The First Step is Faith
Summary: Miles is trying to rebuild his friendships after his drug addled year. First order of business: he and Zoë go to see Star Wars on Christmas Eve and see some surprise guests. Set post-Snowball. One-shot. Triles and Ziles friendships.
Notes: Star Wars Episode VII spoilers - takes place during holiday of 2015. Small doses of foul language.
Miles Hollingsworth the Third grinned to himself as he shifted into park in front of the home of Zoë Rivas. The cause of his grin was the ever-lovely "I'm here bitch" text that he had just sent. He hadn't had the opportunity to text anyone that greeting in a long time.
It had been months since they spoke on a regular basis, and he couldn't even begin to fathom why. Well, there was Grace who had begun to take up Zoë's time, but he doubted that was the full story. And, while Tristan was still less than happy with him at the end of the summer, he knew that the other boy would not forbid Zoë from hanging out with him if only to appear unaffected by their break up. So maybe it had been in part his fault that they had stopped speaking?
Regardless of what had caused their friendship to taper, it was Miles who let it fall into ruin; drug addiction would do that to a friendship. Now he was going to fix that; plus, he needed friends again to help him through his struggles. Christmas break thus far had been lonely. He had spent no time with friends as he was busy keeping Hunter anchored to reality – not that he had friends to speak to these days.
He groaned to himself at the thought of Tristan. They were starting to become friends again, and had ended on good terms when he informed Tristan that he was going to boarding school. Perhaps if he were a better friend he would have hit Tristan up sometime over Christmas break; but, if Miles was anything, it wasn't friend-of-the-year.
His thoughts of Tristan hit a halt as Zoë knocked on the passenger side window. He signaled her that it was unlocked.
"Hey there, long time no see!" Miles greeted.
"Likewise," Zoë returned as she settled into her seat and strapped on the seat belt. She groaned with ecstasy at the warmed seat. "Got to love this fancy car and its heated seats," she gushed as Miles turned his key in the ignition. "I missed this nice ride from the summer."
"Yeah," Miles chuckled. "Honestly, I'm surprised you wanted to hang out after all this time."
"Well, with the semester I've had, I'm dying for something," Zoë said. "Tristan is not entirely happy with me at the moment, and I've ruined every other friendship I've had this semester. And my mom hates me right now. Honestly, I was relieved to have something to do on Christmas Eve."
"Sucks," Miles noted. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we were the same person. What happened with Grace? Last I heard you two were getting on well."
Zoë closed her eyes and let loose a quiet laugh that lacked any measure of mirth. "I ruined that, all in the same go that made Maya hate me and Tristan annoyed. What's new?" she asked herself, Miles, and the air around them. "I ruin everything I touch."
Miles kept his lips pressed together to cover his laugh which failed him as the air escaped through his nose. Rather than cover his mouth with one hand and risk crashing his car with the other, he let the laughter loose. When he found the breath to speak, he did the best he could to comfort her.
"First of all, that's my line. Second, it's not true. Things get better. I hope… I'm talking to Tristan again, sort of. And Maya and I never stopped talking… We just stopped talking. And last time I saw Zig, we didn't try to kill each other. And I'm trying to do better. Sometimes that is all that we can do."
Zoë nodded. "Point taken, though I don't think I can be forgiven for this one."
"Don't say that," Miles tried to cheer her up, but she had no response. "So, how's the weather?" he asked in jest to try to crack a smile.
After a moment passed by with no response, he accepted that he would not be getting one. If he learned one thing from his issues this last year, it was that sometimes it was best not to push when someone didn't want to talk. All he could do was to be there for her.
So with that, he gave her the peace she clearly wanted.
They arrived to the theater about 15 minutes later, and after finding a spot surprisingly close to the front entrance given the busy time of year, he decided to see if Zoë had thawed some.
"So, Star Wars! I've heard nothing but good things about it. I was supposed to go with Hunter, but errr... things have happened."
Zoë nodded. "Same. I was supposed to go with Grace – she loves sci-fi - but I made the biggest mistake of my life."
