I Know It Breaks Your Heart

Zacky opened his mouth to retort to Emily, scoffing when she asked why he was down here. Was he not allowed to be downstairs in his own damn home? He was already in a terrible fucking mood and then Emily seemed intent on pushing his buttons. What little semblance of a good mood still there was completely abandoned when Emily started rambling about the wound on his side. Balling the hand against his wound into a fist, his eyes narrowed as he began to shake his head. He was almost frantic as he waved her off. "Just a little scratch," Zacky muttered, stepped up onto the first step. Only ten more to go.

"No!" Zacky snapped at the mention of the emergency room. He whirled around to face Emily, his eyes narrowed into harsh slits. "I don't need a fuckin' slew of questions that I don't have a single fuckin' answer to," he growled out. Zacky straightened as best as he could, gripping the handrail a bit too tightly. "I have what I need here anyway," Zacky muttered under his breathe, forcing himself to continue up the stairs. If he had bothered to call Johnny, the younger man would have been able to care for Zacky's wounds faster but Zacky was confident he could take care of himself. You didn't get so far in life without being able to. As he reached the top of the stairs, Zacky gave a weak motion with his hand toward the room that Emily and Maddy had been staying in. "Go back to sleep, Em."

Emily had never wanted to strangle Zacky more than she did right at that moment. She didn't give a damn about the questions they would get; it would be easy enough to explain away what had happened, come up with some sort of lie. They could say Zacky was mugged. And knowing how busy the emergency room could get around here, there might not be any questions asked at all. But Zacky seemed intent on taking care of himself and if he weren't literally leaving a trail of blood as he made his way up the stairs, Emily would have let him. "No," Emily said when Zacky told her to go back to bed. "No, I won't fucking go back to sleep. You're gushing blood, Zack! I'm taking you to the emergency room whether you like it or not, even if I have to beat you over the head with that baseball bat to do it. Now go get in the fucking car!"

Emily went into her bedroom to wake Maddy, gently shaking the toddler awake. "It's okay baby, we're just going to get in the car," she told her, scooping Maddy into her arms. She would take Zacky to the hospital and once they had taken him back for whatever surgery she was sure he would need, she would take Maddy to Michelle's. It was extremely rare that Michelle sat with Maddy overnight, but Emily didn't want to have her in the hospital. "Zacky, I swear to God, I will drag you out to the car by your hair if you don't go," Emily said, finding him still at the top of the stairs. "Please," she begged. "Please let me take you to the hospital. I know you think you can fix this by yourself, but you can't. And I won't sit here and watch you die. So just...please. I-I can't lose you like this."

Zacky hadn't realized quit how bad his situation was until Emily pointed out that he had left a trail of blood up the stairs. He looked down them, cursing under his breathe as he fumbled to pull his cell phone out of his back pocket. Dialing Jason's number, he only said a few words on the phone before hanging up. When Emily reappeared, Zacky tensed all over again when he caught sight of a sleepy-eyed toddler. "I'm not going to say it again, Emily. I am not going to the hospital. And you both are going back to sleep," he spoke in a voice he'd never used with her before. It was the same tone that he used when he ordered men around, telling them what to do when he was in no mood for any sort of argument. Usually it was either directly before or after a total shit storm. Just like tonight had proven to be.

Grinding his teeth together as he pushed the bedroom door open, Zacky tossed a glance over his shoulder. Emily seemed hurt by the way he was acting but she wasn't listening to him and Zacky wasn't all that used to being told what to do or told no for that matter. "You can help," he muttered, not noticing just how rude his tone with the comment had been. Turning back to take a few steps into the bedroom, he spoke a bit louder this time around. "If you want to."

