Thank you everyone for your reviews and PM's! You've brought smiles to my face and really made me think about a couple of things in the Zanessa world. This is the last chapter of Rehab...for now. I can't quite call it complete because I feel like there's more to this story. Perhaps, when the HSM Reunion happens then I can continue this story or have a sequel to it. :)

Thanks again and KTZLF! -adc

Rehab Chapter 5

Vanessa turned the crockpot dial to low. She had mixed the simple ingredients silently, wondering if Zac had fallen asleep in the living room or if he would attempt to get up and help. She decided to peek into the adjoining room before starting to clean up the minimal mess she had made.

Her first thought was correct. The man on the couch appeared to be asleep, comfortable, with a blanket spread over his bare toes all the way up to his chest. His fingers were spread slightly at the top edge of the covering, holding it closer to his body.

Vanessa smiled. She leaned against the wall and just looked over his hands, wrists, muscles that were protruding from under his t-shirt and his face. She cringed once more at the sight of the injured area and then relaxed as he took a somewhat deep, cleansing breath without a hint of pain.

She noticed the 'YOLO' tattoo on his right hand and shook her head. She remembered him using that phrase, 'You Only Live Once' before his bungee jumping escapade in Canada. She had used it before jumping out of a plane with some friends. Then, in the back of her mind she had another flashback to a moment that came just before she and Zac separated.

The two sat at dinner discussing, yet again, their schedules that wouldn't mesh and why now would be a good time for them to take a break from one another. The hurt and anger and questions and confusion continued to swirl in their minds.

"You only love once," Zac had reacted to Vanessa's mention of other people in the world and the things they were likely to experience.

In the moment she thought he had again said 'live', not 'love'. But at this new point, she realized more clearly what he meant. And the tattoo on his hand represented that sentiment.

The love they had, had been borne of friendship and nurtured to maturity, somewhat. The problem was, they weren't mature enough at the time to see that, and the outside pressures finally took over.

Vanessa stared for a moment. With just a momentary thought of her current boyfriend she let her mind wander. Was Zac correct? Through his drug and alcohol abuse, his rehab, his work and a re-dedication to his life…did he still love HER? More importantly, was she still in love with him?

She took a deep breath as her eyes became wide and she stared directly at his sleeping form. She felt the shiver run up her spine and she shook. Her mouth became dry and she found herself fidgeting with her own fingers as the thoughts rumbled in her mind.

"Is this why I've avoided seeing you?" She whispered the question with the hope that he was truly asleep. "Is it because you only love once…and we both know I've loved you?" She blinked and then closed her eyes.

The smell of the cooking tomato juice and spices began to fill the air. Usually the comforts of home would make Vanessa relax, no matter where she actually was. Yet in that moment she began to think of a hundred other things that would be required to make that happen now. Surprisingly, running away from the situation was at the bottom of the list. The other surprise? Being held in Zac's arms again was suddenly at the very top.

Rehab 5

"Nessha?" She felt the hands on her shoulders gripping slightly as her name registered in her brain over the myriad of other thoughts. Vanessa focused her eyes on the sight of Zac looking at her…and holding her.

She blinked and looked past him before letting her eyes slowly come back to his.

"Are you okay?" His question wasn't hard to understand through his wired mouth but Vanessa could tell it was hard for him to say.

She nodded quickly but shallowly. "I thought you were asleep," she looked down toward the carpet and ran a toe through the plush material.

Zac shrugged his shoulders, trying to avoid a more verbal response.

He stepped to the kitchen counter where a pen and paper were handy. Vanessa followed him and leaned her hip against the edge of the bar while he wrote quickly. When he directed the paper toward her she took it slowly, watching his face more than his scribbled words.

Zac tapped on the paper to point her attention toward his writing. "I'm not sure what to say to you. You're making dinner for me, thank you. But you don't have to stay. I'm okay by myself."

Vanessa read his words and her shoulders slouched. "Do you want me to leave?" She asked, slightly surprised. "Am I making you that uncomfortable, being here?" She wondered with a tinge of hurt.

