Secrets

New Beginnings

I came back to the United States on January 3 of 2014. My "Summer I Turned Pretty" cast mate Steven McQueen texted me saying that he was throwing me a little "back home" get together with a few of our mutual friends and his Vampire Diaries cast. We had this great little bonfire with just a few people and it was just what I needed at the time.
After all that had happened in the past few years, I finally had a chance to breathe. I had a chance to find myself and to be okay on my own. In that one moment, I didn't care about what the media thought of me. I didn't care about what I assumed about other people. I found slight peace with the fact that my best friend was gone forever. I found peace with the fact that I knew he was watching over me and Meadow. I didn't see these people as famous or celebrities. They were just regular people that were helping me. They were trying to make me feel normal. They were supporting me and I hadn't felt like that in awhile.
That night was the night I met the person that I had been waiting for. The person that helped me get through all the crap in my life. The person that changed me for the better. The person that helped me find myself even with him by my side.
I was sitting there by the fire smiling at the people in front of me when he sat down next to me. He introduced himself and I did the same and then we kind of just started talking casually. I never felt so comfortable with someone when I first spoke to them. I wasn't Melanie Jonas, the famous sister, I was just Mel to him. He made me forget all my problems. He asked me out and we went on a date a few days later. I was worried about the paparazzi and the media and all of the rumors that would start before we could have a chance. For the first time in my life none of that happened. There were no (visible) paparazzi. We were just two ordinary people on a date and he made me feel the way any girl should feel on a first date.
We started to get to know each other a lot more and we did start off pretty quick. He told me he had a daughter and if anyone told me that a few months ago, I never would have taken that responsibility on so fast. For some reason he made me grow up with that one statement. I became an actual adult instead of a child doing adult things. I felt like I was actually twenty one. Although that is super young to raise a child, I knew I would be able to do it. I really liked him and I wanted our relationship to go further. He told me that he wanted to wait awhile before he introduced us and I told him I completely understood. Zach and I became an official couple on January 7, 2014 and my life couldn't be better.