Anew(Zoe and Eve)

"I Miss You."

This story takes place very early, even before "I Love You Three Thousand".

Extra info: Eve is staying in another state with her aunt and uncle for a while.

Zoe lay on her side, curled up atop the sheets of her bed. Her hair was tousled, and she had one lock wrapped around her finger. She spun it around the tip of her finger, gazing at it absentmindedly. Zoe had just come home from a run, and was now feeling out of it, unused to the sound of silence, having no music playing in her ears. She dropped the curl of hair, and brought her knees up to her chest. Zoe was uncharacteristically tired, and feeling... she didn't know how to describe it. Just so, lost, out of it, she felt like her mind was somewhere else.

She loved going running every day, it was always what she needed. When Zoe ran, she felt free, unburdened, like she was flying. To feel the wind on her skin, her hair whipping behind her, heart pumping, was bliss. Today was off, though. Zoe had gone outside to run today simply because it was routine, and hadn't done more than a slow jog. Zoe had listened to music as she ran, as usual, and she still missed the sensation of that rhythm pounding in her head, the music a constant she could focus on. She couldn't place it, but today she was lost, not in her own thoughts but somewhere far, far away. Zoe then curled up into the tightest ball she could, tensing her whole body. Then she relaxed her muscles. She lifted a hand and ran it through her hair. Across from her, she stared at the mirror on the wall her mother had once insisted was necessary. Everything about her room stayed the same, and she liked it that way. It was a safe, comforting place, close to her heart. Home inside of home. Then, looking directly at her reflection, she looked at her disheveled hair and crumpled clothes. Zoe stared at the blank look in her eyes, and the red tint in her cheeks, from running. Then her eyebrows raised slightly, and her mouth formed a small "o". Zoe knew what was different.

Today was the first day away from Eve. And it was the first of many.

~

The aching in her chest had not gone away. Eve knew she shouldn't shove the feeling away, so she tried to think about it, but... she was starting to think that wasn't the best route, either. What would Zoe do? Well, there's the problem. She couldn't get Zoe out of her goddamn head. Of course the first thought she had upon waking was of her. At times, she almost enjoyed it, running through ways conversations would go, imagining scenarios where she could see, and hear, and touch Zoe. She wanted a tangible Zoe, one she could lean into for comfort... although Eve wasn't exactly going to do that even if they could see each other, as much as she wished she could. Every thought spinning through her head, branching out from one idea to the next, creating an expansive web of fantasies and memories and questions and feelings. She couldn't stop herself, any second she didn't keep her mind busy, it wandered... to Zoe. Eve wanted to distract herself with a puzzle, or T.V., a book, or talking to Zeke or her grandmother. But there would always be times she was idle, and thoughts of Zoe would make their way into her mind. 

Bitterly, she thought, it should be simple. Just to decide to stop thinking of her. Now was no exception. Eve wondered if this was what it was normally like to have a crush. Still, this was only on a bad day.

Her body was wrapped up in sheets, under a bit of light poking through the clouds and in the window. She turned on her side, reaching for her phone on the nightstand. 8:14 a.m. Gray eyes scanned the screen for notifications, even though Eve knew there wouldn't be any. Twisting so that she was now lying on her stomach, she held the phone up in front of her. Eve unlocked the phone, opening up messages, despite knowing there was nothing new. Eve debated typing a, "good morning" greeting, but she knew Zoe would still be asleep. She shut off her phone with a sigh, and rested her face on the pillow, setting her phone down next to her. Eve closed her eyes, and soon fell back asleep. But she was not alone in her last thought before falling asleep. Both Zoe and Eve, that day, desperately thought,

I miss you.