I still don't own it.

Chapter 8

After his meeting with Bart Johnson- a man that he had just as close a relationship with off screen as he did on- Zac had a whole new outlook on the recent past in his relationship with Vanessa. He had a better understanding of what had gone wrong. He now knew why she had pulled away from him. He realized that he deserved the slap that she had given him; he had asked her time and time again if she trusted him, when in reality, the question she had asked him on that day was the real issue. Did he trust her? Why had he never let her in on anything having to do with what was supposed to be one of the most memorable moments of her life? He wasn't a girl by no means, but knew from all of his female friends that the moment when a girl gets engaged is extremely important to her. All he wanted was to make her moment the most enjoyable, the most romantic, and- more importantly- the most memorable moment she would ever encounter… other than the actual wedding itself, of course, and then the birth of their first child a few years later. And all he managed to do was finally push her over the edge.

Now that the voice of reason named Bart had spoken, Zac realized that he had to swallow his pride and be the first one to make contact. Which is why he now sat on his couch, in silence, playing with his phone and trying to gather his courage. He had been in the position before of having to be the one to make the first move, but this was different. All the times before, Vanessa had been just a few minutes away and he could simply show up and not leave until she talked to him. This time, however, she was a few thousand miles away, making his task extremely difficult.

Throughout the course of the rest of the lunch with Bart, it had been admitted that Ashley had been the one to make the call.

"So Ashley called you?"

"Yeah. She was concerned about the two of you and knew you needed some sense knocked into you," Bart told him.

"Well, why not knocking some sense into Van?" he asked.

"Honestly? Because even though you both need it, she's not the one who needs it the most."

"Touché," Zac said with a sigh. "Well, I guess I owe her a thank you, huh?"

He had, in fact, had that particular conversation later that day.

He decided to take a detour on the way back to his house and pulled his car into the driveway of the house belonging to his blond friend. Getting out and making the short walk to the front door, he was surprised to realize how nervous he was.

"What's that about? Why am I nervous about this?" he wondered to himself, bringing his hand up to ring the bell. When Ashley answered the door, Zac surprised her by immediately pulling her to him in a smashing hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

"Um, you're welcome?" Ashley asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"Because of you, dear Tizz, I had a lunch with an interesting by stander today. He managed to knock some sense into my thick skull and now I know what went wrong on both sides. As a result of that," he said, backing away and giving a snap of his fingers and pointing at her, giving her a wink as he did so, "I also have an idea of what needs to be done to fix this. Bye! We'll talk later!" He turned and ran back to his car, climbed in, and drove off, with Ashley looking after him in disbelief.

"Wow," was all she could say to the frenzy on her front porch that was Zac just then. "I don't think Nessa has any idea of what's coming to her."

Which was why Zac was currently sitting on his couch, two days later. He had memorized her schedule- they had always made copies for each other whenever one of them was traveling- and knew that she was in London for the next couple of days. His perfect plan to jump on a plane and surprise her for the Beastly premiere while appearing on the red carpet with a single white lily and forcing her to talk to him- the cameras would be focused on them, no doubt, and she wouldn't want to give them anything to spread around, so she would go along with it- was suddenly sounding not so perfect. He had yet to come up with an alternative plan.

She'll never answer if I call. No sooner did that thought leave his brain, he suddenly sat up straighter onto the edge of the couch, looking at his watch and quickly doing the math to calculate the time difference in his head. Unless I plan it to where I call while she's getting ready and is too occupied to check the caller id. A smile quickly formed on his face as he thought more about that thought. No, that won't accomplish anything except getting her more upset at me. 'You should know better than to call me while I'm getting ready, Zac!' I can hear her rant now. Damn it, Efron! he chastised himself. His smile faded just as quickly as it had formed. After a few moments of thinking, he finally decided what he needed to do and this time, he stuck by the plan.

It was 5:30 in the early evening in London. Vanessa was getting ready for the premiere of her latest movie and was set to leave in a few minutes. She had found since she left two weeks ago that she was having a hard time focusing on what she was traveling to do. The appearances she had on Live with Regis and Kelly and The View, coupled with brief appearances on the morning shows for the three major networks, as well as The David Letterman Show, while she was in New York were some of the most difficult appearances she'd had to encounter. There were questions about her and Zac, which she was expecting, as there were always questions about their relationship. What she was not expecting, however, was how much of an act she had to put on for the cameras in order to let everyone believe that everything was fine.

"Zac? Oh, yeah, he's doing great. He couldn't join me this time as he already had other obligations, but we're doing great. Thank you for asking!". It was tiring, really, having to make up excuses. She was also careful to not wear the blue topaz ring that he had given her, to offset any rumors from being started.

