Harder Than You Know

Leanna was not a patient woman and everyone knew that.

It was so painfully obvious that Zacky and Aria were meant to be.

But Ari was too shy and Zacky wanted to 'wait for the right time.'

Bull shit.

And so she and Michelle decide to.. speed things up a bit.

There were many valuable things that they knew about Zachary from years and years of being friends.

They knew that.. He liked to receive massages.

That he liked it when his ladies wore flirty, yet somewhat innocent dresses. It was a huge turn on.

That he enjoyed getting drunk. Real drunk.

But most importantly.. Zacky was an affectionate drunk. He had the tendency to show his love for his friends, and in the past for Gena. But that no good, lying, bitch-whore was a thing of the past. His eyes were set on Ari now.

Anyway.. Going back to him being drunk.

The duo knew that Zacky had refrained from drinking since meeting Ari, for he feared that he would do something to scare her. The thought made them both laugh. Zacky couldn't hurt a fly when he was drunk. Unless he was angry. But he rarely got angry. He was a happy drinker.

It wouldn't be that hard to get Zacky to drink. He tended to give in to his temptations with alcohol, although they did know it would be harder since his reason this time was for Ari. But with a little bit of talking with Ari.. And making her feel guilty.. It would be easy.

Yes, it's a mean plan. Why would you want to make an innocent little thing like Ari feel guilty and bad, right? Leanna and Michelle did have second thoughts about the whole thing.. But..

They were very impatient women. And everyone knew that.

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"Hey, Ari. Are you busy? Can we talk for a second?" Michelle asked her one day.

"I'm never busy, Michelle." Ari smiled. "What's up?"

"Well come here for a bit."

Michelle led her to Leanna's room where Leanna was waiting.

"Uh.. What's going on?" Ari asked.

Leanna decided to get straight to the point. "We don't want you feeling bad, or anything, Ari.."

Ari frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not." Michelle said quickly. "It's about Zacky."

"What about Zacky?"

"You know the guys are avid drinkers.. Yes?"

"I guess so."

"Have you seen Zacky drinking yet?"

Ari thought for a bit. "Now that you've mentioned it.. No.."

"Wanna know why?"

"He doesn't like drinking?" she guessed, shrugging.

Michelle snorted. "Far from it."

"Then what?"

"He's not drinking.. Because of you, you special thing."

Aria's eyes widened. "Me? Why?"

Bingo.

"You see," Leanna started. "He's afraid he'll scare you if he drinks too much."

"Scare me? Is he angry when he's drunk?"

The two other girls laughed at the thought. "No, silly!" Michelle said. "He's afraid that he'll start getting all touchy with you and disturb you, somehow, you know? It's the gentleman in him."

"...Oh."

"Yes. So you're wondering where we're going with all of this, right?"

"Um.. Sure.."

Michelle said, "You're aware of the dinner that our men are hosting right? For their boring business things?"

"Mhm." Ari said, nodding.

"Well, it's tiring for them. They gotta look good, keep their composure when someone pisses them off, make sure things go right, make sure we're alright, although we don't need that much protection, but you get my point."

"Yeah.."

"Well they like to have a small after party to themselves and drink the night away to another successful dinner. It's what they do to unwind after a stressful night."

"And Zacky won't be 'unwinding' because he won't be drinking?" Ari asked.

"Smart girl."

"So what do you want me to do about it? It's not like he'll drink if I hand him Vodka or something."

Michelle and Leanna smirked. "That's where you're wrong."

Leanna rushed on, "He's so in love with you, Ari! He's whipped and you two aren't even together! If you ask for something, he'll do it. Especially if it's something small like having him drink some alcohol. And if you use a pretty little pout and add in a cute voice, he'll be drinking out of your hands, well that's not the right phrase, but whatever, in no time."

"Oh." Ari blinked. "I get it. So that's what you want me to do?"

Michelle nodded. "Pretty simple, huh? You'll want him to relax once you see how stressed he gets in a few days at the thing."

"Yeah, I get it." Ari said.

"That's wonderful." Leanna replied.

Phase One was complete.

