Pursuit of Happiness | Taz Skylar [1]

093. never be the same

Taz didn't ask if Zoe wanted to go home before driving over to Bree and Jay to retrieve Palkia. In the last week of their trip, she'd begun missing Palkia terribly, which had only been exacerbated when suddenly the entirety of the internet knew that she'd been dropped from her record label, so he didn't feel the need to ask. He already knew.

"Are you okay?" Taz asked as he swung himself out of the car, his eyes raking over Zoe as she clambered out of the car after him. She was wearing the key he'd given her on a gold chain again, just as she had every day since he'd given it to her, taking it off only to sleep and shower, and it glinted in the sunlight as she shut the car door behind her.

"I'll live," Zoe answered, because that was the best that she could offer without lying.

Taz heard Tina and Palkia barking before he'd even knocked on the door, Tina's deeper barks mixing with Palkia's higher-pitched ones. It was Bree who opened the door, shouting in surprise when Palkia rushed between her feet and out the door, only to jump up at Zoe's legs. Palkia was barking excitedly, her feathery tail wagging back and forth so fast that it was just a brown blur behind her body, but when Zoe leaned down to scoop Palkia up in her arms, Palkia calmed down to allow it, though her tail was still wagging wildly.

"Hey," Bree said to Taz, making him step around Zoe so that he could hug Bree. As she wound her arms around his shoulders to squeeze his back, Bree asked, "Is it okay if I have a minute with her?"

Taz nodded, pausing to press a kiss to the top of Zoe's head and ruffle Palkia's ears before he disappeared inside the house, leaving Zoe with Bree. Hearing his footsteps, Tina emerged from the kitchen, walking right up to him and ducking her head so that she could sniff at his shoes. Taz smiled down at the dog, kneeling down so that he could rub his fingers underneath Tina's chin.

"You look like shit," Jay's voice drawled, making Taz look up in time to see his friend come out of the kitchen, a mug of coffee in his hand. As Taz shifted so that he was sitting on the floor, allowing Tina to flop down with her head on his leg, Jay leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. "Do you look like shit because you're jetlagged or because of all this shit with Zoe's record label?"

"Both," Taz answered, rubbing his hand over Tina's back. "I'm worried about her."

Jay clicked his tongue against his teeth and then glanced sideways, out the front door, just in time to see Zoe put Palkia down on her feet and usher her back into the house, shutting the door behind her. If Palkia was bothered, she didn't show it, tail wagging wildly again when she spotted Taz, her loud barks echoing through the house as she rushed over to him.

"Zoe's tough. She'll be fine. She just hasn't had to deal with bad press on this scale before," Jay said, sitting down on the floor to watch Palkia dash off to find a toy, coming back with a stuffed rabbit that had seen better days but that Palkia loved so much that Zoe refused to replace it until it became a choking hazard. Somehow, the rabbit hadn't reached that point yet.