This short fic was written for the fic challenge on the Fan Fiction board on Fan Forum. 500 words of angst. (anyone can join, just submit entries by August 5)
It is a RPF Zac Efron/Nikki Blonsky & Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens fic, I guess :) Rating: PG
Of course I don't own anyone! If I did, they would be better behaved ;)
I was inspired for this story by this song, Diana Ross's "Touch Me in the Morning":
Once you get to the end, you might want to read it again ;)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Say Good-Bye to YesterdayThe curve of her hip beneath the white sheet. The red satin strap slipped from her shoulder. The long, dark curls falling around her beautiful, peaceful face. He stood there, beside her bed, their bed, really, watching her breathe deeply, slowly, surely. Each breath drawn in was another memory recalled, each breath exhaled was another second delayed.
The sun shone through the slats of the wooden blinds, drawing stripes across the cherry floor where his luggage waited. Black suitcases neatly packed from his apartment. As his gaze returned to her, the sheen of the sun on her cheekbone, he recalled her words of the night before.
“I understand, Zac. I think… I think I knew before you did. I just couldn’t say it out loud.” She reached up to him, brushing a lock of hair from his eyes. “They’ll give you a good haircut, you know,” she managed to tease.
“Don’t,” and he grabbed her hand, wincing at the lightness of her tone.
“I have to, baby. If I don’t, I’ll break, and I’ve done that enough already. Not tonight. ” She looked up into his eyes with resolve. “We’ve had our time. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. Not even the nights I spent in your arms, wondering when you’d stop thinking of her and remember who
I was.”
“I do love you, you know. I’ll always-“
“I know. You’ll always love me, but it’s more of a
yesterday love, than
tomorrow, isn’t it?” She looked away from him when the steps of a small dog scratched across the floor. “Hey, love!” she called, as she reached to scoop him up into her arms. She nuzzled her cheek against his soft fur, and placed him back down to the floor. “Not now, boy. We need to say good-bye.” Her voice cracked in it’s whisper.
As she stepped back towards him, he took in every inch and every movement of this young woman that had been there with him as his life changed. As both their lives changed. The strap of her nightie slipped from her shoulder, as it always did. He reached across to guide it back into place, and her arms wrapped around him.
“I don’t know what I’ll do without you. But, I know that neither of us can keep going on like this. You need to know, Zac. I hate it, and it killed me inside when I realized it, but it isn’t going away.” He nodded, slowly. “Just, give us tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll be gone, and I’ll find some way to start again. He closed the blinds and kissed her, before leading her to the bed to say good-bye.
He grazed his fingers along her arm, touching her one last time that morning, before walking away, shutting the door on yesterday. Shadow barked a sad good-bye from the window, joined by Vanessa, as Zac climbed into the back of the waiting car, heading off to the girl he hadn’t forgotten, heading off to tomorrow.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I thought I would put this at the end, as it would be spoilerish for the story. This fic was inspired by the song given above, but also from the recent news of a Hairspray sequel, likely to begin filming in a year. I thought about the possibilities of a reunion between Zac and Nikki, and what that could mean for Zac and Vanessa, and this is what I came up with. I wanted to leave it kind of ambivalent, as to who the girl was. I’m sure most of my regular readers thought it was Nikki (and her dog, Rocky), so hopefully this was a surprise :D
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