Your Colorful World vs. My Black and White World

That same day after Gary drove Adeline home; she raced up the stairs knowing that Zacky wasn’t home yet, and ran straight into her room without any distractions. She dove onto her duvet-covered bed and almost took out Ichabod, who was sleeping there. The little puppy yipped excitedly, wagged his tail, and licked Adeline’s face.

She laughed and scooped him up in her arms, making baby noises and affectionately petted him. It was strange, but Adeline always found that when she had gotten home from work, Ichabod was already asleep in Zacky’s room. That meant she didn’t get to play with him too much. Therefore, whenever he was awake, she soaked up all her time with him until he fell back asleep. Tonight was no different.

Eventually, Ichabod fell back asleep after playing a game of tug-o-war with Adeline. Smiling softly to herself, she carried the exhausted puppy in her arms and placed him down gently in his bed that was located next to Zacky’s bed.

After shutting the door quietly so she wouldn’t wake up the sleeping baby, she walked back into her room and yawned. In mid yawn, the phone on the dresser began to light up many different colors. Matt happened to be the caller.

“Matt! I have something to tell you!” Adeline nearly shouted into her phone’s speaker.

“So he told you he’s going back on tour?” he asked, sounding too sad for her taste. Then the word tour reached her brain.

“What are you talking about?”

Matt blinked furiously. How could Zacky not have told Ady that he was leaving for a couple months? Then it dawned on Matt. Zacky had a benefit concert earlier in the day so he probably didn’t have time to tell her yet. ‘Oh shit,’ he cursed in his head. “Uh…I didn’t say anything. What did you want to tell me?” he tried, hoping she would dismiss what he just told her.

“Okay…” she said, uncertain. “Gary helped me out of my denial. I like Zacky!”

“Are you kidding me?! You weren’t supposed to like Zacky! That’s why I introduced you to Gary! What the hell Ady!”

She flinched at Matt’s words. He never yelled at her and the fact that he was doing it now startled her. As soon as the feeling of fear arrived, it drove on by. Sudden anger became the replacement. “You purposely tried to make me like someone else? Why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t want me to end up liking Zacky? How long have you felt like this?”

“…A long time.”

“And you didn’t say anything for that long of a time? Matt, we’re best friends. What’s the point if you hide things from me?”

“I just want the best for you and my brother isn’t the absolute best. Don’t you remember when he made you cry? Do you?” Matt pushed, wanting her to agree with him.

“Yes!” Adeline growled, agitated. “Why are you still harping on that? It happened a long time ago! Get over it Matthew!”

“No, Adeline. I will not get over it. It’s a permanent reminder of just how much he can hurt you. If you think I’d let you date someone like him, you’re dead wrong.”

“What are you, my mother?” she replied with anger in her voice, but tears in her eyes. “Who’s trying to control my life now?”

For once, Matt was speechless. He didn’t notice that he was trying to control her life. He was trying to find her someone to love, but someone who met his standards. That’s right, his standards, not hers.

A knock at the door made Adeline wipe away her tears in lightning speed. The door opened and Zacky peeked his head in. “Is everything okay? I heard some yells up here,” he asked with a frown on his face.

Adeline nodded, knowing her voice would betray her judgment. “Matt, I’ll speak to you later,” she whispered and threw her phone to the floor.

Zacky raised his eyebrow. That was not an Ady thing to do. Something was bothering her and he wanted to know what it was. The closer he walked towards her, he noticed her face was red as well as her eyes. He generally knew these things as anger and tears.

“Hey now,” Zacky cooed, bringing her in for a hug, “is something wrong?”

She shook her head while she hugged him back. “Is there something you need? Food? I’ll go cook.”

Adeline began to walk towards her open door, but Zacky pulled her back into his chest. “Stop being a mother. You need to take a break before you break.” Adeline nodded. “Good. I wanted to tell you that I have to go on tour for a few months…”

Zacky was unsure of her reaction so he held on tighter, hoping that if she was going to stay angry, she wouldn’t be able to punch him or slap him.

“That’s cool. How long are you going to be gone?” she questioned casually, as though it wasn’t too big of a thing.

Zacky blinked in confusion. Sure, he was happy that she wasn’t angry, but it bothered him that she acted like she didn’t care. “So, uh, yeah. I think about four months. I’ll mail you my half of the bills and whatever-”

“Okay. Do you mind if I spend the rest of the night to myself? I want to sleep.”

“Uh, no, not at all. You go on to bed.”

Zacky dismissed himself and shut the door behind him. He found Ichabod asleep in his bed when he walked into his own bedroom. Digging through his closet, he found his old touring suitcase that he refused to abandon and throw away. While little kids had a favorite teddy bear they held onto, Zacky had his patched up suitcase.

As he yanked clothes hanging in his closet and threw them into his suitcase, he couldn’t help but to wonder how he would deal with not seeing Ady for four months. He had gotten so used to seeing her shy smile every morning that he wondered how he would feel when he would have to see Brian’s tired smirk every time he woke up in the next few months. A sudden shiver erupted throughout his back. Even imagining Brian’s smirk gave him the chills.

“I should give up on her,” he told himself after picking up a purple tie Ady gave him as a birthday present a few weeks ago. He looked at the tie and wondered if he should bring it with him or not. In the end, he threw the tie into the suitcase along with all his other clothes.

“It’s obvious she doesn’t like me,” he continued, shaking his head. “After this tour is over, my feelings will be gone.” He was sure that if he were dedicated enough, he would accomplish his mission.