Disclaimer - I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.
*The Boys Are Back from HSM3 playing the background* Something in this chapter will probably come as a slight surprise if you know me *^*
I am so sleepy, I'm at a convention this weekend...
Chapter 9 theme songs: Ready To Love Again by Lady Antebellum, Happy As Happy Gets by Bowling For Soup and Mine by Taylor Swift
~ It must be time to move on now, without the fear of how it might end, I guess I'm ready to love again ~
Chapter 9
Alonzo was kissing him.
It was all Zephyr could think to do to cling to him and savour the moment. Al could push him away and say it was a mistake at any minute. But he didn't. He didn't and Zephyr risked snaking an arm around his waist, his other hand making its way up to the back of his neck to pull him impossibly closer and deepen the kiss. When Al responded with a soft moan, gripping his shoulders like it was instinct, Zephyr completely forgot about being cautious or patient or anything else. All that mattered was Alonzo.
Zephyr eventually pulled away to catch his breath, making sure not to let Al get more than an inch or two away. Luckily, though, he didn't seem to want to. Instead, his hands moved from his shoulders, running up his neck and into his hair to tangle his fingers in Zephyr's curls. As he did, Zephyr gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.
"What made you change your mind?"
Al bit his lip and looked down, then shrugged, ".. I don't know. I just saw you on that stage and... it was like high school. I-I thought I was just happy we could be friends again but..." he lifted his head and the second they made eye contact, he kissed him again, slower this time, muttering just loud enough for him to hear as they parted, "I don't think I wanna be friends..."
"Yeah, I think I got that," Zephyr quipped and Al laughed, a little embarrassed. His laughter faded quickly, though, and Zeph gave him a curious look, gently rubbing the back of his neck with his thumb, "Are you OK?"
"It's just..." Al sighed, searching for the words, "I didn't expect it to feel so wrong."
"What? The... kiss...?" he started to loosen his grip but Al pulled him back.
"No...! Being friends. Calling you my friend. Acting like friends...!" he finally let go and stepped back, "I know that's what we promised but I can't! And you can't either, but you still tried because you thought that was what I wanted. And I thought it was, too-"
"Hey, hey..." Zephyr stopped his rambling by taking hold of his arms and pulling him back towards him, "Slow down, I get it. But what happened to all that stuff you said yesterday? About things changing when you left Seabrook?" he lowered his voice, "And not loving me the same way you used to?"
Al thought for a second. He didn't usually have to think so much about his feelings (or about anything, really) but there was a lot to unpack here, "I lied," he said, then shook his head, "Or I didn't want to admit it. Or I was just... scared of getting hurt again..."
"I'm never gonna hurt you again, Al..." Zeph softly reminded him and he nodded.
"I know," he took a breath, "I don't think I really knew what was going on with me, Zeph. I don't need to depend on you for every little thing anymore, I can have my own life and maybe I really don't love you the way I used to but it was high school. It doesn't have to be the same. Hell, maybe it shouldn't! I'm..." he looked Zephyr in the eyes, "I can actually be independent now, and I needed that. I needed to get out on my own and just grow up and learn to make my own choices. So I could actually choose you."
He didn't notice it, but Zephyr was staring at him in silent awe.
"Alonzo..." his voice was so quiet Al didn't hear, although he probably didn't mean for him to anyway.
"We both needed this," Al said, apparently coming to a conclusion, "We needed to learn to be apart, 'cause we never had that before. Like, ever. Yeah, it could've been better if we hadn't broken up but this is how it happened. And this is how it turned out so let's just accept it," he finally saw the small adoring smile on Zephyr's face, "What...?"
Zephyr, lovingly shaking his head, reached up to touch his face, "You are so much smarter than people give you credit for. And..." he took Al's hand, lacing their fingers together, "You're just amazing. Don't ever believe anything less."
"... You gotta talk to me, though, Zeph. This isn't gonna work if you don't."
"I will," he promised, looking Al right in the eyes, "I swear, Al, I'm getting better."
There was a pause as Alonzo scanned his face.
"If you're still scared we can't handle long-distance, then tell me, we'll figure it out."
