#ftf: zach 007

[corimmy]

Do You Feel Like a Man When You Push Her Around? || ZAMMY

TAGGING: @zachwilde, @corimmy.

LOCATION: Zach and Gabe's apartment.

TIMEFRAME: 10/22, afternoon.

WARNINGS: So many? Violence, pretty indepth mentions of csa, slut shaming, mentions of child abuse, religion, religious trauma.

SUMMARY: Zach and Immy are getting some of Zach's things together to stay at her place for a while when Aaron shows up, angry about the picture Midge sent him during lockdown and is there to put the blame on Zach.

Immy Cortes

More often than not, Zach and Immy were together lately, and generally they were usually at her house, but they'd stopped by Zach's apartment today to grab some of things, and while Immy could have been helping, she found herself in the living room, looking at various pieces of Zach's artwork instead. She was so mesmerized by the beauty of it all, she almost didn't hear the knock at the door. 

Gabe wasn't home and she didn't think anyone knew Zach would be here, so she figured maybe it was someone lost, and didn't want to leave them waiting and went to answer the door. "Zach, are you expecting anyone?" she called over her shoulder, just to be sure, but her whole body froze when she pulled the door open and saw Aaron Wilde standing there. 

His expression was confused at first, but as the realization of who he was staring at seemed to hit him, he let out a cold laugh, "Of course, Imogen. Of course I'd find you here." Aaron shook his head, stepping around her into the apartment and slamming the door shut behind him.

zach wilde

Zach was in his bedroom, gathering a few things here and there that he needed to bring to Immy's house. They spent the last week completely attached at the hip, and Zach wouldn't have it any other way. He was finishing up putting some things in a duffle bag when he heard Immy call out for him. His brows furrowed, not being able to hear exactly what she said. He made his way out of the bedroom. "What'd you say, babe? I didn't hea-" Zach went cold. His father was standing in his living room. He blinked once, twice - to make sure he was really there. As much as he hated it, the man still instilled a very deep fear inside of him. How did he know where he lived? He knows Gabe didn't tell him, so how... 

Zach cleared his throat. They knew all the tell-tale signs of when their father was angry. Zach memorized them all as a young child, knowing when they'd be receiving their father's unloving fists. They saw it right now - his stature, the way his jaw was set. They looked over to Immy to make sure she was okay, and then looked back to their father. It had been quiet too long, and Aaron noticed it. "What, boy? You can't speak?" 

He didn't want to, but he made his way into the living room and made sure there was enough distance between his dad and Immy. "I'm just surprised to see you here, dad." Zach said, feeling his heart beating wildly in his chest. "What's going on?" And how do you know where I live?

Immy Cortes

She didn't know why she was so afraid of Aaron, but she did know that when it came to fight, flight or freeze, she'd always been frozen, ever since she was a little girl. Whenever something bad was happening, her body and mind would freeze and she'd just tell herself over and over again that all she had to do was survive, which was exactly what she found herself repeating in her mind now. She snapped out of it when she heard Zach's voice, wishing somehow she could stop them from coming out of their room, save them having to see their father right now, but then Zach was there, and Aaron was radiating anger. 

As Zach stepped into the room, standing close to her and effectively shielding her from his father, Immy still felt fear, but something else, too. She felt protected, and loved, and like for the first time someone actually cared that something bad didn't happen to her, and she just hoped that having her there made Zach feel the same way. Aaron laughed at Zach, shaking his head, as if Zach should have been able to read his mind. "I'm here, because I want to know why you can't stop your sister from acting like a whore." 

Aaron tossed his phone to Zach, Immy catching a glance of the screen and a picture of Midge - bottle of whiskey in one hand, as she took a selfie of herself making out with someone in the other. "But now I see, that not only does she have your bad influence dragging her down, you've got the biggest harlot of them all hanging around again. God is testing you and you continue to fail in every way possible."

zach wilde

Zach's mind started reeling when Aaron called one of his sisters whore. He didn't even know which sister, only that it angered him in a way that he didn't know how to explain. He caught his dad's phone in his hand, and looked at the picture quickly. Midge. What was she doing? How did Aaron get this picture? And with.. Danny Sylvester? Man, Zach was going to kill that guy later. "Dad, no. Midge's just having a good time. She's being safe, that much I know. And that's what matters." No matter what, Zach would stand up for his siblings - even if he didn't know what he was saying was true. He really hoped she was being safe. 

They looked back at Immy to make sure that she was doing okay, but snapped their head back towards Aaron when he called her a harlot. Zach took a step closer to Aaron. "Don't say that. Don't talk about her like that," they said, balling her hands into fists at their side. This is how it happened last time - Aaron antagonizing them, and pushing Zach to the breaking point. "I'm going to have to ask you to get the fuck out of my apartment, dad. Just get the hell out of here." Zach's fear was now being overtaken with anger with how he spoke about the women in Zach's life that they loved so much. 

