Zack

I couldn't believe I was standing face to face with my ex-girlfriend - the one female who completely fucking crushed my heart and soul - and listened to my now-fiancée tell me she was the one who did her newest tattoo. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Evelyn's face as she carried on a conversation with my fiancée. Who did she think she was? I hope she didn't think her and Gena were going to be friends now. I hope she didn't think she found a way to weasel her way back into life.

Suddenly, I heard Gena ask Evelyn if she and I knew each other. I narrowed my eyes, daring her to say something smart.

"Yeah," was all she managed to get out before the wine glass shattered in her hand.

Whitney began to help Evelyn and I took this as my chance to pull Gena away from Evelyn. I didn't want to be around her anymore but Gena wouldn't move.

"Oh, my God! Are you okay?" She asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Evelyn nodded and mumbled something before walking away. I stood awkwardly beside Whitney and Gena until Gena turned to me. "Baby, go check on her."

I looked at her like she was crazy. Why me? Her best friend was standing right beside her, why didn't she follow Evelyn into the house. "What?" I asked.

"Please," She urged me. "She's your friend, right? I'm sure she could use some help, even if she acts like she doesn't want it. You know us girls, we can be stubborn sometimes."

I glanced at Whitney, silently begging her to take the reins on this one and go check on Evelyn herself but she avoided my gaze. I sighed, "Fine. If it'll make you happy," I smiled.

She smiled back and kissed me on the lips. "It will," she told me. I nodded before walking away and into the house.

"Oh, Zachary," Evelyn's mom called as I began walking to the stairs. She was rushing out of her room, a red pack in her hand. "Are you going to check on Evelyn?" I nodded and she offered me the red pack in her hands, I recognized it as a first aid kit. "You're so sweet. Make sure she gets this, okay?" I nodded again before taking the kit and walking upstairs.

When I got to the top of the stairs I looked at the bedroom on the left - Ryan's old bedroom. Fuck, I missed that guy. He was so funny and caring. Even though Evelyn was a total cunt to him he loved and protected her even though he acted like he didn't. The bedroom door was closed, and I was tempted to enter it and relive old memories but decided against it.

I turned to the bedroom on the right which was Evelyn's old bedroom. This room held as many memories as the one on the left, but these were memories I didn't want to relive. Finally, I gathered the courage and walked in. I kept my eyes glued to the floor as I walked towards the bathroom where I heard water running.

Evelyn was leaning against the sink, her cut hand submerged in water and her head was down. I opened my mouth but closed it, unsure of what to say to her. She sniffed and I realized she either had a cold or was holding back tears. She did come from New York and it was pretty chilly there so a cold was probable. She began to search the cabinets but eventually grabbed the roll of toilet paper and began to wrap it around her hand.

She still hadn't seen me so I thought about laying the pack on the bathroom floor and making a run for it, but before I could decide she had turned around. "Zack..." She said. It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she was surprised to see me up here with her. I couldn’t blame her.

I stared at her for a moment before offering her the first aid kit. "Your mom asked me to bring this to you," I told her.

She reluctantly took it from me. "Thanks." She turned her back towards me once more and, with one hand, struggled to open it on the counter. I watched her struggle for a moment before internally groaning and stepping towards her. I knew if I didn't help and she hurt herself worse or didn't bandage her hand correctly I would somehow be to blame and neither Gena nor Evelyn's mom would be very happy with me.

"Here," I said grabbing the pack from her and unzipping it.

"I can do it," she told me. She tried to sound tough but I could see right through her.

I rolled my eyes. "Just sit down and take that shit off your hand."

She lowered the seat on the toilet and sat down on it and then began to unwrap her hand from the toilet paper, the blood was already beginning to seep through.

I opened the first aid kit and looked inside. I grabbed the bottle of peroxide, some gauze, tape and antibiotic ointment. I kneeled beside her and picked the few pieced of tissue stuck on her palm off before grabbing a towel from the drawer beside us. I pushed her skirt up slightly and she gasped.

"Relax," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. I folded the towel and placed it on her bare legs. "I just didn't want to get your pretty clothes wet or bloodied." I laid her hand on the towel, palm up and opened the bottle of peroxide.

