Hey there guys! So this is an idea that I've had for a really long time. I hope you guys really enjoy it! Sorry for making Zack kinda ooc xD It's super fluffy, just as a heads up xD I'm never too happy with my fluff writing but, let me know what you think and please leave a comment and a vote, I really do appreciate it when you do :)
"Man, not again!" Zack said dejectedly, Hercules extended his hand to him which he grasped and lifted himself up.
"Are you alright?" Hercules asked, guilt present on his face.
"Yeah, of course!" Zack patted him on the back to reassure him, "You won fair and square Herc!"
Before they could continue their conversation, a pair of hooves quickly made its way towards them.
"Kid, what's the matter with you today?" Phil shouted at Zack, "You're not even putting up a good fight!"
"Sorry Phil," Zack gave him a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head, "I've just been kinda distracted lately."
"When are you not distracted?" Phil sighed, "You've got the attention span of a puppy!"
"Hey!" Zack placed his hands on his hips, "I do not."
Hercules muffled his laughter.
"I've got two words for ya: focus!" Phil said.
Zack and Hercules looked at each other, amused grins on their faces. It seemed to be a habit of Phil's and they'd long given up pointing it out to him. But it never failed to make them laugh.
"Honestly kid, are you sure you're not under the weather or something?" Phil crossed his arms as he looked at Zack.
"Yeah Zack," Hercules expressed his concern, "Are you sure you're alright?"
Zack paused, thinking about whether he should bring up what had been distracting him or not. He shuffled his feet around before plopping himself onto the dirt floor, holding onto his head with both hands.
"I think I am sick," Zack replied, "... lovesick."
"Lovesick!?" Hercules and Phil both repeated what he'd said.
"That definitely explains the distracted behavior..." Phil said, as he paced back and forth in front of Zack and Hercules, "Well, who's the lucky girl?"
Zack couldn't help but feel a bit shy to admit the name of the girl who had been on his mind for a while now.
"It's (Y/N), isn't it?" Hercules asked as he sat down next to him, a kind smile on his face.
"Yeah," Zack nodded, a smile making its way onto his face as he thought of you, "How'd you know?"
"Well..." Hercules paused as if he were thinking of how to properly phrase what he was going to say.
"Oh no, don't tell me I'm that obvious..." Zack groaned.
Hercules couldn't help but laugh at the distress this conversation seemed to be causing Zack. Every time he'd seen Zack approach any girl he was always so sure of himself. This was the first time Zack had ever acted this way, (Y/N) was definitely special.
"No," Hercules laughed, "I guess I've just seen you talking to her before."
"Wait," Phil had finally stopped pacing and stood in front of the two boys, "you mean (Y/N) from the market?"
Zack nodded his head quickly, "You know her?"
"Of course I know her!" Phil said, "I've bought a few things from her stall before. Nice girl... quiet, keeps to herself mostly, definitely a good balance to your enthusiasm."
"You always act like it's a bad thing," Zack pouted at Phil's obvious jab at his hyperactivity.
"You said it, not me," Phil replied, "So what's the issue here? The sooner you focus in training the sooner you can go ask her on a date, or whatever."
"Uh," Zack looked down at his hands, "That's the problem. I haven't asked her on a date... I'm not sure how to?"
"You never seemed to have trouble before," Phil replied, slightly amused by the whole situation.
"Yeah, well this time it's different. It's (Y/N)."
"Hmmm," Phil started his pacing again.
"I don't really have much experience with this," Hercules spoke up, "but, I think you should just be honest and tell her how you feel. Just speak from your heart. From what I've seen, she seems to be interested in you as well."
"You think so?" Zack asked, perking up quickly at the mention of you returning his feelings, Hercules nodded in reply, "Thanks Herc."
"I've got it!" Phil had been oblivious to the whole conversation between Zack and Hercules, "I've got the perfect plan. It involves three fool proof steps that will guarantee you success."
"I don't know Phil," Hercules seemed wary, "Are you sure you know what your doing in this situation?"
"Of course I do! I'm pretty popular with the ladies myself," Phil bragged, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Besides the sooner we put this plan into action, the sooner we can get back to training."
"Alright Phil!" Zack jumped up in excitement while Hercules stood up slowly, he had a bad feeling that this plan wasn't going to go so well.
