Returning Home {Day 3 Begins}

Zack woke up and looked over at the beautiful girl sleeping soundly beside him. Victoria was wearing only her bikini top and some cotton shorts that Sienna’s friend had loaned her. Speaking of Sienna, he did know Sienna from school. They’d spoken before on occasion, and while Sienna had a tendency to be cold to pretty much everyone, she’d thawed towards him a bit when they had English together junior year.

He hadn’t exactly known that Sela was Sienna’s mother, and when he’d learned that, he’d had a mix of emotions race through him. But in his defense, Sienna’s last name was Thirlby, as was Sela’s, apparently. But Sela was a Wynwick at birth, so when Fiona had introduced her as her sister, he’d never correlated Sela Wynwick with Mrs. Thirlby. Fiona’s son, Fletcher, had been at dinner as well, and Zack HAD known he was Fiona’s son, but he just didn’t care.

Zack sat up in bed, and remembered the phone call he’d made to Ravers Cabin.

Robert had picked up, and Zack had explained who he was and where he was. Robert had been relieved. He’d promised to tell everyone, and Zack had said that he and Victoria would be there tomorrow morning, which was today.

Zack reached over and touched Victoria’s bare shoulder.

“Tori...” he said quietly and leaned over her slightly, trying to ignore the angle of his vision, peeking down into her bikini top and giving him an excellent view of her cleavage.

But he was only human, and he admired her for a few seconds before saying her name again.

“Victoria.” he said softly, and she stirred. Those pretty green eyes opened and she turned towards him. Zack realized abruptly he was now practically on top of her, and her lips were looking very kissable. Very kissable.

“Zack.” she whispered back, and before he could decide whether or not to kiss her, she leaned up and kissed him. Zack adjusted so he was truly on top of her, sitting on her hips as he leaned down to kiss her, his hands cupping her cheek.

Victoria clearly didn’t have a whole lot of experience kissing, but it was a truly enjoyable feeling to have her perky breasts nudging his chest as their lips gently explored each other’s mouths.

After a few seconds of kissing, Zack leaned back and studied Victoria’s flushed face.

“You kissed me.” he blurted. She laughed, and nodded.

“Yeah. I did.” she whispered.

Zack rolled off of her and flopped down on his back.

“Why?” was Zack’s only question.

“Well... I had a chat yesterday with Sienna and Fletcher.” Victoria confessed. Zack turned towards Victoria as Zack did the same, so both teens were on their sides. Zack gazed into Victoria’s green eyes as she gazed into Zack’s blue.

“About me?” Zack wondered.

“Partly.” Victoria answered, “After Fletcher forced Sienna to be nice to me, she started asking me about who I liked. After a while, well... I admitted it was you.”

She blushed at her words, and Zack couldn’t help but think she was gorgeous. The girl he’d been crushing on for a very long time liked him back. But could her timing be ANY worse? She was the third girl to confess feelings for him on this trip alone, and it was just barely the third day!

“Oh.” Zack said.

“‘Oh’? Is that all? I confess my feelings and you say ‘oh’?” Victoria asked, looking a bit hurt.

“What do you want me to say, Tori? That I like you, too? Because I do. I really, really do. But you know what? You’re not the first girl to tell me that since we’ve got to the cabin. And I can’t choose between any of you, because you’re all my friends!” Zack exploded, pent up from the recent emotional stress. Victoria looked taken aback, and Zack sighed, taking a moment to recollect himself.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so angry. It’s not your fault. At all.” Zack said wearily.

“Who else confessed?” Victoria asked curiously. Looks like her inquisitive reporter brain couldn’t be turned off at times.

“Uh, Ashley and Heather. And then you know Chloe confessed during Truth or Dare.” Zack admitted.

“Really? All three?” Victoria asked in surprise. Zack nodded. He wasn’t going to tell her about what Taylor had unintentionally revealed, that was for damn sure.

“Yeah.” Zack nodded.

