DONE.

It's 3:00AM. This took four years.

EPILOGUE

Approximately Two Years Later

Zack fiddled awkwardly with the fancy cloth napkin on his lap. There weren't really words for how uncomfortable he felt, and he couldn't think of a damn thing to say.

"You should take a business class, at the very least."

He held back a heavy sigh and turned his gaze back to his father. "I don't have time in my class schedule."

His father scoffed, unimpressed. Shocking. "They allow you to take more than the standard amount of credits, yes? There is no reason for you to be slacking. And you still have time to switch your major," he added pointedly. Zack did sigh this time, and let go of his napkin in favor of picking up his fork. "Music isn't a career. It's a hobby. Now business management – that is a respectable choice." His father frowned at him from across the table.

Zack had no idea what to say in response, and the air quickly thickened with awkward tension. He had admittedly been hopeful that this meeting with his father would patch things up a bit – not to where he'd move back home, of course, but to where they would maybe get together for Christmas or just not absolutely hate each other or something. But the lunch meeting was already going awful, and he hadn't even touched his ravioli dish yet.

"I'm doing well in music theory, though," he offered, although it was useless. Telling his father he was excelling in music theory was like telling him he was good at coloring with crayons. It didn't actually matter. "I've been on the Dean's list for the past two semesters."

"Still," his father said, spearing a slice of his sirloin steak onto his own fork. "It would be an intelligent choice to at least minor in business. Even better to minor in your music nonsense and major in business. You've got to think about what works in the real world, Zackary. Business is always helpful. Music – it's associated with drugs and alcohol. It's just not respected, Zackary."

His father bit heavily into the bite of steak, and switched his entire focus to his food. Zack knew that it was the end of the conversation, and he half-heartedly picked at his ravioli in silence.

His new apartment building was actually pretty nice. He'd signed a two-year lease after living in the previous one for twenty-four months, but he already knew the new one was his favorite. The neighbors had all welcomed him with open arms and food, and there was a large pool behind the building that was open from April through September. It was four blocks from his university, as well, so he usually just walked to class.

Zack climbed the stairs up to the fourth floor, and keyed open the door to his apartment.

The second he stepped through the door, he could see a poke of dirty-blonde spikes peeking out from the other side of the couch in their living-room-slash-kitchen area.

Freddy's head whipped around as he heard the door close. "Hi, Zack! Don't get mad."

Zack paused in toeing off his shoes to stare up at the other man. "What?"

Freddy grinned at him stupidly from across the room. "Don't get mad."

Zack closed his eyes and counted to ten. "You saying that makes me want to get mad. What am I not getting mad about?"

"C'mere. I'll show you."

Snorting, Zack prodded his shoes to the side with his foot and headed for the kitchen. He flung open their creaky refrigerator and tossed the leftover ravioli onto a spacious shelf. "You've got two legs that aren't broken," he remarked teasingly. "If you're about to piss me off, at least bring whatever it is you broke or did to me."

There was a huff, followed by exaggerated sounds of a body clambering off of the couch and stomping into the kitchen area. The steps were still a little hobbled – just a little askew, like Freddy had a blister on one foot that he didn't like to press into the floor too much – but they were firm. Eventually, after a lot of ridiculous groaning, a pair of arms looped around Zack's shoulders from behind, crossing over his chest.

"Don't get mad," Freddy reminded him, squeezing his arms a bit. Zack snickered and reached up to place a hand over one of Freddy's, but he froze halfway.

Just above Freddy's wrist, on the smooth skin of his forearm, was a splotch of dark ink. Zack stared down at it, leaning his head back a bit to get a less blurry view of it, and his eyes widened. "You got a tattoo?"

Freddy hummed in response. "Can you see what it says?"

Zack gripped his arm and turned it a bit, so that the design was facing him. It was nicely done, actually. Zack hadn't seen a ton of tattoos this closely, but the lines were all neat and clean, and it looked more like a stamp than a drawing. The design itself was a bit raised, the skin a little swollen and the parts that weren't black were tinged pale red from irritation. But it looked fantastic, with guitar and a drum set with realistic shading in the center. School was printed above and of Rock was printedbelow the instruments in crisp, blocky letters. Zack smoothed a pointer finger over the design. "It's nice."

"You're not mad?"

