*~*Chloe's POV*~*

Zacky was being the perfect gentleman, carrying the cooler and my bag out to the car after he strapped Jayden in his car seat, which made me a little suspicious as I had heard different things about him while on tour that didn't add up to his actions today.

Working for music magazines in NYC, I had heard many rumors about the guys of Avenged Sevenfold and their party boy ways including the way Jimmy, Johnny, Zacky, and the roadies Matt and Jason Berry played 'catch-and-release' with the girls that wanted to get backstage. I'm sure the girls that they played expected to come along with them to the next gig but were sorely mistaken. I had also heard that Zacky was one of the worst ones when it came to kicking a girl out after sex, usually making sure she had to take the 'walk of shame' when everyone was around.

I wasn't sure if those were just rumors but the Zacky here and now, was the man I originally fell in love with our freshman year of high school when he moved to Huntington from Olympia, Washington. He had been quiet and nervous when he entered my first period math class and sat in the only available seat, next to me. His beautiful green eyes instantly caught my attention when I first said hello and introduced myself to him. I helped him find his next class after math and invited him to join my friends and I at lunch.

He was too nervous to join us at lunch, and I ended up finding him sitting under a tree by himself before I sat next to him, sharing my lunch with him. He confessed to me that he didn't have many friends in Washington, constantly being teased and picked on by his classmates, and he was nervous for history to repeat itself in Huntington. I tried to reassure him that I wouldn't let anyone pick on him and that my friends wouldn't let that happen either. After lunch break, Val had come to find me for our next class and I introduced her to him, finding out that we all had the next class together. Val shared the next class with him, finding out that he played guitar and she tried convincing him to come along to her boyfriend's house and check out their band practice but he said he would think about it.

The last class of the day, English, Zacky walked in and his face instantly lit up when he saw me sitting in the back, again the only open seat next to me. He asked me about Val's boyfriend's band and I told him that I was going and he should come along to meet the rest of our friends. He did and the guys were inseparable ever since.

As for us, we became best friends with the passing months, both of us trying to hide our feelings that had grown towards one another until he asked me to go to the fair with him. I had thought he meant as friends since everyone else had a girlfriend or a boyfriend to go with, us being the only ones single at the time. We had all gone to the fair together as a group, until it came time to go on the Ferris wheel, Matt and Val shoving Zacky and I in one basket. At the top of the ride, Zacky confessed his real feelings for me, asking me to be his girlfriend and kissed me. When we got out of the basket, hands intertwined with one another, everyone in our group cheered, Jimmy hugging the both of us and screaming "Finally!". We stayed together up until after I left for college. Even then I didn't really want it to end, but I felt I had to let him go.

"You drive?" I asked Zacky as he loaded the cooler into the back.

"Sure." He replied as I dropped the keys in his hand.

"Don't drive like a maniac please." I said as I got in and buckled my seatbelt.

"No way. Not with precious cargo." He answered as he started backing out of the driveway and towards the beach.

As he drove, I couldn't help but glance at him every once and awhile, thinking about what I was doing.

What am I doing? Am I really going to try and date Zacky again? He deserves a chance but what I've heard hasn't always been best, certainly not for me and especially not for Jayden...

"You alright?" Zacky asked knocking me from my thought process.

"Oh yeah... sorry. Thinking about work." I lied as I looked back at Jayden who was happily playing with his action figure.

"Well, as far as I know we won't be very busy until we hear about Warped so if you like, I can help you out with little man back there..." He offered nodding to Jayden.

"That would be nice. Only if you want to though. I don't want you to feel obligated to do this." I answered looking down at my lap.

"I'm not. I'd like to do it." He smiled as he reached over and grabbed my hand in his.

I pulled my hand away as my phone started to ring in my beach bag, down by my feet. I grabbed the phone and saw an incoming text from Jake.

I want to talk to Zacky. Soon. ~ Jake

About what? ~Chlo

What do you think!? I need to talk to him. Please don't make me go to his parent's house. ~ Jake

Alright. I'll tell him. I'll get back to you. ~ Chlo

Thanks sis. Love you and J. ~ Jake

I sighed heavily as I set the phone face down on my lap.

"Everything okay?" Zacky asked peering over at me at a red light.

"Yeah, Jake wants to talk to you." I told him.

"Okay..." he replied as I sighed again, "What Chloe? You knew he would want to and so did I... this shouldn't come to a surprise for you..."

"It isn't... it's just the whole big brother blah blah blah crap..."

"He just cares for you and for Jay... I'd do the same thing if I was him." He said as he parked at the beach before turning around to Jayden in the back, "Alright Jay, we're here!"

"Yay!" Jayden cheered as he tried to unstrap himself from the car seat.

I got out of the car helping Jayden get out as well, and carrying my beach bag out to one of our favorite beaches in Huntington as Zacky followed with the cooler. We set up the towels and I sat and put sunscreen on Jayden's little body as Zacky found himself some beers that I had packed for him.

"You know me and your mommy used to come here all the time with all your uncles and aunties?" Zacky told Jayden as he sat next to me.

