*~*Zacky’s POV*~*

I softly rubbed Kamalei’s arm to wake her up. Her eyes were puffy and as her eyelids fluttered open, her eyes were red and bloodshot telling me that she had probably cried all night long.

I smiled at her, “Hey my little Lei girl… how you feeling? Val made some breakfast.”

She looked exhausted and worn out as she tried to sit up, wincing as she moved, “I could be better. I’m glad you’re here though.”

“I brought you something.” I told her, reaching a hand out to help pull her to sitting.

“Zee, you didn’t have to bring me anything. I’m-“ she started before I cut her off.

“Shush. I heard you had a not so great night and I wanted to get you something. Maybe it will help you in the future, maybe not. Either way I thought it was cute.” I said as I handed her the little tiger.

“Aww… Zee it is cute!” she squealed hugging it tightly.

“I thought you would like it.” I replied blushing a little at her reaction.

“I love it! Thank you so much my Zacky boy!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me.

“You’re welcome my Lei girl… Do you want to go eat and you can tell me and Jimmy how your night went?” I asked her.

She released me and nodded as I helped her stand up. Jimmy jumped on Matt’s lap, instantly jolting him awake before Jimmy planted a big, fat, wet kiss on Matt’s cheek. Matt shoved Jimmy off him onto the floor as he wiped his cheek with a look of disgust.

“Jimmy… so gross.” He mumbled as he made his way into the kitchen to find Val.

Jimmy hopped up from the floor and bounced after Matt excitedly, leaving Kamalei and I in the living room. She raised her hands above her head stretching a little and I could tell she was hurting by the look on her face. Before she put her arms back down to her sides, I went over and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

“Zacky?” she questioned.

“Mhm?”

“What’s all this for?”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could make you feel better.” I said inhaling deeply the scent of her hair.

“You do Zee. Don’t worry about me…” she smiled as she pulled away from me locking her hazel green eyes onto mine.

I smiled back at her, our faces getting closer as we stared into each other’s eyes.

“Zacky! Kamalei! Come eat!” Val called from the kitchen snapping us both out of our trance.

Kamalei grabbed my hand in hers, pulling me into the kitchen behind her. Matt must have been too preoccupied with his food to notice but I saw Jimmy and Val both stare at our interlocked hands as we grabbed plates.

“Wow Val! This looks amazing! Smells great too!” Kamalei said as she started putting food on her plate.

“Well, I wanted you to have a good breakfast your first morning in your new home. Plus we have a lot of shopping to do today missy.” Val replied.

“Thank you Val. You’re the best.” Kamalei said setting her plate down next to Matt’s at the head of the table and rushing over to Val hugging her.

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling today? I hope better than last night.” Val asked her as Kamalei went back to her seat.

“Honestly, I’m exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep. When I did get to sleep, I had a terrifying nightmare and it really messed with me…” She answered looking down at her plate.

“If you don’t mind my asking, what was your nightmare about?” I asked her concerned.

“Micah.” She said before taking another bite of her food, “He came after me and you and all of us. It was horrible.”

“Well, he isn’t going to find you or us, so you don’t have to worry little Lei-Lei.” Jimmy said smiling big, bits of eggs on his face.

She smiled back at him, “I think I should change my name.”

Matt choked on some of his food, “What?!”

“I think I should change it to just Sanders. He doesn’t know me by that name. Only as Kealoha… I never used the Sanders on anything.” She said as she pushed her food around on her plate, avoiding Matt’s shocked glare.

“Really? You really want to change it?” Matt asked her.

“Yeah. It would make me feel a little better…”

“Then you should. If it’s going to make you feel better then you should definitely do it.” Val said.

She nodded her head in agreement at Val’s comment.

“Alright. I’ll call dad today and let him know so he can get your birth certificate.” Matt said before continuing his breakfast.

We ate and chatted lightly about the plan for the day, the girls would go out shopping for Kamalei’s room and the rest of the guys would come over and we would move the studio room downstairs to the guest room, before finishing up with an Avenged family dinner together.

“And then Zacky, you can stay over with me tonight!” Kamalei exclaimed excited.

“Huh?” I questioned.

“Yeah, Matt said you could.” She smiled wide.

“I did no such thing.” Matt replied sitting back in his chair.

“Yes you did brother. You told me last night Zacky could stay over.” She said looking at him with her puppy dog eyes that he couldn’t say no to.

“Did I?” he said as he got up from the chair, smirking, telling me that he was joking.

“Yes you did! Don’t say you don’t remember! It’s too late to take it back! You said he could!” She practically screamed at him as he took his plate to the sink.

“I know. I know… I was just playing.” He said as he came back to the table kissing the top of her head as he made his way towards the stairs, “Zacky you gonna stay over at my sister’s request?”

I must have answered a little too eagerly, receiving funny looks from Jimmy and Val, “Yeah of course.”

“Cool. I told Kamalei the rules, you gotta sleep on the floor.” He said heading up the stairs.

