[Zach] One Thing Led To Another, Wild Thing

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet chewed the piece of celery she had bitten off as she walked over to her iPod and turned the music up about as loud as it could go. She really couldn’t complain about life at the moment. She hardly ever thought about that Logan Renner kid anymore, and when she did it wasn’t romantic at all. She was done with school for the summer and not only was Patrick in the palm of her hand for the future of her career, but he had agreed to say that she was participating in an internship that would get her school credits, her dad off her back, and would look good on a resume. Even though she fully intended on spending her summer getting a sun-kissed tan in whatever country she could convince Zach to escape with her to. She switched from the music, looking to see if Ryan or Shane had called her back. Which they hadn’t yet. She puffed out her cheeks and sighed, straightening back up to look at the dinner she was cooking. A dinner she was cooking… for Zach. That was another huge piece of her life. Instinctively she looked down at her left hand at her ring finger and the engagement ring that was so perfectly placed upon it. No, he hadn’t given it to her. But he’d had it in his drawer, just as good right? He was thinking about it. And if he was thinking about it, that meant she needed to mentally prepare herself. You couldn’t just throw her into the middle of it and expect her to be okay, not Scarlet Harris. Mental preparation…and she would be fine. Actually, you would think her biggest worry would be the fact that she was now aware that there were people out there who didn’t exactly have her best interests at heart. But for some reason, she just wasn’t worried. Zach would take care of it.

It wasn’t to say that she wasn’t spooked. She still looked around corners, grew suspicious of people that stared at her too long. But it didn’t consume her thoughts. No, the thing that was keeping her up at night? Was starting to cause a rash on her left ring finger. Instantly it started to burn, was her own body rejecting the idea of marriage? She winced, turning the ring on her finger and decided to ignore it. She was going to take it off before Zach got there. He would never see it. Life would be dandy. With that she went to check on the cherry glaze for the ribs, he wouldn’t be here for another half hour anyways. She smiled satisfactorily at the taste of the glaze and then took out everything to make the salad, deciding to chop the carrots first. She bounced her hips side to side, singing along with the music as she chopped along the carrots when out of the corner of her eye she saw someone move into her kitchen. Instinctively she screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing the knife directly towards the tall figure as it was turning the corner.


Outfit
Song

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach was as good as moved in with Scarlet, as much as she'd ever openly admit. Things were a lot better now since he'd had the opportunity to just tell her everything. She knew about the people following her and she knew about his current job and 'family'. She'd actually taken to it quite well. Somewhat accepting. She asked what she felt she needed to know, he answered as best and honestly as he could. Whatever else she didn't feel the need to know, she didn't ask.. Which was probably better, what she didn't know wouldn't kill her. Hopefully. But either way, whether she was asking questions or staying quiet, it was a good system for them. Things seemed to have been better. Zach wasn't sure if he was glad he scoured the ground at that cafe in France for that ring or not. He was glad, yes, it was her mothers ring and he really hoped she wouldn't have regretted losing it. But at the same time, since they'd gotten back, she'd been wearing it on various fingers, toying with the idea. Wasn't he supposed to ask first? But he supposed he had as good as asked when he told her he had been carrying it around, pondering it, just waiting for the right time. But he had been right, the right time had not come. He still didn't think it had, if he asked her to marry him right now he thought she would probably break up with him or something. So he had not technically asked her, and she had not said yes, so they were not engaged. He was just waiting for her to be ready, and she was just trying to mentally prepare herself it seemed. She'd wear it on every finger except her ring finger. He didn't know how he felt about it.

Zach walked in and set his stuff down, heading toward the kitchen when he turned the corner and saw Scarlet turn around, throwing a knife at him. Zach instinctively moved, dodging the knife wear it flew just out of his way, hitting the wall and clattering to the floor. "Jesus... christ, Scarlet," he looked at her and then burst our laughing, "Trying to kill me, huh?" Zach bent down and picked the knife up, walking over to her and handed it back. "Here, let me show you..." Zach pulled his small throwing knife out of his pocket, showing her how to hold it, "Hold it like this, that way it will rotate straight and stick your target." He aimed for the wall, and in one quick movement he threw it where it stuck instantly in the wall in less than a second. Didn't look like much, but as much as Zach had mastered the art of throwing knives, it had become lethal. He watched as she gave it a try, sticking her knife into the wall too. Perhaps not as definitely, but it stuck. However, he wasn't watching eh spot on the wall where it had hit because he was looking at her hand. "I see you're wearing that on the right finger today." he added, watching he calmly. Did she do that on purpose or was he not supposed to notice? Because really it was by chance that he noticed anyways.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet held onto the counter and sighed out of relief after she saw that the figure coming into her home was Zach. “ I’m so sorry,” she said, but thankfully he was laughing right away. How was it smart idea for her to throw a knife anyways? She wasn’t trained at it like he was, throwing it was dumb. If there was an attacker, she just handed over her only weapon. She felt uneasy as he pulled his own knife out of his back pocket. It was so strange.. how many men had seen that same movement and not realize it would be the last thing they saw? She tried to be understanding, he was protecting her after all. But that couldn’t be the life he wanted for the rest of his life. But.. all of that being said.. as she watched him throw it perfectly into the wall, there was something incredibly hot about this side of him she hadn’t known existed. Once he was done showing her she shakily gave it her own shot, doing a less than spectacular job. She was busy smiling at how it had stuck successfully into the wall and felt the smile lower slowly as he mentioned the ring, which she forgot she was wearing. Scarlet licked her lips and looked down at her hand before she looked up at him. “Right finger according to who?” she questioned quietly.