Aaron laughed. Of course he did. Zach bristled. "I'm not going anywhere, Zachary." Aaron loked towards Immy, a disgusting smirk playing on his lips. Zach had to hold himself back from beating the shit out of him just for looking at her like that, after all the lies he told about her. "Have you told him yet, Imogen? Have you told Zachary what you did?"

Immy Cortes

She didn’t know what to do, she wanted so badly to reach out and touch Zach, try to calm him down, try to protect him, but all she could manage to do was rest her hand against his forearm, kicking herself for not knowing how to handle this better. 

When Aaron looked at her, she didn’t know what he meant, all she could think about was his lies about her trying to seduce him, but Aaron just laughed again, stepping closer to both of them. “Don’t act like some scared innocent little lamb, you were born with the devil in you, weren’t you?” He sneered at her, “How old were you the first time you did it? The first time you lured your very own stepfather into your bed, Imogen? You bit off more than you could chew, didn’t you, that’s why you always came around our house, you couldn’t reap what you’d sewn. But that didn’t stop you from trying it again with me, luckily I am strengthened by Him and was able to resist you.” 

Shock and horror filled her at his words, her hand slipping away from Zach as she wrapped her arms around herself, “I was just a kid, I didn’t do anything to him or to you. I trusted you, I thought you were a good man, he was supposed to be my father, I didn’t do anything. I was just a kid.”

zach wilde

At his dad's words, Zach stilled. Why would he lie about Immy sleeping with her stepfather? He looked from Aaron to Immy, trying to put everything together. By the look on her face, Zach could tell there was some truth to it - but not in the way that his dad was insinuating. Did her stepfather touch her? At the thought, Zach started seeing red. Her reaction confirmed it. I was just a kid. And his dad was using this against her? 

"Shut the fuck up!" Zach yelled, not being able to stop themselves from raising their voice. Everything was hitting him at once. Aaron had the audacity to look affronted that they had yelled. Zach took another step towards him. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Don't speak about Immy that way. You say you're a man of god, but you're lying through your fucking teeth. What do they say about lying in the bible, Aaron?" Zach paused, but started again before their dad could get in a word. "Proverbs 19:5, A false witness will not go unpunished and he who breathes out lies will not escape. Think I don't remember your sermon on it?"

Immy Cortes

Immy watched in horror as Zach yelled at his father, she knew how afraid of Aaron Zach still was, but they were yelling at him over her and all she could do was try to crawl inside of herself. She wanted so badly to step in, to try and calm the situation down but she could barely catch her breath. Zach thought the whole thing was a lie, they’d always believed the best in her, but she’d have to tell him it was true. She hadn’t seduced her stepfather but what Aaron said happened was true.

“Zach, please,” she finally whispered, reaching for his arm again, she just wanted everyone to calm down. “It’s not a lie.” Aaron boomed, his voice serious as he stared at Immy, “You’re meant to be taking care of your siblings, Zachary, but you’re so busy with your little whore that you’ve allowed your sister to fall in to sin, you’ve brought bad influences around her and she’s too weak to resist. Maybe I was too gentle with her, she needed a firmer hand. Maybe when I leave here I’ll go visit Midge and show her the discipline I should have given her as a child, the way I disciplined you, but you were a lost cause. If it’s not whores and harlots it’s acting like a homo.” 

As much as Aaron made her feel like a scared little girl all over again, hearing him speak to Zach that way made her blood boil. Threatening him, threatening their sister, and calling them names? She couldn't stop herself from stepping forward around Zach. "Don't you ever speak to him like that again." She said, suddenly switching into fight mode. She had never felt so angry in her entire life, "They're not a kid anymore. I'm not a kid anymore, and have no right to even be here, nevermind speak to them like that!"

zach wilde

Zach was now past seeing red. He felt like he couldn't see anything straight. From calling Immy a whore, to threatening to put his hands on Midge, that was enough. It had been more than enough. He was about to absolutely lose it on his dad when Immy stepped in front of him, standing up for him. It was different - no one had ever been around in these moments where Aaron showed his true self, but Immy was seeing him for who he truly was. And she was standing up for him. "Im.." Zach said quietly, not wanting her to be a part of this. 

Aaron took three big steps, closing in the space between him and Immy. He was towering over her, trying to make her feel small. His face was red and angry, and Zach saw the man who had hurt him so many times before. They stepped in between the two of them. "Get the fuck away from her. I swear on everything, I will fucking kill you if you ever get that close to her again," they said through gritted teeth. Aaron tried to take a step forward again, but Zach pressed their hand against his chest, stopping him. 

