Why ~Zach Herron~

16

Jack's P. O. V.

Kayla and Daniel had just gone upstairs, so we all knew we should probably stay downstairs for a while.

"Zach and I have to go get Wes from my mom. We're bringing him back here, though," Iris said standing up from her seat on the couch.

"You're gonna go to your moms in your swimsuit?" Corbyn asked laughing.

"Oh right." She laughed before her and Zach went upstairs to change. They came back down and left the house.

"They're becoming little adults," Jonah said wiping a fake tear.

"They grow up so fast," Corbyn said doing the same.

I just laughed as I stood up from my seat on the couch and went to my room to change. I heard the doorbell ring, but I knew Jonah or Corbyn would get it. After a few moments, Corbyn came knocking at my door.

"Someone's here to see you." He sighed in frustration.

"Okay." I furrowed my eyebrows walking past him to the front door. I passed Jonah, who sighed and patted me on the back.

I was still confused as to why they were acting that way, but I shook it off and went to the front door. I opened it up and saw Nicole, the girl who basically broke my heart.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Please, just give me five minutes," she pleaded. She knew I never wanted to see her again.

"Fine. Come on in." I sighed opening the door. She thanked me before walking in and following me into the kitchen. I stood on one side and she stood on the other.

"How have you been?" She asked with a smile.

"Great. How about you?" I replied blankly.

"Good," she said. It got quiet for a second.

"Why are you here?" I asked running my hand through my curls.

"I came to apologize. It was terrible the way I broke things off." She sighed, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Nicole." I laughed. "It's been over a year and you're just now coming to apologize. What do you want?"

"What are you talking about? I came back because I realized I still loved you," she explained. Her voice was oddly emotional.

"That's a lie. Nicole, you and I both know you're only here because you want something," I scoffed.

" 'Kay, whatever. You're right," she scoffed wiping her fake tears.

"What do you want?"

"I'm sure you've heard about or seen me in magazines and things-"

"No, not really." She glared at me.

"Exactly. That's where you come in."

"What?"

"My manager thinks some publicity with you will give my career a boost. So, Jack will you please be my pretend boyfriend?"

"Why me?" I groaned.

"Because you're Jack Avery, the rising pop star in a boy band. Plus I've already had a thing with you so I thought it'd be easy to get you to fall in love again."

"Well I'm not that gullible, Nicole."

"Okay well can you do this one thing for me?"

"Why do you even need me? You're beautiful, can't you become a super model on your own?" I asked.

"Thank you, but obviously I'm not," I saw tears form in her eyes. "If I was I wouldn't need anyone to get people's attention."

"Nicole, you are beautiful. You're so beautiful. People should realize that... I'll help you with this publicity stunt. No money, no questions. You deserve to be recognized."

"Thank you Jack," she said giving me a hug.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Jonah asked walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, I was just about to take Nicole out for a late dinner. Just to catch up."

"Oh, okay. Jack before you go can I talk to you?"

"Yeah sure." I followed Jonah outside onto the porch.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"What?"

"Nicole broke your heart, and you're just gonna forgive her like nothing happened?"

"Jonah, she's changed. I promise it's different this time," I said trying to convince him to forget about it.

"You can do whatever you want, just please don't let her break your heart again."

"She won't."

"Well have fun."

"Thanks, bro." I smiled before walking back into the kitchen. I grabbed Nicole's hand before taking her out to my car.

"So Nicole, how good of an actress are you?" I asked as I started the car.

"You may not have believed those tears, but other people would have."

"If you say so." I laughed.

I drove to a place where we always ran into fans, the Grove. We parked and began to walk around, only acting like a couple when we saw teens who might be fans.

Our plan worked because a few girls came over and asked for pictures, giving Nicole dirty looks. They didn't know who she was, but seeing a girl with me made them a little curious.

As we walked away, Nicole grabbed my hand. I was tense at first, but then loosened up. I gave her a sweet smile and sneakily looked back to see the girls with their phones up.

"Those pictures or videos will soon be all over our instagram feeds," Nicole said.

"Well, mine. They don't know who you are yet."

"Yet," she repeated. We had conveniently walked into a pizza parlor. We both got our slices and slid into a booth.

"What got you started in modeling?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"My best friend, Asher. He would always be the person to build me up when others tore me down. He'd say I was the prettiest girl in the world, and actually mean it," she smiled.

"That's sweet."

"When he got cancer, he told me that his only wish was for me to become a model. Show the world how beautiful I was. Now that he's gone, modeling always reminds me of him and I never want to forget him," she said. I reached across the table and wiped her tears with one hand, holding hers in my other hand.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"It's okay. Sometimes he made me feel too good about myself. Like on Valentines Day, we were both so drunk. His parents were out so we stole all of their alcohol. He kept saying good things about me, and I just thought I was too good to be tied down. That's why I called you," she said, softly laughing.

"Wow." I chuckled.

"I know, it's embarrassing."

"You were drunk, but you were right. Asher was right. You're too good to be tied down. No one is good enough for you. You're amazing."

"I thought you hated me?"

"People make mistakes. And time heals everything. I may still dislike you, but I'm gonna forget about it. I want you to be happy. You deserve it."

"Thank you."

She smiled, looking down at the table. I felt something in my stomach, but I convinced myself it was just all the grease from the pizza. There was no way that I was falling for her again.

                                     *****

A/n

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