"BYEE, LOVE YOU." zoey called out, waving to her dad and unlocked the door. today she was kind having one of her off days, a mood that ddot had picked up on during their facetime call earlier, prompting him to invite her over.
he originally intended to come over and walk her to his house, but with her dad already on the route to work, a ride seemed more convenient.
once at ddot's place, zoey took out her phone to let him know of her arrival. he read the message immediately. barely ten seconds passed before the sound of loud footsteps approached the door.
as the door swung open and she stepped inside, and she turned to offer a final wave to her father, who was just transitioning his car from park to drive.
as zoey shut the door behind her, she looked up to find ddot grinning from ear to ear, his expression giving away that he was high.
before she could utter a word, ddot wound an arm around her waist and drew her into a kiss. zoey's response was a heartfelt smile, wrapping her arms around his neck, reciprocating the kiss.
they briefly separated, only for ddot to shower her with a flurry of quick pecks, causing soft laughter from zoey amidst the amount of affection.
when he drew back to gaze at her, his eyes brimmed with adoration. "you're so pretty," he murmured, and without awaiting her response, he leaned in to kiss her softly once again.
he was so obsessed with her.
her crying session was abruptly interrupted by the ringtone of her phone. with ddot on the other end of the line, she mustered the strength to pause her grief, gently set aside the album and picked up the call.
she had quickly dabbed at her eyes, sat up, took a deep breath to steady her shaking voice, and masked her pain with a calm exterior.
across the line, ddot's intuition were sharp, he detected the traces of sadness in her voice right away, and it hurt himself to know she was hurting.
ddot's eyes fell upon her slightly swollen, reddened eyes — evidence of her earlier despairs. "you been cryin?" he asked with a voice softened by concern.
the softness in his voice, full of genuine care, was so disarming that it melted away the remnants of zoey's earlier thoughts , replacing it with a sense of comfort and warmth.
zoey met his concern with a gentle smile as she found ddot's hands, her fingers sliding between, interlocking them. "i'm okay now," she whispered.
discussing her deeper feelings, especially those that had to do with sadness, wasn't something she was comfortable with. she'd much rather maintain an aura of happiness than have others fret over her, despite often being the one to extend her concern to them.
