Writing this out of anger and pent-up frustration. Also bc I love you guys. Thanks for being my friends or at least I like to think so. So thank you for that. I kind of love you guys more than you could ever know and every comment means so much to me. I know most of you don't care or will skip this, but thank you for staying by my side.

Proceed.

-

"Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love, will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?" my baby aka ed sheeran (one of the items on my bucket list is to give him a big hug because he's a beautiful human being)

Also-everything that is in bold is a set of clues to a big revelation. Other than the first sentence aha. :)x (happy belated bday zen!!! i love this kid so much you have no clue. the fact that he is physically attractive is a plus. )

-

Zoey Willow Hunter

"ARE YOU AWAKE?" I askedNico, who seemed already settled in his small made-up bed. The tent, barely big enough for the both of us, made it difficult to see him.

Since it was raining cats and dogs outside and considering the fact that thunder was still striking outside, we decided to settle in the mansion for the night. There was a chance the smell of the paint inside might have suffocated us or perhaps spiders would eat us alive; but we were exhausted. I had a tent in here, a few pillows and covers just in case I needed to nap or in case of days like this.

Diana and Lucy were aware of the situation. I had sent them a quick text: w/Nico. All is well. I don't kiss and tell ;) but I shall sleep here tonight. Love you. Xoxoox. To which Diana answered: O.O lil zozobear is growin up. Stay protected, I don't want to be a godmother just yet and Lucy said: bruh. Have fun, but not too much fun. Actually, HAHAHAH no have all the fun you want ;) hate u bish.

We laid on one of the covers we had and were covered by others. He had a pillow, I had one. He was more far away than I liked him to be.

It was bizarre, in a way. Ever since what had happened an hour ago, it was like everything had changed yet stayed the same. It didn't feel new; being so close to him. But I wanted to be as close to him as possible. His touch was the rain and I was a flower in a desert. (Not in an inappropriate way, of course. Just hugs and kisses.)

"No, Hunter, I'm not. Stop hogging the covers," he commented, tugging on it.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

He grabbed my waist and pulled me close enough to him for my back to touch his torso. His clothes were wet, but he radiated warmth. His arm stayed slung over my waist, but then threw my hair over to my face. Now, I had a face full of my hair.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?" I lifted my head and put my hair further away from the pillow, strewn on the covers beneath us.

I could feel him shrug, "Your hair was in my face. I don't want to choke to death by it."

"So you want me to choke? What a romantic gentleman."

"Shut up, Hunter. You smell good, by the way," he snuggled his head against the smallest part of the crook of my neck. I could feel his hair on my skin; and his breath as well.

"You're warm."

"Thank you? Love, if you're going to be mine, or at least for a bit, you have to work on your complimenting skills."

I'm his.

"Sorry. You're hot, happy?"

"Mhm," he hummed against my neck, "very."
.
"Forrest?"

"What, now?"

"When did you start caring?"

He chuckled, "why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm a curious little lady."

"Alright," he kissed the space between my neck and my back. "Remember when you were pissed?"

"Those are too many to count. The Ceremony, or yesterday or the first day we met, or-"

"No, I mean pissed as in drunk."

The events of the unfortunate night dawned on me. "Yeah?"

"You walked over, started crying your eyes out and then kissed me. I thought you had gone barmy, really. But then I might have punched that arsehole in the stomach five times after that. That's when I started caring for you, I guess."

"Aw," I cooed, "So you did have feelings?"

"I was never an emotionless rock, you know."

"I know that. My turn!" I exclaimed, "Uh, remember our unfortunate drive to the airport?"

"The time you drooled in the airport?"

I blushed, "no. The time you wanted to run off and you had your passport."

"Ah."

"Yes, then. The fact that you left me on the side of the road and then came back showed me that you had balls."

"So you started caring for me when you realized that I had balls, Hunter?"

I started to laugh, "No?"

"Turn around just enough so I could kiss you, will you?" and I did.

