Enough

Another month passed.

It was now January, and though winters in California were mild, I still managed to get sick.
"It's just a cold," I told Zack. "I'll be fine."

Zack was constantly worrying about me. I think he was constantly afraid Jake was going to come back when we least expected it so he just constantly worried about every little detail. "I know," he told me. "I just wish you weren't sick."

I smiled as he handed me a bowl of chicken noodle soup. "It'll pass in a couple of days, and then I will be back to taking care of you instead of the other way around."

He smiled and sat down on the couch next to me. He pulled me closer to him and kissed the corner of my mouth.

"Germs," I told him pulling away.

"Woman," he rolled his eyes. "I don't care about your germs. If I want to kiss you, I’m going to kiss you. And if I get sick, I get sick. Now give me a spoonful of that soup I made you."

I rolled my eyes before filling the spoon with soup and bringing it to his mouth. "Fine, but when you get sick don't come crying to me."

"But I’m taking care of you! You'd have to return the favour!" Zack whined.

I laughed and shook my head. "I didn't go off and get sick on purpose."

"Neither did I!" He argued. I groaned and hit the play button on the movie Zack and I were about to watch. "I love you," Zack whispered into my ear.

"I love you too." I told him. I sat forward and placed the bowl of soup on the coffee table. I grabbed a blanket and pulled it across Zack and me and curled up against him as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.

**

A couple of weeks passed and I still couldn't shake this sickness. Zack and I had agreed that it was something worse than a cold, and so I began taking medicine for the flu. Today was Val's baby shower, and though I knew I shouldn't go and expose my germs to a pregnant woman and her guests, Val insisted.

Val and Matt were having a baby boy! They hadn't yet decided on a name, but everyone was excited. Valary and I were hoping the baby would get Matt's dimples.

Even though I felt like total crap and would have rather stayed home and in bed, I pulled on some clothes and made myself presentable.

I walked down the stairs of mine and Zack's home and smiled when I saw him sitting on the couch in his boxers eating a bowl of cereal.

"Morning, baby," he told me with a mouth full of cereal. "What are you doing out of bed and dressed?"

"It's Val's baby shower," I told him.

He nodded. "I know. I didn’t realize you felt up to going."

I sat down on the couch next to him and he fed me a spoonful of his cereal.

"She insists." I said after swallowing. He offered me another bite but I declined as my stomach began to churn. "I'm only going to go for a minute. I'd really hate to get her sick; she had such a rough beginning in this pregnancy."

Zack nodded. "Want me to go with you?"

I shook my head. "No, don't you and Matt have plans with the others?"

"Yeah, but..."

I cut him off. "I can take care of myself. It's just the flu."

Zack sighed but didn't protest. "Will you at least go to the doctor this week, please?"

"If it'll make you stop worrying about me all the time, then yes." I smiled.

"I'll still worry, but do it anyways." He smiled and pecked my lips.

I hung out with Zack for a few hours before it was time to head to Val's Baby Shower. I gave him a kiss on his lips like he insisted before telling him I loved him and walking out the door.

I got half way to my car before I felt dizzy. I steadied myself and considered going back inside but knew that would only cause Zack to worry more so instead and I walked to the car and sat inside until the feeling passed.

I made it to the baby shower late due to pulling over every now and then to throw up or because I felt dizzy.

I popped three pieces of mint gum into my mouth before cleaning up the mascara around my eyes.

"Alright," I told my reflection in the mirror in my car. "Just stay for thirty minutes and then politely excuse yourself. You can do this."

I took a deep breath before grabbing my baby shower gifts from the passenger side of the car and walking into the building where the baby shower was being held.

"Yes, can you direct me to the Sanders baby shower, please?" I asked the lady standing at the front desk.

"What's your name?" She asked me.

"Rebekah Bowman," I told her.

She scanned the guest list in front of her until she found my name. "Can I see your license or
identification card, please, Ms. Bowman."

I nodded and reached inside my purse. It was so weird to me that Valary had to take all of these extra security precautions for her baby shower. I knew it was because she was married to Matt and having his child, not to mention she was very well known to all of the Avenged Sevenfold fans, but it was still odd because to me they were just regular people.

I handed the lady my license and she took it. She stared at the card for a long moment, and then brought her eyes to my face. I smiled at her awkwardly as she stared at me. She then glanced back down at the card, to me and then back at the card again.

"Okay, Ms. Bowman," she said handing my card back to me and crossing my name out on the guest list. I frowned when I saw Leana's name right below mine, hers wasn't crossed out which meant she either hasn't arrived or wasn't coming.

The lady behind the front desk motioned for a security guard to come over. "This man will show you back."

"Thank you," I said before following the security guard.

When I arrived to the room the man walked off and I entered.

"Bekah!" Val beamed. "I'm so glad you made it!"

I smiled at her, she was looking absolutely gorgeous! "I am too." I told her and hugged her.

"What do you think about all of this security?" She asked. "Matt insisted on it."

