Save Me (15 page)

When Dan emerged from the bathroom showered and freshly shaved, he was unrecognizable. If I wasn't positive that no one else was in the basement, I would have swore it was a completely different person. He shaved off the beard entirely and trimmed his hair to a manageable mop of dark curls that fell around his face haphazardly. It was easy to see his age like this. His crystal blue eyes stood out, captivating me. He was absolutely beautiful. He was dressed in a pair of old jeans that hung low on his hips and had a t-shirt slung over his bare, muscled shoulder. Without realizing it, I was staring, mouth dropped open. I'm surprised I didn't have drool dripping down my chin. Obviously enjoying my attention, or maybe my shock, Dan's lopsided smirk grew into a full on smile, revealing his perfect teeth. No one should look this good during a zombie apocalypse. I could feel the warmth spread across my cheeks in what I was sure was a deep red blush. Twenty minutes ago, Dan looked like a young Hagrid. Now he was looking like he was ready to grace the covers of a fitness magazine. Will cleared his throat loudly, breaking my stare.

"Oh don't you look hot!" Janet teased, tousling his wet hair.

"I think some people might say that," Dan said looking in my direction, winking, sending my blush further across my blazing face.

Janet's gaze flashed up and down over me, one eyebrow raised. She let out a huff bordering on disgust, and headed back to the kitchen to check on dinner. Ignoring Will's continued death glare, Dan walked over to me, lifting my chin to once again look at him.

"What do you think?" Dan asked, batting thick lashes over his hypnotizing eyes, stealing my breath from my throat.

"You, uh, you look, fine," I stuttered, lost for words.

I could feel the heat from his body between us. My mind went blank of any rational thoughts, leaving behind only sensations. I was aware of the pounding of my heart and my breath, loud in my own ears. His thick fingers slid up from my chin, behind my ear, then down and past my neck. His knuckles brushed down to the point of my v-neck t-shirt before moving back up, stroking across my warm cheek, before dropping his hand down to rest on my shoulder. I thought I was about to hyperventilate.

"Do I?" Dan asked, snapping me back to reality.

"Huh? What?"

I had no idea what he was talking about. I could feel Will's stare burning into me from across the room.

Dan laughed, kissing the top of my head, and went to join Janet in the kitchen. I was left standing there wondering what the hell just happened.

"Seriously?" Will asked, walking over to me, looking irritated.

"What?"

"I thought you two were going to skip dinner and just go right for dessert."

Will was using his angry tone again. I honestly wasn't in the mood for it.

"You're one to talk."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I tried to push past him, not wanting to have this conversation right now, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Answer me." He demanded, gripping my arm tighter.

"You're hurting me." I tried pulling away again but he only squeezed tighter.

"Then answer me."

"Okay, I saw you, and
her
, in bed. I know what's going on with you two." I pulled harder, finally freeing my arm.

"You're joking right? You think..."

"I don't think, Will. I saw it. So don't stand there thinking you have any right to judge me after you just climbed out of bed with Janet!" I was nearly shouting, not caring who heard us.

Will stood there shaking his head in disbelief.

"How exactly did you see that, Andi?"

"Dinner is ready," Janet called interrupting our obvious fight.

"Ya know what, never mind. I don't even care." Will walked into the kitchen, leaving me standing there.

The four of us sat at the table silently, eating our dinner of fox and canned potatoes. The meat had an unusual taste, not like anything I'd tried before. It's wasn't something I was excited to try, but it was better than starving. Will sat at the opposite end of the table from me, trying to keep as much distance as he could manage while still sitting at the same table. He managed not to look in my direction even once during the meal. He had no right to be so angry. It's not like anything happened between Dan and me, unlike what had actually happened with him and Janet. Not that any of that mattered. Will and I were not dating. We weren't anything more than two people helping each other survive. Neither of us had any right to be angry with the other over what was, or was not, going on with another person.

After dinner, Dan convinced everyone to play a game of scrabble, probably hoping it would lighten the mood. I agreed, hoping it would. I didn't want to fight with Will. The truth was, I cared about him, more than I was willing to admit. I guess that's why seeing him with Janet bothered me so much. What didn't make sense was Will's jealousy of Dan. He obviously had a thing with Janet, so why did he care if Dan flirted with me?

The game did the trick. Slowly, the anger faded and both Will and I relaxed a bit. On my way back from the bathroom, halfway through the game, Will pulled me aside and apologized.

"I'm sorry about before. I had no right to act like that." Will ran his hand over the bruise he left on my arm, and winced.

"It's fine."It wasn't but I wanted it to be.

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have grabbed your arm so hard. I'm really sorry about that. You and I need to have a talk later. There are some things we need to get cleared up."

"Sure." I left him there, afraid that if we talked anymore it would turn into another argument.

After the game was over, the four of us stayed up talking and having a good time for hours. Even Janet loosened up and managed not to insult me too much. I learned that she had been married at eighteen and had a son named Gage. Both her husband and son were lost in the first week the outbreak hit her hometown. That explained why she was such a bitch I guess. It was hard to lose my parents and my friends, but I couldn't imagine losing a child. I couldn't help but feel for her after hearing that. Dan had lost his parents in a car accident when he was fourteen. When the outbreak hit, he was living with his aunt and uncle who took him in after he lost his parents. They made it a few weeks before a horde came through and wiped out everyone in the area. I told them a little about what had happened with me, all stuff Will had already known. Even Janet looked sympathetic while I told my story. That was the one thing about living in a zombie apocalypse, everyone could relate to what you've been through. Throughout the conversation, Will said little. Even after all we had been through, I still didn't know much about his life before we met. Sure, he told me the story of what happened to his group and about his childhood, but that was about it. I could tell he went through a lot since the outbreak, but I figured he would tell me when he felt ready. I was sure Janet already knew the story so it was obviously something he just didn't want to share with me.

