𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐭 || 𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐧 [𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝]

24- Better Than Ever

Hayden, 18 years, 8 months, & 30 days old

"Did you tell him yet?" Jack whispered as he rushed into the room. Zach and I were sat next to each other on the couch in silence.

"What?" Zach was shocked and confused.

Hesitant, I shifted my eyes to Jack. "Yeah, I told him I love him."

Jack tilted his head to one side. "But I thought—"

"Wait," Zach interrupted, "how does Jack know about this?"

"Jack and I are friends and I needed someone to talk to, besides you," I said.

"Oh," Zach whispered. He looked sort of sad.

"Well, Jon wanted me to tell you guys that Limelight is going to start soon," Jack said. I nodded and the curly headed boy left the room.

"I don't want to leave," Zach frowned. "I wish I could stay back here with you."

A small smile crept onto my face. "I wish you could do that too but so many people are looking forward to meeting you tonight. Don't let them down because of me."

Zach and I sat there quietly next to each other for a few minutes. He wanted to stay with me for as long as he could.

"Come with me," Zach spoke suddenly. "Come do Limelight with us."

"What?" I asked shocked. "I don't think I'm allowed to."

"I'm sure Jon will be fine with it. Plus, I don't want to leave you back here alone and I think it could be fun for all of us. Some of your fans really want to meet you too."

"Fine," I smiled, thinking of meeting some of my fans.

Zach smirked at me as we left the room.

The five boys and I stood in the empty meet and greet room, waiting for fans to come in and meet us. Minutes later, security opened the doors to excited fans who flooded into the area. At first, crowds gathered around each of the boys while I watched from afar. Then, Zach spotted me alone in the corner of the room and called me to come over.

"This is Piper. She loves your music and really wanted to meet you," Zach said, throwing his arm around the fifteen year old girl.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," I said and gave her a huge hug.

The smile on her face was so large her eyes were starting to fill with tears. "Your voice is amazing and I love you so much," the girl said. She was frozen in awe and had little words but they meant so much to me. She was absolutely adorable. We took a picture together and hugged again before she left to say hello to Daniel.

"You looked nervous over there," Zach whispered discretely.

"I've never done this before. It's overwhelming," I responded.

"You're doing great for your first meet and greet," he gleamed.

We stood there next to each other while everyone else was scattered around the room. Then after thinking of reaching for Zach's hand but then realizing we were in public and only us and Jack knew that we were together, a finger tapped on both Zach and I's shoulders. At the same time, we whipped around to see someone we would have never expected.

"Olivia?"

Olivia stood before us, her long brown hair now short and wavy and her height now maximized. Her brown eyes beamed at us like the smile that she shown.

"Hey, guys," she squealed. The three of us all came in for a confused but friendly hug.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with a bright smile.

"I wanted to see you guys. I missed seeing you in Dallas," she explained.

"So you came to see us in Florida?" I interrupted.

"My family came here on vacation. When I saw you guys were playing here, I decided to get tickets and surprise you."

"I haven't seen you in so long," Zach breathed and stole another hug from Olivia.

"We should hang out after the show!" Olivia suggested.

"Absolutely!" I yelped.

"I should let you get back to your fans. I'll see you after the show!" Olivia waved Zach and I goodbyes before she ran off with a little joy you could see in each step.

First Zach comes back into my life now Livy. After so long, I think the gang is finally back together, better than ever.

:::

a/n: this chapter was rough but I was gone for a week and needed to update so
(also there was a cameo from t&e in here 😉)