The next thing that happened put Zach into a daze. His father was speaking, but his hand was wrapped around Zach's throat hard. The fear came back, and for a moment, Zach was frozen. He was eight years old again, getting thrown across the room because he muttered 'what the hell'. Then, something snapped in Zach. He struggled against Aaron, trying to take in a breath, and finally he was able to wrench his dad's hands off of him. "Don't fucking touch me!" Zach screamed, the anger taking over the fear. One of the reasons he worked out so much, got so strong, was that so he could have a defense against his father. And now he did.

Without much thinking, Zach pushed their dad hard. Aaron went stumbling backwards, but they knew that look on his face. He was going to try to make it hurt. “Immy, get back. Go to the other room, please,” Zach pleaded as Aaron came charging at them, his fist colliding into Zach’s cheek. The thing was, this pain? They were used to it. It had happened several times before. They were almost numb to the feeling. They felt the blood trickling, but didn’t care at all. Zach moved forward with ease, his fist colliding with Aaron’s nose. Aaron stumbled backwards, surprised that Zach was now fighting back. “I’m not a kid anymore. You think I’m going to allow you to beat the shit out of me? You think I’m going to give you that satisfaction?” Zach took their arm and pressed it against Aaron’s throat, pushing him all the way to the wall, holding him there like that.

They were shaking all over. Fear and anger felt a lot like the same thing, and the fact that he didn’t know if Immy was still in the room or not scared him. He didn’t want her to see him like this. He didn’t want to be like this. But when it came to his father… Zach would never let him make him feel as scared as he did when he was a young boy. Never again. “You’re never going to touch any of them. You understand me? Do you fucking understand me, Aaron? You’re going to be the perfect father. You’re going to treat them like a good Christian man does. You don’t want to know what I’ll do to you if you hurt a single hair on their head.”

Immy Cortes

She kept eye contact with him when he closed the gap between them, she was terrified but she refused to show it. Aaron seemed big enough to snap her in half if he wanted to, but she’d take it if it meant he stopped talking to Zach like that. She let Zach separate them, taking a few steps back, though she wanted so badly to stop him, to protect him. But then things were happening so fast. When Zach told her to go in the other room she didn’t want to, but listened, taking a step towards the hall until she saw Aaron’s hand on Zach’s throat and she froze, her own fists clenching. She was about to try and pull Aaron off when Zach freed themself and pushed Aaron back. 

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and she watched the two men in front of her. She let out a scream when Aaron punched Zach, though it didn’t seem to deter either of them. They continued in what seemed like slow motion until Zach had Aaron pinned to the wall. Aaron looked like he still wanted to kill Zach but he seemed to stop fighting. 

Stepping forward, Immy put her hand on Zach’s arm, trying to ease him away from Aaron, hoping to calm them down. Aaron sneered at the two of them but reached for the doorknob, “Honor thy father, Zachary. This conversation is not over, not for you or for Miriam but I’ll wait until you can control yourself better.” He said, before shutting the door behind himself, as if he hadn’t been the one to get violent. Tears sprang from Immy’s eyes as she saw Zach shaking with anger. 

She let her hands roam their chest, trying to bring their focus to her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” She asked, looking at the blood on their cheek. “I was so scared for you,” she said, burying her face in his chest, “Please tell me you’re okay. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have made him angry.” She said, momentarily forgetting what Aaron had told Zach about her past while she focused on making sure they weren’t injured.

zach wilde

As Aaron left, Zach stood there motionless. He almost didn't notice Immy touching him at first. He snapped out of his daze when she pressed her face to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her tight, holding her there for a moment. He hated the fact that she just saw him act like that. That person was not who he was - that was who Aaron turned him into. That was the scared little boy finally fighting back. Immy didn't need to see that. He pulled away, hands still shaking, not knowing what to say. 

Zach stared at her, and it had been at least a minute until they realized that tears were pouring down their cheeks. Their whole body was vibrating with fear now, and they felt like they couldn't get a word out. "I'm so sorry," Zach finally choked out, feeling completely overwhelmed with emotion. A sob wracked their body, and they felt their legs go out from underneath them. They dropped to the floor on their knees, the tears still coming. How could a man make Zach, at thirty-six years old, feel this way? He clenched his fists, not wanting Immy to see him like this. No one had seem him like this - not even Gabe.

Immy Cortes

When his attention finally came back to her she could feel her heart breaking for them. She just stood there as Zach pulled away from her, tears in their eyes. For a split second she worried they were upset with her, for causing this, for what Aaron told them about her, for not leaving the room, for everything. But then Zach apologized and fell to his knees. 

