Okay, yall, first of all I just want to say that I don't own any of this except for the storyline. Also, I've enjoyed all the reviews and story alert adds and so forth. Thank you so much for the support. As always, it's overwhelming! Now, with all of that out of the way, I've got to make a confession. I didn't plan this story as well as I did my previous ones. I had a small part of this story in mind, the rest of it has just been a filler. I've got one chapter after this one complete and ready to post, but after that... your guess of where it's going is as good as mine! I have to be honest and tell you that there will be more after chapter 5, I just don't know how much or when. I'm trying, though! If anyone (other than adcgordon- thank you so much, Anna, but you need a break! I've called on you way too much for this story!) wants to help get me out of my funk, please pm me! I'll gladly accept your thoughts and take them into consideration! With that being said...

Chapter 4

Reaching Stella's bedroom, Vanessa took a deep breath and reached up to knock on her sister's door. After three short, hard knocks, Vanessa brought her hand back down to her side and waited. The response she received was not one that she had expected, but it didn't surprise her none the less. Upon hearing the music blare louder, Vanessa and Zac shared a look. Deciding against knocking again, Vanessa opened the door to her sister's room, which used to be hers- Stella moved in when Vanessa moved out- and the couple walked in. Taking one look at Stella laying on the bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling, Vanessa realized that this was not an ordinary "You busted me in something wrong and I'm upset at you" moment, but was still uncertain as to what the underlying problem was. It was at that moment when the song that Stella had been using to cause everyone that came within a ten foot radius of her room to go deaf immediately hit their ears with clarity. Vanessa let out a small snort at the irony as she crossed the room and turned down the volume on her sister's stereo.

"Never Underestimate a Girl? Seriously, Stellz? Do you play my music when you're upset often? Am I the new teenage girl angst, mad at the world, advocate?" After seeing Stella was still refusing to speak to her, Vanessa let out a sigh, and shared a questioning look with Zac, who was standing by the desk in the corner of the room. After seeing him shrug his shoulders, she sat down on the foot of the bed and continued.

"I realize that you're mad at me and Zac for something that you did and I get locking yourself in your room and moping, blaring your music to let everyone in the house know to leave you alone- hello, been there, done that- but your music choice? You blare my music? My cd? I'm sorry, but that's going to take some getting used to."

"See, whenever I don't say 'Come in' when someone knocks on my door, that usually means 'Don't come in'," Stella snapped at her sister and her sister's fiancé. "I thought that turning the music up louder would be a clue to you. Apparently not."

"Stella, what the hell is your problem?" Vanessa finally demanded, losing what little patience she had left with her sibling.

"Why do you care? I'm surprised you noticed that anything is wrong at all. You've been too self absorbed in your stupid party and your stupid engagement to even notice anything about anyone but yourselves."

Vanessa squinted her eyes in confusion and watched as her sister stood up from her spot on the bed and walked over to her window seat, picking up the stuffed frog that Vanessa had given her years ago, and sat down, crossing her legs under her, facing outside with the old worn frog in her lap. It didn't go un-noticed by the couple when Stella brought a hand up to wipe a stray tear from her face. With that one action, it slowly occurred to Vanessa what could possibly be bothering Stella. Slowly, she crossed the room to stand in front of Zac and looked him in the eyes, taking his hand in hers.

"Babe, would you excuse us for a few minutes? I think this might turn into a sister moment," she said softly.

"Yeah, that's fine," he told her. "I'll just go back downstairs and watch the rest of the game with the guys." Watching as Vanessa nodded, he gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement and turned to leave the room. Sighing, Vanessa turned to look at Stella once again. Shutting the bedroom door behind her, she made her way to the window seat and sat down in it across from her younger sister, taking one of Stella's other frogs in her own lap and stroking the head.