Miles looked both ways before crossing the busy intersection in front of the ticket booth. "Still not going to tell me, are you?" he asked.
"I'd rather have one friend who doesn't hate me, just for tonight," she replied.
"I understand," Miles acquiesced as he opened the door to the theater. "I printed us two tickets online," he said patting his pocket. "No need to pay me back, of course. Our movie starts in 15 minutes, in theater 12. Want popcorn?"
"Go ahead, I know you do," Zoë teased perking up at the memories of their dates over the summer. "Get an extra-large this time so you don't have to leave in the middle of the movie."
Miles laughed. "I'm going to need a bathroom break with the drink anyway!" he said through a grin. "I heard that there is this really boring part you can skip in the middle though."
"Oh, have you heard the big spoilers too?" Zoë queried. "Even I have – though I've been stuck on tumblr entirely too much lately."
"No," Miles hissed. "And don't tell me!" he said in mock indignation.
"No worries there. I don't know enough about Star Wars to know if it's true or even significant. The only reason I see anything is because the tumblr lesbian community is obsessed with Daisy Ridley."
"Ah!" Miles exclaimed. "She is quite beautiful. And you're calling yourself a lesbian now?"
"Hmm, I'm honestly not sure. I mean, I liked guy's enough to have sex with one last month. I wasn't not into it, but it wasn't with who I wanted."
Miles frowned. "You weren't raped were you?"
Zoë's eyes widened. "No, no, no," she said. "Trust me, I would have killed him over that. I'm done with being made the victim. No, this was just me making a really bad choice to get revenge. You know the drill."
Miles nodded though the frown didn't leave his face. She sounded upset, almost guilty. And if there was one thing he learned about Zoë Rivas during their early friendship – back when he and Maya were still dating – it was that she didn't do guilt. In fact, she thrived in petty revenge where most people would feel remorse.
He knew he had to find out exactly what she had done to feel guilty, and now he had a clearer image that it involved sex with some guy. Whoever it was had angered Grace and Maya, and somehow left Tristan upset. The thought occurred to him that it may be himself, but it fell through. Their last time together had been a romp in the pool house, and he hardly fulfilled the requirements to make Maya much less Grace angry.
Miles quickly filtered through the guys he knew and could only come up with one: Zig. Well, unless by some fucking bizarre affair where it was Winston, and that he didn't hear about it from Winston the moment Zoë said two words to him, and that any of his other friends would care in the least. Clearly not Winston.
So it was Zig, and that made quite a bit of sense. A part of him cheered at the long fought bet between the two of them of who went after whose not-so-sloppy-seconds. Miles having had relations of any sort with Zoë first was not up for debate.
Miles smothered his grin as Zoë gave him a confused look. He threw her a smile, the wrapped his arm around her waist. "I'm officially declaring us as bi-besties!" he cheered.
Zoë blushed at the looks people gave the two of them at Miles' boisterous behavior. Miles didn't break his grin as he disengaged from Zoë and stepped forward to the concession stand to order an extra-large popcorn and Pepsi. After he was done, they headed over to theater 12 as Miles munched without shame on his popcorn along the way.
"Oh my god, Miles," Zoë mock-exclaimed as they sat down. "We just sat down and you put a huge dent in the popcorn already."
Miles grinned around the popcorn in his mouth and was about to retort when a deep female voice spoke, and Zoë froze with lips scrunched like a sculpture made of ice.
"What are the odds of this," a vaguely familiar voice huffed from behind him.
Miles looked at Zoë for a moment who sat frozen forward, so he turned around to face the voice and found Grace. Really, what were the odds of this? Particularly with her companions.
"Hey, Grace," he greeted. "Maya, Tristan," he said nodding and greeting them both in turn. "Fancy seeing you two here. I haven't seen you in ages Maya!" he said with a grin. "Oh, and Tris, turns out I'm not going to boarding school next semester. We should catch up?"
Tristan smiled, and spoke with a degree of reserve that Miles had come accustomed to ever since he met Esme. "Sounds good, Miles."
