Zac

I hate wearing tuxes, and on this unfortunate occasion, I had to. Taylor's wedding. It's unbelievable, my brother getting married. I mean, I know Isaac's married and stuff but it's different with Taylor. He's always been such a babe magnet, going from one chick to the next. Not now. Not ever again. Not now that he's got that...Rachel. So we don't exactly get along. I don't care. It's not like I'll have to see her much anyway, except when they come to see mom and dad. And then, I can just hide somewhere. Anywhere. Anywhere to stay away from her...I despise her. She's taken Taylor away and changed him into a completely different person, and I don't like the new Taylor. I miss my brother. It sounds immature for me to be saying this, cause I am eighteen years old, and I should just be happy for him. But I'm not.

That might sound somewhat selfish, I realize, but it's the truth, it's how I feel.

"Z, your shirt is buttoned a little...off." I looked up to see a tall brunette standing there.

"Huh?"

"Your shirt...it's off."

"Who are you?And how do you know my name? Or nickname...first letter...whatever."

She snickered. "Ally. My name's Ally. I'm Rachel's half-sister."

"Oh good Lord." I muttered, unbuttoning my shirt and looking down to watch my fingers as I buttoned back up. When I looked at her again I realized she was quite pretty, and that she...fortunately, cause I don't think I'd be able to stand another...didn't look a bit like Rachel.

Turning, I raised one eyebrow. "Better?"

She smiled slightly. "Much." She climbed up carefully onto the hood of a car and sat down. "What are you doin' out here?"

"I needed a breather. I can't stand to be around that bi...I mean, Rachel, for more than a few minutes at a time."

"Really?" She giggled. "Me either."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of anyone agreeing with me on the Rachel subject.

"And she's your sister! That's pretty bad."

"Half-sister." She corrected. "Unfortunately. Not by choice, trust me. We have the same father, luckily, so we've never had to live together. Just summers. And boy did I dread when she came to stay with us in the summer." She grinned.

"Where are you from? Rachel's never even mentioned you...nor has Taylor. Not that I actually talk to either of them much."

"I'm from right here in Tulsa. I'm on my own now, though." She smiled slyly. "I  really love L.A., so I've been considering moving there."

"Really? Me too. It was actually Tay's suggestion. I think he wants to get rid of me. But hey, that's cool that you've been thinking about it too. Maybe we can go and check it out together." I grinned.

She laughed. God, what an amazing laugh she's got. Real, it's a REAL laugh. Not one of those silly giggles Rachel tries to pull of as a laugh when Taylor cracks a corny joke. It was a real, hearted laugh.

"So where do your parents live?" I questioned. A pained look crossed her face.

"My mother died when I was born." She looked away. "My father lives in Washington."

I gulped. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry."

She looked up quickly. "Don't be."

After this we were both silent. Because of me and my stupid, idiotic, unthinking words. Not that I knew or anything, but I should just be careful before I mention stuff like that. Next time I will.

"Okay."

We both jumped when music blasted from inside the reception hall.

"I can feel the magic floating in the air/Being with you gets me that way/I watch the sunlight dance across your face/And I've never been this swept away/All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze/When i'm lying wrapped up in your arms/The whole world just fades away/the only thing I hear is the beating of your heart/Cause.../I can feel ya breathe/It's washing over me/and suddenly I'm melting into you/There's nothing left to prove..."

I turned away from her and looked inside at the people dancing, laughing. My brother and his new wife, dancing in the middle. And by the way they looked at eachother, you could practically SEE the love between them. It was...prodigious, almost, because of this fact, and even though it WAS Rachel, I couldn't help but smile when I saw the glow on Taylor's face.

"Ally..." My voice trailed off. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." She sighed. "You?"

"Eighteen."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Me either." She giggled. I smiled.

"Boyfriend?"

"Kinda."

"Oh." I sighed and leaned back against a nearby tree.

"Well..." She said softly. "We should probably get back inside." She turned towards the building and walked inside, the door shutting before I managed to get inside with her.
//
I hate being surrounded by tons of people. I know I should be used to it by now, but it makes me feel claustrophobic. That's one reason I didn't go in the reception room to dance. Another reason is...well, cause, to put it bluntly, I CAN'T dance. I don't know how and I really don't want to get in there and step on some girl's feet and have her scream at me and slap me across the face...nah, I'll pass on that.

"Zac?" I turned around to meet a familiar face.

"Hi, Ally."

"Why aren't you in there dancing?" She questioned.

"I...I..."My hands were sweating up a storm and I shivered despite the warm air. "I can't dance." I whispered.

"You can't dance?" She laughed. "Well, come on, I'll teach you." She grabbed my hands.

