My Fair Chance

Zack kept his eyes locked on the road as the rage boiled in his gut. Alex wouldn't even make eye contact with him and Brooklyn refused to speak. How much of a fool did they think he was? Of course he was going to check in on Brooklyn at some point. He knew better than to trust Alex, and obviously, it was for good reason. Now there was this giant secret floating around and no one would let him in on it. Frankly, he had to storm away before he made Alex taste that nice carpet.


"I-I'm sorry," Brooklyn whispered, her eyes traveling with the trees through the window.
"Are you ever going to tell me what you're sorry for?"


"Zack, I-"
"No, don't try to beat around the bush with this one, Brooke."


She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the glass. To say she was beating herself up for what happened would be an understatement. She'd managed to break her own heart just by listening to the damn thing.


"You kissed him, didn't you?" Zack took his eyes off the road long enough to glare at her. He flipped on the blinker to follow the road to his place. "Or did more happen? Brooke, talk to me!"


"Zack..."


"What? You're brave enough to go behind my back but not brave enough to admit it? For fuck's sake, Brooklyn, why do you think I was so hesitant to introduce you to my friends?! Because shit like this always happens. The girl always realizes that I'm not good enough. I'm just sweet, shy, innocent Zack and I don't deserve to be happy, right?! And I thought, if I finally made my fucking move, if I finally showed you how much I care, you wouldn't let anything like this happen. It always gets tossed back in my fucking face!"


Brooklyn winced at his words, tears now streaming down her cheeks. She had no idea that Zack was so weird about his friends, or that he doubted himself so much. Surely he didn't think all of that was true? Then again, he probably did, considering she'd done exactly what he was afraid of. It was her own fault, she knew that. But she also knew this was the reason she didn't get tied down to one person. This was the reason she went wherever the wind blew - No one got hurt.


Now she was stuck in a vicious cycle. She could apologize to Zack and hope that he forgives her, but she wasn't entirely sure she could stay away from Alex. She could also go back to the other boy, however she knew she'd still be thinking about Zack. She silently cursed herself for the mess she made and wiped the tears from her cheek.


Finally, they reached Zack's place. He pulled up in the driveway and killed the engine. He didn't even throw a glance at the girl as he climbed out of the car and slammed the door. For all he cared, she could walk home. He didn't want to be that kind of dick, but he honestly couldn't take much more.


His feet stomped all of the way to the front door, where he roughly shoved his key in the lock and threw open the door. He considered slamming it behind him, but there was a tugging in his gut that told him Brooklyn would be following him inside.


Just as fate would have it, the moment he tossed his wallet and keys onto the table, Brooklyn stepped through the door. She was cautious with her movements, afraid that if she even breathed too loud she'd piss Zack off even more. He had every right to be mad at her, though she was still in shock that he cared about her enough to lose his cool like this. It was unusual for him to be so open about, well, anything.


"Zack, I'm so sorry," she bit her lip, blinking through the dried tears. "I- I don't know what's wrong with me, or why I would allow any of this to happen. I've barely ever managed to care about one person so deeply, much less two. It's just.. Alex was so open with me when you were so closed off and it felt nice, to be so.. wanted. You mean so much to me Zack, you honestly do and I'm so sorry I've put you through any of this..."


"So Alex made the first move, huh?" Zack growled, curling up his fists as he began to pace the floor. "What? Did he tell you how special you were? How perfect for him you could be? News flash, Brooke, he uses that on any girl he wants to fuck! Fucking Hell, I thought you've be smarter than that, of all people, I never picked you to fall for his shit. It makes more sense now, but I swear on everything, Alex will fucking pay for this. Come tomorrow, he's going to taste the fucking pavement."


Brooklyn couldn't do, or say, anything. Zack had never been violent. He worked out to ease his stress, he didn't throw a punch over something as silly as a girl.. Did he? A sick feeling took over her body as she realized just how much she'd come in between these two boys, these bandmates, who were expected to live together most days out of the year.


She closed her eyes and backed out of the door, unsure of what to say to the boy who was pacing the floor, so she decided it'd be best if she didn't say a word. Her fingers wrapped around the knob and she quietly closed the door, her feet moving swiftly to Zack's car, where she grabbed her things before she ran off into the night.


Being around each other right now would only make things harder. She didn't know when she'd be able to return to his life, or if she ever would.


And damn if she didn't want to turn around, sneak back into his house and wrap her arms around him, but she couldn't, because he didn't want her to. Not anymore.

Notes

I'm so sorry it took so long to post this. Thank you guys so much for your comments and votes. Please, keep them coming! They make me happy!
Also, I apologize to both teams. Don't hate me! D: