*Zacky*

I watched Kyle walk somberly into the court room. My heart broke because I couldn’t go with her. But there was something inside me that was screaming that everything was going to be alright. After about an hour, my nicotine addiction was kicking in so I went out for a smoke. I was sitting on a bench when I heard some heels coming my way. Thinking it was Kyle, I turned and smiled. To my horror, it was a face that I never wanted to see again. It was Amber.

“Zacky.” She said.

She was just as surprised to see me as I was to see her. She was wearing heels, shitty ripped up jeans and a white t-shirt. I could tell she just got out of prison. Her hair was long, longer than I remember and her dark roots were coming through badly and she didn’t have any makeup on.

“Zacky, what are you doing here?” She asked me slowly.

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say.

“I’m waiting for my girlfriend.” I spat out finally.

Her face fell. It was almost like I had slapped her. She took a step back and crossed her arms.

“What? Your girlfriend? But Zacky I thought-“ I cut her off and stood up.

“No, Amber. We are not together. I broke up with you the night you were arrested remember? Oh wait you were too drunk to remember.” I told her.

She flinched and hung her head.

“I know. I remember. I just thought that we could work things out. I’m sober now.” She said in a small voice.

I rolled my eyes and started walking back to the court house.

“For now. God knows how long that’ll last.” I said.

“Please Zacky, just let me explain.” She pleaded with me.

Just as I turned around, I saw Kyle staring at us. Shit.

“Kyle.” I said as I ran to her.

Kyle looked like she was trying to be happy but she was confused at the same time.

“What about Troy? What happened?” I asked her.

She shook her head slightly and her face lit up.

“He’s mine Zacky. He’s all mine.” She said with a wide smile.

I let out a sigh of relief and wrapped my arms around her tightly.

“That’s great Kyle.” I whispered in her ear.

She nodded and we pulled apart. Kyle’s gaze went behind me and I knew she was looking at Amber. I turned my head and saw that she was crying. I rolled my eyes and put my arm around Kyle and gave her a slight tug.

“Let’s go.” I said.

Kyle looked back at Amber and then we went to the car.

“Zacky, was that her?” She asked me when we started driving.

I sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, that was Amber.” I said.

Kyle shook her head and looked at her hands.

“She looked so sad.” She said softly.

I didn’t say anything. Come to think of it, she did look pretty sad when she saw me with Kyle. She has no right to be sad. She’s the one who broke my heart when she got arrested.

“Are you okay?” Kyle asked me.

It took me a while to answer her. Was I okay?

“Zacky?” She asked again.

I just nodded and took Kyle’s hand.

“Let’s just forget about it okay? The only thing that matters is we got Troy back.” I said to her.

She smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, we got Troy.” She said.

The rest of the ride was silent. I kept thinking about Amber and the way she looked when I had my arms around Kyle. I’ve never seen her look like that before. She actually looked sad. Now the Amber I knew, she would’ve flown off the handle the minute I walked over to Kyle and probably would’ve punched her out. I shook my head and pulled into the drive way.

“I’m gonna go call Matt to bring Troy over.” Kyle said as she ran off into the house.

I lit up a smoke and slowly made my way to the house. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her? She’s been in jail almost a year now. I haven’t talked to her since so why can’t I get her off my mind? By the time I finally made it into the house, Kyle had changed into jeans and a shirt and she was pacing around the kitchen.

“He’s on his way. I’m so excited to tell him.” She squealed.

I half smiled back and went into my room to change. Kyle followed me.

“Babe, you gotta talk to me.” She said quietly.

I sighed and took my dress shirt off and sat down on the bed.

“I don’t know what it is. I mean, I haven’t seen or talked to her since she was arrested but seeing her today just, I don’t know.” I said.

Kyle walked up behind me and put her arms around me.

“She looked like a completely different person today. But I mean it’s been almost a year. Did she seriously expect me to welcome her back into my life with open arms after everything that happened?” I said.

Kyle didn’t say anything. She just held me and kissed my neck. I sighed and put my hands on hers.

“Let’s just forget about okay? We got Troy and that’s what’s important.” I told her.

She nodded and pulled herself from me. I took her in my arms and kissed her softly. She smiled and left my room to wait for Troy. I shook my head and pulled on a t-shirt. I opened up my dresser drawer and dug under some stuff to find the picture of me and Amber. She definitely wasn’t the same person she was then. She looked healthy today, she looked like she actually had emotions other than anger.

I heard the back door shut so I stuffed the picture back under the clothes and went out to greet Troy. Kyle had bent down on her knees and was hugging and crying with Troy.

“So I don’t have to stay with mom or dad?” He asked her.

Kyle grinned and shook her head.

“Nope, you’re all mine.” She said.

He grinned too and hugged her again. Then he let go and ran over to me.

“And we both get to stay here, right?” He asked me.

I smiled and picked him up.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way man.” I said. He smiled and hugged me.

Kyle called the rest of the guys and some other friends of ours and we had a huge cook out to celebrate. My thoughts the whole night drifted to Amber. I just could not get her out of my mind and it was driving me crazy. Around midnight, everyone had gone home and Troy was fast asleep in his room. I was sitting by the pool, smoking a cigarette when Kyle came outside.

“Babe, are you coming to bed?” She asked me.

I shook my head.

“No, not yet.” I said quietly.

I heard her sigh and she walked closer to me.

“Zacky, do you still love her?” She asked me.

Her voice was tight and I could tell she was terrified of what my answer would be. But I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know if I did or not. When I didn’t answer her, I could feel the glare from Kyle burning into my body. I slowly turned around and saw her clenching her fists and staring at me.

“Well if you can’t answer me then I guess you still do, huh?” She said angrily.

I shook my head and stood up.

“No I just, I don’t know Kyle.” I said.

I truly was conflicted. I am in love with Kyle but that was when I knew that Amber was out of the picture. But now that she was out of jail and could pop up at any moment in my life, I just don’t know.

Kyle was pissed. She stomped in the house and went straight into the bedroom. I followed her and saw that she was throwing all of her clothes into her suitcase.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“What does it look like Zack, I’m leaving.” She said as she threw some shirts in the bag.

I rushed over and slid the bag away from her.

“Stop, you’re not going anywhere.” I told her.

She snatched the bag back and slapped my hands away.

“I don’t need this Zack. I really don’t. When you figure your shit out, call me.” She snapped at me.

She zipped the bag up and started to leave the room. I jumped in front of the door and blocked it.

“I’m not letting you go. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me inna long time Kyle and I’m not just going to let you walk out that door. I love you Kyle. You’ve got to believe that.” I told her.

I put my hands on her face so that she could look into my eyes. I was being as sincere as I could be. I really did love her. I just wasn’t sure if I completely didn’t love Amber too.

I watched as the anger in her eyes slowly faded and she sighed as she dropped her bag.

“I love you too. But you really need to figure it out.” She said before walking out the door.

I sighed and rested my head against the door frame. Kyle went into Troy’s room and I heard the springs in the bed squeak. I closed my eyes for a minute then dug around in my pocket for my keys and left the house. I needed a drink and I knew just where I needed to go.