Holding Back (Lesbian Story)

I Will Love You Forever

~Zack~

Zack woke up and wearily rubbed his eyes.  The conversation with Maya last night affirmed what he had gathered from what Gio had tried to avoid in their conversations: Leila was dating Gio.

This, for some reason, bothered Zack even more because of the fact that he and Gio had bonded a lot while he was in the hospital, and Zack thought that they were becoming extremely close friends.  In fact, Gio was what he now considered his very best friend, and it hurt Zack to know that this whole time Gio had been lying to him by not saying anything at all.  From the start he knew Gio was hiding something from him, and now he knew what it was.  It's now or never, thought Zack, I have to confront Leila about him, and ask her why or I'll never get closure.

Reluctantly, Zack clambered out of bed and into his bathroom to hop in the shower.  As he was taking off his shirt, he caught a glimpse of the raw scar on his abdomen and sighed.  It still hurt a lot, but he didn't care.  He needed to speak to Leila, and he needed to get better as soon as possible so he could start training for soccer in the upcoming year.  Lying around in bed all day was not an option he had.  

Once he showered and got dressed in a nice flannel shirt, some, acid-washed jeans and his converse, he grabbed an apple from his downstairs kitchen counter and headed out the door as quietly as possible, praying that his mom wouldn't hear him and tell him to get back to bed.  He climbed into his black mustang after the coast was clear and it was obvious his mother wasn't going to come after him, and he sped off to Leila's house.

Zack pulled into Leila's driveway just around ten in the morning, and he stepped out of his car nervously.  On the drive over, Zack rehearsed a million different ways of addressing Leila's relationship with Gio, but in the end decided it was best to do it off the cuff, because otherwise he would totally forget everything he was going to say and end up running off without saying a word.  

He walked up to the front door and took a long, deep breath before ringing the doorbell.  When a familiar pair of blue eyes peeked out of the crack of the now slightly opened door, Zack's throat closed up and his heart began going a million beats a second.  

"Zack?" she asked, still hiding behind the door and peering up at him in confusion, "What are you doing here?  I thought you were still in the hospital?"

"Hey," he said, as he mentally kicked himself in the pants for such a lame greeting.  "Um, can I come in?"

Leila nodded and opened the door a little wider so that Zack could get through.  He walked hesitantly in and headed tentatively to her living room off to the left of the main hallway.  Finding a comfortable place on the large sectional, he sat down and waited for Leila to sit next to him.

His face must have been as pale as a ghost's from all the nerves, and Leila noticed.  "Is everything alright Zack?  Do you need something to drink? Eat?"

This is it, Zack said to himself, tell her why you're here.  He cleared his throat before replying.  "No, I just need to ask you one question..."  He shifted in his place.  Ask already, dammit!   "Uh, are you dating Gio?  Maya refused to tell me who you were seeing, and Gio refuses to bring up the topic at all, so I kind of put two and two together.  I mean, I can see why you'd leave me for him, he's a catch, but I wish you hadn't kept it a secret and..."  He didn't know what else to say.  His throat was threatening to close off as he tried to push back the tears he had been fighting off since he had seen her beautiful eyes at the doorway.  It's over.  I just need closure.  Please just tell the truth and let me get on with my life Leila.  I loved you.  The least you could do is tell me what I need to hear.