Hawaiian Healing:

Chapter 14

…..

"Just lay off her man" I warned Dylan seriously. I don't know what happened, but the thought of my brother and Vanessa together makes my skin crawl. A sudden possessiveness towards Vanessa filled my body.

We entered the house as if nothing ever happened. I stop breathing for a second as my eyes caught sight of Vanessa. She was beautiful as always. She smiled at us as soon as she heard our footsteps. My heart melted.

"You dinner is ready." she said and we smiled in response.

We sat down the dark wooden table and notice that there were only two plates in the table. I took a glance at her, where she was silently preparing our plates.

My heart is beating fast as she went over to us. My whole body feels hot. This is now or never. I made a decision on accepting my unexpected feelings for her, and I am going to make my move.

'Just don't sweat it' I said to myself. Too late, I can feel the sweat forming at my forehead. I smiled at her, trying to look calm but in reality I am not. I took a quick look at Dylan for help. He gave me a look, nudging me to do it.

I took a deep breath. "Why don't you have dinner with us?" I said.

She looks at me shock, not being able to respond. After a few seconds of silence, she gave me a warm smile.

"That's sweet of you, but I can't. Your brother is visiting you and I don't want to be a distraction"

"It's fine, really" said Dylan.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, and I already ate anyway" she said silently.

"Ok" I whispered. "Goodnight"

She nodded in response.

There goes my happiness. Thrown out the window yet once again

I look over at Dylan who gave me a sympathetic look. He patted my back.

"It's alright man. Maybe once I'm gone, she can finally let go of the wall she had built for herself and let you in" I nodded sadly.

"I hope so; I can't stop thinking about her ever since the first day we met"

He looks at me as If I have something in my face. "Wow" I gave him a confused look. "You really are serious about her, aren't you?"

I nod defeated. "I didn't mean to. But I guess people were right, you can't resist falling in love."

He rolled his eyes playfully "Cheesy much?" I laughed in response. "I just hope she lets me in." I said.

"You do know it goes both ways?"

"Of course I do, and I am letting her in."

"That's not what I meant" he stops eating and look at me seriously. "Are you sure you are over Kim?"

"Yes" I said quickly. "After she did to me I am way past done with her. I guess I was just hurt that she tricked me in believing that what we had was real."

He nodded understandingly. "That's good. But before you do anything, make sure that you are positive that you are back in your old self again. Let her see who you really are. Don't just do it for her but for yourself"

I look at him amaze. "You do know that you are the best brother, right?"

He laughed. "Of course I know, why did you think I came all the way here?"

We grinned at each other and continued eating.

…..

I hugged my brother one last time.

We were at the dock of the private estate that my family rented for my visit. Today was the day that Dylan was leaving. In a way I am sad because I will be all alone. But in the good side, he had knock in some sense in my hard thick skull. To top it off, I can finally be alone with Vanessa for myself without the distraction. Hopefully this time everything will go smooth. Or so I hope it will be.

"Say hi to everyone for me will ya?"

"Don't worry, I will. Everyone misses you man. No doubt that they will be glad that once I tell them that you are going back to your old self again." he grinned.

I smiled at him.

'I almost forgot, little Bell wanted me to give this to you" he said pulling out a piece of envelope covered with princess stickers out of his bag.

I chuckled as I took it and wave goodbye as the small plane took him away.

I walk back to the villa and sat down the couch at the top terrace. I smiled as I open 0envelop. Inside, there was a piece of paper that was scribbled in with lots of colors with an 'I love you' in the middle. Obvious that my mom had help her by writing it. Lastly, there was a small new picture of Bella, which made my heart ache, missing her.

I must have been so focused on the picture that Dylan had sent me that I didn't notice Vanessa.

"Is she your daughter?"

My head suddenly look up and saw Vanessa, standing in front of me with a plate of fruits for snacks.

She gave them to me and offered her a sit beside me. Surprisingly, she actually didn't refuse.

"It's my little cousin" I said to her. She kept staring at me to continue. "Actually, I see her more than that. I treat her like my own daughter"

She looks at me surprise, "Really? Why are you guys so close?"

I look down at the picture "Well, someone put her in a basket and left her my door. She was a newborn and I decided to look out for her with the help of my family."

She smiled genuinely "Wow. I never see you that type of person"

I gave her a small smile "Maybe you should learn the real me then"

Her smile became bigger. 'I would love too"

I froze. Did that just happen?

"Really?" I asked, still not believing it. She nodded.

She got up. "Maybe soon, but not right now. I need to go to the market and get some stuff."

My face lit up, like it was in Christmas mornings, but this one is even greater.

"How about tonight?" I asked her with hope in my voice.

She nodded with a twinkle of excitement in her eyes.

As soon as she was gone to the market, I was jumping and laughing like a lunatic.

Tonight will be the night where she learns the real me. Just me, Zac

Not THE Zac Efron that everyone knows from the crazy and manipulative media.

