Bound to You

It had been three days since Eliza had given her blood to Zack, and he still refused to talk to her. Jacoby had stayed away from her room as well, though he had made it clear to her that he thought she’d done the best thing she could have in those circumstances. She’d seen Matt and Brian both since she’d given Zack the blood as well, and while both of them were concerned that she’d just gone and cut herself for him—it was something, apparently, that wasn’t done under normal circumstances—they had been relieved that he wasn’t going to die.

She had been spending most of her time within the orange bedroom, sitting on the bed doing nothing all day and then tossing and turning through the night, barely getting any sleep. She wanted to be angry with Zack; in fact, she wanted to be so furious that she never wanted to see him again. But she wasn’t. Instead, Eliza found herself worrying for him every minute of the day. She didn’t understand why he was so angry with her.

After an hour or so of just thinking of reasons he would have to be upset, Eliza decided to get up and change into something other than the SpongeBob pajama pants and black tank top that she was wearing, and chose a simple outfit consisting of a black, graphic tank top with ribbed sides and a pair of jean shorts, paired with a pair of grey All Stars that Val had brought to her the day before. She pushed a brush through her hair and decided against putting on any makeup. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything or going anywhere today anyway, she thought to herself.

As she was staring at her reflection in the mirror, her gaze lingered on the bandage wrapped around her arm, covering the spot where she’d made the cut with the broken glass. The white bandage was just barely tinted red in the deepest part of the gash, and she knew that whenever one of the others saw it that they would insist on changing the bandage for fear of infection. The bandage brought Zac back to the front of her mind, and she closed her eyes.

“Why are you so damn angry with me?” She said softly, pondering out loud. She gasped when she heard Zack’s voice in response.

“I didn’t want you to feel obligated.” Zack said, his voice rough. Eliza turned around to see him standing there, looking just a little less haggard than he had three days before. It was apparent he was still denying himself the blood he needed to survive, and a part of Eliza wondered why.

“I didn’t.” She snapped, turning her head away from him. It was ironic, she thought to herself, that Zack had been all she’d thought of for the past three days, and now that he was standing in her room ready to talk, she couldn’t think of the words to say.

“Neither of us believes that, so you might as well not say it.” Zack replied. “It wasn’t up to you to give me blood. It was my choice, Eliza.”

“Why?” She asked suddenly, her voice thick with emotion. “Why would you want to die?”

“That’s no concern of yours.” He said shortly. “And I don’t intend on telling you.”

“Then what are you doing here? If you’re only going to make me feel more confused and worried, then just go away.”

Eliza was normally too proud to let others see her tears, but this was an exception. Tears were falling out of her eyes, and she realized that Zack was watching her. She tried to turn away from him, but he moved with the same vampire-fast speed he had when they’d been at his home in the mountains and grabbed her shoulders.

“Eliza.” He said. It was only one word—her name—but that one word held so much emotion that it was startling to Eliza. She brought her eyes up to meet Zack’s, and saw that he too was in pain.

“Go away.” She muttered weakly.

“If you want me to leave, give me one good reason to.” He said, not letting his gaze waver. “You saved my life against my will, and then you spent three days in here by yourself, hurting and wondering what you had done to piss me off. But when I’m ready to talk to you again, you want to shut me out. I’m not going to walk away without a damn good reason as to why, Eliza.”

“Because I’m starting to fall in love with you!” Eliza blurted out loudly and fiercely. A long silence took over the room, and Eliza’s eyes widened when she realized what she’d just confessed.

Zack was floored. He didn’t know what to say; didn’t know what he could say to her. So he said nothing. He stood there, holding her shoulders and studying her eyes, saying nothing. A sob escaped her mouth after a few minutes, and she put her hands feebly against his chest in a weak attempt to push her away, but it was to no avail. Zack didn’t budge, and he instead pulled her closer to her.

“Let me go.” She said after a few more minutes. Zack shook his head, and tilted her chin up to meet his gaze.

“No.” He told her. “I won’t let you go.”

Before Eliza could say anything to protest him, Zack covered her lips with his in a fueled, passionate kiss.