I woke up thinking about Zoe Murphy post canon and now I’m super messed up
Zoe was abused for years by her brother, probably suffering her own struggles, but her family largely ignored that because of Connor. When he dies, she’s fed lies about who he was, making her start to believe he was better and that she did something wrong. Even though Connor hurt her, she was still plagued by the fact that apparently, all of her brother’s hope was pinned on her. She probably started to blame herself for his suicide, and feel like a really crappy sister, despite the fact that he abused her, not the other way around.
Then there was Evan, who was really the first person Zoe tried to trust. He betrayed her by lying to her about her brother-see paragraph above- but above that, she loved him. She loved him, and it was all fake.
Now imagine the aftermath-Zoe is forced the relearn to grieve for her brother, who wasn’t the angel Evan made him out to be. She also has to cope with a really difficult breakup, more difficult than the average high school relationship. Her parents are still on edge, and she is considered an awful person by the general public- all because of the person she loved. She’s getting tons of abuse online, people at school think she’s the reason for Connor’s death, she’s lost her coping mechanisms.
Despite that, she managed to show up at the orchard to talk with the cause of all of this one year later, to, in some ways, forgive the boy who she loved (and maybe still does, despite all that, but that’s a different conversation), who fixed her family and her world only to tear it apart, who’s caused this year to be hell on earth for her. Yet, somehow, she manages to forgive him a little. Not completely. But a little. Enough to meet with him and show him how he actually helped her family.
I love Zoe Murphy so much.