Chapter Negative One: Robert Swayze Keene

"Oh, it's new, the shape of your body. It's blue, the feeling I've got and it's ooh, whoa, oh. It's a cruel summer."

~Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift~

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Warnings: abuse, addiction, domestic violence, language, underage drinking, and other mature themes

Yay! Here is the first chapter of the prequel. Enjoy.

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Zion's POV

"So, what are your plans for the night?" Jess asks in a suspiciously happy voice.

"I'm going to see my dad," I say. 

"I thought they said he was okay?" Jess asks in concern.

"He is and he'll be released tomorrow. It's just... I want to visit him again," I say.

"You were just there a couple of hours ago, though," she reminds me. "You're always at the hospital. Isn't it a good idea to get out and enjoy life for a change?"

"I don't know how long I have left with him," I frown. "Even if he does sleep the entire time..."

"I know your dad would want you to go out and have some fun. You're so selfless when it comes to him, always wanting to visit and check that he's okay. But, Zion, you need to take a break from the pressure and just relax," Jess reasons with me.

I know she's right. I've become so stressed ever since his diagnosis. Cancer kills and my mom's constant pessimism has me paranoid and worried 24/7.

"What were you thinking?" I ask her.

"There's a party on the beach tonight," she smiles excitedly. "Brian is going and dragging Katie and Diego along. Reid already has some of his friends going. It's a huge gathering and I really want to go."

"A party?" I ask. "Are you going to hookup with a cute girl and leave me all alone again?"

"That was one time," she says and we both smile at each other. I'm never letting her live that down. "Maybe I can find you a hookup."

"We both know I'm not really the hookup type," I shake my head. I don't think I could ever see myself having a one night stand.

"Well, then, a hot significant other may be at the party awaiting you," Jess says with a smile. "These are the best years of our life. Have some fun."

I sigh, "Okay, but only because this seems really important to you."

"Yay!" she jumps up in excitement. "You're wearing your new lavender bikini. I've already decided."

"You picked out my outfit?" I ask in astonishment.

"I've been trying to get you out to a party again for the longest time. You take a while to get ready, so I cut out a step for you. You're also wearing my black lace sundress over it," she says and walks over to her closet for me to borrow it.

⭒⭒⭒

"Get in, losers," Katie quotes Mean Girls as she pulls up to Jess' house in her Jeep. 

Reid is already in the front with her while Brian and his boyfriend, Diego, are comfortable in the back. This leaves Jess and I to squeeze in, as usual.

"You convinced her to come," Brian smiles at Jess as the music blares through the Jeep.

"I'm a miracle worker," Jess says egotistically and I smile.

"I'm happy to hang out with you guys again," I say. I've really been neglecting them lately. My home life has been chaotic.

"What kind of music is this?" Jess asks as Katie drives to the main strip to take us to the shore.

"Brian gave Diego the aux," Katie says and you can hear the eye roll in her voice.

"It's the Glee Cast version of Bad Romance," Diego says proudly.

"You mean the Walmart version," Jess teases him and Diego gasps.

"And I thought Kids Bop was bad," I scrunch my nose in distaste, not used to a group covering Lady Gaga. You can't beat the original in this case.

"You obviously have no clue what you're talking about," Diego argues and then turns to his boyfriend. "Honey, you have horrible taste in friends."

"Can we at least turn it down? I can't hear myself think," Reid says.

"Like you had a brain in the first place," Brian states and we all laugh with him. Still, Katie turns down the volume and it's a little better now.

"Wasn't Glee that show with Broadway songs or something?" I ask Jess.

"I saw a few episodes of it. It's pretty messed up and offensive," Jess confirms.

"Um, excuse you. Glee was a cultural reset and perfect for its time. I will not accept this slander," Diego speaks up in offense.

"The cheerleading coach was so problematic," Jess turns to him.

"That's what makes it funny," Diego explains.

"I don't think racism is funny," Jess says. What?

"Not the racist parts, but times like when she insulted Will," Diego points out and Jess smiles.

"Okay, yeah, that was pretty funny. He had those insults coming," Jess says and they continue to talk about Glee as another song comes on and I see Brian lip-syncing on his side of the Jeep. I smile to myself, realizing how much I've missed all of them.

"What have you been up to, Zion?" Reid turns back to me as much as he can.

"Just checking up on my dad, really," I say. 