I looked at her and saw the excitement in her eyes that she wouldn’t have to go thru a repeat of last night. I smiled back at her as I grabbed my plate making my way to the sink. She reached up and grabbed my plate from me and took it over to the sink, starting to wash the dishes.

“Lei! You don’t need to do that! I’ll get them.” Val said as she was eating.

“Let me do them Val. You made the food, the least I can do is clean up for you.” She replied to her.

“I’ll help you.” I chimed in, taking my watch off and setting it on the counter.

We washed the dishes and Val sent Kamalei upstairs to shower and get ready to go out with her. Her and Jimmy both sat on opposite sides of the living room from me and just stared inquisitively. The two of them were making me nervous.

“What’s going on?” Jimmy asked leaning forward so Matt couldn’t eavesdrop from upstairs.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“There’s something definitely going on with you and Lei. What is it? Spill Zee.” Val questioned.

I felt my face get hot as I looked down at my lap, “Nothing is going on. Will you guys just stop? She’s my best friend…”

“You’re such a shitty liar. You wouldn’t be red in the face if nothing was going on… tell us Zee. We won’t tell…” Jimmy coaxed.

“Fine. But you can’t say anything to ANYONE, not even her. She’d kill me if she found out I told you…” I said looking up at the banister overlooking the living room.

“Ok. Tell.” Val demanded.

We leaned closer to each other so I could say it quietly, “I kissed her.”

Val clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her squeal. Jimmy clapped his hands together softly with a wide grin plastered on his face.

“And??” Jimmy whispered, egging me on.

“It was amazing… She’s amazing… I just can’t even put it into words…” I sighed falling back into the back of the couch.

“When?” Val asked this time.

“When she took me with her before we left Maui. It was great but I’m kinda scared. I think I might have pushed her. She made me promise to not tell…” I replied, only referencing the one time instead of the last time, fearing my overnight stay would be in jeopardy.

“It’s Matt. He’d flip. Don’t be scared Zacky. I mean, she wasn’t mad right?” Jimmy asked.

“No but she pushed me away.” I answered running my hands over my face.

“What?!” Jimmy responded a little louder than I would have liked.

“Yeah. I’m scared I messed up again…” I trailed off looking over at Val.

She seemed calm and thoughtful about the whole thing. I wanted to know what she had to say about it and hoped that she wouldn’t tell Matt I did something I wasn’t supposed to do.

“You didn’t mess up. She’s probably just not ready yet. If you messed up, she wouldn’t be so excited about anything that’s about you. Give her time Zee…” Val finally answered, patting my knee and making her way up the stairs.

I looked over at Jimmy who still had a big smile, “Val’s right man. Don’t worry so much. She’s into you and I don’t see that changing for a while. Let her figure herself out.”

I let my head drop down into my hands as I thought about his and Val’s advice.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t be there to help her do that though… words to think about, bro.” Jimmy said placing a hand on my back.

“Thanks Jimmy.” I replied as the bathroom door opened upstairs, warranting my attention.

A small wet figure emerged with only a light blue towel wrapped around her body, a fistful of sleep clothes in her other hand. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her as she made her way down the stairs, the towel hugging her at her sexy curves. At the bottom of the stairs, she finally looked up and noticed me staring, an instant blush coming over her.

“Sorry, I forgot my clean clothes.” She said as she padded down the hall to the guest room.

“Jesus, pick your mouth up off the ground.” Jimmy smirked.

“Zacky?!” I heard Kamalei call from the room.

“Yeah!?”

“Can you help me please?” She asked.

“Sure.” I replied standing up from my spot on the couch.

“See…” Jimmy said as I passed him and went down to the bedroom.

I pushed the door open slowly, “I’m coming in.”

“Just come in already. I need some help.” She said as my eyes fell on her body.

Her neck had deep black and purple marks around it where Micah had strangled her, making me frown reminiscing of that horrible night. She was only in a pair of black leopard print boyshort underwear and a matching lacy bra, and when she turned around I couldn’t help but look down and lick my lips at her sexy ass in those cute panties. She turned back around and I immediately made it a point to look up at her face and not her chest.

She bit the side of her lip as she held out the roll of medical tape, “Please Zee. I think you’re the only one who can do it good. Matt’s don’t stay on all day but I give him an A for effort…”

“Alright, let the gynecologist take a looky…” I joked, earning giggles from her as she turned.

Her whole side where Micah had kicked her was a giant black mass that looked extremely painful. I reached out and gently ran my fingers down her side, causing her to flinch away and goosebumps to form on her skin.

“Sorry. I just wanted to see if it was something you need to go to the hospital for…” I replied.

“It’s ok. I just didn’t think you would touch it. Scared me a little is all…” she said looking over at me.

I started taping her ribs up, carefully placing the tape in the appropriate places. After I placed the last piece on, I softly ran my hands down her side to make sure they were on good, making her shiver slightly. I let my hand travel back up her side, resting it just below the side of her bra, as my eyes met hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I placed my other hand on the other side of her body, my calloused fingers lightly brushing her soft skin, before she pulled me closer to her.

