HAPPY NEW YEAR! I HOPE THIS IS THE START OF SOMETHING NEW AND BEAUTIFUL FOR YOU. ALSO TWO CHAPTER UPDATE WOO. ENJOY XD XXXX

Chapter 8

The hotel room reverberated with music as the small gathering of friends had unexpectedly grown to around twenty people. The pizza boxes rested in the corner of the room, now empty. A group led by Brittany and Nina sang along to showtunes, while most of the guys sat around, engaging in conversation and playing cards with ESPN on silently in the background.

The party had spilled over to the boy's room after the penthouse takeover. As the crowd dwindled down over the hours, Ryan, Dylan, Zac, Vanessa, Laura, Brittany, Nina and a handful of other guests remained.

The entire night had been extremely special for Zac. But now, looking around at everyone he was so happy to just soak it all in and have pure, unbridled fun with his friends. While surveying the crowd, his eyes fixed on Vanessa, who was impressively belting out a song from Tick, Tick... Boom! He was glad she was having a good time as well. They hadn't had a chance to speak since the elevator incident, but he felt the need to finish their earlier conversation.

Seeing the party wind down, Vanessa glanced over at Laura across the room and exchanged a meaningful look, silently signaling that it was time for them to make their exit as well.

Zac made his way over to Vanessa to try and catch her before she left. "Hey, can we talk for a sec?" he asked. However, before she could register what he had said or respond, an inebriated Nina materialized with Brittany by her side.

"Guys - this was the best. You guys are the best… Life is amazing," Nina sighed.

"Haha, girl are you okay?" asked Vanessa, concerned.

"She's alright. I don't think she's had much water today, though. Luckily we're all staying close by - so I'm going to get her to bed," Brittany explained.

"Need any help?" offered Zac.

"Nah, I got her," Shaun, Nina's boyfriend, chimed in. "Sorry, I had to take a quick call outside. Come on, love, let's go. Brit, I'll walk you out if you'd like." He effortlessly scooped up Nina, bidding farewell along with Brittany to everyone.

"I'm gonna head out too. Love you, brother," Dylan said, enveloping Zac in a warm hug. "I'll see you tomorrow! Mom and dad should be here by 10 am. Let's meet downstairs for breakfast?"

"Sounds good."

"I'm just going to grab my bag and then we can go, okay?" Laura informed Vanessa.

"Sure," she agreed. She thought she had heard Zac ask her to stay but perhaps she'd been mistaken. Besides, everyone was leaving, and it made no sense now for her to stay behind.

"Oh, and call Olivia! She might still be up. She couldn't reach you earlier, but she really wanted to say congratulations," called Dylan from the doorway before he headed out.

"Will do!" said Zac.

Olivia? Thought Vanessa. Was that his girlfriend? Why wasn't she here tonight? Anyways, that's none of my business. Yeah, I probably was overthinking - he definitely didn't ask me to stay back. Anything we needed to talk about we already did tonight.

Ryan gave Zac a quick hug too as he signaled he would leave with Dylan. "I'll see you soon, man. Congrats once again."

"Thanks, man. Mammoth, yeah?"

"Yeah! See you on the slopes."

As Zac saw Vanessa leaving, he wondered if he should ask her to talk for a minute once again. Maybe she'd heard his request and had decided to leave anyway. He shouldn't pursue this. He should be grateful for the time they spent together today and leave it at that. She had her life. He had his. They would always be connected and he would always love and respect her. Tonight gave them some closure as well as a clearer path ahead. And yet, something within him stirred. There were still a few things left unsaid. He found himself being drawn to her like he had the first time they met. He wanted to know everything about her all over again. Was it wrong to just want to spend a bit more time with her too? Whatever the spell of the night was, he didn't want to step out of it.

As everyone headed towards the door, he saw Vanessa was the last one out.

The first time he saw her earlier this evening he felt a surge of courage seep through him as he approached her. For the second time that night, his courage came through as he lightly grabbed Vanessa's wrist and said, "stay," just loud enough for her to hear. Please? He thought, wishing she could read his mind.

Vanessa looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised at his request.

Did she want to stay? She thought to herself. She was curious as to what more he had to say to her, but she didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression or even herself the wrong idea. She battled with herself but somewhere deep in her heart she knew this evening had surprised her in more ways than one. What was one more surprise? Her curiosity peaked.

"Okay," she said.

When Laura realized Vanessa wasn't following behind her she came back to the hotel door. "Van, you coming?"

"Hey, I'll catch up with you later, yeah?" Laura looked at Vanessa skeptically, but Vanessa gave her friend a reassuring nod.

"Okay, love. Text me if you need anything," Laura said as she gave Vanessa a big hug.

Zac looked at Vanessa with a soft smile as he ushered her inside and closed the door. It was just them together once again, but for the first time this evening, it was by their choice.