Flight Risk

We worked hard at practice, batting, fielding, and running until we felt like we were going to collapse in the dirt. After we'd successfully used up all our energy and burned all the calories in our bodies, Coach still forced us to run back to the locker rooms. Of course we couldn't wear our cleats in the building, but socks weren't quite as dangerous.

Micki dragged me most of the way back as I complained about being tired and hungry. Inside the locker room, I shuffled over to my locker and lazily stepped into my sweats and hoodie.

"Micki, you need a ride home?" I called over the lockers as I gathered my things and put them into my back.

She came around the side of one of the rows of lockers and shook her head. "Dra's here. He's my personal chauffeur now that he's driving my car." She grinned at the idea of being able to boss her older brother around.

"Oh yeah," I muttered as I yanked my backpack onto my shoulders, "He wanted to talk to me about something this morning."

"What was it?" Micki questioned as we maneuvered between girls in various states of undress.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, pushing out of the door, "He never got around to it because I was running late for class."

Micki just huffed and walked besides me towards the exit of the building. I grinned when Zacky was standing on the steps outside, leaning against the large brick sides.

"Hey, Zacky," I greeted as I grew closer to him, "How was your day?"

He pulled me down the steps carefully and wrapped his arms around my waist. "It was alright," he told me, pulling me close to him, "We had a band meeting and then had an all day practice session."

"That explains were Johnny was," I stated, smiling at the slightly sheepish look on Zacky's face. "He really shouldn't be missing more school, Zack."

Zacky rolled his eyes. "He's not my responsibility. I'm only here to make sure you stay in school. He can whatever the hell he wants with his life."

I chuckled and tangled my fingers in his hair. "You're an awesome friend," I stated sarcastically.

"No," he rebutted, "But I'm an awesome boyfriend."

I grinned and nodded. "That you are, Mr. Baker."

Zacky moved his chin up and connected his mouth to mine softly. I lightly bit his lip ring and then kissed him hard, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "Lets get out of here," he encouraged, grabbing my softball bag from the ground.

I glanced over to where Micki had walked off too. She was just getting into her car. Draven had parked it on the side of the road and turned it off. "Wait, I have to talk to Draven quickly, okay?"

Zacky glowered at the idea. "What for?" he questioned, leaning back against the brick siding of the stairs.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, heading off in his direction, "But I'll be right back." Zacky waited for me at the stairs. As I got closer to the car, Draven stepped out and walked around to stand on the sidewalk with me. I was facing him, facing his car, and he was facing me. Over my shoulder he could see Zacky fifty feet behind me. "Hey, Dra, what's up?"

His gaze settled back on mine and he smiled softly. "I just wanted to talk to you, is all," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "Do you think you could come over?"

I glanced back at Zacky and shook my head. "I have plans," I told him, turning back to face him, "What is it?"

"You sure you can't just come over for a little while? I'll take you where ever you want to go afterwards."

I shook my head. "Dra, come on, I've got to take a shower. I feel disgusting. What is it?"

Draven glanced me over, taking in my black sweatpants that I'd swiped from Zacky's closet and a huge black hoodie that had somehow ended up in my room. "You don't look disgusting," he stated, looking back up to meet my eyes, "You could never be disgusting, Granger." He smiled and reached up to push a piece of my hair back into the sloppy bun it'd fallen out of.

"Thanks," I replied, looking at his face, slightly confused. "I should get going. Text me if you want to tell me what you want to tell me."

"Granger," he sighed, biting his bottom lip, "Don't go yet. Please just come over for a little while. It'll be easier if it's just you and me."

I stepped towards him and touched his arm. "What's wrong?" I asked, my concern growing as he struggled with the words, "You're freaking me out, so please just tell me, Draven."

He moved forward another step. His hand touched my side and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. "Don't freak out," he instructed quietly, moving even closer to me.

"What're you doing?" I asked, but before I could say anymore he cupped my face with his other hand and brought his lips down on mine.

Before I could even register what had happened, I shoved him off of me. "What the hell, Draven?" I shouted loudly, looking back to Zacky's instantly. "Shit, Zack, don't!" I demanded, grabbing his arm as he barreled towards us. "Zacky, knock it off!"

Draven looked stunned as I held Zacky back.

"What the fuck was that?" Zacky screamed at him, "You're just going to kiss my girlfriend right in front of me?"

"Sorry, man," Draven replied, "I had to."

