True Love

Zack pulled into the driveway.

Oxygen escaping his lungs as he put the car in park.

This was the first time since his parent's house he had even dared to set foot on Mia's property. It had been two weeks (and three days, to be exact) since he had talked to Mia. She hadn't taken any of his calls or texts.

Not that he could really blame her though- he had realized how wrong he had gone about things.

He should have talked to Mia about his past plans- or at least told Matt the truth (and maybe mentioned that it was never to be mentioned in Mia's presence.) He should have been honest. But instead, he let her walk into the flames without any warning.

Had he been in her place- he would have hated him too.

But right now he had to push this all to the back of his mind and remember why he was actually here- he had made a promise to Emma.

Today she had cheerleading clinics and tryouts and as much as he was dreading sitting in a gym for six hours with the "popular kids", he was excited to be able to spend some time with Emma.

Zack stared at the door for a moment before raising his fist, knocking twice.

He heard shuffling from behind the door before it pulled open, revealing Emma- his jaw went slack.

She was in incredibly short shorts, a tiny tank top in which left nothing to the imagination (and was presumably two sizes too small), a white bow tied at the base of her pony-tail, which was resting on top of her head. Her eyelids were covered in glittery eye-shadow and her shoes were obviously fresh out of the box. Her Nike gym bag hanging from her shoulder (he prayed she had a change of clothes in there). "Ready?" she asked one hand firmly on her hip, the other grasping at the doorknob.

"Uh-" Zack stammered.

If being a parent did nothing else for him, it ruined his once favorite clothing- the days of loving the short-shorts and midriff-baring tops had gone by the wayside. All he could manage to think now was, that was someone's daughter- "Shouldn't you change? Maybe put some clothes on?"

"Dad!" Emma snapped, obviously irritated as she glowered at him.

"Fine," he grumbled before rubbing at his temples, "yeah-" he finally groaned, looking behind her and into the house.

"Mom and Kenz aren't home-" Emma interrupted, slamming the door shut before using her key to lock it.

"Where are they?" he asked as they fell into the BMW, the leather a cool contrast to the sweltering heat that plagued the tiny town.

"Mom's on a 72-hour bender, and Kenz is with Grandpa."

Zack put the car in reverse, "your mom has been on for 72 hours straight?" Emma just nodded, never once taking her eyes off the iPhone as her slender fingers bounced across the glass screen, letting out a low snort.

"Yeah, her fourth in the last two weeks. She's been home to sleep- that's it. She's even eating at the hospital, dinner every night with Dr. Graham at that Thai place down the street. Every time we do see her she smells like a giant chunk of fried tofu."

Zack let out a low groan, his head falling back onto the rest while his knuckles went white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. That was the last thing Zack wanted (or needed, for that matter) to hear- that Mia was hanging out with the hunky vascular surgeon.

"Has she said anything about me?" he finally asked as he came to a stop, waiting for the light to flash green.

And without an ounce of hesitation: "Nope."

He let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair as he chewed on his bottom lip. "besides the thing..." she grumbled, a smile crawling over her face as she replied to the text.

"Thing?" Zack snapped his head so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "What thing?"

Emma paid no attention. Instead, she continued to text.

So Zack did what any dad would do. He rolled his eyes before reaching over, snapping the phone from her tiny, delicate hands. She let out a squeal- grasping desperately, growling at him as he lifted his butt from the seat, stashing the phone in the tight front pocket of his jeans.

"Dad!" she hissed.

He kept his eyes on the road, "What thing?" Emma crossed her arms over her chest as she sunk down into the black leather.

"The whole proposal thing."

Emma let out another squeal as Zack pulled the BMW over, pulling the key out of the ignition.

Int he short-time that the girls had known the details of their situation, they had sure taken to treating him like any other teenager would their own parents.

"You can't do this! I'm going to be late!." Zack closed her eyes before looking over at her.

"Tell me what she said, and we can go..." Emma glowered at Zack.

"Don't you think you should ask her?"

"Emma!" he growled, earning yet another eye roll from the angst-filled teenager.

"Apparently," she glowered back at him, "you embarrassed her and you broke her heart." Zack's browns fell.

"What? She broke my heart!" he defended.

"Well, apparently it was easier for her to walk away pretending that you didn't care. Knowing you were going to ask her to marry you upset her, because all she's managed to think about were-" Emma held her hands up, moving her fingers like air quotes, "the way things could have been," she sauntered, "and apparently she hates all the drama Chance has caused. She hate's herself for every falling for grandma's tricks and yadda-yadda-yadda...can we go now?"

Zack rubbed roughly over his face before nodding, putting the key in the ignition, softly mumbling, "Yeah, we can go."



"AND FIVE! SIX! FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!" The tiny, perky blonde's voice boomed through the massive gym, her hands clapping methodically- arms stiff, her posture perfect.

There were seventy-three girls that would be trying out today, they had been made to learn two dance routines. They would be broken into groups of nine and perform both routines. The first would be to the tune of Miley Cyrus' Made in the USA, while the final routine would be to a shitty remix of Ke$ha's Blow.

He wasn't much of a fan- usually, he didn't give a shit about Ke$ha, but right now he knew he couldn't take hearing her many more times.