"Oh," Reid says. "How's he doing?"

"The doctors said he's stable and will be released again tomorrow," I say hopefully and I see Katie and Reid smile from their seats.

"That's really good," Katie says. "We're all happy you could come tonight."

"The group is finally back together," Reid announces and we all cheer. I love them so much.

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We make it to the beach as the sun is almost below the horizon line. It's crowded with a bunch of teenagers. There are a few campfires set up already. 

"Flashlights," Katie reaches over Reid and pulls them out of a bag as I slip out of my coverup to reveal my bikini. "And keep your ringers on in case we need each other." 

"Yes, Mom," Reid teases her and she frowns at him playfully. 

"There's nothing wrong with being safe," she says.

Reid and her constantly flirt, but neither have ever acted on their feelings. Katie won't even admit it, but Reid is so obvious about it, always trying to get under her skin. It's cute.

"Are you designated driver again?" Jess asks Katie.

"Always," she nods and holds up the keys.

"Good. Zion, you and I are finding something to drink," Jess tells me.

"Count us in," Brian agrees as we hop out of the car, holding hands with Diego. They're sickeningly sweet together.

"I hate to ditch you guys, but I have some friends here tonight that I wanted to hang out with," Reid tells us.

"Oh," Katie is taken aback by this and glances out to the shore, "that's fine. I'm going to play volleyball with that group." I look down to see some girls around a net close to us.

"So, what? No big entrance of the gays tonight?" Jess asks with a frown.

I laugh. All of us are queer in one way or another. Jess is a lesbian, Brian and Diego are gay, Reid and I are bi, and Katie is pan.

"It's okay for us to split up tonight," I assure everyone. "I'm getting back into the vibe of this whole party scene, so maybe it's for the best."

"See? Zion gets me," Reid says with a bright smile. "I swear, we can hang out more later."

"You're just wanting to leave us for dick," Katie rolls her eyes and we all laugh.

"Jealous, Miss Evans?" Reid flirts and Katie turns red.

"As if," she shakes her head and walks away all flustered. "I'm going now."

"Uh-huh. Don't miss me too much, Kat!" he uses his nickname for her and she turns back to flip him off. 

"Come on, let's go get some alcohol," Jess whispers and links arms with me as we head towards the campfires where some tables with snacks and drinks are set up. 

I turn back to see Reid going to his group of friends while Brian and Diego sneak off alone somewhere.

"See anyone cute?" Jess asks me as we make it down the hill.

"We just got here," I say and she nods.

"I already found someone. Green swimsuit at three o'clock," she whispers and I look over to see an Asian girl in a bright green one-piece with long hair dyed blue at the ends. 

"You're fast," I say in astonishment and grab a cookie from the table. I look up at the moon and see it's full tonight. It's gorgeous. 

"You know the best thing about tonight?" Jess asks me.

"Free cookies?" I hold up the chocolate chip cookie with a small smile.

"No," she laughs. "Gabi and Kayla won't be here because they're in Hawaii until next weekend."

"Oh, thank god," I say in relief, really not wanting to deal with their drama tonight. 

"Also," she looks past me, "drinks." She walks over to another table and grabs a red Solo cup for me and another for her. She mixes rum and Coke, which is a classic favorite of ours. She holds up the cup, "To your return to the land of parties! You've been missed."

I grab my cup from the table and we tap them together before taking a swig of the alcohol. It burns a bit as it goes down, but I still enjoy it. I won't get super drunk, though, even if we do have a designated driver. Just in case I have to leave for my dad for some reason.

"See the blonde talking to the girl in the green bikini?" Jess nods her head towards the group of girls around the Asian girl she pointed out earlier.

"What about her?" I ask.

"She's in my art class," Jess explains. "Do you want to go over and converse with me? I could introduce you to her while I talk to the other one."

"Sorry, Jess, but I don't know about that. Maybe... Maybe I'll just stay over here?" I ask. 

She turns to me with a frown, "But Zion-"

"You should still go," I say and look at the big crowd. "I don't know. I just need a minute to get used to the party scene again." I'm usually not this introverted, but it's been a while since I've interacted with new people.

"Fine," she sighs. "But come over later. Or try to talk to someone sometime."

"Sure," I say, trying to find my confidence. I can do this.

I turn back to the food table and see a tan boy with brown hair and a six pack walk up... Not to sound creepy or anything. He's just...gorgeous. His hair is styled like the nineties and slightly falls into his face as he looks down to find something to eat. 

