The Love of My Life

When Zacky woke up the next morning, he found that Mia was already up. She was sitting at her desk and she seemed to be drawing. For a while, he just watched her. It was a little insane that he was even here with her. He wasn’t the type who went home with some random girl, but Mia felt special. He really felt like there could be something here, something serious. He would be an idiot to just let it go so here he was, pursuing it.

He got out of bed, but she seemed to be so engrossed in her work that she didn’t even notice. He thought it was cute and he could definitely understand it. When he was coming up with new designs or writing new music, it was like he got lost in his own little world where nothing else existed.

Now he was standing right behind her and she still didn’t notice him. He found that a bit strange.

”Good morning,” he said. No reply, no movement, nothing.

”Good morning,” he said louder. Still nothing.

He then tapped her on her shoulder and she quickly turned around, her eyes wide in shock. When she realized who it was, she pulled out the earplugs and laughed.

”God, Zacky, you scared me! Couldn’t you have like… said something instead of coming up and scaring the life out of me?”

”I did!” Zacky said, defending himself. ”I tried talking to you twice but you didn’t even flinch. Then I give you a little tap and you’re basically ready to jump on me.”

”Sorry, sorry. I was…” she pointed at the mp3-player lying on the desk.

”Yeah, I can see that now. You hair was kind of in the way before,” he explained.

”Right, sorry. Again. So, what did you say?”

”When?” he asked confused.

Mia smiled at this. ”You said you talked to me twice, so what did you say?”

”Oh. Good morning,” he grinned.

She laughed. ”Good morning. Although it’s past twelve already so I’m not sure that constitutes morning.”

”Twelve? Are you serious?” he asked.

”Yeah. You must have been real tired. Although I guess that goes for me too since I haven’t even been up for an hour.”

”You could have woken me up, you know,” he said.

”No way! You looked so cute sleeping, there was no way I was going to disturb you.”

He raised an eyebrow. ”You thought I was cute?”

She rolled her eyes. ”I didn’t say you were cute. I said you looked cute, which is not even remotely the same thing. Do you want breakfast?”

”Yeah. I’ll get it though if you’ve already eaten.”

She stood up. That’s when he noticed that she was still wearing what she wore to bed last night. Those shorts definitely showed off her legs…

”I didn’t actually. I was waiting for you.” She headed toward her small kitchen area. ”Do you want coffee or tea?” she asked.

”Coffee, please,” he replied. He stood by her desk as he checked out what she had been drawing. It was a dress in black with small skulls all over it.

”You’re really into this whole thing with skulls and skeletons, huh?” he asked her.

”What?” She came back to the desk. ”Oh, yeah, I guess I am. I don’t even know why or where it came from, I’ve just always thought they were really cool.”

”They definitely are… What’s the deal with this dress?”

Mia gave him a suspicious look. ”I don’t know if I should tell you, maybe you’re going to steal the idea.”

He made a shocked face. ”What? I would never! Besides, dresses aren’t really VU’s thing anyway. So, spill.”

”I’m not even talking about the dress, I’m talking about the skulls. See, I want it to be so that if you’re standing in the light, the dress looks like it’s all in one color. But when you’re wearing it in the dark, the skulls start to glow.”

He thought about it, picturing what it would look like. ”That’s a pretty cool idea actually. But aren’t they going to be this ugly yellow glow like most things that glow in the dark?”

”Who would even think of buying something like that?” she said as she laughed. ”No, I want them to glow in a really dark purple color so that they aren’t too showy, but they are showy enough to look cool.”

He looked at the design again and he had to admit that it was a fantastic idea. Dresses weren’t his thing but a t-shirt that glows in the dark would be perfect for Vengeance University… Not that he would ever actually consider stealing the idea from her, that would an awful thing to do, but he couldn’t help but wish that he had been the one to come up with it.

”Don’t look at it like that,” she warned him.

”Like what?” he asked.

”Like you’re trying to come up with a way to steal it from me,” she took her sketch book and put it away.

”I wouldn’t do that, Mia. I was just thinking that I really wish I could add you to my team. I don’t have the space right now but if your other stuff is this awesome, it might actually be worth firing someone.”

”Don’t be ridiculous. I know you wouldn’t steal it and I know you wouldn’t fire any of your people either.”

”Really? And how exactly do you know that?” he asked, trying to make it sound like it could actually be a possibility.

”Because you’re nice, Zacky, and nice people don’t do things like that. Let’s just eat and then we can decide what we’re going to do today.”

”Alright.” He helped her make breakfast and then they ate on the couch, pretending to watch TV while secretly stealing glances at each other.

***

The following three days were the most fun Mia had had in a long time. She truly enjoyed being in Zacky’s company. He was fun and he was sweet and he was… amazing. These days spent with him made her certain that inviting him to her place had been a good choice, the right choice. It was so easy being around him. And they had fun together. They were constantly laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. They flirted, they definitely flirted a lot, but it hadn’t gone further than that. When they went to bed, she sometimes wished that he would sleep next to her instead of on the couch, but she also knew that this was for the best. They weren’t rushing into anything, they were getting to know each other first. That was the way to create a lasting relationship.

