Archive of Our Own

1. 

The second time Emma went to Playa Des Losers was her forst elimination. 

The first time she went was on a visit. As wierd as that might sound.

She had seen Raj and Waynes elimination- hell, most of the camp heard them, singing their Canadian hearts out until they disappeared from the coastline. She couldn't deny most of their team were impressed at how positive they were, even in their delusional state. But she watched Bowies face drop from that practised calm once the campfire circle had dispersed, and then let out a deep sigh.

He spent a lot of that night still sat at the fire circle, and she sat with him for a lot of it. He complained about the luck of it- finally finding a cute guy who liked him back, then he falls off a mountain- until the wee hours of the morning, when she walked him back to the boys cabin. 

He seemed happier the next day, talking about the gift he'd been left, and for a while Emma thought he'd relaxed about it all. Then, the day after Ripper was evacuated, he just disappeared for the night. Emma went to the fire circle to look for him, and hid behind a bush when she heard Chef's voice. And his voice?

Long story short, he'd snuck away to visit Raj at the Playa and wish him well. So naturally, the next time he snuck off like that, she followed him. And so, she ended up climbing out of an old, rickety boat onto the Losers docks, a week before she ever needed too.

To the surprise of a lot of the Playa, the first person she walked off with was Zee. The stares they got told her no one expected them to be friends, but then again, people hardly ever saw what the cameras didn't, and that went for contestants too. In the short time they'd had on same team before Zee's elimination, they had spoke quite a lot between themselves. She liked him. He was a calm character on an island of chaos, and didn't seem to hold a bad thought for anyone. 

Not even Chase, which Emma found hard to do. It was difficult to not hate Chase from the first interaction. 

So, her first visit at the Playa was spent on the beach with Zee. He told her the beach was the "chillest" place on the island because inside everyone would argue over everything, and those who didn't were usually occupied with looking after Wayne and Raj.

"How are they doing?" She asked. She had seen them before they left; they didn’t exactly look great. Zee shrugged and took a swig of his soda. "I've seen Wayne around more than Raj. I think his leg was totally crushed up. But he stood up for the first time today! Crazy, huh?"

Emma giggled. "Yeah... I was there for that bit, Zee."

"Ohh yeah," he said, tapping his forehead with his palm. "Yeah, you were."

Zee walked her round to what he called "his favourite spot" which was a small patch of the beach around the back of the hotel. The view was beautiful from it, and you could see the outline of Wawanakwa sat atop the ocean line. The sky was already a faded, inky blue by then, pin bricks of stars shining through it, and Emma couldn't deny it was a good choice of spots. Zee didn't waste time making himself comfortable, and laid down into the sand, placing his soda in the spot beside him and crossing his arms over his stomach. He looked up when Emma didn't immediately move and patted the space beside him with a lazy smile.

Emma hesitated slightly, but pushed it away and dropped into the offered space beside him. The sand was warm underneath her despite the evening cool and dipped down where she sat to create a space from her. Zee held out a soda to her. Where did he supply these things from?

"I'm quite happy to be eliminated, yunno?" he said. His voice slurred on every syllable and Emma was starting to understand that he wasn't drunk, that was just his voice. He continued. "I mean, we have beds here. And non-slop food. Plus this beach is awesome."

Zee talked for at least an hour, but not ignorantly. Not like he forgot she was there. Not like he was trying to show off with anything he said. Just like he enjoyed talking to her. He'd leave gaps now and them for her answers or when he thought she might want to talk too. She always felt weird talking to Zee. He was in a constant dazed state and always sounded like he'd just been taking something illegal, but he was present beneath it all, it surprisingly, it was the most seen she'd felt in a while. 

Before she knew it, Chef and Bowie were stood to the side of them and they were telling her they had to go back before Chris noticed two campers had been smuggled out of the island. The sky on the horizon line had started to glow a dull pink colour. She hadn't even realised how long she'd been there.

Zee stood up first and held out a hand for her to take. She did, and was carefully dragged off the sand to to her feet. She could feel grains of it in her socks and hair but something told her it was worth it. Or maybe that was sleep deprivation talking. Whichever it was, she didn't much mind. He offered her a fist bump. "Cool talking to you Ems," he said. "I'd say see you soon but thats probably a bad thing for the competition..."

