Summer: Day 9

Mack's POV:

I stir a little in my sleep before I realize that I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I'm laying on my stomach with Zachariah on top of me, crushing his chest against my back. My cheeks flush at the intimate position, but I oblige to it so he can sleep more. I let myself slowly inhale his intoxicating scent, a smell I've gotten particularly familiar with far too fast.

I fall deeper into the pillow before someone busts through the door, announcing, "Hey, I'm going to work—" And then the voice pauses, his face visibly dropping through the sleep in my eyes. "Okay, what the cheesecake?"

Oh no.

I rub my eyes and attempt to sit up, but Zachariah pulls me back down. "Stay," he mumbles.

"Mackenzie," Kylar says, looking upset, uneasy, betrayed, all while displaying anger through his voice.

"Kylar," I say, frowning at my best friend. "It's not what it looks like."

"Sure it isn't," he scoffs, flattening out the pink shirt he's wearing with his hands.

"I needed someone last night." Zachariah starts to wake up and I smile at his groggy head. "But you decided to be a jerk and tell me things to make me cry yesterday, so I didn't go to you."

He looks at me with regret and shakes his head at himself in disappointment. "I want to be there for you when that kinda stuff happens."

Zachariah was fully awake now, sitting up in bed with the blanket falling loosely at his hips, his bare chest exposed to the air. "But you weren't there," he says, glaring at him. Geez, Zach sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed. "And how did you get in here? The door was locked."

"This doesn't involve you," Kylar hisses, sending a dirty look to his brother.

"I think it does," Zachariah replies, looking at me with soft eyes. "But this doesn't involve you because it isn't any of your business." He keeps his voice low, yet firm, knowing how much I hate the sound of arguing.

"Like hell it isn't," Kylar says, walking towards us on the bed. "Mackenzie is my best friend, I was here first, you can't try to take her from me."

"I'm not in any way interfering with what you guys have," he explains, continuing to glance at me. "You keep digging yourself a deeper hole, Ky. You might not want to accept it, but Mackenzie trusts me—apparently enough to call me when she's crying. When she has nowhere else to go."

"Everything was going okay until you decided to ruin everything," Kylar responds, gritting his teeth towards his brother and frowning at me. "Mackenzie was mine first, and you just took her."

I find this is my opportunity to close the court case that had opened up in the room. "He didn't take me away from you, Ky. I made a choice to call him yesterday, so don't put this on him. You did this to yourself. Everything was okay until your anger issues and hatred towards your brother got the best of you—when you made me cry. Sure, he retaliates the conversation," I say, giving Zachariah a hard stare. "And I know there's a lot of bad blood between you guys, but I just—I wish you both could see past your differences and enjoy the summer."

"Well, we're already a week in and you thought it was funny to sleep with him," Kylar observes, scratching his chin. "Twice."

I take a deep breath. "Are all my clothes still on?"

"Well, yes."

"See, he's fully clothed too. Well, kind of." I wave my hand in the air, gesturing towards the model next to me who smirks when my eyes stare at his abs a second too long. "What I'm getting at is, I think it's legal to sleep in the same bed as Zachariah if it makes me feel better. Especially when I'm crying and vulnerable. And as my best friend, I'm sure you'd support my mental health over suffering in a hellhole."

"I do support that," he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "But I do not and never will support this."

Zachariah chuckles, his blue eyes glistening. "Just shut up and please go to work like you said you were doing. You're acting like a baby."

I lay back down, ready to go back to bed. If he just leaves, we'll talk about this later. When things aren't heated.

"This is what I was afraid of," Kylar whispers, looking at me.

I sit up again and stitch my eyebrows together. "Afraid of what?"

"You choosing him over me," he complains as he backs out of the room. "Because it was always him and since you couldn't have him, I was your second choice."

"Kylar, don't be silly." I remove the blankets from me as I get out of bed to follow him. "We have our own story."

