Unconditionally

Zack sat the plate of alfredo on the counter in front of her. He wouldn’t admit it, but it was easy and he wasn’t that great of a cook. He used the excuse of being Italian to charm her with his ability to cook easy things like pasta. Some noodles and a jar of sauce. Simple.

“That looks great.” She smiled.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” he chuckled. “You beat me. You don’t have to compliment my food.”

She laughed a bit. “I did beat you. Fair and square.”

Zack shook his head. “You had it planned, loser.” he stated, sitting down across from her with his own plate.

She cleared her throat a bit. “You forgot the drinks.” she stated sitting up a bit.

He sighed, sitting his fork back down onto the counter beside his plate. “Damnit.”

She raised her hands. “I’ll get it. Don’t worry about it.” she grinned. “After all, you did slave for this devine meal we’re about to eat.”

Zack tossed a towel at her. “Shut up.” He laughed a bit. “You’re mean as hell.”

She sat the glasses down onto the island where they were sitting, swiftly turning and getting something from the fridge, before turning back around presenting a bottle of wine to him. “Wine, Mr. Baker?” she asked in a british accent.

He laughed with a nod. “You’re insane.” he said, pushing his glass closer to her for her to pour him some.

She looked at him with raised brows, pouring his wine. “You’re the one that is best friends with an insane person, Baker.” She smiled widely, as she sat back down in her seat.

Zack nodded. “That is true.” he admitted. “Maybe I’m the insane one here.” He laughed.

She took a sip of her wine, sitting it back down. “What do you want to do tonight?” she asked in hopes that he would come up with something more fun than sitting at the house and watching movies. Although she loved just spending time with him.

He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me.” he stated. “We can do whatever you want to do.” he took a bit of his food, looking back over at her. “We haven’t hung out in a while and I know you have to have something you want to do with me.”

If fact there was something that she wanted to do with him. Something she couldn’t say or actually act on. She loved him and she was trying her best to show him that. It was frustrating. He was pushing her away and part of her wanted to just grab him and kiss his lips, and make him see that she wasn’t like the others and that she could love him and care for him, but she didn’t want things to be weird between the two of them.

“We can just chill here.” she said, taking a bit of her food. “It’s not that big of a deal. We’ve already had quite a bit of fun already.”

Zack nodded. “Do you have popcorn?” he asked. “Like kettle corn, not that bigged shit you put in the microwave.”

She looked at him with a strange look as to why he would ask such a question. “Yes, Why?” she said before taking a sip of her wine.

He smiled. “I can’t watch a movie without popcorn.” he stated.

She smiled. “Who can? That’s what popcorn was made for.” she leaned over the counter a little. “Oh, and for the record, I don’t like that microwaved shit either.”

Zack rolled his eyes. “You mean there’s someone like me in the world that would rather have it popped on the stove with real better than to hurry and pop it in that brown bag special that burns the hell out of it? What a surprise.”

The both laughed.

“We have more in common than you think, Baker.” she said, sitting her wine glass back down.

He moved his fork around in his plate a bit before looking up at her. “Is that so?” He asked, as he let out a small sigh.

She grinned shyly, dropping her head back down. The room fell silent. Then… “Can I tell you something, Baker?” A knot grew in her stomach. She was about to tell him something that he didn’t know about her. It was nothing that she did, but it was something she kept from him and feared that he would be upset.

“Sure. You can always tell me anything.” He sat his fork down, listening attentively.

Charlotte shifted on her stool, moving closer as she nervously cleared her throat, before breathing out sharply. “Before I met you, I was with a guy that abused me.” she admitted. “He was controlling and he would tell me where I could and couldn’t go and who I could and couldn’t hang out with. It was.. It was horrible.”

Zack stayed silent for a moment, before leaning over the island a little. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he asked. “I would have kicked his ass.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.” she stated. “I didn’t want you getting into trouble.”

Zack shook his head. “I don’t give a shit, Charlotte. He hit you. That’s not cool!” he yelled.

Charlotte stood up, moving around the island toward him. She could clearly see this was upsetting him. “Zack.” she started.

“No.” he said, turning toward her, standing. “There’s no excuse or explanation for what he did.” he spat. “I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me before now.” He looked down at her.

She couldn’t get over how cute it was that he was upset that her ex had abused her. She tried not to smile when she asked her next question. Zack’s blood was boiling. “Why are you being so protective of me anyway?”

He raised his voice. “Because I lo…” he stopped himself from letting that word pass through his lips, and lowered his tone in the process. “I like you.” he finished.

Charlotte’s heart fell. She loved Zack. She wanted so much to show him how much she could love him and how worthy he was of being loved.

She nodded with a forced smile. “Well it’s alright now. He’s out of my life and we don’t have to talk about him anymore.”

Zack shook his head. “No, It’s not alright.” he said, pulling her into a hug. “You didn’t deserve that, and I promise that as long as I’m in your life you won’t have to worry about anyone hurting you ever again.”

Charlotte smiled against his chest, before looking up at him. “I promise you won’t have to worry about being hurt either.” she said with a grin. She loved how close she was to him.

Zack looked at her as she smiled up at him. Her eyes were digging into his soul like a knife. Then it happened. Before he knew what happened, he was kissing her.

Notes

This is kind of a short filler chapter, but I couldn't keep it from you guys any longer. I really hope you guys enjoy where this is going. They're not out of the woods yet. That much I will share. There's so much more to come for these two. Let me know what you think.