Addicted

Chapter 8.

He put his hands on my cheek, his blue eyes looking all over my face. He leaned further into my body the smell of mint filled my head. His lips lightly touched my own and I moaned in my throat. I wanted him here and I wanted him now. I pushed him onto my bed and followed after him, feeling his naked skin on my own. 

I could hear buzzing in the background

“What was that?” I asked him, pulling apart from our kiss. 

“Kiss me,” He said but the ringing wouldn’t stop. He pushed his face into mine so hard that our teeth clashed. He rolled on top of me and I could feel his body against mine, pressing down on me. I could feel him against me, against my sensitive spot and I moaned. 

I could still hear the ringing. 

“Can’t you hear that?” I asked. The buzzing wouldn’t stop.

“f**k me, please,” Zac muttered against my lips.  

I woke up. My heart rate was beating out of my chest. I took a few steady breaths, trying to calm my breathing and steady the rate of my heart. A light sheet of sweat covered my skin and my blankets were intertwined in my limbs. I could still taste the mint in my mouth and the feeling of his body against my own, and the throbbing between my legs made me ever more aware of his presence in my dream.

My phone next to me buzzed and I chuckled into my pillow. I reached for my phone and instantly regretted it when I did. 

3 missed calls from Aidan

2 missed calls from Adam

and a text from Aidan underneath.

Y cant u answer ur phone sis

I was ready to respond. 

I just woke up. What’s up? 

Dads pissed u missed fam dinner yesterday. Y?

I didn’t realise I was invited.

Sis ur always invited. Come 2day or dad will get rlly angry at us

I could feel the guilt already creeping into my chest. I completely forgot about family dinner. I was so focussed on the dreamy James and our date. 

I sat up in my bed, already searching for my pants to put on and once they were on, I went outside. 

Zac was laying on the purple couch, his eyes were shut, and his chest rose and fell evenly.

I walked up to him, watching his mouth twitch slightly into a small smile. 

“Zac,” I whispered, but he didn’t wake. “Zac,” I whispered again only a little louder. 

I poked him on his side, but when nothing happened, I poked him again. 

He woke up in a shock, letting out a deep scream which made me give out a yelp. He kicked back on the couch until he was sitting. 

“What the hell, Ali?” Zac yelled at me, and wiped his hand down his face. 

“Sorry,” I said trying to contain my smile.

He stared at me while I looked down at him on the couch, until he couldn’t contain his smile and he cracked up laughing. The sound and the look of him laughing made me laugh until we were just two people in a room laughing. After a second of uncontrollable laughter we stopped, and the sound fade out. 

“What’s up, Ali,” He asked, rubbing his eyes with a small smile.

“Where’s the other boys?” 

“Burney went to his parents’ house and I don’t know where Emmet is.” 

“Okay,” I said. I began looking around the living room, not sure where to go. With Emmet and Burney gone there was only one more car that I could use to get me to my parents’ place. 

“Ali, what’s wrong?” he finally asked. 

“Could I ask a favour of you?” I was very hesitant. I didn’t even want to go, but the consequences of not going outweighed the consequences of going. 

“Sure,” Zac said. His eyes wandered all over my face, probably noticing my apprehension of asking. 

“I have this thing that I need to go too and it’s not very important but it’s important enough. I completely understand if you can’t, but I would really appreciate it if you could.”

“Ali, stop. What’s wrong?” He asked. His expression was serious.  

“Could you drive me to my parents’ house please?” I asked finally. It felt like I was swallowing a rusty nail. “Or at least if you don’t want to drive, can I borrow your car? I promise I will take really good care of it.” I was babbling now, rambling on in a nervous state. 

“Why do you need to go to your parents place so urgently?” He pushed his hair back off of his forehead. 

I sat down on the couch in front of him, where his feet used to rest.

“I missed out on family dinner and I need to go to family lunch today.”

He nodded his head as if he understood. 

“I’ll take you,” he said. “When should we leave?”

“Thank you! I don’t even know what time it is.” I looked down at my phone and read that it was a little passed eleven. 

“How the hell did I sleep in this long?” I asked myself. 

“Probably from a good dream?” He questioned. I remembered the dream with his mouth on mine, his body on mine and the smell of mint surrounding me.

“You could say that,” I tried to contain my smile. 

“So what time are we leaving?”

“In an hour?” 

“Sounds good.” 

I got up from the couch, ready to go to my bedroom but before I could go inside, Zac stopped me. 

“Ali, the bookstore I was talking about wants to meet up with you sometime this week. If you just pop in and tell the manager who you are, he should know and you two can go from there,” He said.

“Thank you,” I responded. We looked at each other for a little too long, smiles on both of our faces. 

“Don’t mention it.” He looked away first. 

I turned to leave for my room. I got dressed and applied a light layer of makeup quickly. By the time I was done, Zac was already waiting for me at the front door and we headed to his car.

I was giving Zac directions in the car to get to my old home. My throat felt like it was closing with each metre that we got closer to my old home. My hands were knotted in a ball on my lap, I kept picking at one of my painted nails. The last time I saw my family it didn’t end up so well.

