Hold Onto Me

Later that night, I was getting ready for my "date" with Z. Lauren dropped Mel off at Sharon's on her way to work and Zack went to his hotel to get ready. We had to leave by 6, or else we weren't gonna make it. He wouldn't tell me where we were going and I hated that.

As I pulled the dress Jimmy bought for me to wear out of the bag, I sang along to one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs ever. It brought back memories from when I was younger, back when things were easy and I didn't have a care in the world. Mom and I would push all the furniture out of the way, listen to the Tango In The Night album on repeat, and sing into whatever random object we could find.

I sat on the bed, and let Stevie's voice take me back. I could see it all in my mind. Mom was in her favorite pajamas, and she was dancing around, singing along to Seven Wonders, and the faint aroma of cupcakes could be smelt all through out the house. Her blonde hair was piled in a messy bun, and it would bob with every move she made. She turned and grabbed my hands, forcing me to dance with her. She gave me that contagious smile she was known for, and I couldn't help but act like a fool with her. We fell to the floor in laughter, and my mom pulled me close to her, then gave me a kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you, Ri. Never forget that."

I was pulled from the wonderful memory when my phone vibrated in my hand, telling me I needed to get ready now or tonight would be a disaster. I changed the playlist and wiped the tears from my face, not wanting to cry anymore. I had the greatest time with my mom, and I was beyond lucky for that, and I knew she wouldn't want me to cry when I thought about her.

As I slid the heels on, there was a knock on the front door. I hurried to answer it while trying to put my earrings in. I fixed my bracelets and made sure I looked good, then opened the door expecting to see Zack. Much to my surprise, there was an older guy in a snazzy suit with a thousand watt smile.

"Miss Quinn?" He asked, and I nodded in reply. "I'm Marshall and I'll be your driver tonight. Mr. Baker said you'd be ready at 6, I'm sorry I'm a little early. I got here sooner than I thought I would. I just didn't want you to see the limousine and freak out or anything."

"Oh no, don't apologize! I'm almost ready, actually. I might be five or so more minutes. Please, come in. I'd hate to make you wait out in the heat."

"You don't have to do that, miss. I can handle five minutes." He smiled.

"No, no. I insist."

He looked at me for a second, then glanced at the limo, and back at me. He followed me inside, and stood awkwardly in the middle of my living room. I hurried to finish my make up so we could actually leave somewhat on time. Three minutes later, I grabbed my clutch and keys, and returned to the living room to see Marshall standing in the exact same spot, his hands folded in front of him.

"Ready, miss?"

The limo finally came to a stop, and my face was literally pressed against the window as I tried to figure out where in the world we were. It was dark outside, and I couldn't really make a thing out. Marshall opened the door, and extended his hand to help me out. I flashed him a smile and stepped out of the limo, only to gasp in awe.

There was a giant wooden pier in front of me, and still no Zacky. Only a golf cart. Marshall instructed me to get in beside him, and I looked at him for a second, trying to figure out if he was being serious. I let out an exasperated groan and sat beside him, and the golf cart roared to life. He effortlessly guided the cart down the pier, and I nervously looked out on the water. I instinctively scooted closer to him, and away from the water, earning a soft chuckle. He stopped towards the end of the pier, where Z stood with a giant grin on his face.

He held flowers in his arms and I couldn't help but blush as I made my way towards him, careful not to fall. The last thing I needed was to end up in the water. I waved bye to Marshall, who returned the wave, then sped off back up the pier. I finally got a chance to look at the boat behind Z, and my jaw dropped. His eyes twinkled with cockiness as he realized he managed to impress me with the yacht. Zack took my hand and led me aboard, but not before gently kissing my knuckles, making me blush even more.

"You look absolutely beautiful tonight, Marissa." He whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "My very own princess. Just don't run away this time, Cinderella."

"I won't. I promise." I mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "Don't you think this is a little much for a boat ride though?" I asked, motioning towards the outfit he had me wear.

"Absolutely not. Plus, this isn't just a boat ride. Come on, I want you to meet someone." He smiled, before leading me up to the top deck where a man in a captain's hat stood. "Marissa Quinn, this is one of my old high school buddies, Chris. Chris Mol, this is my girlf- uh, child's mother, Marissa."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Marissa. Weird question, but would your kid happen to go to La Petite daycare? You just look so familiar."

"Actually, she does! Melody Quinn, she's in Mrs. Regina's preschool program. Yeah, you look pretty familiar too. Have you been to Doctor Mulligan's office recently?"

