24. Double date

Chapter 24 :Double date

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Kelsey I don't think you should be going on dates with Zack," Meg told me as she helped me with my hair, a frown settling on her face.

Meg was the only person I knew I could talk to about the whole Zack situation, and that was why I decided to go to call her over so she could help me get ready for the double date whilst I told her everything that went down. Needless to say, she wasn't happy with anything I told her about Zack, but I didn't miss her knowing grin as soon as I told her about the lie Ethan came up with to try and protect me.

"It's not with Zack, technically it's with Ethan," I said, the meaning of those words actually dawning on me.

A date with Ethan. It still sounded so foreign on my tongue. Only a couple of weeks before I had told him that I wasn't ready to be in a relationship, and there I was, getting ready to go on a fake date with him and his cousin who seemed to be making his life hell.

"I don't know how Ethan agreed to this," Meg sighed. I looked at her in realisation, sensing that Meg seemed to know who Zack was without needing me to give her any information about him. It seemed like everyone knew about how horrible Zack was except for me.

"Well, I over heard a small part of the conversation and Zack practically forced him to," I explained. "Meg, why does it seem like everyone knows something but me?" I asked her, unable to focus with that thought gnawing on my insides.

I was starting to feel rather frustrated. A guy was living in the same house as me. A guy who probably did something really horrible, and no one wanted to tell me about it. It was a given that I wasn't a part of their family, but even Meg seemed to know. Ethan also seemed dead set on wanting to protect me from Zack, which gave me a much bigger reason to want to know what he was capable of.

"I don't know if you should know, but if you really do I think you should talk to Ethan," she said.

"Maybe I will," I replied, not wanting to tell her that I had already tried to get it out of him numerous times, but was only met with him getting frustrated at me.

I doubted whether or not he would actually tell me if I were to ask him again, but I thought that maybe asking him one last time wouldn't hurt.

"Alright, you're ready," Meg said, taking a step away from me and smiling at her creation.

She chose out a light blue plain skinny dress that ended right above my knees and my white converse to go with it. I was never one to wear high heels, especially since my flat feet always seemed to reject them. I didn't feel too under dressed that way, especially since Ethan said that we weren't going anywhere fancy.

*****

Ethan's eyes shifted up to me as he heard me walk down the stairs to meet him in the living room like we had planned, his eyes widening as he looked me up and down and making me feel as if I was under scrutiny.

"Wow, you look beautiful," Ethan breathed out as soon as his eyes met mine, taking my hand in his as soon as I walked down the stairs.

My face instantly burned up at his comment. I knew we were supposed to be pretending to be together when Zack was around, but as I looked around me, he was nowhere to be seen. A part of me said that he was simply getting in to character, whilst the other half was hoping that he wasn't acting.

"Are you ready to go?" Ethan asked, his nerves starting to become apparent and making me feel bad for him .

"Yeah, I am," I replied, squeezing his hand slightly in mine to reassure him a bit.

He smiled at me, clearly appreciating my small gesture before his head turned to look at the staircase.

"Zack should be right down. I hate the fact that he's been staying in my room," he sighed as he shifted his gaze to the ground.

Since I was sleeping in the guest room, Zack had to share a room with Ethan, making me feel really bad about it all. I couldn't even begin to think how annoying it must have been for Ethan to share with Zack, forcing him to hear all of Zack's annoying remarks until he closed his eyes to go to sleep.

"Why don't you share with Noah until he leaves?" I asked, wanting to try and find a possible solution to get Ethan out of this misery.

"Noah is a growing teenager, he needs his space. Besides, I don't want to leave Zack alone in my room," Ethan replied with a sigh. "God knows what he would do if I did."

I felt my heart clench for him slightly, feeling bad that Ethan couldn't even trust him on his own.

"I could let Zack sleep in my room if you want," I said.

I promised Noah that I would protect Ethan no matter what, and I knew that for as long as Zack was going to be sleeping with Ethan, my job wasn't going to be made easy.

Ethan's eyes suddenly darkened at my suggestion as he looked at me in disbelief, his eyebrows raising questioningly. I couldn't understand why he seemed to be getting mad at my proposal when all I was doing was to try and get Zack and Ethan away from each other so they wouldn't murder each other.

"You want Zack to sleep with you in your room?" I widened my eyes at his question, realising what must have been going through his head.

I couldn't believe that he thought that I wanted to share a room with Zack.

