Adopted (a Zalfie fanfic) [1]

Chapter 23

*Lily's POV*
They say once you've hit rock bottom, things can only improve, right? It's true.

Once I had admitted to having a problem that night, things improved a whole lot. To begin, we had pancakes for breakfast the next morning. That's a first. They were amazing. Then we got ready and went out shopping. This was something I very rarely did and yes, it pushed me out of my comfort zone but I did it and felt extremely proud afterwards.

Zoe and Alfie were very generous and insisted on buying me lots of lovely things, even though I told them it was fine. We dined in Wagamamas and ate ice cream on the beach. We strolled along the pier and played in the arcades. I felt free, with the cold breeze blowing through my hair and the waves crashing beneath my feet. It took me back to the good old days, where my family and I would take trips to the seaside during the summer. My dad would bury me in the sand, while I shrieked with delight. He would carry me along the same pier when my little legs could no longer support me. My mum would coat me in sun cream, much to my dismay. But then she would paddle in the sea with me, the waves hitting our legs.

Remembering these times made me feel extremely sad, yet at the same time slightly happy. I was grateful for all the amazing memories we shared together before the accident. The memory of my parents was still alive and I was determined to keep it there. But I didn't want to remember them by the day it all went wrong and that was all I could ever really think of. Every night, when I relived that moment, all the good memories got pushed away and in their place was the image of them in the car.

I shuddered at the memory. "You okay?" Zoe asked, as we strolled along the pier, stopping momentarily to watch a seagull fly past.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." I replied, reassuring her with a grin.

Even though I felt a little on edge for the majority of the time following my panic attack the previous night, I had an amazing day. It had been the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere...and that was with Zoe and Alfie.

I would usually be counting down the hours until the visits were over, so I could retreat back into my own little bubble and block out the scary reality of everything. But instead, I didn't care about the time and was actually quite disappointed when the time came to drop me back off at the care home.

As we walked up to the door of the grim building, I plucked up the courage to say, "T-thank you both for such a wonderful day. A-and thank you for all the lovely things you bought me, I-I really appreciate it."

I then surprised myself by hugging both of them, Zoe first, Alfie second. "Your very welcome Lily. Hopefully it's the first of many great times together, yeah?" Alfie said, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

"Yep." I replied, for once feeling confident that things were going to work out.