She's a Dwelling Place for Demons

Eight long hours later, and we were finally in Reno, Nevada, where I grew up in my pre-teen
years before I moved down to Huntington. And honestly, nothing had changed. Downtown was still trashy, littered with tourists, McDonald's wrappers, and transvestites on the
occassional street corner.

Some of the hotels were still struggling to meet their quarterly
revenue goals. There were some empty stores with "For Rent" signs in their windows. I guess that's how I felt looking at Reno: empty.

No genuine nostalgia, no heartbreaking "welcome" to my old home town. No real emotion.
All the boys were sleeping, save for Zacky. Always my little vigilante, making sure I was
driving safely.

"Alexx?"

"Yeah?"

"You know we're like, five hours early for sound check, right?"
I groaned at my obliviousness. Daylight Savings Time. We're supposed to push our clocks
back an hour, and it completely slipped my mind. Stupid me, again.

"We don't even have to be at the venue for another three hours, Allie."

My ears quirked at him calling me that. No one's called me Allie since 7th grade.

"What did you just call me, Zachary?"

"I called you Allie. I thought it might be a nice change from Alexx. But I could be wrong
too, y'know..." He was stumbling over his words, thinking he possibly made a mistake.

"No, no, 's alright. I just wasn't expecting that..." I trailed off as I studied the old,
familiar roads.

Zack cleared his throat quietly, and said, "We should go to the movies or something. The
guys will be asleep 'til an hour before soundcheck starts. What do you say we go ponder the
intricacies of cinema? Leave a note on the dashboard for them?" Zack's voice was nonchalant, but I could still hear his youthful giddyness surfacing. I think he wanted an excuse to go see the new Horror movie, but it's just a hunch.

"Hmm...Well if you're sure the guys will be alright..." I mused.

"They will, I promise. Not like anyone's going to steal them from the van," Zacky chuckled.

"Okay. Lemme find Victorian Square, could you write the note for the boys? Then we can go
see whatever catches your eye." Zacky grunted in agreement, as he started to rustle in
the back seat for a paper and pen. Hearing his hurried pen scribble across the paper,
I could only picture what little of a smile he wore on his full, pouty lips.

A few minutes of navigating more, and I found the old Century 14 Theater I used to go to.

"Got the note written?" I asked.

"Yep, right here," he showed me the small scrap. "Mind putting it up on the dash for me?"

"Sure," I smiled, placing the paper in full view on the dash board.

"Let's go!" Zacky whisper-screamed, punching the air in victory.

We exited the van, after rolling down the windows slightly for fresh air to enter, and
locking the doors.

"What did you say in the note, Zacky?"

"That I had a hot date and that I'd be back before they even woke up," he smirked.

My cheeks instantly began to blush a deep crimson; I heard Zack start chuckling at my sudden blood rush.

"Oh come on, don't act so shocked. You'd think after being around us for six months, you'd
be used to being hit on." His smirk crept back onto his face, making his cheeks turn a
light pink.

"You know how I am, though. I'm surprised it hasn't sunk through your thick skull by now."

Zacky stopped his feet in their tracks. "Are you saying you don't believe my flattery?"
He looked up at me, a tiny bit of hurt showing through his startling blue-green eyes.
The disappointed look on his face made my heart crumble.

"I'm saying I'm trying to believe you, love. It's just-"

Zacky's lips came swiftly to meet mine. His lips were soft and kind, patient and hopeful.
Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to resist him.
"You need to try harder, then." His voice was slightly gruff, a defense mechanism he'd
developed over the year I've known him.
~~~
I couldn't pay attention to the movie. The only things I was aware of was Zacky's arm
thrown across my shoulders, the clean and warm scent of his cologne and the hangnail on
my left pinky finger.

Halfway through the movie, I turned to look at Zacky. His eyes were wide, glued to the screen.

His lips were slightly parted, with his snakebites glowing from the light given off by
the movie screen. He truly was beautiful.

I scooted closer to him and buried my face in his shoulder. Zacky looked down at my curled
up figure. I thought I saw him shake his head, but it might've been a trick of the light.
Next thing I knew, he picked me up and placed me delicately in his lap so that we were
facing each other.

He didn't say anything. His eyes had morphed into the steely blue-grey, which were
similar to mine; he stared me straight in the eyes, chilling me to the bone.
His large, calloused hands cupped my jaw and brought me towards him.

"Could you do something for me?" He whispered.

"What is it?"

"Kiss me...Please?" He looked down and away, his long lashes brushing against the tops of his cheeks. He seemed embarrassed to ask such a thing.
My smile returned at the sight of Zacky's shyness.

"Of course."
And we kissed. Sweetly, simply, slowly kissed.

I've never seen Zacky so happy as when we walked out of the theater, out hands intertwined
together.