Emma laughed and tapped her fist against his. "Yeah. Well, it was nice seeing you too. I hope to see you at the final."

Zee nodded with his same smile. He pulled out another can of soda, top already popped open for her. "For the ride," he explained, passing it over. He only them seemed to remember Chef and Bowie, still stood slightly to the side and exchanging intrigued stares. He waved at them. "Oh, hey guys. You want sodas too?"

Chef shook his head with a laugh. "It's fine Zee. Thankyou anyway."

Zee nodded and threw one to Bowie instead, who fumbled with it as it fell into his hands. 

He smiled awkwardly at the hippy before shooting Emma a confused stare. She hardly noticed. She was looking at Zee. 

☆

The second time Emma came to Playa Des Losers was her elimination. She came quietly, mascara streaks dried on her face and rips in her jumper from the newest challenge. She was left of the docks to the hotel like spare luggage and sat face to face with the other contestants. She was aware they had a sort of tradition of greeting the newcomers. She would've been happier to be alone in that moment.  

She looked up after recovering from the fall. Nichelle and Zee stood at the front of the group. Nichelle smiled with almost pity and it made Emma sick. Zee's smile faltered slightly at the state she was in but he recovered quickly and held out a hand to help her up. Nichelle did the same, and Emma took both hands. She was pulled to her feet with a jolt and stumbled up to stand on the dock. She smiled weakly. "Thanks," she murmured. 

Before Nichelle could reply, Chase burst through, shoving the actress out of his way. She almost fell backwards but Axel grabbed her by the arms before she could and glared at Chase.

"Babe! I saw the episode, it's a total bummer you're out, but at least we get to be together now, huh?" 

Oh. Yeah. Time with Chase was much better than the competition, and better than anything Bowie had to say about it. 

Emma nodded slightly and looked back to the island across the ocean. Chase took her arm and began to pull her down the dock and towards the hotel. "And our rooms are next to eachother, so you get to see me every day! Awesome right?" 

He kept on rambling, hardly taking a breath for Emma to contribute. She looked from the island to the rest of the cast.

Zee caught her eye. He still smiled but it looked a bit more confused than it did a moment ago. He watched Chase lead her off and offered her a small wave. Emma forced a smile. Chase kept talking. The only contribution she gave was a muttered of "Yeah... awesome." 

Chase didn't acknowledge it- he didn’t hear her over the sound of his own voice.

She thought back to talking to Zee and the gaps he left for her words. She heard Chase's insistent chatter without room for space. And she began to question most things she thought she knew.

2.

The sticky sap task had been an absolute wreck. Not only had her team completely lost, but she ended up stuck to Caleb's back for another hour after Millie's elimination until Chris "found" another serum can. When she was finally let down, she was still covered substantially in feathers. Even with the serum they were wedged into the gaps in her knit jumper and in her hair and basically everywhere they could reach. 

By the time she had gotten most out of her jumper alone, the sky had began to fade into a deep orange as the sun fell down below the ocean line. She was sat on a log in the woods beside her cabin, picking the final feathers out of her jumper when she heard chittering. Not human noises at all, the sound of some sort of wild animal. She turned around, and behind her, Zee walked across the grass holding a racoon.

A whole, living, chittering raccoon.

The raccoon was tucked happily into his shirt, its head poking out the neck hole. He was feeding it some berries and it was cooing happily. How had she missed him carrying a raccoon? Zee looked up and saw Emma watching. He proved oblivious to her shock regarding the raccoon and waved. "Hey Ems! Hows it going?"

He walked over and came to sit on the log beside her. The raccoon reached its paws out for his hand, likely going after more berries. Emma looked from Zee to the creature in his shirt.

"Hey Zee... uh... whos your friend?" she said slowly, motioning to the raccoon. Zee looked down, as if forgetting it was even there and broke into a wide smile. 

"Oh yeah! Meet Olivia Von Trashpanda. She landed on me in the challenge."

Emma nodded as if that made total sense. "Cool... whats she doing in your shirt?"

