Saviour in a Misfit's Disguise

My eyes fluttered open at the feeling of feather light kisses on my bare shoulder and warm calloused hands rubbing along my bare back. For half a second I let myself believe that it was Ethan but I took comfort in the fact that it was Zacky and I felt a moment of sadness before Zacky kissed the back of my neck and made me shiver. Zacky chuckled against my skin and leant over me more to kiss my cheek.

"Morning my love. Did you have a good sleep?" He asked as he ran his warm hand down my side.

I hummed happily and turned onto my back to see him, the sheet just barely covering my body. "I had a wonderful sleep Zacky."

"Good. For the first time in a long time so did I." He mused as he pushed some strands of hair away from my face. I smiled up at him and ran my finger tips over his cheek before pushing his messy bed hair out of his wonderful green eyes.

"I don't want to get out of bed." I chuckled as I leant up to give him a small light kiss.

"Well do you work today?" He asked while he played with my hair. I shook my head and smiled at him hopefully. "Well then we don't have to get out of bed if we don't want to. I quite like laying with you like this." He smirked lightly as his eyes darkened and his hands massaged over my bare skin.

I mewled and arches into his hands, totally at his mercy. He made me feel like my skin was on fire. His touch was electric and I couldn't get enough of it. I hummed lightly and pulled him into a kiss, his bare chest flush against mine. He nipped my lips before kissing me deeply, our breathing sped up and our hands roamed each other's bodies. Once again the need for more rose up in both of us.

"Hey Ellie you up- oh my god!" Brian said from the door before he covered his eyes with his hands and turned so is back was to us. "That was more of you then I ever wanted to see."

I was bright red from embarrassment but then I started to giggle and I couldn't stop. I pulled the sheet over me and giggled and before I realized it I was crying and giggling. Zack held me close and kissed my head but I stayed hidden in the covers. I felt the bed dip beside me and the sheet pulled away from my face to see brain straining at me in concern.

"Come on sweetheart talk to me." He urged softly.

I looked at Zack sadly before turning so I was facing just Brian. "I feel sad, but happy. I miss Ethan and this morning for a bit I thought it was Ethan in bed with me. I know that's not fair to Zack but I was mad for a few seconds that it was him and not Ethan. I don't know if I'm ready. The body is willing believe me but I don't.... I don't know if I can." I explained, my voice thick with tears. I heard Zack sigh heavily before I felt him get off the bed. I peeked over my shoulder to see him pull his pants on and grab his shirt before leaving the bedroom. I looked up at Brian, hopping he could help me.

Brian sighed and handed me my bra and shirt before turning his back so I could put them on. I quickly put them on and let Brian know he could turn around. He sighed and looked at me searchingly.

"Do you love Zack?"

"I know I feel very strongly for him. I'm not sure if it's love yet. I feels like it could be." I answered honestly.

"Do you want this to work with him?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I want to be with Zack but... I'm scared. I was so happy with Ethan and then he was taken from me and it broke my heart. Zack makes me incredibly happy and I'm afraid that if I'm that happy again it'll all go wrong." I said truthfully as I played with the hem of my shirt.

"Then my dear the answer is simple. Let yourself fall in love with Zack and he will catch you and the rest of us will protect the both of you. It won't go wrong because Zack will love you more than any other person could. You will always love Ethan and you won't ever forget him, but I know he'd want you to be happy. You're scared because you think it's going to hurt but you don't need to be. Zack will never push you faster than you're willing to go and he'd never ever hurt you." Brian said as he put his arm overt shoulder and pulled me into a side hug. I sniffles lightly and cuddled into Brian's side.

"You're a really great friend you know that right?"

"Yeah I'm pretty fantastic." He said smugly before kissing my forehead and pulling me up to my feet. "Now I suggest you get dressed and go find Zack."

"Yeah I should go apologize to him." I sighed lightly as I grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped them on.

"I'll see you later sweetheart." Brian called as he left the apartment. I sighed and found a long sleeve black v-neck shirt, slipped it on along with socks and grabbed my phone and purse, slipped on my shoes and headed out the door. I drove to Zack's quickly and parked in his drive way. When I knocked on the door I could hear Majesty and Icky barking inside but no one came to the door as I kept knocking. I sighed and tried the door handle, thankfully it was unlocked so I went inside and closed the door behind me.

"Zack?" I called out as I walked into the house. I got no reply but I could hear music coming from one of the rooms upstairs. I sighed lightly, kicked off my shoes and made my way upstairs.

"Zack?" I said and I knocked on the music room door. I opened the door to see him sitting on the couch with his head back and his eyes closed and he listened to some music. I closed the door behind me and say on the couch beside him. He turned his head to face me and slowly opened his eyes to look at me. And it broke my heart to see them faded and dark, not as sparkly as they used to be.

"I'm sorry Zack. I do care for you a lot. Like I said last night I really do think I'm falling in love with you and that terrifies me. I'm scared because I was so happy with Ethan. I'm afraid that if I find that happiness again that it will be taken away from me." I informed him quietly while I played with my fingers.

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm not going to leave you Ellie. I want to be with you as long as you'll have me. I care about you a lot. You're an amazing girl Elliot. You need to know that. I'm not going anywhere. But I'll wait for you to be ready." He said quietly as he looked at me.

