Zack closed his eyes, letting his head fall back on the sofa of the Jeffersonian. He'd managed to avoid being along with Booth, and dodged Hodgins questioning him about where he was. Angela seemed happy to leave him alone, but he'd caught her looking at him suspiciously from across the lab. Booth and Brennan were out on a case, so Zack had managed to get minutes to himself. He didn't understand what was going on with him. All he'd seemed able to think about all day was Booth in that bed. He knew there was no point in dwelling on it – Booth liked Brennan and Brennan liked Booth. Everybody knew it except, apparently, for them. Zack peace was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey Zack." Zack opened his eyes to meet Angela's. Sitting up, Zack smiled lightly as Angela sat down.

"Hey Angela,"

"What's up with you lately?" Zack sighed. Angela had never been one to beat around the bush.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked cautiously.

"You know what I'm talking about Zack," Angela sighed. "I've seen the way you act lately. That glazed over look in your eyes. I can tell something's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Zack said quickly. He had to get out of this, fast. "I just…" Sighing, Zack dropped his head. "I've just been thinking about someone a lot lately. It's nothing." Angela smiled softly, reaching up to rub Zack's shoulder.

"If you need to talk about it, you know where I am," With these words, Angela stood up and left Zack to his thoughts.

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Zack paced worriedly, waiting for Hodgins to get home. He understood that Angela wanted to help him, but for some reason he always felt more comfortable talking to Jack. Zack stopped pacing as the man he was waiting for walked through the door.

"Hey Zack," Hodgins smiled, immediately registering the anxious expression on his friend's face. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you," Zack said quickly. "I've got a big problem." Jack smiled reassuringly before sitting down and indicating for Zack to do the same.

"Just take a breath, and tell me what's wrong," He said, noticing that Zack wasn't making oxygen a big priority at the moment.

"I… I… oh, fuck," Zack put his head in his hands and sighed heavily. Jack sighed softly, surprised to hear Zack swear.

"It's ok," Hodgins encouraged. "Take your time. It's alright." Zack took a deep breath, and then he was on his feet again, pacing and panicked. Jack simply sat back and watched as Zack stopped a few times, looked like he was going to speak and the continued to pace. Eventually, he stopped and looked at Hodgins.

"I think I'm gay… or Bi… or something. I don't know… but… I really, really like someone. There's no way in hell I have a chance with them… but I can't stop thinking about him and I hate it." By the time he'd finished this, Zack was back to pacing. Jack sighed before reaching out to grab Zack's hand. Before Zack could turn to look at him, Hodgins pulled him back onto the sofa.

"Ok," He said. "You're making me dizzy. Slow down a bit. Who do you like?" Zack blushed at this and turned away.

"I… I can't tell you."

"Ok, so that means I either know him or am him," Jack said with a smile. "And since you came to me with this problem, I'm guessing it's not me." Zack shook his head slowly, still not looking up.

"Right, first off," Hodgins continued. "It's ok for you to feel this way. I'm taking a wild guess by saying you never did much experimenting in school, so it's just your latent curiosity. And if it turns out you're gay, or bi or… something," Zack smiled at Jack's light-hearted repetition of his own words. "Then that's ok too, as long as you're happy." Zack smiled and nodded lightly.

"But what do I do about… him?" Zack asked helplessly.

"If you wanna even hope something might happen, you need to tell him. Ok?" Zack closed his eyes and nodded heavily. Standing up, Zack walked to the door. He knew he needed to get this over with tonight, before he lost his nerve.