When She Cries

Another week has passed since the audition. I don't go out of my room much, unless I have to. Matt and the others are always trying to coax me out, but Zacky usually just leaves me be. I feel really comfortable around him and that's really hard to say...

My feet are still giving me problems and hurt, but not as much as at the audition.

There was a knock on my door, as I sat at my bay window, looking out. "Elle? Can I come in?" It was Val.

"Sure," I called to her.

She opened the door and smiled softly. "Hey, the guys are having some of their friends over. We totally forgot it was this weekend. But, can you come down stairs?"

"Oh... Okay. Should I change?" I said, looking down at my.

"No, you look perfectly fine." I nodded, and followed her down the stairs.

"Hey, you." Zacky smiled as he saw me walk into the back yard. I smiled softly, walking over to him. He pat his lap to tell me to sit down. I did so, and lay my head on his shoulder. He soothingly rubbed my back, making sure not to disturb the healing bruises. Soon, I had drifted off to sleep, which I hadn't had much in a long time.

"Hey, man. Looks like you have an attachment," I heard a man's voice laugh.

"Shut up, dude, he was tired," Zacky said softly, trying not to wake up. Too late. I opened my eyes, squinting against the sun. "Now look what you did," he said, chuckling softly. "Have a nice nap, Kiddo?" I nodded, slowly moving on his lap. "You thirsty?" He asked, holding up a bottle of water for me. I gratefully took it.

"Aren't you burning up in those clothes?" A man asked, sitting across from Zacky and I.

I looked at Zacky, asking him with my eyes who this man was. He laughed softly. "Sorry, Elle. These guys are a few friends of ours. The one who just asked you if you were hot is Tobin, then there's Tony, Jerry and Coby's around here somewhere," he said, looking around.

"Did someone say my name?" A man, I was assuming to be Coby, walked out the back door.

"Hey, Cob. I was just introducing Elle to everyone," Zacky explained.

"Ah, so you're the infamous Elle." The man smiled, walking over to me. "As you've already heard, I'm Coby." I simply sent him a small smile. Coby looked at Zacky confused.

"She's a bit shy," Zacky explained.

"Oh, none sense. There's no need for that. We're all practically family around here." He looked around at the guys. "Unfortunately," he mumbled, looking at me. This made me smile a bit. He was almost exactly like Zacky.

"Hey!" A couple of them protested.

"Did someone just crack a smile?" Zacky whispered in my ear. I looked back at him and shrugged. "Uh huh, I've got my eyes on you, little girl." I smiled, shaking my head, before laying my head back on his shoulder.

I couldn't help but notice the look of hurt both in Matt and Jimmy's eyes. I felt guilty, but I felt the safest around Zacky. I had bonded with him the first day I met him.

Suddenly, Matt's phone went off. His eyebrows scrunched together, but got up and answered it.

"So, Elle. Why aren't you in a bathing suit and in the pool? It's a great day." Coby asked.

"Why aren't you?" Johnny threw back for me.

" 'Cause, I'm too old for that," Coby said, leaning back and laughing. "I prefer the Jacuzzi."

"Oh yeah, old man? I thought I remember seeing you in one not just too long ago..." Brian smirked.

"Shut up, Haner. At least I'm not afraid of the water because of my hair."

Wow... These guys are really weird.

"Sweetie, you're starting to burn up," Zacky said softly, so only I could hear. "Are you sure you can't take off the long sleeve or something?" I looked down, still ashamed to show any visible part of my body. "I just don't want you to get a heat stroke or anything."

Before I could answer him, Matt came back out. "You'll never believe who that was," he told me, excitedly. I thought his face was going to split in half because he was smiling so much. "It was Corvina." I cringed at that name.

"Really, Matt," Zacky sighed, stroking my hair as I hid my face into his shoulder.

"No! It was really good! They loved you and want you to come work with them. They even want to give you some independent study time to work on your own thing because they liked the variation." I looked up at him with uncertain eyes.

