Don't own it. None of it; nothing mentioned in this or any other chapter. Never did and, sadly, never will. I do, however, own Tom and Louisa... unless there really is a head chef at one of Zac and Vanessa's favorite restaurants in LA named Tom and Vanessa really does have a housekeeper named Louisa . Then it's just irony that I used their names.

Chapter 3

Valentine's Day had always been just another day for Vanessa and Zac. Their first official date after the filming and subsequent premiere of the original High School Musical was the weekend prior to Valentine's Day. Even though he had his license by that point, he still didn't have a car, so would have to wait for the weekends when his parents didn't need both cars to get to work so he could borrow the car of whichever parent needed it less and make the three hour drive south to Los Angeles from Arroyo Grande to visit his beloved Vanessa. Valentine's Day of 2006 fell on Tuesday, so the two made their Valentine's Day plans for the weekend prior. Ever since, it's been impossible for the two of them to be together on the actual holiday, given their busy schedules with filming or promotional tours or photo shoots. This is the first year the couple will be able to actually spend the day together, and they were looking forward to it.

Their plans were to spend the day in meetings for Zac and a photo shoot for a cover of Teen Vogue for Vanessa, and then the two would meet for lunch and would then return back to Vanessa's and spend the rest of the day together. Their Valentine's Day menu was being handled by Tom, one of the head chefs of one of their favorite restaurants, hired by Zac of course, and consisted of filet mignon, twice baked potatoes, and, despite Vanessa's protests, caramelized carrots, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. The sauce was not Zac's favorite, but knew it would be the only way he could get Vanessa to eat even the tiniest bit of one of the two vegetables, so he agreed when the suggestion was made by Tom. They also planned on a Caesar salad and crescent rolls, and Vanessa had made a turtle cheesecake with caramel sauce to top it off and vanilla bean ice cream- Zac's favorite- for dessert the day before and was hoping that they wouldn't make it long enough to enjoy it.

She had seen Zac sneak in carrying a plain brown bag the day before and had tried to get him to tell her what was in the bag, but he wouldn't budge and spill any details. The day had arrived, and the two started the day with "breakfast", as Zac referred to it teasingly, causing Vanessa to giggle as she started to crawl out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Zac asked as he reached out to her, grabbing her by the waist and tried to pull her back in bed.

"I've got to get" kiss "in the shower, Zac!" kiss "We both do. We have" kiss "professional commitments today." kiss "You know that," she said, reaching for her night shirt from the night before, which only came within inches of the top of her buttocks. "Your meeting is actually earlier than my photo shoot and is further away. Do you want to get in first?"

"I already got in, or were you too occupied to even notice?" he asked, as he leaned up to place a kiss on her body, just below her shirt.

"Subtle, Efron. Real subtle," she said, rolling her eyes as she looked down at his face as he looked up at her from his position near her behind, laying on his stomach. She reached down to run her fingers through his hair and brought her hand down to cup his chin before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "I'm going downstairs to get the coffee started. If you're in the shower when I come back upstairs, then I'll wait. If you're not, then I'll assume you're not getting in and I will," she warned him, while pointing a finger in his direction, as she stood up from her spot on the bed, pulling on her panties and a pair of his basketball shorts that were sitting on the floor, and walked out the bedroom.

"It's a plan," he called after her.

The two finished getting ready and left the house for their respective destinations at the same time.

"Call me when you're done and we'll meet for lunch," he told her, as he leaned in to give her a good-bye kiss and reaching out to open the door for her.

"I will. I don't expect it to take long. I've worked with them once already and they're really laid back and fun to work with," she said as she returned his kiss before climbing in her car.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Baby. I love you." He gave her one more kiss before shutting the door for her.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Zac. I love you too." She gave him a wave before driving off. Zac then walked back to his car, climbed in, and pulled out of the driveway, going in the opposite direction as his girlfriend.

After their morning plans and lunch together, the two separated into their own cars to commence the drive back to Vanessa's. As soon as Zac was in his car and began to drive and she knew the coast was clear, she picked up the phone to call Ashley. Once Ashley answered, the words began pouring from Vanessa's mouth.