“Wow. I had no idea.” Victoria mumbled.

“You’re not going to write an article about that or anything, right?” Zack asked worriedly. Victoria laughed.

“No, no. They’re my friends. I’ll keep their secrets.” Victoria promised. Zack grinned at her.

“Good. And... we definitely need to talk about this. Me and all four of you girls.” Zack said.

“I bet.” Victoria chuckled.

“So... can we maybe postpone this?” Zack asked hopefully. Victoria leaned across the space between them and gave Zack a light kiss.

“Of course. I don’t want to force you into anything you’ll regret.” Victoria smiled, and Zack smiled back.

———

Logan Ravers came into the living room, blinking.

“Hey, cuz. It’s 10 o’clock. Someone likes to sleep in.” Heather’s familiar voice said, and Logan turned to see his smirking cousin.

Logan chuckled.

“I do, actually, yeah.” Logan nodded.

He studied his cousin, and saw she had made her hair look nice, her make up was done masterfully, and she wore very flattering clothes that bordered the line of sexy.

“I’m guessing Zack’ll be here soon.” Logan grinned. Heather flushed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she denied.

“What, so it’s just a coincidence you look like a supermodel today?” Logan asked innocently.

“Do I? Good.” Heather said, patting her hair self-consciously. Logan raised an eyebrow. Heather threw up her hands.

“Fine. I’m trying to look good for Zack. You happy?” Heather scoffed.

“Yeah. Zack’s a good guy. He’ll make you happy.” Logan nodded.

“Thanks for the seal of approval. The problem is Zack doesn’t want me.” Heather huffed. Logan gave her an incredulous look.

“Doesn’t want just me.” she clarified, “Zack’s heart is all over the place. He likes Ashley. He’s mad in love with Chloe. He’s crushing hard on Victoria. And yeah, he said he likes me. We kissed. But he doesn’t want to get my hopes up for a relationship.”

Logan was stunned. Zack was juggling women?

“Sounds like your hopes are already up. And, not to be blunt, but do you even really want to be tied down to just one guy? You’re not a one-man girl.” Logan pointed out.

“I agree. And it seems like Zack’s not a one-woman man. But... I really like him. I’d like to give it a shot, even if we don’t last.” Heather shrugged. Logan smiled at his cousin.

“What?” she asked curiously.

“Nothing. It’s just not normal to see you excited about a guy.” Logan said. Heather smiled back at him.

“Zack’s here!” Chloe said, bursting into the room. Heather rose quickly to her feet and followed the buxom redhead from the room.

Logan, shaking his head in amusement, followed the two girls to go and see his old friend.

They walked through the cabin and out of the front door. Logan saw that Ashley, Monica, Taylor, Paris, and Robert had already gathered. Heather and Chloe fell in beside them while Logan leaned against the wall, not wanting to crowd Zack.

Logan watched a car pull to a stop and then three doors opened, the driver’s, the passenger’s, and the door behind the passenger’s.

A vaguely familiar silver haired woman was the driver. Zack was the passenger, and Victoria was in the backseat.

“Zack!” a voice rang out, and Ashley ran towards him, leaving Logan gaping in surprise.

Logan watched the leggy blond jump up onto Zack, her long legs wrapping around him as she kissed him passionately. Logan’s gaze flicked off the kissing teens and studied the people still standing in line. Taylor and Paris were exchanging looks of surprise. Heather looked downcast, and Chloe absolutely shattered.

Ashley and Zack finished kissing, and Ashley murmured something that Logan had no chance of hearing in Zack’s ear, and then she jumped down.

Zack said quick hellos to his family and Robert, and then his eyes landed on Logan. Logan grinned at Zack, and Zack stepped forwards to hug Logan. Logan hugged back, and took the opportunity to instill some fear in him.

“Heather and I have spoken. About you. She mentioned her feelings, and yours. I just want you to know, that if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.” Logan said quietly. Then he leaned back and looked at Zack’s wide eyes, and grinned at him, then stepped aside as if nothing had happened.

