Bound to You

“I’m glad you guys made up.” Val said to Eliza later the next day, as they were sitting in the living room downstairs watching reruns of some old TV show neither of them knew the name of. “You’re a cute couple.”

Eliza smiled at the comment and nodded. She thought so too, she realized. She hadn’t told Val what Zack had told her yet, because she still wasn’t sure what it meant. Was he trying to tell her he loved her, or was it something else? She knew Zack enough to know that, whatever the words meant, he meant them. He didn’t say things he didn’t mean. That being said, she needed to figure it out.

“Val! Can you come here?” Zack’s voice called from a few rooms away.

Val gave Eliza a smile before getting up and walking out of the room, towards wherever Zack was at. Eliza sighed, glad to be alone for at least a few minutes. She looked down at her arm and smiled. The bandage was now gone, and the gash that had marred her arm was now completely healed, save for a thin, jagged scar where the cut had been made. Jimmy had somehow managed to heal it; she assumed it was because he was a vampire he was able to do that. Val returned to the room a few minutes later, and grinned at her.

“You and Zack are going off by yourselves.” She told her. Eliza gave her a curious look, and Val sighed, as though the reason should be obvious. “He doesn’t want to keep intruding on Jacoby here, and he thinks it’ll be safer if the two of you are somewhere.”

“What about the whole analogy ‘safety in numbers’?” She asked Val. “Is he suicidal or something? What if—“

“Zack knows what he’s doing.” Val cut her off, a look of friendliness on her face. “He would never do anything that he thought would even remotely jeopardize you. If he’s doing it this way, then he’s thought through every possible angle.”

Eliza sighed but knew there was no use trying to convince Val. And even if she could convince her friend, she knew there was no convincing Zack. Once he made up his mind, that was it. There was no question; no doubt. She nodded, and then saw Zack walk into the room.

“Jacoby is packing some of Kelly’s clothes for you so that you’ll have some clean clothes.” He told Eliza, walking over to her. “Is there anything else you think you’ll need?”

“No.” She said quietly, meeting his gaze. He gave her a small smile and nodded, before stepping past her and walking into a short hallway, most likely to find someone to talk to. She wondered why he never really acknowledged her in front of other people, but decided it wasn’t any of her concern. She looked at Val, and smiled.

“So when are you coming to visit?” She joked light-heartedly, knowing that it wouldn’t happen. Unless Zack decided to join with the group again before everything was settled, she realized that this would be the last time she saw Val before then. Val laughed, and then hugged her.

“I’m going to miss you, El.” She said. “You’re a great friend.”

“You are too.” Eliza told Val, hugging her back. “If Zack lets me call, I promise I will.”

“You better.”

“Eliza, are you ready? Jacoby has everything packed.” Zack’s voice came from the doorway. She looked over at him and nodded, before she walked over to him, Val right beside her.

“You better take damn good care of her, Zack.” Val threatened him as she gave him a friendly hug goodbye, her tone of voice serious. “I mean it. I’ll make you regret meeting me if anything happens to her.”

A hearty laugh came from another doorway, and Eliza looked over to see Matt standing there, along with Jimmy and Brian.

“She means business, Vengeance.” Matt said to Zack. “I’d listen to her, if I were you.”

Zack chuckled, and then did the man-hug with each of the guys before they walked over to Eliza, each separately.

“Take care, kid.” Matt said as he wrapped his arms, much bigger than Zack’s, around her carefully. “Don’t be afraid to keep him in line.”

She smiled. “I won’t.” She joked.

“Watch out for those damn stallion ducks too, El.” Jimmy told her, his tone of voice completely serious, though the look on his face told her that he was joking. “They come at you from everywhere. Sneaky little bastards, they are.”

She laughed and hugged him, squealing in surprise when he picked her up off the ground in a bear hug.

“I’ll miss you too, Jimmy,” She chuckled.

“Stay safe out there, El.” Brian told her, a soft smile on his face as he hugged her. She nodded, and then looked at them. Though she hadn’t really known Johnny when he’d been there, his absence was distinctly noticeable, and he was quite obviously missed. Each of the guys, no matter how well-masked they thought their worry was, were each definitely troubled by it. She missed him too, she realized, and the next time she saw him, she was going to give him a big hug and get to know him better, just as she had with Matt, Jimmy, and Brian.

Zack put his hand on the small of her back and led her over to the door, saying a quick goodbye to each of the guys plus a goodbye to Jacoby and Tobin, both of whom had appeared to see them off.

“We’ll keep in contact about how things are going.” Jacoby told Zack, who nodded. He then looked at Eliza, and smiled. “You’re welcome back any time, Eliza. Even if you do break the windows.”

She laughed and realized that he was making a joke out of what had been a serious matter; one that she knew had bothered him. She realized that Zack was a good friend to Jacoby, and that he’d been scared he was going to lose that friendship. He had told her as much after she’d broken the window when she’d apologized, telling her that she could have broken every window in the house if it saved Zack. She smiled, and then walked over to give him a small hug as well.

“I guess this is goodbye, then.” She told not just him, but everyone in the room.

“Don’t say that.” Jimmy said quickly. “I hate goodbyes. They’re always so damn sad.”

“Oh, quit bein’ a crybaby.” Zack laughed.

With that, he led her out of the house, closing the door behind him and taking her to a plain-looking Dodge Wrangler. She gave him a confused look, and he smiled.

“Where we’re going, it’s going to take four-wheel drive to get to.” He explained as he opened the passenger door for her.

As she gave the house one last look, she couldn’t help but feel just a little apprehensive about what was going on. Something didn’t feel quite right to her.