You are certainly oblivious to Zach’s feelings towards you, as he is with yours. A misunderstanding leads to a confession from both ends.
Warnings: lil bit of angst maybe, language, low-key slow burn. I dunno, Bryce lmao. May be shitty due to this being my first bit of writing.
Words: 3,139
Pairing: Zachery ‘Zach’ Dempsey x Reader
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With an aggravated groan, Y/N stretched her limbs out whilst throwing a deadly glare towards their phone, which continuously blared out the awful sound of their alarm. Exhaling a long, sleep ridden sigh, she threw her warm, comfy covers off and proceeded to remove their fatigued body from the mattress to turn off the overly annoying tone that continues to taunt them and start their day.
Finally turning off the alarm that so rudely awoke them from their dreamy slumber, Y/N notices the text from her best friend Tony, notifying them that he'll be there to pick them up to head to school in 15 minutes.
Which was sent 10 minutes ago.
"Shit."
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Just as Y/N finished running around like a headless chicken trying to get ready for their day at hell, ahem, I meant school, the purr of the famous 'stang accompanied with a quick double honk of the horn could be heard just down the driveway of their house, notifying her of Tony's arrival.
Quickly doing a mental checklist, she gave herself a small nod of approval and ran straight through the door, speedily locking it behind them and sprinting down to the car.
As Y/N reached the red, metallic stead, she noticed a certain leather jacket clad friend not so successfully hiding his amusement over his friends' rushing about. Playfully narrowing her eyes at the boy in the drivers seat whilst settling into the front, Y/N spoke in an unamused tone. "Shut up."
"I-wha-I didn't even say anything," he spluttered slightly whilst trying to keep from bursting out with laughter when replying to his friend whose appearance was slightly dishevelled. Starting the engine of his car back up, he smirked slightly as he pulled off, side-eyeing his company for the ride. "I see you've had a wonderful morning."
"Fucking brilliant," she replied, rolling her eyes, trying to hide her own amusement.
"Hey! Watch your fucking language, kid!" Within moments of Tony's reply, they simultaneously exploded with boisterous laughs, so much so that if Y/N threw her head back any further, their skull would be through the headrest of the car seat.
Soon calming down from the ridiculous early morning banter, Tony glances towards his best friend resting her elbow on the car door, dangling their arm out the window and enjoying the breeze, he smiles and speaks up, breaking the blissful silence. "Sooooo, when are you going to ask out Dempsey, huh?"
Y/N flushes slightly, a soft pink tint rising up her neck and onto her cheeks, the tips of her ears feeling uncomfortably hot. "I am NOT asking him out, I'll look like a damn idiot T." they reply, shaking their head vigorously. "It's just friendly banter and homework talk between us anyways, no actual indication that the tall bastard likes me."
"Tall, handsome, bastard." He blatantly 'corrects' her, as if stating a well known fact, which it most definitely is. Chuckling slightly, he continues. "You haven't seen the way he looks at you when you aren't paying attention. He's got it bad, baby and so do you. So God help me, if you don't do something soon, I sure as shit am going to interfere like you won't believe." he finishes, shaking his head slightly with slowly pulling into a parking spot in the lot at school.
Letting out an exasperated yet sad sigh, she grabs her bag and gets out of the car, waiting for her 'short-stack' pal to exit the vehicle himself before linking her arm around his and make their way towards the entrance of the school.
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As they walked through the doors together, arm in arm, they are greeted by the regular bustling school body of Liberty High, occupying both sides of the hallways as they either loiter or obtain their textbooks needed for their classes of the day.
Once further into the busy building, Tony and Y/N part ways and head to their respective lockers to collect their own books for the day. When Y/N reaches her locker, she feels a gaze upon her as she focuses on collecting her books. As she's about to close her locker, the one and only Zachary Dempsey appears beside her with a blinding smile that makes her swoon and weak at the knees.
She meets his eyes and notices the bright shine behind them, filled with happiness but also a hint of something else she can't quite put her finger on. Brushing the thought off, she returns the smile, beaming just as brightly at the taller male.
She chuckles softly, containing a hint of amusement and nervousness as she greets him. "Hey Dempsey."
"Y/L/N."
