A/N: Hi guys! First off let me apologise yet again for not updating in what seems like a decade. I've been on a hiatus for exam season and after having many a mental-breakdown, I'm back and ready to go. I'm on summer holidays now so expect chapters on the regular (hopefully). I'm sorry for making you all wait so long, don't hate me. I hope you enjoy these next few chapters. Lots of love xxx
Zach took me to an all-night diner just outside of town. It was part of the road-house on the highway that went straight past Rosewood.
"I didn't even know this place was here," I said to him as he pulled open the grubby glass door and gestured for me to enter. The smell of brewed coffee and fried meat hit me as soon as I stepped inside.
"Best burgers in the state," he whispered in my ear as he leant down. I felt his hand on the bottom of my back as he gently pushed me toward a booth in the corner. I looked around the diner while we waited for the waitress to come and take our orders. The whole place was done in lime green and chrome, but it had a very fifties retro feel to it. I liked it.
"Best Burgers? Really?" I asked him as he sat across from me, playing with the saltshaker.
"Yep, usually. But tonight, I think they're gonna suck." He laughed and looked over my shoulder.
"Why do you think that?" I looked at him suspiciously. He was acting very weird.
"Well, the cook who makes the best burgers isn't on tonight. It's his night off, so we're stuck with-Oh, hey, Eddie!" Zach smiled, and I looked up to see a man approach us with a spatula in his hand and a very greasy apron around his waist. "We're stuck with Edward's awful cooking."
"Zach, you can't say that." I glared at him, hardly believing he could be so rude, especially when the cook was standing right next to our table. But Zach just laughed, and so did Eddie. I frowned.
"Ah, don't listen to anything this boy says, pretty lady." Edward winked at me. "He's just jealous and wishes he could cook like me. Two orders, kid?" Eddie nudged Zach in the shoulder. What did Edward mean-cook like him?
"Thanks, Townsend." Zach tilted his chin in acknowledgement.
"Sure, sure. You going to introduce me to your friend here, or should I introduce myself?"
"Edward, this is Cammie, a…a…uhm…" Zach looked at me with wide eyes. He didn't know what to introduce me as. A friend? A girlfriend? A fake girlfriend?
"A friend from school." I smiled and answered for him. It was the simplest explanation.
"Uh-huh…Cammie? I've heard-" Eddie started to say something, but Zach cut him off.
"Cammie, this is Edward Townsend. He's the cook here most days. And my very busy boss who should be back there behind the grill and not out here annoying the customers." Zach stared at Eddie. I looked between them both and tried to work out what was going on. Edward had a small smirk on his face as if he was hiding something, with Zach glaring at him with a clenched jaw.
"Well, it was great to meet you, pretty Cammie, but you heard the kid. I got burgers to fry." He smiled and walked off back toward the kitchen, whistling the tune from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves'.
I turned to Zach, and he winced slightly. "Sorry about him. He can be a real fu-"
"It's okay. I liked him. So you work here, huh?" I didn't even know he had a job.
"Yeah, I started here a few years ago as a way of paying for the damage I caused. But then drama happened and the cash came in handy, so I stayed. It's a good place. Edward is the best," he said, somewhat cryptically.
"Damage?" I asked, but was more interested in knowing about the drama.
"Yeah, here." He moved the napkin holder and the small tray holding the sugar-jar and salt and papper out of the way. He lifted the ketchup and mustard bottles and pointed at the table. I leant in closer to see what he was showing me, and that was when I saw Zach's name carved into the green Formica tabletop.
It was rough and jagged, like he'd been using a blunt knife, but it was there. And so was the heart directly under his name. I didn't know if the heart was from him or if someone had added to it later. It wasn't carved as deep as his name.
"Zach loves?" I smirked at him, waiting for him to respond.
"Ah, no one. It was a long time ago. I was a stupid kid with a stupid crush." If I wasn't mistaken, his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. Oh my god. I made Zach Goode blush.
"Okay. But I thought you had to fix the damage. It's still there."
"No, I said I had to pay for the damage, not fix it. Edward decided to leave it there as a reminder to me of…of…" He trailed off, not wanting to discuss it further. It was obviously a touchy subject, so I decided not to push it.
"And you make the best burgers in the state, huh?"
