(A/N): First and foremost, this story was CO-AUTHORED by me ((KelsiLovesLucas)) and MissZacEfron. The chapters are written by both of us. We each wrote half of every chapter so enjoy!

Dedications: We would both like to dedicate this story to Mrs. Radcliffe-Efron

Disclaimer: If we owned anything, anything at all, then we would be out in the world buying fancy things and living the totally awesome fancy life! We're not. As I said before, all that we own is the plot and unfortunately you cannot buy anything with a plot. Unless we sold it… Any buyers? No, okay. Enjoy the story!

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Chapter Five: Comfort Zone

Vanessa opened her eyes and was staring at a white ceiling. She heard beeping and lots of voices. She looked around and saw that she was in a hospital. Oh, no! She thought. Vanessa couldn't be in a hospital! Everyone would find out that she was being abused! Suddenly, she heard the door to her room open. She looked in the direction of the door and saw Zac. "Hey, glad to see you're up." He said quietly.

"Zac, did you..." Vanessa was cut off.

"I didn't tell them, Ness. I said that you slipped in the bathroom and slammed your head against the counter. They believed me and didn't press the matter any further." Zac whispered, he had now shut the door so no one would hear. Vanessa felt tears welling up behind her eyes.

"You did that for me?" She choked out. Zac nodded and pulled a seat up beside her bed and smiled at her.

"I'm just glad that you're okay." Zac said as he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. He then looked into her eyes and kissed her on the lips. Vanessa turned bright red and smiled at him. Just then, someone knocked on the door and a doctor walked in.

"Miss Hugdens? You can go now. Just be sure to take it easy. Mr. Efron, would you mind staying with her tonight? She has a concussion and just needs someone to watch her." The doctor instructed. Zac and Vanessa both nodded and the doctor left.

"Well, I'll let you get dressed. See you later." Zac said as he kissed her once more on the forehead and left the room. Vanessa smiled and slowly stood and grabbed her clothes.

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Once Vanessa had gotten dressed, she walked out to Zac's car and climbed in. "Nessa, you're staying in my room tonight, got it?" Zac ordered. Vanessa nodded silently and looked out the window of his car. When they arrived at the hotel, Zac carried Vanessa inside ((despite her protests)). Once in his room, Zac lay her on his bed and he fell asleep in the chair in his room.

A few hours later, Zac heard Vanessa crying in her sleep. "Vanessa? Vanessa, wake up. Vanessa, wake up!" Zac finally shouted, worried that she might be hurt or something. She woke with a start and looked around in delusion.

"Omigosh!" Vanessa exclaimed as she placed a hand to her sweaty forehead. She then noticed Zac sitting next to her. "Oh, Zac!" Nessa hugged her co-star and he held her tightly. "Zac, I had a nightmare!"

"What was it about?" Zac asked delicately while pulling away and looking at her face.

"Well, it was like a memory. I was reliving when I was younger and my dad

was—" Vanessa broke off and looked at the floor. Zac sighed.

"I'm sorry, Ness. It was just a dream. It's over now."

"No, it's not! It will never be over. He'll just keep coming after me because I can never tell anyone or he'll kill my mom and anyone else who's close to me! Zac, I can never escape this." Vanessa cried. Zac felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He wanted to help her but couldn't do anything if she didn't let him.

"Let me help you." Zac begged. Vanessa shook her head.

"There's nothing you can do. You can't save me, Zac. No one can." Vanessa told him. She leaned her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. Zac began to stand up and go back to the chair in the corner but Vanessa stopped him. "Zac, will you sleep with me?"

"What?" Zac asked.

"Well, I just wanna know that I'm safe and if you're close to me then I will be safe so would you sleep with me tonight?" She asked. Zac smiled in the darkness and walked back over to the bed. He climbed under the covers and held Vanessa close to him. She closed her eyes and fell asleep and he did the same.

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"Hey Nessa, I think you need to get up, we need to talk." Vanessa heard the familiar voice of her two best friends. Vanessa slowly opened her eyes to see her friends standing at the side of her bed. Vanessa slowly looked around the room. This isn't my room. Where am I? Vanessa thought to herself

"Ashley, Monique what are you doing here? And where am I?" Vanessa asked in one breath.

"Zac called us and told us that you needed someone." Monique said while sitting down on the bed.

"What did he tell you?" Vanessa asked shocked that Zac would tell them even though it was against her wishes.

"He told us that you fell in the bathroom and hit your head." Ashley responded. Aww...Thank you Zac… I love him… I should have known he wouldn't tell. Vanessa thought

"Where is Zac?" she asked starting to get nervous. Tears started flowing down her face.

"Nessa what's wrong?" Monique asked starting to worry

"Can you call Zac please?" Vanessa managed to say between her sobs. Monique quickly grabbed her cell phone out of her LV purse and called Zac.

"Hello?" Zac answered

"Zac we're up in your room. Hurry Nessa really needs you." Monique squeezed out in one breath.

"Okay I'm coming right now." Zac yelled into his cell phone.

Monique ran back over to the bed where Ashley was holding a hysterically crying Vanessa. At that second Zac burst through the door holding a box of donuts and four cups of coffee. Zac immediately dropped the coffee and donuts onto the counter and ran over to Vanessa.

"Okay, I'll take over from here you guys, I'll call you in a little bit." Zac said to Monique and Ashley.

"Mkay. Bye Nessa." Ashley and Monique both said while walking out.

Zac just sat there on the bed holding a sobbing Nessa before he started to ask her any questions.

"Hey, mind telling me what's wrong?" Zac asked. Vanessa just sat there still crying and looking at the bed. Zac lifted Vanessa's chin up so he could see her face. He gently wiped the stream of tears off with his thumbs. "Hey, please don't cry. I'm right here, I'm not going to leave you, not ever." hey said.

"I was so scared, I felt so safe last night, and then I woke up and I was freaked because you weren't here." Vanessa got out.

"You going to be okay Nessa, I promise." Zac said rubbing her back

"I love you Zac," she whispered.

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KelsiLovesLucas: Aww, fluff! I think a little bit of fluff could do us all good after that intense chapter! Okay, I wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed. I saw the reviews and was like, "WHOA!" Thanks so much for all the support. Keep up the good reviewing by clicking that sweet little button in the corner. Don't you love that button? Much love, KelsiLovesLucas

MissZacEfron: There you go! Some cute Zanessa fluffiness! I loved writing this Chapter especially after having that really intense Chapter Four! Okay so you know the drill ((or at least I hope you know it by now)) go over and click the little magic button. The magic button is your passport to more chapters, and it only takes like what, maybe 1-2 minutes to type a review! so thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I know this is really long but I just wanted to thank Christine Glen Haven for reviewing for every chapter. And if you have reviewed for every chapter and I didn't thank you well then thank you! I know it means a lot to Kelsi and I to get on the Internet and see that we have SO many reviews! Okay I'm ending this right now! Its way to long! Thanks for R&Ring! Much love, MissZacEfron