A/N: This is for my girl Grace. She always always reviews literally every story and has requested an update a little early so here's chapter fifteen! Um, chapter 16 will come out on Wednesday still. Chapter seventeen will be on Saturday. And then that's the last chapter.

The rest of breakfast was a silent affair. Bucky ate slowly, the lingering fear of being punished for eating too much gnawing in the back of his head. Zach's parents left a few minutes later.

Even after he finished eating, Zach stayed and waited for Bucky to finish. It took close to an hour and Zach wasn't sure if it was because of his declining appetite or the fact that Zombie food was bland.

Addison sent Zach a text saying she'd stop by after school, and Alonzo texted to check up on him. He wasn't in on Addison's scheme to break Bucky out (Addison had said that the less people who know, the better). When he found out that Zach wasn't going to school, Alonzo said he would go over after school ended with Zephyr and Roz to make sure he was okay.

After they finished in the kitchen, they went back up to Zach's room. "How are you?" Zach asked.

"I—Better, I think," Bucky said. "Thank you. For staying with me, I mean."

"You don't have to thank me," Zach stated. "I couldn't leave you here."

"I…I'm not saying it just for that. You could have just…you could have done your thing."

Zach furrowed his brows in confusion. "What?"

"Just moved on, gone after the next person. You said yourself that's what you do. You're Zach, you flirt with everyone."

"No!" Zach exclaimed, shaking his head quickly. "You're my boyfriend. You're the only person I want to be with."

Bucky frowned but said nothing. Zach took his face in his hands and lifted his head to look him in the eyes. "Listen, Bucky. Whatever happened in there really fucked you up. You aren't acting like yourself. I don't care what they said to you, because all that matters is that I love you. And you love you. You're perfect."

For the first time since being reunited, they kissed. It was soft or gentle or caring. They both put everything they had into the kiss. The world melted away and it was just them. They kissed like they were afraid of letting go, like it was a fight for their lives.

Bucky snaked a hand into Zach's hair, pulling him closer. He let his other hand wander down, enough to make Zach jump. Zach put a hand on Bucky's chest and pushed him back. Bucky whined in protest but Zach kept a distance between the two of them.

"Bucky," he said, quiet and slow. "I-I can't do this to you."

Bucky's expression dropped, but Zach wasn't fazed. "This isn't right. This isn't consent."

"But…"

"Bucky, a lot has happened in the past few days. This is you reacting. It's not consent, even if you think it is."

Bucky swallowed but nodded. "Okay."

Zach let out a breath. "Okay?"

"I-Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Zach said.

Bucky flinched a little. "I'm sorry."

Zach frowned. He reached out for his boyfriend but Bucky laid back against the bed, throwing an arm over his face. His shirt rolled up and Zach caught a glimpse of several different colored bruises. The stretched further in both directions, under the gems of his clothes, and Zach felt a flare of anger surge through him.

He'd been doing his best to rationalize Bucky's parents and their actions, enough to keep himself from going there and beating them up. He couldn't see the full extent, but it was infuriating as is.

"Zach," Bucky said, his voice muffled by his arm. "Cuddle me, please."

They definitely needed to talk, but it could wait until Bucky was doing better. For the time being, Zach just laid down and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, holding him close as he fell asleep again. Zach watched Bucky as he slept until he managed to doze off.

The rest of the day was slow and lazy. They mostly sat around, eating little snacks with a movie channel on in the background. Bucky spent most of the day curled against Zach. He just wanted to be held, not wanting to be separated from Zach for any longer.

Three o'clock came faster than either of them realized. Addison and Zed had gotten to Zach's house before anyone else. Zach was pretty sure that Addison had run and Zed had chased her, judging by how out of breath they both were.

Bucky was standing behind Zach when he opened the door and Addison spotted her cousin, pushing past Zach and throwing her arms around Bucky.

"Oh my god, are you okay? Are you hurt? Have you eaten?" Addison turned to Zach and asked, "Have you been feeding him? Has he been sleeping?"

"Addy, I'm okay," Bucky said.

Zach stepped to the side to let Zed wall in, then closed the door. "We aren't staying long," Zed said.

Addison nodded in agreement. "Aunt Kitty and Uncle Dylan are waiting for me because I refused to talk to them this morning and I need to keep them from calling the police. I've been doing research all day, so don't worry. You'll be safe here, Bucky."

Bucky smiled slightly. "Thank you."

"I'll see you later? Maybe today or tomorrow. Depends on if I spend the night in a holding cell. Might end up fighting a bitch."

Zed just rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay, I'll see you later." Bucky said.

The cousins hugged once more before Addison moved to Zach. She stood on her toes to whisper in his ear, "Take care of him, okay? You're doing great already."

Zach nodded and Addison gave him a hug. "See you later," Zed said as they left.

Zach closed the door and turned back to Bucky, seeing him looking way more alleviated than before. "You good?" Zach asked.

"Amazing."

Zach smiled and wrapped him in a hug. He then switched to a casual arm around Bucky, walking into the living room. They sat on the couch and Zach reached onto the coffee table and pulled up an envelope.

"Addison got the pictures from Tracey's phone," Zach said. "They're really cute, if you wanna see."

"Do I wanna see the pictures that ruined my life?"

"They're the only pictures of us together that exist," Zach offered. "I…I looked at them everyday. I missed you so much."

Bucky softened up. "Are they that good?"

Zach nodded and opened the envelope. There were a total of six pictures—Zach had hung up two in his locker which left his home stash down to four. The two in his locker consisted of Bucky holding Zach's face close and another of them kiss. Of the four he currently had, one had Bucky holding Zach's face (he had been scolding Zach). Two were right after the scolding, where they were kissing.

The other three were of them cuddling in the bed. They were all from different times of the day. One was even of them sleeping and snuggling together.

Bucky shifted closer to his boyfriend. "We weren't very sneaky, were we?"

Zach laughed a little. "No we were not. How could I not show you affection? You're amazing."

Bucky smiled, then hesitated for a moment before asking, "Why are you even attracted to me? I'm a mess."

"You're my mess," Zach teased. "But you're honestly so cute. You've got this little dimple and it's so adorable. And, despite popular belief, you're really sweet and caring. In your own way."

"But…but you flirt with everyone. You wanna date everyone. Why am I the difference?"

Zach frowned a little at his boyfriend. He never thought he'd say Bucky is doubtful of himself. Bucky was the cockiest, most confident person Zach knew. And now he didn't even believe he was worth loving.

Zach reached out and held Bucky's jaw, tilting his head up toward him. "You're the difference because you're you," Zach stated. "You didn't reject me."

"I did reject you."

"That's unimportant," Zach said. "You're my boyfriend. Better yet, you're Bucky. You're a cheer rockstar, who's gonna go pro. And I'll be cheering for you wherever you go, from wherever I am."

Bucky swallowed. "I am so in love with you, Zachary Fairmourn."