Stacie and Kerri left saying goodbye as politley as you can when you're mad at someone. Now Erica was left to fend for herself against the guys. They had all changed and pulled out the sofabed without engaging in any conversation what-so-ever. The silence and the tension in the house seemed like a thick blanket of fog that wouldn't pass over them.
Zac climbed onto the loveseat and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Isaac fell asleep soon after. Taylor was about to fall asleep when he realized Erica wasn't next to him. He groggily kicked off the covers and climbed out of bed. He left the room in search of Erica. He didn't have to look far either becuase he found her sitting on the stairs with her arms on her knees and her chin resting on her arms.
"Hi." Taylor said quietly.
Erica looked up at him,"Hi." she said moving over on the stair and patting the place next to her.
Relieved that she didn't seem mad, Taylor accepted the invitation.
They sat quietly for awhile until Taylor softly nudged Erica,"You're not still mad at me are you?" he asked cautiously.
Erica looked at him,"No," she said taking his hand,"I'm sorry, no I'm not mad."
Taylor gave her a small smile and then it faded Ok he thought she's not mad at me, so what's wrong?
"Then what's wrong?" Taylor asked.
Erica let go of his hand,"I'm just thinking."
"Oh," Taylor nodded,"about what?" he asked.
Erica looked at him,"You." she told him.
Taylor laughed.
Erica stared at him and then looked away.
Taylor stopped laughing,"Y...you're serious. You're thinking about me?"
Erica nodded.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because," Erica said looking at him,"do you have any idea idea how I felt when I thought you were outside?"
Taylor lowered his eyes.
"I thought..." she stopped and swallowed hard,"I thought you were dead." she whispered.
"I'm sorry, it was meant to be a joke, I didn't realize..." Taylor trailed off and put his arms around Erica.
"I know, it just scared me..."
Taylor kissed her cheek,"I know. Come on let's get some sleep."
Taylor stood up and held out his hand. He helped Erica up and they walked into the living room. Taylor crawled onto the sofabed and Erica laid down next to him.
He put his arm over her, almost protectively. Erica held onto his hand.
Given all the excitement, Erica fell right asleep because she was so exhausted. Taylor stayed awake for a little while thinking. What would I do if I thought Erica was dead? That's horrible. She's not just my girlfriend, but she's my best friend too. Okay Taylor you're thinking corny now, but it is true. I love her. Wait, there it goes again. But I do love her. How does she know that? She doesn't...I've never told her.
"I love you." Taylor whispered to Erica.
No answer.
"Erica?" he asked.
She had fallen asleep.
So much for love... Tay thought.
"Walker keep it down! The kids are sleeping." Mrs. Hanson whispered.
"Sorry." he whispered back closing the front door quielty.
Mrs. Hanson tiptoed quietly into the living room to check on them. She poked her head around the corner.
"Honey come here! You have to see this!" she whispered excitedly.
Mr. Hanson walked quietly into the living room.
"Look." Mrs. Hanson pointed to Erica and Taylor. Taylor had and arm and a leg draped over Erica and she was holding his hand.
Mr. Hanson frowned,"Maybe we should let Erica sleep somewhere else tonight."
"Why? They look precious." Mrs. Hanson smiled.
Walker shook his head no,"I'm going to wake her up."
"Walker..." Mrs. Hanson whispered.
"Do you trust that?" he whispered pointing to their position.
"Okay, you can wake her up," Mrs. Hanson said,"I'm going to bed." and she reluctantly left the room.
Erica felt Taylor's arm sliding off of her and a hand on her shoulder slightly shaking her. She groggily opened her eyes and looked up to see a figure in the darkness. She screamed. Two figures next to her, and a third across the room, bolted up in the darkness.
"What the...?" Isaac exclaimed.
"Guys..."Walker started.
"A burgler!" Isaac shouted jumping off of the bed and tackling his father.
"Zac call 911!" Taylor screeched before leaping off of the bed onto the figure.
Before Zac left the room Mrs. Hanson appeared in her nightgown and flipped the light on,"What on earth is going on in here?" she asked.
