[Zach,Zoe] Love On Pause

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet jumped up from the couch after Zach stepped through the elevator that opened up into her home. “ Hey!” she yelled out since she was excited to see him. She’d just finished talking to Mackenzie and there was a lot going on through her mind right now. She seriously cared for Zach and was she going to let her fear let her lose someone else in her life? She had already lost Noah, and Logan. She let the fear of letting someone into her life cause her to lose Logan and she was feeling things for Zach that were beyond reminiscent of how she felt about Logan. “ Hi,” she said again, more quietly and happily as she approached him, wrapping her arms around his neck in an eager attempt to just surround herself with him. She smiled slowly as she watched him, seeing him in almost a new light since she was able to atleast admit, to herself, that she was in love with him. Normally she rushed to kiss him, more caught up in the lust of it than the actual love, but now she didn’t see a reason why it should be rushed. She wanted to appreciate the movements of his lips, how they formed perfectly against hers. She smiled as she stepped on her toes to kiss him, slowly but eagerly at the same time as she pulled him further into her penthouse.

Scarlet smiled slowly against his lips before she leaned away enough to lift her shirt off of her stomach and away from her shoulders before she tossed it to the ground. “ There’s something I think you should know,” she said hesitantly before she brought herself back closer to him. It was one thing for Zach to know how she felt, but she couldn’t just come out and say it. She placed her hands delicately over his chest, her fingertrips curving against his collar bone as she leaned back in to kiss him again, doing her best to pull him further into the living room. They hadn’t slept together yet, and that was mainly due to the fact that she actually cared about him, and wanted to know how she was going to develop those feelings before she just pushed him away and lost any chance of knowing what would happen with him. But Mackenzie was right. She couldn’t be scared. The scariest things in life were the things most worth while, right? Scarlet lowered her hands from his chest and tightened them around the bottom of his shirt as she started pushing it up towards his chest to take it off, keeping her lips pressed against his. She’d literally never been this nervous to sleep with anyone in her entire life. Sex wasn’t something she had ever taken too seriously. But knowing how she felt about him, how he made her feel about herself. She was nervous and scared, how the hell did women deal with this. What if she wasn’t good enough for him? What if he didn’t find her beautiful. What if she failed him somehow… cause he was so amazing. She didn’t worry about how he perceived her as far as their relationship went. Yes, he was amazing but she didn’t think it was to the point where she for some reason didn’t deserve him. It’s just that this was the first time she was actually sleeping with someone for the purpose of expressing her feelings for them. That wasn’t something she took lightly.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach stood in the elevator, wearing nothing but an old pair of jeans and a plain tshirt with a pair of old sneakers. In his back pocket was his trusty switchblade, something that never left his pocket when he was with Scarlet. He hoped it never would. After talking to Scarlet, it seemed to him he was on the same page as to why she wanted him to come over tonight. They hadn't done that yet. Thinking back to when Zach had started this job, he didn't know that the last thing he'd end up thinking of this as was a job. It has started as a, I can't get involved with her type of thing, turned into a well its fun while it lasts, hopefully it doesn't bite me in the ass type of thing, but then before he knew it, it had quickly become more. He realized how much his feelings for her had developed, how much he put his relationship with Scarlet far before his job. Which was nice that he was realizing how much he actually loved her... but it was bad news. The more he was distracted by her, though he loved letting himself be distracted by Scarlet, the more he slowly began to not pay attention to details. Like people trying to kill her. He wished more then anything he could spend one day not peeking in alley ways, checking behind them, checking across the street, checking outside her window, if he could spend one day just to give his attention to her and not worry about it any of it. But he was always there, that guy. Zach didn't have an option but to pay attention to surroundings. But on the other hand, he wondered if he had never taken this job, never gotten involved with the family at all, if he would have ever met Scarlet. Maybe he would have, since it seemed she was friends with a lot of people his sister was friends with. Maybe by chance they would have met. Maybe they still wold have fallen for each other. If that was the case, then everyday he spent in this situation just haunted him. The longer he was in, the more badly he wanted out. But there was no out now, not when he had to make sure Scarlet was safe. Now she was on his mind every minute of everyday, more better reasons then safety. He just hoped for a day when it would all stop. Maybe.

As the elevator doors opened, he walked into her penthouse, a smile slowly spreading across his face. She was beautiful in a tshirt even. He'd really lucked out on this one, Scarlet really was beautiful all around. And she got him, or at least, the parts of him she knew. He didn't want to keep anything from her, but he couldn't tell her this. On top of the fact that her knowing would just freak her out and she'd be living a paranoid life, which he didn't want to do to her, and her knowing might make them act faster, it was kind of the one thing that he was embarrassed about himself. He wasn't in school, he was in an illegal business, he really wasn't a decent guy in that aspect. He life was way off the tracks. He couldn't even stomach telling Zoe, that was worse. He loved Zoe and he knew she looked up to him, what kind of role model was he being? Not a good one. He couldn't let Zoe down like that. He'd be letting a lot of people down. Plus, telling them now, would have meant that he'd been lying all this time. Neither of them would take being lied to well at all. He was screwed either way and the hole he was in was just getting deeper and deeper.

