Song Listened To - 19 You and Me by Dan+Shay
*Chapter 83*
After a few hours of lapping waves, jungle tree shade and good company, the group decided to split for the night. Tessa knew, with her and Oliver fighting, and his grand decision to storm off, she figured hulling up in Dead Zed's safest peak, for as long as she could afford, was exactly what she needed after the kind of mild afternoon her and Zed endured. As the night grew dark, Tessa began to hear the patter of gentle rain that sprayed Zed's wall of windows, in his high up loft. The view, out his windows, was nothing but blackness, the mere speckles of rain could only be seen hitting the glass. Tessa relaxed in Zed's warm home, on his massive couch.
She easily picked at the brain coding she had come to nearly memorize, the hologram of Zed's very brain programming was zoomed in to a particular spot she was working on. Steady fingers deleted the hair-like, intruding coding one single swipe at a time. She tilted her head and lightly got lost in her thoughts, as the sound of the rain easily lulled her into the comfort of her surroundings; she let her bubble shrink, though her ears pricked as Lickity exhaled the softest of snores every now and then, from far across Zed's home. Just as she was about to scan the coding more to the right, so she could continue on, she could hear the tender slapping of bare feet on the tiles far behind her. Zed slowly pressed into the room and moved into his kitchen. He kindly eyed Tessa, from across the gap, and exhaled a gentle chuckle.
"I'm still surprised you haven't gone nosing into my thought stream," Zed chuckled as he opened his fridge and pulled out a glass container of water.
"Well, for one, I don't think I know how to access that," Tessa grunted through a small laugh as she pushed herself up off of Zed's couch and slowly began to make her way into Zed's presence, just on the other side of his island, "And two, I'm not creepy."
Zed smiled a knowing smile and took a large few gulps of water from his glass. Tessa gingerly set his code box on the kitchen island and let it be, though she felt her curious eyes lightly gloss over Zed's figure. In a series of stomach knots and a silent catch of air in her throat, she cocked an eyebrow lightly and assessed the humble, raw sight across from her. With skin lightly glistening, from the shower he just took, his bare body, aside from a pair of comfortable lounging pants, he was a strange mix of exhausted flawlessness; Tessa was thankful he had his head tilted back, so to gulp down more water. She tucked her bottom lip into the top of her teeth and slowly inhaled to try and somehow steady her thoughts.
"And three, I'm pretty sure I'd not like what was there," Tessa barked softly, in hopes of coming across more clarified than her thoughts would even begin to reveal.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zed complained as he gently set his glass down and gave her a playfully upset, furrowed expression.
"I'm sure all you can think about is racing, surfing, racing, surfing," Tessa listed sarcastically as she wistfully looked up, though with her nose still in the air, her eyes caught his with a teasing half smile.
"I'm boring, I get it," Zed scoffed as he waved his hand and slowly began to step away and around his kitchen island; Tessa lightly moved to fall into his idea.
"I'm kidding!" Tessa laughed softly, Zed shot her a kind smile and playfully shook his head; his hair was lightly matted to his head and in a normal, messy hairstyle because it was wet.
"Thank you for working on that," Zed motioned to the hologram they left on the kitchen island.
"Of course," Tessa said through a soft sigh as she looked down, the two lightly stopped their pace and hovered a few feet from each other, just on the outskirts of the kitchen, "After today... I just want it all done. It's causing stress on everyone, little did I know."
"Yeah, today was... Weird, to say the least," Zed agreed as he put his hands on his hips, "I'm... I'm sorry I freaked out, earlier. I never realized how... Volatile your wrecking ability was."
"I guess... I sort of dropped the ball," Tessa bashfully looked away. She inhaled a nervous breath and nodded as her eyes remained trained across the room, "I should have warned you."
"Well," Zed furrowed his eyebrows and looked down before the two caught stares at the same time, "Y-You didn't know that we gain each others powers, through our e-exterior swap."
"I'm sorry that the power, I have to give, is... Rather destructive," Tessa mumbled, though she tried her hardest not to knock the very origin of her abilities; her father.
"It's nothing to be sorry over, your power is incredible," Zed urged softly, his gentle gaze peered into Tessa's with a sweep of encouraging confidence, though with one gentle sigh and a glance to the ground, it all vanished, "I-I just utilized it for selfish reasons."
