Isaac
The tapings and various other appearances zoomed by, but they were all darkened by the shadow of fear lurking in Isaac's mind. For the first time in all of his life, Isaac feared for Hanson. Zac was drifting farther and farther away from him and Tay. Ike missed him, but he knew Tay missed him more. Maybe it was because of the age difference between Ike and Zac. All he knew was that Zac hadn't said more than necessary to them in almost one long month.
Gawd, it was nice to be back in Tulsa. Ike stretched lazily and yawned. He wondered what Tay had planned to do today. Probably see Britt. Ick!
The doorbell broke through his thoughts. Slowly, Ike drug himself to the entrance and swung the door open.
"Shae!" he gasped.
Taylor
"Uh, Zac?" Taylor greeted, from Zac's doorway.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Okay," Taylor muttered, entering Zac's room, "Want to do something?"
"Not with you."
Taylor winced. He had not forgotten (or forgiven) the band experience. Not one ounce of him would let Zac quit, he had promised himself that. He wouldn't let Zac do something so stupid, or irrational. But he missed Zac. The old, bubbly Zac that he hadn't seen for awhile. The Zac he knew.
"Taylor!" Mrs Hanson called.
Taylor sighed and left to find his mom. He was back in Zac's room in a second.
"Zac-"
"Taylor, do you have something to say? Otherwise, I'd rather not talk to you."
"Do you want to come to the grocery store with me? Mom had an errand."
"You want me to come? Have you forgotten I'm Big Bad Zac Who's Going To Ruin Your Life?" Under the sarcasm, there was hope.
"I'm not going to let you quit, Zac."
"Oh," he sighed.
"But, can't we do something without the band? I miss you."
"Tay-"
"Zac, come on! We don't have to mention it at all!"
"Okay, fine."
"Cool!"
"And, Tay?"
"Hmmmm?"
"I missed you too. But you're still being pig headed and selfish," Zac's voice was low, solemn, more truthful that Taylor had ever heard it, and hurt.
"And you're still being stupid," Taylor's tone matched Zac's, "And you aren't considering anything. You aren't gonna quit, Zac."
The tension was there. There was no doubt about it.
Isaac
"Uh, hi, Isaac. Can I come in?" Shae asked.
Every bone in Ike's body wanted to slam the door in Shae's face. Make her hurt, like he was. But something on her face broke his heart even more than it had already broken.
"Whatever," he held the door.
With a shakey smile, she walked past him.
He led her to the living room and sat down. Nervously, she fiddled with the hem of her sweater.
"I'm sorry, Isaac," she rushed, "I was wron. What you said was right. But I'm not really ready to forgive them, you know?"
Ike nodded.
"And," she plunged on, "I was wrong to totally ignore you. You and Tracey both tried to tell me that, but I don't listen very well." She grinned wickedly.
"Shae?"
"Hmmmm?"
"I didn't mean to offend you."
"I know. So, what are we?"
"We are...." Ike paused, "We are together."
Shae smiled, "Good."
She got up and kissed Isaac, for a moment, before pulling away. She grinned and punched his arm lightly, "You been practising?"
He laughed at her wicked undertone and played along, "Don't you know it!" He gave her a bear hug, and kissed her nose.
"You'll never guess what Sam did while you were away."
"What?"
"When you came on TV, he pointed at it and said, "Ike." But, it sounded more like "Ick." My baby's first word isn't "Mommy.""
Isaac smiled proudly, "You better watch, Shae. Or Sydney'll be saying, "Tay.""
Shae laughed.
Taylor
"Have you talked to Steph, Zac?" Taylor asked, as they walked to Safeway, trying fiercely to break the tension.
"Yuppers. You talk to Britt?"
"Kinda. She phoned. Do you know what she asked?"
"No idea."
"If I still thought 'bout her."
"And what'd you say?"
"I said yeah. But you know what? I don't. And, when I do, I don't think about the good stuff. And when, she asked, I was thinking of Cheyenne."
"Man, I didn't miss your problems!" Zac smiled, deviously.
"Oh, shut up!"
Zac
It was good to have Tay back. His problems and all. He'd actually missed those damn things.
"Do ya like Cheyenne?"
"She's a, er, good friend."
"I see. Hey, Tay, where's the love?"
At the mention of anything Hanson, unitentional as it was, tensed the two into an uncomfortable silence. Zac shifted his weight as he walked, and Taylor cleared his throat.
"Tay, did you really miss me?" Zac asked solemnly.
Taylor brushed and kicked a rock, "Sure."
Zac smiled, "I missed you, too."
Taylor's lips curved a bit, and he blushed again.
Zac cleared his throatand practically whispered, "Does Isaac?"
Taylor looked at him. Zac had hung his partially lonely heart on that question. He was depending on the right answer.
"I think so, Zacko."
Zac grinned again.
"But, you know, you can't quit."
Zac scowled.
Isaac
Ike stopped the car in front of Shae's apartment building.
