“What are you doin’ with Chrissy today?” asked Taylor, slipping a shirt over his head.
“Oh,” Zac broke out of his trance, he was distracted by his own thoughts, “um, we’re going to her friend, Tara’s house, and then, I’m taking her on a walk around the block, for a talk,” explained Zac, regretfully.
“Oh…a ‘walk around the block.’ I get it,” Taylor’s sarcasm was annoying to his younger brother.
Zac just rolled his eyes in disgust, “No, you don’t get it…it’s not like that…”
“Then, what is it like?”
Zac leaned against the wall of his room, making eye-contact with Tay, whispering, “We’re breaking up…”
“You’re what!?!?” his older brother, Taylor was in shock. “But…I…why!?”
“Remember, a while back when I told you and Ike about catching her with that other guy?” painful memories came flashing back into the just-about-to-be fourteen-year-old Hanson brother.
Tay slowly nodded, seeing where this was going. He couldn’t say anything. He was too afraid of hurting his brother, or saying the wrong thing, even though he himself had gone through almost the identical thing.
“Well, I know I kinda cheated on her, too,” Zac sighed, “but the depiction of her and that other guy just won’t go away. I mean, whenever I think of her, I see that. It is just something that won’t go away.”
“Aww, Zac…”
“So, that’s why I’m going to break up with her,” finished Zac. “I can’t take it, anymore.”
“Well,” Taylor put a comforting arm around his brother, “I wish you the best of luck because I can guarantee it’ll be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do.”
“Thanks, Tay,” accepted his little brother.
Zac got up carefully, and headed towards the door, “I gotta go get ready, so I’ll see you later.”
Taylor yanked Zac’s arm as his hand grasped onto the handle of the door, “Wait! Promise me one thing?”
“Fine.”
“Promise me, you’ll tell mw how everything goes, please?” pleaded Tay, pathetically.
“Alright, I will,” forcing away Taylor’s grip.
“Also, know whatever happens, Ike and I are here for you, ‘kay?” assured Tay as his younger brother, Zac opened the door, slowly.
“Thanks, ‘bro,” he smiled.
Zac walked out of the room, leaving Taylor in there alone. Tay wasn’t exactly sure he understood what was going on. Chrissy and Zac’s relationship had been almost perfect up until now, and it was about to be thrown all away. He knew that his brother was going to be hurting terribly after this, as he was when he broke up with Hallie and Victoria that one day. Taylor wished that was something special he could do for his brother.
Tay thought, “Could this actually be happening? The perfect couple is being destroyed!”
This was too completely unreal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was two hours before Zac was to see Chrissy. He was relaxing in the kitchen over a glass of milk, or really…attempting to relax. Chrissy was his first girlfriend and never had to do this. It was hard for him. He cared about her so much but obviously she did not feel the same about him.
“I so never thought I’d have to do this someday,” Zac thought to himself. “This is horrible…”
Poor Zachary Hanson so stressed about this. He didn’t want to do, but he knew it had to be done.
“Tay’s right,” Zac argued, thinking, “this is the hardest thing I’ll ever do.”
As Zac stood to exit the room, his mother came in, seeing the struggled look on his face, “Honey, what’s wrong?”
He turned back around, again sitting at the kitchen table, “Nothing…Mom…”
She smiled, “A mother can always tell when something’s bothering her child, and obviously something’s bothering you. Tell me, what is it, Zac?”
“Do I have to talk about it?” asked Zac, with a hopeful look in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“But…,” he started, “I already told Tay…”
“Please tell me, Zac?” his mother pleaded with him.
“Alright…,” Zac wasn’t going to fight the authority of his own mother. “Well, you know how I’m going to see Chrissy today?”
“Yes?” the fact that this involved his girlfriend, Chrissy struck something in his mother. “What about you going to see her?”
“I’m going to break up with her, “ Zac told Mrs. Hanson, lowering his head, so he couldn’t make any eye contact.
“Aww, sweetie…,” Mrs. Hanson was sympathetic towards her son, Zachary. “What happened that’s making you break up her?”
“She cheated on me…kissed another guy,” the painful picture came floating back into his mind, “while I was in her house. The picture just isn’t going away.”
“Aww,” she tried to comfort her son, “these things happen. At least you have a logical reason, though.”
“Yeah, I guess…”
“Well, I hope that everything goes okay for you and for Chrissy,” Mrs. Hanson wished. “I know this is a hard thing to do.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I’ve got to run Mackie over to friend’s house, so I’ve got to run,” his mother explained.
“Alright, bye, Mom…,” he manage as Mrs. Hanson left the room.
