“You have to stop!”

I’m sitting behind Zack on his motorcycle; my wedding dress is hiked up, exposing most of my legs, and is scrunched up, sandwiched between us. The wind whips at my legs harshly, but I can only think about the helmet wrapped around my head. I’m not sure if I need to pass out or get sick, but I know this helmet needs to come off now.

“Zack, seriously, pull over,” I tell him.

He glances over his shoulder and I’m not sure if he’s checking on traffic or me but before he can say anything, I’m trying to tug the helmet off my head with one hand before it suffocates me.

“Hold on,” I hear Zack say, but I keep tugging. Zack swerves in between two cars that honk angrily at him before pulling over to the side of the road.

I jump off the motorcycle before it even comes to a complete stop, losing my balance and falling to the ground.

“God damn it, Sheridan, I said, hold on!” Zack yells, turning off the bike and sliding off.

I’m only half listening as I tear the helmet off, take a gasp for air and then immediately vomit.

“Jesus Christ, are you okay?”

Between my heaves, I hear a thud followed by footsteps towards me. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and then instinctively move to wipe my hand on the back of my jeans until I remember what I'm wearing and stop.

My cheeks are wet with tears but I'm not sure when I even started crying. Zack notices how distressed I am and disappears for a moment. After a second, he’s back and pulling me to my feet. He has a cloth in his hand and he gently rubs the back of my hand with it, cleaning it.

“Any chance this is just the stomach virus Noah has?” he half-jokes.

“God, Zack. What are we doing here? What am I doing here?” I glance up at Zack who is pursing his lips but he slowly beings to smile.

“Well,” he says, “we’re attempting to pull off this whole runaway bride thing.”

“Also, who brings a motorcycle to pull that stunt off?” I ask, glancing over to the bike and noticing Zack's helmet on the ground. “I’m in a wedding dress that cost thousands of dollars – I don’t want to be on a motorcycle.”

Zack is chuckling. “I’m sorry – I was only thinking about getting to you before it was too late. I didn’t think about what we would do if you actually agreed to come with me.”

I back away and run my hands through my hair. “God, what did I do? What did I do? I just left – my, my friends, my stuff…I don’t have any money or…or my phone. I just left – I just left him standing there in front of everyone and I…”

Zack grips each of my arms gently. “Sheridan, I…I can take you back if you want me to.”

“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “No, no…God, no. I’m sorry.” I pull him into a hug, allowing my head to rest on his chest as my arms wrap around his torso. Zack wraps his arms around me too and I feel him rest his chin on my head. “I love you so much, Zack. I don’t want you thinking I’m regretting any of this – I don’t. I just feel…guilty. I…I love him, too – I hate how I ended things with him. He didn’t deserve that. I should have…I should have ended things with him earlier.”

“I understand. Tell me what you need, how can I help?” Zack asks, still embracing me. “I can call Matt, have him come get us.”

“No, I don’t want Noah to have to get out. I’m not…I’m not ready to talk to him about what happened.”

“Okay,” Zack smiles, pulling away from me. “Well, can we get off the side of the highway before we see #runawaybride trending on twitter?”

I laugh, nodding and Zack kisses me on my forehead. “Let's go home,” I tell him.

---

The rest of the ride home is uneventful – I keep my arms wrapped securely around Zack’s waist and rest my head on his back. Every once in a while, I feel Zack's hand gently caress mine. I begin to feel nervous once we pull into Zack's house. He pulls into the garage and, this time, I wait for him to turn off the bike before I get off.

“I just want to brush my teeth…” I say.

Zack leads me to the door. “After I check on Noah, I’ll go to the store and get you whatever you need. Just make me a list.”

“Thank you,” I say, grabbing his hand with both of mine, causing him to turn to me. “I want to kiss you so bad right now, but my mouth feels so gross.”

Zack smiles. “Raincheck, then.”

We walk into the house and Meatball runs to greet us. Zack rubs him behind the ears, greeting him quietly and before he’s done, Matt walks into the room.

“Holy shit, you actually got her to come back with you,” Matt says, astonished.

“Dude,” Zack says as I smile, laughing quietly.

Matt looks at me. “Wow, Sheridan, you look beautiful.”

I smile, looking down at my dress. “Thank you. Um…I’m going to go see Noah.”

Matt nods. “He’s asleep in the living room. He woke up a little while ago – I got him to drink some Pedialyte and he ate some chicken noodle soup. He’s held it down fine.”

“Thank you, Matt,” I smile before walking out of the room.

“It was a rough drive back,” I hear Zack explain as I walk off. “She’s having a hard time, but she knows she’s making the right decision.”

I walk into the living room and spot Noah sleeping soundlessly on the couch. Meatball has returned to the living room and is now cuddled up to his young friend. As I approach, meatball moves his head so it’s now laying on Noah’s legs and watches me. I pat his head, showing him that I mean Noah no harm and approach my sleeping son. I allow my fingers to gently brush Noah’s dark hair away from his forehead before sitting in the chair next to him.

