In A Time Of Need
Authors Note: I started writing this when I first heard that Vanessa's dad had been diagnosed with stage four cancer and the ideas just started rolling. This past Sunday, she asked for prayers for her dad as he hasn't been doing so great and I'm sad to say that today she announced he had passed away. Rest in Peace Greg, Mr. Hudgens. I know she's with Austin, and Zac's with Sami, and I'm happy that they're both happy (but inside my hearts still pretty torn up that they're both with new people) I think that with Austin's mom passing away from Cancer a few years ago, and now with V's dad as well, that their shared experiences will probably bring them closer together. However, my heart would very much like her to find comfort in Zac. So here's my own take on things.
And if you're so inclined, please send your thoughts and prayers to Vanessa, Stella, and Gina during this very difficult time.
He wasn't sure if he should knock, or ring the doorbell. He'd been standing outside for almost 10 minutes now.
He saw the article. He saw the video.
Greg had Cancer. Stage 4.
He felt the lump in his throat form as he just thought about it. The man whom he had spent years living in pure terrifying fear of. The man whom to him was invincible. The man who meant everything to Vanessa.
He'd been on the WAF tour and had just gotten back home when a paparazzo at the airport had asked him about it. He almost froze in his steps right then and there. He wanted to grab the man and question him, but he didn't.
He wasn't sure what he was doing here. He hadn't been here in years. Half a decade had gone by since he was last on this door step, although he wasn't sure if he'd ever been this nervous before.
He and Vanessa didn't talk to one another anymore. They avoided each other like the bubonic plague. They tried to be friends at first, but that was just too difficult and after a few months of trying, it was radio silent between them. Although unsure of why he was here, he knew it was where he needed to be. When he got into his car, this is where he ended up.
Greg, Gina, and Stella had been like a second family to him. Gina smothered him with kisses and third helpings of dinner, while Stella had annoyed him and Vanessa when they wanted to be alone, but he loved her like a little sister.
Taking a deep breath, Zac knocked and waited.
He was with Sami. After years of being single and playing the field; looking for anything that could resemble what he had with Vanessa, he finally found a spark with Sami. He hadn't felt like this in years and was finally feeling as if he could let Vanessa go. But then he heard about her dad and it all came crashing back down on him. All the love and care for her came flooding back, his concern and worry too. Could he ever let his first love go? Or do you really only love once.
His thoughts were interrupted when Gina opened the door with a giant smile on her face.
"Zac? What are you doing here? Come in." She said cheerfully as she stepped aside and pulled him into her home.
"Hi Mama G, Uhhh I mean Gina... Errrr Mrs. Hudgens?" He stammered. He wasn't sure what to call her. He hasn't thought about it until now.
"Zachary David Alexander Efron, don't be so modest. Mama G is just fine. Or Gina if you prefer. We're hardly strangers." She said as she cheekily bumped his elbow.
Zac flinched at the sound of his full name and could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was hardly ever that anyone calls him by his full name. He felt as though he was a teenager again getting in trouble.
"Alright, Gina then."
"So Zac, what brings you to..?."
"I heard about Greg. Just wanted to check in and bring him a few things." He blushed a little and rubbed the back of his neck as he realized he had cut her off.
"Ahh, I see. Well he's in his usual spot. Go right on in. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, just holler."
"Thanks Gina." Zac said as he took the stairs up two at a time to the den.
-With Vanessa-
"Austin you don't understand, this is MY dad were taking about! " Vanessa yelled in frustration as she grabbed her phone and keys off the counter.
"Tell me how I don't understand huh? My mom died of Cancer Ness. She died!" Austin countered.
"It's not the same!"
"Tell me how it's not that same huh?!"
"It's just not! I can't be here right now. I'm gotta go." She said as she ran out the door leaving a frustrated Butler behind to kick himself.
-Back with Zac-
Zac saw Greg in the den. And knocked on the wall to alert the older man of his presence. Greg looked up from his paper and acknowledged Zac.
He had lost a lot of weight, his hair was thinner than Zac remembered and greyer too. Deep dark circles rested behind a pair of new glasses.
"Zac, come on in." Greg said as he set his paper down.
"Thanks sir."
"It's been a while. What brings you here?" Greg asked
"I uhhh heard about...your... uhhh diagnosis. And I just wanted to see how you were doing, check in, and bring you a few things. I hope that's ok." Zac said nervously. His palms were sweating and there wasn't quite enough saliva in his throat.
