A/N: Hey everyone! I do have homework I should be doing, but there's always later on when I'm forced to do it, and have no choice! In the meantime, I'm back with chapter six! Thanks to everyone who took the time to review! It means a lot! I can see there are mixed reactions to Zack coming back into Eve's life, so that will be a lot of fun for me to write! Everyone who knows me knows that I'm hopelessly in love with Zack. :) (Just look at my username!)

Anyway, thank you to…Leyton4life69, Cody'sxFavoritexGirl, wrestlingfreak1196, briannawrites, guest, and heidipoo, on taking the time to post your reviews for chapter five, it means a lot. :) Here's chapter six, enjoy!

Chapter Six

Mike was sitting in his bunk bed with one of his buddies, Luke. Mike had made a handful of friends while he was overseas, but Luke was his closest friend. They had started talking when Mike had first gotten there, and were now beginning to get close, which was good, because Mike needed a friend.

"Who is that?" Luke asked Mike, pointing to the picture of Eve taped to the corner of Mike's bunk bed.

Mike smiled, turning to his attention to the picture. "Her? Oh, she's my fiancée." He said happily, slowly pealing the picture away from his bunk bed, being careful not to tear it.

Luke smiled. "She's beautiful, man. How long have you known her?"

Mike chuckled lightly, tracing the features of Eve's face in the picture. "My whole life, since I was five years old. We met in kindergarten, and have been best friends ever since."

Luke nodded. "That's amazing, Mizanin. That's when you know it's true love."

Mike nodded in agreement. "I've loved her for as long as I can remember. We're gonna get married when I go back home. I can't wait to go back home. I miss her. I miss so much. So much that it hurts"

"I know what you mean." Luke said, "I have a wife and a little girl waiting for me back at home." He replied, handing Mike a picture of his family.

"They're beautiful Luke," he said in a soft tone, an image of him and Eve having a family of their own filling his head.

"Thanks. Promise me one thing?"

"Anything, Luke just name it."

"When we get out of here, promise me that I can meet Eve? She seems great."

"Only if I can meet your wife and your daughter," Mike smiled.

Luke smiled back, shaking Mike's hand. "It's a deal."

"Hey Zack," Eve smiled. Where should I put this?" Eve asked the Long Island Native. She was standing in the doorway of his kitchen, and was freshly showered. A towel was in her hand. Eve had crashed at Zack's for the night. She didn't want to be alone.

Zack smiled warmly. "Hey Eve," he said, taking the towel. "I got that, thanks. Breakfast is on the table if you're hungry." He said, pointing to the large amount of food.

Eve grinned. "I'm starving! Thanks Zack," she said sweetly before throwing her freshly blow dried hair into a messy bun. She then looked up at Zack who had reappeared into the doorway after putting the towel away. "Are you doing anything today?" She asked, taking a mouthful of French toast.

"That depends." Zack replied, grabbing himself a plate of food, and sitting down next to her. "Did you want to do anything?"

Eve thought for a moment. "Well, there's the carnival opening today. Maybe we could go there?" She asked. "It would be a lot better than me sitting around the house depressed all day." She frowned.

Zack tiled her head up, a sad look in his eyes. "Eve, smile please? If Mike saw you like this he'd be really upset. He would want you to be happy, Eve. We all want you to be happy."

"I know you all want me to be happy, Zack. I know…" she whispered. "But I'm not happy, and I most likely won't be happy until Mike returns…"

Zack sighed sadly. "Eve, I understand why you're upset, and why you're sad, bu-"

Eve cut him off, tears behind her eyes. "You know Maryse told me it's my fault Mikey got sent over there?" She blurted out. "She came over to my house yesterday, and told me it was my fault! My fault! Then she told me that if Mikey dies, it's on me! She said that would be my fault too!" She screamed as tears were now soaking her face.

Eve tried to calm herself down, but now she was in the process of a breakdown. Though it was probably a much needed breakdown because of all the emotions she had building up inside of her for the past couple of years. Ever since Mike had gotten taken away from her all those years ago, Eve had been building up all these hurt emotions, refusing to let anyone see them. But now Zack was seeing them, and it was in the worst possible way.

"Eve, Eve, Eve," Zack said softly, bringing the brunette into his strong embrace. "It's okay, it's all right. Breathe, you need to breathe. You're hyperventilating." He whispered into her hair. "Take a few deep breaths. Focus on the sound of my voice."

Eve did as Zack said, focusing on the sound of his voice as she took a few deep breaths, and rested her head in his chest. After several minutes, she had finally gotten herself to calm down, and just now realized that Zack was still holding her.