Just when he thought he couldn't take any more- he saw a familiar face.

She was still that God awful platinum blonde, her skin was tanned three shades past normal and her nails were still ungodly long. Her jaw went slack the moment she laid eyes on Zack.

He was thankful in this moment that the gym was on the first floor- otherwise, he would have probably taken a swan dive out the nearest window.

"Oh, my God!" she squealed, making Zack's eyes stammer shut- his head throbbing at the very sound of the nasal voice, which he hadn't missed one bit. "Zack Baker!" she called over the chant that filled the gym.

"Lyndie," Zack groaned through pursed lips. He stood up, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his Hudson jeans.

Lyndie Paulhus was Gena's older cousin- she and Gena were incredibly close. Zack had always hated her, though she wasn't exactly Zack's biggest fan either.

"How are you since-" she paused, glowering, "well you know. Since you broke my baby cousins heart and threw her out onto the street like some kind of animal?"

Zack rolled his eyes, Lyndie, much like Gena, had always had a flair for the dramatic. But Zack knew she wasn't worth getting upset over. She wasn't worth the anger or the time.

"Thanks to your sorry ass she had to take up a cam job with Playboy just to maintain her lifestyle!"

Zack wanted to be surprised- really, he did. But he always had that nagging feeling that told him that Gena would fall into the "adult industry", so to speak.

Zack rubbed roughly at his temples, "How is that my fault?" Zack finally grumbled.

"Uh!" Lyndie huffed, crossing her arms over her barely-there chest. "You left her for that whore! When let's face it- you don't even know those brats are yours!"

Zack balled his fists, his cheeks flushing red while his entire body went hot.

"Lyndie-" he said, his voice low and threatening, "I'm going to say this once. So I want you to listen. If I ever, ever see any of the Paulhus family around me, my children, or their mother, I will kill you." Lyndie didn't even flinch.

"Don't worry, Zachary-" she seethed, "No one wants to be around those disease-ridden little mistakes, or their mother!"

But before Zack could even think to react, a shiny black and orange pom-pom clocked Lyndie right in the back of her head, making her let out a loud squeal as she cupped her head.

Standing behind her was a very smug looking Emma.

"The next time you talk about my mother like that, you'll be pulling that pom-pom out of your ass!"

"That's my girl!" Zack screamed, one fist lifted high in triumph.

Lyndie went beet red, before finally screaming. "GET OUT OF MY GYM! YOU CAN KISS YOUR SPOT ON THIS SQUAD GOODBYE!"

Emma rolled her eyes, "Oh gee, how will I ever survive without the single most mediocre squad in the state of California?"

"If you two don't leave!" Lyndie threatened, still holding her head, "I'll call security!"

"Come on Em," Zack spoke, doing his best not to smile (and failing miserably in the process).

Emma grabbed her bag, throwing it over her shoulder as they walked out of the gym.

Emma fell into the car, grasping at her chest. "I can't believe I just did that! I think I'm going to pass out! Or stop breathing!"

Zack turned the ignition over, letting the BMW roar to life. He turned, reaching into the center console pulling out an inhaler. Emma's brows furrowed.

"I know it's your sisters, but I figure it'll keep you breathing," he spoke lowly, backing out of the spot.

"You..." Emma fumbled, grabbing the inhaler. "you have one of Kenzie's inhalers? Why?" Zack shrugged, stopping at the red light.

"Just in case, it scared the shit out of me and I figured I'd be prepared if it happened again..."

The rest of the ride was silent, Zack kept his eyes on the road while Emma held tight at the inhaler, looking at it contently.

"You know..." Emma started as Zack turned onto the familiar street. "you should talk to her..."

"Em, I just...I don't know if she wants to listen right now," he grumbled, pulling into the driveway.

"Make her." Emma spoke confidently, almost as if she knew it would work.

"Em, how am I suppose to-" but he was cut off as he pulled into the driveway. Mia's Range Rover was parked haphazardly. Zack's gaze fell to Emma.

"I text her and I told her I had an emergency at tryouts-" she spoke so fast, he almost couldn't comprehend it.

"Em-"

"Dad," Emma spoke, her eyes coating over with fresh tears. "sometimes, you have to make your own opportunities, and it's so stupid that you're both so miserable- being together could fix that!" Zack let out a deep breath before looking at Emma.

"Did you two cook this up?"

Emma offered a sly smile, "Of course- and it went better than expected, even for all of Kenzie's planning, I would never have dreamed I'd get to hit that bitch with my pom-pom." Zack smiled before leaning over, pressing a kiss to his daughter's cheek.

"You two are pretty great," he grumbled, reaching for the door handle. Emma smiled wide.

"I'll relay the message to Kenz, now go get her!"

Zack's heart beat faster with every step he took towards the front door. By the time he climbed the last tin step, he swore it would beat out of his chest.

He took one deep breath, lifting his fist- letting it hit the door three times.
It wasn't long before the door swung open, startling Zack.

"What did you d-" Mia fell silent, her eyes going impossibly big at the sight of Zack.

"Hey, you um-" he rubbed at the back of his neck, silently praying she wouldn't slam the door in his face, "do you have a minute?"