-Zach's Pov-

"Zach?" A voice called out, and I absentmindedly hummed while having my gaze fixated on the wooden floorboards of Jack's bedroom floor. "I had no idea you could have more interesting conversations with the floor and not with your friends who can actually respond back to you," Jack said sarcastically, and I let out a low chuckle.

"Sorry, I was thinking," I responded with an apologetic expression on my face.

"You've been doing that a lot lately." Jonah pointed out and I furrowed my eyebrows at his vague statement. "You've been inside that head of yours. Out of curiosity, have you been thinking about her?" He asked, which resulted  the other boys to groan while I sat there with a guilty expression plastered on my face.

"I'm trying not to," I whispered before momentarily closing my eyes, "but it's merely impossible to forget her even for the slightest moment because in the end I feel guilty." 

I gazed at each of the boys' expressions, and they all had bewildered looks plastered on their faces except Jonah, who nodded as if he understood what I meant. "I understand what you mean, but you're just hurting yours-" He started to say but the sound of a phone buzzing interrupted him.

The five of us stared at each other in confusion. "Who's phone is that?" Jack asked, and we shrugged. I grabbed my phone, and I felt my breath hitch at the name displayed on my lock screen.

"Zach? Are you okay?" Jonah asked softly, and I gulped as I had my gaze fixated on the small screen device in front of me. Twelve letters I hoped to see someday, but I never imagined that it would be today.

"Uh huh," I choked out, still in shock at the text displayed. I hastily unlocked my phone and responded with 'Sure. Where?'.

"Are you sure, bro? You look as pale as a ghost," Corbyn said with concern laced in his tone. I bit my bottom lip, contemplating whether to tell the boys that Talia had texted or blurt out a lie.

I shook my head and locked my phone, "Talia texted," I murmured whilst running a hand through my hair, disheveling it.

"What does she want?" Jack asked, irritation laced in his tone. I opened my mouth to respond to his question, but he continued speaking. "I mean, she broke up with you three months ago over something that wasn't even your fault. Why is she even bothering to text you?"

I quizzically stared at Jack with my eyebrows furrowed, "What's wrong with you? Why are you annoyed that she attempted to text me?" I question him, puzzled by his behaviour towards a simple text from Talia.

He narrowed his eyes in my direction, making his brown orbs pop, "Are you kidding me?! We literally watched you fall apart to the point where you hardly got out of bed or even showed up to the studio to work on our album," he retorted.

I narrowed my eyes, "And I'm grateful you stood by me even when I was at my lowest, but I'm not going to straightaway jump into anything with her." I answered with a careless shrug of my shoulders. "We didn't get closure after we broke up, she just left."

"Are you really trying to get hurt again and make us pick up the pieces?" Jack answered, and I scoffed momentarily before glaring at the faux blonde.

"I never asked you to do anything, and it's not like I'm never going to get my heart broken a couple more times before finally finding the one," I retorted, and I watched as he snapped his mouth shut. A sigh slipped past my lips as my phone buzzed yet again. I glanced down and smiled softly at her response, 'Monique's Cafe in 30?'.  I sent a quick 'okay' before looking back at the boys and asking, "Does anyone else have anything else to say about how I'm handling this, or can I leave?"

The room remained silent as Corbyn, Daniel, and Jonah stared at me with apologetic looks. "You can go," Daniel whispered with a nod of his head.

I simply nodded and looked at Jack, "Talk to me when you realise what I decide to choose is none of your business, all you need to do is show me your support, even if you think I'm doing the wrong thing," I tell him before hauling myself off one of the bean bags in Jack's room.

The moment I stepped out of Jack's house with no interruption from any of his sisters or his mum, I made my way towards my white Camaro. A shaky breath slipped past my lips as I pulled out of his driveway with one thought swirling through my mind.

I'm seeing Talia for the first time in three months, and we're going to talk.

~

I sat in my car at Monique's Cafe parking lot whilst nervously tapping against the steering wheel. "There's nothing to be nervous about, Zach. It's just Talia, the girl you're still madly in love with," I murmured to myself, trying my best to slow down the rapidly beating of my heart.

