He Never Knew

~ 4:17 AM ~

I heard the front door slam shut, waking me from my sleep once again. I practically growled and looked at my alarm clock; 4:17. I was going to murder whoever woke me up this time.

'Who are you kidding? You won't do anything. You never do anything.' Shut up, inner thoughts.

Since I wasn't going to go back to sleep any time tonight, I figured I should go and see who made the noise.

'It's probably Zak coming home from his "date".' What Zak considers a date and what I consider a date are two very different things.

I would take my date for a long walk on the beach. We would watch the sunset, buy an ice cream cone, and then kiss goodnight. Whereas for Zak, well... It isn't as PG-13.

And the only reason I know this is because I caught him in the act once. Can you say awkward? But then of course when he was done and his date had left, he went over to me, hit me and said, "See? That's what a real man is supposed to do."

As I walked down the rickety stairs, I heard mumbling coming from the kitchen. I hesitated in walking down the next step. What is it's not Zak? What if it's a burglar who wants to hurt me or something?

I thought about it and figured a burglar couldn't do anything that Zak hasn't done to me.

I peered around the corner of the kitchen and, low and behold, there was Zak. He was looking for food in the fridge. Since his back was to me, I figured I might as well have some fun.

I silently crept over to him and said, "Moms been looking for you" in an almost whisper. He turned around like a panther and almost hit me. Then he realized it was me, and he did hit me.

I rubbed my arm and backed away from him a little. He shook his head and went back to the fridge.

Why isn't he being harsh tonight? By now my face is usually bruised and swollen.

"Zak..." I started, but was too chicken to finish.

"What do you want from me?" Again, why was he being so nice? Well the tone of his voice was a little angry, but nothing like it usually is. However, there were no threats. No acts of violence. What's gotten into him?

"Why do you hate me?" I changed my question last second. I was expecting a snarky comeback or another punch, but nothing came. He turned towards me and I saw something flash in his dark brown eyes. Sympathy, perhaps?

I couldn't tell because he put his facade back on and started to walk past me. Right before he reached the stairs, he turned around to face me. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but instead shook his head and walked back upstairs.

What was he going to say?