"And what do I owe the pleasure of being graced by your immaculate presence?" She giggles softly at her over dramatized question.
Zach shares a small chuckle with the girl. He looks down slightly to hide the inevitable flush of colour to his face. Though she quickly notices, she neglects the idea to bring it up and the corners of her mouth turn upwards more so slightly, smiling to herself victoriously.
"Well I was wondering you'd allow me the honours of walking to class with you fair maiden." He replies in a cheeky tone, speaking with just as much of a dramatized tone, looking back up to meet the gaze of the girl in front of him again.
She snorts out in laughter but quickly flushes with embarrassment, eyes widening slightly at the action. As she avoids his gaze, nervously playing with her fingers in hope of it comforting her in her time of embarrassment, his smile widens, believing it's the most beautiful and quite possibly the cutest sound he has ever heard a human make in the entirety of his existence. He gazes upon her adoringly but of course, she doesn't notice.
Deciding to help her out, he stands from his leaning position against the locker and looks at her expectantly as he speaks. "Well m'lady, will you allow my to escort you to communications class?" He raises an eyebrow as she looks up at him with a soft smile, blushing even more profusely. She nods her head and finally closes her locker as she starts walking along side him. He smiles victoriously and slings his arm over her shoulders as they continue walking to class, pulling her into his side.
'This is going to be a great day', they both so happened to think to themselves as they head towards their destination for first period.
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As the weeks progressed, Y/N noticed a slight change within Zach's behaviour around her. First came the sweet, kind gestures like carrying her bag as they walk to class together, then the flirty comments, making her blush madly as she would smile up at the basket ball player. But then it soon developed to more shared touches, his fingertips lingering on her skin, goosebumps rising along her arms and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand.
His touch feather light and delicate, as if she was the most precious, fragile thing in the world, sending a tingle up her spine every time they came into contact.
Y/N also noticed the way his jaw clenched whenever she laughed at Foley's jokes or when she became engrossed in a conversation with Atkins and gave him her undivided attention. He wanted that attention so badly for himself but that's something she certainly didn't see.
All these actions between the two often put the thought of "Does he actually like me back?" into her mind but she is just as quick to dismiss them with a shake of her head.
Surely he only likes her as a friend. Right?
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Y/N was heading towards the parking lot to meet up with Tony, her ride home, when an ear studded Jeff in all his decked out in letterman jacket glory jogged up to her and slung an arm over her shoulders, taking the poor, unsuspecting girl by surprise and making her jump slightly.
Looking up, she meets Jeff's gaze and gleaming smile as he chuckles. "Jesus Jeff, you scared the shit out of me." She huffs and pauses momentarily, holding her hand over her heart before resuming with walking, Jeff still slung over her two shoulders.
"Sorry Y/N/N." he laughs boisterously at her pouty expression.
"We need to put a fucking bell on you or something so you can't sneak up on people like that." She suggests playfully.
Jeff continues to chuckle, responding with a small shake of his head in amusement. "Are you saying I'm a pussy, Y/N?" He retorts back, giving her a slight smirk. "I wanted to know if you're coming to the party tonight at Bryce's."
"Yeah, I'll be there. For some reason, Jess and Hannah are actually pretty excited for it so they're forcing me and Clay to go. They've even roped T into going too somehow." Rolling her eyes, she smiles up at the boy.
"Glad to hear it. I'll see you later then." He winks at her and starts to walk away when he shouts back with a mischievous glint in his eye. "AND WEAR SOMETHING SEXY!"
She laughs loudly as she finally gets to Tony's car and climbs in, throwing her back on to the back seat and heading home ready to start preparing for the party later that night.
Throughout their interaction, Zach watched the whole thing from his spot in the parking lot next to his car with furrowed eyebrows and a clenched jaw. His fists balled up so tightly by his sides that his knuckles turned a ghostly white. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. Jeff knew of his not so little crush on Y/N and wanted to know what he was playing at. hell, he encouraged him to ask you out most of the time.
One way or another, he was finally going to ask you out tonight at the party. 'Before someone else does first', he thought bitterly to himself.
