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Zoe was scrubbing the dishes.  Angrily.  She was not in a good mood today.  One of her friends had completely ditched their plans to hang out with another friend.  And Zoe had really needed someone to talk to today.  Before she’d gotten the text from her friend, she had really had no explanation for her bad mood.  But now she did.

Just then, Tae came running into the kitchen to tackle her.  She dropped a dish into the sink right before Tae tackled her to the ground, grinning.  She groaned, her soaked hands coming to rest on his shoulders while she processed what had just happened.  Then she snapped.

“Tae!  What on earth?  Get off of me!”

Tae appeared quite surprised by her reaction but got up nonetheless.  He reached down to give her a hand, but she shoved it away and pushed herself up off the floor before getting back to washing dishes.

“Hey…are you ok?” Tae asked gently.

“No, clearly not.  You just shoved me into the wooden floor!  Why would I be ok?” she went silent as she realized how snappy she sounded.

Tae was about to speak when she pulled her hands out of the water and dried them off before declaring, “I’m going for a walk,” leaving Tae in the kitchen wondering what exactly was wrong.

——————–

Later that evening, Zoe lay in bed as she cried.  She hated arguing.  Especially with Tae.  But she didn’t know how to go talk to him again.  It was getting late, anyway.  Maybe she should just sleep and talk to him in the morning.  She sighed and shut her eyes, willing herself to stop crying.

A minute later, she heard the door creak open and gentle footsteps padding towards the bed.

“Zo…?  Are you awake?”

She let out a soft breath and relaxed her body, trying to appear as if she were asleep.  She really didn’t want to argue again right now.  She felt the bed dip a moment later, and Tae snuggled into her back, wrapping his arms around her waist.  He buried his nose in her shoulder.

The room was silent for a moment before she heard a little sniff.  Then something wet hit her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Zo…” he whispered before letting out a soft sob.

She bit down on her lip as her own tears started to develop.  She forced herself to stay silent, not wanting him to know she was awake.  But a few moments later she broke and burst into tears.  This clearly surprised Tae.  He jumped a bit before lifting his head from her shoulder.

“Zo…” his voice broke as he spoke. “Turn around, please.”

She hesitated for a second before rolling around to face him.  Tears were still streaming down her face, and the pout on her lips made it clear that she was trying not to start sobbing.  Tae frowned, bringing his hand up to wipe her cheek.  They sat there in silence for a moment, neither of them knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry,” they both blurted out at the same time.

“Tae…you shouldn’t be the one apologizing…it was my fault.”

“No…I shoved you on the floor.  I shouldn’t have done that…are you ok?  I must’ve injured you.”

She looked up at him with glossy eyes and sighed. “I’m all right.”

Tae stared down at her.  She wasn’t meeting his eyes again.  “Did something happen today?” He asked softly.  She was never as snappy as she had been a couple hours ago.

“It’s…nothing.”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

Zoe frowned, trying not to cry again. “It…I…” she sniffled. “Hana bailed on me again,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Oh…why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because…” she sighed. “I don’t know…you freaked me out when you tackled me and I just started talking before I could think…and then I realized what I had said…and ran off because I felt bad…” she sniffled.  Tears were streaming down her face again.

Tae said nothing.  He simply reached forward and pulled her into his arms, leaning his chin on the top of her head.  He rubbed her back gently.  And she broke.  She clung to him and started sobbing.  They lay there for a few minutes before she calmed down enough for him to speak.

“I love you so much,” he mumbled into her hair as he continued to rub her back. “You know that, right?”

He could feel her shaking still.  Her hands were balled into fists as she grasped the fabric of his shirt.  She’d huddled close enough to him that her forehead was nearly touching his chest.  She gave a shuddery breath before nodding slowly, her head bumping into his chest as she did so.

“I love you too,” she whispered, clearly exhausted now from crying.

They’d been laying on top of the covers, so he scooped her up and shifted the covers before laying her down.  She relaxed into her pillow as he messed with the sheets before pulling them over the two of them.  Then he threw his arm over her waist and pulled her close.  He pecked her lips softly.

“I love you.  Sleep now, my sleepy angel.”

She smiled softly, her eyes fluttering shut. “Ok.”