The brunette glanced over his shoulder, where Freddy was watching him hopefully. "No? Dude, this is pretty cool. If I didn't have that whole thing about needles, I'd say the old gang should all get them," he said seriously, earning a grin from Freddy.

"By 'that whole thing about needles', you mean you see one and puke and-or faint immediately, right?"

"Shut up," Zack scolded lightly, turning his gaze back to the tattoo. "I really like it. They did a nice job on the guitar. The drums too, but. Hey, you're missing a bass."

Freddy took a deep breath. "I, um. I only wanted a guitar and drums."

"Got something against bass players? Katie would kick you in the face."

Zack expected some sort of joking response, but instead Freddy was curiously silent. Suddenly, the arms around him shifted and spun the brunette around gently, so they were face-to-face. "I only wanted a guitar and drums," he repeated, staring at some point near Zack's nose. "Because they – it represents us. You and me. I mean."

It took a few seconds, and then Zack's eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise. His entire body went warm and it was times like this that he couldn't believe how amazing Freddy was. "You got a tattoo for us?"

"Don't get mad," Freddy mumbled, and now Zack understood. Of course Zack wouldn't get angry over a tattoo – they were musicians that lived in the rock world, after all. Tattoos had become a huge part of music culture. But Freddy – god, he must've been terrified that Zack would react badly to a couple tattoo. To something permanent that would represent them forever.

"I love it. It's amazing," he said softly, leaning forward and kissing the blonde quickly.

"Really?" Freddy asked brightly. "That's good. Probably should've asked before I got it, y'know, because if you hated it we'd be shit out of luck."

Zack rolled his eyes and slapped at Freddy's side gently. "No, it's perfect."

Freddy smiled widely, thrilled. "Cool. So how did lunch go?"

And there went Zack's happy mood. His face fell and he let his head flop onto Freddy's shoulder. "Sucked."

"Aw, that bad? I thought he wanted to meet to reconcile, or something."

"Yeah. Well, by reconcile he obviously meant be condescending to my career choice and try to get me to become a business major. Actually, I thought it was going to go a whole lot worse, so."

Freddy hugged him closely. They didn't talk about their families much; after living together for over two years and planning on living together for at least two more, their idea of family had become more about Freddy and Zack than anything else.

And honestly, neither had a problem with that.

Two days after Freddy revealed his new tattoo, they got a wedding invitation in the mail.

"Summer and Lawrence. Wow."

"I didn't – when did they even date?" Freddy asked, peering over Zack's shoulder at the fancy invitation. It was a cute little card with a thin strip of blue ribbon tied in a neat bow at the top. Everything about the invite screamed pristine and professional. It was like a paper version of Summer's personality. "They didn't, right? In high school."

"I don't think so. Wow, it's in two weeks. Don't these things usually give, like, notice six months before the event?" He flipped the card over, scanning the fancy script on the back. "I haven't even seen either of them since before we moved out."

"I just don't understand how they dated and got engaged without us knowing. Like, okay, it's been a while, but they weren't exactly eyeing each other back in grade school. Did they even talk back then?" Freddy scrunched his nose, hobbling over to the counter and heaving himself onto it. He sat there, kicking his stiff legs like a little kid. "It's just out of nowhere."

Zack gave him a look. "Freddy. Literally the same exact thing happened to us. We went to high school with them, and as far as I know, we weren't staring lovingly at each other. Actually, outside of the band, we didn't even hang out that much."

"Yeah, but at least we talked a little more than they did."

The brunette shuffled over to the small bulletin board they kept on the wall over the stove. It was crammed with bills and reminders and about thirty colorful tacks, one of which Zack used to pin the invitation on top of about six other papers. "Well, they're getting married. You wanna go?"

Freddy smirked, leaning back on his palms. His heels banged loudly against the cabinets and he tilted his head to the side, his dumb hair flopping over a bit. "Are you asking me to be your date?"

Zack scowled. "Hell no. I was thinking of asking Billy, actually." Freddy's grin intensified and he slid off the counter, landing a little heavily on his feet. The second they hit the floor, Freddy's grin dropped and he crumpled a bit, clutching the counter as his legs gave out from under him. Zack darted over to him and was by his side in a second flat. "Oh my god, fuck – Freddy – how bad is it? Can you – here, let's get a chair-"

Freddy started laughing and stood up on two perfectly stable legs, grinning stupidly down at his thunderstruck boyfriend. "Rather take Billy, huh?"

