Hi guys! I'm new here, and this is a story I'm working on with my best friend. She supplies endless ideas, and I do most of the writing. I hope you all have time to check it out- it would mean so much to us!

This story takes place post-break up this year. We don't have much information on their lives nowadays, so we won't put that much of premiers and such. But what we put in here is everyday life, and we wish it to be true to their situation and their personalities!

A short blurb: Vanessa and Zac never meant to break up. It was all because of their families- after a big fight, the two families have strongly discouraged the two from meeting each other. They even went out of their way to keep the two apart. Vanessa is sad, though she listens to her family instead of her heart. Zac, however, has never given up his love, and refuses to do so. Vanessa is dating someone, long term, though. Zac is scared that if he doesn't save the relationship soon, they will get engaged. He urges Vanessa to listen to her heart, but Vanessa wants no more fighting, and heartbreak.

Twenty one letters is what happens... will Zac be able to save their relationship with his written words and his love?

Please review if you liked it- it would mean so much to me!

KTZLF! 3


2014 July...

Vanessa

Austin held Vanessa by the hips as they engaged in a liplock. The doorbell rang, interrupting the two.

"Better get it," Austin muttered, untangling their arms.

"Mmm-mm… I'll go." Vanessa replied, pushing her hair back and walking out of the kitchen, into the doorway.

"Miss Vanessa Hudgens?" The mailman waited with a brown cardboard box by his feet. "I've got a package here for you, and I need you to sign here." With a curious glance at the box, she picked up the pen and signed her name with a flourish.

"That will be all, ma'am. Thank you." The mailman presented her with the box. After a quick exchange of thanks, she edged the door shut with her foot, carrying the box. Vanessa Hudgens was scrawled as the recipient's name, and Nessa's heart caught in her throat. She'd recognize the handwriting of Zachary Efron anywhere.

"Who was it, baby?" Austin asked upon her rearrival.

"Package." She said simply, setting it on the table. She had to calm her beating heart before she dared venture closer to her current boyfriend.

"From whom?" He nosed closer to the box for a peek. "It doesn't say, Ness. Is it safe?" She quickly ran a hand through his hair, making him returning his attention to the girl he so loved.

"It's nothing. From Zac." She muttered to him, then quickly leaned in to kiss her boyfriend before he could say anymore. Still, she could sense his body stiffening at the mention of Vanessa's ex-boyfriend.

"It's probably just some of my stuff lying around," she reassured, and the boy she was clinging tightly to relaxed against her body, and pushed her closer for another kiss.

"I love you," She whispered, between kisses. But when she heard a 'love you too' in return, she couldn't be sure if the exchange between the two of them were completely sincere from one of them- herself...

KTZLF*True love always finds its way.

Austin had a meeting, so it was just Vanessa and her empty house. Then she remembered the package. She pushed herself off the bed and retrieved the box, expecting to find something of her possession. Clothes, perhaps. She didn't expect at all what she saw.

"He sent me… a superlarge business envelope, and… … rocks?" She muttered aloud. In her confusion, she flipped the envelope over. Open when you're alone, it said. Seeing Zac's handwriting sent a pang through her. She debated on whether to wait for Austin- then tore the envelope open. About twenty envelopes slid out of that, and a letter.

'Nessa baby,

Sorry about the rocks, and the multiple envelopes. I kind of wanted to make sure Austin wouldn't be present when he sees this. And it needed to be heavy enough, so you wouldn't be suspicious.

I've missed you so much, my baby. I can't stand this anymore. I can't stand not talking to you, when you're so near me. And I need to know you're okay. I need to love you.

Agree to open the envelopes? When you need them?

Love you bby. Always.

Zac.'

Her hands flew to her mouth, and for a moment, she was dumbfounded. After a while, she reached for the phone, and dialed the all too familiar number. He picked up on the fourth ring.

"Nessa!" There was much obvious delight in his voice, but also a tiredness and nervousness.

"Zachary. David. Alexander. Efron. What. Are. You. Doing?!" She almost yelled into the phone, but she restrained herself. A little, at least.

"Oh," Zac sounded kind of disappointed, but Nessa could tell he was still happy she had chosen to dial and not ignore. Maybe she should have ignored him. "You got the package, I take it. Sorry?"

"Zac, we need to talk."

"We're talking."

"Zac!" She said, a bit aggressively.

"Sorry, sorry…" She could imagine him now, rubbing nervously at the back of his neck. "It's just… I love you." She could hear the whiny note edging into his voice. "I miss you." Sincerely. And with that, two sentences- sent Nessa spinning with a headache. Tears leaked out of her eyes. He knew her that well. He must have known this would be her reaction when he said those words…

"Zac look. I know that…" She whispered shakily. "I know that, but I have to move on… I can't…"

"Nessa, please." His voice took on its surprising gentleness, pleading with her.

