Hey guys. Sorry, as always, for lack of updates. hw and my job is killer on time, soo that doesn't leave too much time for me to write. But I have been able to write little by little. So anyways, i've got half of the next chapter done. So i'm hoping to finish it tonight maybe. Anywhoo, enough of my ranting, REVIEW PLEASE & Thank you guys!

"Zac." She whispered to him, wanting him to wake up. She didn't want the guy to sleep out here. He was still a celebrity for goodness sake, anything could happen. She was also curious as to why he was here. At her condo again.

"Zac." She tried again, shaking him a little this time, hoping he'd wake up. She was seriously considering bringing Rae up to the condo, then coming back down to wake him up. But she felt bad, and didn't want anything bad to happen in that little amount of time.

"Zac!" She whispered a little louder, shaking him harder. She was getting frustrated. He must have been tired. Finally his eyes began to slowly flutter open. "Hey," she whispered. "It's like 1am, you shouldn't be out here, it's not safe."

"Hey." He said, sitting up, rubbing his hands over his face. Vanessa mentally noted that he looked a little stressed.

"Um, what are you doing here?" She asked awkwardly.

"I was waiting for you guys to get back. I didn't think you'd be gone that long." He scratched the back of his neck. She just nodded. "Look, we really need to talk."

"Zac.." She sighed. "We already talked. You broke our hearts. What more do you want? Now, I've got to get my daughter to bed. Goodnight." Vanessa turned around and made her way to open the door again. She knew she sounded a little harsh, but she had no intentions to, it was just how she felt and her emotions were pouring. She didn't want to deal with this anymore. She wasn't sure how much her heart could take.

"Our." She heard him mutter.

"Excuse me?" Vanessa turned around as her brow furrowed.

"Our daughter." He corrected her. "Look, Vanessa. Can we please just talk?"

"Good to know you'd walk out on our daughter. I'm surprised you're not claiming that she isn't someone else's, according to you, I was a slut, right?" She tilted her head a little, raising her eyebrow. She knew she was breaking whatever was left of her heart, but she was scared and angered.

"Vanessa! You know I never meant any of that!" Zac half yelled, but Vanessa cut him off quietly.

"Zac, please." She begged, tears brimming. "Just let me keep whatever is left of my heart and our daughter's heart in tact." With this, Zac looked down guiltily.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I'll go. You've got every right to push me away. Bye Vanessa." He kissed her cheek lightly, then looked down at Rae's head resting on Vanessa's shoulder. "I'm sorry Raelynn." He kissed her forehead, and lingered a little with his eyes shut. "I love you both so much." He mumbled against his daughter's skin before pulling back with tears falling down his cheek and walking away without a word.

Vanessa quickly made her way up to her condo, and put Raelynn straight to bed. Once Vanessa walked into her bedroom, she collapsed onto her bed in tears. The moment she had always wanted had finally come, and yet she pushed it away. She was scared that everything was coming too easily. Life wasn't made to be perfect in situations like this, no matter how much we'd like it to be. We'd be too bored. This wasn't a Hollywood happy ending like they had acted out so many times. This was life. Something just didn't feel right if she let Zac back into their lives. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, except for the lingering tingle on her cheek where he had lightly kissed.

"Hey, Nessa. Wake up." Vanessa groaned, hearing a voice break her sleep. "Come on, it's almost 1:30 in the afternoon." Ashley shook her body.

"What?!" Vanessa shot up in bed. Ashley was sitting next to her and gave her a small smile.

"I'm kidding, it's actually almost 12. Don't worry, Rae's up and out at the park with Chris and I think some of the guys too. They went to play basketball and she wanted to go. I told them it would be okay." Ashley explained.

"Yeah that's fine." Vanessa said tiredly, flopping back into the warmth of her bed.

"So what's up? You never sleep this late. And you're looking kinda stressed. And don't you dare say nothing, or you don't want to talk about it, because you said you'd tell me last night!" Ashley told her, leaning against the headboard.

"I don't want to talk about it. But knowing you, I'm gonna have to." Vanessa said, pulling a pillow over her face.

"Babe, you know you don't have to. But I don't want you bottling up." Ashley touched her best friend's shoulder. "I'm just here to help. It's what I'm here for." And both girls smiled, as Vanessa pulled the pillow off her face.

"Thanks Ash. And same goes for you too."

