Harder Than You Know

Ari had questioned Zacky about his dream for days after the night. He always refused, promising that she'd see soon. Honestly, he was a bit insecure. Just because he had the dream didn't exactly mean it'd come true. There were so many things that could go wrong... But so many things that could go right.

He finally had a break, though. There was a deal that needed to be taken care of, which was why he had been so busy. Now that that was over with, he had all the free time in the world.

Being an early riser, Zacky of course woke up before Ari. He spent a few minutes watching her sleep before he finally decided to get up. After kissing her cheek, he washed up and went outside. It was pretty early. It was six, actually. He was always the first one up and about, though. He liked his mornings. Alone, but very relaxing.

Deciding to skip breakfast, Zacky just made himself a cup of coffee before returning to his room. It was getting colder, but he put on a jacket and stepped out onto the balcony anyway and sat on one of the chairs. The coffee would warm him.

Truth be told, Zacky knew there were a few people keeping tabs on his Ari. In this house, she was safe. Outside, not so much. Yeah, Avenged Sevenfold was powerful. They could take on hundreds without a scratch, but that didn't mean they couldn't make mistakes. That didn't mean he could let his guard down. And that was what scared him.

Parties. He hated them. Even though their private room was accessible only to them, anyone could walk in and do some damage before leaving. He realized that fact after the incident with Gena. He was going to put over a spell or something over the room next time. Johnny and Lacey would know good ones..

It was hard. He had to keep on a cool, relaxed, and confident facade for Ari. He didn't want to scare her. She was kidnapped from her home and forced to come here. That was more than enough for her, he thought. Then marking her, then meeting Ryan, and of course Gena. That was too much. He felt sorry he couldn't do anything. He felt powerless.

He didn't know if he could keep the whole charade up forever. Big things were going to happen and he wasn't looking forward to any of them. He was going to stay strong, though, no matter how scared he was for her. They didn't call him Vengeance for nothing, you know.

Pushing bad thoughts aside, though, Zacky knew he was so grateful for meeting Ari. He had been moody and temperamental until he started having his dreams. Then he started to gain hope again. And having Aria made him feel normal again. Happy. And carefree. Like his friends were with their own mates.

Zacky was brought out of his thoughts when he felt someone wriggling next to him on the chair. Who else could it have been? It was Ari.

"Morning, darling." he greeted softly, putting down his cup on the table and bringing her onto his lap.

"You're up early.." she mumbled, eyes closed.

"I'm always up early. I don't sleep much." he replied. "Why are you up, young lady?"

Ari slid her arms under his jacket, wrapping them around his torso. "It was cold.."

"Well staying out here won't help," he chuckled, getting up and going back inside. He retrieved his cup shortly after he set her back on the bed.

"Do you have work today?" she asked when he got back in bed. He smelled good, she noted. His usual wonderful minty smell had some traces of coffee and maybe some of the cold morning air. A nice combination indeed.

"No," he answered. "The guys and I are free. And we will be for a while. Do you want to do something?"

She thought for a bit before saying, "Nothing in particular.. But it's cold and I don't like it."

Zacky laughed. "Going out is not an option then. Maybe we'll all just hang around in the den later. Val doesn't like the cold, either."

They fell into an easy silence after that, with Ari slowly becoming drowsy. She struggled to keep her eyes opened, but Zacky told her gently, "Go back to sleep, darling. You'll be tired later if you don't."

He watched as her eyes finally stayed closed and her breathing evened out. Instead of getting up, Zacky decided to stay in bed for the next few hours.

No wonder she was cold. All she had on was a tank top and some sweats. Shaking his head, he wrapped the blanket more tightly around her and moved in closer. This was pretty comfortable. Maybe this should be a morning routine.. Yeah, maybe.. Good idea..

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

"FUCKING HELL."

Johnny burst out laughing as Brian threw down the controller. He won... for the 7th time in a row.

"Brian's horrible." Ari giggled, earning a high five from Johnny and a surprised look from Brian. "I am not. Today's just a bad day."

She didn't expect the guys to be.. well, normal. You can't put it past her, though. They were amazingly good looking vampires who also happened to be billionaires. Who knew they had time to play video games and goof off like this?