Zac pulled the pad from her hands and shook his head. "No," he wrote hurriedly, "Opposite," he added. "Having you here with me feels right."

He turned his body and stood so Vanessa could read his words as he wrote them. Their bodies touched slightly as she leaned forward to see the letters on the page. Zac looked down at her as she read his feelings. "Perfectly right," he vocalized.

Vanessa stepped back just to put an inch between them. "Do you want to leave?" Zac asked slowly.

"No," Vanessa answered without a thought. "Yes?" She second-guessed her first reaction. "I'm not sure what I want right now," she began with a sigh. She watched Zac turn to the table and pull out a chair. He held it out and pointed at it, instructing Vanessa to have a seat.

Once she obliged he moved around the table, offering her some space, and then sat down as well. He leaned his forearms on the table and turned his palms upward. With another shrug of his shoulders he willed her to talk to him.

"I don't even know where to start," she spoke softly and looked at his hands. "I've wondered a lot about how you were doing. I don't like reading updates in the rag mags. I thought, with all the movie work, that we were running along the same path. I mean, I figured we were both working and without me around trying to occupy your free time…" she nitched one shoulder upwards and added an unhappy smile to her facial expression.

Zac tried hard not to roll his eyes but did put a finger in the air to keep her from taking that thought further.

"And then, when I heard from a couple of people about your partying I got mad. When I first heard about the drugs…" Her voice trailed off but Zac could see the storm rising in her eyes.

He saw the brown eyes darken and her lips pressing together. He rolled his hand in front of him; the simple production cue telling her to keep going.

"What were you thinking?" Vanessa's voice deepend slightly. "I can't sit here and lecture you…but Zac? Heroin? Coke? And alcohol? What the hell?" Her eyebrows creased as she watched him breathe in and out slowly, knowing he had probably heard this reaction over and over again already.

Zac blinked. "It was something to do," he forced through his lips.

Vanessa couldn't tell if his jaw was tensed or if that was just a result of his injury. She figured her words would cut into him a bit but this was the opportunity she had to voice her concerns.

"As were the women, I suppose?" Vanessa questioned, earning a tilted head and less- than-comforting blue eyes burning in her direction.

She closed her eyes after that statement and sucked in a breath. She let it out slowly, calming herself and hopefully giving Zac a chance to also settle his nerves.

"I just don't understand, Zac," she put a hand to her cheek and let her mind wander back to the various feelings she had gone through over the past year or so. "Why would you turn to them and the drugs? You are at the top of every project list. Every director wants you. Every script writer hopes you'll pick up their story to produce. So, why?"

Zac shook his head. He had no good reason except that it all took his mind off of Vanessa.

"I screwed up," he pushed through his lips. "You found Austin…I hurt." He couldn't think of other words to tell her besides that.

"Do you blame me?" Vanessa set her own jaw, daring him to say 'yes'.

Zac shook his head, the answer, obviously 'no'. He scrunched his shoulders. "Maybe at first…when I was drinking more," he began to slur his words thanks to the slight movement and pain in his jaw. "But not now," he finished.

The two sat quietly for a few minutes, Vanessa thinking and Zac resting. He swallowed roughly and then caught her attention, "You were my world, Nessa. I messed up and my world caved in. I'm working things out…now…with help. Please know I'm trying." He formed the words carefully.

Vanessa leaned back in her chair and looked at him and the earnest look on his face. She could tell he had been through hell and survived. Was that partly her fault? Maybe. But they were choices that couldn't be changed, now. The circumstances that led to their breakup and both of them moving on were in the past and couldn't be altered.

"Are you in counseling?" Vanessa shifted the focus of their conversation slightly.

Zac nodded, "AA," he mentioned the alcoholics meetings that had already brought him farther than he expected.

Vanessa raised her head up and down in understanding. "And for the drug abuse?"

Zac moved his head gingerly from side to side and pointed at his refrigerator. She had noticed the red magnet on the side with bold black and yellow print. "Hotline," Zac said before pulling his phone out and scrolling through his contact list. "Sponsor's on speed dial," he added.

