Live For the Sake Of Living

"Mom, where's Dad?" I asked as I walked down the stairs. Michelle was stood by the door, slipping on a pair of shoes. "Where are you going?"

"Brian is with your brother at the ceremony and reception hall, making sure it was decorated like we asked and that everything's ready, and I have to run to Zacky's to make sure he remembers to bring the rings because he was in charge of holding onto them," Michelle said, sounding a bit rushed, though I didn't blame her. She and Brian were getting married in a few hours, so her nerves were probably skyrocketing.

"Can I come with?" I asked, and she nodded as she grabbed the keys. Slipping into a pair of flip-flops, I followed Michelle out the door and into her car, and in no time we were at Zacky's house. Obviously having seen us pull into the drive, Sara was waiting at the open door.

"Hey guys, what's up? Shouldn't you be getting ready?" she asked, glancing at Michelle with a questioning look.

"Yes, but I needed to stop here first and make sure your oaf of a fiancé didn't lose the rings, and remembers to bring them to the ceremony," Michelle explained, and Sarah nodded, letting us inside.

"Where is Zack?" I asked, hearing the house almost deafeningly silent once we stepped into the living room.

"Oh, he's upstairs, trying on his tux... again. He said it didn't fit right last night, and decided he'd wait until now to make a decision on whether or not he needs to get it refitted," Sarah said, rolling her eyes.

"What's wrong with the fit?" Michelle asked as we all sat in the living room, waiting for Zack to make an appearance.

"He said it was too tight around the middle," Sarah answered, and I couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.

"I don't see how that's funny, Charlotte," I heard Zack say from behind, and I hadn't even heard him creep down the stairs in the first place. Turning, I saw him look at me with a playful smile, wearing his regular clothes.

"Oh, it's funny. Trust me..." I said, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

"So what brings you guys here? Everyone should be getting ready... Hell, I should be getting ready..."

"Well, that's one of the reasons why we stopped by. I just wanted to make sure you had the rings, and to remind you to bring them," Michelle explained, and upon mention of the rings, Zacky looked like a deer in the headlights.

"...The rings?" he asked, his voice pitching up a few notes.

"Zacky..."

"Um, the rings are... currently missing," he said, a look of guilt falling across his face, and Michelle's jaw dropped.

"They're what?" she asked, her voice very quiet.

"Okay, I know they're in my room. Just give me a second to find them..." he said, dashing back up the stairs.

"Zachary James, I swear to God if you don't find those rings, I will ring your fucking neck!" Michelle practically screamed, and I winded. Not good. Taking a deep breath, she put her fingers to her forehead, rubbing her temples as she closed her eyes. "How do you live with that man?" she grumbled, and Sarah let out a small laugh.

"I don't know. Some days I feel he'd forget his own head if it wasn't attached to his body."

"Um... Since we're going to be here awhile, it seems, can I go get a drink?" I asked politely, and Sarah nodded.

"Glasses are in the cabinet above the stove."

Nodding, I got up and headed to the kitchen, hearing sounds from upstairs as Zack furiously searched for the missing rings. Shaking my head, I smiled at his forgetfulness. Looking at the stove, though, that smile slowly turned to a confused frown. The microwave was above the stove, and there were cabinets on either side. Figuring it had to be one of the two, I went to the one on my side and opened it, startled when something fell out at me, clattering on the countertop. It was a standard issue orange pill bottle, and I picked it up, intent on putting it back. Until something on the bottle caught my eye.

The prescription name was Epzicom. To any other person, that might not have meant anything, but to me... it did. Epzicom was the same prescription I was under to help keep my HIV in check, to try and keep it from getting any worse, and as far as I knew there were no other uses for the drug. My stomach lurching, I turned the bottle over in my hand until my eyes fell across the name of the owner. Zack Baker.

Blinking a few times, I stood there completely stunned. I had just found out a major secret of Zack's and I didn't know if Brian or Michelle even knew he had HIV, but they had never told me if they did or not.

But then another thought hit me. At first I thought it was a wild stretch, but then I remembered something my biological mother had told me the last time I saw her. She knew who my real father was, and she refrained from telling Brian or I because she knew it would kill us.

"No..." I whispered, trying to push the thought away, because I didn't want it to be true. Could Zack have really been my dad?

I mean, what were the odds of the both of us having HIV? I knew a lot of people had the disease, but was it really too wild of a stretch? He could have been born with it, like I had... Or he could have gotten the same strand from the same person I did - my mother. Even if I didn't want to believe it, the scenario made too much sense.

"Um..." I heard at the doorway, and I looked up, coming out of my daze to see Zacky standing there. I knew he'd had a guilty expression on his face from earlier when he'd dashed back upstairs in search of the rings, but I had a feeling this look of guilt he had now was for different reasons.

"I - I wasn't snooping..." I stuttered, shoving the pill bottle back onto the shelf and closing the door. Zack didn't say anything, and there was a really awkward feeling settling over the room. My mother had also told me that my real father knew I was his...

"Are... Um... You're not my... Are you?" I asked, stuttering and unable to finish a complete sentence. I couldn't force the word 'father' out of my mouth. It just didn't sound right.

Sighing, Zack shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly nodded his head. "Yeah..." he whispered, and the tight, jumbled feeling in my stomach grew tighter. "Look," he said, taking a step forward, keeping his voice down. "This doesn't change anything. By all legal rights, Brian's your father, and he's been the only one there for you this past year..."

"No one else needs to know," I whispered, and we both nodded before I slipped past him and into the living room.