Water Doesn't Wash Away Everything (Zack Merrick)

Chapter 24

Zack breathed in and out deeply as he watched her walk away.

He didn’t know where he was going but he had to go some where. Get away. He wanted to punch something. Anything.

“Zack! Wait!”

“Go away!” He didn’t bother looking back to see who was following him. He felt a hand on his shoulder but he shoved it off.

“Wait up man! You don’t want to do anything stupid,” Rian said grabbing Zack’s arm.

“I already have,” he muttered.

***

The bus door opened then slammed shut. Megan barely heard it over her sobs.

“Meg?!”

She hugged her stomach tightly and couldn’t stop the crying no matter how much she wanted to.

Alex burst through the back lounge door and automatically pulled Meg into a secure hug after sitting down.

“Shh, it’ll be ok,” Alex cooed. “Don’t cry.”

Megan wanted to stop crying. She tried forcing herself to stop but it wouldn’t work. After about what seemed like hours, her sobs quieted but there were still tears streaming down her cheeks. John came onto the bus and then into the back lounge.

“Does she want to stay on our bus?” he asked looking at Alex. Alex looked down Megan and she nodded against Alex’s chest.

“Come on,” John said softly, holding out his hand. Megan took it and stood up with Alex right behind her. They went to the Maine’s bus and then Alex hugged Megan goodbye before heading back to his own bus.

John wrapped his arm around Megan and went onto the bus with her. Kennedy and Garrett were sitting in the front lounge and Kennedy jumped up to hug Meg.

“You doing ok?” he whispered to her. She nodded even though she was lying.

John let Megan borrow some shorts to sleep in and grabbed an extra blanket for her. Garrett came into the back lounge.

“Sleep in my bunk. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said.

“Oh, no, Garrett, I can’t do that.”

“Of course you can.”

“No, I can’t and I won’t.”

“Fine, ” Garrett sighed. He leaned over to kiss Meg’s forehead then ruffled her hair. He went back to the bunks but just a few seconds later, John came in.

He sat down on the couch next to her and grabbed another blanket.

“What are you doing?” she asked him in a hoarse voice from crying.

“If you’re sleeping on the couch, then so am I.” She was about to protest but decided against it, since she knew John wasn’t going to budge, him being a lot more stubborn than Garrett. She was sick of arguing. Instead, she nodded and laid down. He laid down next to her, with an arm loosely around her waist.

Megan was glad of having friends like she did. They were there for her when she needed them. It saddened her to think she  was leaving them.

 She glanced down at the jade heart necklace that Zack had given her. She’s worn it every single day along with the bracelet Alex got her. Meg wrapped her hand around the necklace and held onto it tightly.