"Mom?" Taylor asked confused blinking in the light.
"What are you two doing to your father?" she asked wide-eyed.
Isaac and Taylor looked at the illeged burgler who turned out to be their father.
"Guys...I give...let me up." he mumbled.
Taylor and Isaac stood up,"Sorry dad." Isaac mumbled sheepishly.
Mr. Hanson stood up,"Oh, my back."
"Sorry I screamed in your face." Erica apologized.
Before Walker could answer Diana made a strange noise.
"What's wrong mom?" Zac asked.
She started to chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Walker asked.
"Your son's just kicked your butt." she snickered.
Ring Ring
All of the kids stayed sound asleep.
Ring Ring
"Someone get that." Zac groaned yanking the blankets over his head.
"Get the phone Ike." Tay muttered burying himself further under the covers.
"You get it." Ike said pulling a pillow over his head.
"No." Tay mumbled.
"Tay just get it." Erica said buring her face in his shirt.
Taylor groaned inwardly and pulled himself out of the bed,"Hello?" he mumbled.
"Hey pal! Did I wake you up?" a familiar voice asked.
"No Jeff...you didn't." he grumbled.
"Good, because I wanted to know..." he started.
"You moron I was sleeping!" he whispered loudly so as not to wake everyone up.
"Well get up and come blading with me."
"Blading? At nine in the morning? Why don't you go back to bed." Tay told him.
"Fine! Don't come! I'll just have to call Dylan..."he trailed off.
"Dylan can't blade for his life." Tay said exasperated.
"True, but you don't want to..."
"Fine! Come here at ten!" Tay said.
"Quarter to ten."
"No! Ten o'clock!" Tay almost yelled.
"I think I have another call..." Jeff teased.
"Fine! Quarter to ten! But not a minute earlier!" Tay gave in.
"Hey you're the boss."
"I'll bet." Tay mumbled before hanging up.
"Ewicha." a little voice mumbled.
Erica opened her eyes,"Hi Mackie."
Mackenzie clapped his hands and laughed,"Ewicha up!" he exclaimed.
Erica sat up and saw no one else in the room,"Where are your brothers?" she asked.
"Me no know." he said before turning and leaving the room.
Erica smiled and dragged herself off of the sofabed and found her way upstairs. Seeing the door to their room was open she walked right in. Tay was just finishing buttoning his shirt.
He turned when he saw her,"Hi, you're up." he said before turning to look in the closet.
"Barley." she mumbled walking over to his bed and slipping under the covers.
Taylor smiled,"I'm going to..." he stopped when he turned around and saw her with her eyes closed, half asleep,"Are you feeling alright?" he asked concerned, walking over to the bed and crouching down next to it.
"I'm fine. Just tired." she muttered.
Taylor pushed some hair off of her face. He watched as the sunlight glinted off of her blonde hair and illuminated her skin. She looked like she was glowing from the inside. He watched as a tiny, angelic smile crept over her face.
"What are you staring at?" she asked opening her eyes.
"An angel." he said. What? he thought. Did I just say that outloud?
She put her hand on his wrist,"That was sweet." she said.
He blushed slightly.
"You don't mind if I sleep here awhile longer so you?" she asked.
"No." he said and immediatley felt guilty. He didn't mind becuase he wasn't going to be home anyway. She didn't know that though,"Ike and Zac shouldn't bother you." he said trying to casually hint that he wasn't going to be home.
Erica nodded slightly. Almost as if she knew he said something but she was so close to sleeping that she hadn't really heard him, and he wasn't going to wake her up for that. He gently kissed her forehead and left the room closing the door quiely behind him.
"You ready to blade?" Jeff asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah all set." Tay said as he started to walk out the front door.
"Gee...you must be talented." Jeff said stopping him.
"Huh?" Tay asked confunsed.
"I mean blading with no blades...now THAT is something I would LOVE to see." he laughed.
"Oops." Tay said laughing.