Zee shrugged. "She likes it there, I think. She hasn't left my shirt since the challenge." 

Olivia chattered in agreement. Emma couldn't deny she was cute.  

Zee's eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. He held out the remaining berries to Emma as Olivia reached her paws out, trying to get them back. "Wanna feed her?" he asked. 

Emma hesitated and took the fruits from his hand. Olivia watched her move and the blonde smiled nervously. 

"Uh, nice trash panda?" she said, holding her hand out to thr racoon. She screwed her eyes shut and braced to be bitten, and most likely med evacuated just as Raj and Wayne did last season. 

After a moment, no bite. Another few seconds. Nothing. She opened her eyes. Olivia was happily licking the berries out of her hand, squeaking as she did as if giving and entire commentary. Emma stared. "Huh," she acknowledged. "She's so... friendly..." 

Zee nodded. "Yeah, I know right. But Chef says I can't keep her because of "rabies,'" he said, doing air quotations on the word like it were a con. "I've already had rabies once! And I've had my shots twice, so the next one will be free anyways!"

Emma went to agree but paused. "You've had rabies?"

Zee hummed and pulled out another soda. Seriously, where did he get these? 

"I got bitten by a bat back home. I thought he would have made me a vampire at least," he rolled his eyes. "Nah. Just sent me to get another shot."

Whilst he was talking, Olivia had managed to grab the soda from his hands and started inspecting and biting the can. Zee took a moment to notice his soda had gone and looked down to see a chuck of the can's side bitten out and the liquid purple spilling onto his shorts. 

"Bro!" he leapt off the log and tilted himself forwards so the liquid splashed onto the ground instead. Olivia watched him like he was crazy.

"C'mon Olivia! Not cool dude."

Olivia chattered angrily. Zee sighed. "Sorry. Dudette."

Emma found herself laughing. Properly laughing for maybe the first time since she arrived on this horrid island. Zee noticed her reaction and smiled. "See? Olivia makes everything better, even if my shorts smell of soda now," he decided. "At least I like the soda," he added with a shrug.

Emma giggled. "I guess. Wait, how did you know I was upset?"

Zee finally pried the can off of Olivia and put it down a few spaces from his log. He sat back down. "Your vibe was off completely dude...ette."

"My vibe?"

Emma hadn't been aware she'd given any kind of vibe. Other than sad and feather-covered, of course. 

Zee nodded. "Yeah. You seemed kind of down after the challenge, so I came by. Thought Olivia might make you happy."

Emma, still thinking about what kind of vibe she gave off, felt her mind slip into overdrive now also thinking about the fact that Zee came out of his way to see her. It wasn't a random meeting in the woods, he knew she needed cheering up. Chase would have never done that. Bowie might have, but Chase would have laughed first.

"So?" 

She snapped out from her head and looked at Zee. He stared at her with a lazy grin. "Did it work?"

Emma smiled. "Yeah. Thankyou Zee."

"Don't thank me, it was Olivia!" he insisted, lifting the raccoon from his shirt and holding her out to Emma. She snorted, then reached out and stroked the raccoons head. She chittered happily. "And thankyou Olivia."

☆

3.

She was going home.

She was so going home.

Emma knew it and she was sure everyone else knew it too. She was definitely going home. The elimination ceremony was in an hour, and that would be it. Another two weeks wasted, and another three of them stuck in a hotel with Chase. And this time, there was no point pretending to care. 

She sat on the beach, knees hugged to her chest, watching the sun dip down behind the outline of the Losers island. She'd be on her way there in an hour. Back to where she ended last season, in a stupid hotel room with a stupid TV to watch the rest of these stupid challenges. 

Bowie had come up to her earlier, for the first time since they had argued last season. After the challenge, he came forward and said he was sorry about how the challenge went and he hoped she was okay. It wasn't an apology for last season, and hell, she wasn't going to be to first one to say sorry for all of that, but it was a start. It was way better than how it ended last time. He'd gone back to check on Raj though now- apparently the wolverines had really gone after him when he'd fallen and he was resting in the boys cabin now. 