The Hudgens sisters sat in silence for a few minutes, both looking out over the backyard of their family home, lost in their own thoughts. Both girls were thinking of all the late nights they had spent sitting in that exact window seat, talking to the Man in the Moon about all their dreams. In Vanessa's mind, it was all in the past and hoped that the cousins that would come within the next several years would make the same type of memories in the future. In Stella's mind, however, it was all coming to an end. These were feelings she had been dealing with a lot lately. She hadn't been able to vocalize her thoughts and fears about the future to anyone, especially the older sister that she had never hid anything from. Taking a deep breath, Stella quickly made a decision. There's no time like the present, she thought to herself.

"I feel like I'm losing you," Stella finally spoke up softly, with a small sniffle.

Vanessa turned her attention to her sister, not quite sure if she heard her correctly or not. "What are you talking about? You're not losing me."

"But I am!" Stella cried. "I lost you once when HSM started, but I dealt with that when you had all the promotional touring and you made sure I was included. I loved that. I had fun with all the traveling and everything. Now, I don't know, I just…" Her voice cracked as she stood from her spot in the window seat and moved to her original position on the bed with Vanessa watching as her younger sister turned her back to her.

"You what, Stell?" she asked softly, as she slowly stood and made her way over to the bed. Sitting down by Stella's feet, she continued. "Honey, talk to me, please. I want to help you, but I can't if I don't understand what's going on." Tentatively, she reached her hand out to touch Stella on the back. When Stella didn't recoil at her sister's touch, Vanessa started to rub her back. "Stella?" she asked again. This time, when Stella turned back around to face her sister, she had tears streaming down her face, causing Vanessa's own eyes to begin to water.

"Don't get me wrong, Ness. I love Zac."

"I know you do. You look up to him like you would a brother. I love the relationship you two have. And I'm sorry, but I'm still confused. What does Zac have to do with this?"

"He's the reason that I'm losing you. He's taking you away from us!" Stella watched as Vanessa's face changed from confusion to understanding as the meaning of her sister's confession dawned on her.

"Stella, you mean that just because we're getting married… Honey, that couldn't be further from the truth. You know that, right? Things won't be any different than they are now. Except that you'll officially be able to call him your 'brother-in-law'."

"It doesn't feel like it, though. Ever since you two got engaged, it's been all about you. It feels like no one has noticed me. Did you know that my last day of school was a week and a half ago? My report card came five days ago. All A's and B's, honor roll. I'm now officially in high school. Bet you didn't know that, did you?" When Vanessa didn't respond, Stella took that to mean that she was right. "Mom and Dad didn't tell you, did they? Of course not. Mom's been too engrossed in planning your party and Dad's been trying to keep her sane. Obviously that didn't work, but…"

"Is that why you acted out today? To get attention?"

Stella gave a small nod, confirming her sister's suspicion. "Today's not the first thing I've done."

"Well, I got a detention a few days ago. Mom and Dad don't know. There was some form sent home that they had to sign, but the school usually calls, too, so I thought that when they got the call, they'd find out that I got detention, lied to them because I said that I stayed to work on a paper- of course, that's not true since school was out in a few days-, and 'lost' the form. But that never happened, so they still don't know."

"Is there anything else?" Vanessa asked. When Stella nodded her head, she continued.

"What else?" Vanessa watched as Stella got up off the bed and walked to her closet. Reaching far in the back, behind all of her clothes, she pulled out a bottle of liquid. Handing it to Vanessa, she let her eyes fall to the floor, ashamed of what she would say. "Stella!" Vanessa gasped after studying the bottle. "This is Zac's rum! He was looking for it the other night. We didn't know where it was."

"I never did anything with it. If you look at it again, you'll see that it still hasn't been opened; the seal is still intact. I just took it to see if you guys would notice."

"How long have you had it?"

"Since the movie night we had with Mom and Dad about three weeks ago. But you didn't notice! See? That just proves my point! You two didn't even notice that it was gone until the other night."

Letting this new confession sink in, Vanessa let out a sigh. "Stella, come here."

Stella made her way back to the bed and sat down facing her older sister. Once she was settled again, Vanessa continued.

