vita // lh au

1.4

1.4

CODY

"She's really gonna talk to me?" Ryan asked through the phone.

"Yeah, man, she is. I can't guarantee she'll be nice, or that she'll forgive you, but she's at least gonna hear you out."

"Oh my god, this isn't happening." I could tell he was smiling.

"But listen, Ryan. She's finally happy again. You fucked her up so bad, and she's finally happy again. If you ruin that for her, I swear to god I will-"

"I won't. I promise." He said, and then there was a short pause. "Does she have a boyfriend?" He asked shyly.

"Yeah, she does. He's a really good guy."

"Does he know she's gonna come talk to me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I actually talked to him about it before I ever told Zoe. He's the one who really pushed her to talk to you. You have him to thank, dude."

"Oh, okay. So he's here then? Is he coming?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Luke Hemmings." I said.

"Okay. Thanks, Cody. Seriously, thank you so much."

"Don't make me regret it, Ryan."

"I won't. I swear." He said, and then I hung up.

ZOE

I was nervous, I'm not gonna lie. We were on our way to meet Ryan at his dad's office, my dad's old office. He was apparently interning there over the summer.

"It's gonna be okay, babe." Luke said, smiling at me and squeezing my hand.

"We'll be right there for you." Laurel said.

"Thank you guys for coming." I said to my brother, sister, and boyfriend. They all smiled back at me and said you're welcome.

"Alright, we're here." Cody said as the cab pulled up on the curb in front of the building. "How do you want to do this?"

"I don't want to be alone with him, because I don't trust him, but I would like to speak to him privately."

"How about you guys sit in one of the conference rooms and we'll be right outside the door?" Laurel asked.

"Okay." I said.

We walked into the building, then went to the elevator and went up to the top floor. My hands were shaking, and I had to tell myself to breathe, otherwise I'd go into a full on panic attack.

"It's gonna be okay, baby." Luke said. "We're gonna be right here. I love you."

"He's in there." Cody said, "go in whenever you're ready, Zoe."

I took a deep breath, then opened the door and walked in to face the part of my past that brought every demon in me to the surface.

Here goes nothing.

"Zoe." Ryan said smiling. "I'm so glad you said yes to this."

"Don't smile." I said. "Your smile makes me want to vomit."

He looked shocked, but his face calmed itself, and he said, "I'm sorry, Zoe."

"You should be." I said coldly.

"You have no idea how sorry I am. I don't know what was wrong with me, you never deserved any of it, I-"

"You're damn right I didn't deserve it!" I yelled. "I fucking loved you, I did everything for you!" I could feel the tears start to form. "I loved you so fucking much, Ryan, and you fucked me up! How could you? How could you fucking do that to me? How can you live with yourself knowing all you did to me? How fucking could you? You were my best friend." I cried.