He was extremely happy that she didn’t request to know what happened like Tay did. It’s something he didn’t exactly enjoy telling. Zac realized some thing though as his mother was talking to him. Chrissy wasn’t the only one who was going to be suffering. He cared about her so much, and this was going to hurt him as much as it hurt her, if not more. Now, all he had to do was go through the agony of doing it. But, could he? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zac was sitting on the couch of Chrissy’s friend, Tara. They were all playing video games. It was Chrissy, Tara, Tara’s boyfriend, John, and Zac. He wasn’t having that badly of a time, but the thought of breaking up with Chrissy was still lingering in the back of his mind. It wasn’t going away, nor was he forgetting.
“You’re getting rusty, Zac!” yelled Tara, as once again she beat him in Mortal Kombat 3, probably one of the oldest video games in the United States.
“Oh, be quiet!” he laughed. “I don’t have time to play video games that often while I’m off recording a CD!”
“How’s that goin’, anyway?” questioned Tara. “Are you almost done?”
Zac nodded, “Yep, we should be mixing by like, January or February, I think.”
“Awesome! Can’t wait to hear it!”
Chrissy threw her arms around her Zachary, saying, “I can’t wait for you to finally come home!”
“Me neither,” Zac added, “recording gets tiring after awhile. Touring is a lot more fun.”
“Aww…,” Chrissy cooed.
“Hey, since we like, stopped playing, can Chrissy and I go on a walk around the block?” asked Zac.
“You always rhythm when you talk, you know that?” Tara pointed out his lyrical moment breaking through.
Tara’s boyfriend, John smiled deviously, “Ohhh…you want to go on a walk…?”
Zac grabbed a pillow cushion and chucked it in John’s direction, “Not like that, dork!”
“Whatever!”
“Anyway, can we go?” begged the fourteen-year-old blonde Hanson brother. He already wanted to get this over with.
“Yeah, sure…go,” Tara was almost literally shoving them out of the front door. You could tell that she wanted to be alone with her Johnny Boy.
Both Chrissy and Zac headed down the street. Zac took her hand one last time, and it sent a chill up his spine. He couldn’t believe the day had actually come where he’d actually have to let her go. It was so unbelievable.
“We have to talk,” Zac said, firmly and letting go of her hand.
The two were still walking down the neighborhood street, as he could feel the tension building inside him.
“About what?” confused Chrissy looked at him.
“Us.”
That one single word startled her and she began to panic inside. Her heart flustered and her stomach churned. He couldn’t possibly be doing what she thought he was doing, could he?
Nervously, the words fell from her lips, “W-what about us, Zaccie?”
Zac stopped walking and softly touched her arm, motioning for her to stop walking, too, “We’re not heading down a good path, and you know it.”
“What!?”
“Chrissy, look around us,” Zac told her. “I’m over in California while you’re here. Both of us have been deceitful at one point or another. I even caught you with that guy, Eric or whatever. Both you and I know that no matter how hard we try, it isn’t going to work. No matter how much either of us want it to.”
Chrissy was in sheer shock. She couldn’t speak, and her jaw had dropped. Zac was doing the impossible. It had been over a year since they started going out, and now…all in a second…it was over.
“D-do you want it to work?” Chrissy shakily asked.
“Of course I do, Chrissy, girl,” he told her, enthusiastically. “But, I know it won’t! You have no idea how tortured I was! Making this decision was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my life!”
“Then,” tears slowly wet her eyes, “why are you doing it?”
“Because, I know it won’t work and we’ll both end up in more pain in the end,” Zac explained. “I’m doing what’s best for us.”
Chrissy didn’t respond at all, not with words at least. She began to cry, trying so hard to hold back the tears, but was completely unable to. This was such a surprise to little Chrissy.
Finally, she spoke, brushing her hair out of her face, “No matter what you say…I still love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Zac went closer to Chrissy and wrapped his arms around her, carefully. He didn’t want to make her cry. Zac was only doing what he thought was best for the both of them.
Softly, he began to sing in her ear, “Mary was a young girl…with a young girl’s heart. All I can remember…is I loved her from the start. Well, I was hers forever…and she was mine, too. But, somethin’s wrong…’cause now she’s gone. Tell me…what should I do? In this life-long…love song, you can love right…you can love wrong. In this love song…you can love long, but if you love wrong…it doesn’t mean the love’s gone…”
Her cries began to slow into whimpers as Zac held her oh-so-tight.
“I still love you,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t ever forget that.”
Zac had done what he knew he had to be done. He didn’t exactly feel good about it, though. The smallest member of Hanson knew he’d miss her with all his heart. But, then again, who knew? Maybe they were destined to be together and they’d find each other, again someday. Guess they would just have to find out.
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Chapter 22- A Trim Off The Ends
Chapter 24- Love IS Unconditional...This Is Not!
Tulsa's Long Road Home
I Thought I Could Trust You