"My son is in the same class. Damien Mol, short little shit with blonde hair and blue eyes. Likes to play with scissors." He laughed causing me to laugh with him. "But yeah, I was there with the wife and kids a few days ago."

"Oh, yeah. Damien. The kid who gave Mel a surprise hair cut a few months back." I laughed even harder, recalling the memory. "How could I forget the infamous Mol boys? Dustin, Darin, and Damien. Wow, it's a small world after all."

"Oh my, you're Melody's mother! It makes sense now. Watch out, Zack. You got yourself a little pistol there." He joked, before clearing his throat. "Anyway, we're all ready to set sail."

I scrunched my face up as Zack checked my life jacket for the millionth time since we pulled away from the pier ten minutes ago. More than annoyed, I swatted his hand away and adjusted the god awful flotation device. He stood up and grabbed my hand, and pulled me with him to the front of the boat. There was a blanket laid out, with a picnic basket sitting off to the sides. But the cutest part were the fake candles spread out all over the deck.

I looked over at him, and he was rubbing the back of his neck, waiting for my reaction. I didn't know what to say. It was probably one of the sweetest gestures anyone had ever done for me. He started chewing on his lip nervously, and I knew I should say something, but I was too awestruck to say anything. So I just did the first thing I could think of, and that was to lace our fingers together and give him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed softly and took our life jackets off, putting them off to the side but still in arms length, just in case. As we sat down on the blanket, I took my shoes off and tossed them to the side.

"So," I grinned brightly. "Did you come up with this yourself, sir?"

"I might have had a little help." He chuckled, before pulling out a bottle of wine. "Care for a glass?"

I nodded and he poured some into two long stem glasses before pulling me closer to him. I shot him an approving smile before looking out to the horizon. The sun was barely peeking over the water, and it was just so breath taking. Being cuddled up to Z, carelessly gliding through the bay, with the stars just coming out. It was, for lack of a better word, magical.

It was still a little shocking to me. He had never done anything this extreme before. And when he said date, I was thinking dinner and a walk in the park or something along the lines of that. Not to be on a yacht, having a picnic and sipping wine under the stars! Maybe he had changed in the past few years.

"Zack?" I asked, softly and he looked down at me. "Why did you chose this? I mean, I'm not complaining or anything, it's just... so not you, I guess. You've never done anything quite like this before."

"I wanted things to be different this time around. I was a pretty shitty boyfriend. You wanted flowers and hearts back then, and I did the bare minimum. I didn't give you the love and romance you needed, and I just... I wanted to give you everything I never did."

"Hey, no. You weren't a shitty boyfriend, and you gave me more than enough lo-"

"No. I didn't, Marissa. If I gave you enough love, then you wouldn't have left because you would've known that I love you more than anything in the world, and I would've done everything in order to raise our daughter together, to be there for her from the beginning. But you thought the only thing to do was leave, because you thought I would end up hating you and Mel."

"I... I was wrong, I don't know why I thought you wouldn't have been happy about having a child. This is all my fault, I should have told you about Mel when I found out. Before you guys showed up, I had no regrets because I thought it was what was best for her, but the more I'm around you... Leaving California was the biggest mistake of my life. She should have had you from the start, and the rest of the guys too. I don't know why I had it set in my mind that you wouldn't love her, and you'd end up leaving us. I just... I really fucked up Zack, no matter what you say."

He didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arms around me and held me while I cried. I knew I shouldn't cry about it anymore, seeing as he'd already moved past it, but I couldn't let it go. It would always be there in the back of my mind, and it would always make me a little sad. To know that I could be so selfish for so long, and not even care.

"Can I tell you something?" He asked, brushing my hair out of my face as I nodded, wondering what he was going to say. "Before you left, before I read the letter and found out, I had a feeling that you were pregnant. I mean, the way you thought you were nonchalantly asking about kids, you'd been more emotional than usual, and you kinda had the bump going on. I was waiting for you to finally tell me, but you never did."

"You knew?" I gasped, completely shocked. "Jimmy figured it out the day you proposed, and I told Lauren but I didn't think anyone else knew."

"I did, but I didn't. I had a hunch, but I guess I didn't want it to be true at the time. But after you left, I knew I wanted that baby more than anything. I wanted us to get married, and start our family." He whispered, playing with the ring on my finger. "But I think we need to let the past be and just focus on the future. Thinking about everything that happen only makes the both of us sad, and there is no reason to be sad anymore. We have each other, and we have a beautiful, intelligent, funny, and talented little girl."

"I completely agree. Here's to letting the past go, the future, and our sweet Mel." I giggled, raising my wine glass. "Cheers."