Not A Fight

An air of uncertainty filled the cabin as everyone separated back into their rooms. Heather and Kurt took it upon themselves to silently head out to downtown, regardless of anything else, they needed to pick up condoms and some morning-after pills for everyone in the cabin. This left the others all in their mixed states of confusion and uncertainty. Gavin had yet to leave his bedroom, more than a few things on his mind while Victoria left down for the lake. Ashley did her best to take care of the still beaten Zack but oddly, he seemed to be more reserved this morning since finding out about the situation, eventually asking for some time of his own. It took a little bit of convincing but Ashley gave in, heading out with Lisa to help the Latina grab some bags so she could comfortably spend some time at the cabin.

With silence now finally starting to fill the cabin, Zack made his way into the living room, collapsing onto the couch and letting out a long sigh. He shut his eyes but before he could even think about anything he heard Chloe's voice as she entered the room, "What do you have to be upset about?" Her tone bitter and filled with resentment,

Zack let out another, defeated exhale and looked over to the redhead, his eyes holding a mixture of tiredness, shame, and sympathy, "What?"

Chloe scoffed back and shook her head, "I said, what the fuck do you have to be upset about? You deserved to get your ass kicked and you know it,"

Zack lightly nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I did, I got exactly what I deserved, probably not enough but what I deserved," Zack admitted then looked back to Chloe, "Anything else?"

Chloe's head slightly tilted and her anger faltered for just a moment, "You...No, you don't suddenly get to humble depressed mode and have everyone start to feel bad for you!"

"Chloe, I'm not gonna fight with you if that's what you're looking for, I came out here to just be alone and think. If I'm in the way, I'll go somewhere else, but that's all I'm doing," Zack sternly replied to his former friend, though his voice was almost void of emotion,

"Oh so that's it, nothing to say to me, nothing to say about Brandon or that bitch, Ashley? Just you sitting alone and "thinking" all fucking day? How is that fucking fair?" Chloe spat back, following Zack as he got up and walked into the kitchen trying to leave the conversation, "No, you owe me some fucking answer!"

"Answers to what?!" Zack exclaimed, "You want answers about why I did what I did? I don't fucking know, Chloe, alright?! I fucked up, made the wrong choice because I followed an urge, just like I did that first night with you! I knew I should have never stepped past that line of friendship with you just like I knew I never should have stepped into Brandon and Ashley's relationship! Okay?! I did wrong! I was bad! I'm a dick! What else do you want from me?!" Zack finished, his voice almost pleading,

"That's it? That's all you have for me? You left me waiting in our room, where I was ready for you to take my virginity, to go fuck Ashley. You left me all fucking day, never even tried to talk to me!" Chloe spat back,

"I did try, Heather sent me on a goose chase and I got hit by Lisa in her fucking car! I texted you which let me remind you, you were too fucking busy eating out Heather to let anyone know! So I don't want to hear I didn't try to talk, you were getting quite busy with everyone else in the cabin," Zack retorted with a toss of his hand,

"That was your fault, I'd never have done all that if you hadn't -" Chloe attempted to argue only for a loud, crazed laugh to leave Zack's mouth,

"That's right! It's all Zack's fault! He's the only one who could ever do wrong! All problems lead back to me, everyone resents me, but let me tell you this Chloe, I didn't go in and make you get on Gavin's dick, so you can live with that bit yourself," Zack sneered,

"Fuck you!" Chloe screamed back,

Zack opened his mouth to yell but let out a growling breath, "I. Am. Not. Fighting. With. You," Zack slowly stated as he calmed himself, "I am sorry for what I did to you, and I don't expect you to accept but you deserve to hear that, now you can go back to pretending I don't exist anymore and I can focus on...what I'm gonna do,"

Chloe lifted her hands rubbing her reddening face, anger, and sadness fighting in twain to take over completely but both failing, "Why do you keep saying that? You already survived the worst of it, you got Ashley, Brandon's gone, I...fucking know, so what? What is the problem suddenly?" The redhead asked in **** curiosity,

"I...tsk," Zack began to say before shaking his head, "You don't give a shit, just...leave me be," Zack muttered as he opened the sliding glass door and headed outside onto the deck but just as before the redhead followed at his heels, "Chloe, stop already, I'm done with this,"

"What's your malfunction, if I lost to Ashley, if she cost our friendship, then I want to at least know it was worth it!" Chloe exclaimed with a toss of her hands, "What, now that the sneaking around is done, you're bored with her?"

"No! God no, it was never about that!" Zack growled back, his eyes flaring up, "Ashley already fucked Kurt, she admitted it to me that she did it knowingly, and I..." Chloe let out a nearly amused breathy laugh, "Yes, I know, the great fucking irony here, but I am livid,"

"So then dump the bitch, if you ditched me on an impulse you shouldn't have any problem leaving her for that," Chloe retorted as she crossed her arms,

"That's just it if I leave her for that then it really was all for fucking nothing, I told her it was okay because...it has to work out for us, it fucking has to!" Zack replied, his eyes growing wet and he turned away in frustration, "Will you just leave me alone?!"

Chloe turned to leave, a level of smug pride filling her as she could see the struggle and sadness in Zack right now, it was cathartic but as she reached the door a dormant part of herself stopped her feet. She angrily fought against the feelings of sympathy growing inside her, desperately wanting the feelings of joy at Zack's pain to be the only thing inside her, it was all she wanted since everything happened, but now it felt like nothing.

Hanging her head Chloe let out a sigh and shut the glass sliding door and turned around, "Bishop," She easily called out causing Zack to slowly look back at her only to find Chloe pulling him into a hug. Zack tensed for a moment, the pair not saying a word as Chloe held onto him but after a few short moments Zack began to relax and his arms lifted, wrapping around the small of Chloe's back, "It's...it's gonna be okay,"

"Chloe, you don't have to -" Zack softly started to say,

"Shut up, forget about the rest of the shit for right now, just listen to me. It's going to be okay and you need to do what's best for you and not worry about making your decisions "worth it" okay? If you have any respect, feelings, whatever, left for me, you'll do that,"

"Okay," Zack nodded back, taking in Chloe's words, "I...I'm sorry this all happened to you," He added on after a moment,

"Some of it happened to me, but a lot of what happened is...because of me too," Chloe admitted, shame seeping into her voice, "I have my fair share of responsibility that I like to say I took on but still haven't,"

"Sometimes, it feels like there's no way to make things right after making them go so fucking wrong," Zack lowly finished while Chloe silently nodded in agreement with the sentiment.