i will always be yours.

even when you

don't want me

anymore.

Epilogue: Zao's Ending

Warning: Some heated content. Viewer discretion is advised.

— Chapter Ten Flashback —

"Allen and I have more in common."

"But… Alfred is your childhood friend."

"Yeah," He sighed. "I trust him more than Allen."

You stared at him, puzzled. "So whose side are you on?"

At this, he smirked again. "…Mine," The bed creaked as he got on all fours and looked you right in the eye; you had to admit that your body flushed and your cheeks tinted bright red. You'd been sitting on the bed with your back against the wall when he slowly crawled over you—his crimson irises locked on your own. "Close your eyes, _."

As he got closer, you tried to shake off any non-platonic feelings and blurted, "Stop teasing me so much. They'll get mad."

"I'm not teasing you, _."

"Yes you are. You always do this. Always…"

He was inching even closer. By now, you could feel his hot breath on your lips and for a split second, you were more than tempted to close your eyes and let him come nearer—to close the space between you and him that had been toyed with, teased, abused, beaten down, and built back up since you met. Just one or two inches and that gap would be closed; something would finally be set in stone rather than played with, assumed, guessed or even hoped.

Just one thing needed to be done, and it both seemed and sounded like bliss.

But… you couldn't. "Zao, stop. I-I'm worrying about Allen and Alfred right now."

An expression of hurt immediately crossed his face.

Could he have been serious this whole time? All this time he playfully flirted with you—were his feelings genuine?

…He didn't like you too did he?

Your life was a mess.

— Chapter Ten Flashback: End —

So much more happened that night.

You'd been unsettled by your feelings for both Allen and Alfred, and then Zao came and shook up your emotions for him as well.

"Zao, stop. I-I'm worrying about Allen and Alfred right now." You'd told him.

Your words had visibly hurt him. His eyes had widened for a moment before he looked back down, eyebrows lowered, lips parted. His skin paled. Soon after, a silence fell.

"…I should go." He quietly announced after about a minute, the pain of your rejection still audible in his voice.

"Wait," You stated, flustered yet filled with ranging emotions of guilt, regret, and misguided love. "…Let me at least walk you out."

He blushed heavily. By now it was clear as day that he liked you. "O-Okay."

The two of you walked out of your house in tense silence. You closed the front door and stood out on your porch with him for a bit. If you had anything to say to him, you knew you should say it now.

He had his back to you, hands in pockets. He was staring off into the dark streets when you heard him monotonously state, "I never had a chance. You have both of them. I'm nothing but an acquaintance, aren't I?"

You shook your head, even if he couldn't see you. "Zao, that's not true. You're my frie—"

He abruptly turned to face you, "A friend? Just a friend? Do you understand how much that hurts me?"

You flinched—the truth was definitely coming out now.

"But I've been waiting. Patiently. For you. And you know what?" He slowly began to walk towards you. "…For right now, I'm done holding back~"

Chills instantly ran down your body. "W-What do you m—"

The next moment felt like a blur of absolute bliss, passion, and desire. His crimson eyes locked on yours as he grinned smugly and walked the rest of the way over to you. His name was all you managed to verbalize before he got close and pinned you against a side of the house. You let out a faint noise of incredulity as he leaned in and, without hesitation, pressed his intoxicating lips to yours.

This was really happening. It was happening. After weeks of teasing, Zao was actually kissing you.

The first moment, you felt his hands on your shoulders. He kissed you once, twice. The next moment, he slid his arms down and intertwined his hands with yours at your sides. You wanted to move away but you found that you couldn't.

After noticing your absence of struggle, he deepened the kiss with a predatory growl and released one hand from yours. As your head was spinning from the intensity of the kiss, you felt his hand slide down from your side and move in toward your inner thigh. You gasped, and he took the opportunity to slip his dominant tongue into your mouth. "Z-Zao…" You were still with Allen. "Please…" You whimpered right before the pleasure of his wet tongue constricted around yours. Hot damn, you had to admit he was talented.

As you were distracted with his sensuously invasive kiss, his hand on your inner thigh slowly began to wander and rubbed deliciously over the sensitive place between your legs. A shiver of white-hot pleasure waved through your anatomy and you inhaled sharply just as he pulled away from you entirely.

Within a few seconds, he was three steps away from you. His hand on the brim of his hat, he smirked and you saw one red eye shimmering with exhilaration. The other side of his face was shrouded in shadows, and you had to admit he was the most captivating and mysterious person you'd ever met.

"See what you've been missing out on, _?" He chuckled before turning and walking off into the night.

