The Badass Saved Everyone's Ass

Chapter 24: "About that..."

"Zoey, meet my band. This is Jason, Bobby, and Axel."
I look right into Axel's eyes. "Zoey." He smiles.
He looks good. His hair is fixed and he's in a white t-shirt and jeans.
Ross lets go of my hand. I look at him in confusion.
"It's time we stop pretending, Zoey." He says. "I don't love you. I didn't write one of those notes. Axel wrote all of them. He still loves you. I've been helping him win you back."
I frown. "I don't want Axel though. He hurt me. He cheated."
"Don't you believe in second chances?" Axel asks.
"If I believed in second chances, a lot of criminals would still be alive."
"Well I don't love you." Ross says.
I look at him. "But I love you. You don't feel the chemistry? You don't feel the love?"
"I don't feel anything when I'm with you."
A girl walks in the room then. "Paige!" He kisses her. "I've missed you, baby!"
"But the song!" I cry, tears pouring down my cheeks.
"It wasn't intended for you."
"But I was in it! That picture of me on the beach-"
"Well what would you think if I put up Paige?" He raises his eyebrows. "It's a setup Zoey. I don't care about you. I don't even like green apples."

________

I sit up, sweat soaking my whole body. Me and Ross fell asleep watching a movie in my room.
He wakes right up and pauses the movie and turns on the light.
"Are you okay?" He whispers to me in concern. "You're crying."
I wipe my cheeks. "I just...I just had a bad dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks gently.
I look at him, and he looks concerned.
"Was Axel in it?" He asks.
I look at him in confusion, and then slowly, I nod.
"I was?" He asks. I nod again, gulping.
"What happened?"
"I...can't." I shake my head.
"Was I in it?"
I nod again.
"I was?" His eyebrows crease in concern. "Well now you have to tell me." He smiles.
I look at him. "Don't get mad." I whisper.
"I won't." He says.
"You took me to meet your band..." I whisper, my eyebrows creasing. "Axel was in it. You said it was a setup and that you didn't care about me at all and you didn't write any of the notes, and that Axel wrote all of them and it was just a plan for him to win me back, and this girl walked into the room and you kissed her..." I trail off. "You said you didn't even like green apples."
He pulls me back into his arms. "Trust me, it's not a setup."
"I know." I mumble. "But it hurt. It was like you broke my heart in my dreams."
He pulls me closer. "I'm never going to break your heart. I'll never cheat on you. Nobody will every be worth it. You are all I ever want. I've never even seen you undressed, but I never ever want to see anyone but you undressed."
I push him gently so he's laying back down. I play the movie and shut the light off, and rest my head on his chest. I'm not even in my pajamas. I lay against him, hugging him. He pulls me closer.
"Are we moving too fast? Me and Axel moved too fast, and we were a disaster in the end and-"
"Zoey." He whispers. "I think you need to..." He hesitates, thinking out his words. "Stop comparing us to you and Axel." He hesitates. "I'm not him. I'll never do what he did. I'm in love with you. I won't cheat. I'll move at your pace."
"You will?" I whisper.
"I'll do anything you want."
"Can I ask you a personal question?" I murmur.
"You can ask me anything." He whispers.
"Who did you have sex with?"
He sighs. "Some girl in college. I don't even know her name."
"So you were a whore." I snicker.
He sighs. "I was a player up until I met you. I had so many girls throw themselves at me, but I didn't want them. I want you. Only you. That college chick was the only girl I've ever had sex with."
"You want me..." I trail off.
"In every way. I want you in your moods. I want you in your best moods. I want you when your crying, even though I won't like that. I want you in every way I can have you, and I'm not going to make any mistakes that Axel did."
"It was...he made it impossible to hate him." I shake my head against his chest and shift so I can see his eyes. "And I was head over heels, and then he cheated...and I realized maybe I wasn't head over heels. I cried once, but with you..." I trail off. "I've never felt something this strong in my entire life."
He leans forward and connects our lips. "I love you." he whispers.
"I love you too." I murmur.

________

"Zoey." Charley says. I look at her.
"Yes Charles?" I ask. She sighs at the name.
"Axel made a YouTube video about you."
I frown. "He still isn't over me yet?"
"I don't know...he looks fine. ." She hands me the iPad and everyone crowds around me. I press play. He looks normal. He looks even better than the last time I saw him, and in the background I can see some chick walking around in her bra and underwear. I shake my head angrily.
"I uh...don't know what to say really. I fucked up. I cheated on my fiancé when she was in the hospital. I let her kick me out. I didn't really try to change her mind. I love her so much and I really messed up. I'm gonna post this in hopes that she'll see it, not so she'll come back, because she's beautiful and I bet someone else has already won her heart..." He pauses. "If that's the case, take care of her for me, will you? She deserves the best, and that isn't me." He pauses again. "I'm posting this so she'll see that it was the worst mistake in my life cheating on her." He picks up a guitar. "Obviously we weren't married. This is just a cover of Let it Rain by David Nail. All rights and shit go to him."
With that, he starts to strum.

It's hard to find the perfect time to say something
You know, is gonna change everything
Living with the shame,
It ain't nothing like the pain that I saw on her face
Now me and my pile of things
That she threw out the window,
Drowning next to me
No seven years of good cant hide the one night I forgot to wear that ring

So let it rain, let it pour, if she don't love me anymore,
Just let it come down on me, let it come down on me,
Every word, let it hurt, even more than I deserve,
Let it come down on me, let it come down on me, let it rain

The last thing I remember was the unfamiliar taste of someone on my lips,
It's too late to turn around,
When the shades start coming down,
The guilt you feel's the last thing on your mind

So let it rain, let it pour, if she don't love me anymore,
Just let it come down on me, let it come down on me,
Every word, let it hurt, even more than I deserve,
Just let it come down on me, let it come down on me, let it rain
So let it rain, let it pour, if she don't love me anymore,
Just let it come down on me, let it come down on me,
Every word, let it hurt, even more than I deserve, just let it come down on me,
Let it come down on me, let it rain,
Ooh let it rain, ooh let it rain, just let it rain, just let it rain, ooh let it rain

I go right to the comments.
Most of them are "you seriously would post this with a girl in the background?"
And "good job Zoey! Stick to Ross!"
And "wow. What a fucking jackass"
I sigh Charles out and sign myself in.
"You're commenting?" Mom asks.
"Yes."
I start typing.

You have a lot of nerve to post this with your girl in the background. You don't look miserable. You look happy. God. This is so wrong. I'm sorry, but I don't feel bad for you, and I never will.

I post it and close the app, rolling my eyes.
"We need to leave if we're going to make it to our flight." Ross sighs.
"About that..." Mom sighs. I look at her with narrowed eyes.
"What?"
"I'm not going and none of us are..."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because there's something going on with Nana...you should go Zo-"
"What's wrong with Nana?" I cut in.
"I'll tell you after you get to-"
"No. Tell me now."
She sighs. "She has cancer."
My heart plummets. "She does?"
"Breast cancer though, so she'll be fine-"
"Well I'm not going." I cross my arms.
"No Zoey-"
"I'm not going."
"She's right." Ross cuts in. "I would cancel the whole thing if it was my family. We've been doing this long distance thing for seven months. We can deal with five more."
Mom sighs, and so does the rest of my family, but they don't try and stop me.
It's not like they could if they wanted to.