Zacky couldn’t believe how quickly he had grown to really like Mia a lot. She was constantly making him laugh and the other way around. He hadn’t been bored for one second during these past three days because somehow, they managed to have fun all the time. Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to pull her in his arms and kiss her, but he knew that it was too soon. They had chemistry and he wasn’t going to ruin that by being impulsive. No, he was going to take things slow. Matt and Val had been friends first and a couple later, that was the plan Zacky was going to follow. But he admitted to himself that sometimes it was hard. When they had watched a movie the night before, she had curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her and… it had been hard, not letting things go any further than that, especially when she had been so close to him, but he had known that it was for the best. Trust was the foundation for every lasting relationship and after these days together, Zacky knew that a lasting relationship was what he wanted with Mia.

They were cooking dinner and while they were still laughing and having fun, a certain sadness seemed to be surrounding them. Even though they hadn’t mentioned it, they both knew that Zacky was leaving tomorrow and it sucked. She didn’t want him to go and he didn’t want to go. Since they were both aware of this, they seemed to have come to a mutual understanding that there was no need for them to talk about it and get more bummed out. Instead they had focused on making the most of their last day together and at the moment, that entailed cooking dinner.

He had just told her stories about their last time recording and she was amazed at how much fun the guys seemed to have with each other.

”You all really are best friends, aren’t you?” she asked as she took out plates and started putting food on them.

”Definitely. We’ve known each other for so long and we’ve been through everything together. Besides my family, there is no one in the world that means as much to me as the guys do. I would do anything for each and every one of them and I know that they would do the same for me.”

”That’s great, Zacky. It sounds like the kind of friendship people are lucky if they manage to find with one person and you’ve found it with four.”

”Yeah, I know.” He started putting spaghetti on the plates. ”What about you? I know Nikki’s your best friend but other than her, who do you hang out with?”

She shrugged. ”No one really.”

He looked her surprised. ”How come?” He couldn’t imagine her not having friends. She was so funny and sweet and intelligent. It wasn’t possible that she was a loner.

They sat down on the couch and started eating, sharing a bottle of wine. ”I’ve just… It’s not that I’m lonely per se, but I’ve always been kind of a loner. And it’s not like I haven’t had friends but once I graduated, it became harder and harder to keep in touch with everyone and since I don’t have a job, I haven’t met any new people that way. It kind of dwindled down to me mostly hanging out with Nikki. I see old friends from school every now and then, but it’s not like we talk every week or anything.”

”I’m sorry,” he said as he looked at her sympathetically.

”What? No, don’t be. I don’t mind at all. I’ve always preferred my own company to being around others, present company excluded of course. I guess I’ve just always been more interested in my art than I have in people.”

He thought about that. He had never been one to be lonely, but then again, his art was not only his job but it was something he did with his friends. Not everyone was that lucky. ”I can get that,” he admitted. ”But you know, if you don’t hang around people, how are you going to get your art out there? If you want to start a clothing company, it’s basically impossible without networking.”

She took a sip of wine. ”I guess you’re right… But hey, you have a clothing company and I’m talking to you right now, couldn’t we count that as my first step?”

He laughed. ”You’ve got a point there. You could even look at this as a business dinner.”

They continued talking about nothing and everything as they finished eating. Half an hour later they were sitting there, wine glasses in their hands and discussing Brian and Nikki after Mia had just received a text from her best friend.

”She didn’t sound sad at all?” Zacky asked in disbelief.

”No.” She read the message again. ”She just wrote that she was home now and Brian was headed back to Huntington, that she had a great time and he was a lot of fun and…” she stopped and looked at the message for a third time before she continued, ”yeah, you probably don’t want to hear that part.”

”Yeah, I do! Tell me!”

”If you say so. Okay, I’m quoting directly here: ’It was the best sex I’ve ever had. The things that man could do… I’m getting all hot just thinking about it. Seriously Mia, it was out of this world!’” Mia put down her phone, trying her hardest not to laugh as she saw Zacky’s expression and waited for him to say something.

”You were right. I really didn’t want to hear that,” he said after a while.

She laughed. ”I told you so.”

”I still can’t believe she’s not upset at all. Brian is the kind of guy who breaks every girl’s heart that he comes into contact with because they can’t resist him. It’s like every girl he meets ends up falling in love with him.”

”Trust me, Nikki is not like every other girl out there. She doesn’t fall in love and she doesn’t take these kinds of things seriously. She enjoys it for what it is and when it’s over, it’s over. I have to say that I kind of admire her attitude about it.”

”Does watching her act like that ever make you wish that you were like that too?” he asked.

She thought it over. ”Both yes and no. Sometimes, it gets lonely being single and sometimes… I really wish I could be with someone, even if it was just for one night. But at the same time, that’s not me. I’m not that kind of girl and I never will be. I don’t want to change that.”

”You know what? I admire that about you. You shouldn’t change your principles and who you are just because some guy can’t seem to appreciate how great you are.”