"You're hypothetical situation may be happening!"

"What hypothetical situation?" she asked with a gasp, as an idea popped into her head. "Did another guy call you up for a Valentine's date? Oh, Nessa, what are you going to do?" Way to go, Efron. You waited too long. How are you going to get yourself out of this? Ashley thought to herself, beginning to panic. One crisis at a time. I'll call him as soon as I'm done with Nessa.

"No, Ash, another guy did not call me for a Valentine's date. Zac and I are actually, for the first time in the whole four years that we've been together, able to spend the day together and he hired a chef to come cook dinner for us tonight and I made dessert. I'm talking about the proposal!"

Ashley's eye grew wide. Oh, shit! I definitely need to call him now! "Uh, the- the proposal? Tonight? Really? You think?" she stammered, trying her hardest to cover up the fact that she knew something. Keep cool, Tizzy. Don't give anything away.

"Well, maybe. I mean, the night I got home from the bridal shop and trying on the dresses, we were talking about tonight. I asked if he had thought about our plans for today and he mentioned just a quiet evening at home, just the two of us, all alone. He said, and I quote, 'with no one around to interfere with our celebration'. Why would we need to celebrate, Ash? Especially in private? I mean, other than sexually, but you know what I mean. And, just two days ago, I saw him come in with a plain, brown paper bag, no markings at all, and when I asked about it, he clammed up and wouldn't tell me anything about it! Now what does that tell you? I think he's planning to ask me tonight."

Nice, Efron. Way to not make her suspicious. "I don't know, Nessa," she lied. "It sounds that way to me." Now what do I say? I need to get off the phone and warn Zac. "But listen, as much as I'd love to stay on the phone with you right now and speculate, I really need to go. Scott will be here soon and I need to go get ready."

"Okay, you guys have fun."

"You too, Hon. Call me and let me knows what happens!"

"You're the seventh person on my Need to Call list!"

"Seventh?" Ashley questioned. "I mean, I can understand your parents and all, but you guys only have four of those! Where do the other two calls come in?"

"Stella and Dylan," Vanessa quickly answered. "Then you. Go get ready and I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, Nessa. You have fun tonight, too. Love!" she said, as she quickly hung up before Vanessa could answer, and searched her contact list for Zac's number. He answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Ash, what's-"

"Don't act coy with me, Efron! What happened to the plan with Bart?" she demanded.

Zac pulled the phone a few inches from his ear, looking at it in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he questioned hesitantly when he brought the phone back to his ear.

"The plan, Zac! What happened to the plan?" she asked again.

"Nothing happened to the plan. We're still on for May. Why?" Suddenly, he smacked the palm of his right hand against his forehead as the answer to his question dawned on him. "She thinks I'm proposing tonight, doesn't she?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"So, wait, you're not proposing tonight?"

"On a night when she'd be expecting it? No! Ashley, why would I propose on Valentine's Day? That's so predictable!"

"Oh, God. Zac, I have a feeling you may possibly have some 'splainin to do later tonight," she told him with her best Ricky Ricardo impersonation.

"Why would she think that? Think, Efron, think. What kind of signals have I displayed?" he asked himself out loud. He quickly turned his attention back to the blond on the other end of the phone lines. "Did she mention anything to you?"

Ashley began to explain how the conversation with Vanessa played out just moments ago. When she was finished, she asked him "So, what is in the illustrious bag, Zac?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"Why not?" she whined.

"Because you'll tell her!"

"No, I won't. I can keep a secret. Maui's still with me, right?" she asked, referring to the threat he made on her precious dog should she say anything about his Proposal Plan.

"Well, yeah, that's true. You've done great so far, but I still can't tell you because I just got back to Van's and she beat me home. I'd better go before she suspects anything else. Only now, I need to try not to make tonight too romantic. Try and throw her mind off course."

