chapter 5 - shower

They sit side by side in Amelia's bed. Dressed in the fluffy white ropes from each of their rooms, they watch Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix.

"So tell me why you haven't seen this one?" Amelia asks Zack, turning her head to the right to look at him. 

He smiles and rolls his eyes slightly. "Because it's the only one that i didn't have any interest in watching. Once i found out that Sirius dies in the film, i knew i didn't want to put myself through that so i just didn't watch it." 

Amelia sighs. "You're a strange man, Zackary, you really are."

Zack moves closer to her, Amelia rests her head on his chest, draping her left leg over his body. Amelia looks up at his face, a smile playing on her lips. "What?" He says, catching her looking at him. 

"Nothing, just admiring," she says, her smile reaching her eyes.

Zack bends his head and kisses her forehead gently. He places his head ontop of hers, snuggling his mouth on her hair. Amelia closes her eyes. For the first time in she doesn't even remember how long, she feels safe. Happy, you could even say. Although it might be a stretch, Amelia thinks. We are not there yet. 

They watch the rest of the film together, not moving, not speaking. The silence is comforting; it's warm haze encases them in their own little bubble. 

 **

Zack removes his head from Amelia's, his neck slightly sore from the position. He blinks, the room still dark with the windows covered by thick curtains. Even though Zack is sure that they could both stay like this for an ungodly amount of time, it is probably nearly time for them to leave. 

Zack swears inwardly, remembering that he has to be home before dark today because he starts work before seven on Monday. Big cases always need more prep time, and Zack's landed one of the biggest in his entire career so far. 

Amelia begins against Zack's flat chest, pushing up from him and opening her eyes hazily. 

"What time is it?" She says, her voice slightly husky from sleep. 

Zack shakes his head, "No goodmorning? No how did you sleep?" Clutching his chest, he falls back into the pillows in mock heartbreak. Amelia laughs, hitting him lightly so that he pays attention. 

"No, i'm serious, Zack. I'm supposed to be going to Becca's morning after brunch or whatever she calls it. It starts at 10:30, so what time is it, please?" 

Grabbing his phone off the nightstand, he grunts in frustration, "fuck, no power. Must have forgot to charge it last night. Try yours," he says, passing her phone to her. 

Amelia's eyes widen as she turns on her phone. "Three calls and four texts from Becca. Oh god, it's 10:15!" She exclaims, getting to her knees and rolling off the bed. She opens her rope and looks down. "I'm so glad i'm not naked but i also smell like two day old alcohol and i can take an educated guess that my hair doesn't look that much better."

"Didn't know you were educated?" Zack jokes, getting off the bed and moving closer to Amelia.

"Shut up this is so not a time for jokes, okay? Unless you have an answer to the way i look right now, funny boy, you need to do one," She says breathlessly, panic setting in. 

Zack frowns, "Actually i do have an answer. Just have a shower here, i'll go into your room and get your stuff. I can text Becca and tell her that you're on your way."

Amelia blinks, like she'd not even thought that someone else could help her. "Oh right, you okay to do that? you're sure?" 

"Yeah of course. Should i text from your phone or mine?" Zack asks, already taking off his rope with one hand and getting the room key with the other. "Do you have your room key? Next door, right?"

Amelia smiles, loving the way Zack's taking control of the situation. "Mine phone, please because otherwise Becca will know we've spent the night together," She hands him her phone, already unlocked, walking over to where her purse is strewn on the floor. She finds the room key and gives it to him. "And i'm okay to use your shower?"

"Yeah of course, right i'll be back in a minute," Zack says, already typing on her phone and walking out of the door. 

Amelia goes into the bathroom, not knowing what to expect, she sees korean skincare around the sink, black wash bags next to the line of produces, hand towel folded on top of the other perfectly folded towels. She smiles. So Zackary Yen is a neatfreak. He definitely suits it. Amelia picks a towel from the stack and smell it. Oh, he's used it. It smells like him. Sea salt, slightly woody, dark musk and slightly sweet like caramel. It's the type of smell that will always be in your brain, you can never get rid of it. Amelia breathes it in deeply, her smile growing. 

She mentally slaps herself. Come on, she thinks. You should not be smelling a grown mans towel that you haven't seen in over a decade. Stop it. 

Once naked, she gets into the shower and turns it on. It's ice cold. Amelia lets out a small yelp and jumps back from the stream of water. She laughs to herself at how stupid she's being, at how much has happened over the space of twenty four hours. This is not like her, this is so beyond her comfort zone that she can't even remember how to breathe properly. In and out, right? Amelia tries and fails miserably; gasping for air, her chest feels hollow. Amelia's brain plays the memory of the first time her boyfriend hit her badly. She was so bloody that he picked her up and put her in the shower, pouring water onto her bruised face. She was frozen, her body cold and numb as the water hit her. She was fully clothed, her hair pulled back into a claw clip. Even now, as she sits on the shower tray, exactly how she was then, she can still feel the indent of the clip against her skull. The water hits her in the face; gasping, she inhales mouthfuls of the water until her eyes are streaming. She shivers, the water freezing, just like it was then. 

A voice comes from outside the door, far away and yet so close, too close. Amelia hears a knock on the oak, it echoes in her head. Her body is empty and so heavy. She closes her eyes again, letting the water wash her away.