"Sweetie, nothing will ever take me away from you. You and I have a bond that Zac and I will never have, just like he and Dylan. You and I are sisters first and always. I know you feel like you've been neglected lately, and it's not just from me. That's something we're going to have to talk about with everyone. I can tell you that I'm sorry for my part in all of that. But I can promise you that you always have a place in my life. No matter what happens with me and Zac- babies, fights, amazing movie deals with awards to follow- you're always in my life. I'll always have time for you."

"But what if, okay, see, it's a big night for you. You guys have like, I don't know, the Golden Globes or something, and one of you is nominated and ends up winning. You're in the car on your way home, talking about celebration plans, if you get what I mean, and your phone rings. It's me, crying about something that happened and I need to talk to my sister. What do you do?"

"Well, obviously, you're more than welcome at my house. You know that, you even have your own room there. But on a night like that, you can come over and I'll be there for you, chocolate chip cookie dough, mint chocolate chip ice cream, all of it. However, as long as you realize that after you and I have gorged ourselves till we're sick, I will have a husband to get back to and you may hear stuff-"

"That won't be anything new to me!" Stella interrupted. When Vanessa's eyes grew to be the size of their mom's dinner plates, Stella quickly went on. "Oh, come on! You know it's true. You two aren't exactly discreet all the time."

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"What I mean is that you two are either being… um, not quiet… or you're careless and don't close the bedroom door all the way or you-"

"Anyway-" Vanessa started again, the tone in her voice letting her sister know that she wanted the conversation back on track, "-my point is that you are always welcome at my house. You have a room, there's a couch if needed."

"Why would I need a couch?"

"Not for you, Stellz. For Zac. Sister Date Night will still happen and we'll still have our Gilmore marathons and he'll just have to deal. That will probably be the only rule in our marriage. We have Sister Date Night, he will have Brother Date Night. Wait, no, that's just weird. He'll have something. I don't know. Whatever. Do you see what I'm getting at here? Things may change, but yet they won't. Does that make sense?"

"I think so. I'm sorry I over reacted."

"You didn't over react. I think that's a normal reaction. Nothing will ever come between us." Suddenly Vanessa's eyes got a glimmer, one that Stella knew way too well.

"Uh oh. Please, Ness, no. Not a song."

"If you're out on the road-"

"Ness, please, stop!"

"-feeling lonely and so cold."

"What's going on?" Zac, who had made his way back upstairs to check on his girls, asked from the doorway.

"I think it's supposed to be a sister moment," Stella told him.

"Then why is she singing the theme from Gilmore Girls?"

"All you have to do is call my name and I'll be there on the next train." Vanessa stood from the bed and moved to stand behind her sister, putting her arms around her shoulder.

"I don't know," Stella told him shaking her head.

"Where you lead, I will follow. Anywhere that you tell me to." Vanessa looked at Stella, who was looking at her as if she was crazy. "Too much?" she asked. Stella slowly nodded her head.

"Have you come back from the land of the loonies?" Stella asked.

"That depends," Vanessa told her.

"On?"

"On whether or not we're okay. I love you, Stella. You're so important to me and I don't want anything to ever come between us."

"We're fine, Ness. I love you," she said as she threw herself into the open arms of her older sister.

"Good," Vanessa said as she returned the tight squeeze that she was receiving from Stella. "But there's something I have to finish first."

"Do I want to know what that is?" Stella asked. As if on cue, Vanessa continued her song.

"If you need, you need me to be with you I will follow where you lead. Okay, now I'm done. But you know what you have to do now, right?" she asked Stella with raised eyebrows.

"What's that?"

"Well, in addition to talking to Mom and Dad, you also need to…" She let her voice trail off as she pulled out of the hug that she was sharing with her sister and turned her around to face Zac who was still in the doorway, watching the scene before him. Stella nodded and took a deep breath before speaking to him finally.

"Zac, can we talk?"