14. Alone at Last

                                    

                                          
Zack's POV
After we had finished our meals, we all decided to go home. My entire stay at Judy's, however short it was, really taught me something. It was that PTSD isn't a joke. Luke clearly doesn't like this place, and I could tell he was quite stressed when he found out that the machine was missing. When I realised the machine was gone, I also felt kind of worried. I know I'd said I didn't like home, but after careful consideration I figured out that I felt more comfortable being there rather than here. Sure, I could tolerate this place but it just didn't feel right being a human amidst animals. I couldn't help but feel bad for Luke, knowing how stressed he was about the situation. I had to find something to help calm him down.
We arrived back at Nick's house. It was now quite late at night. We got inside and went into the living room. Nick went upstairs and bedded down for the night as he was pretty tired. I sat on the sofa next to Luke. I could see he was stressed again.
"We'll find the machine soon," I said, putting a hand on his hand just like he had when I was stressed just before we left our world. "Now though, we need to stop thinking about it."
"It's not the machine I'm worried about," He replied. "It's the whole balance thing."
"What about it?" I asked.
"I was here for Four days before it corrected itself last time." He replied.
"So?" I asked.
"It'll probably be the same timeframe this time, meaning that tomorrow we only have two days left to fix this and go home." He replied.
"But you escaped even though you were a wolf last time, no?" I asked.
"Yeah but it was just frightening for me. I don't want you getting scared too." He replied, turning to me.
"Relax, nothing scares me." I replied, turning to him.
"Not even when we arrived?" He asked.
Mind reader I thought.
"Except that," I replied, cocking my head a little. "What I'm trying to say is that turning into a wolf isn't a big deal to me. I can live with it for a few days."
"I don't care," Luke replied. "I don't want you to experience whatever I experienced, which it seems like you're probably going to."
"Don't worry about me," I said, trying to get his mind off of me. "You're too stressed as you are."
"I know, but I can't help it." He replied.
"You know how bad it makes me feel?" I asked without thinking. Luke shook his head. "I feel really bad for you when you're all stuck up like this. I hate seeing you suffer."
Luke looked at me as if he almost didn't expect so much of a heartfelt response.
"I'm sorry," He replied. "I just can't take my mind off of it. There's nothing that would be able to help me. I'm surrounded by stressful situations all the time."
"You have me." I said.
"I know I do, but it doesn't seem to work." Luke replied.
"Not even this?" I said, before moving closer and hugging him. Luke froze. "Sorry, I guess you didn't expect that."
"Not like I didn't expect it, more like I've waited a long time for you to do something like that." He replied, embracing the hug.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh jesus, how do I explain this?" Luke muttered.
"Explain what?" I asked.
"Y-you know when you like someone, but you're scared to tell them?" He asked. I think I started to realise where this was going.
"Yeah. I have to live with that feeling every day." I replied, trying to tread carefully now.
"Well, that's what I'm experiencing right now," He replied. "Because I like you Zack."
"Well, that's a coincidence," I replied. "Because I like you too." Luke almost fainted.
"You.." He said slowly. "Zack Powell.. you.. like me.. Luke Dawson..?"
"Of course I do, dummy," I said. "I wouldn't have said it otherwise."
Luke hugged me tighter. I hugged him tighter.
"Actually," He said suddenly. "I think 'like' is too light of a word. I think 'Love' suits better."
"Me too, Luke. Me too." I said. We hugged eachother for ages in complete silence. I felt amazing. It felt like I had found the missing shard of my soul, it felt like I was complete.
Luke's POV
I sat there in a mixture of emotions. Love, awe, excitement. The lot. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to progress in this situation. It was right then and there that all my stress felt so little. I felt perfect, like I could conquer the world. I no longer cared that I was in Zootopia. I mean I was here so I might as well embrace it, right? Sure I'd turn back into a wolf soon, but that was part of the experience. I felt like everything I'd been scared of all my life was now miniscule in comparison to what was happening right now. I was in love, that's all that mattered. I came out of the hug.
"Alright?" Zack asked.
"I think you're missing something." I said.
"What?" He asked. I tapped my cheek. Zack looked at me. "Cool your jets, we've only been in love for five minutes."
"Oh come on, you know we've been in love for more than that," I said. Zack wasn't getting it. "The party, remember?"
"You mean The Miller's wedding anniversary 3 months ago?" He asked.
"Yes, that." I replied. Zack though for a moment.
"I guess you're right," He said, leaning closer to me. "I'm scared."
"Of what? It's not like I'm gonna go savage on you." I replied, making a savage gesture.
"You kiss me first," He said, leaning back. I suddenly felt scared too. "What, you scared too?"
Mind reader I thought.
I couldn't help but nod. He rolled his eyes as if to say "I told you so."
"I can do this." I said to myself. I was done being scared of everything. I remembered what I had thought before. If I'm here, I might as well embrace it.
I leaned in. Zack closed his eyes. I closed mine. Then, it happened. We touched lips.. and kissed.