Once again, I don't own it.

Chapter 5

Later in the day, just when Zac thought Vanessa's mood was getting more tolerable, she withdrew once more and started snapping at him again after that first time upon returning home. He decided to simply leave the tray of food on the bedside table and let her have her mood all to herself. She only spoke to him again three hours later when he came upstairs to check on her after hearing the toilet flush. He climbed the stairs and cautiously approached the bedroom, peaking in through the crack that was there from the door not being shut all the way.

"Van?" he called out her name when he didn't see her in the bed. He noticed that the TV was on and Shadow was stretched out, basking in the sunlight that streamed in through the partially open blinds. She looked up at him when she heard Zac's voice. He approached the bed and leaned in to give her a little scratch between the ears, and she leaned into his palm. He brought his head down to the dog's level, who immediately gave him a small lick on his face. "You looking out for her, girl?" he asked. Shadow gave out a bark in response, looked over his shoulder when the two heard a noise behind them, and pulled her head out of Zac's hand. Zac turned to look and saw Vanessa coming out of the bathroom and he then looked back down at Shadow, who had moved to the other side of the bed, as if she was betraying her owner by being friendly to him. "Hey, Baby. How are you feeling?" he asked standing up straight.

"Fine," she said simply. He was taken aback at the shortness of her answer, and had to take a deep breath to control his temper, which he felt rising, before speaking again.

"Okay, that's good. Do you need anything?"

"No," she told him, climbing back in the bed and pulling the covers back over her legs. Shadow came back up to the head of the bed and forced herself under Vanessa's arm, as though seeking protection. From what, she didn't know, but she felt as though something was wrong between the two humans that she'd come to be loyal to in her short life.

"Okay," Zac said. His face brightened whey he got an idea and left the room, only to return a moment later with a bell in his hand. "Here. If you need anything, ring this." She just looked at him in disbelief.

"Zac, you're not a slave who needs to be summoned and I'm not an invalid. If I need anything I can get it myself," she snapped.

"Okay, fine," he told her as he held his hands up as if in surrender, before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. He made his way back downstairs and sat down on the couch again, reaching for his phone as it rang. "Hello?"

"Hey, Zac, it's me. I was just calling to check on Nessa. How is she?" Upon hearing Ashley's voice on the other end of the phone line, Zac let out a sigh. He began to tell her the whole story about how Vanessa had been really moody the past couple of weeks and what had happened earlier that day.

"Ashley, I don't get it. Everything I say or do lately is apparently not good enough for her. I thought that the pain from her wisdom teeth would be a contributing factor to her attitude and I get that there may be some lingering pain from the procedure this morning, but this is outrageous!"

"Do you want me to come by and see if I can talk to her?"

"I appreciate the offer and she may open up to you, but maybe not today. She might think that I put you up to it or something. That would be just one more thing for her to jump all over me about!"

"Okay, I see your point, I guess. I'll come by tomorrow. I'll use the excuse that I'm helping her to pack for her promo tour."

"Sounds like a plan!"

"Are you staying there tonight?"

"I think so. The way she's been acting, I don't really want to, but someone needs to be here with her in case she needs something."

"I'll call MoMo. She'll want an excuse to come stay with Nessa!"

"That's a good idea, but don't let her know about her being moody. She might think there's something going on with the two of us, and I myself don't even know what's going on!"

"Don't worry. I won't say anything about that. Let me go so I can call her. I'll text you and let you know what she says."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." The two of them hung up and he returned to his video game. After a few minutes, his phone buzzed with a text.

MoMo's in. She'll be there soon.

Thanks, Tizzy, he responded. When Monique showed up about an hour later, with an overnight bag in her hand, she accepted a hug from Zac.

"How are ya'?" she asked him.

"I'm okay, I guess. I know this may sound selfish of me, but I'm really tired. Van hasn't been sleeping lately and I need to head home to get some rest and a shower," he lied, quickly racking his brain for a reason why he wouldn't want to stay there. "Thanks for coming; I appreciate it. I didn't want to leave her alone tonight."

