I need to talk to her. Now. There was no other way.

I finally caught up with her just before the entered to her next class. I grabbed her hand and spun her around to me. She looked at me, wide-eyed and she had this adorable innocent look on her face. I tugged on her hand, silently asking if she'd come with me and she nodded, her eyes searching me worriedly. Turning, I gently pulled her along with me, trying not to smile. She was just so lovely.

Eventually we got outside and I walked around to the side of the school, intending to take her somewhere secluded, but I couldn't take it. I hadn't been alone with her in quite a while.

I pushed her up against the wall of the school, pressing my lips against hers. She seemed frozen as I pressed my lips firmly against hers; only moving when I finally pulled back, when she brushed her lips against mine again. I felt like my whole body was on fire, the excitement and heat was quickly running over my skin and my stomach knotted.

I liked my lips, putting my hand on her neck, pressing my forehead against hers and breathing in her beautiful scent deeply. Everything about her attracted me. I bet she could go for a seven-hour run every day for a month and not wash at all and I'd still find her smell intoxicatingly amazing.

Her hands came up to my chest, her nails digging in slightly, pulling my t-shirt closer to her and I kissed her softly, running my tongue along the bottom of her lip. She parted her lips, which sent electric sparks coursing down by body, but I pulled back, kissing her chin, nose and all around her lips.

I kissed her lower lip. "You weren't meaningless sex to me, Zoë." I whispered. "You're far from that to me. I – I meant what I said in English. I love you. I have since that day in Physics and you told me you loved nachos. Because I love nachos."

She laughed loudly, and I grinned, taking in the smell of a breath that blew across my face when she laughed as I had yet to pull back. "Just the nachos thing, then?" I nodded, grinning and I pressed my lips to her nose. "So if I were to, perhaps, hate nachos…?"

"Oh, then there'd be no chance."

She laughed and I kissed her. She unhooked her fingers from my t-shirt, having them flat out of my chest, which was niiice. But then she sighed and I felt the utter joyousness seep out from my body a little. "You don't know what you're saying, Brady." She said dejectedly, pushing my chest lightly but I shook my head determinedly, pushing closer to her.

"No, Zoë. I know exactly what I'm saying. I don't think you understand."

She shook her head, her eyebrows pulling together in the most adorable face. "No, Brady, this – people don't love people like me."

"Normal people don't love people like you." I said and her eyebrows slowly started to come away from each other. "But, if you hadn't noticed, I am not normal."

She bit her lip and I tried to cover up the aroused growl with a cough. "No, I'm pretty sure even slight weirdo's like you still wouldn't love me."

"Well, you're wrong. I'm sorry, but you're wrong. So very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very," she rolled her eyes, a smile pulling at her lips and I carried on, repeating the word until she nudged me with her head. "Wrong. You are very wrong."

I kissed her lips, loving being this close and being able to kiss her. I kissed her again and again. I love her lips. I love them so much. So very, very, very, very, very, very – sorry.

She groaned against my lips and I pushed my face against hers, moving my mouth so she could speak, but I was still pressed against her. "I don't know what I feel for you, Brady, I- I don't know…"

"I don't care." I said, kissing her cheekbones with a shrug. "I don't care if you don't love me, because I love you enough for the both of us. All I want is to be able to show you I love you."

She ran her hands up my chest and around my neck, eventually stopping at the back of my head, pulling me down so it was just my forehead resting against hers and she looked into my eyes.

She licked her lips and I leant in, but she moved her head slightly, down and forwards, pushing my forehead back so we were in the same position as before. "Brady, I-," she cleared her throat and I took a moment to appreciate how beautifully she says my name. She puts more 'a' into it. "I can't."

I shook my head against hers. "You can. We'll find away."

She opened her mouth to speak, but it just opened and closed, no words coming out and I grinned. I liked her being speechless; she looked so soft and gentle.

"You don't believe that I love you yet, do you?" I guess and she laughed.

"Aw, damn you."

I grinned at her, kissing her lips. "I love you're laugh. I love the way you sound like a nerd when you laugh."