Zephyr sucked in a breath and bit his lip, then nodded, "I am scared. I'm so scared that I could be getting you back now when it's all gonna fall apart in a few weeks."
Alonzo ran a hand through his hair to calm him, "It won't. We're not gonna let it. I'll come see you any chance I get, even between band checks. I'll make that time, OK?"
This was where things fell apart the first time around. Zephyr couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if they couldn't visit it each other. But now, he felt reassured. He nodded.
"OK. And I'll come back here when you can't make it to Seabrook," he took Al's face in his hands, "I wanna hear every single song you write, you got that?"
Al chuckled, "Whatever you want, garzi'ka."
"I've missed hearing that," with a grin, Zephyr kissed him, which turned into multiple kisses, "Al...?" he mumbled against his lips.
"Mm-hmm?"
Pulling away, Zephyr tilted his head, "That song you wrote...?"
Al, already getting impatient, kissed his cheek, "Yeah?"
"... Was that about me?"
He immediately bit his lip and looked down, turning shy, "Yeah. It's..." he met Zephyr's eyes again with a half-self-conscious, half proud smile, "It's not the only one."
"I guess that's us," Zephyr beamed, brushing Al's hair back, "Making music for each other."
"... For each other?"
"Al, you're the whole reason I even wanted to learn guitar in the first place."
"Really?"
He nodded, "You're always singing. So I wanted to learn to play music for you to sing to. You just... you inspire me."
"You inspire me," Al bit his lip and Zephyr was transfixed by the familiar gleam in his eye. With a teasing smile and his arms around Zephyr's neck, he leaned closer till his lips were only an inch away from his ear, "How about... you come back to my place tonight...?"
He moved away again just enough to see the surprised but eager look on Zeph's face.
"You sure?"
Al shrugged, his smile never wavering, "I figure we should pick up right where we left off."
Zephyr quirked an eyebrow, "Don't you have a roommate?"
"I can kick him out for one night," Al rolled his eyes, "Besides, he's got his own boyfriend."
– SINCE WE BROKE UP –
Alonzo: ur gonna want to stay at ur bf's tonight
Jay: why?
Alonzo: no reason, just an old friend's in town
Jay: ...
Jay: are u talking about ur ex?
Alonzo: maybe :p
Jay: Al
Alonzo: pweez?
Jay: he broke your heart
Alonzo: and fixed it
Alonzo: dude just sleep somewhere else tonight. trust me, I know what I'm doing
When Al didn't answer anymore texts after that, Jay rolled his eyes and gave in. He seemed... happier, somehow.
– SINCE WE BROKE UP –
Roz and Zach had quickly found each other after sending their respective best friends into each other's arms, and were now slowly making their way to the park's exit, Roz carrying Zephyr's guitar case.
"What do you think they're doing?" Zach wondered out loud.
"I don't wanna know," Roz answered in less than a second, then held up her hand as her Z-band beeped: a text from Zephyr. She opened it to find a selfie of him smirking as Alonzo kissed his cheek.
Zephyr: see ya in the morning ;)
Roz let out a short laugh and showed Zach the message. He grinned.
"That's Al's dorm building," he pointed at the wall behind them in the picture, "Guess you know now."
Roz gave him a blank stare and he snorted, clapping a hand over his mouth.
"Are you done?" they deadpanned and blinked slowly at him. He took bit his lip and nodded. Roz closed the message and looked back up at Zach.
"We both totally saw this coming, right?"
"From a mile away."
– SINCE WE BROKE UP –
Despite the fact that she knew it was the right thing, Trisha couldn't help feeling like she was doing something wrong. It made sense for her to be jealous, or upset, or bitter. She was probably supposed to hate Zephyr, but she just couldn't let him give up. She was supposed to keep trying to win over Alonzo. Still apologise, sure, but then convince him she would be better for him. But she had only been trying to explain herself. She didn't even need him to forgive her. All she had been thinking was that he needed Zephyr. And he needed to accept it, and do something about it.
The way he had looked at her when he was onstage hurt, but at the same time, she understood. She deserved it. All she wanted now was for him to know. He had to know that she was truly sorry, and that she was giving up. If she couldn't have him, she was so, so glad that Zephyr could. Because Zephyr made Al happy.