Noticing the tone of Zacky's voice when he spoke to her again, Emily bristled. She'd never heard that tone before, but she was sure it was the one he used when he was ordering around his employees and she didn't appreciate it at all. "I'm not one of your little minions you can order around, Zack," she said, hissing his name. She knew he wasn't used to being told no, but Emily wasn't used to being ordered around. She was a little hurt, not just because of the way he was speaking to her, but because he really didn't seem to care about her at all. She didn't want to sit here and watch him die just because he was too stubborn to go to a hospital. She was halfway tempted to pack a bag for her and Maddy and leave tonight, but she knew it would only make the situation more volatile if she left without telling Zacky.

"Just let me put Maddy back to bed," Emily said flatly, watching Zacky step into his bedroom. She carried the toddler into her bedroom, gently laying her down on the bed and pulling the covers over her. Emily was thankful that Maddy hadn't really woken up, because trying to keep her away while they tended to Zacky would be next to impossible. "What can I do?" Emily asked, hovering in Zacky's doorway. She remembered a night like this years ago, when Zacky had come with a broken nose and several fractured ribs. He'd told Emily he'd gotten into a bar fight, and she'd fretted over him, tending to his wounds when he insisted on not going to the hospital. She knew now that he hadn't gotten his injuries from a bar fight, but that still didn't change the fact that Emily hated seeing Zacky in pain, then or now.

Zacky had sat down on the edge of the tub, leaning against the wall as he opened up the first aid kit. He'd grabbed it from the small bathroom closet, fingers shaking a bit too much to make it easy to open. Biting back a groan when Emily appeared in the corner of his eye, he glanced toward her before turning back to the task at hand. "Wash your hands," he instructed lowly, pulling a needle from the kit. The last thing that he needed was to die of some unnecessary infection when the least he could have done was die because of a damned stab wound. Holding the needle out to her, Zacky's brows pulled together as he looked up to Emily. His head was starting to lull but he was damned determined. If they could get his wound stitched up, he'd get through it.

"Thread the needle. Try to stitch as... as seamlessly as possible. Should be easy, wasn't a jagged cut," Zacky explained in a rough voice, letting his head drop back against the wall of the shower. He gritted his teeth when Emily started stitching his wound back up, doing his best to not make too much noise. He didn't want to make her feel bad for hurting him, when all she was doing was helping him.

It wasn't more than a few minutes into Emily's work that Zacky heard the telltale sounds of a door opening and closing outside of his home. "That's, ah... that's gonna be Jason. He's a cleaner," Zacky explained in a low voice, eyes flicking to the doorway. "Maddy won't see anything when she wakes up in the morning." She wouldn't see any blood stains or anything out of place that would make her ask questions or make her afraid, that was what really mattered in the long run.

"O-Okay," Emily stammered. She went over to the sink and scrubbed her hand with soap and warm water. When she turned back to Zacky and saw the needle he was holding out to her, her stomach dropped. Maybe she shouldn't have asked what she could do to help. The fact that Zacky had a needle and sutures in his first aid kit spoke to how often this sort of thing happened, but Emily preferred not to think about that. It was easier for her to think of Zacky the way he was before she'd left him all those years ago. "Zack, this cut is deep," Emily said, looking at the wound on his side. It was deep enough that she worried that even with clean hands and even stitching, he would end up with an infection.

Emily took a deep breath as she started to stitch Zacky's wound closed, avoiding looking at his face as much as she could. She could tell he was trying to be quiet, but every so often, a noise that betrayed his pain would slip out. "You've got to relax," Emily said gently, not looking up from her task at hand. "I'm almost finished, I promise." Emily also heard the door open and close outside and she jumped, fearing another unwanted visitor. Even after Zacky's words, she was still on edge. She was wishing that she hadn't gotten out of bed at all, that she'd just let Zacky tend to his business himself. But she was here and she was involved, so she needed to help him. "Okay, all finished," Emily said softly, tying off the sutures. "Stay right there, I'm going to rinse it with alcohol, just in case." She looked through the medicine cabinet in Zacky's bathroom for a few seconds, finally finding a bottle. She poured a little over Zacky's wound, tensing when he hissed in pain. "Sorry," she whispered.

