A/N: Well, now that I’ve ripped my own heart out. 😭 I tried to keep the ending open to interpretation so to speak because I wouldn’t want to leave him either, but at the same time, the amount of sex Hannah and Zach had over the summer would ruin it for me. So I didn’t give a definite answer.
Request: Yes, by @babyybesson
Warnings: Angsty angst. Oh and full disclosure, I did pull the courtroom dialogue straight from the show for the most part, just edited it where it needed to be.
Prompt: Can I have an imagine where the reader is dating Zach and finds out he cheated (multiple times) when he testifies in court and he tries to get her to forgive him and you can choose if she does or doesn’t?
(Not my gif, but I couldn’t find a source so if this is yours let me know so I can credit you.)
“You love me, right?” Your boyfriend asks you as the two of you lay in his bed. He’s laying on your lap while you run your fingers through his hair. You were watching a documentary about sharks and you were mildly disturbed that he wasn’t paying much attention.
“Of course I do, baby. Why wouldn’t I?” You reply, twirling a his hair around your finger.
“Oh no, I know. I just love you so much.” He says, looking at his hands, picking at a hangnail. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, honestly.” He says, his voice melancholy.
“Does this have to do with court tomorrow?” You ask him tenderly. “You didn’t really know Hannah that well. You took a couple notes, big deal.” You assure him. “People aren’t really going to see that as a big deal. Hannah overreacted.” Zach was silent. “Maybe if she would’ve talked to you about it a little more rather than just assuming.” You’d heard the tapes. You’d caught him listening to him one night when you surprised him with a visit. You held him as he worked through his guilt, carrying way more than you thought necessary. He showed you the note she thought Zach had thrown away. He told you he didn’t know how to react to it, he froze. It was the first time you’d seen him cry before and it broke your heart.
“I just want to help Hannah.” He murmurs gazing off into space. He moves to lay next to you, holding his arms out to hold you. He pulls you in close, covering the two of you with his thick blanket. He holds you as though it’s the last time he’d ever get to, kissing your head periodically. “I love you so much (Y/N).” He whispers in your ear. “Thank you for always being there for me.” You were revelling in his love, arching your neck to kiss him, which got hot and heavy quickly. He kissed you all over, your chest, your neck, your tummy. There wasn’t a single part of you he could get enough of. When you were done, he cleans you up before you get out of his bed, looking at the time on your phone. 1:12 am.
“I guess I should be going.” You say sadly, pulling your jeans back on.
“Would you stay with me tonight?” He asks, his voice husky. You raise your eyebrow at him
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Won’t your mom be mad?” You ask him, sitting down on his bed.
“I really don’t care.” He says honestly. “I just want to spend time with you. If you leave, I’ll never get to sleep.” You nod, pulling your jeans back off and tossing them on the chair. You crawl back into his bed, thrilled to be back in his warm embrace. He wraps his arms around you, making you feel so safe as you both drift off to sleep.
The next morning comes all too fast. Zach wakes you up silently, putting his finger to his mouth. You dress quickly, before climbing out his window and avoiding the windows to run home and change. Your parents are still out of town so you let yourself in and get dressed in your court attire. You make your way back to Zach’s, his mother eyeing you cautiously before smiling and saying good morning. You and Zach get in his car, his mother following in her’s. Zach looks nervous as all hell, holding your hand as he drove. When you arrive at the courthouse, he opens your door for you, giving you an opportunity to give him a kiss.
“Baby, everything is going to be okay.” You assure him. He snorts and pulls you into a hug. His mom calls for him and he takes your hand as you walk into the court house. Lawyers pull him off into a sideroom, but he mouths he loves you. You smile at him, blowing him a small kiss before you and his mother take your seats in the main court hall.
“Thank you for letting me come Mrs. Dempsey.” You say shyly while you wait for the proceedings to start.
“Of course (Y/N). I know you make my Zach very happy.” She says serenely. “How long have you been together now?”
“Since sophomore year. It’ll be a year in a couple weeks.” You say, excitement leaking into your voice. His mom smiles at you.
“Well we’ll have to bring you around for dinner than won’t we?” She says, a small smile playing at her cheeks.
“Order!” The bailiff calls and the proceedings commence.
The Baker’s Lawyer asks Zach about the bullying culture at Liberty but it’s when the schools lawyer approaches him that he starts to look really nervous. The lawyer starts to ask him about the summer before junior year. The summer you were at your grandparents in Washington. Signal had been non-existent so you only really got to talk to him sporadically. When his Dad died, your parents let you drive down to attend the funeral with him, but you had to go back the same night. It broke your heart to do it, but you didn’t have a choice. You both cried when you left but you assured him you’d be home as soon as you could be.
“Mr. Dempsey, isn’t it true you reached out to Hannah the summer after the note?”
“And isn’t it true you saw her more than once that summer?” The lawyer asked coolly.
“Yes, my girlfriend was out of town that summer, it was slow.” He says, voice strained. He seemed to be focusing directly on the lawyer, trying not to let his gaze fall on you.
