Chapter 18

                                    

                                          
Zach woke up with the most amazing feeling he had ever had. Even before he opened his eyes, he felt somehow…renewed. At first he wondered why, and then he remembered last night. Jules, he uttered.
                          
Moving his head, he felt for her and for a moment, panic rose up his gut. He sat up and smiled when he found her standing across the room, facing the misted window. “Good morning, Jules,” he greeted with a stupid grin.
                          
For a moment, he saw her stiffen, and then she turned with a small smile on her lips. Zach frowned.
                          
Something’s wrong, his mind reeled. And he knew what. He had told her he was in love with her—which was true. And she didn’t believe him. “You don’t believe me, don’t you?”
                          
“Believe what?” she asked, feigning confusion. “I can’t open the cans,” she looked away from him when he didn’t answer.
                          
“Let me,” he offered, grabbed his trousers and dressed up. She was placing the cans on the table for him while he grabbed his knife from his belt. “You should believe me when I say I love you,” he uttered.
                          
He felt her stiffen. He looked up to stare at her, trying to tell her with his eyes that he was serious.
                          
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Zach, so just…” she trailed off and turned away.
                          
He reached for the cans and started opening them, transferring the rising frustration he felt to the blade. “I’m not a child as what you might think—”
                          
“You are a child,” she interjected a little bit harshly. Her face was still turned away from him. “You’ve been acting like one since I met you, Zach.”
                          
“I know what I feel,” he insisted, stabbing the blasted can with his knife purposefully.
                          
“We had sex—”
                          
“We made love, that’s different,” he cut in, stopping his work and looking at her with an irritated stare. “Hey, Jules, look at me, just turn around and look at me, damn it,” he cursed.
                          
She whirled around, her eyes strong, her eyebrows stitched in a line. “What?”
                          
“I love you. What do you want me to do to prove that?”
                          
Her eyes wavered for a second as their gazes battled. She did not utter a word and just sighed.
                          
“You want me to ditch everyone? I’ll do that. Which reminds me…” he continued opening the can as he said, “remind me to not give your friend a rose next ceremony.” His tone was full of bitterness as he said it.
                          
“Who? Pauline? Why?”
                          
“She hates you, you know,” he said honestly. “You should have heard the words she said against you yesterday. You can’t trust any of them, Jules. I don’t want you to get hurt that’s why I’m telling you this,” he added when he saw her hurt look.
                          
“Pauline? No…she just probably—”
                          
“Hates your gut,” he cut in, finishing her statement in a completely, honest way. “Be careful around her, Jules.”
                          
“So you’re just going to ditch all of them?” she scoffed after a while. He looked up and he almost cried with frustration when he saw her doubtful look.
                          
“You don’t believe I can do that,” he stated matter-of-factly.
                          
She must have realized he was not joking because she turned away once again.
                          
“You know what? I don’t think you don’t believe me when I say I love you,” he said, trailing back to their real topic, “you don’t want to believe me because you’re afraid.”