Different Dimension

“Zack,”

…

“Babe,”

…

“Zack,”

…

“Babe, wake up, your phone is ringing!”

Zack groaned as Martin’s voice stirred him from sleep, hand reaching blindly for his phone on the bedside table, which was indeed ringing. Zack rolled onto his back as he blearily looked at the screen, Martin snuggling into his side as he woke up enough to read Matt. What the hell?

“Matt’s calling,” Zack mumbled.

“But it’s fucking early,” Martin muttered.

Zack looked at the time (2am? Really?) before he smiled weakly. Matt would never call him at this hour unless it was important.

“Go,”

“What?”

“Go talk to him. I know you want to,”

“But…”

“He might need your help, and you’re his friend. Go talk to him and then come back to bed when you’re done,” Martin said.

Zack just pressed a gentle kiss to Martin’s lips, earning a fond smile in response.

“Thanks, Marty,”

Martin just shrugged, releasing his hold on Zack, allowing him to get out of bed. Zack yawned before heading out of Martin’s dorm, answering the call as soon as he was out in the corridor.

“Hey, Matt. What’s up?”

“Nothing, nothing, I shouldn’t have called,”

What the hell?

“Hey, no, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

I’m just being stupid, it’s so late, I shouldn’t have called,”

“Matty,” Zack said softly.

“It’s just that…”

And then Matt burst into tears.

Holy shit. Now Zack was really worried. This wasn’t like Matt at all. For all the time they’d known each other, Zack had only seen his friend cry once…so this made Zack panic.

“Hey, hey, calm down. You’re okay,” Zack soothed.

“But that’s just it…I’m not okay!” Matt wailed.

Oh wow.

It was all Zack could do to murmur reassuring nonsense while Matt cried, trying not to freak out. He honestly didn’t know what to do. Matt was always the strong one in their friendship, and to hear him breaking down like this when he knew he couldn’t do anything to help? It really wasn’t a great feeling.

It took a while for Matt to calm himself down, but eventually he did, cries reducing down to sniffs.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Zack asked softly.

“Vinny broke up with me. Brutally and painfully broke up with me,” Matt whimpered.

Oh God. That explained it.

“Oh Matty, I’m so sorry! Did he say why?” Zack asked sadly.

“All he said was that he just didn’t see a future between us. I just don’t understand! I thought everything was going really well!” Matt choked.

What an asshole. Matt didn’t deserve this.

“He’s the one in the wrong, not you. You can’t beat yourself up like this,”

“But I was going to take him home to my parents over Spring Break! And he seemed really eager about it – he was even the one to suggest it! I don’t know what I did wrong!” Matt whined.

Matt really didn’t deserve this.

“Matty, you never do anything wrong. You’re one of the greatest guys that I know, and I’m not saying that because you’re my best friend. Any guy would be lucky to have you, so Vinny is the asshole for not realising that,” Zack said firmly.

Matt stayed silent for a few seconds, just sniffing, Zack allowing him that silence.

“I’m sorry,”

Zack smiled sadly. “Don’t be sorry. I’m always going to be here for you, you know that,”

Matt laughed softly, although it sounded tight and broken, which only made Zack sadder.

“I should get back to my dorm. My dorm mates are probably wondering where I am,” Matt said quietly.

Zack sighed. Matt was deflecting now. This wasn’t healthy, but it was typical Matt.

“I’ll call you later, okay? Don’t hide yourself away because of him,” Zack frowned.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks Zack. Talk to you later,” Matt said softly.

And then Matt ended the call. Zack sighed again, running a hand over his head, before walking back into Martin’s dorm. Now Zack was just going to worry about his best friend. He doubted he’d get back to sleep after this.

Martin stirred as Zack got back under the covers, pressing a kiss to Zack’s bare shoulder as Zack settled down.

“What was wrong?” Martin murmured.

“Matt’s boyfriend broke up with him and he’s really torn up about it,” Zack explained.

“I’m sorry,” Martin said, genuine concern in his voice.

“I haven’t heard him cry like that before,” Zack added softly.

He really hadn’t. And the more Zack thought about it, the more worried he was. Matt was strong enough to get through this, right? He had to be.

“If Matt needs you, as a friend, then you can go to him,”

Zack looked down at Martin, surprised, but Martin just wore a frown. Wow. He hadn’t expected that response, as nice as it was.

“I don’t think it will come to that,” Zack said, “But I just need to be here for him to rant to,”

Martin smiled, pressing another kiss to Zack’s shoulder.

“Then I have no problem with that,”

“You don’t?” Zack asked, confused.

He knew how Martin felt about Matt. He knew.

“No, I don’t. He’s your friend and I respect that. If he needs your comfort then so be it. I won’t stop you,”

“You’re really okay with it? Me being Matt’s support through his break-up?”

Martin grimaced slightly, making Zack laugh a little. Well there was an honest response.

“I trust you,” Martin shrugged.

As nonchalant as Martin tried to sound, Zack could hear the vulnerability in his boyfriend’s voice. This was a huge step for Martin, this emotion maturity, and Zack wasn’t going to waste it.

“I love you,” Zack said softly, unable to stop the smile that spread over his lips.

Martin buried his face into Zack’s shoulder, but Zack felt him grin into his skin.

“I love you too,” Martin said, his words muffled.

Tension drained from Zack’s body, letting him relax into the bed, Martin just snuggling into him even more. He didn’t want to go through what Matt was going through. He wasn’t going to give Martin any reason to stop saying I love you, not if he could help it. Zack was so lucky, to have what he had, and he wasn’t going to let that go for anything.