Chapter 2 ~ Tiny Dancer

"I'm on my way

Driving at 90

Down those country lanes

Singing to tiny dancer

And I miss the way

You make me feel

And it's real

We watched the sunset

Over the castle on the hill"

-Castle on the Hill, Ed Sheeran

Zach POV

"Zach?" Cammie breathes as she sits up from the picnic blanket I'd set up next to Gallagher. When the sun sets, it hits the castle perfectly. Roseville might be a small town in the middle of nowhere, but no one can even try to deny it's beautiful. This had been our spot since we were kids, we'd shared our first kiss here and made a tradition of coming every Friday night to watch the sunset.

"Yeh?" I reply, ruffling my chocolate hair as I look at her. She looks out at Gallagher castle (which also happens to be Gallagher High School) and sighs. "I was thinking. We've always wanted to get away into a big city or a different country. Fuck it's been my dream since I can remember but what if the best people in our lives are here in Roseville?" The rays of sunlight catch her face, her ice blue eyes seeming to catch on fire as they glisten like diamonds.

"You know it's funny," she chuckles, "my grandma told me that mom always said she wanted a city life until my dad moved here from Nebraska. After that she always said she never moved because home isn't a place but a person." Remorse fills me looking at her as she remembers her dad, it's coming up to almost 6 years since he died in a car accident on his way to New York. Matthew Morgan was a great man, the whole town loved him and he did everything for them. He'd want her to be happy.

"Maybe the best times of our life are here, we have years to find out. You're 16 not 60, don't stress," I murmur as she nods acceptingly. I put my arm around her and look up to the castle. Sunsets are proof that endings can be good too I think to myself as we watch the sunset over the castle on the Hill.

I wake up with a cold sweat as if I'd had a nightmare. Some damn good nightmare that was. Taking in the room, I realise that I'm not 16 lying on the hills of Roseville with Cammie but 26 and in my modern apartment in Brooklyn with Jessica. My alarm clock reads 8.05 so I jump out of bed and head downstairs to get ready for the day.

"Zach... I need to tell you something," Jessica, my girlfriend of 4 years, mumbles quietly with a guilty look on her face. I sit down at the table with my cup of fresh black coffee in hand on the dull Monday morning. Jess is always known to be a bit dramatic, with being a writer for a gossip column it sort of comes in the package. What's she done now? Spent $500 on a pair of shoes (again)? or has she accidentally hit another car whilst parallel parking? (Again!)

"I've been sleeping with Noah from work and I'm leaving you," she states, her dark chocolate eyes avoiding mine. Well that ones new. I must look so stupid right now since my face is frozen half way between the smirk I was wearing about 10 seconds ago and the frown forming on my lips now. You see I met her in college, we'd both came from small towns and were struggling to get by in the lively streets of New York. She had no family and I had as good as abandoned mine, it was about time I moved on from her. I mean it had been two years for Christ sake. We had this connection, not electricity but it was as good as I was going to get after fucking it all up with her. After about a year of beating around the bush, we finally started dating and it was amazing. She got me. Like really got me. And the sex? Out of this world. I knew New York would be good for me, this was the woman I was going to settle down with, have children with, grow old and grey with. Of course, all honeymoon periods come to an end, we starting snapping at eachother, going out separately a lot more and I began wishing her oceanic blue eyes were looking at me instead of Jess' dark chocolate ones. I would notice how her blonde hair wasn't as golden and angelic like hers. So to say I didn't see this coming would be a lie but I didn't expect to be cheated on, I still respected our relationship even knowing it was drowning slowly. I'm now 24, working as a doctor. I haven't seen any of my family or childhood friends in 6 years. As I pack up my belongings I come across a photo of the gang from high school. That's when it hits me.

I jump up from the stacks of boxes and make a few calls, letting my job at the hospital know I'm quitting to move back to my home town. Then I grab my laptop, punching the keyboard frantically until I find what I'm looking for:

Roseville, VR: looking for a doctor with experience in the Emergency response units to start work immediately.

Jumping up from my laptop, I throw my things into my Mercedes, speeding through the streets of New York tapping impatiently on the steering wheel. It's 10am now, I'll be home by around 5 if traffic is good. Home is such a strange word to use for the place I ran away from but I had to get away. They'd hate me if they knew the real reason I left. Realising I have a long drive ahead of me, I turn on the radio and Tiny Dancer comes on.

A thought flashes through my head : "What if the best people in our lives are here in Roseville?" And I know now that Cammie was right, which just makes me want to put the accelerator to the floor even more. Before I know it, I'm singing along the country lanes at 90 and all I can think is that I can't wait to go home.

Thankyou so much for the reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter but it's just a filler for the next one x