WANT (completed)

ch. 64 | How Serious?

ASA'S POV

It takes everything I have to step out of Cassandra's room, and the entire way from the bed to the doorway, I'm glancing back at her. It's her reassuring smile that makes it so that I can finally step outside to grab Zac. As much as I don't want to leave her side, I know that she needs this. They both do.

It takes me a few short moments to walk down the hallway from her room to the waiting area, but I'm in a bit of a rush. I don't want her alone, so the faster her brother gets his ass into the room, the better I'll feel about it. When I step outside the double doors, both Lauren and Zac come up to me almost immediately. I'm glad for it, because it means that they're truly concerned about her.

"How is she?" Zac blurts out. I pursue my lips together for a short second, still wanting to jam my fist into his face for not calling me, but I think a lot of the anger I'm feeling is due to Ethan, not Zac, and I'd rather save that anger for when I deal with him.

"She's okay. She just woke up, but I told her that I would send you in," I tell him, grabbing his arm before he can slip past me to go and see her. "Don't fuck this up. She doesn't owe you anything, but you owe her an explanation. She deserves that much."

"I know. I fucked up, and...I know," Zac nods his head, giving me a look that makes me truly believe he's being honest. I nod back at him and let go of him, allowing him to walk through the double doors.

"Room 247," I call out to him, my eyes landing on the blonde that now stands in front of me. Lauren frowns up at me as I block her from following Zac through the doors.

"What?" she raises her eyebrows at me, and I cross my arms across my chest, refusing to move out of the way until I get some answers. Zac and Cassandra need a few minutes without us, and this might just be the only time that I have to ask all the questions that I want answered.

"You know what, Lauren," I snap. I'm still angry, and I'm most definitely getting slightly irritated. I know that Lauren can't read my mind, but is it not obvious that I'm wondering why the hell she was with Zac in the first place? I can't wrap my mind around that, but I have a feeling that I won't want to either. They shouldn't have been with each other in the first place. "Why were you at the office?"

Lauren's eyes dilate slightly before relaxing, as if she truly wasn't expecting me to ask any questions about her and Zac. Did she think that I wouldn't connect the dots?

"How serious is it?" I decide to ask instead in a clearly irritated tone when she doesn't answer me.

"It's not like that," Lauren quickly calls out, shaking her head at me. "We aren't...together. We've barely hung out a few times."

I nod, repeatedly, biting down on my lower lip as I stare down at her. She's a fairly tall woman, but for the first time, I notice that she's still much smaller than myself.

"Okay. Then you'll stop seeing him all together."

I shouldn't be demanding things from Lauren. She's a grown ass adult, and I know that. But she's fucked up my life one too many times, and it's not happening again. Lauren might be my best friend, but I can't risk what would come along with Lauren and Zac seeing each other as more than just friends.

"What?" Lauren's mouth practically gapes, stunned by my straightforward demand. "We're just frien—"

"Really? You're just friends? If you were just friends, you would have told me. You wouldn't have been at his office and terrified that I found out about it. And surely, you wouldn't be as shocked as you are right now. If you're just friends, then me asking you not to see him shouldn't be an issue," I retort, not giving her a chance to finish her remark. I don't want to listen to what she has to say. I don't think I should have to. This isn't the first time that we're going through this.