Zero awoke to find herself lying on a couch that was unfamiliar to her, with a weight on her stomach and chest that calmed her immediately, soothing the panic that rose in her when she realised she didn't know where she was.
Her hands twitched as she registered the pounding in her head but the second she felt soft and silky fur against her fingers, she felt tears well in her eyes as the emotion crawled up her throat.
The weight on her chest shifted and she felt legs digging into her ribs but couldn't bring herself to care as a sharp bark jolted her into consciousness. A cold snout began nudging her face and jaw happily and as she realised it was Bolt, she couldn't help the relieved tears rolling down her cheeks as she held him close to her.
She sat up immediately as best she could, sniffling, burying her face in his fur as he wriggled and fought to lick her face, tail wagging left and right in excitement.
"Where the fuck have you been?" She whispered against him, voice cracking.
She didn't care that the voices in the background had stopped arguing, she didn't care where she was.
Because she thought Bolt was gone forever, and she now was never letting him out of her sight.
"Ze."
Her head snapped up. She shakily wiped some tears from her face with her sleeve again, meeting the eyes of Diego. She could have nearly sobbed, and covered her eyes with her sleeve covered hand for a moment as she became overwhelmed with relief.
He had longer, wavier hair and thicker facial hair - he looked so different but in a refreshing way.
"Diego..."
His shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank god, I thought I killed you."
The woman turned confused, brushing some hair back from her face before wincing as her fingers touched matted blood glued to her temple and eyebrow.
She absently ruffled Bolts ears and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
"What?" She asks, trying to think back to what happened. She remembered talking with Ben after the bar but not much else.
Flashes of feelings hit her as she recalled short bursts of things - her head smacking off the windscreen, grazing her body along concrete and a screeching of tires. She frowned, feeling her arm where her skin was tender beneath her jacket that had luckily taken the brunt of the damage, but the bruises made it hard to even lift her arm.
Her right eyelid felt sticky as she blinked and when her fingertips came away, they were stained with half dried blood.
"Wait... it was, uh..." she slowly came to the realisation as her brain sluggishly pieced bits together. "did you hit me with a car?"
"Yes."
She ignored Ben, not wanting them to think she was insane for hearing voices that they couldn't. He sounded a little tense but she tried not to dwell on it.
Diego scratched the back of his neck awkwardly when another voice chimed in with a laugh.
"He sure did!"
She turned to stare at the british woman sat reclined on the couch opposite her, a coffee table between them, stuffing her face with a handful of cereal she didn't recognise straight from the box.
"You should have seen his face!" she laughed to herself.
Zero shook her head slightly, more confused, and her head hurting even worse.
"Why did you hit me with a car?" She groaned, holding her head in one hand.
"Well obviously I didn't do it on purpose!" He exclaimed quickly, crossing his arms.
YOU ARE READING
THE THING WITH SORROW - The Umbrella Academy
Fanfiction"She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances. She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum." - Everything is Illuminated Zero Hargreeves;...