Zack gawked at him, still slowly processing that Freddy's legs were not, in fact, crumbling on him, and he was not actually in any pain. "You. But." The full weight of the horrible prank Freddy just pulled sank in, and he scrambled to step back from him. "What the hell. That. That wasn't funny," he bit out, shuffling backwards until his hip hit the table. "Oh my god. I thought. I thought you were – that wasn't funny!"

Freddy seemed to realize that Zack didn't think his prank was humorous and quickly dropped the amused expression on his face. He stepped forward, face falling when Zack jerked away a little, but he pressed forward and gripped one of Zack's elbows. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I was just – it was stupid. I was being stupid and just trying to prove that you want to go with me. It was really dumb," he said, voice getting a little desperate when Zack didn't immediately cut in and say he forgave him. "Shit. I'm sorry, Zack. I'm stupid," he said miserably, pulling Zack into a hug. The brunette was unmoving in the hug, and Freddy began to panic a little. What if Zack broke up with him for that? Would he dump him over something that stupid?

"It still scares me sometimes," Zack murmured quietly, face pressed into the blonde's shoulder. "Like, what if something happens to the bars in your legs? What if they mess up the nerves and you can't walk again? What if you fall or land wrong and - god, Freddy, I'm still terrified that you won't be okay."

Freddy hushed him gently, slipping his arms around Zack's waist and pulling him close. "Hey. Zack, come on I'm fine, okay? My legs are fine. I might walk a bit crooked, but they work and they're practically robot legs."

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah," Freddy agreed, smiling softly against Zack's hair. After a moment of them standing in the middle of their small kitchen, Freddy spoke up again. "So will you be my date to the wedding?"

Zack sighed but nodded. "I suppose. I think Billy's got a boyfriend, anyway. I guess you'll do," he teased. Eventually, he pulled away, smiling at his flat mate. "Come on. We've got two weeks to find something nice to wear."

"Can't we just wear jeans? We're in a band for god's sake."

Rolling eyes as he left the kitchen to collapse on the couch and turn on their television. "Wear whatever the hell you want. I'm wearing something nice. I'd rather not get my face scraped off by Summer, if it's cool with you."

The wedding was gorgeous. Freddy had caved (as was expected – Summer was one of those terrifying, overly demanding brides and Freddy's badass attitude didn't stand a chance) and wore a black suit with a blood red dress shirt and a white tie. Zack wore the same, but with the tie and dress shirt colors reversed.

It was a ridiculously formal event. Lawrence's parents were conservative, and Summer's parents were very traditional, so the color scheme was an elegant black and white, and the wedding music was actually a cellist, a violinist, a violist, and a bass player.

Even so, Dewey was the life of the party. He both offended and charmed random guests, and all of the School of Rock veterans were giggling and chattering around him on the dance floor during the reception. Summer looked great in a delicate white gown, and Lawrence looked serious in a crisp black tuxedo.

"They're still weird," Freddy whispered as they watched a few couples dance to a slow song. Well – most of the songs were slow, because string quartets weren't exactly known to break into Sir Mix-A-Lot songs, but the current tune had about twenty couples on the dance floor (including Dewey and their old principal, which, what), swaying gracefully between each other. "Really weird together. Like. Summer's just so aggressive."

"I've heard she actually calmed down," Katie chimed in from the other side of their table. She had come to the wedding looking gorgeous in a shimmery maroon dress and a good-looking guy named Jake (Dickhead Dylan was apparently out of her life, to Freddy's delight) on her arm. And even though Freddy used to have a childhood crush on her, he couldn't help but mentally note how much better Zack looked in a suit than Katie did in a dress. He may have been biased. "Like, she can't yell at Lawrence like she can with other people because he just stands there and listens politely. They've never had a two-sided argument, I don't think."

"Did they date in high school? No, right?" Freddy pressed, leaning forward. Zack sighed from the seat next to him.

"Let it go already. So what if they weren't together in grade school?" he pointed out (for the third or fourth time).

Freddy sat back and frowned a bit. "But they barely even spoke in grade school, and now they're just – bam, in love?"

