A couple weeks later, Zac had been working on his relationship with Vanessa, his second goal. The couple had been working on their issues that they had and were starting to see an improvement. One day, Zac came home from his weekly therapy appointment. He walked into the house and put his keys down.
"Baby?" Zac called.
"In the kitchen" Vanessa said.
Zac walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. He kissed her shoulder softly.
"How was therapy?" Vanessa asked.
"It was fine. I got a little anxious when I was talking but I'm okay" Zac said.
Vanessa looked at Zac.
"Well your anxiety has gone down a lot since you came home" Vanessa said.
Zac nodded.
"Which is good" Zac said.
"Yeah, I'm very proud of you" Vanessa said.
"Thanks babe" Zac said.
"What are your plans tonight?" Vanessa asked.
"Nothing. Why?" Zac asked.
"Let's just hang out tonight? We haven't done that for three years" Vanessa said.
"Okay, what does that entail?" Zac asked.
"Let's go to dinner and come back and just see where the night takes us" Vanessa said raising her eyebrows.
Zac raised his eyebrow and laughed.
"Are you inferring that you want to do some things?" Zac asked.
"Well, I got a new outfit that I thought you should see" Vanessa said.
Zac's smiled got bigger and he kissed her shoulder.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Zac asked.
Vanessa giggled. Zac took her hand and the couple left the house. Zac drove to one of their favorite restaurants in LA. Zac parked his car and saw all the paparazzi that was following them. It was their first time going out in public since they had gotten back together. Zac got out of the car and walked to Vanessa's side and helped her out. He took her hand and entwined their fingers. The couple walked into the restaurant, ignoring the comments that were being made by the photographers. They were seated immediately. Zac looked at Vanessa and smiled.
"So when are you going to go back to work?" Vanessa asked.
"I'm taking a medical leave of absence. I told my director that I need six months to recover from rehab" Zac said.
"Oh wow" Vanessa said.
"Yeah. I need to have the time to relax and get back to my daily routine. Plus I want to have that time with you" Zac said.
Vanessa smiled.
"Are you okay with all the paparazzi stuff? It was kind of crazy out there" Zac said.
"Yeah, I forgot how crazy it gets" Vanessa said.
"We should have just stayed in" Zac said.
"It's fine baby. We would have to leave the house at some point. We knew it was going to be crazy" Vanessa said.
Zac sighed. The couple ordered and ate their food. After they paid, the couple left the restaurant. Zac put his hand over Vanessa's face, shielding her from the paparazzi. They walked to the car and Zac helped Vanessa get in. He closed her door and went to the driver's side and got in. Zac started driving and looked at Vanessa.
"You okay?" Zac asked.
"Yeah, it just bring back memories" Vanessa said.
Zac entwined their fingers together.
"Sorry" Zac said.
"Don't be sorry. I just have to get used to it again" Vanessa said.
Zac continued to drive until he pulled up to the house. He parked his car and the couple got out. Zac and Vanessa walked into the house and went upstairs. Vanessa went into the bathroom and took a bag with her. She changed into the outfit that was in the bag. Vanessa peeked into the bedroom and saw Zac on his phone.
"I have a little surprise for you" Vanessa said.
Zac looked up and smiled. Vanessa walked into the room in a sexy lingerie set. Zac smiled. Vanessa climbed onto the bed and moved over to where Zac was sitting.
"Baby" Zac said as he put his hand on the small of Vanessa's back.
"What? You don't like it" Vanessa said moving away from her boyfriend.
"Babe, it's not that at all. I do like it. You look so sexy. I just feel like we should work on our relationship a little more before we do anything. I don't want you to feel vulnerable or regret anything" Zac said.
Vanessa got off the bed and walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Zac sighed. He didn't want to hurt Vanessa's feelings but he thought they should work out their issues before they get serious again. Zac wanted to have sex with Vanessa more than anything, he just wanted it to be at the right time. It had been ten minutes since Vanessa went into the bathroom and she still hadn't come out. Zac got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom door and knocked politely.
"Van, can I come in?" Zac asked.
"Yeah, it's open" Vanessa said softly.
Zac opened the door and saw Vanessa sitting on the floor with her back leaning against the wall and tears running down her face. He felt awful. Zac walked into the bathroom and sat down next to Vanessa.
"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings" Zac said.
Vanessa sniffled.
"It's not that you hurt my feelings Zac. It's the fact that, this is how we ended up last time and then a month later we broke up" Vanessa said.
"What can I do to make you feel better?" Zac asked.
"I just want to feel loved" Vanessa said.
