Limelight

Alonzo and Zeke: Answer

(First month of the year is almost over and I've successfully uploaded 2 one-shots!)

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Diaz and Zeke still hadn't spoken since the fight a couple of days ago. Fritz was conflicted. Hazen was disappointed. Zach was, understandably, kind of scared. Zephyr and Roz were just waiting to see what would happen. But Alonzo... Alonzo was curious. And, for once, he was mad. Whatever Zeke's problem was with Zach, it definitely didn't justify punching him, and Alonzo wanted some answers.

He made an excuse to his friends and tracked him down one day at the start of their lunch period, but as soon as he mentioned Zach, Zeke suddenly didn't want to talk.

"Look, Al, I got nothing against you. You don't have to get involved."

Al let out a short, humourless laugh, "Dude. You punched my best friend in the face for kissing his boyfriend. I'm getting involved."

For a moment, he thought he saw Zeke grimace when he said the word 'boyfriend'. And he probably did.

"Alright, I'm sorry that got physical, but can you blame me for being mad? I told Dee it wasn't worth it. It's not that I think Zach's a bad person, OK? Maybe he could actually make a good boyfriend to someone else, I just don't think he's good for Diaz."

Alonzo paused. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. And paused again.

Proceed with caution.

"Do you... like Dia-"

"No, I don't like Diaz, Al," Zeke stated with a roll of his eyes, "I have a girlfriend, remember?"

Another pause.

"... And you're not just mad about Zach stealing your best frien-"

"This is not a jealousy thing, Al."

"Alright. Just checking," he raised his hands in surrender and Zeke huffed, more than a little irritated, "So, why don't you want them dating?"

Now, Zeke paused, looking at Al as though the answer should be obvious by this point.

"You know Diaz isn't out to his parents, right?"

Al frowned, "Yeah, so?"

"'So'? So, you know Zach better than anybody else! Can you honestly tell me he'll actually keep his mouth shut? You think he's gonna keep his hands off Dee in public?"

"He has so far."

"They were making out in the street!" Zeke raised his voice. Only slightly, he wasn't going to risk anyone hearing.

Al matched his volume, "They were hiding down an alley!"

"Anyone could've seen them! I did," Zeke said with a little too much certainty for Alonzo's taste, "It's gonna get back to his mom and dad sooner or later."

Al just stared at him.

"Is that seriously it? You think Zach's gonna out him?"

Did he really think so little of him?

"Am I wrong?" That cockiness was not a good look for Zeke. Not like Al had thought before.

Zeke was right about one thing; Alonzo knew Zach best. Not many people ever seemed to try and get to know Zach. There was more to him than just being a flirt.

"Yeah," Al nodded, "You are so wrong."

"But-"

"You know who else has a homophobic parent? Me." He may not talk about his dad to many people, but that was one thing almost every zombie their age knew, "I didn't come out until after the divorce 'cause I knew I'd be safer when I was out of my dad's house for good. And Zach kept quiet that whole time," Zeke looked like he had something to say but Al didn't so much as stop to breath, "Not just about me, he didn't come out either 'cause he thought it could, like, expose me or something 'cause we hung out," he paused then but Zeke stayed silent, thoughtful, even. Al sighed, "He knows he's one of the lucky ones, Zeke. He knows what the rest of us have to deal with. And he really likes Diaz, he wouldn't take such a huge risk just to show off!"

"... I was just trying to look out for him."

"You don't need to! And you don't need to take it out on Zach. He didn't do anything wrong," he waited for Zeke to respond but he didn't. He wouldn't even meet Alonzo's eyes, "I know you're normally right when you call somebody out, but not this time. You can trust Zach, I can vouch for him."

It seemed like he finally broke through and Zeke sighed in acceptance, "OK. I'll give him a chance."

"A chance?"

"Yeah. Like I would give anybody who dated one of my friends. Any guy who wants to go out with Diaz better treat him right."

Alonzo nodded, "OK, that's fair, I guess... I think you should, like, actually talk to Zach, too, though. You owe him an apology."

Zeke cringed, "Yeah. That's probably a good idea."