ZACH!!!!!!! MY BUDDY MY PAL MY AMIGO
so i’d always kinda head cannoned that zach was the first friend that ian ever made when he first arrived at va beach when he was 16???? idk but i feel like something happened (idk what) and like instant bff’ry????? and like, I feel like they’ve been super close ever since and I just alkdjflajsdflaksdjfldjf
altho okay so the only ~rough~ patch in their relationship, probably came right after zach’s wedding b/c it was that night that ian told natalie that he still loved her and she didn’t say anything to him, which ian took for “i don’t love you” and so he kinda skipped town w/o saying much (which totally isn’t ian’s style at all) and kinda lost touch w/ everyone for about two years (including zach) and like he wasn’t there for zach during the divorce and heard about it second hand and tbh he feels awful about that and he’s just now coming back to va beach after all of that, but it’s mostly just to sell his house and cut his ties w/ this life, altho I think he plans to stay in touch w/ people, but part of him knows that it won’t last and yeah i crey.
so idk how zach would feel about ian just kinda splitting like he did and honestly ian def feels like zach is entitled to be really mad w/ him and if he is, he gets it, but I still feel like he’s gonna try to reach out to him now that he’s back