The Pledge

Chapter Ten

Zack’s POV

"So...um...did you hear?" Brad’s face suddenly serious and my smile dropped. Brad had no head sometimes. I turned to the very confused looking Olivia.

"Olivia could you give me a minute?" She just nodded and left and I almost smiled again. My mind couldn’t help but wander to the fact that if this was Emily she would have complained about me not trusting her and demanded to know. Olivia just realised it was important and agreed. I mean, she’ll probably ask later but I’ll worry about that then. I made sure to check out her ass as she walked out of the room. Brad cleared his throat.

"Z, seriously?" He raised an eyebrow amused. I couldn’t help but smirk.

"What? It’s not my fault that my girl has such a nice ass." Brad’s face broke into a grin and mine dropped."What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Your girl? When did that happen?" He nudged my ribs. Oh fuck.

"Shit. I didn’t mean to call her that. No, there’s nothing going on there. Slip of the tongue." I could feel my cheeks going slightly red.

"Slip of the tongue my ass. I know you, Z, you like her." He winked. "I’m glad you moved past that annoying pair of legs." He rolled his eyes. He didn’t like Emily one bit; probably because she always threw herself at him even if I was there. She’d wear skimpy outfits around him and twirl her hair and giggle at everything he said which drove Brad insane. He didn’t think it was her flirting because he didn’t find ditzy attractive. I didn’t really either and that’s exactly how she flirts with me.

"No Brad I’m sorry, the pair of legs hasn’t gone anywhere. Olivia is just a friend." Brad rolled his eyes and sighed at the same time.

"You’re an idiot but I’m not getting into this right now because I have to go soon." Brad looked worried.

"Really? Where?" I asked even though I knew his answer. I hadn’t heard but I had assumed by his face.

"The hospital." He grimaced. Brad knew I spun off the handle just as easy as dad did except he didn’t have that special touch with me like he did dad. Luckily I didn’t get angry a lot around Brad since we got on but he tried to avoid the few times I did. I gritted my teeth as I felt my heart rate increasing.

"Why? What happened?"

"Z..." He trailed off. "You’re not a child. I think you know what happened." He shook his head sadly. Without even realising I did it I scrunched my hand into a fist and punched the wall. I immediately regretted it since pain surged through it and I may have possibly twisted something but then again I’m not a doctor. Brad didn’t even look surprised by my outburst.

"What did they say? What did she say? When did it happen?" I asked quickly.

"What everyone always says." He sighed. "They said it’ll be fine and that crap and she, well, she asked for you but said to stick to usual visiting hours." I rolled my eyes at that stupid rule but I knew it was important to her. "It wasn’t much really. She just complained of being very tired so we took her in and apparently something that shouldn’t be was there and some fancy doctor bullshit." He sighed. "Anyway, I better go, are you okay here by yourself?"

"Aren’t I always?" I sighed and tried to smile but knew it was useless. Brad slapped my shoulder.

"Well I guess you’re not alone now are you?" He winked. "Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t." He picked up a gear bag by the door and walked out. I gripped my hands into my hair and closed my eyes, breathing in deeply to try and calm myself. Her face kept running through my head. I don’t know which memory was worse; the sad and slumped look she got when she surfaced or the blank one as she looked at me. I suddenly became aware of Olivia walking into the room.

"Are you okay?" She looked at me worriedly.

"You need to go." She couldn’t see me like this. No one could. Angry was one thing but angry and upset was a whole new level to me that no one needed to know what looked like. Confusion crossed over her face.

"What? But we have a project to work on. I’m not going anywhere." She crossed her arms over her chest and I couldn’t help but smile slightly. A sudden feeling took over my chest. Relief, I think but I couldn’t be certain.

"Ollie, trust me." I stepped closer to her. "You need to go." I sighed.

"I really don’t...Z." She smirked. I couldn’t help but laugh. Without real control I put my hands on her hips and kissed her. She responded immediately and wrapped her arms around my neck. I backed her up against the wall and let my hands explore her body a little not wanting to push her too far. I just needed her right now and it was working. All other thoughts were disappearing until it was only her mouth against mine. She pulled away so we could both catch our breath. "Are you sure you want me to go?" She smirked again.

"Now that you mention it..." I trailed off. "I’d still like to see under these clothes." I tugged on her shirt playfully not really thinking she’d go any further anyway. She rolled her eyes but she was smiling.

"Come on, Zackary." She moved away and back to her bag on the island. I walked up close behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist and resting my chin on her shoulder. She seemed to relax back into me which was really nice. I don’t really know why I was doing any of this to be honest but I didn’t care. I was one to listen to my body.

"Don’t call me that Ollie. Please?" I almost pleaded. I hated being called that. She looked back and seemed to sense that I meant it so just nodded.

"I’ll stick with Z then." She giggled.

"But that’s Brad’s nickname for me?"

"That’s true but I kind of like it. I don’t mind though." She shrugged. I couldn’t help but smirk.

"You like Z? Got yourself a little crush there?" She went a little red before smirking herself.

"Yeah I have a thing for Brad. Sorry." She shrugged again. When she looked back at me with an amused expression we burst out laughing. When we finally stopped she continued, "Well you have one for me so it’s only fair."

"I have one for you?" I asked confused.

"Well I assumed since you called me Ollie and even though I’m not the biggest fan of it, it’s better than Miss Olivia and miles better than Olive." She crinkled her nose slightly.

"Oh, I didn’t even notice I was doing it but I like it so I’m keeping it." I nodded.

"Well then, Z, I’ll have to think about it a little more." I couldn’t help but laugh.

"Okay, okay. You can call me Z. It’s not a big deal." I shrugged. She pulled out a sheet and I moved to the space beside her on the island. It was weird, I missed her in my arms. Oh god, when did I start thinking like that. I missed her in my arms? Seriously? What was happening to me?