He was incredibly nervous now, now that he had stopped speaking. Once he had started speaking, the momentum of it all had sustained him, so that it was harder to be so nervous while speaking so much and trying to communicate how he felt. And he was going to listen now, to Colin, to however much he had to say, to whatever he had to say.
The bit about Dennis and mistakes didn't make any sense to Zach whatsoever. A part of his brain wondered how Dennis had come to that conclusion, what had ever made him think that! While Zach had been at Hogwarts, lots of people dated each other. And no it wasn't all love and that in every case, but people did love each other, and sometimes it didn't work out. And people loved other people. And sometimes people loved two people. And it was a lot more complicated than finding one person to love and making that that. At least, that had been Zach's experience.
"I loved Cedric, before I ever knew you," Zach spoke clearly, "And that wasn't a mistake. Nor is loving you a mistake. I don't know what's right for Dennis or your parents, but that doesn't mean it's right for you. My aunt loved my uncle, and he never told her he loved her, even though he did. But she always said she had what was right for her. And that's not what I want. But that doesn't make her wrong or me wrong." Zach knew how he felt and knew it was right, at least for him.
"I love you, and I want you to be with me. I don't want you to hurt yourself to be with me. You don't want to hide. And I...I feel that it is okay to love. It's okay that you love Justin too. And if you love someone else sometime, I'm okay with that. I'd like to still have you, but you're not a prisoner. I want you to be with me because you love me and you want to be with me. And my love for Cedric hasn't gone away because he's dead or because I'm with you. If I somehow fall in love with someone else too, that will not change how I feel about you. And I hope it's okay," Zach was doing a lot of talking again. And he realized he hadn't really addressed the hiding.
And it felt like a huge moment, like the whole world had changed. "I'll tell my father," Zach spoke and knew he meant it. Bloody hell. "But I am going to tell him. I'm not going to run. And you're not going to fight him or save me from him. I...love my family, and you don't have to hide, so I'll take whatever comes. And you don't have to hide. But you have to promise me that you'll let me do it my way." Everything felt so small compared to that massive massive change. And Zacharias Smith had a backbone. How strange.
"I made a lot of mistakes with Cedric," Zach continued, "more than I care to think about. And I've made plenty of mistakes with you. I feel that's natural. We're not in a storybook; we're real people. And people make mistakes. But that doesn't mean we give up or that we won't make them again. It means we love each other and we keep...on loving each other and doing our best. Okay?"