To Speak.

Warning: This chapter is over dramatic and indeed, very cheesy.

Indy scooted in closer to Zacky in his bed as she got in. After Brian had a complete spaz attack, he phoned the others who came over and, like Brian, freaked out. They talked, had fun, drank some beer, and left after many pats on the back.

"Beach t-tomorrow?" Zacky asked Indy, eyes closed.

"I'd love to."

"J-just us?"

"Just us."

"Mmkay." he replied tiredly, draping his arm over her.

Indy breathed in deeply and took in Zacky's scent and smiled and closed her eyes.

"Night, Zacky." she whispered, kissing him. He mumbled back a 'good night' before falling asleep, with Indy also falling asleep a couple minutes after him.

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It was a cloudy day at the beach and, in their bathing suits, Indy and Zacky were sitting on the shoreline, with Indy in between his legs, letting the waves lap against their legs. They were taking pictures.

"Hold st-still, Indy!"

"I can't!" she giggled. "It tickles."

Flash.

Smirking, Zacky looked at the picture he just took and showed it to Indy, who was very pleased with it. The picture had half of his face buried in his neck while Indy, like she was just moments before, was laughing.

"Take another one! I wanna kiss you this time."

Another flash, another picture. This time with her kissing his cheek. "You gotta send me these when you get home, Zack."

After more pictures, they decided to grab some Italian for dinner and head home. They took a few more pictures of Indy in her adorable yellow beach dress, as much as she protested.

"Y-you're beautiful." he said softly, looking through his camera with Indy.

Indy beamed at him and kissed him as the two of them continued to walk home. Night was falling and the air around them was getting cooler.

Soon, too soon in Zacky's opinion, they had reached Indy's house and it was time to say goodbye.

"So I take it you'll be picking me up tomorrow?" Indy said, arms hanging loosely around his neck.

"Of course." he replied, kissing her shortly.

After a few more hugs and kisses, Indy went inside and Zacky went home. He was kind of nervous about tomorrow and was hesitant about speaking at school. People would stare, people would start whispering. People would pay attention to him.

But he saw how Indy's eyes lit up when he spoke to her, how happy she was, and how much closer they've gotten. He couldn't disappoint her, he couldn't let her down.

He wouldn't let it happen.

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Things seemed to be going smoothly Monday until after school when some girl heard Zacky talking and brought her freakishly large group of friends over to him and Indy to see if it was actually true.

Zacky's eyes widened at the number of people there. Okay, so it wasn't much. Maybe about ten people, but having people stare like that really, really scared him. There were only two guys taller than him but he felt so small.

"Zacky, right? Sasha just heard you talk and we were wondering if it was true!" a girl said.

Indy frowned. She didn't like the looks some of the girls were giving Zacky. They only noticed him because he was talking now. She had him first and it was their loss. Who did they think they were marching up to her boyfriend and demanding him to talk to them?

"Well?" another prodded while Indy huffed. "Maybe he can't talk. It was probably just a slip up. After all, he's just the loser. Am I right?"

"Don't even try to start anything." Indy said to the girl, through murmurs of agreement and other comments and remarks. "If anyone, you're the loser here, coming with all your friends because you were too scared to approach us alone."

When Indy looked at him almost expectantly, Zacky felt nervous. He breath got caught in his throat and his eyes darted between what seemed like a sea of unfamiliar faces. He heard Indy telling him something but couldn't make sense of it. He could only hear what they were saying. People from his past, his father. The teasing, the ridicule. He felt hot, trapped, and wanted out. Now.

What did Indy want, though? Did she want him to talk to them and tell them off? Did she want him to stay quiet? He could hear her saying something.. But couldn't make it out. He figured it was the former but couldn't bring himself to do it...

And felt like a complete failure.

Finally, he snapped. He jerked out of Indy's grip, turned away from the group, and stalked away. He distinctly heard Indy calling out to him, and heard the laughter of the others, but refused to stop. He wanted to go to his little field and stay there forever and never ever leave. His mood got even worse when he felt tears prick at his eyes.