Zach smiled when she approached him, and said "Hi," as she stepped closer. He let his hands slide around her waist stepping in close to her, but when she kissed him , he knew. He was in deep shit. She had kissed him soft and slow, like kissing someone you never want to leave, someone you really care about. And he knew right away he felt the same way. He returned her kiss, just as softly, pulling her closer to him before she pulled away again and slipped her shirt off and dropped it to the floor. He smiled tenderly, searching her eyes for a reason not to do this, but ignored all of the reasons. He let her kiss him again, following her further into the living room, his lips only leaving hers briefly to take his shirt off the rest of the way from where she'd started tossing it somewhere on the floor where it would probably stay for a while. He slid one hand into the back of her hair, "There's something I think you should know," he said quietly.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet smiled as she watched him taking off his own shirt and discarding it to the floor in the same general direction as her own. She did love him, she knew she did, which terrified the living hell out of her. She even loved his skin and the way the candlelight glowed against his chest. She stepped closer to him as they reached her living room, placing her lips against his collar bone but just as quickly returned to kissing him. A shiver ran through her spine and sent a tingle through her body as he both placed his hand into the back of the hair and also repeated to her that there was something she should know. “There’s no reason to say anything yet..” she said tentively before she smiled at him with an embarrassed blush flourishing across her cheeks. She couldn’t even call him her boyfriend out of being scared, let alone telling him that . But he could know. That was fine. She wasn’t strong enough to say it but she could handle him figuring it out on his own. Scarlet placed her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him back towards her bedroom before she lowered her hands to her hips and pushed the fabric of her cheerleading shorts down to where she could wiggle them off. She stepped out of them quickly and focused her attention back on Zach, giving him a small smile before she kissed him again. There had been so many times where she thought they might sleep together. But for some reason or another, one of them always stopped themselves. That alone should tell her that he wasn’t in this just for the sex.

Scarlet unbuttoned Zach’s jeans while she kissed the side of his jaw and brought her hands to the back of his jeans, letting her fingers drop to where his pockets were as she pulled against the belt loops to lower his jeans from his hips. Just for a moment that feeling of being embarrassed washed over her. What if she slept with him and he decided he didn’t want to be with her. Noah didn’t have a choice when he left, and Logan would have been there for her had she not been scared. But she was opening herself up to him now, trying to be as honest as she was capable. If he chose not to love her, it wasn’t because of circumstance or the fact that she was scared. It would be because she failed to meet his expectations. “ Are you sure you want me?” she questioned, wondering if she would kick herself later for asking that depending on what the answer was. Scarlet tilted her head slightly as she watched him before she took a few steps away from him, bringing her hands around to her own back so she could unfasten the lingerie she had been wearing. The less things they had to worry about later, the better.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach kissed her again, backing her toward her bedroom, agreeing with her when she said there was no need to say anything just yet, "Nope." He watched her shorts go in the same manner as everything else, discarded carelessly, just to get them out of the way. He knew he was in love with her, and he didn't need to say it. She didn;t need to hear it either, she'd know on her own how he felt. And he knew how easily she could be scared away with things like that. If she didn't want labels, that was okay. If she wasn't ready to say stuff out loud, that was okay too. Actions spoke louder that words most times anyways. She was too much to scare away and he wasn't going to take that chance. But it still lingered in his mind if he'd already ruined it. If she'd leave as soon as she found out what was going on. That scared him. If he was ever scared about losing her for dangerous reasons, he was more scared to lose her because she simply didn't want him. But right now, as she was unbuttoning his pants, he knew she wanted him. And not just for sex. They'd both waited, they both saw each other as more than that. He felt her hands near his back pocket and he froze for a second, not wanting her back there. What an odd thing to have to explain, bringing a switchblade with you to the girl you loves house. What would he need it for?

But she hadn't noticed it, instead focusing her attention on asking if he was sure he wanted her. He had a feeling she meant in general, more then sex, did he want her. To him that was a question she didn't even need to ask. He definitely wanted her, enough that he was catching himself slip up from time to time. The two of them together was like good and bad, good because he was doing his job and bad because they distracted him from his job. But he was willing to work harder if it meant they could be together. He answered her question, "I've been sure for a while." He pulled her waist against his bare skin, his jeans still hanging loosely from his hips, kissing her again. As he leaned back once more, maybe to discard his pants with everything else, he glanced out her window, seeing a figure down on the street. Seriously? When would it ever stop? "You've got to be kidding..." Zach leaned toward the window, keeping one hand tenderly on Scarlet's waist and pulled the curtain back with the other. He didn't want Scarlet to see him, but he was sure the guy saw Zach. No sooner had the guy saw Zach looking at him, he had turned and disappeared. He knew Zach was here. And he knew Zach was watching him too Things had just gotten worse in Zach's mind. The guy knew Zach was watching for him, which meant if Zach was paying attention, the guy knew Zach was from the inside. Or at least he might know now. He had to take care of it tonight. He just hoped Scarlet didn't get freaked out.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet felt herself melt slightly at his words as he said that he had known for a while now. She had to hand it to him, he was pretty good at handling her and knowing what to say, how far he could go with his words, without pushing her away. That was a skill that most people hadn’t acquired so quickly with her. They usually just suffocated her to the point where she wanted nothing to do with them anymore. Zach let her do her own thing so often in the beginning that she had wondered if he was even interested at all. Seriously, what guy didn’t care whether or not the girl wanted labels? A guy that wasn’t looking for a relationship, but just a hook up. But then Zach had never pressured her into anything she wasn’t physically ready for, not once. He’d never pressured her into anything she wasn’t ready for, for anything. Not even emotional, he’d just been kind and patient. Scarlet knew she wasn’t the easiest of girls to date with her complex’s and strange outlook on life due to her past experiences, and she didn’t know what caused Zach to be so amazing with her , but she was glad he was. Just feeling her skin against his made her body tingle, and she knew that after she slept with him she wouldn’t see sex as just sex ever again. If he could make her feel this way before they slept together, there was no telling how he could make her feel when it was actually happening.

A smile spread across her lips as he leaned away to step out of his own jeans but when he stopped and made his way over to her window, Scarlet made a confused face and looked down at her body. She hadn’t devastatingly gained fifty pounds in the last two minutes and the last she checked she still had a chest, yet he was still running away from her. “ Zach?” she asked cautiously before she took a moment to catch the expression on his face. “ What is it?” she asked, going over to the window before she realized she was just wearing her underwear. Scarlet sighed before she went to pick up her shorts and pulled them on, grabbing a shirt quickly out of her dresser and pulled it on as she made her way back over to Zach. “… I don’t see anything…” she said out of confusion before she wrapped her arms loosely around his waist as she stood at his side. Scarlet sighed, leaning against his body as she kissed the side of his arm on his shoulder before she moved to kiss the side of his neck.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach look up and down the street. What a way to ruin the moment. But he could feel himself becoming tense all over. When he agreed to take this job he hadn't thought about it getting this bad, or this serious. He'd been naive to think he'd just be trailing her. Naive to think that it wouldn't become to such dirty business. But what had he been expecting? he'd gotten involved with the New York mafia after all. He should have expected it to get worse. When just moments ago he was all caught up in the moment, now he was just frustrated. Why couldn't they have a normal relationship? Without creepy stalker guys and being paranoid every minute of every day. But as tense as he was now, he felt himself starting to calm down when she wrapped her arms around his waist, kissing his bare skin. He sighed, "It was that creep... he's gone now though." Zach ran his hand over his hair, his arm sliding around her waist, "Scarlet, this guy can't keep stalking you, I can't deal with this anymore." Zach button his jeans, leaning over to kiss the side of her hair, "I'm just gonna go get rid of him..." Zach moved back into the living room, and putting his shirt back on. He walked back over to Scarlet, taking her hand and kissed her softly, "I'll call you?" After saying good bye he hopped back in the elevator, feeling around his back pocket, making sure the knife was still there. It was. He had a feeling he might have to use it.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet rested her cheek against Zach’s shoulder, keeping her arms lazily wrapped around his waist as she looked out at the streets of New York. There was such a darkness to New York that was masked by the bright lights and busy nature. She sort of felt like it was metaphorical for a lot of peoples personalities. It was easy to ignore the dirt, grime, the nastiness of the city when people focused on the illusions offered by the rest of the city. She lifted her head from his shoulder when he said that he couldn’t take the creepy guy stalking her anymore. Scarlet opened her mouth to say something, acknowledge that yeah the guy was creepy but it wasn’t like she hadn’t had stalkers before, when she noticed that he was buttoning his jeans again. “ What? No. Boo.” she said before she frowned and crossed her arms while looking at him. But just as quickly he was kissing the side of her hair and saying how he was going to get rid of him. “ You can’t just talk to some psycho. Maybe we could just call the cops. You saw him too this time, maybe they’ll take it more seriously instead of just ignoring me,”. She scoffed as he started putting his shirt on, “ Hey hey hey, let’s not make some crazy hasty decisions here,” she said, realizing that the long awaited moment of sleeping with him was slipping right through her freshly manicured fingers.

Scarlet placed her hands on her hips as the elevator doors were closing, she was frustrated and flustered, blubbering across her words as she yelled at him, “ Yeah, well no sex for you mister!” she said, making it seem as though it were her decision. After he doors shut she shook her head, yelling out, “ Ugh!!” before she made her way back to her bedroom and plopped face first onto her bed, screaming out of frustration into her pillow. He was going to cause her to involve herself in very unladylike behavior if he didn’t give in soon. She picked up her phone and texted Mackenzie quickly. ‘Not only is that creepy guy annoying. He officially just cock blocked me. First time that’s ever been done by someone I’ve never spoken to.’. Scarlet frowned, still deciding it was best to feel sorry for herself. Why focus on the fact that he had basically admitted to feeling the same way she did, when she could focus on the fact that she didn’t get to sleep with him. It was a glass half empty kind of night, but mainly because she really just wanted to get this thing done. Scarlet picked up the stuffed teddy bear that Logan had gotten for her when they were younger, carrying it by its’ arm alone before she crawled back into bed and did her best to quit picturing Zach in her bedroom.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach left Scarlet’s building, heading down the side walk, watching for any signs of that guy. Zach looked back up Scarlet’s window, but he didn’t see her. Okay. Now if he was that guy… Zach turned out of site from Scarlet’s window heading down an alley. If he was that creep he’d stay off the streets too, try to stay out of Zach’s site. But Zach was probably smarter than this guy anyways. He’d been watching him longer. Zach stepped quietly, listening. His adrenaline had heightened with the knowledge of what he knew he had to do. He’d blown his cover; he had to get rid of this guy. He thought he heard something, and he spun around, but didn’t see anything, but just as soon as he’d taken a breath that he’d been holding, he felt a presence behind him. “You looking for me? Your girlfriend is cute, my boss thinks so too.” Zach spun around just as the guy went to grab him. Zach mentally blessed his mother for putting him in karate as a kid, because his black belt was gonna save his ass. He dodged the guy’s grimy hand, grabbing his wrist and punching him with his other free fist. The guy shook his head, taken off guard for just long enough for Zach to get him where he wanted him. They scuffled for mere seconds before Zach got the better of him, standing behind him, the guys arms pinned behind his back and Zach’s switchblade at his throat. He could hear the guy’s rattled breathing, pressing the blade against his skin, tiny droplets of blood beginning to ooze out. Zach let out a tired breath, he could feel his voice shaking, “You’re messing with the wrong people.” He could easily just press the blade harder, end things that way. But his judgment got better of him. He didn’t want to deal with all that blood, all it was was evidence. In a split second decision, he placed his hands on the guys jaw and the back of his head, snapping his neck in one cleaned, quick motion. Zach felt the body go limp in his arms, letting him sink to the ground before letting go and stepping away.