I poured a large amount of the antiseptic on the wound and heard her draw in a sharp breath as it began to fizz against her wound. After the wound was clean and I got a better look at it I decided it was deep enough to need butterfly sutures. I stood up and looked in the first aid kit. I sensed Evelyn's eyes on me the entire time but ignored her as I pulled the band aids out of the kit and got back down on the floor.

I opened the antibiotic ointment and squeezed some out on my finger before tenderly applying it to her cut. Again, she took a sharp breath in and I ignored it. I wiped the extra antibiotic ointment on my jeans and opened the butterfly bandages. After placing a couple over her wound to pull it closed I wrapped her hand in gauze to help keep it covered and taped it so it wouldn't come loose.

Without a word I packed the rest of the stuff back up and zipped the kit closed. I began to walk out of the bathroom, desperate to get away from her.

"Zack," I heard her call.

I took a deep breath and turned back to her. She was standing in the door way of the bathroom where I stood only minutes before, holding her bandaged hand close to her heart. "What?" I asked her.

She stared at me for the longest time. "Thank you," she said. She looked like she wanted to say something else but she didn't and I wasn't going to ask her about it.

I pursed my lips before nodding and turning to walk away, but she called my name again and so I turned back around. "Evelyn, let's not make this a thing, okay? The only fucking reason I came up here was because Gena asked me to. So don't fucking think that we're friends now or that I actually give a shit about you, because I don't. I still think you're a shitty ass person, so please stay the fuck away from me and my fiancée."

A fire lit in Evelyn's eyes. "Stay away from you?" She asked me. "I'm sorry but you're standing in my old house,my old bedroom. You came to my family's reunion. I have stayed away from you, Zack! I don't even come home to see my family as much as I should because I know you're fucking here! So you can't tell me to stay away from you when I've done all I can just for you to show up here with some girl attached to your arm."

The last part was out of line and she knew it as soon as she said it. She had no right to bring Gena into this. Gena had done nothing to her, so why was she acting like such a bitch? Was she jealous? Did she think that I was incapable of finding a beautiful woman who really fucking loved me and didn't just pretend to?

"Fuck you, Evelyn." I spat. "I don't know what your fucking deal is with Gena, but keep her name out of your mouth. She's someone you'll never be, so just get off whatever high horse you're on. And as for this being your family's reunion, I am here with my family. Okay? Matt is my family and even though Ryan is dead, he was still my fucking family too. They're both my family way more than they are yours. You don't deserve them."

"Are you kidding me?" She yelled. I think I saw a glint of tears in her eyes, but it might have just been anger. "You do realize you're mad at me for something that I played a part in but you've totally forgiven the other person who had something to do with it! I didn't come up with that deal in high school, Zack! I only agreed to it! How can you forgive Matt but not me? How can you still be so fucking pissed off at me after twelve fucking years? How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fucking sorry?"

"I've forgiven Matt because unlike you Matt really does love me - did you miss the part where I just told you he and I were family? He fucked up and trust me, I haven't forgiven him Ike you think I have, but he's my fucking family. He didn't mean to hurt me, but you..." I shook my head; a humorless chuckle escaped my lips. "You just...completely destroyed someone you didn't even know. How someone can do that to another human being I'll never understand and that’s why I want absolutely nothing to do with you."

She was shaking her head; tears were threatening to spill over. She was always such a good actress. "I didn't want to hurt you either, Zack. I told you that twelve years ago and I'll tell you again. I fucking fell in love with you. Yeah, the beginning of our relationship was a lie but I fucking fell for you and I fell hard, and before I knew it our relationship wasn't about a stupid deal anymore.”

I stared at her, unable to find words to express how I felt about her. My eyes ran across her face, searching for the words, hoping they would pop out at me. Finally, my eyes met hers. "Fuck you, Evelyn."

Her eyes lost the light they held and filled with disappointment. I turned on my heel and walked out of the bedroom.

Notes

So this chapter has been on mibba for almost eight hours, the delay is due to this website hating me. Sorry about that guys! Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is muchly appreciated!

Title credit: Good Charlotte "Predictable"