"Don't worry about it!" she gently chastised him. "I don't mind one bit. You go on home and get some rest of your own."

"I will. Let me just go up and tell her bye." He climbed the stairs and softly knocked on the door before letting himself in.

"Hey, Van? Monique is here. She's going to stay with you tonight. I'm going to go on back to my place and I'll see you tomorrow," he told her as he approached the bed. She just nodded her head while keeping her focus on the movie that was playing on the TV that he mounted on the wall when she first moved into the house. "I love you," he said as he leaned down to give her a small kiss. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile before turning her face back to the TV, causing his lips to meet her cheek. He let out a sigh, conceding defeat for now. "Okay, fine. I'll see you tomorrow," he said again, before going back into the hall and closing the door. When he turned around, he saw Monique standing there, with her bag on the floor beside her and her eyebrows raised and a knowing look on her face.

"Why do I get the feeling that there's more going on than you just needing some rest and a good shower?" she accused, folding her arms across her chest in front of her.

He let out another sigh and placed his hand on the small of her back. "Why don't we go back downstairs and I'll fill you in."

When the two of them were standing in the den, Zac let the whole story out about Vanessa and her attitude of late.

"Zac, don't worry too much about it. She just has a lot on her plate right now. I'm sure it's nothing major and this too shall pass. Remember, you are the music in her." She paused when she saw him offer a small smile at her attempted joke. "She wouldn't let something as special as what the two of yall have just fizzle away without a fight."

"Yeah, I know," Zac said sheepishly. "I just need a break for a little bit."

"It'll be fine. Go," she said, leading him to the door and opening it. "Get some rest and clean up a bit. You need to shave; you look like shit."

"Gee, thanks, Mo. I knew I could count on you with your kind Southern manners!" he joked.

She just smiled at him and shooed him out the door. "We'll see you tomorrow, lover boy!" she called after him. She watched as he offered a small wave to her, climbed into his Audi, and drove off before going back inside.

"Okay, Nessa. What's going on with you?" she asked as she walked towards the stairs. When she pushed open the door to Vanessa's bedroom, she saw her friend laying in the bed, leaning back on the pillows stacked against the headboard, with her devoted dog beside her. Vanessa didn't even look up when she heard a noise at the door.

"Is he gone?" she asked quietly, in case he was still there and could hear her.

"Yeah, sweetie, he's gone. Now that we're alone, spill."

"What do you mean?" Vanessa finally turned her attention to her house guest for the evening.

"What's going on? Zac told me that you've been moody lately. Why?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes and sighed. She thought for a moment trying to figure out how much she should tell, finally deciding that telling all of it would probably be best.

"I'm just so frustrated at him, Mo! He keeps telling me that he has 'a plan' of when and how he's going to propose, but will not even let me in on any part of it." She paused to take a breath and failed to notice how Monique's eye grew in surprise.

I had no idea it was this extreme! the dark skinned actress thought to herself. She quickly brought herself back from her own thoughts when she heard Vanessa continue with what she was saying.

"He has had many chances to do so since New Year's, and hasn't taken any of them! I seriously thought that Valentine's Day would be it. Instead, I get two plane tickets to Utah. Utah, Monique! How lame is Utah?"

"What's in Utah?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Zac had given her the website and she looked it up herself. She was jealous that Vanessa would be getting engaged in a place as breath taking as this resort.

"That's just it, I don't know! All he told me was 'I know this little place and have connections…'. I don't think he realizes that…"

Monique tuned out Vanessa but made sure to keep her eyes focused on her so she wouldn't become suspicious. Sweetheart, I don't think you realize! Zac, why is that all you told her? Damn it! For someone as smart as you, you'd think you'd realize what's going on! It sounds to me like he's about to loose her and he's not even aware of it.

When she noticed Vanessa stop talking, Monique spoke up.