Logan watched Zack step up behind Heather and Chloe and whisper something only they could hear. They both nodded at him and went inside. Zack looked up and nodded to Ashley and Victoria, who headed towards the door as well. After saying something to Robert, Zack went inside as well.

Well, Logan wouldn’t want to have to have THAT conversation.

———

Zack walked into the bedroom he shared with Ashley and found the four girls he liked in there already.

Ashley sat on the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Chloe. Heather leaned against the dresser, and Victoria was plopped down in the desk chair.

“Well... we obviously need to talk.” Zack said. All four girls nodded.

“I’d say.” Heather muttered.

“Sorry about how I, uh, greeted you. I was just so happy you were alive.” Ashley apologized.

“No, it’s fine.” Zack shook his head. Then, he sighed.

“So. What are we going to do?” Zack asked, slumping back against the door.

“Take turns dating you?” Chloe shrugged.

“What, so you get him January through March, I get him April through June, Ashley gets him July through September, and Vicki gets him October through December?” Heather raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I meant more of a weekly switch, but I guess that could work, too.” Chloe mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

“Or... we could just all share him.” Ashley suggested. Zack gave her an incredulous look.

“Oh, c’mon, don’t pretend like you haven’t thought about it. One guy dating four of the hottest girls in Azure Rocks, simultaneously, and with their full consent?” Ashley lifted her eyebrows.

“Maybe it crossed my mind once or twice.” Zack admitted, “But I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”

“Zack, this is kind of an odd situation. You have four girls who all want to be with you. You like all four fairly equally. That’s not normal.” Heather pointed out.

“True.” Zack agreed.

“I wouldn’t mind sharing.” Victoria volunteered.

“Well, I mean... I’m not... uh...” Chloe stammered.

“Chlo, I know I’d be your first boyfriend. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know.” Zack told Chloe kindly. She blushed.

“No, Zack... I like you. If I have to share you with them, I, well... I’ll make it work.” Chloe said firmly.

“You shouldn’t have to ‘make it work’. None of you should. You should be happy in a relationship.” Zack sighed, putting his head in his hands.

Fingers touched Zack’s arm, and he looked up to see Heather’s blue eyes looking at him. She leaned her head against his chest, and Zack was a bit too startled at first to wrap his arms around her, but he corrected that as soon as he could.

Her dark hair tickled his chin as they stood together. Zack’s eyes saw Ashley, Victoria, and Chloe looking on curiously.

“Zack... I think you need to stop trying to make a bad thing out of something minor. It’s not like we’re suggesting big group orgies or anything.” Heather scoffed. Chloe squeaked.

“Yeah. Think of it less like having a harem, and more like having four girlfriends who know about each other.” Ashley agreed.

“What, so, you’re all just ok with this?” Zack asked incredulously.

A sound of agreement went around the room.

“Well, ok, then.” Heather said, and kissed Zack on the lips. After a few moments, she pulled back, grinning at him. Zack chuckled and kissed her again, enjoying the feel of her full, kissable lips.

“Mmm...” Heather purred.

“Hold on, I have a question.” Victoria spoke up. Everyone looked to her.

“What about sleeping situations? Ashley got the first night here. I got last night. So, will we be switching who Zack shares a bed with?” Victoria questioned.

“You and Zack had sex?” Chloe gasped.

“No, we just slept.” Victoria shook her head.

“So did we.” Ashley nodded.

“I feel like doing more than sleeping on my night.” Heather winked at Zack, and she kissed him again, this one very quick, but no less enjoyable.

“I think Chloe should get tonight.” Ashley spoke up, and the redhead blushed at the attention everyone gave her.

“Oh.” Chloe said.

Zack smiled.

“I can live with that.” he nodded.

“Oh, Zack. I got some juicy details about your mom and Heather’s dad for you.” Ashley grinned. Zack gave her a confused look.