26| Drunkards and Potterheads

The car came to a halt in the Crawford's parking lot and Zoey walked out of it. She then moved to the passenger seat and opened the door slowly. "Come on, Anderson. Let's go inside." She said and untied his seatbelt, feeling a little spark when her fingers grazed against his taut stomach.

"Let me sleep in the car." He said without even opening his eyes and snuggled deeper into the seat.

"Not when you stink like a garbage can. Come on, I don't want you to choke on your own vomit." She said and attempted to pull him out of the car. This guy was too heavy for someone this lean. It was nearly impossible to pull him out but Zoey accomplished the deed successfully after trying for five minutes.

"I don't want to." He said groggily, leaning against the car.

"Yes, you do." She said and dragged him forwards inside the house. She just hoped Rose would have left by now. Mostly when Zoey and Sam aren't at home, she leaves early and tonight was one of those occasions. Sam had a sleepover and she had the bonfire.

It took them almost fifteen minutes to reach her room because of Travis's reluctance to do so. He was a stubborn mess when drunk, a hot yet gross mess.

Once they were inside the room, Travis went to her bed and attempted to lie down but Zoey rushed to him first and stopped him by gripping his arm.

"You are covered in your vomit, Travis. You have to clean up first." She said and took him to the bathroom first.

She asked him to lean against the wall while she carefully unbuttoned her shirt, ignoring how fast her heart was thumping. They were alone inside her bathroom, with one of them going to be almost naked for the next few minutes. This was not how she expected tonight to go.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a hint of crimson colour rising to his cheeks.

"Cleaning you up." She said and guided his arms out of the shirt. Her lungs stopped working for a moment as her eyes glided down his lean ruggedness. She had seen him shirtless before when she spent the night at his place but in the dark, she couldn't appreciate his body. Now in the bright bathroom, his defined muscles were too hard to ignore.

Before she could reach his jeans with slightly trembling hands, he stopped her and slid away. "I'll... I'll do it myself." He said.

"Fine." She said and turned around, trying to regain control of her own breathing. He shuffled behind him, taking a little too long to take off the jeans. Once he was done, he sat on the edge of her jacuzzi and closed his eyes.

"Just..." Her mouth dried up momentarily as her gaze followed the contours of his muscular thighs until they stopped at his boxers. "Just stay like this. I'll bring some of Dad's pyjamas for you."

Not waiting for his response, she rushed out of the bathroom as soon as possible. This was not the first time she was with an almost naked guy but with him, it felt too scandalous, as if she was doing something wrong by looking at him.

Fanning her heated cheeks, she went to her Dad's room and took a pair of pyjamas from his closet. Once she reached back to the bathroom, she found Travis sitting inside the tub with the shower on; the hot water of the shower streaming down his muscular back created a fuzzy sensation in Zoey's stomach.

"Come on, let's get you changed." She said and attempted to turn off the shower but before she could do so, Travis stood up and his hands locked around her wrists.

"Wh... What are you doing?" She stuttered badly due to his proximity.

"You stink too." He said with sleepy eyes and motioned towards her own shirt covered with some of the vomit.

"Um... Well... You are the one to blame for it." She said, licking her lips that had started to dry up.

"Your shirt looks gross." He murmured under his breath.

Narrowing her eyes, she gave him a hard glare because it was him who ruined her shirt. Turning around, she pulled the shirt over her head and took it off, hearing a gasp escape from Travis's lips from behind. Then her hands went to her jeans and she unbuttoned it, slipping out of it and hearing another similar gasp.

"Is it better now?" She turned around and lifted her eyebrows.

Travis's face became impossibly red as his eyes travelled down her body covered with just a set of black undergarments. His pupil dilated, thinning the hazel periphery to mere rims.

"It's my turn now." She said and stepped into the tub, letting the water wash away all the remnants of tonight. Travis stiffened into a nervous mess on witnessing her damp body beneath the water and his own breathing turned erratic.

Zoey enjoyed the look on Travis's face, the look of longing. She was confident in her skin and that had always made her attractive to opposite gender. Travis might be a jerk to her sometimes but he was still a male full of testosterone.

"Stop enjoying the free view and go change." She glared at him playfully and he nodded, running out of the bathroom at full speed despite his drunkenness.

Laughing at his reaction, Zoey stood beneath the warm water for some time, letting it clean her up. Once she was sure she smelled like flowers and not the vomit, she made her way out of the bathroom with a towel around her body.

When she went back into her room, Travis had already changed into the pyjamas and was now lying on her bed, half-asleep. Letting him rest, she made her way to the closet and changed into her night clothes which were deep blue satin shorts and a white tank top.

Combing her wet hair, she reached the bed and settled on the other corner. "How are you feeling now?" She asked.

"I don't know. It feels like this room is spinning." He said and put his arm over his eyes.

"Sleep. I will wake you after an hour. You will feel better." She said and picked up a magazine from the side table to spend time.

"We can't sleep on the same bed." He said in a distressed voice and it made Zoey grin.

"Even when drunk, you are still worried about your virtue." She giggled.

Ignoring her comment, Travis muttered, "My mother... She..."

"Sleep, Travis. I'll deal with Rose." She said.