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Y/N gives herself a final once over in her full body length mirror, admiring her outfits that accentuates her features perfectly without being to revealing and uncomfortable. She beams at the handy work of her hair that works beautifully with her outfit for the night. With a pleased smile and a nod of her head, she grabs her phone and heads downstairs to wait in the living room for Tony to finally pick her up.
As she waits on the sofa, viewing her friends snapchat stories, she notices a certain tall, dark haired basket ball player in the background of Monty's snap talking to who she deducts to be Jenny. She notes how blissfully happy he seems to be while Jenny grasps at his biceps, pushing her breasts up and towards his arm, obviously flirting immensely.
With a disheartened huff, she locks her phone and continues waiting for her friend in silence.
'I knew he didn't like me, she's obviously his type'. Her saddening thoughts consumed her mind until the familiar rumble of an engine snapped her out of her revere. She grabbed her phone, making sure she had everything she needed before heading out the door, locking it behind her and hopping into the car, NOT looking forward to watching her long time crush have a girl hang off his arm all night like the worlds most irritating koala ever.
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Walking into the party, the music reverberated throughout the room, adding a thumping pressure on her chest. The music pounding loudly in her ears, she heads towards the kitchen, ready to have her first taste of alcohol that night, which will hopefully help her avoid him.
Upon entering the kitchen, Bryce, who was surrounded by a few other jocks, including Scott and Monty, took notice of Y/N and beckoned her over with a loud greeting and use of her name.
She looked up at the boy and gave him a small, sheepish smile. "Hey Walker." She may not like him greatly but she sees no harm in being civil as he did so too.
"Glad to see you came." He gave her a slight smirk, pulling his bottom lip in-between his teeth.
"Looking good Y/L/N!" Monty complimented loudly over the high volume of the music, giving you a once over with his eyes, looking you up and down. Scott seemingly doing the same.
"Uh, thanks guys." She flushes, more so from feeling uncomfortable under the stares of the jocks she had no interest in sticking around by. "I'm just gonna-uh-get a drink." She gives a tight lipped smile as she squeezes past and gains access to the beverages.
Finally finishing grabbing a drink, she makes haste towards the backyard where she assumes her friends would be. She unfortunately didn't find her friends and was greeted to the sight of a overly tipsy Zach playing beer pong with irritatingly loud Jenny cheering him on. Y/N rolls her eyes at the sight and speedily heads towards the opposite end of the yard.
Sighing, she sits on one of the few sun loungers surrounding the pool, starring sombrely into the amber liquid in her red solo cup. If the drink was a few shades darker, it would be like staring into his eyes, the eyes she wished would look at her filled with love and adoration.
Taking a big gulp, she chances a glance over towards where they had set up the game of beer pong, hoping to get a peek at the guy in question, although she didn't know whether she would like what she'd see.
To her surprise, Zach was already looking over in her direction with a sour face to match her mood. She quickly glanced back down, returning to glare and her drink in hand before taking another big gulp. She felt his gaze burn holes into her and she shifted uncomfortably.
Without so much as a warning, Zach had apparently made his way over without her noticing and sat down beside her on the sun lounger, startling her slightly.
"Hey." she greeted softly, fiddling with her nearly empty cup, basking in the awkward atmosphere, feeling the air surrounding them thick with tension.
"So, where's Jeff?" He questioned bitterly, causing her to furrow her eyebrows in confusion towards the boy sat beside her.
"What? Why would I know where Jeff is?" The confusion she's experiencing crystal clear in her tone of voice just as much as her expression, staring at the boy quizzically.
His jaw clenches slightly and he downs the rest of the liquid within his cup. Sighing heavily as he turns his body towards her, he has an unreadable expression on his own perfectly sculpted face, causing her to frown. "Because you're dating. Or are you messing with his feeling just like fucking mine." He snaps at her slightly. You open and close your mouth repeatedly, shocked by what you're hearing. Before you can ask what he means, he continues, slurring slightly from his consumption . "Yanno, I really like you, like really like you but you clearly just love messing guys around and fucking with their heads. First you lead me on, then you claw your way to Jeff. You've probably lead on half of the fucking school. You're just a bitch like the...rest..."
Zach trails off as he sees the tears building up and threaten to spill from your eyes at any second and he realises what he's done. He shakes his head vigorously with a sad expression upon his. "I-I-I didn't..I didn't mean that...I-I'm sorry..."
