𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, zach herron

𝐄 │59

Third Person

It was their last day on the island, and whilst Alex was packing her bags, Zach was sat in the kitchen, doing nothing when Mia and Luna walked in, sitting down next to him.

"Um Zach?" Mia said, and Zach nodded, changing his gaze from out at the beach to the two girls next to him.

"We never really talk when Alex isn't around, so we never really had the chance to say thank you." Luna explained, which made Zach confused as hell.

"What for?" Zach asked.

"For making her so happy." Mia replied. "Before she knew you and the guys.. she wasn't in the best place."

"What do you mean?" What Mia had just said confused him more. Alex hadn't said anything about not being in the best place, and she always so happy, seemingly.

"When Xavier broke up with, it kinda confirmed her fears. Her mom was working god knows where, her dad had literally disappeared, and she depended solely on the love from her boyfriend, if that makes sense." Luna said, the pair still not getting that Alex hadn't told him.

"She felt unloved, which is one of the worst things to feel. Alex, me and Mia would hang out most of the time, but back then me and Mia still went to public school. She would spend most of the day in her room, then going out at night." Luna continued.

"Alex used to cut, right after the breakup. You can see the scars if you look hard enough." Mia said, "We managed to get her to stop, but we think she used to keep doing it, up until the week she got added to the group chat."

"She did?" Zach questioned. It obviously confusing to him, seeing as Alex had always been so happy, whether it was over the phone or in real life. He then realized, that there was a period of time which he had no idea about Alex's life.

She had told him literally everything up to her and Xavier's breakup, then skipped a few of months and then he added her to the group chat by accident.

"Yeah she did, so really, thanks Zach." Mia finished, and smiling, the two girls returned to their rooms to resume packing.

Zach sat there for a bit, just processing what Alex's best friends had just told him. He felt angry for a bit, at first. That feeling was solely produced from the thought of 'how could she not tell me'. Then the angry morphed into sadness and disappointment, still produced from that same thought.

Zach got up, and made his way to their shared room, and went over to Alex, who was sat folding clothes and putting the in her suitcase. He sat next to her, and gently took a tank top off of her.

Confused, Alex looked up at him. "What's up babe?" She asked.

"Alex what happened during the months in between Xavier and you breaking up and me adding you to the groupchat?" Zach asked, and Alex sighed, realizing she had to tell him now.

And so Alex explained it, almost exactly what Mia and Luna had said, except in more detail. Holding her left arm, with her palm facing up, it ended with Zach gently tracing the faded scars.

"You're upset." Alex concluded, after finishing her story.

"I'm upset that after knowing you for this long, after we started dating, you didn't trust me enough to tell me." Zach sighed, looking up to meet her eyes.

"I would but.. I was afraid that.. well I don't know how to explain it but it was a nice feeling, you know, thinking that someone maybe loved you. Maybe people who know about that might think I need a boyfriend or I'm a attention seeker for it.. but really I think it's-" Alex said, before Zach cut her off.

"Because your parents weren't really around there to love you like a parent should do, and so you depended on the love given to you by your boyfriend and your friends." Zach finished, and Alex nodded, looking down.

"I understand." Zach smiled slightly, "I'm not upset, or mad, I understand." And with that, he gently pulled Alex closer to him, and she rested her head on his chest. Zach placed kisses on the top of her, and Alex finally had found the person she needed. The person who could love her, be there when she needed someone, and love her.

And Zach was that person.

~

a/n
a little look back into
Alex's past