Flight Risk

The next few months were some of the best of my life. Zacky and I had grown significantly closer but that meant the more we wanted to be around each other the more we had to hide from my mother. Almost every night that my mom was at work Zacky would come to my house and hang out. We would sit around the house eating something he cooked for me while bragging about his Italian roots.

He learned the hard way not to let me in the kitchen one night. It was about 15 minutes after my mom had driven away and Zacky came waltzing in, playfully demanding that I cook for him.
After my laughter stopped, Zacky put that puppy dog look on his face and I ended up attempting to cook that night. Two hours later we ended up with a burnt rag, a fan blowing towards the fire alarm, hard spaghetti noodles, and pizza from Sam's to make up for it.

And every hour when my mother called Zacky and I would try so hard to stop laughing before I had to answer. Usually that meant I shoved Zacky into my room and slammed the door to cover the noise of his chuckles before I calmed myself and picked up the phone, pretending that I was pissed off because my mother was ruining my life with all her stupid rules and for once I was actually listening.

And most times, Zacky would tip toe out to where I stood against the kitchen bar and wrap his arms around me, his cheek against my own as he listened to my mother's end of the conversation as well. I would bite my lip as I murmured, "mhm" to my mother as Zacky kissed my neck and I swore up and down that he wanted to get caught and have my brother move back in so he could not be able to see me ever again.

I would put the phone on mute and tell him to knock it off before I told my mom that she had no right telling me what to do anymore and I'd hang up on her, just to ignore when she tried to call back as Zacky and I laid on the couch watching some movie or doing my homework that he pretended he understood.

There were many times where the two of us got a little carried away when our snakebites would clash together but either Zack or I would stop us before went to far and the term jailbait became all too real. It was like my life was partially okay for once, especially when Zacky was around me.

It was rare for me to get to see the others at the same time, very often because all of them could never be quiet when my mom called, so sometimes Zacky would let someone come along and the whole night he would grumble about them being there while I smirked at his attitude and scolded him for acting like a baby. But that just ended up with the two of us bickering back and forth pretending to be offended by what the other one said. And who ever was over with us would laugh and mutter something about us being immature or cute or both.

As Halloween rolled around my mom became less and less tough and more and more suspicious of what I was doing with my little bit of freedom. I constantly reassured her that school was my top priority and that there was nothing I'd rather do than softball and every time I would mentally slap myself for thinking dirty thoughts as my mom sent me questionable looks.

Life was amazing as winter came and my brother started talking about coming home for Thanksgiving and then longer for Christmas break. And the sad thing was, every time he'd mention it all I could think about was Zacky's 20th birthday coming up and the fact that the girls were planning a huge surprise party that Zacky pretended to know nothing about.

Thanksgiving was unusually hectic this year. It wasn't because of the two other people in my family but because Zacky had invited me to his and I couldn't of been more nervous when he told me I'd get to meet his older sister and the rest of his big Italian family, as he put it.

That day was quick to come and Micki showed up at my house to lie to my mother again and told her that we would be spending the rest of the day at Thanksgiving parade with her. When in reality Micki was spending the day with Quinn, her newest boyfriend.

I met Zacky at his house and his grin seemed to be hypnotic and he kissed me and the two of us piled into his car, saying goodbye to Micki and thanking her for breaking me out. People were spilling from the seems of his parent's house. Matthew opened the door, a giant grin spread on his face as he called out that Zacky was there.

"Are you nervous?" Zacky asked, his arm wrapped around my waist as he led me into the house.

I glanced up to him up to him while biting my lip and nodded. I pressed my face into his flannel shirt as he took my hand and pulled me in the direction that Mattie had gone.

"Don't be," he suggested, grinning at me as we walked through a swinging door and into the commotion that was his family. My eyes widened as a group of dark haired women shrieked and made their way over to us. The room was full of dark haired men and women, who held onto to kids and scolded teenagers who weren't any older than I was.

"My lord, Zachary! You've gotten so big!" one of the dark-haired ladies cheered, wrapped her arms around his neck, causing me to smile and step back so he had space to hug the woman.

Zacky laughed and patted her back. "Aunt Marina," he groaned, "I stopped growing when I was fifteen."

