Carry Me

Levia adjusted her swimsuit top in the mirror. Addison was sitting on Levia’s bed, observing her sister.

“I dunno, Addi-”

“Oh shush! You look hot!”

Levia frowned at her reflection. She loved her swimsuit, yes, it was super cute. I was white with black scribbles and marks on it and red roses. The string-like halter hugged her chest just right, not that Levia thought so, and the bikini bottoms tied at the sides, making her somewhat short legs look longer.

“Trust me, Lev, when Zacky sees you in that he’ll lose it right there!” Addison insisted.

Levia snorted at her sister’s bluntness. She turned around, trying to see how her butt looked. She frowned again when she couldn’t see anything.

“It’s not because your fat, don’t even try,” Addison accused, reading Levia’s mind.

Levia sighed, “I know that. I’m just…not as toned as…you know…you.”

Addison shook her head, “I’m not as fit as you think I am. And you look great, Lev. Stop doubting yourself. Gain some confidence in yourself, girl!”

“I don’t have any. You know that.”

“That’s why I said you should get some.”

Levia crossed her arms, putting her weight on one leg, “I can’t just develop it in the five minutes before my date!”

Levia still couldn’t believe anyone had asked her out on a date. Seriously. She had no idea what Zacky possibly saw that was so exciting. Still, she wasn’t about to turn down a cute guy she had the hots for.

Well, one of the cute guys she had the hots for.

Addison tapped her chin, “True, true. But just go with it, Lev. If you act like you have no confidence, Zacky will notice. Just act like you know you’ve got it instead of waiting for someone to tell you. Men like it when their girl thinks she looks good and knows when she does.”

“I’m not his girl, Addi.”

“Not yet.”

Levia uncrossed her arms, giving up on the fight with her sister. She knew she couldn’t win against Addison, anyway.

“Girls! Zacky’s here!”

Levia froze at the mention of Zacky’s name. She wasn’t ready for this.

Ready for what? It was just a date…no biggie…

Addison chuckled, “I think you should put some clothes on over top of that, don’t you?”

Levia’s shoulders slumped, “That might be a good idea.”

Addison giggled, “I’m sure Zacky wouldn’t mind if you didn’t.”

Levia ignored her sister and grabbed a pair of black plaid shorts and put them on. She scanned the room for a shirt or sweatshirt, and her eyes brightened when she spotted her brand new LA Pride sweatshirt. Technically, it was a sweatshirt/dress type thing, since it came past her shorts and looked like she wasn’t even wearing any, but it was cute, nonetheless.

Addison stood up off the bed and opened the door, leaving the room. Levia grabbed a small clip and pinned her bangs back in the mirror before sighing and following her sister downstairs.

Matt and Zacky were having a conversation about girls and how they always took so long to get ready when Addison jogged down the stairs and gave Matt a kiss on the cheek as her greeting. He smiled at her and Zacky looked away. He didn’t care to see those two be all lovey-dovey. It got annoying after a while.

Levia slowly made her way down the stairs. She felt those butterflies appear when she spotted Zacky in his swim trunk-clad glory. The place he was taking Levia was still unknown, but he told Levia to wear a swimsuit so she assumed it was the beach. She hoped he knew that she couldn’t swim.

Zacky, in his black Metallica shirt and gray and black striped swim trunks, smiled at Levia when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She smiled back.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Levia nodded and began to follow Zacky out the door, but they were stopped by Matt.

“Don’t keep her out too late, Zack, or I’ll have to kick your ass!”

Zacky rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah.”

Matt looked at Levia, one of his arms around Addison’s waist, “Same with you, Lev. I’d like to keep my guitarist in one piece.”

Addison giggled and Zacky silently walked out the door, not even going to comment. Levia coughed uncomfortably and gave Matt a thumbs up, saying she wouldn’t, before quickly following Zacky outside.”

Zacky turned to her, “Sometimes I wonder about that guy.”

