Hope

Kristel was playing with Amber on the floor, when Zack's brother, Matt, approached her holding a video game. "Hey," he started out, bashfully. "I was wondering if you would like to try out this new game I got with me?"

Kristel glanced at the cover to see it was a karaoke game. "I don't really sing," Kristel gave him a small smile.

"Well, neither does my brother, but that doesn't stop him," Matt shrugged, making Kristel give a small laugh.

"Well, I guess when you put it that way, I can give it a go," Kristel got up with Amber.

"Come on, we can get a couple other family members in on it too," Matt started bouncing excitedly, as he started to ask people if they wanted to play his new game. After a few minutes, he finally got a few more people in on the game. "So who's going first?" Matt asked, after putting the game into the console.

"Have Zack's girl go first," someone called out, making Kristel purse her lips, shaking her head no.

"Why don't you go first, Matt?" Kristel tried to take the attention off herself. She hated going first for anything.

"Alright," Matt obliged, turning the game on, and going through the opening screens. "Here pick a song for me," Matt handed Kristel the remote, and waited for her selection.

Kristel paged through the song list quickly, then decided to just click on a random song, seeing as she didn't know half the songs on the list anyways.

"Here catch," Matt tossed the microphone at Kristel, who caught it, then looked at him confused, until the song started on the TV catching her off guard.

"That's cruel," Kristel whined, but decided to start singing the song that she had just picked, to get her turn done with.

When she had finished the song, she looked around the room to see Matt gaping at her. "I thought you said you didn't sing," Matt looked at her in awe.

"Yeah," Kristel shrugged. "I don't sing, doesn't mean I can't sing." Kristel took a seat with Amber to watch the rest of the people take their turns.

As she watched Zack's family have their little American Idol sing off, Zack came and sat by her. She glanced at him, unsure of what to do, but he just seemed to be sitting next to her, so her attention went back to his family being crazy. After a few minutes Zack cleared his throat, bringing Kristel's attention back to him. "What's up?" she asked, her head cocked to the side.

"Where'd you learn to sing like that?" Zack asked after a few more moments of silence.

Kristel shrugged, "Not sure, never really had lessons. I was in choir in fifth and sixth grade, and then my Junior and Senior year of high school. But other than that, I never really sang except with the Swiss Singers."

"Swiss Singers?" Zack gave her a puzzled look.

Kristel gave a small laugh. "It was a long time ago. They're actually the only reason I've ever been to Canada." Zack continued to give her a puzzled look, so Kristel pulled out the phone he had given her, to look the group up. "Here," she showed Zack her phone. "This is the Swiss Singers."

Zack took her phone to look at the picture she was showing him. "They're all so old," he laughed, before catching himself.

"You're right," Kristel laughed with him. "For a while, my dad was calling himself an omen, because, every time he stood next to someone in the bass section they would end up passing away eventually."

Zack was silent for a moment, studying the picture of the group in front of him. "Is you're dad in this picture?"

"Um," Kristel started out, unsure. "Depends on how old the picture is." Kristel took her phone to look. She studied the picture for a few minutes before shaking her head. "They must've updated the website, because I don't see him...or my mom."

"You're mom sings too?" Zack asked, surprised.

Kristel giggled once more, "Kinda, but she doesn't like to very often. She says she sounds like a dying cow."

"I'm sure that's not true," Zack smiled.

"Yeah, not really," Kristel looked, thoughtful. "She didn't have the greatest ear for tone though," she laughed.

The two sat in silence for a bit more, before Amber started to get fussy, making them excuse themselves from Zack's parents home, and head back to Zack's home.

"Thanks for getting me out of the house," Kristel looked over at Zack, after they had drove for a little while in silence.

"Don't mention it," Zack returned the smile, glancing over at her before focusing back on the road.

Once they were back at Zack's house, Kristel fed Amber her supper, then let her play on the floor with Icky. The two, much to everyone's surprise, had formed a bond that made them nearly inseparable. "What are you hungry for?" Zack asked, as he walked into the kitchen, browsing through his cupboards.

"You're hungry?" Kristel asked, surprised. "I'm still full from lunch."

Zack laughed, "I'm a little hungry."

"I'm more tired then hungry," Kristel admitted.

"You want to go to bed?" Zack asked, turning to face her.

"I'm thinking about it." Suddenly, Kristel started panicking after he wasn't facing her anymore. Was he going to expect her to sleep in his bed since she had done that last night? Or would he be okay with her if she slept in her own bed? Would he be offended if she didn't want to sleep in his bed? Her thoughts raced, a mile a minute.

Trying to calm herself down, she walked into the living room and curled up into a chair, watching Amber and Icky play. Amber had started to pull herself up and attempting to walk, so Icky couldn't sit in one place anymore to play with her. Thankfully, Icky didn't seem to mind, and enjoyed being chased by Amber. Next thing Kristel knew, Majesty, Zack's great dane, laid down on her lap, as Zack walked in.

"Looks like you're not going anywhere anytime soon," Zack chuckled, as he sat down with a bowl of popcorn.

"Well then, you can put Amber to bed in an hour," Kristel stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay," Zack shrugged.

"I was joking," Kristel laughed.

"And I'm being serious," Zack sat down next to her. "You look exhausted, you should go to sleep, I can watch Amber for a bit."

"I'm fine," Kristel lied, she was in fact very tired, and she couldn't figure out why. She had noticed for almost a week now, it was getting harder to get up in the morning. "She's not your responsibility anyways," Kristel yawned.

"Kristel," Zack looked at her, concerned. "It's okay to take a break every once and a while. You've been running yourself ragged, and you just came out of the hospital."

"I'm fine," Kristel insisted, knowing full well she should take Zack's advice, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Zack brought Kristel into his arms and started stroking her hair, trying to get her to relax, "You're pushing yourself too hard. It's okay not to be able to do everything."

Kristel laughed a little then mumbled into his side, "I don't know how to relax."

"I'm beginning to notice," Zack smiled a little, he moved his hand so that he was rubbing her back as she petted Majesty's head. Before Zack knew it, Kristel had fallen asleep on him. A few minutes later he came to the realization that he needed to put Amber to bed, and he was now stuck.

He gently lifted Kristel up, trying not to wake her, as he moved out from under her. He had lost sight of Amber and Icky but he knew they would be fine. Right before he was able to lay Kristel back down, Amber started crying, jolting Kristel from her sleep. She winced from the stitches, before gently moving Majesty and rushing off to Ambers' side. After a little while, he heard her humming to Amber as she got her ready for bed.

"Why don't you sing on a regular basis?" Zack asked Kristel, standing in her bedroom doorway, as she laid Amber down in her bed.

Kristel shrugged, "I guess I feel it's nothing to brag about...I-I think I'm going to go to bed too, if that's alright?"

"Yeah that's fine," Zack took his cue and let Kristel be in her room, as he wandered to the living room to watch some TV.

Notes

So this chapter took forever to write, not because of writers block, but because apparently fall is really busy for me. I hope everyone enjoys the chapters. The guys are going to start on tour soon. I'm estimating in the next 3 to 5 chapters, as long as I don't throw any twists in.

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