I'll Be Your Best Kept Secret and Your Biggest Mistake

After the monotonous and irritating task of going through security, I boarded my plane.

Once I took my seat, I immediately pulled out my laptop and opened Facebook. I updated my status. Currently on the flight back home to MI, which means REUNITING WITH MY DUDES TONIGHT AND TOUR STARTS TOMORROW AJSFKDHGKFH?!

Predictably enough, I felt slight butterflies in my stomach when Zach was the first one to like it. Needless to say, I almost forgot to breathe when I got an IM from him.

Jilly! How's the flight so far, girl?

Zachy :3 Eh, it's fine I suppose. I'm not stuck near a crying baby so that's definitely a plus lmao. I really just can't wait to see you and the guys at the airport tho :3

Hahaha. The feeling is mutual, I can't wait to see your cute face that I've missed so much and give you the biggest hug ever =)

No way. No fucking way. I did not just read that. But, I did. It was right there on my computer screen. A pretty fucking huge sign that Zach was thinking of me in the same way I was thinking of him. He even said "the feeling is mutual."

I reminded myself again to kick my nasty habit of overanalyzing things and quickly replied back.

I'd definitely like that :3

We also need to talk about some things. Sound good, cutie?

Yes, absolutely!

Cool =) Well, I better get back to emailing the tour manager about some last minute stuff. We reunite soon m'lady ;)

I couldn't hold back the smile that crept onto my face and that way too familiar giddiness took hold of me. In approximately 3 hours, I would be reunited with the guy who had been making me feel this was since my freshman year of high school, the guy who I had fallen hard for.

Literally everything Zach did was adorable to me. He would spontaneously freestyle rap no matter what we were in the middle of doing and he was never one to skip a "that's what she said" opportunity. The first 20 minutes of every band practice usually consisted of the guys and I just dicking around in the Oliver brothers' basement. Then, whenever Brent (he was always the most responsible) suggested we start, Zach would always shrug and make a goofy face at me before heading to his keyboard. Just little things like that.

And that was just his personality. There was also his shaggy dirty blonde hair that I wouldn't mind playing with for hours on end, his insanely cute dimples that I just wanted to pinch and his strong arms that I would love to have wrapped around me while we cuddled.

My head filled with thoughts like those for the remainder of the flight and my stomach dropped when it was announced that the plane was landing.

As I was looking for my luggage, I felt a hand on my left shoulder and I quickly turned around.

Jeff was in front of me with his arms open and a huge smile on his face.

My jaw practically hit the floor. I jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck. He returned the hug, rocking me back and forth.

"I've missed you way too much and I'm so fucking happy for you and the guys! You deserve this more than anyone and it makes me so happy that you chose me to go out on the road with you. I thought you might've forgotten about me." Okay, the last comment was definitely an attempt to fish for something about Zach missing me.

"Forget about my baby sister?" I rolled my eyes at the title, considering he was only three months older than me. "Hell no, you're crazy! So many of my best memories are with you, who else would I choose to make more memories with on this tour?"

Hearing him say that caused me to tear up just a little, I smiled a genuine smile. "I love you, Jeff. I promise that as your best friend, I'll do everything I can to make this tour fucking amazing."

"Fuck yeah, that's my girl!" I heard a voice I would recognize anywhere and looked past Jeff to see Zach standing there.

I noticed his open arms and the butterflies became present again. I sprinted up to him and threw myself into what felt like the longest hug ever. It was an incredible one, too. His arms were firmly wrapped around me, his hands resting on my lower back. I snuggled my face into his shoulder and I could feel his heartbeat racing as fast as mine was.

He pulled away and shamelessly checked out my body, making me blush. "You look good, girl. You really really do."

I examined him. His solid gray v-neck fit his toned body perfectly.
He wore it with straight leg jeans, converse and a fitted hat. His eyes were even prettier than how I remembered them and I wanted nothing more than to kiss the smile on his face.

"You look pretty great yourself." I replied shyly.

"You know, gotta look super fresh for the return of the amazing Miss Jillian." He said with one arm draped over my shoulder, the other on the brim of his hat.