-------------------------------------------------------

Levia sat on the small blanket, smoothing it out so Zacky could sit down beside her. The picnic basket was sitting on the other corner, holding the blanket down in the gentle breeze blowing off of the ocean. Zacky came over and sat himself by Levia, giving her a small smile, which she returned.

Levia was right, Zacky had chosen to take her to the beach. They were having a picnic-type thing, despite it being almost 7 at night. The sun had yet to set, though, since it was the end of June, after all. It had cooled off a bit, especially with the wind from the ocean, and Levia was glad she wore a sweatshirt.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you wearing pants under that?” Zacky asked, gesturing to her sweatshirt/dress.

Levia looked down at it and laughed, “That I am. Sorry to disappoint you.”

Zacky faked disappointment, “Damn.”

Levia looked out into the ocean, “I’ve never been to the Pacific before.”

“Really?”

“Nope. Just the Atlantic.”

Zacky leaned back, resting his weight on his arms and stretching out his legs across the blanket, “I didn’t know, but I thought you might like it here anyway. There’s usually not many people around this part of the beach, so I though maybe it would be a good place.”

Levia, sitting with her legs Indian style, leaned back like Zacky was, though her legs remained crossed, “It’s beautiful here.”

Zacky nodded, “It is.”

He noticed the now almost empty picnic basket, “Sorry about the food. I didn’t really know what to get.”

Levia laughed, remembering how Zacky had asked Addison to make them sandwiches and put together the food, which she gladly did.

“It was great, actually. I didn’t mind at all.”

“I’m lucky your sister is a great cook,” Zacky said.

Levia turned her head to look at Zacky, “Is Matt really protective of her?”

“Huh?” Zacky asked, caught off guard by her question.

Levia sat back up and rested her hands in her lap, “Matt. Is he protective of Addi?”

Zacky nodded, “Yeah. He doesn’t always appreciate her flirtatiousness.”

“She doesn’t mean anything by it. Matt knows that, doesn’t he?”

Zacky shrugged, “I’m sure he does. He knows how much she cares about him.”

Levia watched a bug crawl by in the nearby sand, “She loves him so much, she tells me. She doesn’t know what she’d ever do without him.”

“I believe it,” Zacky said, “we’ve all seen the way they look at each other.”

Levia sighed, “She mentioned something about her and Amber, but she wouldn’t tell me everything.”

Zacky tilted his head back and closed his eyes in thought, “Matt’s mentioned something about those two before. Apparently they were college buddies and…experimented…with each other.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

He turned to her, surprised, “So Addison really does go both ways?”

Levia shrugged, “Yes and no. She’s only ever dated guys, but she goofs around with girls sometimes.”

“She doesn’t think it’s bad for her to do that when she’s engaged?”

“Addi doesn’t take her…feelings…towards girls seriously, so no I guess she doesn’t. She should, though.”

Zacky nodded, his head still tilted back. Levia ran a hand through her hair.

“What does Matt think about it?”

Zacky opened his eyes and put his head in its normal position, “It bothers him. He doesn’t like Amber. None of us do, really.”

“Why?”

Zacky scratched his head, “She hits on everyone and never leaves Addi alone. Sometimes I think Addi just feels pressured to do stuff with Amber even though she doesn’t want to.”

“Then why is she friends with her?” Levia asked. She was starting to get worked up.

Zacky shrugged, “I have no idea. It’s not really my business, so I never thought about it. They just have history, I guess.”

“Addison never could let go of the past.”

Silence took over the two. Levia felt bad for talking about her sister and Matt’s relationship on their date. It wasn’t like it mattered to her, anyway.

“Sorry.”

“For what?” Zacky asked, confused.

“For bringing up Matt and Addi’s relationship. It’s our date, I should be talking about us, not anyone else.”

A small smirk appeared on Zacky’s face, “There’s an ‘us’?”

Levia bit her lip, “I don’t know. Is there?”

Zacky lay down fully on the ground and rested his hands behind his head, “Do you want there to be?”