-D-E-A-D-L-Y-A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N-

It was now a week after all the drama had subsided. Allen wasn't here anymore. He was in a less toxic place that was working to heal him.

"But Henry," You protested, "I still think we should stay here. We all put so much work and time into this house. I've spent nearly every day of my summer cleaning it up with you guys. Peter's already getting attached to it, and besides all that, won't it be hard to find a new house in San Diego?"

Henry sighed deeply and rubbed his chin, eventually responding with, "Well… I suppose you're right. And… you're starting school soon, aren't you?"

You nodded. "It would be a fresh enough start for me."

Standing next to you, Peter chimed in, "Yeah! I don't wanna move again! I never wanna go through that super long car drive ever again."

From across the room, Lauren finally got off the phone. "Well loves, it seems we've been given an opportunity to move in with the Jones family. They're offering us their guest house to stay in while we 'figure things out', they said. I think it's really nice of them, but should we take up that offer? It seems like a bit… much…" She exhaled and stepped over to sit on the couch with you.

"That's…" Henry's jaw was nearly dropped. "… one of the kindest things anyone's ever offered me or my family. However…" He slowly turned to look at you.

Currently, you were in a minor state of shock. Alfred's parents had just offered you and your family to live with them, basically?

No way.

The offer was outstandingly generous of them, and it would give you the opportunity to be with your best friend again, but… you might regret saying this, but you still didn't think it was a great idea to move. "I don't know. It's awfully sweet of them, but I still think we should just stay here."

Lauren watched you closely, "Honey. Are you sure about that?"

You tilted your head, "This is your decision, isn't it?"

"It is, but…" She glanced at Henry, then back to you. "We only thought we should move because it'd be the best for you. As in… emotionally. You sure you want to stay here with all these… bad memories?"

Oh. So that's what it was.

"'Bad memories'? What happened, Big Sister?" Peter looked up at you with his innocent cerulean eyes. "Are you okay?"

You chuckled, "Yeah, baby. I'm totally fine." You smiled and ran your fingers through his blonde hair.

"Well then…" Henry set down his coffee mug, "I suppose that settles it. We're not moving."

At this, you grinned. "Th-… Thanks."

"Yay!" Peter jumped. "I can see Moldova again, too!"

The house was finally done, as well. It's now clean and cozy—almost like a luxury apartment. It was way different than the littered, run-down state it was in when you first moved in. "I'm glad too. I invested a lot of money in fixing up this house, even with the hard labor of—" Henry almost brought up how Allen worked to mend this place too, but thought better of it. "…with, hm, Zao. He came by to repair a few things with us, didn't he?"

You rolled your eyes, "He mainly just babysat Peter a few times and helped unload stuff from your truck."

"Still. He helped us, didn't he?" Lauren pressed. "The kid always reeked of drugs, but he was a good boy."

"Uhhh…" You tried to hide the bewilderment in your face. "Suuuure…"

"So we should pay him back," Henry mused as he reached for his coffee again.

"Wait… what?" You weren't expecting them to pay anyone back.

He reached into his pocket for a wad of cash. "Here, why don't you go give this to Zao? He lives just a few houses down, doesn't he?"

"Um," You swallowed nervously, "Yeah."

Henry didn't mention that he was originally planning on giving this to Allen. Now, well… that didn't seem like it was going to work out.

Inwardly, you groaned. How awkward would it be to go to Zao's house now that you weren't with Allen?

We'll see how this goes.

-D-E-A-D-L-Y-A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N-

The weather outside was oppressive and humid.

You nearly regretted wearing a t-shirt. You would have opted for a tank top, but all of yours had grown too small by the shrinking of a cheap local laundromat. This meant they were all too tight and showed too much cleavage, which you'd rather not accidentally flaunt while alone with Zao.

As you knocked on his door, you held your breath and shifted around on your legs. You didn't like how anxious you felt. You were only going to drop off some payment, after all.

Soon, the door cracked open.

No one was there, however. The inside of the house was dark and you heard some creaking, hinting that the person who'd opened the door had walked away from the entry room.

"Zao? Are you there?" You asked into the crack of the door. Remembering that he lived alone, you opened it fully and stepped inside. "I-I'm coming in," You announced.

"…In here." You heard a robotic voice say from the kitchen.

You padded in and turned the corner into the kitchen. "Oh, there you are. Why'd you walk away like that?"

He was sitting on the stone counter, surrounded by smoke. There was something peculiar burning on the stove that smelled suspiciously like chemicals. Baking soda and other substances were scattered across the kitchen tops. Your heart picked up its pace at the sight of it and you shakily asked, "W-What are you… um, cooking?"