"Really?! And now we get to come here too! I like the beach." Jayden said as he found his beach toys and wandered out in front of the towels and started to play in the sand.

Zacky took his shirt off and I hadn't realized that Zacky had gotten more muscular since high school. He had gotten some tattoos as well since then, and they were in vibrant colors on his skin. I bit my lower lip as I pretended not to stare at him when he turned to hand me his shirt to put in the beach bag. He smiled big and I knew I was caught.

"Hey look who it is!?" I heard a familiar voice from down the beach say.

"Uncle Matt!" Jayden jumped up from the sand and ran into Matt's arms.

The whole crew was with him, even Brian's dad, his step-mom Suzy, and little sister McKenna. McKenna had to have been about 6 or 7 now and I was shocked how much she had grown and how much she resembled her big brother Brian. They all trailed behind Matt, hauling coolers and other beach items, dropping them a few feet from Zacky and I.

"Oh my goodness! Is that Ms. Chloe?" Brian, Sr. or Papa Gates as we called him said surprised.

I stood up and threw my arms out as I made my way towards him for a hug, "It is Papa! The one and only!"

"Oh my gosh! Chloe look at you!! You have grown into such a gorgeous young lady." Suzy said as she brushed her hand against my cheek as I hugged Papa Gates.

"Thank you." I said before I felt little arms wrap around my leg as I broke away from my hug with Papa and moved to hug Suzy.

"And who is this little one?" Papa Gates said looking down at Jayden.

Jayden peered out from behind my legs, looking at Papa Gates, Suzy, and McKenna skeptically before looking up at me. I brushed his hair out of his face gently trying to reassure him it was alright.

"It's alright sweetie. Come say hi. This is Papa Gates, Mama Suzy, and McKenna. They're Uncle Brian's family." I told him.

"What's your name?" McKenna said smiling at Jayden.

"Jayden Zachary." Jayden answered and Suzy took in a sharp breath of air.

"Mom. Don't. We'll talk about it later." Brian said quickly.

"Jayden, why don't you and McKenna go play in the sand?" Papa Gates said staring down into Jayden's bright green eyes.

McKenna held her hand out to Jayden, "Come on Jayden, hold my hand."

Jayden took her hand and they grabbed the sand toys in front of the towels and ran off closer to the water. Jayden wasn't used to the beach, only being able to take him twice since we had moved back and I inhaled sharply as they got closer to the water.

"He can't swim." I said quietly before Zacky put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright, I'll watch them." He answered before following the two children closer to the water.

As everyone was setting up their towels and getting comfortable, Suzy and Brian Sr. asked me about Jayden and what I was doing back in Huntington. They were both in shock about the whole thing as was everyone else, who I hadn't realized had all started to listen in to the story.

"So, when are you going to tell Jayden?" Suzy asked.

"When I'm sure that this is what Zee wants..." I said taking out a beer from the cooler and taking a big swig. "I don't want to make him be a father if he isn't into it whole-heartedly. My son deserves only the best."

"You're wise beyond your years Chloe." Brian Sr. commented, "You always were though."

"Thank you Papa... I try to do what's best for Jayden." I answered.

"I think Zack wants this Chloe..." Suzy said nodding towards the water.

I turned around to see Zacky had a hold on Jayden's little hands and was spinning him in circles carefully as Jayden laughed. McKenna jumped up and down excitedly as she waited for her turn with her Uncle Zacky. He set Jayden down and grabbed McKenna spinning her before Jayden started to cry. He stopped spinning McKenna and bent down to Jayden's level as I started to walk over to them, Jimmy stopping me from going all the way over, motioning for me to wait and see how Zacky handled it.

"But... but... I wanna... I wanna play spin Zacky..." Jayden said between his crying.

"Jayden, you have to share and take turns. McKenna wants to play too. You can have another turn after McKenna." Zacky told him.

"But... I wanna another turn now..." Jayden replied still crying, this time with his father's pout.
"Oh god he has Zack's pout! That's fuckin hilarious!" Jimmy said doubling over in laughter as I nudged him to shut up as we watched.

"You have to wait your turn, just like McKenna did. Don't cry Jayden, I'll spin you again after McKenna." Zacky said, receiving a nod from Jayden.

Jayden hugged Zacky around his neck, "I don't want to share you Zacky."

"Well that's not very nice to McKenna now is it Jayden?" Zacky asked as Jayden let go of his neck.

"No." Jayden replied.

"You don't want to be mean to McKenna do you?"

"No. McKenna's my friend."

"Ok well, friends take turns. Ok?"

"Ok. I guess." Jayden said putting his head down.

"Ok, so it's McKenna's turn and then it will be your turn again alright?" Zacky said ruffling Jayden's hair, making Jayden smile again.

"Ok." He said as Zacky picked McKenna up again, spinning her as she giggled.

Crisis averted I turned back towards where everyone was sitting and watching Zacky play with the kids. Val and Michelle grabbed me and interlocked their arms with mine as they pulled me to walk down the beach with them. After we were a good distance away from everyone Val turned to me.