Thoughts of Jacoby ran through her head and Levia felt guilty. She shouldn’t be thinking about him on her date with Zacky. Jacoby had even said himself that Zacky had gotten to her first, and it was only fair for her to give him a chance before she even thought about Jacoby. His words echoed in her head.

“All is fair in love and war.”

Levia picked at the corner of the deep blue blanket. She hadn’t even known Zacky that long, personally, anyway, but she already knew she really liked him. Everyone knew.

“Maybe after another date or two. I would like that.”

Zacky made eye contact with her, causing her to look away quickly and Zacky to chuckle, “More dates it is then.”

Levia uncrossed her legs and rolled over onto her stomach, crossing her arms and resting her chin on them. She looked at Zacky, who was looking down at her curiously.

“So tell me more about yourself, Mister Baker.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours and many embarrassing stories and laughs later, the sun began to set, casting a orange glow over the beach.

Levia pushed herself up and sat on her butt, stretching. Zacky stood up and Levia eyes him curiously, wondering what he was doing. She became even more curious when he started taking his shirt off.

Zacky tossed his shirt to the side and looked at Levia, who was watching him with a look of amusement and confusion.

“Let’s go swimming,” he said.

Levia looked down at the ground, embarrassed, “I can’t swim.”

Zacky shrugged, “We don’t have to go in too deep. We can just go in a little ways. Come on.”

Levia sighed and stood up. She reluctantly took off her sweatshirt, wincing when the cool ocean air hit her now bare stomach. She refused to see if Zacky was looking at her or not. Her face got warm and she got a tingly feeling at the though of him watching her undress.

Zacky softly laughed at Levia’s uncomfortable expression. He knew it was because he was watching her, but it was kind of hard not to. Not to mention she looked good in a swimsuit…

The beach was such a great idea.

Levia unbuttoned her shorts and stepped out of them, leaving her in just her bikini. She adjusted the top and took a deep breath, remembering Addison’s advice about being confident in her appearance. She turned to Zacky, who was watching her with a smirk. She instantly blushed.

Zacky held out his hand, which Levia took, and he led her to the edge of the water. Levia squeaked when the cold water hit her feet and then her legs. Zacky continued to lead her out further, splashing her every so often and laughing when she splashed him back.

“It’s not funny! It’s cold!”

Zacky chuckled, “You’ll get used to it.”

Levia frowned but let Zacky take her out further. Once the water got to just below her chest, she stopped. Zacky turned around and looked at her curiously.

“I think this is good,” she said.

Zacky shrugged and reached underwater, grabbing Levia’s other hand and intertwining their fingers. Levia bit her lip and looked down, slowly lifting her head to look at the sunset. A small layer of blue lined the top of the sky, with rows of pink, yellow, orange, and even red going down to where sky met the ocean. The sun was glowing a reddish color, light rays radiating and reflecting on the water’s surface.

She gasped, “It’s so pretty!”

Zacky glanced at the sunset before looking back down at Levia, who was actually only a couple inches shorter than him, “It is.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Zacky grinned at her, “Me either.”

Levia tore her gaze away from the beautiful sunset, her eyes landing on Zacky. Her gaze found his deep green eyes, so different and more energizing than her own pale green ones, and she was lost in them. It was one of the reasons she could never make eye contact with him.

She could never escape.

Zacky’s face hovered near hers and she could feel his breath on her face. Levia felt her heartbeat speed up and it felt like butterflies were having an orgy in her stomach. She leaned in closer, smiling a bit when she remembered Zacky’s snakebites, remembering how she had always wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Their lips touched in a gentle kiss. Zacky didn’t want to scare her away and Levia was just plain shy about it. She smiled at the feeling of the cool metal against her warm lips. Their hands separated, Zacky’s gripping Levia’s waist while her arms wound around his neck. One of her hands pushed gently on the back of Zacky’s head, causing him to deepen the kiss. Their lips moved together for a few more moments before Levia pulled away, gently tugging on one of Zacky’s snakebites.

Zacky groaned, “You stopped.”

