Isaac
He had thought about Shae, and he knew what he had to do. He had to do it subtly. Shae meant a lot to him, and he didn't want to stir the ashes. But, no matter how she denied, he knew that she needed her mother and father.
"I have to tell you something, Ike," Shae began, shifting her weight on the Hanson couch. She'd come over for lunch, and Isaac and she had made themselves quite comfy on the couch afterwards.
"Hmmm?"
"I'm in trouble."
That's what he'd figured when he'd come up with his "Shae needs Mom and Dad plan".
"How?"
She lowered her voice, "I was fired. The hours were too hard, and I couldn't show up every day. He fired me."
She looked panicky, and was fidgeting.
"Shae-"
"There's more. I am absolutely broke," her voice broke, as she swallowed her pride, "I haven't paid my rent for two months. Isaac, what am I going to do? I got an eviction notice yesterday. I'm gone if I can't pay," she shook her head sadly.
"Shae," Ike paused, "Your mom..."
"NO!" she exclaimed, forcefully.
"Okay," Isaac sighed, "Forget I said that."
Shae sighed, heavily. Isaac looked softly at her, and couldn't believe she was only 17. Her shoulders were sagging, and she was frowning. Weariness had aged her.
"Isaac, I'm so tired of this," she whispered, burrying herself in his arms, "So tired."
Isaac stroked her hair and sighed. Something had to be done.
Zac
"Phone Cassie," Zac muttered, "Must phone Cassie!"
Slowly, he picked up the receiver and punched. Ring, ring, ring. He tapped the cord against the counter. Ah, maybe she wasn't home. Maybe-
"Hello?" Cassie answered.
"Hi, Cassie."
"Zacko!!!! I thought you'd forgotten about me!"
"Forget my best friend?"
"Ah, you never know. You talked with STEPHANIE," she jokingly accused, but Zac caught her point.
"Cassie," Zac shifted his weight, "I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"I, uh, I want to quit the band."
"Why?" she gasped.
"I miss my life, Cas. I'm a schedule. A damned living schedule."
"Zac, are you sure?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Okay. I want you to know I disagree with you. But, it's your life. I can't show you how to live it."
Zac sighed.
"Nobody agrees with me," he pouted, "My brothers hate me. I even hate me."
"I like you, Zac" she told him, "You're my bestest friend."
"Thanks," he paused, and heard his mom call his name, "I have to go."
"Zac?"
"Cassie?"
"I love ya like my favorite brother."
"Since you're an only child..."
"Shut up!"
He laughed, "I love you like a sister, Cassie."
Taylor
Picking up his pace, Taylor sprinted down the sidewalk. It was pretty cold out, and he was in a hurry to get home. He watched his feet as he ran.
"Cold, cold, cold," he muttered, blowing out tiny breath crystals, "Losing feeling in hands. And feet. Damn, damn, damn. Cold, cold, cold."
His feet were quite interesting. They moved pretty fast on the icy sidewalk. Kind of like rollerblading. Whoosh! The impact of hitting the unseen object in front of him was enough to make him fall flat on his back.
"Damn post," he muttered, wincing as he sat up.
He leaned forward farther, and smacked heads with the "post" harder than he had ever wammed heads before. He saw stars. Slowly, he raised his hand to his throbbing head, and snapped, "Do you know how many brain cells you just killed?"
"Oh, you should talk! At least I was watching where I was going!" the "post" spit out fiercely.
He recognized the low, quiet voice instantly.
"Cheyenne?" Somehow his injured brain allowed his eyes to focus on the "post," "I'm sorry."
She was very rumpled up, from the fall. Her hair was a ray, and she was rubbing her head. The lopsided smirk was gone, and she was clearly pouting.
"Me too," she heaved a sigh, and replied.
He offered his hand, and and pulled her up. Both of their eyes went to their hands. Cheyenne tugged softly at hers, but Taylor held it tighter. His eyes shifted to hes, and she looked seriously back into his. He placed his other hand on the other side of her face, and brought his lips to rest on the lump the collision had caused. After a moment that seemed like a life time, he pulled away, and stepped back.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, shrugging, and grinning boyishly. Isaac
What Shae needed was work, Isaac had decided. Good luck finding a nice paying one, when she hadn't finished high school. The door slammed, and Isaac jumped, snapping back to reality.
"Anybody home?" Taylor shouted from the doorway.
"In the living room!!!" Isaac shouted back.
Taylor appeared, glowing, and rosey from the cold.
"Hi," he greeted, sitting on the couch.
"Hey. Why are you so happy?"
Isaac was trying really hard not to laugh. His brother had a grin that was threatening to consume his whole face, and he looked incredibly proud. Either he'd gotten a good ego trip or... Ahh, he bet that was it.
"I bumped into Chey," Taylor told him, kicking off his shoes, the grin somehow getting wider.
Ahhh, he knew it.
"And this induces this much happiness because?" That's it, Isaac, play innocent. Let Tay have his fun.
"It just does."
Isaac raised an eyebrow, and counted down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
"I KISSED HER!!!"
"Oh, poor predictable Taylor," Isaac chuckled.
"Huh?"
Isaac just shook his head. Little brothers.
Zac
Drums were torturing Zac. He had reduced his standing, and practised with his brothers. Cassie'd been good about it. Sure, she hadn't exactly agreed, but she'd been cool about it. He grinned, and waited for the doorbell.
"Cassie's here! Cassie's here! Cassie's here!" Zac cheered, when the blessed noise finally reached his ears.
"I'm here!" she announced, when Zac let her in, "I think it's going to rain."
"Cassie, The Weather Woman," he joked, sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up," she ordered, pushing past him, and bounding down the stairs. She was totally at ease in the Hanson house, and Zac was at hers.
Zac gahumphed and chased after her.
"I saw Tay's little girlfriend today," Cassie cheerfully commented, fiddling with the TV.
"Ex," Zac corrected, matter-of-a-factly.
"Whatever. I think she recognized me."
"Why do you think that?"
"She gave me the finger. Whatcha wanna do?"
"Wanna go outside?"
"Hello, Oh Smart One! I said it felt like rain, duh."
"What's your point, smartass?" he asked, or rather dared.
Cassie looked at him funny, and just shook her head.
Zac grabbed her hand, and drug upstairs. "You really are a sarcastic person, ya know." Cassie laughed, dryly, "Don't compliment me." "Who said it was a compliment?" Zac quipped. She swiped at him, but he ducked, and dashed out the door. Cheyenne watched the rain fall and sighed. She loved the rain. It always made her feel warm inside. She'd loved to run in it when she was smiled. Her breath clouded the window, and she wiped at it with her sleeve, singing softly under her breath. ""Blue eyed boy meets a brown eyed girl,"" she sang, ""You can sew it up, but you still see the tear."*" Unconsiously, she thought of her blue eyed boy. Her blue eyed boy?! "That a laugh and a half," she told herself. Still. That line bounced around in her head. She could dream. Softly, she leaned her head against the window. Her head. She sighed again. "Memories," she chided, trying to hide the fondness in her voice, even though she was home alone, "Screw 'em!" She snorted and shook her head, trying to erase the memory of how warm Taylor's lips were against her bumped forehead. Hugging her knees to her chest, she reminded herself that he'd sworn off girls forever. "Britt doesn't know what she let go," she calmly told the air, "She doesn't at all."
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Lyric credits go to U2.