“Zee…” she whispered lightly, looking up at me with her eyes full of lust.

“Lei?” I whispered back.

“Thank you.” She said before pressing her lips gently to mine.

I let my hands wrap around her frame, pressing our bodies up against each other, as they roamed over her back. I ran my tongue across her lip asking for entrance, when she put her hands on my chest and pulled away. I tried to not be as shocked as I was but I could tell I failed miserably by the smirk on her face.

She waved a finger at me, “No, no, no, Zacky boy. That was just a thank you.”

She turned around, giving me another great view of her ass in those sexy little panties, before she pulled a burgundy tank top over her head. I bit my lip and pulled on one of my lip rings with my fingers as I stood there awkwardly as she got dressed, putting a black skater skirt on with some black converse. She was putting eyeliner on in the mirror when I went and sat on the bed.

“You didn’t tell anyone did you?” I asked her feeling guilty.

“About…?” she responded.

“When I kissed you.”

“Which time?” she giggled.

“Anytime?”

“Why? Did you?” she asked me.

“I asked first.” I said and she turned to look at me directly.

“I told Val and Kelly. I’m sorry Zee… they wouldn’t let it go.” She apologized.

“When?”

“At the airport. I’m sorry. Who did you tell? I know you told someone or you wouldn’t ask…”she said as she returned her attention to the mirror and her makeup.

“Jimmy and Val… just now. I only mentioned the one at your family’s land. Jimmy wouldn’t let it go either.” I answered.

“It’s alright Zacky. They won’t tell Matt.” She replied.

“Yeah, I trust them… Lei, I have a question for you.” I told her.

“Ok…” she said as she went over to the door and shut it softly, “Go ahead and ask away.”

“What are we doing?”

“What do you mean?” she asked stopping in the mirror, looking at my reflection.

“I mean what are we doing? I think it’s pretty obvious that I lo…like you a lot, and I think you like me. So what are we doing?” I asked stopping myself from putting my heart on a platter.

She turned and sat down on the edge of the bed next to me, “I don’t know Zacky. I don’t want something to happen and then we aren’t friends anymore…”

“Lei, I want to take the chance. Will you give me one?” I asked looking into her hazel green eyes.

“Zee… I want to I just…”, she said breaking eye contact looking down at her hands and I could feel the pang in my chest as the words I hoped she wouldn’t say followed,“I don’t know right now… I don’t think I’m ready…”

I wanted to cry. I wanted to tell her that there was nothing to be afraid of. I knew that it wasn’t right to say those things to her. I needed to support her decisions, even if it killed me every day.

I nodded my head, looking down at my fingers disappointed, “Ok.”

“Zacky, my Zacky boy… please look at me.” She said putting her fingers under my chin, lifting my face to look at her, “I’m not saying no. I like you a lot. You mean so much to me and I don’t want to mess it up. Right now, it’s not a good time for me yet. I’m not ready and I don’t want to try and end up throwing it away because I don’t have myself together yet. I need to just deal with what’s happened and right now all I can think of as a solution is being around my favorite people and basically, time.”

I nodded again, standing up from my spot shoving my hands in my pockets, as I made my way to the door. She grabbed my arm and spun me around, hugging me tightly around the neck before I could get to the door.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her closer as I whispered in her ear, “I’ll wait however long you need my Lei girl…”

She pulled back slightly looking in my eyes, “Thank you my Zacky boy…” before placing a kiss on my cheek.

“Why is this door closed? Where the hell is Zack?” I could hear Matt yelling from the hall.

The door flew open and there a pissed off Matt stood, looking at his baby sister and I in each other’s arms. She let go, slipping out of my arms and making her way back over to her mirror, practically ignoring Matt’s glare.

“What the hell is going on in here? Lei! Why was this door closed with only you and Baker in here?” He asked trying not to lose his temper.

“We were talking. Stop freaking out all the time.”

“It looked like a hell of a lot more than talking Lei.” He said crossing his arms over his chest.

“It was a private conversation and it was just a hug Matt. Calm your tits.” She replied.

“Shut up. Get your ass ready. Val is waiting for you. Zacky let’s go… we have a lot of shit to do. Jimmy is already upstairs.” Matt said to me watching my every move.

Kamalei got up from in front of the mirror and came over to me giving me another hug. She planted a kiss on my cheek before she pulled away.

“Thank you Zee. You’re the best. I’ll see you later.” She winked as she walked out of the room.

Matt stared at me, and I could tell he was livid at the blatant disregard his sister just exhibited, “What the fuck was that about?”

I simply shrugged as I passed him, hiding my smirk, “Don’t know.”

Notes

Sorry for not updating sooner. I've been having a little bit of writer's block. I have all the pieces to the puzzle, just arranging them how I want is the difficult part. I hope you guys like this chapter and hopefully I can get another one up by early next week. Please leave me some comments and subscribe! Muchos Mahalos and Aloha <3 <3 <3 XoXo