𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

may 27th ~ zach

The Tokyo airport was crowded and loud. You had just gotten through security and now you were pushing your way to the front doors so you could call Eben. You sent him a text so he'd know you where ready; "hey, just got out of security. Call me"

The boys where at a restaurant in the heart of Tokyo. Eben got your message and started typing back when Jonah leaned over and peered at Eben's phone. "Who ya texting?" He asked. Eben pulled his phone into his chest so Jonah couldn't see your name. "No one." Jonah raises an eyebrow. "Ooh is it a girl?" Corbyn noticed Jonah's suggestive tone and joined in. "Eben's talking to a girl?" He asked with a smirk. "What, a girl?" Zach asked. Eben let out a frustrated groan. "No." The boys picked up on his announce. Daniel scooched forward in his seat so he could see Eben's face better. "Eben's got a girlfriend." He teased, holding the "r" in girl for just a second too long. Eben let his hands fall into his lap, phone coming with them. Jonah looked at the contact name. "Y/n?" He stated, more as a question. Zach perked up. "My girlfriend?" He asked. "Uh, yeah, we're playing cup pong." Eben responded. "Why couldn't you just say that?" Corbyn wondered. "Because I knew you guys would get weird about it." Eben shrugged. Zach sat back in seat. "Who's winning?" He asked. "Uh, she is." Eben told him. "What? No way.  Y/n sucks at cup pong." Eben just shrugged again before slyly typing out a message to you. "Boys caught me texting you so I told them we were playing cup pong and you were winning. Lmao we almost got discovered yikes." Before Eben could hide his phone again, Jonah saw the message.

The boys had just gotten to the arena for sound check. Eben had rushed off to go pick you up, not telling anyone that he left. Zach stood in the centre of the stage staring at his phone, looking defeated. "What's up man?" Jonah asked as he walked up to the youngest member. "It's y/n, she won't answer her phone, she's been acting weird all day." He looked up from the screen. "And where did Eben go?" Jonah looked around before settling his eyes back on Zach. "Hey, um, I don't know if I should tell you this or if it means anything but before we left the restaurant I saw a message Eben sent her saying he told you they were playing cup pong so they wouldn't get caught." Jonah explained, placing his hand on Zach's shoulder. Zach looked confused. "Caught doing what?" His voice was weaker than it had been earlier. "I don't know man, it probably doesn't mean anything, but they've both been acting weird all day so." Zach looked down, clearly thinking of the absolute worst. "Hey, maybe she's planning on surprising you." Jonah said with a lighter tone, trying to cheer Zach up. He shook his head. "No, she told me like a month ago she wouldn't be able to make it to any of the Japan shows."

Just as you made your way to the entrance of the airport, you got another text from Zach, he had been blowing up your phone for the last 30 minutes but you refused to respond because you knew you end up telling him. Just as you stepped outside your phone started ringing. "Shit." You whispered under your breath when you realized it was Zach that was calling. "Hey babe, why won't you answer my texts? He said through the phone. "Hey." You directly ignored his question, your voice strained because of the heavy luggage you were carrying. "What's wrong?" He asked. "Oh, umm, nothing, I'm just at the mall and it's real busy." You played it off with an excuse. "Oh, ok." Zach seemed to have bought it. "So how's your day be-" Zach cut you off. "Wait, it's Sunday, the mall is closed today." You threw your head back. How could you forget what day it was? You didn't say anything. "Y/n? What's going on?" You saw Eben pull up. "I gotta go, love you!" Zach was clearly flustered. "Love you t-" you cut the line and ran to Eben's car. "Thank God you're here." You told him, hugging him quickly. "Why what happened?" He asked as he took your bags and placed them in the trunk. "Zach called and I almost blew my cover." Both of you slid into the vehicle and began driving to the hotel. "Ok, we're gonna drop your stuff off then we'll go to sound check. The guys are gonna be so excited to see you." Eben smiled. "Zach literally won't stop talking about how much he misses you." He shot you a quick glance before looking back to the road. You looked down with a smile plastered on his face. "I really miss him too." Eben shook his head. "You guys saw each other three weeks ago." He chuckled. You playfully hit his arm. "Shut up, we're allowed to miss each other." You said, letting a laugh slip out. Just then Eben's phone started ringing and Zach's face popped up on the screen. You and Eben looked at each other. "Ok, just be really quiet, the phones hooked up to Bluetooth so if you say anything he'll hear you." You only nodded and Eben answered the call. "Hello?" "Hey man, where'd you go? You just disappeared." Zach said. "Oh, I... uh, went to go grab something, I'll be back in like 15 minutes." Zach was silent for a moment, as if he was considering whether or not to believe it. "Ok." He said finally. "You've been acting pretty weird today, what's going on?" You and Eben shares a frightful glance. "Uh... noth-nothing." Eben stuttered. "Look man, if something's wrong just tell me." You looked at Eben with a pleading look, your eyes telling to give Zach something so he wasn't concerned. "Well, there's nothing wrong but, um, I can't tell you what's going on." "What, why not?" Zach sounded scared now. Muffled voices were heard in the background. "Ok, I have to go, but I still wanna know what the hell is going on. You better get back soon, we need to finish should check." Zach's voice held a bit of annoyance. "Yeah, you got it." Eben said before hanging up.  "I'm pretty sure he thinks we're lying to him about something, like bad." You said, leaning back in your seat. Eben pulled up to the hotel and he quickly ran you up to his room so you could put your bags there until later that night when you would move them to Zach's. "Ok, let's go." You said, heading for the elevator. Once you reached the arena Eben started to tell you his plan. "So I'll go inside through the front doors and I'll let you in the back doors so you can come on the stage while the guys are up there. We still have another hour of sound check so it'll give you guys sometime to hang out before the show." You jumped a little bit, butterflies stirring in your stomach. "I just wanted to say thank you Eben, this would not have been successful without you. And God knows I wouldn't have been able to tell one of the guys because they can't keep anything from each other." You smiled. "Yeah." Eben laughed. You walked around to the back of the building and waited for Eben to open the door. Once he did the two of you walked back stage. "What if she's seeing someone else?" Zach's voice was shaky. "Dude, I am 99% sure she is not cheating on you. She loves you." It was Daniel. Apparently Daniel's words didn't convince Zach because of what he said next. "Oh my God, what if she's cheating on me with Eben?" Both you and Eben stopped walking and you saw Corbyn almost choke on his water. "I can assure you that is not happening." Eben said, walking into view. You stayed behind and watched. Zach whipped around and didn't say anything for about 12 seconds. "I mean it would make sense!" He finally said, throwing his arms into the air. "You've both been acting weird and Jonah said you told her you lied to us because you 'didn't want to get caught' Caught doing what!?" You took this as your que to walk out. "Surprising you dumbass." "What the f-y/n." Zach stood frozen in his spot. "What, you're gonna accuse me of cheating on you with one of your best friends and not even hug me?" You said pointedly, crossing your arms over your chest. Zach smiled and walked over to you, enveloping you in a hug. "I missed you." You hugged back. "I missed you too, happy birthday." You told him, leaning up to kiss him. The others cheered around you. "I still can't believe you thought we were sleeping together." Eben laughed as he walked back stage to get his mic.
_______________________________________________
A/n: happy birthday to my love. he's a legal adult now wowie. literally never thought i could love someone i don't even know as much as i love zachary dean <3