Another AU story about Wade and Zoe as teens. Only part of the story will be of them as teens, at a certain point where I see fit there will be a time jump. Zoe's life changes in a huge way and for Wade, not much has changed. I'm not 100 percent on this story yet, so feedback is greatly appreciated.
Zoe looked at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom at the airport. Black skinny jeans, a dark purple tank top and a black hoodie with a silver star design on it. Her hair was no longer a dark brown color, but a jet black. She had only ever met Harley once when he had flown to New York to do the requested paper work to get her from Ethan's care. She stepped out of the bathroom and walked through the airport. Sure enough the older man was waiting for her.
"Hello, Zoe. It's good to have you here," he greeted her. Zoe came to a stop with the one suitcase she had. "The rest of your stuff arrived the other day. It's all in your room," he continued sensing that Zoe wasn't going to say anything. "Alright let's get you home."
"This isn't my home," Zoe muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Harley asked turning to look at her.
"Not a thing," Zoe snapped back starting to become annoyed. This was the last place she wanted to be. She wanted to be back home with her parents. But that was impossible now. She tossed her suitcase into the trunk of Harley's car. She got in and buckled her seat belt. She took her iPod and headphones out of the pocket on her hoodie and let her music fill the emptiness. Her cell phone followed suit only to see that her phone was dead. She huffed resting her head against the head rest closing her eyes.
"I hate you!" Zoe screamed looking at her mother who hadn't faltered at her's daughter's outburst. "You would think for once your daughter would be your first priority but noo not for you, it's always about work," Zoe yelled slamming her door shut.
She had spent hours in her room her music blasting to keep the pain and anger her mom had caused at bay. She tried to focus on her school work but she couldn't. Everything merged into one long problem. Every word ran together. She kept reading the same few words over and over again. Turning her music off she went to see who was at the door. She pulled it open to see a police officer on the other side.
"What's going on?" Zoe asked suddenly feeling her stomach sink to her knees.
"Can I come in?" Zoe stepped aside motioning for the officer to enter. "I'm sorry to say this, but your mother, a Candice Hart, has been involved in a car accident. I'll take you to her."
All the way to the hospital Zoe's head was in a fog. She didn't feel, she didn't think. She hadn't done any thing. She couldn't even remember talking to a nurse that told her what room she could find her mom in. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
For the past week Zoe had been coming to the hospital to visit her mom. She was still in a coma and she still couldn't breathe on her own. No one had hopes of her making it out of this. It was a Wednesday morning two months after her mom had been admitted to the hospital when Zoe came in to see her dad in the waiting room.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Zoe asked not really wanting to hear his answer.
"Their wasn't anything they could have done to save her, Zoe. I'm sorry but her being in a coma for years to come does none of us any good. It's best this way." Zoe fell to the floor hard violent sobs shaking her body. That was only where the bad news had started.
"Welcome home." Zoe pulled her ear buds out and looked at the old yellow two-story house. She followed Harley into inside. "The first door on the left is your room," Harley informed her. Zoe went straight for the stairs that sat off to the side of the front door. She shut her door and started to get things unpacked. She was going to be stuck here for the next two years. This was her home whether she wanted to be here or not. Zoe had been so wrapped up in getting things unpacked she never realized that it was now dusk outside. She ventured downstairs going to the kitchen to look for a bite to eat. She hadn't had anything since before boarding the plane.
"Is there anything to eat?" Zoe asked shutting a cupboard door with a little extra force making it swing back open with a bang.
"I was going to come get you to go eat at the Rammer Jammer." She gave Harley an odd look but followed him out the door. "Zoe, I know this is the last place on earth you wanna be, and I'm sorry about your mom, I can't make her come back."
"I don't need you to bring her back, but you are right, I don't want to be here. I want to be with my real father, with my friends, in New York. But I can't do that because my mother happened to be a slut and got knocked up with some random stranger," Zoe huffed.
"I get you're hurt, but you don't ever talk about your mother like that again. You don't know anything about that. I may be some random stranger but at the end of the day I'm your father, and you now live under my roof with my rules." Zoe rolled her eyes. She wasn't little anymore. She didn't need someone to tell her what it was she can and can't do, especially a man she barely knew. She plopped down in a chair flipping through the menu she had been handed. She could hear the faint murmurs around the place that were about her. She tried not to let them bother her. At first she pushed it all way. They didn't know anything about her. But slowly it started to get on her nerves and she couldn't leave soon enough.
Zoe said nothing more as they ate or the walk back home. She kept looking for something to do but the town was so small she couldn't find anything. Instead of going in the house she sat on the front steps watching the last visible light of day slowly vanish.
"You must be Harley's daughter, Zoe?" She looked up to see a kid on a skateboard. "I'm Wade."
"You figure that out on your own? You gotta be the town genius," Zoe mocked.
"More like the town smart ass, or the town player, whatever one you prefer."
"I prefer that you leave me the hell alone," Zoe snapped getting to her feet. His small town charm wasn't going to work on her.
"We'll see how that goes for you," Wade smirked. Zoe glared at him and stomped her way inside the house. She ignored Harley and went to her room shutting the door. She flopped down on the bed and held her pillow to her chest and cried herself to sleep.