My full name, oh my god? And just the way he was always so smooth with his words made my nerves go fucking insane.

I gave him a small, friendly kiss on the cheek. "I appreciate that, Zachary."

It was then that I noticed Jimmy had arrived. "Whoa, can we cool it with the love fest over here?"

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I think not." Zach mused, wrapping his other arm around me, pulling me in for a hug and resting his head on top of mine.

"Get a room!" I heard Brent yell as he approached us.

"They're just mad cause they're not getting any!" Devin walked up and threw his arms around both of their shoulders.

"All I have to say is, whenever we stay at a hotel on this tour, I want my room to be as far away from Jill and Zach's as possible." Andy stated "I feel like you'd probably be a screamer." He looked me dead in the eye while his brother, Jimmy, Brent and Jeff cracked up.

I knew I was blushing and I looked over at Zach (who still had an arm around me) to see that his cheeks reddened slightly too. I found it cute and couldn't help but smile.

"Aww, the lovebirds are all embarrassed!" Devin teased.

"Shut up!" I shot back, even though I could feel myself turning an even deeper red.

Jeff decided to step in and save me. "It's 7:00." He said, looking at his phone. "Why don't we head out to dinner to celebrate the return of my baby sister and our soon to be merch girl?"

The guys unanimously agreed and we left the airport. Zach and I sort of trailed behind everyone else as he took my hand and interlocked his fingers with mine.

"I'm looking forward to all kinds of new experiences with you on this tour." He whispered and leaned over to kiss my forehead.

Oh my god, stop being perfect right now I thought to myself. I just looked up at him and smiled in response, I was so genuinely happy.

When we reached the van outside, the rest of the guys were all standing around it. Andy noticed my fingers interlocked with Zach's and raised his eyebrows at us.

"Well, Jimmy already called shotgun and it's Zach's turn to drive, so this is where I come in to cockblock." He laughed and I heard the rest of the guys crack up as well.

"That's ok," Zach fired back "Jill and I will be using the backseat later."

For what seemed to be the millionth time that day, I felt my cheeks heat up. I bit my lip to keep from squealing. He was being so flirty, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. But, this was definitely real. I was right here again with the six guys who made my high school years memorable.

I brushed off the chorus of “Ohhhhhhh!” from the guys in response to Zach’s comment and covered my blushing cheeks with the hand that wasn’t intertwined with his. He looked down at me and his lips curled into a small smile, his dimples showing. He seemed to notice my embarrassment and squeezed my hand tighter in attempt to comfort me.

“You’re way too cute.” I smiled back.

“No, that’s definitely you, girl.” He poked my nose.

I heard the horn honk from the van and it snapped me out of the trance I was in.

“What the fuck, lovebirds? Get in the van already, I’m hungry!” I heard Jimmy yell from the passenger seat.

I noticed him, Jeff, Brent, Andy and Devin had already entered the van while Zach and I remained standing on the sidewalk and holding hands.

“Or we could just leave them to fuck on the sidewalk right there, they looked like they were ready to!” Devin replied.

“Please, you guys need him for this tour. Where could you guys find a keyboardist and screamer more badass than Zachy J?” I shot back, glancing up at his face to notice him blushing a little. I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of it.

“Of course Jill would defend her man!” Brent shouted from inside the van.

I rolled my eyes at his comment. I was about to open the back door to enter the van, when Zach opened it for me.

He was being extremely flirty earlier, but the simple random act of kindness was a pleasant surprise.

“Thank you so much.” I said with a genuine smile on my face.

“No problem, girl.” He responded, planting a kiss on my head, then walking over to the drivers’ side.

I ended up sitting next to Andy. I could feel his eyes burning into my head the way he stared at me. I turned to him and he was raising his eyebrows at me the same way he did earlier. I gave him a look back. He just laughed and shook his head.

I shook off the guys’ teasing because at the end of the day they were like brothers to me. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect for the rest of the summer, but if today was any indication of how things would be between Zach and I, I was beyond excited.