He felt the blood leave his face, he knew if anyone saw him right now he’d look awfully pale. He’d really just done that. But it had become necessary, Scarlet’s life depended on it. And that’s what he cared about most. It wasn’t just about a job anymore, it was never about the damn money. It was just about her. That girl up there in her penthouse, probably confused as hell. He knew he loved her. His actions just plainly pointed that out, he was so sure of it. But he could never tell her about this, he felt… he didn’t know. He was kind of shocked at himself. He hadn’t realized how long he had been standing there, how much time had passed. He heard a car horn in the distance, bringing him back to reality. He looked at the body in front of him, realizing he now had a body to deal with. He pulled out his phone, hitting his speed dial, waiting for him to pick up. After the third or fourth ring, Giovanni answered, “Yeah?” Zach took deep breath, “Hey, I need a hand, you think you and Matt could meet me with a car?” He looked up and down the alley, not a soul in sight. “Yeah, no problem. You okay man, you sound kinda shaken up? What happened?” Zach shook his head, even though his friend couldn’t see him, “We’ll talk when you get here.” He gave him directions to where he was and hung up. He continued to try to take deep breaths. He had to call Scarlet, but he didn’t want to sound like he had on the phone with Giovanni. He dialed Scarlet’s number, waiting for her to pick up. When he heard her voice, he almost smiled, “Hey listen, don’t worry about that guy, he’s not coming back. I think I uh, got rid of him.” He listened to her on the other end, reassuring her, “Yeah, and just in case, I told your doorman, to not let anyone up, so. Anyways, why don’t we hang out tomorrow? I think I’m gonna head home. I’ll call you.” After saying goodnight and all that, he hung up.

Zach didn’t wait much longer until he saw an unfamiliar car turn down the alley and killed the head lights. He stood with his hands in his pockets while Giovanni and Matt got out of the car, examining the situation. Giovanni raised his eyebrows, “Oh, you’re right, you got yourself a situation, Pierson.” Matt shook his head, “See man, that’s why he sounded so bad on the phone. First killing.” Zach looked at both of them, somehow they managed to stay calm and joke around. They were quite the pair. Zach cleared his throat, “You guys, both… killed people before?” Giovanni nodded, “Yeah, me, two.” Matt, shrugged, “I’m not sharing my number.” Zach’s eyes must have gotten wide because Giovanni waved him off, “He’s less than ten, don’t even worry about it.” The pair of them picked up the body and put it in the trunk, where they’d first laid down a tarp, Matt saying that DNA ‘was a bitch’. They shut the truck, Giovanni, slapping Zach lightly on the back, “Don’t be hard on yourself, it would have happened eventually. That’s the business.” Zach nodded, it was. And honestly, he didn’t regret it, just was still in shock a little bit. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he just felt tired. His friends must have noticed, because as Zach moved to get into the car, they exchanged a look, Matt nodding, “Bro, go home. We got this.” Zach rubbed his neck, “You sure?” “Yeah, don’t worry about it. This is just procedure to us now,” he joked. They got in the car, Giovanni, leaning out the driver’s window, “Pierson, disinfect that blade, who knows what that guy had.” Zach nodded, his blade now back in his pocket, but needed to be cleaned. After they’d left, he began his walk home. What seemed like forever finally ended when he headed inside, locking the door behind him. He peeked in the second bedroom, Zoe was already sleeping. He felt bad he hadn’t hung out with her tonight. He stood in the doorway, watching her sleep for a moment. She looked innocent when she slept. He hoped she never had to experience what he did tonight. He headed back to the kitchen, running hot water and waited until it was scalding, and then ran his switchblade under the faucet. He kinda felt like he was just walking in a dream, he was over tired. But he knew he probably wouldn’t sleep too much. He’d just seen far too much action tonight.

He ended up making tea, which was weird because he never drank tea unless something was totally bothering him and his mom always made him and Zoe tea. He sat at the table, leafing through a magazine, hardly reading anything. He’d already changed his clothes, now he was just wearing a pair of sweats, no shirt. He rested his chin in his hand, his elbow on the table. He wondered what Giovanni and Matt were doing right now. He pushed that from his mind, and instead began wondering what Scarlet was doing right now. Maybe she was sleeping. As if right on cue, he heard a knock on his the door, his stomach dropping for just a second. Maybe it was Matt or Giovanni, or both. No, they would have just texted or called. They rarely ever came over unless it was day time. In that case it could be a friend... or someone who wasn't a friend. He got up, glancing at Zoe's have shut door. The last thing eh wanted was to attract someone dangerous to his own apartment with his sister in it. But as he looked through the peephole, he was relieved to see who is was... Scarlet. Zach unbolted and unlocked the door, stepping aside for her to come in, smiling tiredly. He was relieved to see her. "Hey..." he said, pulling her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I figured you'd be sleeping." He kept her there, closing his eyes just for a second, burying his face in her hair. She had no idea how relieved he felt to hold her, even to just have her near. Zach was just glad she was safe. "You tired?" he asked, letting her go, and shut the light off in the kitchen.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

