His breath was even as he slept. I watched him closely as if memorizing all his details. Last night was a mess, at least for him. He didn't say much, he just cried. It was agonizing. How much his love for his father hurt him. I wasn't close to my father. But, I also didn't hold any feelings for him. I was always convinced that I wasn't enough for both my parents alike. They both made it quite clear, never supporting me in anything.

Always making it look like I wasn't trying hard enough. Zack loved his father. He still does, I guess. Mike told me that Zack had a hard time after their father left. Even more of a hard time than Mike, himself. Mike was closer to his own brother than his father. I didn't know what happened between them the other night, or what made Zack so sad.

I knew it must be something so serious that it hurt Zack so badly. Or maybe Zack was sensitive about the whole thing. His breath rythme got distorted, getting me out of my thoughts. "Good morning." He said in a raspy morning voice. I smiled as he rubbed his eyes, getting up. "Good morning." I answered back. "What time is it?" He asked, reaching for his phone. "I am not sure. It's still early, though." I stated not wanting him to leave for his training yet.

"Yeah." He said, looking at the phone. "Feeling better?" I scooted closer to him. "I guess." He sighted, throwing the phone away. "I need a cold shower. My muscles are killing me." He moved slowly. The days after the games were always the worst. His muscles would be terribly sore. "You could use a bath?" I asked. "That would be a good idea. But, we share a bathroom with six other boys." He chuckled.

I smiled. "Yeah, well, a bath was definitely going to get the job done." I added as I got up from bed. "You think?" He asked. "I know." I said as I brushed through my tangled hair. "Well, I could go to mom's place. I have my own bathroom there." He thought out loud. "That would be better. It will also clear your head." I said. I watched him get out of bed, through the mirror. He walked up to me, his arms surrounding my waist. He winced as he placed his chin on my shoulder.

I stared at us into the mirror. Zack was bigger than me. His muscles doing the job. I wasn't so petite nor huge, really. I fitted nice there between his arms, like I was made to be there. His body heat traveled to mine slowly. His sweet morning breath tickled my ear. I relaxed myself into his arms, letting my head rest onto his shoulder slowly, careful not to hurt him. "Would you like to come?" He whispered.

"You wouldn't need me. You will have to finish up fast to get to your training." I spoke with my eyes closed. He started swaying us slowly. "I will bail today. I miss you." He planted a kiss under my ear, making my spine shiver. I smiled with my eyes still closed. "The coach is not going to like this." I added with a hit of sarcasm. "I guess, I deserve a day off. I am the star of the team." He said. I turned between his arms, to face him.

"Not feeling cocky, are you?" I grinned. "What if I am? I have you, is that not enough to feel cocky already?" He pecked my lips softly, smiling. "Come on." He said, with his forehead resting against mine. "Fine." I smiled.

The house was enormous. I would feel so lonely if I lived there alone, it surprised me how Zack's mother enjoyed it. "Decided to visit your poor mother at last?" The principal as I remembered her, with black hair like Mike's, only longer. Her skin was pale making her hair even more black, against her fair skin. Her eyes were wide and brown, burned brown. She was wearing a black silk long robe. It looked expensive. "Hey, mom." He smiled as he hugged his mother.

"Brought company, too." She turned her gaze towards me. Her lips were thin. Wrinkles of age were starting to make their way through her pretty face. "Hi, I am Jane." I found some courage for Zack's sake. "I remember you. The girl with the scholarship." She smiled. "That's me." I smiled nervously. "Welcome Jane." She said as she cleared way for us to come inside. The house looked even more big from the inside. The roof was so high, elegant marble stairs were leading upstairs. Paintings and art statues were covering every corner and wall.

"You must have breakfast with me." She demanded. "I am kinda hungry." Zack looked at me, as if checking for my approval. "That would be nice, Miss Robinson." I nodded. "Oh, please call me Rachel. It has been a while since Zack had any girlfriends." She said with excitement. She seemed to like the idea. I sneaked him a look. He was smiling. We followed Rachel to what seemed like a dining room. A huge table sat there. It looked like the ones they had in the old english movies.

"Mom has a thing for English taste." He teased as we entered. "It is called English elegance, idiot." She stated. "It's beautiful." I smiled warmly. "See." She nodded towards me. "I am starting to like you already, Jane." She smiled back. I was hoping to make a good first impression. I guess I got that out of the way. i thought happily to myself as we sat. The chair was comfortable and soft. A woman with a blond ponytail and a crimson uniform entered with a food trolly.

She placed a variety of food onto the table. From colorful fruits to every kind of cheese. Rachel was certainly rich in some way. I guessed it was one of the advantages of being a principal of a huge collage. "Please, help yourself to whatever you want." She nodded encouraging. I looked at Zack who was sitting in front of me. He was chewing on something. I helped myself to a piece of bread along with jam and mangoes.

