Seize the Day

Zack's POV
"Hey." Paige turned around gave me a fake side smile. I returned it just before she turned back to the display she was looking at. I rubbed my hands together out of awkwardness as I followed her down the row of display cases that lined the wall. "So, um…"
"Zacky if theirs something you want to say just spit it out already." Wow, she's only been that harsh with me when she was depressed. I swallowed and shook my head. She continued walking as I stood there, not sure what to do.
"Zack." I looked up and Matt motioned for me to come over. "What's going on?"
I shook my head. "I don't know…" He watched me while I kept rubbing my hands together. "I… think she saw me and Candice… outside…" Matt nodded and watched Paige walk along the cases.
"Hey cutey." Candice hooked her arms with one of mine. I pulled my arm out of hers and she looked at me funny. "What's wrong?"
"Uh Candice, I can't do this… I like someone else…" She instantly became pissed and turned away.

Paige's POV
"Hey." Candice grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face her. "Stay away from Zack, he's mine."
I laughed a little. "What?"
"I said: Stay away from him. He's mine."
"Okay, Zack's my best friend, so I'm not just gonna fucking drop him 'cause you told me too. And he doesn't even like your carrot top ass, so how are you gonna make him your property?" She always gets pissed when I call her a carrot top.
She laughed to herself. "Did you not see us making out when you got here? Of course he likes me."
"Please, he only did that 'cause he wanted to make out with someone, he didn't mean it."
"Oh no? Then why'd he-"
"You wanna see REAL making out?" I brushed past her and walked up to Zack. He looked at me funny; he had been listening to us, so he knew what I was doing over here. I stood on my toes and grabbed his upper arms before giving him a rough kiss. He kissed back just as rough and wrapped his arms around my waist, keeping a tight hold on me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him rougher. He matched my roughness and easily slipped his tongue into my mouth and roughly claimed every spot his. I tightened my arms around his neck and pressed my body closer to his.
Next thing I knew Zack had me pinned to the display case that was behind us. He had both my hands pinned to the glass as he kissed me again. He pulled my hands above my head and held them with his left hand as his right hand ran all the way down my side and wrapped around my waist. I tried moving to get closer to him but he held me down to the glass and pressed himself against me. I sighed into his mouth just before he pulled away. I was breathing hard, harder than I should be. I really hope my asthma doesn't kick in.
My thoughts were quickly interrupted when his mouth suddenly connected to my neck. He nipped my skin a few times before kissing and licking it. I took in a sharp breath and suppressed a moan. He pulled away from my neck and brought his mouth up to my ear. "I. Will. Always. Be. Yours." I closed my eyes and moaned at his statement. He kissed my ear before kissing my mouth again. Each time he pulled away, my breathing got quicker, and harsher; my asthma kicked in.
"Fuck." My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I dropped to the ground just before blacking out.

Zack's POV
I dropped to my knees and pulled Paige's still figure against my chest. "What-" I was breathing hard and I was having trouble talking. "What happened?"
"I think it was her asthma." Jimmy came over and ran his hand through Paige's hair. "She didn't bring her bag did she?" I shook my head. "Matt do we still have her extra inhaler in your van?"
"No it ran out and we couldn't get it refilled." I looked up at Matt and he was rubbing the back of his neck, not sure what to do.
"Watch out guys." Jason knelt next to Jimmy and took Paige from me. He laid her flat on the ground before tilting her head back and opening her mouth.
"Jason what are you-"
"She blacked out at our family reunion a couple years ago and I had to do this." Jason cut Brian off before he put his mouth to Paige's.
"I remember that." Jimmy spoke out of no where. "You had to breath for her." I looked back down at Paige and watched as her chest moved every time Jason breathed for her.
"I still don't get why you went." Brian said to Jimmy, still thinking about what Jimmy has just said.
"Did- Did it work Jimmy?" He nodded. "Yeah, Mrs. Berry had called 911, but Jason had already got her breathing again by the time they got there. They insisted on taking her to the hospital to make sure she was okay, but she refused." He laughed when he finished the story.
I looked back down at Paige and I saw her eyes open slowly. "Paige?" She looked over at me before closing her eyes again.
"Paige, do you still need Jason to breath for you?" Paige nodded to Jimmy's question, as much as she could nod with Jason still giving her mouth to mouth. "Okay, just let us know when you think you can breath for yourself again." She tried to nod again before closing her eyes.
A few minutes passed when I noticed Paige's breathing didn't match Jason's anymore. She patted his shoulder gently and he pulled away. She wiped her mouth before talking. "Ick." Jason laughed he wiped his mouth as well. "Yeah, that is kind of gross."
Paige slowly sat up and Jason kept a hand under back to help her stay balanced. "Paige, I'm sorry." She shook her head and smiled. "It's okay Zacky, it's not your fault." I went to protest but she cut me off. "You know my asthma is weird." I closed my mouth and looked down. She scooted closer to me and leaned against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face into her hair.
"Paige." All of us looked up at Candice, she looked scared. "I'm so sorry, I didn’t know anything like this would happen." Matt and Brian's eyes got a little wide while Jimmy, Jason, Paige and I all looked at her confused. "Brian and Matt asked me to really cling to Zack so you two would finally get together. If I knew something like this would have happened I wouldn't have said yes."