Levia tried to hide her smile, the butterflies getting worse when Zacky licked over his lips, his eyes running down to her chest and back up to her face.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t sound very sincere,” Zacky stated, his voice sounding strangely lower. Maybe Levia was just hearing things.

Levia curled a piece of her wet hair around her finger, her smile giving her away, “Oh I am.”

Zacky lowered his mouth onto hers again, this time making the kiss not as gentle. Levia’s arm went around Zacky’s neck again while one of his hands lowered itself to her backside. Levia gently tugged on his other snakebite, making Zacky chuckle deeply, almost evilly, as his hand on her backside tightened.

Levia squeaked in surprise, Zacky using the opportunity to gently slide his tongue in her mouth. Levia, never the dominant one, simply toyed with him instead of fighting him off, making Zacky growl and Levia giggle. Zacky pulled away and rested his forehead on Levia’s, who’s breathing was a bit ragged.

Zacky laughed, “You’re such a tease.”

Levia bit her lip, “I try.”

Zacky lifted his head up, noticing it was starting to get dark outside. He glanced over to the beach, relieved to see that their stuff was still there, before running his hands up and down Levia’s sides.

“I think we should head back. It’s getting kind of late.”

Levia nodded and removed her arms from around Zacky’s neck. She took Zacky’s hand in hers and started to lead him back to the beach. Zacky happily obliged.

Zacky tried not to pay attention to Levia, who was dripping wet, water droplets cascading down her chest and legs. He sighed and pulled his shirt on over his wet body. Levia slipped on her shorts, but frowned at her sweatshirt.

“Something wrong?” Zacky asked.

Levia nodded, “I don’t want to get my new sweatshirt all dirty and wet. You don’t care if I…wait to put it on until I dry off some, do you?”

Zacky resisted the smirk that wanted to show through his face, “I don’t mind at all.”

Levia ignored the breeze and picked up her sweatshirt, helping Zacky pack up their blanket and put it in his SUV. Levia tossed her sweatshirt in the backseat, trying not to feel self conscious since she knew Zacky kept looking over at her.

Zacky started the engine and pulled away from the beach, driving down the road in a different direction than the one they came from.

“I have to run over to Johnny’s to pick up some money he owes me. Is it okay if we go their before I drop you off?”

“That’s fine.”

Levia squealed when a song came on the radio, causing Zacky to look over at her in confusion. She started singing along to it. Zacky recognized it as some Hollywood Undead song.

Realization flashed through his eyes as he glanced at the Pride sweatshirt in the backseat through his rear view mirror.

“That’s explains your Pride gear,” Zacky chuckled.

“That it does.”

A Papa Roach song came on next, making Levia giggle maniacally and Zacky question her sanity. He laughed as she sang all of the words. Zacky frowned, though, when he realized that it was Papa Roach, as in the band Jacoby was in.

Levia did say that she wanted to be with him and not Jacoby though, right?

Zacky sure hoped so.

A few minutes later he shut off the engine and opened the door, “I’ll only be a few. You can come in if you want to.”

Levia nodded and grabbed her sweatshirt from the backseat, slipping it on before following Zacky to the front door of Johnny’s house.

Zacky knocked and his eyes widened when the door was opened. Levia thought she heard a feminine voice, but she couldn’t see and wasn’t sure.

Zacky’s face turned into a smirk and he leaned on the doorframe, “Hey, Laney. Johnny around?”

Levia still couldn’t see Laney, but at least now she knew who answered the door.

“Yep, he’s here. I’ll go get him.”

The door opened fully and Zacky stepped inside, gesturing for Levia to come inside after him.

“Johnny! Zacky’s here!” Laney called up the steps, returning moments later. She smiled when she saw Levia.

“Levia! I didn’t know you where here!” she said, walking over to hug Levia.

Levia smiled in reply. As Laney hugged her, Levia’s nose scrunched up at the musky smell coming off of the slightly smaller girl.

Zacky laughed at Levia’s expression. He knew what she was smelling, since he got a nose full of the same thing.