I laughed. "Yeah, he can be pretty protective of those he loves." I was speaking from experience, if anyone knew how protective Matt was, it was me and Valary.

"Oh, yeah!" She agreed.

Someone called Val over to them. "Okay, well Michelle and Lacey are around here somewhere."

I nodded and she waddled off. I looked around the room full of people before putting my gifts on the table and walking further into the room.

"Bekah!" I heard someone call. I turned around and saw Lacey. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Exhausted." I told her. "Zack is making me go to the doctor later this week."

She nodded. "You look terrible. I'm surprised you came."

I laughed. "Oh, thanks."

She laughed too, "Okay, that came out wrong."

"That's okay, I know how bad I look. I wasn't going to come but Val insisted. I figured I better at least make an appearance." Lacey nodded her head in agreement but didn't say anything.
"Hey, I saw Leana's name on the guest list. Any word from her?"

Lacey shook her head. "No, not that I'm aware of. I know Val was really hoping she would come, and I think she still remains hopeful that's she's just running late but..."

"You don't think she will?"

Lacey frowned and shook her head. I weakly smiled and looked over at Val who was standing in the middle of a group of people while they cut yarn into strips of how big they thought her belly was.

"Gena's here." Lacey told me. I looked back at her with my eyebrows raised.

"Really?" I asked her and she nodded. I hadn't spoken or seen Gena since the day Zack had broken up with her.

She nodded. "Have you talked to her since...?"

"No," I replied. "I've kind of been avoiding her if I'm being totally honest."

"I don't blame you. You did steal her boyfriend." She said with a grin. I glared at her. "Kidding!"

But she was right. After all, that was the main reason why I was avoiding her. "I'm going to go play some games," I told her before smiling and walking off.

Almost an hour had passed and I was still at the shower. Val had begun to open presents, and I was beginning to feel better so I helped myself to the snack bar.

I held an empty plate in my hand trying to decide if I wanted to go the healthy route and eat fruit or stockpile my plate with the assorted chocolate treats instead.

"Hey, Bekah," I heard quietly behind me. I recognized the voice before I turned around.

"Gena," I smiled. "How have you been?"

She nodded. "Great," she said. "How about you?"

"Good."

"How's Zack?" She asked me. "I haven't really spoken to him."

"He's good," I told her, not really know what I should say.

"I hear you guys are dating now. So I guess a congratulations is in order."

Gena..." I started.

She shook her head. "No, I mean it. I really did love him, Bekah, so if he is happy - even if it's not with me - then I’m happy. He deserves it."

I stared at her for a moment before replying. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way."

"Bekah, just...don't hurt him, okay? I did and it ruined our relationship."

"I won't." I told her. My stomach began to feel queasy again and I wasn't sure if it was because of the flu or if it was because this conversation made me feel uncomfortable. “But I'm going to get going," I told her. "It was really, really nice seeing you."

"You too. We should get lunch sometime. I don't want this to ruin our friendship."

"Of course," I nodded and gave her a hug. "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Tell Zack I said hi?"

I nodded before walking away. Val was still opening gifts, so I was able to slip out the door without much attention.

**

When I got home Zack wasn't there. I decided to crawl up the stairs and into bed, pulling off my jeans and bra before doing so. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the front door close. I laid there waiting for Zack to climb the stairs but dozed off before he ever did.

I woke up sometime later and Zack was standing beside the bed, pulling off his jeans and then his shirt. I glanced at the clock; I had been asleep for almost two hours.

"Sorry, baby," he whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

I yawned. "That's okay. It's about time you bring your ass up here."

Zack chuckled a little and threw back the blankets on his side of the bed. "You must really be out of it. I just got home."

I stared at him for a second. "Oh, I could have sworn I heard you come home earlier." I shook my head, "I must've dreamed it."

Zack chuckled again and crawled into bed. He pulled me close to him and pulled the blanket over him. I wrapped my arm and leg around him. "We can go downstairs and watch a movie if you want." I told him. It was only four o'clock in the afternoon, so it was nowhere near time for bed.

"Nah," Zack told me. "I'm okay with this arrangement right here. Get some rest, we'll book you a doctor’s appointment later."

I nodded before nuzzling my head into his chest. "Gena said hi." I murmured.

"You saw her?" Zack asked.

"Yeah," I said. "She said she wishes you happiness even if it's not with her."

Zack didn't reply, but instead pulled me in closer to him. I could hear his heartbeat and the air in his lungs. I slowly drifted back off to sleep.

Notes

Two chapters Left, both will be posted at the same time because it's a Part one/ Part two type of thing. If you guys didn't notice I decided to stop being lazy and actually gave the chapters real title names!

Thank you for reading! Please leave feedback! Chapters 19 and 20 will be posted tomorrow. Don't forget about the side story Tonight the World Dies!

Title credit: Papa Roach "Forever"

Side note: I saw Papa Roach live once when they were touring with Avenged and they were one of the best bands live that I've seen! (Avenged was amazing as well, obviously.)