"Sweetie, I'm sure that the reason he hasn't told you anything about the proposal is because he wants to make sure it's perfect and doesn't want to risk anything going wrong," she told her, praying that something was sneaking into that thick skull of Vanessa's.

"But Mo, he keeps asking if I trust him, but what if he doesn't?"

"Doesn't what, hon?"

"No, never mind. It was stupid. So, if you're here for the night, do you want one of the guest rooms all to yourself, or do you want to sleep in here?" she asked, changing the subject. The two girls kept talking about the details of their girls' night and never once brought up the subject of the proposal again for the rest of the evening, while Monique looked after her friend throughout the night, making sure she ate what she could, had her warm towels whenever she needed them, and her two pain pills every four hours.

On Saturday, the day after Vanessa's procedure, Ashley showed up to pay her friend a visit. She did, however, have ulterior motives. She'd talked to Zac in detail the previous night and the two dissected the situation to the best of their ability, which was not easy since neither of them knew the full story. She quickly realized that the situation between her two best friends was getting much worse than she originally thought. She planned to talk to Vanessa and get to the bottom of what ever was bothering her, but she also had a question for the couple. When she got to Vanessa's house, she ran into Zac in the driveway.

"You, go inside and stay in the den. I'll go talk to her and be down soon," she ordered. Zac just looked at her and saw the look of determination in her eyes before nodding his head. He unlocked the door using his key and let her in, watching in disbelief as she stormed up the stairs. The next sound he heard before sitting down on the couch was the bedroom door closing.

After what seemed like an hour, Zac heard the door open. He turned his focus from the TV he was watching to hallway where it opened up above the den and saw Monique open the hallway closet and pull out Vanessa's suitcase. She looked over the railing at him, gave a small reassuring smile, and went back into the bedroom. After another half hour, the three girls descended the stairs, Ashley carrying Vanessa's suitcase and Monique carrying her overnight bag. After the two girls set the bags near the door and came back into the den, Ashley made an announcement. Zac was sitting on the couch watching the three girls, wondering what they had been doing for the past hour and a half, and Vanessa was standing by the armchair with her eyes anywhere but at Zac.

"Okay, you two. I've come to a decision. In planning my wedding music, I made a decision. I want you two," she said, pointing to Zac and Vanessa "to sing at the reception."

"Aw! That's so sweet!" Monique exclaimed.

"I want you to do either a reading or a recitation. I haven't decided which yet," she told Monique.

"Really? What?"

"I think Shakespeare's Sonnet 116."

"We'll do it." The two girls stopped talking when they heard Zac's voice and all three heads turned to look at him.

"What?" Vanessa asked, almost angrily. "When did you start making decisions for me?"

"Ashley, Monique, would you excuse us for a moment?" Zac asked as he stood from his place on the couch, placing his hand on Vanessa's arm and leading her towards the kitchen.

"I can walk by myself," she said bitterly, shaking his hand off her arm and walking the rest of the way to the kitchen. Once they were in the other room, she walked to the cabinet and took out a glass, fixing herself a glass of water, trying to keep her focus on anything other than Zac. Zac worked his jaw as he gathered his thoughts before speaking.

"Alright, Van, what's going on?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, taking a sip of her water.

"I get that for some reason, you've got an issue with me, but why are you being rude to Ashley?"

"I'm not being rude to Ashley," she argued back.

"Van, our best friend just asked us to sing at her wedding-"

"Yeah, and you agreed without talking to me about it first!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Would you keep your voice down, please?" he asked politely. "Mo and Ash already think there's something going on between us." He ran his hand over his face in frustration and then placed both hands on the island in front of him. "The reason I agreed is because she's our best friend. You and I can work out whatever we have going on later, but Ashley is our best friend. How can you deny her something like singing at her wedding?" He stopped talking, watching her face, as he saw her contemplating his words, letting them sink in.

