I Found You, Something Told Me To Stay - (Jason Berry/Zacky Vengeance)

Chapter Thirty-Six.

“Huh?” I replied innocently, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Sorry...I...I was in my own little world then. Hey.”

I was pretty proud of myself that that sentence had come out so smoothly. I was honestly expecting myself to be acting like some stammering, stuttering idiot. Or maybe I was and I just hadn’t noticed it.

Zacky chuckled, shaking his head as he continued to stare at me with an extremely amused expression. My cheeks flushed hot and I quickly looked away, not able to look him in the eye.

I was confused about a couple of things. The first one being how was he not hungover? Maybe he just didn’t suffer from hangovers, but I knew for sure that he’d drunk more than mostly everyone last night.

And that pretty much answered the second question playing on my mind. I knew Zacky well enough now to know that if he remembered kissing me, he wouldn’t act like it hadn’t happened—which right now, he was. If he had remembered, I knew he’d be apologising and explaining to me that it was a drunken mistake that wasn’t meant to happen.

Obviously, he had no recollection whatsoever.

I didn’t know whether to be gutted or relieved by that. I was half-and-half on the situation, because part of me truly wanted him to remember and maybe be glad that it’d happened, but the realistic side of me realised that that would never happen. I decided to just suck up the fact that it was a drunken mistake of his, and carry on as normal.

Or maybe dropping a couple of hints wouldn’t do any harm.

“So, did you enjoy your birthday?” He asked me interestedly, the smile still on his face.

“Yeah...it was great.” I answered with a grin of my own. “You probably don’t remember anything though, right?”

As I forced a chuckle out, trying to make my attempt to divulge how much he could remember, to be subtle small talk, he laughed along and shook his head.

“I remember arriving...and talking to a few people. But nah, that’s about it. I got drunk pretty early and the rest of the night is a blur.” He shrugged.

That was what I’d expected to hear, but I still couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. I could feel my smile falter slightly, and Zacky immediately noticed, so I decided to change the subject.

“You want some coffee?” I said, smiling again.

“That’d be great. Thanks.” He nodded. “Is your dad still asleep?”

I shrugged, turning my back to the counter. “As far as I know.”

It fell silent for a couple of minutes as I continued to prepare the coffee. I just about jumped out of my skin when I turned round to hand Zacky his cup and came to the realisation that he was right behind me, resulting in me very nearly bumping into him.

“Sorry.” He chuckled at my expression, taking the cup out of my hand and taking a sip. “So, what are your plans for today?”

I shrugged again, swerving past him and making my way over to the table.

“I’m not grounded anymore, so I might go out.” I said, sitting down. “Depends who’s about. I might give Ronnie a call.”

There was a slight pause for just a second or so, before he spoke again.

“What does it matter that you’re not grounded anymore? You snuck out practically every day to see him when you were, anyway.” He replied, his tone a little snappy.

I blinked at him for a moment, slightly taken back by his sudden change it mood. I honestly didn’t see how it would affect him in the slightest, but I didn’t understand Zacky most of the time anyway. I was used to feeling confused by him.

“Well...I dunno.” I murmured. “I might see Charlotte and Linds instead—go to the beach or something. I didn’t say I was definitely going to see Ronnie.”

“Seeing Charlotte and Linds would be better.” He nodded.“You haven’t seen them in ages.”

I blinked, extremely confused. “I saw them yesterday at the party.”

“I meant you haven’t hung out with them in ages.” He shrugged.

He was right to a degree. My dad had decided that my grounding had even stretched so far that I wasn’t even allowed to hang out with my cousins. He decided that was too rewarding after everything I’d done, and it had been hard. I loved hanging out with my cousins, but I wouldn’t have been able to sneak out to see them. One of the guys would’ve found out, no doubt.

“I guess you’re right...” I frowned back at him, thinking about it. “Ronnie can wait a day or two. I’ll go out with Charlotte and Linds.”

He nodded again, taking a sip of his coffee. “Good choice.”

Again, it fell silent. I pretended to be extremely interested in the floor tiles as we both drank our coffee, and after five minutes or so, Zacky stood up.

“Right, well...I’m gonna go take a shower.” He announced, running a hand through his hair.

And then he just left room without saying another word, leaving me blinking after him like I always was.

A sigh escaped my lips as I rested my head against the table, trying to compose myself. I just had to get used to the fact that he didn’t remember the kiss, and carry on with things. There was no point in dwelling on it—it was just a drunken act of his that wasn’t even going to enter his mind.

I took the last sip of my coffee and then placed the cup in the sink, texting both Charlotte and Linds as I left the kitchen. Ronnie had been bugging me with texts and calls saying that he wanted to see me and celebrate my birthday with me, seeing as he hadn’t been there on my actual birthday, but I would just have to make him wait a day or so longer.

I did, for a moment, consider seeing him in secret. But Zacky somehow always got it out of me, and I knew it would piss him off. So I decided a day with my cousins was the best option.

I was just glad I was no longer grounded.