From Eden.

The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore pounded against my eardrums as I watched the white foam seep closer and closer towards Zacky. He apparently hadn't heard me call his name.

“Zack?” I called again, getting his attention this time. He looked at me, the looks of pain and worry were carved all over his face. He was dressed in all black, which didn’t look like it bothered him even though the sun was beating against his pale skin. I took another step towards him, and felt more nervous than I ever. I felt as if I were making a mistake; bothering someone who seemed like they didn’t want to be bothered. For a moment, I contemplated turning back around and going back into Brian’s house.

But then something happened. A spark went off inside of me. I wasn't sure why or where this was coming from, but somehow I did it. It was like a whole new person slipped inside of me, pushing all of my fears and doubts out of my mind. I began to take more steps towards Zacky, and stopped when I was not even two feet away from him. My heart was pounding in my ears, but I forced the words from my throat. “The guys want you to come inside. They’re worried about you,” a voice that sounded too much like mine came out. I was surprised I hadn't begun stuttering.

Zacky even seemed shocked at the fact that I was standing right beside him. He looked up, and at that moment my breath was taken away. He was even more beautiful like this, with the sun hitting his pale face and his jade orbs burning into my own.

“Oh, they’re worried about me now?” he said sarcastically, barking out a laugh, “tell them I said to fuck off.”

“Oh.” Was all I could come up with, never hearing Zacky talk that way about his friends. I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I couldn’t stay here. He obviously didn’t want the company, meaning Johnny had no idea of what he was talking about when he tried to get me to believe that Zacky wanted me to talk to him. “I guess I should, uh, g-go now.” I said, turning my back, intending to head back towards Brian’s house and slap Johnny upside the head with whatever I could get my hands on first.

“Why are you leaving?” I heard that perfect voice ask from behind me. I turned to see Zacky looking back at me, his back slightly turned so half of his body was facing mine.

“Well, uhm, you p-probably want to be alone, so,” I muttered under my breath, cursing that damn stutter of mine. I couldn’t form the right words to speak. That was a task that was nearly impossible, with the way just standing in close proximity to him made me nervous and clam up.

Zacky shook his head side to side before looking back into my blue eyes once more. “No, I don’t. I just don’t wanna go back in there.” He said, nodding his head towards Brian’s house. He then patted the white sand that was next to him, gesturing me to sit there.

I couldn’t believe this was happening, every voice in my head was screaming don’t fuck it up! as I took three steps before I was standing right beside Zacky, and sat down, the white sand grazing my jeans as I sat with my legs crossed in front of me, my hands supporting my weight as my fingers dug into the sand behind me. I almost wanted to pinch myself, to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

“You know, if you don’t like us, you can just tell us. We’ll leave you alone.” Zacky said randomly, his hands holding his legs as he continued to sit criss-cross and watched the waves crash against the shore.

“Where do you get the notion that you guys are a bother?”

Zacky then turned his attention from the ocean to me, and my heart skipped a beat. I loved having his attention, and being the only one around to receive it. I wanted to be like this with him, just the two of us. “You’re so quiet. I feel like you don’t like us.” He said and, it might have been just me, but I heard hurt in his voice.

I shook my head, my pale blonde hair flying in front of my face, “No, that’s not it, I’m always quiet.”

“You’re not being quiet now.” Zacky said with a chuckle.

“So you wanna tell me why you’re sitting out here all by yourself?” I asked, looking out at the ocean. I didn’t press him on, because something told me that he was going to tell me whether he liked it or not. “Uh, my parents sort of got in a fight last night, I usually come to Brian’s house just to escape it all. I like being out here.” He said softly.

I nodded in an understanding way. Most of the time, I’d leave the problem alone if I felt like the other person didn’t want to talk, but it was different with Zacky. I felt like I had to make him feel better, and that talking might help. “What was it about?” I asked, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs. I rested my cheek on my knees so I could look at nothing but Zacky. I definitely liked this view.

