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This was everything Zoey had wanted, and it was just being handed to her on a silver platter. Ever since the moment she'd joined Huntr/x, everything felt like a dream. For the first time in her life, she'd made genuine friends who liked her for her quirks, not despite them. She got to write and perform the songs she'd always loved writing. Hell, she'd gotten to train with blades and fight actual demons. Sometimes Zoey could barely believe she got to live her own day-to-day life.
Still, out of every amazing thing that had happened to her, if Rumi was being honest, this would be the best one yet. It was too bad for Rumi that Zoey knew this trick all-too-well. She didn't want to believe Rumi would be this cruel, for no reason, but it made too much sense. This was the secret catch, the moment Zoey would find out they'd been just like everyone else whenever her back was turned.
Did it have to be this, though? It was bad enough when it was random girls in school, people near the top of the social pyramid who wanted to make a fool of the queer. When it was Rumi, the girl of her dreams flashing Zoey's dreams in front of her face just to rip it away (and take Zoey's heart with it), that might be more than Zoey could take.
Sure, this wasn't exactly 'out of nowhere.' There were a lot of moments that Zoey had kept in a mental scrapbook. Like when they'd been at a restaurant and Rumi joked, "Is this a date?" before Zoey laughed it off. Every time she saw Rumi watching her, and there was some kind of spark when she caught Rumi's eyes. Zoey had been sure that there was potential. At least, more sure than she'd been about any crush she'd had before. But still. This wasn't a real possibility.
"You want me," Zoey repeated slowly, her head spinning. "To go out with you? Like, on a date?"
"Yes," Rumi agreed. Her eyebrows furrowed and the shine in her eyes dulled. Was she really this surprised and disappointed that Zoey hadn't fallen for the prank?
"I…" her voice trailed off. "Rumi, it's not funny to mess with people like that. I know you're just joking, so drop it and I'll forget about this, okay?"
"What?" Rumi echoed. She sounded hurt, but Zoey couldn't fathom why.
"I'm not somebody who gets asked out," Zoey explained slowly. "There's a reason for that, you know? I'm not…" She crossed her arms defensively. "I'm not somebody people like being around, not after a while. For some reason, Celine picked me, so I guess you're stuck with me, and maybe it's funny to watch the weirdo get attached, but I'm not falling for it. Okay? Just drop it."
A hand almost met the back of her neck, but Zoey backed away. "I'm not… Zoey, I'm not joking. Do you really think I'm someone who would do that?"
"I don't know. Maybe? It's not like you'd be the first."
"Why?"
"Not everyone is K-Pop royalty. Do you remember when Celine launched me as part of the band? The whole vague Cinderella theming, marketing to people that any of them could become a star in a girl group?" She sighed. "You were always different from your peers, but that was because you were popular, and talented, and people like you. I was different because I was weird. That made me a target."
"That doesn't matter."
"Doesn't it?" Zoey asked. "Because I could be dropped, and here you are, throwing your status in my face—"
"What?" Rumi interrupted. "I would never do that. You're irreplaceable. You know that, right? You're just as essential to the group as I am. Even if we wanted to replace you, we couldn't."
"Yeah, right," Zoey scoffed.
"I'm not lying. I wouldn't. Zoey, look at me."
For the first time since the conversation had begun, Zoey let herself look into Rumi's eyes. There wasn't any laughter in them. They were almost pleading, soft and desperate at the same time. Nobody had ever looked at Zoey like that before. She wasn't sure what to do with this.
"You…" Zoey's voice trailed off. "Oh my God. You actually want to go out with me? You're serious?"
"Zoey, yes."
"I— of course I'll go out with you, then. Yes, yes yes yes, oh my god—" Fireworks went off in Zoey's heart. She didn't know what to do with all this energy. "Am I dreaming?"
Rumi's warm, strong arms wrapped around Zoey. She melted into the touch, squeezing Rumi's shoulders in return. "You feel real to me," Rumi's voice whispered. "And for the record, we're at the same level. Okay? We're all essential to the group. None of us can be cut out, or singled out, or bullied. Together, we're stronger than our individual parts."
"Yeah," Zoey whispered."
"I swear, I would never do something like that to you. If you give me the names of the people who did, I'll send our whole fanbase to fight them, I swear on—"
"Okay, okay," Zoey laughed. "You don't have to do that. I proved them wrong, right? Half the world knows my name, and they're probably eating ramen with my face on it."
"Damn right."
She needed to write a song. If Zoey could bottle up this pure euphoria, she knew it'd be a hit. It was already so clear how it would go: A duet, the two of them alone on stage. Maybe they'd be separated, somehow. Like Cinderella, with Rumi as the prince, or maybe Rapunzel, with Rumi in the tower. They wouldn't sing together until the bridge, each verse emphasizing only one girl and their lines in the chorus alternating. The final chorus, maybe Rumi would sing Zoey's lines, and Zoey would sing Rumi's.
Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. This hadn't all worked out yet. Still, if Zoey had learned anything from being a part of Huntr/x, it was that things had a way of going better than she expected.