He grabs a cookie like I had earlier and then turns to me, surely wondering why I'm staring at him. God, I'm weird. I look away in an instant and find Jess, scurrying over to her. I still feel his eyes on me as I walk away.

"You came over here," Jess wraps her arm over my shoulders. "Megan and Quinn, this is my best friend, Zion."

"Nice to meet you," the Asian girl Jess referred to as Megan speaks up.

"Hey," I say and Quinn nods at me with a smile. She has short, blonde hair.

"I wish we were allowed to do what we want in Mr. Burns class," Quinn complains, most likely continuing the conversation I interrupted. "I want to draw anime characters sooo bad."

I tune out their conversation a little, not knowing anything about anime. I look around to try and find some of my other friends, but I only see Reid and the rest of his guy friends; there are, like, twenty of them over there in a huddle. 

I then see the boy from the snack table standing with them. He really is hot, wow. 

"Zion," Jess speaks up and I snap out of my daze, turning to her.

"What?" I ask.

"I'm making a run for more to drink. Do you want more?" Jess asks me. I look down at my half-full cup,

"No. No, I'm good."

"Okay, I'll be right back," Jess moves by me and leaves me with Quinn and Megan.

"Do you watch anime, Zion?" Megan asks me.

"Not really. I've seen a few episodes of things, but it was for date nights with Jess when she got to pick what we watched," I shrug. "I don't remember much of it."

"Wait, so you and Jess are dating?" Megan asks wearily.

"No, we used to date. Now we're just best friends and the feelings are long gone, romantically," I explain, scared I'll somehow screw this up for Jess. Megan seems to be put at ease by this.

"I'm back," Jess says and holds out another cup for Megan. 

⭒⭒⭒

About an hour later, I'm sitting on a log scrolling through my phone. I'm drinking water now and checking my texts frequently in case my mom texts me about my dad. Jess notices this, but also recognizes that it was a big step for me to come out in the first place tonight and lets me spend time on my phone while she talks with Megan about music.

I've been occasionally glancing over at the brown haired boy, unsure of if I should make a move or not. I'd talk to Jess about it, but she's having her time with Megan. I have to say I feel like he's looking back over at me, too. But I can't confirm it because it could just be wishful thinking.

"I'm going to go play volleyball," I decide and announce to Jess. 

"Ew," Jess says and I laugh. "I'm kidding. Have fun."

I stand up and walk over to the net Katie is still playing at and she smiles at me.

"Zion, you're on my team," she says. I wonder now if I've made a mistake because Katie is super competitive. "You're going DOWN!" She yells at the other team and serves the ball their way.

They volley it back and I move to hit it, but Katie rushes past me and spikes it back over the net and gets the point.

"Whoo!" Katie cheers. She's an athletic ball of energy and I'm already worn-out. 

After another twenty minutes or so, I politely excuse myself to go back over to Jess. She doesn't seem to mind, though; she's way too into the zone to pull her out now. It's kind of funny, actually.

"Have fun?" Jess sees me walking back over; she's now with another group of girls standing by the water.

"Yeah, even though I barely got the chance to hit the ball," I look back to Katie as she does a celebratory cartwheel.

"You should've known," Jess laughs.

I nod and my gaze drifts back to the boy with the nineties haircut once more. This time I think he's even staring at me.

"Ohhh, okay. I see you," Jess elbows me with a smile.

"Hm?" I ask, pretending I don't know what she's talking about.

"Go make a move," Jess says.

"What? Huh?" I ask and she laughs.

"I've seen you checking out the cute guy over there all night. Go talk to him," she says and I shake my head.

"I don't know. Do you think he'd like me back?" I ask.

"Probably. He's headed this way now," Jess laughs.

"What?" I panic and spin around to see boy coming my direction. Jess shoves me towards him and I stumble forward a little in the sand. He stands in front of me now with a smile,

"Hi, I'm Robby." He extends his hand to shake.

"I'm Zion," I accept the handshake with a smile. He's really cute.

"Nice to meet you," he says.

"Likewise," I say awkwardly, not knowing how to flirt because I don't want to come on too strong. I see something in his hands. "Do you skateboard?"

"Yeah, all the time," he nods and I smile.

"That's really cool. I've always wanted to learn how," I say.

