“Riley it’s been two weeks” Zacky said

“I know”

“So why don’t you?”

“Because I’m scared”

“Or you just don’t want people to know” He huffed.

“It’s not that I don’t want them to know Zacky, I’m just scared”

“Of what?!”

“That’ they’ll al hate me for it! You and Gena were like, the perfect couple and then there was me”

“Please Riley we were never the perfect couple” He scoffed “And besides, Brian knows”

“He what ”

“I told him ages ago”

“What?! Why would you do that?!”

“I had to tell someone I felt like my head was gonna explode”

“Why has he not told anyone else?”

“Because it’s Brian, he’s been keeping it a secret since high school”

“Oh”

“C’mere” He pulled me closer to him so that I was I his lap. I sighed and rested my forehead on his neck.

“I know you want me to tell them I’m just scared that they’re gonna hate me for it”

“I know baby, but even if they don’t like it they’ll come around to the idea eventually” He said taking my chin with his fingers and causing me to look up at him. His eyes were soft and as green as always, I was still questioning how I hadn’t realised how much he loved me sooner, I could see it in his eyes now, it was just there . And then I found myself asking how I hadn’t realised that I loved him back, I guess I was just too concerned with Brian and how I couldn’t ever have him to notice that my lifetime best friend was crushing on me.

I was pulled from my thoughts, Zacky’s lips were pressed softly against mine, he was a good kisser, scratch that, he was an amazing kisser. He knew all of my sweet spots and he knew how to (when he wanted to) make me scream.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck, I knew that I shouldn’t be doing this now, okay we were in the less visited living room of Matt’s house but I knew that this shouldn’t be happening here because we could get caught at any moment.

“Zacky” I mumbled against his lips “Zacky we can’t do this here” I said

“Why not”

“Because we might get caught” I said, hearing footsteps coming down the hall, I squeaked and grabbed the front of Zacky’s shirt, pulling him down so that we were flat against the couch, it was pretty long so if they didn’t come into the room they wouldn’t see us. I heard the door open and I scrunched me eyes shut. After a few more seconds the door shut and I heard the footsteps walking away and I breathed out. Zacky laughed.

“Don’t laugh” I scolded.

“Oh come on Riley, they’re gonna find out sooner or later” He said

“Yeah but I don’t want them to know now” I could tell he was getting annoyed by my procrastination.

“Why, are you embarrassed by me or something?”

“What the fuck? Why would you ever think that? It should be the other way round”

“Not really”

“Just deal with it Zack, I don’t want them to know yet” I huffed pushing him off of me and getting up. I smoothed my hair out and left the room. I was annoyed now and I didn’t want to talk to him right now.

I walked back outside ad sat down on the deck chair, Brian, Matt, Michelle and Kitty were playing chicken in the pool, Johnny was working the barbeque and Val was doing something with salad. I wandered over to help Val when suddenly Zacky came charging out of the French doors and he side tackled me into pool. I came up coughing and spluttering for air, I seriously thought he got water in my lungs.

“You asshole!” I shrieked, but the grin on his face as he pushed his hair out of his eyes and the sparkle in his eyes meant I really couldn’t stay mad at him for more than ten seconds.

The rest of the guys were laughing “It’s not funny” But the smirk in my voice was evident as I looked over at Zacky. He was grinning and we were pretty close to each other.

“Oh for shits sake just kiss her again!” Johnny exclaimed.

“What?” I looked up at him, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes.

“Oh please I knew you two were in the second living room” He said

“What?” I repeated. He sighed and face palmed.

“Seriously Johnny what are you talking about?” Michelle asked him getting out of the pool and wrapping a towel around herself, I heard Brian’s ‘aww’ at the fact he couldn’t eye fuck her anymore.

“Y’know when I went inside to see where they were?” There were several yes’s from the rest of the group “I went into the other living room and I could hear them talking about how Riley doesn’t want us to know that they’re dating yet because she’s scared we’re all gonna hate her or judge her because Zack was with Gena for so long but really we all knew that it was only a matter of time before they got together because let’s face it Zack you’ve been crazy about her since high school”

I just gaped at him, he’d heard everything ? I just shook my head and disappeared under the water, I was good at holding my breath, I’d had to be because I used to clean Zacky’s bathroom before I made him start doing it himself. So I was up to about four minutes.

I could hear the others talking above the water, there were raised voices, and then laughing and then someone came down to my level; I could see it was Zacky. He moved closer to me and sat down in front of me, so that we were facing each other. And then he kissed me.

I knew that this wasn’t gonna work because I really needed to go back up for air, so I pushed him away and shot back up to the surface. I took in a breath of air and the coughed, pushing my hair out of my face again. Zacky resurfaced and grabbed my waist, pulling me against his chest, it was abrupt and I wasn’t expecting it, but he kissed me again. I froze, I knew that they all knew now, I was still nervous about their reactions but I figured that it was out in the open now so I might as well make the most of it before they started getting mad at me.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him back, he grinned and wrapped both arms around me, his right hand tangling into my hair. I heard Val ‘aww’ and there was most definitely a camera flash. I knew from past experiences that Zacky wasn’t gonna pull away any time soon, so I did, then ducked back under the water so that no one would see how much I was blushing.

Notes

Title credit: Can't keep my hands off you - Simple Plan