AN: Here it is, the final chapter for Snow Gods: Frozen Hearts. It seems Parry has dropped off of the project, which leaves her space open (on the writing team, not the character) if you are interested in helping me out with Snow Gods: Second Heat, then contact me.
NOTE: SSX SNOW GODS: SECOND HEAT WILL NOT BE ON THIS PENNAME. IT WILL BE ON MY PENNAME (THE DRUM KERO)
Now sit back and enjoy the final chapter of SSX Snow Gods: Frozen Hearts
Chapter X: Inverted
Drum slunk into the room, he expected to see Zoe standing around with a full on tinker take parade going on in her honor. Instead Zoe was just lying in her bed watching race videos with her leg propped up.
"I didn't think you would come." Zoe said flatly.
"...Look, if you want to rub it in my face. Go ahead so I can go back to sleep. I have a slope style tomorrow." Drum sighed; he knew where this conversation was going.
Zoe blinked, "If I wanted to gloat, I wouldn't of bust my ass and broke my leg." Zoe's voice was as cold as ice.
"Then what in the hell do you want? I lost, you won. You are still a Snow God, end of story." Drum turned to leave, but Zoe caught him again.
"Just shut the fuck up and listen for once." Zoe spoke with some authority; Drum stopped and figured if she was going through all of this trouble to say something than he might as well listen.
"...Thank you." Zoe mumbled, she could barely hear herself.
"What was that?" Drum could have sworn he had just heard her apologize.
"You heard me, newbie." Zoe spat, she didn't like saying it as much as the next person.
"...You're thanking me for what?"
"What in the hell do you think I am thanking you for?" Zoe was getting annoyed with Drum's thickness.
"Well, wouldn't anyone else do the same thing?" Drum knew what she meant now.
"That's the thing, they wouldn't have." Zoe pulled her leg out of the sling, and rested it onto the bed.
"Even Kaori would have left me to cross the finish line. That's just how things are out here."
Zoe swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"So you are saying that it would have been better for me to just let you sit there while I took the glory?" Drum raised and eyebrow, pretty surprised at how this was working out.
Zoe just nodded.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter in the end. You still have your pass." Drum shrugged.
Zoe let out a chuckle.
"You think I really care about this pass?" Zoe took her Snow God pass out and threw it at Drum.
"Do you think I really give three fucks about this goddamn piece of metal!?" Zoe gritted her teeth as she yelled, Drum caught the pass.
"Keep the stupid thing if that is all you care about!" Zoe slammed her fist down on her pillow.
Drum threw the pass to the side; he didn't care about it at the moment.
"What is your problem!? One second you are thanking me, then the next second you are going on about how I shouldn't have saved you, make up your mind!" Drum yelled, ready to leave and go back to sleep.
Zoe stood up; apparently she wasn't in so much pain that she couldn't stand.
Drum opened the door, "Look, you apologized, I accept. Now I am going back to bed."
"I'm not done, newbie." Zoe muttered, in a deep serious tone.
"Fine what ELSE do you want to yell at me about!?"
Zoe hesitated.
"You know what Drum, fuck it. Go ahead and leave." Zoe grunted, hobbling over to him.
"I called you in here to be the bigger man, not to sound like so much of an asshole, but you seem determined to make me out to b the bad guy." Zoe was still hobbling up to him.
"So just get out, go tell everyone that big bad Zoe Payne woke you up in the middle of the night to rub it in your face, just get out!" Zoe yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.
Drum didn't want to admit it, but he didn't want to ruin her reputation over a lie.
"...Stop that." He whispered, "Stop crying over something so stupid."
Zoe shook her head, then snapped, "Stupid!? You think this is stupid? This is SSX! This is something I love! This is something ALL of us love!"
"Not that! I mean this stupid Snow Gods bullshit." Drum snapped, he was getting frustrated with all of this.
"Just...go back to sleep. Okay? We will act like this whole day, let alone this night, never happened." Drum grunted, he really did want to go back to sleep.
"Fine...Fine..." Zoe turned around, and began to hobble, but stopped.
"You know...Moby wouldn't have even come back for me?" Zoe said.
"Surprise, Surprise." Drum shrugged.
"No, I really mean it. Moby, my own boyfriend...well...ex-boyfriend, wouldn't of come back for me. He would have left me to freeze my tits off in the snow." Zoe laughed.
"So? What are you getting at?"
"Well, I find it kinda funny that some kid that doesn't even like me would come back to save me and my tits." Zoe laughed again.
"....No one said I didn't like you." Drum raised his eyebrow, was she on heavy morphine or something?
Zoe smiled.
"Awwww. The widdle newbie liiiiiikes me." Zoe giggled into her hand.
Drum looked around, and he was right, Zoe was standing on her morphine button.
"Okay...you need to lie back down." Drum whispered, fearing that Zoe might get too loud.
Zoe giggled and flopped onto her bed.
Drum turned to leave, for the umpteenth time, but Zoe once again stopped him.
"Drum, the morphine button wasn't even hooked up." Zoe laughed, "You fell for that one bad."
Drum had had enough of this.