"Of course it is. You're already here, Gina let you in, I couldn't stop you if I wanted to."
Zac revealed the bag he was hiding and handed it over to the older man, suddenly feeling extremely nervous.
He had brought a few things with him, a couple of books about vintage cars (a topic of interest that he and Greg actually shared),a pair of insanely soft house slippers, some awesome beanies, a huge tub of his moms famous homemade chicken noodle soup and a gag gift hair piece. He knew it seemed a little petty to be giving someone who was really sick a pair of slippers and a book but he hoped that it would make Greg feel better and laugh.
"I bought some stuff. Soup. Mom made it. So you don't have to worry about food poisoning or anything like that. And some books I found too. There's this really rad one about old mustangs and there's some slippers and a beanie and..." He rambled nervously.
"This was very thoughtful of you boy. Thank You." Greg said as he pulled out various items.
"You're welcome sir." Zac smiled broadly at the rare compliment.
"How are you boys doing?" Gina asked as she came in carrying a tray with some glasses of water, a few bottle of pills, and some plain toast.
"I hope you don't mind Zac, it's time for his medication. He has to take it now, or else when the chemo is administered he won't be able to keep anything down. He's been on a strict schedule since his last hospital visit." Gina apologized gently as she set the tray down next to Greg and took a seat.
"Oh you brought soup, great! Remind me to ask your mom for the recipe. Greg and Vanessa always loved it." She said taking the soup from him.
"I'll just go heat this up. Be right back." She said leaving the room.
"Mom? Dad? Stellz? Anyone home?" Zac heard Vanessa's voice call out. Butterflies erupting in his stomach and Greg took note of his now pinker complexion.
"We're in the back." Gina shouted.
Vanessa walked further into the house and into the kitchen where she spotted her mom who was stirring something on the stove. Giving her mom a hug, and investigating the pot further, she discovered it was soup.
"Mmmmm, that smells great. New recipe?" She asked
"Sometime like that." Gina said with a little smirk.
"I'm gonna go check in on dad." Vanessa said as she made her way to the den.
"Dad? How are you feeling...?" The rest of the words died on her tongue as she saw her ex-boyfriend sitting next to her father. Clearly she was stunned to say the least.
"Zac?" She asked questioningly. 'No it's his evil twin brother' she thought 'Of course it's him. Who else would it be? Nice question Vanessa.'
"What are you doing here?" She said still frozen in her spot by the door.
"I uhhh. I just came by to see how Greg was doing. I can, I can leave if it makes you uncomfortable." Zac stammered as he stood up from his spot.
"No!" She half shouted and then blush at how this was her initial reaction to him.
"I mean. You can stay. If you want that is." She said quickly hoping to cover her mistake. She walked over to her dad, taking the seat next to him, and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"I'd like that." He said sitting back down.
'Me too.' She thought to herself.
-Later that evening-
"Oh thanks for letting me stay for dinner Gina. That was the best home cooked meal I've had in a long time. The best meal I've had period actually." He said grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm glad you enjoyed your four helpings." She chuckled with extra emphasis on the four.
"Am I too old to use the 'I'm a growing boy' excuse?" He asked sheepishly.
"Maybe not on your mother." Gina replied as she stood to clear the table.
"Oh no, please let me." Zac said jumping up and grabbing the dishes from her.
"You're a guest, I couldn't possibly let you." Gina replied trying to take back the dishes.
"I insist. Really. Let me do it. I want to." He said as he flashed his signature grin.
"Fine. Everything's where you remember it." She said as she sat back down.
Zac cleared the table quickly and headed to the sink to start washing to dishes.
"Vanessa dear, go help him." Gina told her daughter.
"Mommm, do I have to? What about Stella?" Vanessa pretended to groan. Her heart was exploding on the inside! She was so excited about spending some alone time with him. She was actually thinking of excuses to go help him before her mother had asked her. Something about 'The last time he did dishes, they all lost their patterns.' was what she settled on. She didn't want them to think she wanted to spend time with him after all. She was with Austin.
"I have HW. BYE!" Stella replied as she bolted out of the room.
"Yes dear, don't question your mother." Greg said sternly to his oldest daughter as she got up to go help Zac.
