Falling | zaylor ✓

Boy-Toy

Zac and Taylor were both very lucky that Hayley loved them both, because there was no way anyone else would be willing to help them as much as she was willing to. She was sort of forced to, but she didn't want to see two of her closest friends' relationship go through such turmoil.

Zac was awoken at a time too early for him. He didn't understand how Hayley could awake at such early hours of the day.

"Wake up, lazy. Taylor's meeting us somewhere for breakfast, so get up. I'm fixing your relationship with him," she poked his nose, and he stood. He was still wearing the clothes that he had worn as he drove to Hayley's place. Something about that made him feel gross and like he definitely needed a shower. But Hayley seemed rushed, so he didn't bother her with that.

They made it to the restaurant, arriving before Taylor. As they sat on one side of the booth, the other side saved for Taylor, Hayley's phone buzzed. It lit up with the message notification.

T: I'm almost there, Hayles.

Texting and driving? Not cool.

Zac's leg moved up and down, his hands in his lap as he waited. And waited...and waited. It was only a few moments, but it felt like a whole lot longer.

Eventually, he spotted a familiar face walk through the door, messy curls covering his head.  Zac always loved that, the way his hair would be especially messy in the morning. Zac smiled, but the smile disappeared as soon as he saw an unfamiliar face just behind Taylor.  The mystery man walked beside Taylor, both of them smiling and chatting. They walked a bit too close to one another for Zac's liking.

"Who's that?" he asked as he saw the two of them continuing to walk forward. Instead of answering, Hayley just glanced at him with a worried look on her face and then looked back to the two walking towards them.

"Hey," she spoke, glancing from them to Zac, and repeat. The stranger was the first one to enter the booth, and then Taylor did so, sitting directly across from Zac. Still, the two of them seemed very close and touchy.

There was silence, for a moment. Very, very awkward.

"So...who's this?" Zac asked, coming off a bit rude. Not his fault he was jealous...okay maybe a little bit his fault.

"Zac, this is Nick," he smiled, hand on the other boy's shoulder. He mumbled something that both Hayley and Zac couldn't hear. All they could tell was this Nick dude was smiling like an idiot. Smiling in the same way Zac would in certain moments with Taylor. He was the only one who got him that way. His hands balled up into fists. Hayley noticed his small actions and tried to soothe him by placing her hand on his knee for a moment.

"My boyfriend," Taylor said with a smile.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Zac grumbled immediately following Taylor's words, sliding out of the booth and stomping towards the bathroom.

"Yeah, I think I need to go too," Hayley said with a fake smile.

"Zac, stop," she spoke as she followed him towards the restroom area. He didn't actually need to go to the bathroom, duh.

"Boyfriend? Hayley, he just fucked this guy and he's probably just saying that to get to me. He started dating him because he knew how I'd react. I can't...I can't do this. Is he serious? Who is this guy, anyway?"

"Zac, just give him a chance, alright? I know, I know it sucks. But you can't act like you care, even though, yes, you do. Pretend to be unaffected. We're going to sit there, and you'll act like you don't care. That'll probably tick Taylor off. He wants you to be mad. Now go back to the table, I actually have to pee."

Zac laughed a bit and gave Hayley a one-arm hug. Someone else who needed to use the restroom passed the two while they were in the middle of their embrace gave them an odd look, raising a brow as they walked into the bathroom.

The HalfNoise frontman returned to the table, the phoniest of smiles appearing on his lips.

He took a moment to take note of Nick's appearance. His hair was tealish, with a pinkish streak going through the side. But it looked to be fading. Was he trying to compete with Hayley, too?

Speaking of Hayley, she returned to the table before Zac was able to properly formulate the words on his mind. Zac slid out of the booth, sliding back in after Hayley had.

"So," Zac spoke, his faux smile returning to his lips, "how do you two know each other?"

"Actually, I don't quite remember how we met. We've known each other for a long time, just started really talking rather recently, though. But, uh, Nick's in a band of his own." Before anyone could say anything else, their waitress came around. All four of them ordered their breakfast meals. Zac was hoping this Nick guy wasn't expecting him to pay for him.

Nick spoke up once the server left, explaining, "Yeah, I'm in a band. I sing."

"Oh, what band?" Hayley contributed to the conversation, doing her very best to remain neutral. She wanted to be there to act as a peacekeeper, but having this guy she barely even knew prevented her from fixing what she intended on fixing. But being as Taylor was one of her best friends, she didn't want to be an asshole to his...boyfriend.

Then Hayley began discussing music with Nick, doing her very best to seem interested in what he had to say. Eventually, there was an awkward break in the conversation.

The silence came to an end when their waitress returned to the table. "I'm sorry, sir, but we're all out of the orange juice you requested," she said to Zac. "Would you like something else to drink?" she asked, but the boy simply shook his head and stood up.

"It's okay. I'm gonna go, anyway," he said, and stuffed his hands into his back pockets. Except there was one problem, Hayley was the one who drove them there. It wasn't until after he walked out of the restaurant that he remembered, so he returned to the table his friends (that title was debatable) sat at, returning to his original seat. He slumped down, and yeah, imagine how awkward the remainder of their breakfast was.

After they ate their food, they all exited together.

"Go to the car, I'll be there in a minute," Taylor said to Nick, who pressed a kiss to Taylor's lips before walking to the car, keys in hand. His smile faltered once he turned back around, looking at Zac.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he asked quietly, but angrily. Hayley stood by, remaining silent.

"Well sorry that I don't exactly enjoy you shoving your boy-toy in our faces," he retorted, the 'our' referring to him and Hayley.

"Boy-toy? Zac, you're the one that rejected me. So don't act like you're the one that did good, or like I did wrong. Maybe you deserve this. Talk to me when you grow up."