"GOODBYE, ZOE" Drum yelled.
"Hey get over here! I at least want to shake your hand!" Zoe yelled, serious this time.
Drum figured he would just shake her hand, and then leave.
Drum approached, and outstretched his hand; Zoe took it and shook it.
Drum turned, but his hand didn't go with him. Zoe wouldn't let go.
"Um...Zoe?" Drum began to say as he was pulled down.
Now, how a barely 160 lbs girl managed to pull down a 300 plus lbs man, Drum never did figure out, but all he knew is that in a matter of seconds, Zoe had pulled him onto her bed, and pinned his arm behind his back.
"Now, I am going to say thank you, and I want you to accept it, like you mean it!" Zoe pressed Drum's wrist farther into his back.
"Okay! Fine! I accept your thanks! Okay!?" Drum didn't want to yell, but it hurt like hell.
"There." Zoe let him go.
"Was that so bad?" Zoe must of had hit her head, she was going through more mood swings than ever.
"...You are fucking crazy? Do you know what?" Drum stated, calmly.
"I know...and...You know, I really did mean it when I said that Moby wouldn't of come back for Me." she was sitting on his midsection, he couldn't get up if he wanted to.
"Is this how you would thank him if he did?" Drum winced.
"Nah, he is too much of an asshole to let me do this...but I would do this." Zoe leaned down and pecked Drum on the forehead.
Drum just looked at her as if he had seen a ghost.
"....What? Don't tell me you are gay or something'." Zoe said.
"...What? Oh! No...That just sorta...came out of nowhere." Drum was stumbling for words now.
"It did? Well. You asked how I would thank Moby if he would have come back for me..." Zoe shrugged.
Drum was still confused, he was expecting to wake up and laugh any second now. Seeing as only 24 hours ago, the girl that is on his lap hated him, and now she is three steps away from sleeping with him.
"Um...can I go back to my room now?" Drum asked politely.
"No. You asked how I would thank Moby if he saved me, and I am going to show you." Zoe grabbed the collar of Drum's shirt, and kisses him, hard.
Drum was definitely not dreaming.
"Okay! Wait! This isn't right! We barely even know each other, and I mean...you don't even like me!" Drum yelled, who cares if anyone heard him now?
Zoe rolled her eyes.
"Man! Do I have to spell it out for you?" Zoe shook her head, figuring he would have caught on by now.
"When you came back to save me, you really proved something to me back there. You are different from the guys here at SSX, there's something different....I want to know what it is...I want to know you." Zoe whispered.
Drum looked lost.
"...I fuckin' like you, Williams." Zoe rolled her eyes again, men are stupid.
Drum STILL looked lost.
"....OH!OH! Whoa!? Wait. Didn't you hate me a day ago? I was some stupid newbie who didn't know shit." Drum just did NOT get it, something didn't add up.
"Yeah, you were. But that was up until the race. After I saw that you didn't back down from me, and that you eventually gave yourself up for me. I knew that I really liked you instead of loathed you." Zoe confessed.
"...That you really liked me? That would mean you liked me before." Drum raised an eyebrow; this was all new to him.
"Well, after me and Moby split...well, really before it. I always had my eye on you. Since the first day of this tour. You caught my eye, Williams. I guess it just took one bad race for me to really notice it. That's when I started to hate you, because no matter what I threw at you to make you hate me, you just wouldn't." Zoe said coldly.
"...I think I understand...You liked me, you just didn't WANT to like me." Drum nodded.
Zoe nodded.
"So...it took a broken leg and a concussion to make you WANT to like me?"
Zoe nodded again.
"...Man, SSX is a fucked up place." Drum sighed.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Now, if you are done with your detective work. Let me finish thanking you."
Zoe pushed Drum's shoulder back down onto the bed, and tugged at her shirt, before she pulled it off. She made a clapping sound with her mouth and the lights went out.
Moby never did see Drum come back out of Zoe's room.
Mac never did see Drum come back in that night, the next morning. The lobby had a new rumor to discuss...
Mac walked around, he was looking for someone.
"Yo, Viggo! You seen Drum anywhere?" Mac asked, he hadn't seen Drum since last night.
"Um...yeah, early this morning. He was heading out to Crow's Nest. Why?" Viggo nodded.
"No reason, damn. He was supposed to teach me how to balance today." Mac looked around he saw Zoe hobbling towards the breakfast table, Atomika was behind the counter making omelets for everyone.
Zoe looked around; everyone had their eyes on her cast.
"Oh come on people, its not like you haven't been injured before." Zoe sighed, taking a cheese omelet off of the counter and heading to a seat.
"So..." Kaori started, she had a question on her mind ever since last night.
Kaori re-thought what she was going to say, and thought it would be better to scoot a little closer so no one would hear them.
"What did you talk to Drum about?" Kaori whispered in her cutest voice.
Zoe looked up, her eyes grew wide.
"I...uh...I mean us...um...nothing. I just thanked him." Zoe mumbled through a chunk of omelet.
"Thanked who?" Psymon was now standing between the both of them. This caused Kaori to magically disappear and appear on the other side of the room near Yuri.