I don’t know how long I stare at Noah, half watching him and half thinking about the pain I’ve caused Tobias, before Zack walks into the room. Matt hovers in the doorway silently.

“I’m going to head to the store,” Zack tells me quietly, looking down at Noah. “Did you make a list?”

I shake my head. “No, I…I forgot, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Zack replies, “I can figure it out.” He bends down in front of Noah and kisses him gently on the forehead. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he assures me, kissing me on the top of my head and then disappears into the next room with Matt following behind him.

I wonder what Zack is thinking through all of this. I wonder if, underneath the surface, if he’s annoyed with the fact that I’m not jumping around in happiness like the runaway brides in the movies. I wonder if, deep down, he thinks he made a mistake in interrupting my life with Tobias. I don’t want him to feel guilty or second-guess anything that’s happened in the last couple of hours. I want him to know that I am happy that we’re together, that I love him more now than ever.

I don’t want him to know how scared I am. I don’t want him to know that the thought of him leaving me, or me leaving him, is absolutely soul crushing. They say the third time is the charm, could that possibly be the case here?

Noah begins to stir and his eyes flutter open moments later. He looks around the room before finding me. ”Momma?”

“Hey buddy,” I smile, “how are you feeling?”

He stretches. “I feel okay. Did I miss your wedding? Who carried the rings?”

“No, hunny. You didn’t miss the wedding.”

Noah scrunches up his eyebrows. “But you’re all dressed up in your pretty dress. Is it about to start? I can do it, I feel okay!” He starts to get up but I stop him.

“We can talk about it tomorrow, okay?” I say. “Are you hungry?”

Noah shakes his head. “Where’s dad?”

“Zack went to the store for a minute, but he should be back very soon,” I tell him.

Noah shakes his head again. “No, not that dad.”

I purse my lips, unsure of what to say. How do I explain that we’re not going back home? How do I explain that Tobias is probably surrounded by his loved ones that are insisting that I’m an awful woman?

“He’s…he’s probably at home with your grandma and Aunt Angelina. We’re going to call him tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Noah yawns. “Mom, will you turn on a movie?”

I nod, reaching for Zack's remote and turning on Netflix. I choose the first movie I see and it begins to play. Noah snuggles back down into the couch and I fall back into my thought.

Scenes of the movie flash by but I'm not paying any attention. I’m so out of it that I never hear Zack motorcycle or him coming into the door. I don’t know he’s in the house at all until he’s standing in front of me, showing me his phone.

“Babe, you’re calling me.”

I look at him confused before grabbing the phone and answering the call. “Hello?”

“I figured I’d find you with him.”

“Brooke, hey…”

“Hey yourself,” she replies. “You really waited until the last minute, didn’t you?”

I sigh into the phone and glance over at Noah who is sleeping again. I stand up, caressing Zacks arm as I walk by him and head towards the kitchen. “Brooke, it’s complicated.”

“I know that,” she says. “I know all about your history with Zack, I get why you chose him. I’m not mad…it’s just…Tobias is my best friend too. I hate seeing him hurt like this.”

“I do too, trust me. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine for me either. Have you…have you talked to him?” I ask her quietly.

“No,” she replies. “I called him to ask if he needed me to bring anything by since I was bringing your belongings over anyway. He just said he wanted to be alone.”

“Oh,” I say. “Yeah, I…I understand. I’m going to try calling him tomorrow.”

“Sheridan, maybe you should give him some time,” Brooke tells me. “I’ll try to talk to him when I go over there.”

I run my hand through my hair. The hairspray has given up and my hair starts to fall into my face. “I, I know but…I have a five-year-old asking where his dad is. Noah doesn’t understand, and he has gone through…so much in the last few weeks. His life has been turned upside down already and…I don’t want to do that to him again.”

Brooke hesitates before replying. “It’s kind of too late for that.”

“I know,” I reply, feeling the burning in my eyes. “I have to go but I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sheridan –”

I shake my head. “No, it’s fine, Brooke. I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up before she can say anything else and just stand there in the darkened room, trying not to cry.

“I carried Noah up to his room, he stirred for a minute but fell back asleep,” Zack tells me quietly

“Okay,” I say with my back still to the door.

“I, uh, I got you a toothbrush. I didn’t know what shampoo and stuff that you used, so I asked the lady there and she told me what to buy. Um…I figured you could just wear something of mine to bed and Matt is going to bring over some of Val’s clothes in the morning. You can wear those until we go get your stuff.”

“Thank you, Zack. Seriously, you’ve been…awesome.”

I hear Zack's footsteps as he approaches me. I feel the heat of his hand on my shoulder, his other arm snakes around my waist and his hand rests on my stomach. “Hey, I love you so much. I hate how much you’re hurting right now.”

I turn in his arms and smile up at him. “I love you too. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay,” Zack says. “I’ll show you to the bathroom.”

Zack takes my hand and leads me upstairs and into a room that turned out to be his bedroom. The walls are painted a deep green and there’s art on the walls as well as photos of him and his family.

