Just Stay With Me Awhile

Zacky sighed, trying to figure out what to do in his head. On one hand, he realized that he’d put Lili into a corner. He realized she loved him, whether she wanted to admit it or not. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have had a problem with him being in the same room with her. She wouldn’t have let him kiss her. And she had let him kiss her; she hadn’t fought him off, or bit his tongue when he’d pushed it into her mouth. No, she had kissed him back with just as much passion as he had always had for her. But on the other hand, he realized that she was deeply hurt. And that, even if he had told her the truth—which he had—that pain wasn’t going to just go away with a simple kiss. It would take a lot longer, and a lot more work of trying to get her to trust him than that. And then there was the matter of her father and uncles.

They would kill him if they found out he had kissed her again. And they’d be especially angry if they realized he’d stayed in her room overnight, no matter how drunk he’d been. It was no excuse for him, he knew, but he had gotten more drunk last night than he’d been in a long time, and it had affected him differently than any other time he’d gotten drunk. Last night, he’d been an emotional drunk.

Just then, a short knock sounded on the hotel door, and Zack jumped in spite of himself. He didn’t know who would be knocking on Lili’s door at this time in the morning.

“Lil? C’mon, sweetie, open up. It’s Dad.” Vince’s voice called through the door.

“Shit,” Lili cussed, before glaring at Zack.

“What?” He whispered.

“I have half a mind to just open the goddamn door and let him know you’re here,” She whispered angrily, narrowing her eyes. He smirked at her, knowing that she wouldn’t do that.

“Then why don’t you?” He questioned. She sighed.

“Because my Dad’s been to jail one too many times because of you, and I won’t let him face murder charges because of killing a worthless, spineless, immoral, disgusting, pompous asshole like you.”

“That’s a lot of adjectives, Lili,” Zack smirked at her. “And they’re all very negative.”

“They’re all true.” She hissed.

“Lili, are you awake?” Vince called.

“Yeah,” Lili called through the door. “I’m getting dressed. Wait for a minute.”

“So what are you going to do?” He asked her. She groaned, and looked around the room for anywhere he could hide. Finally, she saw it. The balcony. Her father wouldn’t go out there; most likely, he was just here to talk about an upcoming show, or lyrics, or something like that.

She walked over to the balcony, and opened it quietly so her father wouldn’t hear her. She smirked at him; he was still in just a towel, and it was winter in New York City.

“Are you serious?” He asked her, his voice a hushed whisper. She grinned at him, grabbing a robe from the bathroom. She tossed it to him.

“Take it or leave it,” She told him. “Stand a few minutes of subzero weather, or face murder; it’s your choice.”

“I’ll get you back for this,” He smirked at her, walking towards the balcony and pulling the door shut as he sat on the snow-covered chair. She shut the curtains, blocking his view into the room, and then the cold started to seep in.

-x-

Lili walked over to the door after she saw Zacky pull the patio door closed, and opened it to reveal her father standing there.

“Where is he?” He asked Lili, anger in his eyes. “Did he hurt you? I’ll rip his balls of and feed them to—“

“What are you talking about, Dad?” Lili asked, knowing exactly what he was taking about. He must have heard from someone that Zack had entered her room the night before and not left.

“Baker! Tommy told me he thought he saw the fucker come in here last night, but he’s too drunk to remember for sure.”

Lili laughed, trying to make it seem like a joke. She wasn’t used to lying to her father; she resented Zacky for putting her in a situation in which she had to lie to him for Zack’s safety. “Daddy, I think Uncle Tommy was probably hallucinating again. You know how he gets when he has one too many shots of Jack.”

Vince narrowed his eyes, looking around the room inconspicuously as he looked for Zack. Seeing no one, he sighed, and pushed his hand through his hair before smiling at his daughter.

“I’m sorry, honey. You know how worried I get for you. Especially after that asshole did what he did to you.”

Lili sighed, and nodded, hugging her father. “I know, Daddy. But I’m a big girl now; I can take care of myself sometimes. Not all the time; it’s nice having a Dad in Motley Crue to ward off assholes. But sometimes, I can take care of said assholes by myself, too.”

He nodded, and hugged her back. “I know, Lil. Anyway, you have the night off. The guys think you need a break from having to go on stage every night. And besides, Jesse’s still in town if you want to hang out with him tonight. I know how much you missed him.”

Lili smiled at her father, but knew there was no way she’d be able to hang out with her friend tonight, even if she wanted to. She wouldn’t be able to face him after what had happened with her and Zack this morning. She’d made out with him, knowing full well that she didn’t trust him or his motives. And to top it off with an atomic cherry bomb, she had also made out with Zack the very morning after Jesse had kissed her.

What a mess.

“You okay?” Her father asked, seeing Lili’s suddenly bemused look. She shook her head, and then smiled reassuringly at her Dad.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She told him. “I was just thinking about something.”

“I’m gonna go back to my room and take a shower and get a bit more sleep before tonight, okay? But if you need me or any of the other guys, you know where we’re at. Nikki’s in the next room over, actually.”

“Really?” Lili asked, tilting her head to the side and breathing an inward breath of relief. It was a miracle that Nikki, her most alert and protective uncle, had not seen Zack enter her room the night before. Especially with all the ruckus he and Jimmy had been making. Well, not really Jimmy, she thought to herself. All the ruckus had been Zacky.

“Yeah. Kat’s here for promotion for her book, so she’s over there with him, if you catch my drift. Maybe it’d be a good idea for you to not go to him if you have a problem, if you don’t want to be emotionally scarred.”

She smiled to herself, and then everything made sense. Thank God he’s a horndog when it comes to Kat, she thought to herself. Otherwise I’d be helping to plan Zacky’s funeral.

“You go get sleep,” She told her father. “I’ll be fine.”

He hugged her one more time, before walking out of the hotel room, leaving her to herself. She locked the door, putting the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the doorhandle. She and Zack had a lot to talk about. She needed to make him realize that he needed to stay away from her. She needed to make him see how angry she was at him; not only for hurting her, but now for making her lie to her father, as well. That had been something she’d never felt she’d had to do before she’d gotten involved with Zacky. And surely, that meant that whatever was between them was bad…right?

She walked over to the patio door, opening it, and Zack stepped inside, his teeth chattering and his hair frozen to his head. She’d forgotten that he’d been wet when she’d put him out there. When she looked at it in hindsight, putting him outside in only his boxers, wet hair, and a robe had probably been a pretty bad idea.

“You look cold,” She said worriedly. “You don’t need a hospital, do you?”

Instead of glaring at her like she knew she would have been had their roles been reversed, Zacky flashed her a grin, and shook his head.

“Nah, I don’t need a fucking doctor,” He told her. “But since you took the liberty to put me outside in literal[/Ii] freezing weather while I was wet, you now have the responsibility to thaw me out and heat me back up.”