To Speak.

Read this First: You guys were absolutely right. Zacky was being too forward so for those of you who read chapter 11 before I changed it... I just thought I'd let you know I made very minor adjustments. The ending sucks more, though, but then again.. It's just a filler.
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A couple of things had happened in the past few days.

First, Addy and Jimmy had gotten together. He finally asked her out, they had gone on a date, and now they were a couple. Next, Matt finally worked up the courage to tell Val he loved her. This was the third time Val saw her boyfriend all worked up and anxious. She couldn't help but laugh about the memory as she told the girls the story. Later, Zacky had thought about love.. But kept things to himself. He had a way of thinking things negatively.. All his life he thought that good things would rarely come in his way. So testing new waters in his relationship with Indy.. wasn't going to happen so quickly.

And finally, the band was getting some recognition. The guys had been working fervently on new songs, sending demo after demo in, practicing during their spare time, and tried different ways to promote Avenged Sevenfold. They even played a few shows and had gotten a lot of comments. Some were bad, but most were good. Everyone was pretty excited.

All of them were heading home one night after a performance. The guys had managed to get a spot as the opening band for a local concert. The main band might not have been that famous and weren't what they normally listened to, but they played anyway and had good responses.

After some smoothies after they finished playing, all of them went home. They were all exhausted. The guys from playing their hardest, and the girls for cheering and screaming. Indy decided to sleep over at Zacky's for the night at the last minute.

You can shower in my bathroom. It's.. well kept since it's the only one used regularly. I can just use the guest shower.

Indy laughed. "Thanks, Zacky."

Zacky, of course, had finished showering first. His body was tired and he really wanted to sleep but was going to wait for Indy. He heard her humming in his bathroom and smiled to himself. When she came out, he saw that she had towel dried her hair and seemed pretty tired herself, too.

Indy climbed into bed next to Zacky and snuggled next to him. "Tired.." she mumbled, closing her eyes. Zacky got up, much to Indy's displeasure, to switch off the lights. "Dude, get back here."

He gave a small chuckle and went back to Indy, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, silently telling her 'good night.' She mumbled something to him before drifting off to sleep with Zacky doing the same only a few minutes after.

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6 A.M.

Why am I up so early?

To Indy, this was an inhumane time to wake up at. Especially on a Sunday. She frowned until she felt Zacky shift besides her.

He's cute when he's asleep.

She kissed his cheek, causing him to stir, and held back a giggle. She might to be grumpy later on, but this was kind of worth it..

Maybe I should wake him up.. Just for the fun of it.

Then she remembered how hard he had played at the concert. He and the rest of the guys were just amazing and she knew it had taken all of them loads of energy.

Zacky deserves his rest.

But what was she going to do? For some reason, she didn't think she could go back to sleep but didn't want to leave the bed, either.

Well.. Lying down is fun to do if Zacky's next to you.. Right?

It was cold and the blanket was good enough, but Indy didn't want the blanket.

"Come here." she whispered, nudging Zacky.

She heard him grunt and thought he had just went back to sleep, but then felt his arm wrap around her. So much for not waking him up.

Well this is quite nice.

After a couple of minutes of pointless waiting, Indy focussed on the steady rhythm of Zacky's breathing and was eventually lulled back to sleep by it. She knew she was going to wake up really late, but then again didn't really care. It'd be okay as long as Zacky was there.

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Zacky woke up to see Indy on the verge of falling off of his bed. Smiling lightly, he gently picked her up and moved her closer to him and nuzzled his face in her neck. He sighed softly, completely content and comfortable with his position.

"...Zacky?" Indy's groggy voice rang through the silence after several moments.

He kissed her neck once to let her know he was awake.

Indy didn't say anything but shifted so that she was facing him and gave him a peck on his lips.

"Morning.." she murmured, stroking his cheek.

Zacky nodded in response and slowly got up, placing Indy on his lap. He reached over to his bed stand to get his phone.

Wanna go out today? We haven't gone on a date in a while.. (:

Indy grinned and replied, "I'd love to."

We can stop by your house for clothes, eat brunch, then do whatever we want.

"That sounds great! Let's wash up right now."

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The couple had a simple brunch, took a walk at the beach, and were now sitting on a park bench. It was nice spending time with each other. With the band and school, it was kind of hard to get some alone time.