Zacky, who had just won his little game against Jimmy (who was begging for a rematch, but was ignored), took a seat next to Ari to watch Brian's and Johnny's game with her.

"Ugh, what the hell Brian." he remarked. "You're horrible."

"Shut it, Baker." Brian muttered, causing him to grin.

Zacky smiled to himself, though, when he saw how happy Ari looked. He didn't know that much about her, he realized now. All he knew was that she liked dancing and sweets and sleep. Her past, her old home, her family, he knew nothing.

He didn't like that. Not at all. So he decided to start learning about her soon. He'd start off with her family, then maybe more of her interests... Every little bit of information until he was satisfied, which would take a lot.

Brian finally gave up on the video game and went to Michelle for comfort who patronizingly patted his head and told him it was okay. It didn't help much.

Val just shook her head and said, "Hey, let's go shopping tomorrow for winter things!"

Zacky laughed when he saw Ari's face light up. She turned to him. "Can I go?"

He found it odd that she asked for his permission, but said anyway, "'Course you can sweets."

"Are you going, Zacky? Are you?" she asked eagerly.

"Well--"

"Just go, Zacky. I think we're all gonna end up going anyway." Matt said.

"Damn straight." Val nodded.

"I was going to say yes, if you guys would've just let me finish." Zacky rolled his eyes. He smiled, though, when Ari clapped.

"Let's go nighttime shopping." Michelle said.

"YEAH. We haven't taken Ari shopping at night!" Leanna exclaimed.

The two of them started talking really fast all of a sudden. And Ari couldn't understand what they were saying. She made out the words night, mall, and lingerie. She blinked in confusion as they continued to have their hyper speed conversation.

Brian sighed and kissed his girlfriend to get her to shut up. She giggled and apologized, and went straight back to kissing again.

"Please!" Jimmy said. "Take your indecencies far away!"

"We will!" Brian replied, getting up. "It's getting late anyway."

After the two of them left, the others started to slowly go to bed, one by one. Zacky and Ari leaving after Brian and Michelle.

In several minutes, both of them had washed up and were ready to sleep. Zacky was still wondering why Ari had asked him for permission to go out earlier, and debated in his head for a bit before deciding to question her.

"Darling?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I'm not exactly you're owner or anything.. Right?" he said, a bit cautiously.

It took her a while to respond, but when she did, he didn't like it. "But.. You're supposed to be.. That was the whole point of the stupid auction.."

"Aria, what's all this about?" Zacky asked. "This never bothered you before."

She gulped, hearing her full name. "I don't.. I don't know.."

"Come on, tell me." he urged gently, frowning when she just shrugged. "You know the reason, darling.. Tell me."

"Don't wanna.." she mumbled.

After many more attempts in trying to get her to talk, Zacky grew impatient, which never had happened before.

"Aria."

She visibly flinched at his tone, causing him to immediately regret what he said. How was he ever going to get her to talk like this?

"Come on.." he pleaded in a gentler voice. "What's wrong?"

He would have to guess, he thought. Zacky thought off all the reasons for her sudden change and then realized it must have had something to do with last night.

"It's Gena.." he said. "It's what she said, right?"

Ari again, didn't respond, but Zacky knew he was correct.

There was a tense silence, and Ari was afraid he was angry with her. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, and kept her gaze on the blankets. She suddenly felt tears pool in her eyes, and Zacky noticed. Did he scare her into crying?

"Are you mad..?" she asked in a small voice.

"No no." he replied immediately, bringing her closer to him. "I could never be mad with you, you know that. Don't cry, Ari. I'm sorry I was impatient. Please don't cry, sweetie.." Never mind Gena.

"I thought.. I thought.."

"I know, I know." he murmured.

"Y-you're not mad?" she asked, finally looking at him.

"Of course not, sweetie. I just want you to tell me when something's bothering you next time.. I don't want you to ever be upset about anything."

She nodded and whispered, "Okay.. I'll do that.."

Sighing, he lied down, bringing her down with him and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Ari.. Let's forget about this and enjoy tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah.."

"I'll buy you the whole fucking mall if you want me to."

Ari sniffled, but smiled nonetheless. Zacky wiped away the remaining tears, before kissing her again.

It was silent again, until Ari asked softly,

"Will you really buy me the whole mall?"

"Go to sleep, Ari."