outfit :
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#c4a7be
outfit :
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xhex:
#3a0a4d
outfit :
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#6E9ECFGreythorne hadn’t been the easiest town to find, especially since Zoe had set out without much direction. That had been- in a word, frustrating, and Zoe had thought more than once that she may be better off just giving up and heading back home. But she’d ignored so many phone calls and followed so many leads, and she just couldn’t give up. She knew, of course, that finding the town was only the beginning, and that finding her brother would likely be a whole other beast. She didn’t have an address for him, or even a phone number. The foolishness of the whole thing really only struck her once she’d already gone through all the trouble and found the town, and at that point she’d gone that far, may as well finish what she’d started.
It took a bit of asking around (people, it seems, weren’t apt to trust just any strange person who, appearance wise, was just some random human that had wandered into the town), and then hardly anyone seemed to know who she was talking about. Zoe’s father had always painted her half-brother out to be some sort of troublemaker, and she had assumed more people would know of him, based solely on that.
Eventually, someone sent her to an address, and the woman that answered the door started laughing at her, which was not the response Zoe expected. Zoe didn’t even get a chance to explain who she was or why she was there before the older woman jotted down another address on a slip of paper and handed it to her, wishing her luck- though what for, Zoe wasn’t sue, and at that point she was getting more confused by the second. It took some directions, but it didn’t take long to walk to the new address she’d been given. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she knocked on the door, “Okay, Zoe,” She whispered to herself, “This has to be it.” She didn’t know what she was going to do if this wasn’t it, but she just felt like it had to be. She wasn’t sure she could handle much more disappointment in one day.
It wasn’t long before the door opened, and a blond man stood before her, and the smile almost instantly vanished from Zoe’s face. “Umm,” She started, not even sure where to start. “I’m sorry,” She looked down at the paper in her hand, eyebrows knit together in confusion, “I must have the wrong address again…” Suddenly all the frustration and disappointment she’d been feeling began to build up like rainwater in her chest, and it wasn’t long before her eyes were welling with tears she couldn’t fight back.
Phoenix had known something was up from the moment Neden and Markus left without Coco. It couldn’t have been an accident, they’d all known that Markus would have probably killed someone to protect that dog. He wouldn’t have left her behind. Not unless he had to. Coco stayed with them that night… and then every night after. Hearing Markus was dead was a shock that Phoenix was still trying to come to terms with. It was an unpleasant reminder of the aftermath of the attacks, that this still wasn’t over. It might never be.
Rosie had called another town meeting to try and boost spirits. Phoenix had already decided he wasn’t going. The last one hadn’t gone so well, and it wasn’t what he needed right now. Instead, he had texted Jaiden to come over later, and told her to bring Violet or Neden if they wanted to come. They all needed the distraction. He was cooking dinner in a bid to distract himself when he heard the knock on the door. Frowning, he glanced back at Alex with a shrug. Neither of them were expecting anyone, because Jaiden would just let herself in. He wasn’t sure who he was expecting to see on the other side, but the girl standing there wasn’t it. He had never seen her before, and his guard was instantly up. And then she took one look at him and started apologising. As she said she had to have the wrong house, Phoenix could see her eyes start to fill up with tears.
“Hey, uh, it’s okay. It happens to the best of us, right? Um… who are you looking for? I know pretty much everyone in town, I can let you know where they live,” he said awkwardly.
Zoe started wiping the tears from her eyes before they even started falling, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. She mentally berated herself for crying in front of a complete stranger; this was embarrassing, and childish, and her father would be disappointed in her if he saw her being so foolish. “Oh, god, sorry. I’m sorry,” She took a deep breath, as if to calm herself; not that it did much good. She didn’t know this guy, and here he was, offering to help her. She didn’t know if it was because he was a good person, or because she was literally standing on his doorstep crying. Either way, she knew she had put him in an awkward position.
She shook her head, “I’m looking for Alejandro Garcia,” She paused, studying the man’s face for a moment before adding,“Though I’m beginning to wonder if he even exists,” Her tone was full of sarcasm; a symptom of the goose chase she felt she’d been sent on. Then, maybe because she felt awkward, she started rambling on, “Thank you so much, for offering to help, and for being kind, and not making fun of me for crying… I’ve had a very frustrating day.”
