𝐰𝐝𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

camera shy › z.h.

i was never one for photos. i hated having my picture taken. picture day at school was the worst. what's the point? there's stuff that says "they help us remember" and "they're special because they can hold history". but who cares? why does that matter? if we can't remember the moment in our heads on our own, than it's not worth remembering.

my mother used to scold me, because if i ever smiled for a picture, my mouth would be closed. i hated showing my teeth. it made my smile and my face ugly. starting when i was 14, i didn't really smile for pictures. if it was a school picture, that was different, but pictures my mother took of me were full of seriousness. i think my mother stopped scolding me by then.

unfortunately for me, zach herron loved my smile.

open, closed, small, wide, brushed teeth or not. zach wouldn't stop making me smile. and i loved the gesture. i loved how hard he worked to make sure i was happy. but i hated smiling. especially if it was a photo.

whenever there were pictures of me and zach, i would smile because i loved him, but they were closed smiles. no showing teeth for me, no thank you. so either we had a picture where zach was smiling like an adorable idiot and i was smiling like everything was normal, or we had a picture where neither of us were smiling.

some fans commented on some of the photos and said stuff like "why is zach always smiling" or "is she even happy?" or "why is she so bored". it never bothered me. i lived with it. but i refused to open smile.

zach had only seen my open smile once. it was on our third date, or first kiss. it was so magical, exactly how it's described in stories and movies. i could never forget it. after he kissed me, i smiled so brightly. i bet i looked like an idiot.

so as i sat in the living room of the why don't we house playing on my phone, i couldn't help but notice zach smirking an awful lot.

"what are you smiling about?" i joked. he handed me a cup of coffee as it was early in the morning and i needed caffeine to wake up. i sipped the warm, light brown drink and closed my eyes as the coffee settled in.

"nothing," he said. i squinted at him, knowing he was lying. "well, it's something. but i can't tell you."

i laughed lightly, taking another sip of coffee. "oh, you can't?" i asked. 

"nope," he said, popping the 'p'. he smiled and grabbed his phone from his pocket. he started playing a game as i scrolled through instagram and drank my coffee. "you'll see soon, though."

"will i?"

"yep." he said, popping the 'p' again. 

"hmm." i said quietly, sipping my coffee slowly and squinting at zach again. zach looked over at me and pursed his lips in a funny way, causing me to laugh loudly and almost spill my drink. i bent over as the liquid almost spilled from the walls of the mug, a drop making its flight down to the floor. 

"zach!" i yelled. i laughed, putting the mug on the coffee table in front of me and hitting zach's arm playfully. he laughed, the melodic sound echoing through my ears and rushing to my brain, letting my mind register it and turn my insides into mush.

"sorry, sorry." he laughed, watching me struggle to beat him. 

"aw, the lovebirds." daniel said coming in the room. he had on a sweatshirt and joggers and held his phone, a piece of paper, and a bag of stuff in his right hand. i scowled at him, picking up my coffee again and taking a long sip. "someone's grumpy."

"someone almost had her coffee spilled." i replied back. zach laughed as daniel threw his hands up in defense, grabbing a small snack from the kitchen and walking away.

"i'm sorry i almost spilled your coffee." zach apologized, making a puppy face and smiling at you. you smirked at him, keeping eye contact with those chocolate orbs. 

zach moved closer to you on the couch, taking your phone and your coffee from your hands. his actions caught you by surprise, your eyes wide as he looked back at you.

"what are you doing?" you questioned your boyfriend. 

"(y/n)," he started. his left hand held both of yours, his right hand on your leg. "i want you to know that i love you. like, more than you could ever imagine. it's something about you that makes you so different, and i just can't seem to find it. it makes me want to find it, and once i do, i swear to you, i will embrace it forever. i promise you that." 

you stared deeply into those eyes you fell in love with. his gaze was also on yours, watching your every movement, planning every step of his attack on you. he mentally smiled in his head, imagining how you would look.

you were so beautiful when you smiled. zach thought it every day, he told you everyday. but why couldn't you understand that? why couldn't you understand that you were physically and mentally better when you smiled?

"aw, zach," you gushed, not knowing what to say. "i love you too. so much."

there was a moment, where zach considered ditching the plan. it had been so perfect. the moment was so pure, and he knew he would he probably wouldn't get it again for a long time. but he wanted to see you smile so badly. he wanted you to know how beautiful you were when you smiled.

it all happened so fast. zach's hands quickly moved to your stomach, his fingertips lightly brushing against the skin of your body. you screamed in laughter, your eyes closed shut from the tickling. you jumped up from the sudden action, causing you to come back down on your back, laying on the couch.

you felt tears leak from the corners of your closed eyes, laughter echoing through your throat, filling zach's ears with happiness and satisfaction. 

zach's attack you seemed to never end. his hands never left your body, his fingers leaving the same feeling in the same spots. the tickling became all too much from you. you were thrown into another fit of laughter, this fit even harder then the other one.

you were laughing so harder, you didn't notice daniel and corbyn standing at the doorway of the living room with their cameras recording every second.