When Zac pulled up and parked at the front of my old house, I held my breath. All of my brothers’ cars were at the front. My old house was a single level, the outside wasn’t bad looking but it definitely wasn’t the nicest on the block. The weeds at the front were overgrown and the paint was chipped and faded. I didn’t hate the house; I just hated all the bad memories that it held. 

 “Are you okay?” Zac asked. 

“Yeah, just,” I took in a sharp breath, “give me a minute.” 

I could see from the corner of my eye that Zac was looking at me in a weird way. His eyebrows were creased together. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, so I turned my head the opposite way.

He reached his hand over towards me and put his hand over mine. 

“Ali, your hands are shaking,” He noted. 

I looked at his hand over mine. His beautiful hands. 

I curled my fingers around his. Looking at our two hands intertwined together. He began moving his thumb back and forth against the back of my hand. 

I couldn’t contain the small sigh that stretched across my mouth. His thumb running back and forth my own set me in an almost tranquil state. I closed my eyes enjoying the sensation. When I opened my eyes, Zac was looking at me with shock and another expression I couldn’t read. 

“Thank you,” I gave him a small smile. I looked at each of his features of his face, admiring how beautiful he was. His hair would have to be my favourite, falling down in waves on his forehead and his light layer of dark stubble made his light eyes stand out. I wanted to run my fingers through everything, his hair, his stubble, to feel his skin underneath my fingers. 

“Okay, I’m going.” I broke our stare. I was reluctant to remove my hand from his.

“Thank you for driving me,” I said, knowing that I was stalling. 

“Anytime.”

I removed my hand from his and got out of the car, but when I began walking up the driveway, I heard a second car door close. Zac ran up beside me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you,” Zac said. 

“What?” 

“I’m coming to family lunch with you,” Zac repeated. He continued walking past me and left me shell shocked looking after him. I walked quickly to catch up to him. 

We stood at the front door; my breath was catching within my chest. I knew the bell was right there and all I had to do was ring it. 

I could feel his hand in mine again.

“I’m right here,” Zac said.

I turned to him them, keeping his hand held firmly in my own. 

“Whatever happens, don’t get into a fight, okay?” I said quickly. I was searching his eyes for an answer. I watched his eyebrows pull together, but after a second he looked away and gave a quick nod. 

I faced back to the front door and rang the bell once. As soon as I did, I could hear a roar of feet running to the front door and it opened quickly. 

Aidan opened the door first, but Adam was close to his side. All of us sibling looked like each other with the same facial features, but despite these similarities, Aidan had dark dirty blond hair and Adam had light blonde hair. My two younger brothers were the tallest out of us all and had light eyes. 

“She’s here!” Aidan called to the whole household. “And she’s bought a boy.” Aidan took a step forward, I noticed Zac flinch beside me when he did, and Aidan wrapped his hands under my arms and lifted me into the air. 

“Stop growing!” I squeaked. Aidan and Adam were the tallest out of all of our kids, surprisingly despite genes of our parents. I squealed when he lifted me in the air and spun me around. 

“A boy!” Adam said next to him. “We never thought you’d be able to catch one, Alison.” He stepped around Aidan and gave me a short hug. 

“Oh, shut up,” I laughed and pushed him back. 

Aidan turned towards Zac now. “Look in all seriousness, if she’s holding you hostage, you should run now.” 

Zac laughed and extended his hand. “I’m Zac.”

“Aidan. Nice to meet you.” Aidan shook his hand and then Zac extended it towards Adam.

“Adam.”

“Okay, let’s go in,” I said and began shoving Aidan in the front door. 

I walked into the house and nothing has changed. I walked straight into the kitchen where I knew she would be slaving away. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Zac was still there and not being kidnapped by my brothers. 

A short woman in the kitchen was bending down to pull something out of the oven.  

“Hey Ma,” I announced. 

She placed the food from the oven on a metal tray on the counter and turned towards me. 

“Alison! It’s good to see you.” She wrapped her arms around me with oven mitts still on her hands. “You didn’t come to dinner last night.” 

“I was working,” I said, pulling away from her. 

“Hmm you look very tired,” She said with a hand on my cheek.

“Thanks, Mum,” I rolled my eyes and chuckled. 

“Who’s this?” She turned her head towards Zac by my side. 

“This is Zac,” I said and gestured towards Zac “Zac, this is my Mum, Annette.” 

“Leave it to my daughter to hide a boyfriend for so long,” she said. 

“No, Mum. He’s not-”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Scott,” Zac interrupted and offered his hand out to my mother.

She took off one of her oven mitts and took his hand. 

“Please call me Annette.” My Mother smiled up at him. 

My Mother was a pretty woman. I got most of my looks from her. She was a couple inches shorter than me with thinning brown hair that was a little grey at the roots. Her dark brown eyes were kind and she had a compassionate smile but over the years it had dwindled.  

I looked at the table that was already set up with food and cutlery. “I’ll set up another plate for Zac.” 

I purposefully placed the extra plate next to where I usually sit and brought up an extra chair. 