"Hell yeah, I do. You'll see one day. I'll cook for you." He smiled widely. I had no choice but to smile back. When he smiled that big and that brightly, it was like a force of nature. You couldn't help but feel happy, too.
"I like to see you smile, Cammie. You should do it more,"
"I don't have a lot to smile about these days, Zach. Except you and Lizzie," I told him honestly.
"Well then, I'm just going to have to work harder to get you to smile more then." He stared at me for a moment while I tried to figure out what he was thinking- why he would care if I smiled or not. I was no one to him. We hadn't spoken in years until that day in the parking lot last year. Plates filled to the brim of chips and beef burger, dragged me away from my thoughts.
"Try your burger, Cammie," Zach said as I picked up another fry. I dropped it and rolled my eyes at him before grabbing the burger and taking a huge bite. I almost moaned, it was so good. Oops, I did moan.
"Oh my God." My eyes rolled back into my head as I chewed slowly, savouring the taste of the juicy burger.
"Good?" Zach asked with a cheeky smile on his face, looking at me like he already knew the answer.
"So good," I mumbled through another bite.
"Damn, I can't wait for you to try mine then." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Shut up." I laughed and threw a fry at him, which he somehow managed to catch in his mouth to my annoyance.
After we'd finished eating and said goodbye to Edward, Zach grabbed my hand and dragged me outside.
"I want to show you something." He started running, pulling me along behind him. We ran down the side of the Roadhouse and around the back to a field.
"Zach, where are we going?" I asked, pulling him to a stop. It was dark out, and the smell of grass was tickling my nose. As I looked around the open area, there was nothing but a water tower.
"There." He said softly, pointing to the tower and dragging on my arm again. We ran through the field into the quiet night. The only sounds I could hear was our heavy breathing and the crickets chirping in the distance. When we reached the tower, I turned to look at Zach. He was smiling like a kid at Christmas.
"Come on." He started climbing the ladder that led to the top of the water tower. Up and up and up…on a ladder that looked extremely rusty and unstable. I stared at him sceptically. "Cammie, come on. It's safe. You'll be okay," he called down to me when he realised I wasn't climbing after him. We stared at each other for a few long moments until I heard him sigh and start climbing back down.
"I'm sorry, but it's dark and that ladder looks very old. What if I fall?" I said as he jumped off the ladder to land in front of me.
"You won't fall. What if you climb first and I follow? That way I can catch you or at least fall with you and break your fall," he suggested heroically. Dammit, he had that smile on his face again. The one that made me smile. The one that would have made me agree to anything. Even falling to my death. So I climbed the ladder with Zach right behind me. "You know, I'm quite enjoying this view," he called out to me. I looked down to see him staring up at me with a giant grin on his face.
Whoa, big mistake! I realised how high we were and entirely forgot that Zach was checking me out as I climbed. All I could see was the forty thousand-foot drop to my death. I hugged myself to the ladder and couldn't move. I froze as the world started spinning, threatening to throw me off the ladder. My breathing shallowed out again, and I gasped for air.
"Dammit, Cammie." I heard Zach's voice, but he sounded muffled, like he was far away. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was on the ground. On the stable, even ground. But I couldn't. I could only feel the wind whipping around me, making me shiver and tremble from fear and cold.
The wind suddenly stopped, and I felt warm. I felt protected. Sheltered. I felt safe. I slowly opened my eyes to see Zach's hands wrapped around my own on the ladder. The world stopped spinning when I realised his body was pressed aagainst mine, shielding me from the wind. He was taller than me, so his feet were on the rung below mine, allowing him to wrap his body protectively around me and for us both to fit in the same small space.
"I'm sorry, Cam. I shouldn't have brought you up here," he whispered in my ear.
"It's okay…I just need to breathe." I panted, trying to catch my breath. "And not look down."
Zach released one of his hands from the rung we were holding, "Zach, no! Are you crazy?" I all but shouted at him. I hugged myself to the ladder a little tighter.
"Shh…it's okay," he reassured, wrapping his arm around my waist. That was it. He just held me until I stopped panicking like a pathetic lunatic and calmed down. As my heart slowed down and breaths became a little more even, Zach asked, "Do you think you can climb the rest of the way? We're so close to the top."
I licked my parched lips, looked up, and realised we were only about ten feet from the top. "I can do it."
