Yay! Two chapters in one day! So like I promised, this chapter longer and much better than the last, but only because it pack-filled with Zack/OC moments. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and if you do PLEASe, PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews keep me and ths story going--btw, thanks to those who have been supportig me thus far. Constrctive criticism is welcomed, but flaming is not. Also, check out my oter Zack/OC story calle "Crashed". Thankies!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bones.

Chapter Nine: One's Heart

She couldn't get it out of her head. Not for one second. Not even when she had gotten to sleep that night. It had even haunted her dreams. That body of that little boy Charlie—Booth had called her the next day telling her regrettably that body had been indeed the child that went missing—was embedded in her brain. Even the activities of her classes hadn't been able to distract her from the image of that tiny corpse just lying there uncared for, alone, and bare. It was horrific.

How were those at the Jeffersonian and Booth able to do it every day? Sure, it was their job—murder and dead bodies—but it had to have some kind of effect on them, even on Zack and Brennan, right? It certainly had affected her. Then again, death wasn't her job, acting was. But she was going to be acting as a forensic anthropologist, so she was going to have to get use to looking at such things—the effects team was apparently really good with the details. That was why Kristen was studying Dr. Brennan after all.

But still…Knowing such things, didn't make her stomach any less queasy, her throat loosen, or the image fade.

Kristen had class all day, so she couldn't go to the Jeffersonian, but, deep down, she was okay with that. She wasn't sure if she was ready to Charlie's remains again. Though, she did miss seeing Zack, Hodgins, Angela, Brennan, and Booth. She hadn't known them all for a long time, but after their last class, the college student felt like she had gotten closer to the little family there, especially Zack.

Anyway, it was Common Hour for the students at her college, so that meant grabbing lunch for most. And that's what Austen, Max, and Kristen were going to do together. The others couldn't come as Meghan and Isaac wanted time alone as they were still in their honeymoon-phase, even though their honeymoon was over and Charlotte had the flu, so Zoey was at their apartment taking care of her.

The three were talking happily—Kristen was trying to—as they strolled the large campus towards Kristen and Austen's apartment. They were discussing the movie they had watched in Short Film's class and unbelievably stupid it was because the acting, lighting, and the script had been more than poor—in other words, they were making fun of it.

"Seriously," Austen began, using his free hand that wasn't holding Max's to wave dramatically. "That director should be shot to ever make such a movie." His friends laughed, agreeing.

"I think the actors are the ones who should be shot, degrading themselves like that." Kristen chuckled, her hands tucked into her denim shorts' back pocket—the shorts were over gray leggings, so she wasn't cold in the autumn air.

Max said through his guffaws, his gray hues twinkling, "Hey, at least the main male actor was banging."

"True. Very true." concurred Austen and Kristen.

All of sudden, Kristen's cell phone went off in her leather jacket pocket, her ringtone singing "Get Back to Hogwarts" from A Very Potter Musical. She arched a brow and fished the phone out of her pocket to flip it open to see the caller I.D.

Zack Addy.

Her brows furrowed. "Why is Zack calling me?" the blonde questioned aloud dumbfounded. Yeah, he had called her a few times since she told him to, but he had never called in the middle of the day since he was at work and needed to concentrate.

Beside her, the boys went "Ooooh! Zack!" making her roll her sea foam green colored spheres. She gave them the "bird" to which they just laughed at before continuing their conversation.

Kristen pressed the "Answer" button on her phone before placing the technology to her ear. "Hey, Zack. What's going on?" she greeted.

"Are you free at this time?" His reply was robotic-like like it always was, but Kristen sensed a hint of distress in it.

"Is everything okay? You sound a bit…off." Kristen asked with worry, ignoring the looks Austen and Max were giving her.

"…Are you free at this time?" Zack repeated. Oh, yeah, he sounded upset—well, he sounded upset for him.

"Uh, yeah, kinda. I was just going back to my apartment to have lunch with my two friends, but otherwise, I'm not doing anything." she answered hesitantly with her brows creased at her temple. "Why?"

"I-I was hoping t-to speak to you about a certain manner," he said quickly, nervously on the other end. "But I do not want to take y-you away from your com-companions or a meal--"

Kristen cut him off, "Do you want me to pick up at the Jeff, Zack?"

"…Yes, please."

"Okay, I'll be over in a few."

"Thank you, Kristen."

"Don't mention it."

With that, she hung up and turned to her best friend and his boyfriend, who were staring at her in concern. "I have to go pick up my friend, Zack at his job. He sounds upset about something. Do you guys mind starting lunch without me?" she stated.

"Not at all." Austen answered. Max shook his head. They, especially Austen, could see how worried Kristen was about Zack and how much she wanted to help.