She laid back into the sand and sighed. The sky was pink now. That probably meant something, but she was to tired to try and figure it out. There was a rhyme of some short she probably should have known. Red sky at night sailor's delight? Or was it shepherd's? It was someone's delight, she knew that much, and it definitely wasn't hers. 

Her ears pricked up at the sound of sand crunching under feet. She didn't look up this time. She wasn't in the mood. If it was Bowie he would have announced himself somehow by now, and Chase was on the other island by then, so she assumed it was someone else, coming to hand out pity points. 

"Hey Emma," said Zee.

Zee? 

Emma opened her eyes and they came to focus on Zee's face. He stood over her, Olivia under his arm, chittering endlessly about whatever it was that raccoons chittered about. She wriggled free from Zee's grip and scarpered round Emma, coming to sit by her face. She prodded her cheek before beginning to lick her face free of any tears. When had she started crying?

"Hey Zee," Emma said quietly. She watched him sit down beside her, sand making a dip for him as he did. Emma sat up to level with him, and Olivia took the as her excuse to run round and jump into Emma's lap. Zee laughed. "Yeah, sorry about her. She seems to like you."

"I'm flattered," Emma giggled, rubbing her eyes with one hand. He stroked Olivia's fuzzy head and the raccoon squeaked appreciatively

"I thought Chef wouldn't let you keep her?"

Zee leant back on his hands and sighed. "He didn't. I cant have her in the challenges or the cabins, but they never said anything about outside."

Olivia curled up in Emma's lap and Emma felt herself well up again. This was getting ridiculous. She was crying over an elimination that hadn't even happened whilst holding a raccoon called Olivia von Trashpanda. She hadn't pictured ever doing that in her life, and now that she was, she wasn't really sure what to make of it. 

"You alright?"

"Are the vibes off again?"

"Very off."

Emma looked down and tried to focus on petting Olivia rather than crying. "I'm going home tonight, aren't I?"

Zee didn't smile for a moment. "Yeah... sorry Ems."

"It's okay."

"You don't seem okay."

She looked up at him. He watched her carefully as if how she felt about it mattered. Really mattered. This was a reality show and she was aware that Zee had no intent on winning, but he seemed genuinely worried about how she felt about it all. 

So, the wall came down.

Emma started crying properly. Not the held back kind that only tells half a story, the proper kind when a dam bursts. Zee didn't do much for a minute, but after that pause, he shuffled over to sit directly by her, and put his arm around her shoulder. He didn't say something to try and make it better in that usual silly slurred tone of his, he just sat with her. That silence was possibly the nicest thing someone had ever done for her. 

"Sorry, this is stupid," she finally spluttered through her sobs. Zee raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Me crying like this because of a stupid show. It's dumb-"

"I don't think it is."

Emma blinked. "But you never even try to win? I thought you didn't care about the show?"

Zee hummed. "I don't, but that doesn't mean you don't too. You clearly care about it, and theres nothing stupid about crying about something you care about."

Emma was stunned for a moment. She'd never heard Zee talk so clearly. She leant into him now, head on his shoulder, legs to her chest, Olivia balanced somewhere imbetween them. Zee squeezed her arm. 

"That's the smartest thing I've heard you say," she chuckled, scrubbing her eyes of tears.

"Wait, I said something smart?" he slurred. 

"Really smart," Emma insisted. "Thanks Zee."

It was clear to her that Zee had no idea what he'd actually done right, but it had made her feel better so he took it as a win. He sat with her until the elimination time came. Bowie came to tell her that Chris needed her for the ceremony (and that they couldn't find Zee anywhere), but stopped when he saw them together. He chose not to say anything about them; he'd never really understand her taste in men, but Zee was a large step up from Chase. Then again, most things were a step up from Chase.

"Emma? Zee? Chris wants your team together for eliminations," he called from the woods behind the beach. Emma looked up and her demeanor dropped back to the solemn "vibe" she held earlier. Zee let go of her and stood himself up, Olivia scurrying to climb up his back as he stood. Bowie jumped, clearly not expecting a raccoon of all things to be there. Emma noticed and giggled. 

"It's fine Bowie, she's friendly."