"The hell you did!" Zacky retorted, trying to step around me as I stood in front of him, holding onto his wrists so that he couldn't do something stupid. "You fucking kissed her and I was standing right there!"

Draven rolled his eyes. "I've known her longer and I definitely care more about her. Why don't you just go play with your little delinquent friends and leave her alone? You know you're no good for her!"

I held onto Zacky tighter. "Draven, shut up!" I demanded, "Just shut up. It's none of your business."

"Granger, you know he's not good for you," Draven replied, stepping towards us, "Why are you with him? He can't offer you anything!"

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you," Zacky warned, glaring bullets at the nineteen year old.

By now MIcki had clambered out of the car. She stood in front of her big brother and glared back at Zacky. "Don't you dare threaten him," she growled, trying to push Draven away from my irate boyfriend.

Zacky scoffed loudly. "He just kissed Granger!" he defended, stepping forward.

"Why shouldn't I?" Draven questioned, "You two aren't going to last very long anyways. Then she'll think of me and realize that I was the better choice all along."

"Shut up!" I shouted at Draven, "You're like a big brother to me, Dra."

Draven shook his head. "I'm not going to accept that. You and I both know that's a lie. I've liked you forever, Granger, and you know it."

"But I don't like you like that!" I countered, not wanting to hurt him but wanting to stop this delusion before it could go any farther.

"Prove it," Draven taunted, "Prove that you don't like me the same way I like you."

"She's dating me!" Zacky shouted, "Isn't that prove enough, you asshole!?"

Draven disregarded every word that came out of Zacky's mouth, only angering the twenty-one year old more than ever. "I don't believe you," he said, looking me in the eye, "You don't have to be with him. Just because he's telling you that you're right for each other doesn't mean you are. You know that. Don't let him control you."

Zacky shouted a few curse words at him. "He doesn't control me, Draven," I replied, willing him to believe me, "I'm with him because I love him, not because he's forcing me to."

Draven looked at us, really looked at us. Zacky was barely hanging on, forcing himself to hold back merely because I wanted him to. At any moment he could get past me. I was strong, but he was stronger and we both knew it. Sure, I was holding him back, but it was more psychological than physical.

Zacky was fuming. He was almost shaking with how angry he was at the boy in front of him. He hadn't liked Draven from the start, but now standing here, caught in some twisted, one-sided triangle, Zacky couldn't even bare to look at him without wanting to knock him out.

Zacky was containing himself though. For my sake he was restraining his temper. But the words that left Draven's mouth next pushed the guitarist over the edge.

Draven pushed his sister back and reached for my hand. I pulled away from him and took Zacky's instead, knowing that if I didn't continue to touch him, he might explode.

Draven looked at our connected hands and then back to my face, bewildered. "He doesn't love you, Granger," he said like he truly knew what Zacky felt for me. "You're just some teenage girl who is helping him hold onto his glory days. You're like putty in his hands. You're doing exactly what he wants you to. He doesn't even love you but you're so blinded by his charm that you don't even notice."

There was no holding Zacky back when he let go of my hand and pushed me backwards, out of the way. Zacky charged him, landing a blow against Draven's cheek bone before he even knew what was happening.

"How-fucking-dare-you," Zacky shouted through gritted teeth as Draven hit the ground. "How dare you kiss my girlfriend and then have the audacity to tell her that I don't give a shit about her!"

Draven wasn't back on his feet for long. Zacky's left fist collided with Draven's jaw and the teenager was on his knees in agony within seconds. Zacky still managed to land another punch before he went down.

"You won't be kissing anyone for awhile now," Zacky growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Micki screamed loudly. She crouched down next to her brother and looked at me with widened eyes. "Make him stop!" she demanded, referring to Zacky.

I hurried forward and grabbed Zacky's left hand. "You're done," I stated, pulling him away, "Come on."

Zacky shot another look at Draven, who was still on his knees, and then nodded, allowing me to pull him away from there. We grabbed my bag from by the stairs and went to the car.

"I'm driving," I stated, reaching into his jeans to grab the keys since he would never willingly give them to me. "Get in."

Zacky got in without a word.

As I drove back to his place, I looked at his hand. His knuckles were bloody, but I couldn't tell if it was his or Draven's since he'd busted the boy's lip. "You're going to have to let me look at that," I said, motioning to his hand.

Zacky balled his hand into a fist and shook his head. "It's fine. It's not my blood."

