fuck buddies; nick mara

twelve

hearing the doorbell ring, zion sighed and grabbed the bucket that he's been attached to for the last twelve hours. he knew he would need it. 

when he woke up this morning, he was alarmed when he got a call from a crying alexis. the tall boy frowned to himself and softly asked the girl on the other end what was wrong.

he was surprised when she was begging him to stay in her life. he listened to her, wanting to comfort her with his words  but anytime he spoke any word, his stomach churned. 

anytime alexis mentioned her little sister, it made zion physically sick. 

despite knowing the lie had nothing to do with alexis, he still had many questions to ask her. he wanted to know why she allowed kayley to do a lot of the stuff she did. why did she allow her to even come to that party last night? and drink?

that will automatically make you assume she's at least eighteen but zion didn't even assume! he asked the girl her age and still got played.

he decided to postpone his questions to keep the beautiful girl from blaming herself. though, it was partially her fault, he knew that she would really beat herself up about this stuff. 

edwin texted him about her panic attack earlier that night. he told him that there was a lot more to alexis than just a pretty girl. zion already knew this, but he didn't know the pain she'd endured in her life.

she asked him if he was okay with kayley coming to apologize, as it was part her punishment.  

truth be told, coming face to face with the fourteen, soon to be fifteen year old girl was the last thing zion wanted to do. but, the first thing he wanted to do was make alexis happy, and if that was a way to make her feel better then that's what he'd do.

he didn't blame alexis for the kayley thing. she told edwin that she never clearly stated her little sister's age because she figured it was obvious that she's quite young but kayley is quite developed to say the least.

he pulled on a shirt and slowly moped down the stairs, bucket in hand. he answered the door with a forced smile. his smile was soon gone once his eyes landed on the young girl. he held up a finger to both of them, signaling to give him a second, and slammed the door shut. he threw up again, wiped his mouth and then opened the door again as if nothing happened. 

if things were the way they were before last night, the girls would be laughing hysterically at zion's failed attempt to hide what had just happened. they both heard him through the door, but just sat there awkwardly. 

"hi, zion." alexis says and puts her head down. he pulls her into a hug, and though he was absolutely disgusting right now, she hugged him back. she hugged him like her life depended on it. she hugged him for what seemed like hours. like the minute she let go of him he'd vanish into nothing and she would have to deal with yet another heartbreak. 

he hugged her back, rubbing small circles on her back as kayley stood there awkwardly, looking everywhere but at them. 

as soon as zion breathed in, he smelled that vanilla scent that was in the shampoo that the girls share and it reminds him of how close he got to kayley. 

he softly pushes alexis away, clutching his stomach. "sorry, it's food poisoning." he lies in an attempt to make both girls feel better. 

he didn't want alexis to know that the whole situation made him as sick as it did, and he didn't want kayley to know he was so disgusted with her. he doesn't want her to be insecure. 

alexis nods, looking over at kayley. they haven't made up from what happened last night. 

kayley apologized to alexis this morning. she woke up feeling like such a disappointment. her older sister told her it was okay, but denied her of any hugs. she didn't know how to deal with the situation. 

not only were kayley and alexis on thin ice, alexis also picked a fight with jade when she came home, hand in hand with nick. 

jade found out what happened and went to sort of say 'i told you so' about how she's choosing to raise kayley. alexis then turned it around on jade, telling her that it was all her fault and that had she not come to california, they wouldn't even know who zion was.

she finally nudged kayley and she looks up. her red puffy eyes meet zion's and he quickly looks away.

"i'm so sorry, z. I-" she's interrupted by alexis' suggestive cough. "no nick names." she says. alexis had agreed to letting kayley continue her dog sitting job, but that her interactions with zion should be very formal and professional.

"oh, right. I'm really sorry that i lied to you about my age, zion." she says shamefully. zion nods, but he's not listening. he's really too focused on trying to keep his composure, because his body is ready to regurgitate any of the acid left in his stomach. 

"i know that i put you in an extremely dangerous and possibly damaging situation. and that is why alexis is making m-" alexis nudges her. 

"i mean- that's why i am choosing to stay out of your life for good." the young girl reaches her hand out for zion to shake and he gags at the sight, quickly stuffing his free hand behind his pocket and his other is wrapped securely around the bucket. 

"don't wanna get you sick." he says in a high-pitched voice.

"food poisoning isn't contaig-"

"i forgive you. bye now." he quickly slams his door shut and throws up in the bucket. 

alexis and kayley just walk back into their house in silence.

A/N: this was kinda short so i might update again in a couple of hours.