AN: Here is a happy chapter for you guys. There is a lot of Zach and Kat in this, but also some JH. From now one I'm going to be working on a lot more Jackie and Hyde stuff, along with Zach/Hyde/Jackie stuff. My updates have finally caught up with my writing, and the next update will take a few more days to get up since I haven't even started writing it. It's the last 2 weeks of school for me and my teachers have decided to dump a truck load of stuff on us. Poo to that! I just want to write.
I hope you guys like this. Reviews are wonderful as always.
Chapter 10: After the Flood
Kat heard a light rapping at her bedroom window over her loud music playing at barely a whisper in the background. Clad in black pajama pants and a pink tank top, she grabbed a baseball bat she hid under her bed to investigate the intruder. She creeped her way over to the window with adrenaline pumping to be prepared to smash some peeping tom face in. Slowly, Kat pulled back her purple curtain while rearing back the baseball bat. When she saw a man's body hunched over on the neighboring tree, she let out a screech and dropped the curtain.
"Kat, it's Zach." She heard the man say through her window. Kat furrowed her eyebrows in both confusion and embarrassment as she comprehended exactly what the voice said.
"What do you want?" She hissed through the glass.
"Just let me in. I need to talk to you."
Kat rolled her eyes and opened the window for Zach. She marched over to her bed and stood by as she watched him scramble through the window. She crossed her arms and angrily stared at him as he brushed himself off once inside her room.
Zach looked at Kat and couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she was angry and in pajamas. It was probably his favorite look for her so far.
"What do you want?" She asked, still standing defensively away from him.
"I came to apologize." Zach answered pathetically as he shoved his hands in his pockets and gazed down at the floor.
"Pft, took you long enough." Kat scoffed. An awkward silence fell on the two as both of the youths tried to think of anything to say to each other. Zach finally spoke up.
"You were right."
The admission shocked her. "Right about what?"
"About why I punched that guy." Zach took a deep breath as he coaxed himself to just make his confession. "It had everything to do with how I feel about you."
Kat put her arms down and held firmly onto her left arm with her right hand. She slightly bit her lip as bubbling feelings sprang up inside of her.
Zach saw the look on her face and felt a little more confident with his words. "Look Kat… I really, really like you. I'm sorry for being a jerk to you, but I just don't know how to be the right guy for you. And you deserve the best."
Kat stared back at Zach, still nervously biting her lip. She let out a defeated sigh and gave Zach disappointing eyes. "Zach… I don't care if you know how to or not. I think you just being you is the right guy."
Zach shifted his feet, unsure of what to say next. This was about as far as he had planned. He wasn't really expecting her to tell him that he was the right guy for her. All he knew was that he was an ass, but this was very important to him, so he just had to do it.
"So what made you admit to this?" Kat asked with a weary voice, but her eyes showed she was more questioning than suspicious of him. She still had that sparkling hope in her pupils, twinkling in anticipation.
Zach pondered the question, and decided that he would save the full explanation for some other time. "Something just told me that if I didn't, I would regret it forever."
Kat couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she walked over to his standing body. It was just like a dream, and Kat didn't want to miss a second of it. Once reaching him, she wrapped her arms around his neck, only closing her eyes as she kissed his lips.
Jackie stared up at the full moon through the clear Wisconsin night sky. Serenity relaxed her nerves and all the worries that plagued her thoughts temporarily took the back seat of her mind. She had spent the entire day worrying about her soon to be divorce and disconnect with Bobby. But, as everyone knows, when worrying about one thing, it opens the door for other problems. Now that she had left her husband, she was out of a basic income, and she had little to no education or job experience. She had no idea what she was going to do for money. She couldn't live with Donna and Eric for the rest of her life.
But all of that was today, and at this very moment she didn't' care at all. Jackie loved looking up at the stars that sat suspended in complete and utter blackness. She figured whoever said, "The sky's the limit," must have been talking about the night sky. The twinkling, never-ending starts always represented a universe of millions of possibilities and freedoms for and really grasping this concept universe excited and frightened her. Out there, there were no limits and nothing to hold you close to home. Jackie always desired to get lost in that feeling of freedom, but she was always too scared to break free from security. When she was with her first boyfriend, Micheal Kelso, she had a predestined plan all mapped out with no forks or complicated road signs. Sure, they did a few U turns, but it all followed Jackie's path until it completely spun out of control. Her relationship with Dennis was the same, except he actually wanted to get married and was able to provide for her. However, whenever she was with Steven, things were completely different. They started out on no terms without any direction and Jackie was never sure what to call them. As things progressed, their relationship easily fell into a loving boyfriend/girlfriend scenario, but Jackie still had no clue as to what lie ahead for them in the future. Steven Hyde was Jackie's night sky. He excited and terrified her. Jackie always felt free with no boundaries whenever she was with him. Not only could she be anything she wanted to be, but they could be anything too. But old habits die hard, and the free floating began to scare Jackie more than anything. She didn't like not knowing what would become of them, so, she did the only thing she could do: try to find a safety line.
