My Exact Opposite | Jachary AU

20

- Not edited, sry :')

Zach's POV

The doctors ran a few tests on me and even though I just woke up, I feel like going back to sleep. Sighing, I open the window, looking at the stars and the same emotion I felt when Christina and Jonah were here washes over me.

What is it?

I sigh again, memories coming back to me.

I watch them like I watch a movie; silent, observing.

Winning a talent show in sixth grade after singing a cover.

Going to the dance studio, just trying to vent out my frustration.

Strumming chords on the guitar, trying to feel any kind of emotion and just feeling empty.

My dad coming home drunk.

Carving mark after mark into my arm, trying to feel something, anything.

They called me a psycho.

They told me I was heartless.

They told me I should go die.

So I did.

Or at least, I tried.

I remember fainting from blood loss, and here I am, in the hospital bed.

If it was only blood loss, why did it take me so long to wake up?

I try to answer that question, the answer never showing itself, so I think instead.

I think that someone, maybe the curly-headed boy, is looking at the same stars, the same moon, the same galaxy. I wonder what kind of person he is, and doing so makes my heart beat faster, it makes my palms sweat, it makes heat creep up my cheeks and I don't like it so I stop.

But my thoughts keep going back to him, and my heart thuds insistently inside my chest and suddenly I can't concentrate on the breeze or the stars or anything outside because he's taking up every corner of my mind and I just can't stop.

I can't stop thinking about him.

Why?

"Hey, I have good news," a nurse enters my room, interrupting my train of thought. "The doctor said you're basically good to go. You can go home tomorrow." I smile, trying to mimic Christina and Jonah's face. I guess it works, because the nurse smiles again and closes the door.

Home.

I get to see my family again.

Next day(3rd person POV)

"Here, honey. You need these." Zach stared at his mom in confusion when he read the label of the small box.

"Contacts? There's nothing wrong with my eyes. Why do I need these?"

"You don't have to put them on now, but maybe once you see...." His mom trailed off, rummaging through her bag.

"Here," She said as she gave him a mirror. "Just look at your eyes for a second."

Still not getting the idea, Zach stared at his mother for a full minute before reluctantly looking in the mirror. But instead of being greeted by the brown he thought resided in his irises, the eyes that looked back at him were.....

"Yellow?" Zach said incredulously. "Why would they be yellow? Is yellow even possible? Do you think it means someth- " Zach's mom cut off her son with a light laugh.

"Slow down on the questions there, kiddo. We took you to see a doctor about your eyes once, and he said they have something to do with your emotions. So over the years, we've figured out what a few of the colors mean. Yellow is happiness."

"Oh," Zach watched as his eyes turned into a light blue. "What does that mean?"

"Realization." His mom said, at the same time enjoying how Zach seemed like a little kid again.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Well, I have to say I'm most used to brown because it's your neutral color, but I wouldn't mind seeing either shades of blue." Her eyes twinkled at the mention of her son's eyes, but where she thought of them as beautiful, her son thought of them as ugly.

"I-I got bullied a lot for them. Am I right?" Zach looked at how his mother's once smiling expression had disappeared, replaced by her brows furrowing together and the corners of her lips tugging down. Zach also frowned, his eyes flickering between a stormy gray and blood red color. In the end, his eyes settled on both, a swirl of gray and red in each of his irises. Zach didn't bother asking his mom what the colors meant because he knew what he was feeling: something similar to sadness, and anger.

"Is the gray sadness?" He asked his mother. She looked up and nodded, silently admiring the swirl of color in her son's eyes, then watched as they turned into a deep shade of purple, which meant hate.

It was the color that most often appeared when Zach's dad came home drunk, and it also was the color that appeared whenever he got bullied or teased. It also meant that Zach was about to karate chop your ass. After all, 7 years of self-defense didn't come without benefits.

When they got home, the day passed with Zach sleeping and occasionally getting up for things such as eating or going to the bathroom. Then at 3:15 PM precisely, he awoke to a 7 year old jumping on his stomach. His eyes opened, momentarily flashing a dark blue before they turned back into brown.

"Hey Reese! How was school?" He asked, ruffling the little girls' hair. Not because he loved the little girl, oh no. He didn't even know which emotion was love, there were simply too many to go through each one and separately identify them. He only ruffled her hair because he'd read about it in books. Zach was always the observant type, watching movies and reading books to pick up on social cues/situations, but that only took him so far.

"It was good, Zachy. Mark was being a jerk." Reese continued to ramble on about her day, but the only word that stuck was 'Zachy'. It made his heart beat faster, knowing that the curly-headed boy had called him that in their last conversation.

If it could even be called a conversation if it took place in your dreams.

Without him realizing, Reese had stopped talking to observe the color in her older brothers' eyes.

"Zachy?" Reese tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah, Reese?" Zach answered, his mind still elsewhere.

"What's that mean?" She asked, pointing at her brother's eyes.

Zach rushed to the bathroom, catching a glimpse of violet eyes before they changed to brown. He sighed, running a hand over his face and exiting the bathroom.

"Reese, I honestly don't know what that color was. Remember I told you about my condition?" Zach had explained it to her once, but only because she asked why he'd never said 'I love you'.

"The one where you don't know which one is which?" Zach nodded.

"But I do know a few. Like anger, or hate, or sadness." Suddenly, the small girl wrapped her arms around Zach, muttering a rushed 'I love you' and running downstairs. He smiled at his sister's behavior, the corners of his lips quirking upwards as he remembered that Reese's favorite cartoon would be on soon. Without knowing, his eyes flashed yellow before settling back into brown.

Hey guys! Haven't updated for quite some time, I'm sorry. So Zach's eyes can change color, and the color in his eyes corresponds to what he's feeling at that moment. Zach is also Alexithymic, so he has no idea what the colors mean. Also, last chapter I forgot to mention that he can also identify hate.

Anyway, if you guys have any questions just comment and I'll try my best to answer them :)

Till next time :D