"Oh no no no, I meant he could take the guest room and I would sleep with Lara and Ellie or something," I explained frantically, wanting to erase the deranged idea that popped up in his head.

I would even have been willing to sleep on the couch if it meant that Ethan could have his own time, away from Zack.

"Why sleep with Lara and Ellie when Ethan's your boyfriend?" Zack said, smirking as he came down the stairs, clearly having heard my conversation Ethan and I were having.

Every time Zack opened his mouth, all I could see was just how much of an arrogant jerk he was. If I didn't know that the Walkers' hatred for him came from something much deeper, I would have certainly thought that they hated him because of what came out of his mouth most of the time.

I could see Ethan's panic stricken face as soon as he realised what Zack was proposing. I already knew that Zack was doubting that Ethan and I were together, and I also knew just how important it was for Ethan that we kept up the act. That was why an idea popped into my head, the words escaping my mouth before I even gave myself a chance to think about what it was that I was saying.

"Well, I guess you're right," I smirked as I intertwined Ethan's fingers with mine, causing his eyes to grow wide.

"Wait seriously?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow, seemingly taken aback. Seeing his reaction certainly made me happy. My plan was working, and I found myself being proud of it.

"Yeah, you can take the guest room and I'll just sleep in my boyfriend's room," I replied, a smirk of my own playing on my lips.

"Kels..You don't have to do that," Ethan whispered into my ear, as he released his hand from mine.

I couldn't help but smile at how thoughtful Ethan was being. He knew that sleeping with him might have been slightly uncomfortable for me, and he wanted to reassure me that I didn't have to go to that extreme for Zack. I, on the other hand, was thinking of him. If I had had any doubts of wanting to sleep in Ethan's room before, I certainly didn't have any after those words left his mouth.

I knew that I could trust him, and it was for that exact same reason that I was going to stand my ground on my decision.

"I want to Ethan. I promised Noah that I wouldn't let Zack annoy you," I whispered back, intertwining our fingers together once more, a funny feeling showing up in my stomach.

Ethan didn't say anything else, but simply sent me a smile which I happily returned with a quick wink.

"Then I hope I don't hear any noises coming from that room," Zack winked. My face instantly scrunched up at how disgusting Zack was. I could instantly see the difference between him and Ethan. Whilst Ethan was worrying about me being uncomfortable sleeping next to him, all Zack could think about were whatever nasty things he probably did himself.

I hated that he thought that Ethan was like him. I hated that he thought that Ethan would jump up on the opportunity. I didn't know if Ethan had ever slept with anybody in that way before, and I certainly didn't want to know the answer, but what I did know was that he respected me, and that was something which Zack didn't seem to be able to do.

"You look hot by the way," Zack whispered in my ear as he placed a hand on my lower back, stroking it with his thumb, making me shudder uncomfortably at his touch.

I instantly removed his hand in shock, not really knowing how to react. I hated his hands on me, and I wanted to stay as far away from him as I possibly could.

"Do you mind not touching my girlfriend?" Ethan spat angrily, his jaw clenched as he tightened his grip on my hand whilst clenching his other fist. For a moment, I thought that Ethan was going to try and get a swing at Zack, but my thoughts calmed down as soon as he unclenched his fists.

"Sorry man," Zack said, raising his hands in retreat.

Trying to forget everything that just happened, we got in to Ethan's car and went to pick up Zack's date. He still hadn't told us who she was but I didn't have such a good feeling about it. As soon as the person's front door opened, I found myself freezing in place as soon as I saw who the date was.

"You have got to be kidding me." I could feel Ethan stiffen beside me as soon as he whispered those words, his lack of comfort clearly evident.

"Hello Kelsey. I didn't know you were Ethan's girlfriend," she said, smirking knowingly at me.

"Well Jenna, I knew you had a thing for arrogant jerks so I'm not really surprised that you're his date," I replied, trying to play it off cool.

In reality, I didn't like the idea of Jenna being Zack's date. I had a bad feeling about her, and there was nothing that anybody could say to make me feel better about it. Just by seeing the way she was looking at me, it was easy to tell that she was on to Ethan and I. She had seen us fighting only weeks before, how could she possibly believe that we were suddenly in love?

"Hey!" Ethan said slightly offended at what I said.

"You have to admit..You were a bit arrogant at first," I replied, lightly hitting his arm as I gave him a teasing smile.

"So my date had a thing for you. I didn't know that," Zack said smirking before he burst out laughing.

