Chapter 10:

I took a quick shower after the girls left, using the hot water to wash all the bad vibes off of my body.

It felt refreshing to forget who I was for a minute, until I came out and found Zach stretched out on Liz's bed. The sunlight from the window reflected off his abs. Again, I struggled to look away. Damnit, don't I have a boyfriend?

"What are you doing here?"

"That couch is hard, this bed is soft, it was calling my name from the start." He smiled.

I sat by him on the bed. "And now its screaming for you to get out. Liz will color these sheets with your blood if she knows you've been here." He rolled over and groaned.

"I'm comfy here." I let out a chuckle before standing up and tugging on his legs, pulling him and my sheets with him.

"Stop it, I like it here." He whined more.

"Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither." I continued to pull until he was on my living room floor, where I left him.

"And put on a shirt before I get back."

I then went into Liz's room, and closed the door.

I put on black leggings and a loose white shirt with black stripes. I tied my hair in a high messy bun, strands of my hair perfectly framing my face.

I hated times like this, when want my hair to be perfect it turns out a mess, but when I'm not trying it looks great.

"Your finally done?" He asked as I walked down the hallway.

"You still haven't put on a shirt?"

He smirked. "At least I have on pants." I rolled my eyes and took my seat next to him.

I have no clue why, but I unlocked this unknown confidence around Zach. Its kinda been that way since college. It felt good.

"So what are your plans for the day?" He asked.

"I have no clue."

"Then lets just catch up, I mean, a lot must've happened since college."

I chuckled. "I'm not like Bex, if you wanna have a speed round then I'll definitely be the one owing you coffee."

He smiled at me. "I'll just ask questions. Since you're a beginner there's no penalty."

"Okay then, start."

"Name?" He said slowly.

"Cameron Ann Morgan."

"Job?"

"Doctor."

"Why'd you choose to become a doctor?" He asked curiously.

"I told you, my dad had a heart attack."

"That's what led you to become a doctor, that's not the reason why." He pressed.

I could feel my hands balling into fists. I wasn't mad, I didn't know what I was. It was this indescribable emotion that made me want to ball up my fists, to hold everything in. But eventually I took a deep breath, "I wanted to be better than the people that let him die. I wanted to be a doctor that wouldn't let any patient slip through her fingers, and I still do."

"That's a better answer, next question. Status?"

"In a relationship."

He leaned closer. "Now this one definitely needs an explanation."

"His name is Derek, I met him in New York while I was doing a training session, and he was leaving for a meeting. We've been dating for a year and three months." I said, somewhat feeling comfortable about it.

"Where is he?"

"He has a meeting today in Monaco if I'm not mistaken."

He shrugged it off. "Okay next question. How many kids do you want to have?"

"None at the moment, one baby girl in the future."

"Why only one?" He cocked an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I was an only child, I turned out fine."

"Really? Because everyone in college that wanted to ask you out were afraid that you were too shy to-"

"Okay, I get it, let's move on." I interrupted his sentence.

"Do you really think I don't remember what I said when I was drunk?" He asked, his natural smirk gradually becoming wider.

"What do you mean?" I said, dumbfounded.

"I mean I remember everything, from the number I had, to the reason why I was drunk in the first place."

"Why were you drunk?"

"Save it for your turn." He said. "Let's see-" he put his hand to his chin. "Do you like me?"

"Yeah I like you." I said plainly.

He facepalmed himself. "No, what's your opinion of me?"

"I guess you've just, changed, so much since college. I didn't expect you to be on magazines like top ten playboys." I said, watching his gaze shift.

"You see, magazines only see what they want to see. They'd rather make up a reputation for you than let you show the person you really are." He turned back to me.

I thought for a minute. "And who are you, Zach?"

He fiddled with his fingers. "I'm still figuring it out, I've got my whole life to do that. Right?"

I smiled. "You will."

"Okay then," he put his hands behind his head. "that's the end of my round, your turn. I suggest you skip the basic questions and get to the juicy stuff, I hate small talk."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, I'm an only child." He said without pause.

"At least we have that in common." I laughed.

"But the thing is, I didn't turn into a socially awkward weirdo like you did." I shot him a look as he laughed. Rolling my eyes, I continued.

"How many houses do you have?"

"5, but I wanna build a couple more."

I poked him in the side. "You're relationship status, Mr. Goode,"

"I don't have any girls clinging to me." He chuckled.

"Well, what's up between you and Bex?" I leaned in closer.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"Didn't seem like nothing earlier." I pressed.

"I'm not interested in her like that."

"Come on, you would make a cute couple."

"If your trying to hook me up with her, she's not my type."

"Ah, Zach Goode has a type. I'm officially intrigued, spill." I smiled.

"I don't expect much, just someone whose simple, but worth chasing after. She'll have a special way of doing things, and she won't hold her opinion no matter how many people it hurts. She'll be stubborn, but she'll also be understanding. Some one who isn't going to spend the night and leave the next day. A girl who actually loves me for me, not because of the number of 0's on my paycheck."

"That's not descriptive enough." I teased.

"It doesn't get anymore descriptive than that." He smiled.

"But you said you were taken earlier?"

He started pulling his fingers again. "Yeah, her name is Kelsie. I'm thinking of ending it."

I made a weird face. "Why?"

"I dunno, I guess she just deserves better than having to take care of a dying man, we're both so young and I don't wanna put her through this."

I cocked and eyebrow. "So you wanna break her heart and leave her instead?"

He took a deep breath. "Sometimes it takes heartache to avoid heartbreak."

