The road trip back to Huntington Beach was bittersweet. On one hand, it was awesome to see how pumped the guys were after their first official meeting with the label. Everyone was so happy and excited, nothing could pull them from the state of euphoria they were in. On the other hand, however, I knew my euphoria was only temporary and as the miles added up, my time ran out.

Johnny got stuck driving the van back to town and Lacey sat in the passenger side keeping him company while the rest of us caused as much noise and chaos in the back as possible. Zack kept his hand on my inner thigh as he talked with his best friends. Everything in this moment was perfect. I felt confident, I was okay with the fact that Zack's hand was on my thigh. I was genuinely in love and excited and happy. I didn’t want it to end.

Johnny dropped Jimmy off first, then Brian, Michelle, and Leana got off there, too. Soon, it was just me, Zack, and Matt, who was now driving the van.

“Alright, who first?” Matt asked raising his brow.

I couldn’t look up at him. I kept my eyes glued to my hands that sat in my lap. I felt eyes on me and then after a moment, I saw Zack grab my hand. “Actually,” Zack started. “We’re going to go ahead and get off here. Just keep our bags, I’ll get them from you later.”

“Okay,” Matt says.

I give Zack a confused expression and he pulls the door open and hops out. “Come on!”

I laugh nervously and turn back to Matt. “Bye, Matt!”

“Bye, you guys!” He smiled as I closed the door.

Zack waits for Matt to drive off before we cross the road. “Where are we going?” I ask as he grabs my hand.

“I have an appointment today,” he tells me.

“An appointment for what?” I ask curiously.

Zack gave me a sly grin. “You’ll see.” He pulls out a cigarette and lighter.

“Tell me!” I laugh. I bump into him on purpose while he tries to light his cigarette and he staggers, laughing.

“You can’t always get what you want,” Zack sings, grinning.

I throw my head back in a laugh. “Did you just sing The Rolling Stones to me?”

Zack chuckles and sucks on his cigarette. “It was beautiful, wasn’t it?” He asked, exhaling the smoke.

I narrow my eyes at him. “It was alright.” I take the cigarette from him and bring it to my lips.
Grinning, I inhale.

Zack smirks and pulls out another cigarette. “You should really start buying your own cigarettes,” he smiles, bringing it to his lips.

“What? You don’t like to share?” I ask, taking another puff.

“Share? You don’t know how to share! You take it and smoke it until it’s almost gone and then you give it back,” Zack laughs.

“I do not!”

“Oh, yes you do! Watch, I’ll be sure to point it out the next time it happens!” He promises.

I scoffed, trying to hide my smile. “There’s not going to be a next time. I have to start buying my own, remember?”

Zack grabs me around the waist and pulls me into him. “Oh, shut up.” He kisses me. “We both know I’m going to keep letting you steal my shit.” He kisses me again. “We’re here.”

I turn around and come face to face with a tattoo shop. “Oh, you’re getting another tattoo?”

“I haven’t decided,” he tells me with a shrug.

I look at him, expecting him to be joking but he doesn’t seem to be. “What do you mean you haven’t decided?” I ask. “You said you made an appointment.”

Zack nods. “Well, I made us an appointment.”

“Us?” I half-laugh. “

Zack nibbles at his lip. “This is going to sound completely fucking girly, but I was thinking we could get couple tattoos.”

“You were thinking we could do what?” I laugh.

“I know it sounds fucking stupid and just all around crazy but…I don’t know. I was just thinking about it.”

I thought about it for a moment. A tattoo was crazy. Putting something permanently on my body for some guy I haven’t even known for a year was…crazy. However, Zack wasn’t just some guy. I knew even if we broke up Zack would always remain this…beacon. He would always be the man that helped me through everything I went through since coming to California. Was getting a tattoo that reminded me of him every time I looked at it a bad thing?

“What did you have in mind?” I asked him.

Zack seemed slightly surprised by my reply. “I don’t know,” he told me. “It could be something small like each other’s initials or it could be something huge like each other’s faces.” He laughs at the last part.

I laugh too but it trails off as I fall into my thoughts. “I want to do something to commemorate last night.” I lace my fingers with Zack’s.

Zack raises his brow. “Okay, what did you have in mind?”