Putting everything away, Emily sank down to the floor next to the tub and Zacky. Just like last time, she felt a strange urge not to leave his side. And how could she return to bed and sleep knowing he was in so much pain? Even after everything that happened - and no matter how much she wanted to deny it - she still had feelings for Zacky and she hated seeing him like this. "Do you need anything else?" Emily asked, looking up at him. "Something for the pain, maybe?"

Zacky ground his teeth together, letting out a small hiss of pain when Emily began the first stitch. It wasn't as if this was the first time that he had ever received stitches but it still hurt just as damn bad. The worst part to him wasn't the needle but rather the thread being pulled through his skin. He could feel each and every millimeter that it moved and each time that Emily pulled, it made Zacky nauseous. The feeling was unlike anything that he would ever feel elsewhere. He tried to brace himself as best he could but every so often, he let out a groan of pain. A thin layer of sweat had broken out on his skin. The sigh of relief that he let out when Emily had said she was finished, only for his eyes to narrow when she mentioned rinsing it with alcohol. He opened his mouth to ask her why the hell that was necessary but he knew why so he shut it, only to hiss between gritted teeth when Emily poured the alcohol over his wound. Even though it was stitched together, the alcohol could seep inside.

An arm wrapped around his torso, pressed as tightly against his side as he could. Zacky lifted his head, watching Emily for a moment as she dropped down beside him. He didn't understand why she was lingering but with the throbbing in his pain, well, shit he wasn't going to deny any sort of help. Zacky cleared his throat, nodding toward the first aid kit when Emily asked if he needed anything else. "Grab a gauze pad, wrap a strip around." Zacky motioned blindly with his hand toward his torso. "Don't want to bleed on the bed," he muttered, huffing as he forced himself to sit up a bit straighter so that Emily could reached around him.

Briefly, Zacky entertained the idea of asking Emily to help him change. It wasn't as if she had never seen him naked but that had been years ago. They were both different people now. Shaking his head at the thought, Zacky sighed as Emily finished wrapping his side up. "Thanks," he grumbled, letting out a whine of discomfort as he started to stand. He began to inch toward the closet, intent on grabbing a washcloth to at least make a weak attempt to clean the blood that had dried down his side before he retired for the rest of the evening.

Emily nodded at Zacky's requests, getting to her feet and going over to the first aid kit. She grabbed a roll of gauze, carefully wrapping it several times around Zacky's torso. She barely acknowledged his thank you before she left the bathroom, heading back towards her own bedroom. She didn't know what she'd been hoping for when she decided to linger in the bathroom with Zacky. Did she expect it to be like the movies, where Zacky would suddenly decide he wanted back what they'd had in the past? A very small part of her had been hoping for that and the larger part of her felt like an absolute idiot for it. He didn't want her, not like that. He'd made it very obvious that night at her apartment. If she wanted the sort of companionship she was starting to crave, she would have to find it elsewhere, as much as she didn't want to.

The next morning, Emily didn't so much as glance in the direction of Zacky's bedroom as she got herself ready for work and Maddy ready for daycare. Normally she didn't care much for Mondays, but she was honestly looking forward to the week and being out of the house for the majority of the day. She was glad to see that all evidence of last night had been scrubbed away. Maddy didn't need to know what had happened, even if she doubted the little girl would link the bloodstains to anything. "Bye baby, have a good fun, I'll see you this afternoon," Emily said, crouching down to give Maddy a kiss on the forehead. Rising to her feet, she turned to Kaci, the daycare aide. Besides a few of the girls she taught with, Kaci was really her only friend. "So, I've been thinking," Emily started. "You remember how you've been trying to convince me to let you help me set up an account on that dating app?"

"Yeah?" Kaci said, sounding confused. Realization flashed across her face and she grinned. "Did you change your mind? Are you going to let me help you?"

Emily sighed. "Yes, Kaci, I changed my mind," she said. "But not now, I've got to get to wirk. We can do it when I come to pick Maddy up."

