Turn The Other Way

I finally forced my tired eyes to open, only to shut them again at the early morning sunlight streaming through the window. I slowly sat up, the pounding in my head increasing, and squinted my eyes at the bright, unfamiliar, bedroom. I furrowed my eyebrows in thought, last night's events flooding into recognition.

"Zack?" I called out into the seemingly empty room. When I received no response, I quickly found my discarded clothes from the night before and hastily covered my exposed body. After ensuring my appearance wasn't a complete disaster, I quietly made my way downstairs.

As I stepped into the landing, I heard noises coming from the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile at the sight I was met with as I entered the doorway.

"You know you can't have table food, Ichabod," Zacky spoke to the fur ball that was his pet, sitting at his feet. "Don't give me that look." He spoke as he scrambled eggs at the stove. The dog noticed my presence and ran towards me, attracting the attention of his owner.

"Good morning," he smiled as I rubbed Ichabod's head.

"Morning," I replied, looking up to meet his eyes. I honestly didn't know how to feel about last night. I was completely drunk and really had no control over my actions, thus leading me to sleep with Zacky. I didn't exactly regret last night, but I knew that I would take it back if I were given the chance.

"Do you want some breakfast?" he asked with a hopeful expression.

"Sure," I shrugged, following him to the small table situated in the corner of the room. The atmosphere was awkward and tense; neither of us knew what to say.

"So," Zack broke the silence.

"Last night was . . ." I searched for words to convey my emotion.

"Amazing," he finished for me and I blushed. "Do you regret it?"

"Not exactly," I stared down at my plate, trying to sort my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" a confused Zack asked, breaking my concentration. I looked up to see a rather hurt look gracing his face, the same eyes that sent sparks through my body filled with despair.

"We barely know each other," I tried to make him understand. "As much as I enjoyed it, last night shouldn't have happened."

"So you did enjoy it?" he smirked.

"That doesn't matter," I rolled my eyes at his typical male behavior. "I think we should just forget about it. We were both pretty wasted and it was just one drunken night, nothing more."

"Don't say that," he sighed, running his fingers through his messy black hair. "It was more to me."

"Don't do this Zack," I shook my head. "You don't even know me."

"But I want to." I looked up to see nothing but sincerity shining in his green orbs.

"I can't," I stood from the table and stood in front of the kitchen sink to rinse out my plate. "It wouldn't work."

"Why not?" his breath hit my neck. His hands found their way over my hips and to my waist as he pressed himself against me from behind. My knees weakened at his touch and my breathing became erratic.

"Because," I managed to find my voice, "we come from different backgrounds."

"Who cares?" he turned me around to face him. "It doesn't matter that your ethnic background is different from mine. All that matters is what's inside."

"My parents would never approve of my dating you," I sighed.

"It doesn't matter if they approve of me or not."

"You don't understand," I pulled my hair in frustration. "I'm supposed to marry some rich, Catholic, Hispanic man, none of which you are."

With his tattoo-covered arms, snakebites, and septum piercing, Zacky was pretty much the exact opposite of what my parents wanted for me. I couldn't care less about any of that, but my parents had always been adamant about my future marriage.

"If I don't marry someone they approve of they will disown me." I looked up to see a shocked expression on Zacky's face.

"But you're their daughter," he said in disbelief. "How can they do that to their own flesh and blood?"

"It's more my mother than my father," I explained. "She wants to keep the family as "pure" as possible."

"That's ridiculous!" he exclaimed. We stood there in silence, staring into each others' eyes. I wanted nothing more than to get to know Zacky better, but it was out of my hands. I wanted to find out just why he had the ability to melt my insides with one smoldering glance.

"We'll just have to keep it a secret then," he spoke after a while.

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Well they obviously can't find out," he ran a calloused hand along my jaw line, "and I refuse to let this go."

"Zack . . ." I was lost for words. The determination in his eyes frightened and intrigued me at the same time.

"Please, Celestina," he whispered into my ear. Our close proximity cause shivers of excitement to run down my spine. I ignored the urge to just pull his face to mine and devour his pierced lips.

"I'm sorry," my fear overtook my desire. "I can't Zack."