She was done with the excuses. She was wondering how much longer she could go on with the excuses before she finally broke and let it all out. She was glad that she was in London for this part of the trip. It should be easier this time. All she had to do was walk the red carpet, answer a few questions, pose with her co-star Alex Pettyfer, watch the movie, and go back to her hotel room… alone. She hated going back to a foreign hotel room alone. That was one of the things she missed the most regarding this argument between her and Zac. Whenever she traveled, he always made it a point to try and make it to a few of her stops. London had always been one of their favorite cities and she hated that she was there this time without him.

I could call him… she thought, glancing at the phone sitting on the bedside table. I do have a few min-

"Vanessa, are you about ready?" The voice of her manager Evan, calling from the other room of the hotel suite, brought her back to the present.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready," she called back. She walked to the other side of the room and grabbed her phone and walked out into the sitting area, where she saw Evan waiting for her.

"You look great, as always."

"Thank you," she said.

"Would you do me one favor, please?" Evan asked.

"What's that?"

"Would you please smile? Just a little? And look like your enjoying yourself and are excited about tonight?"

She simply rolled her eyes, opened the door and held it open, letting him exit first. Evan knew something was going in with her personal life, but she hadn't shared any details and Evan wasn't one to pry.

"Now, a few things to remember for tonight…" She managed to tune Evan out, as he tells her the same 'few things' every time she has a premiere or an event of any sort that she's expected to attend- smile, stay enthusiastic, and have fun- and reached down to drop her phone inside her purse, not noticing the way it vibrated as she snapped the gold clutch closed.

Zac was not surprised when he heard her voice mail come on. His first emotion was joy at finally hearing her voice for the first time in two and a half weeks.

"Hey, it's Vanessa. Sorry I missed your call. Leave me a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can!" He couldn't help but smile as he felt the warmth from her angelic voice fill his ears.

His next emotion was panic and he shocked himself when he hung up before the beep. What are you doing?! Why are you chickening out? Just man up and leave the stupid message! He took a deep breath as he hit speed dial 1 again. He sat there patiently as he waited for the voice mail once again, but was surprised as she answered this time.

Vanessa was reaching into her purse for her lip gloss, pretending to listen to Evan as he rambled on about something in the backseat of the limo they were riding in, when she noticed a missed call on her phone. Taking a closer look, she noticed that there wasn't a number showing. Shrugging in confusion, she sat it on the seat beside her as she expertly applied the pink color to her lips. After she dropped the tube of lip gloss back into her purse, she picked up her phone just as it vibrated in her palm once again. Still pretending to be listening to Evan, she answered before checking the caller id.

"Hello?" She waited patiently on the person on the other end to say something, but was met by silence.

"Hello?" she said again, a little impatiently. Again, silence.

"Hellooo? Is anyone there?" Still nothing. Finally giving up, she hung up and dropped the phone back in her purse. "Yeah, great talking to you, too", she mumbled.

Zac sat in disbelief, staring at the phone in his hand. He didn't plan on her answering! He was totally thrown off balance, and needed a few minutes to regroup, before getting up the courage to try her again. As soon as he picked up his phone to call for a third time, he put it back down, deciding to wait about an hour or so to make sure that she was inside the theatre and would more than likely not hear or feel her phone. If she did, she'd be too distracted to answer. He'd been to enough premieres with her to know how preoccupied she was at them. He decided to leave and get some fresh air, hoping to clear his head a bit, and grab something to eat before trying for the third time. He came back a little over an hour later and picked up his phone, this time wasting no time at all before hitting 1 on his speed dial. This time, when he heard her voice mail, he smiled to himself, until he heard the beep. He froze, not knowing how to begin.

Say something! he urged himself.

"Van, hey it's me. I, um, I know that I'm probably the, uh, the last person you want to hear from right now, but…" He paused, letting out a sigh while running his hand across his face. "I really don't know how else to say this, other than to come right out with it. Vanessa, I'm sorry. I've had it pointed out to me how stupid I've been and how much I've been pushing you away. I never meant to hurt you. Baby, I love you so much. Please call me. Please talk to me. I want to pick you up from the airport when you get back, if you'll let me. I hope you have a good night and uh, I, uh, I guess I'll talk to you later. I love you."

He hung up just as he felt the single tear fall down his cheek. He reached up to wipe it away as he offered up a prayer to whoever was up there listening.

Please, just let her listen to the voice mail without deleting it. All I want is for her to hear it.

