The Frayed Ends Of Sanity

I was awoken by Cerberus barking the next morning and groaned. I tried to fall back asleep and almost succeeded. But, a few minutes after I felt a hard nip at my ear.

"Alright Cerberus. I'm up, what do you want?" The doorbell rang and I realized that's probably why Cerberus was trying to wake me up. I jumped out of bed and ran down to the door.

I opened it and was almost tackled by Casey. "Is it true?!?" she asked in bewilderment.

Still half asleep, I asked, "Is what true?"

"That Kate and Zacky broke up last night at a club!" she practically shouted in my ear.

"Yeah, but how did you know that?" Did the news get around that fast?

"Zacky told Matt and Matt called and told me like 30 minutes ago. They had a photo shoot or interview or something today in L.A., so I'm assuming that's when they talked about it."

Well, at least she didn't hear it from someone in town. "I'm hungry so we'll talk more in the kitchen."

We went into the kitchen and Casey sat at the table. "Do you know what this means Raven?" Casey asked dreamily.

I sighed. "What does it mean Casey?"

She gave me a shocked look. "It means you and Zacky can get back together, duh!"

I shook my head as I preheated the oven to 425. "I don't know about that Case."

"I can't believe you just said that. We all know you two are still in love, so what's the problem?"

"I know I still love him and he told me he still loves me but..." I trailed off not knowing how to answer.

"But what?"

"It's just...well, last night what happened at the club was Zacky and I were dancing probably a little too...um...close. Kate caught us, we yelled at each other, Zacky finally called her out about being jealous, she got mad, and broke up with him. I feel guilty because I feel like I caused it."

Casey seemed to be thinking for a minute then said, "Maybe it's better for him."

"That's what he said. I just don't know."

"Well, if you saw how Kate treated him sometimes, you'd see why he'd say that. Oh! Matt also said Kate was at Zack's house when he got home and apparently they fought again!"

If that was supposed to make me feel better, it didn't. I suddenly lost my appetite and turned the oven off. I slipped into the chair across from Casey and laid my head on the table. I should be happy, but I just felt guilty.

I heard Casey get up and walk over to me. She patted my back and said, "It's not your fault Raven. Besides, I'm sure Zacky will be happier this way. I mean, he doesn't have a nagging bitch to make him mad all the time now."

I laughed and sat up. Casey always knew how to cheer me up. A minute later, Casey's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. "It's Matt."

She answered and said, "Hey, I'm putting it on speaker because I'm at Raven's." She put speaker on.

"Hey Raven," Matt said from the phone.

"Matt, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"How was Zacky acting when he told you about last night?"

He took a second to think then replied, "Like normal, I guess. He sure as Hell didn't act like his girlfriend had just broken up with him."

"Oh, ok, thanks."

So Zacky wasn't mad or even sad. That made me feel a lot better. Maybe Casey was right. I still wasn't sure about us getting back together though. I wanted to of course, but I just wasn't sure.

Casey wrapped up her conversation with Matt and said she had to go because she had some errands to run. I walked her to the door. I decided I would go talk to Zacky later, just to see if he really was okay. Hopefully, talking to him alone without feeling like we were sneaking around might help out in our relationship. If we could get one back together.