Fake • Zach Herron

T W E N T Y - T H R E E

Jessica's POV

I ran my hand through my hair as i was driving, cooper kept asking me why we need to be there, im guessing it just hit him - my nana always takes Elijah and the doctors always say it infront of him. honestly i didn't think hed notice.

"jess" he asked for the 6th time
"Jessica!" he said again, i looked over and saw he was looking through his contacts
"coop what are you doing?" i asked
"phoning Myta and Kristin" he said - i didn't realise that he was panicking so much. as a stop light turned red i saw a sign for the hospital right up ahead. i sighed again as cooper began to talkto one of the girls
"myta, we think there is something wrong with grandad. hes in the hospital, he was meant to be going for a check up anyway but my nana asked jess to be there to look aft-" he was basically hysterical
im guessing mtya got the just "no, will you call her?"
"okay. okay well see you all there" he said as he hung up. you all? there? fuck. Zach cant come here... not now! the light turned green and i sped up the hill. i parked in a spot quite close to the doors. i turned the engine off and cooper ran out of the car, i got out and slammed the door
"cooper! wait!" i shouted before locking the car and running after him
"oh my god cooper watch out! im sorry" i said as he almost crashed into some woman, he swerved past other people as he pressed the elevator over and over, by the time i got there the doors opened and he pulled me in. we know my grandad is normally on the 4 floor so i pressed that button, when we got there he dragged me straight to the counter, the man greeted us

"hello, what can i help you with?" he asked with a smile
"i urh, my grandad is here - Robert Davis" i said
he checked the computer "room 472. right down there" he pointed down the corridor he is normally on, i thanked him as cooper pulled me towards the doors. he pushed them open and ran to the room, i jogged after him and he got to the door, i placed my hand on his shoulder before he opened the door, he saw my nana and Elijah sat on the sofa near the door looking over, i followed their eyes and they were looking at my grandad, he had tubes up his nose and wires were everywhere... this cant be good....

"w-why?" cooper asked turning to nana
"i dont know" she sighed and looked down
"h-hes not dead is he?" he asked making Elijah quickly snap his head up
"no hes not coop" i said and made him sit down. i sighed and paced around the room, there was no where for me to sit, i couldn't stay still anyway.

"ah are these Jessica and Cooper" someone asked from the door away, i looked behind me and saw the doctor
i nodded
"yes" my nana said, she gave me the 'do something' look which meant she wanted me to do something with the boys
"hey coop, take this" i haded him a 10 dollar note "take El with you and get us some snacks okay?" i asked
he nodded and grabbed Elijah's arm
"ill text you" i said he nodded again, then they both walked out the room. then my nana pulled me down next to her before the doctor began to speak again
"so your grandfather condition, COPD, has gotten much worse this last month and his lung has collapsed." he said
"so whats going to happen to him?" i asked, my nana couldn't speak
"well we are going to need to keep a close eye on him for the next few days - though his condition will most likely worsen" after the doctor explained the stuff that's going on my nana was in tears, i tried to comfort her but it wasn't working to well. anyway seconds later Zach, Jack, Myta and Kristin walked in.

"awe Tracey come here love" Myta said, my nana got up and the mothers comforted her - they did much better than i did
"is he asleep?" Jack asked walking up to my grandad, i nodded as Elijah and Cooper ran back into the room
"will you tell me!" cooper said holding a bunch of snacks
"grandad's lung collapsed" i said, everyone gasped "his COPD got worse, and the doctor said it would most likely worsen" my nana began to sob again. cooper just opened a bag of chips and stuffed his face with them, im guessing that was how he was going to cope. anyway we spent some time talking and trying to settle my nana down but nothing would work

"come on trace, we will go for a walk" Kristin said, my nana nodded and they began to walk out -myta and Jack took Elijah with them. that left cooper, Zach and me in the room

"well" cooper said, looking at Zach then me "this is awkward" Zach chuckled and i rolled my eyes
"just a bit" Zach said and glanced at me. i bit the inside of my lip as cooper threw me a huge ass cookie, i unwrapped it and tossed the rapper in the trash
"cant you just make up?" cooper said
"its not me whos mad" Zach said and took one of coopers chips
"its not me who has to say sorry" i rolled my eyes
"i dont even know why you are mad at me! why wont you just explain!" he asked, i crossed my arms over my chest and sighed
"i - i um think ill go catch up with the others" cooper said and stood up, he walked out and shut the door after him. i sighed and stood still, i took a big bite of my cookie
"fine" i said and i started to chew on my lip - its what i do when im nervous "i - " i stopped
"you can tell me anything Jess. and you know what" he said
"i know. but im just scared" i said
"what ever you say. it wont change anything" he said "i promise"
it will change everything...
"come sit with me j" he patted the sofa and i looked at him, i slowly walked over and sat right next to him, i took my shoes off and crossed my legs, i dont think i can look at him so i will just look at the ground. i mean how am i going to tell him him this?
"i-i dont like you and Alexis together...." i said
"i know that - you told me, but why dont you?"
"because - because shes going to hurt you Zach"
"so you dont want to be friends with me - or have anything to do with me, because she is going to hurt me?"
"no, no i dont wanna be friends anymore... because - "i inhaled deeply and my whole body began to shake
"because.....?" Zach wanted me to carry on
"because i like you" i whispered
"you what?" he said. my heart was literally jumping out of my chest
"i like you, Zach" i said. i looked up at him and he mouth was wide open, so i guess that was unexpected huh?
"you... like me?" his eyebrows were furrowed and he was looking at me
"yeah..." i nodded/
"jess -"
"now can you see why i didn't want to be friends?" i asked
"yeah, but this can work" he said
i shook my head "Zach it wont - it cant work"
"we can make it work" he said
"i dont want to listen to you going on about how amazing alexis is at having sex. you dont realise but it fucking hurts" i said. he sighed and took the cookie from my hand, he took a bite and handed it back to me. i shot a glare at him
"keep going then" he said with his mouth full
"i dont like you and her. i dont like seeing you hurt" i said "why did you go back to her? because you think shes hot?"
"no - because, because i thought i cared for her"
"you thought?"
"yeah" he said and stood up, i looked up at him "im sorry jess. i um need some time, to you know think. i-i need to go home, or for a r-run or something" he said. he took one last look at me and left....