I waited in the waiting room as Zack got his tattoo. I went first; I had to. I was scared if I didn’t, I would chicken out. There was still a slight burn from where the ink was injected, but it wasn’t bothersome. At first, I didn’t know where I wanted to get mine. I knew I wanted it hidden, not because I was ashamed of it but because it was meant specifically for me. It wasn’t meant for anyone else, it was meant solely to remind myself of the best night of my life and of the first man I had ever, truly, deeply loved. I thought about getting it above my heart, but thought that was too cliché. I also thought about getting it under my breast. Not only was it a more intimate part of the body but it was the first intimate part of my body that Zack touched. However, I wasn’t sure if I could sit through it without having one of my episodes and freaking out while someone had a tattoo gun to my skin just did not seem like a good idea. So, instead, I decided to get it a bit lower, on my ribs.

The buzzing of the tattoo gun stops, and I hear Zack talking. “Oh, yeah man, this is great.”

I look towards the door expectantly, but it doesn’t open. Zack told me to wait outside while he got his done. He said it was because he didn’t want me to see him cry like the wuss he was, but obviously, I knew that was a lie. Still, I did as I was told.

A few moments later, Zack walks out of the room grinning ear to ear. The tattoo on his arm was covered up. Zack pays for the tattoos; apparently, he knew the tattoo artist and since he owed Zack a favour so he got a good deal. He refused to let me pay even though I brought up the fact that they were going to have to pay out of pocket for their record.

“Soooo,” I started as he reached me. “Can I see it?”

Zack smirks. “You know it has to stay wrapped for a few hours.”

“Just a peek,” I smile as we head out the door.

Zack wraps his unbandaged arm around my shoulders. “Oh, what? You don’t think I went through with it?”

I wrap my arm around his waist as we walk down the street. “I think it was a tad weird you asked me to step out while you got it done.”

“Alright. I’ll tell you what, let’s go get some ice cream and then we can reveal our tattoos to each other,” he suggests.

I scoff with a laugh. “You’ve already seen mine!”

“Alright, so then I’ll show you mine,” he winks.

I shake my head, grinning. Suddenly, anxiety began to creep up on me. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks and my heart, which was once swollen with so much joy, sank into the pit of my stomach. “I have to go home, Zack.”

Zack's face slowly dropped into a sympathetic smile. “I know.”

Zack and I walked to my house in silence. A block away, he stopped, and I turned to him confused. Surely, he wasn’t going to make me go the rest of the way alone? I wasn’t sure if I could make my feet move without him.

“Hey,” he started as soon as we were face-to-face. “I want you to know, whatever happens, we will get through this, okay? I can take whatever Eli throws at me, I just want you safe.”

I nod. “Okay.” Zack stares at me for a moment. The lines on his forehead tell me he’s worried no matter how much he tries to hide it. “I’ll be fine, Zack.”

Zack nods a little before pulling me into a kiss. It felt like this was going to be the last time I was going to see him. Hell, maybe it was. Maybe when I got home Eli would be so distraught with rage he would finally do what he’s been threatening to do for months and kill me.

When we part, Zack begins picking at his bandage until he’s able to get a corner of the tape up. He slowly begins to pull back the bandage on his arm, revealing his tattoo to me.

Zack and I got the same thing. His was right above the bend of his elbow, running parallel to the crease of his arm. I got mine in his handwriting, so no matter what I would always have a part of him with me. He got his in a font that resembled a typewriter. Both, were in black ink…or at least they were supposed to be. Out of the twenty letters, three of them were green, standing out from the rest in black. My initials.



I don’t know what I was expecting to see. Maybe, deep down inside, I always expected Zack to take off his bandage to reveal nothing but skin, to laugh and say he couldn’t believe I went though with something so crazy. I don’t know what my expectations where, but they weren’t this.

“I know you said you didn’t want to do initials but…then you got this tattooed on you in my handwriting and I just wanted to make it a little more personal, too. It worked out perfectly, and it’s in this spot that’s easy for me to see so whenever times get rough, I can just look down and…just remember.” He slowly starts to cover it back up.

“Zack, I…I don’t know what to say,” I tell him. “I love it. I can’t believe you would do something like that for me.” It was the truth. I would never understand how I got so lucky to meet someone like Zack. I would never understand how or why he fell in love with me in the ways that he did. He had every reason to run in the opposite direction, but he didn’t. I couldn’t fathom it.

Zack just smiles at me. “Come on,” he sighs. “Let’s get you home.”