Shae grabbed her purse/mini backpack and did up her jacket.
"Want to come in?" she asked, opening the car door.
"I should probably go. Where are the twins?"
"Up there. Tracey's with 'em. Come on. Sammie needs to see Uncle "Ick" some more."
Isaac turned off the car, and got out.
"Fine. For Sam," he smiled.
"Thank you." She took his hand and led him up to her apartment. Quickly, she opened the door.
Isaac was greeted by chaos. Babies crying, Tracey talking, Shae immediantly taking control. Isaac stood in the crapmed compartment, overwhelmed and forgotten. He wasn't, however, forgotten for long.
"Isaac!" Shae called, "Could you get the bottles outta the fridge?"
"Sure!" he replied, going to the tiny kitchen.
He swung the fridge door open and gasped.
The bottles were there, but not much else. There was a carton of milk, a dozen eggs, butter, strawberry jam, left overs, and that was it. Shae's situation dawned on him. Gulping, he took the bottles and shut the door.
Taylor
"Where's the milk?" Zac asked, gazing up and down the aisle, "This sucks. I hate grocery shopping."
"And you think I'm enjoyinh this?" Taylor returned, spotting the milk, "Zoe drinks too much of this crap."
"Yup. Tay, I want to look at the magazines."
"Okay."
They were an asile away from the magazine section when Taylor heard a familiar giggle coming from the aisle to which they were headed.
"Hey, Zac, Britt's there."
"Cool! Let's go say hi!"
"NO!" Taylor cried, yanking Zac into the aisle closest to the magazines, "Let's see if she talks about me! She's with her friend, Alicia."
"Okay," Zac agreed.
The chitter-chatter for awhile was totally boring. 'Leo Decaprio is so hot!' Blah, blah, blah. 'Ooo, check out his body.' Blah, blah, blah.
"'Ooo, check out his body.'" Zac imitated, in a high-pitched, mocking voice.
"Shut up," Taylor ordered.
"Hey, Britt, it's your boyfriend!" Alicia giggled, pointing at a 16 magazine.
Taylor waved his hand for Zac to be quiet.
"Oh," Britt answered, "He is so naive!"
"Huh?" Alicia asked.
"Huh?" Taylor thought.
"All you have to do is kiss and cuddle him, and he's happy."
"Britt!"
"Oh, Lissy! I'm Taylor Hanson's girlfriend! He's a celebrity! You don't actually think I like him, do you? But, just think what this does for my reputation. I mean, Taylor Hanson is mine! How many girls can say that? He's famous anyway. His head's in the clouds."
"True," Alicia agreed, "And he thought that Cheyenne what's-her-name was cute! That says something."
Britt nodded in agreement, "But, guess what?"
"What?"
"Chris so totally asked me out!!" Britt squealed.
Zac was scowling angrily at the two girls, and Taylor felt sick. He moaned softly. Zac put his hand on Tay's arm, and they waited for the inevitable blow.
"OH MY GAWD!!!" Alicia screached, "He is WAY hot!"
"No shit! WAY, WAY, WAY!!!!" Britt agreed, "And, OMG!!!! He was at the party on Friday, and..."
"And?" Alicia asked. Suddenly, her eyes grew large, "You didn't!"
"I did," she nodded.
"Zac," Taylor muttered, miserably.
"Tay, let's go," Zac begged, tugging on his arm.
Taylor shook his head, and shook off Zac's hand.
"What about Taylor?" Alicia asked.
"What about Taylor? He'll never care, because he'll never know. Also, he should have figured out that I'm only going out with him because he's Taylor Hanson! I mean, duh! And, well, he's a good kisser."
Taylor's mouth dropped open. He'd had it! He'd had it awhile ago, really. Way back. What kind of person treated Cheyenne like crap, insulted him countless times, critized his mother, and did that with what ever his name was? Ugh!
He left the shelter of the aisle, despite Zac's protests. He went right up to Britt, and scowled at her.
"Taylor, baby, hello," she drawled, no worry in her voice. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"Brittany, GET OFF ME!" he told her, sternly, shaking her off, "Gawd, don't be a cling-on."
"Taysie, sweets, what's wrong?" Ah, the pout.
"Why don't you tell me?" Taylor hissed.
"I would, butter cup, but I don't know what I did. Taysie, sugar plum-"
"Oh, for once in your life, could you just SHUT UP?! And cut off that stupid, mindless babble? Do your mouth a favor. You're such.....such!!!" Taylor couldn't think of an awful enough word, so he countinued, "You're an idiot to think I could be so blind! And, I have feelings, you know. I need more than physical attention! You need somebody to be ther emotionally, too. If you weren't such an unfeeling egotistical...."
"Taysie, you're using big words."
"Get a dictionary," he gasped, sarcastically, "Come on, Zac. We are going home."
"Taysie, love, I'll phone you."
"Don't bother," he threw over his shoulder, "We are OVER!"
E-mail me please. I would really like to know what you thought about this chapter.
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