"Yes, I'm so excited!" Kaci shouted. "You're cute Emily, somebody's gonna snatch you up really fast."

Once Zack had settled down on his bed, he had pulled his covers up over him haphazardly with one arm. By the time that his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep. Not even so much as shifting around on the mattress throughout the day, Zacky only stirred from his sleep the following day around noon. Even then, he blinked wearily at the time on his phone. Before he could really think past the idea that he had slept well into the day, Zaacky was slipping back into his slumber before he even knew what was going on.

His dreams were filled with something that they never should have been; a trip to the zoo with Emily and Maddy. It was as if they were a real family, Maddy was calling him Daddy and didn't seem any the wiser of a looming threat than either Emily or he was. Out of no where, men swept in and tore Maddy from Emily, dragging the two apart as Zacky was shoved to his knees. Before Zacky could react or the dream could progress, Zacky shot up in bed. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat, his side throbbing with each breathe that he took. It seemed as though it had a heartbeat of its own.

Cursing under his breathe when Zacky realized that his wound had broken open sometime during his sleep, Zacky trudged to the bathroom to clean up. Muttering under his breathe the whole time, Zacky grit his teeth as he began to tend to the wound. It was times like this he wished that he had someone to care for him. Opening his mouth to call out to Emily, Zacky shut it when he realized that she had to have been gone for the day. Slamming the medicine cabinet closed, Zacky dropped onto the toilet to do what he needed to do.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this," Emily sighed, handing her phone over to Kaci as she took a seat next to her. She'd been considering whether or not this was a good idea the entire time she was at work and even now she was still on the fence about it.

"It'll be good for you, I promise," Kaci assured her. "You need someone special in your life, Emily! You can't let that scummy ex-boyfriend of yours hold you back forever." Immediately, Emily found herself opening her mouth to defend Zacky. He wasn't scummy. He just made a few mistakes, something Emily couldn't say she'd never done. "Okay, I've got you all set up!" Kaci exclaimed, handing Emily her phone back. "Now we just sit back and wait for the messages to start rolling in."

Emily looked over the profile that Kaci had set up for her. To her credit, she'd chosen some pretty decent pictures, even one of her and Maddy. Emily wasn't sure how she felt about having pictures of the toddler her daughter on some dating app, but she supposed any potential suitors should know that she had a daughter. "Thanks, Kaci," Emily said, stuffing her phone into her purse. "I'll let you know how things go. Come on, Maddy. Let's go home." The entire way back to Zacky's house, Emily debated on whether she should even tell him what she'd done. Would he even care? He'd made it clear enough that he wasn't interested in being a part of their lives in that way. But he was letting her and Maddy live in his home rent-free, so maybe she at least owed him the decency of letting him know that she was trying to date again. Maybe she would just wait and see how things played out before she made a decision on the matter.

"Mr. Zack!" Maddy shouted as they walked through the doors. "We home!"

"Baby, shh," Emily scolded. "Mr. Zack is probably trying to rest."

Zacky was trying to find the motivation to head downstairs to fix something to eat. He had been laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling for, well, he didn't really know how long. He hadn't even bothered to look at his phone after checking it once when he first woke up. 2:37 stared back at him in white lettering, detailing just how late he had slept in. He wasn't used to sleeping so much in one day but he knew he needed the rest. If he wanted any chance at healing, he would have to give his body the nutrients it was lacking.

Just as he was pooling the energy together, Zacky swore he heard the sound of his name being called from downstairs. He cursed under his breathe as he forced himself to his feet. Grumbling under his breathe, Zacky pulled on a plain black tshirt and cradled his side as he began the long trek downstairs. It wasn't all that long but it certainly felt like it was one of those obstacle races that you paid to participate in, only to feel a whole lot of self-loathing by the time you crossed the finish line.