On night's like these, Jackie wondered what would have happened if she just stayed along for the ride a little longer with Steven Hyde. In her eyes, he was capable of all things if he just had the right motivation and desire. She wondered if things really were predestined after all, and her failure with Steven was in the big plan of her life. But, she just couldn't accept the easy way out. Cause and effect were the only factors that tore them apart.
Jackie looked towards the end of the Foreman driveway and saw the very man in question making his way over to her. She wondered what brought him here this late at night.
"Hey," he said as he reached the tiny porch.
"Hey," Jackie replied.
"What are you doing out here?" He asked, situating himself against the railing.
"Just thinking." She answered with a smile.
"So, I take it Donna and Eric have probably gone to bed by now."
"Yeah. You didn't call to check before you came over?"
Hyde shook his head. "No, I was just sort of driving and just thought about coming over here." What he failed to mention was really he was looking for Zach, and needed to talk to either Eric or Donna about the situation.
"Oh."
An awkward silence fell on the two as they desperately searched for something else to say. One would think that after twenty years of catching up to do, people would have more to talk about then the mundane things they discussed earlier. Hyde wanted to tell her so much, but he just couldn't find the words. After having that conversation with Zach, he felt the surprising need to tell someone everything, especially Jackie. There were so many things she needed to know. He told Zach earlier that he didn't regret having him, and it was the truth. However, Hyde did regret the life he had outside of Zach. The emptiness he felt inside was a constant reminder of the days when he didn't feel empty at all.
"So what were you thinking about?" Lame… he knew it, but it was the only thing that came to mind.
Jackie smiled slightly at him, knowing perfectly well exactly what he was doing. "I was just thinking about what I'm going to do about money now that I left my husband."
Hyde shrugged his shoulders. "Get a job?"
Jackie sarcastically scoffed. "Yeah, with what experience or education? I haven't had a job in years, and I never went to college."
Hyde softly grinned at her in the same way he always did when he thought she was being cute. "Don't worry about it Jackie. You can do anything you want to."
Jackie's heart inflated in her chest, and she couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Well, I guess I will just have to figure out whatever it is I want to do."
Hyde nodded his head. "I'm sure it'll come to you soon."
Silence fell on the two again. They both felt so young inside, and they slowly began to realize that they were alone together. Jackie giggled in her mind as she remembered what they used to do whenever a situation like this occurred, but she was certainly not going to make out with him on the railing of Donna's front porch no matter how elated she felt when thinking about it. Their new comfortable situation with each other urged Jackie to get some answers from Hyde in the only way she knew how.
"You know, I thought you were going to be really mad at me when I came back… you know… for not saying goodbye."
Jackie watched as Hyde looked down to the ground with a sad and almost guilty expression on his face. But Hyde was always going to be Hyde, so Jackie wasn't quite sure if that was exactly what she was seeing. His arms were already crossed, but she noticed that he tensed his muscles more around his body. He answered towards the ground, "Yeah, well, I'm not. You left for a good reason."
Jackie squeezed her tiny fists together and closed her eyes. "I hope that I'm coming back for an even better reason."
The two locked eyes and told each other many things, each of them completely understanding what the other was trying to say, but of course, not sure if they should listen to their heart.
"I'm really glad you're back, Jackie." He finally said to her, clarifying her assumptions.
Jackie gave him a teary smile, silently confirming to him that she was glad to be back too.
"Well I should get home now." He said as began to walk away. "I'll see you around."
"Bye." Jackie called to him. He gave her one more smile and walked back down the driveway to his car.
Zach was reclining on his back on top of Kat's bed as she had an arm wrapped around his abdomen with her head resting on his shoulder. A lot had happened in the past few hours. They had frenched like French people at a frenching festival, and discussed their new relationship. It was still a little weird for Zach to think of himself as in a relationship, but if it made him feel just like this, then he figured he could get used to it fast. Zach told Kat all the reasons he had been so cold to her over the past few weeks, and after calling him a jerk a few times and swatting at him, she whispered in his ear all the reasons why she was completely infatuated with him. She wiped his insecurities away with her beautiful smile, goofy teasing, and of course her kisses. Zach really liked the way she kissed.
Now they had mellowed down and had been talking about anything and everything. Zach would declare that this moment was one of the best of his life if it wasn't for the horrible feeling that still hung over him after his conversation with his dad. He really didn't want that to ruin his good time.
As if reading his mind, Kat reminded him, "You still haven't told me what happened when you went to see your mom."
Zach rubbed his hand across her arm that was holding onto him. "I found out that she is a total whore that couldn't really give a rat's ass about me."