Zoe shrugged, "I thanked Drum for bringing me back, is that a crime, Stark?"
Psymon grinned.
"Nope, the real crime is all of the yelling you two were doing last night. It's hard to sleep with you two goin' at it like fuckin' dogs in heat!" Psymon panted, and demonstrated the moaning. This caused everyone to look over at Zoe, some with funny expressions, some with ones of disbelief.
"...Wait wait wait, you mean to tell me....you....and...?" Elise started.
"What in the HELL are you talking about, Stark?" Zoe raised and eyebrow.
"Oh, don't try to cover it up. I heard you two last night. You thanked him alright." Psymon laughed, and did the universal sign for sex with his hands.
Griff was having a fit of laughter, J.P couldn't hide his either.
"Didn't you two like hate each other a day ago?" Atomka rang out.
"Guys, are you really going to believe PSYMON? The man talks to his TATTOO" Zoe yelled, slamming her fist down on the table.
Kaori chimed in.
"Well, you did call Drum to your room last night...and you wouldn't tell me why..."
Zoe stared daggers at Kaori.
"I wanted to thank him, and I did! Geez! Get your heads out of the gutter!" Zoe yelled.
"They were only thinking what they know is true, luv." Moby said from the top of the stairs, a nice smirk on his face.
"What are you talkin' about?" Nate decided to jump into the conversation.
"I saw Drum enter that room last night, and I didn't see him leave." Moby walked down the stairs, a big grin on his face.
Zoe knew that grin, something was wrong. He did something wrong...
"What the hell did you do, Moby?" Zoe asked, she saw right through his grin.
"Nothing, I just witnessed how loose you actually are, luv." Moby smiled.
"One little...I mean, large newbie saves you. And you sleep with em? Very slutty." Moby scolded, the rest of the roster sat silent.
Zoe stood up, looking at all of them.
"Do you all REALLY think I would do that?" Zoe looked at all of them, Elise and Viggo avoided Zoe's gaze.
The Lodge door opened, and Drum walked in, covered in snow.
All eyes were on him.
"...Um...what?" Drum looked at all of them. Moby especially.
"...Did I do something wrong?" Drum looked around.
Psymon couldn't resist the joke.
"Its more like...who did you do wrong." Psymon chuckled. Drum knew exactly what he meant, and looked at Zoe.
"Oh shit...you all think that me...and...Her?" Drum could have blushed if he could. Before he could say another word, the Lodge door burst open again, this time it was Rahzel, flanked by Powder Pete, and two men in SSX Official Jackets.
"Thas him! Right there!" Pete pointed right at Drum
"What!?" Drum looked around as the two officials grabbed his arms.
"What the hell did I do!?" Drum yelled at Rahzel, the rest of the roster was speechless.
"...Jordan, we have an eyewitness accusation saying that someone saw you tampering with the boards the night before your competition yesterday." Rahzel spoke coldly.
"WHAT!?" Drum yelled, the roster began to murmur.
"Until this can be investigated, you are banned to compete in SSX, and we have to remove you from the lodge to appear in front of the council." Rahzel seemed almost sorry for Drum.
Zoe couldn't believe her ears.
"...You didn't...did you?" Zoe looked at Drum, not wanted to believe it.
"No fucking way!" Drum wrestled against the two men.
Psymon looked on, now he knew something was up, especially when Moby suddenly disappeared back up the steps.
The two men carried Drum out to the Heliplane, Rahzel followed them.
"...So he is a cheater and a newbie? Wow. SSX just aint safe these days!" Griff broke the silence.
"I don't think he did it." Yuri stated, "He seems way too nice to do that..."
"I wouldn't put it past him, you saw how he and Zoe were the other day...he might of lost his temper and did something he regrets now" Nate stated.
Zoe didn't know what to believe.
"....Do you think he did it, Zoe?" Elise asked, everyone stopped to hear her answer.
"...I don't know." Zoe had her head in her hands.
Powder Pete opted not to go with Rahzel and the officials back to the council, he had business to attend to at the Lodge. He walked over by the board shed, lit up a cigarette, and waited.
Not soon after, Moby walked up.
"Nice job, I didn't expect you would get Rahzel down here so fast." Moby smiled, shaking Pete's hand.
"No problem, do ya got the money?" Pete coughed, and spit at the snow.
Moby slipped him a couple of bills.
"This is between me and you, alright? And if Stark comes forward, tell Rahzel he was in on it, alright?"
Pete nodded, and headed back inside.
Moby looked up at the snow falling.
"No fuckin newbie is gonna get the best of me." he spoke to himself, and followed Pete.
AN: I know, it's an abrupt ending. But not every ending can be happy. Plus, we have to leave trilogies in a cliffhanger!
Will Drum get his good name cleared?
Will Psymon come forward with what he knows?
Will Moby get away with what he did?
Does Allegra still have feelings for Viggo?
Will Eddie EVER get through to Elise?
And most importantly...
Did Drum and Zoe REALLY do it?
All of that and more MIGHT be answered in Snow Gods: Second Heat. Coming Late January/Early February 2005!
You know the drill, Read and Review.