𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 | 𝐙𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥/𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲

21. Let me down

Zach's p.o.v.

"You can let me down now" I announced. Jack had been carrying me for nearly fifteen minutes, and I presumed the boy would be tired by now. "But what if you try to run away?" Jack questioned worriedly.

"Because that's not something a murderer would say at all" I retorted, snorting. Jack let out a small playful laugh, deciding to comply and put me down. "Well I'm sorry, but it took me long enough to get you to want to even be in the same room ad me, I don't want to lose all my progress!" Jack argued.

I stayed silent for a moment, letting his words enter my mind. How had Jack done it?
Ever since Daniel, I had locked myself away from the world. I never would've thought I'd even work up the courage to utter a single word to anyone ever again, yet in the span of a day this boy had managed to break down almost every wall I had put up.

It almost didn't feel real. I felt so... comfortable? It was as if everything I'd suppressed for so long was finally pouring out, now that I'd found someone to experience it with. I'd been so used to shutting people out that I didn't even have anyone to share things with, and it made me feel like my personality was dying inside me. I'd been suffocating it and hiding it away from everything and everyone around me.

I was actually a funny person - something people wouldn't know if they'd only met me after I'd shut myself off from the world. The day Daniel died, a piece of me died with him. But somehow, by some strange miracle, Jack had slowly begun to resurrect it.

"You ok Zach?"

I turned to Jack, observing his concerned expression. His eyes scanned over my face, as if he were trying to read my emotions. I nodded, returning my gaze to look forward. "I'm fine" I mumbled.

"Well, just in case you're secretly plotting your escape in that smart mind of yours, I'm thinking I should have some sort of safety net." Jack proposed. "What exactly did you have in mind?" I questioned curiously.

My question was met with silence. "Jack?" I asked, turning to face him yet again. His cheeks were met with a dark blush. "This" he mumbled, taking his hand and placing it in mine.

My breath hitched as he intertwined our fingers in a secure lock. "J-just for safety purposes" he justified, stumbling over his words. I gulped, my eyes still wide from the shock. I looked straight ahead, hoping he wasn't looking at the furious blush that was tinting my already rosy cheeks.

I felt an odd sensation rising through my chest, and my heart was picking up speed. Why did I feel like this? Why was my mind unable to focus on anything but the rising jittery sensation that had begun to coarse through me?

For a second, I almost felt as if I wanted to avoid Jack for a moment,
because the second we made eye contact, I felt scared despite my secret excitement. Perhaps it was because of my excitement that I felt this overwhelming feeling of nervousness.

I tried to ignore the tingly warmth that was seeping it's way through my whole body, and tried to find something else to focus on.

I cleared my throat to speak, trying to control the pitch of my voice and hoping I would sound normal. "How much longer till we're there?" I questioned. I cursed under my breath, noting my voice was raised.

"Not long yet. We're almost there" he reassured. Finally, I removed my gaze from the ground and looked up at my surroundings, trying to figure out where we were going.

And then it hit me.

I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. My eyes widened in fear. "J-jack... I don't think we- we shouldn't- uhh" I stuttered, my mind clouded with reluctance.