15th September 2013

"Hands off," Karla reprimanded Zed, hitting his hand away as he tried to dip a finger into the cake mixture. "This is for the dinner tonight, everybody's coming over again."

"What flavour is it going to be?" He asked her. He looked over at the clock in the kitchen and saw that it was one in the afternoon, about the time he would normally do his homework on a Sunday. "I hope it's vanilla, that's my favourite."

Karla rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know it is dear. It's also Hazel's favourite and I have a feeling we'll be celebrating tonight and my vanilla cake always goes down a treat. Now stop stalling and go and do your homework."

"I'm waiting for Yves to wake up so he can help me."

"Your brother was up early, you know that he always is. He and Xav are out helping your father on the slopes. You really should help out more often, you know."

"Can't. I have homework to do," he grinned. "I'll just have to get Yves to look over my homework, I have to get good grades this year."

"You're intelligent enough without your brother's help, you just need to belie-" She stopped when the doorbell rang and was followed by a timid knocking on the door. "Hmm. Go and answer the door, Zed."

"Why don't you?" He argued. "You're the mom, not me."

"Because it's Bluebell Williamson and she's here to see you," Karla replied. "Go on now." Wondering why Blue was at the door – and excited to see her again – Zed moved at as normal a pace as he could, not wanting to seem too eager. As he walked through the hallway he heard, "oh, and invite over for dinner tonight! Lord knows that girl could do with one of my true Latino meals, get some meat on those skinny bones of hers."

Zed didn't reply. As soon as he reached the front door, he grabbed the handle and swung it open. He took a moment to just look at her and take her in. She had her hair tied up into a messy bun and was wearing jeans and a baggy yellow cardigan over what looked like an old, ratty t-shirt. She had her arms folded across her chest and was looking up at him. She had no make-up on and was even paler than usual, the freckles decorating her face standing out. There were red marks around her eyes and the whites of her eyes were a little bloodshot. Zed's first thought was that she had been crying or had had no sleep; then he realized that after last night she probably had a killer hangover.

He leaned against the doorframe and gave her a lazy smile. "Afternoon, Bluebell. You look rough, let me guess: you've only just woke up and you had a killer headache?"

"Pretty much," she replied with a nod. "Look, Zed. Can we talk about last night? I uhm, I didn't remember anything when I first woke up... But it all came back to me in flashes."

Zed wanted to say: "Of course we can talk. I'll always have time for my soulfinder, I'm so glad that you're finally willingly talking to me." But he didn't. Instead he just nodded his head and stepped outside, closing the front door behind him. He sat down on the porch step and gestured for her to sit next to him. Sitting outside felt more private somehow, even though it was only his mom inside and she'd easily be able to read their minds if their shields weren't strong enough and she was determined to listen. But he knew that she wouldn't do that.

Blue sat next to him and put her hands in her lap, twiddling her fingers for a moment in silence. "I don't know what came over me last night," she said quietly. "I've never really liked partying. Well, I never even got invited to parties before. I'd never even really had alcohol before. I was just angry and upset about something stupid and I thought that drinking would take my mind off it all. It was a mistake to drink so much."

"And making out with Isaac too?" Zed blurted out the question, raising his eyebrows. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No you're right. Isaac was a mistake too. But just for the record, I never kissed him. I was just dancing and letting him kiss my neck," her cheeks blushed a rosy pink colour that Zed thought was adorable. He was happy to hear her admit that she hadn't kissed Isaac; he was so, so glad to know that. "I remember you pulling me away before it went any further; which was great because I didn't picture my first kiss being whilst I was drunk and at a stupid party. And I know that you drove me home." She looked sideways and met his eyes, a small smile on her face. "Thank you, Zed. Really. I can't even imagine what could have happened if you didn't get me out of there. Anyway that's why I came over. To say thank you. I guess that's it really. I should go."

She started to rise to her feet but he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back down gently. "Wait," he said. "I have something I need to talk you about too."

She settled back onto the step and looked at him questioningly. "Okay," she said slowly. "Don't say anything that'll piss me off though, Zed. Don't ruin the moment."

He laughed, shaking his head in disbelief of the fact she could just say her honest thoughts like that. "I'll try not to... Blue, I know that you saw me and Jodie together-"

"Like I said in the car last night," she interrupted him and looked away. "I don't care if you're dating her," she said in a tone that suggested she was trying to be nonchalant but was having a difficult time of doing so.

"I think you do care," Zed guessed, smiling when she turned to look at him. "You like me and you do care if I date Jodie or not."

"You're wrong. I don't like you and I don't care."

"Yes you do."

"No. I don't," she said in an overly-defensive voice. "Zed, you said that you would try not to ruin the moment. And you've literally just done that."

"Well I'm sorry about that. But I don't understand why you're denying the fact that you quite obviously care. And just for the record, Jodie and I aren't together. She kissed me and I pushed her away. She was drunk, she didn't realise what she was doing-"

"Oh trust me, she knew what she was doing."

"So I drove her home and returned to the party to collect you," he continued, ignoring her snide comment. "Look, I know you don't like Jodie. She can come across as a total bitch but she's had a hard life, Blue. I actually think you two would get along if you tried."

Blue quickly stood up and Zed copied her. "Me and Jodie will never be friends, Zed. I guess that just comes to show how little you know me."

Ouch. That stung. But Zed knew that Blue had a point: he didn't know that much about her, this was all coming from the connection between them the soulfinder bond gave him. He wanted to get know her. But every time it seemed like he was making progress with her, they both said things that destroyed that. It was like taking one step forward and three steps back; they would never reach the finish line of this game – which in their case was a happy ending full of love – if they continued like this. Things had to change. He just didn't know how to make that happen.

