Some Say This Can't Be Real.

I spent the rest of the week alone to clear my mind, spend quality time with my brother, and decide what to do about Zack. I was almost desperate enough to ask Johnny for help. It was almost at the point where I was losing a little bit of sleep over it. I had ignored Zack the past couple of days, mainly as a suspense builder. Even if I felt sadistic over it, I wanted him to be nervous. I wanted him to think I wasn’t going to choose him before shocking him. When the weekend came around, I was woken up by a text from him.

Okay, you’re killing me. Will you please call or text? Something?

I grinned as I typed a reply.

Can I stop by in like an hour? We need to talk.

I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I got back to my room, I saw he had replied, saying that he’d be waiting for me. I got dressed and headed out, taking off towards his place. As I pulled in and parked, I saw him standing outside talking on his phone. When he saw me walking up, he said bye to whoever he was talking to, then flashed a smile towards me that nearly made me melt. I always loved his smile, and every time he smiled at me, I would just turn to mush inside. I was trying my hardest to keep a straight face, stretching this out as long as I could. When he noticed that I didn’t smile back, his face fell.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fine. Just been exhausted the last few days trying to figure all of this out.”

As horrible as it sounded, I kept thinking about the night I found out Jimmy passed away so I could keep a straight face.

“I thought you had it figured out,” he said as he held the door open for me to walk inside.

I followed him up to his apartment and inside before I spoke again. “I did, as in I made the decision, but needed to figure out how to drop the news.”

“Oh?” He sat on the coffee table across from me as I sat on his couch. His leg was twitching nervously.

“I already talked to Brian and that whole situation is figured out.” I was grinning from ear to ear inside as I knew Zack was going nuts with frustration.

“Well, that’s good. So what about us?”

“I spent all week trying to figure out how to say everything to you, especially after what you said to me that night outside my place.”

“So will you just tell me?” He was fiddling with his hands, leg still shaking eagerly. “If you don’t want to date me, and have already agreed to start a relationship with Brian, just say it.”

“I just don’t want you to be upset.”

“Well of course I’m gonna be, but like I’ve said before, it’s all on you in the end. We can’t make the decision for you.”

I stood up and began to pace circles around his living room. I knew it was eating him inside. The frustration was tearing him up. He was starting to physically show it too. I sighed and stopped, facing the corner of the living room.

“Okay, by now I can only figure out that you don’t want to date me. It’s fine, really. I’ll support whatever decision you make, but will you please just confirm it?” He asked. I heard him moving, and could feel him closing in behind me. I didn’t respond to his question, and I could sense his frustration showing even more. “Will you fucking talk to me?” he asked sharply, placing his hands on my shoulders, turning me around to face him.

I really began to feel horrible for playing the joke on him, and I was just a bit scared after seeing the look in his eyes which darkened a bit. The serious look on his face was slightly intimidating and absently made me back into the corner.

“Is it really that necessary to swear?” I asked.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t like being tossed around like this. Just be straightforward with me and spit it out.”

I met his eyes with my own before finally allowing the grin to slowly spread across my face. Then I began to laugh a little. “You are so gullible, Baker,” I said, laughing more.

He blinked in confusion. “What?”

I controlled my laughter as he continued to stare at me confusedly. “I’m so sorry, Zack. I didn’t want to do that, but I couldn’t resist the suspense building.”

“Suspense? Lisa, I’m so lost right now, does this mean…”

I nodded at him with a grin, then grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him close to me. “I choose you, Pikachu!” I whispered with a giggle before I walked past him towards his balcony.

I stared out over the courtyard waiting for him to join me. He walked up behind me, resting his hands on my hips lightly. “So you put me through hell for the past few days for that?” he asked as he rested his chin on my shoulder.

I turned slightly to catch his eyes. “Maybe I did. Now to make this even more official, you should try asking me what you did three years ago.” I grinned.

He turned me around in his arms to face him. “So will you be my girlfriend?” he asked softly, his green eyes now shining with happiness.

I looped my arms around his neck, bring my face inches from his. “Yes,” I whispered before touching my lips to his in a quick kiss.

“I’m glad,” he said, wrapping his arms tighter around my waist prior to kissing me again.

We held each other for a few minutes, caught up in the moment before heading back inside.

“So, what now?” I asked as he closed the sliding glass door.

“I have no idea.” He flung himself down on his couch, looking up at me as I stood near the patio door. “It’s not like we have to worry about telling Johnny.”

“That’s true,“ I said as I half tackled him on the couch, before just getting comfortable next to him. “For real though. What now?”

“Well…” He trailed off, wrapping his arm around me. “I have no idea. I guess we just go with it for a while and see where things lead.” He reached for the remote to turn the TV on. “So how did Brian take it?”

“Supportive, and very understanding.” I turned to look at Zack, still letting it sink in that he was finally my boyfriend. “So you’re happy?” I whispered into his neck.

“Very.” He smiled at me before giving me a quick kiss to my forehead.

“Good. Me too.”

I turned my attention to the TV, watching him flip through channels to find something. He eventually settled on watching something on the Food Network which began to make us both hungry very quickly. While he ordered a pizza, I looked through my phone at a few unread messages. Johnny asked me where I was, and then I read Brian’s message, which made me frown.

So, you and Zacky make things official yet?

I stared at the message questioningly, wondering why he was so curious.

No offense, but why do you wanna know?

When my phone began to ring, I looked up and saw Zack still on the phone. Brian’s name flashed across the display and when I answered it, I stepped out onto the balcony.