“Dinners ready!” My mum shouted to the house and brought the food from the oven to the table. Zac helped my Mum bring the rest of the food to the table.

My younger brothers, Mother, Zac and myself sat at the table. Zac and I sat on one side with Aidan sitting next to me and Andre was on the other side. 

“It’s about bloody time,” A deep voice said. My father walked into the dining room then. 

“Sorry, Dear. The vegetables took longer than I expected.” 

“Looks good, Mum. Thank you,” Aidan said, and I gave him a small smile. 

“Who the hell is this?” My Father said abruptly, gesturing to Zac.

“Hey Dad,” I said. 

“It’s about time you came.”

“So, who the f**k is this stranger in my house?”

My breath hitch in my throat when Zac stood up. His jaw muscle was bouncing.

“Hello, Sir. My name is Zac Trenton.” He extended his hand out to my father like he has done with all of my family members, but my father just ignored him. 

“Someone give me the potatoes,” My Dad said and he sat down in the end seat and Adam got the potatoes. My Father was already filling his face with food and I cringed away from him.

Anthony, my older brother came in next and took his seat across the table next to Adam. My older brother and myself both had dark hair but where my eyes were almost black, Anthony’s were a hazel colour. He spent majority of his time at the gym, which has made him large and buff. He took a moment to look around the table and his eyes stopped at me. 

“Good to see you’re still a member of the family,” Anthony said. Out of all of us, Anthony was the most like our father, and I resented him for that. 

“Good to see you’re still a brat,” I responded back and took a sip of my water from my glass. 

“Alison,” My mother warned. 

It was weird to see my family after a while. Moving into another household with Zac, Emmet and Burney, where I wasn’t bullied or felt like I was always walking on eggshells, felt a lot better than five minutes in this household. 

“So, how’s work, Ali?” Adam asked. 

“It’s been good, I work later which gets tiring but it’s good.”

“What, are you whoring yourself out now?” Anthony said with a snide chuckle and my Father chuckled with him. 

I could see Zac stiffen beside me and his hands balled up underneath the table. I reached my hand underneath the table and placed it over his fist. His hand loosened up and his finger intertwined in mine. Already I could see his body soften and my own heartrate slowed. 

I am so thankful that he decided to come with me. I think by now, I would have snapped at my family if he wasn’t there with me. I didn’t understand it, but he made me so calm. The feel of his hand made me feel calm. His presencemade me feel calm.

I looked at Zac and gave him a small smile. I could feel my eyes shifting all over his face. 

“Why aren’t you eating?” Anthony asked.

 “I am.” I had a little bit of food on my plate, and I picked at it with my free hand.

“Why the hell aren’t you eating the food that your Mother slaved away cooking,” My Father interjected with his mouth full of food. 

“I am eating it.” I looked between my Father and Anthony.  “It’s delicious food, Mum,” I said looking at my Mother with a smile.  

“Well, if no one else is going to address the elephant in the room, then I will. Why did you move out, Ali?” Anthony asked. 

I looked up at Anthony with my eyebrows pulled together and I shook my head. It felt like he was picking a fight purposefully, trying to make my Father target me. 

“Anthony. Don’t,” I warned. 

“No, tell us, Ali. Why did you leave?”

“Because it was time to leave,” I stated. 

“Oh bullshit,” Anthony blatantly stated. “You don’t want to be a part of this family.” 

“Anthony, shut your face,” Aidan said. 

“You shut yours, Aidan. This is between us and Alison.” 

“Why did you move out?” My father asked. His voice low and gruff. 

“Because it was time to move out.”

“I think you’re full of horse s**t. Tell me the f*****g truth,” My Father said, he was still forking food into his fat face. I could feel Zac’s hand tighten around my own.

“Tell me the f*****g truth, Alison, or so help me God I will get out of my seat and come over there and-”

“And what?” I interrupted him. “Hit me? Like you haven’t already done that already.” 

“Don’t you dare give me that attitude, you little bitch.”

Zac squeezed my hand harder. 

“I left because of you!” I almost shouted. “Because of the way that you and everyone here treated me or how I wasn’t being treated.”

“You’re f*****g pathetic,” My father spat. 

“You think I’m f*****g pathetic?” I asked, appalled. “I’m not the one who hits their wife and kids.”

“Alison,” My Mother warned again. 

“You f*****g ungrateful b***h!” He yelled and stood up abruptly, making his chair screech across the floor. 

I cringed back into my seat. The last time he tried to hit me, I stood up for myself and fought back and almost won. I still felt like the child who crawled underneath her bed to try and hide from him. 

Zac stood up just as abruptly, releasing my hand. 

“Sit down,” Zac commanded between clenched teeth.

“What the f**k are you going to do, you skinny prick?” My Father roared at him. 

“Harold, please, stop,” My Mothers weak voice tried to chirp in and stop my Father. 

He tried to take a step closer to Zac, but I stood up before he could get in another step. I put my hand on Zac’s chest before he could challenge my Father. I turned around to my Dad. 

“Don’t you dare!” I warned my Father, giving him a scowl. 

“Move b***h!” My father shouted at me, and he slapped me across the face.