After Zach had left she’d gotten up, not able to sleep with all of the thoughts racing through her head. She was in the middle of making herself a cup of hot pomegranate-blueberry tea when she heard her phone vibrate against the kitchen counter. She felt relieved as she saw Zach’s name flash across the screen and answered it quickly, “ Hey,..” she said tiredly, going back to working on her tea. “ You actually talked to him? What if you just made him mad and he decides to come up to my apartment instead of lurking on the street?” she questioned, but he quickly comforted her by telling her that he talked to her building staff and alerted them to keep an eye out. “ Thanks babe,” she said, setting her other hand on the counter since she was done making her tea. “ You sound really tired… I have class tomorrow but I kind of want to skip it. Sleep in, we’ll talk later. Okay? Lo-.. Good night,”. She took a moment, staring at the cup of tea before she smiled slowly. He just protected her, took care of her, without expecting anything from her in exchange or without expecting her to change for him. She tilted her head to the side slightly in thought as she picked up her cup of tea and made her way back to her bedroom where she laid down. A few hours later Scarlet turned her head to look at the clock and sighed. Just a little past two in the morning and she still wasn’t able to sleep since she had woken up from her nightmare about an hour ago. Enough was enough, she wanted Zach. Scarlet kicked the covers off of her legs and climbed out of bed. She took enough money out of her wallet to cover cab fair for the way over to Zach’s and back in the morning before she held on tightly to her teddy bear and stepped into a pair of slippers, making her way to the elevator. Once she got downstairs she waved with a smile at the boy sitting behind the desk at the entrance. Overnight shifts had to suck. Scarlet climbed into the back of the cab, knowing that if her father knew what she was doing he would be livid. He worried about her too much, thought there was more evil in the world than there actually was. If she had to leave at two in the morning he would have preferred that she let him call her a driver, someone that he trusted versus some random New York cab driver. But she didn’t have time for that, she wanted to see Zach and that’s all there was to it. It didn’t take long before she got to his building and got out of the cab, looking up to see how many lights were turned on in his building.

Scarlet shuffled in her slippers as she made her way inside and went over to the elevator, wrapping her arms tightly around her stomach with her teddy bear tightly against her chest. Her hair was so messily braided and pulled to the side, but she didn’t really feel like she had the energy to fix it, nor did she care enough to really do so. When the doors opened she made her way down his hallway, looking over her shoulder and down both ends of the hallway to make sure no one else was in it. She knocked against his door quietly before she took a step back. She must have looked like a mess. T-shirt, pajama shorts, slippers, a stuffed animal, her hair horribly braided and messy to the side. But when he opened the door, he still looked happy to see her, pulling her into his chest where she buried her face and closed her eyes. “ I couldn’t sleep. I kept having nightmares about that boogey man guy,” she said as he kissed the side of her hair. When he let her go to turn off the light in the kitchen and asked if she was tired, she nodded but then realized that he probably couldn’t see her nodding her head in the dark. She held her stuffed animal out to him before she walked behind him and hopped onto his back so he could carry her to his room, resting her cheek against his shoulder as they went into his room.

When Scarlet laid down in his bed, she made herself comfortable as she tried to inconspicuously steal a few of his pillows for her side, even though she would end up curling to his side with her head on his chest. “ Are you okay? You seem so exhausted out of nowhere,” she said out of concern as she curled up next to him, placing her cheek against his chest where she dropped her hand on the other side of the bare skin of his chest. She traced her fingers along his skin of his chest, watching as his chest fell and rose with each breath he took. “ Since I’m skipping class tomorrow we can do whatever you want… “ she said, hoping to lift his spirits. She didn’t care if it was going to some sporting event, out to see a movie, going on a run, to go see a music show. Whatever he wanted to do, she was game. She sat up slightly, leaning over him as she smiled. She knew she wasn’t going to try and sleep with him. Tonight wasn’t about that anymore, she just wanted his presence. And he was so tired she sort of felt bad for him. Scarlet leaned down to kiss him again, with the same enthusiasm as she had kissed him when he first stepped out of her elevator that evening. She couldn’t say it yet, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to show him every now and then. She placed her hand softly against his cheek as she kissed him good night before she leaned away and kissed his cheek. After a moment she laid back down, curling up to his side so that they could fall asleep.


When she fell asleep the only dream to come to surface was a memory of Logan and herself when she was younger, sixteen to be exact. Her father hadn’t waited very long to get re-married. He had waited six months to the day, in fact, after Noah died to get married to Shannon. She had been all but forced to attend the wedding, but she only agreed to go on one condition, that Logan be her date. He of course would have no problem doing it, and there was a certain amount of relief in her fathers’ eyes. He was under the impression that Scarlet would behave herself with someone to monitor her. But he would learn eventually that trying to control Scarlet was like trying to control the weather. It was at this particular wedding that Scarlet discovered her passion for champagne. There wasn’t anyone there that was going to stop her. Who had any right to judge a girl who had lost her mother, her brother and was sitting at her fathers wedding to the whore that had torn their family apart? It wasn’t their place, and as long as she was kept quiet her father didn’t seem to mind. But that was mainly because Logan had done a very good job at keeping Scarlet contained and at her table, quiet for the most part. It came time for the speeches and Scarlet stood up at the same time as the best man, giving him a look that told him to sit his ass down. “ Well we sure as hell know the best man at this wedding isn’t my father,” she said giving a drunken giggle as she lifted her champagne glass. “ Cheers to the new couple.. Hopefully Shannon and my father will have more respect for this marriage than they did for my fathers’ previous one. There’s always little anecdotes about how the couple met… or how the children met their new stepmother. I’ll tell ya,” she said matter of factly, placing her hand on Logan’s shoulder to steady herself from all of the champagne. “ I met Shannon when I walked into my fathers room and caught them in the middle of the act. While my mother was at Church.” she said, lifting her finger away from her champagne glass and pointing it at Shannon. “ Super classy, on both parts. Anyways… I can only assume that my father was lucky enough to meet her on whatever street was well lit that night along the corners, or perhaps on some adult entertainment website. Either way she has one of the best metaphorical shovels I’ve ever seen because she has been golddigging the life out of him ever since they started hooking up. Here’s the good news, Shannon. There’s even more money to come your way since my mom and brother are officially out of the will. But I also have a little piece of advice for you. The thing that you’re doing…. Trying to push me and my father apart? I believe full heartedly that it will work, which is more devastating for him than it is for me. Because he’s about as high on my favorites list as you are… but my point is… if you want to take my father away from me, do it quickly. It would be better to just unload a bullet into his chest, or to throw down a few glasses of wine and get yourself behind the wheel of the car he bought you and run him down like every day roadkill.” she said referring to how her mother and brother had died. Scarlet finished her champagne glass before she took in a deep breath and set the glass down roughly on the table. “ Congratulations to the happy couple. You’re on your way to get everything you want as soon as the blonde hair of trouble is out of your way. Go fuck yourselves.” she said as she turned and took a few steps away before she turned back around and raised her hands up. “ Also, may I point out… vote for Harris in the Senate re-election. What’s politics without one more slimy, snaky bastard? “ she said, saluting her father sarcastically before she turned, taking her heels off and dropping them where she stood.

