Chapter Eighteen

 

        Zach walked into his room, stepping over the various items that littered the floor until he reached his bed. He sat down with a sigh as his back rested against the headboard. The school week had passed and it had went by slowly for him. He still felt rather hurt from being dumped by Greg. Even though he constantly reminded himself that it was really Kyle's fault, it still left him down in the dirt.

        During that entire week, Zach frequently tried cajoling Greg into breaking up with Kyle before he could end up getting seriously hurt. However, Greg didn't listen to him, or even talk to him for that matter. It was as though Greg had all of a sudden become a mute. The only thing Greg ever did to respond to him was either a nod or shake of the head or a shrug of the shoulders, but even those came on rare occasions. Zach knew that Kyle was the reason for the Sophomore's abnormal quietness.

        The dark-haired male subconsciously rolled his hands into somewhat tight fists at the thought of the blond. He felt an even greater loathing towards him ever since he found out that he had stolen Greg away from him. He knew that prick was only using Greg to get back at him for something that wasn't even really his fault. When he met Nick, Buck, and Steve, they already told him about how they didn't really like Kyle that much to begin with and how they were planning on kicking him out of their band anyway. But of course, there was no use in trying to explain that to Kyle because there was no way the prick would believe him.

        Zach sighed, relinquishing his anger as he did so. He began to look around his room a little until his eyes came to rest on the white cowboy hat that was sitting on his dresser. When Greg had dropped it when they were at the park, Zach picked it up and had planned on returning it to him the following day, but he had forgotten to take it with him to school. It actually never occurred to him that he still had it.

        He slowly got up from his bed and crossed the room. When he reached the dresser, he picked the hat up and let his fingers run over it a little as he stared down at it. He figured he should probably return it. It was Greg's after all – or at least that's what he thought; for all he knew, he could have borrowed it from someone. Either way though, Zach knew he should return it, and he figured that he might as well do it now. Besides, if he was at home, he would maybe have another chance to actually talk some sense into him. Coming to his decision, Zach left.

 

        Greg sighed as he sat across his bed. His back rested against the wall behind him as he absentmindedly watched his fingers fidget with one another. He felt rather sore; his body ached in various places from Kyle frequently hitting him and his left eye was as black as night from the punch he received about an hour ago. Fortunately, the blond didn't want to spend any time with him at the moment, which gave Greg some time to get away from him. However, there was the constant phone calls he got every ten minutes to check up on him, but Greg didn't bother answering. He knew he would be punished for it, but he almost didn't really care anymore.

        His mind then slowly drifted towards Zach. He felt bad for ignoring him that entire week and he almost felt like hurting himself for it. However, he was afraid that Kyle would find out. It wasn't so much because he didn't want to get a beating for it, but because he didn't want Zach to possibly end up getting hurt. Sure Zach was a wee bit bigger in size than what Kyle was, but Greg still didn't want to take any chances.

        Another sigh escaped his mouth as he subconsciously looked around his room a little, his face almost apathetic aside from the hint of depression that showed in his eyes. He practically felt dead inside. He almost might as well be. Zach was probably upset with him now and Sarah and his other friends were pretty much nonexistent in his life now since Kyle had isolated him from them again. And the blond had an iron grip on him that was impossible to break free from. He had actually tried to break up with him on Wednesday after school, but Kyle only ended up giving him a harsh beating before holding a knife to his wrists and threatening to commit suicide. There was just no way Greg was willing to let that happen. No matter how much he despised the Junior, his conscience wouldn't allow him to just let Kyle kill himself.

        Greg's eyes slowly came to rest on a pair of scissors that sat on his nightstand. He had used them the previous night to work on a project and had forgotten to put them away after he was finished using them. The Sophomore stared at them for a moment before slowly scooting over to the edge of the bed so his socked feet could meet with the carpeted floor. He reached out to pick up the scissors before slowly bringing them close to him. He stared down at the scissors, opening and closing them as he stared at the sharp parts of the blades in a sort of trance.

