Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From

[Zack]

We found a motel to stay in that night and luckily it didn’t cost much. We had gotten a two-day deal that was cheap. Alex, Rian, Jack, and I were all in one room together and Matt, Evan, and Grieco were in another room. We had been here for one night already and it was the next afternoon now. Alex had been at my side constantly since yesterday morning when everyone found out about my eating problem.

“Rian said to give these to you,” Alex said, sitting beside me on the bed and handing two pills to me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking over at Rian across the room.

“They’re vitamins – you need to take two a day so you can regain some strength and have the right vitamins in you,” Rian explained, kicking his shoes off. He had just taken the van up to the store to buy some food, so he must have gotten the vitamins there too.

“Oh. Okay,” I replied, putting them in my mouth and swallowing them down with some water.

Alex rolled onto his side so he was lying behind me, wrapping an arm around me over my stomach. “You feel any better?”

“I still feel weak and my stomach hurts from eating, but I’ll live,” I said, shrugging.

“Good,” he smiled, putting his face in the crook of my neck so he could kiss and nip at my collar bone. I squeaked when he nipped at my sweet spot, and Jack and Rian groaned.

“Wanna go visit the others for a while?” Rian asked, looking at Jack.

“Yes! Right now!” Jack said, jumping up and running out the door.

Rian followed, turning and eyeing us, “Don’t wear him out too much, Alex.”

I blushed as he left and shut the door, and Alex chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on wearing you out, actually.”

“For once.”

Alex just smiled, rolling me onto my back. He kissed me gently and I kissed back, smiling slightly. The kiss stayed innocent but Alex had a hand under my shirt, running up and down my chest and sides. He frowned slightly when we finally pulled apart. “Hey, pull your shirt off for a minute.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“Just do it.”

I sat up and pulled the shirt over my head, wondering what he wanted. He ran a hand along my chest when I had laid back down on my back.

“I didn’t realize how skinny you were getting,” he murmured, looking up at my face.

My eyes widened, “Did I really get skinnier instead of gaining muscle?”

“Well you have plenty of muscle, but not eating definitely made you lose some weight. You look skinnier than before, and you were already skinny to begin with,” he said, pulling me a little closer now.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I sighed, resting my forehead against his.

He smiled sympathetically, “You don’t need to be ‘skinny’ for me to think you’re attractive. I love you no matter how you look. Hurting yourself is just going to make me upset and hurt me too.”

“I know,” I said softly, my cheeks heating up. I looked down, running my fingers up and down his chest.

“Seriously, Zack. You’re perfect. Nothing in the world will change how much I love you. Don’t hurt yourself just because you think it’ll make me happier – it’s the opposite,” he said, cupping my cheek with his hand and stroking it gently with his thumb.

“I know. I should have realized that,” I sighed, leaning into his touch. I paused before adding, “And I’m really sorry that I’ve been such an asshole to you. I kept having mood swings and I took everything out on you.”

Alex chuckled, “It’s fine; there’s no need for you to apologize. I’ve had my fair share of times being an asshole.”

“True,” I said, smiling slightly. He returned the small smile and closed the space between us to kiss me softly, still cupping my cheek with his hand. We pulled apart after a few minutes and I sighed contentedly, burying my face in the crook of his neck. “I love you, Alex.”

He smiled and kissed the top of my head, “I love you too.”

--------------------

Later on that day I was lying in bed, still in the motel room. We were staying here for another night and then heading back onto the tour tomorrow. It was getting pretty late, and I was lying in bed, half asleep. Alex, Rian, and Jack were talking but I wasn’t really paying attention to them. I suddenly felt Alex climb into bed next to me, still talking to the others. He must be lying on his side with his head propped up, because he had his hand resting on my waist.

“I hope Derek realizes that he’s a dead man when I get a hold of him tomorrow,” Alex said.

“Shh, Zack might hear you talking,” Rian scolded in a quiet tone.

Alex leaned down to kiss me on the forehead gently. I fought to not react with a smile so it looked like I was sleeping. “Nah, he’s asleep. He won’t hear us.”

“If you say so.”

“You can’t just go up to Derek and start beating the shit out of him,” Jack pointed out.

“Why not? He knows what he did to Zack. He’ll realize that I know too after a few punches,” Alex scoffed.

Rian sighed, “I don’t think Zack will be happy if you beat Derek up.”

He was right; I didn’t want Alex to cause any problems by hurting Derek. That was probably why Alex chose to talk about this when I was ‘asleep,’ because he knew I would argue with him.

“Whether Zack likes it or not, that asshole is getting some sort of punch thrown at him tomorrow. No one is going to hurt my love like that and get away with it,” Alex said, causing Rian and Jack to laugh. I smiled at Alex’s words, turning my head slightly so he wouldn’t notice.

“Aww, he’s your love,” Jack cooed, and I heard Alex throw a pillow at him.

“Shut the fuck up, Jack,” Alex grumbled. I heard him gasp a few seconds later and he exclaimed, “Zack, you dickhead, I see that smile! You made me think you were asleep!”

I laughed, opening my eyes and looking up at him. His face was pink with embarrassment. “Sorry, love,” I teased, emphasizing the word and making Rian and Jack roar with laughter.

“I hate you,” Alex muttered, lying down beside me.

I leaned in to kiss him, murmuring, “No, you love me.”