Dear Brother: A Dear Evan Hansen x Be More Chill Stepbrothers AU

Chapter 22: Zoe

Zoe's POV

"Connor!" Zoe called, causing him to spin around and glare at her.

"What?" He yelled back in annoyance. She ran towards him, holding tightly onto the straps of her backpack.

"You're driving me home today," Zoe said matter-of-factly. 

He sighed and rolled his eyes a little, "Fine. Whatever."

Zoe walked right up next to him, so they would be walking side by side. Connor frowned and sped up. Not a lot, but enough that Zoe noticed. She wasn't sure if he'd meant to do it, so she just walked a little faster. A few seconds later, Connor started walking even faster. Zoe wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to accomplish by doing this, but whatever it was, she wasn't just about to let him win. Was he trying to avoid her? That was stupid, they were going to the same car anyways. Unless he was trying to abandon her. She'd need to have a word with him about that. Maybe Alana could pick her up. Or... maybe he was meeting someone. Evan. Maybe he was meeting Evan Hansen again.

Zoe picked up her pace, starting to jog towards the car. Connor glanced over at her and started running. And then Zoe started all out sprinting towards the car in an attempt to beat Connor. She quickly passed him, and a few seconds later, he started sprinting too. She didn't care what happened, but she needed to win. As long as she beat Connor, she would be fine. Zoe leapt off the sidewalk into the parking lot, almost to the car. A few seconds later, Connor passed her at full speed, grinning wildly. 

As Connor got closer to the car, he didn't let up. Zoe was confused, did he mean to do that? Where was he going? It must've been a mistake, because a few seconds later, Connor started to slow down, but it was too late. He slammed into the car door with a thud and fell to the ground.

"Owwwwwwww," he moaned. Zoe burst out laughing. She didn't win, but this was almost worth it. In fact, maybe it was worth it. She jogged the rest of the way to the car.

"Oh my god. Are you okay?" She got out in between laughs.

Connor picked himself up off the ground, dusting off his clothes a little bit. "Yeah. I'm fine." He unlocked the car and climbed in the front seat, wincing a little bit. He obviously hurt himself a little, but he wasn't bleeding or anything, which was good.

"So... What was that all about?" Zoe asked as she sat down.

"What was what about?" Connor asked smirking.

"Oh, y'know, when you SPRINTED STRAIGHT INTO THE FRICKIN CAR DOOR AND COLLAPSED ON THE GROUND."

"Way to be subtle," Connor commented.

"Shut up!" Zoe shot back, but she was smiling. They were arguing (kind of) but it wasn't like there other arguments. This one was more... good natured, if an argument can even be good natured. The point is, Zoe decided that Connor wasn't mad at her this time, and that was what counted. "But really though, what was that about?"

"I thought Alana was taking you home."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You weren't going to even tell me about her? What is all this about Zoe?" He snapped.

Zoe was stunned. "Me? I'm the problem? Sorry, Connor, but like I said before, you didn't ask about Alana. And why would you even care? It's not like you care about anything else in my life! And you never tell me anything! If you want me to tell you stuff, you gotta tell me stuff, Connor. That's how trust works. I don't even know where you are half the time! Maybe you're in your room, or maybe you're smoking weed in some dark corner, or maybe you're making out with Evan Hansen, no one knows. So don't even start about how I don't tell you anything."

Connor's face went red, and he sat there silently, in shock, for a moment. "I-I... we're just friends."

"What?"

His face heated up even more and when he answered Zoe his voice was in a near whisper, "I'm not making out with Evan Hansen. We're just friends. At least he wants to be..."

Zoe snorted. "You're just friends? Why do you hang out in secret all the time then?"

It was Connor's turn to be upset. "This is why Zoe! Because if people knew we hung out then they would say what you're saying right now. Plus, I know people don't like me, I see how they look at me, Zoe. If people knew Evan was friends with me... I don't want that for him."

"Connor..."

"Also, didn't you and Alana hang out in secret for a long time?"

Zoe blushed, "Connor!"

"You did though, didn't you?"

Zoe nodded reluctantly. "Look, Connor, you've been sitting with us and no one seems to care, right? Evan's gonna be fine. If he's friends with you, that's not their problem. He's your friend because he wants to be, Connor."

He smiled at Zoe, for the first time in awhile.

"But... you do like Evan, right?"

Connor's face flared red, but he nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I do. I really do." It was then that an idea popped into Zoe's head. Her eyes lit up, and a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Oh no. What is it?" Connor asked reluctantly.

"I have an idea."

"I can tell."

"Look, how about we have everyone over? Well, not everyone, but our friends. Y'know, Alana and Evan and Jared and Jeremy and Michael. And we can all just hang out. Maybe they can sleep over! And if they sleep over..." Zoe wiggled her eyebrows.

"NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"Okay. Let me rephrase that: I'm having everyone over, and they'll all want to hang out with you. Especially Evan. But you won't want to miss a chance to hang out with Evan, will you? I don't think so."

"THIS IS BLACKMAIL."

"It's really not. I'm trying to help you, Connor. It'll be fun, I swear!"

"Don't do it!"

"Connor. I'm gonna do it. What do you have to lose?"

"My image!"

"I'm doing it. Do you have Evan's number? Wait. I know you do. Gimme one second..." Zoe reached in her backpack and grabbed out Connor's phone.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT?"

"It fell on the ground when you rammed into the car door."

"So now it's blackmail and thievery!"

"Don't be so dramatic." Zoe typed in his password.

"How do you know my password?"

"Connor. I've known it for forever. Plus, it's not even that good! 1111 is an awful password."

Connor stared at her, defeated.

"Let's see here. Ah! Evan! Wow, your most recent conversation, too! Very nice. Really shows your priorities."

"Give me that!" Connor reached across the seat for his phone, but Zoe kept it out of his reach.

"Done!" She quickly let him have it, knowing it was too late for him to do any damage. the text was already sent.

Connor: heyyyy

Connor: we're having some people over tomorrow night

Connor: like Jared and Alana and stuff

Connor: wanna come???

Connor: Jeremy and Michael can come too

Connor read all of this while blushing intensely. "zOE!" He hissed.

"Look! He already responded!" Zoe said, and she was right.

Evan: Sure! I'd love to! See you then

Zoe grinned. Mission accomplished.

(A/N AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH OMG GUYS. So when I was writing this I was lookin and WE HAVE MORE THAN 1K TOTAL VIEWS AND ALSO MORE THAN 100 VOTES!!!!! This is honestly wild guys. IM SCREAMING OMG!!!!! You guys are absolutely amazing. Thank you for all the support! Hope you like this chapter!)