He blew out a puff from his Chinese smoking pipe and flatly answered, "Crack cocaine."

You nearly fell over. "W-What… the hell? Stop that."

He chuckled, "Okay."

"You—" Holding up a finger in perplexity, you eventually continued, "…Did you just say 'okay'?"

He tilted his head at you, smiling lightly. "This is my last deal. After this one, I'm not… uh…" His eyes seemed to revert back to their normal state instead of that clouded-over look. "I'm not selling drugs anymore after this. I've already decided that… yeah."

After a few moments, a grin crept onto your face. "You mean… you really won't be a drug dealer after this?"

He nodded, but continued smoking.

"Are you… gonna stop doing them, too?"

"Eventually. I don't think I can drop opium, though. But I've been trying to get off LSD for a while."

"Oh…" For the moment, you forgot why you were there.

"The last time I was high off acid, I had this delusion that you said you loved me."

You didn't know where to look. "Oh…"

"I went up to you but you turned out to be Oliver. He didn't get what I was on, but he let me hug him anyway."

"That's… nice." Even with this random burst of truth spouting from him, you still got this feeling that he wasn't… himself.

He was indeed acting strangely. He'd barely looked at you or even gotten near you. That was enough to be out of the ordinary for him. Also, he hadn't made a courting move in the slightest. Yep, something was definitely amiss about him.

"Ah… that's right. I was supposed to give you this," You reached into your pocket and pulled out the money. "It's from Henry. He thinks you deserve it for helping us with the house."

He glanced at it, but didn't pay it much attention. "I don't need it. But tell him I said thanks."

"What—hey, are you sure? You should really take it…"

"I said I don't need it."

That was probably the first time he used an all-serious—even bitter— voice with you. "Zao… are you okay? You seem different." You didn't like this side of him. You found yourself missing his usual amorous, annoyingly erotic personality.

He sighed, and you could already sense his thoughts to apologize for the unpleasant exterior. "I'm… thinking about moving back to China."

"You are? W-Why…?"

"For a fresh start,"

No way. You'd just gone through this thought process. "Th-That won't help anything!" You blurted.

In all honesty, you didn't want him moving across the world from you. It was bad enough Alfred was already across the United States.

He peered over at you, but his eyes were mostly shaded by the brim of his hat. "How do you know?" Slowly, he got off the counter. He trudged a few steps closer to you as he repeated, "How would you know…?"

He looked so stressed, so drained. Once he was close enough, you could see dark circles beneath his eyes—hinting that he hadn't slept for days. His skin seemed to have paled to an almost gray-shade. "…I just do." You despised to see him in such horrid shape.

You wanted to see his stupidly complacent grin, hear his stupidly frivolous voice, and be in the presence of his stupidly tantalizing personality.

You wanted to be with the Zao that you stupidly fell for. "Zao…?"

He gazed at you carelessly, the thin pipe still between his lips. "Huh?"

You couldn't help yourself. You had to do this.

You smiled and reached for his pipe. Plucking it between your fingers, you pulled it from his mouth and briefly looked at it.

He stared at you, carefully now. His eyes flickered to the drug, then back to you, a single question going through his mind: Is she going to take a hit…?

You liked being the complete center of his attention. As he stood still—innocent, oblivious—you leaned in and shamelessly planted a kiss right on his lips.

He was instantly struck immobile with shock, and you were stimulated by that. After you kissed him, you placed the pipe back between his lips as if nothing ever happened. "It's hard to kiss you with this thing in your mouth. Smoke a bit less, 'kay?" With that, you stuck the money in his pants pocket, turned, and walked out of his house.

About time he got a taste of his own medicine.

-D-E-A-D-L-Y-A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N-

"So, you're not coming?" Alfred's voice was clearly dismal as he spoke over the phone.

"I'm really sorry, Alfie. Thank you so much for the offer and we appreciate it a whole lot, but I think we'll be staying here."

"Oh… okay, then…"

"It would have been amazing to move in with you, and get to see you every day. I miss you, really. But it would be unfair to Henry and Lauren because of all the time and money they invested in this house."

"Ah, okay. I get it. Maybe you can visit sometime though, right?"

You grinned. "Yeah, of course."

"'Kay. Oh and, _..."

"Hm?"

"I still like you."

"U-Um…"

"I'll wait for you forever if I have to, haha!" He seemed carefree about this, but you knew he internally wasn't.

"Okay…" You weren't sure what to say. "Th-Thanks."

"We'll always be best friends."

"Definitely."