”Thanks, Zacky. That’s really sweet of you,” she said with a smile. She finished off her glass of wine and poured herself another one before doing the same for him.

”Just being honest. I would much rather be with a girl who has your attitude toward guys and sleeping around, than Nikki’s. No offense or anything, it’s cool that she does her thing but…”

”I get what you mean. You would rather have a virgin than a slut.” Whoa. She wasn’t sure where that sentence came from. Must have had something to do with the wine. Well, at least it gave her something she could blame it all on in the morning.

”You’re a virgin?” he asked.

She looked at him confused. ”What? No, that’s not what I said.” She took another sip. ”Although you kind of start feeling like that when it’s been a couple of years…”

He had just taken a drink and her statement made him swallow it down the wrong pipe and he started coughing. ”Did you say years?”

She didn’t know why she was admitting this. It was something no one but Nikki knew about, yet here she was telling it to the one guy she probably shouldn’t be telling it to. He was going to think that she was a complete geek. ”Yes,” she said quietly.

”Wow.” He hadn’t had sex since the break-up with Gena and he thought that felt like a long time. But years, that was… that was a really long time.

”I told you that I lost faith in guys after my last relationship. It didn’t help that pretty much every guy I went on a date with after that seemed to expect to get something out of it right away. Like I’m really going to fuck somebody just because they bought me dinner, you know.” She rolled her eyes at the stupidity of men.

”What if they cooked you dinner?” Zacky asked.

For a second Mia froze, but then she saw the grin on his face and she knew that he was only joking. She started laughing and he joined in.

”See, this is what I like about you, Zacky. You’re the first guy I’ve met in forever that doesn’t expect something from me. You really seem to be happy with nothing but hanging out with me and you have no idea how much that means to me.” She put her almost empty glass on the table and gave him a hug.

He hugged her back. ”Well, call me crazy, but I actually prefer knowing someone before I sleep with them. And you and I, we’re still getting to know each other. I know it feels like it’s been ages already, at least it does to me, but it hasn’t even been a week.”

They pulled apart and now she had a sad look on her face. ”Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked her.

”I know we haven’t really talked about it all and I haven’t even wanted to because I didn’t want to spoil our last day, but you’re leaving tomorrow.”

”I know,” he sighed.

”I wish you weren’t,” she told him.

”I wish I wasn’t either,” he said. ”I really like being with you and if I could, I would stay. But that’s not an option here.”

She hugged him again.

”I’m tired,” she said after a while as she yawned.

”Me too. Must be the wine.”

”Stupid wine,” she complained.

He smiled at her. ”The wine isn’t stupid. It got you to admit that you didn’t want me to leave so I kind of feel like I need to thank the wine.”

She laughed at him. ”You’re so silly sometimes.”

”Isn’t that what you like about me though?”

”No… Well, okay. Maybe that’s something I like a little about you,” she admitted.

”That’s what I thought.” He laughed as she yawned again. ”Maybe we should get you to bed.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, she stood up and looked at her bed. Then she walked over to it and laid down.

”You’re not going to take off your clothes or brush your teeth or anything?” Zacky asked as he looked at her, her eyes already closed.

”Nope,” she replied.

”Okay…” He got up, taking the dishes with him and putting them in the sink. Then he went into the bathroom, getting ready for the night.

When he got out again, he was surprised to see that not only had Mia changed out of her clothes, but she was still awake.

He smiled at her as he started turning off all the lamps. When he was done, she spoke to him. ”Zacky, could you sleep with me tonight?”

His eyes widened in surprise. ”You want us to…”

”I don’t mean sleep with me in that way, but just to sleep next to me. I’d really like you to.”

He nodded, even though they were in the dark and she probably couldn't even see him. ”Yeah,” he whispered, ”I’d really like that too.”

He walked over to her bed and got in, laying down beside her. She turned so that she was facing him.

”I like you, Zacky,” she said.

”I like you too, Mia,” he said as he brushed away some of the hair that had fallen in front of her face when she turned.

”I’m going to miss you.”

He was going to miss her too. He really was. He hadn’t expected feelings for her to develop so quickly, but in a way he wasn’t surprised. He had after all felt that spark with her and to him, it was like a sign that it was right. This was right. Being with Mia was right. So leaving her, even though it wasn’t for very long, felt incredibly wrong.

Then he had an idea.

”Hey Mia, what if you didn’t have to miss me because you wouldn’t be away from me?”

”What? How? What do you… how?”

”You could come with us,” he said. The guys might think it was a little crazy and maybe they would be right, but they couldn’t make a big deal about it because he knew that Val was coming along and maybe some of the other girls too.

”Are you serious? Could I do that? Do you want me to do that?” She knew she was getting way too excited but once again, if she had to, she could blame it on the wine.

”Yes, yes and yes,” he answered all her questions.

”Okay,” she said.

”You want to?” he asked, unsure if her ’okay’ meant that she was really coming.

”Of course I do!”

”Good.” He smiled, feeling relieved. ”Now, let’s sleep.”

Without a word, they got closer to each other and he put his arm around her. That was the first night they slept together in the same bed. It wouldn’t be their last.