Chapter Five

It was only seven o'clock by the time we left Olive Garden, but we still decided to go back to the hotel, in case Nick, Aaron, Billy, and Jay started to worry about us. The car ride back to the hotel was quiet. I was still trying to process everything Zak had told me (especially the part about him maybe having a crush on me), and I was also trying to figure out how to tell him that I had a crush on him too without sounding like all the other fangirls that drove him crazy. Zak didn't say a word to me after we left the restaurant, but on the drive back to the Marriot he did hold onto my right hand… I parked my car back in the parking lot, next to the guys' van, and we went into the hotel side-by-side. As we got onto the elevator, Zak got a text from Nick. "The guys are watching reruns tonight." he said as put his phone back in his pocket. It was Friday night, so I knew he was taking about Ghost Adventures. "Are you gonna watch with them?" I asked, looking up at his face. Zak shrugged. "Maybe. Although, if you wanted to watch with me, I certainly wouldn't complain…" He looked at me with puppy dog eyes, and I couldn't refuse him (especially since I wanted to spend more time with him too). "Alright." I said, chuckling. "You can watch with me. I want to watch it with you too!" Zak grinned at me as we got off the elevator and I led the way to my room. I unlocked my room, opened the door, let Zak go in ahead of me, and then closed the door behind us. I set my keys down on the bedside table, set my hoody down on top of my suitcase, and then sat down on the edge of my bed, kicking off my shoes. Zak grabbed the TV remote before kicking off his shoes and flopping down on the bed next to me. He sent Nick one last text, telling him that he was going to watch the show with me, and then he turned off his phone and put it on the floor with his shoes. He turned on the TV, changing the channel to the Travel Channel just as the first episode of the night was beginning. Both of us inhaled sharply as we realized that the first episode of the night was "Bobby Mackey's Music World"… I shivered as the "This program contains material that may be unsuitable for some viewers" warning flashed up on the screen, before cutting to Zak's introduction before the show. Zak put his arms around me and held me close to him as the episode started. I could feel how tense he was. I was tense too. My gut instinct told me it was no coincidence that the first episode from Bobby Mackey's was being reshown the night before Zak, Nick, Aaron, Billy, Jay, and I were due to investigate Bobby Mackey's again… Neither Zak nor I said a word for the next half-hour. We just laid there on my bed together, holding each other, transfixed on what was happening in the episode. When there was finally a commercial break, Zak said, "I suddenly have a really bad feeling about tomorrow night…" I nodded and whispered, "So do I…" "Do you think it's a sign?" Zak turned his head and looked at me, and I could tell he was a little worried. "Maybe." I looked back at Zak, trying to mask the sudden fear I felt. Zak hugged me tighter, resting my head against his heart and pressing my left side against his chest and stomach. I could hear the steady beating of his heart, and that relaxed me considerably. I was able to stay awake for the next half-hour, and I was able to watch the rest of the episode, but after that I started getting sleepy. The second episode was "Return to Bobby Mackey's" (which freaked us out even more), but I didn't stay awake for all of it. About fifteen minutes into the episode, I fell asleep in Zak's arms, his heartbeat successfully lulling me to sleep. The last thing I remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was Zak kissing my forehead gently and then whispering in my ear, "It's okay Andrea. Go to sleep. I'll be here in the morning when you wake up."… I woke up at six o'clock the next morning, and it took me a minute to remember where I was. But then the events of the previous night came rushing back to me… "Oh my God!" I whispered as I realized that Zak, true to his word, was lying on the bed beside me. He was shirtless, and his usually neat hair was messy. The sun was shining in through the window, touching Zak's face and the top of his back, making him look almost God-like. I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday, so I quietly got out of bed and put on my pajamas (pink and black checked pajama pants and an orange and purple tie-dyed t-shirt that I had made in honor of my best friend a few weeks before [her favorite colors had been orange and purple, and orange was the color of the Leukemia ribbon, which is what she had died from]). Then I grabbed my diary out of my backpack, grabbed a black ink pen and my phone out of my purse, and got back into bed beside Zak. I turned my phone on and I instantly received four text messages. The first one was from Meghan, telling me that her mother said hi. The second and third ones were from my mom. My mom had texted me the night before, asking me if I had gotten to Wilder safely and if I had met Zak yet (she knew that I had a major crush on him), and then she had texted me that morning wanting to know why I hadn't answered her yet. And the third text was from my friend Abbey. She had texted me that morning, wanting to know everything about meeting the guys, as well as Bobby and Karl. I texted Meghan first, telling her to tell her mom hi for me and that I was hoping to see her later that day. Then I sent my mom a brief text telling her that I was fine and that all of the guys were very sweet (but especially Zak). And then I answered Abbey's text. Abbey's my best friend, and so I told her everything that had happened the day before, and where I was now. I sent her about fifteen texts, telling her everything, and she sent back, "OH MY GOD! *Is at a loss for words*" She knew, like all of my friends knew, how much I loved Zak. As we continued talking, I could tell that she was both happy for me and also slightly jealous that I was getting to spend so much time with the guys. She asked me a lot of questions about Aaron (he was her favorite of the guys), and I told her everything that had happened. She was really excited and asked me a ton of more questions, and we both fangirled together. It was fun. Abbey was particularly excited about the fact that Zak might have a crush on me (I was too), and she was frustrated that I hadn't told Zak how I felt about him yet. I didn't tell her about the conversation that Zak and I had had the night before, I felt like that was too personal to share, but I did tell her that I didn't want Zak to think I was crazy, so I was going to wait until I knew him better to tell him how I felt. She and I talked for a good hour and-a-half, and then she told me that she and her boyfriend were going to have breakfast together and she had to go. We told each other goodbye, and then she told me to have fun with the guys today and tonight (but especially Zak). I told her I would, and then we stopped taking. I put my phone back on my bedside table, and then I curled up next to Zak and fell back asleep with him in my arms.