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It was time for the second part. It was dress up Ari day.

Val and Lacey were informed of the little plan and agreed to take in on it, seeing as they had nothing to lose. Anyway, they had fun with Ari. She never complained and remained still during whatever they were doing with her. They knew she secretly like getting dressed up, too.

Tonight was more of a casual event and so she was dressed in a short, flirty, little light green dress that would drive Zacky crazy. He liked brighter colors. It was a thin dress, and wasn't very fancy, and she was given strappy white stilettos.

As much as the other girls wanted to see Zacky's reactions, the guys had had to leave earlier. So they hopped into the limo and went off to the dinner.

"You could have picked out a longer dress, you know.." Ari murmured, pulling at the edge of her clothing.

"Don't worry," Lacey smiled. "It's not like you're flashing your underwear. You're just showing a bit more leg. And they're very nice legs."

"Zacky would love the dress." Michelle grinned.

The girls arrived in a few more minutes and were escorted by butlers to their place at the front of the large room. Unlike the last party, they didn't have a private room here, as this was only a dinner.

Leanna and Michelle struggled not to burst out laughing in front of all their guests while watching Zacky. He was fidgety, and that wasn't something you saw from any of the guys often. He struggled to keep his eyes on Ari's face as he greeted her, instead of having them travel down her body. The dress was sexy. It was revealing. But she was Ari. And Ari was an innocent little thing and that finalized the mood of her appearance. He felt like.. like he wanted to explode or something. He was taking deep breaths, but that didn't help.

Then it clicked in Zacky's head.

Those other girls..

"Zacky's gonna get a boner--" Brian started to whisper.

"Shut it, Gates."

"I wonder how he's gonna last the rest of tonight." Matt laughed quietly.

"I will! Geez."

As the girls sat down, Zacky watched, from the corner of his eyes, the way the dress moved up just a little bit.

Relax, Baker-- No. You're Vengeance tonight. And Vengeance doesn't lose his cool. I just talked to myself in third person. That's weird.

"What did you do before you got here?" Aria asked him softly, reminding him fully of the whole 'innocent Ari' thing.

"I.. Well.." he cleared his throat, silently fuming when he heard Brian snicker. "We were sorting through old junk earlier. This building belongs to us, so we were cleaning it up a bit. We do it ourselves because there are some people that would really want some of the old things here. The items get moved to the back room, where it's locked tight. So there was some heavy lifting going around, and after the guests arrived, we talked a bit before Matt made his little speech. Then you girls came."

Zacky had gained his confidence back in those short seconds. "And you look stunning tonight, Ari."

She smiled back shyly. "Thank you very much."

He grinned gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's the truth."

Ari blushed but silently admitted to herself that she enjoyed that bit. She felt all funny in her stomach, but it was a good feeling. Sort of.

Michelle and Leanna exchanged devious looks that failed to get noticed by anyone else. They couldn't wait for the little after party.

Brian observed his girlfriend. "You seem extra excited tonight. Mind telling me why?"

"Yes, I do mind. And it's a secret."

"What secret?"

"BriBri, it's not a secret if I tell you. And I promise you, you'll see tomorrow."

He raised and eyebrow but said, "Okay. Whatever you say, Michelle."

"Oh, baby you won't be disappointed."

...And with that, Michelle deemed the second phase completed.

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During the ride to the private bar, Zacky held Ari's hand the whole way, using the darkness as an advantage as the others couldn't see it. He liked how small and soft her hand was compared to his. To him, it made it all the better to hold on to.

At the bar, he reminded himself of his goals and strayed away from the drinks.. Or tried to.

"I think you should have some, Zacky." Ari said, cocking her head to the side.

"I'm fine, darling. Really." he told her, although he felt his barrier breaking. Already.

"But you worked so hard today."

"I-it's fine."

"But I'll get really sad if you're the only one who doesn't get to relax.."

Zacky swallowed. One drink wouldn't hurt, right? He decided one drink only to satisfy Ari and reached for something weak. But then Ari gave him stronger stuff and insisted that he drank that instead. So he did. Because he was a pushover. And he couldn't resist her.

