Days With Zion Dawsey

43. Another Backyard Walk

"How are you?" Zion started as he felt that the two had enough distance from the table. They took a walk around the backyard, the only voices they heard were the kid's as they played not too far from them.

"Uh- I'm fine. But how are you? I mean, I haven't seen you in two months and you're kind of scaring me." Bonnie said, joking about the scaring part.
"Scaring you?" Zion frowned, not knowing what she meant.

"Well, you're like a completely changed person. You've smiled more the last hour than you did ever. You openly kiss and cuddle River and you call your mother mom now." Bonnie reminded him. Zion breathed out and nodded slowly.
"And that's scary? That I'm somehow nicer now?" He asked.

"It's not scary, that was a joke. It's just different." Bonnie explained.
"Oh." Zion sighed.
"I guess some things never change." She pushed his shoulder. Zion shook his head with a chuckle, starting to get nervous.

"Before I can stop myself, I need to tell you something." Zion said and stopped her from walking. He turned towards her and took a deep breath.
"I'm new to all this, so just be patient with me." He whispered, grabbing her hand.
"You're new to what?" Bonnie asked, looking down at their entwined hands.

"Talking about my feelings and my past. All of that." Zion said, holding eye contact. Bonnie wished she could tell him that he didn't have to tell her anything, but it was time he did.
"I'm listening." She said, involuntarily stepping closer.

"Well, I've taken a break the past two months. I went to an old friend, who helped me a lot. He is wiser than you'd think. You'd love him." Zion said, knowing that's not really important.
"Anyways, I- uh. I did a few necessary things and I finally had the time to visit my brother's grave. And I kind of realized that he wouldn't want me to live the life that I was living. He'd want me to be happy and move on. I'm still in the process of doing that, you know." He said, breaking eye contact and looking away.

"I guess I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry. I know I was an asshole to you. The whole time and I basically did it, because I couldn't let myself be happy. I know this is confusing and I don't expect you to-"
"Zion, I've long forgiven you for being an asshole to me." Bonnie's words surprised him and made him look up at her.

"What?" He almost stuttered.
"You're not as good of an actor as you think you are. I knew you always wanted me." She joked, making him chuckle and fake roll his eyes.
"And I liked you too. Pretty early on, but I always ran away because I too had my issues." She cupped his cheek.

"And no matter how big of an asshole you were, it never really got to me because I knew you had issues too. Apparently even someone who had no hope of changing for the better could still conquer my heart like that." She said, stroking his cheek and looking into his beautiful malachite eyes. Zion gulped, not believing his ears.

"But it wasn't okay how I treated you. And it wasn't okay that I first denied River." He begun.
"And it also wasn't okay for me to blackmail you." Bonnie said, shaking her head in shame.
"I should've never-"

"No, you know what. Without River and without you I would probably still be that unhappy and busy asshole that I used to be. And I can't say that I've changed completely and that I'm a completely different person. But I'm trying to be a better man." He continued.
"So I guess in a twisted way, you blackmailing me has changed my life for the better." He said, chuckling at how weird that sounded.

"Well, if that is so, then you're welcome." Bonnie joked again. Zion nodded with a smile and couldn't help but step closer to her. He cupped her cheek as his eyes roamed her face. Bonnie leaned closer, her chest now resting against his ribs. She was waiting and he wanted to give her what she wanted.

"I missed you so much." He whispered before his head came down and their lips met. Zion's heart immediately warmed up and Bonnie's heart started to pace even faster. She couldn't feel her knees anymore, so she grabbed onto Zion's jacket. He too held her close with his arms tightly wrapped around her.

"Ew!" They suddenly heard and jumped apart. Aidan and Stella were giggling and Oliver looked up at them with big eyes.
"Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" He asked. Zion looked at Bonnie, who shrugged in answer.
"No, they're probably just fucking." Stella said.

"Excuse me?" Bonnie gasped, making Stella shrug and Aidan laugh.
"What's fucking?" Oliver asked. Zion shook his head and glared at Stella and Aidan. He crouched down to meet Oliver's eyes.
"I bet mommy will tell you. Tell her that Stella taught you that word." He told him, getting annoyed by Stella once more.

"Oday!" Oliver giggled as he ran off to his mother.
"What did you tell him?" Aidan asked his uncle.
"I told him to ask his mom and to tell her who exactly said that word." Stella's eyes visibly widened at that and before they knew it, they heard a loud yell.

"Stellaaa!" Ariana yelled, causing Stella to groan and glare up at Zion.
"You'll regret that." She said, running off to follow Oliver's direction.
"Brat." Bonnie whispered, not wanting Aidan to hear. But the kid wouldn't have noticed anything since he was already on his way to the parlour as well.

"Sorry about that." Zion apologized for his family's behaviour.
"It's fine, that's children to you." Bonnie shrugged.
"I hope River won't be like Stella or we're going to have a big problem." He joked, making Bonnie laugh.

"True. Speaking of River." Bonnie said, taking Zion's hand again.
"He really missed you too." She said.
"I know. But I got to face time him every time he was at my mom's." He said.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've-"
"I know. But I really just didn't want to talk to you for those months. I was afraid I wasn't ready yet and that I would snap at you again." He sighed.

"I get it. I probably wasn't ready either. Even though I would've liked to strangle you the first month where I had no idea where you were and what you were doing. But as soon as Sheryl explained, I was happy for you and I couldn't find it in myself to be angry." Bonnie told him.

"How much did she explain?" Zion asked Bonnie.
"Well, she said that you were having a hard time figuring out your feelings and that you needed time." She answered.

"That's not too bad." He stated and Bonnie nodded. Zion knew she wanted to know more but held herself back. He also wanted to know more about her but now really wasn't the right time.

"I've heard you got a new home?" He smirked.
"I do. It belongs to this weird guy. He is pretty nice once you get to know him though." Bonnie giggled, making Zion shake his head.
"Now I'm weird too?" He asked.

"Kind of. But I like it." Bonnie answered, kissing his cheek as the two walked back to the people in the parlour.
"Do you think you could show me around tonight?" He asked.

"I don't know. I'm not supposed to bring any guys home, instructions of the landlord." She shrugged.

"I think we can arrange something." He said, pecking her lips.