"And do you two mind if I bring him back to the apartment?"

"No. Now, go get him."

Kristen beamed. "Thanks. I'll be right back." She kissed both of their cheeks before taking off down the sidewalk towards the school parking lot.

The boys watched the short woman's back disappear. Then, Max turned to the brunet next to him with a smile on his pretty face. "Are you sure that she doesn't have a thing for this guy?"

Austen chortled. "Oh, no, I'm sure, but that's for her to figure out." he said. He tugged on the ink-haired boy's hand. "Now, come on. I am seriously craving for your Meaty Mac n' Cheese." Beaming, Max just allowed the older boy to pull him along to the apartment Austen shared with Kristen.

Zack had been waiting for in the front of the building when Kristen drive up to it in her light blue Beetle. He smiled very little, but she could that he was anything but happy. His face was pale—paler than normal—and his brown eyes were glossy. She said nothing though and told him to get it. He seemed reluctant doing so, but did nonetheless. And with that, they took off to her apartment neither saying a word the entire ride.

It wasn't before long that they arrived at Kristen's college with her parking her precious vehicle in the parking lot. She turned off the engine and both exited the car. Kristen patted the blue hood affectionately before motioning the silent and rigid genius to follow her.

"You're attached to your car." Zack said out of the blue. The two of them were walking side by side, heading to the apartment buildings that were on campus.

Kristen stopped mid-wave of greeting a passerby and peered to the brunet man. Her cheeks became flushed, but she grinned. "Sure am. That thing is like my baby. I was devastated when Cheryl took it away when I was grounded." she admitted freely.

"Your baby? I don't understand. I don't see how a car could hold such importance as a human child would to their mother." His brows furrowed like they always did when he was confused about something.

Kristen looked at him oddly. "You are a guy, right?"

"My anatomy should tell you so." Zack pointed out, not knowing why she'd ask such an obvious question.

"No, no," she shook her head, making her long tresses swish about her small frame. She released a tiny laugh. "I know you're a guy. I'm blonde, not stupid. I just meant that what you said was really un-guy-like."

"That's not a word."

"All I'm saying is that I'm surprised that you sound like you don't like cars like a lot of guys do."

"I don't see the fascination, but that may only be because I cannot drive and choose not to." Zack claimed logically. He sounded like his usual self, but to Kristen, everything he said was incredibly forced. Not to mention, his posture was a lot straighter and tenser than normal.

"You can't drive?" she inquired astounded.

"If you had the same understanding of structural engineering as I do, you'd oppose to driving as well." he informed.

"Hm," Kristen thought for a moment then, shrugged. "Guess it's a good that I'm not a genius then. Anyway, I hope you haven't eaten."

"No, I have not." He couldn't eat even if he wanted to, not with the way his stomach was acting up.

"Good, 'cuz my friend Max is making Meaty Mac n' Cheese."

"I've never heard of such a thing."

Kristen looked at him strangely again as the two reached her apartment building. "You eat macaroni and cheese for lunch every day, but you've never heard of Meaty Mac n' Cheese?" she said in disbelief.

"Is that not what I just said?" Zack tilted his head to the side.

"Touché," she laughed, sliding her keycard through the key-lock. It beeped, recognizing her as a student that lived there and the glass doors unlocked. Kristen pushed opened the door and allowed Zack to enter the lobby first. She filed in after. "Basically, Meaty Mac n' Cheese is the king of any kind of macaroni and cheese. It's just Easy Mac with pieces of burger meat in it."

"Sounds interesting."

"Yeah, it's delicious. You'll like it, I promise."

"I shall take your word for it, Kristen."

She gave him a smile, which he didn't return—well, not quite. He was still upset despite the casual and cheerful conversation they had just had and that made Kristen upset. What was bothering him? Well, she was just going have to find out when they reached her apartment.

Since the elevator was broken, Zack and Kristen had to trudge up four flights of stairs to reach her floor—Zack didn't seem to mind, but Kristen hated walking up stairs. Ultimately, the two got to the actress' floor and made their way down the noisy hallway—music was blasting, TVs were playing, or residents were just talking loudly—to apartment 417.

Kristen had her key, but since Austen was home already, she decided to just knock. Shortly, the door opened to reveal the musician. He smiled upon seeing his best friend and her friend. "Hey, Bunny. Welcome back." he greeted, kissing Kristen on the cheek.

She returned the greeting and entered their apartment. Austen turned to Zack, who was standing there awkwardly. Austen offered an inviting grin and motioned the older male to come inside. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in. I don't bite."

Zack just stiffly nodded and stepped inside, allowing Austen to close the door behind him.