"Zac… I can't- I can't love you again. You're making me love you, but I can't. I… I have to…"

"Why?" He pushed on, interrupting her.

"Austin and… and our families…" She kept going on shakily. He was asking her to choose- she realized. Choose between what was right and what both their families wanted them to do, and what she desperately craved for. Where her heart told her to go. No, she shook her head. I can't think about that… and my heart wants Austin. Only Austin.

"Is Austin just an excuse… a distraction?" He prompted, and Nessa could envision his blue eyes, so perfect and full of love, blinking at her. Pleading with her, for her to agree to the envelope thing. Whatever it contained, Nessa knew it couldn't be good for her relationship with her current boyfriend.

"I can't do this, Zac. I know- If I see you… If I hear from you… I know I'll fall in love again." And I can't, she added to herself.

"What's so bad about that?"

"I have a boyfriend."

"I'm your boyfriend."

"Was…" She whispered. "Past tense…" She felt the tears dripping down faster now. She thought of the boxes of their memories- bracelets and trinkets he'd given her, souvenirs, photos of them everywhere… They were all shut up in the closet with the winter coats now.

"I'm trying so hard to forget about you, Zac. I'm trying so hard. I've almost done it. I just need a little more time." She sucked in a breath, doing what her heart forbade her to. She almost heard it break. "It hurts."

"I know it hurts. It hurts for me too, baby." She could hear the pain clearly in Zac Efron's voice. "That's why… That's why I need you to love me again… that's why I need us." He paused.

"That's why I need you to love me again…" He repeated with a whisper. His barely audible words, as quiet as they were, reached the ears of his ex anyway. To Troy, though. Gabriella would always be his girlfriend.

"That's the problem, boo." Vanessa whispered into her cellphone. Thrill and shock shot through Zac's entire body. Boo. It was a nickname she reserved for her current boyfriend. A name Zac had not heard directed at him for almost four years.

"I think I've always loved you, Efron boy. Night." She confessed, then ended the conversation abruptly.

"Wait, Nessa, so will you-" He didn't get to finish.

"I said-" she growled.

"Okay." If Zac hadn't been holding the phone, he'd be holding both hands up in surrender, grin written on his face. "Goodnight, my love." Vanessa hung up, and with a moan of frustration, fell back onto the bed. Tears like marbles rolled over her cheeks, conjoined at her chin, and dropped onto her lap.

Zachary

Zac stared at the beeping phone for a small while, before ending the call himself. Hope tunneled through his veins- he'd had a stronger hold on his girlfriend than he ever thought.

She still loves me, the thought came to him, blurry through his excitement. She confessed, she still loves me. There's still hope. He grinned, hope written across his being, in every language.

Because what we have is real. The line crossed his mind- a song from so long ago- and his grin widened. He'd be singing Everyday with his love soon. He knew it.

Austin

Austin rested his head against Vanessa's bedroom door, deciding not to let her know he heard. He was about to go into the room, when he heard Vanessa call out the whole name of her ex, and waited. Something was up.

He knew, wishing he didn't, who she called. He had a good guess- even if not terribly accurate- of what was going on. He needed to get his girlfriend back, before she fell in love with Zac Efron all over again. It would be torture.

This led him to wonder if Vanessa Hudgens had ever loved him. Don't be silly, he scolded himself. Of course she does. She's confused, that's all. He's a hot, Hollywood hotshot. Of course she might get a bit carried away sometimes, but she's mine. Her heart belongs to me, and me alone.

That said, it made him feel a bit better when he tiptoed back to the doorway, let himself out, and sat down on the porch. He texted her.

Ness I'll be home appx 3 minutes. Her reply came fast.

K. love you xo Doubt shadowed his mind again at the sentenced, but he overrode it.

Vanessa

After replying to the text, the somewhat distraught young woman quickly jumped up from her bed, and shoved all but one envelope into the box, which she kicked into the closet along with her other Zanessa belongings that was too painful to look at. She slid the other one under her pillow.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, thinking it was Austin. It was Zac.

If im right, ur reading 'open when i did something stupid' right now. Dammit. She thought, shaking her head. Zac knew her all too well, and that was exactly what she had pressed under the pillow.

She raced to the bathroom, so fast and footsteps so loud that she was sure Austin would have heard had he been outside. (Which he was, but he didn't hear.) She splashed some water on her face, careful not to get it on her clothes, and dried her tears. She put on a convincing smile.

Austin

Austin Butler waited 5 minutes before he let himself back in. When he did, he smiled and gave his Nessa an embrace, with a complimentary kiss on the cheek. He didn't mention the box.

Each were hiding things from the other, though perhaps Austin had an unfair advantage, having overheard Nessa's conversation. But he didn't know about the envelopes still hidden in her closet. After all, both were professional actors.