"It's harder than it looks, but I'm sure you could get the hang of it," he says positively.

"Yeah, maybe," I say and I know the conversation is dying. "Are you from around here?"

"No, I'm from out of town," he says. I frown a little at this, sad that there's a low chance of this moving forward much. "And you?"

"Born and raised here," I say.

"That's nice," he says. "I know I don't live here, but maybe we could still hang out together? If you're cool with that?"

I bite my lip and blush, actually very glad to hear that. I'm happy he seems to like me as much as I like him. "Yeah, that's very cool."

"Great," his face lights up with a smile, which makes me smile widely, too; it's infectious. "It's hard to teach you to skateboard on sand, unfortunately. Uh, any ideas of what you want to do?" An idea pops into my head.

"This may be too cheesy," I smile, "but we could walk down the beach and get to know each other better?" I'm unsure if this is a good plan, but Robby nods,

"Hey, cheesy sounds great."

"Okay. I'm just going to go tell my friend," I say as a safety precaution, in case I don't come back for some reason. Robby nods and I rush over to Jess and she smiles brightly.

"Well? How did it go?" she asks me.

"We're going to walk down by the ocean together," I say excitedly.

"Oh my God! That's awesome," she says. "You'll have to fill me in later."

"Promise," I nod.

"Now go have fun," she says and I smile before jogging back over to Robby.

"Hi, I'm ready now," I say.

"Great. Which way do you want to walk?" he points to either side of the shore.

"The pier is down that way," I point left.

"Left it is," he says and we start walking that way.

"So, is Robby short for something?" I ask.

"Yeah," he groans playfully, "Robert."

"You definitely don't look like a Robert," I smile. "Robby is a good name for you."

"Zion is a good name for you, too. It's unique," he tells me.

"Unique in a good way?" I question.

"Yes, of course in a good way," he says.

"Okay, just checking," I nod. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says.

We walk in silence another few seconds.

"Sorry, I'm not great at small talk," Robby admits.

"I'm not really, either," I say. "We could play twenty questions and get to know each other better?"

"That is definitely cheesy," he says and I look down in embarrassment. That was so lame. Why did I suggest that? I'm so nervous around him. "Question one: How old are you?"

"Wait, you're seriously going to do it?" I ask in surprise. I'm used to my ideas being shot down.

"Yeah," Robby shrugs with a smile. "And that counts as one of your questions."

"What! That's not fair," I cross my arms.

"Tough," Robby says playfully.

"Fine," I sigh. "I just turned sixteen. How old are you?"

"Fifteen, almost sixteen," he tells me. "I'm a rising sophomore."

"Me, too," I say. "I'm older than most people in my grade. My birthday is in the summer and the kindergarten I went to let my parents choose what grade I'm in." I realize I'm kind of oversharing. "Sorry, you didn't need to know that."

"No, it's okay," Robby assures me. "What do you like to do for fun? Like, what are your hobbies?"

"Hm," I try to think of what's interesting about me, "I used to play soccer."

"Used to?" he asks.

"I quit because... I didn't have time for it anymore," is all I say, not wanting him to know about my dad and take pity on me already.

"Well, soccer is pretty cool. I'm sure you were good," he says.

"Thanks," I say. "What are your hobbies?"

"Oh, I hang out with my friends and stuff," he says vaguely.

"Um, what kind of stuff do you do?" I ask. Robby looks down almost... guiltily. "I'm sorry if I asked something personal."

"No, it's fine. I just don't really care for my friends," he says. What does he mean by that? "I hang out with these two guys and I like them enough, I guess. They're older than me and we don't get along super well."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say. "Do you have any friends your age?"

"Not local to where I live, no," he frowns.

"I wish I could move to where you live so you'd have someone else," I say and he laughs.

"That would be nice," he says.

"So, what brings you out here?" I ask.

"Your friend's friend's are kind of my friends," he says. "That made no sense," he laughs.

"I actually know what you meant," I say, slowly piecing it together.

"Yeah, I met them through those two guys. I'm coming down for long weekends this summer. My mom doesn't really notice I'm gone anyway, so I'll be making trips up here for the next month," he explains.

"She won't notice?" I ask in concern.

"She's not very perceptive about my life," he says.

"Oh. I'm sorry," I say, worried to ask about his dad. He doesn't bring it up, so I won't either.