A man, who I assumed was one of his uncles, laughed and nodded his head. "That's why the boy is so short," he stated, causing the rest of the family to laugh on Zacky's expense, causing me to blush.

"Hey now," Zacky exclaimed, shaking his head at his family, "Don't embarrass me in front of my girlfriend." He reached back at grabbed my hand, instantly putting the spot light on me as the eyes of his family found their way to me.

A woman, who had stayed behind the kitchen island until now, put down the pan that she was holding and wiped her hands on the apron that covered her holiday dress. "Girlfriend?" she repeated as she walked around the center island and smiled at Zacky and he smiled back in a way that told me instantly that she was his mother.

I stood up a little straighter as Zacky pulled me back to his side. "Guys," he said, catching the attention of all his relatives, the younger ones included, "This is my girlfriend, Granger."

I smiled and waved, unsure of what else to do as I became nervous with all the people looking at me. There were about ten adults standing in the kitchen, and even more people who were Zacky's age, along with a few younger ones like Mattie and I.

"Granger," Zacky's mom said softly, squeezing past her family to stand in front of her oldest son and I. "You're the girl I've heard so much about."

I blushed again and nudged Zacky's side with my elbow. "Embarrassing," I mumbled to him, looking up to him and he laughed and bumped my shoulder with his. I turned my attention back to his mom. "You're Maria," I stated, "It's nice to meet you."

Maria smiled and grabbed my hands to hold in hers. "It's so great to meet to meet the woman that makes Zacky so happy."

Her words took me by surprise since I'd never really been called a woman before, especially since I was the youngest one in Zacky's group of friends, by years. I glanced up to Zacky's face, wondering if she knew how old I was, if any of them did.

I hugged the woman back, anyways, and dropped a lot of the nervousness that I'd been carrying with me in fear that the people who raised him wouldn't like me. His only sister pushed through the crowd and stood in front of me. She cracked a couple jokes about Zacky and then pulled me into a hug too, only to be pushed away from me by Zacky, who was pouting and feeling offended by the jokes his family was making about him.

Zina introduced me to her kids, a little girl and a baby boy who was drooling in her husbands arms and then a few more people came up to me and told me about how they were related to Zack. "You don't have to remember their names, Granger," Zacky whispered in my ear before he took my hand and dragged me into the living room where Mattie and their cousins were hanging out in front of the TV.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was hugging his Mom, Maria, and his sister, Zina, goodbye as Zacky pouted and tugged me from the house, claiming that I liked his family more than him.

I had just rolled my eyes and pushed his unruly black hair from his face as Maria and Zina 'awed', at our intimacy, from the doorway. I blushed as Zacky chuckled, calling another goodbye to his large family and thanking his mom and aunts for the food.

December rolled around soon enough and Zacky's birthday party was something that he woke me up for on December 11th, after I had told my mom that I was staying at Micki's house. Getting ready that morning was hilarious as Zacky cooked while I was in the shower. He would walk right into the bathroom and tell me what was being cooked even couple of minutes.

"Get out, Baker!" I had yelled a couple of times while he sat on the counter across from the tub and smirked at me, his red eyeliner making all my attention focus on his beautiful green eyes.
Eventually the two of us made our way to Matt's house with huge grins on our faces while Zacky practiced his 'surprised' faces so Jimmy wouldn't blame me when they figure that Zacky had known for a while.

The house was decorated by the girls, obviously, and seeing them again made me realize that I wasn't that close with any of the girls but Val and Michelle. Gena was there of course and the whole time she stayed quiet and in the back ground, only talking when someone spoke to her first. Except for me of course, she would ignore every letter that came out of my mouth, only sparing me a sneer when mine was attached to Zacky's.

"Happy birthday, Baby," I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind as he blew out all twenty-one candles on his cake.

He looked over his shoulder and kissed my lips. "Thanks, Granger. Thanks guys," he said to the rest of them as Val grabbed his cake and pulled it closer to her so that she could start cutting pieces for everyone.

Zacky pulled me around so that I was sitting on his lap. I thanked Val as she pushed a paper plate towards us and handed the birthday boy a fork. "Open up," Zacky demanded, stabbing the cake and then popping the fork into my mouth.

