Flight Risk

"Zacky, you have to leave," I whined quietly, the two of us curled together in my bed.

He shook his head against my skin.

"Yes," I stated, although I hardly meant it, "You have to leave before you fall asleep." I pushed his shoulder backwards, away from me, hoping he'd roll off the bed and out of the house completely.

"Shut up, Everly," he warned, tightening his grip around my waist so we'd both fall if he did, "It's not that late. I'll set an alarm and get out before your mom gets here."

"Liar," I grumbled, slipping my fingers between his, "You're not going anywhere. You're going to get us both in a lot of trouble."

His lips skimmed against the skin of my cheek and neck. "I promise I'll leave," he rebutted, "But I'm not done here, yet."

I couldn't help but smile at his words. The TV was playing on the other side of my room, but the two of us were two wrapped up in each other to care about what was happening on the infomercials. I rolled over so that I was laying on my back and smiled at his appearance.

His hair was ruffled and messy, an easy smile played on his lips as he peaked his eyes open to look at me, sensing my gaze on his face. "Do you really want me to leave that bad?" he questioned, catching my eyes with his own emerald ones.

I slowly shook my head, hiding my smile from him.

His own smile became permanent. "I didn't think so," he commented, moving his chin so he could press his lips against mine. I moved my fingers slowly up his bare side and cupped his jaw as he shivered from the contact.

"I had fun tonight," I whispered as he continued to kiss me, "I'm glad you came over."

"I'm glad I came over too," he replied, dropping his head back to my pillow. He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and then asked, "What are you doing for Christmas? My mom wants you to come over."

I noticeably brightened at his words. "You mom invited me to your Christmas?" I questioned, repeating his words, "That seems so adult."

"I am an adult," he laughed, smiling, "Do you think you can come?"

"I don't know what I would tell my mom," I stated, suddenly disappointed, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth as Zack's face fell considerably.

He sighed loudly and rolled over on his back. "Do you think it would be terrible if we confronted her?" he asked, not meeting my eyes, "What if we both, maturely, went and told her about us?"

"She'd freak out," I stated loudly, "There's no way she'd ever be okay with this."

He rolled back over and wrapped both his arms around my waist. "There has to be someway, Grange," he stressed, "Eventually she's going to have to be okay with it, because I don't plan on leaving you alone."

"No she doesn't," I denied, "She just has to be taken out of the equation, meaning I turn eighteen and she has no say." I ran my fingers though his hair and offered him a pity smile, hoping he wasn't serious about talking to my mom.

"You have to come," he sighed, "My mom was so excited when her and Zina came up with the idea."

"I wish my mom could be as cool as yours," I whined, dropping my head back onto my pillow.

"You made it for Thanksgiving," he remembered, "Why couldn't you make it for Christmas? When do you open presents?"

"In the morning," I replied, knowing that there was no way my mom was going to let me away from her on Christmas.

"We have lunch first," Zack stated, smiling, "It'll work out great."

"In a perfect world," I murmured glumly, "My mom's work has an employee and family Christmas party every year. I have to go."

Zacky groaned loudly and pushed the blanket off of him. He climbed out of bed and pulled his shorts on.

I leaned on my elbow and frowned. "You're leaving now?" I questioned, pulling the blanket up to my shoulders.

"No," Zack denied, heading towards the small window seat couch, "We're going to write a list. Do you have any paper?"

"Zack!" I grumbled, reaching to grab his shirt from the floor, "Stop it, right now!" I demanded, "It's not going to work! My mom isn't going to let me go to your house on Christmas, whether she knows or not." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at the man standing in front of me.

He also crossed his arms over his chest. He stood looking at me with disappointment evident on his face. I'd been the one whining about being tired of hiding him, but I knew that it was hard for him too, even though he could tell his family and his friends.

"Just let me make a list," he grumbled, climbing back into bed with my english notebook from the floor and a pen from my dresser. He pulled the blanket over his lap and set the notebook on top.

"What for?" I muttered, "It's not going to do any good."

He flipped past pages and pages of filled pages until he got to a blank one in the middle of the book. "Reasons why we should tell your mom and reasons why we shouldn't," he said as he wrote the two columns with his left hand.

I rolled my eyes but played along. "Reason number one; she'll kill you."

Zacky smirked and pressed the tip of the pen to the paper and started to write the words in the "why not" column. I pulled the pen from his fingers and shook my head.

"It goes over here," I stated, pressing the end of the pen against the other side of the paper.

Zack rolled his eyes and huffed loudly. "Shut the hell up, Granger," he grumbled, half-jokingly, becoming irritated with my negativity, even though it was completely warranted.

I let him write out his list full of reasons why we should and shouldn't tell my mom about us. Zacky was for it while I was not. As he tried to change my mind, drag me over the fence, I just thought of how my brother would react; how the police would show up and drag Zacky out of his house in hand cuffs.

It was so easy to imagine, especially now as I laid bare in my bed with a half-naked man laying next to me. I could picture the words leaving my mouth and my brother hearing them. Gabe would explode, taking everyone down with him. My mother would implode, blaming herself for letting me "get hurt". Zacky would be out of my life, trying to balance the fragments of what used to be his and I would be alone. Without him, without my mom, without Gabe.

"If you say anything to anyone," I whispered harshly, meeting Zacky's eyes, "If you say anything, Zachary, I will never speak to you again."

He frowned, dropping his pen from his fingers. "What are you talking about?" he questioned, reaching for my hand.

I pulled away from him, desperate for him understand. "If you tell anyone about us, Zack, if you think it's so important to tell my mom, then I will never see you again. We'll be over, do you understand?

He looked at me with widened eyes. "What?" he asked, "Why?"

I roughly pushed my hair out of my eyes and faced him again. "I won't let you throw your fucking life away because of me, Zack." I shook my head. "I won't let you do it. They'll arrest you. They'll say you raped me and you'll go to jail! You'll lose everything!" My hands were shaking because of the weight of my words. "I'll never see you again," I promised, speaking softly, trying to keep the tears from my eyes. "I'll walk away, Zack, and I won't look back. I swear I will."

Zacky moved closer to me and the notebook hit the floor, forgotten as Zacky pulled me to him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and I pressed my face into his neck. I would do everything I could not to ruin him, even if it meant breaking my own heart by letting him leave me behind.

"I won't do it. I won't do it," Zacky murmured into my hair as he kissed the side of my head. "I promise I won't, Granger."

"I don't want you to go to jail," I whispered against his skin.

He shook his head and tightened his grip around me. "I don't care about that," he denied, pressing his mouth against my ear, "I just don't want to lose you. Don't ever walk away from me."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and held onto him. I could see us being torn apart, each of our lives ruined for different reasons, but I could never see myself leaving him standing behind me. My words were empty threats, but I was incredibly grateful that he didn't know that.