"Yeah, good luck with that. I don't think her mind will get off course until the proposal actually happens. But at any rate, you two have fun tonight. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, Tizz, later," he said, as he hit end on his phone. He got out of the car and looked up at the massive building that Vanessa had worked hard to turn into a home, the same one which the two decided awhile ago would become their home once they were married. Okay, Efron, time to go turn on the charm and calm her down AGAIN. Man, I wish May would hurry up and get here so I can just ask her and get it over with! This waiting is killing me! he thought to himself. Maybe I should ask her tonight… No! You've got a plan! Stick to the plan. He pushed his key in the door to unlock it, swung it open, and called out to his future fiancée.

"Van? Baby, I'm back," he called out, pausing to listen for anything that would give away her where-abouts. When he heard to water running in the upstairs bathroom, he grinned and began the climb to the second floor. As he pushed open the door to the bathroom which was located off the master bedroom, the sight that greeted him was that of his goddess sitting on the side of the bath tub with a towel wrapped around her, running the water, and dropping some bath oil balls into the water.

"Hey, Baby. I'm back," he greeted her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss in greeting, before going into the closet and pulling a plain brown paper bag down off the shelf.

"Oh, hey, Babe. I just thought I'd get in the bath for awhile and kind of relax before tonight. I hope that's okay?" She leaned forward to turn off that water as she watched him come out of the closet.

"Yeah, that's fine. I need to set up before Tom gets here. He should be here in about an hour or so."

"Oh, okay," she said, as she climbed into the bath tub. She watched him as he emerged from the closet. "Hey, what's in the bag?" she asked casually, pointing at the bag he was holding in his arms.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just some candles and such." He held open the bag for her to look in. She spotted the candles, the red tablecloth, the red cloth napkins, and two champagne glasses, and felt her heart drop to her stomach. The next time she spoke, she tried hard to hide her slight disappointment.

"Oh, okay. Where'd you get that stuff?"

"I borrowed it from Mom. You relax with your bath salts or bubbles or whatever it is you do when you're in the bath relaxing and I'll be downstairs. I'll see you when you're out." He leaned down to give her another kiss on her lips before walking out of the bathroom.

"You're definitely up to something, Zachary," she said to herself, as Shadow pushed open the door that Zac closed part way on his way out. "What do you think, Shadow? What's Daddy up to?" Shadow gave her a look and let out a brief bark in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she told her puppy before leaning back to rest her head on the inflatable pillow that she had stuck to the back of her bath tub.

That evening, after dinner had been prepared, the two of them sat side by side at the small intimate table that Vanessa had in her huge dining room. Zac had often asked her why she had such a small table in such a big room.

"Because right now, it's just you and me. Our families don't come often enough and when they do, we always go out. When I finally need a bigger table, I'll get one. But for right now, I don't," was the response she always gave.

The table had been set using Starla's red tablecloth and napkins. The two champagne glasses had been borrowed from Gina, and the five candles in various sizes came from Monique. He finally had to let her in on the secret, too, only because the day after the girls went dress shopping, she had called him, filling him in on the day and her impression of Vanessa's mood and the situation. She gave him what she liked to call the 'Southern Tongue Bashing', something which he and all the other core High School Musical guys had encountered on several occasions, and he'd learned from past experiences that the only way to get past that was to give in to whatever she was requesting. So, he finally broke and let Monique in on his Proposal Plan. After all, it wouldn't hurt to have one more person who knew and he could use to help ease Vanessa when it didn't happen time after time.

So here he was, sitting at the small four person table which he'd lovingly set for a quiet, intimate dinner for just the two of them. They had decided to not dress up, just to wear jeans and be comfortable. Zac had pulled out Vanessa's chair for her when Tom told them that dinner was ready before sitting in the seat opposite her's. They indulged in the dinner that had been prepared for them and, when Tom asked if they were ready for dessert, Zac had asked him to hold off for a few minutes.

"It's present time," he answered the question that he saw in her eyes, before getting up to go into the other room. When he came back, he had one arm behind his back and held a box in the other. She eyes him curiously, not sure exactly what to expect. The box was the size of a standard shirt box.

Okay, Zac. What's going on? That box is too big for a ring, she thought to herself.

As he approached her side of the table, he pulled the hand that was behind his back back around front and held out the bouquet of lilies and daisies, all in different shades of red. She let out a soft gasp as she took in the beauty of the flowers.