“And what did you do that summer with Hannah?” The lawyer asks.
“I saw a lot of movies. I was out of my mind after my dad died, and I needed someone to talk to.”
“But didn’t you send hundreds of texts back and forth that summer?” She asked. His eyes flicked to you, for only a second just to see your confused expression.
“I mean, we texted. I don’t know how many times.” He paused a moment, before continuing. “We just… we had things in common to talk about, and things we didn’t have to talk about, things we just knew about each other.” He mumbles, looking down at his hands. Your heart is thudding in your chest. He’d never told you about spending any time with Hannah, let alone that he’d gotten close to her. You wanted to leave that courtroom, to stop hearing what else he did with Hannah that summer. You were frozen to your seat, silent tears welling in your eyes as your boyfriend kept talking.
“That must’ve been exhausting, keeping that a secret.” The lawyer said coldly.
“Yeah, I guess I, uh I just wanted to keep the friendship ours.” Zach explains.
“And in all that time you spent together, all those texts, you and Hannah never became more than friends? You never told your fellow teammates about her, as you’ve said they do? - Bragged a bit?” You couldn’t help but glare at the back of the woman’s head, what exactly was she trying to say.
“No. I would never do that.” Zach said, anger leaking in his tone.
“Because there was nothing to brag about or because you’re not one to do so?” The lawyer asks slyly.
“Because it wasn’t like that.” Your stomach drops. You exchange glances with his mother, but she just shakes her head, watching her son intently.
“What was it like then? Mr. Dempsey, did something happen between you and Hannah Baker the summer before she took her life?”
Zach struggled for a moment, looking at his mom, to you. He looks devastated, causing tears to spill down your cheeks. He sniffled slightly, wiping his eyes before continuing.
“What?” The lawyer asked.
“Yes, we… we had sex.” Your heart felt broken, and your body felt numb.
“No, it was all summer.” You let out a sob as you stand up and move out of the courtroom, breaking down in the hallway after the door closes. You hear the judge banging his gavel and calling for order in the court. You push through the front door, walking out into the world which felt so different now. How could he do it? You trusted him. Suddenly his actions from the previous night start to make sense. He knew you’d find out. You start wondering down the street, taking random turns, not knowing where to go, just wanting to stay out of sight. A half hour after you left, your phone starts blowing up. You turned off your device after seeing Zach’s name on your phone. You never wanted to talk to him again. You find yourself at the Eisenhower park, happy to find it completely empty. You climb up to the slide and sits down, pulling your knees up to your chest. You can’t contain yourself anymore, and you cry. You don’t bother trying to stay quiet because you were certain no one would be looking for you here.
You cry until you have no tears left to give. Your heart feels empty and barren. A familiar engine purr alerts you to the fact that you weren’t alone anymore, and you know exactly who it was.
“(Y/N), I know you’re here.” Zach says weakly. “Please, just talk to me.” You say nothing. You had nothing to say to him anymore. “Please, (Y/N). Let me explain.”
“Explain what? Why you lied to me?” You snap, your voice raspy.
“I didn’t know how to tell you, I needed you that summer.” He cries.
“So it’s my fault?” You hiss at him, standing up to look down at him. His eyes were bloodshot, his suit disheveled. Your heart betrays you, wanting to go down and find comfort in his arms. “You cheated on me because I couldn’t be there for you? Even though I wanted nothing more than to be there with you?”
“I was going to tell you.” Zach says defeated. “I wish it’d never happened. I wish I could take it all back.”
“You can’t.” You say darkly. “You never truly cared about me, did you?”
“(Y/N), I love you so much.” Zach begged. “I know I messed up but I can’t live without you. I know I’ve hurt you, but I want to fix it.”
“You’re going to have to learn how.” You say heartlessly. You slide down the slide and start walking out of the park.
“(Y/N).” Zach calls from behind you. “(Y/N), please.”
“Goodbye Zach.” You say coldly, heading home. You hear him collapse to his knees and start crying. You fight the urge to turn around, to scoop him up and hold him again. You think of the good times that you shared, and your own tears start to fall. You turn around to look at the broken man in front of you, and your feet take you to his side. When you rest your hand on his back, he wraps his arms around you, clinging to you.
“I’m so sorry, (Y/N).” He mutters in your ear, sniffling. “I’m so sorry and I will do anything to make it up to you, anything.”
“I don’t know Zach.” You tell him, causing him to hold you tighter to him. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“I know.” He cries softly. “I’ll do anything for you (Y/N). You don’t have to forgive me now.
“Just tell me one thing.” You say, calmly. He releases you slightly, looking into your eyes. “Did you love her?”
“I cared for Hannah, but the only person I’ve ever truly loved is you.” He assures you.
“I don’t want to lose you.” You murmur, moving your gaze to his hands, wrapping yours around them. “I just don’t know if I can forgive you.”
“Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. I love you (Y/N).”
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