SIng Me To Sleep Chapter 7

I saw your reaction to my Alex post from the past so I decided to give you a little more. :)  Ummm, Hope you like it!  

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Zack's POV

I drove home from lunch and kind of just chilled.  I watched MTV and laid on the couch  with just a pair of basketball shorts on.  I texted some friends I hadn't seen for a while and caught up.  By eight o'clock I was bored though. 

I'd even called my parents to see how they were and let them know how I was, when I mentioned Zoey, my mother asked, "That nice brunette that Alex hung out with in sophomore year?" I cringed.  No mom, my new girlfriend, not “that girl Alex hung out with in sophomore year”.  I wanted to say.  But I restrained myself.  I finished my conversation and hung up annoyed.  Why did everyone connect everything with something Alex did?  Even my own mother.  

Why did it even bother me?  I wondered.  It’s not like I wanted to be Alex.  I'd always been content to be me.  Nothing more nothing less.  I could go to a restaurant and eat peacefully for the most part.  Alex couldn't go five minutes without having to sign something. 

Zoey was with me not Alex.  I just had to get over this whole Alex Zoey thing.  They'd been really good friends I shouldn't be jealous.  I trusted that Zoey was faithful.  Alex was my friend, he wouldn't mess around with Zoey, and he knew how much she meant to me. 

My phone rang and I jumped a little.  I forgot I'd left the sound on.  It was a text from Zoey.

Zoey: Go outside and look at the stars.  They're so pretty tonight. :-)

You: Ok.

I sent back and walked outside wearing what I'd been lounging in since after lunch.  When I walked out the door, Zoey was standing there.  I smiled.

"Hey you!" I said.

"Hey," she smiled back at me.

"Just couldn't stay away could you?" I asked her sarcastically giving her a seductive look.  She laughed and said, "With an amazing boyfriend like you?" She shook her head.

"Well, come in." I motioned and she followed me into the foyer.  "I'll go put a shirt on." I told her and started towards my room.

"No don't put a shirt on! Never put a shirt on." She giggled, "If you've got it flaunt it!" 

"If you insist..." I slid my arms around her waist and pulled her toward me to kiss her.  We stood there for a blissful few minutes until she pulled away.

Zoey's POV

I pulled away from Zack and just smiled.  I probably looked like a complete and utter idiot but I didn't care.  

"What?" Zack asked me.

"Just taking it all in." I told him.

"Taking what in?" He asked me.

"You, this moment, everything." He laughed but I just smiled at him.

"You're weird," he teased.  I just shrugged.

"Well, since you already think I'm weird, I googled you today." I admitted blushing.

"Really? What came up?"

"Some crazy fan sites." I told him. "Possibly some embarrassing pictures." 

"Oh god! What pictures?" I smirked at him.  "I'm going to go google myself then." He told me matter-of-factly. 

"Go ahead." I told him.  

"And after that, I'm going to google you." He grinned at me a hint of anticipation showing on his face.

"I'm not a rockstar though," I told him. 

"I'm sure I'll find something about you."

"Well be my guest." I told him.

I followed him into his room that was surprisingly clean for a guy his age.  He grabbed his laptop and walked back out into the hallway pulling me by the hand.  We walked to the living room and he sat down on the black leather couch.  I looked around the room.  It screamed man cave.  I laughed quietly to myself.  

"What?" He asked.  

"Nothing," I smiled at him.  He looked at me skeptically but returned to his googling.  He scrolled through crazy fan pages and other articles on All Time Low.  

"Zack's a douche bag, no Zack's just quiet, Zack's a douche bag." He muttered to himself.  

"I can vouch for the second option. You're not a douche bag." I said as I ruffled his hair.  He leaned over and kissed my nose.

He clicked images after the first few pages of articles.  

"Oh god." He said sounding mortified.  I giggled.  

"I've seen enough." He said and he typed my name into the search bar.  Some of the articles that popped up were things like, Zoey Pforsich sole heir to Interscope at 19.  Zoey Pforsich granddaughter of Interscope records legend, James Hughes, graduates Valedictorian.  Typical stuff, all about me.  The first article that popped up was unexpected though.  Is Zoey Pforsich Owner of Interscope Records Dating Zack Merrick From All Time Low? 

            I looked at Zack, surprised and Zack looked at me the surprise seemed to be a mutual feeling. 

“Wow.”  I said. 

“Wow.” He nodded.

“We’re on the internet…”  I swallowed.

“We are.”

“Well, according to this, ‘every one’s talking about the happening new couple.’”  Zack laughed at the line and then exited the article clicking images.  Some were of me, most were in fact.  I saw acouple from graduation of Berkley some from high school too.  There were a few pictures of Zack and I.  Oh god.  I thought when I saw it.  A picture of Alex and I smiling like fools somewhere in Baltimore.  It was before the falling out.  It had been put together with a picture of Zack and me.  I looked over at him; he was just looking over the pictures.  He didn’t say anything.  I frowned a little. 

The Falling Out

            My heart throbbed.  Every girl I knew had always said: “Guys are douches.”  But that never kept anyone from getting involved with them.  Anyway, Alex was different.  Of course that’s not how I felt now though.  When it first started, I would never imagine that anything could break us apart.  Days before the incident I was still wrapped in my blanket of false security.  Alex had always made me feel safe, but now my best friend gone, I wasn’t sure how to feel.  Just thinking about him made me want to cry. 

            I missed him more than words could describe but what he’d done was… unforgiveable.  When I saw him in the halls he gave me those eyes.  Those eyes….  They killed me.  I couldn’t look at him for weeks.  I avoided Alex at any cost.  I sat with old friends who I hadn’t talked to since what, freshman year?  I couldn’t really talk to Jason about it.  Alex started spending more and more time with the guys from his band and that was perfect if you asked me. 

Every so often, Alex would try to explain, but I couldn’t let him convince me to let him worm his way back into my life again.  I wasn’t strong enough for that.  Not even close.  Alex Gaskarth would never hold a place in my life like he had before.  I couldn’t talk to him anymore.  I knew if I did, he would try and weasel his way back in.  There was no way, that boy way too charming.  He wasn’t healthy for me. 

            Alexander Gaskarth didn’t just break my heart, he shattered it, then he took half the pieces so it would never heal.