AUTHOR'S NOTE / DISCLAIMER : Still don't own RENT or the characters from RENT. Just Zoe. Another short chapter, but I'm writing during breaks in school and other random times I get a chance. There will be a longer chappie soon. R&R

-1Zoe felt a hand wrap tightly around her wrist as Roger pulled her arm roughly. Instead of falling backwards, she tumbled forward and landed with a grunt sprawled out on her stomach on the floor of the roof. She rolled over onto her back, propping herself up on her elbows, and grinned manically at Roger. Roger glared her, but knelt down next to her and looked her in the eye.

"Are you alright?"

Zoe nodded and he offered her a hand. She accepted and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet before bending over and dusting herself off.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING! YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED! ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND! YOU…." Roger was yelling at the top of his lungs, but Zoe looked past her brother at the view and her smile faded.

"It's gone," she said. Roger stopped his ranting and looked quizzically at her.

"What's gone?" he asked. Zoe just shook her head and looked him in the eye.

"If you don't know I'm not going to tell you." Roger laughed at the stubborn look that crossed Zoe's face at that particular moment. The same one she had given him when she was a child. Every time she had a secret that she wanted to share with him she'd given him the look she gave him now. There were no secrets between the two when they were younger, yet now neither knew who the other was anymore. Roger still thought Zoe was the little girl he'd left behind in Omaha, and he was sorely mistaken. Zoe, on the other hand, knew that she didn't know her own brother anymore. The miles and the time had caused them both to change.

Zoe was confused at Roger's sudden laughter, but shrugged it off. The boy's lost his mind, she thought. Strange thought coming from the one who almost just took a swan dive off of a roof. She looked at him, the anger she'd felt in the loft returning once more as she remembered that he didn't want her. She glared at him, eyes blazing, and she folded her arms across her chest. Roger looked at her as if she had grown a third eyeball out of the middle of her forehead.

"What now?"

"'What now' what?" Zoe questioned back.

"First you're grinning like a maniac and then you look at me like you wished I'd crawl under a rock!" Roger accused, "What, are you mad at me?"

Zoe's eyes widened indigenously. "Well SOMEONE'S finally gotten a clue!" she retorted, "Damn straight I'm mad at you and I think I have every reason TO be! YOU LEFT Roger, You left FIVE years ago, and you NEVER came back!" tears were welling up in her eyes, and she began to scream at him. "You NEVER came back and you stopped even WRITING to me! You PROMISED you'd come back! You want to know what's gone, Roger Davis? Do you REALLY want to know? EVERYTHING'S GONE! YOU'RE GONE… I'M GONE!… MOM'S GONE ROGER! MOM! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT!" by this point tears were streaming down her face. Roger looked at her shocked.

"Mom?" he gulped, disbelievingly.

"YES ROGER!" Zoe yelled back. "MOM'S GONE AND YOU WERE SO HIGH ON YOUR FUCKING HORSE THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW! YOU DIDN'T COME BACK FOR THE FUNERAL! HE KILLED HER AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW! YOU LEFT US ALONE! YOU LEFT ME ALONE WITH HIM! YOU PROMSIED YOU'D COME BACK AND YOU NEVER DID! IF YOU LOVED ME YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE WITH ME!" Roger grabbed his sister by the arms and pulled her in to him, wrapping his arms around Zoe, trying to comfort her, but she just started pounding on his chest with her fists. "YOU PROMISED, ROGER! YOU PROMISED! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks. He held her tightly to his chest and cradled her head. She stopped pounding on him and buried her face into his shoulder to cry. Her body was shaking, racked with sobs. Roger just rubbed her back, whispering softly to her. Soon her sobs subsided into hiccups, and she pulled away from him, wiping her eyes furiously with her fists. Goddamnit! Why''d I have to go cry in front of him? I'm so stupid to bawl like a fucking baby. Roger chuckled.

"There's no point in trying to hide those tears now, kiddo." She shot him a death look and his smile faded. "C'mon Zoe," he said wrapping an arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the door. "Let's go home."