Vengeance Is Mine

(Zephyr's POV)

I stared at her blankly, trying to comprehend what it was she had just said to me. She wanted me to come home, she missed me, she needed me. I felt the tears swell in my eyes as the memories and the words she had said to me last began to replay in my head. She sided with Zoey, she blamed me for everything going wrong. "Please, Zephyr. It isn't a holiday if you're not there with us, please come home." I looked back behind me, seeing Zack staring at me with a wanting look in his eyes. I couldn't do it, I couldn't go. "I can't mom. At least, not yet. I want to finish having dinner with the Bakers. They've been the closest thing I've had to a family in these last weeks. I'll go talk to you after." Her face hardened and the emotion drained completely. "You know what? Never mind, I don't need you. Stay here with them, go ahead. You're never going to be satisfied until have everything your sister does. Including her boyfriend. You pretend you're happy, you keep pretending that this is best. You do not have a home with us, Zephyr. I'll leave all the rest of your things outside by the driveway."

In a matter of seconds, the complete situation turned to an absolute disaster. I slumped to the floor, tears falling from my eyes and the sobs soon started after. I was officially without a home, officially without a family, without a parent. And the things she said about Zack still being with Zoey didn't help make anything better, only much fucking worse. "Oh Zephyr, sweetheart. Come here." Zack's mom soon was at my side, cuddling me to her like I was one of her own children. I cried hard and loud, unable to hold back any longer. This was going to be on Thanksgiving that I never in my life would ever forget. Worst of all, this whole scene unfolded in front of all their family and friends, making me feel even more embarrassed then I already did. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Baker. I don't deserve to be here, I'm so sorry. I brought all my problems here to you, I ruined your Thanksgiving, I ruined it all. I'll go, I'm so sorry." I tried to turn away from her, but it was useless. She kept a tight grip on me, begging me to stop blaming myself for everything. It wasn't working though, I still felt like the biggest piece of shit.

"Zack, why don't you go upstairs with Zephyr, please?" He did as he was told before helping me up off the floor and ushering me up the small flight of stairs to his bedroom. I threw myself onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably loud. "I'm so sorry, Zack. I fucked everything up, I ruined your family's dinner, their holiday. I'll go, I swear, I'm leaving. I'm so sorry." He took my face in his hands gently, before pressing a hard kiss to my lips, instantly shutting me up. He did it again and again, and again, until I eventually stopped crying all together. "You didn't ruin anything, nothing is ruined. If there's anything to be sorry for, I'm the one whose sorry. I'm sorry your mother said those things to you, I'm sorry she just crushed your spirit, I'm sorry she's throwing your things out, but I'm here. I'm here for you, that's all that matters now. And your friends are all here for you too. We're not gonna let anything happen to you, Zephyr. I love you, I love you so goddamn much. I mean it, I'm serious."

I stared up at him, my eyes red and extremely puffy. "Then tell me you're not with Zoey anymore. Tell me that I'm not just going to end up being broken hearted again by you. Tell me that what my mom said was all lies. Tell me that you're in love with me, that you want to be with me." He stared deeply into my eyes for a good few minutes, not saying a single word. I was growing more impatient and extremely worried the longer he stayed silent. This doesn't sound good at all. "I-I love you, Zephyr. I'm in love with you, I have been, for a long time. I don't want to be with anyone else but you, you mean so much to be." I drew in a sharp deep breath, feeling my hands shake and tremble. But he still didn't mention about Zoey, he left all of that out. "Then why can't you answer me about Zoey still? Why are you avoiding it? Are you still with her, or not? It's a fucking simple answer, Zack. Don't kill me twice, just tell me the truth." He shifted his gaze down to the floor, finally taking his eyes off of me. "I-I'm-I'm not with Zoey. We're not together, but I won't lie to you, I still do talk to her. I still tell her that I love her, because I do. She's been there for me just as long as you have. I love you, Zephyr. But I still have love for her, too. I can't let it go that easy."

And with that, I stormed out of his room and out of the front door. I didn't bother to stop when Zack's mom called out for me, I didn't bother to even look in the direction of my house. I had to get as far away from everyone as humanly possible. Instead, I decided to finally call someone who had been a real last resort. "Hey, Johnny. Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Listen, can I come over? I need some place to just get away until the twins get back tomorrow. Really? Awesome, thanks, I'll be over in a few." Although Johnny was only a bit younger than me, I still enjoyed having him as a close friend. He was there whenever things got rough and I appreciated the hell out of it. It took me about half an hour to get there, but it wasn't as bad of a walk seeing as the streets were insanely empty. I knocked softly on the front door, seeing him soon in front of me. "Hey Zeph, come on in." We hugged for a brief second until I followed him downstairs into the basement of his house. "Welcome to the cave. There's some beer in the fridge." He smiles before sitting down on a small lounge chair across from me. I thank him greatly, grabbing one as I too then sit down on a beanbag chair.

"So, wanna tell me what happened?" I take a large swig before trying to gather my thoughts together. Where the hell do I even begin? "Zack still clearly is in love with my sister, even though he's been dying to get closer to me since I went back. My mom made a huge scene in front of all his family and threw out the rest of my things in the goddamn driveway, basically stating that I had no family anymore. I begged for Zack to tell me that he was over Zoey but he wouldn't, so now, I'm here. Speaking of which, where's your parents?" He shrugged with a sudden sad look on his face, making me instantly regret even asking. "They went to Santa Barbra to visit my grandparents. I was supposed to go with them, but they didn't want me to bring Lace. So on top of that, she also thought that she wasn't good enough for them, so she dumped me. Happy Thanksgiving, right?" I felt a pang of guilt hit me, feeling awful that I wasn't the only one suffering on what was supposed to be a happy day.

I reached out and put a hand to his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "I'm so sorry, Johnny. I know how much you love her." He shrugged again, sighing deeply. "Yeah well, apparently love isn't enough sometimes." He had a really good point there. I thought for sure that my love was enough for Zack but apparently it wasn't. We sat there in silence for a few good minutes until finally Johnny had scooted closer to me this time. I looked over at him quizzically, not really sure what to say or do next. But words soon weren't needed anymore when I suddenly felt the tug of his lips crashing into mine. This was definitely not something I had ever planned to ever do in my very life. Johnny was sweet and all, but not my type what so ever. Only instead of resisting and pushing back like I really should have, I made things entirely more complicated by kissing him back. "Shit, Zephyr, I'm really sorry. It's just, you're so beautiful and it makes me so pissed off that Zack doesn't understand what he's missing out on with you. Fuck. Look, I'm sorry, before this gets any worse, you better go."

I didn't say another word before I gathered my bag and raced up the stairs and out the front door, making sure it slammed shut behind me. I practically ran down the street, hoping to get as far away from there as possible. I finally stopped when I pretty much started seeing signs that said "Leaving Huntington Beach". Feeling tears rush down my cheeks, I finally took a minute to think to myself. My home is nowhere, so why should I stay?