Guys My Age ~ Christopher Velez

On My Own

Two weeks. 

Two weeks of pure absolute hell.

Zabdiel and Madison had ignored both Christopher and Zoe. It was bad enough that they completely avoided each other on stage, which the fans were starting to notice. Instagram and Twitter were filled with speculations over the hidden rift between Christopher and Zabdiel, but they all included the same main element. That element never changed, it was always at the center of every conspiracy. What was that factor?

Zoe

It hadn't just been hard on Zoe and Zabdiel's familial relationship. No, it'd severely damaged Christopher and Zoe. He'd pulled away, so far that it was almost like they were strangers. When they did talk, he was angry. Christopher yelled, snapped, and ignored her to the best of his abilities. It hurt Zoe, especially since she knew exactly why he was acting this way. She'd been right all along, the band's problems did affect their relationship.

Zoe had wanted to believe it wouldn't happen, she'd convinced herself it was just the pregnancy hormones talking. She still had yet to tell him, his constant anger making it even more difficult than usual. One night, she'd planned it all out. She managed to cook them dinner in the tour bus, she even bought him a onesie that had a gaming controller on it and said 'player 3 has entered the game' on it. It was ridiculously cheesy, she knew that. But, she thought it would still be special. Then, he'd come home drunk at four in the morning.

Kinda hard to tell someone you're having their child when they're drunk off their ass.

"What's going on with you, Christopher? Just talk to me," She approached him in the bedroom of the hotel they were currently at. Her stuff was still in its suitcase just down the hall in her room, having just finished with a show. "You've been really angry ever since Zabdiel found out, and I just want you to tell me what's wrong." Christopher flicked his thumbs across the controller in his hand, Zoe having grown to hate Fortnite since that was all he ever did lately to avoid her. "Chris-"

"Jesus, Zoe. Can't I just have five minutes to myself?" Christopher snapped, barely even looking in her direction. Her heart stopped, squeezing her hands into two tight fists to keep herself from breaking down.  She had thought he was done, but alas, his voice piped up once more with attention back on the screen. "You already ruined my career, care to ruin my game too?" Now that, that hurt her. 

Zoe inhaled sharply, hurt filling her chest as tears welled up in her eyes. They were both silent for far too long, tension filling the air. "Maybe I should just leave then," Her voice was hardly above a whisper, it shocked Zoe that he'd even heard her. But, she could tell by the way his body stiffened that he had."Yeah, maybe you should, Zoe!" Christopher snapped, not even bothering to look in her direction. Zoe waited, secretly pleading with him to turn around and apologize. She wanted him to assure her that he didn't mean what he said, that he was just angry. But deep down, she already knew that he meant exactly what he said. 

Without another word, she quietly exited the hotel room. She desperately wanted the door to open up behind her, for Christopher to apologize profusely. Zoe craved his touch, the way his lips trailed along her jaw in the mornings as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear. A part of her hated how desperate she'd become for him, everything about him. He was addicting, and in finding him she felt as though maybe she'd lost part of herself in the process. 

And that was when she came up with the plan. 

Sprinting down the hallway, Zoe unlocked her door with a card and slammed the door behind her. In a few quick strides, she'd grabbed ahold of her suitcase, a sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought of telling everyone what was going on. Instead, she did a quick sweep of the room until she finally found what she had been searching for. Grabbing a pen, the tip hovered over her newfound pad of paper as she thought about what to say. But once it clicked, her hand didn't stop moving for several minutes. 

Zoe's breathing came out in jagged breaths, pulling her suitcase behind her. She'd be making a quick stop at the tour bus in the parking lot, but first, she found Erick and Edith's room. Crouching down in front of the door, she carefully slid the folded yellow lined paper underneath the minuscule crack at the bottom of the wood. She made sure it was on the other side before standing up, hardly noticing that she was crying until her tears fell on the elevator floor with a soft smack. 

It was amazing that all it took to drive the person you loved the most away were words. Sure, actions hurt, they hurt like hell. But words, coming from the person you care about most in the world, those don't heal. At least not overnight. She stepped outside off the tour bus, loading her stuff into an airport taxis when a flash went off.

"Zobeida! Are you leaving? Where are the boys?"

A tall skinny man stood several feet away with a camera in his hands, her body stopping without permission before she could climb into the passenger seat. "Yeah, yeah I'm leaving. The boys aren't with me." Zoe's hand slid across her stomach, the terrible realization that she really was alone if she did this hitting her with full force. "I'm on my own," The man must have taken pity on her, for he lowered his camera and looked at her with a small frown. "Thank you," She whispered, sliding into the passenger seat. Just like that, with Christopher's words in her head and his child growing inside of her she was gone.

In a mere matter of an hour, Zoe was boarding a plane while her friends were getting bombarded with photos.