Great, I'm crying?

He had never felt so frustrated before. He wanted to talk and be normal and have, you know, conversations with people.

He couldn't, though. He was a freak and would always be one. He would always be the loser in the corner, the kid with no friends, the idiot that couldn't do the simple task of talking.

Finally reaching his field, Zacky slumped down against a tree, brought his knees up to his chest, and buried his face in them, and, after several minutes, felt Indy hesitantly kneel down next to him.

"Zacky..?"

When she got no response, Indy tried again. "Please look at me, Zack."

Sniffling, Zacky lifted his head to face Indy. He felt ashamed and embarrassed. He was making a complete fool of himself.

Indy scooted in closer to him to wipe his remaining tears away. "Don't feel upset. It'll take time to get used to talking with other people. Don't mind those others from earlier. They came to you in a group like that because they were too scared to do anything alone. I don't care at all about what people like them think and you shouldn't either."

"I-I just.."

When he wouldn't continue, Indy gently egged him on. "Just what, Zacky?"

"I j-just w-want t-to be n-normal for once." he said quietly.

"You are normal! You're just like everyone else, Zacky. You have feelings, needs, wants, everything a 'normal' person has. Don't let your talking bring you down. I know you'll be able to lose your stutter in the future."

"I-I can't d-dammit! I-I'm just the q-queer everywhere I g-go a-and I a-always w-will b-be."

The more infuriated he got with himself, the more he found difficulty in talking. This, of course, just increased his anger.

Indy didn't know what to do. She felt so helpless. All she could do was whisper to him that he wasn't a freak, wasn't a queer, and that what happened today wasn't his any of his fault at all.

Fresh tears made their way back to Zacky's eyes. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Indy.. I w-want to r-regular and n-normal for you! But I c-can't do it.. I c-can't.."

Indy felt heartbroken at the state Zacky was in. She knew that if he had grown up in a better environment, he would know that having a stutter wasn't abnormal and wouldn't have been this upset. She suddenly developed a hatred for some of the people at her school who she knew went to elementary school with Zacky. She blamed everything on them. It was their fault Zacky was like this, broken and unconfident while she had to watch him relive his past in his head all over again.

..And that poor excuse of a father!

What kind of parent in their right mind would hit their child and mock them? Oh, right. He was drunk more often than not at home.

His mom? Never fucking mind. The more and more Indy thought of how Zacky's mother ignored everything around her the more she saw red. Here was Zacky, feeling absolutely horrible about himself, his self esteem was probably at zero, and it was because of his parents and where were they? On a business trip in Europe, in nice hotels, dining in expensive restaurants.

Indy was now even more adamant about helping Zacky and being there for him more than ever. The only love he ever received when he was younger was from his band but Indy would do everything she could do make up for that.

She shifted herself so that she could kneel in between Zacky's legs, facing him. He had managed to stop his tears, but kept his eyes closed.

Deciding that Zacky had to be distracted for the rest of the day, Indy suddenly said, "I'm hungry, Zacky. I want you to cook me something."

Opening his eyes, he asked softly, "Wh-what do you w-want?"

"Make me pizza."

"We c-can buy--"

"No. Make me it. I like yours better."

Finally cracking a smile that she was dying to see, Zacky said, "Okay.. I'll make pizza for you."

Indy thought in her head No stutter! but kept her mouth shut and just grinned at him, kissing him. He was calmer now, and feeling better.. And that was exactly what she was aiming for.

Hand in hand, the two of them walked to Zacky's house. "We can finish our homework while the pizza is baking."

"Mhm.."

"And after that I can sleep over.."

Zacky smirked. "N-nice try."

Indy laughed. "Fine then. You can sleep over--"

"It's a s-school night, Indy."

"Okay, okay." she said, giving up. "At least I tried."