Gorgeous Nightmare

Zack
"Zack, just talk to her today. She's gonna love you," Eios, Matt's girlfriend of four years, reasoned with me.
I shook my head. "No, it's all going to blow up in my face. I'm not fucking retarded, E."
"Right now you are. Jerrica isn't like Gena was, she isn't going to flip out even when you tell her the truth. Just, please, try. For me?" She flashed me her signature smile. No wonder Matt went weak at the knees.
I sighed, realizing I wasn't going to get away from doing this. "Fine, Eios. I'll do it for you. Don't tell the boys, though."
Her smile grew, and she ran out to the kitchen to fix some food for herself.
"Zack! We're headed out, you coming?" Johnny asked as he ran down the stairs.
"Uh, I'm not feeling too good. I'm gonna stay behind today," I lied through my teeth.
"Alright man. Bri, Matt, and Jimmy already headed out, so, uh, I'll see you later," he said before phasing and jumping out the door. I proceeded to head upstairs to get changed.
I had to impress Jerrica. I decided on a pair of tight-but-not-too-tight dark jeans with a green plaid button up shirt paired with my favorite black and green Nikes. I styled my hair to it's usual and walked out the door toward her usual spot. It was nearing dusk, so I knew she'd be there already.
Sure enough, she sat with her back to her favorite tree, all of the boys laying in the soft grass surrounding her.
*You fucker,* Matt said to me, mentally, as he spotted me.
*Hey, your girlfriend talked me into it,* I shot back.
Just then, Jerrica turned around, surprised to see me standing here.
"Hey," I said to her, hoping I didn't scare her too much.
She pushed her hair away from her face as I sat down next to her. "Um, hi." I kicked my shoes and socks off and started scratching Matt's back.
"Hi, buddy," I whispered. He laughed.
*Smooth, asshole.*
*Shut the fuck up.*
It was silent for a while. I didn't like it.
"So, how come I've never seen you out here?" she asked.
Fuckfuckfuckfuck. *Say you're visiting, idiot,* Brian said quickly.
"I'm visiting. I always come out here for three months out of the year."
*You are so stupid. Three months out of the year? Whose ass did you pull that out of?* Johnny snickered.
"And what brings you to the woods?"
I live here"I feel like I belong out here, you know?"
She nodded in reply.
"What about you?"
"Same as you. Plus, I don't really have anybody to go home to. Sometimes I wish I was like the boys here," she said, gesturing to my brethren, "I'd be free."
She didn't have anybody at home? "Why don't you have anybody at home, if you don't mind me asking."
"My mom died when I was four. Dad's away on business all the time. He thinks I'm at a friend's house or something when I'm not home."
I felt the overwhelming urge to hug her. I don't know where it came from, but I felt like I had to protect her. Hearing she wasn't being treated right broke my heart, and caused an anger to bubble up from somewhere deep within.
So, I hugged her.
*She has to be your mate, dude,* Jimmy said. They were all watching us intently. I knew that even though they teased me about it constantly, they were excited for me to find my mate.
Johnny piped up, *Yeah, I can tell how safe she feels in your arms.*
I pulled away before I started confessing everything to her. That was the way she made me feel.
"I'm sorry, I just-" I started to apologize, but she cut me off.
"Don't worry about it. Sometimes you just need a hug. Thanks for that."
I smiled, sure it was bigger than I'd ever smiled before.
I smelled something off in the air. I couldn't quite tell what, though.
*Foreigners, dude. We gotta go,* Matt said quickly, getting up abruptly as the others did the same.
"Uh, I gotta go," I said.
"Oh, okay." I could sense the disappointment in her voice. "I'll, uh, see you around?"
I turned, flashing her one last snakebitten smile. "Yeah. I'd like that."