Zacky sighed, looking down at his hands. “Everything. My mom wants to move back to Olympia, Dad says we can’t due to his job on the Council. They even fight over me sometimes,” he said glumly. I could see the pain etched in his face. It made my heart hurt to see the god I was so infatuated with be like this. It made me want to cry and do everything in my power to help him.

“Why do they fight over you?” I asked, my brow furrowed. My tongue got ahead of my brain and I was spewing word vomit.

“When I was sixteen, I...changed. And they didn’t know how to handle it, so they took it out on each other," Zacky said, running his fingers through his black hair before resting his elbows on his knees, holding his face in his hands. “They do it every night when they think we're all asleep. I don’t know why they think we can’t hear them. Matt doesn't really think anything of it, but it kills me because I know they’re fighting over me. I just wish I wasn't the way I was, then maybe they would be happy together again,” He sighed, turning so his hands were holding his cheek, and he was facing me.

I was taken back that opened up like this to me. This was the first time we were actually together, without all of his friends, and he had actually decided to talk to me about something that I could tell was close to him. I knew he didn’t like talking about it, and yet he told me these things anyway. It also made me realize that I was wrong about him. He may have been perfect on the outside, but inside, he had insecurities just like everyone else.

“They spend so much time fighting,” Zacky continued. “I feel like they don’t really care about me,” He said sadly, looking from my eyes to my hands that were still wrapped around my legs.

“But, if they’re fighting over you, that means they have to care a little bit,” I stated, with little confidence in my voice, not so sure if what I was saying was the truth or not. But, then again, I did live across the street from this guy, and I never heard them fighting. Well, then again, I’m too busy thinking about Zacky to hear or notice anything that’s going on around me.

“They think I’m a mistake,” he muttered, looking out at the waves. I could tell that hurt the most, the sadness reflecting in his eyes.

“And why do you think that they think that?”

“Because I’m the only Were in my family besides my dad and even he despises me? You don’t understand,” his voice quieted when he spoke those last three words.

“I understand more than you know.”

“Yeah?” he asked, scoffing at my statement, “how?”

I took my eyes off of him for the moment and stared out at the ocean. The clouds were getting dark, meaning a storm was coming.
“Because I’m adopted,” I mumbled, “I stick out like a sore thumb, and not even my parents know what I am.” I turned my gaze back to him, “trust me when I say I understand,”

My heart skipped a beat as the corners of Zacky’s plush lips lifted a bit upwards. It was the first time I had ever seen him smile. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make me feel like I had accomplished what I wanted.

“And if you ever need an escape,” I let the thought slip out of my mouth. “My window’s always open.” I said, lifting the corners of my lips in a smile.

“And how would I accomplish that?” Zacky asked.

“I’ll throw a rope down for you to climb up. If that doesn’t work, I’ll get the ladder out of the shed and prop it up against the side of the house,”

“I just might take you up on that.” Zacky said, smirking. I felt my cheeks run hot as I lowered my head for a moment. I wouldn't let myself think that he could see me in such a way, even though I had already had the dreams about him that were much more mature than what most girls my age should dream about.

“Delilah!” I heard Brian call. Zacky and I both looked to see Brian standing in the patio, looking back at both of us. “Your mom’s here!” he said, and at that moment, my heart sank for a bit. I felt bad that I was leaving Zacky to deal with his personal demons.

As we stood up, the sleeve of Zacky’s shirt rolled up with the breeze blowing at us. For a moment, I thought my eyes were fooling me. The familiar symbol that was carved into my lower back seemed to appear on his bicep. I blinked several times, but before I could see it clearly, his shirt sleeve was pulled back down.

We said our goodbyes and I ran into Brian’s house to tell everyone else goodbye. For the rest of the day, I tried to convince myself thinking that what I saw wasn't real, and that it couldn’t be true that I understood Zacky more than he could ever know.

Notes

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