He shakes his head, turning around on his heels. "Yeah, we did. I wonder how it got replaced in a week." What?

I try to grab his shoulder. "Kylar—"

"I'm going," he deadpans, shaking me off of him.

"But—"

"I don't know when I'll be back, but I need space. I need time to think."

I shake my head frantically. "No, you don't have to leave. We'll work this out, Kylar. You're overreacting—"

He whips his head around with a glare. "I can overreact all I want, Mackenzie."

A piece of my heart cracks at his stabbing words. "Did you just—"

"Yes I did." He gives me a taunting smirk. "Zachariah calls you that, so why can't I?"

I frown. "With Zachariah it's different."

"This," he seethes, "This is what I'm talking about." And before I can say anything in return, he storms down the hall and slams the front door behind him.

I stand there, frozen and confused, with tears brimming my eyes at the sudden realization that my best friend just walked out on me. Probably not for forever, but it sure feels like he's made a decision. He chose to let the hatred for his brother overlap his love for me.

Everything, all these years.

Everything, ruined by a single misunderstanding.

"Hey." Zachariah's low voice pulls me out of my sad melancholy.

I sniffle. "Hi."

He rests one of his big hands on the side of my waist, towering over me from behind. "He just left?"

"Yeah."

His chin finds the top of my head and I can feel his chest going in and out between breaths. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm really sorry."

"He's being a jerk right now... all of a sudden." I crane my neck up at Zachariah, leaning into him a little bit more. "Why?"

"Because he thinks he's grown up now," he mutters, looking down at me with eyes full of emotion. "And I have a feeling he wants more than just a friendship with you."

I let out a small laugh and drop my head again, thankful my back is to Zachariah because my cheeks are red. "Kylar is my best friend, dummy. We're already more than just typical friends."

He pulls me to him tighter. "You know what I mean. Stop denying what you know he could possibly want."

"But—but what if I don't want that?"

He turns me around so we're face to face, looking at me deep in thought. "You don't?" His voice comes out croaky and forced, small and almost incoherent.

I shake my head. How hard is it to see that? I seriously think everybody can tell I'm in no way romantically inclined to Kylar. "I don't want to be Kylar's girlfriend, like ever. Just thinking about it makes me wanna throw up. He's too temperamental and boyish, he can't cook, and he's like a scrawny twig. And—I don't know, I like muscles." I look up at Zachariah who seems pleased with my answer. "But please don't tell him that—because if by any chance he does think of me that way, I would rather tell him myself before I cause another crack in your guys' relationship."

"Okay," he nods, giving me a soft smile with a small glint of something unreadable in his eyes.

"Okay."

"Okay." His eyes flicker between both of mine before dropping to my lips. "What was that rule about not kissing you?"

"That I don't want my first kiss to be fake."

"What if it's not fake?" he asks, inching his face closer to mine as his fingers loop the rubberband on my wrist he's accustomed to messing with now.

That look—the look Zachariah is giving me is one you dream of, the kind that only happens in movies. But now isn't a good time. Everyone's emotions are high; I'm vulnerable, he's—I don't even know what he's feeling, and I know if I look up into his eyes right now, I'll let him kiss me. So I purse my lips shut. He's too close right now. I need him away from me as soon as possible.

Coolly, I get up on my tippy toes and peck his cheek instead, backing up a few feet afterwards. "Then it's too soon."

"So I'll wait," he whispers, cocking his head to the side with an untold emotion. Why the sudden flip of character?

I back up while I read his face, his eyes boring into my own. It feels like a lifetime before I reach the door, and when I do, I turn the doorknob to walk out. Waiting a second in the doorway, I turn around to see if he's still standing there.

And he is.

With a genuine smile on his face.

Okay, now I'm imagining things.

I shut the door behind me and let out a sigh of relief. I'm in for a long summer, aren't I?

Author's Note:

Sorry for the short chapter, xx

What do you guys think of the sudden flip in Zachariah's character? Let me know in the comments ;)

Love you all <3