Angel, Put Me Back Together Again

I sat in Zack’s bed with the blankets pulled around me for a few minutes after he left the room. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the surprise was. As smooth as my morning was going already, I decided it couldn’t get much worse. He had mentioned his brother was here and I didn’t want him to get the wrong impression of me, though I wasn’t sure how much of it I could salvage. Was he here last night or did he just get in this morning? I don’t think I actually wanted to know.

I was thankful to see that he had brought my bag of clothes I had changed into the night before at some point. At least I wouldn’t have to wear this dress and heels in front of him, too. I quickly grabbed up my baseball tee and sweat pants and attempted to pull my disheveled hair up into a presentable pony tail. I took one look at myself in the mirror and let out a sigh. I was going to have to face him at some point I suppose. I took a deep breath before stepping out of Zack’s room and making my way down the stair case.
I had never seen the house in full daylight. It was still just as huge and breath-taking. The staircase wound down to a marble foyer. I heard voices coming from behind me and with one last gulp of air, took the hallway down into what opened up into the kitchen. I saw Zacky sitting around the island with what I assumed to be his brother. If I ever met his parents, I need to remember to thank them. His brother was just as stunning as he was. He had jet black hair and Zacky’s eyes, but wasn’t as built as Zack. He had stretched ears and a septum ring. He said he was his younger brother but you could have fooled me. He looked just as old, if not older than Zack. He gave him an awkward smile and nod before walking over to the island and taking a seat across from them. I didn’t really want to look at him anymore, though he was nice to look at, for fear of what he was thinking of me. Hopefully he’s just like his brother, based of looks anyway, and won’t be too judgmental.

“Angela, this is my brother Matt. Matt, Angela.”

Now I was forced to look at him again. He just smiled and nodded before stabbing his fork at a plate on the island. I looked down to see a full spread of breakfast food in front of me that I didn’t even notice before. There were pancakes, eggs, bacon, and an array of muffins and breads. I felt my mouth start to water instantly. Considering the only thing I really had in the past twelve hours was alcohol, I was starving. I looked up at Zack who just gave me a smirk and shrugged his shoulders.

“Surprise.”

“So you can cook, too?” I raised an eyebrow at him as I grabbed on empty plate off the island.

“He doesn’t get all the credit. I did most of it while you two were upstairs.” Matt piped up finally. I was expecting his voice to be a lot deeper. I felt my face flush a little. I hope he doesn’t think we were doing anything. I’m embarrassed enough the way it is.

“Well then, thanks to you, too.” I said as I began loading pancakes and bacon on my plate, unashamed. I’m not one of those girls that cares about how much food I eat in front of a guy, or what I eat, but I especially wasn’t right now. Since coming to college, my issue with my appearance has almost completely dissipated. I was thankful for that at this moment. After a few awkward minutes of everyone just sitting in silence and eating, Matt was the first one to break it.

“So are you like a show girl?”

“A what?” The first thing that flashed in my head was can-can dancers and it took all my energy not to spit my food across the table laughing. Did I look athletic and … dancer-ish or something?

“You know, did you meet at a show?” He nodded toward Zack who appeared to look like he was straining to contain some sort of feeling. Not necessarily anger. If there is anything I know about him, it’s that he is hard to read.

“Oh, like his band? No, actually. We met at the airport technically.” I glanced over at Zack who had suddenly put his head down. I cocked my head to the side and looked back at Matt who was also staring at Zack. Did I say something wrong? I took another bite of pancakes and watched the awkward scene play out in front of me.

“When was that?” Matt asked without even looking at me.

“Uhh… beginning of the semester I suppose.” I mumbled. I wasn’t sure if I should answer, but then again I didn’t even know what was wrong. I felt the tension in the room rising. I suddenly didn’t feel like eating anymore.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Matt snapped. I was hoping it wasn’t directed toward me. I took the safe route and didn’t answer. When I glanced at Zack again, he looked like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. Had he done something wrong? Had I?

“Not now, Matt.” Zack said without looking up. He had taken his phone out of his pocket and was aimlessly flipping through it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Matt stood up from the island.