She laughed loudly at that, leaning her head back against the wall as she looked at me, amusement in her eyes as she continued to laugh. "You're really winning me over, Brady."

I groaned, leaning my head against her shoulder. "I don't mean it like that. I just mean the way you snort and the pitch of your voice when you laugh - I think it sounds beautiful. Like, the most beautiful laugh I've ever heard."

She still had her head leaning backwards, an eyebrow raised. "And now," I said, "You looking at me like that…" she snorted, "is undoubtedly the sexiest thing ever."

She laughed loudly and I grinned at her. "I love your hair too."

She flicked my temple and I laughed. "Okay, now I know for sure that you're lying! You can not love this mess." She said, shaking her head form side to side mentally, her hair flying in my face.

I smiled at her, grabbing parts of her messy hair as she stopped shaking her head. "I love it. I love it so much. It's so big and curly and wild… it's like you. Not that you're big and curly, but you know what I mean. I love it."

She looked at me, confused. "You're not meant to."

"I don't care."

"You should."

"But I don't." I said with a laugh. "And I don't want it any other way." She looked at me disapprovingly and I laughed. "Why am I not allowed to love you?" I asked and she sighed.

"You don't love me, Brady. You think you do because we had sex. You've got all your emotions mixed up."

I grinned at her, shaking my head. "Nope." I said, popping the 'p'. "Because that, my dearest Zoë, would not explain why I was so very in love with you before we had sex."

She scrunched her face. "Trying to come up with another excuse not to believe me?" I guessed and she grinned and nodded.

I kissed her lips and then trailed my lips down her jaw and to her neck. "Shall I make a twin for our little friend?" I whispered, bring my hand up to feel for the hickie on the other side of her neck and she groaned and shoved me.

I pecked her neck but moved back to her face, wrapping my arms around her body again. If this is what it would feel like to be with her always, I'd never leave her side. I was back on that Zoë high.

Pressing my face against hers, I smiled like a loon. "You smell beautiful. I love your smell. And I love your lips. I love your lips very much. I also love your skin. It's such a beautiful tone and you have such soft skin." I smiled at her, cupping her cheek as she looked at me in bemusement. "And most of all, I love your personality."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head at me. "I do. I really do. I love everything about you, but especially your personality. I think you're a beautiful person, inside and out. And you're the strangest, but funniest girl I've ever met. I'd never want anyone else, now that I know there's someone who is as amazing as you are."

She sighed and I smiled, stroking her face. "You know, I was also kind of angry at you." She raised an eyebrow. "I hated that you've done this to me, because now I can't ever move on from you when you realise that I'm not good enough for you and leave me forever."

She snorted and I kissed her. "But then I remember how fascinatingly perfect you are and I stopped caring, because, really, I wouldn't ever want to move on. And I never will."

She rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous, Brady."

"You may think so, but I'm not. I love you."

"No, Brady. Listen to me," she said, gulping and looking away, "I'm not what you think. I'm not as strong as you think. You believe you like what you know, but you know nothing. I'm not anything that you think."

"I don't care. I want to know what you really are, who you are. I don't care what you're like really. I'll love you always."

She sighed. "You're not getting it, Brady." She said, her hands on my chest. "I'm, like, slightly mentally retarded. I'm not good for you."

"Just being near you is good for me, Zoë. We'll sort everything else out in time. I just want to be with you and learn who you are."

She shook her head, closing her eyes and she leaned into me. I put my hand on the back of her head as she rested her face against my chest. "Brady…"

I said nothing in return, knowing she wanted to speak. After a while she sighed and cleared her throat. "Brady, when I was younger – a lot younger – I watched my father pour acid into my mothers eyes." She said and I froze still at her words. "He had mental issues. He became excessively jealous and obsessively controlling on my mother as their marriage went on. Then one day he claimed that my mother was having an affair, of which she wasn't. He said he saw her 'eyeing up' one of the men at her work. He burned her eyes out so that she would 'never again look for another man to have dirty extramarital sex with'." She said, spitting the words out and my heart died a little. I knew she'd been through a lot, but this… this was disgusting. Revolting. Indescribably horrific.