But how can I make it special?

I look around me, which gave me an idea.

Tonight will be the perfect night…..

A couple of hours later, I have finally finished setting up the candles and the blanket in the sand.

If you haven't already known, I decided that what better way to spend the night than go for a picnic.

It was perfect; there are candles in the sand close to the blanket where we will be sitting, with rose petals.

I know that it's not an official date but it means a lot to me that she wants to see the real me. Plus I always wanted to have a picnic with the girl I love. I always wanted to do it with Kim but she hates outdoors and prefer over the top restaurants and with the paparazzi watching us. Just by thinking about it makes me shiver. How foolish of me to fall for something like her.

I look back at the Villa and notice that Vanessa was already home. I jog towards her fast.

"Here, let me get that for you" I said while I was taking the heavy grocery bags from her.

She looks up to me and smiled "Thanks

We went up to the house and took out the stuff from the bags.

Once we were done, I look over at her.

"So do you want to go to a picnic?"

She smiled widely at me. "I would love to"

We went together at the beach together. We were walking together so close that our shoulders would often brush against each other.

"Wow"

I scratch the back of my head, nervous. "You don't like it"

She turned to me "What? Of course I Love it. It's amazing. You know you didn't need to do this"

"I know it's a little over the top but I always wanted to do this. Besides it's a way to say sorry that I kissed you that night of the carnival" I said.

She blushed.

I set the basket down and started to take out the contents inside.

"So what are we having?"

"Well, you know I don't know how to cook" I said, causing her to giggle. "So I just made us peanut butter and jelly and some chocolate covered strawberries"

"Mmmm sounds delicious"

We ate our sandwiches quietly, but not awkward. Surprisingly it was calming.

"Are you going to tell my why exactly you are here for?" she said silently as soon as we were finish eating.

I sighed.

It's now or never.

I laid down the blanket and she did the same. We weren't in any way touching each other. But we were close enough that I can feel her warmth.

"You never read magazines or watch TV?" I asked.

"Well I watch TV but not really gossip shows. I'm not interested in what is going on in the Hollywood world; I have my own life to care about"

I smiled at her. "You're the first person I have ever met that thinks that"

She looks at me with panic in her eyes. "I mean that in a good way. It feels nice that someone doesn't know who I am and don't act differently towards me"

She smiled.

"Well, I am famous if you didn't know that exactly. Everything was going great. I promised myself that I will never fall into the media's trap. But I failed the moment I filmed the movie THE ONE. It was a good movie, it boosted my career but I met a girl name Kim, who was my love interest. I fell for her charms. At first it was just friends with benefits but we became serious. We did things differently as a couple than I would have had imagined. We were open in the public's eyes. This caused me to fell into the trap. Then when I came back from filming a movie I found out her in my house, having sex with a guy in my own bed"

She gasped in horror.

She came closer to me our arms touching. She grabs my hand in comfort. "I'm so sorry," she said, putting her head on my shoulder.

"We broke up and then came the aftermath. I was broken-hearted, confuse, betrayed and lost. To top it off, Kim liked the attention and the fame that she made up crazy stuff about me and is currently writing a book about us. I did things that I am not proud of. I was always drinking, partying and I lost control that I punch a paparazzi. I pushed the limit. I started losing fans and I lost some movie contracts. My family stepped in. They and my team decided that being away from the media's eyes would do well for me. At first I hated it, but then I met you" I said finally finish and let go off everything.

"Oh Zac" she whimpered. "I'm so sorry"

I smiled weakly down to her. I moved my arm that she was clinging on to and move it towards the back of her shoulders, pulling her in.

She clings to me, crying silently.

"I'm sorry" I said "I didn't mean this to upset you"

"I know, I'm just emotional, that's all"

I chuckled "Now are you going to tell me yours?"

"Well, it is only fair if I do" she said

She took a deep breath before telling her story.

"My parents died from a car accident the day of my graduation." she sniffled. My body froze.

"They were all I have left. After they were gone, I had to leave. I couldn't take it anymore. My family was poor; they owe a lot of debt. The bank took away our house. My family didn't have savings since they were already working hard making ends meets. I have no money for college; I decided to work for a cleaning service where I made a friend offering a transfer here in Hawaii. At first I was scared, but leaving was a good thing because I know I needed to move on. Then I met you.

"I'm so sorry" I said pulling her close to me even more that we are now cuddling.

"Funny how the fate works, here we are two broken people meeting each other here in Hawaii"

She looks up to me and smiled. "This has been the best day ever since I came here. Ever since my parents are gone"

I look down to her "Me too Brie, me too"

Author's Note:

I know you guys are upset…im sorry for not uploading sooner and abandoning you guys.

But truth is, I have been busy with studying for finals and I had a writer's block in this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully it was worth the wait.

Please PLEASE Read and REVIEW!

Thank you for my usual readers and for writing what you think 33