Plot: Your childhood friend ask you on a date.
A/N: @a-view-without-light-pollution I hope you’ll like it (I think it’s bad bc it needs more details but anyway) enjoyy xoxo.
From the first instant Zack showed up at your doorstep fidgeting like a hyperactive puppy, you could tell his normally boundless confidence was fraying hard at the edges.
All jittery hand gestures and flushed cheeks as he flashed those baby blues pleading silent messages.
"Heyy...uh listen, I was wondering if ya maybe wanted to, y'know, grab a burger with me later on?"
He finally blurted, scratching at those wild raven spikes crowning his head.
You arched an eyebrow, fighting back an adoring grin at how freaking adorable this human Golden Retriever was acting.
"Zack...we do that literally every other day already. Are you trying to ask me on an actual date here, mister SOLDIER Boy Scout?"
Brilliant crimson exploded across his chiseled features as a strangled noise escaped those plush lips.
He exhaled a shuddering breath, squaring those broad shoulders back as if preparing to charge into battle before nodding decisively.
"Yeah...I am. I really am asking you out on a legit date."
His glowing azure gaze caught yours with an intensity leaving you suddenly breathless.
"Getting all awkward about it won't do either of us any good though, right? Let's just keep it chill like always and have an awesome time."
That trademark sunny grin stretching dimples into those stubble-chapped cheeks was enough to melt anyone's reservations as you found yourself quickly nodding back.
"Definitely, Zack. Count me in - but I expect you to bring your flirting A-game!"
And bring it he did - that charismatic son of a bitch.
From snagging you a stuffed moomba at the carnival shooting range then refusing to relinquish you from under his arm for the rest of the night.
To dramatically serenading you with a botched rendition of "Starlight, Starbright" under the moonlit beach gazebo while passing tipsy couples howled laughter.
Everything felt so achingly, dizzyingly right.
Like this was the inevitable conclusion your lives together were always building toward...however unintentionally.
No more excruciating uncertainty or unrequited longing to agonize over. Just sinking into the warm, radiant glow of Zack's megawatt joy showering over you without restraint.
He was still unapologetically himself, of course. Full of wisecracks and theatrical shenanigans which only strengthened his magnetic charm in your eyes.
Yet now he'd occasionally stumble over his words or allow that velvet baritone to dip into husky dulcet purrs specifically for your ears alone.
Or the way his fingers innocently grazed yours, fingertips sparking little zings of electricity jolting straight to your core while flashing those bedroom eyes assessing your reaction with ardent hunger behind half-mast lids...
All too soon, the carnival lights and jaunty calliope music faded into late-evening stillness encasing you both.
Scuffing boots through sleepy lamp-lit lanes back toward home feeling weightless and intoxicated simply from his nearness.
Drunk on that inexhaustible charisma surrounding you in Zack's personal aura like wafting summer bonfire warmth.
Occasionally lapsing into hushed stretches you leaned in savoring the tactile crackle between close-orbit bodies before erupting into fresh peals of laughter over some locker-room wisecrack.
Until sneaking hesitant sidelong glances revealed his features backlit golden in flickering streetlamp radiance...expression stilled into a look you didn't recognize yet always dreamed of receiving from Zack.
Pure unguarded open adoration emanating in his gaze like you were the only thing in existence worthy of such singular focus.
Your footfalls stopped on instinct, swallowing thickly as those eyes roamed across your face in hungry, aching sweeps you felt tingling upon your skin like physical caresses.
Until Zack closed the short gap separating you in an achingly gradual drift - telegraphing his intent with everything but his voice.
Calloused fingertips glided across your jaw up to cradle your cheekbone with searing gentleness utterly at odds with his rugged stature.
Zack's bottom lip trembled for just a fraction of an instant before your name exhaled from between them in a ravished whisper devoid of the usual bravado.
All you could do was nod mutely and reciprocate the blazing tenderness reflected back at him.
Until those vivid mako irises fluttered shut in blissful surrender...
And you tilted up on tiptoe to lay the whisper-soft pressure of your lips in a gossamer brush across the corner of his own chiseled, perfect mouth.
Just enough for Zack's entire musculature to go rigid as scorching fire flooded his chiseled features - every single one of those battle-hardened sinews vibrating on the verge of deliciously shattering apart at your featherlight touch.
A barely audible whimper sighed out from the deepest caverns of his broad chest before stormy cobalt eyes flew wide in helpless stupefaction.
You drank in every minute tremor and nuance rupturing across Zack's statuesque handsomeness for endless suspended heartbeats...committing the details to permanent memory.
Until finally smiling wider than you ever had in recollection while he just gaped at you in stunned bliss unable to formulate words.
Reality no longer mattered in that divine slice of infinity cradled between you.
Only the dawning awareness of irrevocable, undeniable intimacy blazed in those locked pools of swirling cerulean endlessly dazzling.