I really couldn't stand him. He was laughing as if only the idea of Jenna liking Ethan was the most hilarious thing in the world. Did he possibly think that he won something by getting Jenna to notice him? Even a well-dressed mannequin could get her to notice him, as long as he gave her enough attention.

"Yeah, but that's all over now," Jenna replied as she looked at Zack, batting her fake eyelashes thinking that she probably looked cool.

"Alright cool," he replied as he walked her over to Ethan's car.

I nearly laughed at how blatantly he disregarded her attempt to look cute, and I couldn't help but find myself wondering how Jenna and Zack ended up going out together after all. I looked at Ethan in concern as soon as I felt him move closer to me, his fists clenched and his jaw locked.

"Ethan, calm down, it's fine. I'm sure Jenna doesn't really like Zack if you're worried about that," I said, giving his hand a light squeeze to show him that I was there for me.

He looked down at my hand in his before his eyes flickered up to mine before he hugged me, automatically making me smile. For a moment, in his arms, I forgot where we were and what we were about to do. I felt safe embraced with him, and there was no way to deny just how amazing his hugs were.

"I don't care about what Jenna thinks, I never did," he honestly said, his chin resting on the top of my head. "Thank you for standing by me and caring."

"That's what 'girlfriends' do," I said after looking at him and sending him a wink, earning a grin.

I noticed his sudden shift in mood after our small conversation, and I certainly felt good about myself for having managed to cheer him up after he seemed as if he were ready to kill somebody. I knew how stressful that evening must have been to him, and I was glad that I could offer him some sort of relief, just like how he had always done to me.

"Are you done flirting? Let's go!" Jenna said, letting out a giggle as Zack nibbled on her ear, making me shudder and look away.

"Let's go before Jenna takes him right there in your car," I said, making Ethan laugh and cringe in disgust.

*****

"This night was amazing thank you Zacky," Jenna said as she planted a kiss on his lips as soon as Ethan stopped his car in front of her house.

I couldn't help but feel disgusted by their public displays of affection. It seemed as if they couldn't get their hands off of each other for even a minute, and I found myself highly uncomfortable around them.

"Finally, it's over," Ethan whispered in my ear.

"It wasn't that bad," I said, lying in an attempt to try and cheer him up.

If I was being honest, it was absolutely horrible. We witnessed Jenna eating Zack's face off while we were eating. Zack was constantly flirting with me despite the fact that he had a date and despite the fact that I was supposed to be Ethan's girlfriend, and let's just say that his flirting did not make me see him in any better light.

I let out a sigh of relief as soon as we got back to the house, only wishing to get to bed, close my eyes, and attempt to forget that that day happened at all.

"Alright, Kelsey, please get your stuff out of my room, I'm exhausted and I wanna head to sleep," Zack arrogantly said.

"Yeah, I wonder why you're exhausted, it's not like you did anything to help out around the house," Ethan mumbled.

I gave Ethan a scolding look, not wishing to get into anymore arguments that day. I wanted to end the day as fast as I could, and so I tried to resist the urge to scream in Zack's face.

"Alright, I'll go get my stuff" I said in an attempt to avoid any further problems. Zack was a really rude person and I just couldn't take it anymore.

"I'll help," Zack said, much to my horror.

"I'd rather you not," I replied as I climbed up to the guest room, trying to ignore his footsteps following me upstairs.

I knew that it wasn't actually my room and I had no right to tell him to stay away from it when I was there, but ordering someone around like that was just too much.

"Come on, let me help you baby doll," Zack said as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"I said I'd rather have you not help me," I replied rather coldly. "And don't call me that."

I hated the sound of 'baby doll' coming out of his mouth. It wasn't flattering, and instead made my blood run cold.

"But I said that I want to," he said, making a step closer to me.

"Zack, stop," I replied, backing away from him.

"Kelsey, I'm just here to help," he insisted as he moved even closer to me, making me panic as my back hit the wall.

I didn't want to be anywhere near Zack, especially not in a bedroom with closed doors. God knows what he was capable of doing in those circumstances. I sighed in relief as soon as the door swung open with a bang, revealing Ethan in a doorway.

"She says she doesn't want your help," Ethan sternly said, his fists turning white by how tightly he was clenching them. "I'll help my girlfriend if you don't mind. You can wait in the living room, don't make loud noises, the children are sleeping."

