This Love, This Hate (A Lesbian Romance)

TLTH Chapter Twenty-Nine

A/N: Hey everyone my health is still taking a dive but the semester will be done soon which means more writing and more updates. Please leave feedback with any thoughts and ideas! I love to hear what you guys think as you read :)

This Love, This Hate

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Alright Zoe, grab my waist." Raine encouraged as she helped her out of Malarie's jeep.

"I can walk myself." Zoe snapped, trying to do so to prove her point and swearing loudly as her right knee buckled and she nearly fell onto her elbows on the pavement.

"Okay girlie, I've got you then." Jesse stepped in, practically carry her by her waist and exchanging an empathetic look with Raine while she fell back to walk with Malarie.

"Don't let her get to you. She's fiercely independent." Malarie assured softly.

"I'm just trying to help." Raine mumbled. And make up for what I caused. She mentally tacked on as they stepped into the house.

Once inside, Mrs. Farr smothered her for five solid minutes in hugs and tearful apologies while Zoe stood frozen with both arms around her and a dead look in her eyes like a statue. Once she finally let go, Zoe turned to grin at Raine and Mal, "Who's up for a swim?"

"Zo, you're supposed to be taking it easy." Raine softly objected.

"So you'd rather I be chained to my bed like a dying cancer patient?" Zoe snapped, angry rebellion flashing in her eyes like twin fires.

"No, I just-" Raine tried to explain.

"You just want me on bed rest depressed and immobile to 'heal.' Nothing is that bad, they just want me to be cautious." Zoe tore into her.

"Hey, swimming is not being cautious. At least wait a week or so." Malarie spoke up, wrapping an arm around Raine's slender waist in support.

"Jesse?" Zoe challenged irritably.

"You can't even walk on your own. Let's take it easy and get you upstairs, shall we? Your girl's just trying to keep you in one piece." Jesse reasoned as he began helping her up the first few steps.

"I can come join you." Raine offered half-heartedly.

"Just go home, Raine," Zoe snapped, "You've done enough."

"Zoe!" Malarie scolded.

"No, it's fine. I'll um...stay down here and let her cool off instead." Raine whimpered as she fought back tears.

~

"You don't have to do this. No, no I won't tell her. Okay, please drive safe. Keep me updated. Alright, talk to you later." Mrs. Farr said softly into her phone, pausing in between to listen to the receiver. Raine glanced over curiously at her, just trying to keep it together. She knew Zoe didn't mean to act so coldly or to hurt her by doing so, but she couldn't help but feel broken and at blame as she heard her channel surfing upstairs alone in her room and Malarie and Jesse giggling at the end of the upstairs hall in Malarie's room. "Do you want in on it?" Mrs. Farr asked with a warm, maternal smile, hoping to lift her spirits.

"Sure, I guess." Raine allowed, more for Mrs. Farr than herself. All she was concerned with right now was Zoe's hostility.

"Easton is coming down to visit and surprise the girls!" She clued in in an excited whisper.

"I thought he was more Malarie's friend?" Raine mentioned. Whenever he'd been mentioned to her, it was always as Malarie's past love interest.

"Oh, no. Where we last lived, those three were glued at the hip like you, Jesse, and Zoe are now," Mrs. Farr corrected with a fond smile, "He's...such a good boy...well, man I guess. It's weird to think of him that way. They've known each other as long as the girls have known how to walk.

"I'm surprised I haven't heard more about him." Raine murmured thoughtfully. What else didn't she know? Did she even know Zoe as well as she thought she did or did she only know a small part of the whole? Her mind began reeling with question after question and as she hugged her knees to her chest, she was unbelievably grateful to Paul coming in and stealing Mrs. Farr's attention.

"Hi ladies, everything going alright here?" He asked, cheerfully lifting the two large brown paper bags in his hands, "I brought Chinese."

"Zoe is not taking her doctor's recommendations the best." Mrs. Farr alluded before calling upstairs for the others to come down.

"Better bring it to me since I'm apparently incapable." Zoe snapped, each word cutting into Raine deeper than the last.

"I'm sure she'll come around. I'll go set everything out in the kitchen." Paul decided.

"You're welcome to join us as always, Raine." Mrs. Farr welcomed warmly.

~

Easton got off the phone with Mrs. Farr and focused on the road ahead of him with a broad grin. In a little over eight hours, he'd see Malarie again, really see her in the flesh rather than on his laptop screen over Skype. It had only been a matter of months, but they seemed like lifetimes to him. His heart raced at the thought of finally being able to hold her, touch her hair, smell her perfume, and relish her at last. He was finally ready to step up and be the man he had failed to be before when she was within reach. And who could forget Zoe? He missed her and their crazy after school and late night adventures more than anything. They'd always been inseparable, the three of them stuck to each other no matter what life threw at them. He couldn't wait to see them and catch up on the time he'd missed since they left.

He reached forward and surfed through a few radio stations before settling on a mixed station playing some nineties love song that had been his anthem in middle school and early high school. He smiled at the memories that began to accompany those times; Malarie blossoming into a beautiful woman and Zoe seeming to stay the same other than the occasional mood swing. If it was up to him, he'd spend the rest of his life being the guy two houses down like he was back home. Home just wasn't the same without them there now.