"Way to go Dorkus Supremus." Jeff said patting him on the back.
"I hate that name." Tay grumbled,"Wait here." he said leaving Jeff at the bottom of the staircase.
Taylor darted up the stairs, but then he quietly opened the door and walked in. He looked at Erica...still sleeping. Great, all he had to do was get his blades and get out. Simple enough. He tiptoed over to the closet.
"Tay?" a voice called outside the door.
Taylor frantically tiptoed, alomost like a tiptoe run, back over to the bedroom door,"Shhh!!!" he said quietly opening the door.
"Why do I have to shhh?" Jeff asked.
Taylor leapt out of the room closing the door as quietly as possible,"Keep your voice down!" Taylor hissed.
"Lay off the crack Tay." Jeff said pushing past him into the bedroom.
Taylor lowered his head. He thought 5...4...3...2...1...
A wide-eyed Jeff walked out,"There's a girl sleeping in your bed." Jeff whispered.
"No really Sherlock?"
"Who is that? And why is she in your bed?" he whispered frantically.
"It's Erica, my girlfriend remember? And she's sleeping." he informed him.
"Erica? That's Erica?" he asked his jaw practically on the floor.
"Yes!"
"Erica Patten? The tomboy from across the street?" he asked again.
"Yes!"
Jeff just stared at Tay and then regained his normal face expression,"Well...she grew up." he said laughing.
Taylor rolled his eyes,"You can come in if you promise to be quiet."
"No prob Bob." Jeff said casually.
Taylor cautiously opened the door and poked his head in. He let out a sigh of relief, she was still sleeping. He opened the door and tiptoed in. Jeff followed, and tripped over a shoe. He fell flat on his face, "Oof!"
Taylor bit his finger and froze. Erica stirred but settled back into sleep.
Jeff pulled himself up clutching the dreaded shoe. He beat Tay on the arm with it. Taylor picked up his fist in warning.
Come on Jeff mouthed.
Shut-up! No! Taylor mouthed back.
Taylor crept over to his closet and pulled out one rollerblade Where the heck... Tay wondered as he went into the depths of the sock-filled closet to find his other rollerblade.
Jeff crept over by the bed and stared at Erica. He prayed she wouldn't wake up and see him staring at her. He noticed that the strap on her tank top was falling slightly down her shoulder. Before he could stop himself his hand was reaching out and grabbing the comforter to pull it back.
"I can't find my other blade." Tay whispered.
Jeff pulled his hand away just as Taylor poked his head out of the closet,"What are you doing?" Tay asked noticing how close to the bed he was.
"The comforter was falling off, she looked cold." he lied.
Taylor stared at him for a second and then stifled a laugh,"Yeah, and I'm a sentimental sap." he whispered shaking his head.
"Ah, cut me a break." Jeff said, and then something behind the bed caught his eye,"Is that your blade?"
Taylor walked over,"Shit." he whispered,"How am I gonna get that?"
"We could call David Copperfield and he could float it out." Jeff cracked.
Erica stirred again.
Shit shit shit shit shit..." Tay chanted in his head.
But yet again, she only settled back into sleep. Taylor and Jeff both let out a sigh of relief.
Taylor crouched down by the headboard and shoved his arm between the headboard and the wall grabbing for the rollerblade. After about a minute he gave up,"My arms aren't long enough." he whispered to Jeff.
"Let me try." Jeff said pushing Taylor out of the way, he copied Taylor's previous position, but came up empty-handed as well.
An idea struck Taylor,"I can lean over the headboard if I kneel on the bed." he whispered to Jeff.
"Why don't we just wake Erica up?" Jeff asked.
"No. I can't. I am practically sneaking out. I think this week was just supposed to be for us." Taylor whispered.
"Whipped much?"
"I'm not whipped." Taylor whispered hurridly.
"Wait! Do you hear that?" Jeff whispered.
"Hear what?" Tay asked.
"I think it was whip." Jeff smiled.