Dan managed to steer the conversation back to lighter topics. Making people feel at ease seemed to be a talent of his. He really was a genuinely nice guy. Even Will couldn't help but lighten up and even lay off the death glare.

"So Andi, What do you want for your birthday?" Dan asked, looking down at his watch.

Will looked at me confused. He must not have heard the conversation earlier.

"I still have two more days."

"One, it's after midnight." Dan pointed to his watch. "So, what's your birthday wish?"

There was actually one thing I would like for my birthday, but there was no way I was sharing that with the group. I flashed them a smile, keeping my secret safe. I knew it wasn't something I was likely to get anyway.

"Come on Andi, share it." Will sat, leaning forward, suddenly very interested.

I shook my head at Will, covering my mouth. Dan moved closer to me, rubbing his face along my arm like a kitten.

"Please?" He purred.

Will immediately stiffened up. I could feel his anger building from here.

"Yeah, Andi, What do you want for your birthday?" Janet asked, trying to look innocent as Will turned his death glare on her.

The three sat looking at me, all wanting to know. There weren't many things in this new world I wanted that were actually a possibility. The one thing I wanted, that was even possible to have, wasn't something I wanted to share with the group. Especially not Janet.

"It's late," Will said, standing. "We should all get some rest. I'll show Dan where he can sleep."

Will motioned for Dan to follow him and the two disappeared down the hall.

Will took Dan to the Allen's old bedroom. I guess he wanted to make sure he didn't end up in my room. What did he really think was going to happen? He couldn't possibly think I would invite a total stranger into my bed, could he? Not that it should matter to him. He was probably going to end up in with Janet again anyway. I could hear Will and Dan talking from the bedroom but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I wanted to sneak closer to catch some of the conversation but Janet sat looking at me, her stare told me to mind my own business. I wanted to tell her to mind hers when Will's raised voice made its way out to us.

"I'll check on them." Janet jumped up, giving me no choice in the matter.

I was getting sleepy and was so over the drama for the day. I figured whatever was going on, Janet could handle it and went to get ready for bed.

After I changed, I heard a knock at my bedroom door before Will popped his head in.

"How about we have that talk now?" He asked, closing the door behind him.

I really wasn't in the mood to do this now but I nodded in agreement anyway. I sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. It really had been a long day.

"You okay?" Will asked, picking up on something.

I wasn't really sure how to answer that. I was alive for one more day. I wasn't a growling, drooling, rotting undead, trying to eat anyone with a pulse. All things considering, I should be grateful for that at least. I decided to go with the standard answer.

"I'm fine."

Will eyed me skeptically. I didn't even try to pretend it was true.

"I'm really sorry about Zach. I know you cared about him."

Will took a step closer, but still standing, brushing the back of his hand along my arm. I suddenly felt anger rising inside me. Will hadn't done anything wrong but out of nowhere, I wanted to lash out at him. I tried taking a deep breath, reminding myself that Will was trying to comfort me, that he didn't do anything to warrant my anger, but before I could stop myself, I was pushing his hand away.

"Do you, Will? You think you know anything about how I feel?"

"Andi, I didn't mean..."

"Didn't mean what? Didn't mean that you aren't acting like you know a damn thing about me, when you don't?" I could see the hurt on Will's face, but I just couldn't stop myself.

"You think you can just pull me in and push me away when it suits you? You and your
girlfriend
, think I'm some little immature girl who can't take care of herself and is a danger to others."

The words flew out of my mouth like venom, striking Will hard. He stared at me, mouth half open, speechless.

"I know what she said about me. I know she wants you to leave me and go with her. And, I know you didn't tell her no."

"Andi, that's not what she said. You're taking that out of context. You don't know the whole story!" Will was angry again, but I didn't care.

Before I could gain a shred of control over myself, it was too late.

"You should just leave with her. I don't even want you here anymore. That's what I really want for my birthday."

It was a lie but the damage was done. The color left Will's face and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Fine. If that's what you really want."

As he turned to leave the room, I immediately wanted to take it back. I had no idea why I said those things to Will. I didn't want him to leave. I knew I should apologize, tell him I didn't mean a word of that, but I couldn't bring myself to move or speak. I just sat there and watched him leave the room.

~Chapter Fourteen~

I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw myself down on the bed and sob uncontrollably. I had cried more since I met Will, than I ever had in my life, but this time was different. No tears would come. This wasn't something that happened to me, something out of my control. This was something I had done, caused. I don't even know why I did it. There was no good reason. I couldn't delude myself into coming up with something that made this anything but completely my own fault. I held my pillow over my face tightly, trying to block out the world. I couldn't escape the thoughts swirling in my head. The image of Will's hurt face, eyes filled with tears, refused to fade. I wanted to be able to drag myself from this bed and apologize to him, try to make it better, but I couldn't make my legs move. First my mouth had betrayed me, now my body refused to cooperate.

I thought maybe Will was giving me a chance to take everything back when I heard a knock on the door, until I saw Dan peek in his head for permission enter. Throwing the pillow back over my head, I turned onto my side, not wanting to deal with anyone or anything right now. Dan had some difficulty reading body language I guess, because he came in anyway and sat down on the bed next to me. He didn't speak. He just sat there in silence for awhile. I thought about telling him to go, but honestly, having him there did make me feel just a tiny bit better. After about twenty minutes of just sitting there, Dan crawled up on the bed, molding the front of his body along my back and wrapping his arms around me to hold me tight. The warmth of his bare chest pressed up against me was soothing, finally allowing me to push some of the bad thoughts away. An overwhelming need for sleep spread over me. I surrendered, desperately needing a release from the day's events.