The Babysitter//Zach Herron

Ch 11- I don't care what they say

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I sleepily rub my eyes as I start to wake up. I check my phone and see that its Monday at 9:47.

I have 4 text notifications 

Zach: Y/n, are you ok?

Zach: You didn't come over at all last week.

Zach: Did I do something to upset you?

Zach: Baby please talk to me!!

After I overheard what Ben said to Zach last week, I haven't wanted to be around Ben or Zach for that matter.

I know that I can't avoid him forever, we need to talk things through and see where we stand as a couple.

I'm really in the mood for a run so I throw on some nike shorts and a sports bra and tun left out of my driveway to avoid running past the Herron house. 

When I get back home about 25 minutes later, I see Myta watering the flowers in their front yard. She smiles and waves me over towards her.

"Hi honey how have you been? We miss not having you over at our house everyday!! Our house feels pretty empty now that Ben has gone back to Montana" She says smiling.

"I'm good, I just needed some time to focus on myself." I reply while fixing my nike headband.

"Is everything ok with you and Zach?" she asks in a concerned tone.

I hesitate to answer.

"You can trust me y/n I won't tell him or anyone what you say. You can trust me." She says reassuringly.

"Well, Im starting think that its a bad idea to be dating Zach. He's famous and has a large fan base, Im just an average girl from North Carolina." I shrug. "People seem to think I'm only dating him with the hopes that I will become famous or something like that."

Myta puts down the watering can and holds both my hands in hers. "Y/n, I see how he looks at you. He is beyond happy when he's with you, and I know you feel the same way. If you really don't think its a good idea then ask him for a quick break until you can find confidence in your relationship with him!!" 

Myta is so easy to talk to, her advice is something I will take into consideration.

"Thank you Myta, its nice to be able to talk to someone about this" I say.

"Of course my love, I am always here for you! Hey are you free tonight by any chance?" 

"Umm yeah I am. Why?" I ask curiously.

"Well as you know, the company that Mr. Herron and your father work for are having a banquet tonight. We need someone to babysit Reese and Ryan from 6:30pm-1:30am. Could you do that for us?" She asks very hopefully.

"Sure, I miss Reese and Ryan." I say finding myself with a small smile across my face for the first time this week.

We say goodbye and I jog back over to my house.

After showering I put on some black jeans with holes in them and a light grey loose top. I go downstairs and start to make some lunch.

The rest of the day I do some laundry and go back and forth between playing guitar and laying on my bed scrolling on twitter.

Its now 6:30 so I head over to the Herron's house. I walk in the door with Rosie in my arms. She has learned to climb stairs, so as I set her down she immediately tries to run up the stairs to go find Reese. Of course she trips a few times but eventually makes her way up.

I walk into the kitchen and see Myta in a gorgeous maroon dress that falls to the floor. It compliments her hair color perfectly. She's putting the finishing touches on dinner.

"Woah you look gorgeous!" I exclaim as I walk over to her and look and up and down her dress.

Her hair is wavy and frames her face perfectly.

"Aww thank you y/n!!" Myta says twirling around so I get a full 360 view.

I tell her that I can handle dinner from here and that her and Mr. Herron should leave for the banquet at 7:00.

She thanks me as they walk out the door, arm in arm. I wish my parents were still in love like the Herron's are.

"Reese, Ryan...dinners ready!" I shout from the kitchen.

I hear their feet run down the stairs. Reese is carrying Rosie and she sets her down on the couch in the living groom where she falls asleep instantly.

We enjoy dinner...just the 3 of us. Right after dinner I tell Ryan to go shower so that by the time I'm done with the dishes I can give Reese a bath so she can be in bed by 8:00pm.

Its 8:15 now and Reese is drifting off to sleep as I scratch her back. I slowly stand up and tiptoe out of her room, I carefully close the door behind me.

Since Reese's room is at the end of the hallway and Zach's is the right of the stairs I have to walk by his room to get back downstairs. I notice that his door is open, it was closed before.

I take a deep breath and prepare to walk past his room and act like he's not even there.

As I walk past I hear Zach mutter something. "Y/n can we please talk, just for a minute?"

I turn my head and see him sitting on his bed with his guitar propped up against his night stand.

I walk in his room and sit on the edge of the bed, making eye contact of the first time in a week.

"Why have you been avoiding me, what did I do?" he asks quietly looking at me with his big brown eyes.

"Zach I'm a burden to you, don't you see that? Everyone seems to think I'm only dating you for your fame and Im tired of feeling like I'm unworthy of you. No one deserves to feel this way." I can barely get the words out before my eyes fill with tears.

I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my Duke Blue Devils (Duke is a college in North Carolina) hoodie that I got before I left my hometown.

Zach scoots closer to me. "Why would you ever think you are a burden to me, you make me happy y/n!! I can't even remember the last time I was this overall happy. I don't care if you are a famous actress, or the perfect North Carolina girl that you are. I love you, for you." He says pulling me into his chest.

This is the first time Zach has told me that he loves me. My heart starts beating fast.

"Zach I feel like I'm your pity girlfriend. I had no social media following at all before we met, now I have almost 100K on Instagram because of the exposure you gave me. I have nothing to offer you." I say while sobbing.

"Y/n you keep me grounded. If I was dating someone with millions of followers do you know how conceded I would become. You help me keep the fame from getting to my head. You offer me the most important thing anyone could possibly give me and this point in my life. I need you, please don't let what potential we have be wasted just because you think Im too good for you." Zach says reassuringly. 

I just cry into his shirt as he rubs my back. The more I think about what he just said, the more I realize how true it is. I can't let our potential be thrown down the drain all because a few negative comments got to my head. 

I explain to Zach that I overheard what Ben had said last week at the park, and how it made me feel.

He tells me how he responded to Ben and I start to feel a lot better about the whole situation.

"Zach, I don't want to lose us and what we have. But this whole ordeal has made me realize how powerful words can be. I promise that I will be careful with what I say to you, can you promise me that too?" I ask.

"I promise." He says with a small smile.

We lay down on his bed and I rest my head on his chest. We both fall asleep and stay like this until the morning.

"Hold my heart, hold it tight, It's fallin. Don't let go, hold it close, Im all in" 

               Made For - Something Different EP