"I know. Now what's up? It's gotta be something big. You definitely looked stressed. You've got bags under your eyes. And you slept in, which you never do." Ashley noted. Vanessa just let out a sigh and started playing with the hem of the blankets.

"It's Zac." Vanessa told her.

"What about him? None of us have even talked to him for years now. Is this because you and Daniel 'broke up' again?" Ashley was confused.

"No. It has nothing to do With Daniel. And I talked to Zac yesterday. And apparently Karl's been in contact with Zac since Zac calls him every now and then. Oh, and I couldn't really sleep last night, I think I fell asleep around 4 or 5 this morning?" Vanessa said as it if were nothing.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Zac? As in THE Zac Efron we all haven't seen or talked to in years?" Ashley held up her hands in the air, stopping Vanessa.

"Uhm, yeah." Vanessa giggled. "You know, if I didn't know you, I'd mistake you for a huge fan with how you just said everything."

"Off subject Ness! When did this happen? What happened?! Oh my god. Why didn't Karl tell us?" Ashley ranted.

"Karl didn't tell us because he thought I would be upset I guess. We talked yesterday, twice. And nothing happened." Vanessa turned on her side to face her best friend.

"Bull. Something had to have happened. Two lovers reunite years later. One blind to their child, while both still in love with each other. Now tell me. You've said too much to go back now." Ashley was eager to hear.

"What ever happened to 'Babe, you know you don't have to.'?" Vanessa smirked.

"That was out the window when Zac came into the picture. I mean, come on Vanessa. You can't say you don't love the guy still. We all see that you do, and you've got a beautiful daughter that came from that love. Now stop trying to change the subject. We're having a heart to heart."

"Fine. Long story short, I answered the door yesterday thinking Karl was actually on time for once when he was supposed to pick me and Rae up, but it was Zac at the door. He said that Karl's other roommate told him that he was over here picking up Rae, and he mistook that Rae was actually a guy. And then when Zac explained that to me, he thought Rae was my boyfriend, and I told him I was single, and that it was Rae and I living here. Then I invited him in to talk, I don't know what came over me, but we just caught up with things, then Rae walked in wondering when we were leaving, and I told her to introduce her to Zac with her full name. Oh my god Ash, she looked so cute. She knew exactly who he was, and she stuck out her hand to shake and said her name all proud..."

"Okay Ness, as much as we love the little cute girl, you've turned into a mother gushing over her daughter on me, drifting away from the story." Ashley laughed.

"Shut up. My daughter is adorable." Vanessa playfully glared.

"Duh she's adorable. Hello, she's more adorable than Brad and Angelina's kids! You and Zac were the knew Brangelinga or whatever the heck they call them." Ashley said seriously before they both began cracking up.

"Thanks Ash. But anyways. Rae introduced herself, and I was just emotional at the moment. and then before we knew it Zac was out the door without a word." Vanessa said, her mood dying. "I mean, I was hurt that he up and left like that, but I was still fine with it because me and Rae are strong. We've gone this long without him, we can survive without him."

"I'm sorry V." Ashley gave her a smile encouraging smile.

"But what broke my heart was when Rae thought that he didn't love her like I told her he did." She said, leaving out the part when she found Zac sleeping outside.

"Poor thing." Ashley nodded. There was a moment of silence as they both fell into their own thoughts. "So, Zac's back, huh?" Ashley said in a bored tone.

"I guess." Vanessa shrugged. "I think he's just in town for vacay and to visit Karl I suppose. What happened yesterday was just.. I don't even know."

"Talk about a Zac attack." Ashley said bluntly, before the two girls burst into laughter again.

"Geez Ash, you're a real comedian." Vanessa joked, but she really did find Ashley's joke funny. Technically it did feel like a 'Zac attack' since he'd shown up out of nowhere, so close to their daughter's birthday. "I can't believe you remember that."

"Oh, come on Ness. We're not old women. That was like what? A few years ago. You make it seem like we're old grannies." Ashley rolled her eyes. "We are still young, and you are still a catch from what I've heard around."

"What do you mean from what you've heard around? You don't even go to NYU with us." Vanessa laughed.

"I know. But that doesn't mean I don't have my sources. Besides, you don't have to worry about anything since Zac's still got your heart. And apparently, you've got his." Ashley told her before getting up off the bed. "Now get up. I wanna go out. Just me and you. Let Chris and the guys take care of Rae. We haven't had a day to ourselves together in so long. How does lunch and shopping sound? Maybe a movie or something?" She suggested.