Vanessa nodded again, slowly, before the timer on the stove began beeping. Both of them jumped slightly at the sound. Vanessa left her seat quickly to tend to the soup that needed stirring and to stop the blaring clock.

Zac stayed in his chair, watching her, wondering about the words she had said when she thought he was asleep. He ran his index finger over the ink on his hand. He couldn't honestly answer her question. Why had he gotten those particular letters in that particular place on his body? He didn't honestly know. He sucked in a deep breath and stared at the table. That had been one of those nights…that he unfortunately couldn't remember.

After stirring the soup and opening the cabinet to grab some bowls, Vanessa turned back toward the man at the table. She leaned against the lower cabinetry and placed her hands on the countertop at each side of her hips.

"Mo-mo tells me you can't make this reunion thing that she's putting together," Vanessa stopped, unsure of what else she wanted to say.

Zac nodded slightly, still lost in his previous thoughts but still listening for whatever Vanessa might say.

Vanessa raised her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Why not?"

Zac glanced from the table top directly into her face without moving his head. She looked like the teenager he had met nearly a decade before with her dark hair hanging over her shoulders, brown eyes questioning his thoughts and intentions with just an innocent blink of her long eyelashes.

He debated how to answer. Promo tour had been his official response to Monique, although she had given him a much-deserved "Pshhh" in return. It wasn't a lie. If he asked his managing team to send him on a promo tour, he could be in New York on any number of late night talk shows, for any number of reasons within twelve to twenty-four hours.

No, it wasn't a lie. But, it was an excuse.

The last few months of his relationship with Vanessa had been filled with excuses. He lost his breath with that thought and had to look away from her face, back at his hands that were still clasped together on top of the table.

"I'll send a message," he spoke slowly, trying to enunciate. "I'll do a video; whatever Mo wants. I just can't go, Van."

Vanessa pressed her lips together. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't make you talk." She was pleased he hadn't tried to give her the same message. All of them knew his answer hadn't been completely true. But, she had expected him to give her the same story. With the words he spoke, she knew there was a much deeper meaning to his absence.

"It's fine," Zac responded to her. "It doesn't hurt that much," he lied.

Vanessa shook her head. "Liar," she called his bluff. "Ash said you won't take your pain killers that they prescribed. Is that true?"

Zac nodded. "Can't take the chance," his answer was short and precise.

"So you really are working to be drug free and alcohol free?" Vanessa asked with a slight lift of her chin.

Zac agreed with her.

"What made you get help?" She wondered honestly.

"Dylan…" he spoke the name softly and again found Vanessa's eyes.

Zac noted how the brown softened at the mention of his brother.

"Were you scared he'd find out?" She knit her eyebrows together then pushed as gently as she could.

Zac shook his head, "He picked me up off the floor one too many times."

Vanessa watched as Zac pressed his lips together and tears formed in his eyes. "That's when I realized I wasn't just hurting me," he stated.

The thought of Zac's younger brother playing the role of a responsible adult wasn't as amusing as Vanessa and Zac had once joked. In this case it hit her in a nearly opposite thought. She wondered how her own younger sister would react if the tables were turned. And for a suspended moment in time Vanessa felt herself in Zac's shoes; understanding how Dylan or Stella's pain might just make them face reality.

She realized after another moment that the tip of her thumbnail was in her mouth and Zac was again coming toward her. And this time she didn't turn away or take a step to avoid his embrace. This time she let him put his arms around her and pull her to his chest as both of them finally allowed tears to flow.

Zac noticed that she leaned against him but didn't put her arms around him. He knew exactly why but still wasn't willing to let go of their hug quickly. And, she wasn't pulling away. In that moment he would accept the tears and the somewhat one-sided embrace as a good sign; and a reason to continue his rehabilitation.

He breathed in, in order to tell her something else. In the process he caught a whiff of her shampoo and perfume and had to remind himself of the reason she was at his home. "Not a promo tour," he began.

With his words, Vanessa placed her hands against his biceps and gently pushed to loosen his hold on her. "What?" She asked him hesitantly to repeat himself.