Leanna glanced at Michelle and knew they were both thinking the same thing. They thought the Get-Zacky-Drunk phase would prove to be the most difficult.. But it was really easy. He really was whipped.

With Ari gently coaxing him into having 'just one more glass,' Zacky soon went from sober, to buzzed, to drunk, to completely wasted.

And then that affectionate side of his kicked in.

Much to Ari's surprise, she found him wrapping his arms around her torso and burying his face into her neck.

"Ari, Ari, Ari." he mumbled. "My darling, Ari. My pretty little Ari."

"I'm sleepy, Ari. And my back feels kinda stiff. And I'm gonna have a headache tomorrow, Ari. What am I gonna do with myself?"

"Um, um. You'll be okay, Zack."

"'Cause yooou're gonna take care o'me? Riigh?"

"Mhm, exactly." she said hurriedly.

"Good, 'cause I don't want anyone taking care of me. I only want you. 'Cause you're so pretty."

Ari couldn't help but humor him. "You only like me because I'm pretty?"

Zacky gasped. "Nono! I like you 'cause you're pretty an' nice an' kind an' quiet an' pretty an' smart.. Oh! An' you're so pretty. So very pretty.."

And now we start Part Four.

Leanna walked over to the two of them. "Why don't you take Zacky home, Ari? The limo will come back here after dropping you off."

"Um.. Okay.. Come on, Zacky. Can you walk?"

"'Course I can walk! Anything for my darling." he slurred, stumbling his way to the door, only to turn around when he realized his 'daring' wasn't following. "Come on, Ari!" he yelled, waving his arms frantically.

Ari giggled and said good bye to the others before following Zacky outside and helping him into the car. The ride back was kind of weird for her since he wouldn't keep his hands off of her and kept on talking to himself.

Getting Zacky up the stairs seemed to be the hardest part so far. After the strenuous task, she led him to the room and to the bed, only to see him sit up again.

"Come heere, Ari! Too far.."

As soon as she was in reach, Zacky set her on his lap and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

"Did I tell you how pretty you looked? Oh, wait. I did!" he giggled drunkenly, causing her to laugh.

"Why don't you change, Zacky?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because then I have to move you. And I like where you are."

"I'll come back."

"You hafta.. You hafta promise."

"I promise."

"Pinky promise!"

Ari smiled and hooked their pinkies together. "Pinky promise."

"...Okay."

Knowing he'd take a while, Ari quickly ran into the bathroom and changed herself. After a few seconds of debating, she decided to wash up, too.

She exited the bathroom, seeing Zacky sitting on the floor, changed but confused.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

"I couldn't find you."

"Well I'm here now. So let's go to bed."

"Where did you go?"

"We'll talk on the bed, Zacky."

"Noo! You gotta tell me! Or I'll.. I'll cry!"

Ari sighed, amused but just a tiny bit tired. "I was in the bathroom, Zacky."

"Doing what?"

"Brushing my teeth, taking off my makeup.. That kind thing."

"Oh.."

Without another word, Zacky launched himself onto the bed. "Let's sleep, darling Ari. Do you notice how I call you darling? I say it 'cause you're my darling. Nothing else suits you better than darling.. I like calling you eet.."

Ari smiled and admitted, "I like it, too."

Zacky giggled again, causing her to laugh. "Good."

She shut off the light and got into bed.

"Ari?"

"Yes, Zacky?"

"Will you kiss me good night? I wanna kiss good night."

"Of course." she said, kissing his temple and letting her lips linger for a few seconds. "Good night, Zacky." she whispered.

Zacky snuggled in closer to her. "Night, Ari.."

----------------------------------------------------

Zacky woke up the next morning feeling like absolute shit. He opened his eyes, only to shut them close again, cursing the sun light. He took a few moments trying to remember what happened, and groaned in embarrassment as he remembered the night's events. To make this worse, he felt a terrible ache in his neck and back seeing as he had slept in an odd position all night.

"Oh, you're awake. Good morning, Zacky." he heard Ari said softly.

He opened one eye and turned to face her. "Hey," he croaked. "What time is it."

"It's noon."

