"Zac..." she looked deep into his warm brown eyes and almost was able to say the words, but she stopped herself not wanting the expression on his face to change before her eyes. As drunk as she still was, she didn't think she could handle the conversation that would follow. "Em? What IS it?" he pleaded with her to tell him whatever was eating at her. He lifted her gently, tugged his boxers up and sat her back down on his lap rocking her like he would one of his younger siblings. "Baby please...talk to me.." he urged again. "I love you, Zac. With all of me..." she murmured laying her head on his chest and burying her face in the hollow between his neck and shoulder. "MY drummer..." she murmured and played with the ends of his hair. She kissed his neck softly and closed her eyes. "Okay, I won't make you talk now.." he whispered and stroked her hair. "But something else is up and as soon as you're sober you're gonna tell me, Emma, I mean it." he said forcefully. "And if I ever see you this wasted again, I will throw your ass in rehab myself." She looked up at him in shock. "Yeah...REHAB...you heard me." he told her and rearranged their position. She sat staring at him, dumbfounded. He grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over her head, then covered them both with the second blanket. "When you're done sleeping it off, you're gonna tell me what is so bad about that place that you have whiskey on your breath every fucking night you work. You're gonna end up dead drivin' like that.." he stroked her hair back and traced her features lightly. "Can't live without you now and you're killing yourself.." he said softly. She nodded and then clung to him tightly as he stroked her hair some more. "Go to sleep, Em. I'm staying right here." he told her and laid them both back on the blanket. She turned on her side and snuggled back against him. He wrapped himself around her and kissed the back of her head. They both lay there in silence, listening to the waves crash against the shore each one's tears going unseen by the other.

Zac and Emma woke almost at the same instant and Emma's head was pounding alot harder than she ever could have imagined it would. "Ohhh fuuuuuck...." she groaned and curled into a smaller ball, covering her head with her arms to keep the sun out of her eyes. Zac leaned up and looked down at her small frame, trying to retreat into itself. "Feel like shit, huh?" he commented and she groaned again. "Dammit Em...you can't talk to me like that.." he complained and got up, covering her head with the blanket they'd slept under. He pulled on his jeans and gathered up the pieces of clothing they'd discarded, but not bothered to put back on. He pulled the blanket off her and helped her to her feet, Emma groaning and complaining the entire time. "Em...just come on.." he urged, helping her slip into her skirt. She stood on the beach with her face in her hands as he folded the blankets up. "Let's go.." he commanded and tugged her by the hand, back to her car. He opened the door and let her sink into the passenger seat as he grabbed a clean T-shirt out of his backpack and pulled it on over his head. He opened the trunk, dug through her things, grabbed what he thought she needed and slammed it shut. "Come on.." he commanded again and tugged her by the hand, making sure to lock everything before the left the car, knowing everything she considered valuable to her was in it. He half-dragged her to the out door shower, turned the water on and  made sure no one was around, before stipping her of his t-shirt and shoving her under the spray. "Oh god...Zac....no..." she mumbled then cried out as the cold spray hit her. "Yes...help me get you washed Em.." he said and pulled a bottle of shampoo from the bag in his hand. "I'd take you home and let you shower there.." he explained, "but I can smell all that fucking whiskey coming out of your skin." He was being very gentle as he helped her wash the smoke and booze smell out of her hair and off her skin, but the longer he thought about the fact that she had driven in THAT condition, the angrier he got. She obeyed every command he gave her, tears streaming down her face, half from the throbbing pain in her head, the other half from the knowledge that he was ANGRY at her. She silently told herself that tonight was the last night she set foot in the bar and the last drink she ever took, but she knew she couldn't dance unless she had a COUPLE of shots, just enough so she couldn't see their faces. She briefly entertained the idea of going back to the house for her CD collection, but figured that'd drive her to drink and decided against it. She was NOT going back. She finished washing up herself, batting Zac's hands away and turning her back to him, trying to keep him from seeing just how many tears were esaping and sliding down her cheeks. He waited silently for her to finish, the wrapped the blanket around her after she turned the water off. He held her close as she shivered and wiped the tears from her cheeks, waiting for her to warm back up. He rubbed her hair gently dry with part of the blanket, and then patted the rest of her down. He helped her into clean clothes, ran his hands through her damp curls and kissed her softly. "I DO love you Em..." he told her, pulling her down onto his lap as he sat on the half-wall, made of short logs that gradually got taller as they reached the concrete wall that housed the shower plumbing. "I love you, Zac. I'm sorry.." she said her voice almost non-existent. "Just tell me what else was so bad? It was more than your parents Em, even though what your dad did was pretty shitty all on it's own, he deserves to have his ass kicked to hell and back. But there's something you're not telling me, and I wanna know what it is, NOW." he told her.

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