“You’ve really gotten the hang of this whole decorating thing, haven’t you?” I ask him, looking at a photo of him and Jimmy. “This is a great picture.”

Zack smiles beside me. “Yeah, it’s one of my favourites. I also, really, really adore this one.” Zack picks up a photo sitting on his dresser and shows it to me. It’s a photo from Noah’s birthday party. Noah is standing in between Mickey Mouse and Zack, with a smile so big it barely fits in the frame.

“He was so happy…you both were,” I say.

“We still are,” Zack assures me.

I give him a weak smile. “Good.”

“Well, the bathroom is through that door. You can wear anything you’d like…I forgot the toothbrush and stuff downstairs, so I’m going to go grab that, okay?”

“Okay,” I tell him.

Zack kisses my cheek and heads out of the room and I enter the bathroom. I begin to pull the bobby pins out of my hair and my engagement ring catches my eye in the light. I moved it over to my right hand to make room for my wedding band. I take a deep breath, slowly sliding it off of my finger and allowing it to rest on the counter.

“Here you go,” Zack says, setting the bag on the counter. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Zack walks out of the bathroom and for a second, I allow him to, but then I follow him out. “Zack,” I call.

He turns around, “Yeah, babe?”

“Um…I need…I need your help. The buttons…this dress wasn’t made to be taken off by just one person,” I tell him.

“Oh,” Zack says, smiling. He walks back to me and I turn, gathering my mess of blond hair and holding it up, exposing the tiny buttons that trail down my spine.

Zack’s fingers flutter slowly down my back, and one by one I feel each button pop free and the dress become a little looser. “Okay,” Zack whispers. I feel his lips on my back. “You’re all done.”

“Thank you,” I tell him, allowing my hair to fall down my back before heading into the bathroom.

The hot water feels great on my skin. I brush my teeth in the shower, allowing the hot water to comfort me. I stay in the shower until the hot water runs cold and then get out, wrapping a towel around my chest and wrapping my hair up, too.

The bedroom is empty when I walk in. I head to the closet in search of clothes and pull out one of Zack's long-sleeved dress shirts. As I’m buttoning it, Zack walks in, pulling his shirt off.

“I used all the hot water,” I tell him.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Zack replies. “Do you feel better?”

I nod. “I feel…so much better.”

“Good,” Zack says, closing the space between us. I smile at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Zack pulls me into him even more and we kiss, slowly. I feel a sense of electricity run through my veins and pull away.

“Thank you,” I murmur against his lips.

“For what?” Zack chuckles, “The kiss?”

“No,” I laugh, “For coming today – for making me realize I was making the wrong move.”

Zack smiles. “For a moment there, I didn’t think you were going to come with me. I saw you up there with him and I just…I don’t know what I would have done if you married him.”

I kiss him again. “Mm, so you love me, huh?”

Zack pulls away from me and sits on the edge of the bed. He reaches for my hand, pulling me in between his legs. His hand rests on my waist as he looks up at me. “I hate that I waited so long to tell you…I know that we have a lot to figure out and that so much has changed since we first started this, us but…I’ll never give up on us.”

I crawl onto his lap, straddling him. “Neither will I,” I promise.

We begin kissing again. My hands explore Zack's bare shoulders and his find the buttons on the shirt I'm wearing. He doesn’t unbutton them, they just rest there, gently holding on to the fabric. I allow my hands to find his, and I slowly undo the first button.

Zack unbuttons the next button and the neck of the shirt widens, causing it to slide slightly off my shoulder. He presses his lips against my flesh and I run my hands through his thick hair. His lips leave small, invisible impressions on my shoulder, collarbone, and neck. My fingers find the next button on my shirt…

“Momma, I’m scared…”

Zack nearly pushes me off into the floor. “Shit, sorry,” he mumbles.

I find myself holding back a laugh before looking over to Noah who is rubbing his eyes, clutching his Mickey Mouse plush. “Go back to bed, baby. I’ll be in there in a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” he says, reluctantly walking away.

“Do you think he saw us?” Zack asks.

I shake my head, crawling off him and buttoning the shirt. “No.”

“And stuff like that really happens? Kids really interrupt their parents right as things are getting…cozy?” Zack asks.

I laugh. “All the time. Welcome to parenthood.” I look around the room, “I need some pajama bottoms.”

“Uh, middle drawer,” Zack tells me, pointing. I open the drawer and pull out the first pair of pants I see, sliding them on.

“Mom!!!” I hear Noah yell from down the hall.

“I’m coming right now, baby,” I call back and then turn back to Zack. “I better sleep with him tonight. His first night in a new house…he’s probably just a little creeped out.”

“Okay,” Zack tells me, standing up. He pulls me closer to him and kisses me. “Goodnight. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I reply.

Notes

Hey guys! Long time to see! sorry for the delay, I've been spending my time with loved ones for the holidays! I hope everyone had a good new year! Thank you so much for reading! Don't forget to comment, recommend and subscribe!

Title credit: Just Surrender “Our Work of Art”