Next Level

Zacky's Point Of View

In the middle of the night I was woken up by the sound of a small scream followed by light tears. I'm used to this now though. It’s happened practically every night since we moved here and I understand why perfectly.

It’s lucky that Kyle and Jay are such deep sleepers really. I had no idea anyone could sleep through noises as disturbing as that, but it turns out that they can.

I slowly crept out of my bed and walked out of the small room then headed across the corridor to where I’m expecting to find Zander in a state. He isn't over the whole situation yet. I get why it’s harder for him to move on and forget about it though; it was only him who actually killed someone that night. He was the got off without any punishment in any form and I guess that’s eating away at him.

Although I wasn't punished in the eyes of the law, I was at school. Everyone treated me differently. I no longer care about little things like that, but at the time I felt like everyone was against me, when really, the people I wanted with me, my friends, were still there for me. That’s all that really matters.

I knocked on the door softly three times. I always knock that way. one reason is so that I don’t wake the other two up, but it’s also because Zander’s gotten used to me doing it in that way. He expects it now and I wouldn't want to knock him out of that system.

“I'm here now,” I whispered as I crawled into the bed besides his frail shaking body.

I know that in the past if we were in this kind of situation, there’d be a pretty high chance that we’d end up doing something, but things have changed now. Now that Cole isn't here, I realize how much that our relationship means to me and even though he wouldn't be able to catch us if Zan and I ever did do something, I wouldn't want to do that, plus it seems as though Zan’s moved on from me now. He’s no longer interested.

We trust each other a lot more now. I'm the only one who he can talk to that knows about everything that’s happened. I'm the safest thing he has.

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him towards me, letting him cry into my chest.

This is something that happens a lot now. I guess he keeps reliving everything in nightmares. I’d hate to be in his position. To be honest I doubt that I’d be able to cope if I had to deal with knowing that someone else’s blood is on my hands; that I’ve killed a man.

“It’s just a dream,” I whispered running my hands through his hair and pulling it out of his eyes to force him to look up at me.

He was sweating and shaking from the fear he was going through right now.

“Everything’s okay now, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Once I said that we both stayed quiet for a few minutes. The only sounds were from Jay’s snoring next door and the odd sniffs and hiccups from Zander as he tried to calm himself down.

“I’m sorry,” he sniffed, looking down on himself and going a slight red color.

He always gets like this. He’s ashamed to be upset around me now. He knows that I’ve moved on from that night and knowing that he’s still struggling to cope with it really gets on his nerves. He thinks he’s pathetic just because he hasn’t recovered from it as quickly as I have.

In some ways I am still struggling though. You don’t forget nights like that. I just find it easier to block it out from my mind than he does.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” I insisted.

He nodded at me but I knew that was just because he wasn't in the mood for some pointless argument with me.

“You alright now?” I asked with a whisper after looking at my watch and seeing that it was four in the morning.

I let out a groan but was slightly grateful that this didn't happen as early in the morning as it had on some previous occasions.

“I'm fine,” he whispered.

“Best go then,” I sighed as I tried to climb out of his bed.

Before I was completely out though, he grabbed hold of my arm and I instantly turned back to face him. His eyes were watering, an obvious sign that he wasn't actually fine and that he was only saying that because he thought it was the right thing to say.

“Or,” I whispered, “I could stay.”

He nodded at me and let a small smile spread across his face. A guy like Zander seems so innocent. You can’t help but want to protect them and keep them away from danger. The thing is though; I was the one that brought him to Cole’s. I put him in that situation. It’s my fault...

I carefully got in beside him and let him cuddle up to me.

“This will get better you know,” I whispered into his ear. “One day,” I yawned suddenly, surprising myself seeing as I didn't really think I was that tired. Trust me, when I'm tired I will complain about it, and I’ll complain a lot .

“Sleepy head,” Zan chuckled lightly before closing his eyes, letting me know that he wanted to sleep just as much as I did right now.

“’Night,” I whispered to him before rolling onto my side to get more comfortable and falling into a complete dream state.

Sometimes knowing that there’s someone there beside you makes it a lot easier to sleep, especially when you know that they need you and that you’ll willingly be there for them whenever they need you.

***

When the hours of the morning that we’re supposed to be alive for approached, I was woken up again, this time it wasn't by an upset Zander though; it was by an angry Kyle. He’s always ticked off in the morning. At times it can get really annoying because he can just snap at any moment. The only morning I remember seeing him looking happy was the one he had after his night with Ellie. I know I hated the idea of them being together, and I'm glad that they’re not now, but I have to admit, she was one of the few girls that I’ve seen truly make him happy.

I wanted to get up and go and find out what was wrong with him now, but I decided against doing that when I realized the position I was in. Zander’s arms were loosely wrapped around me. It strangely isn't bothering me at all, but that doesn’t mean that I’d risk moving and waking him up.

He hasn’t been getting much sleep lately with all of his nightmares, nor have I. He deserves to have a few moments sleep right now so I'm not going to risk taking them away from him.

He felt warm and looked a lot more comfortable than he did earlier, which is clearly a good sign.

“Zack!” I heard Jay shouting me.

I tensed up for a few seconds, praying that he doesn’t wake Zander and also hoping that he doesn’t walk in on us and get the wrong idea. Jay has a tendency for doing things like that.

“Zack!” he shouted again.

Doesn’t he get that I'm a little bit busy right now? I'm not going to shout back to him while I'm this close to someone who’s fast asleep.

I heard him knocking on a door, most likely my one, but seeing as I'm not in there he isn't going to get any kind of response from me.

After a few minutes of Jay assaulting my door he decided to actually open it and by the sounds of it he worked out that I wasn't there. Clever boy.

Suddenly the bedroom door flung open making me jump out of my skin. Usually the guys let Zan have his privacy, looks like that’s changing today.

“Zand-“ Kyle cut himself off when he saw me there. “Zack?”

“He’s asleep,” I whispered.

Kyle nodded at me and gave me a confused look before walking out again.

I let out a deep breath and let my head hit the pillow again. It was quiet now; just what I need.

After a while I heard Zander let out a small moan as he rubbed his eyes a little before sitting up. When he saw me lying there next to him he then jumped a little.

“I forgot you were here,” he whispered.

I smiled at him, of course he forgot, he always does.

“I’ve got to get ready for school,” I mumbled in my sleep deprived voice.

“Sorry,” he whispered, most likely working out that it was because I didn't want to wake him that I didn't leave sooner.

“No worries,” I sighed before walking out of the room and heading to the bathroom.

Just before I walked in there I was stopped by Kyle.

“Since when are you and Zan...?” His voice trailed off and left it at that. It wasn't too hard to work out what he was getting at.

“We aren’t,” I answered him.

“But-“

“Kyle,” I said, taking hold of his shoulders. “There’s no me and Zan so don’t go worrying about what we’re up to in here.”

“But-“

“Kyle,” I said again. “I know you don’t like the idea of us doing anything in our house , but don’t worry about it because there’s nothing going on,” I told him with a small smile. “Nothing.”

He nodded at me before walking off towards his room, looking like he was in a bit of a strop. You’ve got to love Kyle in the morning... Sarcasm.