"Oh, Zac, they're gorgeous!" She reached out to take the flowers from him and brought them up to her nose, taking in their smell.

"The daisies because they're your favorite flower, the lilies because I didn't want to be cliché and get roses like everyone else does; lilies are different. And they're in different shades of red because that's your favorite color."

"Well, they're beautiful," she said again, as she set them in the center of the table. "Thank you." She leaned in to give him a kiss.

"They better be! Do you realize how hard it was to find this particular shade?" he asked as he pointed to one of the flowers. She gave him a soft smile in return.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the box that he had since laid on the table beside him.

"Oh, this?" He picked up the box and gave it to her. "It's actually two things. I put them together. I hope you don't mind that it's not wrapped. I know how much you like unwrapping things."

"No, I don't mind," she reassured him as she pulled the top off the box. She moved the tissue paper aside and saw a piece of paper folded in half with a cd sitting on top of it. She picked up the cd and, without looking at it fully but long enough to notice the computer made, low quality picture that he found on the internet and printed out himself and used as the cover, couldn't help but pick on him a little bit.

"Hacking one of my cd's off the net again, Efron?"

"No, Hudgens, not this time. That was only once and I told you, I'd misplaced my copy and needed to hear you singing me to sleep and then I found it the next week. Look at the cover closer," he directed her, and she did as she was told, taking in the picture of the two of them from the Teen Choice Awards last August. They were sitting in their seats, him with his arm around her and she leaning in to him just a little with her hands clasped together and resting on his left knee. They were looking up at the person taking the picture, who was standing above them, and softly smiling. She smiled as she remembered when the picture was taken.

"I love that picture," she said looking at him and giving him the same kind of smile that she wore in the picture.

"Turn it over and look at the song list." She did as she was told, and saw a list of ten songs. "They're all songs that remind me of us. Either at different points of our relationship, or the here and now. Either way, these songs represent us to me. Here, let me put it in and we'll listen to it together." She handed him the cd and watched as he walked over to the cd player in the den and waited until he heard the music come through the speakers, before he turned to come back to her. The first song, "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble, began and Vanessa's smile grew wider.

"I love this song!"

"I know, I've heard you blaring it every time it comes on. This one sort of describes us before we met. 'I know that we can be so amazing and your love is going to change me… I just haven't met you yet,'. Then one day, we meet and the rest, as they say, is history. Here we are!" He paused as he watched her. She gave him a soft smile and he leaned in to give her a brief kiss. "You have changed me, Van. I love you so much. I can't wait until we can start forever."

Breathe, Vanessa. Breathe. Don't pass out before he proposes! She leaned in to give him another kiss, this one longer than the other.

"Can I look at the paper now?" she asked as she leaned back in her seat once again.

"Yeah, go ahead, but I need to explain this one," he told her as she picked up the paper. He found himself holding his breath as she unfolded it and looked at it.

"It's a flight itinerary," she told him and continued to read it. "From LAX to Utah?"

"Yeah, I thought that we'll go to Arroyo Grande on May 8th, the day before Mother's Day, and spend Mother's Day morning into early afternoon with my mom. Then we'll drive back down here to spend the late afternoon into the night with your mom. The next day- May 10th- we'll board a plane and I'm taking you somewhere. We've both been crazy busy the past several months and need a vacation. You know, to just get away from it all and relax."

"Utah?" she asked again, her eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

"Yeah, I know a little place and have connections. Actually, Bart told me about it when we were filming the third movie. He goes there all the time and said it's a good place to just relax. Small, intimate, and family owned and operated. Wow, now I sound like a commercial. What do you say? Up for a little adventure this spring?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? You're right, we both need to get away and relax," she agreed. She suddenly let out a little gasp as an idea occurred to her. "Hey, is this place a spa?" she asked excitedly.

"It has a spa, yes, but that's all you're getting out of me regarding this place. It has a spa and is in Utah. That's it," he told her as the next song started. "Now, Ms. Hudgens, may I have this dance?" he asked as he held his hand out to her.