Greg and Gina shared a sparkle between them silently complimenting the other for their brilliant performance. Maybe Vanessa wasn't the only actor in this family.
"Hi." Vanessa said timidly as she walked over to Zac who was elbows deep in soapy dish water.
"Hi." Zac said almost dropping the soapy dish he was holding, but catching it just in time.
Vanessa giggled and Zac blushed. "Mom told me to help you." Vanessa explained.
"Ok. Well you probably don't want to get your pretty top wet. So how about I wash and you dry?" Zac suggested nodding his head in the direction of his wet shirt.
"Sounds good." Vanessa said blushing as she grabbed a dish towel and began to dry.
The silence between them went on for a couple minutes as they both soaked in being so close to one another for the first time in years. Zac washed and Vanessa dried.
"So how have you been?" Zac said as he broke the silence. Vanessa looked over at him and saw that his eyes were firmly locked onto the plate he was washing.
"I've been ok. How about you?"
"I'm alright."
And again the silence hung between them.
"Hey Zac?" she asked as she put a dish away.
"Yeah?" he answered while still idly washing dishes.
"Why are you really here?" she asked turning to face him.
"What do you mean?" he asked avoiding her question.
"I told you. I came to see Greg." He said avoiding her gaze.
"Why?" she questioned again. This time Zac turned to face her.
"Because he was, Zac corrected himself, is, an important person in my life and I wanted to be here to show my support."
"Funny time to start." Vanessa mumbled as she threw the towel onto the counter and began to walk away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zac said as he got offensive. Vanessa heard the change in his tone and marched back in front of him. The two were face to face now, mere centimeters apart and Zac could see that he ignited a fire in her eyes.
"It means that for years I tried to be friends! I tried to keep you in my life! I kept reaching out to you over and over again. And every single time you pushed me away Zac, you pushed us all away! "
"And now, you suddenly walk back into my life? Why huh? Why now? Why not before?!" Vanessa yelled at him.
"Because I couldn't just be with you and not be with you Van! It was breaking me apart inside. And now, now I finally thought that we could try again..." He started out strong, but now he couldn't find the words. Tears were building in his eyes, and when he looked at Vanessa, he could tell tears were threatening to fall from hers as well.
"Don't mind me. Just came in to get Greg another helping of pie. I swear that man and his pie. He…" Gina said merrily as she came into the kitchen.
"Is everything alright here?" she asked as she felt the tension in the room between her daughter and her ex-boyfriend.
"Everything's fine mom." Vanessa grumbled out as she wiped her eyes and rushed out of the room.
"Zachary?" Gina said as she watched Vanessa leave.
"I uhh guess I should get going. Thanks again for dinner Gina. It was really great." Zac said as he dried his hands and started to head out of the kitchen.
"Oh no you don't." Gina said, putting herself in the doorframe to stop him.
"Listen Zac, honey, it's a long drive to make so late. Stay, I'll make up the guest room and after some breakfast tomorrow morning, you can go." She suggested.
"It's not too late." He insisted. "If I left now, I could be home by uhhh 3 am." He quickly calculated the time it would take to get from San Lupo back to Studio City.
"What would your mother say Zachary? You're staying the night. No buts misters." She said with a finger wag.
"Now, go get ready for bed. It's getting late." she said as she pushed him up the stairs.
"It's barely midnight!" Zac complained.
"Do you want me to call my husband in here?" she asked giving him the look.
"No Ma'am." He said as he hurried up the stairs.
"Honey where's my piece of pie?" Greg said as he entered the kitchen.
"What? Oh, I'll get it. You should go sit down." Gina said a little frazzled as she walked over to the fridge.
"Where's Van?" he asked taking his seat.
"In her room I guess? She sort of ran out of here." Gina sighed as she took a seat next to Greg and placed a large piece of pie in front of them.
"And the boy?" Greg asked as he started to dig in.
"I convinced him to stay the night. He's probably freshening up." She said as she dug her fork into some whipped cream.
"Oh how times have changed." Greg chuckled. "Remember when we had to try and convince that boy to not stay?"
"I remember." Gina said with a small smile.
"What are we going to do about those two? Are they ever going to work it out?" Gina sighed.
"Have some faith honey. If it's meant to be, it'll be." He said savoring the last bit of pie.