A strike of thunder brought light upon him through the broken window. I noticed every crook of his face for the first time. A hollow crease in his cheeks added a trace of handsomeness to his defined jaw. I could see his dimples. His nose was straight and refined. His lips had an extravagant shape; stuck between plump and manly. They became pursed, as he studied me. I wondered what he thought. The crease between his eyebrows appeared only when he thought hard about anything. His hair, usually a perfect mix of just-got-out-of-bed and styled, needed a cut; because the rain made it fall into his eyes.

His lips touched mine softly and I smiled, "What was that for?"

"For you."

I pecked his lips once more, "you don't taste so bad anymore. The taste of cigarettes is almost gone," I turned my head away from him so that I didn't face him.

"You really know how to turn a guy on."

Tracing my fingers on his, "we've got plenty of time for me to learn, right?"

He tensed, "of course."

"Are you doing senior year or will you be in uni, now?" I asked, the question popping in my head.

His hold on my waist tightened and he breathed out. I felt his eyelashes flutter against my skin and it made my heart do the same. He began to sleep, or at least I thought so. It was almost bizarre how easily we fit together; almost like two lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I never wanted to let him go.

"Later, love." He chuckled against my skin, "I need some air."

-

Fifty-four-oh wait, fifty-five now.

Nico was precisely fifty-five minutes and two seconds late. I had woken up alone this morning, so I had figured that he had left home early to take a shower. He took slow walks to the mail house and sat on the porch, unobservant of me. I was sitting on the fresh grass; feeling wet grass under my butt gave me a strange feeling of joy. It was as if nature was giving me permission to be happy.

I crept behind him, flummoxed at his posture. He had his head in his hands, looking right ahead blankly. I brushed it off as a sign that he hadn't slept last night. Sitting beside him, I placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"Morning," I greeted.

He didn't answer. I wasn't even certain that he noticed my presence. I poked his shoulder three times, waiting for him to turn my way. But he didn't.

"Forrest?" I waved my hand across his face.

Nothing.

And I had an idea. It was a two way prize; the first to satisfy the urge I'd been having since the moment I woke up today and the second to get us to start working and get this done with.

I knelt on the steps beneath him, put my hands on his rough face and kissed him. He instantly responded, kissing me back. There was a feeling of distance in his kiss. But it gave me comfort. Perhaps he understood how I felt. I needed his lips to give me an early solace for what would happen today.

Skye would leave to New York soon. She would be settling in her new dorm room, preparing for Columbia. My heart ached at the thought of not fighting with her for the bathroom everyday and not walking to school together anymore. Mom and I would drive her to the airport in a few hours, suitably right after I finished mail delivering.

Nico pulled away, hazily staring at me. "Hi, babe."

Babe.

The miniature immature fan girl at the bottom of my heart giggled mercilessly.

"Nice way to start the day, am I right?" I gave him a small smile, sitting beside him.

He blinked, face softening. "Absolutely. Let's start, yeah?"

It felt so natural. Us kissing, I meant. It was as if we were made to kiss. Last night; the big scene gave me a slap to the face. Fighting and making up and fighting again were a part of his and I's cycle. Luckily, at least now when we made up we could also make out in the process.

I tugged on his shirt, forcing him to sit back down. "Hold on, are you alright?"

And the black hole in his eyes seemed to take up more space than it should. A thin circle of swirling green surrounded it. There was a curtain, hiding any display of emotion. It troubled me; his careful protection around himself. Yesterday, he had poured his heart out to me. Seeing such behavior from him worried me.

"I'm fine," and when he saw my raised eyebrow, he added: "really."

I stood up and he did as well. I pulled him into a hug, feeling him clutch on to me tighter than he ever had. It was almost as if he was afraid of me escaping from him. He buried his head in my shoulder and I rubbed his back soothingly. I fit almost too well in his arms.

"Nightmare?"

"More of a nightmare disguised as reality."

"What do you mean?" I loosened my grip around him and pulled away just enough for me to face him. His jaw was set and he shook his head.

"Nothing," he looked away.

"Forrest, come on."

