A Dark Past And A Bright Future

To fight or to love?

Alina sighed at the sight of Zach on the floor.

"Not again." This had in fact been the second time she'd walked in on him. 

The first being a few months back after his mum called saying that it was his fault that his dad died. Alina couldn't imagine why that could possibly have been Zach's fault.

She admired how princely he looked when he was sleeping for a few moments before grabbing a pillow and blanket from his room. Alina slowly slid her hand under Zach's head and lifted it up before stuffing the pillow under, making sure not to pull on his black hair and throws the blanket over him. He lets out a few soft grunts before settling down again. She picked up the bottle of whisky from the bar and examined it before taking a whiff and gagging.

"How could anyone like this stuff?" Alina tossed the bottle in the bin and proceeded to wash the dishes in the sink.

Since his mum is barely home it's hard for Zach to keep the house up by himself. It's two stories with three bedrooms. One of which he keeps shut off. Alina's never seen anyone go in or come out of that room. Even after all the time she has known his family, she's never been in there. 

Alina boils up chicken noodle soup for when Zach wakes up, she leaves a note reading

"Please meet me at the park at 4 pm, Zach, I really want to talk to you."

She looked at the time on her phone.

"11:32am"

Alina hoped he would be awake by then. Before walking out of the door, Alina looks back at Zach and smiles sadly. 

"I love you." she says hoping he somehow hears her words.

Zach is woken by a slamming.

"ZACHARY KING, MY LITTLE BOY!" He hears a woman shouting.

At first frightened but then quickly realising it was only his mum, coming home hammered, once again. She walks into the room to see him lying on the floor. He looks up, her face is as red as a cherry. He looks around to see that he was wrapped in a blanket and laying on a pillow.

"What're you doing!?" His mother stumbles over to the couch and lays down.

Remembering that he passed out drunk hours before, he jumps to his feet. He's not smart enough to get a pillow and blanket when he's drunk. One word goes through his mind

"Alina" he thinks.

He hops over to the bar to see a now, cold bowl of soup and a letter. Having hopped to fast, his head throbs, he groans as he goes to massage his temples. Zach is colossally hungover. He picks up the note barely being able to read it.

"ZACHARY, MAKE MUMMY A CUP OF TEA WON'T YOU DARLING? MUMMY'S HEAD HURTS." His mother screams not realising that they're only 10 feet away from each other. 

Her voice echoes around in his head causing it to ache as if being slowly crushed by a pressure. Zach growls and sends a glare her way, before turning back to the note.

"Please meet  me at the park at 4 pm, Zach, I really want to talk to you"

"Oh no." All of the memories come flooding back into his head.

He looks at his watch.

"9:47pm"

He drops his jaw, staring in shock at the time. Zach fumbles around trying to get sense of his body back whilst making his way to the door.

"Zachy! Where's my tea?! I thought I told you to make one?!" His mother's pitchy voice penetrates his ears.

"Make it yourself." Zach snaps before slamming the front door.

 He can hear his mum yelling his name but he doesn't care for it. Zach's hoping and praying Alina's still waiting. But after the stunt he pulled, why should she? Too impatient to walk, Zach bursts into a run to get to the park. Small rivulets of sweat bead on Zach's forehead, the putrid feeling of anxiety was festering in the pit of his stomach. The park was only close, he could see it from his house. What he couldn't see was Alina. Zach ran down the street, he could smell the salty air of the beach that opposed the row of houses the park was sitting between.  Relief struck him like rain in a drought as he turned into the park to see Alina sitting on the swings beside the wooden playset.

Alina stood up, wiping the tears from her face while smiling at Zach running towards her. He launched himself into her arms, nearly knocking her over. they savoured the time they had in each others' arms, dreading the fact they had to talk about what happened. Alina pulled away first and looked at Zach who couldn't bear to look into her eyes, knowing she had witnessed him passed out pathetically. The moon lit up the ocean as it danced in the soft winds. The streetlight provided enough light for Alina to see that Zach was hungover, not to mention she could smell the poisoning scent of alcohol on him.

"I-." She started. "Can you look at me please?" Alina shook her head.

He raised his head to look into Alina's judgemental eyes. 

"This isn't the first time, Zach. I know about all of the other times you've done this." Alina raises her eyebrows waiting for Zach's reply. Silence filled the air. 

"I hate seeing you like that, it's...painful." She struggled to speak.

"Then don't watch." Zach mumbled.

A painful sting struck Alina's chest as she heard those words leave his mouth. Her mouth fell open as she tried to come up with a response, she couldn't find the words. Seeing Alina's shocked and hurt reaction, Zach rubbed his face and took a frustrated breath. 

"You were such a good kid, what happened?" Alina shook her head.

"Ha! and what would you know?" Zach laughed at her statement.

"Y'know what? This is what you do, Zach. You push the people that love you away." Alina snarled and began to walk away. "Asshole." She muttered.

Zach grabbed onto Alina's arms and pulled her into a kiss, much like she did to him before except more passionately. Time stopped, it felt as if it was only them. 

"I'm sorry." Zach breathed as he pulled away.

Alina looked at him, she felt her face getting hot. Their bodies were still touching, they could feel the heat radiating from each other. Before he could get another word in, Alina grabbed onto his collar and pulled Zach into another kiss. Alina wasn't aware of how much the next words he would speak were going to affect her.

"I love you." 

A sudden burst of warmth exploded in her chest.

"I love you too."