Photographs and Floorboards

My eyes open, hearing a quiet beeping in my ear, a deep male voice not far from me talking to someone, though I don't hear a second voice. I try to focus on anything in the room, my eyes landing on Zack who stands with his phone to his ear, leaning against the wall. Blood covers the right side of his shirt, he looks down a at the ground and away from me.
"What's going on?" I mumble to him,
"I got to go Matt. Yeah bye." I watch as Zack hangs up his phone looking down at me, "hey...."
"Hi there." I smile slightly at him.
"I'm so sorry this is all my fault..." He mumbles, not approaching me in the slightest,
"What's your fault? Why are you here?" I start to sit up, the wires connected to my arms and nose pull in protest.
"Lay down relax. You're supposed to get an Xray to check out your ribs I think..." He walks over and pushes down on my shoulder.
"Fuck!" I hiss through my teeth as pain rips through my shoulder.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry." He flinches and holds his hands up, "I should just leave." He mutters.
"No it's okay." I insist looking up at him. I'd never really looked at Zack like this before. He seems gentle, despite his brawn. He scared me at first admittedly, he reminded me of someone... Who I have everything to and only got the gift of bruises in return. "Zack?" I ask watching as he walks out the door wordlessly.

~•~•~•~

She looks so frail. Her left leg is broken severely and they said her ribs might be cracked unless they're just bruised. I shouldn't have pressured her to go upstairs when she knew she shouldn't have. Nothing was more terrifying then looking down through the hold in the ground to see her unconscious and bleeding. I called Matt first, and he sent the ambulance to her family's house. I had to carry her a block up a steep hill that was her street. I'm lucky that her aunt seemed to be some kind of medical professional. I couldn't understand a word they said, her cousin spoke English well enough to translate for me.
I can't shake the feeling that this is my fault. Fucking Zachary and your need to impress her. What did you accomplish when you convinced her to go up there? I'm leaving tomorrow morning anyway. She'll never have to see me again.
"I should just leave." I couldn't say anything else as I watched her, try to say it's okay that I caused this. My feet travel out of the room, down to the lobby and out of the street. Waiting where Matt said he'd pick me up. I want to go to our next place now. I don't want to have to face Germany anymore today. I'm going to do what almost every one of my ex girlfriends say I do and run away from my problems. It's the easiest thing to do.

I sit in the taxi on the way to the airport the next morning, Rian by my side as the autobahn flys by our window.
"You still have her number though. Right?" Rian looks over at me, he seems to be the only one to take this situation seriously.
"Well yeah." I look down at the iPhone in my hand, "I don't think I'm going to use it anyway. It just sucks I guess." I shrug. The car humming along the road fills my ears.
"Why not?" Rian raises an eyebrow at me as he grabs a piece of German chocolate out of his bag,
"I don't know. I just don't think she was that into me anyway." I shrug,
"Want one?" He offers another piece to me.
"No thanks." I mumble looking down at my phone.
"You could use it." He offers again.
"No thanks. I've had enough sugar for a lifetime."
"You know chocolate triggers happiness."
"You learned that on wizards of waverly place."
"Touché."

Notes

Hey you guys! thanks so much for reading! I was considering a sequel? Tell me if you're interested in maybe reading that? I love you guys so much, and thanks to IfIWereATurtle for giving me the push to write this chapter.