Zac leaned in and kissed Vanessa's lips softly, but passionately. Vanessa kissed Zac back with as much passion as she could give. Zac moved down to her neck and placed sweet, loving kisses from her jaw to her chest. He pulled away and kissed her forehead lovingly.
"I promise, when we work on our issues, then we will have sex" Zac said.
"Okay" Vanessa said as Zac wiped her tears away.
Zac nodded. He stood up and put his hands out. Vanessa took her boyfriend's hands and he helped her stand up. Zac kissed Vanessa's lips softly.
"I love you" Zac said.
"I love you too. I'm going to change into my pajamas" Vanessa said walking into the bedroom.
Vanessa went to Zac's underwear drawer and pulled out a pair of his boxers. She changed into them and took her shirt off and picked out one of Zac's and put it on.
"I missed wearing your clothes" Vanessa said as she got into bed.
"I missed you wearing my clothes" Zac said.
Vanessa smelled the shirt that she was wearing and smiled. She walked over to the bed and got under the covers.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" Vanessa asked.
"I think I'm going to go to the gym Dylan. I need to get back into shape" Zac said.
"Is he going to come down for the weekend?" Vanessa asked.
"No, just for the day. He wanted to see how I was doing and also wanted to see you. He was asking about you" Zac said.
"Oh. It will be good to see him" Vanessa said.
"Yeah" Zac said.
"Did you take your anti-anxiety meds?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine for the night" Zac said.
"Okay" Vanessa said.
"Good night baby. I love you" Zac said kissing Vanessa's lips.
"Night babe. I love you too" Vanessa said.
Zac turned off the light and Vanessa snuggled into Zac's arms and fell asleep. The next morning, Vanessa woke up and saw Zac not in bed. She got out of bed and walked downstairs. Zac was in the backyard shooting hoops, shirtless. Vanessa smiled when she saw him through the window. She walked outside and sat at one of the tables on the patio.
"My baby is on fire" Vanessa said.
Zac looked over at his girlfriend and smiled.
"I didn't hear you come out here" Zac said.
"I haven't seen you play basketball in a long time" Vanessa said.
"Yeah, it's been a while" Zac said putting the ball down and walking over to Vanessa.
Zac kissed Vanessa's lips softly.
"Good morning" Zac said.
"Good morning" Vanessa said.
"Dylan said he was going to come around twelve. Is that okay?" Zac asked.
"Yeah, that's fine" Vanessa said.
A couple hours later, the doorbell rang. Zac walked to the front door and opened it. He smiled when he saw his little brother.
"Hey man" Zac said hugging his brother.
"Hey, how are you feeling? You look good" Dylan said.
"Thanks. Are you ready to go?" Zac asked.
"Yeah" Dylan said.
"Baby, we are leaving" Zac said.
Vanessa walked into the room and smiled when she saw Dylan.
"Okay. Hi Dylan" Vanessa said.
Dylan smiled and hugged his "older sister".
"Hi Van. I missed you" Dylan said.
Vanessa smiled.
"I missed you too. How's everything going?" Vanessa asked.
"Everything's fine. Nothing new. How are you?" Dylan asked.
"I'm fine. Just working on some new projects" Vanessa said.
"That's awesome" Dylan said.
"Yeah" Vanessa said.
"We are going to head out. I'll be home in a couple hours" Zac said.
"Okay. Love you and have fun" Vanessa said kissing Zac's lips.
"I love you too" Zac said.
The two brothers left the house. A couple weeks later, Vanessa was at her parents house because her grandparents were in town. Zac was at home planning a very special evening for Vanessa and himself. He had cleaned the whole house and dimmed the lights. Zac put a lingerie set on Vanessa's side of the bed and had lit candles throughout the bedroom. He had been feeling a lot better since he had left rehab and he and Vanessa had worked on their relationship a lot in last couple weeks and finally felt that they could go to the next level. Zac's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door open and Vanessa walk into the house. Vanessa looked around the living room and saw candles lit everywhere. She walked deeper into the house and didn't see Zac anywhere. Vanessa then heard Zac come down the stairs. She looked at him and smiled.
"Baby, what's all this?" Vanessa asked.
"I wanted tonight to be about us. We have come a long way since I was in rehab and I think that we deserve to have a night that we don't have to think about work, or our families and friends. Just us" Zac said.
"Just us" Vanessa repeated.
"Just us" Zac confirmed.
Vanessa smiled. She kissed Zac's lips softly. Zac took his girlfriend's hand in his and pulled back.
"I have a few surprises" Zac said.
Vanessa raised her eyebrows. Zac kissed Vanessa's lips again.
"Come on" Zac said.
