All For You

Chapter VIII ~ Sick at home

Genevieve opened her eyes as her alarm clock went off. In just a few stressful seconds she had to turn it off before Zack woke up. She sat up covering her naked body with the blanket and reached out for it. She quickly turned it off. Unfortunately it was too late. Zack sat up beside her and looked around, still half asleep. She looked at him apologetically. The blanket only covered his lower part and legs. “I’m sorry about that,” she said sweetly. She kissed his cheek and as soon as her lips touched his skin he fully woke up and looked at her. He slowly moved closer to her with a little smirk on his lips. She moved back, getting nervous not knowing what he was doing. In one quick motion he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her on his lap. She was surprised and forgot to hold onto the blanket covering her. As she sat there sideways on his lap, he hugged her tightly against his chest as he moved his lips closer to hers. Their naked bodies pressed together. She put her hand in front of her mouth and used her other hand to put her index finger on his lips, stopping him. He looked confused down at her finger. “What are you doing?,” he mumbled against her finger as he looked in her eyes, being the only part of her face he could see because of her hand in front of it. She looked away shyly. “I... I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet,” she said just above a whisper. He closed his eyes as he kissed her finger on his lips. She widened her eyes not knowing what he was doing. He took her finger away from his lips and placed a kiss on the hand instead. He slowly moved with kisses up her arm to her shoulder. She giggled at his cute face, he still had closed eyes. He really looked like he enjoyed it and he did. He liked her small giggles and smiled against her skin. As he moved to her neck and up her chin he removed her hand in front of her mouth. He opened his eyes looking into hers as he stopped right in front of her lips. “I don’t care,” he whispered against her lips. She closed her eyes waiting to feel his lips on hers and she did shortly after. They shared a long passionate kiss. This type of kiss was new to him. It wasn’t s****l or had a purpose. It was just because he wanted to. It was weird but it felt amazing, giving him that weird feeling in his stomach again. This was the first time he had kissed someone like this. He was pulled out of his thoughts as she pulled away from the kiss. He became sad. He worried that he might never get to experience a kiss like that again. “I need to take a shower,” she giggled and got off his lap. He became even more sad as he tried his best to touch her but she was out of his reach. He placed his forehead on the madras and groaned disappointedly. She looked at him and giggled yet again at how dramatic he was. He was being so cute laying there only half covered by the blanket. His body looked so nice and if she could she would have stayed in his arms all day, but she had to go to school. He looked up at her as she stood there naked with her back to him, looking at him too. She became shy and grabbed the first clothing item she could find, his shirt, and held it in front of her body as she turned her front to him. She looked away shyly and blushed. “Don’t look,” she said, embarrassed. He smirked and tilted his head to see if he could see more. She noticed. “Why?,” he shamelessly asked. She fixed the fabric of his shirt in front of her. “Because,” she said with a pout not knowing what else to say as she blushed. She quickly walked to her bathroom and closed the door behind her. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before,” he laughed amused at her cuteness. “It’s not the same,” she said embarrassed behind the closed door. “I like looking at you naked, Angel,” he shamelessly said with a smirk.

Genevieve didn’t respond, the last word he said kept replaying in her head. Angel. The last time someone had called her that, had been Elliot, when he had tried to force himself on her. Her body started shaking from the thought of it. She went into the shower and turned on the water. She couldn’t stop herself from remembering what he had said. ‘Come on, just give me a little taste. Give me a kiss, Angel...’ That was what he had said right before he crossed the line. She closed her eyes and tried to wash off the memory. She hadn’t really seen Elliot that much after that day. But that was probably because she hadn’t been to school much. She had been home studying a lot lately and only went to school for the most important stuff. But every time she did go to school she would be terrified of seeing him again. What if she couldn’t get away next time? Of course if he was clever he would stay away after Zack had warned him. But everyone knew that Elliot was a bit of a daredevil and never listened well to instructions. Besides, Genevieve had a feeling that the effects of what Zack had done were slowly wearing off. She would always stay close to Tayden even though Elliot wasn’t scared of him. She still felt safer around him. Flashes of what had happened in the empty classroom with Elliot popped up uncontrollably in her mind as she lost herself to the horrifying memories.

