I'll Never Let You Go

Obviously when you ask yourself ‘could today get any worse?’ someone always has to ruin it further than you think necessary. When I got home from work Zack was nowhere to be found. The house seemed to be a mess and there was this strange scent all through the house. It was vampire but I didn’t know whose scent it was. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I mean, after Zack and I started fighting again I came home to the biggest mess I’ve ever had to clean and some of my things were missing. Nothing of Zack’s was touched.

I played with the small promise ring that sat on my left ring finger. I’d had it for years and I never took it off; there was no point in taking it off but it felt so heavy…. So, so undeserving of my hand. I laid my body back onto the unmade bed slowly, my hands coming up and rubbing my face some. The sheets felt so cold against my skin, I did not think that it could be so cold in here. Though nothing felt warm anymore, except Zack’s skin on mine; that felt like heaven was right here on Earth with me for the rest of my eternal damnation. But even now I was debating if it was meant to be or not. I knew that what I felt for Zack was nothing less than love and nothing more than life or death. It was an Edward and Bella thing. Well… before she left him for the mutt. I hadn’t even got a kid out of this… she didn’t even make it to the honeymoon or so I heard.

Standing up, I let my body stretch out. Random bones popped and cracked, sending cringes up and down my spine as I stood with an arched back. “Ew,” I grumbled quietly, I hated the noises I could make with just my bones. It was nerve-wracking. I slowly sauntered over to my closet and pulled out a pair of lounge pants and a hoodie. The dress clothes fell from my body and I was in cozy clothes in a matter of moments. It felt so much better than those stuffy suits and skirts that the college made me wear. I rubbed my temples as I walked downstairs and started to clean up the mess that whoever decided my house was a good pit stop made. Maybe it would be cleaned up before asshole got home…. If he ever came back.

Not even forty minutes after vigorous cleaning and reorganizing, Zack walked through the door; his hair was all over the place, his shirt was wrinkled up and he reeked of Aria’s scent.

“Have fun with your new bimbo?” I muttered as I walked into the kitchen to see what all needed done in the small room. I could almost hear the rolling his eyes were doing as he followed my voice.

“She needed a ride home; do you have to be a bitch?” He groaned, looking at me with a sour expression.

“Like you fucking care about anyone but yourself. Why shouldn’t I?” I looked up at him, having found myself on the floor as I put pots and pans back into their rightful spots. “Know who broke into the house and stole my stuff? One of those groupies you picked up on your way up?” I spat out, knowing he wouldn’t care anymore.

Zack just looked at him with an odd expression. “What are you talking about a groupie and someone who broke in? Did you know hear me when I said that I haven’t been with anyone but you in the past 5 years?” I didn’t know why but I slowly slid back against a counter, my knees bent up and my small pale arms were wrapped around them.

“Sorry, but it’s not like you pretend to care anymore. You’re too fucking worried about Aria’s well-being… she’s not even one of us. She’s just some stupid human who, once she finds out about us… which she WON’T, would just want to be changed and I’m not changing her.” My gold met his onyx colored irises. I could feel my hair fall out of place and into my face. I didn’t care at the moment. “You shouldn’t get close to her… you’re with me. I love you….isn’t that enough for you?” I held his gaze for what almost felt like an eternity, but it was only a few seconds before he tore his gaze from mine.

Zack just shook his head and headed upstairs, ignoring my question entirely and me. I leaned my head back into the cabinet and gently banged it off of the wood a few times. There I was, blowing everything up and ruining it. But I did feel like he didn’t care anymore, like I was nothing more than a toy to him in his little game of tug of war with Aria and I. I was NOT playing that game whether he liked it or not.

A few days later…

I had been avoiding Zack, not intentionally, but he hadn’t made it easy on me since I told him how I felt. If we were in the same room, he would make it a point to say something about Aria; it didn’t matter if I was being as nice as could be or just keeping my mouth shut. He had gone out to see her every day this week, it didn’t matter what I wanted anymore in this relationship. It was what he wanted, when he wanted and he better have it.

I wasn’t exactly going to guess what Aria was to him, it wasn’t worth trying. I wanted it to be strictly friends, but from the looks Aria was giving me in class; how she came in smelling like Zack, like he’d been hugging her and kissing her, like he didn’t want to lose her… it made me sick to my stomach and I did not think that that was possible. The thought of Zack being with her and not with me made me sick to my stomach.

Pushing all thoughts of them out of my head, I went back to grading the papers I had received from them on their stories. None of them were bad, some weren’t far from it, but all together they were intriguing and kept my attention. Admitting that all of my students’ papers were good was a new thing for me. There nothing that I hated, nothing that could be written off as horrid, or even remotely that disinteresting. I was impressed with this class.

“Scarlet?” I was so into reading these stories that I hadn’t even paid attention to hear Alice walk into the house and into my bedroom. My head snapped up and I looked at her with a small smile.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked as I put the papers aside and made sure I looked somewhat decent, having been in sweats and tee. My eyes were almost black, my hair in a messy bun, the tank top was tight but the sweats were baggy but not enough to smuggle something in.

“I just came to check up on you personally.” Alice said as if it were obvious, her small frame sitting on the edge of my bed beside me. She was dressed in a white shirt with skinny jeans and heeled boots. “What exactly is going on with you and Zack?” Her question was full of wonder, like she hadn’t been able to see it at all with her vision.

I rubbed my neck a little, looking up at her with blank eyes. “I have no idea.” My answer was honest, I did not know what our actual problem was besides the fact that he was basically cheating on me. “I just know that his singer is more important and I have no idea why.” My voice was low, sounding as if I were on the verge of crying. I was, but it was only because I wanted to keep Zack. He was everything to me, the only family I had besides the rest of the Cullen’s.

“Oh…” Alice breathed out quickly. I looked around as if I were lost, loss of all thought and consciousness to the world around me. It was not often that that happened with me.

“Scarlet.” Alice snapped a few seconds later, pulling me from my daze.

“Huh?” I said looking over at her, “I’m sorry what?” I asked her, my body turned to face her to give her all my attention.

“I asked you if someone had stopped by that you didn’t know.” She said seriously and as I were an idiot for not hearing her.

“Oh um, yes, the other day. Some of my stuff was missing and the house was a mess.” Alice’s eyes grew a little wide but she stayed calm. “Well… you shouldn’t worry about it, okay?” She told me, gently touching my knee. I just nodded, a little confused but just keeping quiet.

“Good,” She said before getting up. Alice pulled me to my feet and I watched her as she grabbed clothes and laid them out. “Get dressed, we’re going out” She said smiling from ear to ear.

‘Oh god,’ I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to regret this.’