[✓] 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 || 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐧 (𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐙𝐨𝐨𝐦)

free

two days until katelyn's fourteen week quarantine was over. she was super excited to be able to go outside of her own bedroom. she was excited to leave the house. she couldn't wait to see zach again. but there was a slight issue.

katelyn was sick. and she knew it.
it started a few days before she told zach that she lost her sense of smell. after her smell was her sense of taste. her body started to ache a couple days later. her breath became short quickly after. it was hard to breathe. it was hard to move. and her parents never knew about it because they chose not to look at her and keep her behind a closed door. katelyn didn't tell her boyfriend. all she wanted to do was leave the house. she was tired of feeling trapped with herself. katelyn knew if she told zach she was sick, then he would tell her parents, even if she didn't want him to. but katelyn wanted to leave her house as soon as possible. she thought that maybe the virus would pass in a few days and she would start feeling better, but after a week and a half, she was only feeling worse.

katelyn hadn't called zach since her dry coughing started. she knew he would be able to tell that she was sick immediately. so she refused to call zach every day, instead texting him and making up excuses like she's too busy to call. but the truth was, she was anything but busy.

once the day came that katelyn could leave her room, she was beyond excited. but she physically feeling any better, but she couldn't let her parents know that. so despite living in the hot region of california, she slipped on leggings and a long sweater and put on lots of makeup to cover up the fact that her body was pale and weak and she had bags under her eyes from not getting enough sleep due to her lack of lung capacity.

and then finally, she heard her mother walking up the creaky wooden staircase to her room. her mom stuck the key into the keyhole on katelyn's bedroom door and turned it until she heard a click. katelyn anxiously stood on the other side of the door. as soon as the door opened, katelyn's mom ran inside and hugged her daughter. katelyn held her breath which was a trouble to do.

"you are free to go," katelyn's mom smiled. she kissed katelyn on the head genuinely. katelyn faked a smile. as much as she was happy to leave, she was angry that her mom trapped her in there in the first place.

katelyn ran downstairs and through her front door to feel the warm sun seep into her skin. she breathed in fresh air, even though she couldn't get much of it. and finally, her world wasn't dark anymore.
she pulled out her phone, texting zach, "i'm free!"

zach had been able to leave his house earlier that same day. he wanted to call her immediately but she said she wanted to wait until they were both free to call each other, which bought her a few more hours to get better. it didn't work, though.

katelyn's phone buzzed as she got an incoming facetime call from her boyfriend. katelyn hesitated to answer, but after her ringtone looped 3 times, she finally answered it.

"hello?" katelyn said as normally as possible.

"we're free!" zach yelled, spinning around in a circle with his arms open wide. katelyn started to get dizzy looking at it.

katelyn hid her face as much as possible. "i'm outside too! i never thought it would be so exciting to sit on my front patio."

"i want to kiss you!" zach said, bringing the camera close to his face. katelyn sarcastically chuckled.

"i miss you," katelyn pouted.

"i miss you too, baby. so when can i fly to you?" zach smiled like a dork.

"don't you think it's a little to early for us to see each other yet. fourteen days is just a precaution, what if one of us does have the virus?"

zach shrugged and started walking down his street. "well i feel completely fine, so i don't have it." katelyn knew that was a lie.

"i'm glad." katelyn started getting emotional. her throat started to get tense as she held back tears. she hated lying to zach, especially knowing the fate of her heath was in her hands. she wanted to tell him that she was sick— that he was sick— but she wanted to be outside more and she hated herself for it.

as her throat started to close, a cough started to tickle her too. she tried to hold it back, but she couldn't breathe. eventually she started coughing really hard. the harder she coughed, the less she could breathe, and the more she couldn't breathe, the more she coughed. zach stopped walking. he heard katelyn as she coughed. sometimes she would shake her phone where he could see her whole face. he could see her starting to cry.

"katelyn, are you okay?"

katelyn couldn't breathe and her face started turning red. katelyn shook her head. as soon as zach knew she wasn't okay, he sprinted back home to get help from his mom.

zach entered his house and called for anyone that could hear.
"help! i need help!"