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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Apr 26, 2009 17:27:12 GMT -5
He was going to have to fight for her. She wasn't going to be as easily seduced this time.
But she sighed. "Okay," she said. She was going to be stronger than this... if he ran away again, it wouldn't break her. She even gave him a smile. "We'll be all right this time."
She could be strong and believe that. She was also tired again, but wasn't sure if she could admit this to Zach without him being suspicious. She was going to have problems when she started showing, but that was something else to worry about later.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Apr 26, 2009 21:16:53 GMT -5
He hadn't even left yet and he already missed her. It had been so long since they had last made love, and he was aching for her. She was so close, and yet, he could feel the hesitation in her. What if she was falling out of love with him? What if he had ruined things irrevocably when he left her? She had come here to search for him, yet she had to be tormented by the fact that, had it been left up to him, she would still be in California getting ready to marry Taylor.
Still, he kissed her again, bracing his arms against the bed. Gently he lowered her down onto the bed, then pulled up slightly to loosen the perfectly starched collar of his shirt.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Apr 26, 2009 22:41:05 GMT -5
Suzie stiffened for only a moment, but as much as she tried to fight it, Zach's arms felt like... like freedom. And that thought made her feel safe, and she melted, allowing him to lay her down. She knew they shouldn't do anything, but if he didn't come back... well, this could be the last time she would know him like this, and she was already in trouble, so why not?
Her hands followed his to his collar and then moved lower, unbuttoning just a few buttons down. Her eyes met his, almost daring him to give her a surprised look for her reactions.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Apr 26, 2009 22:58:06 GMT -5
Zachary wasn't surprised, so much as relieved. It would have served him right if she had pushed him away. He had abandoned her once before, and he was about to leave her again, although this time it would not be forever. But she wasn't sure whether to believe that, and he could hardly blame her for that.
He let his eyes go soft, smiling gently at her. "I've missed you so much," he whispered.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Apr 26, 2009 23:12:12 GMT -5
Suzie smiled softly. "That either makes you a liar or a selfish bastard, you know." But she didn't care right now. She wanted him to know that this didn't mean she forgave him... but it certainly meant that she missed him too. More than she could bear, and the kiss she pressed to his lips a moment later said as much.
She broke the kiss again, bringing her hands up to his face and running over the smooth skin on his chin. "I missed you, too, Zach."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Apr 26, 2009 23:36:44 GMT -5
She was determined to think the worst of him, Zach realized. By allowing Taylor to bully him into leaving, Zach had caused the one person in his entire life who had ever truly believed in him to turn away from him. She may have still loved him and wanted him, but she did not trust him the way she once had. Winning back her trust was going to be an uphill battle. And even he was beginning to worry that he might fail.
"Maybe I'm both," he said in a soft voice. "But I can change. I want to."
He held her gaze as she touched his cheek, then reached down and returned the gesture, lightly caressing her perfectly-sculpted cheekbones.
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Apr 29, 2009 22:18:44 GMT -5
Maybe he did want to change. He couldn't blame her for being so scared, really. Or untrusting. Zach was good at saying all of the right words. He had been from the moment she met him, and she'd loved it initially. The attention and the compliments thrilled her, but she had fallen deeply in love with Zach, as well. The thought that she'd just been a conquest to him was heartbreaking.
So if he was lying again, her words would scare him away. But if he stayed... maybe it meant something. "I remember everything about you, Zach," she said, her voice soft, and her fingers tracing his features. "I could still feel you when you left."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Apr 29, 2009 22:44:56 GMT -5
He, however, had been the exact opposite. When he left her, he had felt empty and hollow inside. He had tried desperately to fill that emptiness with alcohol, games, and cheap women. When that failed, he tried to fill it with his family. Even that hadn't worked. The closest he had come to filling it was right now, with her in his arms.
"I remember everything about you, too," he breathed. "I dreamed about you after I left."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Apr 29, 2009 23:11:06 GMT -5
"What did you dream?" Suzie asked. If he was lying, she was going to make him work for it. But already, she believed him, and she just genuinely wanted to know. She'd missed him so terribly that it was nice to hear that maybe he did, too.
She had so much she wanted to say, but kept quiet, waiting for his answer. Then, unable to help herself, she asked, "Do you wish I hadn't come to find you?"
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Post by Zachary Scotts on May 6, 2009 10:35:41 GMT -5
Zachary threaded his fingers through her auburn curls. He'd had many dreams about her since he left, but they were mostly all the same. Dreams where he never left, dreams where he took her away with him, but they all ended up the same--they were together, and happy.
"I dreamed that I stayed in California with you," he said. "That I never left you. I never should have done it, and I've regretted it ever since. And I'm glad you came to find me... but I wish I had gone back to you instead. I was a coward. Maybe I still am."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Jun 5, 2009 13:37:24 GMT -5
"Don't tell me that," Suzie said quietly. His touch, even the gentlest, most innocent, gave her chills and a deep ache in her heart. It was a sense of nostalgia that she wasn't sure she would ever get back. It felt like home. She just prayed, continually, that she wasn't trying to lay her foundation in sand, as it were.