Laney pulled back, revealing that she was wearing a Vengeance University shirt a bit oversized for her and blue boxers. Levia gave her a knowing look.

Laney smiled sheepishly and Zacky starting laughing again, knowing exactly who’s shirt she was wearing.

“Glad to see you’re supporting the company, Laney.”

Laney shot him a playful glare, causing him to burst into a fit of hysterics again.

Johnny came slowly walking into the room, rubbing his eyes and grumbling about trying to get some sleep. He smiled when he saw Levia. She nodded back.

“So Johnny, how about that money you owe me?” Zacky asked, taming himself down enough to ask Johnny with a straight face.

Johnny mumbled something and walked out of the room to go get money, Zacky following.

Levia turned to Laney, “You smell like sex.”

Laney coughed at Levia’s bluntness, “You sound just like your sister.”

Levia shrugged, “I’ve been spending too much time with her lately.”

Laney nodded, “I can tell. And yes, I probably do.”

“Did you just do it? Or has it been hanging around a while ‘cause it smells pretty fresh to me…”

Laney laughed, “I believe that’s personal information! Stop acting like Addison!”

Levia laughed with her, “I’m sorry. It’s a terrible tragedy that we share the same genetics.”

Zacky and Johnny came back into the room, and Johnny handed over the money, which Zacky gladly put in his pocket.

“Thanks, man. So, are you and Laney…you know?”

Johnny gently shook his head, “No.”

Laney snapped her head in Johnny’s direction, “No?! Then what do you call what we just did an hour ago?!”

Levia turned her nose up in disgust. It was only an hour ago?

Zacky’s gaze flickered between them, “Oops.”

Johnny sighed and glared at Laney, “I didn’t say it didn’t mean anything! I just said we aren’t together!”

“Oh! So now it doesn’t mean anything to you?!”

“Yes it does! Quit yelling at me!

“I don’t believe you!”

Levia slowly backed towards the door, Zacky sending her an amused glance as he did the same.

“Then I’ll show you!”

Levia turned around and briskly walked out the door the minute she saw Johnny pin Laney against the wall and run his hand up her thigh. Zacky just laughed and saluted Johnny.

“Nice to see you, man. Have fun!”

Johnny flipped him off and Laney wrapped her legs around Johnny’s middle, running her hands through his hair.

“I’ll just let myself out, then.”

Zacky shut the door behind him, bursting into laughter and clutching his knees. Levia just shook her head, clearly amused by the two, and hopped in the car. Zacky joined her soon after, wiping tears from his eyes as he started the engine again.

The ride home was silent. Levia daydreamed, staring out of the window and Zacky just concentrated on driving.

When he pulled up to Matt and Addison’s house he let the engine run, but turned so he could face Levia.

Levia shifted so she was facing him, “I really had a great time, Zacky.”

Zacky smiled, leaning over the middle console slightly, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

Levia bit her lip and shyly leaned forward, giving Zacky a gently kiss on the lips before opening the door.

Zacky grinned at her, pleasantly surprised by her outgoing actions and rolled down the window, talking to her outside.

“When would you like that second date?”

Levia tapped her chin, “How about tomorrow night?”

“Sounds good.”

The two smiled at each other and Levia waved at Zacky as he pulled out of the driveway. She made her way up the steps and onto the porch, opening the unlocked door. Matt and Addison were no where to be found.

Levia thought she could faintly hear furniture scraping along the floor upstairs. She shook her head, deciding against changing for now and sat down in the living room. Everyone was getting busy tonight, it seemed.

“So how was your date?”

Levia jumped up off the sofa and screamed, clutching her chest. She glared at the offender and slapped him lightly across the chest.

Brian rubbed his chest and frowned, “That hurt.”

“Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry,” Brian apologized, patting the spot next to him on the sofa again. Levia reluctantly sat down.

Brian smirked at her, “So tell me all about it.”

Levia sighed and crossed her legs, preparing to admit to Brian her night.

Brian sat, a knowing glint in his eyes.

He could already sense the drama approaching.