"Of course, we could give them another little push." He said grinning.
-With Vanessa-
She ran up the stairs, to her room, and slammed the door shut. Throwing herself on the bed, she took a deep breath.
'What are you doing Vanessa?' she questioned herself.
'Why'd you have to blow up at him like that?'
'Cuz he really hurt you when he left all those years ago.' She answered her own question in this little conversation with herself.
'But he said he was hurting too.' She added. The good voices and bad voices both telling their sides of the story.
'And he did look really hurt when you yelled at him.' She sighed.
'Was I too hard on him?'
Just then her phone started to vibrate. She reached into her pocket to see who it was. Looking at the caller ID and seeing it was Austin, she swiped to ignore the call.
'I cannot deal with him right now.' As she tossed her phone aside.
-With Zac-
Zac had just gotten out of the shower when he heard a special ring tone sound out.
He quickly scrambled to wrap a towel around his waist and pick up the phone.
"Hey Sami. What's up?" he answered.
"Hi beau. Where are you? It's late."
"I'm uhhh. Just visiting an old friend. It's kinda of late. So I'll just spend the night and be back tomorrow." He said nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"Spend the night? How far away are you exactly?" she questioned.
"I'm just tired ok Sami? I'll see you tomorrow." He said and promptly hung up. It wasn't a total lie he told himself. Vanessa was an old friend. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told Sami the complete truth. But he felt vulnerable.
There was a knock on the bedroom door. And suddenly Vanessa was walking into the room, her face hidden behind a stack of linens.
"Mom just wanted to make sure you had enough linens and things." she said as she moved her head to the side of the pile to find Zac. Standing there in front of her. Dripping wet. In a towel. And half naked.
Her eyes went wide and she dropped the pile in shock.
"Ohmygosh. I'm so sorry. I should have knocked. I guess I'm just use to... I mean I didn't you would be... I'm so sorry." the words flew off her tongue and she dropped to the ground to pick up and refold the sheets that had fallen, all the while keeping her eyes firmly on the ground.
"Hey." he said, in the same way that made butterflies appear in her stomach every time.
"It's ok." He said as he knelt down to help her with the pile. He smiled at her when she finally met his gaze again.
"Nothing you haven't seen before right?" he joked. She gulped. She wasn't so sure. It had been a while since she had seen him naked, errrr half naked. And while he had always been fit, this was a whole new level.
Vanessa laughed nervously and quickly tried to get a hold of the linens again to hand to him.
"Uhh thanks." He said accepting them from her.
While extending his arms, she couldn't help but notice the V shaped feathers on his inner bicep. She had to stop herself from reaching out to touch it. Realizing she was staring, she quickly averted her eyes.
"Uhh Zac? I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to blow up at you. I'm just..." She trailed off as she searched for the right words.
Frustrated? Heartbroken? Stressed? Nothing seemed to fit.
"Tired." She finally said.
"It's ok. Really. Don't sweat it." He said.
"Thanks." She said as she looked at him once more before heading back to her room.
-Later that Night-
Zac had been lying in bed for what felt like hours now. His head just wouldn't stop spinning. His thoughts wouldn't turn off. And even though he and Vanessa had dated for years and had on occasion spent several nights at her parents' house, he'd never actually slept in this room before. Sure that's where he would start the night, but somehow he would always find his way into Vanessa's room.
He couldn't sleep, so he decided to go get some water from the kitchen. On his way down, passing Vanessa's room, he heard a strange noise. It was soft and almost unnoticeable but to him it was all he could hear.
He pressed his ear to her door. 'What was that? It sounded like whimpering? But Van didn't bring her dog with her. Wait no. That's not whimpering. That sounds like crying.' When that thought clicked in his head, he realized what he was hearing. Vanessa was crying.
He opened the door to her room and from his view by the door, he could see her figure curled up in the fetal position and shaking from the quiet sobs.
"Van? Are you ok? Are you hurt? Is something wrong?" The questions poured out of him, and while full of worry, as he rushed to her side and climbed into bed behind her.
"Everything's wrong." She said as she turned into him, a few stray tears falling from her eyes. He reached out to brush them away with his thumbs.
"I feel like my life is just falling apart. I don't know what to do." She said sniffling.