"Hunter, please, love. I'm just tired. I'll go get the mail and we'll leave now, yeah?" He laid a chaste kiss on my lips and went inside the house.

I pursed my lips. On one hand, I wanted to get whatever was bothering him out. He needed to talk about it to feel better. Plus, it killed me to see him even the slightest bit upset (especially about something that wasn't my fault). On the other hand, I had argued with him enough in the past four days. The best choice would be to let him come to me; he eventually would; or at least I hoped so.

In the next two hours, as we delivered mail around a sunny Silvercrest; Nico hadn't spoken once. Even when I tried to talk to him, he gave me short replies. I had randomly spoken about five different subjects; the weather, orange juice, pancakes, famine and whale sperm. I was hoping for the smallest smile on his face or at least a remark when I mentioned that only a tiny percentage of whale sperm went inside the female and he should wonder why the sea is so salty.

Since I had been observing him so closely today, I came to an undeniable realization. There was no doubt about it; Nico was too handsome. Even when he was sad. The corners of his dark shaded pink lips tilted downwards. His skin was smooth to touch. There were the smallest traces of facial hair on his face. I wondered if he shaved every morning. He looked ragged and it tore a part of me away.

"That's it, right?" he asked, as I put the batch of letters in the mailbox.

I nodded, "You got plans for the day?"

"Guess so. You?"

"Driving Skye to the airport. Getting school stuff. Did you already go school shopping? School starts in two weeks, you know."

He started biking and so did I. "I know."

"Did you get our stuff?"

"I-no."

"Then you should," I said.

He nodded. "Right. Could we stop at the mail house one last time?"

"Last? We're still delivering mail for the next weeks, Forrest," I frowned at him. "Or at least until school starts again."

His pace quickened. "Right. Could we, though?"

"Yeah, sure."

And once we arrived and I had stepped foot off my bike, Nico grabbed my waist and began kissing me excessively passionately. There was no trace of the gentle kisses we had shared before; this one was hungry. And it reminded me of the way he held me this morning. It was as if he would never see me again. He bit on my bottom lip and I gasped, on the verge of losing my sanity. He lowly chuckled against my lips, the sound vibrating throughout my entire body.

His lips pecked every part of my face longingly. He kissed my cheeks, my nose, my eyebrows, my forehead, my jaw and my neck. I was losing it; I was going mad. I clutch onto his shirt and his hands are around the hem of my shirt. Heat rose in my body and I was blushing everywhere. Was this too fast? Absolutely. Did I care? Nope. He placed delicate butterfly kisses on my neck and went back to my lips.

Nico put the most beautiful kiss on my lips. His lips stayed on mine, setting repeated kisses on them. And I could feel my heart swell in my chest; the thought of losing this boy would break it. His kisses were like gasoline on flames. It was like he was fire and I was a hurricane. Alone, we were destructive. Together, we collided to create a love that was insane.

I love him. I love him. I love him.

I love you, I mentally told him.

He held my waist close to his torso, hands the least bit under my shirt; touching my back. That part felt like it was on fire. Everything he touched felt scorched with flames of ardor. It was almost as if he was art and everything about him touched me to the bones.

"Hi," I said, as he stared at me.

And he reeked of speculation and sorrow; how those two emotions merged I could not understand. 'Hey."

The phone buzzing in my pocket was a sign I had to go. "I-"

"I know," he said. "You will miss Skye, won't you?"

"More than anything. Even if she's a bitch, I love her. And I'm gonna miss her so much that it hurts."

He smiled kindly and set a kiss on my forehead, "You'll be fine. You'll message her and Skype with her as much as possible. It'll be tough at first, but you'll be okay. Promise me you'll be okay?"

"I promise."

"And promise me you'll be happy?"

I chuckled, "Nico, she's in New York. I can drive there when I turn eighteen, which is actually pretty soon. 'Cause my birthday is in three weeks, I'll be seventeen then. But for the mean time she'll drive here every few weekends. It's not like I'm never going to see her again. Plus, she's promising an extra nice birthday present to give me before she'll leave."