"It's not impossible, you know. People can know each other for years and then eventually fall in love. Happens all the time," Zack pointed out, gaze focused on the table surface. Freddy opened his mouth to say something else, but there was something about the way Zack looked that stopped him. Maybe Summer and Lawrence weren't the only people that situation applied to.

"They hit it off in college, actually," Katie said, more so to her date than to either of the other men. "Ended up living in the same dormitory building and started meeting up a lot. I asked Billy, and he said that Lawrence told him that he realized he'd fallen for Summer when she started crying because she had a huge exam coming up. They'd been studying for hours and she was so stressed that she just broke down in the middle of the library and cried all over her textbook. Lawrence realized she was the one when he gave up his own studying time to help her and make her smile again."

"That's so cute," Alicia commented, walking over to their table. "I love a good story like that." She turned to Freddy and Zack, eyes settling on the latter. "May I have this dance, guitar boy?" she asked teasingly. Zack's eyes flickered to Freddy for just a moment, who didn't protest, so he held out his hand and grabbed Alicia's.

"I can't really dance and I'm probably going to smash your toes, but yeah, sure," he said, clambering to his feet and following her onto the dance floor. Freddy watched in amusement as the pair found an empty spot and began awkwardly swaying. Zack really was quite terrible, and the wince on Alicia's face implied that he'd already made pancakes out of her toes.

"I never thought I'd see the day."

Freddy blinked and turned to find Billy taking the open seat next to Katie. "Oh, hey, Billy."

Billy, who was as fashionable as ever in his designer pinstripe suit and silk bowtie, quirked an eyebrow. He leaned forward on his elbows, staring down Freddy like he was figuring out a math problem. Katie peered at Billy curiously. "You thought you'd never see what day?"

"The day Freddy Jones, badass drummer and all-around rebel, fell ass over head for someone. And here I thought you'd never have the attention span to settle down."

Freddy's teeth clacked as his jaw snapped shut, and he stared at Billy with wide eyes. He and Zack weren't hiding their relationship at all, but they hadn't exactly told anyone from their School of Rock days, either. "What do you mean?"

Billy smoothed back his immaculate hair and scoffed. "Please. You're staring after Alicia like she just took your whole world for a Waltz. Besides, I could see how you two looked at each other from across the damn reception hall."

"Freddy and Zack?" Katie asked, her tone implying that she already sort of knew but wanted to confirm.

"Called it from the moment I heard they were living together," Billy said seriously, waving a hand in the air for one of the roaming servers. A girl in a white dress shirt and small black vest came over with a tray of champagne, and Billy took a flute and delicately sipped at it. "Besides, you two fit. Like Summer and Lawrence, almost. You're the loud, explosive one that doesn't quite grasp every concept-"

"What – hey!"

"And Zack's the smart, passive one that holds back so much passion it's ridiculous. Honestly, I should've seen this coming since we were eleven. It's so cliché – the drummer and the guitarist."

Freddy wasn't listening anymore, though. He had unconsciously turned to watch Zack again. The words you two fit were rolling around in his head, along with she took your whole world and since we were eleven. Of course he knew that he and Zack worked, but he never really thought about them fitting like two pieces of a two-piece puzzle, made to fit completely and perfectly with each other. Only with each other. "Oh god, I can totally see it now," Katie said, nose scrunched. "Ugh, look at his face. It's like he's looking at his future husband."

"I'm pretty sure he is looking at his future husband," Billy replied shortly. "Freddy, darling, can you try not to drool all over the floor? Go have your epiphany about your relationship over a napkin or something."

Freddy snapped back to the conversation then, blinking rapidly and turning to look at his ex-classmates. "Um."

"Please tell me you and Zack are at least dating already," Katie said, a small smile on her face. "It's already cliché enough without you having to realize that your feelings for him are more than friendly."

"No, we – we're dating," he filled in quickly. He was still in some sort of half-daze, because future husband? What.

"Well, that's fantastic. So maybe you should, I don't know, go dance with your boyfriend? About six consecutive couple's dances just played, and yet the only person who has danced with a member of your relationship is Alicia."

Freddy turned to watch Zack again. And it was cute, how much he sucked at dancing with Alicia, but Freddy felt it would better fit the situation if he were the one dancing with Zack. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

He stood from the table, ignoring Billy's rapid chatter about how he's always right and how he has a knack for these things, see, and how Freddy and Zack were like a walking chick-flick.