Zack and I walked hand in hand the rest of the way home. It was getting dark now and I kept my eyes glued to the sidewalk as we walked. I knew the house was approaching, it was almost like I could feel the bad energy seeping from it.

“Oh shit,” I heard Zack mumble, causing me to look up.

When I did, I instantly regretted it. There were three cop cars in front of the house, and another car I recognized, too. A white 1990 Chevy Lumina. “My mom’s here…” I say, surprised.

“Your mom?” Zack repeated.

I nod and take another step towards my house, every light inside was on. I turn to Zack who is still looking at the house. “Zack, maybe you should go home.”

“No, no way,” he shakes his head, looking away from the house and at me.

“Zack, the cops are here. My mom is home. I don’t know what Eli did but…this is going to bad. It’ll be better if I just go in there alone. Please.”

Zack wets his lips while he studies my face. He looks from me to the house, then back at me. After a moment he takes a deep breath and lets it out sharply. “No,” he answers. “No, I’m not letting you do this alone. Come on.”

There was no talking him out of it. He grabbed my hand and led me to the house. My heart pounded with each step we took and I found it hard to breathe. I thought, surely, I was going to pass out before we reached the door, but I was wrong and soon my hand rested on the doorknob.

“No matter what happens,” Zack reassured me before I gathered the courage to finally open the door.

Everyone in the living room turned their attention to the door when it opened. There were four policemen, including Eli, and my mom.

“Hey, guys…” I said a nonchalantly as I possibly could. I thought I heard Zack snort a laugh beside me before he gently squeezed my hand.

“Sheridan, where have you been?” My mom asked.

“Arrest him,” Eli said at the same time.

Everyone moved at once. The cop nearest Zack reached for him; I pulled Zack closer to me; my mom stood up from the couch and Eli grabbed my arm.

“No!” I yelled, “Let go of me! No one is taking anyone anywhere!” I yelled yanking myself free from Eli’s grasp and wrapping my arms around Zack, he immediately wrapped one arm around me.

“Sheridan, let go,” Eli demanded.

The officer that was attempting to arrest Zack managed to get a cuff on Zack's wrist. “Ma’am, step back.”

“No,” I cried into Zack's chest.

“Sheridan!” Eli yelled.

“Ma’am, please remove yourself from the suspect,” the officer told me again.

I continued to hold on to Zack. I felt him gently rub my back with his free hand. “Sheridan,” he said quietly. “It’s okay. Don’t make it harder than it has to be, just let me go. We’ll figure it out. Eli doesn’t have a case.” I felt him kiss the top of my head.

I still didn’t move. I couldn’t. I knew I had to but I couldn’t. “Oh, for fuck's sake,” Eli complained. I felt his fingers wrap around my arm again but before I could tug him away from me, he yanked me away from Zack.

I wiped my eyes just in time to see the arresting officer tighten the second cuff around Zack's wrist. As he stood there, with his hands behind his back, he glared valiantly at Eli.

“Mom! Do something!” I yell as I hear Zack being read his rights.

My mom rubbed her temples. “I can’t believe you’re taking up for him right now, Sheridan. Eli told me what he did to you.”

“What did he…” I turned to Eli, “What did you tell them?”

“I told mom about the kind of relationship you and Baker were in. How he demanded you stay away from your family and how he threatened you when you didn’t. Then I told her when I came home Saturday morning, you weren’t home and I knew something was wrong,” Eli told me. I could almost hear the enjoyment in his voice.

“You what?” Zack and I both exclaimed at the same time.

The other two cops mumbled something to Eli before they walked out the door. I guess they decided this was too much family drama for them.

“Sheridan, we’ve been worried sick. Eli called me as soon as you didn’t come home that day. We called the cops this morning. Eli thought Zack must’ve made you leave town with him…and now you’re here? With him? It looks like Eli was right!”

“Are you fucking stupid?” I yell. “Eli is fucking lying! Do I look harmed? Did you go to Zack's parents and see where he was? They would have told you! We were in Vegas for the weekend with Zack's band!”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Eli said.

“Mom! I love him. Please don’t do this, please don’t let them take him,” I begged.

Mom looked at me and for the first time since I was a little girl, it felt like she was really seeing me. She looked at me and then behind me, to what I’m assuming was Eli. She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Eli, let him go.”

“What?” Eli scoffed.