Scarlet grabbed a champagne bottle on her way out, heading over to the tree house that she and Noah had built together when they were kids. She climbed up it with one hand, carrying the bottle of champagne in her other hand. Once she was inside of it she dropped to the wooden floor and sighed, looking over at the bottle of champagne. It didn’t take long until she heard someone coming up the ladder of the treehouse. There was only one person it would be, everyone else cared about themselves too much. She melted as she saw Logan and when he came to sit down by her she gripped her arms around him as tightly as she could, bawling into his chest as she let herself start crying, clinging her fingers with a death grip around the fabric of his shirt. The tree house was really the only place she could escape where her father would never get ahold of her, and for a little while she was able to share that with Logan sometimes. She knew as she got older she would seek out different ways to escape her father, but being sixteen this was about as limited as her options were. She sniffled, crawling into his lap so that he could hold her and she could focus on her champagne instead of clinging to him, “ I love you,” she said, resting her back against his chest and sniffling as she tried to open the bottle of champagne with her own shaking hands.

The music from the kitchen woke Scarlet up and she opened her eyes from her dream, looking back at Zach as she stretched her back, adjusting to having woken up. Zoe must have been over, at least that was the only possible explanation she could think of. She looked from the door over to Zach and smiled as she watched him sleep, taking in how much exactly he meant to her. As she had gotten older she had quit running away to the treehouse so often, and had started jetting off to different countries, as though it were some horrible cat and mouse game for her and her father for him to come and find her. But she had been upset last night, scared of how she was feeling, scared of the boogey man outside of her apartment, scared of the hold that Zach had over her, everything that would have made her run to her tree house before, or to France, Brazil, Spain, anywhere. But instead she’d chosen to run to Zach, the exact thing she was afraid of. She held her breath, realizing the importance he held in her life now, her sanctuary. Scarlet moved from the bed slowly, as to not wake him up as she made her way into his bathroom to brush her teeth and face before he woke up. Plus she wasn’t entirely sure if Zoe knew she was here. As if on cue she heard Zoe darting into his room, followed by the sound of a smack and then her shuffling away from him. But she narrowed her eyebrows as she heard Zoe talking about her and tilted her ear closer to the door to hear what they were saying.

[Zoe Lauren Pierson]

Zoe turned the music down on her iPod as she set it down on the dock in Zach’s kitchen. Her music played quietly as she started making coffee for Zach, knowing that he wouldn’t be up yet. He was out late,..again… with that Scarlet girl. She adored spending time with him because, and she’d never say it to his face, but he was genuinely one of the greatest people she had ever known. And she was so thankful that he was placed in her life as her brother and that she was able to form such a close bond with him. Even if they hadn’t been related, she would have been in awe of how amazing he was. That being said, it was her duty as his little sister to sort of make his life a living hell. Zoe turned the music up before she made her way to Zach’s room and jumped onto his bed enthusiastically.

Zoe managed her way into sitting on his chest and placed her finger in her mouth before she leaned down and placed her finger in his ear. “ MORNING SUNSHINE” she yelled at the top of her lungs before she reached down and smacked her hand across his left cheek. Zoe leaned away from him quickly to try and run away from any retaliation that he might have for her. The only time she could really win their fights was when he was sleeping. “ Maybe if you weren’t out so late with Presidential Candidate’s Daughter Barbie, you would be more rested to defeat me.” She said placing her hands on her hips, “ What were you doing with her that late anyways? What do you guys even do? I know you guys haven’t had sex. And I know that because of the public little chat thing,”. Zoe leaned against the doorframe of his room as she crossed her arms and gave him a serious look. “ You’re going to get bored of her Zach, or worse… she’ll get bored of you. Look at her past, she uses men as these little play things. She’s spoiled, cares too much about her looks, darts off to wherever she wants, doesn’t put other feelings into consideration. That is nothing like the type you are usually interested in. So what is it? What is going on?” she asked, giving a small sigh of concern for her brother as she watched him waking up.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach woke up to his sister sitting over him and sticking her gross slobbery finger in his ear. He opened his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and looked at Zoe, "Morning..." He sat up rubbing his eyes. He wasn't exactly in the mood to get up and show her who would clearly win that wrestling match. Instead he let her tell him that it was his own fault for staying out late with Scarlet, which technically it was his fault, but then he remembered. Scarlet had been here last night. He looked over at the bed next to him, she wasn't hiding under the covers. However, that teddy bear of hers was still here, on her side where she should have been. She wouldn't have left that behind. She was still around somewhere. Zach eyed the bathroom door, not remembering having shut it. He looked back at Zoe, who had so politely told him she knew they weren't having sex and then continued to lecture him on dating Scarlet and how they would get bored of each other and she wasn't his type so why was he going through all the trouble, blah, blah. Where had Scarlet gone? Surely she hadn't just up and left this morning... they seemed to really be growing close to each other, after what they almost did last night. Surely she wouldn't leave in the morning like this with out saying goodbye. Or maybe she would, he knew her well enough to know she scared easily. She'd practically told him herself in a lot of ways. Zach sat up, his feet planted on the floor, looking at his little sister, "Zo, I thought all those things too. But she's not like any of it. She surprised me, maybe she'll surprise you. I really like her." He more then really liked her, he loved her. But he wasn't sure he wanted to tell Zoe that just yet. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Speaking of Scarlet, have you seen her this morning? She was here..." he said, standing up.