He approached Zack and Alicia cautiously, like he wasn't sure if this was actually going to be acceptable. He and Zack could dance together here, right? The last time they danced was during the therapy sessions for Freddy's legs, but that was hardly actually dancing. They never really got to the 'waltzing around the room' part of that plan. Not because Freddy's legs prevented it – they both just sucked at dancing in specific patterns.

But still. As much of a badass rocker Freddy was, he maybe still wanted to slow dance with his boyfriend.

So he reached out and tapped on Zack's shoulder. The brunette turned and paused in his awkward footwork, grinning at him brightly. "Hey, Freddy."

"Hey. Sorry Alicia, but can I steal him?" he asked, sending her a charming grin. She only looked momentarily startled, but then smirked like she knew things like Billy knew things, and stepped back.

"Thanks for the dance, Zack," she called, maneuvering her way through the crowd and joining the table Freddy had just come from.

Zack looked at him expectantly, a hint of concern tilting the corners of his mouth down slightly. "What's up? Are your legs okay?"

And god – that right there proved that Billy was a thousand percent right. Freddy's legs had been fine – pain free, at least – for over a year and a half. But Zack still asked that question nearly every single day, and even though Freddy always replied the same ("Zack, my legs are fine.") Zack always checked anyway.

And Freddy loved him for that.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, instead of answering the question (again). He bowed a little and held out a hand, grinning when Zack looked startled.

"Dance? Freddy, you haven't danced since therapy. Are you – is that a good idea?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a good idea for me to dance with you at a wedding reception," he replied with a large, dumb grin. Zack eyed him for a moment, but then caved and smiled. He took the offered hand and let his other hand slink around Freddy's neck, with one of the blonde's arms winding around his waist. They weren't about to break into a salsa or anything, but they swayed back and forth smoothly, feet moving in small increments. "So Billy and Katie know we're dating."

Zack flushed. "Yeah. So does Alicia. And if Billy and Alicia know, that means that everyone else will be aware within an hour," he muttered. He ducked his head a little, watching their feet. So far, no toes had been stepped on. "I'm kind of glad they know. I mean, we aren't hiding it or anything, but. It's just nice." There was a brief pause, and then he lifted his head to look up at Freddy. "My dad still doesn't know."

Freddy tilted his head. "Do you want him to?"

Zack didn't respond for a long minute, looking at nameless objects over Freddy's shoulder. "No. It's – it's not about hiding it. He's just not someone important enough to know. Like, if he found out, then fine. But he doesn't deserve to meet you as my boyfriend."

"My parents don't know either, if it makes you feel better," Freddy replied, trying for a joke and failing. He hadn't spoken to his parents since they kicked him out, and there was no expectation of reconciliation for them.

"It doesn't. But it also doesn't matter, right? Like – only the important people know."

"And anyone who's ever caught us making out in public," Freddy teased, twirling them around a little. A burst of laughter flew from Zack's mouth, and Freddy smiled widely. "So… a lot of people, then."

The brunette shrugged. "Whatever. I don't really care who knows. It took a lot to get us to the actual dating point, y'know? Like a decade of knowing each other throughout grade school, and then like a year of poor communication skills and me not wanting to start something that would end badly."

Their dancing slowed, and Freddy took a good look at Zack. He was absolutely biased, of course, but Zack was gorgeous. And he took a moment to appreciate just how much nonsense they went through just to get to the dating stage.

It was actually all worth it, he believed.

Freddy threw Zack off guard when he suddenly picked up their dancing again and spun him a little faster, earning a surprised giggle out of the brunette. Even though the song playing wasn't at all finished, Freddy twirled them twice more and then dramatically dipped Zack.

Zack was beaming and bright red when he stood back up, immediately grumbling about how dipping is for girls and it's weird because we're the same size but he looked so happy that Freddy didn't take it seriously.

When Zack asked again if Freddy's legs were feeling okay, the blonde knew without a doubt that Billy was right. He was so, so goddamn right.

They fit.

He pulled Zack close, no longer dancing but arms tucked tightly around each other, and pressed his forehead to the brunette's. Zack was still smiling and pink with embarrassment, but he looked so happy. Freddy took a deep breath.

"Marry me."

Zack froze and the smile on his face turned down slowly, a line of confusion scrunching his eyebrows. But his eyes were wide, and Freddy prayed that it was from being hopeful. "What?" he whispered, gaze boring into Freddy's own.