"Still," I retorted, "It's got to hurt."

"Not as bad as Draven's face," he replied, shaking his head, "What a little bitch. Went down without ever managing to get me back."

"Stop it," I demanded, "It's over with. You got him. Now stop being angry."

Zacky laughed sarcastically. "He fucking kissed you, Granger," he stated, "I was right there and he just leaned in and kissed you."

"I was there," I said, "I know exactly what happened."

Zacky watched my face as he spoke. "And then he couldn't shut his mouth. Couldn't mind his own damn business. I had to shut him up, Granger, you didn't see the look on you face when he said those things. I thought you might think they were true."

I glanced away from the road to catch his eye. "They're not?"

"Hell no," he stated harshly, "I don't want you to ever listen to a single word that comes out of his mouth because he has no fucking clue what he's talking about, Granger."

We were silent for a couple minutes, just the radio playing to fill the silence as I drove. When I pulled onto his street, Zacky spoke.

"Did you mean what you said?" he questioned, leaning back against his seat.

"What're you talking about?" I asked distractedly as I pulled into the driveway.

He sighed and dropped his head. "You're really going to make me repeat it?" he questioned, "Come on, Grange. Don't do that to me."

I put the car in park and turned it off. "What are you on about, Zacky?" I asked, sincerely not knowing what he was talking about.

"You told him..." he trailed off, "That you, well, you know."

"Why are you stammering?" I inquired, unused to this unsure version of him. He was always so confident, so reassured, and so comfortable.

"Because I don't know how to fucking say it!" he gushed, "What if it just slipped out and you didn't mean to sat it? You obviously don't even know you did. Forget it." He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed himself out of the vehicle. I sat stunned in the driver's seat as he went inside, leaving the door open as invitation.

"Where are you?" I called as I walked in and shut the door behind me, "Zachary James Baker, get out here right now and tell me what you're upset about." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to emerge from the bedroom.

"Just forget it, Grange," he suggested, stepping out of the bedroom, "We can talk about it another time."

I frowned. "I want to talk about it now," I stated, moving to sit on the couch, "Come on." I patted the spot next to me and held my hand out for him.

He groaned loudly and dropped down beside me. I pulled one leg under me and turned to face him. "What's wrong?" I asked quietly, gaging his roughed up appearance.

Instead of replying, he leaned forward and softly brushed his mouth against mine. His kisses were so different from Draven's. Zacky's mouth was even different. I ran my thumb over his cheek and continued the kiss when he tried to stop it.

"No," I breathed when he pushed me back, "I just want to kiss you."

Zacky chuckled huskily. "I don't mind," he whispered, "Trust me."

With those words in my head, I kissed him again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. One of his hands rested on the small of my back and the other was holding him up on the couch cushion as he pushed himself closer than was possible.

He pulled his mouth from mine after a minute or two. "I can't get it out of my head," he said, causing me to sigh softly.

"Can't get what out of your head," I inquired, opening my eyes to look into his honest ones.

"What you said."

"I said a lot of things."

"This one was more important than the rest," he explained before kissing me again, "I thought I was going to drop dead when I heard it."

"Was it when I said I loved you?" I asked, knowing it was when I couldn't feel his breath on my lips anymore.

His green eyes searched my blue eyes. "Did you mean it?"

I roughly bit my bottom lip. Zacky was right, I hadn't meant to say it today. I hadn't really even thought about the words before they were already out there. Now, before I confirmed it, I just wanted to make sure it was how I really felt and not just a by-product of someone else trying to end our relationship.

Zacky's eyes were peering into mine as he waited patiently for me to decipher what was happening in my head.

"I don't know," I breathed, disappointed in myself for not knowing, "I don't know what I'd do without you, but I don't know if this feeling is love. I've never had anything to compare it to."

"Me neither," he replied softly, understandingly.

"I think it is," I stated, causing him to look up to my face with wide eyes.

"What?" he questioned.

I nodded and touched the thick stands of dark, glossy hair that fell in his eyes. "I think I love you, Zacky."

He smiled. "Really?"

I nodded once more. "I'm pretty sure."

He was kissing me again and I was kissing him too. Slowly and softly, like a feather brushing over my mouth. After Zacky's sensual, slow kisses, I kissed him harder.

He looked at me and shook his head, unable to keep from smiling. "I can't believe you love me."

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders. "Trust me, neither can I."