Bowie nodded slowly. "I'm sure she is..." 

Zee pulled Emma off the sand and she quickly gathered his long limbs into a crushing hug. Zee didn't flinch, and just let her have a moment. When she let go, she smiled weakly and nodded. "Okay. I'm ready."

Bowie caught her before she left. He opened his arms awkwardly. "See you at the Playa?" 

He didn't have a second to think before he was also trapped in a suffocating embrace. He wheezed. 

"Not to soon though, I hope," she teased. Bowie huffed. "No, I think my teams getting ready to boot me too. So, I suppose I'll see you soon."

Emma let go after a moment and giggled. "Okay then. See you there."

☆

Emma was right. That night, the votes were counted, and she was walked down to the docks for her journey to the island. The drone took her by the back of her jumper and began to lift her away whilst Chris did his outro for the cameras. But when she looked out over the island again, for hopefully the last time, she saw something. 

On the beach, Bowie stood with Raj, and he waved up at her as she went. Raj was waving too, although a lot more enthusiastically, and she even heard him yell a faint "HOOT HOOT" in her direction. And on Raj's left was Zee, soda in hand and Olivia back in his shirt like a cat of some sort, reaching her tiny paws out for the can. Zee remained oblivious and waved his free hand at Emma with a lazy yet warm smile. 

Emma felt herself well up again. Because of a hippie and his racoon. She also hadn't imagined that happening, but at least she knew what to do now. She waved back with as much gusto as she could muster, which wasn't as much as she thought considering she was now hovering over the sea. But regardless, she waved goodbye with a small smile and watched her friends disappear into the distance. It wasn't exactly a great end for her, but she felt as if some things were beginning to put themselves back together. 

☆

4.

Playa Des Losers was definitely an interesting place to be. And she had learnt that it was way better when she spoke to people who weren't just Chase. That definitely made it a more relaxing place to stay. She learnt that people were nicer when the cameras were off. Nichelle and Ripper cooked for everyone. Axel and Nichelle had their own dynamic going on, usually in the gaps when Ripper and Axel's relationship broke. They took breaks essentially every day, and it reminded Emma a little to much of her and Chase.

Zee had arrived shortly after Bowie, so the Playa no longer felt so empty for her. It was nice to have others to talk to. Her and Bowie would often sleep over in eachothers rooms, trying to catch up on everything they had missed in the year they had been to stubborn to talk. He had some questions about Zee too, but once he understood what he'd missed, he wasted no time in teasing her about him. 

The night Raj was eliminated, the cast in the hotel were fairly upset with the decision, but then he asked Bowie out on national TV. That in itself would have been adorable, but things only got more chaotically sweet when the most of the hotel rallied together to bring the date to him. A dance floor was constructed on the beach in a spot Zee had picked out, and a spot Emma recognised as his favourite. 

Nichelle had taken a director-type character and ended up assigning people rolls. Emma ended up staying with Bowie for a lot of the preparation, hyping him up and making a playlist and holding his hand when the reality kicked in that he was going on quite a large-scale date in meer minutes. Bowie had been more grateful that Emma had ever seen him, and even promised the others could come dance after an hour or so. Raj arrived and hour or so after his elimination, and the drone dropped him slightly early, sending him spinning down and into the water. Emma and Bowie had watched with a wince as Damien tried to fish him out and Nichelle tried her best to tidy him up.

When she had seen Raj approaching the spot, confused and slightly disorientated, she had taken that as her cue to leave, and given Bowie a thumbs up and wink on her way out. She ran back inside the hotel to the rest of the cast, who were scattered around the living room sofas. She threw herself into the spot beside Zee and squeaked in excitement. 

"This is all so adorable! Being in love is so..." she squeaked again as emphasis. She was given a few odd looks from around the room, but Zee seemed to understand and he nodded.

An hour or so after they had left the couple to themselves, Emma checked her phone to see the playlist she made had began to repeat. She squealed. 

"We can go out now!" she announced, standing up. "Bowie said we could use the floor with them after they'd danced the playlist through!" 

People perked up more at that. Nichelle was especially excited to dance. 