She rushed forward, wrapping her arms around them, pulling their head to her chest as she kissed the top of his head. “No, baby.” She whispered into his hair, holding him as tight as she could, the fingers on one hand combing through his hair, trying to comfort him anyway she could think of. “None of this was your fault, please, please listen to me.” She didn’t know what else to say, so she kissed his head again and did the only thing she could think of which was to sing You Are My Sunshine to him, the same way she did to Malea when she was hurt or scared.

zach wilde

Zach looked up when he heard Immy singing to him. He wasn't sure why it took him out of his daze, but it did. He watched her as she sang to him, and he couldn't help the smile that finally started tugging on his lips. He was still shaking, but the tears were no longer flowing. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her - Immy being the only thing that brought him that type of comfort. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But, babe.. I couldn't handle the shit that he was saying about you and Midge." 

Zach pressed himself against Immy, wanting to be as close as possible to her. "About what he said... About..." They trailed off, not wanting to bring it up, afraid to upset her at all. "I don't believe him, you know that right? I don't think you'd do anything like that, babe."

Immy Cortes

She was so glad to see that they were finally relaxing a bit, and she kissed them back gratefully, her own nerves starting to settle, too. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, you didn't cause this, what else were you supposed to do, let him beat the shit out of you, not fight back?" She said, wiping away his remaining tears with her thumbs. 

When Zach said he didn't believe Aaron, she felt her body tense against him, and she pulled away just slightly, her eyes trained on the floor now as shame filled her. "Zach, it's true. What he said about me, it's true." She admitted, her voice breaking as more tears escaped her. "I mean, I was just a kid, I didn't...I didn't mean to..." She trailed off, shaking her head, her own hands shaking with fear over how Zach would react to this. How he would react to knowing he'd hit his own father to defend her and she hadn't even deserved it. "I was only 11 when it started but...I don't know, maybe it was my fault, maybe I did something to make him think it was okay."

zach wilde

Everything that he was feeling about his father - fear, anger and everything in between - dissipated when Immy said it was true. He listened to her talk, and as soon as she said I was only eleven, and that it could be her fault, all he could bring himself to do was pull her close to him. He hugged her tight, trying to fight the nausea as he thought of what her stepfather did to her. 

They pulled away, holding Immy's face in their hands, eyes locked. "You listen to me. Nothing was your fault. Whatever he did to you, babe.. I promise you that you didn't deserve it. You were eleven years old? No man should be touching an eleven year old child. Don't blame yourself." They choked on their words, tears falling once more. "You don't have to tell me the details. If you want to talk about it.. I'm here. But please don't feel like you have to explain yourself to me. I believe you, Immy."

Immy Cortes

When Zach pulled her against them, she felt her body collapse into theirs. Her tears were so strong now she didn't think she could speak, so she just cried against them, until they pulled away. Listening to his words, logically, she knew they were true, but it was so hard to feel the truth in them when she'd grown up being told it was her fault, and when Aaron, the only person she'd ever told, threw it in her face. 

"No, no. I know you're right. I do, but it's just...My bio dad, he took advantage of my mom, and then she got pregnant with me and my stepdad, he raised me, but my mom she didn't want to be touched after what Cooter did to her so, they just always told me that it was my responsibility to help out. I know how messed up that is now, but growing up it was just...It was all I knew." She shook her head, wiping her tears away quickly. "I don't ...I don't want to dwell on it, but I didn't want to lie to you. I didn't want you thinking your dad was a liar when he wasn't lying about that."

zach wilde

Zach had never felt the type of anger towards someone as he did as the people who told Immy that it was her responsibility to touch an older man. He thought he knew what it was like to feel it, but this was something entirely new. "He did lie, though. You did not seduce anyone. You're a victim, babe. You're not some temptress like he's making you out to be." 

They started playing with Immy's hair as they held her close, just needing to be as close as possible to her right now. Zach was pretty sure that they both needed this closeness after everything. They smiled sadly, but winced afterwards because of what they were sure was a cut and bruise on their face. Aaron must've punched them with a ring on - something Zach had been used to. "I love you so much, Immy."

Immy Cortes

She let herself relax into him for a few minutes, not wanting to do anything but be in this moment with them. The feeling of their hand in her hair bringing her comfort and calmness that she was truly just not used to. She finally pulled away from them to look when she heard them wince. Seeing the blood on his face, she felt a fresh wave of tears hit her. "I love you, too." She whispered, before finally pushing herself to her feet. 

Immy held a hand out to Zach to help pull him up, "Come on, we should get you cleaned up." She said softly, "Then we're packing whatever you need and you're staying with me. I'm not taking no for an answer. I don't want you to be here if he comes back. Maybe tell Gabe to think about staying somewhere else for a bit, too."