**
"Step one: Looks. Girls love a good looking guy, you gotta show her what you've got."
Phil's words echoed in Zack's head as he walked towards the market to set the plan in motion. He could already see you in the distance, your stall already set up and a few customers there as well. He patted his hair slightly, Phil had insisted that he try a different hairstyle, one that he claimed was much more flattering than the way he normally wore his hair. He also insisted on a different outfit as well. It looked fine when Zack stood in one spot, but walking around in it was not very comfortable. Phil claimed it was necessary because it accentuated his toned physique.
You'd made sure to set up your stall bright and early in order to have as many customers as you possibly could. The day had barely started but you couldn't help but look forward to later in the afternoon when you'd get a chance to talk to Zack. He always made sure to brighten up your day and recently that was all you would look forward to every morning. You could feel the heat rise to your cheeks as you thought about him some more, shaking your head you decided to focus on helping your customers.
A larger crowd had started to form around your stall and you tried your best to keep with all of the different customers.
"Hey (Y/N)!" you automatically smiled hearing Zack's voice without even having to look up.
"Hey," you looked up, your smile faltering and turning into a look of confusion, "...Zack?"
He sensed the question in your greeting, this wasn't exactly the reaction he'd been hoping for. At least Phil made it seem like you would be ready to jump into his arms already.
"Your hair and your outfit are different today," you said, noticing the drastic changes in Zack's appearance.
"Um, yeah... I thought I would try something new. Highlight my features and all that, you know."
You could tell Zack was extremely uncomfortable in what he was wearing.
"What do you think?" Zack asked, turning around in a circle for you.
"Um..." you paused, blushing slightly as you spoke, "the new look is... nice. But, I always think you look really great, the way you usually are."
"Oh..." Zack wasn't expecting that, "you do?"
Before you could respond a customer grabbed your attention and began asking about some of the items you had on display. Zack was still in a state of shock and was quickly pushed back by oncoming customers. Unfortunately he wasn't able to keep his footing. Zack slowly rose from the ground, wiping off whatever mud and dirt he could and trudged his way back to Phil and Herc.
**
"Step two: Strength. Girls love guys who can take anything that's thrown their way, you gotta show her you have what it takes to protect her."
"I really don't know if this is a good idea Phil," Hercules said.
"It's a perfectly good idea Herc, don't worry about it!" Phil ignored him, "Alright kid, the first step didn't exactly go as planned but I promise this one will be perfect."
Zack shook off his nerves and disappointment from his failed attempt.
"Alright, I'm ready for it Phil!"
"Okay kid, see that stack of marble slabs over there?"
Zack looked in the direction that Phil was pointing and his heart dropped a little. The stack of marble slabs was huge, much bigger than he had anticipated it to be. He gulped but kept his composure, this was all for a good cause after all.
"Yeah, I see it."
"You're going to carry that and walk in front of (Y/N)'s stall, making sure to grab her attention, alright?"
"Right!" Zack replied enthusiastically, marching on over to the huge stack.
Slowly but surely he was able to pick up the large stack of marble slabs and started making his way towards the market area. Hercules followed behind shortly just to make sure Zack would be okay.
Zack finally made it to right in front of your stall, and was just about to turn and call out to you but carrying all of that weight became a bit unbearable. Zack ended up losing his footing and falling backwards. Hercules was quick enough to catch the marble slabs before they could injure Zack any further. Upon hearing the commotion you looked up to see Hercules carrying all of the marble slabs like it was nothing.
"Hey (Y/N)," Hercules said, with a wave of one hand.
"Hey Herc," you waved back, still in awe of the scene before you, "All of that training must definitely be coming in handy, I mean look at you! Carrying all of those on your own."
"Haha," Herc laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess it is."
"I'll see you around then," you replied as Herc started walking forward and you focused back on your work. You couldn't help but wonder where Zack was since you hadn't seen him since the morning. He was usually training with Herc, so maybe he'd come by soon.
Unknown to you, Zack continued to lay on the ground in defeat.
**
"Step three: Confession. Girls love an extravagant confession, you gotta show her how far you're willing to go to show her how you feel."
After the failure of step two, Phil had acknowledged that maybe Herc had been right and he'd gone a little too far in terms of the heavy lifting. But he assured Zack that step three would definitely go much better. Things would be simple in terms of the physicality but grand enough of a gesture that you would come running into his arms.