So, Emma lead the group out the front doors, and round the corners of the hotel to where they had set up the dance floor. Bowie and Raj stood in the center together, huddled an laughing. Raj was first to notice the group approaching, and the mega-watt smile he gave everyone made the cast feel like it was definitely worth the chaos. 

He ran over to them in an instant and immediately began thanking everyone over and over. It was obvious that Bowie had explained the help he'd recieved, and Raj was incredibly grateful for it- nearly more than Bowie was . Emma hugged Raj and listened to his excitement for a moment before wandering to Bowie. He stood at the edge of the dance floor, watching his boyfriend make his way round everyone. He looked at Raj with the softest expression Emma had ever seen him wear. It was sickly sweet and she loved it.

She looked him up and down. The outfit Nichelle had picked out was ruffled and creased. His hair was frizzy and his makeup messier than it had been- eyeliner now smoky around his eyes and lipstick smudged around his mouth. Emma was sure she'd seen some lipstick on Raj too, but she figured she'd bring that up later. 

"Sooooo," she sang, eyeing his dishevelled state knowingly. "I take it went well?"

Bowie grinned at her. "Even better."

He looked across to see Raj chatting away at Zee, faint smudges of lipstick on his lips. Emma was so right. The brunette looked back at Bowie with a wide smile. "Can they dance too?" he called over.

Bowie just laughed. "Of course. Come on guys," he replied before turning back to Emma with his own smirk.

"Go ask Hezekius for a dance, Em," he said, nudging her in his direction. Emma felt herself face warm up and she went to protest, but stopped herself. She paused. "Wait... his name is Hezekius?"

Bowie snickered. "Don't ask me, ask him whilst you dance!"

He ushered her back towards the other contestants as Raj ran back over to dance again. He ran into Bowies arms with a wide grin and Bowie absolutely beamed. 

Zee appeared at her side a moment later, also watching the boyfriends begin to dance again. Most other contestants began to spill into the floor around them. Emma felt herself go all jittery. Zee just smiled at her and that seemed to make it worse. She noticed for once he wasn't holding a soda, and Olivia was no longer on his back or in his shirt (Chef unfortunately made Zee leave her on the island- both Olivia and Zee had been very annoyed upon hearing that.)

"You gonna dance Ems?" he asked. He looked uncharacteristically nervous. Or, nervous for Zee. Emma wasn't sure she'd ever seen Zee looked much else except relaxed. She shrugged. 

"Maybe. I'm not exactly the best dancer..." 

Zee hummed. "Same. Well..." he held out a hand to her. "Wanna dance badly together?"

Emma didn't hesitate this time, and grabbed his hand, dragging him onto the floor behind her. "Let's go!"

☆

Emma was right- she wasn't what would be called a seasoned dancer, and her moves would sooner be classed as safety hazards, but Zee didn't seem to look at it that way. He just saw her enjoying what she was doing and went with it. He may have been the first and only man or woman to ever describe her moves as "mad cool and expressive" rather that in her family's words "very nice but a little dangerous."

Chase had come out at one point and tried to involve himself where he could. Two minutes later, he left the way he came in a huff, having been blown off quickly by Emma. Even when he had turned to Zee for support or back up, the hippie had shook his head and said "time to let it go man."

When the playlist came to the start again for the third time people slowly started filtering away. Bowie and Raj chose to turn in around that time so they could go get some rest that Emma know they'd likely not get, and because Raj was still damp from his landing and was begining to smell vaguely of sea salt. Nichelle had been carried away by then, exhausted from her role as director, and Millie and Damien chose to go check on her around the time of the repeat. 

Lauren followed them inside, and Ripper and Axel chose to turn in too, probably to make out inside instead. Emma could never tell if they were together or not, but they definitely were then, and she was sure they would have broken up by the morning. That left Zee and Emma, dancing into the early morning hours until the third repeat was approaching, and they decided to quit whilst ahead. 

It was nearing one am by the time they headed for their own respective rooms. Emma ended up walking up the extra floor to take Zee back to his own room. She stood outside his door with him for a moment, smiling giddily. He wore his usual lazy grin, but there was somehing behind it now that Emma wasn't sure she'd seen before. 