He waited for a few seconds as she regained her composure, starting to wish he’d told Alex to open the door instead. She took a deep breath and said who she was looking for. Phoenix frowned. There wasn’t an Alejand- oh. It had taken him a while to recognise the name, because he hadn’t heard it in years, and every time he had, it had usually been accompanied with a string of middle names as Abuela yelled at them to stop doing whatever dumb thing they were doing at the time. He smirked. “It’s fine, you got sent to the right place, it’s just… You’ll see. Come in. I’m Phoenix, by the way,” he said. “Alex, there’s someone here to see you!” He called. He wondered who this strange woman was, who he’d never seen in town before, and who still called Alex by his full name. He led her back into the kitchen. “I’ll make some tea!”
Zoe smiled when Phoenix said she was in the right place, after all. She had to admit, she was thrilled, and suddenly more nervous than before. It was going to be okay, though, she reminded herself. Everything would be fine. “I’m Zoe. Thank you so much, again. I-” She cut herself off, shaking her head, “You have no idea how exciting this is.” Phoenix said he was going to make some tea, and it struck Zoe that he was, perhaps, the most inviting person she’d met so far in this town. The place was nice and cozy, and perhaps more cluttered than she’d expected.
Then, who she assumed to be, her brother walked in the room, talking the whole way, “Phoenix’s who’s-” He paused briefly when his eyes landed on her, and he shot Phoenix a look that Zoe couldn’t read, before saying, “Hi…” His tone was slow, cautious. Of course it was, he hadn’t been expecting her, and they’d never met.
Zoe resisted the urge to rush to him, instead she grinned and said, “It’s so great to meet you! You are Alejandro, right?” She shot a sideways glance to Phoenix, “Oh, sorry, do you prefer-”
“Alex.” He interrupted. His voice sounded cold. This already wasn’t going well.
“Right, sorry. I didn’t-” She looked down at her feet, trying to keep her composure, then she put a smile back on her face and continued, “I’m Zoe.” The blank look on Alex’s face told her that meant nothing to him, “Zo-Zoe Peña?” From the look on his face, she wasn’t sure she was ringing any bells there, either.
Alex looked at Phoenix, trying to ask with his eyes who the hell this woman was, and why she was there. Partially because he had no idea what was going on, and partially for confirmation that both of them were equally unaware. “It’s… Nice to meet you, Zoe, but why are you here?”
He saw Zoe’s face fall, as if this wasn’t going according to some sort of plan. “I… I just wanted to meet you. I thought that-”
“Wait,” Alex interrupted, now with more questions and no answers, “I don’t understand.”
“It’s me, Zoe. Your sister. I know we’ve-”
“I don’t have a sister.” Alex interrupted, having lost patience for the conversation.
“Well, actually, you do. I exist, last time I checked.” Alex didn’t find her attempt at humor funny, and after a short (and uncomfortable) pause, she continued, “Did Dad never talk to you about me? Or even tell you?”
“We don’t talk much.” It was a simple statement of fact, there was no acquisition-or even emotion-in the statement.
“Oh…” Zoe shot a pleading look at Phoenix, as if asking him for help. Alex felt a little sorry for her, but then she kept on talking, “I thought you would’ve known. He told me a little about you.”
Alex nodded, and now he was looking to Phoenix for help. This was an… Uncomfortable moment. “I’m sure it’s just… He’s not exactly the greatest, so.” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, it was nice to meet you.” He smiled at her, hoping she would get the not-so-subtle hint that he wanted her to leave.
Zoe’s mind was reeling. She’d only just arrived, and now he wanted her to leave? “Hold on,” There was a bit of desperation, maybe bordering on anger, in her voice. “I thought we could at least get to know each other a little. I’ve spent so long imagining what it might be like to have you in my life and-”
Alex held up a finger, as if to silently ask Zoe to stop talking, and she did, “That’s great and all, but I’m just not that interested.” So many things had happened in the past months, and Alex was still adjusting to many of the changes. He didn’t think he could really handle anything else thrust into his life.
Zoe looked upset, not angry, though. Mostly, she looked like her hopes and dreams were coming crashing down around her. “I came all this way and-”
“Well, I didn’t ask you to!” Alex was yelling, now, having fully lost his temper.
Things escalated rather quickly, and Phoenix wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. Alex’s questioning looks were met with ones of equal confusion from Phoenix, and then shock as Zoe announced she was Alex’s sister. Zoe shot Phoenix a look to help, but he really didn’t know what he could do or say. But Alex clearly wasn’t happy about it, and honestly, Phoenix couldn’t totally blame him. It was… one hell of surprise, that was for sure. But when tempers started to flare, Phoenix calmly stepped in and handed Zoe a cup of tea, before handing one to Alex and wrapping his arm around Alex’s waist to comfort him.
