Hooked on Him - Zach Herron

Chapter 19

Chloe's POV: The ride to the police station is tense and uncomfortable. Jonah grips the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white, and doesn't say a word. Corbyn and Daniel talk lowly in the back seat with worried looks on their faces. Jack sits next to me, holding me up as I lean against and trying to comfort me as tears dribble down my cheeks. But I don't understand a single word he's saying. All I can picture is Zach, bruised and battered after a fight that I got him into.

My fault. It's all my fault. None of this would have happened if I wasn't so trusting, so open to that stranger. His piercing blue eyes pop into my head and I shiver, remembering his nails digging into my wrist and the sense of terror that I felt. Jack senses my discomfort, and he pulls me even tighter against him. I rest my head on his chest and half-listen to the sound of his voice repeating the same type of phrases over and over again.

"It's okay, I've got you, you're safe now........" I tremble a little bit and he rocks us gently, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. We pull into the station and park, but no one moves to get out.

Jonah suddenly breaks the silence pounding his fists against the steering wheel and I jump. "Stupid, arrogant boy!" he says loudly as he hits it, emphasizing each word. "He could have been killed," he mutters with anger in his eyes. Daniel looks at me with wide eyes and Corbyn shifts in his seat uncomfortably.

Jonah turns around in his seat and looks at each of us. "No messing around in here," he says, a little harshly. "Don't speak unless spoken to." The boys nod vigorously in agreement and he glares at them. He's not mad at them, he's mad at himself.

My heart goes out to Jonah. It's his responsibility to take care of the boys, being the oldest. Zach was dumb enough to get himself into a fight, and now Jonah is blaming himself completely. I can tell by the tone of his voice and the rage in his eyes.

"You can't blame yourself," I sniffle, and place a hand on his shoulder. His eyes flicker down to my fingers and back up at me, taking in my puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. He looks at me for a moment, sadly.

"You can't blame yourself either," he says a little more gently, and gets out of the car. Jack offers me his hand and helps me out of the car, and we all make our way inside, silently. Jonah leads the pack, making his way over to the counter to handle business. I slump down into an empty seat and Jack sits down next to me. I put my head in my hands, still traumatized and very worried about Zach.

What if he is arrested? This could ruin his image. End his career. Mess up his whole life. My shoulders shake as tears silently start to flow down my cheeks again. He looked hurt too. I remember the purple bruise on his jaw, huge and ugly, and wince.

"Hey...." I hear Jack say softly. He puts his fingers under my chin and lifts my head back up, his eyes searching mine. I sniffle and look at him, still upset. "I promise everything will be all right. I promise," he says firmly.

He wraps an arm around me and I lean into him, tuning out the murmur of conversation between the other boys. I close my eyes and try to relax, try to calm down. But I just can't. My heart is still pounding in my chest and my cheeks are flushed. I hear footsteps and Jonah walks up. I stand up abruptly, shrugging off Jack's arm.

"Where is he?" my voice cracks. "Can we see him?" I beg, breaking down.

"He's being questioned right now. This could take a while." Jonah rubs his temple and sighs, sitting down with his feet spread apart. Jack tugs lightly on my arm, guiding me back down to the seat before I crumple.

We sit and wait. And wait. My mind is racing, and I imagine every worst possible outcome. No one says anything. I start to bounce my knee up and down nervously, distressed. It's almost comforting. The clock on the wall ticks loudly as my thoughts wander.

Jack puts a hand cautiously on my knee to keep it still. I stop moving it and look at him, startled. He quickly moves his hand away.

"Sorry.... it was stressing me out," he explains and readjusts in his seat.

His hand bumps mine and he leaves it there casually. I glance down at it, and our eyes meet when I look back up. I look away and flush. I feel him still looking at me, and my fingers brush against his. Before I know what's happening, our hands move in unison and we interlock our fingers without uttering a single word. He pulls our laced hands into his lap and rests his head against me. I lean my head on top of his and we sit silently like this waiting for Zach.

I'm starting to nod off on Jack when I hear a door open and footsteps walk into the waiting room. "He's free to go," I hear an officer say gruffly, and I open my eyes to see Zach standing in front of us holding an ice pack to his bruised jaw, his eyes going back and forth between the two of us. I let go of Jack's hand and spring up, suddenly wide awake.

"Zach!" Running over to him, I throw myself into his arms and hug him fiercely, looping my arms around his neck.

He winces and pulls back a little bit. "Ouch." I step back immediately once I remember his injuries, horrified that I made him hurt.

"Oh my gosh I'm so so sorry I didn't realiz-" I'm interrupted by him carefully placing his arms around me and gently pulling me against his chest. I stay still, afraid to hurt him. The boys eye Zach without saying anything and Jonah exchanges a few words with the officer before motioning for us to follow him and leave. We walk silently to the car and Jonah slams the door shut once we are all in. The air is thick with tension.

"Zachary Dean Herron," Jonah says dangerously. "What the hell compelled you to do that?!" he asks, raising his voice.

Zach gets defensive. "That creep! He wouldn't let go of Chloe!"

"No one asked you to fight him!" Daniel butts in.

"There is nothing and-" Jonah eyes me. "-no one worth ruining your life and image for!" he says, hurting me, but deep down I know what he's trying to say. He's just not expressing it right.

Jack frowns. "Hey Jonah man maybe that was a little harsh."

"No, he's right," I say quietly, and Zach scoffs at Jonah and looks at me, surprised that I'm not taking his side.

"So what did you want me to do, let him take her away?"

Jonah looks at me. "I didn't mean it like that." he pleads. "Of course I wanted him to help you, but he didn't have to fight the guy. He didn't have to get himself in so much trouble!"

"Aren't you happy he's oka-" Corbyn starts to say.

"That was a really stupid thing to do-" Daniel says at the same time.

Zach interrupts everyone loudly and I flinch. "It was self defense!" he yells. "I didn't throw the first punch. That's why I got let out after some questioning." He looks down. "I didn't start the fight," he says quietly.

Jonah blinks. "Oh." He sits quietly for a moment. "That still doesn't make it right," he says thoughtfully. "But I feel better now that I know that."

He chooses his next words very careful. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that ever again. You're my responsibility, and it's my fault if you get hurt. I only want to keep you safe," he pleads.

Zach eyes him warily and gives him a small nod. "Will do," he says lowly. His eyes land on me and I decide to speak my mind.

"Zach you're one of the stupidest people I've ever meet. That was a really dumb thing to do and you scared me half to death," I say sternly. His face falls but I take the ice pack out of his hand and tenderly place it against his jaw, holding it against the bruise while looking into his brown eyes. "But you're also stupid brave. Thank you. For protecting me," I say softly.

"Anything for you, princess," he says fondly, and moves his hand to his face, resting it on mine. "I have to keep you safe. I have to." It's only now that I see how deeply Zach cares for me, how much I mean to him.

I move the ice pack away, leaning in and kissing his jaw where it's bruised. "But Jonah's right. Don't you even dare think about doing something like this again," I say firmly. He nods his head and Jonah pulls out of the parking spot, taking us home after this long night to get some rest.