There was a silence in the air, one that no amount of smirks or cocky statements could get rid of. All I could do was sit and stare at the boy who'd come to my school just two years before. Back then he had been something fun, a mystery that I needed to solve. As he stood in front of me I realized just how much of a mystery he still was.

The cold stone around us as we stood out of sight from the security cameras seemed to be closing in on me. "Gallagher Girl," Zach tried, but I wasn't going to let him have it.

My world had collided during the summer, I didn't know how or why, but I knew that it had. Somehow, despite the gashes on my arms, the knot on my head, and the amount my ribs stuck out, I wasn't the most hurt by Summer Me. Not even close.

Everyone seemed so quiet. Zach acted as if I was still a ghost—like I would disappear at any given moment.

Couldn't they see? I did it for them. Whatever happened to me, I didn't care about, but if I had brought any of them, they wouldn't have made it back. Bex could protest as much as she wanted, Macey could give as much sympathy over the state of my hair as she wanted, Liz could pretend that nothing was wrong as much as she wanted, but if anything had happened to them… The Circle wouldn't have had to try to kill me, I would do it myself.

The halls were dead quiet. By now, everyone would have been asleep, but Zach and I remained. I couldn't hide or shy away, he wasn't going to let me. Anything that I did, he would chase me, of that I could be certain.

Zach stepped closer to me. "Why didn't you take me with you?" he whispered, but I knew it wasn't meant to be a question, it was more of a statement.

I was silent, there was no answer that he would accept. My mouth tried to form words that my mind hadn't thought of yet, tears stung at my eyes. Zach looked hurt. It didn't seem possible, but I had hurt him.

His mind was far out of my reach, his thoughts and knowledge unknown to me, but one thing that I did know: Zach was far more wounded than I. His fingers reached up and traced the bruises on my face, the marks that were so foreign to me. I would do anything to remember how I'd gotten them, and Zach would do anything to make it so that I hadn't gotten them in the first place.

For a moment, my mother's words came back to me. There are some things you don't want to remember. Maybe she was right, maybe I actually didn't want to remember.

But the doubt settled in my mind also, maybe she was wrong. Perhaps why the Circle wanted me so much laid in the memories of those wounds, but did I want to remember the pain?

So many possibilities, so many ideas. Which were right, how about wrong? My head was spinning, I couldn't answer anything. Nothing in my mind was clear. It should be summer! My internal clock shouted at me as I remembered the fall outside.

Zach grasped me by my arm and pulled me in close, holding me, not bothering to wait for an answer. He must've understood that I had none to his question.

"What happened this summer?" I whispered almost inaudible, but he heard me. Zach will always hear me.

"You left."

I felt my own arms wrap around his muscled body that I knew well. I didn't know what Summer Me had done, but I did know the feeling of Zach. His broad shoulders, rock hard stomach, and the way his breath felt against my skin. I knew that. To me, that was the feeling of home. "No, not my summer," I said quietly, "Yours."

He pulled back so that he could look me in the eyes. Zach's expression was pained, his eyes sorrowful as he stared down at me. He repeated, "You left."

Why did boys have to be so cryptic—especially highly trained boys? That was all he gave me, telling me simply that I left as if it was a valid answer. At that moment the question on my mind had nothing to do with my own summer, no, not at all. I wanted to know what Zachary Goode was doing that summer with the Baxters. Maybe it was paranoia at the way he and Bex had suddenly become such good friends, maybe I'd hit my head a little too hard, but I started to pull away from Zach, afraid of what laid deeper in the answer.

But, Zach wasn't going to let me go that easy, because his grip tightened on my wrist as he pulled me back, whispering, "Gallagher Girl…"

He looked like a lost puppy, sad, terrified, confused. That's what he was when we were alone, not the cocky, arrogant boy that had come to my school two years beforehand, but a scared boy who had a history that he didn't want to talk about. I think that was the real Zach.

I felt his hand cup the side of my face as he whispered, "I spent the entire summer looking for you. That's it, I couldn't even think of anything else."

His green eyes stared into me, and the message was clear, he wasn't lying. Is that why I let him slowly ease closer to me. Zach was testing the ground, careful not to scare me away.

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't move, I was frozen as he stepped closer. His arm reached out and wrapped around my waist, I didn't protest. It felt like so long since I'd last been so close to someone. His other hand laced his fingers through my hair, I remained, despite the sudden urge to flee.

It was like the first time he'd almost kissed me on the streets of Roseville, but this time there were no crowds, Josh and DeeDee were safely in town where they belonged, it was just me and Zach. I just stood, numb, but very much aware, realizing that he was about to kiss me.

"What's wrong, Gallagher Girl?" He asked. His face was only inches from mine, eyes fluttering from my own gaze down to my lips, then back again.

All that it took was for his lips to barely brush mine for it to sink in that this was real, it was safe. I felt my arms wrap around his neck, fingers running through his hair. His arm around my waist tightened as the kiss deepened.

It seemed like only a few weeks beforehand he'd told me to run away with him. I half expected him to tell me that we were safest together, that we had to abandon our friends and leave for their own safety, but he never did. He just remained, kissing me like you would expect after over four months of someone being missing.

He tasted like cinnamon gum. I like the taste of cinnamon gum.

When he finally managed to pry himself away from me (What? We all have to breathe at some point), I realized that it had been exactly four minutes thirty-two seconds. His forehead pressed against mine, his green eyes still closed. "You're finally home, Gallagher Girl. Thank God, you're finally home." He whispered.

"Don't worry," I breathed, "I'm not planning on leaving for a while,"

He pulled me into a tight hug, pressing my head against his chest, and his chin atop my head, "You better not. I don't know what I'd do if you went missing again."

"I won't," I promised.

He kissed me on the forehead and dragged me through the halls, until we stood in the door to my own room. I could hear the soft snores coming from my roommates and make out their bodies through the dark.

For a moment, I stood there, not wanting to let go of his hand. I considered asking him to stay with me, but then I remembered my three roommates who would not hesitate to kill him. I leaned back into Zach, burying my head in his chest.

His heartbeat was steady, strong, and rhythmic. He smelled like cologne, not the fancy expensive kind, but also not the cheap, drug store kind. Underneath that, I could smell soap. The sweet, alluring scent that could only smell so good on him.

Did I really have to let go of him?

Zach kissed me once more on the forehead and commanded softly, "Get some sleep, Gallagher Girl."

Yes, I did.

So, I climbed into my bed and thought about that night. In a way, I could still feel his arms around me. His voice clouded my mind as I closed my eyes to sleep.

What happened this summer?

You left.

I'm just starting out on my fanfiction journey, so please, please review!(:

Oh, yeah: I DO NOT OWN THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES. ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE BELOVED ALLY CARTER.