Someone did come running into his arms, but it wasn't you.
Zack had done the choreographed dance and song with the back up dancers and ended it all perfectly on one knee but somewhere between when he started and ended you had been swarmed by more customers that you didn't witness any of it. Another girl mistakenly assumed that the song had been for her and had ran into Zack's arms. She immediately dragged him along and you just happened to finally look up when she was whisking him away, feeling just as dejected as Zack did himself.
**
"I'm really sorry kid," Phil said, "I didn't anticipate things to end up this way... I guess I know I won't be going int to relationship counseling anytime soon."
"It's alright Phil," Zack replied, "I know you meant well but I guess it just didn't work out. You're an amazing trainer but maybe not so great of a love coach."
"Definitely noted," Phil said as he made his way inside, leaving Herc and Zack sitting on the steps.
"I guess today just wasn't my day," Zack said, stretching his arms over his head.
"Maybe not," Herc replied,"... but it isn't over yet."
Zack turned to look at Herc, tilting his head to the side.
"I just mean," Herc explained, "You still haven't tried just telling her how you feel, straight forward and no extra things going on."
"I don't know Herc," Zack slumped his shoulders, "maybe everything today was a sign."
"Hey, come on," Herc patted Zack on the back, "The Zack I know never gives up, no matter how rough it gets."
"Everything else just seems s lot easier than this..."
"Hey," Hercules said, an idea in mind, "Why exactly do you like (Y/N)?"
"Why do I like (Y/N)?" Zack repeated, a small smile gracing his lips, "She's just the best Herc. The way she treats everyone else around her, how hardworking she is, and don't get me started on how pretty she is!"
Herc couldn't help but smile at the way Zack was describing you, "She's really special, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she really is special," Zack said, letting out a content sigh, "Thanks Herc."
**
The day had finally winded down and you were closing up your stall. You slowly packed all of your items up so you could take them home. As busy as your day had been your thoughts had kept drifting to Zack, especially when he was being whisked away by that girl.
Sighing you hoisted your bag onto your shoulders, looking over your stall one last time before turning around. As you turned you were greeted by a familiar head of raven colored hair and a pair of blue eyes that always made your heart race.
"Hey Zack," you smiled at him as you usually did.
"Hey (Y/N), already packed up?" he asked, looking behind you at your empty stall.
"Yeah, end of the day for me. I was just about to make my way home," you replied, "What about you?"
"Yeah, I was just about to head home too. Want to walk together?"
You nodded in reply as you two fell into step together.
"How was training today?" You asked.
"Oh, well I didn't really get much training done today," Zack replied, rubbing the back of his head.
"Busy with your date?" You asked, making sure to sound as casual about it as possible.
Zack let out a noise of surprise as he looked over at you.
"I didn't get to witness it myself, unfortunately," you said, "But I heard you put on quite the show to ask her."
"About that... um," Zack stuttered over his words, "None of that was meant for her."
"Oh," you were confused, "So did you not go on a date then?"
"Nope," Zack shook his head and you seemed to breath out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry I just assumed," you said, "who was it meant for, if you don't mind me asking."
"You," Zack said, looking straight ahead as he spoke.
"Me?" You stopped walking abruptly and Zack stopped a few steps after, turning to face you.
"Yeah, you," Zack said again, "I'm just going to be honest here and tell you that I really like you, a lot."
You couldn't believe this was actually happening. You could already feel the blush on your cheeks and your heart starting to race.
"I mean I get that you might not feel the same way but could you at least just go on one date with me?" Zack asked, pointing his index finger.
"I never thought you noticed me that way," you said, looking down.
"How could I not," Zack said stepping closer, his usual playfulness coming through, "Wait, are you implying what I think you're implying?"
"I like you too," you said, looking up shyly.
"Yes!" Zack jumped around a bit, and you couldn't help but laugh, "So is that a yes to the date then?"
"Of course," you replied, smiling.
"Shall we continue walking?" Zack asked, sticking out his arm for you to wrap your hand around.
You talk his arm and the both of you kept walking down the path you were on. Zack was as animated as ever while he described everything he went through to finally be able to tell you his feelings. He decided that in the future he'd just stick to Herc's advice and be straight forward and honest.