Taylor rolled his eyes. He gingerly put his knee on the bed. Erica moved, Taylor's breath caught in his throat. She ended up rolling over and scooting closer to the wall. Taylor raised his eyebrows at Jeff.
"Hurry up!" Jeff whispered frantically.
Quickly and carefully Taylor knelt on the bed and leaned over the headboard and grabbed his rollerblade,"Oh score." he whispered as he triumphantly pulled it up.
"Okay, let's get out of here." Jeff whispered.
Taylor rolled over onto his back to stand up. All of a sudden Erica rolled back over and put her arm around Taylor.
Jeff snorted.
Taylor carefully picked up Erica's arm and moved it, then he slid off of the bed. He grabbed his other blade and shooed Jeff out of the room.
Once out of the room Jeff laughed,"Let's get blading Dorkus Supremus."
"Hey Ike?" Erica asked.
"Hey what?" Isaac asked looking up from his lunch.
"Where's Tay?" Erica asked sitting down.
"I'm not at liberty to say." he said before taking another bite of his sandwhich.
"Did he go out?" she asked.
"Maybe." Ike said shrugging his shoulders. He reached for his glass of milk.
Erica pulled it out of his reach,"Maybe what?" she asked.
"Erica, I'm thirsty!"
"Where'd he go?" she pressed smiling.
"I can't remember." he lied.
Erica raised her eyebrows.
"Damnit," Ike said pounding his fist on the table,"I'm eating peanut butter Erica! Peanut butter! I need milk!"
"Tell me where he went and you'll get your milk back." she said in a sing-song voice.
"He went blading with Jeff." Isaac mumbled meekly.
"That's it? Why didn't he tell me?" she wondered aloud still holding his milk.
"The milk?!" Isaac called exasperated.
"Huh? Oh, here," she said sliding the glass over to Isaac,"knock yourself out." she got up and started to leave the room.
"Erica..." Isaac said after he took a sip of milk.
"Don't worry. I'll tell him I tortured you." she said before turning the corner.
Isaac smiled to himself and happily bit inot his sandwhich.
Beep Beep
"Ike? Zac?" Erica yelled.
"What?" came from somewhere upstairs.
"I'll be back by four-thirty!" she shouted before walking out the door. She got into Stacie's car and then was off to the mall.
Zac walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom,"What did she say?" he asked.
Isaac took off his headphones,"What did who say?"
"Erica. I think she said to do the laundry because it was dirty." Zac thought outloud.
Ike shrugged,"I'm not doing the laundry."
"Me neither." Zac agreed.
"Jeff...would you...please...slow down." Taylor heaved before sitting on a bench.
"What?...You're tired?...Dorkus Supremus." Jeff panted before sitting next to Taylor.
"Well, we started blading at quarter after ten and it is now," he looked at his watch,"two-thirty and nineteen seconds, twenty, twenty-one..."
"I get it!" Jeff exclaimed.
"Yeah, so, hell yeah I'm tired!" Tay excalimed.
"Well I'm starting to feel the burn too." Jeff laughed.
"You're a loser." Taylor laughed.
"So what's Erica like anyway?" Jeff asked.
"Where did that come from?" Taylor asked studying Jeff's face.
Jeff shrugged,"What? I can't make coversation? I was just wondering what it's like."
"What she is like? Or just having a girlfriend?" Tay asked.
"Both." Jeff said quietly.
"Well," Tay thought,"it's great. I mean Erica is great. She is so amazing, it's like I am so alive when I'm around her. She's great, she's everything that I care about and picture a girlfriend to be. She cares about me for me ya know?"
"Yeah, but I mean you could have a lot of girls so, why her?" he asked.
"She doesn't care about the music. Well she wants me to do good and succeed and go for my dreams and stuff, but she cares about me as a person. It's a great thing. You wait and see, you'll get a girlfriend and then you'll realize what it's like." Tay told him.
"Do you love her?" Jeff asked.
Taylor got quiet and looked at the ground,"Well, yeah, maybe, I don't know."
Jeff raised his eyebrows,"You don't know?"