"Can I at least think about it?" I asked in a small voice. I saw his face fall a bit, but he caught himself.

"Um, yeah, sure. I mean, it's a huge thing. She just needs to know by Monday so they can get everything ready for you."

I nodded, having a bad feeling. It almost felt like regret and guilt? I felt like I had disappointed him in not saying yes right away.

Now Zacky's phone started ringing, so he had to get up. I sat in the chair, feeling a little bit left out in the open. I felt horrible for becoming so attached to him so quickly.

Everyone started up small conversations. I just sat there quietly, thinking about what I was going to do about the academy...

I was soon brought out of my thoughts when Zacky walked back out. He looked absolutely crushed. He also looked like he was also on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, it's official. Gena and I are taking a break, which may become indefinite," he said in a low voice.

The man that had made me feel so strong and comfortable the first day I met him, now stood broken in front of me.

I got up out of the chair and walked over to him, just as he was turning to walk back inside. I wrapped my arms around him, telling him not to go. He looked down at me and gave me a sad smile. I made him go sit back down in the chair, while I walked into the kitchen and got a bowl of Vanilla ice cream and took it out to him. He looked up at me with an un-known look. "Don't worry, everything's going to get better," I said softly, sitting on a stool next to him. Even if he didn't eat the ice cream, he still knew the intentions behind it and I saw the gratitude in his eyes.

For the rest of the afternoon, I kept making sure Zacky stayed happy, as well as everyone else. I hated seeing him so sad, it just didn't fit him.

When he left, he promised to come visit tomorrow so I could make sure that he was still okay. I just smiled and nodded.

Around eleven, I heard Matt and Val fighting in their room. I lay awake, listening to them. It brought back so many memories that it hurt.

When I finally decided to get out of bed, I heard a door slam, and then the front door slam. I knew it was Val because her steps were a lot lighter than Matt's.

I slowly made my way down the hall to their room, where I heard Matt taking his anger out on some things. I cautiously opened the door, not sure where this new courageous side of me was coming from.

Matt stopped suddenly when he saw me. He was breathing heavily, but tried to calm down. "What's wrong, Elle?" His voice was smooth while he tried to control his anger.

"I heard you guys fighting," I whispered, looking down at the floor.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Sweetie. We didn't mean for it to get like that."

I slowly lifted my head, trying to make eye contact with him. "I heard parts of what you guys were fighting about." He huffed and sat down on his bed. "I don't want you guys fighting over something stupid like me. You guys are great together and were together before I even showed up. I don't want to be the reason getting between you guys," I rambled.

He looked at me like I had grown a third head. "Noelle, I don't want to ever hear you say that again." Panic raced through me, thinking I had said something out of line. "You are not something that is stupid to argue about. We've had pent up tension between us anyways and it was bound to come out. I don't want you thinking any of this is your fault."

I nodded, looking back at the floor. "You guys didn't break up, did you?" I asked softly.

"No, we're just taking a bit of space for the night. She'll be back tomorrow morning." It was quiet for a few more minutes. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

I weighed my options, and finally just broke down, letting my soft side win. "I don't mean to hurt you or disappoint you, and I hope you understand that. It's just going to take me a little bit of time getting used to calling you..."

"Don't worry about, I really do understand. I'm not disappointed in you, I'm disappointed in me. I hate that I missed all those years of your life. I also understand that Connor was your father figure for almost your whole life, so I can see why it's hard for you to call me Dad." I smiled apologetically at him. "Hey, don't worry about that stuff, okay? It'll all get figured out soon enough." I nodded. "But, thank you for talking to me. It was nice." I looked up to see him smiling.

I smiled back, before slowly walking over and giving him a hug, then making a mad dash for my room.

Did I really just do that?

*Matt's P.O.V.*

I'm becoming such a softy! I got all warm and tingly inside just because my daughter gave me a hug...

Wow... My daughter actually just gave me a hug...