Draco would not go to bed because Scott was there and all the little boy wanted to do was play.
“Baby, Scott will be here all the time, okay…he’s gonna live here with us now, so you guys can play tomorrow. It’s time for bed now,” she told her son firmly.
“Nooooo!” he wailed when she tried to lift him from the living room floor.
“Draco listen to your mother,” Scott interjected seriously from the couch.
The baby just cried louder.
“I’m gonna count to three,” he warned. “And if I get to three I won’t play at all, do you hear me? One…two…two and a half…I mean it, Draco…”
Silence. Only a few sniffles.
“Good boy,” Taylor lifted him. “Say good night to Scott.”
Draco leaned over and hugged Scott around the neck and kissed his cheek.
“I’ll see ya in the morning, bud,” Scott smiled.
Once Taylor had tucked Draco in she returned to the livingroom and dropped onto the couch next to her new roommate.
“I can’t believe he’ll listen to you and not me,” she sighed.
“I didn’t mean to take over…I just thought you needed a little help,” he answered guiltily.
“No, I’m glad…he needs a man in his life, ya know…”
“Somebody has a birthday coming up in a bout a week, “ he grinned, changing the subject. “What do you want?”
“Scott, really…”
“Hello!” Landon called as he let himself into the house. He walked into the living room and sat on the couch opposite his friends. “Aren’t you two just so comfy cozy…what are we talking about?”
“Taylor has a birthday coming up. She’ll be twenty. And she won’t tell me what she wants,” Scott explained.
“Honestly, you being alive is the best birthday gift I could ask for,” she answered seriously.
“When’s your birthday, Love?” Landon smiled.
“November second.”
“Are you serious? Mine too…we’re exactly one year apart.”
“I guess that means a double party,” Scott yawned. “I’m ready to crash.”
“Here I’ll help you,” Taylor stood quickly and helped her friend rise from the couch. “I’ll be right back, Landon.”
He nodded and watched as she helped Scott hobble to his room.
Landon stood and stretched and began looking through all of Taylor and Scott’s cds. He went through almost the whole collection before he found one that made him grin as he put it into the player.
He skipped through the tracks until he found the one he wanted to hear. He hadn’t heard it in years.
“Why Landon Turner, I didn’t know you were a soul man,” Taylor smiled as she came back into the room.
“Everyone loves Barry White…now come over here and dance with me,” he held his hand out to her with a grin.
She took his hand, laughing, and they began dancing around the room.
“With you, I’ve found, so many things. A love so new, only you can bring,” he sang as he spun her around.
His mother had loved Barry White. That song in particular. Landon could remember her listening to ‘My First, My Last, My Everything” as she got dressed in the morning or on the rare occasion that she cooked dinner for the family herself. That had been when he was still very young, and he would pick him up and swing him around her arms. He remembered asking why she loved that song so much, and her telling him that when she had first met his father, that was the song playing on the radio, and she knew at that moment that they would be together forever.
He typically had a hard time thinking about his parents, even if the memories were the good kind, but for some reason, standing in Taylor’s living room, dancing with her, it was okay. Landon realized that he had a difficult time being upset or down whenever he was around her.
The good time was cut short by Landon’s cell phone ringing.
“Sorry love…just a moment,” Landon let go of her and took the phone out of his pocket as she turned the music down.
“Hello?” he answered stiffly. “Yeah, you should be sorry. No I’m not going to apologize. Because I have nothing to apologize for…that’s your problem, not mine…I’ve done nothing of the sort…” And then his tone softened as he turned his back to Taylor. “Of course I was happy to see you. You know why I’m angry…we talked about this a long time ago…no I will not…no I’m not going over there to talk about it…I’m not being a bitch!...I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue this conversation this evening…I have to go…no…no, you’re being a bitch now, not me…I’m with a friend, we will discuss this tomorrow…no, it isn’t someone else, don’t be ridiculous….I’m with a woman, for Christ’s sake…fine…yeah…bye,” he hung up and dropped the phone on the couch.
“Everything okay?” Taylor asked.
“Boy Toy dropped the “L” word on me earlier…and he pissed that I don’t feel the same way,” he explained as he sat down.
“How long have you been together?”
“On and off for about six months or so. He travels a lot for business, which is good cause it keeps it all simple—who wants to commit to a long distance relationship? Hell I don’t want to commit at all…but it’s bad cause when we finally do get to see each other for a decent period of time he gets like this…all possessive and moody…ya know?”