"The house I'm staying at is super crowded and I don't really fit in with any of the guys, but it's all right," he says. "Vacation is vacation and I'm glad I'm here tonight."

"I'm glad I am, too," I say and walk closer to the water now.

"Don't get pulled out by the tide," Robby jokes with me.

"I'll be safe," I assure him. "Ow," a pain hits the bottom of my foot and in an instant Robby is right by my side and grabbing my hand.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay. Seashell," I assure him.

"I told you to be careful," he says in a playful yet caring tone.

"No, you told me not to get pulled out by the tide. I didn't," I argue and realize our faces are really close together as he still holds my hand in support.

"Your foot's okay?" he asks. His beautiful eyes meet mine.

"Definitely," I confirm and he nods.

"Good. I'd hate to bring you back hurt," he says sweetly. 

"It was my own fault," I try to make him feel better.

"Still, I don't know how much your friends would like me if you were hurt after hanging out with me," he says.

"Maybe it wouldn't be the best first impression," I agree with a soft smile.

"So, what's down by the pier?" he asks me.

"A few shops, some food, and the pier itself is nice to walk on and we can look out at the water..." I pause. "Even though it's pitch black."

"It'll still be nice," Robby assures me positively. He's so sweet; it's definitely what I need right now. "So, back to twenty questions... I have no idea what number we were on."

"I don't remember, either," I admit.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter," he says. "Do you have any siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," I say. "What about you?"

"Same here," he says. "Any pets?"

"No. You?" I ask.

"No," he says. "Have you ever broken a bone?"

"Once when I was younger. I was playing soccer and I slipped in the mud and landed on my leg wrong," I explain.

"Ooh, that sounds painful," Robby winces.

"It was, but I was also popular in my elementary school class that year because I had a cast," I laugh and he chuckles lightly.

"It's your turn to ask the question," he reminds me.

"Oh, right," I say, forgetting. "Hm... What's your middle name?"

"Oh, come on. Don't do that to me," he sighs and I giggle.

"Is it embarrassing?" I ask and he looks away nervously. "It is! What is it?"

"No, no, I'm not telling you that," he says.

"Come on," I playfully tap his arm. "Tell me. This is how twenty questions works."

He stops walking and sighs, looking at me, "Promise not to laugh?"

"I can't promise that," I say and he frowns. "Robby, what is it?"

"You know the movie Dirty Dancing?" he asks nervously.

"With Patrick Swayze? Yeah, that's a great movie," I say, wondering what is has to do with his middle name. "Wait, it your middle name Patrick?"

"No," he says.

"Then what?" I ask him. "Is it Johnny like his character?"

"No," he's amused with my guessing.

"Um... Don't tell me it's Baby," I laugh and he shakes his head.

"No, of course not," he chuckles. "It's um... Swayze."

I blink a few times before laughing, "So... your name is Robert Swayze?"

"Robert Swayze Keene," he fills in his last name and I hold in my laugh. "It's okay to laugh about it. My mom is obsessed with that movie and made me watch it over and over."

"It's a good movie," I argue.

"No, I know. It's just weird that my middle name is 'Swayze,'" he says. "Fifteen years and I'm still not used to it."

"You could legally get it changed if you hate it that much," I point out. "Although, then I couldn't tease you about it."

"Let me go change it now," he sighs playfully. "Okay, so what's your middle name?"

"Athena," I say. "My full name is Zion Athena Ambrose. It's about as Greek as you can get."

"How'd you get that name?" he asks.

"My grandma's name was Athena, so my dad passed it down to me," I say. "My mom..." I hate bringing her up, "wanted me to be a boy and planned out the name Zion. It's pretty gender-neutral, though, which is nice."

"It's a beautiful name," he says, "for a beautiful girl."

I try to hide my blush, "That is so cheesy."

"I thought that was the theme of the night," he puts his hands up in surrender and I laugh.

"No, you're right. It is," I nod.

He slowly brings his hands back down and an idea pops into my head; I just need to find the nerve to do it.

"Well... if we're being cheesy, do you... mind if I do this?" I ask and reach over, grabbing his hand. I feel butterflies in my stomach as he grips back.

"No, I don't mind," he smiles softly as we continue walking.

"We're here," I see the pier in front of us with a busy shopping area open to the side of it. He pulls my hand to follow him up the stairs from the beach to the wooden pier. It's actually quite busy. You can faintly see people underneath the lamp posts' light on the pier.

