1,2,3,4,5,6,7 (5/14)
Title: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Author: desperate2break
Rating: G
Pairing: Zack/Alex
Summary: When 12-year-old Alex's parents die in a sudden car crash, he has no other choice but to take his 7-year old brother, Pat, to live with their uncle, Zack - or does he? Seven years later he returns, haunted by secrets and seeking much more than just shelter....
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to anyone but me
Author Notes: Told you I'd be back with a new fic!!!
I'm sorry it's been a while; I fail at this....I've been so busy lately!!
It rained on Saturday night. It rained badly.
Zack pointed the remote control at the TV to turn it off and glanced sideways at the lightening flashing outside. Just as well, he figured; no one in the house had any plans tonight.
He sighed and stared around the living room one last time before switching off the light. It was about to become as empty as he felt inside.
Sure, he was happy enough with his life: stable job, a considerate nephew, a sturdy group of friends...
But...as ungrateful as it may sound, all those great things just didn't compensate the aching lonliness in the pit of his heart when he saw couples holding hands in the street, when he heard Rian softly telling his girlfriend he loved her at the end of every phone call.
As much as Zack tried to ignore it, he couldn't stop a stab of envy from penetrating his stomach. He knew how it felt to love and be loved back, and he knew how it felt to have that love snatched away.
He shook his head and smiled weakly as he walked up the stairs. He knew why he was feeling so downtrodden: it was coming up to the one year anniversary of The Break Up. It was truly amazing how quickly someone could go from perfect happiness to utter doom and gloom.
He rapped his knuckles gently against Pat's door and rolled his eyes when there was no answer. It became evident as he waded through the five inches of junk that the teenager had fallen fast asleep.
And there was Zack, concerned that his nephew would be frightened of the thunder. He grinned at his foolishness: Pat was tougher than all of them combined. The static sound of distant cars crashing told him that the iPod attached to the boy's ears was still on, and he gently removed the ear phones. He touched a hand to Pat's forehead affectionately and pulled up the blanket, before laying the iPod on the desk and leaving wordlessly.
'Alex?' he half-whispered. He knocked gently twice and entered upon a soft "yeah?"
'Thought you'd be asleep,' the man smiled.
'Well I'm not,' Alex replied. Then he rolled his eyes. 'There's something about this house that makes me state the obvious like, all the time.'
Zack laughed and indicated the bed. 'Mind if I sit?'
'G'head.'
'You know, I'm....I'm surprised you don't have any plans tonight. Pleasantly surprised, that is.'
'In this weather?' Alex scoffed. He looked out of his window and scrutinized the rainfall. 'I'd come back with Pneumonia.'
Zack opened his mouth to say something but stopped at the sound of thunder rolling; he remained silent when he saw his nephew hunch his shoulders against the noise. A memory flashed in Zack's mind of spending the night at his brother's house some ten years ago, and a little Alex running into the living room, crying because of the storm. But, like lightening, the memory disappeared as quickly as it surfaced.
'Hate this fucking storm,' Alex mumbled more to himself than to Zack. Zack decided to ignore it.
'So, er - any plans for tomorrow?' he asked casually, giving the boy a chance to regain himself.
'No, do you?'
'I thought maybe -'
He stopped mid-sentence. Alex had shrunken into a ball so tiny he was practically just a mop of hair and stripey socks. What was visible of his face had turned beetroot red and his eyes were dark with fear.
'Alex?' Zack murmured. 'Are you afraid of the thunder?'
'No,' Alex snapped, but when a bolt of lightening danced across his window he started. He glared down at his socked feet. 'What's it to you?'
Zack smiled and held out his arms. 'Come. I used to do it for Pat all the time.'
'Do what?'
'Stay until he fell asleep. Come here, I'll hold you.'
'Uhm, no thanks,' Alex sneered, 'you might be some weird paedophile for all I know.'
But when a clap of thunder echoed throughout the bedroom, the teenager threw himself at Zack.
Zack laughed and lay one hand on his nephew's shoulder and made himself comfortable on the bed.
'I'm not a baby,' Alex mumbled grumpily as Zack cuddled him.
'I know,' the man replied softly, pressing a kiss to the top of Alex's head. 'It's okay to get scared sometimes.'
'I'm not scared.' Skinny arms wrapped themselves tightly around Zack's muscular waist.
Zack moved a strand of hair away from Alex's eyes and released a breath. As tough as it was, right now there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be. 'I love you, Alex. Remember that.'
'....Told you you were a weird paedophile.'
Zack laughed.