Team Work Makes The Dream Work

Thirty minutes past as the teens played a surprisingly close game of water frisbee. Ashley couldn't deny her shock when she saw Gavin actually showing a bit of his athletic side, and with Chloe, the pair made a pretty deadly combo. However, Zack and Ashley weren't making it easy on them, they were keeping it neck and neck, the next point would win. Ashley noticed that during the game Chloe loved to fling the frisbee just over Zack’s head, causing him to flinch and duck rather than try and grab it. Just before Chloe flung the frisbee, Ashley quickly called a timeout and swam over to Zack, “I have an idea.” She whispered over to him, “The second Chloe throws the frisbee toss me up into the air.”

“What?” Zack softly chuckled back in confusion, "How is that going to help?"

“Just trust me, unless you’re not strong enough,” Ashley replied, her eyes slightly taunting Zack,

Zack scoffed at her and shook his head, “Let’s just hope you’re right about this,”

“Are you two ready?! We’re tired of waiting!” Gavin called to them,

“Just accept the loss!” Chloe added on,

“Bold talk! Let's just see how this goes!” Ashley called back, not faltering in her confidence,

Gavin looked over to Chloe and they both shared a nod before she winged it right at Zack. Without thinking, Zack took hold of Ashley’s tone waist and tossed her up into the air. Ashley put her hand out and easily grabbed hold of the frisbee. Gavin and Chloe were both so shocked by the move that they didn’t even react when she tossed it back towards them. As soon as the frisbee hit the water Ashley let out a cheer, “Yes, we did it! We fucking won, Zack!” The blonde exclaimed while jumping to Zack and putting her arms around his neck, “I knew you could do it! Hell yeah!”

Without thinking Zack put a supporting arm around Ashley, holding her body against his while thrusting his other up in triumph, “Oh yeah, see what happens when you start talking smack!” He shouted out to them,

“You got lucky!” Chloe retorted,

“The odds of that ever happening again have got to be like one hundred to one!” Gavin added in disbelief,

“Doesn’t need to work again!” Ashley grinned in response. The four of them slowly calmed down and turned her head back to look at Zack with a warm smile, "And you proved me wrong, you clearly are strong enough," She added on, her voice sounding ever so slightly impressed,

Zack's cheeks finally turned a light shade of pink as he realized that he was holding Ashley up against his body, "Heh, uh, yeah...you're...you're really light and fit, so I was-" Zack nervously replied, interrupting his babbling with a quick cough and gently letting Ashley float away from him, "It's, getting pretty late and the waters getting cold, want to pack it in for the day?" He asked, changing the subject completely,

Ashley let out a short breathy laugh under her breath, diverting her gaze from Zack's while nodding, "Yeah, it is getting cold, good idea, let's go,"

As Ashley swam off Zack looked over to Gavin and Chloe calling out to them, "Guys, we're calling it, you two coming out or stay?!"

After a moment Gavin called back, “Right behind you!”

The four swam to shore and picked up their towels starting to dry off. “That was fun, I’m glad we did it,” Chloe said as she wrung out her hair,

“Totally,” Ashley agreed as she wrapped the towel around her waist, “So...any other great ideas, Zack?”

Zack thought for a minute as he dried off his hair then said, “Yeah, I think I have another good one. What do you think about a fire, I saw the big fire pit built in the center of the patio out there,"

“Oh my god, that sounds amazing, let’s go change,” Ashley said with a giddy jump in her step while rushing to the cabin,

Zack hung back with Gavin and Chloe and watched as Ashley disappeared back into the wooden lodge, “Damn man, what did you do to her?” Gavin instantly asked,

“What? Nothing.” Zack retorted with a shake of his head,

“Oh come on man, yesterday she was barely talking to you and now she’s hanging off your every word,” Gavin shot back, smirking as he noticed Zack nervous mannerisms resurfacing once more,

“Stop, seriously please tell me that I am imagining this stuff. The last thing I need is to worry about Brandon killing me.” Zack quickly said with a concerned look to them both,

“Zack.” Chloe said sharply, “Brandon isn’t going to kill you.”

“Yeah…just beat you to a pulp.” Gavin said with a grin, Chloe immediately turned to Gavin and socked him roughly in the shoulder, “Ow! I’m just joking.” Gavin exclaimed while rubbing his arm,

"He's freaking out here and I haven't noticed him fuck with you over your little scared boy routine earlier with Heather! So why not can it with the jokes!" Chloe snapped back causing Gavin to let out a soft exhale and nod in agreement,

"Alright, yeah, sorry dude," Gavin honestly apologized, "I was only messing around,"

"I know man," Zack weakly laughed back,

"I forget how protective you get sometimes, Chloe," Gavin added on while glancing to the redhead who chose to ignore the comment,

Chloe turned her attention back to Zack, “Look, you have no reason to worry. One, it’s not like Brandon owns her, she can date or like anyone she wishes. And two, it’s not like you are even trying anything or would try, especially with you trying for Victoria.” She pointed out expecting a quick definitive yes. Yet, Zack went a little silent and diverted his eyes from them, “Oh, you are joking right?” She asked with a sigh,

“What? She’s cute, what do you want from me?” Zack shrugged unable to hold back a smile,

Gavin clicked his tongue and shook his head, “You know what, I don't want to get punched again so I'm gonna just stay quiet here. This is all you, Zack,” He said with a short shake of his head,

Zack let out a short breaking gasp and looked to Chloe for support, though she too shook her head, "He's right, you don't usually get to have your cake and eat it too," She merely added on while the trio reached the cabin doors and headed back inside.