"Hey," Zacky greeted the pair in a rough voice, giving a slight smile to Maddy before he turned and began to head into the kitchen. He was intent on making a smoothie because there was little to no effort involved in drinking one and he could pack a whole lot of protein and vitamins into one. Tossing a bunch of things into the blender, Zacky tried to stand straight. He put a fair bit of weight onto the counter, letting his eyes slip shut. It was probably better if he acted as normal as possible, Maddy didn't need to pick up on the fact that he was injured.

Emily hoped that Maddy hadn't woken Zacky, because after last night, he needed all the rest that he could get. But when she heard the sounds of him slowly making his way downstairs, she knew that the two of them had disturbed him. When Zacky turned to head into the kitchen, Maddy followed after him, almost like a little puppy, pulling a piece of paper from her Doc McStuffins backpack as she went. "I draw you a picture, Mr. Zack!" she exclaimed, waving the piece of paper at him. "Me and you and Mommy at the pool! See? Mr. Zack, look!"

"Madison Alice, leave Mr. Zack alone," Emily said. "Let's let Mr. Zacky enjoy his smoothie while we go upstairs and take a bath, okay?" Maddy pouted at the mention of a bath, stomping her foot and Emily crouched down to her eye-level. "You'd better stop that right now," she said. "Or we'll go to bed straight afterwards. Here, we'll put your drawing on the counter and Mr. Zack can look at it later." Emily took the piece of paper from Maddy and sat it on the counter next to the blender before she led the toddler upstairs to the bathroom. She had Maddy get undressed while she grabbed a set of pajamas from the bedroom, setting these on the lid of the toilet while she ran the bathwater. "What color do you want this time, baby?" Emily asked, holding up the package of dissolving colored disks she'd bought for Maddy.

"Blue!" Maddy shouted.

Emily smiled as she tossed the disk into the water, helping Maddy inside before she sat down in front of the tub. "Why don't you play for a little while before we start washing up? And keep the water insde the bathtub this time, please." Emily picked up her phone when it vibrated, raising an eyebrow when she saw that she had an alert from the dating app she'd let Kaci sign her up for. Spencer sent you a message! Emily clicked on it, surprised that she'd gotten a response this fast. And she'd honestly been expecting a simple hello or an unwelcomed explicit message, so when she saw that it was a message asking about her teaching job, Emily smiled. She loved her job and she loved to talk about it. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad thing after all.

If Zacky thought that his heart had broke before, he was completely sure. It was in the moments directly after Maddy described her picture to him that his heart truly broke. Gritting his teeth, he held his emotions back as he offered the little girl a forced smile. It was all that he could do not to cry. All of his work was the only reason that he was able to keep himself in check, when you were as powerful as he was, you needed to be able to think with a level head. Exhaling slowly, he uttered a quiet thank you to Emily when she set the piece of paper down by the blender. It wasn't until he sat down at the end of the counter with his smoothie in one hand and the drawing in the other that he allowed himself to shed a few tears.

Zacky hung his head, thankful when he heard the telltale sounds of the bath turning on upstairs. He wouldn't be discovered being weak. With how exhausted he was over the night before, he was sure that it had a lot to with the fact that he was actually allowing himself to feel such emotions. Normally, Zacky would have drank them away in the safety of his own bedroom.

Relocating to the living room, Zacky let out a string of cuss words as he dropped down onto the couch. There was no comfortable way to go from standing to sitting down and soon enough, he'd found the motivation to lift his legs so that he was laying fully on the couch. He'd long since stopped crying and he hoped that neither of his guests would notice. Their questions were the last thing that he needed at the moment.