“We’re dropping the charges. This was obviously just some big miscommunication. I don’t know what’s really going on here, but this isn’t needed. Let the young man go.”

I looked at Zack hopeful and he gave me a smile back. He was right, everything worked itself out. I glanced at Eli who was staring down my mom, something glistened in his eye before he waved his hand and the other officer began to take the cuffs off Zack. Once free, Zack immediately walked over to me and I threw myself into his arms.

“Are you okay?” he asks, whispering in my ear.

I laugh. “Am I okay? You’re the one who was about to go to jail,” I murmur back.

“I told you,” he pulls away. “I can handle whatever is thrown at me.”

“Get out of here before I kick your ass,” Eli threatens.

I glance at mom but she’s got her head in her hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Zack tells me. He kisses me and whispers in my ear, “I’ll be back tonight to check on you.”

“I love you,” I tell him as we part.

He nods. “I love you too.”

Zack leaves. I almost think Eli and his cop-friend will follow him, but they don’t. I stand, immobile for a brief few seconds before announcing I was tired and was going to clean up and head to bed.

There was something different about mom. She wasn’t the person I’ve known all these years, she seemed…better, more motherly. I wanted to know what was going on with her, where she had been these last few months but I couldn’t stand to be around Eli right now. I decided I would try to talk to her later, as I stripped down in the bathroom and turned the shower on.

I let the steam from the shower fill up the room as I studied my reflection in the mirror. I allowed my eyes to fall on my collarbone and I can almost feel Zack’s lips pressed against them. I gently begin to pull off the bandage covering my tattoo and look down. It turned out wonderful.



When I get out of the shower, the house is dead quiet. I pull on my pajamas and brush my hair then exit the bathroom. Eli’s door is wide open and his light is off, but his bed is empty. I hear the clinking of dishes in the kitchen and think about going there but decide last minute against it. Zack was going to be coming back and I didn’t want to miss him because I wasn’t in my room. I enter my room and shut the door, locking all the locks behind me. I collapse on the bed, my hand instantly, instinctively searching it for Zack. Tonight will be the first night in weeks that I’ve slept alone. I lay there for a few minutes before getting up and finding a piece of paper and a pen. My journal was in my bag which was still probably in the van from Vegas, but this would do until I got it back.





The next morning, I wake up laying on top of my sheets. My arm and part of my leg are hanging off the bed, the light was still on. I jumped up and looked out my window. I fell asleep last night and never saw Zack. I sighed, bummed he didn’t wake me and rubbed my eyes before looking at the clock. I was supposed to be at school in forty-five minutes.

I jumped out of bed and got dressed, throwing my hair in a messy bun and walked into the kitchen. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of her. She looks up when she hears me step into the room. “Sheridan,” she says, almost as if she was surprised.

“Just getting some breakfast before school,” I tell her. I walk to the cabinet and grab a granola bar.

“Um…we need to talk,” she tells me. “Have a seat.”

I furrow my brows. “I have to be at school in like thirty minutes.”

She nods. “Okay, but sit down.”

I didn’t move. “Where’s Eli?”

She took a deep breath. “I told Eli he needed to go away for a little while.”

This caught my attention and I sat down immediately. “What?”

“I don’t know what was going on in this house while I was gone…or, even while I was here, really, but we will get to that later. My point is, what he pulled last night was not okay. So, he is going to be in New York with some of the police force. They’re having some sort of training course for three weeks and he wasn’t planning on going, but I told him it would be for the best if he went.”

Eli will be gone for three weeks? This is turning out to be a great day already! “Okay.”

Mom cleared her throat. “There’s more,” she tells me. The tone of her voice tells me this isn’t going to be good news. “It seems last night after Zack left Eli followed him and arrested him.”

“He what?!” I yelled. “For what?!”

She sighed. “He was arrested for jaywalking.”

I stood up, infuriated. “He was arrested for crossing the street?! I have to go, I can’t…he..”

“Sheridan, calm down. I’ve already called his parents and spoke with them about it. He will be released at noon, there is a $250 fine –”

“Oh, my god!”

“– and they are not very happy with our family right now, but I have offered to pay his fine.”

“I can’t believe this.” After everything Zack's family did for me; after everything his parents did for me, this is how I repay them? By getting their son thrown in jail and fined for $250? They were going to hate me after this.

