Broken(13 Reasons Why)

6.2

We sat in silence as we waited for Zach, a couple minutes later he was knocking at my door
I slowly got up
"I'll be in the kitchen, you've got this" Montgomery told me
I nodded and went to answer the door
Zach stepped in as soon as I opened the door
"Look if you didn't like me then you could've just said no to me. There was no need to play me and go behind my back with one of my best fucking friends" Was the first thing he said
"Zach" I spoke "Please just let me explain" I said
"Why should I?" He crosses his arms
I gave him begging eyes and he sighed
"You have five minutes" He told me as he took his shoes off
I led him to the living room where he sat down on the couch and I sat beside him
He shifted in his place a bit so there was more space between us
"Zach, I know what Hannah told you and it's not true. I swear to God, I am not cheating on you" I started
He scoffed
"Alright so I'm just supposed to believe that? Hannah told me that Justin stayed over here and that she caught you guys kissing? I'm not stupid, Althia" Zach said
I winced at how he said my name
"Yes, Justin stayed over but it wasn't for us to hook up or anything. And Hannah didn't catch us kissing, she saw Justin running out of the house and she jumped to conclusions" I told him
"So there wasn't any kissing at all?" He asked me
"Justin kissed me" I answered him "But I pushed him back the second he did. I didn't kiss back, I would never do that" I added as I saw anger flashing in his eyes
"Why was he here?" Zach questioned
I lowered my head
"Why? I need to know why or else we're over" He said
I shook my head, feeling more tears coming to my eyes
"I can't tell you" I whispered
"Bullshit you can't tell me" Zach exclaimed as he got up
"Zach please" I said as I reached out for him but he flinched away
"No Althia, if you don't tell me why he was here and why he stayed over then there is no way that I can believe you over Hannah" He said
I got up
"I can't tell you" I repeated "I promised Justin I wouldn't tell anyone" I added
"You would rather lose me then break a promise to Justin?" Zach asked me as he lowered his eyes "That just shows how much you truly care about me" He added
"Oh God, Zach! I do care about you. More than anything! I just can't tell you" I told him as some tears spilled out of my eyes
"She didn't do anything" A voice said before Zach could say anything
We both turned to the doorway and saw Justin
"And what the fuck are you doing here?" Zach stumped angrily towards Justin "You here to kiss my fucking girlfriend again?" He grabbed him
"Zach, stop it" I said as I walked up to them
"Or what? So you're defending him now too?" He looked at me and tighten his grip on Justin's collar
"Let him go" Montgomery spoke as he walked into the living room
"Monty here's too? Jesus Christ, you must be fucking the whole gang" Zach said and my heart sank
"Just let him explain" Monty said as Zach wouldn't let go of Justin
Zach looked at all of us before finally letting go of Justin
I shot Monty a thankful look and he nodded slightly
"Well you gonna talk" He said to Justin
"I kissed Althia and I'm sorry, I don't know why I did but I did and she pushed me away the second it happened. It was all me" Justin told him
"Why did you stay over?" Zach asked him
Justin took a deep breath
"Why?" Zach urged him
"Because my moms boyfriend fucking beats me and I needed a place to stay and Althia was nice enough to let me stay over and maybe that's why I kissed her because she showed that she fucking cared about me alright and I'm fucking sorry about it" Justin exclaimed before storming out of the room
Zach's eyes soften
"Justin, wait" He called after him
We heard the front door being opened and closed
Zach started walking to go after him but Montgomery stopped him
"Let him go" He said
Zach nodded and turned towards me again
"I'm sorry" He said
I shook my head
"You have nothing to be sorry about, don't apologize" I told him
I reached out to him but he took a step back
"Not... Not right now" He shook his head
I nodded
Before any of us could say anything more, there was a knock at the door
Monty went to go get it
A couple seconds later, I heard more voices
"Alright so are we going to kill this bitch today or tomorrow?" Jess said as she walked into the room
I ran up to her and gave her a hug
"You know?" I asked her
"Yeah, Hannah made a group chat without you and said a bunch of bullshit and then Monty called us over and here we are" She said as she hugged me back
"Wait, us?" I questioned her
"Yeah, we've got your back mama" Jeff said from behind Jessica
I let go of Jess and went to hug Jeff tightly
"I thought I would lose you guys" I said
"You could never lose us" Another voice said
I looked behind Jeff and saw Alex
"I allow you to hug me just this one time" He added
I laughed a bit and hugged him
"I think I'm gonna go" Zach announced
I looked at him
"No, please don't" I shook my head
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere and I believe you" He told me "I think it's just a good idea that you spend time with everyone else" He added as he squeezed my side
"I'll go with you" Alex said
They said their goodbyes and I was left with Jess, Jeff and Mont
"Let's go do something" Jeff suggested
"I'm not really in the mood to go anywhere" I told him
"I don't care" He replied
"Can we go to Monet's?" Jess asked
Jeff nodded and they both went to put their shoes
"Come on, I'll buy you coffee" Monty told me as he gently grabbed my arm
"And a muffin?" I questioned
"And a muffin"He promised
I nodded and we joined the others to put our shoes on
"Can I see what she said, please?" I asked them as we got into Montgomery's car
They all looked at me
"Please" I said again
Jeff sighed but gave me his phone and I thanked him
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Hannah-Banana🍌🙈 added you, Jensons🤓📚, Jessi-Yah🤑🙉, Big Z🏀💥, Alex👴💀, Padilla🚗💨 and Monty🤞😤