But he could hurt him, too. He already did.
And the cycle started again.
Could Trisha be better? She knew she couldn't know everything about their relationship from just a few videos, but that could mean both that Zephyr wasn't as great as he came across onscreen, or that their love for each other ran even deeper than she, or anyone else, could see. She wasn't sure which would be better.
Something snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Jay and Lizzy walking towards her. Neither of them had seen her yet so she kept quiet as they got closer. What was strange was that Jay was walking away from his dorm building. In completely the opposite direction, in fact. It was already dark out and as far as she knew, there was no reason for him to be casually strolling around at this hour. Soon, though, they were near enough for her to catch a bit of their conversation.
"He's gonna regret it," Lizzy was saying but Jay shook his head sceptically.
"I don't think so. He never told me much about his ex, but I know they broke up over not being able to see each other. If they can fix that, I don't think it's such a bad idea."
She didn't need to hear anymore, she guessed what was happening. Trisha looked from Jay to Lizzy and back again, her eyebrows raised in question but her expression hard to read.
"So, they're back together...?"
The two of them stopped in their tracks and stared at her in surprise. They shared a look, Lizzy shrugged and stood back as Jay took the last few steps towards Trisha and cocked his head, his expression cold.
"Unless you have a better explanation for Al banishing me from the dorm for the night, I'm pretty sure they are."
Now she knew for sure; the relief that came over her in that moment made it clear. She closed her eyes and nodded, suddenly seeming to relax, "Thank God..." she muttered, leaving her former friends confused.
"I thought you liked Al," Lizzy frowned, "Wasn't that the whole problem?"
Trisha sighed, dropping her eyes to the floor and chewing on the inside of her cheek, "I do, yeah," she looked back up at them, "But he's not interested. It has to be Zephyr. If that's what he wants, then that's what I want."
Neither of them said anything. Trisha raised her hand in a small wave, putting her headphones in as she started to walk away.
How am I? I'm doing fine. It's been a while since you were mine but I don't want you to sleep with hi-
She was about to skip the song completely, then instead, she skipped to just the last minute, humming along.
If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that... If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that... If this is as happy as happy gets, well, I'm fine with that...
– SINCE WE BROKE UP –
"... You know," Zephyr started after texting Roz, "Trisha told me you still had feelings for me."
Al's head jerked around at the mention of Trisha's name. He frowned, "What? When did you talk to Trisha?"
"Friday. When you were with Zach, she found me and Roz talking. And she told me about how you were trying to forget me and move on."
"... Keyword being 'try'..."
"We're back together, though, aren't we?" Zephyr reminded him, "That's a good thing."
Alonzo looked back at him and slowly smiled.
"Come on," he grabbed his hand and they headed for the dorms.
– SINCE WE BROKE UP –
This time, it was Al's room they stumbled into, Zephyr just as awestruck as the last time with how this was even possible.
Because he really was this lucky. He had somehow made Alonzo Morgan fall in love with him all over again. Even after he drove him away.
He had wondered how he was ever going to survive without Alonzo, but he had, and he would. It just didn't have to be forever.
Al led him into the empty dorm room, unceremoniously dropping his guitar case on the floor, and the second the door was closed, Zephyr had him pinned against it. Al welcomed the kiss but eventually brought his hands to Zephyr's face to gently push him back, making him pout.
"I said, 'right where we left off'," he murmured before slipping out of Zeph's grip, taking his hand and heading towards his bedroom. As he stepped inside, though, Zephyr pulled him back.
"Do you actually remember that night?"
There was that guilty look again. The regret. How sorry he was for what he said.
"Yeah. I don't think I could forget it," Al answered honestly, then his teasing smile returned, "But we can fix that, can't we?"
Turning away, he went and flopped back onto his bed as Zephyr walked over and as soon as he was close enough, Alonzo pulled him down with him. Though he had been expecting it this time, Zephyr still looked just a little surprised and Al laughed. It was all the same. He lifted his head to kiss him but this time, instead of pulling away and sitting up, Zephyr kissed back.
Right where they left off.