A/N: I know Zach was acting weirdly and unreasonably last chapter, but to explain a bit more... I think we all know what he was about to say and being the bad boy he is, he hates succumbing to any form of vulnerability. So, i guess you'll have to wait and see what happens. Things are starting to get juicy...
His lips moved against mine in a passionate encounter, fuelled by all of our unsaid thoughts and feelings. It was one of those kisses that you never wanted to end, and the pent-up tension between us only heightened it. As we gradually pulled apart, my mind began to wonder what he was about to say before he made a move on me. Could it be that Zach Goode was in…love with me? Had the town's resident bad boy really grown feelings for me? I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. Not until I heard the words coming out of his mouth.
Panting heavily, we stared into each other's eyes, our arms clasped around one another tightly.
"What were you saying?" I asked hesitantly, prompting him to tell me those 3 little words that I'd been dreaming of hearing.
"Gallagher Girl, I've been meaning to tell you this for a really long time now," he whispered gently. "But I was afraid that if I did, it would mean losing you."
My heart thumped wildly in my chest, deaf to the light clip clop of heels coming nearer towards us. "You know you can tell me anything, Zach."
He smiled gently, gulping as he did so. "Cameron Anne Morgan, I lo-"
Whatever words Zach had potentially been about to say were cut short by the feeling of a cold, sticky liquid being poured down my back.
"Oops, sorry. Didn't see you there." Zach looked at the space behind me with a confused expression on his face, unsure of what had just happened. I turned around to see Dee Dee standing behind me with her margarita glass tipped in her hand. She'd poured her drink over me. And worst than that, had interrupted one of the only vulnerable moments I'd had with Zach since the beginning of our fake relationship.
"What is your problem, you utter bitch?" I faced Dee Dee, knocking her glass out of her hand.
For some reason, people had already begun to crowd around us after word spread quickly about the scene unfolding in the front yard and as the amount of cheers and remarks such as "cat fight" grew, I felt the anger boiling up inside of me. Before I knew it, Dee Dee had slapped me hard in the face and despite the fact I would never usually use violence against a fellow female, I had quite frankly had enough of her bullshit. Suddenly punches were thrown, nails were scratching, and hair was being pulled. We were rolling around on the ground trying to beat the crap out of one another (and I was winning thanks to my martial arts skills that I'd learn as a young child) until Zach had the sense to pull me off her and drag me inside kicking and screaming. All the hurt and anger I had been feeling toward her had just exploded out of me in one go.
"Let me go Zach! I'm going to finish what she started." I screamed and struggled out of his arms until he finally got me into the bathroom.
"Calm down, Gallagher Girl. It'll be okay. Just relax, don't worry about her. She's not worth it." Zach's voice was soft and slow while he attempted to calm me down. He brushed the hair out of my face and lifted me up so I was sitting on the counter.
"Okay, better?" he asked while pulling out a washcloth and wetting it under the tap.
I nodded and looked in the mirror. "Look at me. I'm a mess. My dress is ruined-"
He stared back at me amused and my eyes softened as I remembered the moment we shared before all this madness happened.
"I'm sorry for acting like such a psycho just then. Thank you for stopping me."
He laughed happily, threading his fingers into my hair and pressed his lips to mine, stepping in between my legs. "I'll always be here to save you."
I looked him in the eyes after he pulled away. "Zach, what were you going to say earlier before Dee Dee interrupted?"
"Hmm?" he replied, acting nonchalant even though his rose-tinted cheeks gave him away. "Oh, nothing."
"Zach, I know you remember." I raised my eyebrows nervously.
His gaze shifted away from mine for a second before he replied, "It can wait. Now's not the right time. That's the last we're talking about it tonight, okay?"
I nodded disappointed but was too afraid to push further. Noticing my change in mood, Zach leaned in to press a sweet kiss against my mouth. "That fight was so freaking hot," he mumbled .
"Yeah?"
"You got in some good hits. Who knew you were such a pro at fighting?" He stepped back and began rubbing the washcloth over my face and kissing me again. His lips followed the trail of the fabric, kissing every inch of skin on my neck and shoulders as he washed away all traces of dirt and margarita. That was when things got a little out of control.
My legs were wrapped around Zach's waist. I made him groan as I brought my lips down to his again. I slid my tongue into his mouth. My hands were roaming everywhere- pulling on his hair, cupping his face, tracing his chest, unbuttoning his shirt- I couldn't get enough of him and it seemed he felt the same way. I just wanted him as close as possible. My dress ended up on the floor in a sticky pile as Zach wet the cloth again and continued washing my skin, exploring every inch of my body, never breaking our kiss unless it was to pepper kisses along my chest or down my stomach. It was the hottest sponge bath I could have ever imagined. So hot, in fact, that neither of us noticed when the bathroom door opened.
"What the hell?!" Josh's voice interrupted us, and we pulled away, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes and wished for the goon to leave. But he didn't. Instead, he stepped into the bathroom with us and started calling me names, only being egged on further by Dee Dee with scratches and bruises ruining her perfect complexion (I admit that made me feel slightly better about myself) complaining about her broken nails.
A crowd of people began to gather outside the door ready to see another fight unfold while I tried to cover the fact I was only wearing my underwear and had my legs wrapped around a shirtless Goode. Not exactly an image I wanted half the senior class to see.
