Nora

I sit at the breakfast bar, picking at my Froot Loops that have begun to grow soggy. I use my spoon to coax them into a circle, slowly swirling the milk. I drop the spoon, allowing it to cling against the glass bowl and sigh.

“What’s up?” Zack asks, caressing my back as he walks by me and to the other side of the bar. I glance up at him and watch as he opens the cabinets. “I keep forgetting most of the dishes are packed,” he says, opening the dishwasher and pulling out a glass.

I don’t answer him, and he takes notice as he pulls the orange juice out of the refrigerator. He sets his glass down in front of me and opens the orange juice, eyeing me.

“Babe,” he presses. “What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. Just tired.”

“That lie never has been believable, you know?” He says, taking a sip from his glass.

I nibble at my lip. “Do you…do you think we’re moving too fast?”

Zack shrugs. “The house is ready, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s too fast at all.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t mean moving as in the house, I meant –”

“I know what you mean,” Zack tells me, smiling. “I don’t think we’re moving too fast. Do you?”

“No,” I answer quickly and then add, “Well…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Zack asks, raising his brow. I look away from him and back down to my froot loops. “Nora?”

“Three weeks ago we were engaged to separate people. My wedding was supposed to be tomorrow…”

“We were engaged to the wrong people,” Zack tells me. “You were engaged to a man that nearly killed you and as much as I wanted to…I didn’t love Gena the way that I wanted to.”

“I know that but…” I trail off. “We literally walked out of our relationships and straight into this one. We’ve been together less than a month and we’re already living together and moving to a different city.”

“We’re moving to a different city to protect you from Liam,” Zack says.

I shake my head. “No, that’s the reason why I’m moving.”

Zack stares at me for a moment. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I ask.

Zack shrugs. “If you think we’re moving too fast then we can put everything on hold. I’ll stay in Huntington Beach.”

“Zack –” I start but he interrupts me.

“You know, I just don’t understand where this is coming from. Everything has been fine in the last two weeks – perfect, actually. Or at least I thought it was.”

I sigh, sliding off the stool. “Oh, Zack, it has been. That’s not what I meant,” I tell him, tossing my soggy cereal into the trash before placing the bowl in the sink.

“So, what, things have been too good?” Zack asks, turning to face me. He leans against the counter.

I look at him, allowing my shoulders to drop. “Yes,” I reply. “Haven’t you ever heard the saying ‘too good to be true?’”

“Nora,” Zack starts, “What is going on?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m just…worried that we’re moving too fast. I’m worried it’ll cause us to break up.”

Zack shakes his head. “Nora, stop worrying.”

“It’s not that simple,” I mumble.

Zack runs his hand through his hair. “Tell me what you want me to say.”

I don’t have an answer for him and I don’t want to tell him that I don’t have an answer for him. “Can we just…drop it, please?”

Zack opens his mouth to reply, but before he can the doorbell rings. Zack drops his gaze. “I’ll get it,” he tells me before walking away. He’s halfway to the door when the doorbell rings again and then it’s immediately followed by knocking. “I’m coming,” he says loudly, “fuck.”

I step into the living room, watching Zack as he makes his way to the door and opens it. “Who is it?” I ask.

At the same time, Zack says, “What the fuck?”

This catches my curiosity and I walk deeper into the room. My heart sinks and I feel my feet take several steps back as my eyes land upon Liam. He’s standing there, smiling as he looks past Zack and directly at me.

“There’s my girl,” he says.

Zack sighs, stepping to the side, blocking his view. “What are you doing here, dude?”

“Nora wanted me to stop by. Didn’t you, baby?”

I feel my breath catch in my throat and force myself to approach the door. Even after the several steps, I still stand a few feet behind Zack and peer over his shoulder. “What are you doing here, Liam?”

“You asked me to come by, remember?” He grins.

“No, Liam,” I stress. “I don’t remember.”

I hear Zack sigh and he turns to me. “There’s a moving van outside.”

I take another step forward and Zack reaches for me. I take his hand, allowing him to pull me into his side. “Why didn’t you just let the movers do their job, Liam?”

“You asked me for your stuff and I brought you your stuff. What’s the problem?” He asks.

“Whatever, dude. Just leave it on the porch,” Zack says, closing the door. Before he can close it all the way, though, Liam catches it with his hand and I look up at Zack as he opens it, pissed off. “Dude, I’m not in the mood to deal with you right now.”

Liam ignores him. “Stella, can I talk to you?”