I mean, you hear about this sort of stuff happening, but to people you know… people you care so deeply about and love so much, it just hurts. It hurts so badly. And it made me so angry. I wanted to kill her father so badly, for putting her mother - and thus, her - through so much.

"She… of course, she's never been the same since. It's definitely not something you'd ever forget. Definitely not. I mean, she has pain and the emotional stress of someone you'd previously loved so much betraying you, and the knowledge that they wanted to physically hurt you so bad – that really fucks you in the head. But, she also has to live with being blind. From that day on, she's been blind. Everything – it all changes when something like that happens. Being blind changes your life in so many ways, you wouldn't understand. Nothing will ever be the same – nothing. You- she can't ever have one moment away from it! She can't look out at the beach – which was her favourite place in the world… before. She can't see her favourite programs, take a walk without being paranoid, see the sunset, look at her own freaking hands! She doesn't even know I have boobs, for Christ sake!"

"Oh, Zoë." I mumbled into her hair, rubbing her back gently.

The pain she must have gone through, having to deal with a blind mother. Knowing your own mother will never look into your eyes. She'd never see Zoë in her wedding dress. Her mom would never even be able to see how gorgeous her own daughter is, and Zoë will never be told that she is by her mother. She'd never be able to show her anything. And I know for a fact that Zoë is obsessed with photography. If Zoë ever has a child, her mom would never even be able to see what her grandchild looks like.

I can see how Zoë says that messes you head up. And there's so much more to it that what I've thought of in the past few seconds. Even the simplest things would become so difficult. I can't imagine what life must be like for Zoë and her mother. And on top of that, they way of which her mother became blind is to terrible for me to even think of at this moment in time.

She gripped my t-shirt in her fists, breathing deeply. "And that's not even half of it! You don't want this, Brady, you don't want me."

I stroked her head again, "you don't know what I want, Zoë. Because if you did, you'd know that doubting my love for you is the most ludicrous thing ever."

"What don't you get about this?" she asked frustrated and I burned with self-anger. I'd made her frustrated. I never wanted her to be angry. Especially if it was my fault.

I bent down slightly so I could see into her eyes and she sighed as I cupped her cheek. "Believe me, Zoë. I come with a lot of baggage. How about we make a deal? I accept you and everything you've been though, I'll talk to you, listen to, let you beat the shit out of me when you get angry, and I'll try and make you happy." I said and she sniffed, holding back the tears of anger in her eyes from her confession.

"Oh, yeah? And what do I have to do?"

I smiled, stroking her face. "You just have to let me kiss you once in a while."

She laughed. "That all? 'Cause I'm thinking this is a slightly unfair deal for you. I mean, the kissing really isn't much of a chore for me…"

I smiled madly at her. She had no idea how much that makes me happy. "You also have to accept me for what I am, and not go running a mile."

She sighed, running her hands up to my neck. "I don't think there's anything you could say to make me run a mile." She said softly.

I nodded thoughtfully. "Can I… tell you now?"

Biting her lip, she looked up at me again. Fuck. This girl has no idea what she's doing to me. "Is this a you-can't-tell-anyone secret?" she asked and I nodded. She bit down on her lip harder and all my muscles were tensed, trying to keep me at the distance I was away from her – which wasn't even that far. "Then no, you probably shouldn't."

"I'm sorry – what?" I asked, confused.

"I can't not tell Moose. She'll know if I'm hiding something from her the moment I saw her. And then she'd make me tell her. And if I don't tell her, she'll think I don't trust her. And then she won't trust me. And then she won't want to be my friend. And then I'd die, because, Brady, I can't live without her."

I stared wide-eyed at her. The concept of her dying was not a pleasant one.

This is going to be a dilemma.

I can't go on without her knowing. I've already nearly blurted everything out to her so many times, and I haven't even spent that much time with her. I can't hold out much longer. I hate keeping secrets from her. It makes me feel guilty and untrustworthy and - it just feels wrong. It feels like I'm lying to her. And I don't ever want to lie to Zoë. She doesn't deserve to be lied to.

