Nightingale: The Vigilante || EDITING

Chapter Eleven

I wake up late that morning. When I opened my eyes I felt immediately that something was wrong. My body naturally goes into attack mode as I spring up from the couch, my body extremely sore from the night before. My heart nearly escapes my throat when I find Zac sitting on the coffee table, eating a bowl of cereal. He would have let the bowl fly out of his hands if he didn't expect my frightened scream. Instead he sat on the coffee table and watched me sleep as he ate cereal. He was still wearing his vigilante pants, but besides the bandages holding together his wounds that was about it.

"Hope you don't mind that I ate the last of the corn flakes," he speaks with a mouth full of food. I pursed my lips and threw my pillow at him. He lets it hit him in the face like nothing ever happened, a grin plastered on his face. "Hi, by the way."

He's so muscle-y, and adorable, I thought.

You should be mad at him, I heard a voice inside me say.

But he is hot, and eating cereal, and not to mention he's alive!, I whined.

No!, the voice screamed. Be angry. You thought he was dead, and he failed to tell you the opposite.

But-

No buts, only anger!

Fine, I mentally sighed.

"Yeah, about that," my voice sounded groggy from sleep, "What the literal hell, Zac! I thought you were dead!"

"Well," Zac swallowed his last bite of cereal, "I technically was."

"But, how? And why, I mean, how?"

"I don't remember you asking these many questions," Zac called back as he wobbled to the kitchen to put his dishes in the sink. "I'd be happy to answer them for you. If..."

"If what?" I smiled, cocking my head to the side with a sigh.

"If I can get a kiss from my girlfriend that I haven't seen in three years," Zac asked sheepishly, plopping down next to me.

"Only if you tell me where the hell you have been," I stop him, pressing my finger on his lips.

"Fine," he chirped, leaning back on the couch. He flinched from the pain shooting from his side. He acted so normal around me I almost forgot he was injured like I was. I guess years after experience we had learned just to live with the pain and roll with the punches. "I missed you so much, Liv," he sighed. "I know you probably hate me for not finding you sooner and all of that drama. I would of been here sooner if I had escaped from H.I.E.P. earlier."

"Why were you still there? After all they had done to us-"

"I know," he stopped me. "Trust me, I know. Somehow, Commander Scott has found a way to bring people back from the dead, like in a video game when the player gains a new life. I woke up fine, no injuries or fatal wounds whatsoever. Well, except for these stupid scars the fire explosion left me with. Those were far from repair."

I grimaced at his scars as he pointed them out. They just brought back to many painful memories of that night.

"Anyways," Zac breathed, pulling the blanket I slept with over his chest, covering most if the scars. "Right when I found out I was still in H.I.E.P. I was confronted by Scott. I remember him asking all these crazy questions about how I felt and if I was ready to help be his second in command now that you were gone."

"What did you tell him?"

"What do you think? I spat in his face and called him an prance-y assed douche bag that sleeps with his mother." I snorted at him, a small smile spreading on both of our faces. That did sound like something he would do. "Unfortunately I was unaware they had implanted one of the chips in the back of my neck."