"I'm a mess Zack," Eve whispered into his purple t-shirt. "I'm going to be a mess until Mikey comes back. I don't know what to do. He keeps me together. He keeps me going, and now he's gone." She sighed, finally lifting her head out of Zack's chest. Then she felt an emptiness blow over her. Was the emptiness from the fact that she was no longer being held by someone, or was it because she was no longer being held by Zack, and she wanted him to hold her because she liked the way it felt?

"Don't worry Eve," Zack said, patting her shoulder as he picked up their dirty breakfast dishes. "I'll take care of you." He smiled, "now how about that carnival?" Zack grinned.

Eve smiled, nodding. "Just give me five minutes."

Zack nodded, as he made his way over to the couch. "Take all the time you need."

Eve went upstairs into the guest room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the bed, and took a small pocket sized picture of Mike from beside her pillow where she had kept it so she could sleep last night. "Hey Mikey," she said, taking a seat on the bed, his picture in her hands. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going out with Zack today. We're going to the carnival." She smiled. "I'm trying my best to be happy. But I miss you, and I can't be happy without you here…" She sighed trailing off. "You just…you gotta promise me that you'll come home, Mikey. I need you." She whispered, her thumb tracing the features of Mike in the photo as she talked to him, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Zack is the only one here who seems to make me the least bit happy. Without Zack, I don't know where I would be. But Zack will never be able to fill the emptiness that I feel with you gone."

Eve took a deep breath, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand before sticking the picture of Mike in her back pocket.

Moments later she went downstairs. "I'm ready to go," she said, giving Zack a warm smile.

"Cool," Zack said, grinning. "Me too," he told her, grabbing the blank CD he had made her a few days ago. "Let's go have some fun!"

Eve smiled back "All right Ryder, let's go."

Zack and Eve spent time together until the sun went down. The pair had a great time at the carnival. But it was always at night when Eve had the hardest time. At night was when she became lonely the most, and when she would miss Mike the most.

That was because at night, she would lie wide awake in bed, and her mind would wander. It would wander of many things, but for the mostly it was just about Mike.

She was now changed into a pair of Mike's sweats, and her favorite t-shirt of his. She was spending the night at Zack's again. She didn't want to be alone.

Zack was sitting in his room, which was across from the guest room, where Eve was staying. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway, pulling an earbud from out his ear. "Hey Eve, are you okay?" He asked, studying her.

"I hate to ask you for another favor…but would you mind taking me to my house real quick? I wanted to see if Mikey sent me another letter or not…" she explained, trailing off.

"Sure! I can take you, it's not a problem at all, just give me a minute to throw on a shirt, and then we can go."

Eve nodded. "Thank you so much, Zack. This means a lot to me."

"I know," he said, pulling his shirt over his head. "That's why I did it."

Zack drove to Eve's house with the blank CD he had made her blasting. There was a lot of One Direction, Justin Bieber, The Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and Justin Timberlake because that was Zack's type of music. So, when Wait For Me came on, Eve was rather surprised. She looked at him, blinking a few times. "What's this song doing on here?"

Zack shrugged. "I know this is your favorite song, I know it means a lot to you, so I put it on here."

Eve smiled. Zack was so sweet to her. Having his support throughout this rough time in her life made things somewhat easier on her. "Thank you, Zack. That was sweet of you."

Zack smiled back. "Anything to make you happy, Eve," he said.

When they had gotten to her house, Eve's parents were in the living room. Zack waited in the truck since Eve said she wouldn't be long. "Hey honey, where have you been?" Eve's mother asked softly.

"Just spending some time with Zack," she said quietly.

Eve's mother nodded. "Is it helping at all?"

"A little bit…" She said, "I just don't wanna be alone at night. Night time is the worst."

"I know. I understand. Guess what came in the mail today?" Eve's mother asked with a smile. "A letter with your name on it," she said, handing her the letter.

Eve grinned, her eyes lighting up. "Thanks, mom, this is exactly what I came over for. To see if Mikey had written back yet or not."

Her mother nodded. "Are you going to spend the night at Zack's?"

"Yeah," Eve whispered. "I want to."

"Okay. Be careful, Eve. Your father and I will see you in the morning."

Eve nodded, hugging her mother. "Okay, night mom."

"Night Eve, I love you."

"I love you too mom." Eve said, closing the door behind her, and making her way back to Zack's truck.

"Any luck?" The Long Island Native asked once Eve was inside.

Eve grinned, holding up the letter. "Yeah, lots of luck," she smiled.

Zack smiled back. "Good. I'm glad."

Eve nodded, tracing Mike's hand writing with her fingertips. Just like the last letter, this one smelled like him too. "It smells just like him…." She softly whispered, trailing off as she blinked away her tears.