Well, even if she did leave this morning or whenever, surely he could just call her. Find out what she was up to this morning. He looked back at Zoe, walking towards his bathroom to take a shower, "Tell you what, I will make you breakfast and then we can hang out today, deal?" He turned and pushed open the bathroom door, finding Scarlet standing there quietly, clearly not making herself known. Zach smiled, "Oh never mind Zoe, I found her. I thought you left." He grinned at Scarlet, moving into the bathroom beside her. "Have you met my sister Zoe yet? Scarlet, Zoe, Zoe, Scarlet. Blah blah, introductions aside, want to join us for breakfast? It might be the only time you'll catch me cooking. Breakfast is the only thing I'm capable of handling. I can't do dinner, and I don't count lunch, you can just slap some stuff on bread and call it good. Zoe knows all about that," he teased, sticking his head out and laughed at Zoe, making fun of her cooking skills. He leaned over and turned the water on in the shower so it could heat up, "I'm take a shower real quick, wanna join?" he asked Scarlet sarcastically, loud enough for Zoe to hear, "Zoe doesn't mind, do you Zoe?" He knew Zoe would get her cue to leave the room. Not that he didn't like her around, but why make the situation awkward. He grinned at Scarlet, surely she understood little sisters.

[Zoe Lauren Pierson]

Zoe leaned away from the doorframe as Zach finally got up and watched him carefully as he started speaking about Scarlet. She wasn’t trying to be bitchy, she just really did have Zach’s best interest at heart and that Scarlet girl did not have a good reputation. Then again, she wasn’t really sure any girl would be good enough for Zach. “ She surprised you? That just means you’re blinded by sex. Don’t do that to yourself. Take away the sex and what the hell is there really, Zach? I don’t want you to get your heart broken and you can’t fully judge the situation because you’re in it. It’s easier for me to tell you that this is messed up, because I can observe it,” she said out of frustration as she watched him get up but then she paused. “ She STAYED here last night?” she questioned with a hurt tone across her voice. “ I came to hang out with you and you hung out with bimbo Barbie all night?” she said shaking her head, “ No, I haven’t seen her. She probably darted off to find the next senator to sleep with now that she’s done slumming it,” she said with an acidic tone. Zoe straightened as Zach opened the door to the bathroom and found Scarlet standing in there. It was like she could feel Zach slowly pushing her out of his life and pulling Scarlet into his, and it certainly wasn’t something she had prepared herself. She’d always been the most important woman in his life, and now this girl was coming in and ruining everything.

Zoe smiled sarcastically at Scarlet as the door opened farther and she could see it, “ How sweet we’re running a bed and breakfast. Zach didn’t leave your tip on the nightstand?” she asked, keeping her tone pleasant before she watched Scarlet and Zach behave around one another. Scarlet didn’t look as confident as people had often described her as, instead she seemed to be hiding behind Zach a bit, which confused Zoe since it wasn’t what she had expected. Zoe scrunched her nose in disgust as Zach teased at their sex life, “ If the gossip blogs are true she probably does need a shower after her never ending cycle of men in her bed. Get yourself tested, Zach” she said, choosing to ignore his jest about her cooking and stick her tongue out at him instead. She wasn’t normally this bitchy, but when it came to her brother she got severely overprotective. He was such a great guy, and she wasn’t entirely sure she could handle him ever getting hurt. If he did, then Zoe would make sure someone else got hurt in the process as well. “ Whatever, I started the coffee” she said, turning around as she left Zach’s room and shut his door behind her, mumbling to herself as she made her way to the living room where she could watch tv and text her frustration to Felicia as she waited for them to finish whatever the hell they were doing.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet frowned as she listened to the way Zoe described her. She never cared how people viewed her before because she always figured if people really knew her, they’d know what she was like. And if people were going to make judgments then screw them. But this was Zach’s little sister, her opinion was important. Not to mention the fact that Zach had said that he had thought the same things about Scarlet at first. She narrowed her eyebrows, thankful for the fact that she had been given the option to change Zach’s mind about all of the things but then sort of wondered how he would have thought those things about her. After all, she had only first met him when he saved her from the taxi cruising down in her direction. Had he thought she was spoiled and careless of others when she had asked to buy him lunch? How many times of hanging out with her did he think she was a little brat who had to have her way? She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering how much of that Zach had kept from her. She closed her eyes, maybe she was just trying to find reasons to run away from him. Which she shouldn’t, because she knew he cared about her. But why would he have thought those things of her? Unless he read the gossip blogs. But he didn’t really seem like a guy that was all too interested in the social happenings of her group of friends that the gossip blogger seemed obsessed with detailing the lives of to other New Yorkers. She didn’t have too much time left to think of it before the door was opening and Zach stood there, with Zoe standing near the doorframe on the opposite side of his room.

