Watch Your Back

.:Chapter Four:.

   "Hey, Brian! Come on in!" Zacky called cheerfully as he opened his front door, taking in the sight of his gorgeous friend, Brian. "You're a sight for sore eyes." He laughed softly, glancing over the other man's entire body; he was wearing a sleeveless zip-up hoodie which showed off his muscular, tattooed biceps, a pair of black skinny jeans that had rips in the knees and on the tops of the thighs, and he was wearing a little bit of black eyeliner around his stunning brown eyes. Brian stepped into the small, homey-looking house, glancing around at the interior design.
   "You are too, Zee." Brian chuckled, not looking at his hazel-eyed friend as he examined the bare, cream-colored walls. In the middle of the small living room, a 48-inch screen TV sat inside of a wooden entertainment center, the cabinets filled with DVDs and CDs and things like that. In front of the entertainment center, there was a dark brown coffee table that was stacked with magazines, and about two feet behind that, there was a small leather loveseat with a few decorative pillows. "Nice place, man." He mused, flopping down onto the loveseat.
   "Eh, I work with what I can afford." The hazel-eyed man shrugged, sitting next to his friend and then pulling the decorative pillows into his lap. Brian chuckled at the sight, counting six pillows in the other man's lap.
   "You got enough pillows there, Zee?" He teased, one slender brow raised upwards.
   "I have a pillow obsession, sue me." Zacky retorted with a shy giggle. He wanted to look over at Brian, but he just.. Couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact, and he didn't know why. It bothered him, and he wanted to change that so badly, but for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force himself to look over at Brian.
   "You are such a nerd!" Brian cackled, his head thrown back as his loud, booming laugh filled the room. Soon enough, the hazel-eyed man was catching the contagious laughter. This is so amazing.. I'm so glad we met. He thought as they both stopped laughing, now only giving weak, half-hearted chuckles as they wiped the tears from their eyes.
   "I'm gonna grab a beer. Do you want one?" The hazel-eyed man asked as he hopped up from the loveseat and bounded into the kitchen.
   "If you wouldn't mind, yeah." Brian replied, picking at his nails a little bit. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he cringed inwardly, knowing exactly who it was. Not now, Eli.. He thought with a scolding glance towards his still buzzing pocket. Soon enough, Zacky came back into the living room with a beer bottle in each hand, then he sat down next to Brian and handed him one. "Thanks." He smiled, popping the cap off and taking a drink.
   "No problem. So what have you been up to today, man?" The hazel-eyed man asked, taking a drink of his own beer before he placed the bottle onto the coffee table, then he rotated himself to where his feet were hanging off the arm of the loveseat and his head was in Brian's lap. The other man's cheeks bloomed a deep pink color, but he seemed to ignore that as he cleared his throat and, after a moment of internal debate, began to bravely stroke Zacky's hair.
   "Nothing, really. Got up, cleaned the house, picked up a few things at the store, then decided I wanted to see you, so I came over." He replied, letting his fingers thread through Zacky's smooth, soft hair. He played with a few strands of the purple patches, loving the way that the dyed hair felt different from his natural black color. "What about you? What did you do today?"
   "Pretty much the same as you, except for getting anything at the store.." Zacky murmured, blushing softly as he felt Brian's short, painted nails graze his scalp. "Do you have a hair fetish or something?" He teased, trying to ease the tension in the air. Is this sexual tension or just nervous tension? He thought, nibbling on one of his silver snakebites out of habit.
   "Nah, your hair is just really soft." Brian chuckled, continuing to run his fingers through the other man's hair, even going as far as to give it a few gentle tugs. "Y'know, Zee," He sighed, looking around at the walls that seemed to be devoid of any photographs. "You have some really, really bare walls. You need to hang some pictures up."
   "Well.." Zacky seemed to suddenly turn shy, picking at his nails as though he were a small child who had lost his mother. "I had some pictures up for a long time. It was me and my ex boyfriend, Eli, and.. Well, the relationship didn't end well, and I just got rid of the pictures." Brian didn't even flinch at the mention of Eli, but instead, he stroked Zacky's hair a bit harder.