"Let your hands loosen. I'll climb with you." He unwrapped his arm from my waist and placed it back over my hand.
Taking one look at his glistening emerald eyes was enough to persuade me, "Okay," I replied and let him make the first move. He grasped my right hand in his and lifted it to the rung above. I felt his knee nudge the back of my leg telling me to raise it. I carefully lifted my right leg to the next highest rung, and he did the same. He moved my left hand next and followed with his left leg, always keeping his feet on the level below mine. Slowly but gradually, we made it to the top.
I quickly shuffled back so I was pressed against the water tank as far from the edge as possible. Zach moved to sit beside me. He didn't say anything. He just grabbed my hand and held it in his. We sat there for the longest time not talking, and it wasn't uncomfortable. We didn't need to speak all the time. We were just comfortable doing whatever with each other. We would quite often just sit in the bookstore and read side by side. It was like that now.
"I'm sorry, Cammie. I just-" He started to apologise. He looked so tense and angry with himself.
"Don't be sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have been such a baby about it, that's all. I'm okay now. Thank you for helping me." I smiled at him, and he seemed to relax instantly, closing his eyes and resting his head back against the tank. "How did you know?"
"How did I know what?" He pulled his eyebrows together in confusion and turned his face to look at me. He was so close our lips almost touched.
"How did you know how to calm me down by..by…" I let the thought trail off in worry of sounding like a horny weirdo.
"By touching you?" Well I guess he did it for me. I cringed and nodded. It sounded so weird and inappropriate. "I don't know. I just kinda remembered trying to comfort you today whenever things got too much for you. It seemed to work then, so I just hoped it worked this time. And it did, right?"
"Yes, it did." I nodded, causing him to smile. He began tracing patterns on the palm of my hand.
"So are you okay after the bookstore and seeing him?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish he would back off and leave me alone. I don't know what he's trying to accomplish."
"Well, he's an absolute tosser."
"He is, isn't he?" I laughed as I finally admitted out loud that Josh was, in fact, the biggest wanker in the entire universe. What I ever saw in him or still do is completely beyond me. But, hopefully, I'll be able to get over him now that I've seen how much of an awful person he is.
Zach laughed along with me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. "Yes, he is. I've been saying it for years."
Enjoying the source of warmth, I snuggled even closer to Zach and looked out at the clear night sky. "It's pretty up here," I whispered a few minutes later, looking up at the stars that were casting a silvery glow onto the field below.
"It's my favourite place to go," Zach said into my hair. "It's peaceful. I can always come here when I need to be alone and get away from it all. I come and sit here for hours sometimes after work."
And that's what we did. We sat up on that water tower for hours staring at the stars and talking occassionaly. Being up there, wrapped in Zach's arms, made it so easy to forget about everything. Josh. Dee Dee. It was easy to forget the rest of the world, when all I could think about was being there with him.
"Zach?"
"Mmm?" he mumbled quietly.
"Did you actually meet my mum today?" I asked, suddenly curious and a little worried about what I would say to her when I got home.
"Nope."
"Then how did you know where to find me?"
"I happened to be driving down the street and I saw his car at the bookshop. Knew it couldn't have been good, so I stopped to check on you." He tightened his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.
"Thank you."
"Stop thanking me, Cammie. I'm not doing anything special."
"But you are. You're helping me." More than I thought he even knew. More than I understood. Being around Zach was simple.
"Just being a good friend." He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. "Come on. Let's go home."
After Zach had dropped me back home and I'd spoken to Lizzie on the phone for an hour about it, my mom trudged in sleepily.
"Kiddo? How come you were back so late?" She asked yawning.
"Oh, I was just having dinner with a friend." I replied, a small smile forming on my face as I thought about him.
"You can't hide this 'friend' from me forever, you know." She countered smirking. "I know every excuse in the book! Oh the things that I would tell my parents when I first met up with Matthew…"
I watched as she smiled bittersweetly to herself, reminiscing about happier times, before closing the door softly. Holding the blue teddy bear given to me on my fourth birthday closely, I breathed in its' comforting scent before whispering, "I think you would've liked him, daddy."