"Just move to the beat." She started moving her body in rythm to the music and instructed me along the way. "See, you can do it, Zac!" She grinned and fell forward as someone bumped into her. She fell against me and quickly pulled herself away.

"Sorry." She apologized as a slow song came on.

"Will you dance with me?" I grinned and pulled her closer, resting my hands against her waist.

"You know what?" She smiled. "I want to leave. Let's get out of here." She snuck a look inside to the dance floor and pulled me outside. We walked to a bench a few yards back in the woods and sat down.

"I can't wait until my wedding."

"Really? I hate weddings."

"You won't when it's your own."

I had to consider this thought for a minute. I probably wouldn't hate my own wedding...who did?

"You're probably right." I paused. "I probably won't fall in love anytime soon, though. At least, I hope not. And if I do, it won't be willingly...that's for sure."

"Well, that's the thing...you don't have a choice, whether or not it happens, it just does. Whether you want it to or not." She sighed and shivered. "Why don't you want to fall in love?"

"I'm afraid." I admitted. "That's one reason. And because when I fall in love, I want to be there for her completely, I want her to have all of me, and right now, I just...wouldn't be able to do that. Not with my career and all."

"You know what, though, Zac?" She looked up at me slowly.

"What?"

"To let someone have all of you isn't about being there all the time. It's about willing to share souls and willing to stand by eachother through everything...not physically, but emotionally and mentally. Understand?"

God, she's amazing. "Yes." I took in her words. "Yes, I do."

I never thought about love this way. "And besides...you don't wanna end up a benedict when you get married, do you?" She grinned playfully. We sat there laughing until people started to crowd out the doors.

She jumped up. "Come on...let's go join them. So we don't get in trouble. We can just say we were with them the whole time, if anyone asks."

We joined the crowd of people silently. Isaac shot me an ominous glance. I shrugged and grinned, nodding towards Ally.

I desperately resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I spotted Taylor and Rachel kissing once again as they walked to the limo that was taking them to the airport. They'd both changed into normal, everyday clothes and were definitely ready to get a room to themselves. Ugh. I don't even wanna think about what will happen after that.

"Dude!" Ally exclaimed suddenly as we both stopped at the curb.

"What?"

"My car is parked BFE!" She looked up at me and started laughing. "I don't know where that came from. I haven't used that expression since like, seventh grade."

I blushed. "What does it mean?"

"Beyond fucking Egypt." She paused. "You mean to tell me you guys never used that expression?"

"No. It must've been a public school thing." I grinned.  "Can you give me a ride home?" I asked as we started walking towards her car.

"Sure."

"Where are you living?"

"In my own, nice apartment." She grinned.

"Oh." I paused. "Well, you can drop me off at home..." My voice trailed off as we reached her car and climbed in it. "Do you want to do something with me tomorrow?"

She glanced over at me quickly and a smile came across her face as she looked back at the road.

"Sure. I'd love to." A devilish glint rolled in her eyes. "It'd be fantabulous." She scrunched up her nose and laughed.

"Well, is this it?" She asked, stopping in front of my house.

"Yeah." I turned towards her and made quick eye contact with her.

"Call me, okay?" She said and handed me a piece of paper with her number on it as I got out of the car.

What a cool chick.

I totally forgot about my parents until I walked in the door and they were standing there. I glanced at my watch. 1:24.

"Zac, where were you?"

"I just got a ride home from Ally."

"Ally?"

"Rachel's half-sister." I responded slowly, reaching into the fridge for a Coke.

"Oh." Dad paused. "Well, next time, you'd better tell us. We were worried."

"Well, you should know I'm okay, dad. I'm eighteen years old. I can take care of myself. Really." I assured him, rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs two at a time.
//
The phone ringing awoke me the next morning at 11:41.

"Hello?" I grumbled sleepily, nearly dropping the phone.

"Zac?"

"Yeah, Ben."

"What's up? How was the wedding? I saw the news story on it, the glimpse they got of
Rachel coming out of the church was like...DAMN! Woah, your brother did mighty good
findin' that girl."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, glancing in the mirror and reaching for my jeans.

"Nah, she's a bitch." I told him truthfully. "But her sister is...." My voice trailed off and he
cut in.

"You got the jones for your brother's sister-in-law? Dude, that's so not cool."

"Well, if you saw her, you'd have to say differently. You'd think she was hott and she's totally cool. Besides, it's Rachel's half-sister. There's a difference, you know."

"Yeah, whatever. As long as you're happy."

"Hey, we just met last night, okay? We're going out tonight and I think we're just friends.
She's the same age."

"SCORE." Ben chuckled.

"Sure, Ben. I gotta go. I'll call you later, okay?" I hung up the phone at that.

"Shower." I mumbled to myself and headed into the bathroom. How can I even LIKE my brother's sister-in-law? Jesus Christ, I truly am screwed.