I jumped up and grabbed one of the lower branches of the tree, easily swinging myself up and onto it. Using the side of the house as leverage, I then pulled myself up onto the next highest branch within my reach, which now brought me level with Zoe's window, I moved carefully along the branch. I pressed my palm against the window as a peered in, taking in the auburn hair cascading down Zoe's back, the half-packed bag sitting on her bed. My breath caught and my heart started thumping in my chest as I took her in, all too aware of the knowledge that this might be the last I got to see her for a very long time. Eyeing the baseball bat she kept in the corner of her room warily, I eased the window open and jumped in, making sure there was no mud of my shoes.
Before I could even say two words, Zoe had grabbed the baseball bat and swung it at my head. I ducked and grabbed her arm, pulling the baseball from her grasp and pinning her arms behind her back.
Zoe stared at me, her arms loosening in my grip. As I released her, she said, "Dan? I could have killed you. I could have – "
"But you didn't." I interrupted, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
"You shouldn't be here." Zoe said abruptly, pushing past me to the suitcase sitting on her bed. "You need to go."
"I needed to see you before you left." I said lamely. It was such a stupid thing to say, but as stupid as it was, it was the truth.
"Okay, well, now you've seen me. You know where the door is. Or the window, if you'd prefer." Zoe said, still avoiding eye contact with me as she gestured towards the still open window.
"Can you tell what your problem is, exactly? I mean, seriously, Zoe, I can cope with the fact that you're going to go find your sisters. What I can't handle is this. After everything we've been through, you're just shutting me out."
"You won't understand." Zoe said, still avoiding eye contact with me. I made a frustrated noise deep in the back of my throat and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face me. Zoe's eyes widened and her lips parted as she took in my expression and she took a step back, but the back of her knee collided with the bed.
"Why, Zoe?" I asked softly, my fingers releasing her wrist slowly.
Suddenly Zoe was blinking away tears as she sat down the bed and whimpered, "Because it hurts too much, Dan. It hurts too much to leave you, so I figured that if I can at least save one of us some pain, then . . ."
"But that doesn't make any sense."
"When did we ever make sense, Dan?" Zoe asked, getting up. "You're the boy who never trusts anyone and I'm the girl from SKUL, the clone of the enemy, for God's sake!"
With each word, she took a step towards me and I took a step back, until my back collided with the wall on the other side of the room.
"Yeah, but there's one thing that overrides all of that." I said, caressing her cheek. Zoe took a deep breath and looked up at me, leaning her cheek into my hand. "Do I really want to hear this?"
"I think you will." I told her, pushing her hair out of her eyes and pressing my forehead against hers. . "I love you, Zo and it doesn't matter to me that I'm not supposed to because you're meant to be SKUL's secret weapon or the clone of the Mastermind because I don't care, Zoe. I love you and that's all that matters."
As I let that sink in, I suddenly became all-too aware of her hands pressed flat against my chest and the her close proximity. Almost involuntarily, even though I certainly wasn't complaining, I ducked my head and pressed my mouth to hers, hot and passionate and desperate, as my arms circled around her waist, holding her close. I picked her up easily and placed her on her desk, scattering the papers all over the floor. Zoe sighed into my shoulder as my mouth moved from her mouth to her jaw, making her grip my shoulder fiercely and gasp wildly.
"The bed." Zoe gasped, the back of my shirt bunched up in her fist. "Dan, the bed."
I pulled back to look her in the eye, brushing her fringe out of her eyes. Before I could make my lips form the words I wanted, she tugged my shirt over my head and kissed me, her hands tangling in my hair as I complied to her request, pulling her off the desk and laying her down on the bed, kissing her feverishly until I could practically feel my soul finding hers, the two infusing together and becoming one, as if it were unnatural for them to be apart.