Not a bad thing

Izzie’s POV
New York had been amazing. We spend our Friday night at our hotel room, we had planned on going out for dinner and drinks, but after our confessions of Lynn’s relationship with Brian, my past relationship with Brian and my maybe relationship with Matt, we had so much to talk about that we just ordered room service and talked. All night long. Lizzy felt like one of our group right away. And it wasn’t long before we discussed the Zacky thing too. Rye and Leyla had their jaws dropped all the way through and were just amazed with everything that had happened in the past weeks.

Saturday we spend our day shopping, closing with an amazing dinner. The restaurant was famous and had a two year waiting list, but the owner had bought some of Rye’s drawings, so she got us in. After our dinner we got to the hotel and got dressed for a night full of music. Leyla had us guest listed for 3 clubs where they played live music. All new artists, but most of them had the Leyla stamp of approval and let me tell you... That means a lot, or at least it should.

Our Sunday was spend relaxing in the park. We brought our own food and wine and spend the whole day, lying around, talking. I felt blessed by having such good friends. Rye and Leyla said goodbye to us Sunday night, and I invited them to come over very soon. It would be amazing if they could meet the guys. I spend my Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday working, but it was nice to get back to the hotel room every evening, to find my friends waiting for me.

This has been a great trip, but I was happy to be on the plane back home again too. I couldn’t wait to see Matt. I had really missed him. Conclusion of our girl talks this weekend was that I should definitely go for it. I was scared and my girls understood, but they also told me that I never looked happier. Lynn ensured me that she would kill Matt if he dare to hurt me, so it was decided. I would be Matt’s, if he would still have me. My mind was made up. I was going to be his girlfriend and I couldn’t wait for the world to know. Telling Brian was a whole different thing, I convinced Lynn to give me a little time. I wanted to talk to Matt first.

Our plane finally landed. We were home again. We got our suitcases and before we even got through the door, Lynn was already gone. Next time I saw her she was already in Brian’s arms, I shook my head an looked at Lizzy. She had a sad smile on her face. I felt for her and put my arm around her “It will be ok Liz, we will break Zack, we are going to find out what’s wrong”. She looked at me and nodded “Thanks Iz” I saw her eyes look at someone behind Brian and Lynn. There he was, handsome as ever. The moment we locked eyes, his smile grew bigger, showing that cute dimples of his. “Go” Lizzy said. I shook my head “No, I can’t. I have to talk to him first before I want to tell Brian. And if I do what I want to do now, Brian will totally know” I blushed. Lizzy chuckled “Let’s go together then, no one will notice”. We both walked over to Matt. He kissed Lizzy’s cheek “Welcome back Liz” and then mine. His mouth a little longer on my cheek, then close to my ear “I missed you so much, I want to have you in my arms right now”. I looked over at Liz, she nodded and walked over to Brian and Lynn. She could distract them for a minute. Matt pulled me behind a billboard and kissed me passionately. I moaned “I missed you too, we should really talk” He looked at me. I smiled “Nothing’s wrong, but we really should talk” He nodded “Okay, talk” I shook my head “Not now, we have to get back” We walked towards the others. Brian hugged me to welcome me back and we all got into the car.

After we dropped off Lizzy, it was my turn. It was already late so the goodbyes were said quickly. Matt touched my hand for just a second when I got out of the car. He looked at me and mouthed “I’ll call you tomorrow” I smiled. I was so happy to be home again.

My happiness soon faded away in the next few days. Matt and I had a voicemail relationship at the moment. We kept passing each other with our calls. I had a lot of meetings and he had rehearsal and press for the benefit. It was Friday night and I still didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I was getting annoyed by the whole thing. I was longing for him so badly that it hurt. Tonight would be the night to see each other. He was free and so was I.

When I heard a knock on the door around 8, I was almost flying for the door, only to get disappointed. It wasn’t Matt standing there, it was Zacky. “Hey Izzie, do you have time?” He looked sad. Even though I really wanted to see Matt, there was something about Zacky that made me want to talk to him. Maybe I could find out what was wrong, for Liz too. So I did the one thing I thought was right “Sure Zack, come in. Do you want coffee?” He nodded. I walked into my kitchen. While making coffee for the both of us, I texted Matt “Hi, we have to cancel tonight, Z was at my doorstep. He looks really sad. I want to see you so bad, but this seems something I should do. X” Within seconds I received a message back “Damn, I was almost at your place. I understand, but I don’t like it. Will be busy all day tomorrow :( See you tomorrow night then. X M” I sighed. Tomorrow night it was. Even though it would be a meeting with a lot of people around, I was glad this couldn’t be cancelled and I would most certainly see him. I was counting the hours.

But now, I had to concentrate on talking to Zack. I took a deep breath and walked back into the living room with our coffee.

Zacky’s POV
After Brian had told me I should talk to Izzie, I was deferring it. Everything had worked out, or well, it sort of did, so I didn’t really feel the need to get it all out in the open. I got my friend back and at the time, that seemed like the only important thing.

If I was being honest with myself, the whole friend structure wasn’t really working out. I wanted her more than ever now she was back in my life. My heart skipped a beat every time she sends me a text and I was holding my breath every single time I saw her name on caller ID. We wanted to get together after she came back from New York, but I avoided meeting her. I just don’t think I could do it. Fortunately we were very busy with the concert on Saturday and all the press that came with it, but it didn’t change the nagging feeling I had.