I jumped out and slammed my door shut before making my way towards the entrance of Monique's Cafe. I inhaled sharply as I stepped foot into the cafe, and my nose instantly took in the bitter smell of coffee and freshly baked goods in the air as a couple seats were already occupied by people.

My eyes roamed around the room before they landed on a familiar yet foreign girl, whose hair was not as long as I last saw it but at shoulder length, and whose once-sparkling brown orbs that sparkled whenever our eyes connected had become a duller shade. "Hi," Talia softly said as I approached her booth table which was at the far back of the small cafe.

"Hey" I replied in the same tone before glancing in front of me with furrowed eyebrows before glancing at Talia who nervously chewed her lips.

"I thought you'd be hungry?" She said as if it was more of a question than anything else and I couldn't help but smile at her small gesture.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked softly before picking up the silverware. After spooning a small piece of the cake in front of me, I averted my gaze back to Talia, only to see her chewing on her bottom lip once again.

"I wanted to apologise for the way I reacted when we were in the Philippines three months ago," she started, and I gently placed the fork back on the plate and leaned back on my chair to listen to what she had to say. "I should've believed you when you told me that the fan had thrown herself on you and kissed you." She continued, and I nodded my head.

"You should've. I mean, did I do anything wrong for you to think I would kiss someone who isn't my girlfriend?" I asked, genuinely curious as to why she jumped to such unnecessary conclusions.

She instantly shook her head, saying, "You didn't do anything wrong, Zach. Trust me." She quickly spat out, and I pursed my lips into a thin line before pressing my arms onto the table. I intently watched as she tried to find the right words to say, "I was in my head, and I thought I wasn't enough for you. I thought if I left you, you would worry about me less"

I stared at Talia in disbelief, asking, "Where did all of this come from? Why didn't you just speak to me about how you were feeling?" I softly asked as I watched her eyes gloss.

"I thought you'd brush my feelings aside like Luke always did." She whispered, tilting her head down so her gaze was on her hands that lay on her lap.

"Talia." I sternly said while leaning forward, tilting her head upwards with my forefinger and middle finger, and my heart broke at the sight of her chocolate brown eyes filled with tears: "I'm not him. I will never be like him. " I said, and she slowly nodded her head.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran. I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you said you didn't kiss her. My body went into autopilot mode." She murmured, and I smiled softly and wiped away a couple of fallen tears.

"Don't be. That asshole is the one to blame, Talia." I whispered, and she bit her lip.

"I also wanted to tell you something else," she said, and I let go of her face and nodded for her to continue. "I quit modeling," she blurted out, and I started to choke on the small cake piece that I put inside my mouth.

I felt her hand pat my back before she handed me a glass of water. I gulped a bit of it before staring wide eyed at her. "You what!" I whisper-yelled.

She twisted the ring that was on her middle finger in her right hand and said, "I found out that Amelia, my manager, was overworking me as Shay didn't have a schedule like mine whatsoever. Hell, Cara, Hailey, or Kendall didn't have such an outrageous schedule at the beginning of their careers either. So I straight up told Amelia that I quit and that I should've listened to you when you said that my schedule was insane."

I couldn't help but smile at her as my body flared up with pride. "I'm proud of you. You know that?" I quietly tell her, reaching for her hand over the table, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you." She whispered with a broad smile dancing on her lips. "So, anything new with you and the boys?" She asked and I grinned.

"We're working on a new album for the next couple of months," I tell her, "but you didn't hear that from me" I quickly tell her and she throws her head back in laughter.

"Noted. Your fans don't know yet." She tells with an eyebrow quirked as she lifted the small tea cup of most likely hot chocolate to her lips.

I shook my head, "They don't. Not yet," I tell her, and she smiles.

I watched as she gazed down at the table. I watched as her smile curled into a frown, "Again. I'm sorry, Zach," she said, and I shook my head.

"It's in the past," I tell her before letting out a shaky breath. "Have you found someone new?" I asked, and I watched as she shook her head.

"No..." She trailed off, "I don't think anyone can be you, Zach"

I sent her a small smile before entwining our hands once again, giving them a gentle squeeze. "I stand by what I told you before you left me that day, Talia," I whispered, and I watched as her face fell at the reminder of that god awful day that left the both of us in tears and broken hearts. "You're the only girl I see myself being with for the rest of my life."

