me. She can't be gone. But she is.
It's taken me this long to realize it, but this isn't seventh bloody grade anymore. Those stone walls won't always be here to protect us. They certainly aren't protecting Cammie right now.
Wherever she went, Cammie had better stay there, because when she gets back, I very well may kill her for making us worry. It's been ninety-two days since she disappeared, gone in the night. No good-bye, no clues, she's on her own.
She should've taken back up.
Hell—why didn't I know she was leaving?!
Slowly, I slide out of bed and onto my feet. The floor is cold against my feet as I pad over to the door and stand silently, listening. I can hear three different people snoring, so I slide open my door and step out into the hallway. For a second, my mind betrays me and I wonder if this was how Cammie felt.
When she left, I mean.
But unlike her, all I want is a drink of water from the kitchen. I don't like to wake people, so I am silent as I trudge down the stairs. I feel like I am years older after only three months of her being gone.
Could I do it? If I was in Cammie's position, could I leave without telling anyone?
The answer sends a chill up my spine as I realize something: Yes. Yes I could.
But would I?
Yes.
That has no implications that I can't still be mad at her though. She shouldn't have left. Not without taking us with her.
"You're awake early." Zach steps into the kitchen. He looks tired. But then again, since Cammie left, he's always looked tired.
I look at his messed up hair, weary eyes, and dejected expression. He doesn't sleep much these days. None of us do. "I could say the same to you. Couldn't sleep?"
"Not until I know she's safe."
This is an answer I understand. He has nowhere to go, Cammie was all he truly had. This summer, we're keeping an eye on him, but Zach's never been the most stable person around. Some days I just wish he would smile again. I wish he would smile at me….
I snap the thought back into my mind. No. I can't think those things about Zach. He is Cammie's. He's not mine. He never will be mine.
For now, at this hour of the night—morning, whatever—I can blame it on my grief and that Zach stands before me shirtless. His muscles look lean and damn sexy as he walks past me. He pours a cup of juice from the fridge and holds it out to me. Gingerly, I take it, prying my eyes off his biceps.
"Put a shirt on, Zach." I say after taking a long swig of the sweet liquid.
"Huh?"
"A shirt." I repeat. Then stammer out the rest of the sentence. "It's… distracting when you walk around without one."
For a second, he looks dazed, then he smirks. That cocky, sexy smirk no one's seen since the beginning of summer. I force my heart to not race. "Why else would I do it?" he winks.
Oh. My. Bloody. God.
He winked.
At me.
"Screw you." I mutter, laughing gently, keeping my voice from faltering.
"What was that about wanting to screw me?" he asks, hopping up to sit on the counter beside me. I haven't seen him this…. alive. Not recently.
I grin at him, thankful that my blush is concealed by not only the lighting, but the dark cocoa of my skin. My thoughts couldn't show through it. He couldn't know what I was thinking.
"You're cute when you're being snide." I cross my arms.
He furrows his eyebrows. "Don't call me cute, Rebecca. An offence like that could make me lose my man card." His eyes show the playfulness I've missed so much.
For a moment, I feel like Macey. Flirting is her defense. She can't get hurt just from flirting. Only an insane guy wouldn't flirt back. So for now, I allow myself to flirt with Zach. For just a moment, I forget that Cammie's missing and I lose my worries when I flirt with Zach.
"You'll lose your man card faster if you keep calling me Rebecca. I very well may beat you up and take it for myself." I tease.
Then, I freeze when I suddenly feel his breath against my skin and his lips brush my ear. "I'd like to see you try, Baxter." He tells me.
That is all it takes for my breathing to catch and my eyes to squeeze shut, thinking of the wrong kind of 'beating' him up. He had to have noticed that. I am about to say something snappy when suddenly I feel his lips brush my jaw line.
I don't move. This has to be my imagination. It has to be.
But, no. I feel his lips again, this time on my cheek. And again, at the corner of my mouth. Finally, his lips gently brush mine, but I find myself needing more.
I press myself into his kiss. It's not gentle or sweet, this is hunger. He needs to be kissed, and I need to be held. This is how we deal with Cammie's disappearance. She left us.
She brought this upon herself.
His arms wrap around me and pull me onto his lap. My fingers lace through his hair. I feel his tongue sweep across my lower lip asking for entrance, but I don't give it to him. So, he starts trailing kisses down the side of my neck, nipping every here and there until he reaches my sweet spot.
My mouth opens as I try to conceal a moan and suddenly his lips are capturing mine again, pushing his tongue in. I try not to laugh—that would wake my parents and I really don't need them walking in on this. He's won. Zach always knows how to beat me.
His hands trail down my sides and I notice just how well they mold to the curve of my hips. I swing my leg around so that I'm straddling his hips try to close whatever gap is still left between us.
When the opportunity comes, I lightly bite his lower lip and his arms tighten around me.
Something about the way he kisses me. It's not possessive, it's definitely not sweet, it's so primal. We both know that tomorrow—later this morning, whatever—we'll wake up and this won't matter. For just this moment, nothing does matter.
It's a stress reliever.
When he finally pulls away, my lips are bruised and he's breathing heavy. I avoid looking into his eyes. I don't want to know what he's thinking. Instead, I busy myself running my hands across his chest. There's so much muscle. So much brute force inside of him.
I don't know how he didn't crush me when we were kissing.
"I-I think I might be able to sleep…" Zach starts, but I sense that there's more, so I remain where I am, captured by memorizing the defining lines of each individual ab he has. "I might be able to… if you slept with me. Not like that. But, just like actual sleeping. No clothing comes off. I just need something to hold onto."
Never before have I heard him stutter, but he does now.
Finally, I look into his eyes and see the pain that he's been hiding for so long. All he really needs is something to hold onto. Someone. So I nod and we settle in on the couch.
Zach's arm is protectively around my waist, my head rests in the crook of his neck. And we sleep. When I dream, there aren't any nightmares.
But when I wake, there will be. And this time, it will be real.
When I wake… Cammie will still be gone.
D'aww... That was slightly cute. In my opinion at least. I've always had a thing for A Bex and Zach ship. Though, Zammie still prevails in my heart. RATE AND REVIEW PLEASE!(: ~The Darkest Skye
