Pursuit of Happiness | Taz Skylar [1]

101. a perfect world

When Nate opened his front door, his eyebrows were creased with worry. It didn't help that he looked as if he had slept about as much as Zoe had, which was concerning given that Zoe was running on only a fraction of her usual amount of sleep as the combination of the pain from her fresh tattoo and her worry kept her awake for hours.

Nate didn't bring any of that up, however. Instead, he just gestured to the billowing pants that hung off Zoe's hips, held up by a belt and rolled up several times around her ankles. "Are you into clothes that are three sizes too big for you now?"

"They're Taz's," Zoe replied, wincing a little as she crossed the threshold into the house. When the concern in Nate's expression deepened, his hand hovering nearby for her to grab onto if she needed it, Zoe smiled at him half-heartedly. "I'm okay. The tattoo just stings."

"Is that why you're running around in Taz's clothes?" Nate asked, shutting the door behind Zoe so that she wouldn't have to try and twist her body to do it.

"I don't really need an excuse for that. Taz likes his clothes to be kind of oversized, so they're massive on me. It's cozy," Zoe admitted, laughing softly. Then, when her laughter faded, Zoe asked, "Is Ethan in his room?"

Nate nodded. "Are you going to be okay getting up the stairs?"

"I'll live," Zoe replied, turning to hobble towards the stairs. Nate attempted to follow her, but Zoe waved him away, so he merely watched Zoe carefully climb the stairs, although it was more of her hopping up onto each step, dragging her sore leg behind her, and then hopping up onto the next one. Nate watched her do it slowly, step by step, until the sound of Zoe thumping her way up the stairs brought Ethan out of his room as he came to investigate the sound.

"Zoe!" Ethan cried, upon seeing Zoe halfway up the staircase, a delighted smile spreading across his face. "Dad didn't tell me you were coming over today."

"I thought I'd surprise you," Zoe replied, shooting him a smile before she continued her slow progress up the stairs.

"Are you okay? What's wrong with your leg?" Ethan asked, his eyes going wide with concern.

"I'm fine," Zoe replied, breathing out a sigh of relief as she reached the top of the stairs, her hand gripping the banister of the staircase so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Despite that, Zoe reached out with her free hand to ruffle Ethan's hair affectionately. "I got a new tattoo. You wanna see it?"

Ethan nodded eagerly. "Do you want to go to my room?"

"Please. I think I need to sit down after that," Zoe replied, smiling down at her nephew gratefully when he offered her his shoulder to grip onto as they walked to Ethan's bedroom. As Zoe limped along next to Ethan, she found herself wishing that she had brought Taz with her. As the last loose end that she had to tie up before beginning to make the preparations to move to London, Zoe had thought that she wanted to do this on her own, but now that she was here, Zoe just wanted Taz at her side, steadying her with his presence in that way that only he could.