"Yeah. I gotta go soon, but one more thing—"

"What is it?"

A pause followed. "…I know Zao's kinda in love with you, and I've never seen him like this before so if you date him, just… be good to him, 'kay?"

You inhaled sharply, "W-Wait… what?!"

He laughed. "Haha, bye _!" The line went dead.

You put down the phone and were left shaken up. What had Zao told Alfred?! You knew they were close, but did he really admit to…?

At that moment, the front door slammed open. "Ni hao my friends, what's happenin'?"

Speak of the devil. You peered out of your room and over to the front door, "What are you doing in my house?!"

He barged in and walked inside like the home was his own. "I was kinda bored at my place, why else?"

Lauren peeked out from the kitchen. Offering a smile, she announced, "Welcome Zao. We were just about to have dinner. Care to join us?" No doubt she was still thankful for all his help this summer.

He nodded, "Sure of course."

Henry walked out of his room, glanced at Zao, and then continued on his way to the kitchen. "Evening Zao. You having dinner with us?"

He winked at you from behind Henry's back and replied, "Yup."

"Yay! Hi Zao!"

"Shut up Peter."

"Waaaah, you're so mean to me!"

You facepalmed. Why did your family have to be so damn comfortable around him?

At dinner, you were dismayed to see that Lauren purposely sat you next to him. Awkward.

"So, we heard that you'd been thinking about moving back to China. You wouldn't leave us already, would you?" Lauren joked lightly to make conversation.

He chuckled, "Of course not. I uh…" His smile turned to a smirk as he slyly looked over at you, "I could never leave you after what you've done to me…"

Your face then proceeded to burn like fire.

Neither Henry nor Lauren had caught that he'd said that in your direction. "Oh, you kidding? We haven't done enough for you. It's really you who helped us out with things." Henry responded as he cut his dinner.

Whether you liked it or not, it felt like he was a part of the family now. Henry and Lauren knew he lived alone, and that was probably another reason why they welcomed him.

They knew he must get lonely.

-D-E-A-D-L-Y-A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N-

It was later that evening.

You'd gotten comfortable with Zao's presence just as he had to leave. How unfortunate. So, you'd offered to walk with him back home, especially since it was only a three minute walk—and the fact that you wanted to talk with him alone. "What's up with you lately?"

"Huh? Nothing." He answered, just as you both stepped into his house.

"Why are you so friendly now?"

"I've always been friendly~"

"I know, but you're so… calm now. Almost like someone domesticated you, hah." You joked as you followed him into his room. No way was he escaping from your interrogation.

"Oh shut up," He answered, his back to you. "I'm still the same."

You paused, and in a moment of bravery, inquired, "…Is it because we've kissed a few times now? You got what you wanted and now you're done?"

At this, he turned to face you. His expression showcased his high amount of shock.

Blushing deeply, eyes aimed to the floor, he shakily asked, "W-What are you talking about…"

You stepped closer to him. You didn't know what you were going to do, but you wanted him, and you wanted to make him feel the way he often made you feel, and—

You tripped over a ceramic Hello Kitty coin bank.

You abruptly fell forward, which unfortunately, caused a head-on collision with his chest, since he'd been standing so closely in front of you. Smooth, _, you mentally shouted to yourself.

Naturally, he stumbled. The back of his legs hit the side of his bed and you both sprawled over the mattress, your body classically on top of his.

He felt exceedingly warm, and you began to wonder if he had an abnormally high body temperature. His skin was singed pink and you could feel his heart pounding. Your excitement increased when it hit you that this was Zao, a boy unexplored but whom you'd secretly dreamt about.

You both couldn't deny your attraction to each other anymore. You liked him. He liked you. There was no one standing in your way. You were alone with him in his bedroom on this hot summer night.

Your body reacted with arousal towards your position on him and by the stiffness of his lower waist against yours, it was easy to tell that he was unbelievably turned on.

And that was the moment when he snapped.

Well, more like… snapped out of his innocent act.

His hands instantly snaked beneath your shirt; he found your lips with his and slid his tongue inside. You shivered; this was happening way too fast but… you liked it this way.

Within moments, he flipped you over and the bed creaked as you both felt each other all over, giving fully into your desires and leaving no skin untouched. You'd ripped off his shirt before he'd even gotten the chance to do it to you. Your lips never unlocked and the kisses only intensified as you both craved more and more of each other.

The way your own clothes eventually flew off felt genuinely natural. Nothing felt rushed or forced in any way; this whole night was bound to happen sometime and you both knew it.

He licked and bit gently at your neck as he whispered huskily, "…You ready, _?"