REVIEWS: (starting from the C6 ones at the top down to C7) THANK YOU TO ANYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED/FAVOURITED/FOLLOWED OR EVEN JUST STUCK WITH THIS STORY. I'M GETTING IT TOGETHER DON'T YOU WORRY. MORE CHAPTERS TO COME SOON SO PLEASE CARRY ON SENDING THE LOVE BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES KEEP ME GOING! XXX
GUEST REVIEWS (as well as GallagherGirls13BYE, ZammieFan123, gallaghergirl69, maypy, Fairy095, jungkookie24, jenwarro, Emilyh7, ZammieWriter2000, Hells angel, covertoperative456): THANK YOU FOR THE LOVE. YOU'RE AMAZING. I HOPE YOU LIKE THESE COMING CHAPTERS! XXX
bookslover777: Aww I'm so glad you love it so much- it makes me so happy. I hope you enjoy these next chapters! I promise I won't make you wait so long next time xxx
Smiles180: Thank you for your constant reviews! You've been one of the OG's from the beginning of all my stories, and I appreciate you so much. It makes me so happy :) You'll find out what's happened to Bex very very soon.. hehe xxx
GallagherGirlsEmbassyRowFan: Well, I think you'd be a great mind reader haha. Let's see if your predictions do come true.. Thank you- I try to make my writing as realistic and relatable as possible! xxx
Original gallaghergirl (who wrote review as guest): Haha yay THAT'S the reaction I want after every chapter whoop! Just you wait, there are soooo many more ADORABLE zammie moments to come eek, i'm so excited for you to read them. Thanks for your honesty. Looking back, the road trip chapters are pretty cringe but oh well the rest of these chapters will make up for it, I promise. Ahhh I'm so sorry I've made you wait so long. IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN (at least until the next time exams come around lol why can't we just banish them already). HAHHA please tell me you haven't died! I need to read another amazing review of yours. Hope I hear from you soon xxx
Dreamer0704: THANK YOU chica, I appreciate it so much. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and the following that are yet to come xxx
gallagher.04: YAY! It was my favourite chapter to write by far too. I loved being able to finally delve into the ZAMMIE in this story :) Haha I love the testosterone that's in the room, it causes so much tension you know? Hmmm I don't want to give away too much but I will say Cammie is a factor in their rivalry yes. Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. I guess you'll have to keep reading mwahha xxx
Midnight Silk Rose: First off, cool name! What's the inspiration behind it? I'm so happy you love the story! Oh happy Birthday for the 8th of August gal, even though it was sucky I hope you had as lovely a day as you could! I'm so glad it made your day better. These reviews make mine 100% better. Hope you like the next few chapters xxx
MidnightStories1837: Ohh this comment made me smile. It's people like you that make me want to write! ENJOY the updates xxx
Hersheylife: Hi, I'm so glad! :) yes there definitely will be. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED xxx
AMAZIIINNGGG: I missed writing it! You are the best. Your comment made me so happy. Lots of love! xxx
Thankunext121: He is an asshole indeed haha. Hope you like these updates. Kisses xxx
HorsesAndGallagherGirls: I definitely am continuing this story! Maybe they do..ZAMMIE is endgame after all. YAY! You'll have loads to read during the holidays too. Have fun too xxx
Miss.L 2002: Saving my fave till last again ;p We actually genuinely should! Let's round up some GG fans and go. We'd have a blast haha. Your cuteness sensor needs to reload because...well I won't tell you just yet but PREPARE yourself heheh. HAHAH you do make me laugh but i agree, who needs to panic when you've got Zach Goode next to you. I know right, but using experience from my own school, it's a joke how nosy people are. Like stick to your own god damn business please. Cammie is a badass when she wants to be and Josh needs to pay for his imprinted douche bag nature pahha. Is Zach devoted or is he putting on a facade... I'm such a comedian I know teehee. Trust me I love ripping into Josh as much as you love reading it (hopefully). Exactly, DeeDee was a terrible friend to Cammie and she needs to step back and have a look at her actions. Yeah Zach in this story is really living up to the whole mysterious bad boy thing. You'll have to let me know when you do figure him out ;) You're just too talented for your own good heh. HAHA I can picture that happening so clearly. Your neighbours are legends. HOPE YOU LIKE THE NEXT CHAPTERS DARL XXX (p.s. let's see if she can do it again this time. I'll take it as a challenge hehehe.)