   "What happened with him?" He murmured softly, gazing down at the man that had his head resting in his lap. Zacky turned his gaze away, looking at the coffee table as his hazel eyes seemed to be overcome with fear. "Zee.. It's okay.. He's not gonna hurt you." Brian placed a reassuring hand on the smaller man's chest, his brown eyes tinted with concern.
   "He.. He got abusive.. He thought I was cheating on him. He threatened me.. Told me that if I ever cheated on him or tried to leave him, he'd kill me.. And for the longest time, I believed him. He used to kick me, make me sleep on the floor, he used to shove me into walls.. It was the worst time of my life." His voice hitched a few times, obviously becoming emotional at remembering the abuse. His hazel eyes were rimmed with tears as he looked up at Brian, suddenly feeling safer than he had in years. He knew Brian wouldn't let anything happen to him. "Finally, my friend Matt basically told him that if he ever touched me again, he'd be dead meat. I haven't heard from him since."
   "Zacky.. I've had my fair share of abusive relationships. And let me tell you, I know it isn't easy to leave someone who's hurting you. You think they'll change, they promise it'll never happen again, and then you end up walking on eggshells around them just to keep from getting hurt. But believe me when I tell you this," Brian grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, a determined look filling his molten brown eyes. "I will never let anything happen to you ever again. If you're ever scared, if he ever bothers you.. I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is, I don't care what I'm doing, I want you to call me. I'll be over here faster than you can unlock the door."
   "Th-thank you so much.." Zacky gasped, his hazel eyes alight with gratefulness. Nobody besides his friend Matt had ever made him feel so secure with just a few words. "You know, it's strange.." He muttered, wiping his misty eyes with the back of his hand.
   "What's strange, Zee?" Brian tilted his head in confusion.
   "You and I just met a few months ago, and.. You treat me better than most people that I've known for years ever have." He blushed a little at these words, but he kept going. "It's like.. You know exactly what I'm feeling. It's like something just kind of drew us together, y'know? I know that sounds weird, but.. I really feel like someone sent you to me." A wide smile crossed his lips at these words. Oh, if only you knew, sweetheart.. Brian thought, but he pushed that away and returned the warm smile that Zacky had flashed at him.
   "It's because I know exactly how it is to be treated like you don't matter." He murmured, twirling a piece of Zacky's hair around his fingers. That was true, he did know how it felt to be treated like nothing. He knew that feeling all too well. "I'm really glad we're friends, Zacky. I just wish I could've met you sooner." Or under different circumstances..
   "Me too, Bri." Zacky whispered. His cheeks suddenly went aflame as he realized he had let his secret nickname for Brian slip out. Shit! Now he fucking knows!
   "Bri?" He teased in a low voice, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I can't say I've ever liked that nickname.. You make it sound pretty okay, though." Brian grinned, knowing he was being flirty now. He didn't mind, though. It's not like Zacky wasn't attractive, anyways; if he was completely honest, Brian had thought about making love with him more than a few times since they had met.
   "O-oh.." Is he flirting with me?! Zacky's thoughts screamed, his hazel eyes wide as he stared up at Brian's beautifully sculpted face. He couldn't keep his heart from fluttering at the thought of Brian leaning down and kissing him with passion, their fingers threaded in each other's hair and their hips rolling together.. He shook that thought away, sitting up on the couch and taking a huge swig of his beer.

   For the rest of the day, the two men teased each other back and forth. They flipped through the channels on TV, watched some movies, talked about their friends, and Brian even told Zacky about how he hadn't seen his parents since he was sixteen. Zacky couldn't help but feel bad for him.. He was such a sweet guy, and he deserved so much better than what life had handed him. As he was thinking of what he could do to make Brian's life better, the hazel-eyed man was hit with a more than sudden realization.

   I'm falling in love with Brian!