She didn’t notice that Zack slipped into the bathroom wanting to join after laying a few minutes lonely on the bed. But before he made his move to step into the shower with her, he noticed how panicked she looked. She seemed to be having some sort of anxiety attack. She tried to wash off her body almost aggressively and her breathing was unsteady, going quicker with each passing second. Zack was worried it might have something to do with him. Was she washing him off? He was sure she liked his touch. Maybe she even craved it. Anyways, he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Zack had seen something like this before. His mom. He moved quickly and stepped into the shower. He gently reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. She was a bit startled and fought back. “No, let go of me Elliot!,” she yelled, still caught in her flashback. She cried out and hit Zack's chest just like she had hit Elliot’s when she had tried to get away from him. “Shhh. Calm down Genevieve. It’s me,” he said calmly and hugged her tighter. He was relieved knowing that it wasn’t because of him. She slowly calmed down and hugged him tightly back. None of them said anything as they stood there in each other’s embrace under the running water. She slowly stopped shaking and pulled back a bit, lifting her head looking away from him. She was so embarrassed that he had seen her in that state. It wasn’t new to her. She had suffered a lot from depression and anxiety after her mom had died. She is better now and hasn't had an anxiety attack for over two years. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” she said in a weak voice. He took his hand up to her cheek and let his thumb run over it as he looked at her puffy sad face. “Don’t say sorry,” he said sternly not knowing how to comfort her. A tear ran from her eye and blended with the water from the shower. She felt so sad and frustrated, not even caring about the fact that she stood naked in front of him. Zack sighed seeing her tears. He didn't know what to do. He kissed her forehead, it felt like the only thing he could do for her. “Genevieve.... look. I’m not good at this stuff. I... I don’t know how to comfort you,” he confessed sadly, feeling ashamed that he couldn’t do anything. She wasn’t able to form the words right at that moment. But he did comfort her and his presence helped a lot.

As they stepped out of the shower she was completely silent and in her own mind. It was exactly what Zack had experienced as a child with his mom. As a child Zack hadn’t known how to comfort his mom either, so he had just done what he could. When his mom had her anxiety attacks Zack would make sure she ate something before putting her to bed. Sometimes she would have accidentally broken something around the house and Zack would then clean it up before his dad got home. It would only cause trouble for him and his mom if his dad had seen broken stuff on the floor. There was nothing Zack feared more as a child than his dad.

