The Day That I Met You

Chapter 11

Zack

I stood around awkwardly waiting for Olivia to come back, not really sure what was happening or what I should do. I felt like at this point, whatever was happening outside, I had her. Right? I mean, she was just kissing me, holding me, giving me her affection. Gates couldn’t take that away, no matter what he was trying to do with those stupid flowers.

I sighed, moving away from the door and towards her kitchen. I didn’t want to get her couch wet so I sat in a wooden kitchen chair instead, awkwardly waiting for her to come back and tell me that I was the only one for her, that Gates sucked, and I was the best. I knew that it probably wouldn’t work out that way, but fuck, she couldn’t give in to him and leave me again, could she?

I couldn’t even stand the thought of it. If she did that… I don’t know. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to forgive her for that. Rejecting me once was one thing, but twice… especially after those kisses we just shared. I don’t know what I would do. But part of me felt pretty confident that she would stay with me, honestly. I knew her better than him, for one. There’s no way I would’ve shown up with a bouquet of roses because she didn’t even like them. I knew that the beach picnic would woo her, not some corny flowers. I knew everything about her and I highly doubt he did. I think he just enjoyed his night either her enough that he wants to have a few more. Beyond that, who knows what he would want. I needed her to see that. I needed her to see that I was the one who loved her.

God, what if he hadn’t come to the door? I almost told her I loved her! I was almost grateful for his interruption because who knows how she would've reacted to that. I was getting too confident, letting myself fall into this too quickly. She was just now returning my feelings so I needed to relax. But as each minute went by without her coming back in the apartment I began to become more and more worried about what was happening out there.

I had my wet shirt in my hands but I didn’t want to put it back on just yet. It was just damp now, but I hoped that Olivia and I could continue where we left off when she came back in… which could happen any minute now!

Finally I heard the door open and quickly close, but Olivia did not enter the kitchen. So, I got up and left, only to see her leaning against the door, her head in her hands. She was shaking, crying.

“Olivia,” I said, moving towards her. I placed my hands over hers, attempting to move them away from her face, but she didn’t let me. She shifted away from me, walking towards the living room.

Wiping her eyes, she looked at me and said, “Zack, you should go.”

“What?” I asked, feeling myself getting angry and upset. “Look, whatever he just said-”

“Stop,” she said, looking away. “I don’t want to talk about this right now. I just need some space, OK?”

I nodded, not wanting to push it. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

She smiled at me, “Just don’t hate me, OK? I need some time to process everything. Just give them that time.”

“I can do that. Just please, don’t forget me. Don’t forget how much I care about you,” I practically begged, putting my shoes back on. I left then without another word, not knowing what else I could even say.

When I got back in my car I felt pissed. Why did he have to come and ruin everything for me? AGAIN? Why couldn’t I just be with her and not have to deal with this shit? Maybe we just weren’t meant to be together…

I didn’t want to think that yet. There was still time and I still had a chance. I needed to talk to Gates, ask him what the fuck his problem was. We needed to get this shit figured out. If we didn’t, I worried about what would happen to our friendship and to our band.



When I arrived back at our place, it was oddly quiet. Usually I would hear music playing somewhere or video games on the TV, but not now. I went to my room to change, not wanting to face anyone until I put on some dry clothes. After changing, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. This was the guy that just made out with the girl of his dreams. And if that asshole of a guitarist hadn’t interrupted, we may have even gone farther. The thought of that alone turned me on, but I was getting ahead of myself. I knew I needed to talk to him and figure out just how serious he was about this.

I went back towards the living room, seeing Gates sitting there alone on the couch. He was leaning back with his head on the back of the couch, arm over his eyes, and feet resting on the coffee table. He looked like he was asleep, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t know where anyone else was, but I was grateful to be able to talk to him alone.

“Syn?” I asked, hoping he wasn’t sleeping. Waking him up would only make this work.

He jumped at the sound of my voice and moved his arm away from his face. “Zack?” he asked, looking surprised to see me. I guess he may have expected me to stay with Olivia a lot longer, who knows.

“I need to talk to you,” I said, sitting next to him on the couch. He shifted himself to be more upright and look at me. “What were you doing at Olivia’s?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

“I was on a date with her. Kind of,” I said. I figured that was easier than explaining everything.

“I find that hard to believe,” he said, a nastiness in his tone. “Especially after the night I just had with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, I went over there because I wanted to apologize to her for being mean to her earlier today. So I took her out for awhile. We got caught in the storm and came back to her place.”

“And that’s all that happened?” he asked, raising a brow at me.

“Well… no,” I said, smiling to myself.

“Tell me,” he demanded.

“We kissed at the beach in the rain,” I said dreamily, sounding like a high school girl. “And we were making out when you knocked on the door.”

“So you didn’t sleep with her?”

“No. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if you hadn’t interrupted, though.”

He smiled at that, the bastard. “Oh, that’s too bad,” he said sarcastically.

“You know she doesn’t like roses, right?” I said back. I wasn’t going to let him be an ass without being one back.

He sighed, “No, I didn’t know that. I feel like I hardly know her at all.”

I didn’t really know how to respond. Part of me wanted to gloat, but he just looked so sad.

It was silent between us for awhile, neither of knowing what to do or say. We were friends, no matter how shitty this situation was for both of us. Here we both were, sitting in this state of limbo while we waited for Liv to choose between us. At least, that’s what I think we were waiting for. I guess it was possible that she just said fuck it and let both of us down. I felt sorry for her in a way, but obviously I felt that she should choose me.

