Road To Nowhere - Chapter 7

[ahopper84]

Title: Road to Nowhere
Chapter: 7/?
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Drug use, language, sex... all the fun stuff.
Summary: Zac learns that growing up sucks, but not always in a bad way.



“Hey Zac,” Kat said as she let herself into the bakery, locking the door again behind her.

“Morning.” I finished wiping down the counter and leaned against it, smiling. “Missed you at the party last night.”

“Ugh, I know,” she sighed. “I was all dressed and everything, but then my friend had this huge fight with her boyfriend, and she was in pretty bad shape. I couldn’t just leave her there, but trust me, I would’ve much rather been at the party. Or anywhere else, for that matter,” she added with a laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, Nina’s been my best friend since middle school, but good god does she attract drama.”

Kat hung up her coat and started counting down the register; I didn’t want to bother her while she was adding everything up, so I gave the tables a quick once-over that they didn’t really need. There were a few dishes I needed to take care of, but Tay was back in the office doing some paperwork, and I didn’t feel like being too close to him right then. Things had been a little awkward between us since he’d found me and Skyler in the treehouse. I was pretty sure he hadn’t guessed about us, but there was no way to tell for sure.

“It’s just too bad I didn’t get to see you in your costume,” I told her once she closed the register drawer. “Bet you looked amazing.” She smiled sweetly and leaned over the counter, ruffling my hair.

“Aw, you’re sweet. Tell ya what, how about we do lunch after work today? Just you and me.”

“Sounds great,” I said, trying not to grin too much. “I’ll buy.”

“It’s a date.”

Tay came out from the back just in time to hear that, and gave me a quizzical look. Kat just giggled, shaking her head as she went to unlock the door. I grinned at Tay and headed off to do dishes; I knew he’d been wrong about me not being her type. Hell, I hadn’t even had to ask her out.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. We were pretty busy; I was able to spend a couple hours up front, but Kat and I didn’t really have time to talk between customers. But I had our date to look forward to, so for me the day still couldn’t go by fast enough. The last hour dragged by, the hands on the clock moving so slowly I thought they’d stopped. Finally the afternoon crew came in, and I practically ripped my apron off.

“Hey Zac?” Tay called from the office. I cursed under my breath, but went to see what he needed anyway.

“What’s up?”

“So I heard you’re having lunch with Kat.”

“Yeah,” I answered, grinning. He stared at me, probably jealous. “So did you need anything, or…”

He sighed and rolled his eyes, then waved me off, muttering something under his breath. I wasn’t paying attention, though; Kat was waiting for me out front, her car already running.

“TJ’s?” she asked, but I shook my head as I got in.

“How about something a little nicer? There’s that little Italian place on Grant, or maybe the sushi bar on Yale?”

She raised an eyebrow, and I wondered if I was overshooting my goal.

“Italian sounds good,” she said finally. “You said you’re treating me, right?”

“Sure am.”

We were quiet as we drove across town. I tried to think of something to say, but I was drawing a total blank. I didn’t want to fall on anything lame like ‘read any good books lately’, but I had to come up with something fast.

“So, um… See any good movies lately?” It wasn’t much better, but it was still better than awkward silence.

“Actually, yeah. I went to see From Hell last weekend with a few friends.”

“That’s the one with Johnny Depp, right?” I remembered seeing the trailer, something where he had a British accent. I always remembered him as being one of the first famous guys I had a thing for, and not just for his acting.

“Mhm, and that chick from the second Austin Powers movie, the one that played Felicity Shagwell. I can never remember her name, but I loved her in this.” Kat went on a little speech about how pretty what’s-her-face was; it was nice seeing her so excited about something.

“Well for what it’s worth, I think you’re way prettier than she is.”

“Aw,” she cooed, scrunching her nose and giggling. “I wish, but thank you anyway.”

We got to the restaurant, so the next twenty minutes or so were spent parking, sitting, and ordering. I told her to get whatever she wanted before looking at the menu; after a quick glance I panicked, but luckily I hadn’t spent much of my first paycheck yet. Skyler would be a little disappointed about having to skip out on the ‘celebration’, but after I told him why I doubted he’d be able to blame me.

“So how’s classes going?” I asked her as I munched on a breadstick.

“Not bad. There’s this drawing class I’m in, I just picked it to fill an arts elective, but I’m really having fun with it.”

“That’s great. I love to draw too.”

“Yeah, Tay’s mentioned that,” she said with a smile. “He told me you’re really good.”

“He did?” I was pretty surprised; I knew Tay’d always said he liked my drawings, but I figured he was just humoring me, or making fun of me. But if he was telling other people, maybe he really did like them. “I could bring in one of my sketchbooks and show you some of my stuff, if you want.”

“I’d love that. Hey, maybe we can draw each other! I could use the practice with my faces anyway.”

“Sure, I’d love to draw you.” I mentally kicked myself for sounding desperate, but she grinned at me like she didn’t mind at all. I thought about drawing her, all of her, and had to fight back a grin. She blushed a little and looked away, which made me wonder if she was thinking the same thing.

Our food came then, so the next few minutes was mostly just us eating and smiling at each other. I thought about making some kind of move, like nudging her foot with mine or something, but I didn’t want to rush things. With Skyler, there was nothing stopping us from doing whatever we wanted, because we knew and trusted each other. But Kat was a girl, not to mention my co-worker, and friends with my brother; I couldn’t just dive right in and hope for the best.