Zack helped dry Genevieve up. He put on his own clothes before helping her get dressed in some gray sweats and a white long-sleeve. She wasn’t much of a help. But he didn’t blame her. He remembered from his mom how exhausted she had always been after her episodes. He sat Genevieve down on the bed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go to school today. If you want, I’ll call Tay and tell him,” he said gently as he walked into the bathroom finding her hairdryer. “Tay? Then he’ll know you were here?,” she said nervously looking up at him as he walked out of the bathroom. Tayden was one of her best friends and she hadn’t told him about her and Zack. Not even the first time. She was worried about what he would think. “He already knows. He helped me sneak past the cops,” he simply said as he plugged in the hairdryer. “I could have gotten in without his help. But it was just easier with it,” he added and turned on the dryer and sitting behind her on the bed, starting to dry her hair. As her hair was almost completely dry, he began on his own. She looked back up at him as she saw his closed eyes. She couldn’t help getting lost in his presence. He was so amazing. When he had dried her hair he seemed like he had tried it before. Maybe he had tried it on an ex-girlfriend or something like that. She pouted and looked away from him. He turned off the dryer and placed it on the nightstand. He stood up and grabbed his phone from the pocket of his jacket on the floor. He tossed his jacket on the bed next to Genevieve and he noticed her pout. “What’s wrong?,” he asked, confused as he kneeled down in front of her, putting a hand on her cheek. “Who taught you how to care for women's hair like that?,” she said with a bit of jealousy in her voice. She didn’t want to feel jealous but she couldn’t help it. Who knew how many women he had been with. She grew nervous, feeling like just another one. Nothing special. He had made it clear he didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t do boyfriend/girlfriend. “What do you mean?,” he asked, confused. She looked down at her hands as she played with her fingers nervously. “How many?,” she asked weakly. He ran his thumb over her cheek and looked at her confused. “How many what?,” he asked, trying to make her look at him but she removed his hand from her face. “How many before me?,” she was frustrated and pushed him back. He stood up and sighed, annoyed, knowing what she meant. “Why does that matter?,” he snapped and crossed his arms over his chest. She flinched at his hash voice and hugged herself. He looked down at her and his gaze softened as he saw her tiny figure hugging herself. He calmed down and sat beside her on the bed. He reached out for her hand as she flinched at his touch. He sighed, not liking how she reacted to his touch. He gently lifted her up on his lap, placing her sideways. He hugged her, understanding she might just feel the same as him. She didn’t want anyone else to touch him, just like he didn’t want any other man touching her. But that was why they made a deal about being physically exclusive towards each other. The date thing was just to spend time with her and he thought she was more likely to say yes to the deal if he asked her out. He cleared his throat and got ready to speak.“You asked for it so I’ll tell you. I don’t remember how many there were before you. I don’t remember a lot of their names. Most of them I never even got to know their names and I didn’t care,” he said and sighed, regretting the decision to tell her about it. He had never felt ashamed of his playboy lifestyle before. But he did a bit as he had to admit to it now. He was worried she might be disgusted by it. “I don’t regret any of it,” he added as he spoke the truth. She felt so small and unimportant in his arms. She tried to move away from him but his words stopped her from moving and she froze. “Genevieve. I know your name. To me you are not like the others. Not only do I really enjoy the s*x but I don’t hate spending my time with you. I have never been on a date.... But I’m doing that with you. I never stay after s*x and I definitely don’t sleep over. I did that both times with you,” he confessed, desperately, not wanting her to hate him. She looked up at him and blushed. She smiled at his weird cold confession, starting to feel warm inside. He smiled back, removing some of her hair from her face. “Wow. You really know how to make a girl feel special huh?,” she said, teasing him. He laughed. “How about I tell you something I’ve never told anyone before? Would that make you feel special?,” He asked, still smiling at her. She loved his smile. It was beautiful. She nodded excitedly. “My mom sort of taught me or well... I learned it on my own but with my mom,” he said hesitantly. He didn’t really want to talk about his mom but he knew Genevieve would appreciate learning something about him. He really wanted her to stay interested in him. She had been too shy to ask about anything. He liked her gentle side. The fact that she didn’t invade his privacy with a million questions made him want to share more with her. They didn’t know a lot about each other. Even though Zack wanted to share, there were some things he never wanted her to know. Especially about his dad. He could see she was a bit confused at what he had said, so he decided to explain. “As you probably read in my file when your dad employed me. I am from a military family. My dad was a general in the army and was never really home. He was in Afghanistan a lot of my childhood. So it’s always just been me and my mom. She suffered from anxiety and often had episodes, like you just had. So I taught myself how to take care of things when she wasn’t able to,” he said coldly, trying not to show emotion as he talked about his childhood. It wasn’t easy for him to talk about. She looked at him confused wondering how he could be so cold. She guessed it was a sensitive topic. It sounded like a sensitive topic, having to take care of a parent like that leaves its scares. She lifted her head up and kissed his cheek, happy that she learned something new about him. He was so mysterious all the time. “Thank you for telling me,” she simply said, not wanting to cross his line by asking more. “I never read your file. I only know what my father told me,” she confessed as she looked into his eyes. “Really? What did he tell you?,” Zack asked as he narrowed his eyes knowing Mr. Wilson wasn’t his biggest fan. “Well. Only that you were the soldier of the group and known to have a short temper, so I should behave. He wouldn’t let me read any of you guy’s files,” she said, annoyed, wanting to know what his file said. “Well. I deleted most of my file for more privacy. So there wouldn’t have been much for you to read,” he simply said. “Why?,” she asked, confused, wanting to know more. She just couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“He’ll never tell you,” Genevieve looked at the doorway in shock seeing Tayden standing there smirking. “Hey Bro,” Zack simply said. He had heard Tayden walking in. He knew it was him because he had heard Tayden’s phone reserving a text message as he had entered the apartment. Zack knew the sound of his friend’s text message. So he wasn’t surprised when Tayden revealed himself in the doorway. Genevieve, on the other hand didn’t hear a thing. But it made sense she wasn’t trained like Zack was. “I’m glad to see you two made up,” he smirked and leaned on the door frame. Genevieve realised she was still sitting on Zack's lap and jumped up, feeling embarrassed, blushing heavily. “What?! I just... We...,” she didn’t know what to say. She looked at Zack wanting help. He just leaned back on the bed and smirked as he looked her up and down. “Relax dummy... I know you two are hot for each other,” Tayden simply said and winked. She blushed even harder and looked away. Zack lifted his body off the bed and walked to her side. He took her face in his hand and lifted it up to his. Nose touching, he stopped and squeezed her cheeks, making her face look puffy. “Yes. This one loves to play with me,” he said seductively and pecked her lips. She pushed him away with an angry face. “Not funny, Zack...,” She said as she walked to Tayden and pushed him out of the way so she could get out of the bedroom. She walked to the kitchen. Zack and Tayden just laughed at her cute reaction. “She is not going to school today, is she?,” Tayden asked with a smirk, thinking the two lovers wanted to do other things. Zack knew exactly what Tayden was thinking. “No she isn't. But not because of what you think. She is sort of sick in a way,” Zack said and sighed, looking at the floor. “Were you that rough last night?,” Tayden asked, confused, wondering if that was the case why Genevieve was able to walk so normally. “No you i***t,” Zack said and walked to Tayden, hitting his arm. “What then?,” Tayden asked, getting a bit worried. Zack hesitated to tell him the truth. “She had an anxiety attack this morning.” Zack said and sighed. Tayden’s eyes widened. “Is she okay?,” he then asked Zack with a worried expression. Zack looked at the floor and crossed his arms. “If you ask Genevieve, she would say she is fine,” Zack said in a deep voice. “But..?,” Tayden asked, confused. “We need to keep an eye on that guy Elliot. He can’t get anywhere near her,” Zack growled as he looked at Tayden. Tayden could see the boiling anger in Zack's eyes. Tayden got a bit startled. Zack only ever looked like that when he was out for blood.

