Carter flicked on her bedroom light and threw a pillow at her sister who had been asleep for almost an hour. "Mel, we have to talk."
Melissa mumbled and rolled over. "What?" She asked, squinting in the light. "What could be so important that you wake me up at... really late at night."
"It's 2:00 a.m. It's a weekend. Don't worry about it." Carter sat down on her sister's bed and stared at her. "I need you to tell me exactly what's up with you and Taylor."
Melissa looked deeply into her sister eyes. "I've been helping him with his homework a lot. Is that what you mean?"
"Oh my God, Meli. You are a giant flaming retard. You know that right?"
"Huh?"
"Can you honestly lay there and tell me that you don't see it?" She asked, almost glaring. "Or are you just playing hard to get again?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Taylor."
"Yes, I'm aware he's the subject of the discussion but WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"
Carter sighed and stood up. "I give up. You figure it out on your own this time." And she left the room.
Melissa sighed and rolled over to stare at her wall. She had been honest. She really didn't know what Carter was talking about. She'd been spending a lot of time with Taylor. They'd been enjoying eachother's company which hadn't really happened since they broke up. "But what does that have to do with anything." She sighed again and closed her eyes.
When she was younger she had a hard time visualizing and daydreaming. Actually, she just plain sucked at it. Everybody else could close their eyes and see pictures, but all Melissa ever saw was the brownish red color of light shining through her eyelids. But this one time, she must have dozed off for a second, in the lightest kind of sleep where you think you're still awake and conscious. She saw Taylor. For a brief moment she saw him sitting in a chair watching her as she did her homework, the same homework he was doing even though she was nearly 2 years younger than him. She saw the way he saw her. Then, she opened her eyes and understood everything that had been going on. It was happening again. Taylor was falling for her without her noticing and he was becoming more and more depressed by the day. And somewhere along the line, Melissa had fallen for him too. Afraid to show her emotions, she'd hidden them, even from herself. She felt terrible.
Taylor Hanson sat on the couch on the Porter's side of the balcony, covered with the velvet blanket. He looked out at the covered pool and the contrasting sides of the garage, the Hanson's was shiny and yellow while the Porter's was covered in old, peeling, yellow paint. He sometimes laughed at how different the families were, but how close they were. He sighed and looked up at the sky. There were no stars that night, just thick blankets of gray clouds. He was so deep into his thoughts that he didn't hear Melissa sit down on the couch next to him.
"How long have you been out here?" She asked, looking out into the yard like he was.
"I don't know. What time is it?"
Melissa looked at her watch. "3:00." She had dozed off for longer than she thought. "Why are you out here?"
"Couldn't sleep."
She nodded. "That means something is on your mind."
"No it doesn't."
"Tay, you can't keep hiding things from me."
Taylor fell silent for a moment. "I'm not... hiding things from you."
Melissa smiled. "Now you're lying to me."
"Dammit. I am not. And stop smiling."
"Why?"
"Because when you smile you look all... And then I can't..."
She smiled again and looked over at him but he was staring off into space. Without a further thought, she reached over and placed her hand on the side of his face, turning it to her. "Tay..."
"Ya?" He gulped.
"Why didn't you just tell me. You know I'm stupid when it comes to this stuff."
"What stuff?" He asked, staring into her blue eyes which at the moment, were the exact shade as his, even down to the silver flecks.
Melissa lightly touched her fingers to his lips. "You... and me..."
"I'm the stupid one." He said quietly. "I can't even tell a girl that I like her."
"You... like me?"
He nodded lightly.
Melissa smiled and put her arms around him in a hug. Then she snuggled up to his chest and sat there with him.
Taylor smiled contently.
"This is so weird."
"What is?"
"Well, I've had this song in my head all day and it never occurred to me how much it really meant."
"What song?"
"It's an unreleased song by Jessica Simpson."
Taylor looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah I know. The chick can sing though."
"So sing it for me."
Melissa laughed. "I can't sing. You know Carter is the singer."
"I don't care. Sing it anyway. You used to sing when we were little. You should do it more often."
Melissa smiled and took a deep breath."Last night I saw you as I stood in the rain, brought me right back to that feeling again. I tried to hide the tears that I cried but you didn't see as you walked on by. I tried to forget you, I tried to move on. But the deeper I feel, the harder I fall. Nothing else matters at all. Let me tell you, you don't know what love is till you lose it. You don't know what you've got till it slips away. It leaves you alone in the dark. It takes you and tears you apart. You don't know what love is, till it breaks your heart. Till it breaks your heart. Sometimes I think when our love was new. The crazy things that we used to do. How could love that was so right turn to something so wrong. I still can't believe that you're really gone. I wish I could stop all these thoughts in my head. I wish I could take back the words that I said. It's a lesson I'll never forget...Love has no season, no beginning or end, no rhyme or reason to the way the story ends, no way of knowing how a broken heart mends. Still we keep falling time and time again."
Melissa finished the song without singing the last chorus and blushed. Then, she looked over at Taylor who almost looked as if he had tears in his eyes. "What?" She asked, staring at him.
"Why do you let Carter steal all the family thunder? Why don't you sing like she does?"
Melissa laughed. "Why did you ever stop singing?"
"Just didn't work out that way."
"Same here." She smiled.
"Well... I think you should sing more often." He held her a little tighter. "So what does all this mean?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, maybe we'll find out." He smiled and lightly kissed the top of her head.
"I think so."
Carter
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