A Million Reasons | K. Danvers ✔

[35] Much Awaited Moment

• April 18, 2017 (A Day After Olympics Selection) •

Kara couldn't wait for Ava and Zach to come back so that she could get to know whether he had gotten selected or not. So when Ava texted her that they had returned, she wrapped up all her work and went to their house immediately.

Ava opened the door to let Kara in but she didn't look as excited as Kara had expected her to. Morena wasn't at home and Jonah was at work too so the house was really silent. There was no sign of Zach either.

"Hey, what happened?" She asked, concern flickering in her eyes, "did Zach make it?"

Aviana let out a weary sigh and seeing her as such made Kara's heart sink. It surely meant that Zach hadn't been able to make it through the selection despite all the effort and extensive training.

"Ava come on, tell me."

"Well..." But she had left the sentence deliberately incomplete, a sympathetic look in her eyes, "Kara, we tried our best but..."

"Oh," the pause and the prolonged silence confirmed Kara's suspicions, "oh no."

Since she knew Zach had set his heart upon it, so it was no wonder that he would be very dejected. And thinking of him being sad and dejected cut through her heart.

"Where's Zach?"

"In his room."

She paused, not knowing what to say but her concern got the better of her. "How's he taking it?"

Ava shook her head in disappointment, "you can go check up on him yourself. Really, you should go. He's locked himself up in his room but maybe he'll let you in."

Kara had gotten very worried to hear that. She dashed up the stairs to Zach's room in order to make him unlock his door or break it open if he didn't.

However, there was no need for that as the door wasn't locked and slid open with a brief push. Kara stepped in cautiously, looking around for Zach.

She found him sitting on the edge of his bed with his head held in his hands. He looked extremely dejected and seeing such an optimistic and cheerful person like him be so disappointed made her feel terrible.

"Zach?" She called out softly as she approached him, her hand reaching out to touch him but stopped midway.

She wanted to hug him and comfort him but felt a barrier between them. They had been good friends but it was quite clear that both of them felt something much more than friendship.

And right then those feelings were coming in between and making her nervous.

He hadn't looked up nor had he replied and that made her even more anxious. Overcoming the barrier forcefully, she gently rested her hand on his head, fingers running through his hair as if to wake him up.

"Hey, so what if you didn't get selected?" She didn't want to say anything that would hurt him but at the same time, she wanted to reassure him without giving him any false hopes, "you gave it your hundred percent and that's all that matters. You tried so hard and gave your best so it's definitely not your fault that you didn't make it."

She felt him take in a deep breath as if trying to calm himself down. Kara could see that he was unstable and needed comfort so without even thinking twice, she had knelt down in front of him, her hands cupping his face.

He was still holding his head as if it was throbbing but when she gently held his face, his grip loosened.

"Come on, there must be something way better than this in store for you as a reward of all your effort and hard work. Besides, you're the one who finds the silver lining in every grey cloud, why are you giving up now? That's so not you."