The apartment was small, which was expected for a couple of broke college students, but there was just enough room for two people and provided enough warmth to make it seem like a good home. There was a living room that was separated from the kitchen, where Max and Kristen were, by a tiled island counter. To the right of the living room was a short hallway that lead to the single bathroom and two bedrooms. The place was considerably neat considering how young of people lived there, but there were DVDs, CDs, and school books scattered about.

"You must be Zack, right?" came Austen's voice from beside Zack. His voice snapped the forensic anthropologist-to-be out of his thoughts; he had been observing the space with mild interest.

Zack turned his floppy hair to the younger male. "Uh, yes. That would be me." he answered automatically.

"I'm Austen, Kris' best friend and roommate." Austen said pleasantly, holding out a hand to shake. Zack hesitantly shook it, taking his hand away quickly once Austen let go. Austen looked at him inquisitively for a moment because of his action, but continued to smile and speak, "It's nice to finally meet you, Zack. Kris never shuts up about you."

That surprised Zack. Kristen talked about him to other people? His face became slightly warm. "Sh-She's speaks of me?"

Austen inwardly smirked. "Aaaaaalllll the time."

"Shut up, Austen!" shouted Kristen from the kitchen. She was leaning over the counter shooting daggers at Austen. Her face was bright red. "Stop telling Zack stupid things, jerkface."

"Love you too, Bunny." laughed her companion. Max was even laughing from over the pot where he was mixing burger meat into the macaroni and cheese.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes, but was smiling nonetheless. She glanced to Zack, who was watching the entire scene with a puzzled expression—Kristen's interaction with her friends was strange to him. "Come on over here, Zack. Grab some food and then, we go into my room and talk about what you wanted to talk to me about." she said.

Saying nothing, Zack complied and walked over to the kitchen. Max, flashing the other a toothy grin, handed him a bowl of hot food. With that, Kristen, with her own bowl, led Zack down the hall to her bedroom.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, kiddies!" Austen called after them cheekily.

"Shut you face, Austen!" Kristen yelled back. She then, gently pushed Zack into her room and slammed the door shut. The blonde smiled embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Austen loves to pick on me."

"Your friends are…interesting." Zack said slowly, not knowing the right word to describe Austen and Max or Kristen's bizarre relationship with them.

"You have no idea," she shook her head with a sigh. "And you haven't even met Zoey, Lottie, Meghan, or Isaac yet. Well, you met Zoey, but you haven't been "properly" introduced."

"Should I be afraid?"

"Ha! Maybe."

Zack just stared at her blankly, his eyes still glossy but as not as much as they were when Kristen first picked him up at the Jeffersonian.

"Anyway, please make yourself at home. Sit whatever you'd like." Kristen said.

Zack nodded and looked around for a good place to situate himself.

To his surprise, Kristen kept her room very clean. Everything had its place and was very organized. Books filled took bookcases that stood beside each other being alphabetically and chronologically arranged on the shelves. Playbills from Broadway Musicals, movie posters, and pictures of friends and herself covered her soft green walls. Her bed, which had lavender bedding, was neatly made with a single turquoise and old looking teddy bear rested amongst the three pillows. Her desk was basically cleared of anything except for homework, a script, her laptop, and a desk lamp—everything having its own place.

Zack pulled out her desk chair and sat down on it, placing his bowl of Meaty Mac n' Cheese on his lap. Kristen smiled a little and sat on the edge of her bed, crossing her legs. "So," she began, spooning some of her lunch into her mouth. "What did you want to talk to me about? You sounded really upset on the phone."

"Did I?" he questioned, looking to the female curiously. He had been so sure than he had hid his emotions very well like he usually did.

"Yeah, kinda. Upset for you, at least."

"I see…"

"So what's the problem?"

His eyes adverted to his food, which had no intention of eating. He just didn't want to seem rude by not taking it—that's what his mother told him.

The graduate student was silent for a while, but she didn't push him to say anything. She just waited patiently, eating her food. Finally, Zack spoke, softly, avoiding eye-contact, "…They are the smallest remains I have ever worked on."

Kristen's brows furrowed. Was he talking about the body they found recently? "Do you mean Charlie?"

"Yes."

"Oh…"

"I have never worked on bones so small. It's…It's…" Zack was lost for words. He did not know how to describe the tightening of his chest or sick sensation in the pit of his stomach. They eating at him, which was not possible, but that's how it felt. He felt horrible.

"It's tragic. Sickening." Kristen finished for him. The young man snapped his head to her. Her face was solemn and her bright green eyes had turned glassy.