"Thankyou for this Zee. I had a great time," she said.

Zee nodded in definite agreement. "Back atcha Ems. We should... do it again some time?"

Emma found herself nodding back probably to quickly. Dammit she probably looked silly now. Or maybe she didn't. It was hard to tell what Zee thought most of the time. "I'd love that," she managed to respond in what she hoped was her calmest tone. Then, maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the sleep deprivation, maybe it was just her acting before thinking, but she leant up and kissed him on the cheek.

Zee froze. Emma pulled away after moment, and she seemed to register what she had just done. She froze too. For a moment, neither of them moved, and just stared at eachother in the doorway. Emma went deep red and began to stutter out some sort of apology or explanation or anything her brain would create.

She ended up stammering out "Uhhh, see you tomorrow Zee! Goodnight!" before turning on her heel and jogging to the stairwell. She stopped to look back at the top of the first step and smiled nervously at Zee, who still stood frozen in his doorway. She waved awkwardly, then disappeared around the corner and out of sight, and for a moment, Zee stood and listened to her footsteps get further away with every thud. He lifted a hand to his face and touched his cheek. Some of Emma's lipstick came away on his hand. He smiled to himself. "Yoooooo...."

☆

5. 

~3 weeks after Season 2 final~

Emma stood in her bedroom back home, looking at herself in the mirror. She twisted herself around and looked over her outfit as if it were planning to betray her. Bowie and Raj stood outside her bedroom door, waiting patiently for her to get ready. Well, Raj was waiting patiently. Bowie was knocking on her door, and calling through the wood to her. 

"Emma, are you ready yet? It can't look that bad!" 

Emma groaned. "I don't know how it looks! I can't tell if it's overkill for this type of thing!"

She heard Bowie sigh from the other side. Raj chuckled. 

"Can we come in Emma? Then we'll tell you?"

"Fine."

The door clicked open and Bowie peered in at her, still stood Infront of her mirror, turning in circles by this point. He smiled. "See? You look amazing!" 

Raj came in after him and grinned. "He is right, yunno Ems? You look awesome."

The outfit wasn't formal but it definitely wasn't casual. It was a knee-length pink skirt that floated around her whenever she moved, and a cropped, white blouse. She had her hair in its usual high ponytail and modest makeup that Bowie had helped with. 

Bowie now came behind her and shook her shoulders. "How can you say you don't know? We think you look wonderful. And we both know I'd say so if you didn't."

Raj nodded along from the seat he'd taken on her bed. "He would."

Emma hummed. "I guess you're right."

"You guess?"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't stifle a giggle afterwards. "Okay, I know you're probably right. I just- urgh, I wish I believed it."

She threw herself down dramatically beside Raj on the bed. "What if it's too formal? Is a picnic date even formal?"

Raj shrugged. "I think the outfit looks great wherever you go."

Bowie came and sat on Emma's other side. "Besides, Zee likes you anyways. Like, on our first date Raj wore his hockey Jesrey, and we've been together for two years!"

Raj huffed. "I wore nicer clothes underneath, I just knew the ice rink would be cold. Plus, I had to lend you it because you forgot a jacket!"

Bowie snickered. "Regardless, I'm trying to point out that your clothes won't matter in the long run."

Emma nodded to herself. "Mm. Okay. Okay, yeah, I got this."

"Good."

Raj's phone buzzed. The sudden vibrations jolted everyone on the bed, and Raj grabbed it, unlocking the screen quickly. He read the messages and then broke into another grin. 

"Zee's alsmot here," he announced. Emma smiled nervously, wringing her hands infront of her. 

"Oh. This is happening."

Bowie grabbed her shoulder again, this time without shaking her too much and helped her up. She came back to her feet and found herself back infront of the mirror again, spinning around to look the outfit over one last time.

Bowie sighed and  came to stand next to her, and after a moment of watching her almsot spinning in circles, he grabbed her hands to keep her in place. Emma gave him a confused stare and Bowie just laughed.

"You're gonna make yourself dizzy spinning like that. Now, you are going on a good date with a... good guy?"

Emma giggled. "Yeah, a good guy."