"Of course," she answered as she took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the center of the room. He wrapped his arms around her petit waist as she followed his lead and reached hers up to wrap around his neck. They just stood like that for a moment, enjoying the feel of each other's arms and listening to the words of Harry Connick, Jr. as he sang "Smile". After a moment, Zac started to sing along.

"…although a tear may be ever so near, that's the time you must keep on trying. Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll find that life is still worth while if you just smile."

She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a gentle kiss.

"What's the meaning behind that one?" she asked, as she came back down on her feet, but not before running her thumb over his lips to wipe off the little trace of lip gloss that she had left behind.

"The pictures," he said simply, as he brought a hand up to run it through her silky hair. "Van, no matter what the courts decide, just promise me that you'll keep smiling. No matter what happens in life or even, God forbid, with us, please smile through it. You're smile is what keeps me going and if I ever lose that…" he stopped talking when she placed a finger against his lips, and followed it up with her lips.

"Zac, you're not going to lose my smile. Nothing could ever take me away from you," she said, forcing a smile. Not even non-proposals, she thought to herself, bitterly. "Face it, you're with me for the long haul!"

"Well, aren't I the lucky one?" he asked, as the next song, "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliet, came on.

"Nice segue," she told him sarcastically.

"Thanks, I thought you'd appreciate that!" he said. "You know, I really like this one. It's really 'us'."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, like the song says, 'Lucky I'm in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again…' The one person that I want to spend the rest of my life with is you. You're my best friend, you're where I belong, you're home for me." She felt his movements stop and her world stood still.

Okay, that was unexpected. Could this be it?! Vanessa thought to herself, as her heart rate sped up.

"I love you, Vanessa."

"I love you, too." The song changed at that point to "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders, and without taking the conversation any further, Zac just pulled Vanessa closer to him again and continued their dance.

That was weird. I really thought… Damn it, Efron! Quit getting my hopes up! Vanessa let out a soft sigh, and Zac pulled back just a little to look into her eyes.

"Tired?" he asked.

She forced another smile and gave a meek "Yeah, I guess so. More tired than I realized."

"Why don't we just go on up? I'll take care of the clean up tomorrow."

"Zac, Louisa's coming tomorrow," she told pointedly him, referring to her housekeeper who came in once a month to give a full, in depth cleaning. She had gotten better about keeping her house straightened up on a daily basis, but Louisa came in to get the stuff that didn't need to be done every single day.

"Well, then, my job's done!" he announced. "Come on, Babe. Let's go to bed."

"But what about dessert?" she asked with a slight pout, pointing at the cheesecake she'd slaved over for hours, just for him.

"We can have it in bed."

"Cheesecake in bed? Zac, seri- oh!" She let out a moan as his mouth connected without warning to her neck.

"Who said I was talking about the cheesecake?" he asked, as he continued the damage he'd started to her neck, biting down gently.

"You seem to be getting awfully arrogant there, Efron! What if I wanted cheesecake?"

"Well, then, how do you plan to prove me wrong?"

"At this point, I don't think I care to," she said. "Oh, Zac, I didn't get to give you your present!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"That's okay, you can give it to me upstairs."

"Well, that's a good thing, because it's already up there," she told him seductively, referring to the black negligee she picked up from Victoria's Secret just for this occasion, as she pulled away and started to walk towards the stairs. He watched her every move, every sachet of her hips, as she walked away. She paused at the bottom step and turned back around to look at him. She gave a look that was only meant for the two of them. He felt the desire swarm through him followed by the usual reaction his body had when she looked at him that way.

"Well? Aren't you coming?" she challenged and that was all it took for him to come back to life. He immediately raced to the stairs, grabbed her by the waist, and tossed her over his shoulder fireman style, carrying her the rest of the way to the bedroom, as she gave out a squeal. The rest of the night was just as they imagined it to be. Full of the need, craving, and yearning for each other.

It wasn't long before Vanessa pushed all the thoughts of the evening and the nonexistent proposal to the back of her mind. She was now fully focused on one thing and one thing only. And that one thing was the chiseled body of the man that was currently doing things to her that were causing her to see stars.