From Eden.

I stared at myself in the mirror, my reflection mimicking my every move. I pulled on the skin below my eyes and stuck my tongue out, making funny faces as I prepared myself for bed. I laughed at myself as I finished up my nightly routine, which consisted of taking a shower, getting into my pajamas, and brushing my teeth. I decided to wear a short sleeved plain white shirt with black sweats. The thought of my bed sounded better every minute I was out of it. For it to be a Saturday night, you would think someone my age would stay up until the crack of dawn, but it seemed like every time I turned around, I was yawning.

I quickly slipped into my bed, burying myself under the covers as my wet hair soaked my pillow that my head was resting upon. It was completely silent, because I couldn’t fall asleep with white noise, but I also had it silent for another reason. I wanted to see if I could hear Zacky’s parents fighting. I knew it was silly, and that there was no way I could hear his parents fighting when I slept on the second story of the house across the street, but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t fathom why two parents would fight over someone they supposedly loved. Even Jacob and Christina didn’t fight over me, and I wasn't even their flesh and blood.

A part of me hoped that Zacky would remember what we talked about on the beach earlier today and, would seek refuge if they did begin to fight. It was silly, foolish, naive, but I couldn’t help but hope. I felt the heaviness of sleep weigh down against my eyelids, and tonight I had to obey. I closed my eyes, hoping to drift into a peaceful and relaxing sleep.

----

“Delilah.” A voice whispered, causing me to awaken from my perfect dreams of Zacky. “Delilah, are you awake?” the voice said, tapping on my shoulder once more. It took me a minute to realize who the voice of angel’s belonged to.

My eyes fluttered open and I came face to face to my cream colored wall. I could see —thanks to the window that I had left open — an unfamiliar shadow standing over mine. I let out a gasp at the shadow, suddenly feeling panic. Even though he was facing away from the light, his emerald eyes were looking back into mine. . He had a look of fright and concern plastered all over his face. He had a normal black t-shirt on with jeans as he had his arms crossed tightly over his waist, and, even though I couldn’t see, I could guess he was probably barefoot, considering he was slightly shorter than usual. I was too tired to admire his beauty and be in awe at the fact that he was in my room, at night, while everyone else was sleeping. I gave him a slightly confused look.

“What-” was all I was able to get out before he cut of me off.

“Parents,” he muttered in a sheepish tone, scratching the back of his neck.

“Oh.” Was all I could reply, in a voice that croaked like a crone’s.

“Is that offer of yours still good?” he whispered, a hint of hope in his voice.

It took a minute for the words that came out of his mouth to register in my mind. I nodded, letting it sink in that he wanted to be with me, alone, in my room. I was too tired to go coo-coo for cocoa puffs at the fact that this god and I would be sharing the same room.

Zacky’s small smile widened a bit. “Thanks.” He whispered. He then began to look through my room, and I could tell he was trying to find a place to sleep.

I noticed the empty space on the right side of my bed. There was a pillow next to mine, and there was enough sheets and comforter for a second person. I couldn’t help myself, and I was going to make a risk that could sentence me to death. I looked back at Zacky, who was still looking for a place. “You can sleep here.” I whispered, earning his attention as I began to pat the empty side of my bed.

Zacky’s body language and facial expression said it all, but he did manage to speak a few words. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, closing my eyes, intending to go back to sleep. I turned to where my body was facing the wall, and the empty space that I hoped Zacky would fill. I could hear and feel him crawl into bed beside me on my right side, the side I was facing. I opened my eyes to see Zacky looking back at me, lying down on the bed beside me. I closed my eyes again, not bothering to open them, for fear that I’d never be able to go back to sleep.

“Thanks for letting me crash here tonight.” Zacky whispered, as I felt the covers shift as he pulled them around his body.

“It’s no problem,” I whispered back, cursing myself for speaking. But my mouth seemed to move faster than my brain, because the words kept spilling out. “What are they fighting about now?”

“Me.” Zacky chuckled quietly, “about how I've imprinted on someone, and how sometimes they wish I’d never been born, and all that great shit.”

The mention of the word imprinting made me conscious of the ink on my back. I quickly reached behind me and yanked the tail of my shirt down, so he wouldn't see. I couldn’t understand how parents could hate their son so much. I understood about my real parents, they had their reasons for giving me up - whatever they were.
“If it makes you feel better, my parents didn’t want me, either.”

“Your parents made a mistake.” Zacky muttered into the darkness.

