Double Down Demons (A Ghost Adventures/Zak Bagans Story)

Chapter 20: Plane flying, plain speaking

I blink awake as the room is suddenly flooded with light.

"Good morning beautiful!" Zak calls from the window where he has just flung the curtains wide. I squint in his direction,

"Mmmmph to early." I grumble.

"Its 8.30!" He laughs.

"Exactly! Too early! " I whinge as I pull the duvet over my head. I feel Zak's weight on the bed as he crawls over and pulls the duvet back from my face.

"Time to get up lazy bones!" He insists.

"Nooooo! Don't make me!" I whine playfully.

"Hmmmm," He shakes his head at me and bends to kiss me softly, I suddenly reach up, grab him and pull him on top of me. "You're lucky you're cute." He chuckles and kisses me again. He tries to get up but I won't let him.

"Just one more and I promise i'll get up." I bargain, fluttering my eyelashes at him.

"You're bad Tracy Fox." He pretends to resist.

"I know!" I Laugh and pull him to me again giving him a long, deep kiss.

"Ok now I can get up!" I jump out of bed.

"Ahem, um, I can't, just give me a moment." Zak flushes and I cackle with laughter as I head to the bathroom.

We drop around to my place so I can change and grab my bags that I had packed the previous day. We return to the hotel , meet the others in the foyer then bundle into the taxi as it arrives to take us to the airport. We check in without a hitch and have some time to kill. The guys decide to get something for breakfast where as I take a coffee to go and amble around the shops for a while. Half an hour before we are due to board I walk back towards the gate and spot Billy and Zak waiting in the lounge. I'm approaching them from behind and they don't notice me there as they are in deep conversation. I don't mean to eavesdrop but it was difficult to avoid it as I got closer.

"I really like her you know but I don't want her to get hurt, you know what I mean don't you bro?" I hear Zak ask Billy.

"All too well dude, but you know what if anyone can handle it Tracy can,she's different to other girls." He muses.

"Yeah, she's definitely not my usual type is she?" Zak admits and I can't help but frown. I was far from his usual type, the complete opposite in fact. I had dark hair for starters and was fairly tall at 5ft 7", I was also carrying a little weight being a curvy size 16. Definitely not the younger, platinum blonde, petite model type that he had been connected to in his past...well actually without boasting I had the busty part covered. But other than that, I was low maintenance, not the girly or glam type and not about to compromise my own identity to appease someone else's ego. I was definitely not his type at all. I didn't hang around to hear any more. I was convinced that he had realised he had made a mistake so with a heavy heart I went to grab another coffee before we boarded the plane.

Our flight was called and I joined them at the gate, Zak turns to smile at me and I smile weakly in return. As it happens Zak and I are seated together some ways away from the others. I sigh inwardly, not wanting to face the inevitable 'we should just be friends'conversation.

We find our seats in silence, I'm sat at the window and Zak is next to me, the seats next to us remain empty, at least no one will witness my humiliation! The rest of the crew are seated further forward, I can just about see Aaron's bald head over the top of the seats in the distance. I sigh and brace myself for the conversation to come.

"You ok?" Zak asks me with concern.

"Uh hmm." I answer non noncommittally.

"Nervous flyer?" He wonders.

"Nope, not at all." I disagree and turn to face the window.

"Hey sweetie?" He places his hand on my shoulder to make me face him."Tell me what's on your mind." He pleads. I shake my head not wanting to admit it.

"Come on what happened at the airport? Did I miss something? What happened to us communicating with each other?" He asks making me look him in the eye. He has a point and I might as well get it over with I guess.

"I overheard you talking to Billy." I admit, " I'm acutely aware that I'm not your type Zak, so I'm just waiting for you to tell me that you made a mistake and that we should just stay friends, which is fine and all but I was hoping..." I trail off as I feel the tears spring to my eyes, 'dammit!' I think as I try to blink them away.

"Oh sweetie," he shakes his head a small sad smile on his lips. " Had you hung around you would have heard me tell Billy how good it feels that you are so different from the others. They haven't exactly turned out too well for me have they?" He asks, I shake my head still not entirely convinced, the tears still threatening to come.

"But I look so different to them too." I say, my insecurity laid bare before him.

'Yes you do." He agrees and I feel a twist of pain. "You look amazing!" He adds quickly. " I love every inch of you. Yes,you're different, yes I like how they looked too but they were also what I thought was expected of me, the kind of girls that just happened to be around you know, they weren't necessarily who I was seeking out, the kind of girl that I actually wanted to be with. You fit that criteria much better. Tracy," He says with earnest, "You are stunning to me. Beautiful, cute and effortlessly sexy all at once. But more importantly you're intelligent, fun, assertive, cheeky, sensitive, strong, stubborn, brave and well...amazing! Quite frankly all you need to work on is your insecurity and tendency to eavesdrop!" He smiles as he brushes away the single tear on my cheek that I had been unable to catch from falling. I look up at him,

"Really? You mean that?" I ask, incredulous that Zak Bagans could be saying these things to me.

"I don't say stuff I don't mean." He tells me sincerely, I hiccup.

"God, I'm sorry!" I exclaim, mortified. "I've made an utter fool of myself haven't I?" I hide my face in my hands.

"Hey, its ok" He reassures me as he takes my hands in his. "I'm kinda glad that we've talked it through, its been a weird and intense few days, we needed to set a few things straight didn't we?" He looks at me with uncertainty in his eyes and I realise that he's not as confident as he may seem. I nod enthusiastically.

"Definitely." I agree, "And just so you know where you stand with me I want you to know that I like you." I blush, "I mean really like you." Zak grins at my words and my obvious embarrassment. I ignore it. "I know that there are going to be all kind of obstacles that come with being involved with you but I'm willing to take them on if you are. I think your worth the risk." I nudge him playfully, " And I'm more than willing to put in the work and take each day as it comes, as long as you want me to that is." I meet his gaze, his face serious again.

"I really want you to," He assures me. "And I feel the same way Tracy, let's see where this rocky road of adventure is going to take us!" He grins.

"Perth. Its taking us to Perth." I say dead pan. Zak pauses for a moment looking confused and I burst out laughing.

"So so cheeky." He whispers shaking his head.

"Oh shush you." I hush as I reach for him my fingers brushing his hair at the nape of his neck and drawing him to me, I kiss him hard just as the plane takes to the air. "Did you feel the earth move too?" I chuckle barely pulling away and kissing him again cutting his laughter short.

Zak has some work to do on his tablet and puts his headphones on to concentrate. I pull out my Ipod too, leaning my head contentedly on his shoulder I watch the world and clouds fly by below us feeling the occasional brush of his lips on the top of my head, I can't help but smile.

Is it getting too soppy? Its getting too soppy isn't it? Let me know what you think! Cheers *GM*