"Even after what I did?" She quietly asked, and I let out a shaky breath before glancing straight into her brown eyes so she knew I was being sincere.

"I can't forget what you did but I can try and forgive you because living without you is like living a life with no purpose," I seriously said, and her eyes widened.

"Why? I'm just plain little old me" She said,  a pout on her lips but this led me to recall that day she left, and I still remember the look on her face after she spoke to that girl who called herself a fan of ours.

I shook my head and brushed her question away, "What did that girl at that cafe tell you before we left?" I seriously ask her, hardening my stare.

I watched as she had a confused look on her face before her breath hitched and the feeling of her hand in mine disappeared. I intently watched as she clenched her eyes momentarily, "It's been three months since that incident happened, Zach. How the hell do you remember that?"

-Talia's Pov-

I clenched my eyes shut after letting go of Zach's hand. "It's been three months since that incident happened, Zach. How the hell do you remember that?" I asked, bewildered at his immaculate memory.

He carelessly shrugged, "You asking why I brushed off your mistake, made me wonder why you think so poorly of yourself." He started, and I chewed on my bottom lip. "I knew it couldn't be because of Luke because, when we were dating, I remember the amount of hate you'd receive because you weren't known for just my girlfriend, Talia. You were also known as a model and as the sister of a member of the British pop band The Vamps." He pointed it out, and I sighed.

I knew I couldn't hide this from Zach any longer. "Fine. Since you won't let this shit be buried in the past, and I also believe you deserve to know what was said to me at that cafe," I tell him, and he sends me a small smile. "That girl had first asked if I was your girlfriend, and I was confused why she was even asking that but answered anyway" I start with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders.

Zach furrowed his eyebrows, "Go on," he said, and I nodded my head.

"She went on telling me that I should stay away from you" I tell him and I watch his face darken at what I had said. I let out a shaky breath before momentarily closing my eyes, "She said that you could do so much better than some clout chasing bitch and was wondering how I even became a model in the first place because I wasn't—" I continued but tried to remember her exact words from that day so I squinted my eyes for a second, "—because I wasn't skinny enough and that my fat was noticeable through the skirt I had been wearing that day." I softly continued but had my gaze on the table instead of his eyes as I knew they were blazing in anger.

"What the fuck? Why didn't you tel—" He started before I shook my head.

"There's more Z," I whispered before looking up to only see his eyes, the darkest I've ever seen it and his jaw clenched. "When I said she was jealous. She said she has nothing to be jealous of because I was just some unattractive, fat bitch." I choked out as I was scared to tell him the last thing she said because I knew this one would throw him off the rails. I kept staring into his eyes and gulping, "She also said the world would be better off if I were gone." I sobbed out.

I watched Zach slide out of his seat and slide into the seat beside me. I felt the familiar feeling of his arms wrapping me into a warm embrace. "Why didn't you tell me any of this before you left?" he whispered into my hair as I continued to cry into his chest.

I grasped onto his shirt and looked up into his eyes, only to see a blurry image of the guy I'm still crazy about. "I was worried about your reaction to it all," I whispered, shivering at the feeling of his thumb rubbing away a couple of the tears that slipped out with the pad of his thumb.

I watched as his lips curled into a slight frown, "I would've done something, Talia, because I bet after fans found out we broke up the hate must have doubled, didn't it?" He said, and I just looked down without responding. A sigh slipped past his lips as he pulled my head upwards once again with the pads of his index and middle fingers. "Next time something like this happens, please come to me." He pleads.

I gave him a puzzled expression, "What do you mean by 'next time something like this happens, come to you', Zach?" I asked.

He looked down at me with an amused expression on his face, "Not too long ago, I confessed that living a life without you is as if I'm living with no purpose." He slowly spoke, and I nodded. "And if you think I'm letting you go after this, you must sadly be mistaken because I'm never letting you go." He murmured, and my eyes glossed; tears threatened to slip out but none do.

"I'll always love you, Zach," I whisper while gazing into his dark brown eyes, which were now shining instead of being dull.

He chuckled momentarily before pressing our foreheads against each other and saying, "And I love you, Talia. Forever and always."