"Okay, baby, time to get out," Emily said, lifting Maddy out of the bathtub. She grabbed the toddler's towel and wrapped it around her shoulders before reaching down to pull the plug from the drain. She dried Maddy off as best she could before helping her into her pajamas. They were a set that Emily's parents had purchased for her the last time she visited and Emily thought they were just the cutest thing in the world. "I think we have a little time to watch cartoons before we start on supper, okay?" Emily said. "And maybe Mr. Zack will feel like watching with us." Emily followed an excited Maddy downstairs, unlocking her phone when it vibrated. So far this little idea of Kaci's was proving to be a good one and Emily was actually pretty confident that she might meet someone on this app. Of course, deep down, her first choice would always be Zacky. It was hard to move past your first love and besides, he was the father of her child. They would always have a connection to one another whether they liked it or not.

Emily glanced over at Zacky as she sank down onto the loveseat and if she hadn't known any better, she would've thought he'd been crying. He always thought he had to be tough and hide his tears from her when they were dating, but she never thought any less of Zacky for crying back then and she certainly wouldn't now. "So what did you want for dinner?" she asked Zacky. She was sure he wouldn't feel like getting up to eat or cook, but she knew he would be hungry. "I was thinking fried chicken. There are some rolls in the freezer and I bought a package of instant potatoes, so we can have ourselves a nice little dinner. What about you, Maddy? Do you want fried chicken for supper?"

"Yeah!" Maddy exclaimed.

Emily smiled. "Okay, well then why don't you sit up here with Mr. Zack while Mommy goes and starts on supper?" Emily asked. "Just be easy on him." Maddy eagerly climbed up on the couch near Zacky's feet, fitting herself between his legs and the back of the couch and laying her head on his calf. When she was little, Emily always imagined what it would be like to see her child and her boyfriend or husband curled together on the couch and it always made her feel warm and happy inside. But this happiness was tainted. The three of them would never be the family Emily wanted them to be.

Zacky lifted his head, eyeing the pair as they reentered the living room. His eyes dropped to Maddy first and he had to swallow the mass that had suddenly formed in his throat before he looked up to meet Emily's gaze. He said nothing, only met her gaze for a long moment before he turned away. He held back a sigh, readjusting on the couch just slightly to help relieve pressure on his side. His ears perked at the mention of supper, turning back toward her as she spoke to him. Honestly, he had been planning on eating close to nothing all day after his smoothie because cooking required effort that he was ready to give. Emily's offer to cook supper was a blessing that he was positive she probably didn't even realize.

Having not been paying any attention to the show that he had turned on the television, he bit back a groan as he sat up so that he could properly help Maddy pick out something to watch. Once the little girl had settled on something, Zacky had relaxed back into his former position. He breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling the slightest bit of pain relief now that he had laid back down and could lay somewhat comfortably with Maddy at his feet. This, it felt far better than it should have. It felt good to have Maddy curled up with him, watching cartoons while the girl that he had always loved was cooking them all supper. He wished that he was brave enough to start that conversation with her but the truth was that he wasn't.

When Emily appeared with plates for each of them, Zacky pushed himself up so that he was propped against the arm of the couch. He pulled his legs up gingerly, offering Emily a bit of a pained smile. "Thanks, Em," he said softly, scooping a bit of the mashed potatoes onto his bun before he took a bite. "It's delicious. Right, Maddy?" He asked, turning to the little girl who had wasted no time in eating her food. She certainly did take after he father in that regard.

Emily gave Maddy and Zacky one last look before she headed into the kitchen. The first thing she did was get the rolls from the freezer so they could be thawing. Setting these to the side, she went about making an egg wash and a bag of flour and seasoning for the chicken. Maddy would only eat a small portion of a breast and Emily would eat two small breasts, but she wasn't sure about Zacky. Deciding they could always refrigerate the leftovers, she went ahead and made two legs and two thighs for him. Emily normally fell into a rhythm when she was cooking, save for the interruptions from Maddy. This time, however, the interruptions came in the form of her phone. Emily almost felt a little bad for trying to find someone behind Zacky's back, even if it wasn't really behind his back. She just needed to keep telling herself that they would never had what they had before.