Zack smiled weakly at her. "Open it. I'm sure there's lot of good things in there."

Eve took a deep breath, calming herself. Her getting another letter from Mike let her know that he was still alive somewhere out there and it brought a sense of calmness to her. Calmness she so desperately needed.

She carefully opened the letter, being careful not to tear it, just like she was with the last one.

Baby,

I miss you so much it hurts me too. I wish I could hold you at night, and let you know that everything is going to be okay. I know that you're worried, and I know that you're scared, but I need you to do me a favor, Eve. I need you to be happy. I need you laugh, and live your life the best you can. Me being sent away shouldn't ruin your happiness. I know that me not coming home is a reality that both you and I have to deal with, but it's best for us not us to think about that right now. Okay? I just…I need you to trust me, Eve. I'm always going to protect you, Eve. From everything and anything in this world that I can protect you from, you're my girl, Eve. You're my world, everything to me, my life. I'm gonna protect you until the day I die. My favorite memory of us is our first kiss. Do you remember it? We had gotten into this huge blow out. We were fighting outside in the middle of nowhere because you forced me to pull over in my truck, and you told me that you were going to walk home. I went after you, called you an idiot, and told you there was no way in hell I was going to allow you to walk home in the storm. So you slapped me, called me an arrogant son of a bitch, and told me to never call you an idiot again. So I grabbed you, pinned you to my truck, and called you beautiful. Then I kissed you as deep as I could. Pouring all of my feelings for you into it, and before I knew it, you wrapped your arms around my neck, your legs around my waist, and were kissing me back. That's the moment I knew you loved me too, and that's the moment I knew there was no turning back. I can't wait to come home and see you, baby. Don't become more beautiful while I'm gone, or you'll be too pretty for me. Now you can ask me a question. Make it a good one. I gotta go, it's time for breakfast. I love you.

Forever yours,

-Mikey-

Zack glanced at Eve, and realized that she was now crying. "Is everything okay, Eve?" He asked, pulling into his own driveway. There was a look of concern in his hazel eyes.

Eve nodded. "Yeah, everything is okay. Thanks Zack. It was just really great to hear from him."

"I know, I'm really glad you did." Zack said kindly. "But we should get to bed, it's late, and we've had a long day."

Eve agreed with him, nodding her head. "Thank you for taking me to get this Zack, and thank you for spending time with me." She kissed his cheek. "It meant a lot. It really helped."

Zack nodded. "It's not a problem Eve. Your friends will get you through this." With that said, Zack then went into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Eve went into the guest room, and got into her pajamas. She lied there, unable to sleep. She so badly wanted to go into Zack's room, and ask him if she could sleep with him for the night. Her mind was running, and it was filling with thoughts and images of Mike dying, and she couldn't handle them anymore.

Ten minutes later, she knocked on Zack's door, she opened it a crack. "Zack…" She sniffled, wiping the tears that were pouring down her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Can I stay in here with you tonight?"

Zack sat up, rubbing his eyes to help them adjust to the darkness. "Sure Eve. You can stay here. Are you okay?"

She shook her head, stepping into the bedroom, and closing the door. "No. Not really. Actually, I'm not okay at all." She quietly admitted.

"What's the matter?"

Eve crawled into his bed, sitting beside him. He was shirtless, and his hair was a mess. "I'll never forgive myself if he dies, Zack. It will be my fault. Just like Maryse said."

Zack shook his head. "Maryse is just a jealous bitch." He grumbled. "Don't let her get into your head, Eve. Don't let her win, and you are right now."

Eve sighed, she knew Zack was right. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake those horrible thoughts Maryse put into her head a couple of days ago. "I'm sorry," she said. "I know you must be sick of me by now." She chuckled lightly, wiping the rest of her tears away.

Zack laughed along with her quietly. "Of course not Eve, you're just going through a rough time right now. Everyone knows and understands that. You just need to let everyone in, and not push anyone away."

"I'm not pushing you away," she softly whispered, playing with the blanket, keeping her eyes on it.

Zack smiled a small smile. "I'm glad you're not. Now come on, let's get some much needed sleep." He said, lying back down.

Eve nodded, lying down beside Zack. After a few hesitant moments, she placed her head in his chest, and she was relieved when he didn't push her away.

Maybe, just maybe Eve would actually get some descent sleep tonight ever since the night Mike had left, even if it wasn't in his arms.

A/N: This chapter was much longer than my other chapters, I know. :) But there was a lot that needed to go into this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed. Reviews would be amazing. Thanks so much. :) -Mel