“What does he do?”
“He’s the band’s manager. He works for some big wig entertainment company, so Labyrinth is just one of his many responsibilities…and since we’re just local, starting out, we’re the bottom of the priority list…but it’s cool, ya know…our time will come. We aren’t ready to break out into some huge success story yet. He’s the one that convinced us to come to the states…said if we came here, we could have a real chance at making it someday.”
“And you don’t have any feelings for him? Like, strong feelings?” she questioned as she dropped down beside him.
“I care about him…a lot. He’s been great to me and to the band. And as far as being a companion and a partner, I couldn’t ask for anyone better. But I don’t love him…I told you the first time we met, and I told him when we decided to be together—I don’t believe in love, I don’t believe in marriage, I don’t believe that you’re supposed to spend your whole life with just one person. To be honest, I think it all stems out of commitment issues. This is the longest relationship I’ve ever had, and every time he tries to make it more serious, more committed, I freak out on him and we end up in this wretched fight. I hate arguing with him because he’s my best friend…but I can’t handle him. I can’t handle the whole ‘lets be together forever’ mentality. That’s not me,” Landon explained. “I don’t want to break up with him, but at the same time, if I stay with him, and he wants more than I can give, that’s not fair to him.”
“Are you faithful to him? Is the only one you’ve been with since you started seeing each other?”
“Yes. I may not believe in Together Forever, but I believe in Together For The Moment. And I would never cheat on him. That’s not me. I made the decision to be with him, to care about him, and my attention has never wandered.”
“Good. So…does the boyfriend have a name or shall I just refer to him as The Boyfriend or ‘He’?” Taylor asked with a smile.
Landon laughed. “KC…his name is KC.”
“Is he good lookin?”
“Yeah…tall, thin—he’s built a lot like Scott, actually, but he’s bigger muscle wise, ya know…anyway…um, blonde hair, blue eyes…yeah, he’s real hot,” he grinned with a slight blush.
It was Taylor’s turn to laugh, and then they settled into a comfortable quiet. He put his arm around her shoulders, and she lay her head on his chest as they listened to Barry White singing some song about love.
“Scott! Get up! You have to be at the hospital in an hour!” Taylor called from the kitchen a few days later.
“Up, Scott, Up!” Draco echoed from his highchair, clapping his hands.
The phone rang as Scott came into the kitchen and dropped at the table a few minutes later.
“Hello?” Taylor answered as she set a plate of breakfast in front of Scott. “Hi Alan what’s up?...Uh huh…what do you mean?...Well now what do I do?...Just wait it out? Alan I cant…I know…I know…Okay…bye.”
She slammed the receiver back onto the cradle then lit a cigarette.
“Who’s Alan and why are you pissed?” Scott asked through a mouthful of eggs.
“My attorney…S-A-M had been released on an agreement of sorts and has now refused to sign the divorce papers.”
“Why are you spelling?”
“Because D-R-A-C-O gets all excited and in an uproar when he hears S-A-M’s name and thinks he’s coming home soon.”
“Oh….I’m really sorry, babe…that sucks.”
“I know…listen, is it cool if Landon drives you to the hospital? Draco has a doctors appointment.”
“Yeah no problem. Who’s picking me up?
“Oh, I will…I just won’t be able to get you to the hospital and then make it to the pediatricians on time.”
“Yeah, no biggie…I gotta get movin though,”
“Morning all,” Landon greeted as he walked into the kitchen.
“Morning…just gimme like five minutes, kay, dude?” Scott answered as he struggled to get out of his seat.
“Take your time, mate, no big hurry,” Landon smiled as he took a piece of toast from the table.
“You didn’t bring your bike, did you?” Taylor questioned once Scott was back in his bedroom.
“Course not…I thought about it…but then ultimately decided that a nice confined ride in Will’s truck would be the better bet.”
“Good call…”
“You didn’t have a problem with my motorcycle when I rode you on it.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t broken. God forbid you wreck or something stupid…we don’t need to get Scott more gimped than he is now.”
“I can hear you!” Scott called from his bedroom.
“Good!” Taylor called back with a smile.
“I see how it is,” he spoke as he re-entered the kitchen, now fully dressed and ready to go. “Now I’m the fragile little gimp,”
“You’ve always been a mental gimp…now your just an all around gimp,” Taylor teased.