"Okay." I sighed. "You know how you were talking about your mom earlier?" He nodded. "Mind telling me about her?"

He took a deep breath, and a long pause. For a second I thought he wouldn't, and I was about to ask another question when he said, "My mom had red hair, and green eyes that looked like mines of emeralds. When I was younger her eyes were so vibrant, so full of purpose. She had this scent of nature that made you want to cling to her, hold onto her or toss her onto your clothes like she was a dryer sheet." His eyes had a dreamlike effect, but they darkened. "She eventually got into drugs, buying and selling. She started drinking, sometimes mixing the two. Her eyes started to look less lively, her pupils dilated, she always had the smell of beer lingering after her. She would come home drunk, arguing with my dad. She was in multiple affairs, she was-"

"Lost?" I asked, almost like I knew the feeling.

"Yeah." He struggled to continue. "One day I came home and found my room trashed, knives in the wall, what looked like blood splattered on the floor, and my name with a giant 'x' through it." I could feel him shudder from my side of the couch. "Both of them claimed not to know who did it, so I cleaned it up and went to bed." He shrugged. I gave him a look that said 'you don't have to keep going,' but he did anyways. "The next day I found it like that again, the damage slightly worse than the first time. My dad had cameras put in that night, telling me whoever it was they would be caught, but I didn't care. I wanted to catch the person cold handed. The third day I ditched last period to come home early and find out who was doing it, and I found my mom, pouring blood from a bag all over my floor, and holding a knife." I looked at him, my eyes begging him not to continue if he can't. He just inhaled again. "When I asked her what she was doing, she gave me a sickly smile. She claimed it was none of my business, and when I tried to put up a fight, she pointed the knife at me." He shuddered, his voice shaking in the slightest, it would be nearly undetectable if my ears weren't trained to pick up things like that. "She threatened to kill me as she held it to my throat. She called me a disgrace, claimed I was what happens when you forget a condom." He laughed at the bittersweetness of the memory. "She sliced me on my arm, told me next time I'll mind my damn business. She kept tracing the knife over my skin as I stood there helplessly pinned to the wall, the cold knife digging itself into my body. My dad said he tried to come as soon as possible, and he did, he came just in time to have the cops cuff my mom and take her to the looney bin, but he wasn't there in time to save me."

"I'm sorry for asking." I looked down in shame.

He was silent for a long time. "You know, you're the first person I've been able to tell the whole story to. I guess I trust you, Morgan."

I smiled at the thought.

"Why were you drunk last night?"

"My dad called me. Since I hadn't heard from him in a while I picked up. He told me that he's been visiting my mom the past couple of weeks, and that he's thinking about bringing her home."

"Do you want her to come home?" God, why do these questions keep flying out of my mouth?

"Honestly, I'm not sure." He ran his hands through his hair. "I haven't seen her since then, and it still feels too early."

It was my turn to play with my fingers. "I think you should give her a chance. She's been there for a while getting psychological help, I'm sure she's stable now."

"I told my dad I'll think about it, but I know he's going to feel bad and forgive her, like he did when he found out about her affair." He stood up to go to the kitchen, opening the fridge.

"He won't make a big decision like that without your approval." I stood up leaning against the kitchen counter. "Anyways, when are we gonna talk about what happened three years ago?" I saw him stiffen as he stuck his head further into the fridge.

"Wow, I thought you had much more milk than this." He shook the bottle.

"Zach," I said, my voice a warning.

"Cammie I'm not talking about that."

I rolled my eyes. "Zach I know that's the reason why you left before graduation. There was no family emergency in Kentucky."

"You," He pointed at me, "weren't supposed to end up at that party." He grabbed the tub of cream cheese and a spoon. He walked back to the living room and slumped into the couch. I watched him furiously struggle with the lid before I followed, not uttering a word until I sat down.

"Zach it wasn't your fault."

"I knew the guys, I couldn't stop the guys, my fault." He shoved the spoon into his mouth.

"You were more wasted than me. You did what you could."

"It wasn't enough! They had-" he stopped. "and I basically just sat and watched."

"Zach, if I'm not blaming you, why blame yourself?"

"I brought you there in the first place, I should've protected you."

"You don't need to protect me, I can protect myself."

"Really?" He snapped. "Because if Jonas wasn't sober I think things would've went differently-"

A phone call interrupted his sentence. It was his.

He threw his head in his hands. "You mind if I take this?"

"Nope," I pointed to my right, "back door is that way in case you want some privacy." I watched him followed my finger.

He stood there for a couple minutes, not as if he was in an interesting conversation but rather one where he couldn't hang up and put his phone on do not disturb.

He came back moments later, a perplexing look on his face.

"What happened?" I asked.

He started shifting his weight from foot to foot. "It was my assistant."

I laughed. "Don't tell me you're leaving too."

"I'm afraid so, Morgan. Next time, is it your place or mine?" He smirked.

"How about you go to your place and I'll go to mine?" I countered. He smiled grabbing his jacket, and pulled the door closed behind him.

I felt chills send themselves up my body, my skin tingling. I couldn't explain it, but it was a bad feeling, something I wanted to get rid of, and it started just after Zach left the room.

Before I even start these reviews I want to apologize because I have been in this terrible funky mood and everything has just been blocked. These two chapters had been typed up for the longest I just didn't get around to reformatting them and like a bum I procrastinated it forever smh.

(I've also been having a fosters marathon but shhhhh its top secret no one else knows)

Reviews:

CamrynM05: Thank you for posting that comment. Seriously, those two simple words are the reason I cleaned up my act and put these chapters up. I hope to see you on here more often ;)