"So, this whole thing with you coming back and calling me the other day, was it because of Jayden?" she asked.

"No. I really did miss you guys and you're the only people I really know in Huntington and I just missed you. I didn't call you because of Jayden." I said looking out at the water, "I did want to tell Zack, I mean he has every right to know but that's not why I called you."

"You knew you'd see Zacky though if you got in touch with us..." Michelle said.

"I did but that wasn't my reasoning. I missed my friends and I brought Jayden home to Huntington because I wanted to be here. This is where I grew up, where we all grew up together. I want Jayden to have the same fun we did in the same places we did with his own group of friends. That and I'm hoping that my parents will come around, now that we're here and take a part in their grandson's life. New York was too far and I didn't want him to grow up surrounded by concrete and subways. I wanted to take him to the beach and be able to let him ride a bike down the sidewalk. I missed Cali and since I was given the opportunity to start my own magazine anywhere I wanted, I chose home." I explained.

"What about you and Zack? You know even after 4 years he still loves you right?" Val asked.

"I know. I still love him too. I'm just scared... it's not like before. We can't just pick up where we left off." I said feeling the sand between my toes as we kept walking.

"Why not?" Michelle asked.

"Because it's not just about me and Zacky anymore. It's me and Jayden and Zacky."

"Even more of a reason if you both still love and care for each other than you should be together for your son." Michelle stated.

"What if it doesn't work out though Mich? All Jayden wants is for his daddy to come home. What if it doesn't work out between Zacky and I? What am I going to tell Jayden, 'Oh daddy is home but he and mommy don't love each other anymore so now daddy is going to go away again?' I can't do that to Jayden. It would break his heart. That's why I can't tell him Zack is his father until I'm sure Zacky wants to be here."

"I'm pretty damn sure that Zacky wants to be there for his son. He wanted a family with you so bad Chloe." Val said.

"I know he did. I did too. The thing is that it's all easy right now. As time goes on, it's hard. I have to be sure Zacky is going to be there for Jayden when it's hard too. He did really good with him last night though." I said thinking about how he handled Jayden being sick.

"What happened last night?" Val asked.

"Jayden was sick and Zacky helped me clean him up and start to get settled before Jake called and needed me to go get him and take him home. Zacky stayed with Jayden and the two of them fell asleep together in a pillow fort they built together. It was really sweet actually." I said as we turned back towards the way we came.

"See what I mean. If he can handle him sick on day one, that's gotta mean something..." Val said.

"It does. Trust me it does. It's just, I can't explain it. When you have a kid, there is no off day. You are their parent and they depend on you every day, all day. It gets tiring and exhausting and I just want to make sure Zacky understands that. It's only day one. I say in maybe a few weeks we'll tell him." I replied.

"And Zack? What about you two?" Michelle asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Life for me and Jayden would be really different having Zacky on tour all the time. I've heard a lot about what the guys are up to on tour and I'm not sure I can trust him." I said.

"Zacky does have a track record on tour and no it's not great, but if he was with you Chloe, it would be different. He loves you and part of why I think Zacky did what he did while on tour is because he's still hurt about losing you. It really messed him up when you two broke up." Val told me.

"That was such a horrible day. It hurt me so much to do it, but I knew I had to. He would have held on and never gone on to do what he needed to be successful. He's too talented to throw it away and I know he was ready to. He wanted to move to New York with me..." I told them.

"He told Matt that the day before you and him broke it off. He said he was going to pack up everything, quit the band, and fly to New York to be with you. Matt told him to just stay if he loved you and it would work out. He thought Matt was crazy and left angry and by the next day you two were done." Val said.

"You know I've never dated anyone after Zack." I blurted out feeling guilty about my invitation to coffee with Corey.

"Really?!" they both said shocked.

"Yeah. I mean right after Zack and I broke up I was pregnant and who the hell wants to date a pregnant chick? Then after Jayden was born, I had to catch up with school so I didn't have time between work, school, and taking care of my newborn baby to date."

"Wow. Girl you need a date..." Michelle said.

"Well that's the thing, one of Jake's friends, kind of asked me out for coffee..." I started.

"Ok? So what did you tell him?" Val asked.

"I told him ok and he's supposed to text me today about it... I just feel kinda bad though."

"What?! Why?!" Michelle asked.

"Well I told Zacky I would think about us getting back together..."

"And?? You can go out and have coffee with this guy. It's just coffee. He could be really nice. Zacky does deserve a chance but while you aren't sure, maybe it's a good idea to check out what else there is out there..." Val said.

"That isn't wrong of me? It feels kinda wrong..." I said looking down at my feet in the sand again.

"No. You aren't sure about Zacky and you right?" Michelle asked and I nodded, "Well then this should help you decide."

"I guess so... you're right it's just coffee... I'm not marrying the guy." I said wrapping my arms around their shoulders, "Thanks girls. This is why you two are my best friends..."

Notes

Here's the second chapter for today... expect a third one later today. Love you mean it!! XoXo