Deaf // z.d.h

nine

*Brooklyn*

"Do you have to leave?"  I whine. Tonight would be the last night I saw Zach in person. He nods, a frown on his face. He grabs my phone and taps away at the screen. 

"What are you doing?" I question. Instead of answering me, he shows me my phone. There was now a new contact. 

"I'll facetime you every night to continue the lessons," He smiles. I nod, trying to stop myself from screaming, or fainting because I now had the Zach Herron's phone number.

"Thank you, for everything you've done for me," I smile.

"Anything for you. I mean, you are my wife after all," He smiles. I laugh as memories from the night we met flood my memory. 

A doctor walks in with my mom behind him. She talks to me so fast that I struggle to figure out what she says. Zach looks at me and notices my confusion. He signs the words: you, go, and home. I smile at the thought of my room that I've missed so much. 

"I'll call you as soon as we get on the bus," Zach promises. I nod and pull him into a hug. Tears well up in my eyes as I stand there, holding him in my arms. He doesn't make a move to let go so I don't either. When he finally pulls away, he stares at me for a while. His hands rest on my hips as he stares at me. His brown eyes filled with tears as I finally let go. My mom gives me an impatient glare as she crosses her arms and taps her foot. 

"I'll be back in Chicago soon. And we will see each other again," Zach promises. I nod. These promises I would hold close to my heart. 

"Tell the boys I said bye," I sigh. Just as I say that, the curtain that acts as a door is pulled back and the Corbyn, Daniel, Jack, and Jonah walk in. 

Daniel's the first to pull me into a hug. Then Corbyn, then Jack, and finally, Jonah. 

"We love you, Brooke!" Daniel says. I smile at his words. 

"I love you guys, too," I smile as they pull me into one last group hug. 

"You don't mind if Zach gives us your number, right?" Jack asks. I shake my head. He smiles as my mother pats me on the shoulder. 

"I'll talk to you later. Have fun at the show," I say as I turn and walk out of the room. Of course, the boys follow after and Zach runs to catch up to me and walk next to me. His hand brushes against mine before he intertwines our fingers. I smile as I look down at our fingers. We arrive at the main entrance of the hospital soon. Too soon. And the front of the building is crowded with fans. The boys linger by the elevator a little longer.

"We're gonna have to slip through a back entrance or something," Corbyn sighs. I wave one last goodbye before my mother pulls me through the crowd of screaming girls. 

"Feel better, Brooke!" Someone says. I thank them. 

~*~

"He'll call eventually," My mom laughs as she watches me check my phone for the 10th time in the past 15 minutes. I nod as I put my phone down. 

Around 10 o'clock, he finally calls. 

"Hey, sorry it took so long, the fans we're crazy," He laughs. I struggle to keep up with the subtitles on my phone. I didn't even know there was a feature like that on a phone. "What are you looking at?" He questions. 

"Subtitles. Apparently there's this feature where the phone literally tells you what other people are saying while on Facetime," I tell him. He nods. 

"Cool," He smiles but the smile is empty. I can tell by the troubled look in his eyes that he stills blames himself for this. Despite what I've told him. 

"Is that Brooke?" Someone says in the background. Zach nods and the next thing I know, the phone is taken from it's resting place and Corbyn's face shows up.

"Hello," He smiles. 

"Hi," I laugh at him. 

The boys and I talk for hours. The call doesn't end until 4 in the morning. It was hard to catch up with what was being said, though. Sometimes they would talk at the same time and the subtitles would move too fast or it would say the wrong thing and they would have to clarify. 

But it was worth it. Because I could now talk to the 5 guys that impacted my life greatly. And to know that they saw me as a friend, not a fan, was enough to keep my happy for the rest of my life. 

As I'm laying down to go to sleep, my phone buzzes one last time. 

Zach❤: Good night, Beautiful ❤

I can't help the smile that takes over as I read the message.