Chapter 13: Answer.

Chapter 13: Answer.

Zachary and Spencer already left with the police and I'm inside the house trying to find my purse.

I eventually find it under the coffee table.

Damn, I leave for one minute and a fight breaks out.

I'm sure Zachary threw the first punch. He just can't control his temper.

I walk out and an ambulance arrives. The attendant gets down and asks me if there were any casualties. I show her the scratch on my forearm and she takes me into the truck. I sit on the stretcher that's in the back. She takes a cotton ball and dips it in a white substance. I'm guessing it's methylated spirit. She puts the cotton ball on my forearm and I cry out in pain.

This hurts so bad.

The area around my forearm had turned a darkish purple with highlights of red.

It looked like a bruise but it wasn't.

"I'm sorry. It'll get better now. Let me put a bandage on it." She says before she grabs a bandage from the stack.

She places it on the injury and I wince in discomfort.

"All done." She says, smiling at me.

"Thank you." Is all I say as I get off the stretcher and down from the ambulance truck.

Was I supposed to pay her?

I have no idea how ambulance services work.

I see Hannah and Chad get into Chad's car and I rush over to them.

"Guys, can I get a ride?" I ask.

"Sure. I told you that you'd eventually ride the Chad wagon." Chad says and I regret asking him immediately.

"Get in." Hannah says, rolling her eyes at Chad as I enter the car.

Chad turns on the engine and backs out of the driveway. I relax in my seat and I take a deep breath. I roll down the glass windows and the cool breeze slaps my face. I close my eyes and enjoy the breeze.

"We're here." Chad tells me.

"Thank you guys." I tell them before I get out of the car.

I wave at them one last time before they skeet out of the driveway.

What a time.

I walk into my house and as expected it's quiet. I stroll into the kitchen and I place my purse on the island. I open the fridge and grab a bottle of water. I down the whole bottle, wiping my mouth after.

"I'm so tired." I say to myself.

I walk up the stairs to my room and I sink into my bed.

It's so soft.

I'm so lucky.

Who needs a boyfriend when you have your fridge and your bed.

The perfect duo.

I'm about to drift into the world of sleep when my phone rings.

Why can't I have peace?

I pick up the phone and sigh.

"Hello?" I say into the receiver.

"Hey, Val it's Zachary, can you bail me out?" He asks me.

"I'm trying to sleep." I tell him.

"Val, I need you, please. My parents are mad at me and they're not gonna bail me out." He pleads with me.

"As they should." I tell him before I hang up.

I lean deeper into my soft bed enjoying the warm breeze from the open window.

My phone rings again and I pick it up, enraged.

"What the fuck, Zachary?" I yell, into the phone.

"It's Spencer." Spencer says, through the phone.

"Can you come to the station and help me sign my bail?" He asks, vulnerability clear in his voice.

"Sure." I tell him, without thinking twice.

"Thanks, you're the best." He says before the call is cut off.

The problem here is how I'm going to reach the police station.

I live uptown, the station is downtown, way, way, down.

I need a car.

Andrè, my personal chauffeur, obviously would be asleep at this hour, so that shoots that plan in the face.

I think of using my bicycle but then how would I take Spencer home? My bicycle only has one seat.

Uber.

Duh.

I'm calling an Uber.

Problem solved.

***

I arrive at the police station, and I see Zachary and Spencer standing outside.

Spencer has blood all over his shirt and Zachary has a black eye.

"You guys got out already?" I ask them.

"Yeah, my dad bailed us out." Spencer says, looking at the ground.

"Well, my Uber's waiting for me out front. Do you guys wanna ride with me?" I ask them.

"No, I'm good. My dad's taking me home." He says, still not making eye contact.

"Well, I'll see you then." I say, hugging him.

He kisses my cheek before he walks away.

"You need a ride?" I ask, Zachary.

"Sure." He says, with nonchalance.

We walk to the Uber and we get inside. I give the Uber driver Zachary's address and he starts driving. After five minutes of sitting in silence. Zachary says something.

"I'm sorry." He says, looking down.

"You don't mean it if you can't look me in my face and say it." I tell him and he grabs my face, forcing me to stare at his blue eyes.

"I mean it. I'm sorry I caused you so much pain. Not only physically but emotionally." He says, stroking my chin.

"Look, I forgive you but if you think-" I am cut off by his lips on mine.

Okay.

His tongue dances along with mine, as his hands move up and down my back.

Lower.

Lower.

"Hey, is this it?" The driver says and I flinch.

I forgot we were still in the car.

I look out the window and I see Zachary's house.

"Yes." I say, detangling myself from Zachary.

He shows me the price and I pay him, before I leave the car.

"You're coming in?" Zachary asks.

"Yeah." I tell him, biting my bottom lip.

"My mom will be so happy." He says, grabbing my hand, and leading me towards the house.

I roll my eyes at him, he knows his mother hates me.

We walk into the fancy eight-bedroom mansion, and I squeal at the fact that they had installed a new chandelier.

I have a fetish for chandeliers.

Well, I was away for two years, so I guess things were obviously going to change around here.

"What?" Zachary asks me, smiling.

