The Ghostly Love Story

Rough Times pt 1

ZAKS POV

It's been a couple weeks and we've been working at changing up our sleep schedules. We get up early in the afternoon most days but we both still sleep at night. She's been fueling up on red bull as much as she can. Its a lifestyle to get used to thats for sure. Shes out on a jog right now so I've been making us some dinner. Chicken breasts with pasta sauce and noodles. She walks in the door smelling the air.

"What'd you make?" She asks.

"Chicken breast with pasta and some sauce you had in the freezer. Its not much but it's something. I figured you would be hungry."

"Yeah I'm starving. Thank you."

"Its no problem love" giving her a kiss on the forehead. She sits down and begins devouring the food. "Did you eat at all today?" I ask while eating.

"Yeah I had a few snacks. Just haven't been super hungry but I make sure to at least eat something small every couple hours so I have some go in me."

"Just wanted to make sure you at least ate something." We finish our food and begin washing the dishes, putting them in the dish rack. I go sit down outside when I hear her phone ring. I answer it for her when I hear a mans voice.

"Hey Dee its JJ whatcha up to?"

"This is her boyfriend. She should be here in a moment who is this?" Out of nowhere the phone hangs up. The number wasn't saved but I didn't think much of it. She steps outside closing the door behind her. She takes a seat next to me letting out a long sigh.

"Who's JJ?" I ask

"JJ? Justin? Why? He hasn't called or anything in months. What makes you ask?"

"He just called. On your phone. I just answered it for you. I wasn't snooping I promise!"

"Thats fine! Are you sure he said JJ? How did he get my new number?"

"I'm not sure. Check it out. I will even call it." I state grabbing my phone out of my pocket. She repeats the number to me and we call it.

"Hey Dee. How are you? I miss you an awful lot. I hope you come home again here soon so we can talk. Did anyone tell you about your mom?"

"Why are you calling J? I don't want you calling me ever again." She hangs up blocking the number on both our phones. "Whats he talking about my mom for anyways. It don't matter. She's probably on d***s anyways." Just as she finishes her sentence her phone rings again.

"Hey dad. Uhm yeah you can meet me somewhere. How you get here? Yeah I can be there in a bit. Mind if I bring my boyfriend? Okay. Bye". She hangs up looking over at me. "My dads in town. Would you come with me to this restaurant? I think Im gonna need you here."

"Yeah. Of course. Anything you need. You ready now?"

"Yeah lets go" she says grabbing my hand. We get up, heading to the front door locking it behind us. We get in her car and after about 20 minutes we arrive to a whole in the wall hotel on the outskirts of Vegas.

"Stay in the car. I will keep the windows down. If it gets heated or physical just get me to the car. Don't touch him. He's psychotic." I nod my head in agreement and she steps out of the car. I could hear every word they were saying pretty clearly as she was only 5 feet from her car.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this but I knew it'd be better to say it to your face. Last night your mom ODd. She was sent to the hospital and they did everything they could but she uhh.. she didn't make it Dee. I'm really sorry." Her dad says reaching out a hand. She steps back looking at the ground. I could tell she was completely shocked by the news. "Look I'm really sorry you had to find out like this. It wasn't supposed to happen I-"

"It happened though. And it is completely your fault. You got her hooked to that s**t. She loved you enough to do anything for you. You did this. I told you not to drag me and her into this and look at what you did."

"I didn't tell her to take anything."

"But did you tell her NOT to take it. Or did you just sit there and not say anything? You act innocent but I didn't hear about you telling her not to. You supplied it to her for over a year now right? You helped her get money for it? Sell her car? Her house? Everything.. right? And her poor husband had no clue."

"Dee stop. It wasn't my fault. I never told her she should do it to impress me or anything. She is her own person. She was an adult. She could make her own decisions. She don't need no babysitter. I sure wasn't hers either. I just came to tell you is all. The funeral is Saturday. You have a couple days to get out there at least." Her father says.

"Why should I even go? She wasn't there for me. Not when I was young and surely not now."

"You don't know anything about your mother do ya? She was crazy about me. She was wonderful. She loved you more than life itself."

"Well then where was she? Where was she when I was touched? Where was she when I was going from house to house? Where was she when I was homeless? Where was she when I needed her?"

"She always tried for you."

