A/N: I know it's been FOREVER! Life has really taken me on an interesting ride... I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I do apologize for my lack of updating.

ENJOY!

Maddie Fitspatrick ended her date with Jared early; she gave the excuse that she was not feeling so well. The next thing she did probably wasn't so smart…

Zack drove up to his house and saw something or someone on the porch steps. As he ventured forward he began to recognize the limp figure. It was Maddie! He quickly parked, hopped out of his truck and rushed up to the passed out young woman.

"Jeez Maddie," he muttered as he took the small bottled of whisky from her grasp and placed it on one of the porch tables nearby. He then gently lifted her from the steps quite effortlessly and made his way inside with her cradled in his arms.

"I should've never came back," she murmured in her drunken despair.

Sighing, Zack made his way up the steps to her room and laid her on her bed. He took off her ballet flats and spread the blanket over her tucking her in. He knelt by her bedside and stared at her for a moment, gently stroking a strand of her golden hair.

"I'm glad you came back, Maddie," he then leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead, shortly after he walked out.

Maddie opened her eyes and wondered if she would remember what had just happened. With a grin on her lovely features, she fell in to a deep sleep.

Morning came too soon and Maddie awoke with a huge headache. She sat up and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. Oh my god, my head… She stood up and dragged herself in to the kitchen for a glass of water… Actually three glasses of water. She was quite dehydrated. She then noticed a note on the fridge which said, "Morning sweet thang! Went to the store for some groceries, be back around noon-ish. Love, Zack."

Maddie couldn't help but smile at the note, but then it diminished once she thought, he's just a friend, nothing more… He's too young for you. She sighed, crumpled up the note and threw it in the garbage.

Suddenly the phone rang which really wasn't good for her hang-over. She quickly answered in and found that it was Cody on the other line.

"Hey Maddie, just wanted to check up on you two."

"Cody," she tried to sound her happy self. "Everything's fine here."

"What did Zack do?" Cody asked upsettedly. "Maddie, I could hear it in your voice, what's wrong?"

Damn… I could never lie to Cody. "Its fine, we just kind of kissed, but it's no big deal," she said quickly.

It was silent on the other line for a moment before Cody responded, "No big deal?" he added, "That was one of Zack's dreams and he doesn't have many."

Maddie laughed.

Cody then inquired, "So what now?"

"What do you mean? I told you it meant nothing to him," she replied.

"Did it mean something to you?"

That was something she couldn't answer at that moment. "Cody, I love Zack and you, and that's how it's going to stay." She then changed the subject, "So how are things at your end?"

"It's actually quite an interesting conference, I've been taking notes, but mom's been sleeping through most of the lectures," Cody replied.

Maddie chuckled softly and said, "I guess that's why she brought you."

"I should get back, we'll be back in 3 days, but we'll talk to you before then," Cody said quickly and in saying their 'good-byes' they hung up.

Meanwhile as Zack walked out of the grocery store, he spotted something very upsetting across the street at the coffee shop. It was Valerie and Jared; they were sitting very close to each other at a table for two. With narrow eyes, Zack continued to watch as Valerie kissed Jared.

Furiously Zack walked across the street to interrupt their little moment. "Well, what do we have here?" He crossed his arms, struggling to control his temper.

Valerie stood quickly, her long light brown hair bouncing with her motion. "Zack, I can explain!"

Jared just had a sly smile on his face.

"Really, I'd love to hear this explanation," Zack said in sarcasm.

"Jared was just interviewing me for a lifeguard position," Valerie said quickly.

Zack shook his head in disbelief and asked with a hint of cynicism in his voice, "Does the interview include a demonstration of CPR?"

Valerie just stared at him cluelessly.

"I think I've heard enough," Zack began to walk away.

His now ex-girlfriend followed and said, "Baby, it was just a kiss, it didn't mean anything."

"Right," he said slowly as he kept walking, crossing the street to his truck.

"Zack wait, you have to forgive me," Valerie demanded like a spoiled little girl.

He spun around and faced her. "No, I don't, Valerie. I've had about enough of your bullshit," he said anger in his eyes. "Now if you excuse me, my milk is going to spoil." He climbed in to his truck slammed the door shut and sped away, his tires screeching a bit as he made a right turn.

Maddie decided to take a walk in the orchard like she used to before she went off to college. The thought of losing the orchard brought tears to her eyes. She knew that she hadn't even made half of the money Carey owed.

In that moment she spotted the tree she always used to climb and decided, for old time's sake, to climb up. That wasn't so easy for her; she didn't realize how out of shape she was. I really should cut down on those fries… When she mounted the branch she usually sat on, she couldn't help but smile at the view she had missed so dearly. She almost forgot how vast the orchard was and could see a stream in the distance. She almost forgot there was a stream there.

"Maddie, Maddie where are you?" she heard a familiar voice in the distance.

Remaining silent she didn't really feel like responding.

A few minutes passed before the voice sounded like it was right beneath her.

She looked down passed her converse sneakers and asked, "What is it, Zack?"

"I need to talk to you, could you come down here a moment?"

She could see that something was wrong and climbed down the tree as fast as she could. She hated that despite everything, she still cared about him.

"What happ…" Before she could finish her sentence he scooped her up in to his arms in an intimate hug.

"Valerie and I broke up," he said hesitantly as he let her go from his grasp.

Confused, she ran a hand through her blonde locks and asked, "What, why?"

Sighing, Zack took a step backward and said, "I saw her making out with Jared."

Maddie stifled and exclaimed, "What, that bastard!"

"My thoughts exactly," Zack stated crossing his arms across his firm chest.

"Well, it's not like we were official," Maddie said with a shrug. She was actually kind of relieved, but what about Zack? He really looked upset, I mean, him and Valerie were going out for two years. "I'm sorry, buddy…"

He shook his head denying her pity. "No, its okay, I knew this was bound to happen," he said turning away from her.

"I know, let's go to in to town for a burger," Maddie said cheerfully.

"I don't really feel like eating, Maddie," he replied.

"Oh come on, I'm sure once you smell the magnificent aroma of beef patties your appetite will come back," she said as she took him by his hand and led him away to the truck.

A/N: I know it was short, but I finally updated! Working on the next chapter as I post this one! Any suggestions on plot development are welcome! Thanks for reading!