“They had their reasons,” I whispered, “I don’t know why they dropped me off at Christina and Jacob’s doorstep, but they did. It’s a good thing they took me in,”

Zacky nodded, clearly shocked that I had revealed so much information on how I became a Baybrook. I was surprised when Zacky moved a little closer to me, pressing his body against mine.

“Uh, I kinda like cuddling.” Zacky whispered. “So, if you wake up with my arm around you, sorry.” He looked a bit ashamed at what he had just admitted; little did he know that I probably would have done the same for him.

“It’s okay,” I whispered back, smiling at him. It felt as if I had never smiled this much around someone before, and the way Zacky made me feel; it was like I was in euphoria. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been so happy just to be in someone else’s presence. I turned my head and let out a yawn, and felt my eyes weigh down with sleep. I may have acted like I was just tired, but I knew exactly what I was doing. I closed my eyes and let myself snuggle into Zacky’s chest, taking in his scent.

I felt Zacky stiffen at my actions, and then I began to think that I had made a mistake and maybe pushed it too far, but then I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. I lifted my head a bit to where my face was buried into Zacky’s neck, and I felt Zacky’s soft cheek against my damp hair. My hands found their way to rest upon Zacky’s chest, and I felt one of Zacky’s hands begin to rub my back soothingly, helping me sleep. I never did like the feel of my knees rubbing against each other while I slept, so my left leg draped over Zacky’s legs, and I felt his leg slip in between both of mine. As I found myself being very comfortable in this position, I found it easier to drift off into sleep compared to when I slept alone.

It wasn’t much longer until Zacky’s breathing became heavy, signaling he was asleep. My eyelids felt as if they could no longer hold themselves up, and as much as I wanted to stare at Zacky’s perfection in the dark moonlight of my room, I knew I had to get some sleep, and that hopefully, he would still be here in the morning.

And, to be honest, I hoped that there would be many more nights like these to come.

----

Waking up to hot breath slowly exhaling and inhaling against your neck isn't really the greatest way to wake up. Even though I loved the feel of Zacky’s arm wrapped tightly around my waist, with his chest pressed against my back - so close I could feel his heart beat through his shirt - and his face burned into the crook of my neck, the feel of his hot, sticky morning breath on my neck made me want to shudder. Somehow, during the course of sleep, we had shifted to where I was now on my back and Zacky was half-way on top of me. Our legs were still tangled and I had one arm wrapped around Zacky’s neck, my fingers intertwined in his hair. He must have liked it because every few minutes or so, I could feel him smile against my neck. I heard the door into my room open and close, keeping my eyes shut, as did Zacky.

“Who the hell is that?” a harsh voice whispered. I immediately knew it was Henry. At the sound of his voice, Zacky’s grip tightened around me, as if to tell her he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“I have no idea.” Laura’s small voice whispered back. The tones of their voice told me that neither one of them were particularly happy at the fact I had some guy in my bed.
“Oh wait, yeah I do!” Laura whispered loudly, “that’s Zacky. One of Amy’s older brother’s friends.”

“That’s Zacky?’ Amber asked.
“Leana’s boyfriend, Jimmy, he knows a guy name Zacky.”

“Jimmy is one of Matt’s friends too.” Laura told him in a matter-of-fact voice.

“How about you both get the fuck out of Delilah’s room?” Zacky mumbled against my neck, in an annoyed voice. I was thankful he had actually said something, because I was getting annoyed with them standing over me and having them talk about me while I was trying to sleep.

“How about you get the fuck out of Del’s room?” Laura asked in a condescending tone.

“He needed a place to stay for the night, Laura.” I told her, opening my eyes. Laura was staring daggers at us, her hand on her hips. Henry looked from me, to Zacky, to Laura, afraid to say anything.
“Quit trying to be a badass and go back to your room.”

Laura raised a brow, looking at me mischievously. “Uh-huh.” She nodded as she spoke. “You are so lucky Mom and Dad aren’t here right now, or else they’d kill you.” she smirked.

And she wants Matt to ask her outZacky’s voice rang in my head. Telepathy wasn’t my strongest point when I was first waking up, so it took me a minute to come to the realization he was talking about his friend Matt, not his brother.

“I’ll get up when both of you leave.” I told them, in the sternest voice I could muster up. It if sounded rude, then they could bite me.

Laura and Henry looked at each other, debating what to do. They shrugged, knowing what each other were thinking, and looked back at Zacky and me. “Just get up soon.” Laura said, her voice was more than welcome to my ears. “Breakfast is getting cold.” And with that, my siblings walked out of my room, finally giving me and Zacky some peace to ourselves.