"Yes," he agreed after a moment. Those were good words. Maybe not the best or the most intelligent, but they worked. "Is it natural to feel that way? Because Dr. Brennan says it is. It is natural for us as human beings to be protective of those younger than us."

"And she's right." Kristen concurred. "Whatever happened to that boy, however he was killed--"

"His chest was crushed and he was sexually assaulted. That is what we've learned so far." Zack interjected.

The second he saw her face contort in agony, he regrets saying anything. "I-I'm sorry. I've upset y-you." he apologized briskly, her expression pulling at a cord within him that he didn't know existed—was it even possible for such a thing to occur?

"No," Kristen took a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them again. "I-It's okay. I was g-going to hear it eventually. It was just a bit…shocking."

"I'm sorry." the brunet male said again.

"It's fine." she repeated.

It didn't sound fine. Zack frowned, his brows furrowing. "Dr. Brennan said such things are going to occur often in my line of work." he confessed stiffly. That thought made his insides squirm just like they did the first time he had heard them. "She said I'm never going to get used to it, but I have to pull back emotionally. "Put my heart in a box" as she so metaphorically put it." he added.

"Don't." was Kristen's immediate response.

His dark eyes flashed to her light ones. "I-I beg your pardon?"

"Don't put your heart it a box. Don't do it."

"I don't--"

She got up from her bed, placed hers and his lunch on top of her desk and took his hands in hers—her hands were so very cold compared to his warm ones. Her optics locked with his gravely. "Please, don't put your heart in a box, Zack. You can't do that every time you face something like this. Yeah, it's hard, painful even, but if you always pull back emotionally, you'll eventually end up feeling nothing. You'll see kids like Charlie or anyone for that matter as a person, just a pile of bones. The pain makes you human. It won't make your job easy, but do you want to end as an empty shell, a hardhearted shell?" she said, her voice almost frantic. Kristen squeezed his hands. "I don't want to see you end up like that. I like you just the way you are. if you always put your heart in a box, you won't be Zack. You won't be the person I know. And yeah, sure I haven't know you for a long time, but I can't bear the thought of you not being the way you are now. So please promise me you won't pull back emotionally, at least not completely? I promise I will be right by your side if it gets hard because this whole thing hurts me just as much as it hurts you."

Zack was speechless, which was rare for him. He knew every word in the English language, but nothing intelligent, not a single word from his large vocabulary would escape past his lips. all he could do was stare up at the girl before him, who was shakily holding his hands and had a look of fear and desperation on her usually happy face.

She was feeling the same way he was feeling about Charlie's murder. Her reaction was more intense than his, but she knew how he was feeling, how much he hated the fact that someone so small and young had been killed and treated in such a manner. Her logic was a bit perplexing and he didn't entirely understand, but he could agree with it. The blonde didn't want him to lose a sense of himself, to lose a piece of him that made him—despite the fact that many teased him about being an alien. He did not the idea of feeling as sick as he felt right now, but he did like the concept of Kristen being there to support him when he did. That was very encouraging, heartwarming even—he knew that couldn't physically happen, but the concept was nice.

After a long time of saying nothing and just searching Kristen's eyes, Zack finally spoke, "Thank you, Kristen. I will promise to not "put my heart in a box" and I am grateful that you've promised to support in such situations."

A smile broke out on her face despite the fact she looked like she was about to break down into tears. Kristen got down onto her knees and threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his neck, letting a few tears escaped dampening his shirt. "Thank, God…" she whispered.

Not having expected the physical contact or use to it, Zack just blushed and patted her back awkwardly. "I-I didn't know you were religious." was the only thing he could think of saying.

Kristen wetly laughed. She pulled away with a shake of her head and wiped any excess tears away—she had been scared for a moment that Zack might up being a heartless shell of a human being; he had too good of a heart to do so. "Y-You're so w-weird." she told him lightheartedly, which made him make a face.

The young woman exhaled deeply, composing herself and picking herself up off the floor. "We should probably finish our lunches and get back to the Jeffersonian." she announced.

"You're going to stay? Don't you have classes all day?" Zack asked curiously.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to ditch every now and then. Besides, I want to see the others and help in any way I can." Kristen shrugged. "Why? Don't you want me to come?"

Zack jumped, thinking he had offended her. "N-No, I didn't mean it like that! O-Of course I want you t-to come, but--"

She laughed, stopping him from his frantic rambling. "I was just messing with you, Zack. Calm down."

"Oh…"

"Just eat your food, so we can get going, you goofball."

"Uh, r-right."

Letting out a small chuckle, Kristen shook her head before picking up her bowl of Meaty Mac n' Cheese to finish eating.

Zack had a good heart, but he was so strange sometimes.