"What are you doing here with her," Maya hissed.
Miles frowned. "Well, I'm trying to reconnect with all of my old friends. It's good for my therapy. And I figured Zoë hated me the least? Though it is really hard to say these days. I'm pretty awful." He looked to Zoë who put a supportive hand on his arm, and only now did he realize that his voice had broken a little while speaking. Tristan, Maya and even Grace had concern written on their faces to varying degrees.
"Sorry about that," he muttered. "My therapist says I shouldn't talk poorly about myself."
It was Maya who broke the silence. "I'm glad you're finally getting help," she said slowly. "And don't think I hold what your brother did against you."
Miles blinked at that. He hadn't even considered that, and guilt tore through him. He knew on a logical level that Hunter had tormented Maya for weeks, but only now was he making the emotional connection to his friendship and past love with Maya. "Oh, I'm glad about that. I would hate to think I've lost you as a friend."
Maya nodded dismissively. Miles knew she wasn't angry at him, but rather flustered by emotions – and he knew his brother was at the heart of those dark thoughts of hers.
"So, Miles, do you have New Year's plans?" Tristan asked as the movie theater began to darken and the pleasant if thundering iconic booms of the Star Wars theme shook the room. "Zoë and I were getting together for some fun."
"I'd love to," Miles replied, then paused. "No alcohol or drugs right? I really should be careful for the next few months."
"No, no," Tristan answered. "Well, we'll abstain for you."
"That works too," Miles said with a chuckle.
They were sharing a grin when they heard a shout from the back. "SHUT THE FUCK UP DOWN THERE!" some disgruntled man roared.
"You shut up you fucking cunt!" Miles yelled back, then settled in his seat with a blush on his face. He looked back at Tristan and they shared a chuckle at his antics.
Zoë slid her fingers around his on the armrest, and he turned to her to smile. "I've missed the way you stand up for people," she whispered. "Don't think I've seen it since you stood up to Luke for me. I'm glad you're doing so much better."
Miles nodded nonchalantly, but those words sent joy shooting through him. He was doing better. A friend had faith in him to do better, and he couldn't be any happier.
They watched the movie in mostly silence as was customary for a theater experience, except for the occasional lurid remark by Miles. He loved to make Zoë blush – normally this was accomplished by dirty whispers in her ear, but this time it was as he nudged her with his elbow to point out just how pretty Daisy Ridley was. Zoë could hardly disagree.
He could tell that Zoë was mostly confused throughout the movie and he looked forward to giving her a detailed history of Star Wars on the drive home – hell, if he had any say in it, New Year's Eve was going to become a Star Wars marathon. Star Wars was his secret pleasure, and it had been ever since he was a child.
The rest of the movie passed without much incidence. Occasionally he would hear whispering behind them, and Zoë would grip his hand in fear that they were talking about her. While he couldn't deny the possibility, he gripped her hand back anyway and assured her they wouldn't. Grace was a no-shit type of girl, and Maya was anything but petty. Plus, he said, Tristan wouldn't let them shit talk her in front of him, right? He didn't add that the drama hound in Tristan might just let that happened, but he had faith anyway.
Once the credits started rolling, Zoë spoke. "Ugh, I don't see why everyone likes Kylo Ren, or whatever his name is so much. Do they actually think he is worthy of their love? He even killed his father. Ugh, plus Rey deserves better."
"That she does," Miles agreed. "But it makes sense for Star Wars. Star Wars is always a redemption story. Plus, can't say I hate him – I understand wanting to kill your father."
"I just don't see him redeeming himself," Zoë muttered.
"Sometimes all it takes is someone believing in you," Miles said slowly, his words hitting a cord in himself that he didn't expect. "Some, even yourself, would say that you aren't worthy – but don't you want to believe you are? Or at least believe that someone can believe you are worthy?"
Zoë nodded blankly, and looked up to where Grace had been sitting previously to see her and Maya already walking away.
Tristan placed his hand on Miles' shoulder and gave him a squeeze. "We should talk before you leave," he said before chasing after his friends.