For the time being, it was just a ring. She could wear it on whatever finger she liked. It didn’t become an engagement ring until they were..well, engaged. She pulled the ring up to her knuckle to show him the rash that was forming on her skin from it, most likely a nervous rash before she placed it back on. At least she wasn’t running away from the things that scared her about him anymore, she was trying to include him in on them. “ Maybe we should get you one,” she said as she placed her hands against his chest and smiled. How much had she had to drink exactly? Because she was pretty sure that bottle of wine was full when she started cooking. She brought her hands down from his chest and placed them behind her, hopping herself up onto the counter before she wiggled her finger at Zach for him to come closer. “ Are you hungry?” she asked with a slight smirk across her lips before she pulled him closer to her by the fabric of his shirt , kissing him like they were back in high school and had to rush to get everything done before their parents got home. Scarlet forgot about the cherry glazed ribs, concerning herself more with the button on Zach’s jeans until she loosened it.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

Zach shrugged, "I don't know. Who do you think decided that was the finger that mattered?" After all, they were all just fingers. Zach reached down and took her hand, looking at her finger where a rash had formed beneath the ring. It was almost as if her body was rejecting the idea. The thing was, he got that she was scared of commitment? But he didn't understand why. He knew things about her, knew her mother and brother had passed, that her father was remarried. He knew these things. But he didn't know what about them would make her so scared of marrying someone. Or if that was the reason at all. He was still trying to understand what exactly it was that she was scared of. Zach smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist when she said they should get him a ring. "Oh I need one too?" He laughed and kissed her, "How much have you had to drink?" Zach turned to see the wine bottle, gone. "What, you didn't leave any for me?" he pointed at the empty bottle, "What am I supposed to drink?" he teased. She was in a funny mood. Drunk, wearing that ring on her ring finger, making him dinner as it turned out, as he looked around the kitchen. It was no wonder she had a rash on her finger, but she was sure as as hell trying, which meant more to him than she probably realized. If she was trying, that meant she at least was trying for something with him.

Them talking about the future didn't happen often, mostly because it freaked her out, but when they did tiptoe around it, she knew where he stood. He had always sat back and let her come to him on her own terms. She'd never been rushed into things. He just wanted her to feel comfortable with him, not like she was jumping into a dark hole and didn't know what was going to happen. He was always waiting, always ready when she was. Some days he used to wonder what he was waiting for, if she would ever find that he was nothing to be scared of. But days like today seemed promising. Zach let her hop up on the counter, pulling him closer to her and he placed his hands on the edge of the counter on either side her her. Zach kissed her back, grinning slightly, "That is a loaded question if I've ever heard one. I get the feeling we aren't talking about food." He leaned down to kiss her again, his hands finding her waist. He wondered if whatever food she was cooking had a chance of burning if she forgot about it for time being.

[Scarlet Rose Harris]

Scarlet made a slightly confused face as he asked her about her alcohol consumption. Didn’t he want her to talk about all those commitment things? He had always been so good about waiting for her to come to him with things when she was ready. Maybe he didn’t really want her to come talk to him about these things. And she wanted these things..right? Zach could stare death down in the face every day, the least she could do was pinpoint how she felt about him. But she already knew how she felt, she loved him, every piece of him. And it terrified her. Logan was an easy person to have loved. She lost him and knew that she could handle losing him again. But if she lost Zach that would be like she was losing a part of herself. So maybe she did want the two story house with the picket fence, two or three kids in the yard running around. Why did acknowledging that make her physically sick to her stomach. She could want to push him away, but then she would be scared and who would she want to run to? Him. It would be pointless. So she was stuck in this perpetual cycle of love and fear, and she just needed to let him love her, to let the fear go.

Scarlet held her hands against his neck as he kissed her, curling her own leg over the side of his hip as he leaned against the counter she was sitting atop of. “ Every person I’ve ever loved has left me,.. via casket or music labels,” she said, trying to somehow explain why she was scared. Telling him what he meant to her, left the opportunity for the other shoe to drop. He could get in a car accident on his way out in the morning, she could. She took in a deep breath before she sat up higher and gave him another kiss before she moved her lips along his jawline until she rested her cheek against his shoulder. After kissing the edge of his ear she whispered as quietly as possible, “ You scare me,”. Not the knife-slinging, mafia family friends, fact that you have actually murdered people. Not that she was thrilled about it, but that wasn’t what scared her most. At any given moment something could happen to him, something would. She knew it in her heart already that falling in love with her had sealed his doom, it was like she could visualize a timer above his head.

[Zachary Adam Pierson]

So that was it. And it made sense. If she'd lost every other person she loved, why would she want to love someone? There was a perpetual fear that she'd lose them too. Scared of getting hurt again. Scared of getting too close to people only to have her heart broken. It explained a lot about her. Zach took her face in his hands, rubbing his thumb over he cheek. How could anyone not love this girl. She just needed someone to tell her she was okay, that they weren't going anywhere, and mean it. "I don't ever want to leave you." he couldn't promise that she'd never lose him, but he could promise that if she did, it sure as hell wouldn't be his choice. Someone would have to kill him for her to lose him. And he wasn't about to let that happen. Funny the way they talked about the future. A simple, i'll never leave you, meant a whole lot more. It meant long term, forevers, whatever else came with it, two story house, white picket fence, kids running around, if thats what she wanted. And he was pretty sure he thought that was what she wanted. Zach took her hand in his again, looking at the ring where it was on her finger. Didn't look bad there at all. If only she didn't move it off and to another finger, though he was sure she would. And it would be back sometime, she'd give it another chance.