"Aw, fuck."

"The others are hungover, too."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised."

"Um.. How are you feeling?"

"Not very good."

"Well.. I brought you some breakfast.. But if you don't want it now, you can always have it later, or if you wanna skip it that's fine, too, but I think it'd be better for you to eat-- I mean it's your choice.."

Zacky smiled while listening to her ramble. He remembered her taking control of his drunken self last night and was amused at her change in attitude.

"I'll eat now." he said to her, slowly getting up. Ari smiled in relief and brought the tray over to him.

In about fifteen minutes Zacky had finished eating and while Ari cleaned up, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower. His head felt a bit better after that, but his neck and back still hurt.

Groaning again, he flopped down on his stomach, and buried his head under his pillow. He wondered how the other guys were faring.

Meanwhile, just outside the bedroom, Leanna was initiating the final part of the Get-Zacky-And-Ari-To-Become-At-Least-Closer-Friends scheme.

"Did Zacky tell you his back was hurting?" she asked.

Ari frowned. "Well.. No, but.. It seemed like it. He slept kinda weird last night."

The taller girl nodded. "It as the same for Jimmy. So I massaged him for a bit.

"Oh.. that's a good idea.."

Leanna shrugged. "It's up to you, Ari."

"I guess.." she said. "I guess I should. It's the least I can do.."

Yes!

Leanna smiled. "You're such a nice girl, Ari. I'm gonna go back to Jimmy. He's been whining all day since he woke up. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Alright, I should go to Zacky."

After parting ways, Aria reentered the room and smiled lightly when she saw the position Zacky was in. When he heard her enter, he lifted his head to look at her. "Ari? You need anything, darling?"

"Um.. Well.." she hesitated before continuing. She felt so awkward. "Does.. Is your back hurting?"

Zacky chuckled. "Just a little bit. Why?"

She turned pink and her voice became quieter. "I can.. help you with that?"

He chuckled and was about to tease her a bit more, but chose to refrain and said instead, "I'd love that. Now come here, Ari."

Zacky relaxed once more as he felt Ari's hands on his neck, shoulders, and back. He smirked when he felt her straddle him to get more comfortable, but the thought vanished as her hands eased away the tenseness he had.

"You have a lot of knots.." she murmured.

"It's from years of bad posture in the past.. And then never really bothering to take the knots out." he mumbled back lazily. "And-- okay that felt amazing."

After several minutes, and when Zacky realized that Ari's hands must have been hurting now, he asked her to lift herself up from him slightly, but to not move away. As soon as she did that, he turned to lie on his back and pulled her hips back down to his body. He laughed as she let out a squeak and blushed.

"Don't try to get away, 'cause I won't let you." he whispered. "Why don't you get comfy instead?"

"That's kind of impossible.. From the position we're in..."

He laughed. "For you it is. I'm quite fine."

"Can I move--"

"No."

"Okay."

Ari avoided his gaze and stared down at her hands. She felt so terribly awkward and embarrassed, and wanted to go outside to attempt to calm down.

"You know," Zacky started. "I remember every single little thing last night."

"Oh, really?" she mumbled, still looking down.

"Mhmm." he drew out. "I remember how gorgeous you looked in that dress and everything from you trying to me drunk and succeeding. Mind I ask why you did that?"

Ari panicked for a brief second before shrugging, "I don't know what you're talking about.."

Zacky sat up and leaned in closer to her face. "But you do know what I'm talking about."

"..I don't."

Ari tried to get up, but was placed back down by Zacky. This time, he kept his hands on her hips.

"Sure, you don't. I'll let you go for now."

Relieved, Ari nodded. "Let's change the subject now."

Zacky laughed. "Now I'm sure that there was something going on."

Deciding to leave that alone for now, Zacky kissed her on the cheek and said, "I also remember your sweet good night kiss. I'd like to receive one every night now. Oh, and one every time I come home from work will do, too. That won't be often, though. We go out only a few times a month for business matters."

Ari couldn't respond. She was afraid of turning into a stuttering mess.

"Oh," he added. "As for the mornings, I'll do all the kissing then. So no worries there."