Miles smiled, looking forward to his talk, before turning to Zoë. "You ready?" he asked tentatively.
She nodded and stood; Miles took that as his cue to lead them out.
They saw Tristan, Maya and Grace as they exited the theater chatting on one of the benches beneath a sign showing all the new movies, and a giant cut out of Captain Phasma.
"Hey, Zoë," he whispered to the girl beside him. "Tristan wanted to talk before we go. Do you mind? I can give you the keys to my car if you want to get a moment to yourself."
She nodded and snatched the offered keys from his hands.
Miles walked over to the others, and signaled Tristan. "Hey, Tris, so what did you want to talk about?"
Tristan nodded his acknowledgement of his words, and excused himself from Grace and Maya.
"So, when did the two them get so close," Miles whispered conspiratorially as Tristan got close.
"They've been getting closer for a while now," Tristan replied in a conspirator's whisper of his own. "Sadly, I'm pretty sure they're both straight; otherwise I'd ship them like the next Eclare."
"What?" Miles questioned, shaking his head at the cute if bizarre dramatic antics that Tristan so adored. "So, you're mad at Zoë?" he asked instead.
"No, not really. I'm not happy with her actions, but Grace and Maya are really hurt. I figured I owed Maya a night out anyway… I did kind of dump her for Zoë."
Miles nodded. "She did mention that the last time we spoke… I kind of dumped her too. We're shitty friends," he half-joked. He sighed before speaking again. "So, what was it you wanted to chat about?"
Tristan smiled. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out some time… before New Year's?"
"I'd love to," Miles gushed. "Are you free tomorrow?"
Tristan laughed. "That's Christmas, Miles."
Miles gave Tristan a look that told him that he wouldn't back down.
Tristan smiled at the implication. "And my family hasn't been getting along… like ever. And Owen won't be coming home this year…"
"And you're entirely free to come to my place then," Miles said. "We'd love to have you. Frankie loves you, and Hunter at least likes you… well, used to. He's doing better, I promise."
Tristan nodded. "It sounds like fun. Plus, who turns down a rich people dinner?" he joked.
"Sounds like a plan then. We could always use more people, now that my dad is gone. Frankie and I voted to not be around him this year, and Mom agreed as well. Plus," Miles began with a twinkle in his eyes. "It would mean a lot if you could convince Hunter that you think he's worth saving."
"If only for you, Miles. I overheard your conversation with Zoë. For your sake, I will believe everyone is worthy of redemption."
Those words couldn't make Miles happier.
"So, I'll pick you up tomorrow around noon, if that's cool for you? I really should get back to Zoë before she steals my car," Miles joked.
Tristan nodded and headed back to his other friends, and Miles left with a smile on his face.
The crowd of the theater had died down, and there was little delay in getting to his car. He knocked on the driver's side window to get Zoë's attention before opening the door. "You ready?" he asked, but his thoughts were cut short when he found Zoë crying.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Don't worry, Zoë, I'm sure they'll forgive you someday." He paused for a moment as an idea came to him. "Oh, and you're invited to my family's Christmas dinner tomorrow if want."
Zoë nodded. "Thanks," she sniffled through a sob. "Things have been rough at home lately."
Miles nodded his understandings, and picked up his keys from the dashboard where Zoë had discarded them. As he was inserting them into the ignition, Zoë spoke again.
"Thanks," she said.
Miles nodded and his thoughts drifted to Tristan and then to Hunter.
At that moment, Miles knew exactly one thing. The faith of just one person was the most powerful thing in existence.
Let me know if you enjoyed! Reviews are love!
Fun fact: This started off as a whole other animal when I plotted it, but when I decided to write in some Star Wars for funsies, the story turned into one of redemption and interpersonal faith. I'm proud of it, though slightly annoyed my plan to get the Trinity back together failed; however, this fic is a much stronger piece.
Also, due to the unexpected early arrival of season 2, I'm posting this fic a little early. It hasn't been properly beta-ed, but should be more than adequate :D