Tayden, Zack and Genevieve hung out at Genevieve’s apartment the whole day. Genevieve made pancakes. Tayden sat on the couch trying to find a good movie to watch after breakfast. Zack kept his distance to Genevieve, he knew if he got too close he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself. They weren’t alone anymore. Zack placed himself down on the couch next to Tayden. His attention was on Genevieve the whole time, watching her every move. He wanted to go stand behind her and hug her close as she cooked him breakfast, but Tayden was there too. She looked so sexy cooking like that. It was weird for him to find a woman sexy while doing such a normal thing. They ate at the dinner table and Genevieve noticed the beautiful flowers Zack had given her the night before. She felt bad about not having thanked him. How did he know her favorite flower was a lily? She wondered. Genevieve was surprised as to how much the two boys could eat. Zack had tried to be discreet when he had put a pancake on Genevieve’s plate, noticing she hadn’t eaten much. But Tayden noticed and thought to himself it was cute how his friend finally softened up for once. After breakfast they watched a movie. Tayden sat on the couch as Zack and Genevieve placed themselves on either side of him. Tayden thought it was funny that the two lovers wouldn’t sit next to each other while he was there. Tayden picked The Hunger Games which Zack hadn’t seen. Throughout the movie Zack corrected the fighting mistakes and called the main character p*****s for hiding. Genevieve thought it was cute how worked up he got over a movie. As the movie ended, Tayden and Zack started talking about how they would have won if they had been in the movie. It quickly turned into mission planning as they started mentioning the other guys and how the seven of them would only need one movie to overthrow President Snow. Zack hadn’t watched the other movies either and after this one he probably never would. Tayden filled him in on the storyline of the other movies as they planned out their own way to success. Genevieve just laughed to herself listening.

As the day went by the three of them just talked. The boys told her about some of the good old times they have had with the other boys. Tayden told the story of Skyler being drunk and hitting on the show girl, only to find out she was a drag-queen after kissing her. All of the other boys knew the whole time. Not that the boys would judge Skyler if he was into boys.

Zack then told the story about the time Issac almost ran him over and Zack pretended to have been hit by his car. Issac stepped out of his car almost crying after seeing Zack lying on the road lifeless. They both had a ton of stories about the time the seven of them had. Genevieve loved listening to the stories.