"It doesn't help anything. Can we just forget California ever happened and start over? I'll forget it too, if you say we can. I promise. I just want to be with and I want to be happy, and if we can't... please don't string me along again. Just be honest with me, now, okay?"
She felt vulnerable, asking for the truth like that, and scared that she might get it, but they needed to be honest with each other right now.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Jun 24, 2009 18:11:24 GMT -5
Leaving her had shaken her faith in him, and he wasn't sure he could ever get it back. It was a devastating realization to Zachary, who wanted more than anything to believe that his mistakes could be erased if he just said the right words or did the right things. Was he strong enough to back up his words? Could he really change? he wanted to, but it was hard. He would have to do more than simply say that he had changed, he had to actually do it.
"I swear to you," he said. "I'm staying this time. I won't leave you hanging... I'm nothing without you. And that's the truth. I just need you to believe in me."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Jul 20, 2009 2:07:31 GMT -5
Suzie wanted desperately to believe him, and to believe in him. But he spun similar promises in California, and he'd broken those with her. She was just going to have to see him keep these promises before she would believe them. When they were running away together, she would feel at ease and trust him again.
So, to Zachary, she nodded and said, "Okay. I'm putting my trust in your hands again." At this point, he would either earn it or he'd destroy it again. She had no control over either outcome.
"Thank you for setting me up here."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Aug 6, 2009 22:58:56 GMT -5
He wished they could just go now, and looking at her face, he couldn't come up with any good reasons why they couldn't. Why in the world did he want to go back and face Thatcher? It seemed pointless and would only end in another argument. And yet, there were things they had to do, preparations to make. He didn't want to be entirely dependent on her for money, and he knew that Edmund would give him a loan, no questions asked.
"Listen... instead of waiting until the end of the week, let's go tomorrow night," he said. "You can get some money by then, right? And I'm going to ask an old friend of mine for some as well... I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Aug 6, 2009 23:37:43 GMT -5
Suzie was almost surprised to hear him say it, and she nodded in response without thinking about it. "All right. Tomorrow night. I have my own small account that Taylor can't touch... he wouldn't be able to until we were married, and there's... enough there to help us for a while."
Her eyes softened as she took him in, and she wondered what she was putting him through. How long would they have to run? How long would he want to?
She sighed, almost content. Eventually, she would have to tell him that she was really pregnant, too. "I don't care what we do, Zach. I just want to do it with you."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Aug 7, 2009 0:04:24 GMT -5
He didn't even think twice about how long they'd have to be running. He didn't really care anymore. He had been running away most of his life, and this didn't feel any different. In fact, it felt better, like he was running to something, instead of running away. After all, what did he have here that was worth staying for? His niece and nephews were strangers, his brother and sister were cruel and judgemental. He had always longed to break free of them, well maybe now was the time.
"All right," he said, as if it was decided. "We go tomorrow night. I'll come back here at 7:00 and we'll leave from here."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Aug 7, 2009 11:14:15 GMT -5
He was giving her a time, a definite place to start, and for the first time, Suzie thought that maybe.. just maybe, he would go through with it.
She shifted in his arms and met his eyes, just assessing him for a moment while she let silence fall between them. There was no reason to wait, after all. What good would it do? It would just give everyone more time to talk them both out of it.
"We could be really good together," she said, finally breaking her silence as she continued to watch him. Still, maybe she shouldn't have sought him out. In her defense, she just wanted him to know about the baby, but things changed. And in his head, the baby didn't exist.
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Aug 7, 2009 22:56:17 GMT -5
The entire time she was looking in his eyes, he held her gaze. Often, in situations like this, where the honesty was getting to be too intense, he would look away, but he was determined not to do that this time. Instead, his eyes offered a thousand promises that he intended to keep this time. He wasn't going to let her down, he was sure of himself this time. She was his life... the one thing he'd been waiting for since as long as he could remember. Even his wanderlust ways, they now had a purpose. They'd brought him to her.
"We were good together," he said softly. "And we will be again. We'll be better this time."
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Post by Suzette Rousseau on Oct 6, 2009 22:30:35 GMT -5
No, they had been foolish and forbidden and so many other things before, but not good. He promised he would take her away from everything, and somewhere deep down, she hadn't believed him. But now... now she did, and now they could be great together. She just hated the inkling in the back of her mind that he was going to let her down again.
She kissed him softly, her lips barely putting pressure against his and she closed her eyes. It was tentative, testing the waters, remembering what he tasted like. "I want to be beside you when you leave this town," she whispered against his lips. "We can live our lives like gypsies."
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Post by Zachary Scotts on Oct 11, 2009 15:43:51 GMT -5
He'd lived his entire adult life like a gypsy. He was good at it. But he'd never had to be responsible for someone else as well. There had been times when the only thing that got him out of trouble was a wink and a smile. He wouldn't be able to do that anymore. Even on the run, he'd have to be responsible, because he would have Suzie at his side.
He pushed these guilty thoughts from his mind, however, and kissed her, increasing the pressure ever so slightly. It wasn't like the stolen kisses they'd shared in California. Those were desperate and hungry, as if each kiss could be their last. This kiss.... this kiss felt like a beginning.
"I don't care what we do or where we go. As long as we're together."
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