Zac Hanson slammed the front door shut and stepped on the back of his own heel to pull his sneaker off. He kicked the second one across the living room and smiled when it hit the wall. He grumbled, dropped into the couch, and yanked blanket from behind him and pulled it down over his face. He had been in a bad mood all day. Taylor and Carter were back together and everything seemed to be fine. He was happy for them but he still felt miserable because he hadn't solved his own problems with Katie.
They had just started to get close. Her company was never anything less than delightful. There was something about the way she laughed, her sarcasm, her slight tendency to be goofy even when the situation called for complete seriousness, that made him happy everytime he was around her. He wasn't sure there was anybody in the world who could keep from smiling while in her presence.
That made him even angrier. He knew the second he laid eyes on her he wouldn't be able to be mad. "Stupid freaking pushover." He cursed himself and jumped off the couch remembering that he hadn't grabbed the mail from the box on the porch. When he pulled the door open, Katie was standing there looking surprised.
"Oh. Hi." She blushed and frowned when Zac's gaze instantly landed on his own feet. "Zac?"
Zac stepped onto the porch and pulled the door shut behind him. Then he rocked back and forth on his feet and looked around the neighborhood, desperately trying to avoid looking at Katie.
There were three birds sitting on the banister in ther front yard. Carter would freak out if she saw that. They were all looking at eachother, probably plotting her demise. Katie was blonde again. The sky was filled with huge white clouds and there appeared to be a rather dark one over his house. Fitting. Katie was wearing white pants. Two of the birds left, leaving one to sit by himself, pecking the banister. Katie was pretty. Damn Katie for being pretty.
She waved her hand in front of his face and sighed. "Zac, you're going to have to look at me at some point in time."
"No, I can manage without doing that."
She frowned. "Please look at me. We need to talk."
"I can't look at you."
"Why not?"
Zac stomped his foot hard on the porch and then winced when he remembered he wasn't wearing shoes. "Great. Splinter."
"Seriously, Zac, you have amazing 'dodging Katie's eyes' skills but you really need to look at me because I have some things to say."
"Ok." He looked across the street and saw Nique in her bedroom window. She looked down to see him, glared, and closed her blinds. "Ok. Say what you need to say but I can't look at you because you're cute and I'm a pussy and I suck at sticking to my guns when you're cute and I'm a pussy."
Katie tried not to laugh. "Fine. Before the incident with Taylor... when was the last time you talked to me?"
"Huh?" He stopped staring into space and finally looked into her eyes.
"Think about it, Zac. While Mel was in the hospital? After I had my 'Katie is a freak, let's all avoid her' premonition? How much did we really get to talk to eachother during that time?"
Zac frowned and looked back down at the ground. "Not... a lot."
"I missed you and I didn't know what to do. I figured you were freaked out by me again and you needed your space from my crap. I know it's hard to deal with and you had to be there for Carter and Mel and I didn't know what to do."
"So kissing Taylor and putting Carter's future with him in jeopardy was a good plan. Kudos to you on that one." Zac was surprised by what he said and would have been proud of himself if he hadn't seen the hurt it Katie's eyes.
"I know it was stupid. I know Carter's happiness means more to you than anything else on this entire planet. I know that Taylor is your brother and he loves Carter. I also know that I haven't exactly been feeling much like your girlfriend lately. Taylor is probably the best friend I have and I got caught up in a moment. It was stupid and it won't happen again."
Zac stayed silent. He really liked Katie and he admired the way Carter was able to forgive Taylor for what he had done. He wanted to be as mature as she had been but it still hurt.
"I'm sorry. You know I am. You know me." Katie reached forward and touched the side of Zac's face, pulling his gaze toward her. "I'm not asking for forgiveness, Zac. Forgiveness implies that I feel what I did wasn't wrong. I know it was wrong. I'm asking you to give me another chance. Give me a chance to be your girlfriend. We really haven't had that chance yet. Our lives have been crazy and ... Zac, I need you. And I think you need me too."
Zac sighed and nodded. "I've missed you. I know I sucked at being a boyfriend the whole time Meli was in the hospital. It's just that Carter was devastated and when it comes to her, I have my blinders up. I think of nothing else and it's probably my biggest fault. But when I'm with you... for once in my life, I have something else to care about."
Katie smiled and took both of his hands in her own. "So... does that mean..."
"I swear to God, Katie. If you weren't so damn beautiful my life would be a whole lot easier. I had big plans to be in a bad mood for the next month and you had to come and screw that up. I was prepared to be an asshole. It's not fair. I had dibs!"
She laughed and hugged him. "Do you think maybe you could come over and just watch a movie with me or something? I just want to hang out. I haven't been able to be around you in so long."
"Why don't you just come inside?"
Katie shook her head. "No. I haven't talked to Taylor and the last time I did I said I was going to stay away from him for as long as it took for him to make things ok with Carter."
"But I think everything is ok."
"I know but it's not time yet."
Zac nodded and put his arm around her, leading her back to her house. "Alright then. Garden State?"
"Garden State." She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. A weight had been lifted off of her but she knew things weren't right yet. They wouldn't be right until she could smooth things over with Carter. Right now, though, she knew she had to let Carter come to her first. Until then, her life was right back where she wanted it to be. With Zac.