"This is so much better than where I live. There's more to do here," Robby comments, looking around.

"We'll have to come back and walk around sometime." I realize I just insinuated us going out together a second time. "I mean... If you'd like. Or you can come by yourself."

"I'll need a guide to show me around, won't I?" he pulls my hand to bring me closer to him.

"You will," I agree. It's so weird that this is happening so fast, but it feels right.

We walk down the pier past other groups of people. You can see other buildings lit up along the shoreline and of course the moon and stars, but the water and horizon line isn't super visible. You can hear the ocean, though.

It's silent as we take in the atmosphere, but it's a relaxing silence. The wind whips through my hair and I try to comb it back and tame it. As I do so, I see Robby staring at me. I blush and pull it to the side of my face as the wind dies down.

My phone beeps and I check it immediately, glad for the ringer Katie had us set up. I worry at first that it's about my dad, but instead it's just a check-in message from Jess.

Jess to Zion: You still ok?

Zion to Jess: Yeah, all good

I see the time and realize we have been gone for a while, "Oh shit."

"What?" Robby steps closer in concern.

"It's pretty late now," I say, realizing it's practically ten o'clock and that we've been gone for probably a half hour or so.

"We should get back, then," Robby states and I nod.

We turn back to walk off of the pier and back to the sand and I feel Robby take my hand again. I smile to myself.

"You know, I actually am having a lot of fun tonight," I say.

"You 'actually' are?" he asks and I backtrack.

"No, no, I didn't mean it that way," I say, realizing that sounded offensive. "I haven't been out with friends or to a party or anything in a while and it's nice to be back."

"Why haven't you?" he asks me curiously.

I tense, "Um..."

"It's okay, you don't have to answer that," he says when he realizes it's a sore subject.

"Life just hits you with things unexpectedly, you know?" I settle for this as an explanation and Robby nods in understanding.

"I get it. I feel the same way," he tells me. "So, your friends are here tonight?"

"Yeah, do you know Reid?" I ask and he nods.

"I vaguely remember meeting him. Big hair, right?" he asks and I nod with a laugh. "There are a lot of people at that party. I'm not much of an extrovert."

"Then I guess walking along the beach was a good idea," I smile to myself.

"I think so," he nods and our eyes connect as we walk. We both seem to stop at the same time and he smiles sweetly. "This has been really fun."

"Yeah, it's been... great," I say and feel butterflies in my stomach. We stand and smile at each other for a moment as I wait for him to make a move.

"How far away do you think we are from the party?" he continues walking and I keep up with him, our hands still linked.

"I'm not sure," I say and look down the beach to see some light, hoping that it's our campfires. "Maybe five minute-" I take a step and trip as I fall into some kind of sandcastle hole a kid must have dug earlier in the day. I drop Robby's hand and fall back into the sand on my butt.

"Are you all right?" Robby asks with a light chuckle as I laugh in embarrassment from the ground.

"Mhm," I say and try to stand up, grabbing my phone that fell with me. Robby takes my hands and pulls me up in amusement. "Damn, that's so embarrassing."

"You keep getting hurt tonight," he shakes his head with a smile. "Maybe I should just... keep a safe grip on you," he says and I feel butterflies rise in my stomach as his hands move to my practically bare waist and stay there gently.

"O-Okay," I stutter and put my hands on his shoulders- my phone is in my hand for lack of better placement- and I bring us closer. He's so attractive. Fuck.

He tilts his head one way and I close my eyes as he moves in.

Then his lips meet mine for a few seconds and the butterflies flutter around crazily. My hands link behind his neck and not long after we pull away from the new feeling but stay within close proximity of each other.

Our eyes connect, something new between us. He doesn't move. I don't want him to.

He pushes my hair behind my ear with his right hand and gently cups my face, "You're so beautiful." I smile at this.

"You're handsome," I return the compliment and he gives me a gorgeous smile in return.

Then I realize this could become a hookup for the night and I know that I really don't want that. It just isn't what I'd like... especially with Robby. I want to know him more.

"Do you think we could meet up again?" I ask. "Like, I could be your tour guide? Maybe?"

"I'd be down for that," he says and I bite my lip to hide a huge smile of relief.

"Cool," I say softly.

"Yeah. Cool," he says. We're still so close with our hands on each other, the touch sending pleasant chills through my body. "Can I... Can I kiss you again?" he asks sweetly. Consent is so sexy.