“Har Har Har,” he smiled as he lightly punched her in the arm. “You ready Lan?”
“Let’s rock and roll. See you later, Taylor,” Landon waved as the boys made their way out of the house.
“I really appreciate the ride, Landon,” Scott said as he got into the truck.
“No problem…anything I can do to help,” Landon smiled back as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
“It’s cool we can get along, ya know…no weirdness.”
“Why would we have weirdness?” Landon’s smiled faded and his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Well, I mean, with you being who you are, and me being who I am…”
“Did Taylor or Brook tell you something about me?”
“No…”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“The whole ex-boyfriend-new boyfriend thing, ya know…”
Landon started to laugh. “Brook and I are NOT dating.”
“You aren’t?”
“Heavens no…lovely girl, but it just wouldn’t ever work.”
“Oh…what did you think I was talking about?” Scott was clearly confused.
“Well…I guess I better tell you…not like you wouldn’t find out eventually anyway, right…”
“Tell me what?”
“I’m gay,” Landon answered simply.
“Oh…” Scott replied stupidly. “But I thought Brook told me…”
“She fancied me…didn’t know my door swung the other way at the time. But now she knows,” Landon explained. “I don’t want this to affect our being friends, Scott. I know how most straight men are…they get, freaked out being alone with a gay man…but I can assure you that I would never attempt to hit on you or anything like that…I know you’re straight, and I respect that, okay?”
“I didn’t say you would…” Scott shifted uncomfortably.
“I just wanted to let you know. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of each other with as close Taylor and I continue to get, and I don’t want you to be strange whenever I’m near.”
“No, it’s cool man. We’ll be cool.”
When the boys arrived at the hospital, Landon helped Scott inside.
“Welcome back,” the pretty brunette nurse who’d taken care of Scott before greeted when she saw him.
“Hello hello,” Scott smiled back.
“You look like you’re feeling better, it’s amazing what being back home can do for ya, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…um, Gabriella, are you going to be doing the therapy stuff with me, or…” Scott asked hopefully.
“Some of it…not all of it…but I’m in charge of getting you there, so we must start over if we’re gonna be on time,” she smiled back.
“Okay…Landon, thanks again for the ride…can you tell Tay to be here at like, eleven?”
“Sure thing, mate,” Landon nodded then turned to leave.
It was around the same time that Brooklynn awoke to complete silence.
She sleepily trudged out to the kitchen where Hayden had left her a note on the fridge.
BrookI’m out with Mack for the morning. Should be back around one or two. Make no plans for tonight—the whole crew’s going out to dinner. Call your friend Scarlett and see if she’d like to joins us as well. See you soon
Hayden
With a smile, she grabbed a Diet Pepsi from the fridge and picked up the phone, dialing Scarlett’s cell phone number quickly.
“Hey what’s up,” Brooklynn chirped when her friend picked up the phone.
“Morning…hang on a sec…” Scarlett yawned. “Okay…sorry…Will’s still sleeping and didn’t want to bug him by talking,” she explained a few moments later.
“No biggie…how was your night last night?”
“Fun….I miss you, though.”
“I know…I miss you too…how was the boys’ rehearsal?”
“They sounded good, but…OOOOO….I can’t believe I blanked on this until just now…You’ll never believe it!”
“What’s up?”
“Give up the crush on Landon…the boy’s about as straight as a U-turn!”
”NO!” Brooklynn faked surprise with a private smile.
“It’s true…he’s gay!”
“How’d you find out?”
“KC, the guys manager is in town and apparently, him and Landon are a thing…they get into this huge fight over god knows what and Landon storms out of the house without a backwards glance. I was a bit confused at first, but Will filled me in…I can’t believe Landon never told us!”
“Yeah…wow…listen…I hate to change the subject but what are you doin tonight?”
“Oh I dunno…Will said that KC had arranged some meeting of sorts for the band with some studio guys or whatever, but after that he wanted to do something with me. Why what’s going on?”
“There’s a big dinner tonight that Hayden planned out—me, him, Taylor, Scott, he’s bringing his friend Mack, I’m sure Taylor will bring Landon, so I wanted to see if you’d like to come. Will, too.”
“That sounds like fun. I can’t wait to meet this Hayden, the way you talk about him.”