Bowie nodded. "Good. And you are going to have an awesome time. And," he said, emphasising whatever his last point was. "You look amazing."

Ding. 

That was the doorbell. Emma nearly jumped out of her skin but Bowie kept a hold of her hand to keep her steady. Raj leapt from his seat and began to jog to the door. "I'll go get it! You got this Emma!" He offered her a quiet "HOOT HOOT" on his way out, and Bowie laughed as the door closed. 

Emma smiled anxiously at Bowie, then back at herself in the mirror. She looked herself over one last time. "Yunno," she said slowly. "It does look pretty good."

Bowie laughed in offense, but there was pure tease in his voice. "Ahem? You look pretty good."

She sighed. "Okay, I think you got your point across."

"Thought I might."

"EMMAAAAA, ZEE IS HERE!"

Raj's voice practically echoed around Emma's house and she thanked the lord that her parents weren't home. Her and Bowie yelped. Raj could be very, very loud when he wanted too. She recovered quickly though, and turned to her bedroom door with a terrified grin. Bowie handed her her bag. "Thanks Bowie," she managed. 

He smiled. "Of course. Besides, I'm always going to jump at the oppurtunity to help with makeup."

"Good to know."

Emma quickly gathered him into a tight hug, and Bowie, who had somewhat gotten used to her sheer strength, tried his best to breath and pat her on the back at the same time. Then, she let go, took a deep breath of her own, and made way for the door.

☆

Raj stood at the bottom of the stairs, door held open with his foot, chatting to Zee about nothing imparticular. They both paused when they heard footsteps on the stairs and Zee smiled. Raj stood back from the doorway and also turned to watch the stairs, waiting for Emma to come down.

When Zee came into view for Emma, her nervous smile melted into something warmer, and she waved at him nervously. He looked more Zee that he ever had: flared jeans, a smart, plain shirt and his long hair tied into a messy bun. He looked absolutely Zee and she couldn't help but love that about him. He waved back. She only just noticed the small bag in his other hand. It contained... flowers? 

She reached the doorway and Zee leant forwards to hug her, which of course she matched with more strength. Zee also seemed to have gotten used to what her friends called "Emma hugs" and just laughed.

"Heya Ems," he said. Emma let go and grinned.

"Hi Zee, ready to go?"

" Of course. Oh, uh," he pulled the flowers out of the bag. It was a small selection of daisies and roses. Two of Emma's favourites. How had he found that out? "I got you these."

Emma took then carefully and admired the bouquet for a moment before looking back up with a wide grin. "They're beautiful. Thankyou. Now," she stepped outside with him. "shall we go?"

Zee offered her his arm like some sort of victorian gentlemen and Emma just laughed, gladly taking it. 

"We shall," he repeated back in a mock, posh voice. And with that, they turned and began to wander down the street. Emma turned back one more time to offer a small wave to Bowie and Raj, and was returned with two, almost in-sync winks. She giggled. Raj had been spending probably too much time with Bowie.

☆

Raj and Bowie left Emma's house shortly after that, locking up with the spare key Emma had told them where to find. They climbed into Raj's old car, and the engine whirred into life. 

"I didn't actually realise Zee could clean up that well," Bowie acknowledged as Raj started the car up. The brunette nodded. "Honestly? I'm surprised too. I always thought Zee was a bit..."

"Ditzy?"

"Yeah..."

Bowie smirked. "And you weren't?"

Raj huffed. "C'mon, I was 17. Besides, I got thrown off a mountain, that was always gonna be a set back."

Bowie snickered, leaning over to peck his boyfriend on the cheek. "Don't worry, it was adorable." 

"You watched me slam guys into walls playing hockey and you thought I was adorable?"

"Yep."

The two continued to bicker like an old, married couple as they drove away. Meanwhile, on a beach close to Emma's house, her and Zee sat in the sand together, talking about everything and nothing. Well, Zee talked about everything and left the appropriate gaps for Emma to talk too. That was the first thing Emma had loved about Zee- he always knew when to let her talk; he always left space for Emma to exist beside him. She had a small list in her head now- things she loved about Zee. 

And this was only the first date. She was sure that list would grow.

☆