"I'm just so scared. I don't know what's gonna happen. Or what I should do. I mean whose going to walk me down the aisle Zac? What about when mom can't reach things on the top shelf? Or when there's a spider in the house?" The questions came tumbling out one after the other before he could even start to answer one. And as she finally voiced her fears out loud, the floodgates opened and she began to cry.
Vanessa is strong. She always put on a brave face and he can count the times he's seen her cry on one hand. But as he watched her resolve crumble, his heart couldn't help but break. All he could do was pull her in closer to him. He wanted her to feel safe and to know that he was going to be here for her.
"What about when Stella goes to college? Who will take care of mom? What's going to happen to all of us...?" She asked thru hiccupping tears.
"He has to be ok Zac. He has to. He just has to." She pleaded through her sobs.
"Shhhh. He's gonna be okay Van. He's going to be just fine. He's a fighter." Zac said as he hugged her tighter and pressed a kiss into her hair.
"Whatever you or Greg, or Mama G, or Stella Bella needs. I'm always gonna be here from now on. I promise."
"God damnit Zac." She swore as she cried harder.
"It's gonna be ok. I'm gonna be here. It's ok Ness." He whispered softly over and over again as he held her as close to him as humanly possible and pressed more kisses into her hair.
Soon her sobs subsided, and the tears dried as she fell asleep in Zac's arms.
"I love you Ness." He simply whispered. Even after so much time had passed between them, he said it without even the slightest hint of hesitation or doubt. Nothing but sincerity was in his voice. "I've loved you since I first saw you. Still do. Always will." And with that he closed his eyes and drifted off too.
In this exact moment, everything felt right. And for the first time in a long time, they finally both felt at home.
-The Next Day-
Hours later and it was sunrise. Greg was sitting at the kitchen table with his fork and newspaper in hand. Gina was happily cooking away on the stove as Stella bounced in.
"Morning dad." she said as she went to give Greg a kiss on the check.
"Morning mom." she said as she took her place next to Greg.
"Good morning sweetie. Could you please go wake up Zac? He was a little anxious to leave last night. I imagine he'd want to hit the road as soon as possible." Gina said flipping another pancake.
Stella went to guest room and knocked on the door. She had learned the hard way a long time ago that it wasn't safe to interrupt Zac or Vanessa's sleep. Unless you wanted a pillow or worse thrown at your head.
"Zac! Wake up! I'm going to eat your breakfast." She sang. She listened to hear any sign of life on the other side of the door but heard none.
"Zac Attack?" She said as she cautiously opened the door and entered. The bed was still perfectly made, so she thought that maybe he went to the bathroom. Stella checked the bathroom but no one was there. She checked the den, the family room, the living room, even the patio.
She went to the front door to look for Zac's car and saw his black Audi still in the driveway, his keys and wallet on the table by the door. He was still around. But where was he?
Then it came to her.
Vanessa's room.
Her feet couldn't move fast enough, but she finally approached the door to her older sisters' room. And while holding her breathe, she very, very, very, slowly moved the handle and opened the door the slightest bit, just enough to see.
And that's when she finally found Zac. Vanessa was clinging to Zac's chest and Zac's arms were firmly wrapped around her. Her head nuzzled in the crock of his neck and his placed gently atop hers. They both looked so peaceful and serene.
She ever so quietly closed the door and tip toed away and back to the kitchen.
"Honey, I thought I told you to go wake up Zac." Gina said noticing her younger daughter had finally come back to the breakfast table.
"I don't think he wants to be woken up right now. He's kinda tangled up at the moment." Stella replied with a smirk.
With that, Greg and Gina rushed up the stairs and to their daughter's room before performing Stella's same strange door opening ritual.
They're breaths both caught as they found a familiar sight before them.
Zac and Vanessa both looking oh so content sleeping together.
"I don't want to admit it. But I'm going to rest a lot better now knowing that she's always gonna have someone to take care of her." Greg whispered to his wife.
"Even if it is that boy." He added on with a smirk.
"Oh please. You love that boy." His wife teased him.
"I don't love any boy that's going to steal my daughter from me. But I will admit I've grown very fond of that young man."
"Like daughter like father."
End Note: A little rusty here. Don't be mean. There were so many ways I could have written this and so many different scenarios that I came up with, so my plan is continue with this story and make it a series of related one shots about Z&V dealing with Greg's illness. Tell me what you guys think! I hope you enjoyed it.