"I don't think I've ever seen you so upset," Tessa gently chuckled and crossed her arms, "Was... Was it just because you're upset about your brothers?"
Zed furrowed his eyebrows and peered down to the ground in contemplation, as if he had to realign all of his thoughts after today. He looked lost, as if finding his way back home was completely futile, with just how stranded he was, in his mind. Tessa nervously gazed at him and tucked some of her long, crazy waves of hair behind her ear. She wondered just what to do in this moment, though she remained still for fear of Zed losing a train of thought he likely needed to run alongside. Tessa raised her eyebrows in baited surprise as Zed finally opened his mouth and inhaled a faltered breath, as if to decide which thought to release first. His eyes finally met hers, through furrowed, curious concern.
"Something tells me they don't hate me because I'm unbeatable," Zed uttered deeply, his soft voice was almost unsure. His dangerous blue eyes gripped Tessa's, as if to beg her to swear his secrets were safe here. Tessa kept her mouth shut and honed all of her attention on every last thing he said, "Every other soul in the game thinks I'm a pretentious jerk who doesn't like losing, but... Something tells me, those five other racers, have true reason to loathe me."
"I don't think they hate you," Tessa gently assured, "They acted as if they missed you... As if they were wondering just when you'd return."
Zed held onto every single last word that left her mouth, as if every syllable was a discovery he needed to feel complete.
"There's no sense dwelling too hard, in this, Zed," Tessa eased as kindly as she could, "You'll only run yourself into the ground. The only thing we can do is keep on deleting that coding, and get your memory back. Once it's back, we can go from there."
"I don't want it back," Zed dared as he glanced about Tessa's cheeks; she harshly furrowed her eyebrows and knew he didn't mean insult by what he said.
"Zed, of course you do," Tessa finally let an incredulous smile sprawl her face. She scoffed a chuckle of disbelief.
"What if, when I get everything set right, suddenly I forget who you are, o-or, what if I actually AM a jerk!" Zed beamed a smile that lead to suggest he wasn't smiling out of happiness. He shook his head and gestured to himself, "Everything I could want, is in the now... If I go back, I'm so scared that... Everything I've ever wanted... Which is everything I have, right now, will just fall away from me."
"You won't forget me, Zed," Tessa said in a sad tone, "You'd be gaining memory, not losing it... You wouldn't be losing anything. You'd be gaining your past back."
"Well, what if it should just stay there?" Zed worried, though Tessa was surprised to see his eyes grow glassy, "The past is in the past... Somehow, I feel like it should remain just that."
"Zed, you yourself said you want to have your brothers back, and you want to set things right," Tessa urged nervously, "You can't run from things you need to set right... Sure, your past is past, but if you don't tie loose ends, the past will continue to haunt you, and will creep into your present, and your future."
Zed held his attentive gaze to Tessa in mild frustration, as if he wanted so badly to be correct in this venture, though he knew it was totally useless; he knew Tessa was right, though he exhaled an annoyed sigh anyways. He lightly took an idle step to his back diagonal and slumped his shoulders. He aimlessly peered to his wall of windows as the storm seemingly began to worsen. After a few moments of lulling silence, he inhaled a reviving breath and ran his fingers through his damp, messy, dark blue hair. He ruffled it a little, so it could air-dry.
"You're right," Zed uttered softly, his deep voice was honey sweet and nearly music to Tessa's ears. She scoffed a small laugh, as if to wonder why he even had to say it out loud, though she remained humble in this moment.
"The only way you'll lose me is through permanent game-over," Tessa said softly as she dared to take a step closer to him. She was surprised to feel his nervous aura open up to her, as if he was secretly begging her to get closer. Tessa gave him a loving smile and squinted her eyes, "I won't let anything like that happen... Your promises don't fall on deaf ears. You've sworn to protect me at all costs."
Zed raised his eyebrows lightly and let his tired eyes grip to hers in kind surprise. He finally slumped his tense shoulders and welcomed her presence closer to him. Her warm eyes lightly glanced at his strong, bare chest, though she brought them right back into his soul.
"I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you," Tessa eased softly, to him and only him. She gave him a kind wrinkle of a smile, "I promise I won't let anything bad happen to US..."
