Sorry, I Love You.

2.28

Merry Christmas Eve, everybody!

And if you don't celebrate Christmas,
Happy Holidays!

And if you're not religious,
Happy Candlenights!

(If you don't know what that is, please do extensive research because Candlenights and the creators of Candlenights make me so happy!😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️)

ANYWAYS, I know y'all are probably busy with family and whatnot but if you ever get bored listening to your old ass family members talk about absolutely nothing in your living room for 6 hours, might as well sit and read, right?

During their four days at the ski resort, Zoe only got to ski once with her friends. Brian had suddenly disappeared after she managed to ditch him so when her friends invited her out to ski with them again, she had no reason to decline. The only thing that made her hesitate was that she wanted to spend more time with this strange, happy version of Teddy that she wasn't used to. She worried that his attitude would turn dark again when they returned to school, where Teddy's worse enemies were.

Zoe wondered if that's why Teddy was happy here. Chuck and Joseph weren't here to harass him, Kim and Jennie weren't here to haunt him, and he had no responsibilities here. Was that why he was so happy? Even though he still, somehow, got beaten up? How had that not dampened his mood when he was clearly in pain? If anything, it did the opposite and that made her even more confused by his behavior.

Even without Zoe by his side, she still saw him smiling and laughing with Howl at their table across the mess hall. It made her heart flutter to see that charming smile on his face. He looked so relaxed, laid back in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest and a soft expression on his face. He was such a dreamboat. The more Zoe stared at him, the more she felt her insides turn to goo. She would do anything to get her hands on that man's naked chest again.

What kind of god did she have to swear fealty to for that to happen again?

According to Howl, that opportunity was right around the corner anyways. All Zoe had to do was make a move and Teddy, supposedly, would be hers. There didn't seem to be a better time to seduce him than now, seeing as he was so happy and his guard was clearly down. This would probably be her best chance. But how could she possibly even think about seducing him into having sex with her when her face turned into a tomato every time she thought about it? It was so embarrassing...

"Do we still have to board the busses by gender?" Stacy yelled to Mrs. Braverman as everyone scrambled out of The Grand Igloo with their luggage.

"No! We're just going back to school! Board whichever bus you'd like, just make sure it's the bus that has your luggage in it!" Mrs. Braverman called back.

The crowd of boys and girls blended in a split second, causing Zoe to flinch and stumble away so she didn't get crushed. There were a few couples among the crowd that were anxious to sit together and some friends that didn't get to chat on the way here so lots of people were excited by Mrs. Braverman's announcement. Zoe instinctually looked around for Teddy among the chaos but there was so much going on and she couldn't see over this crowd.

Luckily, Teddy caught her hand and plucked her out of the crowd before she got too anxious. Zoe looked down at her hand that was linked with Teddy's and then up at him, instantly struck in the chest by the twinkling look in his eyes. She blushed. A lot.

Zoe would have imagined she had to hunt Teddy down and steal the spot next to him before Howl could. She imagined he would groan in annoyance and whine about how many other seats she could have planted herself in. Strangely, though, Teddy found Zoe. He interlaced his fingers with hers and, instantly, that bit of anxiety that was rising within her vanished and was replaced with a completely different feeling. A feeling of safety and warmth and giddiness.