Freddy cleared his throat, voice much less deep and sure this time. "Marry me." There was a second of silence, and then Freddy realized that, hey, he should probably speak more. "Zack, you are my best friend in the entire world. We've been through a lot together, and most of it was simple, like school. But – but you and I? We fit together. Honestly, I wouldn't change a single thing that happened in the past three years – or even ten years – because all that matters to me is that we ended up together. And I know we're still young, but…" He broke off for a moment, rapidly losing his nerve. Zack hadn't yet interrupted him to give an answer, but he also was slack-jawed and staring at Freddy like he was hanging on every word. "But I know that there will never be another guitar that goes better with my drums."

Zack's gaze darted down and his hand pulled away one of Freddy's arms from his waist. When he realized that he was being pulled off, Freddy's heart thumped painfully and his hope died in his chest, and he could feel the beginning of tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

But Zack wasn't pulling him away. He had grabbed Freddy's forearm and shoved the jacket and dress shirt sleeve up so that his forearm was revealed, where the guitar and drums tattoo was etched darkly into his skin. He stared down at it for a long moment, and Freddy had no idea if that was a good sign.

"I'm the guitar to your drums," Zack said softly, looking back up at a freaking-out Freddy.

Freddy took a shaky breath. "Marry me, Zack," he tried again, hoping that Zack would, at the very least, give him a response before he died of a panic attack.

And Zack smiled so widely, Freddy thought for a second that his face would split in half. But then the brunette was tackling him into a hug, arms wrapped around Freddy's neck and face pressed to the blonde's own. "Yes. God. Fuck. Yes."

When Freddy realized that he wasn't being rejected (which was impressive, considering the proposal came out of seemingly nowhere and didn't have a ring, a romantic setup, or previous planning of any sort) he wrapped his arms tightly around Zack and squeezed him as tightly as he could.

He wouldn't admit to it later on, but he may have teared up a little. Or more than a little.

(He may have let out a noisy sob, accompanied with some tears that he pressed into the shoulder of Zack's jacket.)

They returned to their table after two more dances, Freddy's arm slung over Zack's shoulders and obnoxious smiles on both of their faces.

Billy scrunched his nose in distaste. "Either you just grinded until you got off, or you proposed. Either way, you did it in the middle of the dance floor at Summer's wedding reception, and she is going to murder you."

"He said yes, thanks for asking," Freddy responded flatly, although the scolding tone was ineffective due to how annoyingly cheerful he was.

"Did you just decide to propose?" Billy asked, flabbergasted. "Was it because of what I said? Please tell me it's because of what I said. God, I'm good." He smirked proudly at Katie, who was rubbing her temples and trying to ignore him.

"Congrats," she offered, nodding to them both as they sat down.

But Billy was still on a roll, and scooted around the chairs until he was seated directly next to Zack. "So, you're up next to get married," he said brightly. Freddy and Zack exchanged a glance.

"I dunno how soon it will happen. But it will happen," Zack commented, tilting his head.

"You've got to have a wonderful story. A hotheaded drummer and a passive-aggressive guitarist? It's probably a fairy tale," Billy cooed, and Katie's interested piqued. Before Freddy or Zack could say a word, they were surrounded by Katie, Billy, and five other people they vaguely recall having gone to school with.

Freddy glanced at Zack. Fairy tale was far from what he'd call it. There was a homophobic hotel employee, fights over Katie and Dickhead Dylan and sexuality, a car accident, a coma, a relationship-ruining nurse, and hours of miserable therapy.

But they did fall in love. Maybe it was a fairy tale.

Freddy looked at Zack, who grinned and rested his head on the blonde's shoulder. "Well," Freddy began, earning the rapt attention of their friends. "It all started when I got kicked out."

Billy, of course, immediately frowned. "That's a terrible start. That's a horrible way to start the story."

Freddy blinked, and then glanced down to Zack. Zack, who was cuddling with him in front of all of their friends in the middle of a wedding, which they would one day have themselves. Zack, who was always his friend and then became his best friend, and then became the one person he cared about more than anyone else. Zack, who – as fate had it – left home on the very same day Freddy was kicked to the curb.

He smiled softly and squeezed Zack's shoulder. "No," he replied honestly. "It's really not."