She set her glass down next to the sink and crossed the room to stand across from him, meeting his stance with her own hands on the island, looking him in the eyes. "I know you think that I've got some kind of issue with you right now, and you're right when you say we can talk about it later. But you're also right when you say that we do need to do what ever it takes to make Ashley's wedding perfect and if us singing together is what she wants, then us singing together is what she'll get."

He slowly held his arms out, not sure if she'll let him hug her or not, but willing to give it a shot. She stood looking at him for a moment, chewing on her lip before walking around the island and into his arms, wrapping her own around his waist. The two of them stood that way for a minute, before he finally broke the hug.

"We'd better go tell Ashley," he said.

"Fine. Come on." She led the way back into the den and walked up to Ashley, holding her arms out and Ashley accepted the hug.

"We'll do it," she said, echoing Zac's words from earlier.

"I knew you would. I'm still debating on a song. I've got about three or four running around in my mind. I'll let you know as soon as I've decided."

"That's fine, take your time," Vanessa told her.

"Now that that's done, Monique and I need to go. We were doing lunch today anyway, so…" Ashley lied to the couple. In truth, while the two of them were in the kitchen, she and Monique had decided that something was indeed going on between the two of them and they had better make up some excuse to leave so they could at least attempt to work everything out.

"We'll talk to you before you leave," Monique told said, leaning in for her own hug from Vanessa, followed by Zac. After the two girls left, Vanessa made her way back upstairs and into the bedroom, once again closing the door behind her.

Zac stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at her retreating figure. He let out a frustrated groan as only one thought ran through his mind.

She thinks we're talking later. Well, Van, later just came sooner than you wanted. He slowly climbed the stairs, determined to get to the bottom of what was going on through his girlfriend's mind.

When he approached the closed bedroom door, he didn't even bother to knock. He'd been here enough times and walked in on her changing enough times- which he never minded- to not care anymore about knocking. Without a second thought to what he was about to do, he pushed the door open with such force that it banged against the wall behind it, startling Shadow and causing her to jump off the bed and scurry out the door and into the hallway. She'd witnessed enough of their arguments over the years and knew that the safest place to be when the make up started- and it always started- was far away from the bedroom. Vanessa moved from where she was standing near the window and walked to the wall to inspect the half inch mark that the door knob left behind from its impact.

"Nice, Babe. Leave a hole in my wall. Thank you," she exaggerated as she turned her back to him and walked toward the dresser, pulling off the shirt that she currently wore and pulled out another.

"Van, I've asked you several times in the past three weeks and several times you give me some bullshit answer and I'm sick of it. I'm going to ask again, and I want something that sounds believable this time. What in the hell is your problem?"

She turned to look at him with fire in her eyes as she pulled the new shirt over her head. "My problem? My problem? I'm the one who's not afraid of a commitment in this relationship and you're asking me what my problem is?" She could feel her voice getting louder with each word and she worked hard to control it. She didn't want to yell- not yet, at least. She still had a lot she wanted to say to him.

"What are you talking about, afraid of a commitment? Do you really think that about me?"

"Well, Zac, let's look at the facts here. You make a comment during an interview about waiting until your forty to be married. You bring up the topic of getting married someday in the 'near future' within the second week that we were in Vancouver and then never mentioning it again. You give me a ring, making me think that it's an engagement ring and giving me some sort of hope, only to have that hope yanked away from me within seconds. Then you tell me about some 'elaborate plan' that you've got and tell me nothing about this plan. Finally, you let I can't even count how many chances pass you by and give me some lame ass excuse about 'the plan' every time. So, yeah, I'd say you're afraid."

"Let me tell you what I'm afraid of, Vanessa. I'm afraid of this stupid fight and where it could possibly lead. I'm afraid of the thought of potentially loosing you, but I'm so angry and frustrated at you right now, that I don't know what to think about it anymore! I'm afraid that you're pulling away from this relationship and the four years of hard work that we've put into it- and let me tell you, Babe, they've been hard dealing with your mood swings all the time! I'm afraid that- You know what, no. I'm not going to finish that statement. You think that I'm afraid of commitment, Vanessa? Fine. You can think that all you want. But when you're done, make sure you tell yourself what a load of bullshit that is!" As Zac went on through his tirade, his voice was the one that got louder first, and by the time he was done, he was full out yelling.