Zed exhaled a hard, final sigh through his nose and glanced about Tessa's face and cheeks as if he was certain she was merely a mirage, an apparition from Heaven he pleaded would never fade. As tenderly as he could, he reached out and took her hands in his. He furrowed his eyebrows in an ironic fit of delightful anguish he was sweetly drowning in. He squeezed Tessa's warm hands and felt his heart powerfully surge with every single last ounce of love, he had, just for her. He shook his head lightly and let his eyes grip to hers, as if he was still not over the shock of being reminded that she was solely his. Tessa peered up at him in gentle, poised delight, as if she knew she had quelled his worries, even if it was just for the night. She gave him a small smile, though she softly looked to their feet to beam a grin to it's full potential. She exhaled a silent giggle and wrinkled her nose.
"Y'know, there's one dance you forgot to teach me," Tessa eased above a whisper; she lightly let her eyes meet his, in hopes of him catching onto their past-time reference.
"Yeah?" Zed chimed in a quiet tone, though he furrowed his eyebrows in growing confusion.
"Yeah," Tessa gave him a warm, girly smile and scrunched her shoulders. She lightly gripped his hands a little tighter.
"What's that?" Zed wondered through a still curiously bashful expression. His mouth only barely formed a shy smile.
"Some people call it, a slow dance," Tessa said in a quiet, 'matter of fact' tone as she wrinkled her nose and just lightly shook her head.
Through furrowed eyebrows, Zed scanned her eyes for a few, very brief seconds, though as if the memory hit him like a wave of knowing, he slowly slumped his shoulders and scoffed a bashful laugh. He looked down to the tiles and beamed a wide, curious smile; a fit of realization crawled over him, though his heart swelled with Tessa's notions. He shook his head softly and peered back into Tessa's eyes, as if to wonder just how much more wonderful she could get. Tessa quietly laughed, which cued Zed to follow her contagious notions, though before too much time passed, he was floored to feel Tessa slowly move into him and gingerly hug her arms around the middle of his strong chest.
Zed scoffed a small chuckle and easily welcomed her into his body. He lovingly wrapped his strong, bare arms around her middle and squeezed her to him. He wondered just when the cheesy smile would finally leave his face, though he buried his nose into the side of her neck and hair, in hopes of hiding it. With an easy, draw of a squeeze and a deep, slow inhale, he relished in her comforting, familiar scent. The two slowly began to sway, like they used to; they gingerly made the smallest amounts of footwork around the vicinity of the large tile they were stood on, idle movements without reason. Tessa beamed a closed-mouth grin and nuzzled her face into the side of Zed's neck and collar. She squeezed his warm body to hers and felt a wave of relief crawl over her, the fact that those pesky butterflies were still very much a thing. She felt a shiver go down her spine as Zed inhaled a breath; she felt her brain want to turn to goo as it prepared for his honey-sweet voice to softly coat her close presence.
"Y'got me," Zed whispered through a bashful chuckle as the two squeezed each other harder, as if on a cue. He raised his eyebrows in dewy surprise and felt goosebumps plague his skin as he could feel Tessa's mouth brush his neck in the midst of lightly stirring.
"That's the night I fell in love with you," Tessa admitted quietly into his warm, clean skin.
She let her eyes lull closed, as if she knew she was caught in a vulnerable confession. She pushed closer to him, as if somehow he could protect her from herself. Zed raised his eyebrows in gentle, stunned surprise and opened his eyes. He softly peered across his loft in a daze of realization, as if this was brand new information to his code. He finally scoffed a breath of humble knowing and returned his nose and face into the top of Tessa's shoulder, into her hair.
"I wish I would have known that, then," Zed finally uttered after a few moments of gentle, lulling silence. Tessa exhaled a small laugh and pushed deeper into his warm embrace as the two continued to idly sway.
"Well, you do now," Tessa's warm voice coated the side of his neck, though she gingerly pulled her head away, which cued Zed to do so as well.
He peered down at her through eager, renewed eyes meant only for her. The humble look of almost nervous inquisition hung onto his code, which assured Tessa that he was still struggling with his previous worries. Tessa lightly tapped her thumbs on his back as their embrace only lightly eased, though she gave him a knowing look and pressed on.
"You're going to keep this memory forever," Tessa assured softly as Zed's gaze fell more and more vulnerable, an adorable notion Tessa grew to crave. She gave him a small nod of reassurance and one more squeeze, "That's never going to change."