The food was certainly very tasty. Rachel was chatty and nice. I liked her in a way, really. "I have to head to work." She was suddenly dressed into a pretty dark blue suit pants along with a beige blouse with lace sleeves. Her hair was tucked into a low bun, a pair of brown frame of glasses rested onto her nose bridge. "Have fun, mom." Zack said. "Make yourself comfortable. Ask Jenna for anything you might need." She said. "Thanks, mom." Zack had his arm on my shoulder. "And Jane, it was certainly a delight to meet you." She smiled at me.

"You too, Rachel." I smiled, feeling weird to be calling my principal by her first name. she nodded to both of us before she went her way, heels clinging with each step. Rachel had a lot of privileges, really. Why would she ever need a husband? I thought as I watched her go. "Thank god, this is over. I want to show you the rest of the house already." He huffed after we heard the door close. I chuckled. "Lead the way." I nodded.

"And this is my room." He said ending our tour. The house was big. There was a movie theater and a couple more rooms including Mike's and Rachel's along with his own. Bathrooms, a huge kitchen and a wonderful garden. I walked into the room. It was big. It looked like the one we were staying in back at the sorority house. There was shelves with books and a lot of trophies. Like lots of them. I walked around the room. Posters of football players, star wars movies posters and arctic monkeys.

A big dressing room was included as well as the bathroom. A king sized bed was laying by the window. "Like it?" He asked. "You certainly love football." I added with a smirk. "Yeah, I don't anymore though." He shrugged. I turned to him. He was looking at the trophies with troubled eyes. "You still play, though?" I stood by his side. "I can't quite now. It's the only thing I can do. Like actually do." He sighted. I place a hand on his shoulder, he winced at my touch. I dropped my hand. "My dad was the one who made me love it. He started teaching me when I was three." He smiled painfully at the words.

"It's stupid." He stated as he looked away from the trophies as if they brought him memories he didn't want to remember. "I will go run the bath." He said as he walked towards the bathroom. I looked back at the trophies. They all had his name. There was a photo laid on a broken frame. I stood on my tippy toes to reach it. It was cut into a half. A half had Zack, only younger than he was then, in a football uniform, smiling with bright teeth. He was holding a big trophy. The other half had the same man with the sandy hair and the green eyes. Zack's father.

He was also smiling, holding out a fist happily. The photo made me sad. I wondered if Zack was the one to sabotage it this way. The water that was running suddenly stopped. I placed the photo back in its place. I walked to the bathroom. Zack was sitting in the bath, leaning his head against the wall, eyes closed. I walked up to him. I sat by the bath's side, placing my chin onto my crossed arms. I watched him.

"Talk to me." I said after a couple of seconds. He opened his eyes slowly. He looked at me. "I am here." I said. "I know." His wet hand tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Then, why won't you talk to me?" I whispered. "I am too fucked up, Jane." He rested his forehead against mine, whispering. "It's okay." I whispered. "He doesn't want..us anymore." His voice cracked. "Oh, Zack. Of course not. He's just dealing with the whole divorce thing." I tried to make him feel better.

"He was there last night to..to ask for money. He's broke." He sighted leaning back against the wall. I was surprised. Rachel was the opposite of broke. Why was his father be broke? I couldn't understand. "He doesn't have a job. He takes cocain." He whispered so low, I almost didn't catch it. He looked away, ashamed. I reached out for him. His face filled up my palm. "I told him that I couldn't keep on giving him money. I told him to stop being careless. He just told me that it was all mom's fault." He continued.

"But, it wasn't." He stopped for a second. "It was his fault. He lost his job before they got a divorce. He wouldn't let mom get back to her job. She begged him. We couldn't pay for anything anymore. We almost lost the house." He exhaled roughly. "Mom couldn't take it. She asked for a divorce. He refused at first knowing that it would destroy him, the selfish bastard." He fought the tears. I stroked the back of his head slowly with my fingers, to give him a bit comfort.

He closed his eyes against my touch. "He had nothing to lose except us. Me and Mike. Mom filed it and eventually won the case. She also got custody over both of us. I couldn't take it. I didn't understand how could he just let us go that easily, not even without a fight. I thought...I thought he loved us. He loved me." His voice broke. I pulled him closer. He buried his face into the crook of my neck, crying. "I didn't mean to be so rude to Mike, I swear. I was just so angry so sad." He sobbed. "I know, I know." I hugged him even harder.

"I am not a bad person, Jane. I am just so fuc—" he sobbed as he looked at me. I couldn't bear to look at how much pain he was in. I hugged him again. I wished I could just suck out all that pain out of him. That was all I really wished.