Zachary

When I wake, the bed is empty beside me. I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling for a moment before closing my eyes again. I dig into my memory, trying to remember every detail of last night. I’m not exactly sure what came over me once we arrived. Maybe it was the fact there was no electricity, no noise other than the storm and the fact the pure darkness of the night stripped away all invulnerability anyway but last night, I knew I had to have Nora in my arms again. Maybe it wasn’t any of those things, maybe it was purely the fact that the last several days have been crazy and hectic and stressful and last night was the first time in forever that neither one of us felt any of those things.

My hand is searching the bed for her as if she’s going to magically pop out of the memory foam when I hear my bedroom door creak open. I open my eyes, raising it slightly off the pillow and smile as I see Nora walking in with a breakfast tray. She’s wearing my Zomby Vengeance University shirt, which is large on her, and nothing else. This is how I was used to seeing her. Her hair a mess, wearing some band tee – not the proper wearing-a-pencil-skirt-for-fun type of outfit.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Nora smiles. She crawls into bed with me, setting the breakfast tray up in front of her. “I made you breakfast but you don’t have many groceries so it’s just scrambled eggs, toast, and some fruit.”

“You didn’t have to make me breakfast,” I tell her, sitting up in bed.

Nora shrugs. “The only thing I made, really, were the eggs. Like I said, you didn’t have much.”

“Yeah,” I frown, “I guess I should go grocery shopping.”

Truth is, I haven’t been grocery shopping in months. Gena was always the one to take care of that sort of thing. She made sure I ate healthy and got everything I needed instead of my earlier diet of Jack Daniels and convenience store beef jerky.

“Well, I can go with you, if you’d like,” Nora tells me.

I stare at her for a second, wondering if she’s secretly able to read minds before replying. “Yeah, that would be great. I mean, if you want, anyway.”

She smiles. “It’s the least I could do. I was going to, uh, ask you for a favour anyway.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is,” I tease her, popping a grape into my mouth. “You’re just buttering me up to get what you want.” Nora laughs. She opens her mouth to say something but then closes it. I give her an odd look, waiting for her to say something else but she doesn’t. “What?” I ask her.

“Nothing,” she says, almost shyly. Almost as if she’s ashamed.

“Tell me,” I tease, but deep down I’m concerned. I’m not sure what exactly went on in this Etiquette school, but I know it changed Nora. It changed the way she dressed, the way she acted and spoke. Nora used to speak her mind about everything, and now she can’t even joke around with me without feeling weird.

“I was just going to say…that the buttering up actually started last night,” she said, smiling at the end.

I feel my lips tug into a smile and my teeth gently bite my bottom lip as I remember the taste of her skin. I was afraid she regretted last night but it seems she doesn’t. “Oh, well, then…” I lean over, pecking her cheek and then lips, “whatever you want –” I peck her lips again, “– is yours.”

“Well,” she says, picking up a grape. “I was wondering if it was okay if I stayed here for a few weeks? Just until I can find an apartment and get my things from Liam.”

I shake my head. “Nora, I told you that you could stay with me the day you left Liam.”

“I know but…”

“No, no buts. I didn’t say it to just say it. I meant it. Stay as long as you’d like,” I insist.

Nora smiles. “Thank you, Zack. I really appreciate it. I haven’t really figured out what I want to do, or where I want to go, so…”

“It’s really no problem. I enjoy the company.”

Truth is, it’s lonely here. I’ve lived with someone for as long as I could remember. When I left for tour I lived with four other guys in the back of a van or a bus. That went on for years until we made Bat Country and we were able to afford hotels. I eventually met Gena and she unofficially moved in with me when we came home from our Cities of Evil tour and officially moved in together shortly after that. I’ve lived with her ever since until she left me – a solemn text sent the day after she walked out of those days. When she left, she claimed she only needed a few days, but it turns out, she only needed a few hours. Last night, while Nora was talking to Matt and Johnny, Val took me to the side. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you, she told me as she handed me Gena’s engagement ring. She then informed me that movers would be here today to gather all of Gena’s things and Gena asked Val to accompany them, so she wouldn’t have to.

I should feel depressed, I should feel like I did the days after she left but…in a way I feel lighter. I thought Gena was the love of my life – and maybe she was, but not for my whole life. I feel lighter because, deep down, I know Nora has always been the one for me. When she was gone, when we were separated the feeling was hidden my life’s current events, my existing love life and all of the drama in between but once I thought there was even the slightest of chance that she was back – my heart went into overdrive. Whether I wanted it to or not. I was with Gena, so I had to try to smother those feelings. Once she left, the guilt for loving another woman soon left with her.

Nora lays down, stretching out on the bed beside me. Her stretch causes the shirt to crawl up her thighs, causing my heart to flutter a bit. “Any chance you’ll let me take this bed and you take the guest room?” she asks, grinning.

“Oh, not a chance,” I laugh teasingly.

“Hmm,” she says, getting to her knees. She slowly begins to crawl into my lap, moving the tray as she does so. “I guess I’ll just have to do more buttering up.”

I grin, slightly taken aback but completely satisfied with her movements. I welcome her as she straddles me, caressing her face slightly before securing it at the base of her skull. “I guess you will,” I say, pulling her into a kiss.

Notes

Thank you for reading! Sorry it's such a short and boring chapter. If I'm being honest, I'm not sure what to do next with this story. Chapter 20 is the last, so I don't have much room to add much drama or anything. I don't even know how I want this to end! So, the next chapter might be a little late but who knows, maybe an idea will pop into my head!

Title credit: Taylor Swift "King of My Heart”