Expect the Unexpected (Zack Merrick/All Time Low)

Chapter Five

Here it is...the big reveal! EEP! Okay sorry it is kind of short and uneventful but after this is where it will pick up I promise!

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Spending the morning with Alex and Rian had proved to be interesting if nothing else. Erika couldn't help but glance over at Codi every chance she got. Her best friend was so smitten and why shouldn't she be? These guys were a daily part of her life for the last four years. Codi would never admit it, but Erika knew how much they meant to her and how much this time meant. A large part of Erika felt guilty, she wanted to see Codi enjoying this and she loved it, but her own issues weren't helping her.

They weren't there to have fun; Erika hated the idea of that. Why couldn't they have fun too? It wasn't every day you got a chance like this. Every time Erika thought about enjoying herself around Alex or Rian in the way Codi was, a tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her the real reason Alex even asked he to come and stay. If it weren't for the fact Zack was one of his best friends and Alex Gaskarth believed in doing the right thing, none of this would even be taking place.

From his hammock on the deck, Alex silently watched Rian and Codi throw a football around the backyard as Peyton and Baz chased them excitedly trying to get the ball for themselves. Mere minutes before, Alex too had been running around, laughing, yelling playful insults and tossing around the ball. Using the excuse he was wore out, lie he could go for another couple of hours chasing after the football. He retired to his hammock which sat a few feet away from Erika.

The entire time they had been throwing the football around, she had been sitting in the plush deck chair reading a book. Codi had asked her to play, Rian and Alex promised they'd even take it easy, but Erika shook her head and continued to read. He could hear Rian cry out as Codi tackled him yet again, knocking the wind out of him. For being half of Rian's size, she sure knew how to bring him down. Alex chuckled glancing over to see Rian bent with his hands on his knees and Codi patting his back delicately as she apologized.

"I'm going to get a drink, did you want anything?" Alex asked sitting up and rolling out of the hammock.

"Hmm?" Erika looked up from her copy of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse".

"Do you want a drink while I am inside?" Alex repeated with a soft smile, his brown eyes hid behind his sunglasses.

"Do you have any orange juice?" Erika asked quietly.

"I sure do, ice or no?" he questioned sliding open the patio door that lead to the kitchen.

"No thanks." Erika shook her head. "Just juice."

With a nod, Alex disappeared into the house leaving the other three to continue about their business. He grabbed a few glasses of iced tea and one orange juice. He knew that going back outside without something to drink for Rian and Codi would be like walking into a firing squad. He chuckled to himself, maybe not that bad, but they would be whining and Alex didn't want to listen to them.

Grabbing a tray that he never used from the cupboard, he placed the glasses on the tray and prayed he didn't spill them on his way back out. Turning toward the large patio door, he caught sight of someone new sitting on the deck. Screw it! Whoever it was could get their own drink, Alex wasn't being a kitchen bitch to everybody. Of course grabbing another glass would make him a good host, fuck it! He continued on his way back outside.

Alex stepped back onto the deck, seeing that the new person had their face attached to Erika's he knew it was Zack. They sure were hitting it off well. Funny really how a onetime thing could turn into so much more for two people, Alex knew too well you had to expect the unexpected in life. Sitting the tray down he grabbed his glass of iced tea and took a drink, trying to avert his eyes from the happy pair sucking each other's faces off.