I tasted the cake and moaned in satisfaction. "Okay," I stated, "Who made this cake? It's so delicious."

Everyone laughed as I guided Zacky's hand back to my mouth so that I could have another bite. Zacky fed me and then pressed his mouth against mine. He nodded and grinned at the twins. "That is good cake, girls."

There was a sound of disgust from the other end of the table, where the unnaturally blonde Gena sat, taking little bites of the cake that Zacky and I were sharing. I met her gaze for a split second before I bit my lip and looked down to the half eaten piece of cake.

"Excuse me," I murmured to the group, sliding off of Zacky's lap, "I have to use the restroom."

Zacky looked up at me. "Wait, where're you going, Granger?"

"Bathroom," I replied softly, again, since the whole table was watching me. "I'll be right back," I promised, running my fingers through his hair before I headed towards the stairs.

Zacky frowned and I heard the fork clank against the plate as he pushed himself away from the table and followed after me, calling my name. I waved my hand over my shoulder at him and headed up the stairs of Matt and Brian's house, towards the bathroom on the second floor.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Zack questioned, climbing the stairs two at a time. He grabbed my wrist before I could disappear into the bathroom and shut the door on him.

I shook my head without meeting his gaze. "I have to pee," I said again, trying to pull away from him.

Zacky frowned and pushed me into the bathroom. "Fine then," he stated, shutting the door behind us, "Pee and tell me what you're upset about."

I turned around and looked up into his mossy eyes. He looked down at me and grabbed one of my hands to lace with his. "Nothing's wrong," I promised, smiling. "It's your twenty-first birthday."

Zacky moved closer and pulled me against him, his arms wrapped around my waist. "You're a terrible liar, Ev." He kissed the side of my face. "Is it Gena?"

I sighed and nodded, feeling really stupid as he chuckled and shook his head. "It's just strange having your ex around all the time," I replied, not meeting his eyes.

"Why is she bothering you so much today?" He pushed my hair out of my eyes and tucked the thick strands behind my ear.

I looked into his eyes and reached up to push his hair out of his face. "Because," I said lamely, unsure of how to explain what I was feeling without sounding stupid and immature.

Zacky chuckled and shook his head. "No, tell me," he demanded softly. "You can tell me anything."

I glanced to the floor nervously. We'd been dating for a little over three months and he was twenty-one and I was seventeen, and we were separated by the law and I wasn't sure that we'd last long enough to bridge that gap and become something more than what we were now. With me being jealous of his ex and her hating the sight of us together.

I had learned not too long ago that Gena and Zacky had dated starting their sophomore year through the rest of high school and it wasn't until after they graduated that Zack broke up with her, claiming that he needed to focus on the band. Val and Michelle told me that he'd stayed single for the last couple years but he and Gena had gotten together a few times when they needed to.

I had blushed profusely and covered my face with my hands. At the time I hadn't know why the girls were telling me this, I didn't want to know that Zacky still hooked up with his ex periodically. But at the end of the night, they told me that Zacky had stopped going back to her the day he met me. I guess that explained all the dirty looks and feelings that Gena had towards me, even though they'd been broken up long before I came into his life.

"Granger, she means nothing to me," he said desperately, seeing the look on my face as I thought about him and her together.

I shook my head. "It's not that," I replied softly, reaching up to touch his hair.

"Then was is it?" he asked, becoming worried.

I moved my hand and pressed it against the back of his neck. "I'm only seventeen," I stated, "And we'll never be able to do anything. Not until I'm eighteen and you're almost twenty-two and that's not fair to you and I -" I stopped talking when Zacky started to laugh, shaking his head at my fears. "Why are you laughing at me?" I questioned in disbelief, "I'm really upset about this and you're laughing at m-."

Zacky leaned down and pressed his mouth against mine to silence me. He held onto me tightly and deepened the kiss, pulling our hips together, causing me to break the kiss and inhale deeply.

Zacky's nose was pressed against my cheek as he spoke. "If that's what you want to do," he whispered huskily, "I have no problem doing that. We just have to be careful that nobody finds out until you turn eighteen."

I swallowed and kissed his jaw. "Really?" I questioned breathlessly. "You could go to jail."

Zacky kissed me one more time and shrugged his shoulders. "I won't tell if you don't."