"How about," she said and I looked up to her beautiful eyes, "we're just friends?"

"Just friends?" I said disbelievingly.

"Yeah. You know, ordinary, everyday friends."

"You want me to be just friends with you?" I asked. Okay, I may have been willing a little while ago, but that was because I was getting desperate. Now, still holding her in my arms, I'd had a glimpse of what it was like to be her boyfriend – the word made me feel all light-headed – and I wasn't that willing to give it up.

She nodded. "It's really the only solution."

I grumbled about finding another solution involving us being more than friends, but even she knew I'd already agreed.

"We should probably get going, you know." She said, nodding her head towards the front of the school. I shrugged.

"We've already missed one period, might as well waste another." I said, not willing to let go of her anytime soon. Also, I didn't want her to move her hands from my neck. It just felt right, having her hands on my neck

She rolled her eyes, a slight smile on her face.

I kissed her again. "You know, as being friends," I said thoughtfully, kissing around her face, "do I still get to kiss you?"

She laughed and I pressed two meaningful kisses to her closed eyelids.

"No." I groaned loudly at her. "Okay, maybe in private." I pulled my face back, showing with my full-faced smile how much I liked that idea. "Every now and then." I frowned at her and she laughed. "And by kiss I just mean on the cheek."

I glared at her. Well, I tried. "You're so mean."

She grinned.

"So," I said as someone walked past, going towards the other block, staring at us funny. "Will you come round my house tomorrow?" she raised an eyebrow. "Strictly as friends."

She nodded. "Sure thing, buddy."

I groaned and pushed into her, kissing her lips. "That's just harsh." I mumbled and she kissed me harder, pulling my down and closer to her.

I pulled her away at once and told her off for trying to engage me in such an inappropriate activity on school grounds.

Yeah, because we all believe that, eh?

I only pulled back when Moose called out.

Zoë coughed uncomfortably. "Oh, hello, young Moose. What a pleasant surprise it is to find you in this circumstance."

"Suck me off, Zoë." Moose replied dryly to Zoë's sarcasm, who then shuffled awkwardly.

"I suppose you'll want me to do that now, right?" Zoë said, slowly detaching herself from me.

I wasn't particularly happy with that. Not the 'sucking off' as I knew they were just joking, even if they didn't act it. I knew inside their heads they were laughing. If you get me? Anyway, I didn't like that she was moving away from me. I never liked that. I wanted to be with her always. I wanted to spend every moment with her. But I guess things just don't go how you want them too. And I really wanted to spend some more time with her tonight. After the massive Victoria war, we hadn't encountered any more leeches until yesterday. I wanted to know Zoë was safe.

Moose nodded, looking at my Zoë with annoyance in her eyes. Zoë rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen." She muttered as she pulled away. "I'll, err, see you tomorrow." She said to me, smiling and turned around. I put my hand on her elbow, pulling her back, just so I could look into those eyes again before I left her for a whole night.

She stared back at me as I held her there, running my hand down her arm to her hand. Finally I slipped my fingers from her hand, letting go of her. She seemed to fall out of her daze when my hand left hers and she cleared her throat quietly, nodding and turned back to Moose.

"You'd make Babs proud, Zorro." Moose said in a dull tone and Zoë punched her in the arm.

They both stopped walking away from me, shock on their faces until Moose jumped on top of Zoë and they fell to floor, where they started to wrestle.

I grinned to myself as I walked away. I love my girl. And I would win her over someday.

Sooo, ickle Brady's got hope. And I know all of this isn't right in the time line, and I gave Brady a few months and I can't really be bothered to write about the whole Victoria thing. I can't be bothered to link any of this to the actual story much, so sorry if this isn't correct. I just like having things different and not trying to fit all of my ideas into a different time.

Come on guys, PLEASE review, I'm begging you! This story will get better, but I need some helpful reviews to get it there :) In fact, if you review for me, give me a link to your story, I will return the favour :D