Harder Than You Know

Brian and Jimmy chuckled as Zacky scolded Michelle and Leanna after finding out about their plan from a few nights ago.

"You two, especially, should know that you don't rush these kinds of things." he said to them. They were in the living room, with the girls sitting on the couch with sullen expressions, Zacky standing in front of them, arms crossed, and Jimmy and Brian sitting on another couch, watching.

"And you manipulated Aria into doing what you wanted her to do."

Uh-oh. He used her full name instead of just Ari. He must be pretty upset. The girls exchanged nervous glances. No one ever saw Zacky get very angry more than twice their whole lives. Once he was quiet and calm, speaking with a low, menacing voice that sent shivers down your spine, speaking of irrational punishments. The other time, all hell broke loose and he destroyed almost everything that got in his way, almost killed another person, and could not be stopped for two days.

Both incidents had to do with Gena. The person that nearly got killed was her 'lover.'

And no one knew which version of the angry Zacky was scarier.

"She already felt shy enough around me, but you've made it worse, thank you." he continued.

"We thought--"

"I'm not finished."

"Okay."

As Zacky continued to lecture them, Ari happened to enter the room. She frowned when she saw the scene. "What's going on?"

Michelle and Leanna were shocked at his sudden change in attitude.

He smiled, "Oh nothing, Ari. We should go shopping today for your clothes. Why don't you go find Val and ask her for some clothes to go out in? I'll meet you upstairs."

Ari blinked in confused but nodded slowly. "Um.. Okay... then..."

Michelle and Leanna silently begged her not to leave, but she took no notice, seeing as she had no clue as to what was going on. Even though it should have been obvious since she found out about the plan, too and all. But she decided a long time ago not to question Zacky. He usually knew what he was doing.

Zacky's attention turned back to them. It was silent for a few moments. He was purposely building up the suspense, you see.

He then held up his index finger. "One month."

Leanna, being more bolder, asked, "One month of what?"

He smirked. "No shopping, no going out unless we have a party, no junk food, no sweets. I am grounding the two of you."

Michelle gasped. No shopping? No junk food? No shopping? What has the world come to?

"Zacky," she started. "I think we should work out.. a compromise--"

"No. You're grounded and that's the end of it. I'm going to go upstairs now. You two could've taken Aria shopping today.. But I guess you'll just have to miss out."

They desperately turned to their boyfriends who only told them to agree with what Zacky said.

"I'll be seeing you in a few hours." Zacky said, going to his room. He ignored the protests and whining from the girls and smiled to himself. It would be an interesting month.

As he entered the room, he almost laughed out loud seeing Val and Ari argue over what to wear.

"But that's so slutty, Val!" Ari whined, staring at a pair of shorts in disgust.

"It's not! You're just not used to it! I swear, you'll look good."

"No. I refuse to go out in your selection of apparel. I'm going to go to Michelle."

She got up and turned to walk out of the room, stopping when she saw Zacky leaning against the door.

"Hello there."

"Uh, hi, uh, Zacky."

"Where you going?" he asked. "I hope you weren't planning on going to Michelle, because I like Val's clothes just fine."

Ari wondered what to do. She could try to seduce him into letting her go, but if that failed, she would end up feeling very much humiliated. If she let Zacky win, she would have to spend the whole day in clothing that really did not suit her tastes.

She was about to go with the second option, seeing as she had no confidence for the first, when a third idea came to mind.

"I thought I was supposed to enjoy today.." she said softly.

Zacky frowned. "You are supposed to enjoy today, darling. What are you talking about?"

"Well.. Well how am I supposed to do that when I won't even feel comfortable in what I'm wearing? I'll spend most of my time making sure my shorts aren't too high or my shirt isn't too low.."

For extra effect, she crossed her arms and added, "That doesn't sound like fun at all.."

Zacky stared at her in amazement. How could she? he thought. How could she use his weakness against him like that? Isn't she supposed to be nice and cute and innocent?

Devious little... I am going to stand my ground.

"No, Aria. You are leaving in what Val chose."

It was quiet. Zacky smirked, thinking that he had won.

"...Please?"

Or.. Maybe not.

Zacky let out an exasperated sigh. With just one word, she had crumbled away his barrier as if it were nothing. Okay, I lost. He moved from the doorway. "You can go, Ari." he mumbled, defeated.

She grinned and sauntered out of the room without another word, smiling to herself. She never knew she had so much power! It was kind of.. exhilarating.

And Val... Val burst out laughing.

"Dude!" she forced out. "You're whipped!"

"Dude, you're whipped." Zacky mimicked, picking up the discarded clothing and throwing them back to Val. "Out of my room."

Laughing too much to care, Val left, leaving Zacky alone. He grumbled to himself as he changed to go out. He would make Ari buy what he wanted her to buy at the mall and wasn't going to let her control him. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

If only he knew how wrong he was.

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

Zacky figured that he would be the one exhausting Ari out. He thought that he'd be the one dragging her from to store, making her try out whatever he wanted. He thought that he would have the power.

...Not the other way around.

Lingerie? Never mind. Val wouldn't let Zacky near the store, saying it would be a surprise. So his moment of glory was cut short as he spent that hour eating with Matt since Lacey and Johny had already planned a date for that day. And now he was in another store with Ari.

"Zacky, Zacky! How about this one? I like this one!"

She came out in another outfit. The speed in which she went through her clothing was incredible.

He forced out a smile, completely tired. "You look wonderful, darling. Is that the last one?"

Ari thought for a bit before answering, "I guess so."

Zacky sighed in relief and made his way to the cashier. After paying the rather large amount, he gathered the bags and went to his car, Ari and the others following behind him.

"A little help would have been nice.." he muttered, loading the cars in the trunk.

"You never asked." Matt shrugged.

Zacky rolled his eyes and tossed his keys to Matt. "You drive. I'm fucking tired."

"You wouldn't be if you weren't so--"

"Don't finish that."

"'Kay."

The day's events seemed to have taken a toll on Ari, too. Although she usually shied away from physical contact, she let Zacky place her on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. She fell asleep in five minutes.

Maybe I should tire her out more often.. Oh, wait. She'll probably beat me to that.

The drive home was spent in silence as Matt and Val were pretty worn out, too, seeing as they were gone for about six hours. It was near eight when they got back and they helped with the bags while Zacky carried Ari upstairs.

"How was shopping?" Michelle asked dully. She and Leanna had forced Brian and Jimmy to stay home.

"Oh, it was really fun." Zacky smirked. "See? Ari got so excited and everything and she was so tired by the end of it. You should have seen it."

"We would've, you know!" Leanna huffed. "But you just had to ground us!"

Zacky shrugged. "Whatever. I'm gonna go to bed now."

He didn't wait for a reply and shut his bedroom door closed.