Time Goes On
by Chelle

~ CHAPTER 11 ~

Zac was gone when I woke up the next morning. Somewhat disappointed but not surprised, I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I nearly fell backwards when I saw that he had not left without leaving a note. Written in lipstick, in the top right corner of my bathroom mirror was: I didn't want to wake you. I'll see you later. Love, Zac.
I just smiled and climbed into the shower. I washed my hair and took in the steam and smell of the shampoo. After taking more time than really needed, I climbed out and stood in the bathroom rubbing lotion on and drying my hair. I straightened my hair with the flatiron and used gel to hold it in place. My hair was to the middle of my back, naturally curly and somewhat thick; meaning that if I wanted any kind of tameness to it, I had to put time into the process of styling. I put on some lip gloss and a bit of perfume after brushing my teeth. I threw on a pair of cut off jeans and a tank top. Then began the hated task of cleaning. God, my room was a wreck!
Afterwards, as I was finishing a cup of coffee, Isaac came over. I opened the door and moved over, motioning for him to come in. He smiled and walked over to the couch where he sat with a flop. "Everything ok?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. He smiled and said "Yep, just really crazy at home. Hey, I wanna ask you something." I walked over and sat in the chair and looked at him. Had I known what he wanted to ask I would've changed the subject. "What is it that you and Zac do while he's here?"
I glared at him suddenly realizing that the seriousness of our relationship was not a secret to every member of the Hanson family. "Isaac, what has he told you?" He squinted at me and replied "What he has told us doesn't matter. I'm asking you." Oh No! Did he just say 'us...' yes he did. I felt a slight hitch in my chest. "Well, we... ya know, talk and we really like spending time together, that's all."
"That's all?" he asked raising his eyebrows in disbelief. I nodded. When our eyes met, I knew that he knew everything and was waiting for me to tell him the truth. "Melissa," he sighed before continuing, "We all really like you. I'm not stupid and neither are my parents. You just completely repeated Zac's answer to the same question word for word. Now, please, we know what's going on but the fact that neither of you will admit it worries us and makes us think that the two of you are so ashamed about what you're doing because you know how my parents feel about it. But I'm not my parents. I can't tell you how many time Karen and I met secretly. Please just admit it. I'm telling you it'll be a lot easier for everyone."
I stared at him, taking in everything that he had said. I was surprised that he had said it but not surprised that he knew it. "I love him Isaac."
He nodded and said "Well, that's good. I think he loves you too. But Zac is not an easy person to love. In fact he makes it very hard to love him sometimes. I just don't want either of you to end up hurt." I smiled as he leaned forward and put his hand on my shoulder. He smiled back and then got up and walked out.
I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and my forehead in my hands. God, why was this so hard. It should be easy. I felt guilty and terrible for hiding from everyone. I knew Zac and I needed to talk. I was very nervous about bringing up the fact that maybe we needed to slow down. I realized we hadn't thought about everything and were moving too fast.
That night, I sat on the couch, sipping wine and waiting in silence. My stomach turned and fluttered. When he knocked on the door, I simply took a deep breath and said "Come on in." He opened it and slowly and closed it quickly not taking his hand away until it was locked.
"Hey sexy lady." he said with a wink as he walked over and sit next to me. "Hi. Want some wine or something else to drink?" I asked as I stood up. He shook his head and followed me into the kitchen. As I stood pouring another glass for myself, I felt his hands on my hips and his breath on my neck. "Zac please not tonight, ok?" I said moving away from him and downing half the glass in one gulp. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter. I heard him sigh and turned to face him. "What's wrong baby?" he asked with worry on his face and in his voice. I took another drink and rubbed my forehead. Yep, I was in for a hangover. It never took much. "Mel, sweetheart tell me what's wrong." he said as he walked toward me and put his hands on my arms, pulling me into a hug. I hugged him just for a second and then walked back into the living room with my glass in one hand and the half empty wine bottle in the other.
