Zoey had the type of personality that got attached far too quickly and that was apparently at a very young age. It all started with the little bunny shaped teddy bear that she had been gifted when she was brought into the world. Mr. Bun Bun had been the girl's resolute best friend. She had confided in him all her secrets and even had afternoon teas together. He never left her side, not even for a wink. It had gotten to the point that her parents had thought there was something wrong with their daughter, that her attachment to the inanimate object was quite worrying. None of their other children had anything like it. Sure, there was a favourite blanket or action figure or even pillow, but never to the degree of what Zoey had with Mr. Bun Bun. Although they shared a special bond, he was still one of her confidants and the remaining like she ever had to her childhood. In fact, there had been a time where Mr Bun Bun had gone missing, but luckily Amanda and Jason Vanderbilt were forward thinkers and had purchased a spare just in case they were in a situation where Mr Bun Bun disappeared.

Mr Bun Bun was the first of many incidences where she grew attached quite quickly and it moved from inanimate objects to people. It was how she got hurt all the time, allowing herself to be vulnerable with those human beings that she actually liked. Her family always told her she needed to grow thicker skin, to learn how to guard herself instead of being so ‘weak’ and allowing others to walk all over her. Yet, Zoey wasn’t a pushover. Rather, she was far from it. It was just because she was always taken advantage of due to her very sweet nature and kind soul. Her first heart break however came at a young age too…

Growing up, Zoey had always watched Winnie the Pooh with her siblings. Her grandparents read the stories and poems to her parents, and they in turn did the same with their children. It was a daily tradition. All the siblings would gather around in the evening in their jammies with their tea and at first they would be read a small excerpt from one of A. A. Milne's poetry or a bit from the avdentures of winnie the pooh, and then it would be followed up with a little sketch. Zoey found that she was growing a liking towards the main character. Christopher Robin. He was just like her. Pretty and outgoing and he had a lot of friends, even a bunny rabbit just like her. Though she was young, Christopher Robin would always be her first ever crush. 

With the guidance and encouragement of her family, Zoey soon became and avid reader like those that came before her. With each new novel or series she would find herself falling in love with a character only to fall out of love and then back again with the turn of every page. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Although she was quite an outgoing and bubbly girl, most of her first ever realisations and experiences were through books. It always transported her into another reality, one that acted as an escape. She could become whoever she wanted. She could tour the planes of Africa, travel to a far away world, or even befriend sweet creatures in the woodlands. Perhaps the heartbreak was a little delayed... she had only ever known what it was like to love fictional men, mostly written by women.. until she had her own boyfriend.

Her first ever boyfriend and her most serious one played many games with her. She was too young to realise it, but it was a toxic relationship. Perhaps they were too young and didn't know what to do with themselves, how to act, how to spare the feelings of others... and yet, the brunette carried along with her the expectations of what she thought a realtionship would be like. What she thought love would be like... love that she had always experienced single-sided. Not the kind that was shared between siblings, friends or even a parent or child... no, a different kind of love. A love she wasn't even sure she deserved.

She had never been so invested in someone before, never saw a whole future the way she did with him.. It terrified Zoey to her core, knowing how attached she grew to him even years on. Then there came the day.. the dreaded day where she heard the words 'we need to talk' and she knew her whole world was going crumble into pieces. He had found another woman. Someone he liked better than her. Someone he was attracted to more... and she found herself feeling very inadequate. Unworthy. If he couldn't love her, who would? 

She put up walls, guards even, locking up her heart to make sure it would never be broken again. She had barely glued back the pieces together... until she met Wilder. He showed her what it meant to be truly loved. What it felt like to have someone care for her, really spoil her, make sure she was okay... even though she gave the man hell... if it weren't for her first heartbreak... she would never have known that she was able to fall in love again with the man of her dreams.