Now we finally had a night off, I decided to take Brian’s advice and talk to Izzie. I felt like an ass, because I knew Matt was dying to get to Izzie and I was sure they would wanna meet up tonight. I wished them all the best, but I really needed to talk to someone and for now it seemed like Izzie was the only one who could help me. As soon as the rehearsal had ended, I jumped into my car and drove over to Izzie’s, knowing I would beat Matt to it, since he was still finishing up some last minute things with Brian. I saw Izzie’s disappointed face when she opened the door to me.

I knew she would be to nice to say I couldn’t come in. I saw her coming in with two cups of coffee “I’m sorry Izzie, I know you wanted to meet Matt, I feel like an ass for being here, but I really need to talk to someone before I go out of my mind”. She smiled at me “You better be sorry Z, I haven’t seen Matt since we got back from New York. But I think this talk with you could help two friends be happy, so Matt will have to wait. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?” She grimaced.

She sat next to me on the couch. “So Zack, tell me, what brings you here?” I stared at my hands, holding my coffee “No, let me guess. It’s not a what, it’s a who and she goes by the name of Elisabeth? Friends can call her Lizzy?” She said in a mocking tone. I blushed and nodded. “You definitely have some explaining to do, because I just can’t understand why you are both being miserable at this moment, so start talking Vengeance”

Izzie was serious now. There were only few people who were honest to me like that and I just couldn’t believe that a few weeks ago I didn’t even know about her. I started to tell her about how I kissed Lizzy, but she interrupted me “Zack, I know about the kisses you two shared. What I am dying to know is why you walked away. Both times.” Was I telling her this? Why else would I be here? “I like her, I really do. I have been liking her for a while now, but I never really got the courage to do anything about it. There were plenty of other girls and her being around us all the time, Brian protecting her, it made me hold back on everything I thought I felt about her. For a long time I was just longing for someone who shared everything we went through, someone who understood that I was hurt. Lizzy and I have always been closer than she was with the rest, so us being friends seemed enough, I couldn’t screw that up and for everything else.... well, as I said, there were plenty of other girls.”

I saw Izzie furrow her brow. “I know it sounds bad. But you know, I’m not really good with relationships. I screw them up. Every single one of them.” Izzie looked at me “I don’t understand Zack, screwing up your relationships is a choice. At least, screwing up all of them is” I sighed “You should know something. After my dad left us, my mom slept around, many men at the same time. She always told me not to throw away my shoes when I hadn’t bought new ones. I thought it was normal to have a new girl waiting before I broke it off with the previous one. All my relationships ended because I cheated on my girlfriend. After a while I understood that it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t help myself. It was who I was raised into, I get bored easily and find another one, just like my mom.” A flare of recognition crossed her face. “Now I get why you are here. Brian told you about my dad, didn’t he?” I nodded

“Now we are getting somewhere. Okay. Let me start by saying that I think you are an ass for cheating on all those girls, but after a few weeks of hanging around you guys, I understand it’s a little what is to be expected of you. Still doesn’t mean you have to do it, but ok, I get it, if I dig deep.” She smiled at me. “Getting to what your mother taught you. That’s all it is. You are not your mother, you don’t have to do what she thought was right. You are a grown man, you can step out of it. That is, if you want to.” She pause for a while, she seemed to think of what to tell me. “My dad always cheated on my mom, I never even suspected a thing. I look a lot like him, inside and out. When he left us, I always thought that I was destined to follow in his footsteps. Never have a nice relationship, someone who would just love me. I thought I would always step out of it by cheating on them. But I never could do it. Instead I got cheated on a lot, but hey, that’s a different story” She looked at me and smiled. “Tell me something about Lizzy?” she asked.

The thought of Lizzy made me smile, I looked straight ahead, a little reluctant to lay my feelings bare. Then I started talking. “She is amazing, she is funny, she is strong and she is damn hot. She always confronts me with my unfit behaviour, she comforts me when I feel bad and she hangs out with me when I want to have fun. When Lizzy is in the room, there is nowhere else I want to be, besides next to her. She made my world a little brighter after Jimmy died and she never stopped. I can’t stop thinking about her, I need to be with her, but I’m so scared I will hurt her” I looked over to Izzie and saw that she was filming me with her phone. She smiled and send me the file “Here is your answer Zack. You love her. I don’t think you will cheat on her, it would hurt you more than it would hurt her. And every time you even think about slipping, you watch this and you will be reminded. But mark my words, you won’t need it”

I looked at her amazed. What the hell just happened? Izzie looked at me with a big grin on her face. She is amazing, I couldn’t believe she did that. I hugged her “Jeez Izzie, you are good!” She chuckled. “I know! But now you have to go. It´s 3 am already and I need my beauty sleep, I have some getting a new boyfriend to do tomorrow” I looked at her big eyed “Are you going to tell Brian?” She shook her head “Not yet, I have to talk to Matt first. I’m scared as hell of this relationship, but I can’t stay away.” I hugged her again “He is really crazy about you Izzie. I will personally kill him if he hurts you.” We walked over to the door “You will have to get in line then, I think” We laughed “Thank you so much Izzie, please don’t tell Elisabeth ok? I want to do something special for her” She nodded and opened the door. I kissed her cheek and walked outside “Zack?” I turned around “Yes?” “You know that if you do cheat on Lizzy, or hurt her in any other way, you will have to answer to me right? And I know you only know the shy and serious Izzie, but if you hurt someone I care about, I will kick your ass.” I smiled at her “I know, but you just convinced me that I wouldn’t” I winked and walked to my car. I will have to think about something to surprise Liz and fast, I couldn’t wait much longer to have her in my arms again.

Notes

Goodmorning my sweethearts!
I hope I didn't disappoint you with this, I think this is one of my best chapters, but I know you were looking forward to the New York part. So I hope I make it up to you with this chapter!

Love you all! Comments please! <3