You moaned out quietly, "Yes, but… d-don't tease me, please…"

He sucked on your skin once more—leaving another mark, most definitely—and responded with, "Mmn, we'll see about that."

-D-E-A-D-L-Y-A-T-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N-

The lights were off. You couldn't hear anything but the sound of breathing.

Zao was lying over your body; he was completely out of breath and drained. All of his energy was gone—every bit of it had just been thrusted into you just moments before.

…How did he do it? How did he make it last for so long? How did he make you feel like nothing in the world mattered at all except for what he could do to you?

His sex was amazing. It was screaming, dizzying, head-in-the-stars type of sex. You had never, ever felt anything like this before when you had sex with Allen. By your multiple consecutive orgasms, you knew more than anything that Zao was great in bed. Freaky, but skilled and talented—and he only wanted it with you. He had taken care of you and gave you all the pleasure possible and then some.

Not to mention his size. He put Allen's to shame and absolutely shattered the stereotype that Asians were smaller than westerners.

"Zao… you're…" You couldn't even think straight. Your chest hurt from the muffled screams—every time you'd tried to, he'd covered it with a kiss, so as not to wake up anyone in the neighborhood.

"I know, I know. You're gonna expect this every night now, aren't you? Well I—"

"-No, no, that's not what I was going to say." You were still trying to catch your breath. "I just… I wanted to make something clear…"

"Hm?" He rolled over and laid down on his side to face you.

You couldn't help but ogle his bare chest before shaking off the thoughts and continuing, "Are we… like, y'know…"

He exhaled. "I thought you knew the answer to that the first time I made a mess out of you."

You squeaked, "H-Hey…" At least now it was okay to let him—your new boyfriend—tease you like this. "I… I've always kind of liked you. Even when Allen and Alfred… I mean, yeah. You never give up, do you?"

He stretched, "'I can move mountains, I can work a miracle'."

"Mm. That's a great song."

"Yeah, and you're my Thurman." He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips.

"By the way… there's something else I've been wondering."

"What is it?"

"…How long have you been a high school dropout?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, and then responded with: "I haven't gone since I dropped out at the beginning of sophomore year. I would have been a senior next school year."

"Vacation's almost over," You knew that soon, this wouldn't be all about summer sex. "School's starting soon, and I was thinking… why don't you come back for your senior year, then?"

"Oh… huh…"

"And, we could walk to and from school together, and eat lunch together, and see each other between classes. How fun would that be? Oh, and prom! Wouldn't it be nice to go to high school together? Even if it's your last year…?"

"Hm. Yeah…" You could practically hear the smile creep onto his face. "I guess it would. Fine then… I'll enroll for school tomorrow."

"Really?! Yay!" You embraced him tightly.

He was… such a catch. And not just because of his… sexual talents. He had such a loyal, fun personality. You almost didn't want to share his presence with senior girls who would probably be all over him, while you were younger and—

"'May nothing but death do us part'." He mumbled softly before he laid his head on your chest and began to fall into sleep.

…He had done so much for you. Waited for you. Fought for you. As if he would let you go for someone else. Maybe he was only a flirt around you. A tease, only for you. A perv, only for you.

You weren't about to let him go.

Who knew that after all this, you'd end up with Zao of all people?

But now that you thought about it, the idea seemed inevitable. Allen wasn't here anymore. He was in an institution where he was getting the help he needed, and you wished the best for him.

Alfred, your best friend, was still in California. There he would stay, but your friendship would remain.

That just left you and Zao here in… the middle of nowhere.

No, that wasn't true. Zao was here. And that made this place a Gem City.

And with you two living so close to one another—neighbors— something was bound to happen.

You were more than glad that it did.

"Good night, Zao."

He yawned, already half-asleep. "Good night, tàitài."

You knew your parents would eventually approve of him, and hopefully not get upset if they found out you spent the night here. Oh well.

You were too busy dreaming of your future with him.

A.N.: Ah I swear, this ending wrote itself. :'D

As you may or may not have noticed, there were several references here to the Fall Out Boy song 'Uma Thurman'. I think this song fits him~

As you all probably know, I wasn't planning on giving Zao an ending. I really didn't think he'd get this popular! But you guys asked, and I just had to oblige because who couldn't love this perverted Chinese sex-god? XD …I'm gonna start a multi-chaptered Zao x Reader fic soon, so keep an eye out for that!~

Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Since this is the last chapter, leave a review if you enjoyed this story? Or this epilogue? ;7;

Zao: "Hey you. Just a reminder, your personality is hot."