Chapter 5: I Will Never Leave You


Alanis sat quietly beside Zac. The concert, Alanis's birthday party and the day had passed so quickly. Alanis had glitter and confetti in her hair and so did Zac. The laughter and music still echoed around the empty house like a wind singing softly to a tree in the fall.

The night was warm but in a way it was cold. The tour was over. It had ended in Cleveland that night. Now Zac had to go again. He had to leave Alanis behind again.
'We are finally together, finally, and now we have to part once more, this bites' Zac thought with a frown. The loneliness brought on by Alanis not being there in the past halted all the tears he could've cried at that moment. But Alanis's eyes were wet, brimming with the tears she didn't cry when Zac had left the last time.
The pain burned up inside harshly and Alanis couldn't stand it. She jumped from where she was sitting, ran inside then ran to her room.

Zac could hear Laurie asking Alanis what was wrong. His heart dropped to his stomach. He could hear Alanis sobbing in her room now. There was too much pain and sadness for Zac to be there. He sighed and pulled himself up from the sidewalk. With his head to the ground and feeling he had failed at bringing his only love back to his heart, he slowly began to walk toward the hotel where his family was staying.

Did he love Alanis? Her arrival made him think he did. Some switch had turned on a light inside his heart when he saw her through the crowd of Hanson fans at the backstage area after that night's concert. Everything seemed so clear to him now. He did love Alanis. They were meant to be together if for so many nights he had wished upon a star for his angel to come back to him. She was his, he was hers, and forever they should be together. Zac lifted his head and with determination in his eyes he began to run back to Alanis's house.
"Alanis! Honey! There's something I have to tell you!" Laurie cried from outside Alanis's door. A teary eyed Alanis opened the door a crack.
"What?" she said numbly. Laurie's blue eyes twinkled with a trace of tears.
"Baby, I know you love Zac a lot and so I talked to his mother and we considered it and then agreed on it…" Laurie looked down at her feet. "We agreed that you should go with him, his mother said he had never had so much fun since the last time you were with him. She wants to take you in, so you can live with Zac. I agreed that it was the best for both of you guys because I didn't want to see my daughter crumble into depression again. You are going back to Oklahoma." Laurie bit her lip hoping deeply inside that Alanis might say
"But Mom, I love it here. And I love you and Hollie and Brian. I could never leave my family for some fling I had when I was younger"
But she didn't. Instead she threw her arms around her mother's neck and then began to throw her belongings in a suitcase.

Zac was almost to Alanis's house now. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest as he ran. He needed to get there soon. He felt he did.
He ran around the corner and collided with someone.
"Hold it young man, you don't have to hurry. She's fine," said a young woman.
"What?" Zac said gulping for breath.
"Alanis is fine, but you still need to get there. She has news for you."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Aundria. You'll see me again so remember me," she said.
Zac got up and brushed himself off. When he looked up again, Aundria was gone. 'Strange…' he thought and went back to running to Alanis's house.