I smiled and inched closer to him, giving him a light kiss on how warm full lips. "I'm not going anywhere either Z. All I ask is that we move a little more slowly I'm not sure I'm ready for the full thing yet. I've-... I've never been with anyone beside Ethan so when we do get to that point it'll be a big deal for me. I'd like if we could just let it happen on it's own time." I said looking at him through my lashes shyly hoping he'd understand.

"I will never push you for more than you're willing to give Ell." He said quietly as his warm hand held my cheek.

"You're perfect Zacky." I chuckled before leaning forward to cuddle him.

"Why?" He asked with a small frown on his face.

"Because you say the exact right thing. You're willing to wait till I'm ready. You're just perfect." I smiled at him happily and cuddled into his lap.

He just chuckled and held me, the both of us happy and content to just sit quietly and hold each other. We sat together for quite awhile in comfortable silence. It felt nice to just relax into Zacky's arms. It felt safe, like home.

"Hey Zacky?" I asked as I played with his fingers on the hand around my middle.

"Hmm?" He asked, his voice soundly sleepy as he relaxed into the couch.

"....I feel at home in your arms.." I whispered, hoping he'd understand everything I didn't say.

He stirred and I heard him breath in deeply before he kissed my head. "Love you too Ell." I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. "Come on let's get some food. I'm hungry." He said getting up and pulling me off the couch and down to the kitchen.

I smile and followed him, holding his hand happily. I was happy that he understood what I couldn't say just yet. It would take me some time before I could fully say the words, but for right now I was happy and content with what we had.

As the days went on we became more comfortable with each other than we had been before, I relationship kept growing and there was times we came very close to going all the way but I wasn't quite there yet and Zack respected that. When I wasn't working we spent the day together or in the studio with all the guys working on their album. They were amazing and so was the album and each one of them wanted it to be perfect because it was for Jimmy. They wanted to make sure that it spoke about him and their loss and their lives with him. I knew it would be perfect.

Things at the record ship were still a little awkward with Ty. Especially when Zack or Brian would come and see me at work but I tried to keep things professional. It was just hard when he'd be a dick about it later when they were gone.

"Earth to Elliot! Woohoo!" Brian's voice called from right in front of me as he snapped his fingers at me. I blinked and focused on him with a small sheepish smile for zoning out. "Bout time. We were starting to worry."

"Sorry. I zoned out." I said with a small smile as I looked around to see Matt shaking his head and laughing as him and Brian went back to their game of call of duty.

"Yeah I'd say. It's like you were on another planet." Matt laughed as he killed Brian's character on the game. Brian grumbled and threw a few ships at him before getting back in the game. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

"Hmm Zack, you guys, the new album, what a turn of events my life has been." Small shrug. "I'm happy. I really am. I'm still sad about the loss and I still miss them and I always will but I'm happy." I said with a smile as I looked at the two of them with unshed tears in my eyes.

Brian smiled at me and came over to give me a tight hug, Matt following him seconds later, both of their arms holding me tight. I laughed and hugged them back just as tight.

"I'm glad you're happy sweetheart. You deserve nothing shirt of happiness." Brian said as he kissed the top of my head.

"I'm glad you've found happiness with all us crazies." Matt said with a deep chuckle as he pulled from the hug.

"Eh you guys aren't so bad. I kinda like this flavour of crazy." I said with a laugh as I pulled from the hug and ran my fingers under my eyes to get any stray tears.

"We're a pretty wonderful flavour all right." Brian integrated with a suggestive eye wiggle.

Matt and I both laughed before they went back to their game and I scratched at my cast. "Oh god I can't wait to get this damn thing off. It's driving me crazy." I grumbled as I scratched at it angrily.

"Chill out Ellie, you're a couple grumbles away from taking out the wire cutters and doing it yourself." Matt said without looking away from the tv.

"Oh don't tempt me." I growled lightly before giving up on the scratching.

"Don't you get it taken off soon anyway?" Brian asked before he whooped loudly and did a small happy dance for killing Matts character.

"Yeah tomorrow but it's still driving me insane."

"Suck it up buttercup. I'm sure you can handle it for one more day." Brian retorted.

"Says you." I grumbled quietly before taking out my phone and texting Zacky. 'Hey Z. Any plans tonight?'

After a little wait it got a reply 'yes. You&me on an actual date. Pick you up at 6:30. Wear something comfy and old :p'

I frowned at my phone before shaking my head and smiling. So if I have to wear something comfy it's obviously not dinner and snazzy place. I looked at the time to see it was 4:30 and I still had to shower and clean up my apartment.

"Hey guys I'm gonna head home. Zack and I are going out later and I've gotta clean my place. I'll see you two later." I said before giving them each a kiss on the cheek and laughing as they said bye not ever takin their eyes off the tv.

I chuckled but headed out to my car and made my way home. I blasted some Mariana's Trench and sang along happily before pulling into the parking lot and heading up to my apartment. Once inside I sighed before cleaning up, doing the dishes, vacuuming, tidying the shelves and dusting and all the cleaning. Once I was finished I had enough time for a quick shower and once that was done I stood in front of my closet looking for comfy clothes. What kind of date required comfy old clothes?