"You need to ask me out more often." Indy giggled.

I'll be sure to do that.

"And I'll be looking forward to it."

A little less than an hour ago, Zacky bought Indy another teddy bear that had a satin red ribbon around its neck. It kind of matched James in a way. This one was a simple, brown teddy bear which she named Sullivan. If Zacky were to ever buy her another doll, she said, its name would be Valary just 'cause she needed a girl teddy.

So the three of them, Zacky, Indy, and Sullivan, walked to Indy's house where Zacky ate dinner and stayed for a bit longer. They were now in her room.

"There we go." Indy said as she placed Sullivan besides James. The bears looked nice together.

Looks great.

"I know."

The next hour or so was just spent talking and hanging out. Indy talked while Zacky listened. He would occasionally type something on his phone, but mostly nodded or shook his head and laughed every once in a while.

It was nearly 7 and Zacky knew he needed to go soon. He could always sleep over.. But he didn't think Ms. Evans would appreciate that since it was a school night as nice as she was. Besides, he didn't know when his parents were coming and his house needed some cleaning.

"Zacky, it's dark and I feel bad that you have to walk home by yourself." Indy frowned.

It's alright. I've done it lots of times before. he replied, shrugging.

"Yeah.. But.."

As soon as I get home, I'll text you, okay?

"I guess that'll work.." she said after a short moment.

After saying goodbye to Indy's mother, Indy walked him outside. He left after their usual hug and kiss.

"You'll pick me up tomorrow?"

Of course I will.

"Alright, then. See you in the morning!"

While Zacky was walking home, he felt kind of nervous about Monday. Perhaps he was just paranoid, but he couldn't help but feel that something bad would happen this week. Maybe it was nothing at all and he was just being silly. But then again, you never know.

I don't want to go to school tomorrow...

He got home, texted Indy, and got ready for bed. He kind of didn't like his house at the moment. It felt too lonely and empty.. And quiet. Sighing, he decided to go to bed early and fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Oh, god...

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*Sorry, I don't like it when there are author notes in between chapters but.. Guam has no parks so I don't know if there are public bathrooms or not.. o_O Yeeah.. So.. There's a bathroom in this park.. God, I feel so sheltered. Back to story:

Monday and Tuesday passed by uneventfully. Zacky had long ago forgotten about the weird feelings he had on Sunday night and enjoyed the start of his week with Indy. It was Wednesday after school and the two of them decided to stop by the park for some fresh air before going home to do homework.

I'm going to use the bathroom. Be right back.

"Oh, okay then!"

After doing his business, Zacky was walking back when he heard a voice from behind him. "I didn't expect to see you here, Zacky!"

It was Amber. Zacky was shocked for a moment but then started walking again. Amber yanked his arm and turned him around to kiss him. Again.

This time, though, Zack was faster and pushed her off. Shocked that he had actually pushed her, Amber stayed on the ground, recovering. Zacky used this time to stalk back to Indy, thoughts racing. But as she came into view, he decided to calm down so that she wouldn't be suspicious about anything. He didn't want to tell her what had happened. It was only one time and it wasn't like he was cheating on her or something like that. It would be best to just let this one blow over. Right?

Calm the fuck down, Baker.

"You took kind of long." Indy said when he reached her.

I kind of got sidetracked.. Sorry.

"Um.. Okay.." she replied, laughing slightly.

That was close. Zacky thought.

I'm not letting something like this happen again. He told himself. Don't. Let. It. Happen.

But the thing was, this was how it went for the rest of the week. When Zacky was alone somewhere, Amber would just happen to be there and try to kiss him, hug him, or have any kind of physical contact. She didn't burst out of trees or bushes.. She would just tap him on the shoulder, and he would, of course, turn around, and she'd try to pull something. At first, she was good at catching him off guard, but he grew more wary of his surroundings and her sudden outbursts didn't shock him as much. It still bothered Zacky, though, and he didn't know what he would do if Amber ever told Indy.

As for Indy, she did notice something off about Zacky, but didn't know what it was exactly. She tried asking him, but he kind of just brushed her off and changed the topic. At first she thought that it was because his parents might have been coming home, but if it was, he would have told her about it before and wouldn't be so moody. She thought it was the band, but according to the rest of them, nothing was wrong.