"You know it's not a promo tour. That's not why I can't be there, right?" His words slurred more with his discomfort.

Vanessa nodded and licked her lips with the tip of her tongue. "Not that it matters," she started, "and I'm not here to try and change your mind. Please know that's not why I'm here. But, Austin and I have decided that he won't be there with me." She lifted her head only slightly to see the reaction in his face.

Zac wasn't smiling, his features hardened slightly but not to a point of anger. "Why not?" He finally asked.

Vanessa pulled back a bit more, slipping out of his grasp yet working hard to keep herself at ease. "Well, just knowing a complete stranger will be in the mix…there's no need to make them uncomfortable…" she tilted her head with an attempt to explain.

"Them?" Zac's eyebrows creased slightly, calling her out on the excuse she was making.

"It's an HSM group, Zac. We all know what the fans expect," she countered.

"Another reason for me to skip it," he tried to answer without the malice in his voice. "You would be tense with me there. I'd be tense. That's not what Mo wants for this event. She deserves better. Plus it'll be one of those girly, squeal and laugh and cry kind of parties." He shivered slightly at his last thought before feeling the slight sting of a hand against his chest.

"Ouch," he grimaced but smiled at the face Vanessa was making.

"It will not be a girly squeal-fest," she admonished him. "Corbin and Lucas will be there, among other men."

Zac rolled his eyes at her counter-attack. "Right…they'll just make it worse."

Vanessa had to laugh at that thought before rolling her own eyes and agreeing. "You're probably right. Corbin…Ashley…Lucas… all in the same room…"

"And Mo thinks she's gonna get a web show out of that? I'll watch it for the bloopers, maybe…" Zac let out a laugh and then cringed as his jaw's movement struck a painful nerve.

Vanessa noticed right away and grabbed his hands to give him a bit of moral and physical support.

"C'mon, sit. Zac, you need to take something for the pain. Ibuprofen? Tylenol? What do you have?"

Zac shook his head but knew she was right.

"Tylenol, with codeine," he whispered through his teeth. "Corbin got it filled for me. I've only taken one dose a day."

Vanessa nodded and held his hand until he was back at the table and sitting in a chair. "You don't have to explain to me. It's alright. Believe me, I know you need it. I'll get it. Where is it?"

She held up a finger instructing Zac not to speak. Instead she reached for the pen and paper again and put it in front of him. "Master Bath" was written on the notepad. Vanessa nodded, "Okay," she answered before instinctively heading toward that room of his house.

Rehab5

Vanessa noted the change in his bedroom when she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The walls that had once been adorned with pictures of them as a couple were now relatively plain. He had repainted. Navy blue walls were topped with a lighter bluish-gray border and white trim around the window and baseboards.

The pictures on his wall were his family. Vanessa looked at the single 8x10 print that was framed prominently. The Efron foursome smiled widely, enjoying the moment of being together. She had to smile to herself as she wondered when the picture had been taken. Vanessa gently touched Dylan's face in the picture. "You're a good brother," she spoke softly knowing she wouldn't likely have a chance in the near future to admit that to Zac's younger sibling.

She turned her focus to the king-sized bed stationed against the adjacent wall. She couldn't help but feel a bit nosy when she spotted a small, wallet-sized frame sitting on the bedside table beside another 3x5 picture. Vanessa tilted her head slightly, not completely recognizing the girls in the pictures from a distance. When her curiosity took over she stepped closer to the unmade bed in order to get a clear view.

Just as she convinced herself that perhaps the smallest picture was a new love interest, she realized it was her own face in the photo. She wasn't quite sure how to react to that. It was a picture she had given to him soon after they met, which meant it was a teenage Vanessa in the small, ornate frame.

She was struck, first of all, that he still had that picture which had lived in his wallet for over a year when they began dating. Secondly she was taken aback that he still had a picture of her beside his bed. She sat down on the mussed-up comforter and stared at it.

In the next moment she looked at the other picture. It showed Zac with a young Asian woman, standing side by side, both holding up what looked like gambling chips. She studied it a little more closely than she had her own image.