“Gates,” I started, “How serious are you about all of this? I mean, is she just someone you want to screw again or someone you actually want to be with?”

“Do you really think I’d show up at her place with flowers and make a fool out of myself if I wasn’t serious about her?” he snapped.

“Shit, I don’t know. I’ve literally never seen you try and get the girl. They’re usually falling at your feet,” I joked, making him smirk a little.

“And you? I’m assuming you’re pretty serious about her, then?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. I wouldn’t have gotten so pissed at you before if I wasn’t. I’ve wanted to be with her for a really long time.”

“Why’d you wait until now, then?”

That was a good question, honestly. “I don’t really know. I guess I was too chicken shit before. I just felt like the party was a good time, I guess. I had thought about it ahead of time and I had it all planned out, but obviously that didn’t work out…”

“Which is my fault,” he said so I didn’t have to.

“Kind of. I mean, it wasn’t just you. It’s her too. It just all makes me wonder what would be happening if I hadn’t waited as long,” I confessed.

Syn nodded and shifted himself again so we were facing each other. “Look, Zack. It’s just like I randomly just decided that I like Liv. I’ve been attracted to her for a long time. It’s just, you know, with Matt and everything, I never did anything about it. And honestly I was more concerned with getting laid.”

I laughed a bit. “I know what you mean. The whole Matt thing definitely didn’t help me either.”

“That’s bullshit,” a new voice said from across the room. A pissed off voice.

“Shit, Shadz, you scared me,” Syn said.

“Neither of you two idiots can blame me for your situation,” he said, crossing his arms. “All three of you have such shitty timing and none of that is on me.”

“We know,” I said sighing. “We just don’t know what to do.”

“Last time I talked to her, she had no idea where Gates stood because he fucking left her alone, and you, Zacky, left her thinking that you hated her. So what’s different now?”

I filled Matt in with some of the details and as I did this, Syn groaned and put his eyes behind his arm again as he leaned further into the couch. I definitely didn’t feel bad about embarrassing him, but I knew I was being a dick, so I kept the story down to the most important details.

“Jesus,” Matt said, sitting on the chair across from us. “It’s only been a few hours… You’re all crazy.”

Syn laughed. “Duh.”

Matt chuckled and said, “What are you going to do, then?”

“What can we do?” I asked. “We’ve both already told her how we feel, made a move, or whatever.”

“Yeah, I don’t exactly feel like making a total ass of myself again,” Gates said, chuckling at himself.

“Maybe I should talk to her, see how she feels,” Matt offered.

“I don’t know, Shadz. Did you talk to her already? I feel like she just needs to figure her shit out,” Syn said, shifting in his seat again. His antsiness was getting on my nerves.

“She might just need someone to talk to and get her feelings out. She’s my sister, I know her better than you two idiots,” Matt said. “She’s the type to bottle things up until she can’t handle it anymore. It makes me worry about how she’s feeling right now. Fuck, I hate you two right now.”

“Hey now,” I said. “This was not what we planned. This is why I didn’t want you to become involved.”

“Look,” Matt responded, “I just want what’s best for my little sister and for our band. If this drama between you two fucks that up I’ll kick your asses.”

“Jesus, Shaz. We know, OK? Now just leave us to our misery while we wait for your sister to make up her mind,” Syn said.

I nodded. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long, either.

-0-

Olivia

When Zack left I sank to the ground, unable to will myself to move to a chair or the couch. I couldn’t believe what was happening to m. All my life, guys hardly paid any attention to me and now, two incredibly amazing, sexy guys were fighting for my affection.

Earlier today I would have jumped into Brian’s arms and rode off into the sunset if he had shown up at my door like her did, but Zack changed that. My afternoon with him was amazing. He was just so easy to be around, he made me laugh, and he knew me so well. At first I thought he had just come to show me that he wanted to be friends still, but that kiss… Wow. I can’t even explain how amazing that kiss was. It was nothing like any kiss I had ever had, not even the ones I shared with Brian. That thought surprised me. All this time I thought Brian was the one for me, but thinking about Zack’s kiss alone was making me doubt that.

Comparing the two guys was hard for me because I truly did care about them both. I knew where I stood with Zack better, though. He was my friend first, we knew everything about each other, and we always enjoyed each other’s company, regardless of the circumstances. I knew exactly how he felt about me, and that he would do anything for me. I wondered what it would have been like if we had been able to take that kiss further…

But with Brian there was a mystery. I didn’t know what he would be like as a boyfriend. I’d never seen him with anyone seriously before. Part of me was entranced by this, thinking that I could be the one to make him settle down, but I knew that wasn’t the most practical thought in the world. There was a passion I cannot deny with Brian, but at this point I wasn’t sure if there would be anything more than that.

I needed to decide what I truly wanted. Did I want to be with the guy who was my friend, who was always good to me? I was just unsure of our passion; though the kiss we shared was amazing, would there be anything beyond this? Or, did I want to be with the guy I had dreamt of for so long, that I experienced amazing passion with? What was more important?

Deep down I think I knew what I wanted. But, I didn’t know if I was ready to make the decision. I also didn’t want to hurt anybody. And I didn’t want to have any regrets. Nothing would be worse than wondering ‘what if’ all of the time. I needed to take the night to sleep on it, mull over if I was certain about what I should do.

I got up off of the floor then and headed to my room. I would wake up refreshed and ready to make my move. I think...

Notes

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