Katie woke up the next morning around eleven because Morgan was prancing around her room, the bathroom, and Katie's room singing loudly.
"Morgan." Katie said, flipping back her covers.
"What?" She asked, running a brush through her long, dark blonde hair. "Oh!" She said.
"What are you doing?"
"Wait until you see this..." MOrgan said, gesturing over to Katie's desk, where a boquet of six or seven yellow roses lay. Katie's gaze fell on them for a moment before she threw back her covers and got up to see them. She walked over to her desk and picked them up. They were beautiful, not quite opened with sprigs or baby's breath in them. She smiled and smelled them. Morgan watched with a gleefull look beside her.
"There's a card." She said, handing Katie the card.
"oh." SHe said, taking it. SHe opened the black little card and opened it.
Katie-
These are to apologize for my unacceptable behavior last night. I'm truly sorry about what happened and I can promise you that it will never happen again.
Love, Zac
ps- I delivered them here to you this morning, but you looked too beautiful sleeping to disturb, so I'm trusting Morgan to give you them.
Katie set the card down. "He was HERE?" She said.
"Oh my god, Katie, it was so sweet!" Morgan squealed, clapping her hands.
"What was?" She was confused.
"He came in here at like, seven thirty this morning. He climbed up Taylor's ladder, you know, the one ouside my window? Anyway, he came in here and sat by your bed for like, an hour just watching you sleep. It was the cutest thing." Morgan said with a dreamy smile.
"He was watching me sleep?" Katie said. What if she was drooling?
"Yeah. He left a couple hours ago."
"Oh my gosh."
"You should call him." She said.
Katie picked up her phone and dialed the Hanson's number. Zac picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Hi." SHe said.
"Well god morning sleeping beauty. Bout time you got up." He said with a laugh.
"Thank you." She said with a grin.
"Thank you for what?" He asked in a silly voice, knowing darn well what she was talking about.
"The roses." She said, going over to sit cross legged on her bed with the roses. "They're beautiful."
"I knew you would like them."
"Well I do, they're just what I needed." She said.
"Well I'm glad you like them, and I just wanted you to know that I really am sorry."
"Thank you Zac." She said.
"So am I out of the doghouse now?" He asked with a laugh.
"I don't know." She joked. "That depends."
"What does it depend on?"
"I dunno..."
"Would like to come over tonight to see what it depends on?"
"I would like that." She said.
"I thought you would."
"I'll have Tay pick you up at six and you can eat dinner with us, how's that?" He asked.
"Sounds good to me." She said.
"I'll see you then."
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye." She set her phone down in it's cradle and picked up her roses again. She inhaled thier sweet smell, smiling at the thought. She really hadn't meant to yell at Zac, but now she was sort of glad she did. Sheesh, maybe if she yelled at him more often....
Zac really had been a not only wonderful boyfriend but a great companion during the last few months. She thought back to a few months ago, just two weeks after they had been rescued from Carole's return...
(flashback)
Katie wiped her eyes again for the millionth time that night. It was a little after midnight, and she was sitting on Morgan's bed. Morgan was at her compututer, talking to Taylor via an instant messanger. They had been sitting in her dark room since around nine.
Morgan looked over at her.
"What's wrong sweetie?"
"I'm just...a little weird right now." katie said. She had just been eased off the birth control pills, and they were making her hormones as well as her emotions go baserk, and she couldn't stop crying.
"I know, the pills are making me sick too." Morgan said.
"God I hate Carol." Katie said, blowing her nose.
"I hate her too. But we're going to win our case. She can't deny child abuse. I mean, look at what happened. We were all taken to the hospital, and Sandra and I stayed for almost a week." She said.
"i know, but what is going to happen? This is just so stressful." Katie said, a fresh set of tears pouring down her face.
Morgan walked over to give her sister a hug.
"Honey, you have no reason to be sad or scared."
"I know, I jsut can't stop."
"It's okay."
"I'm just glad I have you and Zac and everyone else." She said.
"Especially Zac. He loves you so much, Katie."
"Zac has just been so good about this." She said.
"I know, he's been great. he and Taylor both." She said, still embracing her little sister.
"He's the only person who can make me feel better." Katie said. "Or that's what it seems like." She said.
Morgan walked back over to her computer and told Taylor to have Zac call katie on Morgan's private line. A few seconds later, Morgan's phone rang. SHe picked it up, and handed it to Katie.
"You can take it in your room sweetie." She said, giving her the phone.
"Okay." Katie said.
She went into her room, shut out the lights, and pulled back the covers to her bed and lay down. She curled up in a ball and put the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" She whispered.
"Hey." Zac said in a quiet voice.
"Zac!" She said, hushing her voice.
"Yeah. Morgan tells me you're in distress."
"Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"I know, you've been kinda down. I don't blame you." He said.
"yeah, I'm sorry." She said.
"No problem." He said.
"I wish you were here." She said.
"I wish that I was there too." He said quietly with a sigh.
They talked quietly for a few more minutes, and then Katie said her goodbyes and hung up. She curled up more under her covers and rolled over to face the wall her bed was against. She silently started to cry again, not able to stop the flow of tears. Gradually, her tears halted and she fell into a fitful slumber.
She awoke when she heard the door from her bathroom open. She peeked out from under her covers when she sensed someone in the room. She rolled over. Zac kneeled beside her bed, smiling through the dark.
"Zac!" she silently squealed, throwing her arms around him.
"Yeah." He said, wrapping his arms around her. She could still feel the chill of the night air near him and on his flushed cheeks.
"How did you get here?"
"Taylor wanted to see Morgan, so the two of us walked over, then we used our rope ladder to get up here, and here I am." He said with a smile.
"Oh, I'm glad." She said. "Come up here with me."
"Are you sure?"
"yeah." She said. Zac kicked off his sneakers and shed his coat, leaving him in socks, sweatpants, and a ragged t-shirt. He climbed into Katie bed, and she immediately pounced on him again, embracing him tightly.
"You're happy to see me." he said.
"Very." She said. "I can't stop crying, and those stupid pills have all my hormones so messed up that I cry about everything, and sometimes about nothing, and i can't stop, no matter how much I try..." She said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
Zac pulled her to him, and she laid her curly head against his chest. He stroked her hair with one hand, trying his best to comfort her. "Shhhh....it's okay....go ahead and cry." He whispered in a soothing voice.
"Thank you Zac." She said through sobs. She cried for another few minutes, then her sobs gradually subsided to sniffles. He lay back down on the bed, silently beckoning for her to follow. She curled up beside him as he pulled up her covers. She laid her head on his chest, and he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. They talked for a few minutes more in soft murmurs until gradually they both fell to sleep.
Katie was so glad that Zac had come to see her. He had a way of talking to her that could comfort her and push all of her fears away. She wanted to be in his strong arms all the time, for she felt encredible safe and secure while she was there. She couldn't explain it, but it was just simply a feeling she loved.
Early in the morning, around five, Taylor had come into her room, finding the two sleeping teens curled up beneath the blankets, entagled in each other's arms. He had reluctantly gotten Zac up, and then left so that he could kiss her goodbye. It was a night that Katie or Zac wouldn't forget.
(End flashback)
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