They appeared to be in a classroom. They weren't holding hands, hugging, or kissing. The two just stood shoulder to shoulder, holding up the round, coin-like discs.

"That's Kaiya," the familiar voice came from behind her.

Vanessa jerked slightly at the sound. She glanced behind her to see Zac leaning against the foot of his bed, watching her. She looked quickly back at both of the pictures she was holding.

"You're supposed to be downstairs," she spoke without looking at him.

"You're supposed to be getting my Tylenol," he countered gently.

Vanessa turned and looked at him. "Kaiya…that's a pretty name."

Zac nodded. "She's an inspiration," he spoke and then turned to go into his bathroom to retrieve his medicine bottle himself.

"Oh," Vanessa whispered and watched as he first walked away from her and then returned and sat down next to her.

Zac gently took the larger photo from her hands and looked at it. "Her story, the reason she turned to drugs…" he shook his head, "it made me realize that I have no reason at all. Every excuse I could make can't hold a candle to what she's been through."

"She's a recovering addict?" Vanessa questioned and Zac nodded as strongly as he could.

"If she can do it, I can do it," Zac spoke and ran his finger lightly over their faces.

"Why this one?" Vanessa turned the other frame toward him and caught his blushing cheeks before he looked away from her.

"Because," Zac stated then looked back at her and smiled with closed lips before taking a breath. "Just, because," he left it at that.

Vanessa nodded. She wanted him to say more and yet she didn't. Her torn heart would keep the wound that opened when the two of them separated. But at least a portion of it might heal after this little visit – just, because.

She took the picture from his hands and placed both of them back on the table. With a deep breath she chanced looking into his eyes and changed the subject to a safer topic. "You need to eat before you take that, don't you? Are you hungry?" She pointed at the bottle in his hands.

Zac nodded in agreement to both questions and then ran a hand over his broken jaw. He took Vanessa's hand and urged her to stand from the bed before he also got up and began walking toward the door.

"The codeine makes me sleepy," he said as they headed down the hallway.

"That's good," Vanessa answered. "Eat, take your medicine and then hopefully you can rest for a while."

"Thank you," Zac offered with a touch of her shoulder.

Both stopped at the end of the hallway. Vanessa turned to look up at him and smiled. "I needed to see you," she admitted again.

"I'm glad you did," Zac lifted his hand and ran the tip of his finger around the outside of her forehead and down her cheek, moving her hair out of her face.

Vanessa tilted her face toward his touch and smiled easily with her lips. "After we eat, you go rest. I'll clean up and then probably head back home so I don't disturb you."

She could see the disappointment in his eyes at the thought of her leaving and could tell he was slightly upset about that idea.

"Okay," he gave in to her plan and finally moved his hand away from her body.

Rehab5

Their meal was quiet; Zac slightly slurped his meal through a straw. They shared a few more easy laughs and somewhat one-sided conversation thanks to his injury. And when they finished eating Zac took his bowl to the sink and turned back toward the table where Vanessa was drinking the last of her soda.

"Hug?" Zac asked as she stood and started to gather her dishes.

Vanessa smiled, knowing he was probably beginning to feel the effects of his pain killer.

"Of course," she put her glass down on the table and took a slow step toward him.

Zac reveled in the feel of her arms around him, her cheek against his chest and just having her in his arms for even another moment.

"You only love once," he whispered against her hair.

This time Vanessa knew exactly what he said. She felt the slight twist in her stomach as she wondered again where her heart stood on that statement. Still she gave his body a little extra squeeze before loosening her embrace and stepping away from him.

"I still won't see you at the reunion, will I?" She wondered.

Zac shook his head. "I can't, Nessa. I love you," he started and his eyes widened with the realization of what he was saying, "…you and Mo and Ash…all of you…but I can't."

Vanessa nodded her understanding and then pointed to the living room instructing him to go and rest.

"Zac?" she caught his attention one more time before putting her mind back on the task of cleaning up.

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"We…I love you, too."

The two former lovers let their eyes hold the gaze for just a beat longer than necessary, conveying the feelings that could never possibly leave their hearts completely.

REHAB – The End – REHAB