He kneels in front of her, taking Y/N's small hands into his larger ones and kisses her knuckles repeatedly, muttering apologies, so quietly that she barely hears them escape his mouth.
"Wh-uh-why wou-would you say tha-at?" She hiccups as she questions his hurtful words. She sniffles slightly and allows some of her tears to fall and roll down her cheek. The sight breaks Zach's heart and he berates himself in his head for hurting such a sweet and an amazing person. In truth, he knew she did nothing wrong but with his overthinking combined with his alcohol consumption, he couldn't help himself.
"I'm an idiot, I don't know, I am SOOOO sorry." He brings his hands up to cup her cheeks and wipe her tears away gently with the pads of his thumbs. "I've definitely ruined my chances now, huh?" He chuckles dryly, a lump forming in his throat.
She looks up at him shocked, cheeks stained with tears that slowly start to dry up. She sniffles and gives him and incredulous look, shaking her head. "You've got to be kidding me." She chuckles softly at his confused expression. "Do you know how long I've wanted to be with you. Jesus fucking Christ Zach. I thought you didn't like me so I sure as shit didn't make a move. I thought we were just friends with weird interactions and banter." She shakes her head, hiding her face in her hands as she lets out a small frustrated groan.
Zach removes her hands from her face and smiles up at her. "How could you seriously not realise that I like you? I made it way too painfully fucking obvious." He lets out a breathy laugh as he slowly moves closer to you. "You are so perfectly oblivious, you know that right?"
Y/N flushes a light pink as she giggles softly, slowly meeting him halfway, alternating between looing into his eyes and staring longingly at his lips.
"Are you sure you want this?" He asks, barely above a whisper, afraid that he would ruin the moment if his voice raised a decibel higher.
Without answering, she closes the gap, pushing her soft, plump lips on to his slightly chapped ones, savouring the moment between the two. She slowly moves her hands up and around to the back of his neck, playing with the hair on his nape as his left cupped her cheek and right gently held on to her waist.
Cheering and wolf whistles sounded not too far to the side of them near the house. Breaking apart slightly, the two saw a small gathering of their friends being over excited about their kiss. Y/N caught sight of Tony and he sent her a cheeky, sly wink. She giggled softly as Zach shook his head, trying to hide his beaming grin.
"Yeah! Get some Dempsey!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP BRYCE!" Everyone simultaneously shouted altogether, silencing the perverted party host.
Y/N and Zach go back to looking at each other, both of their eyes filled with adoration for the other sat in front of them. The share a cheek splitting grin before leaning in a sharing a final kiss before Zach stands up and extends his arm out, offering his hand to Y/N. "Come on m'lady, I think we need another drink."
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Okay, so I know this wasn't the best, I honestly didn't know where I was going with this. I'll probably be able to formulate a better story if I have an idea on what my story is actually going to be about lmao
But seriously, if you've read this, then thank you. I'll be uploading as often as I can (when I'm not swamped with college work), and that means I'll slowly improve.
I'd love to get some requests. I can work on them in my spare time and I think it'll be fun to see what others want.
Proud af. They did such a good job. Each individual on the cast derserves at least an oscar with the way that they have portrayed their characters with such intense raw emotions. They made you fall in love with them cry with them feel every emotional trauma that the characters are going through.
Well done to all the cast crew and producers for creating such an amazing show that talks about topics such as rape and suicide in such a raw and real intense way.
Thankyou so much. I have defintely learned a lot from this show. That even when you're messed up and broken there is always someone or somethin to hang onto.
There is always something you can do to help. That no matter how many reasons why there are more reasons why not. That you never really truly know what goes on in someone else's life. Thankyou again i love you all soooooooooooooooo much!!!! 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜❤❤💓💓💓💓💓
I say a lot of negative things about 13 Reasons Why (for good reason), but one positive thing I WILL say is:
Dylan Minnette gave 4 seasons worth of incredible, completely dedicated performances, and I can’t imagine how difficult it is to play a character like Clay Jenson—how emotionally taxing that must be on you as an actor; physically, mentally and emotionally. I look forward to what he does in the future. I hope he finds the same level of success as Katherine Langford.
