Chapter 11: Hangover

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Chapter eleven: Hangover (Ellie's POV)

A couple of minutes had gone by with utter silence. I felt extremely uneasy just lying in bed with him when we weren't exactly talking, ever since he got back we've just been arguing with occasional moments where we lose our shit and start laughing. I didn't even know if he was asleep or just lying awake like I was. 

I let out a sigh before shuffling around and lying on my stomach, my hands under the pillow before I turned my head in his direction. His back was still facing me but I wanted to know if he was awake. I propped myself up on my elbows and leaned closer to him. 

His eyes were closed but was he asleep or just had his eyes closed and was trying to sleep? There are two tests to conduct when you're trying to find out if they're asleep or not. The voice test and the poke test. 

The voice test, you just whisper their name, no shit, the poke test you poke them, also no shit. 

"Zach," I whispered. Nothing. Okay, so he might be asleep. I leaned forward, being cautious just in case he was asleep, I didn't want to startle him back to reality. I held out my index finger and slowly and gently poked his cheek. Nothing. 

Okay, so maybe he is asleep. 

I huffed and fell back onto my pillow. 

"What the hell were you trying to do?" he asked. 

I gasped because in a room of pin-drop silence he just decided to talk, scaring the shitting hell out of me. "Jesus," I breathed out, "I was checking if you were awake," I whispered. 

"Why? What happened?" he asked, not bothering to turn around to face me or whisper. 

"Shhh! It's a quiet room, can't you just be quiet? I feel like the whole neighborhood could hear you right now," I huffed. 

"What is wrong with you?" he chuckled, lying on his back while holding his hands above his eyes. 

"What did I do?" I laughed, propping my elbows up once again to look at him. 

"You're fucking stupid," he laughed. 

"What did I do?" I asked through my laughter. 

"Ellie, you are so dumb," he turned to me. 

"What. Did. I. Do?" I smacked him with a pillow after each word. 

"You poked me to check if I was awake. Poked me. You poked me.

Is he that much of an idiot? 

"Why is that so funny?" I chuckled. 

"I don't know," he shook his head, muffling his laugh with a pillow. I pulled the pillow away from him and stared at him, laughing along with him. 

My laughter died down way before his but he was laughing like there was no tomorrow. 

"I haven't heard your laugh in a really long time." I lay on my side and held my head in my hand, facing him. 

"Hmm, I don't think anyone has heard my laugh in a really long time," he sighed. 

"You should have called, Zach. I bet I could have made you laugh over the phone," I snickered, trying to lighten the mood. 

"I bet you could have," he chuckled before turning to me, mirroring my position. 

I sighed, tracing circles in the space between us on his bed. "Zach," I cleared my throat. 

I was so doubtful and hesitant to ask him this question but this is one of the rare moments where Zach and I aren't arguing, so I want to ask while I can still get an answer. 

"You went to a boarding school in England for two years, and you've come back completely different," I inhaled, "What happened?" I looked up to see him staring at me. "What changed?" 

He thought for a moment before he took a deep breath and sighed. "I lost you. I lost all of you. Ellie," he cleared his throat, "The six of us have known each other and been together our whole lives. We literally make each other who we are. When I got there, I had nobody. Of course, being without certain people hit harder than others. You just change when you lose people, I don't know how to explain it," he shrugged. 

"You better have missed me most, you've known me the longest," I laughed. 

He laughed with me before nodding slowly, "I did." 

What? 

"No, you didn't." It had to be Brett, no? They were and still are two peas in a pod. 

"I did," he repeated. 

"You're not going to be acting like this tomorrow onwards, are you?" I asked knowingly. 

"No," he shook his head, "This is a once in a blue moon version of me," he chuckled lightly. 

"Is the alcohol getting to you?" I narrowed my eyes at him. 

"No, but you will have one hell of a hangover tomorrow," he replied, "I mean it though, I did miss you the most, especially because it was after the whole stupid crush thing." 

I was hoping he would have forgotten I said that. 

We stared at each other for a really, really long time and I could feel the lump forming in my throat and losing control of my emotions when the memories of the early days after he left came back in my head. 

I didn't get out of bed for a few days. I think people really underestimate how much power a friendship or a crush has over you, and I think people underestimate how attached you can be to a person like that. My eyes were welling up, so was my heart and I was trying so hard to blink the tears back but blinking only helped them escape. 

"Elle," he sighed. 

"I absolutely hated you for leaving," I sniffed while running my finger under my eyes. "And everyone knows that I became pretty miserable, but I don't think anybody understands how that felt because you were the person that I trusted the most in this world, and I woke up and you were gone." I took a deep breath. 

"And I hated you for it," I sighed, "I absolutely hated you. And I will kill you if you do something like that ever again." I made the mistake of looking at him and I felt my heart stop beating right then. I groaned into a pillow before laughing and forcing myself to calm down. Once I wiped my cheeks dry, I grew the balls to look at him. "Please, don't ever leave again." 

I just got myself to stop crying, what the absolute hell is wrong with me?! 

"Oh, my God," I chuckled, wiping my eyes. I sighed and put my head down, resting my left cheek on the pillow so I was still facing him. "Fuck you," I scoffed. 

"You can if you'd like," he smirked. 

I laughed in response before cuddling deeper into the covers. 

"I'm not leaving, Ellie," he shook his head. I held my pinky out and he locked his with mine, giving me a grin that I haven't seen in ages. 

"Okay, well, goodnight," I huffed before closing my eyes.

"I don't even get a hug?" he whined. 

"Haha. No," I deadpanned. 

"Ellie," he pushed me back and forth, stretching my name out like a little kid whining for candy. 

"Zach," I huffed, sitting up. I was actually tired now and I was craving some sleep. He sat up in front of me and stared at me patiently. 

He knows I'm going to cave in. I mean realistically, who knows when I'll get to hug him next, right? 

"Come on," he smirked. 

"You're the one that wants a hug, not me," I retorted. 

"I can come and get it," he arched an eyebrow at me. I simply shrugged in response. He pulled me down into a hug, falling back, pulling me on top while I laughed. "Shhh!" he hissed through his laughs. 

The last thing I remember was that hug, and then next thing I knew, I was asleep. 

─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed and a pounding head. 

Hey, that rhymed. 

I rubbed my eyes open and sat up. I knew that this morning, I was not allowed to act the way I did last night because he wasn't going to act like that either. It's rare for Zach to express his emotions and when he does, he expects everyone to act like it never happened the next day. 

And while I didn't like that about him, I didn't mind it either. It was very annoying though. 

I went into the bathroom, grabbed an extra toothbrush from the cabinet where I knew it was, and freshened up before throwing my hair up in a bun. 

"Fucking hangover," I groaned into my palms. I went downstairs where Zach was in the kitchen cooking. Without a shirt. Which is normal for him, always has been, but his body hasn't. 

Some changes are good, I guess. 

"Can I have an Advil, please?" I cleared my throat, hesitant to even ask. I was scared he would shut me out after last night. He grabbed it and slid it over to me. "Thanks," I said before getting water and taking it. 

I saw a glimpse of the Zach I've always known, last night. It was good while it lasted. I want to see that again.

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Chapter eleven


I can't sleep and I have online school tomorrow. How am I supposed to wake up for that bullshit?

Is it just me or does school literally feel like an option at the moment? Like does it even matter anymore? lol

Next chapter: A deal is a deal

Let's find out who wins the bet, shall we? I think we all already know but... just play along, will ya?


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