Paige's POV
"What?" I stood up and Jason and Jimmy quickly grabbed my arms to keep me from falling over. I looked at both Matt and Brian, they exchanged a glance before Brian spoke. "We were just trying to help."
"We were tired of you always flirting with him and teasing him when he really has feelings for you. We just wanted you to get together already, so we didn't have to see you put him through so much shit all the time."
I ripped my arms from Jimmy and Jason and looked at them. "Did you know about this?" They both shook theirs heads. I turned back to Matt and Brian. "Can't you just fucking leave me alone? And let me fucking figure this out without your dumbasses making it so much fucking harder?!" Brian looked down out of guilt and Matt just stared, frustrated. I looked at Candice and she took a step backwards.
I walked up to her and she flinched. I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her. She hugged me tighter and started crying. "I thought you were-"
"Thank you, for apologizing, Candice." I pulled away and gave her a small smirk, she returned it.
"Paige."
I turned to Matt. "Don't. Just stay the hell away from me." I walked past him and stood outside the museum by myself.

Zack's POV
"Hey." Jason grabbed my shoulder and looked at me. "I'll call my mom, have her come pick you, me, Paige, and Jimmy up, okay? Matt can drive back with Brian and Candice whenever." I nodded and went back to watching Paige from inside the doorway.

*****

The whole car ride was silent. Paige stared out the car window the whole ride; we all kept an eye on her, to make sure she was doing okay.
When we got to the house she went straight to the room she has her; she didn't say a word to anyone. Jason and I exchanged a look before the rest of us went into the family room. Jason turned on the Syfy channel, but I didn't pay attention to what was on. Almost two hours passed before I let out a huff and ran my hands over my face, not sure what to do.
"Do you think she'd talk to me if I went up?" I asked this to no one in particular from behind my hands.
"She might, I'm not really sure." Jason answered as Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. I let out a frustrated sigh before pushing myself off the couch. I walked back towards the front door and headed up the stairs. I walked down the left side of the hallway and passed the first door before knocking on the second door. "Paige?" There was no answer. "Paige?" Again, no answer.
I slowly opened the door and saw Paige sitting on her bed. I closed the door and sat on the foot of the bed that happened to be just about a foot away from the door. Paige was sitting with her back to the wall, holding one of her pillows in her arms and between her legs. She took in a shaky breath before blinking a few times. She looked down and wiped the tears off her face with her hands.
I ground my teeth before scooting up onto the bed next to her. She let out a shaky breath before several tears ran down her stained face. "Come here." I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap. She held onto her pillow and leaned against my chest once I had her balanced in my lap. I rubbed her back and kissed her head every now and then, trying to calm her down enough to talk.
She took in another shaky breath before whispering. "Why can't they just stay out of it?" I shook my head and shrugged. "I don't know, Paige." She sniffled and buried her face into my chest some more. I gave her a squeeze before rubbing her back more.
"I don't know why you like me. I'm the school's slutty, cunt of a tomboy. And I've put you through so much shit," She stopped and took in a shaky breath, "I just…" She shook her head. "I just don't get it. I don't understand why…" She stopped and buried her face into my chest even more while she wrapped her arms around my waist, her pillow laid in her lap forgotten.
I shushed her and rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. I pulled the pillow out of her lap, placing it in mine and she curled up more. "I like you-" I stopped when she tightened her arms around my waist and pressed her head against my chest, trying to hide herself. "Hey," I gently pulled her away from my chest and made her look at me for a second; I didn't make her continue to look at me as I talked. "I like you," She put her head down, but didn't move an inch more. "Because, you're the school's slutty, cunt of a tomboy."
She let out a little laugh and shook her head. "You're a slut, because you're best friends with me, Matt, and all the rest of us." She looked down at the floor. "You're a cunt, because you don't let people talk shit to you or to other people." I saw her face turn red a little, not a lot, but just slightly. "And you being a tomboy, it's not a bad thing. It makes it easier to relate to you and to be comfortable around you." She rested her head against my shoulder and sniffled again. I tucked the loose hair behind her ear before talking again, "It's not a bad thing."
She gripped my tee shirt in her hand that wasn't wrapped around my waist. "You can do better than me Zacky, you know that." Her voice told me that she had calmed down immensely, which was good, but I was probably about to lose this argument. "No, Paige, I told you, I will always be yours." She scrunched up some at the statement. "Whether you want me or not, I will always be yours." I gave her forehead a soft open mouthed kiss.
She closed her eyes when I kissed her forehead. I pulled away and looked at her. She kept her eyes close for a second longer before slowly opening them. She didn't look at me directly, she was looking out into space.
Her vision focused and she looked at me. "Zacky, will you lay down with me, I don't…" She looked down, embarrassed.
"Of course I'll stay with you." She looked up at me with eyes full of nothing but thankfulness. I gave her a small smile before hooking my arm under her and moving the two of us closer to the pillows. She never did like being alone when she was dealing with something this serious.
I shoved my pillow over to her side and let her lie down. I grabbed the pillow that she had been holding earlier and placed it under my head as I laid down next to Paige. Our faces were barely inches apart and we just stared at each other, not saying a word.
I stretched my arm out and let my fingers leave light traces up and down her arm. She hooked that arm under the pillow with her other arm, not because she wanted me to stop, just so neither of our arms would cramp up from trying to hold them still for so long. She sniffled again and continued to stare at my eyes.
"I really wish I could keep your eyes when you die…" She's told me this about a thousand times, but I still laugh at her every time. "Too bad the color fades away when they're removed or when the person dies…" I smirked as she just continued to stare at my jade colored eyes. She blinked before she slowly pulled her hand out from under her pillow. She gently placed her fingertips on my cheek and left feather light traces. I closed my eyes at the comforting feeling and let her trace over my forehead, nose, mouth, even my eyelids.
I quietly sighed, enjoying this. It's not all that uncommon, she traces over my face once or twice a month at least. Her fingers traced the right corner of my mouth and it twitched. I heard her laugh quietly to herself. I smiled and continued to leave light traces on her arm. "Zacky…" She slowed her tracing when I opened my eyes. Her eyes were still closed but I waited patiently for her to finish. "Will you…" She paused and whispered, "Will you kiss me?"