Kat frowned in his tee shirt. "Well that sucks."
"Yeah," He agreed. "Things are so fucked up right now."
"What do you mean?"
Zach gave a huge sigh, preparing himself to tell her the story. "Well this woman, who used to be really good friends with Josh's mom, came back to town, and when we went to dinner last night, my dad was acting so weird around her. Like, they just kept laughing and sharing these little smiles with each other. It was just weird, because my dad is never like that with women. Well, I asked Josh's mom what was up, and she said that this woman was the love of my dad's life." Kat hugged Zach close as she listened intently. "So I tried to get her to tell me what the hell that was supposed to mean, because I have never heard of this woman in my life. She just told me to ask my dad. So, I ask my dad, and surprisingly he actually opens up to me. I have no idea why either, because he has never done that before. Well, he tells me all of this crazy ass shit that happened between them that I don't even want to get into, but basically the last thing that finally made the two of them break up was he drunkenly married my mom and didn't even remember."
"Wow… that is messed up." Kat replied, not quite sure what to say about the story.
Zach was still underneath her. It felt so good to just tell someone everything. He was still confused as hell, but at least for right now he didn't feel so bad.
"So how do you feel about all of that?" Kat asked him while raising her body up to look at his face.
Zach looked up at her and searched inside his soul for the answer. "I don't know." He looked away at a poster on the other side of the room. "I guess I feel like I was some kind of mistake or something. I mean, I always sort of felt like that, what with my mom leaving a long time ago, but now it's just more real."
Kat leaned down and kissed him softly on his smooth cheek. She lied down on the pillow next to his head. "Well it isn't like they got married because your mom was pregnant with you. They were just drunk. They must have stayed together for a reason."
"I don't know." Zach replied. "He really seemed torn up about marrying my mom and hurting this woman."
Kat gazed at Zach's face and wanted to heal all of his wounds. "Well, it shouldn't matter if your mother was the reason your dad lost the love of his life. He still didn't do anything to reverse what happened. That has nothing to do with you."
Zach smiled down at Kat knowing perfectly well exactly what she was trying to do. It made him feel a little better, but he still felt that emptiness in his chest.
Kat grinned back at her boyfriend. "I mean, seriously. Just because your mother is a loser and your father is lonely, doesn't mean anything when it comes to you. Our parents don't dictate who we are, or what we become."
Zach cupped Kat's face in his hands and planted a sweet peck on her lips. She might have been right, but it was his father's haunting words that drove him to come to Kat in the first place that pricked at his spine, "I regret that I hurt the only girl that I ever loved because I thought I couldn't make her happy with just being me."
They relaxed comfortably in their embrace again and just enjoyed the company from one another. Through the silence, Zach heard a woman's deep, scratchy voice chanting around the room and then an ever familiar growl and scream follow immediately after.
"What are you listening to?"
Kat shifted her head to look at him and gave him a toothy smile. "Otep. It's new. They have a female vocalist."
Zach listened closer. "Doesn't really sound like a chick."
"I know!" Kat exclaimed with a giggle. "Isn't it awesome? This girl I talk to online told me about them today. I told her about what a dick you were being to me, and she told me to listen to this song called "Menocide" by them." The corners of her mouth seemed to reach her ears as beautiful dimples popped up on her cheeks. "It made me feel a lot better."
Zach laughed and her morbid cuteness. "Yeah, well sorry about that."
"It's okay. Just as long as you don't get all broody on me again, I'll be fine."
"I am not broody!" He retorted, daring her with his eyes to say it again.
"Pssht" Kat scoffed. "Okay Zach. Keep telling yourself that." She rubbed her hand on top of his head, stroking his short stubble. She coyly smirked at him. "You know I think I could get used to this. I think it's kind of sexy. Very masculine and you remind me of Phil Anselmo." Zach rolled his eyes at the name drop, even though he was secretly flattered. Kat moved her slender fingers to his chin and cupped it in her finger tips. "Even though your curls were so cute."
"Shut up." He said, rolling his eyes again while sitting up to get away from her. Kat just cackled at his embarrassment and began tracing outlines on the back of his shirt. She looked over at the clock and sighed. "I think you should leave."
"Why?"
"Well, I have had to put up with a lot of crap from you to get us here, and I really don't want my dad to kill you because he wakes up…" An alarm clock in the next room sounded. "…now."
Zach scrabbled to put his shoes back on. Kat giggled at him as he frantically began to tie them. When he was done he dashed to the window, and then stopped to turn around. He cupped Kat's face again and planted another kiss on her plush lips. "Bye." He said and ran to the window again, climbing out like Spiderman as Kat just beamed at his exit.
AN2: Reviews make my stiff neck feel better. My doctor says so. Okay, maybe that's untrue, but for the few moments I'm reading them, I'll completely forget about it, and that's good enough :).