Vanessa followed Zac upstairs. She saw that the same candles that were downstairs were also lit upstairs as well. Vanessa smiled. Zac stopped at the bedroom door, which was closed.
"I'm going to ask this because I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you or anything" Zac started.
Vanessa looked at Zac confused.
"Do you want to have sex?" Zac asked blushing.
Vanessa smiled and leaned in and kissed Zac's lips.
"You are so cute. I can't take it. I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything. I don't want to make you do anything that you don't want to do" Vanessa said.
"I don't feel pressured. I feel good about how far we have come in the last couple of weeks" Zac said.
"Me too. So I guess my answer is yes" Vanessa said sweetly.
Zac smiled.
"Are you sure?" Zac asked.
Vanessa nodded.
"Positive" Vanessa said.
"Okay" Zac said.
Zac opened the bedroom door and the couple walked into the bedroom. Vanessa smiled when she saw rose petals scattered around the room. The bedroom lights were dimmed and her favorite candle was burning. She then saw the lingerie set that Zac had picked out for her. Vanessa looked at Zac.
"How long have you been planning this?" Vanessa asked.
Zac smiled.
"I got the idea about an hour before you came home" Zac said.
Vanessa giggled and kissed his cheek.
"You always could think of the most romantic thing to do for me at the last second and it still be perfect" Vanessa said.
Zac smiled and kissed Vanessa's lips softly.
"I only want the best for my baby" Zac said.
Vanessa smiled. She picked up the lingerie set and walked into the bathroom. Two minutes later, Vanessa opened the door slowly. Zac looked at his girlfriend and smiled. Vanessa walked into the room and looked at Zac.
"What do you think?" Vanessa asked as she spun around slowly.
Zac smiled.
"You look so beautiful and sexy" Zac said.
Vanessa slowly climbed onto the bed. Zac took his shirt off and stripped down to his boxers. He leaned down and picked up a package and went into the bathroom and closed the door. A minute later, Zac came out of the bathroom and climbed onto the bed. The couple got under the covers. Vanessa straddled Zac's waist. Zac put his hands on Vanessa's waist.
"Are you sure you want to do this? If you are having second thoughts-" Zac started.
"Zac" Vanessa said putting a finger on his mouth.
Zac smiled.
"I should shut up" Zac said.
Vanessa giggled and nodded. She kissed Zac' s lips softly but passionately. Zac ran his fingers through Vanessa's hair. Vanessa's lingerie and Zac's boxers were eventually discarded and the couple showed each other how much they loved one another. The next morning, Vanessa woke up to her head laying against Zac's chest, listening to his heartbeat. She remembered the events that occurred the night before and smiled. She sank deeper into the warm sheets and sighed happily. Zac opened his eyes slowly. He looked down at his chest and smiled when he saw Vanessa.
"Good morning beautiful" Zac said.
"Good morning" Vanessa said.
"Did I hurt you last night?" Zac asked.
"No, not at all" Vanessa said.
"Last night was the best night I have had in three years" Zac said entwining their fingers together.
Vanessa smiled.
"Me too. Thank you" Vanessa said.
"For what?" Zac asked.
"For being the sweetest man I have ever met. For always loving me unconditionally" Vanessa said.
Zac smiled and kissed her swollen lips.
"I will always love you. No matter what. You don't ever have to worry or thank me about that" Zac said.
Vanessa smiled.
"I love you" Vanessa said.
"I love you too Vanessa Anne Hudgens" Zac said.
"Now it feels like old times" Vanessa said.
"Is that a bad thing?" Zac asked.
"No. I feel like nothing from the past ever happened and that we just stayed together" Vanessa said.
Zac kissed Vanessa's head softly.
"I'm sorry for putting you through all of that" Zac said.
Vanessa looked at Zac and felt tears coming to her eyes.
"Baby" Vanessa started.
"Let me explain before you say anything. I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me. I'm sorry for always thinking of myself and not caring what you wanted and shutting you out all the time. I'm sorry that everyone kept following us and not giving us time alone. I'm sorry for everything" Zac said.
Vanessa choked out a sob. Zac wrapped his arms around Vanessa and rubbed her back as she cried. Ten minutes later, Vanessa's sobs subsided and she was trying to figure out what to say.
"Baby, maybe then wasn't our time. Maybe, this is our second chance. A second chance to fix everything and get it right. You don't need to apologize Zac" Vanessa said.
Zac kissed Vanessa's lips softly.
"I love you" Zac said.
"I love you too baby girl. I love you too" Zac said.
That morning, the couple had realized that neither of them were going anywhere and that they wanted to be in each other's lives, forever.