"Just promise me, please."

"I promise?"

"Good. Stay safe, love."

He was acting weird and it was freaking me out. "I will be? You too, I think?"

"Right," he bit on his bottom lip for a second and kissed me again. "You taste really good, by the way."

I grinned, "Right back at ya."

And a smile spread throughout his face as he let go of me and left.

"See you tomorrow!" I cried out, grabbing my bike and getting on it.

He didn't reply. And I went back home.

-

"Get the suitcase, Zoey!" screamed Skye, gathering her small bags.

"Don't tell me what to do!" I said to her, "But okay!"

Skye thought she was late and therefore was panicking. No, the better way to put that was: she was utterly and completely losing her shit. She burst into tears three times in the car; blubbering about how she should stay. But Mom and I convinced her to go along with her decision. Columbia was after all her dream school. (Julia agreed with Skye and was pushing her to stay; complaining about how she'll have only one sister to steal stuff from now.)

"Skye, you must stay. I don't like Zoey enough to survive with just her around," said Julia, holding Mom's hand as we walked into the airport.

"Hey!"

"Despica you!" Julia turned to me and back to Skye: "See? How will I ever live with that!"

"Mom, I can't even," hyperventilated my older sister.

"Finish your sentence, sweetheart."

She took a deep breath and muttered: "I can do this. I can do this."

I put a hand over her shoulder, "Skylar Marie Hunter, you can do this. You have your boarding pass and everything will be fine. You're three hours early, which according to Google; is more than fine. You'll be okay."

"Right," she smiled, "I'm going to university. I'm an adult!"

"Saying it doesn't mean you are one, love-bug," said Mom, voice wavering. "Go to the baggage check-in, we'll wait for you here."

We were a few meters away from security; where Skye would leave alone. She went and came back, carrying her backpack. Her face was set and steady; she was determined not to cry. Living with her for sixteen years made me understand her more than anyone.

"Me first! Me first!" cried out Julia, running to Skye. She lift her up and hugged her. Julia started crying like a baby. But once Skye let her go, she was saying: "I'm going to be fine! I am strong, indepent and bootiful."

I opened my mouth to correct her, but Skye engulfed me in a gigantic embrace. She whispered: "Take care of them. I'll miss you, Zoey. Love you. Also, take care of that boy." She sniffled.

"Love you too, I will."

Skye let go of me, grimacing. "God, I don't even know."

"Again, finish your sentences, mi corazón," Mom reached out to hug her daughter and kiss her head.

"Mom," said Skye, "don't say Spanish words if we're not Latinas."

"Yes, but," she hiccuped, wiping her cheeks with the tip of her sleeves, "Nico's family speaks Spanish, French and Italian and the day he asks for her hand, I'll show them I can speak Spanish."

Skye laughed, "Of course. I love you, mommy." Her use of the word displayed Skye being too emotional and dared I say-a kiss-up to mom. But she had a right to, today.

And five minutes later, our mother let go of her eldest and we watched her go through security. Julia stopped crying; yet Mom didn't. It was strange; but considering the fact that I had a few tears in my eyes, I understood Mom.

"You're staying with me for another year," she pinched my cheek.

"Moooooom."

Julia held her arms up, "Mommy, I want to sleep."

"I told you to sleep before, didn't I?" she sighed, picking Julia up and holding her in her arms. Julia put her head on our mom's shoulder, snuggled up against her, and went to sleep.

I pushed the airport doors, allowing what remained of my small family here go through. "Where are we going first?"

"Walmart, then Costco," she hummed. "We need school stuff for both you and I. I'm getting a new office at the firm and I want it to look fabulous."

"Since when do you say fabulous?"

"Since I want to. Gosh, Zoey, why are you like, totally being such a strict-baby?" she said in a high voice. "If I want to be hip, I can be hip. It's a free country."

"Mom, no one says hip," I said, buckling the seat belt. Mom set Julia on the back seat of the car, on the pillows we had for her. She was a heavy sleeper and could fall asleep anywhere.