Genevieve’s favorite story was the one Tayden told about Zack's secret birthday party last year. The boys had been planning it for weeks and were nearly ready to surprise Zack. But they hadn’t considered surprising an armed, specially trained soldier wasn’t a good idea. Zack had come home after dark to point b, where they were staying at that time. He saw all of the lights were out and he knew something was up. So he snok around the house with his gun out and peaked inside of the garden door. He realised that the guys were hiding and then saw the birthday decorations. Zack never really liked his birthday or surprises, he decided to make his own fun and teach his friends a lesson. He silently slipped in the back door with a bit of rope and some other things he needed. Zack had then taken his friends out one by one in the cover of the darkness. He had turned the lights on and looked at his handy work. They were all kept silent by a piece of fabric Zack had bound on their mouths as the first thing, so they couldn’t warn each other. Issac was bound to a chair at the dinner table. Noah and Matthew were bound together on the floor back to back. Skyler was handcuffed behind his back to the fridge, still standing. Tayden was locked in a large suitcase only opened at his head so he could see and breathe. Ethan was lying on the floor handcuffed to Issac's leg. Zack smirked at how pathetic they all looked and walked to the cake talking a piece before sitting down next to Issac, who had looked very angry at him. Zack had thanked everyone for the surprise and ate the cake while they were still bound uncomfortably.

Genevieve laughed a lot at that story. Zack liked the retelling of his birthday party. “Wow, I only know how to tie my shoes,” she had joked looking at Zack, impressed. He just smirked. “I think I can show you a thing or two,” he shamelessly said licking his lips. Genevieve tossed a pillow at him, which he of course caught with no problem. They all laughed together.

As the sun went down outside, Tayden said he would have to go. Zack stood up as well and walked with Tayden. Zack went to the bedroom to grab his jacket from Genevieve’s bed before walking back to Tayden. Genevieve followed them out to her front door. Before Zack could leave she pulled him down by his collar and kissed him. Tayden just stared at them. Zack leaned into the kiss not wanting to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow after school,” he said after she pulled away. She nodded knowing what he meant. They were gonna go on their first date together. She was so excited. The boys left and she received a text from Zack only minutes after. ‘Call me if you need me.’ She didn’t know if he meant emotionally or sexually. She thought, knowing him, he probably meant sexually but she had a hope that he might have meant it for both purposes. Tayden helped Zack sneak out just like he had helped him sneak in. Tayden went home alone after not being able to convince Zack to come with him. Zack wasn’t ready to come home yet. Doing their conversation earlier that day about the others, he realised he was missing them. But he didn’t want to go back. He felt hurt after they had singled him out, making him the villain. He went to his hotel room not far from where Genevieve lived.

As he laid down on the bed in the hotel room he received a message. He looked at his phone and sat up. ‘Thank you for today and the beautiful flowers.’ She texted with a heart emoji. He smiled at her cute gesture. He then texted back. ‘No problem.’ Not knowing what else to text back. He had never done the whole texting thing before. He saw the three small dots on his scene indicating she was typing something. He waited impatiently to see what she was writing. The dots then disappeared and no message appeared. He stared annoyed at his phone. How could she not text him back? He then called her annoyed, thinking she ignored him. She picked it up. “Hey,” she said sweetly. “Why are you not texting me back?,” he asked coldly. She was a bit surprised by his tone. “What do you mean?” She asked, confused. “I wrote ‘no problem’ and then you just ignored me,” he said not realising that he had closed the conversation over text by sending ‘no problem’. She giggled over the phone at how clueless he was. “What?,” he asked with a softer tone after hearing her cute giggle. “You were the one who just coldly answered ‘no problem’. I thought you didn’t want to text,” she said with a fake sad voice. “No, I wanted you to text back,” he said apologetically, thinking she really was sad. “It didn’t seem that way... Besides, you left me here all alone. All by myself in this dark empty apartment,” she joked dramatically. He picked up on what she was doing and then smirked. “Oh really, how lonely are you exactly?,” he asked in a low husky voice. She blushed, having to admit she already missed him. “You have no idea,” she simply said. “You miss me that much already?,” he asked arrogantly, smirking. “You didn’t have to leave, you know. If you wanted to, you could have stayed,” she admitted. “I’ll be there in 10,” he said and hung up.