It was the last night that everyone would be in New York after celebrating Raelynn's birthday. Vanessa was currently finishing getting her purse together while waiting for Karl to pick up her and Raelynn out so they could all go out for dinner. Her parents, sister, Corbin, and Monique had already left with Ashley or Kevin and Julia not too long ago. Vanessa's car wasn't big enough, and Kevin was driving her parents and sister in Ashley's car, so Karl was to pick them up since he wasn't driving anyone. Raelynn was sitting on the couch, singing a little song while playing with her teddy bear that was once Vanessa's that she took on tour, and one of her barbies.

"Rae, are you all ready to go?" Vanessa asked from the bathroom as she was fixing her make up.

"Yes Momma." Rae nodded her head as she answered and continued her song and kept playing. Once Vanessa was done with her make up she gave herself one last look over. She was wearing a dark blue top, grey skinny jeans, black heels, and had a long coat waiting for her by her purse. She smiled in satisfaction and turned to walk out of the bathroom just as there was a knock at the door.

"Just a sec!" Vanessa called out, making her way towards the door. She glanced at the clock to check the time. "Hmm Karl is actually early for once." She mumbled as she reached for the knob, not even bothering to take a look through the peephole.

"Hey--" Vanessa cut herself short as she came face to face with someone else. "Zac?" She finished. There he was in all his glory, a little older, but definitely just as handsome he had been the last time she had saw him years ago, if not more. His jaw opened and closed, trying to say something but he eventually stumbled over his words.

"Vanessa?" He finally got out.

"Um, yeah." She squeaked. "What are you doing here?" She asked gently. "I mean, it's just been a while..." She trailed off.

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck. "I was actually looking for Karl... I thought I'd visit. So I stopped by his and Kevin's dorm, and their third roommate said he'd left to pick up Rey. So he gave me this address." He explained. Vanessa nodded. Jimmy was Karl and Kevin's roommate, and had been over a few times to hang out with everyone. "I didn't know Rey would be your boyfriend or anything." He added, loooking down to the ground. "I'm just gonna go... It was great seeing you, Vanessa." He turned to leave, slightly disappointed.

A million thoughts ran through Vanessa's mind as she still tried to process what the heck just happened. Zac Efron, was right there in front of her. The guy who captured her heart from the moment she met him. The same Zac who was the father of her, no their, beautiful daughter currently sitting on the couch playing with her toys. The same Zac who she didn't run back to and apologize all those years ago. The one who she loved. The same Zac Efron she still loved.

"Rey isn't my boyfriend." She said quietly. But it was still loud enough for him to hear just as he was about to take another step away, he stopped.

"What?" He turned around.

"Rae, as in R-a-e, is a girl. Not a guy. I'm single, and this is my place. 'Rae' is just short for Raelynn." She explained. Uncertain as to where this courage was coming from. Never in a million years she would have thought the first time she would talk to Zac again would come this easy.

"Oh." Was all Zac could say, embarassed that he had mistaken a guy for a girl. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry. It was a simple mistake. You couldn't have known." She shrugged giving him a tiny smile.

"Well, I guess I should get going--" He began.

"Would you like to come in?" Vanessa asked. "We could... talk? Catch up?"

"Uhm, sure." Zac nodded, hesitantly walking back towards the door. Vanessa moved out of the way to let him in. Zac glanced around and couldn't help but like the style and how it was furnished. Everything was simple and modern, but still had elegance.

"You've got a nice place." He commented.

"Thanks. It's really both mine and Ash's. We bought it so that it would be easier to commute from LA to here, but she stays at Chris' more now." Vanessa told him. "Would you like something to drink?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation going to avoid awkward silences.

"No, I'm fine thanks." Suddenly her phone rang.

"Just a sec." She told him and walked over to her purse and pulled out her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ness, it's me." Karl said on the other line.

"Hey, where are you? You're late as usual." Vanessa smirked.

"Ugh. My engine decided to act up on the way to your place. You think you can drive on your own? I've gotta go to the shop. I'll just get a cab from there." Karl explained.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll meet you there then. Call me if you need anything." Vanessa told him before they hung up. She turned back to Zac to find him looking around again.

"I can get going if you're going out. I don't want to interrupt anything." Zac told her. In a way he wanted to stay, but then he wanted to run out as soon as he could.

"Zac it's fine. We don't have to be anywhere for another 45 minutes or so." Vanessa assured him. "Have a seat." She motioned him to the dinning room table.

"So, how have you been?" She asked.

"I've been good. Busy with work, but still good. I decided to take a breather for a little. I talked to Karl a few times, so I thought I'd pay him a visit." He shrugged. "I had no idea you were living in New York now." Zac gave her a small smile, one thing she missed.

"Yeah, less paps." She joked. "But I've been going to NYU." She said.

"Karl mentioned that briefly, I guess I hadn't really kept that in mind when I was on my way out here. He said it was you, him, Kevin, and Julia all out here. But how have you been? I mean, we haven't exactly talked since.. you know." He played with his hands.

"I've been good. It got really hard at one point, but I've gotten the hang of things. Classes aren't anything special. I'm majoring in business. I haven't really been doing any acting for a while. Just occasionally, and I'm slowly working on my new album. But other than that, I kinda just needed to slow things down for me and Rae." She gave him a smile, thinking about her daughter.

"Yeah, your second album was great." He smiled. "I bought it the day it came out." He confessed.

"Really?" She asked in surprise. She didn't think he would.

"Yep." He chuckled. "I knew how hard you worked on it, and I wanted to support you. I wanted to call and say congrats on it, but we weren't exactly on the best terms. I probably wouldn't have known what to say at the time anyways." He said

"Thanks." She blushed. "It's alright. I don't know how what I would've said either." She said and they fell into the awkward silence that they wanted to avoid. A few minutes later Zac spoke up.

"So..uhm." Zac scratched the back of his neck, desperately wanting to get rid of the silence between him and the girl he still loved.

"Hmm?"

"What happened to us?" He asked in defeat. His mind had won after he struggled to dodge the question. He knew it was a touchy subject for the both. It had tore them apart for years, and now here they were in her condo, sitting at her table, having a civil conversation.

"A lot I guess." Vanessa shrugged, not wanting to really talk about it. But she knew she had to. "We eventually just stopped talking."

"I know. But I mean, what happened to us?Things were so great, then it all just fell apart." He said looking into her eyes.

Thanks for the reviews guys. That's all I ask for me to keep my stories going. If the reviews die out, then i'll just stop updating. So, leave me some feedback! Zac's back! dun dun dun.