Tending to Zack

Zack Bishop lay on the floor of cabin, head propped up on Ashley's thigh as she stroked his hair out of his face. A cut along his eyebrow trickled blood over his eye and down his cheek, so it looked like he was crying red. His nose was already starting to discolour and his lip cracked and swelled. He tried to speak but could only mumble.

Lisa shushed him, sitting on his other side, holding his hand in hers. She stroked his fingers with her thumb, looking between Zack and Chloe, who had just run into the room and announced that Brandon had packed up all of his stuff and left. She was surprised. Not that he'd left, but that he managed to do it without her waking. He must have been very quiet when he took his bags out to the car before Zack and Ashley returned.

No one knew quite how to process Chloe's reveal. Everyone felt terrible, most of all Chloe. Brandon's words that she should have warned him echoed in her head. Ashley and Zack had done the deed, but perhaps she could have saved Brandon some heartache had she just told him. Her need for ****, to see Ashley called out and humbled for her actions, had lead to Brandon being hurt. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she excused herself.

Next to her, Victoria was shaken. Seeing Brandon explode at Ashley's infidelity made her own actions with Kurt seem much worse. She imagined Gavin's reaction if he had saw what they were doing, and while she couldn't imagine him shouting and storming out like Brandon, he'd be hurt and angry all the same. She'd been stupid and horny but Zack and Ashley's return had been a godsend. Someone up there was keeping her from going too far and she resolved to hold on for just one more day, and then, with condoms, she and Gavin could finally get back on track.

"Gavin," Ashley called, the mention of her boyfriend's name pulling Victoria from her thoughts. "Help me get Zack on to the sofa."

Gavin moved to Lisa's side, taking his friend's arm over his shoulders and helping Ashley to drag her lover's half conscious body to the couch. As they laid him down, head propped up against the pillow, Victoria noted the blankets beneath him. Someone had been sleeping here, she realised. Her eyes fell upon Lisa, and widened as she realised the dark haired girl would have heard everything that had happened in the kitchen.

"Lisa, can you get me a damp cloth?" Ashley asked as she knelt beside Zack's head. Lisa nodded, jumping to her feet and dashing to the kitchen.

"I-I'll help," Victoria claimed, and followed Zack's ex-girlfriend.

"And you," Heather said, rounding on Kurt. "Bed."

"What?" Kurt looked stunned. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing," Heather admitted as she pointed down the hall towards the Kurt's bedroom. "But you have an early morning and I don't want you using 'overslept' as an excuse."

"You're worse than my mother," Kurt grumbled, but obediently left.

In the kitchen, Lisa was running the tap when Victoria entered. She glanced a few times at the dark haired Latina, trying to divine whether Lisa knew anything of her tryst with Kurt.

"Victoria, can you wrap up some ice in a towel?" Lisa asked, walking out of the kitchen. "I need to get a face cloth."

"Uh huh," Victoria said, grabbing a towel and heading to the freezer. Lisa left and Victoria took out the ice tray while she waited for her to return. A few seconds later, Lisa came back with a face cloth in hand, and began dousing it in the running water.

"So...," Victoria began, emptying the ice onto the towel. "You were asleep in the living room when Brandon attacked Zack, huh?"

"Yes, and when you and Kurt were fooling around in here," Lisa replied, glaring over at the blonde.

"Not so loud," Victoria hissed. "Shit."

"While I was dating Zack, I got to know Gavin quite well," Lisa continued. "He's a good guy. Maybe he's kind of shy, and not as forward as some, but he's really sweet and doesn't deserve to be messed around."

"You're not...gonna tell him..." Victoria asked, terrified of the answer. "...are you?"

"You heard Brandon and how pissed he was that no one told him," Lisa replied. "Don't you think Gavin would feel the same if he found out that I knew about you and Kurt and didn't say anything?"

"Shit," Victoria repeated. "Listen, please don't. Gavin and I have been having issues. It's stupid but ever since we had unprotected sex, he's been too worried to do anything else with me. And I just got really horny and ****, and then Kurt was there and he was making me feel good. But it was only fingering. Nothing else. And nothing like this has ever happened between us, or will happen again."

Lisa frowned, thinking that if she was horny and couldn't sleep with the man she wanted and another man was offering himself, it would be tempting. But she also knew that if it were Zack, she'd have the willpower to say no, because of how important he was to her.

"It's not like I'm not sympathetic," Lisa said, turning off the water. "If it were anyone other than Gavin, I probably wouldn't get involved at all. But since Gavin is a friend..."

"Please," Victoria begged, pleading with her hands and doing everything sort of prostrating before Lisa. "Give me one more chance."

Lisa clicked her tongue. "Fine. But I swear if I so much as catch a whiff that you've been anywhere near Kurt, I'm telling Gavin."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Victoria chanted happily, as she finished wrapping up ice in the towel.

"It's more than you deserve," Lisa warned as she left the kitchen with the wet cloth.

She returned to the living area and handed the cloth to Ashley, who lamented their timing as she began wiping the blood from his face. Victoria followed closely behind, with the ice for his swelling.

"Heather, are there any plasters or bandages in the cabin?" Ashley asked.

Heather thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Should be, I think I saw some on the first day when I was getting medicine for Chloe."

Victoria tugged on Gavin's arm as Heather exited to the kitchen. He looked over at his girlfriend, the worry for his friend evident on his face but Victoria pulled him gently towards their room.

"Come on," she said, glancing slightly at Lisa. "I think we've had enough excitment for one night. There's nothing more you can do."

Gavin looked to Ashley, almost asking persmission to leave. The young blonde nodded and smiled.

"Go, rest," she said. "I've got him."

Ashley returned to her task of cleaning the cut on Zack's eyebrow as Victoria and Gavin headed off to their room. Calm fell on the cabin, the only noise coming from the kitchen as Heather opened and closed cupboards. Looking over, Ashley saw Lisa holding the ice to Zack's jaw, and remembered how, at dinner, Zack had told her about Lisa wanting to have sex with him. She had teased him about letting him fuck her to make up for her indiscretion with Kurt. It seemed surreal that only hours ago they had been so happy and carefree and now, here she was, tending to his beaten and bloodied face.

"You know, if you want to go to bed, you can use my room," Ashley offered, but Lisa shook her head.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to help out any way I can," Lisa replied.

Ashley nodded, acknowledging and accepting Lisa's aid, as Heather returned from the kitchen with plasters and tape. Ashley finished cleaning his wound and put a plaster over it, while Heather bid them good night, leaving Zack in the care of his ex-girlfriend and his new lover.