The Wrong One

The city of Florence was even more beautiful than Sian realized.

She and Zacky walked around for what felt like forever before finally deciding on a small restaurant. Throughout dinner they both talked and laughed. Sian watched as Zacky paid for dinner and felt bad.

They left the restaurant and walked down a few more blocks. A nightclub loomed in front of them with neon lights glaring. After some pleading from Zacky, Sian finally agreed to go in. She ordered them both drinks and they stood around and watched all the people dancing.
After a few minutes, a dark-haired Italian woman came dancing up to Zacky, holding out her hand. Sian shrugged, and she watched Zacky move away from her. She knew he wouldn’t do anything stupid, especially when he was engaged to her sister. She could clearly see him dancing with the girl, and laughed at him trying to keep up.

“E 'un peccato per una cosa così bella come te di essere qui da sola,” she heard from beside her.

Ew. First of all, she wasn’t beautiful, and second of all she wasn’t alone. She turned back to him to explain that, when she came face to face with one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever seen in her life. His brown eyes were mesmerizing, and his hair was curly and hung down to his ears. His black button-up shirt had the top few buttons undone and his jeans clung nicely to his waist.

“Oi,” she breathed out.

“Cura di ballare?”

Did she want to dance? Was this guy seriously asking her that right now?

“Oh, what the fuck,” she whispered to herself.

She threw back her drink and stuck her hand out to him. He pulled her to the dance floor where she could still see Zacky. His eyes connected with her and they smiled at each other.
She spent the next hour dancing with the guy, whose name she learned to be Gennaro. They stopped a few times to get drinks and so she could make sure Zacky was alright, but then they moved back to the dance floor.

Finally, she had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom.

“Mi dispiace, ho bisogno di usare il bagno. Torno subito indietro,” she said to him and made her way to the back of the club.

She had just entered the stall and turned to lock it when it burst open. Gennaro had followed her into the bathroom. He forced her back and locked the stall behind him. His hand flew over her mouth when she tried to scream. She knew it would be no use anyway; the music in the club was too loud for anyone to hear her. She felt his hand slide under her skirt and she struggled against him. She got in an elbow to his stomach, but all that did was spur him on.

Finally, she was able to step on his foot and move to the other side of the stall getting a scream out, but he advanced on her. For a moment, she was frozen in place with fear. Her vision blurred and she was taken back to a night that was forever etched into her mind. She saw the silver of the blade and the cruel smile on his face as he moved ever so slowly toward her.

That’s when the stall door burst open. Sian’s eyes blinked rapidly as Gennaro whirled around. She saw recognition then anger pass over Zacky’s features as he looked at the scene. Zacky came in, fist flying, and slamming into the guy’s surprised face. Zacky didn’t stop there. Once the guy was down, Zacky was on top of him, punch after punch flying into the guy’s face.

Zacky was beyond furious. He’d seen Sian motion toward the bathroom while she was dancing and he nodded. Then he watched as that creep followed her. He was just barely able to see the guy go into the woman’s bathroom from where he was and he immediately went after them. He couldn’t hear anything when he entered, but then he heard a voice and then Sian scream. He kicked in the door and was almost sick to his stomach.

When Sian touched his arm, he immediately stopped hitting the guy. Weird, but he didn’t remember hitting the guy as much as he did. He looked from her scared, white face to the mess he’d made of the guy and he stood up. He looked back at Sian who was covering her mouth with her hands, looking at the guy.

“Holy shit, Zacky, did you kill him?” he heard from behind her hands.

“No, but he’ll feel it in the morning. Are you okay?” he asked reaching for her.

She saw the blood on his fist and moved back a bit. He saw it then, too and cringed. Suddenly, Sian grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the stall. She didn’t make eye contact with anyone and she pulled Zacky through the club to the exit. Even in the street, she didn’t let go of his hand, and he picked up his pace to match hers as they made their way back to the hotel.

They didn’t speak a word as they rode up the elevator, but Zacky was well aware of Sian’s hand still in his. Her grip hadn’t slackened a bit since the club, and even when they got in the room she didn’t let it go. Finally, in front of the bathroom door, she let his hand go and pointed into the bathroom. He understood what she meant and he went in to wash his hands.

When he left the bathroom, he found Sian pacing across the room. Her shoes were off and her hair was tied behind her head in a loose bun. Every once in a while she would pull her thumb up to chew on the nail or pause in her stride. At one point, when he sat down on the bed, she stopped, looked at him, and then popped her ankle. She continued to pace after that.

“Sian.”

She didn’t say anything.

“Sian,” Zacky tried again.

Still, she acted as if she hadn’t heard him. She kept pacing, thumbnail in between her teeth.

“SIAN!” he said, standing up to stop her.

Her eyes grew wide and she took a step back.

“I’m sorry; I was in my own world. What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Sian, are you alright?” he asked slowly, his hands on her upper arms.

“I’m nervous. I’m anxious and I’m scared shitless.”

“Why are you scared?”

“Zacky, you know what was about to happen to me,” she said, her voice rising a notch.

Zacky knew he needed to calm her down before she flew into a panic. The one panic attack he’d seen her have after she found out about Sam was enough; he didn’t need any more.

“Do you want a cigarette?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, finally looking at him.