When I sat on the couch I poured yet another full glass and took a drink before noticing him standing by the chair looking down at me. "Zac do you love me?" I asked. He ran a hand through his hair and sit down beside me. "I do. Very much." he said without looking at me. I took another drink and asked "Why don't we stop for a while and spend more time with each other during the day and less time together at night." I looked over to see mixed emotions on his face as he glared at me. "What?! Where is this coming from?!" he raised his voice in anger and shock. "Well, I just thought..." I was interrupted when he suddenly blurted out "What the hell did Isaac say to you?!" I watched with surprise as he stood up and began pacing back and forth in front of me. "Nothing really. He just said that they were not stupid and that he didn't want either of us to get hurt and that..."
I was interrupted again by an anger display that I had never seen before. Zac's eyes glazed over as he ran his hands franticly through his hair. He paced and began yelling "That stupid jackass! Dammit, why the hell can't he stay the fuck out of my life! It's nobody's god damn business what I do or what we do. I'm so sick of this shit, it never stops. If it's not him and Taylor, it's my parents! God dammit! Why can't they understand that I'm grown and just stay out of my business? They never can just accept that I'm happy and let it go without trying to fuck everything up!"
I suddenly felt my headache get worse. "Zac, please don't yell. I'm sure he didn't understand. He wasn't trying to do any harm." Zac stopped and glared at me. His arms crossed over his chest, a fire in his eyes that I knew was not like I'd ever seen before. He was angry beyond reasoning. He turned and walked to the door. Opening it, he looked back at me and said calmly "No one will ever take you away from me." He turned and walked out slamming the door.
I sit for awhile in silence, shocked, and in fear of what was going to happen. I could only imagine the explosion taking place at the Hanson's. After finishing the last bit of wine in my glass, I went and laid on my bed. God knows I was not a graceful drunk and needed to get in bed before I went over to try and help calm Zac down. I wanted to do that, no doubt all hell had broken loose when he walked through his front door, but had quickly realized that walking in their house drunk would only add to the surprise and would not be in our best interest knowing that everything was about to be put in the open for the family.
As I laid there in my bed, the room spinning and a powerful headache now going full blast, I thought of Isaac's words about Zac not making it easy to love him. I wondered if that temper was something I could live with. I found myself drifting father and father until my mind was blank.
I felt as though I'd been asleep for no more than twenty minutes, when I was woken up by a frantic and loud knock. I crawled out of bed and noticed that the bright, early morning sun was peering it's way through the window.
I rubbed my eyes as I stumbled to the front door. "Diana, Avery, hi." I said sleepily as I opened the door wider for them to step inside. Once they did Diana asked "Melissa, have you seen Zac?" There was a worry in her face and a tone in her voice that told me something was very wrong. "Umm, no. Not since last night. He left here in a hurry and went home I guess. I fell asleep. Why?"
She looked at me and I saw tears in her eyes. "He came home last night and laid into all of us. He was so angry and I've never heard him do so much screaming. He was going on about us not wanting him to be happy and that we needed to mind our own business." She took a deep breath, then continued " He was acting like he was on something. He was pacing around, swearing, and telling us that he was grown and could do what he wanted. Of course he was talking in a different language but that's what he said without me using his words. Then he just told us to stay out of his life and walked out. We heard him leave in his car and thought we'd let him cool off. We waited for him but at around two in the morning, we figured he'd just come here and we could talk to him today." I sighed deeply. "Jessica came in this morning from getting the paper and said his car wasn't here. Ike and Taylor are driving around looking for him and Walker is calling his friends. Avery and I are going to the hospital to see if he had an accident and was brought in. Please call me if you hear from him." I nodded as she handed me the paper with her cell number written on it. She walked out and they got in her car and sped off.
I closed the door and went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. After my second cup, I walked over to the Hanson's and sit with the younger kids so that Walker could make some phone calls to some local hotels. The family was worried and stressed and the kids were anxious and their curiosity was doing more harm than good.

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