Florida!!! ~ l. hargreeves

prologue

                                   2006

"Sorry. Didn't realize you were busy." He walked into her room unannounced, hoping to find some company.

"I'm not. Just figuring things out." She closed her book and looked up to the boy with super strength.

He continued to stand in the doorway until she motioned for him to move to the end of her bed, opposite of her.

"What are you trying to figure out?" He asked her once he got comfortable. Before she talks he admires her blue eyes - the way they shine when the sun hits them, it makes him just smile; her light brown hair - the way it has natural highlights and its wavy pattern. She was nothing less than perfect in his eyes.

"My future," she reopened the book of photos to show the young blonde in front of her. "and where I want to live the second we get a chance to leave this hell of a 'home.'"

As he looked through the picture she passed to him, she fiddles with her necklace. She thinks about the way his blonde hair just falls perfect without him even having to try. About the way his hand grazes her knee as he flips the page. He's almost angelic the way his movements are so poised and gentle.

"We?" He asks.

"Yeah. When we get a chance we are leaving and running off together," pause "right, Luther?" She questions him, confused on his hesitation.

"What about dad?"

"That man is not my father."

"But he is. He is also mine." He stares at her confused as to where this sudden hatred for the head of the Umbrella Academy. "Why are you acting like this, Zorah?"

"Because we could have more than this." She stood up to yell. "We could be whatever, doing whatever, being anywhere we want. I don't want my whole life to be just about the Umbrella Academy!"

"But what if I do?" He finally stood up too. "Our whole lives have been here and we get to help people here, save people here! And you would be willing to give all that up to , what, probably drown yourself in that ocean you so wish to move to? We have a good life here. One where we are together. Why is that not good enough for you?"

"Because it's not a happy one!" Luther and Zorah stand across her room just staring at each other, trying their best to not let tears flood their faces as they argue with the one person they truly care about.

"I-, I want a family someday, Luth. One where my kids feel loved and happy and excited that they don't have to wait their whole lives to see a body of water cause they will have one next to them as they grow up. I want to open a business. Live as my own boss instead of being controlled and manipulated by a man who calls himself my father. God, I want a life like that! One with you!" She finally lets some tears fall as she speaks about her reoccurring dream she's had for years.

Luther was frozen. How could he tell her to stop her dreams now? He couldn't. He couldn't upset the girl he loved any longer. But, he couldn't give up on all those people he has helped. What if there are more and no one is here to help? He couldn't give up on their father just that easily.

"Okay." He finally spoke.

"Okay?" She asks angrily confused.

"Okay. I will help you get to your life you want. But I can't come with you," he can tell by the new look in her eyes that her heart just shattered, "or, at least, not yet.

Zorah was confused, heartbroken, angry, and happy at the same time. "What you mean not yet."

Luther takes a few steps closer towards that girl, "I mean, once I know that I am not needed here anymore, I will find you. I will find you and hug you and kiss you and love you and we can have a family just as you imagined. But I need to stay here for a while first."

Zorah stepped closer to Luther now as he stuck out her pink. "Do you promise, Luth?"

He laughed and said, "Oh my god you are not doing a pinky promise right n-"

"Luther 'Number 1' Hargreeves! Do you promise or not!" She yelled back.

A chuckle escaped Luther's mouth as he wrapped his pinky around hers. "I promise, Z." They both lean their foreheads together for a moment of silence as the bask in their quiet and love they are sharing at the moment. Suddenly a flashing red light around the house split them apart as Ben runs in Zorah's room.

"Guys. We have a new mission. Hurry up, I have a good feeling about this one!" Ben grinned.

Once Ben left, the young teenagers look back at each other and smile.

"I guess Key West, Florida will have to wait for next time." Luther jokes as the two walk out of the bedroom.

EEEEE!!! prologue done! also i'm not sorry about then end of it with ben. iykyk ;) anyways, please enjoy the book!!! i'm so excited for the rest!