"She was never f*****g here! She left! I was 4 when she disappeared the first time. I was 15 and had just went through my first death in the family. I went to that funeral and afterward she didn't even call or text for 7 months! All she could think about was chasing after some dude. I was 20 when she told me she wished she never had me. I was 21 when she called me a liar and told me no one in the family believed me. I took care of me. She was never there for me. So don't spit your bull in my face. You knew she wasn't there. Especially when she started that with your pathetic ass. So just leave dad. You love me so much then just go. I'll be home for it." She says tears streaming down her face. She walks over to the car falling to her knees crying. I hope out and run over to her putting her into the passenger side of her car. I begin driving her home leaving her dad standing there in the rearview mirror. All I could think about was just getting her home where she felt safe and comfortable. I pull into the driveway and she gets out of the car. She walks up to the door trying to open it but I still had it locked.

"I can't open the door!!" She screams. She begins crying on her knees. I unlock it and help her inside. She gets halfway to the couch falling back down to her knees in hysterics. I hear the door open and shoot a glance behind me seeing Billy and Aaron. They stop in their tracks as I hold my hand up. She begins grabbing a pillow screaming into it. She didn't stop crying for over an hour. I sat there right beside her trying to comfort her in the best way that I could. She just laid there with her head in my lap crying. Billy and Aaron had walked to the back porch giving me and her some time to calm down. She finally starts to sit up and wipe the tears from her face.

"Please come with me. Don't make me go alone. Please Zak."

"I wouldn't leave you alone with this. Come here" I say as she falls into my arms.

"I'm so sorry. I know we were supposed to have a good night. It's all shot to s**t now. Its all my fault." She says between sobs and sniffles.

"Hey none of this is your fault. Don't ever apologize for this kind of stuff. It wasn't in your control at all. I'm here for you." I say rubbing her back trying to help her calm down some. We sit there for a few more minutes before she starts to get up on her feet. I help her out and we both walk to the backyard.

"Sorry about that guys. I think I'm going to go lay down though. I've had a rough night. Zak can explain it all to you. I just don't have the energy for this honestly." She says as she walks away giving me a kiss on the cheek before going into the house.

"Her uhh.. her mom passed away. Her dad flew out to tell her the news in person so we have to go back out to Maine in a couple days. Would you guys housesit again?" I ask.

"Yeah we can do that. We're sorry for her loss man. Do you want us to leave so you can be with her? We can do this another day man." Aaron asks.

"If thats okay with you guys." I say as they all nod in agreement grabbing their stuff and saying goodbye. I walk up the stairs to the bedroom and see her sitting on the bed facing away from the door. I walk up behind her quietly when she turns around slowly.

"Go hang out with them. I'll be okay. I promise." She says.

"You're important to me right now. You need me here. I rescheduled with them anyways. I'll book us a flight there and we can head out tomorrow night. I'll be here for you the entire time. I'm not leaving your side unless you tell me to. You shouldn't go through this alone. I won't let you."

"Thank you." She says as she pulls me into a tight hug. We both lay down on the bed and I hold her until she falls asleep.

DAHLIAS POV

I wake up late in the afternoon. Zak wasn't right next to me but I thought I heard the shower running. I got up and everything just felt unreal. Like nothing had happened and it was just a dream. I walked into the bathroom realizing Zak was in the shower. I begin to brush my teeth as he pops his head out from behind the curtain. He had soap running down his body so I knew he was almost finished.

"Our flight leaves at 11. That will give us time to sleep. 2 connecting flights as well. You doing okay babe?" He asks as he gets out of the shower grabbing a towel.

"Okay. I'm fine. Alive ya know? Just ready to get this over with. Don't really wanna think about it anymore." I say as I grab my hairbrush running it through my hair. He walks up behind me giving me a hug. He felt so warm and cozy. I could just sit in bed with him all day. I turn around and give him a kiss tugging at his towel. He looks at me questioningly.

"Im just messing with you. Calm down." I say with a small smile on my face. The fact my mom is dead hasn't hit me. It won't until I see her casket. That's how it went last time for me. I wish Zak wouldn't have to see me like that. But at the same time I'm glad he's here to get me through this tough time. We may not have ever been close or anything but I still loved her. Even when she did do me wrong in a lot of ways. She is my mom. I will always love her. Just some things are hard to forgive. I began packing a bag for myself. I was staying til after the funeral so I packed for 2 days. I threw in a black dress and heels. It still didn't feel real at all. A few hours went by and we started toward the airport. We flew all night getting on a couple other planes til we got to the same airport as last time. We rented a car and headed to Lubec. We went to the same hotel and actually got the same hotel room. I slept for the most part on the plane. I didn't want to start thinking if I'm honest. We get in our room and I go straight to the bed. We both had a long day ahead of us. We laid there for a bit as he held me and fell asleep.