“Do you want a cigarette?” he repeated slowly.

“Absolutely not; they’re disgusting. I don’t smoke.”

“Just get changed and come with me,” he said.

She stared at him for a full minute before she nodded and turned away from him. She went to her bag and grabbed her black plaid pajama bottoms and a tank top.

When she came out of the bathroom, Zacky was already in a pair of basketball shorts, a black t-shirt and a hoodie. He grabbed their room key and took her hand. They boarded the elevator and went up several levels. He grabbed her hand as he led her down a long corridor and then out onto a deck. In front of them, Florence was lit up completely. The sight made Sian’s heart melt and her jaw drop. She’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life. No wonder Samantha had made the statement about not wanting to go home; she didn’t want to leave, either.

Zacky sat down in a metal chair and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He reached to the table in front of him and pulled an ashtray closer to him.

“How did you know this was here?” she asked as she sat down beside him.

“We stayed here once when we came to Italy.”

Sian just nodded and watched him inhale. He looked back at her and saw her watching. He held out his pack of cigarettes to offer her one. Hesitantly, she took one, and leaned forward as he flicked the lighter. She leaned back in the chair and took a drag, letting the smoke flow down the back of her throat before exhaling.

“I thought you said smoking was disgusting and you didn’t do it,” Zacky said with a smirk.

“I don’t do it anymore,” she corrected and took another hit.

“I’ve got to ask you something,” he said quietly.

Sian knew it was coming. She’d been dreading answering his questions, but she knew she had to. He’d just saved her life; she at least owed him some answers. She inhaled again, and as her heart rate sped up, she nodded.

“Alright, ask me.”

“Why are you and Samantha so different? I mean, I know you guys are different, but twins shouldn’t be that different. We have the Berry twins; Jason and Matt. They’re our roadies, and they’re so alike it’s crazy. They’re crazy.”

Sian let out the breath she had been holding. That was not the question she had been expecting.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I was just always the one that had to grow up the quickest.”

“So you never really had a childhood?”

“No, not really.”

“You never stayed out late, or came home with a boy, or snuck out or went to parties?”

“I went to one party,” Sian said with a grimace. “I ended up getting completely shitfaced and losing my virginity. I don’t even remember the guy’s name.”

“Wow, that sucks.”

“Yeah, parties and I don’t really mix,” Sian said with a wry smile.

Zacky yawned. “Well, I think I’m gonna head inside. You coming?”

“I think I’m gonna sit here for a bit longer,” Sian said and looked out over the view.

Zacky stood up and shrugged out of his jacket, handing it to her. She thanked him and put it around her.

“I’m a light sleeper, so just knock on the door and I’ll let you in,” he said and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

She watched him walk away through the doors. Honestly, she was completely exhausted and could probably fall asleep in the chair she was sitting in, but she had two reasons for staying outside. The first being there was only one bed in the suite. She and Zacky hadn’t talked about it, but now she was a little worried. She knew she was only sleeping beside him and they weren’t doing anything, but she still felt like she shouldn’t since he was engaged to her sister.

Speaking of her sister, that was her second reason for staying outside. She looked over her shoulder one last time, making sure Zacky was gone before she pulled the journal from the back of her pants where she’d discreetly hid it. She wanted to read more of what Sam wrote without Zacky being there.

She spent an hour reading the journal until her eyes were dry and she couldn’t stop yawning. Most of the journal was nothing new to Sian, but a couple of things stuck out at her.

Firstly, Liam was some guy from Australia that she’d met on the plane. He’d sat beside her across the row and had struck up the conversation first. He and his friends were going on a self-given tour of Europe and his favorite restaurant in the world was Junction Bar in Berlin, Germany.

The second piece of information made absolutely no sense to Sian. It was from a journal entry in late July.

”It’s been ten years since the date. I honestly don’t know how she survives. I just hope that one day she knows exactly how much I admire her and that she’s my hero.”

That’s the only thing the entry said and it confused the hell out of Sian. There was no mention of who the “she” was, or what the date was an anniversary of. She thought she'd known her sister, but whoever this hero was, Sian had no idea about them.

Finally, after the millionth yawn, Sian picked herself off the metal chair, stretched, and made her way back to the elevator. She knocked on the door and within a minute, it was pulled open. Zacky looked tired and he didn’t speak a word as he walked back to the side of the bed closest to the door and dove under the covers.

Sian silently slipped the journal under her pillow and climbed into the bed. She pulled Zacky’s hoodie around her tighter, and within minutes she was asleep.

Zacky lay there with his eyes open. He hadn’t slept at all knowing Sian was outside. He was extremely worried for her and knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep while she was outside. He was just about to go look for her when he heard her knock on the door. He crawled back into bed, making sure he was on the side closest to the door. He’d done it since he was younger, his mentality being that if someone were to barge in, they’d have to go through him to get to the other person sleeping.

He purposely faced away from her, knowing she was feeling awkward about sharing the same bed as him. He listened as her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep. There were still so many secrets about Sian he didn’t know. He had almost asked her about her scar again tonight, but knew it was still too soon, so he’d asked her about her and Samantha instead.

He felt his eyes drifting closed and he succumbed to sleep he knew he needed.