“Shouting at each other isn’t going to fix any of this,” he said calmly, aware that somebody needed to keep a level head before things went wrong.“Zoe, it’s lovely to meet you. But… you’ve got to understand that we had… literally no idea you existed. So… it is a bit of a shock. But,” he said, glancing at Alex, his expression gentle. Alex’s reaction had perhaps been a little harsh, but Phoenix didn’t blame him either. It was just the image of Zoe’s reaction when she thought she’d come all this way for nothing that was sticking in his head. “Let’s not act too rashly either, okay? Stay for dinner, I cooked loads.” He’d intended on giving some of it to Jaiden and the others, but there would still be plenty for them. “Until then, how about we show you around town and see if any of the B&B’s have a room?” He said. There was barely enough room for just him and Alex in the apartment, let alone a third person. And even if there was, Phoenix wasn’t sure he would have let her stay anyway. She didn’t have any real proof she was Alex’s sister, even if Phoenix could start to see certain resemblances the longer he looked.
Normally, Alex would’ve leaned into Phoenix, let himself be comforted, and just let the situation over. He was, however, more than a little upset. A part of him wanted to tell Phoenix to stop being nice, but as Phoenix spoke Alex stared over at Zoe, as if studying her. She was clutching her cup as if it were the only thing keeping her alive, and staring down into the tea instead of looking at either of them. Alex pretty quickly realized he wasn’t fully angry with her. He wasn’t happy about her being there, but she probably didn’t deserve to be yelled at.
Zoe spoke up first, looking over at Phoenix with a small smile, “Thank you,” There was an uncomfortable pause as she slowly looked from Phoenix to Alex, “I didn’t know how to contact you before I came,” She explained, slowly, “If I would have asked Dad, he would’ve just tried to talk me out of it, and I couldn’t seem to find you online.” She sighed, “With the attacks, I wanted to find you, and… I guess I was worried that if I waited it would be too late.” She set her cup down on the counter and said, “I have some pictures, if that helps.” Before rifling around in her bag for a moment, pulling out a few pictures. Family pictures; Zoe at various ages, with her parents. She looked a little like her dad, which was pretty obvious when you looked at the two of them together. She decided to hand them to Phoenix. He seemed calmer. “Maybe I should’ve led with that. I thought it might make things worse.”
“It probably would’ve.” Alex at least sounded calmer, now. He leaned into Phoenix a little, taking one of the pictures and flipping it over to look at the date scrawled across the back. That was his father in the picture, sure enough. He didn’t recognise the handwriting on the back, but it was probably Zoe’s mother’s.
“I know you didn’t grow up with him around,” Zoe said, quickly, “I’m not trying to rub it in that I did, I just didn’t-”
“No,” Alex interrupted, “I get it.” He nodded, “If this goes wrong, it’s not my fault. I will not take responsibility.”
Zoe smiled at him, “Okay, fair enough.”
Zoe was the first to break the silence by thanking Phoenix and explaining that she hadn’t known how to contact Alex. Greythorne was pretty closed off to the world, so it made sense. It sounded like Zoe had really put in a lot of effort to try and find him. When Zoe said she was afraid she would be too late after the attacks, Phoenix found himself glancing away for the first time, tracing the pattern on his mug with his fingers. She’d known about the attacks, had known about the danger, and she’d still come. This… this was clearly important to her. He was startled out of the thoughts as Zoe handed the photos to him. He started to flick through them, smiling a little as he felt Alex finally leaning into him. Alex took one of the photos, and Phoenix silently handed the rest of them to him. They were his to look at, not Phoenix’s. Things seemed to have calmed down, and Alex seemed a little more receptive to it. After a few minutes of looking through the photos, he straightened up a little. “Well then. Shall we go for that walk, show you around town?” He asked, looking between them.
If Alex were being completely honest, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about it all. There were a lot of mixed emotions, and he would have prefered to be able to process them before meeting Zoe, if that was what he chose to do, but he had to admit that he understood it a little better now. When Phoenix asked if they were ready to go walk around town, Zoe opened her mouth to answer, but quickly closed it and looked at Alex. He nodded, “If you’re ready.”
Zoe smiled, nodded, and said, “Yes, I would love that.”
As they started to get their coats on, Zoe complained about how cold it was, which made Alex laugh because, “Did you expect it to be warm in Canada during winter?” Zoe had to admit that she hadn’t known what to expect, but before long they were out the door, and showing Zoe what little sights Greythorne boasted: which was mostly where the stores were, or what a building was, or used to be. Admittedly-based on the sights alone-Greythorne wasn’t the most interesting town, but Zoe seemed happy, all the same. Phoenix smirked at Alex's comment as he bent down to put Coco on the leash, glad to see things were already improving. He took Alex's hand with his free hand as they walked, smiling at him.