Hannah and Zach were in a relationship the summer before she killed herself. When Zach got on the stand in episode 6 of 13 Reasons Why season 2, he finally revealed what really went down between them. This now adds more weight to Zach’s tape. Hannah didn’t disclose anything about their romance on Zach’s tape. She alluded to something more, but we didn’t know it was this serious until now.
Hannah comforted Zach after everything went down with his dad. They told each other things they didn’t tell anyone else. Hannah wanted her first time to be special, and she wanted Zach to share that experience with her. Their relationship wasn’t just meaningless sex, though. “We really cared for each other,” Zach says on the stand during Hannah’s trial in season 2. “It was amazing.” Everything was great between them, and then summer was over. That’s when Zach started to let other people’s opinions of Hannah’s reflect his own. He wanted to keep their relationship a secret from everyone. They never told each other how they really felt about one another. Their relationship eventually faded into nothing, and Zach regrets how everything turned out. “I’ll be ashamed for the rest of my life,” Zach admits.
Throughout season 2, Zach struggles with the guilt over not telling Hannah how he felt. Clay is understandably shocked when he finds out that Hannah and Zach were in a relationship. The entire season, which ends with a shocking finale, opens Clay’s eyes to a new side of Hannah.