Hey all.

Yes I should prob have explained this is a Zac/OC story and the friend is unknown, too. No Vanessa.

So there it is lol.

If there's not much response I won't keep posting but if you like it, I'll keep going.

Thanks for the reviews!

CHAPTER 2

I lifted the tent bag onto my shoulder, trying to find anything to distract me from the fact that I was going to be spending the next two weeks in close proximity to Zac.

I was quite shocked that no-one in our little group had recognized him yet. I wondered whether he was as well-known in England as he was back home but obviously not judging by people's seeming ignorance of him.

It seemed only I had been lucky enough to have first hand experience of the well-known actor and it wasn't the greatest experience considering the unfortunate circumstances I now found myself in.

Panting, out of breath, I threw the tent bag onto the ground in frustration and emptied the contents after throwing my rucksack down too, joining the rest of the group who all looked at me strangely.

"Hmm-hmm" someone coughed from behind me and I turned to find Zac there, kind of looking nervous with his hands jammed in his jacket pockets and hiding behind his fringe which was tipping into his eyes.

I stared at him for a good five seconds, then squinted my eyes and blinked, looking away as I began to lay out the metal rods for the tent, just like all the other couples were doing.

"Look, I'm sorry I don't know you." He said shyly as he tried to help with the tent poles and I ripped one from his hand with a warning glare. "But you might want to tell me, seeing as we have to sleep together." He added sheepishly, blushing at the vehemence I used in snatching of the pole from him.

"Share a tent." I amended quickly. "Don't you dare tell anyone we slept together" I added.

"Look, what is your problem?" He asked me directly and his hurt shocked me. He never raised his voice to anyone. Or he never had while he was dating Tam at least.

"My problem is you. My problem is that you were once so in love with my best friend that you couldn't be apart, then as soon as a big film deal came along you dropped her like a ton of bricks. My problem is that you left me to pick up the pieces of her broken heart- which was smashed to smithereens by the way- without a backward glance. My problem is that two years ago, you would have known me without even having to think about it and now you look at me like I'm a stranger." I ranted, throwing down the pole and starting on another one as Zac stood slightly behind me, rubbing his face as it all slowly dawned on him.

"Jennie." He said softly.

The huskiness of his voice shivered a curl through my tummy and it reminded me what those millions of teenage girls saw in him. Only I wasn't one of them and I knew better than to be taken in by that charm.

"Oh blimey, you remembered then? Drugs didn't completely wipe your memory?" I checked, slicingly.

He frowned, his lips pressing together. "I recognized you up there," he pointed behind his with his finger, even though it was down hill from where we stood now. "I just didn't know how. You've changed." He defended himself as his brows drew closer together.

I stared at him a bit longer. By Christ that was an understatement. The last time he had seen me, I was blonde and skinny and trying to make a go of it as model but things hadn't worked out so I had changed my appearance, going back to my brunette roots and eating a proper meal instead of salads, putting on a healthy eighteen pounds that suited me.

"I know." I said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!" Dom called as he practically ran up the hill. "Don't put the tents out yet!" He shouted. "We're walking a few miles before we hit first camp," he smiled.

I sighed and collected up the rods again, letting Zac hand me one and he looked at me under his lashes from where he stood after bending to collect it.

"I'm sorry." He said simply, but I didn't know what he was sorry for. For being a total prick to my best friend? For being a total prick full stop? Whatever it was, it wasn't enough for me. But I had to make good of this situation or at least the best I could so I took the rod and placed it in the tent bag, lifting it up. Zac tried to take it from me but I quickly swung it onto my shoulder, glaring at him in a challenge.

"Sure, okay." He shrugged as he sighed and I felt kind of bad for a small moment. What if he wanted the same? What if he had come here to get away from LaLa Land and the craziness of his fame and have a little peace before his familiarity became too much?

I took myself back to the night he callously dumped Tam in favour of his career and I shut off my feelings of sympathy.

He deserved to be punished and who better to deal it then the best friend of a woman scorned?

---

Due to Tam and Zac being practically inseparable until we left college, I had got to know him pretty well. He was kind of like a brother to me and for a time, I had enjoyed his protectiveness over who I was dating and our ability to be completely silly with one another.

He and Tam had that special something but we were like two kids together and she had understood our bond.

I couldn't lie, I had missed him. As I studied his profile, we walked along in silence as the other couples around us bonded and I saw the far-away look in his eye and it reminded me of the day he told me he was finding his new-found fame a bit too much.

It was hard to believe he had dated my friend for three years before making it big, but that was the Zac I knew. The guy who was going for constant auditions, taking bit parts and whatever roles he could find.

But suddenly things changed as he landed a role in a huge movie and it seemed like Tam was the first thing to go in his new life and I will never forget the day she came home from meeting him, knowing that things were over.