"I really don't know what's wrong with him." Indy said. The girls were hanging out at her house on Saturday.

"What's he like?" Val asked.

"I dunno. He just.. He's all tense whenever we're not at each other's houses or something.. It's.. hard to explain."

"Maybe it has something to do with your relationship..?" Preston asked carefully.

Indy frowned. "I sure hope not.. That would suck."

"It would.."

"I think you should talk to him again." Addy said.

Indy sighed. "I guess there's nothing else I can do really.."

That was yesterday. She and Zacky were, again, out, eating at a diner.

"Zacky, please tell me what's wrong." Indy pleaded softly.

Zacky gulped but replied, There isn't anything wrong.

"Then why have you been so.. I don't know, weird lately?"

I've been quite normal, thank you.

"Zack, seriously! Does it have something to do with Amber?"

He froze. Zacky knew Indy would ask him about her soon but it still startled him.

"It is, isn't it?"

Instead of telling the truth, he lied. He shook his head and denied it.

Things got worse, though, when they left the diner. Amber was outside and when she saw the two of them together, she smirked and strutted over.

"Hey, Zacky!" she said, completely ignoring Indy.

"Zack, let's go somewhere--"

"I just want to talk to him." Amber interrupted.

Indy almost groaned. "You can talk to him another time. We're kind of on a date here."

"A date? Really? I didn't know the two of you were still together." Amber replied, raising an eyebrow.

Zacky knew something bad was about to happen, he took Indy's arm and led her away but stopped when Amber yelled back, "I guess Zacky didn't tell you about everything we did last week!"

"Wh-what?"

From her purse, Amber took out pictures. She had someone take photos of them the past week. There were also old photographs from their past relationship mixed in the bunch.

"Take a look. " she sneered.

Zacky had released Indy a few moments ago and watched, dead-still, as she looked through the photographs. He saw that she was shaking slightly. The pictures were bad, as Zacky was always caught off guard, but they did what Amber wanted them to do.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about anything, Indy." Amber said. "I'm the one that kissed him, really. But, honestly? He didn't stop me either."

Indy didn't reply. She didn't say or do anything and just stood there, pictures in her hand. Zacky tried to touch her, but she jerked away.

"I'll be taking those." Amber said, snatching the photos away from Indy. She smirked and walked away, leaving the two of them. "See you around."

Zacky didn't know what to do. If he typed out a message, she probably wouldn't read it. He was waiting for her to do something-- anything. He was nervous, so nervous, but what could he do?

"I.. I understand that you didn't kiss her willingly.." Indy said after what felt like an eternity.

This normally would have flooded him with relief, but Indy's tone was shaky and weak.

"But.. I can't help but feel bad, you know?" she whispered, eyes now watering. Oh no, she's crying..

Zacky tried to wipe away her tears and this time she let him touch her.

I'm so sorry..

"Of course you're sorry.." she replied somewhat bitterly, tears now flowing freely.

He was slightly taken aback by her voice. She suddenly stepped out of his reach and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated.

"I mean, I know you had some past with Amber but that still doesn't mean you can just let her kiss you like that anytime she wants you know!" Indy was on the verge of yelling, pacing back and forth in front of him. When she saw Zacky try to take his phone out, she held up her hand, stopping him.

"Zack.. I.. I don't get it! I've been so patient this whole time! I'm sick and tired of all of this. Why do you get her get in our way all the time? If this is going to continue.. I don't.." she stopped and lowered her voice. "I don't want to be in a relationship anymore.."

Zacky's eyes widened. She wasn't breaking up with him, was she? Was she?

Indy's voice softened even more. "I'm sorry, Zacky.. I get so damn frustrated and angry all the time with her. I mean I know I should ignore her, but I'm sorry I can't! I like you so much, I do! It's just.. This is so tiring.. I hate it so much.."

It got silent. Indy stopped talking and watched Zacky for a response. She felt her heart sink to her stomach when he didn't do anything even after several minutes. She turned around and started to walk away. Wiping her eyes were completely useless and she just wanted to go home and never come out.

"I-Indy..."

Indy froze. She couldn't tell whether she imagined the quiet voice or not. Did she really just..?

She held her breathe.

"Indy... Wait.. D-Don't leave.."