"Yeah," I nod and he leans in once more with a deeper kiss.

His tongue enters my mouth to explore and I realize he's pretty experienced. Wow. Our lips smack together as the waves crash behind us and the wind cools off our rising body heat. 

My phone beeps from behind his neck with a text and it scares Robby a little as he pulls away from the kiss and I groan.

"Damnit, I'm sorry," I apologize as I take the phone and check it in case of an emergency. "My friends said to keep our ringers on and my dad may need something, so-"

"No, it's totally fine," Robby rubs the back of his neck as I unlock it and see Katie text me.

Katie to Zion: Everyone is starting to pack up. Where are you?

Zion to Jess: On the way sorry

"That was my friend," I look up from my phone to see Robby on his.

"The group of guys I'm with text me, too," he nods. "We should probably hurry back."

"Okay," I nod. "Race you?"

"Is that a good idea in the dark? You already got hurt twice," Robby points out.

"Do you have a better idea?" I ask.

"Okay, but please be careful," Robby says.

"Me? Please," I laugh and grab his hand. 

We both rush towards the party, not having a lot of trouble seeing now that our eyes have adjusted to the dark. Our hands eventually drop as Robby picks up speed faster than me, but he seems to slow down every now and then to not leave me behind. He's sweet.

We make it to a campfire where some people still are and I pant, completely out of breath. I look over at Robby and he laughs. It causes me to laugh and I have a lot of trouble catching my breath.

"There you are. We were worried," Katie walks over to me, skeptically looking at Robby.

"I'm here," I say as I take deep breaths of oxygen.

"Sorry I kept her out so late. It was my fault," Robby steps in. Why is he covering for me?

"No, no, it wasn't Robby," I look at him and wonder why he'd lie for me. "I had the stupid idea and I'm sorry I left," I say. "It was just overwhelming being here with a bunch of people."

"We're just glad you're okay," Brian comes over with Jess and Diego.

"I think Zach and the guys you came with are waiting over there," Reid walks over, obviously pretty drunk. He points to the side and we all look over to see a group of five boys walking up to the cars, waiting for Robby.

"I guess that's my cue," Robby nods and then turns to me. "Um, can I get your number, Zion?"

"Yeah," I accept the phone he holds out and enter my contact. I hand the phone back and we share a smile. "Just text me when you want me to show you around."

"I plan on it," he nods awkwardly and then looks at my friends. "Um... Nice to kind of meet you guys."

"Mhm," Katie looks at him skeptically as Brian and Diego give him a friendly wave. Reid waves goodbye to Robby's friends and I see Jess is so drunk and disoriented right now that she's leaning on Brian for support.

Robby walks over to grab his skateboard before running to meet up with the boys.

"How much did you drink?" I ask her and lift her to now lean on me, knowing Brian isn't that strong.

"Too much," Jess whines and I laugh.

"Let's get you home," I smile as we all walk up the hill together.

"Yoou met someone toniiiite," she slurs and I nod.

"Yeah, his name is Robby and he's really great," I smile. We make it to the Jeep and Reid helps lay her over Diego, Brian, and I's laps to prevent her from puking. "What about your girl? Megan?"

"We maade out for a whiiile, but she had to weave earwy," Jess whines and I fluff her hair to cheer her up. She giggles at this; she's so funny when she's drunk.

Diego reaches for the aux and I see Reid yank it away, "No. I'm playing real music." Diego pouts as some trashy rap song comes on.

"You uncultured swine!" Diego shrieks and I laugh.

"No yelling while I'm driving, please," Katie yells back as Brian tries to calm Diego down.

On my lap, Jess is mumbling the lyrics very badly, pretending she knows it. This will be an interesting ride back, but then again there have been more chaotic nights.

My phone rings and I take it out and turn down the ringer. I read the text message with a smile.

Unknown to Zion: Hey, it's Robby Keene from the party

I love how he clarifies as if I didn't know. 

Zion to Robby: Hi, yeah I figured:)

⭒⭒⭒

A/N: This whole prequel is going to be so fun to write, but will simultaneously remind me how lonely I am haha.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the young Zobby content. It has a lot less angst... at least for the first bit.

How are we feeling about Zion's friend group so far? I plan to include more content with them, don't worry.

The next chapter has Zion's parents, so you can finally meet her dad!