Alone
Summary: Kurt and Carey have remarried. But, two months after the marriage, Kurt starts to abuse Zack. Not Cody, not Carey -- Zack. And only Maddie will listen to him. ZackMaddie
Disclaimer: What did I say last time? I don't own TSL. That's still true, y'know. And I doubt that it's ever gonna change. 'Cause, if I ever have enough money to buy it... It'll probably be cancelled. So don't get your hopes up, okay?
--Maddie's POV--
What was wrong with Zack? He yelled at me. He's never yelled at me before. Ever since a while ago, he's been acting differently. I know something is up, but I just can't figure it out. It's like he doesn't want us, or at least me, to know.
And why was his face all messed up? I could tell he had been in a fight or something. It's just that, it didn't seem like he had fought back. Plus, he never left the Tipton, so the fight must have been in his suite. But who, besides his father, was in the suite at that time?
I shook my head. Mr. Martin wouldn't have done that to Zack. Although, whenKurt hadleft with his band, he did look a little bit upset. 'No,' I told myself. 'Mr. Martin wouldn't do something like that to his own son. He is such a good man.' But if that was the case, though, who had done that much damageto Zack?
Sometimes, I just don't get Zack. Now more than ever. He's definitely been different lately. Normally, he would flirt with me, and call me 'sweet thang'. But lately, he didn't. Normally, he'd use these different voices that let you know what he was going to say next -- there was the 'may I borrow money?' voice, the 'will you go on a date with me?' voice, the 'I need help with my homework voice', and the 'will you help me and Cody with a plan?' voice. And that's just a few of them.
But Zack hadn't used those voices in a long time. He didn't even use his normal voice. In fact, he didn't ask any of those things anymore. His voice had gotten dull and held a bit of sadness and anger within it. His eyes, they weren't the same either. They had lost their spark, that little shine they had when he was happy. They always had that dull color, that was there when he was unhappy, or sad, or angry. Plus, he always tried to avoid eye contact. This let me know something was wrong.
One day, Cody had come up to the candy counter and asked me, "Has Zack asked you to participate in any plans or pranks lately?" When I shook my head no, he had said, "He hasn't asked me to, either. And he rarely ever gets in trouble with anyone lately, besides Dad for all the little things and sometimes Mom because he refuses to do the dishes or something like that. Something's wrong, Maddie. Something's wrong."
At first, I had told Cody that it was just a phase, that it would pass over. But after a while, I began to think that something really was wrong. And the fragment of that third-to-last sentence stuck in my mind: 'Besides Dad for all the little things.' How little? Make an A- on a paper little? Or get a speck of dirt on the carpet little? Or even slam the door little?
When I asked him what was wrong, and he blew up at me like that... I knew for a fact that something was wrong. I knew that something was wrong and he just either wasn't going to admit it or didn't want me to know. I was leaning towards the latter. He knew that something was wrong, I was pretty sure of that.
Nothing was right for Zack anymore, that was for sure. He was unpredictable now, and not in a good way. He'd yell at you for the smallest things, become devastated at other things; and he'd seem to get really angry if anyone said 'Kurt' or 'Mr. Martin', or if Cody or Carey said 'Dad', referring to Mr. Martin. His hands would turn into fists, he'd clench his teeth, and his veins seemed to pop out of his body, no matter how hard he tried not to. Was I the only one that noticed this?
It was an hour after Zack's blow-up that he was in the lobby again. He sat down on the couch and stared at the coffee table, barely blinking. It seemed like he was thinking about something, but I couldn't be sure what. I couldn't be sure if he was thinking. He may have been studying the table for all I knew. Or, he could have seen a bug. As I said, you couldn't tell with him anymore.
Glancing at my watch, I called over to Mr. Moseby, "I'm taking my break now." He sighed then nodded, obviously not too glad about me choosing to take the break now. But I ignored this, and walked over to Zack and sat beside him on the couch. "Hey," I said quietly.
"Hey," Zack muttered in response, though he still stared at the table. This was starting to annoy me, though it did, in a way, interest me. What was he doing? There wasn't a bug, from what I could see.
I gently grabbed his shoulder, and as I did he visibly flinched, like I was hurting him or something. Slowly, I removed my arm. "Zack, talk to me. I know that you don't think I'll understand, but I'll try my best. Please, Zack, just tell me. And don't say it's nothing, because I know it's something. It's obvious. At least to me it is."
"You want to know what's wrong? Fine, I'll tell you." His head snapped in my direction, and his eyes glowed with pure anger and hatred, his hands turned into fists, and his veins seemed to pop out like they did when anyone said his father's name. "Dad abuses me. Nobody wants to believe me when I tell them, but it's true."
I gasped. There was no way... Was there?
A/N: Okay, he told! But will Maddie believe him?