As Blue turned around and started to stride over to her own house, he remembered something that gave him an idea of righting things between them. "Blue!" He shouted after her. She stopped but didn't turn around so he guessed that she was listening. "My family's having a dinner tonight and my mom told me to invite you. I know that Victor would like it if you were there. And so would I. You don't have to come but if you want to, just turn up at the house at about seven, okay? You're welcome to join us."

Blue didn't reply and started walking again.

Zed doubted that she would turn up.

Blue rushed straight up to her bedroom again as soon as she got inside and collapsed onto her bed face-down. She released a frustrated scream into her pillow, squeezing her eyes shut in a refusal to let tears make an appearance. Why did she let Zed Benedict get to her so much?!

She didn't want to care about what type of person he assumed she was; she didn't want to feel overwhelmingly glad that he wasn't dating Jodie; she didn't want to care that they couldn't seem to get along for five minutes without one of them annoying the other. She could admit that he was unbelievably attractive – and boy, didn't he know it – but she never thought she was shallow enough to like him just because of that.

That's because it isn't the only reason you like him, a voice at the back of her mind whispered to her. It was true. The fact he'd offered to show her around the school, the way he'd helped her in baseball, how he'd praised her when it came to her running, how he'd wanted a new start and how he'd helped her at the party- all of these were reasons that she liked him. They all showed that there was a good person buried inside of him and she liked that part of him.

But he was also arrogant, stubborn, cocky... He infuriated her and she hated that part of him. She couldn't be bothered dealing with him when he was like that and honestly, she wasn't sure if she could handle that so soon after leaving Rosewood. She shouldn't get involved with him; it was too much too soon for her.

On the other hand however, she felt it deep inside that she should get to know him, at least be friends. Her thoughts about him kept going back and forth, undecided on what to do.

Ding dong. The sound of the doorbell ringing made Blue pause her thoughts and sit up. She hoped that wasn't Zed coming around to add something else to their stupid conversation. Knowing that her sisters had gone to the supermarket with her dad, Blue pulled herself off the bed and started to walk down the stairs. Please don't be Zed, she wished before she opened the door.

It wasn't Zed. She kind of wished it had been him now; anybody was better than who it actually was.

On her doorstep stood Jon Barker- Blue's biological father. He was dressed all in black, in a t-shirt with short sleeves and a v-neck so it showed off all the tattoos that decorated his neck and arms. His dark hair – which reached down to his waist – was pulled back into a low ponytail and light stubble was on his cheeks; he had all of his facial piercings in and his blue eyes, just a shade darker than Blue's, were looking down at her. He was quite tall with a lean, muscular figure. The last time Blue had seen him was in early February, shortly after her mother was sent to the psychiatric hospital and Jon had visited her in Rosewood to see how she was- she'd told him to leave after just a few minutes and hadn't seen him since.

"Hey Blue," he said in a gravelly voice. "Can I come in for a moment?"

"No," she said stubbornly. "You shouldn't be here. You need to leave, now."

A hurt expression flashed across his face but Blue didn't change her mind. Jon hadn't been in her life much growing up, he hadn't been a father to her at all. He turned up on her birthdays with presents and acted as if everything was all fine and dandy. Although she had Elliott as her dad, part of Blue wished that she had had her real father there and she despised that Jon had deserted her. She didn't want to give him another chance and let him into her life. Too much, it'd be too much for me to handle on top of everything else.

"Blue, please," Jon pleaded. "I just want to get to know you. I want to be in your life, I want you to be in mine! You have a little brother, he's nine months old-"

"Well then you don't need me, you have a new baby now," she snapped.

"No, that's not what-"

"Jon, I barely know you!" She exclaimed. "You didn't want me, you never did. You think a few birthday presents made everything better? It didn't. Just because you finally want me as your daughter, it doesn't mean that I'm going to forgive and forget. You were never there for me."

"I tried to be. I'll admit that I didn't want you at first but after a while I changed my mind and regretted my decision. I wanted to be a good dad to you but your mother and Elliott wouldn't let me. They would only allow me to see you on your birthdays, that's why I wasn't around any other time of the year. They wouldn't let Blue, I fought so hard for you but they wouldn't let me get close to you."

Blue shook her head. "No. I don't believe you." She couldn't ever imagine her parents, especially Elliott, stopping her from knowing her real dad. They would have wanted the best for her, they wouldn't keep her away from him. She couldn't believe it. "I want you to leave."

"I'm not lying, Blue. I'm sorry, I-"

But Blue didn't get the chance to hear how that sentence was going to finish as she slammed the door in his face angrily, refusing to even consider that he was telling her the truth. A second later, a piece of paper fell through the letterbox. She heard Jon's voice through the door. "I've wrote my phone number and address on there. If you change your mind... Well, you'll always be welcome in my home. I am so sorry for the way things have turned out. I hope you can forgive me one day."

Blue stood on her tiptoes to look out of the peep-hole and watched Jon walk away, get onto his motorcycle and drive away. She watched him until he disappeared out of sight.

Author's note:

Meh. I'm not that keen on this chapter, it just feels like none of it clicks together in any way, but it's all relevant so I needed it in there. Anyhow, please leave reviews to let me know what you think.

A hint about the next chapter: Zed and Blue finally have a chapter where they actually get along without any arguments. Progress at last?