Vanessa raised her voice as well, but not as loud as she wanted- she always liked to meet him decibel for decibel to make the playing field more even- as her mouth was still hurting. An up side of being small- you can be loud without really trying. And Vanessa planned on using this to her benefit.

"Well, then Zachary, if you're not afraid, what the hell are you waiting for?"

"Vanessa," he started, his voice softening a bit, "do you tru-"

"Don't you dare ask me if I trust you!" she spat at him. "God, Zac, I'm so sick of that question! Every time the topic is brought up, you ask if I trust you and I'm sick of it! I'm beginning to wonder if you trust me!"

"What? Vanessa, what kind of bogus question is that?" The two angry lovers stood facing each other, as if in a face off to see who would crack first. Vanessa felt her tears well up in her eyes, but refused to let them fall. She took a deep breath to steady her voice and brought it down in volume a few notches before her next statement.

"I think it's very legitimate, Zac. Just answer it. Do you trust me?"

"Vanessa, of course I trust you! I wouldn't be here fighting for us if I didn't!" He, too, felt his tears appear, but refused to let them fall as he had a macho man front to put on. He would only let them fall once this was all over and they had said their peace to each other.

"Then why are you not telling me anything?" she asked, her voice rising once more.

"I did tell you something! I gave you a clue!"

"When? When did you give me a clue about anything?" she demanded.

"You know what, never mind. I'm not getting into that. That's not the point here. The point is that my girlfriend is too selfish and too busy thinking about herself to enjoy the-". He stopped talking when he felt the one thing he'd never felt in all the fights the two of them have had over the years.

His head fell towards his right shoulder as he brought his right hand up to rub his stinging left cheek, while working his jaw, trying to ease the pain. He dared to look at Vanessa and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks and instantly regretted what he said to her in that last sentence.

Vanessa's hand immediately flew to cover her mouth which had dropped open in shock. He had made her so angry and so frustrated with his words that she didn't think, she just acted. She had never imagined doing this to anyone at any point in her life, yet he had managed to push her just far enough. She cast her eyes downward and turned her back to him once more and when she finally opened her mouth to speak, her voice was horse and her words came out as a whisper.

"I think you should go. We don't need to be around each other right now."

"Vanessa-" he began, not wanting to leave, but wanting to stay instead. Stay and fight for his future. But deep down, he knew she was probably right. Besides, he needed to get something on his face before the paparazzi spotted it and then, there'd be no telling what the tabloids would say.

"Zac, just go."

"No, Baby, please. We can-" He started to take a step toward her, but her next words caused him to freeze in his tracks.

"No, Zac. Not right now. You need to leave." Stay strong, Vanessa. You can wallow later.

Without another word, Zac turned and walked out the bedroom and down the stairs. He paused when he caught sight of his image in the massive mirror that Vanessa had hung on the wall opposite the base of the stairs. He noticed the small handprint beginning to show itself and cringed as he brought his hand up to stroke the red spot once again.

Man, those Seals really taught her how to put her strength into it.

With a sigh, Zac picked up his car keys, opened the door to the garage, climbed into his car, and drove away from his beloved's house. He gave a glance at the house as it appeared in his rearview mirror. This can't be the end. We're just angry right now, he thought, trying to convince himself.

After Zac left her standing in the center of her bedroom, Vanessa stood there in shock.

What just happened? Oh God, what did I do? I can't lose him. It wasn't until she heard the garage door open, and then close again a minute later, and heard as his car pulled out of her driveway that Vanessa finally let herself fall to the floor as the tears overtook her. Shadow slowly crept back into her human's bedroom and watched as the sobs wracked Vanessa's body. The dog simply climbed into Vanessa's lap and stayed there while her owner cried until the sun want down and Vanessa merely passed out from exhaustion.