"You guys got a new chandelier." I tell him.

"Yeah, the old one fell on my uncle." He says, casually.

"Oh my God, is he okay?" I ask as if it had just happened.

"No, he's dead." Zachary says with nonchalance.

"For real?" I ask him, staring at him in surprise.

"I'm just kidding." He says, smiling. "Let's go to my room." Zachary insists.

I just nod as he leads me to his room.

We walk into his room and I am expecting to see dirty clothes on the floor and leftover junk food on the bed, but I am met with a clean room.

"Wow, Zachary." I say as he shuts the door.

"What?" He says.

"Your room is so clean. It's even neater than mine." I tell him.

"Yeah, cleaning takes my mind off things and I've been needing a distraction lately." He says, staring at me.

"Why are we fighting, Vee?" He says, standing in front of me.

"Because you chose Courtney over me. You chose a good time, over a good thing." I tell him.

"I'm sorry, I had to do it. My family, well my mother, wants me to date Courtney because she's someone around my social standing." He informs me.

"That's great to hear." I say, sarcastically.

Just the ego boost I needed.

"Look Val, I know that I care about you. I'm just stuck." He tells me.

"It's not that you're stuck. You're just afraid of being in love with someone who genuinely cares about you. So, you sabotage it and ruin it to ease your self-guilt, because deep down you know that you're the one who ruined me. You're the one who did me dirty and left me in the dust. You just don't want to come to terms with the fact that you ruined your one shot at true happiness. Me." I say, looking him in the eye.

"When we dated you almost died, I'm trying to protect you, Val." He says, raising his voice.

"From what." I yell back.

"From myself." He says, so low that it sounds like a whisper.

The room has fallen silent, the AC is the only sound that is heard.

I sit on his bed and I stare at him as he bows his head down.

"Loving you was the best thing that ever happened to me, you treating me like shit is the worst." I tell him.

"I'm sorry is all I can say right now." He tells me, still looking down.

"You can't even look at me half of the time I talk to you. You're still beating yourself up over something that happened two years ago. I could have died but I didn't. But, that doesn't justify you treating me like a piece of trash." I tell him, getting irritated.

"I like you a lot, but I just don't want to hurt you again." He says, sitting on the bed.

"I just want you to know that I'm taking a risk to be with you. I mean, my parents would literally have your head, if they found out that I'm at your house." I tell him.

"We have too many distractions." He says, looking at me.

"Like what?" I ask him.

"Like Spencer." He adds, raising an eyebrow.

"I knew it. You're jealous of him." I say, laughing.

His fists clench and I laugh even harder.

"When were you going to tell me about him?" He asks, scratching his chin.

"Um, when you asked." I reply with sass.

"Look, I'm not jealous of him or anything, he was talking shit so I bust his lip." Zachary says, running his hand through his hair.

"And there's the problem, you can't go around busting people's lips." I scold him.

"Sorry mom." He says, rolling his eyes.

"You're a handful." I tell him, as I stand up from the bed.

"Can you stay over?" Zachary asks from behind me.

I turn around and I stare at him in thought.

"I guess, my parents didn't even know that I came home." I tell him.

"Great. I'll go get the guest room ready." He says, standing up.

"No, it's fine. I could just stay here." I say, biting my lip.

"You sure?" He asks me.

"Yeah." I reply.

He walks over to me and pulls me to him.

My head hits his chest softly and he starts stroking my hair.

"It's nice being with you." He says as he tucks my hair behind my ear.

"Took you long enough to realize it." I say, pinching him.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He asks, letting go of me.

"For being a jerk." I tell him.

"How?" He says in surprise.

I don't reply, instead I walk over to the mirror at the edge of the room and I smoothen my hair.

"You look beautiful." Zachary says behind me.

"I know." I retort.

"Good." He claps back.

I smile and I wrap my hair up in a bun.

"Can I borrow some of your clothes?" I ask him, turning around.

"Yeah, they are in the drawer." Zachary says, laying on the bed.

"Thanks." I tell him.

I open the drawer and I take out blue sweats and a loose white T-shirt. I walk into his bathroom and I unzip my gown, the material pools at my feet. I step out of it and pick it up, folding it neatly before I keep it beside the sink. I put the sweatpants on and they are a little too big, so I tighten them by the ropes and they fit pretty well now. I put the shirt on and it feels so soft.

"You know you're not modeling for me." I hear Zachary say, from the other side of the room.

"Get outta town." I yell back.

I walk out of the bathroom and Zachary stares at me in shock.

"What?" I ask him.

"Is that the best you could do?" He mocks.

I charge towards the bed and I hit him on his head.

"Jerk. I hate you so much." I tell him.

He gets on top of me and pins me to the bed.

"Do you really?" He asks, his blue eyes piercing into mine.

"Mhm." I hum.

"Well, I can make you love me like that." He says, snapping his fingers.

"Not today." I say as I slip under him.

"Oh, c'mon." Zachary groans.

"You're sleeping on the floor." I tell him.

I lay on the right side of the bed, and I turn off the lamp beside me.

"Goodnight trouble." I say, but Zachary doesn't answer.