Ｔｒｕｓｔ ● 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐧

𝟑𝟔

Zach's POV

"What should I do?" I asked Kay through the phone. I was on FaceTime with her asking for advice. "I don't know, Zach. I've never been in this situation before."

"That helps a lot." I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry I'm not much help, but if she wants to then I'd say respect it." She said.

"I have, and it's hard."

"Zach, I'm sorry that this has happened, but you could talk to her about it."

"Yeah, like that would be a pleasant conversation."

"You are full of sarcasm. But seriously, if you don't want to go slow on things talk to her about it."

"Thanks Kay, your advice is so much better then the boys'."

"Anytime, call me if you need anything else." She said and she hung up. 

I placed my phone back on my charger and got up from my bed and went to talk to Allirah. I knocked gently on her door, but there was no answer. "Allirah?" I questioned as I opened the door gently and poked in my head to see her sleeping peacefully with the covers up to her chin. The moonlight from the window shone down onto her beautiful face making me smile to myself. I wish that she didn't believe that I cheated on her when I was back in Dallas, I wish those photos didn't get leaked onto social media, she would still be mine. I would still be holding her in my arms and I would still be showering her with kisses. I let a tear slip from my eye and closed the door gently, careful not to wake her and walked back to my room, letting the tears fall.

"You good Zach?" Said a voice from down the hall. I squinted my eyes to see through the darkness and Jack was standing at his bedroom door. "Yeah, I'm fine." I answered simply and went to go into my room but he stopped my again.

"You don't seem fine. What's the matter?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Zach, what's going on?"

"I miss her ok!" I hissed. "I want her back. I don't want this 'taking things slow' shit. I want her to myself. I want to be able to cuddle her and kiss her and say 'I love you' to her. But I have to respect that she doesn't want that. I want to be able to take her out on dates. I want her to trust me. This is why we're taking it slow because she doesn't fucking trust me." I cried as I banged my head on my door. Jack came over to me, grabbed my shoulder to turn me away from my door and hugged my tightly. It took me a while to hug back, but when I did, I realized how much I needed it. "She does trust you Zach." He said quietly to me as I cried into his shoulder. "She trusts you. If you don't want to take this relationship slow then tell her, but gently and explain to her. I'm sure she'll understand."

I pulled away from Jack and sniffed. "Thanks Jack." I croaked and opened my door. "I'll see you in the morning." I said before stepping into my room and closing the door. I flopped down onto my bed and hugged my pillow. I don't know how I'm going to explain to Allirah that I don't want to take this relationship slow. That I want to speed things up.

I got under my bed covers and stared at the wall, thinking about what I'm going to say to her until my eyes closed slowly and drifted to sleep.

● ● ●

The next morning I was the last one awake. The smell of bacon from downstairs entered my nostrils. I sat up in my bed and stretched up before pulling the sheets off my body and swinging my legs off the side of my bed and walked sluggishly out of my room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Corbyn, Daniel and Jonah were in the lounge room doing whatever they do and Jack and Allirah were in the kitchen talking to each other while Allirah cooked. I sat down at the island counter next to Jack. "Good morning, Zach." Allirah said cheerfully as she flipped the bacon over in the pan. "Morning." I mumbled back with a small smile.

"Um, I'm gonna go see what the other guys are doing." Jack said and got off the seat and walked into the lounge room. 

"Ok, I'll call out when breakfast is ready." She told him before he moved into the next room. "How much bacon do you have?" She asked me. I crossed my arms on the marble counter and shook my head slightly.

"I'm not really hungry." I replied quietly.

"Well, I'm going to make you some just in case you do get hungry."

I watched her make the breakfast and opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. She looked up at me and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Are you going to say something?"

"I-I...um, Allirah..."

"Yes?"

I hesitated. This is so much harder. My head was much easier. "I...I have three pieces of bacon." I said and looked down at the counter. She nodded and put in three more pieces of bacon and they hissed once they touched the hot pan. "I'm gonna get the other boys for breakfast." I said and got up off the seat and walked into the lounge room before she could say anything else. I sat down in between Daniel and Jack and stared at the ground. "Did you talk to her?" Jack whispered and I shook my head and he smacked my arm. 

"Ow!" I cried and rubbed my arm and pouted at him.

"Zach you have to tell her how you feel." He hissed.

"What are we whispering about?" Daniel whispered, leaning into our conversation. "Zach needs to tell Allirah how he actually thinks about this relationship." Jack answered.

"Thank god! Someone who isn't us agrees that the 'take this relationship slow' shit is fucked." He cheered quietly.

"Hey!" I hissed.

"What?"

"This was her decision, and I'm just agreeing with it to make her happy."

"But are you happy?" Jack asked and I shrugged.

"Zach, just be honest with her." Jonah chimed in and I noticed the Corbyn was also listening in as well. "I can't! I tried a few minutes ago and nothing came out of my mouth!"

"Ok, how about we go out and you Allirah stay home to sort things out." Corbyn said.

"I don't think it will work well." I said.

"Zach, you're full of negativity. Be positive about this for once." Daniel said.

"Breakfast!" Allirah called from the kitchen. The boys got up from their spots and went to the dining table. "You coming Zach?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." I replied and got up and followed him to the table.