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ZOE SAT BESIDES ROBIN ON THE FOUNTAIN. She played with the hem of her employees' shirt, the red fabric nearly tearing from how much it had been through. In a way, she could relate to her article of clothing. The way it had been tattered and no matter how hard she tried to fix it, it would never look the same. No matter how many months of therapy Zoe might undergo after this, she would never be the same. And while she tried listening to the group discussion at hand, every word that went in her ear, went out the other. The only key words she seemed to hold onto was the Mind Flayer, the gate, and the brain. Even then, she couldn't make sense of anything.
After the rather short meeting, Zoe had begun distancing herself from the crowd. She only needed a moment. A moment where she could process everything that had occurred. In truth, the one person she hoped would be alright throughout all this was her father. He hadn't seen her in over a week and vise-versa, it was tearing both of them to shreds. Sam had attempted to reach his daughter through any means necessary— leaving a message for Jim Hopper (who happened to be out of town), and even showing up to the 4th of July carnival. And while he stalked around, he had found nothing. It seemed like Zoe had disappeared into thin air, leaving him all alone again.
The two girls swayed their legs in a synchronized motion, mindlessly enjoying the time left before things went down. Robin intertwined her hand with Zoe's, giving both girls the confidence that they so desperately craved. Zoe laid her head on Robin's shoulder, unbeknownst to the accelerating heart rate on Robin's side. "Does this make us girlfriends now?" Robin asked, a bit too curious for her own good.
She was undoubtedly nervous. She began to think that she was too eager. Robin didn't want to ruin the slightest change with Zoe, not when she had spent all summer hung up over her. Zoe on the other hand, had believed that Robin was too good for her. Neither girls wanted to ruin the foundation in which they had become close. Ruining it meant no redemption, and that couldn't happen.
If your listening abilities weren't up to par, you wouldn't be able to hear the laughter that bubbled out or Zoe's throat. Happiness resided in both girls at that very moment. "Yeah, I guess this does make us girlfriends." Zoe responded, her teenage hormones getting the best of her. This time however, she didn't mind.
Robin, thoroughly enjoying the moment, could only imagine what her parents would think of this. Would they accept her? Would they kick her out of the only house she'd be able to call home? Robin didn't like risking the unknown. But she found herself risking more than just her life for the girl beside her. So she began to rethink the negative thoughts that swirled in her head. She really liked Zoe, and nothing was going to change her mind.
Steve found both girls cuddled up near the fountain, and although he didn't want to be the one to break up their happy-fest, the rest of the Scoops Troops Team were assigned the job of becoming the eyes and ears for the only three adults heading into the underground base. He walked up to them, twirling the keys that Hopper had gave him only moments prior. "You guys ready to head out?" He asked, grabbing the attention of Robin and Zoe.
Both girls looked at each their before nodding. They helped the other one up and followed Steve, Dustin, and Erica to the main entrance of the mall. As they stepped outside, the cool air ran down Zoe's spine. She knew it was much more than just that. Steve excitedly smiled, catching a glimpse of everyone's dream car. "Oh, man, now this... this is what I'm talking about!" He cheered.
"Toddfather?" Robin queried, reading the license plate of the car.
"Oh, screw Todd! Steve's her daddy now!" Steve ran his hand over the white paint, already in the love with the car that Hopper had let him borrow. Now that he had thought about it... where did Hopper get the car? It wasn't his, Steve knew that for certain.
"Did you just talk about yourself in the third person?" Robin asked, although it wasn't a question. Steve jumped into the front seat, where Robin had taken passenger side.
"Did he just call himself daddy?" Erica found just another thing wrong with Steve's general statement.
"All questions that I don't need answers too," Zoe shuddered jokingly. "Where the hell are we going anyway Stevie?" Zoe, Dustin, and Erica crammed into the backseat.
Steve didn't know the answer to Zoe's question, but luckily, Dustin had answered it instead. "Weathertop."
"Weather—what?" Steve asked confused, he had never heard of a place like that in Hawkins. Neither had Zoe.
"Just drive!" Dustin shouted, immediately putting Steve into action. He started up the car, and began driving farther and farther away from the mall. Zoe looked back, unable to train her eyes off the bright lights that the mall had radiated in the dead of night. She didn't know if returning meant the end of her. One thing she knew for certain however, was that the mall wouldn't be open for business anytime soon.
AUTHORS NOTE!
Sorry for the short chapter this time! I'm working on a Bill Denbrough (IT) story and I'm only going to publish it after I finish this one so chapters will be coming rather quickly. I really love Zoe and Robin and they've come along way and I feel sad that soon, I won't be writing their love story any longer. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story so far and I'll let you know when the story is over! I might make an epilogue but I'm not sure how the rest of the episode will format correctly, so we'll see what happens. This chapter wasn't edited properly because my editing program is sucking very much right now so sorry about that! Thank you for supporting this story!