She started the car; "you love me."

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

And almost an hour and twenty minutes later, we were walking through Costco with a sleepy Julia complaining about how she craved ice cream. The cart was not even halfway full yet. Senior year was my last year in high school; I intended to buy all new stuff. (But Mom and I knew I would probably lose everything by the end of the first week, especially the pencils and expensive pens.)

"Mom, just get her ice cream."

Mom, just get us ice cream.

My mom sighed, "fine. Sugar in the morning isn't good for you, you know? Plus, you're sick."

"I don't care, mommy! I'm sleepy and tired and this is your revinge for making me wake up when I wasn't done sleeping."

"Revenge, Julia," I corrected. "Yeah, she's right. Plus, we gotta celebrate getting Skye out of the house."

Instead of protesting, she grinned. "Yes! You're right! No one's going to steal my make up anymore!"

And as she advanced towards the moderately big food section in the back, Julia and I shared a high-five. She said: "You're my favorite."

"Bullshi-poop. You just told Skye she was your favorite."

"Yeah, but," she shrugged dramatically, "I never had enough time with you. Julia and Zoey time for life!"

"You know I leave-nevermind! Yes, Julia and Zoey for life!"

She turned to the air, "you see, Auggie? She believes everything I say!"

I clutched her hand and Mom was in the line to get us the ice cream. "Uh, who are you talking to?"

"Oh! Right, I forgot to introduce you. Auggie, this is Zoey, my less loved sister. Zoey, this is Auggie. I met him at Walmart."

Imaginary friends stage; all the Hunter girls had gone through that. Julia's first imaginary friend Mermaida had mysteriously "passed away" last week and ever since, she had been wanting a new friend.

"Oh. Hi, Auggie."

She scrunched up her nose, "really?"

"Really, what?" I said.

"Wait, Zoey! Hm. Mhm. I guess you're right."

She turned to me. "Auggie says I should stop being such a meanie to you. I despica you, you know. I just miss Skye. I despica you as much as I despica her."

Apparently, she now used the word despica instead of love.

I picked her up and supported her carefully. "I love you too and I miss her too. Do you think we could miss her together?"

He face lit up: "Yes! You're smart! Hey, mommy's back with Mister Green Eyes."

Mister Green Eyes was in fact Mr. Forrest, Nico's father. He was almost angry-no, closer to frustrated. His features displayed discontentment. My mom held three cones of ice cream in a box, with a sad look on her face.

"Hi," I greeted him. "Are you alright, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He didn't tell you," he mumbled. "That idiot."

"Tell me what?"

And when Mr. Forrest informed me of what his son had been hiding from me, I almost dropped Julia.

An hour later, I was standing in front of his door. "Open the damn door!" I hit the door with all my force, my fist already hurting. I did not care, there was no one else to see me. His father wouldn't be back until at least 5 o'clock, so I had two hours to beat the shit out of this boy.

The door unlocked, revealing a distraught Nico. There was a shirt over his shoulder. "Hunter?"

I stepped into his house without caring about any respect. The house was clean enough. Nico shut the door and looked at me with wide eyes.

"You fucking dare!" I shouted, pointing my finger at his face.

"W-what?"

There were tears threatening to fall out of my eyes, "you fucking asshole! How could you? How dare you not tell me? Don't you think you owe it to me, at least fucking telling me? You could've told me!"

He stayed silent, guilt washing over his features.

"You could've told me," I whimpered, feeling ashamed of my childish attitude. "You could've told me that you were going back to England."

-

can i just: HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA

and you all thought they'd be lovey-dovey and happy hA

can we talk about them being loveydovey though bc i got so many zico feels

also, because i suck horribly, i didn't know how to put the moon in my sky quote i wrote in so i included myself in the story. yay, originality!

NOT IMPORTANT, JUST RANTING: (kind of been feeling really shitty lately and writing is my only escape. do you ever feel that you're not okay? like you try really hard to be okay but overthinking takes over you and you can feel the cracks in your heart widening.)

love you lots and lots, yas