“I thought we could maybe hang out once more before it happened,” he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “Why? So you can try to make one last attempt?”

“To be honest, yes.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m at his place right now, and yes, if you must know, we did make it official.”

I could sense his hurt over the phone, and I hung my head. “Oh. Well, I’ll stop bothering you then. I’m sorry if it pissed you off, but I thought I could try once more in hopes that you would change your mind.”

“Bri, I told you already that I was going to pick him.” I knew I had to be blunt with him, which was something I hated doing to people. I hated conflict. “Look, don’t take offense to this, but did you really think about it? How you’ve been towards me, and how he’s been towards me? Did you honestly think you had a chance to date me?” I asked, jumping as a hand rested on my back.

“I did, but you just led me on then?” Brian asked as I turned and looked at Zack.

I wanted to wave Zack away, but by now, I knew that he had the idea of what was going on. “No I didn’t-” I cut myself off before I released a string of curse words. “Look, we need to talk about this in person. Not over the phone.”

“No, just tell me.”

“I didn’t lead you on,” I said, catching the words out of my mouth.

“Yes you did,” he argued back, snapping my mind into realization.

In an instant, I felt beyond horrible. I knew I had led him on. “No, because I didn’t have my mind totally made up.”

“You just asked me if I knew I had a chance to date you, after comparing how both he and I treated you.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Bri.”

“Really? Well maybe you need to think before you speak.”

“Bri-” I was cut off by the line disconnecting. “Fuck!” I shouted, resisting the urge to throw my phone off the balcony.

“Don’t worry about him,” Zack said behind me.

I turned to him and buried my face in his chest. “I’m a horrible person,” I said, fighting back tears. “I did lead him on.”

“No you didn’t. He just should’ve gotten the idea.” His arms held my body close to his in an attempt to comfort me. “I’ll talk to him about it and settle it. I know he’s just bitter that you rejected him.”

I sighed. “I guess. Do you think I led him on?” I asked, pulling away a bit to look him in the eyes.

“Did you ever consider dating him?”

“Yeah.”

“Then no, you didn’t. If you had no intentions, or even thoughts of dating him, then yeah, you would’ve led him on. Just let me talk to him.”

“Fine. I’m sorry you had to hear that.” I rested my head against his chest again.

“Don’t worry, sweetie.”

I smiled instantly when he called me ‘sweetie.’ It made me realize more that it was for real, and it replaced the hurt that was inside of me. He gave me a gentle push back inside the apartment and joined me on the couch after closing the door again. Our attention went back to the TV for a while until the pizza arrived. Zack went to pay the delivery guy, and when he did, I grabbed my phone again to send a message.

Will you give me a chance to talk to you? I honestly didn’t mean it like that. We just need to talk about it.

I wanted to talk to Brian about it before anyone else did. I knew I could reason with him and settle everything. He didn’t respond to my text which didn’t surprise me. Zack came back with the pizza, and I forced myself to eat even though I didn’t want to due to being upset about the phone conversation. Once we were done eating, we began to watch a movie. I was curled up next to Zack, and it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. When I woke up, night had fallen, meaning I had been out for a few hours. I looked up at Zack who was intently staring at the TV, lost in the movie he was watching.

“You could’ve woken me,” I said, jarring him slightly.

“Nah. I couldn’t,” he said with a grin. “Well I almost did when your pocket dildo kept going off.”

I arched an eyebrow in question for a moment, then realized what he was talking about before I pulled my phone out of my pocket. A few missed calls and unread text messages. All were from Brian, I noticed as I read them.

I don’t want to talk about it. Just leave me alone.

Been thinking for the past hour. We’ll talk eventually.

Been thinking again. Give me a few days. Maybe next weekend.

Will you just answer me? Please?

I shook my head as I put my phone back in my pocket. “I guess I’d better get home,” I said, standing up to stretch.

“You know you don’t have to right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have a change of clothes or anything here.” I laughed, but awkwardly thought of when the right time would be to mention spending a lot more time here, and then eventually to move in if it got more serious.

“Ah, true. Well I have clothes.”

“And what are you trying to imply, Mr. Baker?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “That we go to your room and have a night of wild and crazy sex?”

“No, not at all. We’ll save that for a more special moment, when you’re ready.”

“Deal. I really should get home though.” I grabbed the few things I had and headed for the door.

He followed me before turning into his kitchen. “Well, since we are now official, I guess I should give you this,” he said as he rustled through a drawer. “Even though everyone else has one I think.”

“What?” I asked, though already knowing what he meant.

He stepped over to me by the door, holding a small shiny object. “A key to my apartment, duh. You know you’re welcome to come over anytime you want right?”

“Of course,” I said, taking the key. “But I’ll still always call or text if I’m gonna come over. You know, to make sure you’re here, or that if I do come, you’re not in the middle of one of your man-moments.” I snickered.

He rolled his eyes and laughed. “Okay, deal, at least on the latter part of that statement. Even if I’m not here, you can still come and…ya know, be in my bed naked for when I do get home.”

I gave him a playful shove into the corner near his door. “That just might happen one day,” I said in a semi-seductive whisper. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Sure.” He wrapped his arms around me gently. “And you should spend the night, or two, or three.” He winked.

“We’ll see.” I smiled back as I leaned up to give him a kiss.

He kissed me back before pulling away and moving from the door. “Goodnight, baby,” he whispered.

I turned with a smile and walked through the door. The smile remained on my face as I walked outside and towards my car. As I came close, I noticed the silhouette of someone leaning against my driver side door. Before the figure saw me, I had my phone on Zack’s name so it would call him with the push of one button.