Travis groaned in complain but he was too senseless to stand up and leave. Unwillingly, he kept lying, waiting for the room to stop spinning but it never happened and soon, succumbed to sleep.

••••••••••

"Travis! Travis!"

Maya called his name as she passed by school's corridor, looking for him. The sound of music could be heard from outside, mixed with the screams of excited students.

"Where are you, Travis?" She whispered to herself. She knew Travis didn't like parties and crowds but she still insisted him to come to the bonfire. Now he was nowhere to be found and even his phone wasn't answering.

Knowing Travis, he was definitely hiding in a silent corner, waiting for this fiasco to over and what could be more silent during a bonfire than the school building itself.

She was about to turn around when a movement in the library hall caught her attention. Gulping, she made her way towards it, ignoring the various supernatural scenarios flashing in front of her eyes, all courtesy of watching shows like The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf.

Turn around if you don't want to be food of a werewolf, she said to herself.

But curiosity got the best of her and she entered inside the library. "Who is there?" She asked and before she could speak further, a hand clamped over her mouth and someone pulled her to a corner.

Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to scream due to the fear of her life but the hand didn't let her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and they met with a gorgeous pair of ocean blue eyes.

"I'm going to pull my hand away. Don't scream." Zachary said and pulled his hand away.

"What the fuck, Zach---" she shouted again despite the warning and he once again shut her mouth by placing his hand over it.

Maya's heartbeat increased as Zachary blocked her body with his large one, the scent of his expensive cologne filling her nostrils. "Ssshhh. Just one minute." He said and looked around himself. They were behind the history shelf of the library and through the space between the books, she saw a certain someone enter inside.

"Zach, baby, where did you go?" Blaire Willow said and when she couldn't find Zachary here, she walked away, closing the door behind her.

Once the sound of her heels were far enough, Zachary lifted her hand from her mouth. Their eyes locked together, confusion in Maya's eyes contrasting with the relief in Zachary's.

"She wants me to drop her to her house and knowing her, I won't be able to leave before morning." He said, leaning against the opposite shelf.

"Why don't you tell her that you aren't interested instead of hiding like a coward?" Maya suggested dryly.

"Well, do you really think I didn't try? That girl is a dementor." He said and slid down the shelf until he was sitting on the floor cross-legged.

Maya mimicked his action and sat down in front of him, crossing her legs. "You aren't an angel yourself. A year ago, you were always found trailing behind her."

"Well, that was before I slept with her. I didn't know she would be more clingy than a bubblegum." He said, taking a deep sigh.

"Well, you can't blame her for continuing something you started." She sided with Blaire, although she knew that girl wasn't someone easy to deal with and Zachary's actions were somewhat justified.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, assessing her outfit with keen eyes. She was wearing a black top that had a Harry Potter's glasses and scar printed on it, with blue jeans. It was the shirt that piqued his interest. "You are a potterhead too?"

"Too? Who else?" She asked.

"Me." He said and she burst out laughing. Zachary's forehead wrinkled at this and he snarled, "What's so funny?"

"Just the image of you watching Harry Potter. I thought you were too cool for such things." She said, fighting the urge to laugh again.

"Nobody is too cool for Harry Potter." He said and Maya shrugged. "I bet you are a Ravenclaw."

"A proud one." She smirked. "What about you?"

"Gryffindor, obviously. I am courageous, brave and chivalrous." Zachary said, leaning forwards so that they were eye to eye.

They kept talking about Harry Potter, without even realising how much time had passed. Soon, the conversation drifted to Game of Thrones, then to Minecraft and then to DC vs MCU finally. She didn't know Zachary was such a fun person to have a conversation with. At first glance, he looks like a person who just like to talk about girls and sports but he proved her wrong. It was only when Maya's phone rang when she excused herself and walked out from behind the shelf.

"Travis Anderson, where the hell are you?" She shouted into the phone.

"It's Zoey." A familiar feminine voice replied from the other side and Maya's eyes widened.

"Zoey? What... What is he doing with you?" She asked, a little shocked that they were together at this time.

"Sleeping." She said and Maya choked on the air on hearing that. "No. Not like that. He didn't know the fruit punch was spiked and ended up drunk to oblivion."

"Oh." She muttered.

"Will you handle Rose? Travis is not in the condition to reach home before morning." Zoey asked her and she pondered over the situation. She could handle Rose but she would have to lie for that. Although that's not something she usually does, she will have to make an exception for her best friend.

"Sure." Maya said and then cut the call.

When she turned around, she found Zachary carefully listening to her. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

"My ride is too drunk to drive me back." She pouted.

"I'll drop you." He offered.

"You don't have to. I'll take a cab." She resisted.

"At this time? Come on." He said and started walking. "Besides, it's much better than driving Blaire home."

"You sound a little hypocritical." She mocked him as she walked behind him out of the school building.

"And you sound a little judgemental." He retorted. "By the way, was it Zoey that called you?"

"Yeah, she called to inform me that she is with Travis." Maya told and Zachary's jaw clenched a little. The subtle action didn't escape Maya's notice but she chose to ignore it.

"Great." Zachary said dryly and turned towards the parking lot.

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Do comment wherever you can. It's your comments that keep me going and no matter how much a story becomes popular afterwards, I always remember those people who supported it in the beginning.

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