“So how’s your friend Skyler? I heard you two got up to some trouble after the party.” She gave me a smirk, her lips curling in a way that sent my mind straight to the gutter. I vaguely registered that her words meant Tay’d blabbed about us smoking, but her curious grin and the way she was leaning towards me had me distracted.

“Maybe,” I said, shrugging. “Nothing too crazy, but hey, fun’s fun, right?”

“Sure is.” She nodded, her eyes going unfocused for a second. Her cheeks were pink again, and I found it really hard not to get my hopes up why.

“Whatcha thinking about?” I teased, grinning.

“Oh, um… nothing.” She shook her head and took a sip of her drink, but I saw her eyeing me, which had to mean I was right. “So, um… Anyway, how’s school going for you?”

“It's going,” I said with a shrug. “Pretty boring, really. Homecoming’s in a couple weeks.”

“Oh yeah? You gonna take anyone to the dance?”

I smiled; she might’ve well just invited herself at that point, but I felt like playing it cool a little longer. “Don't know yet. Depends if she can get off from work that day.”

Her eyes went wide for a second; was that too bold? She sipped her drink and looked at her phone.

“Hey, um, I actually have to get going. I forgot I gotta be somewhere in like twenty.”

“Oh. Yeah, it's cool, let me just get the check.”

As I paid for our dinner--I had enough, barely--I went over our conversation in my head. Had I misread her signals? No, I'd probably just embarrassed her by moving too quick. Well, I hadn't actually asked her yet, so the damage couldn't be that bad.

She dropped me off at home, saying a quick goodbye and thanking me again for lunch. Tay wasn't home from work yet, and Sky wasn't home either when I tried to call, so I lay down for a nap. I couldn't wait to tell them both how my date went.

Sleep wasn’t happening, so instead I pulled out my new sketchbook and drew for a while. I hadn’t had anyone in mind when I started, but as the features of the face beneath my pencil started to take form, I realized they looked a lot like Tay’s. I shrugged and kept at it; it wasn’t the first time I’d done a portrait of him. I was pretty good at drawing from memory, but Tay’s face had always been the easiest for me to remember.

I chewed on the end of my pencil as I looked over my drawing. I wanted to get his lips just right; not too feminine, but just a little. I closed my eyes and tried to picture his face. I thought about the Halloween party, and our game of spin the bottle. Especially those few tense seconds when I thought I was going to have to kiss him. I remembered him licking his lips, catching the lower one between his teeth. I remembered wondering what it would taste like.

My eyes shot open, a familiar shiver running down my spine. I went back to my drawing, pouring over every detail until it felt just right. I wasn't even looking at the whole picture anymore, just focusing on his eyelashes, the corner of his mouth, the curve of his jaw.

“Hey Zac,” Tay said, rapping my open door with his knuckles.

“Oh, hey.” I looked up from my drawing for a second, then back down. It was pretty much done at that point, so I set my pencil aside and stretched my arms.

“So how’d your ‘date’ go?”

“Great, actually.” I grinned and pulled my legs up so he could sit down. “I’m gonna bring my sketchbook to work; she wants to see my drawings, and maybe have us do each other.” I blinked, realizing my word choice, and smirked. Tay just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, you have fun with that. What’cha working on?” he asked, peering over at my drawing. I turned it so he could see, and watched him look it over. His eyes slowly grew wider, his cheeks turning red. “Zac, what the hell… “

“What?” I took my drawing back, wondering what had him all upset. When I looked at the drawing, really looked at it, I realized I’d managed to perfectly capture an expression so lusty, it almost made me blush. His eyes were half-closed, his head leaned back at an angle, his lips parted slightly with just a hint of tongue and teeth behind. His hair fell in his face a little, a few strands obstructing the view of one eye.

“Why the hell would you draw me like that?” he asked quietly, not looking my way.

“I… didn’t mean to. Just kinda came out that way, I guess.”

“It’s not… I mean, I’m not…”

“Not what?” I looked over, curious what he was trying to say. He was biting his lip again, his cheeks still pink.

“You made me look all… sexy, or whatever.”

I cocked an eyebrow, missing his point. “And?”

“And I guess I just… didn’t know you saw me that way.”

“I’ve got eyes, Tay. I mean, it’s not like I wanna bang you or anything,” I added, and instantly regretted it. I tried to laugh it off like a joke, and Tay let out an uneasy chuckle, but he refused to look me in the eye. “But… you already know you’re hot. You don’t need another person telling you.”

“Maybe,” he said, his brow furrowing. “It’s different coming from you, though. It’s like… I know you’re not trying to get anything from me, so I can believe it more. You know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” I let out a breath, looking down at my drawing again. He really did look sexy, and sexual, like he was caught in the act, or maybe right before. It made me wonder if that’s how Tay really looked when he got turned on.

“Um, anyway…” Tay coughed and got up, sticking his hands in his back pockets. “Dinner should be ready by now. So… yeah.” He stared at me for another second, before turning and leaving.

I thought Tay was sexy. I said it in my head, trying to figure out what that meant. I’d always said I knew how hot he was, but with the ‘objectively’ tag attached. I’d always maintained that there’s a difference between thinking someone is sexy, and wanting to do stuff with them. I thought I’d known which side of that line I fell on. But lately, I wasn’t so sure.