I think I was kidding myself when I thought sharing with him was better than sharing with Luke.

---

Zac watched Jennie walk off with the group, striking up friendly conversation with Joan, a lady he had spoken to only briefly when she had asked him if she knew him because he looked awfully familiar.

He had smiled at her and said he gets told that all the time but they hadn't met before. Joan had nodded with a slightly confused look and they had chatted about the weather and other things until Dom had come up to organize them.

And now Jennie was chatting to her like they were best friends, reminding him that he was left out in the cold as far as their partnership went.

Of all the people to bump into in the middle of the British countryside, it had to be her. The only other person that would have been worse to see, would have been Tam herself, but he could still remember the blazing trail of insults Jennie had strung him when he had picked up the phone to Tam's name flashing, less than half an hour after they had split up.

Expecting to hear Tam on the other end, he had been a little taken aback at the loud profanities being screamed down the phone, but he soon realized it was Jennie and it made his gut turn with loathing as he remembered the names she called him.

At the time he had presumed she was just letting off steam, after all, they had been friends too and he had kind of hoped against all hope they might salvage that. But it was now obvious that Tam hadn't told her the reason for their split. He didn't know what she had told her, but it didn't seem like it was good from her attitude. He had never known Jennie to be so hostile to anyone.

Well actually he had, he smirked, when a guy once tried to grope her ass, she had practically turned him into a pile of ash with her blasting tirade, but other than that, he wouldn't expect it of her.

If she didn't know the story, then he wasn't going to tell her, it was up to her if she had written him off as a heartless, fame hungry guy who only wanted a career and nothing else. He kind of thought she knew him better than that but that's what made him wonder exactly what Tam had said about him.

He frowned as he considered the possibilities and he looked out toward the horizon and soaked up the views, spotting the forest down the hill where they would be trekking through to reach the panoramic views of the hill on the other side.

He couldn't believe his luck when Dom had announced them as partners. All he wanted was to escape the crazy lifestyle for a couple of weeks and run around the wild with a bunch of strangers and here he had ended up with his worst nightmare- Jennie on the warpath.

He wondered what it would be like sharing a tent with her. Would she try and stab him in his sleep? He wouldn't put it past her.

It was at the foot of the gentle hill that Dom stopped the group to set up camp and he watched as Jennie threw down the tent bag, pressing his lips together in annoyance that she hadn't let him carry the bag, instead being totally stubborn as if she had to prove something.

"Okay where do we start?" He asked, rubbing his hands together as he eyed the pieces keenly.

"What are you now? Action man?" She wondered drily, rolling her eyes and he felt his confidence slip another notch. He didn't like that she knew him well enough to know how to bring him down.

She knew how he had auditioned for eleven action films and been turned down from them all. The conversation they'd had about it had been the most honest he had been with anyone- even Tam. She knew his vulnerability that night and she still twisted the knife in as they stood here and stared at the puzzle in front of them.

---

I flicked a look to Zac and found his blue eyes sadly staring at the ground, his shoulders dipped in and his mouth tugged up in one corner in an expression of almost regret.

God why was I feeling bad about this? It was hardly my fault we ended up in this situation.

"Do you want me to share with Luke?" I asked as a way of offering an olive branch, at least for the immediate moment to wipe the sadness from his face. I might hate Zac for hurting my friend but he hadn't asked for this, either.

"How come you didn't?" He asked, his brows digging in the middle of his forehead where he frowned still.

I licked my lips and bit the upper one, unsure if I should share my thoughts.

"He was eyeing me up all the way here on the coach. I didn't fancy my chances in close proximity." I added

Zac actually smiled at me. His full whack, honest-to-god, real, breath taking smile. It had been a long time since I had seen it and I didn't know why now, after two years, it was making my tummy turn. He had never had this effect on me before.

Maybe it was his bulkier frame, his obvious muscles under his layers, the hint of stubble on his jaw or even that shaggy-wild hair that flipped in the light breeze.

Whatever it was, it was alien to me because I had never felt it before for him and I didn't want to.

He lifted a brow at me. "You thought he was gonna paw you while you slept?" He asked as he began to build the frame for the tent and we worked together to get the fabric over the frame, securing it with pegs.

I shrugged. "I didn't like the way he kept looking at me."

"So you chose me instead?" He checked in disbelief. "Even though you hate my guts?"

"At least I know you won't try anything on." I reasoned, knowing he had never had those kind of feelings for me either.

"Okay group! Let's play our first game!" Dom called as we stood appreciating our handiwork.

We gathered around while Dom explained the game to us and it was a basic trust game where we stood in a circle and our partners stood in front of us, facing inward and they had to fall backwards and we had to catch them.

I stared into Zac's back wondering if he deserved to be caught and if I really wanted his trust anyway. Its not like it would make any difference, we still had to suffer this trip with the past hanging over us like a hanging wet blanket.