"Chill bro, it's just a bit of fun," Zack said backing away.

Who on earth did he think he was? 'Just a bit of fun'. What did that even mean? I was not there to offer him a bit of fun, and I certainly didn't want him anywhere next to me.

"Thank you Eth," I replied, trying to get my heart beat back to normal as Zack left the room and told us that he would be waiting in Ethan's room.

I was afraid of what would have happened if Ethan hadn't showed up when he did.

"No problem princess. I told you that I won't let him boss you around and that I'd protect you," he said, engulfing me in a huge hug. One which I didn't want to let go.

"Thank you," I replied as we continued gathering the stuff that I needed in my bag and locking the drawers that still had stuff inside.

I didn't think that I needed to explain the reason as to why I didn't trust Zack with my personal belongings.

"Alright Zack, the room's all yours. Don't mess it up," Ethan said with a glare after I had grabbed all of my things and walked behind him to his room.

"No problem," Zack said with a smirk.

I did not trust him at all, but I knew that there was nothing else that could be done.

"Kels, if you want I can sleep on the couch, you don't actually have to sleep in a room with me if you're not comfortable," Ethan said as soon as we were downstairs and out of Zack's hearing range.

"No Ethan, it's fine. I trust you," I said.

He looked up at me and smiled that adorable smile of his, making my heart go in a frenzy. I really did feel like I was growing closer to him more and more. I certainly wouldn't have let him sleep in the same bed as me if I hadn't.

"Thanks for telling me that you came back and that I can go home now," Meg said, entering Ethan's room with her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"Sorry Meg," Ethan said, rubbing the back of his neck, a pink tint on his cheeks.

"Don't mention it," she replied. "By the way, Kels, Zack is in your room."

"Yeah, I gave him the guest room so that Ethan wouldn't have to share a room with him," I replied.

I certainly didn't miss the wave of confusion that overtook her features before she asked me where on earth I was planning to sleep if I was allowing Zack to sleep in my room.

"With me," Ethan smirked, throwing his arm around my shoulders, making me roll my eyes at him before removing his arm.

Meg's eyes widened as she stared between the two of us, a knowing smirk on her lips. I couldn't help but look down in shame. All Meg knew was that I was pretending to be Ethan's girlfriend. I was certain that she would have never even imagined me accepting to sleep in the same room with him.

"Wow. Use protection!" She said, winking at me before running out, leaving me and Ethan standing like two red tomatoes.

"I'm tired. I think we should go to sleep," I awkwardly said, placing my pajamas on Ethan's desk chair.

"You can change in my bathroom," he said in a rush as he opened the door to his bathroom before scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, thanks," I replied, the tension still felt in the air.

I didn't know how I was going to survive having Zack around me for longer. He gave me bad vibes, and all I wanted was to stay as far away from him as possible.

A/N: Heyy jellybeans! I have sooo many things to tell you I'm actually excited!! -grins widely-

Alright for starters, I made a long chapter just for you guys. Please forgive me for leaving you hanging! I was suffering from major stress you don't even understand! But luckily MY EXAMS ARE OVER NOW! I'm honestly so happy. Today was my last exam. Hello summer!

Alright next, since I have a lot of free time in my hands now I will be updating more frequently and I will even be writing some new books! I will notify you when the books come out, only if you're intersted in reading them of course.

I will be updating this book every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting from next week! Ain't that great? :D

Alsoooo in the last chapter I talked to you guys about a Q and A and some of you said yes so comment right here any question you want to ask me..But it can't be anything about my personal life like where I live or stuff like that, it can't be anything dirty. Other then that feel free to comment anything you want! I will choose a few of the questions and answer them in a new chapter.

Alright, bye jellybean fam! (That's are new family name btw!! Comment whether you like it or not. You can comment any family name you want or even if you don't wanna be part of my fam which would hurt my feelings but yeah maybe you don't like me or something so it would be fine)

Stay perfect

Love,

~M

A/N: Mkay, so I told you guys that I'd notify you when I update the cast list and I updated it yesterday but forgot to tell you, sorry. I did some more changes and I hope you guys like em. That's all for now and I'll be back with an update soon. (By soon I mean probably next week) Sorry I just have a lot going on this week and I don't know if I'll be able to make it.

Love ya

~M

You: You better be back by next week or I'm throwing another chair

Me: That poor chair, what has it ever done to you?! Teenagers these days have no respect for furniture that clearly have feelings smh. :'(