When the food was ready, Emily plated everything, cutting up Maddy's chicken before she carried two of the plates into the living room. She handed one to Zacky and one to Maddy, feeling a bit more proud of herself than she ought to have when Zacky complimented the food. Maddy, too busy already digging into her food, said nothing but nodded. "Well I'm glad you two like it," Emily said with a laugh. She sat her phone down on the coffee table. "I'm going to go get my plate." Emily headed into the kitchen, getting herself a water bottle from the fridge before she grabbed her plate and went back to the living room. "So what are we watching, Maddy?" she asked, glancing at the TV. "I see Mr. Zack was nice enough to let you choose a cartoon."

"Doc McStuffins!" Maddy exclaimed, her eyes widening when she accidentally spit a small bite of potatoes out onto the couch. Well, onto Zacky's pants and then onto the couch.

"Look what you did, silly girl," Emily said, reaching over to clean up the mess with her napkin. "Swallow your food before you answer next time."

Zacky knew that it was pushing boundaries more than maybe he should have but it was in his natural to find answers to the questions he had. You didn't get to where he had in life without looking into situations that made you even a tiny bit uncomfortable or unsure about what was going on. He sat up when Emily left the room, noticing that her phone vibrated several times as she left the room. His eyes narrowed a bit as he leaned forward, gritting his teeth against the pain throbbing in his side. It wouldn't do good for any of them if Maddy realized he was as hurt as he was. She was naive, innocent, would have no clue what it was or wh it was there. And Zacky wanted to keep it that way for the rest of forever if he had the choice.

He had resumed his position by the time Emily reappeared with her plate in hand. Zacky was quiet, his eyes narrowed as he munched away angrily. Glancing over when he felt something drop onto his pants, his face scrunched a bit when he noticed Maddy had spilled some of the potatoes onto his couch. Zacky let out a small laugh, reaching over (a bit slower than he should have) and ruffled Maddy's hair. "Careful, kiddo. You make a mess and you'll have to do dishes forever," Zacky teased, returning his attention to the plate sitting beside him.

"So," Zacky started after a few moments of silence, running his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip. His eyes were trained on his food but it was clear that his attention was focused elsewhere. "Who's Spencer?" He asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible but a bit of anger still managed to weasel its way into his tone.

Maddy was understandably and adorably upset with the threat of having to do dishes forever. She was a bit like her mother in that aspect; Emily always dreaded having to do the dishes, even if she knew it was necessary. Emily hushed her playfully and told her to finish eating, with the added instruction of not spilling anything else onto the couch. She turned her attention back to her own food and the three of them ate in relative silence until Zacky spoke up a few minutes later. The anger was clear in his voice and Emily was so focused on figuring out what he could possibly be angry about that it took her a few seconds to figure out what he'd just said. "Who's...did you go through my phone?" Emily asked. Her voice was calm, but only for Maddy's sake. She turned to the little girl, forcing a smile onto her face. "Why don't you go upstairs and play with your toys for a little while? Mommy needs to talk to Mr. Zack."

Emily waited until she was sure that Maddy was out of earshot before she turned back to Zacky. She was probably a little more angry than she ought to be, but she just couldn't believe he'd thought he had any business looking at her phone. "You had no right to mess with my phone, Zack," she hissed at him. "Who I talk to is none of your business. And for your information, that's all Spencer and I are doing. Talking. But who knows, it might turn into more. Because guess what? You're not my boyfriend anymore, Zacky. And maybe...maybe I want a little companionship, something you made it very clear you don't want to give me anymore. You don't want...that anymore, so I'm going to try to find someone that does. So stay out of my business and don't touch my phone again."

Emily turned away from Zacky and stormed upstairs, leaving her plate on the coffee table. She would clean up later, maybe once Zacky was gone. She felt a little flushed, because she was still angry and also because she was embarrassed. She hadn't wanted Zacky to find out this way, if he even found out at all. Of course, Emily couldn't help but wonder why Zacky even cared. It seemed like the only reason he was even around was because of Maddy, so he should be happy that she was trying to find a relationship with someone who wasn't him.