Zach reached over for a towel and handed it to me so I could wrap it around myself while Josh continued his tirade of calling me a slut, whore, easy, desperate, pathetic- and those were the nice names. Zach turned and told him to shut his mouth or he'd regret it, but Josh continued relentlessly. That's when things started to go downhill for a second time that night…
"Jesus, Goode, what is with you and girls who whore around the town? Can't seem to escape them can you?" Josh sneered, edging closer to Zach who had his fists clenched by his sides.
"I told you to shut it, Abrams. You don't want to cross that line." He replied through gritted teeth.
"You know Zach, you don't scare me. I don't know who you think you are, but this bad boy image you've got going on is simply an act and you know it. What happened to that innocent guy who actually had some goddamn respect for himself?" Josh continued taunting.
"I swear, Jimmy."
"Oh, that's right. You turned into a grade-A asshole! I wonder what Macey would say."
Something inside Zach flipped as I watched him charge furiously at Josh in a way that made even me scared. "DON'T YOU DARE MENTION HER NAME YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Zach shoved Josh out the bathroom door and pushed him into the spectating crowd of students, who pushed him straight back into the fight. Punches were thrown again, but this time everything was 10X more intense. Josh tackled Zach and knocked him down to the ground, but somehow, I couldn't quite see from where I was in the bathroom, Zach managed to get out from Josh's grip and flip them over. Not wanting to put a sticky ruined white dress back on, I hurriedly threw Zach's shirt on over my bra and pushed my way through the crowd until I got into the fight. I watched the boy I was falling for throw a couple of punches before kneeling down beside Josh's head. "Never Again, Josh. I mean it."
"Zach, calm down, he's had enough." Zach stopped throwing punches instantly and looked up at me as if needing my assurance.
With one last spit in his face, he rose up from the ground and put a reassuring arm around me, leading us back downstairs and into the backyard, where we found the rest of our friends getting to know one another still.
"Bro, what the fuck happened to you?" Grant queried as he saw us approaching.
"Josh Abrams happened." Zach replied, the anger still consuming his body.
At the mention of Josh, Grant's eyes surprisingly darkened and his jaw locked. "I hope you gave him a beating."
Zach scoffed, "Don't worry, I did."
At this point Bex's attention had turned from the weird dynamic between Zach/Grant and Josh to noticing my extremely minimal clothing. A garbled squeal exited from her mouth.
"Cammie, where are your clothes?" She placed an arm around me as if to shield me from people's view.
"I...uh...also got into a fight. With Dee Dee." I revealed, chuckling nervously.
Bex's mouth dropped open. "Shut. Up. How the bloody hell did I miss that?"
"Well, it was all very sudden. She tipped her drink down me and then I kind of lost it." I explained.
"What a bitch. I can't believe she ruined your brand-new white dress as well!" She cried. "You showed her whose boss though, right?"
Now it was my turn to scoff. "Do you even have to ask? You know I don't take anyone's shit. Especially her."
Bex hugged me tighter and offered her fist up. "That's my girl."
Lizzie and Jonas had only just noticed our arrival after being absorbed in what seemed to be a fascinating conversation, and they both hurried over from their position by the pool with their feet dangling in.
"Cammie! Zach! Are you okay? What happened?" Liz asked, rushing over to us like the mother hen she was at her core.
"Zach and I may have got into fights with Josh and Dee Dee, but with good reason," I explained. I had the feeling that this was going to be the first of many gossip-driven conversations as soon as we returned back to school on Monday.
"Um, guys, I see a very angry looking Abrams and his skanky girlfriend coming this way. I think we should leave, now." Jonas informed us nervously.
"Oh, we could so take him on right now. Come on JoJo don't be scared, you know we need to give him some payback of our own." Grant was already rolling the sleeves up on his shirt, but Bex had moved next to him only to gently hold his hand and slide them back down.
"I'm sure you could take him on any day, but my best friend is currently half naked right now and your best friend looks like he might pass out, so, I think we should go." She reasoned, stroking his arm slightly, causing him to gulp nervously.
"Yeah, okay. That's probably a good idea."
After making our way as a group back to our separate car's, Jonas and Lizzie had decided to be the designated drivers for the night and were each herding the males and females into separate vehicles. As we said our goodbyes, Bex and Grant turned to one another and the excitement on her face when he asked her for her number was priceless; the same was to be said for Lizzie. When it came to Zach and I, he gave me a long hug goodbye, gripping on to me tightly and kissing my forehead.
"I'm sorry for causing a scene tonight. I know you were probably scared at how quick my temper changed." He said softly, as if embarrassed at his actions.
"I mean, I can't talk much either." I joked, "But just to let you know, it would take a lot more than that to scare me off."
He smiled gently and gave me a kiss goodbye. "See you soon, Gallagher Girl."
The journey back home was full of excited chatter and I was honestly ecstatic that my best friends had gotten on so well with their dates. But after we arrived back to mine, and the girls fell asleep, I couldn't help but feel a little lost, with my own paranoia starting to worm its' way through my head. How did Grant and Jonas know Josh personally? What happened before Zach became the "bad boy" of Roseville? The question cementing itself most deeply in my head though… Who was this Macey girl and why did she mean so much to Zach?
Sorry for the short chapter- will update in a few days though! :)