Zack followed behind his two friends into the living room, moving quickly past Brandon on the couch before heading downstairs into his room. As Zack entered his bedroom he glanced around and saw that the bathroom door was closed, “Must still be changing.” Zack deduced as he walked over to his dresser. Trying to be as fast as he could, Zack quickly dropped his trunks to put on a fresh pair of underwear, but right then Ashley walked out of the bathroom. Zack quickly covered himself with his briefs and called out, “Whoa! Changing!”

“Oh, sorry,” Ashley said with a little giggle but she didn’t walk away. “So are Gavin and Chloe in for the fire pit, I kinda ran off before they said anything.” The blonde asked while walking over to her hamper tossing her wet clothes into it, not paying all that much attention to the nude Zack who shuffled his way towards the far corner of his room, doing his best to keep his lower parts covered.

“I-I think so,” Zack replied as he lowered his head to the floor and began to turn red,

Ashley looked over her shoulder towards him then let out a laugh, “Oh god, I’m so sorry. You’re kinda...in a situation. I’m so used to just talking with Brandon I forget I'm not with him anymore, I’ll just head out.” She said holding an amused grin as she left the room.

Zack let out a deep sigh and changed into a fresh set of clothes while the blood stopped rushing to his face. He left his room and Heather was standing right in front of him, “Heard you were using the fire pit, we got chopped wood stacked against the north side of the cabin outside. Help yourself.”

“Oh, um, thanks,” Zack replied noticing a bit of a drop in Heather's voice,

“No problem,” Heather replied, though the brunette didn't move an inch, merely staring intently at Zack,

“Uh, Heather, was there something else?” Zack asked with a raised brow,

“Yeah, seeing as you've stepped in to be Ashley's new squeeze, I want to know how's she's doing," Heather easily replied,

"First off, I'm not Ash's new squeeze, whatever the fuck that means, I'm just being her friend," Zack lightly argued, "And, honestly, I don't really know,"

"Really?" Heather replied in a dismissive voice, "You spent the last couple of hours with her, Gavin, and Chloe. How was she? Because the last time I tried to talk to her she freaked out and basically told me to fuck off, so I want to know she's doing better,"

"Well, she hasn't been angry or anything like that to me," Zack replied with a short scratch of his head, "We had a good time outside and he seems really excited about the fire pit tonight,"

"Hmph, I guess that's as good as I'm going to get," Heather shrugged back, "But a little advice? Brandon has had a sour look since the second he realized you four were out at the lake, I'd do my best not to let him see any..."friendly" behavior outside, hmm?" Heather said as she began to walk towards the stairs, "

As Heather walked back down the stairs Zack rubbed his eyes with his hand, he was quickly finding himself stuck in a love triangle, and despite any attraction to Ashley, he wasn't sure he was ready for that. “Jesus Christ,” Zack mumbled out as he headed upstairs and walked out the front door circling the cabin to the north side. He looked over and under small attached overhang sat a pile of cut lumber. He walked over and grabbed a pile, taking a small bricked path that led right into the back yard.

Victoria, who was already sitting outside, gave him a wave, “Hey Zack, Ashley told me we were having a campfire, sounded fun.”

“Something to do,” Zack said as nonchalantly as he could while he dropped the logs next to the pit, feeling a little sense of pride that he may have impressed Victoria a bit,

"And Zack, I talked to Ashley about Brandon, she gave me the short version but I can tell you've been the one really helping her through this," The blonde girl said with a warm smile, "I really want to thank you for that,"

"O-Oh," Zack replied with a nervous grin, feeling himself grow tongue-tied over the conversation immediately, "Happy to help, it's nothing,"

"No, you don't get it," Victoria wholeheartedly denied, "I've known Brandon and Ash weren't going to last for a while now, I wanted them too, but they always had issues here and there, Brandon was too controlling and jealous, it made this tough for them. I was so afraid of what she'd be like when it finally ended but thanks to you, I think she's going to be perfectly fine. She's so lucky to have you," Victoria said, her voice holding a touch of pure joy,

"Have me?" Zack softly repeated only to stop as he heard the sliding door from the cabin crack open

The pair turned back and watched as the rest of their friends began to filter out onto the patio, Ashley led the way with a bag of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers in her hands, “Alright let's do this.” She grinned, her eyes immediately locked onto Zack's,

Everyone started to take their seats around the fire, Zack was able to get the fire started and roaring right as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Of course, Ashley had chosen to sit right next to him making him grimace as he saw Brandon take a seat right across from them. Victoria and Heather sat off to his left with Kurt separating them while Chloe and Gavin were to his right. Zack held out hope that Ashley would do nothing to set Brandon off. As soon as he sat down Ashley spoke up, “So who wants S'mores?”