“He’s great. You’ll love him. I’m gonna let you go now, but I’ll call you later with details, okay?”
“Definitely. I’ll talk to you later hun.”
Taylor pulled up to the hospital entrance with Landon and Draco, just as Scott was escorted out to the front.
“Hey handsome,” Taylor beamed at him as she got out of her Jeep to help him. “You want the front?”
“No, I”ll sit in the back with Draco,” Scott shook his head. “See you next week, Ella,” he turned his attention to the nurse.
“Bye, Scott,” she waved with a smile then headed back inside the hospital.
“So how’d it go?” Taylor questioned, glancing at Scott in her rearview mirror as they drove away.
“She’s amazing,” Scott replied dreamily as he looked out the window.
“He’s completely smitten,” Landon laughed.
“Scott are you clear for tonight?” Taylor attempted to get his attention again.
“Yeah, what’s up?” he responded.
“We’re all going to dinner.”
“Okay…what time?”
“Seven…that’s cool with your guys’ plans, right?” she turned to Landon.
“Yeah, our meetings at five thirty, and I’ll just meet everyone down at t he restaurant…would it be alright if I brought KC? I feel bad for having such a row with him the other night.”
“Yeah, no biggie…I’d actually like to meet him.”
“He said the same thing about you…only when he said it, he had a slight jealous undertone,” Landon smirked.
Taylor dropped Landon off, then took Scott and Draco home, where the two fell asleep on the couch watching cartoons together.
“Hey….get up, we gotta start getting ready,” Taylor shook Scott easily a few hours later.
“Is it really that late?” he yawned.
“Yep…five thirty…I’m out of the bathroom, so it’s all yours,” she scooped Draco up into her arms. “My mother’s gonna kill me…he’ll be up driving her nuts all night.”
“Sorry…”
“Not your fault…I shouldn’t have let him sleep all day. Go take a shower, sweetie. We still have to drop the baby off with my parents on the way.”
“Kay…just lemme wake up a minute,” he yawned again before lighting a cigarette.
Brook and Hayden arrived at the restaurant to find Will and Scarlett waiting there for them already.
“Have you been waiting long?” Hayden questioned after introductions were made.
“No, we just arrived,” Will answered with a smile.
“He’s adorable, Brook,” Scarlett whispered out of the side of her mouth. “You look just gorgeous,” she winked at her girlfriend, speaking at a normal tone.
“Aw, thank you,” Brooklynn blushed slightly.
Scarlett and Will walked ahead towards the private room Hayden had requested.
“You are a vision this evening,” Hayden whispered to Brook with a small smile, his hand on the small of her back, pressing her forward.
“I cannot believe we made it on time,” Taylor smiled as she and Scott pulled into a parking space.
“I know…I thought your mother was gonna talk all night,” Scott grinned back.
“Let’s go,”
Taylor hurried to the other side of the car to get Scott’s crutches and help him out of the car.
Once inside, they were shown to the back room, but Scott promptly excused himself to the bathroom.
“Come here…your tie is crooked,” Landon grabbed KC by the arm and spun him around just as they stepped into the restaurant’s lobby.
“It’s fine…you don’t like it when I nit pick, do you?” KC gently pulled away.
“I’m sorry, I thought I was being helpful,” Landon snapped.
“Why are you acting like this? Are you embarrassed to introduce me to your friends? Are you ashamed of me, is that it? If I’m not perfect then why bother to introduce me, right?” KC spoke quickly in a hissed whisper as they moved towards the back room.
“Hey hey hey…stop. I wasn’t trying to be a bitch, okay,” Landon again spun his partner to face him, then laced his fingers through KC’s. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry for the other night, I’m sorry for my attitude…I just wanna get through tonight without a row…I want to enjoy being with you.”
KC smiled and pushed a piece of hair, loose from Landon’s ponytail, behind his ear. “Agreed…I’m sorry too.”
The men shared a brief, sweet kiss before being interrupted by a shocked, “Holy Shit”.
They broke apart and turned to see who had joined them.
Landon grinned and waved, but a clearly horrified and shocked Scott ignored him. His attention was focused completely on Landon’s blonde companion.
“Keith?!” he choked out.
“Scottie…” KC replied numbly.
“You two know one another?” Landon was confused for a moment before the realization sank in.
“That’s my brother…” the other two informed him simultaneously.