“Her name is Nora,” Zack says.

Again, Liam ignores him. “Privately, please.”

“Nora, you don’t have to.”

I stare at Liam but focus on the heat from Zack's touch. “Fine,” I tell him.

Zack looks down at me. “Babe…”

I shake my head. “I’ll be fine.”

Zack stares at me for a long time and then glares at Liam. “Fine,” he says stiffly. “But I’ll be right inside if you need me.”

“Okay,” I tell him. He leans down and kisses me, then disappears inside.

I fold my arms over my chest and Liam sticks his hands into his pockets. It’s silent for a moment, but then Liam finally speaks. “It’s hard for me to see you with someone else.”

I chew on the inside of my cheek and look down at the ground. “What do you want, Liam?”

He answers immediately; quietly. “You.”

I scoff. “Liam, I don’t have time for this.”

“Just come home. Stella, I miss you so much. I can’t eat or sleep – my stomach is in knots. All I want is for you to come home. I’ll do anything.” Liam reaches for me but I pull away.

“You should go,” I tell him.

“No,” he says. “Not until you agree to come with me. Come on, leave this loser and this life. I mean, what the fuck are you even wearing? This isn’t you. I was able to tell everyone the wedding was postponed, but if you don’t come home soon, they’re going to think it’s canceled.”

I look up from my clothes – a pair of leggings and one of Zack's tanks. “The wedding is canceled, Liam! It was canceled the moment you tried to kill me because you thought something was going on between me and Zack!”

“Well, obviously I was right since you’re fucking him now,” Liam shoots.

“I’m not doing this with you, Liam,” I say. “Please leave.”

Liam shakes his head. “Not without you.”

“I’m with Zack now. I’m happy here – I don’t want to go back to living a life I never wanted, back to getting hit just for breathing.”

“I’m sorry. I know I made mistakes before but I’m working on them, I swear. I love you. I love you more than I have loved anyone in my entire life. I’ll do anything to prove that to you. Please, just give me another chance.”

“God, I have given you a million chances, Liam,” I tell him, rubbing my face.

Suddenly, my hand is ripped from my face and is replaced with a set of lips. Liam holds me against him but I’m able to slap him hard enough to make him pull away.

“Zack!” I call loudly.

Liam has recovered and is reaching for me, his face twisted in anger when the door swings open. Zack doesn’t ask questions, he doesn’t hesitate and his fist lands in the center of Liam's face.

“Go inside,” he tells me. “Call the cops.”

“Yeah, call the cops, so I can tell them how you just punched me in the fucking face!” Liam yells.

“Shut up,” Zack tells him. “God, I am too fucking old for this shit.”

“Liam, just leave,” I urge.

Liam stares at me and then glances at Zack. “Fuck you. You both deserve each other. You know, I could have made you so god damn happy, Stella.”

“Dude, just go,” Zack says. “Seriously, or I’m going to call the cops.”

“I still have her shit in the truck,” Liam says, pissed but defeated.

“Fucking take it, I don’t give a shit. I never wanted you to deliver it anyway – I hired movers!”

“What the fuck ever,” he mumbles.

“I’m going inside,” I tell Zack and before either guy could reply, I walk in and shut the door behind me. A minute later, Zack follows me in and leans against the door nonchalantly. I can feel his gaze on me but I stare down at my fingernails instead.

I wonder if I should pick up the conversation we were having before Liam showed up or start by apologizing for Liam showing up. Before I can decide which conversation, I want to have first, Zack speaks up.

“I want to marry you.”

His words catch me off guard. “What?” I ask.

“I want to marry you,” he tells me again. He’s calm as if he’s talking about the weather outside. “I want to marry you and…I’m not worried about it being too soon at all. You say we’ve only been together for a few weeks but, to me, it’s like we picked up right where we left off years ago. I can’t imagine waking up tomorrow morning and not having you there.”

“Zack…”

“Let me finish,” he says, approaching me. “Not only do I want to be your husband, but I want to have kids with you. I want to go on vacations with you, I want to bring our family on tour. I want to get into arguments and have really hot makeup sex…” he smiles as I giggle. “We’re not moving too fast, Nora. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. We had so much time stolen from us, I don’t want to waste another second, do you?”

Notes

Sorry for the late update guys, but i do have two parts written for you and chapter 20 (the final chapter) will be posted right after this one. Thank you so much for reading!

Thank you kimmie and BeccaBearSc for commenting on the last chapter.

Title credit: Secondhand Serenade “Fall for You”