        However, he was broken from it almost instantly when his door opened. He looked towards it to see Zach standing there with his cowboy hat in one hand. The older male's eyes slightly widened, instantly knowing what Greg was planning. He dropped the hat and quickly crossed the room before ripping the scissors from his hand and throwing them off to the side somewhere. Greg looked up at him before looking down and to the side in a deeply ashamed manner.

        “You idiot, what the hell do you think you were trying to pull?!” Zach asked furiously.

        Greg cringed a little, a natural reaction for being yelled at that he acquired from constantly being around Kyle for the past week.

        “I-I'm sorry,” Greg said, still avoiding eye contact.

        A hand was then placed on his shoulder and Greg naturally tensed up from it. However, it wasn't threatening. It was comforting. The Sophomore slowly lifted his gaze, his eyes meeting with Zach's, which were full of concern.

        “I'm sorry,” Greg repeated. “I'm sorry for ignoring you this entire week. I'm sorry for breaking up with you. I'm sorry for –”

        “Dude, shut up,” Zach said with a gentle sort of sternness. “I don't give a damn about that right now. You were thinking about killing yourself.”

        Greg's gaze slowly drifted to the floor, but he didn't say anything.

        “You need to get away from that f*****g prick,” Zach continued.

        “I-I can't,” Greg replied as he slowly looked back at Zach. “He'll try to commit suicide if I do that.”

        “I don't give a damn,” Zach said, a small hint of anger in his voice. “That prick is the one who deserves to kill himself, not you.”

        Greg slowly looked back down at the floor. He didn't really know what to do. He felt confused. Zach let out a quiet sigh as he slowly sat down on the bed next to the younger male.

        “I can help you you know,” Zach pointed out. “You don't have to do this by yourself. But you have to be the one to stand up to him. I can't do that for you.”

        Greg looked at Zach, a bit of happiness beginning to surface in his eyes.

        “Okay, I'll try to break up with him,” said Greg.

        “Good,” Zach replied with a small smile. “Because I don't want to see you pulling a stupid stunt like that again.”

        “But I want you to be there with me when I do it,” said Greg.

        Zach nodded before gently pulling Greg into a hug a couple seconds later. The Sophomore smiled some as the side of his face rested against Zach's shoulder. For the first time that week he actually felt happy. He felt secure being in Zach's arms and he knew for a fact that he was nowhere close to being like Kyle. Sure he had gotten angry at him, but it wasn't for the same reason as Kyle's. Unlike the blond, it was because Zach cared about him, and Greg knew that.

        A few seconds later, Greg slowly pulled away from Zach a little bit before looking at him with a smile on his face. Zach returned the smile as he gently caressed Greg's cheek. The shorter male smiled a little more. He actually never realized how much he missed the other's touch.

        “I love you dude,” Zach said.

        “I love you too,” Greg said back, not even having to hesitate like he always had to for Kyle.

        Zach turned his head to the side to see the cowboy hat lying in the doorway. He walked over to get it before walking back over to Greg, who was now standing.

        “Here dude, this is yours,” Zach stated as he held out the hat. “You dropped it at the park that one time and I forgot to give it to you.”

        Greg chuckled a little. “Thanks,” he said.

        He took it from the older male and put it on his head before grinning a little. Zach laughed heartily at it before gently lifting Greg's chin up and kissing him on the lips. Greg was a bit surprised by it at first, but slowly melted into it as his eyes fluttered closed. Zach's hand moved from his chin to caress his cheek. Their lips remained locked for several seconds before Zach slowly pulled away. The two looked at each other for a moment, grinning some.

        “C'mon dude, let's go,” said Zach.

        “Okay,” replied Greg.

        The Sophomore took the hat off of his head and set it on his nightstand before walking out of his room and down the stairs with Zach hand-in-hand.