When Vanessa walked through the door of her room back at the hotel, the first thing she did was kick off her high heels. She sat down on the couch in the sitting area, turning on the TV and immediately flipping it to the E! Network, as she reached down to rub the balls of her feet. She had gotten spoiled whenever she and Zac go to appearances as he always rubbed her feet when they returned either home or to the hotel. Vanessa absentmindedly fumbled through her purse for her phone, seeing the blinking red light. She touched the screen, making the picture of her and Zac at the hockey game they went to for his birthday in Vancouver appear, and saw the envelope in the upper right corner. As she tapped in her pass code, she pulled the phone to her ear. She sat up straighter on the couch as she heard the voice she's wanted to hear so badly since she left Los Angeles.

"Van, hey it's me. I, um, I know that I'm probably the, uh, the last person you want to hear from right now, but…" Vanessa stopped breathing as she listened to the rest of the voice mail.

"I really don't know how else to say this, other than to come right out with it. Vanessa, I'm sorry. I've had it pointed out to me how stupid I've been and how much I've been pushing you away. I never meant to hurt you. Baby, I love you so much. Please call me. Please talk to me. I want to pick you up from the airport when you get back, if you'll let me. I hope you have a good night and uh, I, uh, I guess I'll talk to you later. I love you."

Vanessa furiously wiped at the tears that quickly fell down her cheeks, not realizing until that moment that she had started crying. She was so overwhelmed, so shocked, that he called her that her first thought was to call him back. Just as she positioned her finger to push the 1 for speed dial, her phone vibrated in her hand. She looked at it, noticing that it was Ashley. She answered the phone and the girl on the other end quickly noticed that she'd been crying.

"What happened, Nesquick?"

"He called."

"What?!" Ashley asked, playing the shocked card. She already had an idea that he was going to do something, but she really didn't know that he would call her while she was gone.

"Yeah, he called during the movie tonight. My phone was on vibrate, so of course, I didn't hear it. He left a voice mail." Vanessa quickly told Ashley about what the voice mail said.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Ash. I miss him so much, but… I just don't know."

Ashley couldn't hide the smile that formed on her face at the one thought that kept running through her mind. It's about time! I think they're close.

The two girls continued their conversation for a few more minutes. When they finally hung up, Vanessa went into the bedroom and took off the dress she had worn to the premiere, changing into the old Wildcat t-shirt that Zac had worn in the first High School Musical and a pair of yoga pants. After she washed her face she took her phone in her hands once again and climbed into the bed. As she settled down under the covers, she dialed her voice mail once again, and listened to the message again, and again, and again, as she finally drifted off to sleep.

After Zac finally got up the courage to leave the message, he got restless. He didn't expect her to call him back, but he still wasn't giving up hope. He had the feeling way deep down that he may not talk to or see her until Ashley's wedding in three weeks, but his mom had taught him a long time ago to not give up.

"Zachary, if you want something bad enough, you have to go after it."

He had spent his whole life going after what he wanted academically and professionally. Personally, however, he managed to mess up and now it was time to fix it. He thought about calling her again, but then he reminded himself that Vanessa was one to shut down if she felt like she was being pushed. That was exactly what had caused this whole mess to begin with, and he wasn't about to push her further and make things worse than they already were. He finally managed to convince himself to just let things lie the way they were and let her take her time. He had made the first move, now it was her turn.

The next morning when Vanessa woke up, she got in the shower and quickly got dressed and packed her things for the flight back to Los Angeles, where she would finish out her commitments with appearances on Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, and The Tonight Show. There was the American premiere of the movie as well that she had to attend, and then she'd be finished and could focus on Ashley's wedding, which was quickly approaching. She had gotten the music of the song that Ashley wanted her and Zac to sing the week prior while she was in New York, and couldn't help but roll her eyes at the irony of it's meaning when she looked at it.

Seriously, Ash? she thought to herself when she opened the package and saw the sheet music. "What I've Been Looking For'?

As she got the last of her things together and in the suitcase, she picked up her phone. She held onto it for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she was trying to make the decision of what to do, before tossing it into her purse, only to change her mind and pull it out again. Quickly typing out a text message, she hit send and put it back in the bag as she walked out the door pulling her suitcase behind her.

I do still love you and you're right, we do need to talk. I just need more time. I'll let you know when.

When Zac turned his phone on the next morning, it immediately buzzed with a text message. He opened the message and quickly read it, smiling. He hastily punched out a reply on the keys, fully realizing now that it would be Ashley's wedding when they even saw each other again, much less talked.

I understand you need time. Just know that I can't wait to see you.

He made the decision that that would be it in his pursuit of Vanessa's heart once again. At least until the moment was right. She said she needed time and time he would give her… at least until the following month at their friend's wedding. They were paired to walk down the aisle together as bridesmaid and groomsman, after all. She would have no choice but to talk to him then.

AN: FYI: The "What I've Been Looking For" that I had in mind is the full version that Sharpay and Ryan sing, but at the slower tempo that Troy and Gabriella sing it.