"I didn't fuckin' touch your phone, Emily," Zacky growled through gritted teeth. If it wasn't for the knowledge of the young girl upstairs, he likely would have started screaming at Emily. She was accusing him of things that he hadn't done, that he saw no need to do in the first place. Scowling as he looked up from his plate of food, Zacky let out a bitter laugh. He shook his head, sitting straight up. He leaned forward long enough to place his nearly empty plate of food down on the coffee table before turning his attention back to Emily. "Quit acting like a damn child. I asked a damn question and you know, if you ask me, you're getting awfully fuckin' defensive right now. Don't you think?" Zacky spat the words out, his gaze turning almost hateful as he looked to Emily. The fact that she all but walked away like a child had pissed him off far more than it should have.

Cursing under his breathe, Zacky rose to his feet and stormed into the kitchen with a plate in each hand. He ignored the way that his side had begun throbbing as he moved, his anger forcing adrenaline through his veins. Zacky rinsed the dishes and tossed them into the dishwasher, not wanting to bother with hand washing them. What leftovers were there, Zacky placed in a ziploc container before setting them on the top shelf of the fridge. After he started the dishwasher, Zacky opted to grab a beer from the fridge. He wasn't so sure that Emily would care for him to drink around Maddy but it was only a single beer so he didn't think that it would matter that much.

Sulking back into the living room, Zacky dropped down into the reclining chair that was placed in the corner of the room. He put the foot rest up and began to search for something mind numbing to watch. Something to take his mind off of the brewing fight between him and Emily. He was positive that this was only the beginning of what would tear them apart for good but what was there for him to do about it at this point? It seemed obvious to Zacky that Emily wanted no real part of him in either of their lives and he wasn't so sure that he could blame her.

For a split second, Emily was so angry that she considered leaving. But where the hell would she go? If she was on her own, she might have gone to a motel or something, but she couldn't do that to Maddy. Her little girl deserved a stable roof over her head, even if Emily was ready to strangle the man who was providing it. She wished she never would've approached Zacky in the bar that night. Then she never would've gotten her hopes up about rekindling what they used to have and she never would've have given Maddy the father she'd been wanting for so long. And Zacky had made it more than clear that they would never be the sort of family Emily wanted, the sort they could have been if she hadn't left.

"Hi sweetheart, are you having fun in here?" Emily asked. She smiled softly at Maddy as she closed the door behind her. She went and sat next to her on the bed. "How...How would you like to go and stay with Grandma and Grandpa in Montana for a little while this summer?" she asked. It wasn't an idea that Emily was particularly crazy, but it was the only plan she could formulate. Emily would finish out the month left in the semester and then put in her notice and move back to Montana with her parents. She knew that she could always just move back to her apartment when they were finished fumigating, but if she stayed here, there would be no escaping Zacky. And he wouldn't follow her back to Montana, even for Maddy. He loved his little girl, but he seemed convinced that her life was better off without her in it. The only problem Emily saw with her plan was moving back to Montana, a place that she and Zacky were all too eager to escape years ago.

"Why don't you lay down while Mommy goes downstairs and talks to Mr. Zack?" Emily suggested, pulling back the sheets. She helped Maddy into the bed before reaching for the remote, turning on a cartoon for her. "There you go. Mommy will be back soon." Emily leaned down to kiss Maddy's forehead before leaving the room. She knew that Zacky would likely not be happy with what she was going to tell him, but it wasn't healthy for her or for him if they tried to keep up this arrangement. As much as she still wanted Zacky, she was trying to convince her that it was better if she left. "Zack." Emily said his name shortly as she entered the living room. She looked down at the floor, trying to gather the courage to say what she needed to say. "I just...I just wanted to tell you that...that we're leaving. Not right now, when the semester ends. I'm going to put in my notice at the school and me and Maddy are going to move back to Montana. I just...I just think it would better that way."