“Sheridan, do you know where I’ve been all this time?” She asked me. Was this important? I needed to go to Zack's house, I needed to apologize to his parents

“No,” I answered shortly.

She nods. “I’ve been in a rehab clinic since I left here with my passport that day. I voluntarily checked myself in so I could get clean. You see, I was addicted to all sorts of drugs and alcohol. It started shortly after your father and I divorced. That was a very…challenging time in my life and since your father, I haven’t had very much luck when it came to finding a decent man.”

It all made sense: the fact that she was never home because she was always out on a bender; the way she stopped communicating with me after she moved out here. Now I knew why her personality seemed so different, it’s because it was.

“Anyway,” she clears her throat. “I’m here now, Sheridan. And I know I have missed out on most of your life and I’m sorry about that. I really would like to get to know you and watch you walk across the stage in a few weeks.” I smiled. Was graduation really that close? “But being a mother also means I have to guide you in the right direction in life. So, you’re grounded for two weeks. You should have told your brother about Vegas, or at least left a note. It caused a lot a havoc that you left without telling anyone. So much of this could have been avoided.”

“Mom,” I start, “he’s unreasonable! You saw how he is last night. He wouldn’t have let me go!” I didn’t dare to tell her about everything he did to me. I didn’t know if she would believe me.

She nods. “Yes, but you are underage. I know it sucks, but you can’t just do what you want anymore. So, you will go to school, and you will come home.”

“I have a job,” I tell her.

“Oh, okay,” she tells me. “You can do that, too. But that’s it.”

It wouldn’t be so bad. Eli wouldn’t be here and – if she was serious about it – I would be able to get to know my mother. “Wait…” I realized. “Two weeks would be the day after graduation. There’s supposed to be this huge graduation party out at the beach after graduation. I can’t miss that!”

Mom stared at me for a moment. “We’ll talk about it when it gets a little closer but I shouldn’t see a problem with you going,” she tells me.

“Okay,” I tell her. I think about asking her if Zack could come over, but I knew I would see him plenty throughout the week, plus, I didn’t want to push my luck.

“Okay,” she repeats. “Get to school, we can talk more when you get home.”

I do as I’m told and I go to school, but make sure I’m at the police station when Zack is released. When he walks out of the door, he’s holding a bag of his belongings. His hair is a mess and he looks absolutely exhausted.

“Zack,” I call awkwardly waving my hand to catch his attention. His eyes find me and he walks briskly over to me.

“Sheridan,” he gasps, taking me into his arms. “Are you okay? I was so worried after I got arrested. I knew you were going to be worried about me, too, when I didn’t show up. I would have called but…well, I had to call my parents, you know?”

“I’m so sorry! I’m so, so, so sorry!” I cried into his neck. “I can’t believe you spent a night in jail because of me.”

Zack chuckled. “Baby, this isn’t the first time I’ve been in jail and it won’t be the last. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

I continued to cry into his neck. I didn’t know why exactly I felt so emotional. It might have been relief along with guilt, all I know is that it wouldn’t stop. Zack was patient. He held me against him and stroked my hair until, finally, I was able to stop. I pulled away from him and wiped my eyed dry.

“What do you mean you’ve been in jail before?” I ask curiously.

Zack laughs. “I got arrested for stealing microphones after my past band played a gig at the school.”

“You stole microphones?” I laugh.

“Hey, I said I got arrested for it, not that I actually did it.”

“Well, did you?”

Zack doesn’t reply. He merely winks at me and then pulls me into a kiss. Everything was falling back into place, everything was going to be fine.

“Ugh,” Zack complains. “I need to go home and take a shower. Want to come over?”

I shake my head. “I have to get back to school,” I tell him. “I’m grounded, so if I skip the rest of the day, I’ll only get into more trouble.”

Zack gave me a weird look. “Eli grounded you?”

“No, my mom! Eli’s gone for two weeks, so it’s just going to be me and her in the house until graduation. He wasn’t going to go but she told him he needed to get out of the house for a while after he told her he arrested you.”

“She what?” Zack arched an eyebrow.

I grabbed his hand. “Walk me to school and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Alright,” Zack kissed my hand and we started walking down the street.

Notes

Thank you for reading!!! We're getting closer and closer to the end! Any ending predictions? Comment below! Don't forget to rate and subscribe! <3

Thank you to Kimmie and countzackula for commenting on the previous chapter!

Title credit: Between the Trees “A Time for Yohe”