“Matt?” I asked, once the door was shut and they were out of earshot.

“Mhm.” Zacky nodded against my neck.

“How do you even know Matt and the rest of the guys?” I asked, running my hand through his hair, which was sticking out in all directions.

“Matt’s dad works on the Council. So does my dad. One day they were over - Matt, Amy, Gary and Kim and we just hit it off. Brian, Jimmy and Johnny just took me in like how Matt did.”

Something told me that Zacky and the rest of the guys had been thick as thieves for years now, and Zacky had been coming to them with his problems for quite some tme. I knew Zacky needed the comfort of having friends, due to his home life problems, but even I didn’t have that many friends.

“What’s wrong?” Zacky asked, his thumb pressed against my cheek as he gently rubbed it.

“N-nothing” I began to stammer, cursing myself.

“Liar.”

I sighed, already regretting what I was about to say “I just find it so...odd, that you and Matt and Brian and Jimmy and Johnny are so close, yet I can’t think of one person I can call a ‘friend’.”

“I’m sorry,” Zacky said in a low voice.
“Wanna hang out with us today?” Zacky asked with hope in his eyes, not moving his hand from my cheek. “I’m always so bored watching them act like idiots. You could be bored with me.” he chuckled.

I guess he thought by asking me if I wanted to hang out with him and the guys, it would take my mind of all of the information I had just revealed to him.

“Gee, thanks,” I smiled, amazed at how easily he could just perk my mood up by asking such a simple question. The thought of Henry and Laura crossed my mind, but that internal voice of mine said “fuck it”. They could heat up their own breakfast without my help.

Zacky smiled, a bit wider than usual, as he started to get up. I pouted slightly at the feel of his body away from mine, and Zacky laughed under his breath. “Here, I’ll hold your hand.” He said in a baby voice, causing me to laugh slightly. He extending his hand out to me, and I took it as he easily lifted me to my feet.

“Aren't you gonna go home?” I asked, gesturing towards his clothes, which were the same ones as he was wearing yesterday.

Zacky shrugged. “I’m not impressing them.” he said, walking towards my window. He opened it like he knew exactly what he was doing, as if he had opened it many times before, and started to crawl out.

“You're going to go out of the window?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Zacky flashed me a smile, “I’ll meet you at the front door.”
I looked out of my window as he began to climb down the ladder that was covered in vines. He did it so graciously, like it wasn't a big thing to him.

“Don’t fall!” I called out as I pulled my head back in and shut my window. I threw open my closet door and pulled out a pair of jeans that I had worn a few days ago. A quick sniff revealed that they didn’t smell dirty. Five minutes later, I had a bra, shirt, socks and shoes on. I ran my brush through my hair and went into the bathroom to gargle some mouth-wash for my awful morning breath and raced down the stairs to open the front door. Zacky was standing there, leaning against the door-frame, a smirk played on his lips.

“I win!” he said, taking my hand and dragging me out of the front door. He started walking towards his house, and I followed as I walked beside him. His hand never left mine, and for a moment, it felt as if all of my wildest dreams were coming true. “Thank God, my parents are gone.” Zacky muttered, causing me to look at the empty driveway. “I'll be right back. I just gotta tell my brother or sister that I’m leaving.” He told me, his arm slipping from my shoulders as he walked up a wooden front porch and opening the front door. He stayed standing by the door, not walking into his house. “Matt! Zina!” he yelled.

“What?!” an unfamiliar voice yelled, and soon I saw a boy, probably thirteen or fourteen, walking up to the open front door and looking at Zacky.

“I’m going to see the guys.” Zacky said. “How long are Mom and Dad gonna be gone?” he asked, looking from the boy, who I’m guessing is Matt, to me, and then back again.

Matt caught this, and, without saying anything, looked at me. He looked a bit confused, but answered Zacky anyway. “They went to take Zina to get her license.” He shrugged. I saw that he wasn’t going to let the fact that I was standing right there go. I was right, because Matt ended up looking back at me. “Who’s she?” he asked.

Zacky looked at me, and then back at his brother. “Her name’s Delilah, she lives across the street.” he stated. “I’m taking her with me.”

Matt looked at me closely, his eyes studying me. “I think I know your sister, Laura right?”
I nodded, letting him know that, indeed, Laura Baybrook was my sister.

Matt looked from me to Zacky, and then gave Zacky a confused look. “What about Gena?”

My brows furrowed at Matt’s question, a look of confusion spreading across my face. There was only one Gena I knew. My heart began to sink as I tried to tell myself it wasn’t true.

“Gena?”

Notes

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