The Blip Bae

Dirty Little Secret

"Zoe?" Steve knocked on her door. She had activated the soundproofing so he couldn't hear her crying. "Can I talk to you?"

"Do I have a choice?" she said as she opened the door. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"What happened back there, sweetheart?" Steve saw how upset she was and his heart broke. "What did I do? Tell me and I'll fix it, I swear."

"Fuck...there's nothing for you to fix, I'm sorry." She plopped down on her bed and pulled her knees to her chest, still unable to look at him. "You want a family...that's not something I can give you, so I guess this means we're over, right?"

"What do you mean?" He was confused.

"You want kids, I can't have kids, this can't go anywhere, right? You said yourself you don't want to waste anymore time, so let's stop wasting your time." Zoe finally looked at him through her tears. "It wasn't something I thought I needed to tell you this soon, but if it's a deal breaker, better to get it out of the way now, before..."

"Before what?" He reached out to wipe her cheeks. "All I was asking was if you wanted a family...do you?"

"Not really, not before..." she caught herself. "I never really thought about it, then the choice was made for me, and my husband was okay with it, so I never really gave it any more thought..."

"But now?" He tried not to read too much into what she wasn't saying. "Are you saying you've thought about it? With me?"

"Steve, we've literally been dating for like, a minute." She shook her head. "But it's no secret how badly you want that life...it's definitely something that's been on my mind."

"So you're not saying you don't want a family, right?" He tried to stay optimistic. "Just because you can't physically have kids doesn't mean you can't have a family if you wanted one, right?"

"That is so sweet and so infuriatingly naive..." she sighed. "You said yourself that you've waited way too long to have the things you always wanted. Don't let me get in the way of that. You are too fucking precious to give up on something so important..."

"Who said I'm giving up anything?" He tried to get her to look at him. "I'm just trying to get the lay of the land with the best prospect I've had in over 70 years, that's all..."

"Steve..." she held his hand and kissed his palm. "Please. Just tell me what you want, okay? I'll get over it, whatever it is. I'll just need some time, that's all. You mean too much to me to just run away, even if..."

"Sweetheart, no!" He cried. "I don't want you to go anywhere! That's what I'm trying to say..." he looked in her eyes and went for it. "What I am trying to tell you is that I'm absolutely crazy about you, and not being able to have kids is not a deal breaker. Does it make me sad? Honestly, yes. Had the though of a family with you crossed my mind? Yes. Because, well, to hell with it, because I love you, Zoe."

"What the fuck?" she was crying harder now. "Are you serious?"

"Not exactly the response I was hoping for..." he muttered.

"No! I'm sorry!" she started to laugh through her tears. "Sorry, you just caught me completely off guard there! I thought you were going to break up with me! Shit..."

"Uh, you're kinda leaving me hanging..." he tried not to crumble on the spot. "I can't tell if you laughing is a good thing or a bad thing right now. A little help here?"

"You gigantic idiot!" she laughed and threw her arms around him. "I love you, too."

"Oh! Thank god!" He grinned and kissed her. "Thank you, for a second there, I wasn't sure what was going on! I thought you were about to punch me and make a run for it!"