“We’re not talking about this now.” Zack finally looked up at him, the scared puppy gone, replaced by a more authoritative Zack.

“Goddammit, Zack. She’s my family, too!”

“Matt…” Zack growled his name menacingly.

“I had a right to know!”

“Stop it—”

“You promised me--”

“It’s your fault she left!” Zack roared, making me jump and accidentally knocking my glass off the island, shattering it on the tile. They both turned to look at me, my face glowing red.

“I – I … I’m sorry. I’ll c-clean it.” I knelt quickly to the floor, picking up the larger pieces. My hands were shaky and slippery with sweat. I only made things worse by cutting my palm on one of the shards. I winced but pretended to not notice. Zack rolled his eyes and walked over to me.

“Leave, Matt. We’re not talking about this right now.”

Matt looked between me and the Zack, his chest rising and falling heavily, his nostrils flaring. “It was nice to meet you Angela…” He said through gritted teeth before storming out of the kitchen. I heard the front door open then slam shut, a car engine roaring to life outside. I heard what must have been Matt’s car screech out of the garage and down the street. I continued to pick up pieces of glass, not looking up. The blood was starting to pool in the palm of my hand around the glass, the residual orange juice making it sting. Zack grabbed my wrist with some force making me wince again. His face softened and he loosened his grip on me.

“I’m sorry. Here, let me see.” He dumped the glass out of my hand back on the floor. He inspected the cut and sighed. “It’s not that bad. Wash your hands and I’ll clean this up and get you something for it.”

I stood up and made my way awkwardly to the sink and began to clean the wound. It wasn’t horrible, jut long. Zack grabbed a broom and dust pan from a cleaning closet I hadn’t seen before and began to clean up my mess. I wasn’t the most observant. I turned off the faucet and shook the access water off my hands. I didn’t want to dry them on the towel and get blood on it. Zack dumped the glass in the trash and replaced the broom.

“Follow me.” He made his way out of the kitchen through the sliding doors that led outside. I arched my eyebrow, but followed him anyway. He obviously knows where he’s going. We walked out to the garage where he pressed a code into the number pad next to the door. I heard it beep and what sounded like the door unlocking. He turned the knob and pushed it open, walking in without saying anything. I followed after him, keeping pressure on my hand to stop the blood flow. I looked in awe at the car sitting in the large building. It didn’t look this big from the outside. It’s practically the same size as a normal house. It looked just as nice in here as well. There was one really old fashioned looking car, and then a newer looking Audi parked next to it. There was a space behind each car for another car to park. I assumed these didn’t get driven as much. I shook my head and watched as Zack got into a closet on the far side of the garage. He looked at me and motioned for me to come over to him. I made sure to keep away from the cars, for fear of scratching them or something. I took a seat on the padded bench next to him as he dug through what appeared to be a first aid kit. He retrieved an alcohol swab and some liquid bandage. He took my hand and looked at me with a sympathetic look.

“This might sting.”

I tensed up as he wiped the cold piece of cloth across the palm of my hand. I bit my lip as the alcohol began to take effect. He quickly bent down to it and began blowing gently on my hand. I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. I tried not to pay attention to how good it felt, the way his cool breath seemed to be even colder than the alcohol on my skin. How the heat radiating off his still angry skin was counteracting the cooling effect, making me quiver under his touch. I snapped out of it when he let go of my hand and took out the liquid Band-Aid. He put a thin layer across my cut before throwing the two back in the first aid kit and placing it back in the closet. He took a step back from me and I instinctively stood up.

“You wanna go for a ride?” He asked, already answering his own question as he retrieved a pair of keys off the wall.

“Sure…” I answered for good measure. We walked out of the garage, Zack making sure to punch in the code behind him to lock it. We walked out to his convertible and I couldn’t help but a feel a rush of adrenaline run through me. I remember what happened the last time he asked if I wanted to go for a ride. Now wasn’t the time to have these flash backs, but I couldn’t deny the heat that began to rise in my thighs. I ignored it the best I could as I climbed into the passenger seat. I decided I wasn’t going to ask him about the scene in the kitchen. He would tell me in his own time. He took no time in bringing the car to life and leaving the house in the same fashion his brother did.