✔︎ KING OF MY HEART, Zach Mitchell ²

TWO, Reunited.

CHAPTER TWO. Reunited.

    "SAVE THEM?" Tatum sits in shock, her body so close to Zach's she could feel his warm body heat bouncing onto her skin, comforting her nerves. "I- I mean, that sounds great, really. But how would we do that? How could we save every one of those dinosaurs without having a leave one behind? I don't mean to be sappy, but if we take one dinosaur away from another, that'll leave them alone and depressed. We take one, we take all."

"I agree, and as much as I would love that, the one flaw is, they're only focusing on saving 11 species, maybe more. For now, that's the limit." Tatum was disappointed in this, but not surprised. She'd be delusional to think they could save every single dinosaur off that island. "Lockwood has an island — a sanctuary. It's safe and clean, completely blank with only trees and grass for them. No fences, no cages, nothing. They'll be free without worry. All we need is to get them safely onto that island, but we can't do that without you or Owen, though."

"You agreed to this?" Tatum's eyes flickered towards Owen, who was sat beside Claire in deep thought.

"Only if you do." He admits, locking his hands together.

"Okay..." Tate drags out her words, her eyebrows furrowing as she took in this new information.

"Wait, so what do you need Tate and Owen for? Can't they just do this themselves?" Zach wonders, intrigued by what was to come when it came to these creatures.

"It's a safety matter. The dinosaurs, they all had tracking implants, remember?" They all nod. "If the team can gain access to every single one of those databases and be able to track their locations, it'll make the capturing 10 times easier. It'll get everyone out of their quicker without injury. They need my handprint to get into the system and my memory to navigate the park. But they need you and Owen to help us with the dinosaurs. Tate, you're practically their mother. They see you, they'll find immediate comfort. You'd never put them in danger, we all know that, and so do they. We can't do this job without you. If Owen's in, he'll be able to focus on finding Blue, the only one left of the raptor pack, while you go and wrangle up the rest who are difficult to catch. Mainly the carnivores."

"Sounds fun." Tate jokes, fiddling with her gold chain necklace. "I mean, I'm all in." Tatum agrees with no hesitation. Before Claire even explained the plan, Tate knew she'd say yes either way. Life or death, she'd save these dinosaurs no matter what. "I promised them safety, and that's what they'll get." Tate nods her head in assurance, giving a thin smile to Claire.

"I- ok, wait." Zach butts in, leaning so his body was in her point of view. "Do I get a say in this?"

"No." Claire and Tatum shut down straight away, both giving a disapproving look. Zach sighed at this, frowning.

"Fine. But I'm going with you."

"I don't know about that." Claire interjects. Zach wasn't just Tate's boyfriend, he was Claire's nephew. She couldn't let a single scratch be sewn into his skin. "I don't think it's safe for you to come."

"Seriously? I'm going. I'm not a kid anymore, Claire. I have my own life. I'm not letting my girlfriend run off to catch a bunch of dinosaurs on an explosive island without me there." Zach fights back, placing his hand onto Tate's thigh in a possessive way. Tate oddly liked that about him — he always stuck up for her, even if she didn't necessarily need it, it was nice knowing she had a partner who would defend her and be there for her in anything and everything.

Claire had shared a look with Tate, their eyes meeting in a way to communicate. Admitting defeat, Claire huffed. "Fine but don't you dare tell your mother about this."

"Jesus, Claire." Owen laughs baffled that this woman was treating a grown man like a child. "This is how she talked to me when we were dating." Owen turned to Tate and Zach, the couple catching each other's eyes, before boggling back towards Owen and Claire.

"N- no it wasn't." Claire denied.

"You sure about that? See — this is why I left you. You never admit to your faults."

"You didn't leave me I left you!"

"No- I left you in my van after you threw a fit about not being able to drive it."

"You wouldn't let me drive the damn thing for even 5 minutes."

"Because you're a shitty driver."

"I am not!"

"You kind of are." Zach interjected, fueling the fire even more. Tatum slapped the side of his bicep, earning a wince from Zach. She gave him a pointed look, before turning stoic. "Don't be mad at me — we all know it's the truth."

"I'm not that bad."

"Eh." They all shrugged, giggling to themselves for all teasing her. Claire shook her head at this, scoffing silently, before skipping off towards the kitchen, most likely in search for an alcoholic beverage.

"We leave at 8 am." Claire informs, popping open a crisp bottle of beer.

authors note

i hate this chapter. it's so boring. bully me for it. i'm deceased.