Scarlet flickered a nervous smile as Zach stepped into the bathroom and introduced him to Zoe, tilting her hand up in a lazy wave. “ Hi, it’s nice to meet you” she said, knowing her words would mean nothing to his younger sister at this point. Scarlet moved slightly behind Zach, lowering her hand to his own as she watched Zoe and tried to evaluate the scathing smile she was getting from her. But when Zoe started going off about Scarlet’s past, Scarlet felt like her armor was getting damaged, especially since it was Zach’s family. She could back talk her own family all she wanted to, but Zach had been so good to her. She cared about him, which meant she cared how his family perceived her. If Zoe was saying all of these things about Scarlet to her own brother, then there was no telling what Zoe would tell their own mother. Scarlet had enough trouble with mothers. They always accused her of looking like trouble. The only mother she had really taken to aside from her own had been Logan’s, and she had basically taken care of Scarlet in every way every time she ran over to Logan’s to escape everything. She listened as the banter between Zach and Zoe came to an end and she left the room before she looked at Zach and pouted out her bottom lip. “ The first time I actually care about whether or not someone likes me…” she said before she looked back up at him. “ You thought I was a spoiled brat?” she questioned, slightly hurt before she stepped away from the bathroom. “ I’ll let you take your shower,” she said, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek before she made her way back into his bedroom.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach sighed when Zoe left. He wished she wouldn't be so harsh, but he knew where she was coming from. They'd been really close siblings all growing up, it was normal for Zoe to dislike the first serious relationship Zach really had, just as he wouldn't probably love her first boyfriend right away either. Zach looked at Scarlet who had asked him if he really thought she was a brat, "Well either way, I was very wrong. I'm glad you changed my mind." She kissed his cheek and he shut the door getting in the shower. He had seen how Scarlet's demeanor changed, the way Zoe was putting her down and the way Scarlet had clearly been affected by it. Scarlet knew Zoe's opinion mattered to him, but as much as it mattered, Zach also knew Zoe didn't know Scarlet as well as he did. She just had to give her a chance. Zach's shower really only lasted a few minutes before he got out and dried off, wrapping a towel around his waist. He went back in his room, seeing scarlet sitting on the bed. He looked at her, going to his closet to find jeans, "Her bark is worse then her bite, you know." He found a pair on the floor of his closet, and dug around for a clean shirt, tossing both on the bed, "She's just being the protective kid sister, nothing different then I'd be if she brought a guy around. She just doesn't know you. You want to take a shower? I'm going to go start breakfast." He kissed her cheek before she went to take a shower and quickly got dressed, heading to the kitchen.

As he passed Zoe sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, he ruffled her hair, "It wouldn't kill you to be nice, you know. Tell Felicia, I say hi," he smiled, knowing she was probably telling Felicia stupid it was that Scarlet was here, blah blah. "Okay what do you want for break fast?" he asked picking up the newspaper, digging through all the sections. He pulled out the word puzzles for himself, looking at the crossword, and set the comics in front of Zoe. "Hmmm," he wondered out loud, "I need a five letter word that starts with H for unpleasant and severe, unfair even... oh. Harsh." He looked at Zoe tenderly, "Zoe, you know I love you, nothing changes that. Look I really like her though, try giving her a chance?" He felt like he was pleading with her, but he just wanted her to like Scarlet. He hugged his sister, looking at the comic strips over her shoulder.

[Zoe Lauren Pierson]

Zoe set her phone down after she had finished sending Felicia another text message and looked up as Zach had come back out. His hair was still wet so he had just obviously gotten out of the shower but Scarlet wasn’t with him which meant she must be taking her shower now. “ I’m surprised the princess didn’t want to take her shower first so that you wouldn’t use up all of the good hot water,” she said before she sat up from the couch and followed Zach into the kitchen where she sat down at the table as he shuffled through the papers. “ It wouldn’t kill you to date someone a little more down to earth,” she said as she mumbled beneath her breath. “ Her dad is running for President. Have you thought about all of the consequences that can bring to your life? Do you want your life that publically displayed for everyone? To be constantly judged?” she asked, watching Zach and ignoring the fact that she had just realized that must be how Scarlet spent a lot of her life too even though she never asked her father to run any type of campaign. There was no time for being understanding when you were the little sister who was not in favor of the new set of legs walking around your brothers apartment.

Zoe pulled the comic section towards herself after he tossed it in front of her and gave him a candid look as he passively suggested that she was being harsh to Scarlet. “ Guilty till proven innocent?” she questioned towards him, meaning that she didn’t have to like Scarlet until Scarlet gave her a reason to. She sighed as he hugged her and leaned into him. “ But everything does change, Zach. You and I would have been able to stay up and watch a movie if your world hadn’t revolved around hers last night. I know that sounds childish but that sounds like it’s just the beginning of things to come.” she said, trying to pretend that she wasn’t behaving like a child and that she was capable of doing things for him because she loved him. Even if it meant she was losing him at the same time. “ Fine,” she said, finally conceding. “ I’ll be a little nicer. Your happiness matters more to me anyways I guess,” she said, knowing that she cared about Zach’s happiness far more than her own. “ But if that’s the case then I want eggs, hash browns and bacon. With whole wheat toast and strawberry jam. Orange juice, with pulp. Coffee. Bacon, burnt. Hash browns grilled, eggs sunnyside up,” she said before she squeezed her arms around him to hug him again quickly. She didn’t want to admit she was scared of giving up time with him, mainly because they annoyed the hell out of each other, but at the end of the day there wasn’t a person she loved more.