Guide My Steps - A Zak Bagans Story

High School Bro-Code

A/N: Terribly sorry about the late update! I had a challenging time with writer's block and I battled through it. Give me your thoughts! Emeline above. :)

"Pretty little lady with the swollen eyes, would you show them to me? I know I'm not that perfect, but you stay awhile. Baby, then you will see. Don't give up, baby. I know that it's shaky. Just let love consume us, consume us..." - When You Can't Sleep at Night by Of Mice & Men

*

"Emeline..."

Oh, how that voice hurt.

My heart had never ached so terribly in my many years of living.

It was unlike any pain I had ever experienced.

To see Zak, to literally bump into him, accidentally brush his skin, inhale his scent, hear his voice... The biggest problem, the largest obstacle that I had ever faced was not the death of my parents; no, it was the man standing before me.

He wore a solid gray dry-fit tee shirt along with a pair of black knee length Nike shorts - his favorite pair. It was the typical outfit he wore whenever he and I would go to train with his good friend and martial arts trainer, Brendan. Never before had two pieces of clothing - so familiar - affected me like this.

Had I studied him harder, I would have thought he had dropped a few pounds. His clothing typically clung formally to his fit figure. Now, there seemed to be empty spaces along his body that used to be filled. There were several marks that ran up one of his arms, but he immediately pulled it from my line of sight.

We met eyes then. Dull green to clouded blue. Immediately, my mouth went dry, and my tongue twisted inwards, scraping painfully across the roof of my mouth like coarse sandpaper.

I watched as the muscles in his jaws clenched, and the tendons in his fingers tensed as he tightened his grip on the box of the books. He opened his mouth, as if he were to say something, but he subtly closed it. You could hear the grit in his teeth as his eyes hardened on my features. His expression was guarded, as were his eyes. I couldn't, for the life of me, read him.

Then again, I was too busy fighting the urge to run outside and fertilize the bushes with an unhealthy dose of fast food tacos. Aura analyzing wasn't exactly my current concern.

The air was crackling with apprehension, tainted with a touch of worry and unease as he shifted the weight of the box in his grip. As if I was spellbound, my eyes felt permanently captured by his movements. A trace-like feeling encompassed my body, mind and soul. An inner mantra in my head screamed his name over and over - Zak, Zak, Zak! And as I stood there, it changed.

I felt my entire body erupt into an internal blaze as my eyes fell upon the single silver band embracing his left ring finger.

Betrayal replaced the chanting, slicing through every morsel of my being. I was suddenly reminded of why I had felt so terribly these long few months, and it hurt. A hell of a lot more than what I had imagined.

Aaron, thank the gods, entered behind Zak and interrupted our frozen stare down. "Hey, uh, Emeline?"

I regained myself in a few short seconds. Or, well, just enough to look at Aaron through unshed tears. "Yeah?" My voice cracked. Shit.

He shouldered past Zak, practically knocking him to the side. Placing his hands on my cheeks, he distracted me with his soothing chocolate gaze and gentle touch as Zak slid out of the room. His thumbs slowly stroked my skin, melting away my anxiety, worries and fears almost instantly.

"Emeline, I want you to do something for me," he said. "Close your eyes." I did as I was instructed. "Match your heartbeat with mine." He set my hand on the warm, solid form of his chest so that my palm was directly above his heart. I took in a deep, shaky breath, unaware of how fast and hard I had been breathing previously. "Slow your breathing, match my pace. In," he slowly breathed in, "and out." We exhaled together. "Good. Open your eyes now."