"Well what's love? I mean I care about her but saying the words just makes everything so...I don't know...binding." he said.
Jeff nodded.
"Well I gotta go now. I have to shower and stuff and then I have to help make dinner." he said dragging himself up off of the bench.
"Yeah okay, give me a buzz later." Jeff said.
"Will do," Tay skated away,"Bye!" he called.
"Well we have about an hour left. Now what?" Erica asked.
"I don't know, I think we cleaned out all of the stores." Stacie laughed as she sat down on a bench.
Erica sat next to her,"Yeah well that's our job. We're girls." she smiled.
A pair of hands flew over Erica's eyes,"Guess who...?"
"Who?" she asked.
"Mike." he said coming out from behind her.
"Oh hey Mike," she said smiling," are you here by yourself?" she asked.
"Yup." he said sticking out his botton lip and looking sad,"but that's okay. I was just on my way out and I saw you here with this beautiful lady next to you. And you are?" he asked Stacie.
"Stacie." she said smiling.
"Sister?" he asked.
"Cousin." she clarified.
"Oh," he nodded and turned back to Erica,"well if you two ladies would like a ride I have a car." he said.
"Erica can go, I have to go home anyway." Stacie said.
"Are you sure?" Erica asked.
"Yeah, you're house is out of my way anyway." Stacie said.
"Okay," Erica said slowly before turning to Mike,"guess I'm riding with you."
Okay Taylor thought once again Erica has disappeared on me. Wait, I can't be mad though because I disappeard on her too. I wonder if she's mad. he winced, God I hope not.
"Taylor, can you please finish that salad by dinner?" his mom reminded him.
"Sorry mom." he said returning back to the land of the living.
"It's okay, just don't let your mind wander off if you're using the knife. You won't play too well with missing fingers." she said smiling and nudging him with her elbow.
Taylor laughed. He finished making the salad and started setting the table. As he was setting the table he watched his mom go to the cabinet next to the sink and get Tylenol,"Are you feeling okay mom?" he asked.
"I'm fine Taylor, don't worry." his mother assured him.
Taylor was worried though. His mom was alway so tired and she was constantly eating. She also complained of back pains. She also looked like she was carrying a few extra pounds...
Taylor sat at the window in the living room awaiting Erica's arrival. All of a sudden he heard a sound system, a very loud one. Then a car that looked like it was about to fall apart stopped in front of his house, and he watched in shock as Erica got out. The driver then turned off the engine and walked around to the trunk. Erica grabbed her few bags and then hugged the kid and started to make her way up the front walk.
Taylor dashed to his room and flopped on his bed. Then he picked up a book.
He heard her footsteps coming up the stairs and then the door opened.
Erica walked into the bedroom and dropped her bags at the end of Taylor's bed.
Taylor peeked over his book at her,"Hey, I was so busy I didn't even hear you come in."
Erica gave him a strange look,"Okay..."
Taylor went back to pretending he was reading his book. Erica shuffled around in her bags. Taylor put his book down,"So what'd you buy?"
Erica shrugged,"Stuff, I don't know. I was at the mall I can but anything."
The mall! I should have known! he cried in his thoughts.
"The mall huh?" he said calmly,"who went with you?"
"Stacie." Erica replied not looking up from her bags.
"Girls day out?" Taylor pressed.
"Yeah I guess so." she pulled a receipt from a bag and studied it.
"No guys, just the girls, girls day out correct?"
Erica looked at him for the first time,"Sheesh Tay what's with the third degree?"
"Nothing, I was just curious as to who went to the mall with you." Tay replied.
"And I just told you. Stacie did."
Taylor nodded,"How did you get there and back?" he pressed again.
"A donkey. How do you think I got there? A car. Stacie's car to be specific."
"And she took you home too?" he asked.
"No...Mike took me home." she said.
"Ah-ha!" he said pointing a finger at her.
"Ah-ha what?" she asked.
Taylor's face fell,"I'm not sure."
After dinner Erica offered to do the dishes with Taylor. As Erica washed and Taylor dried and put away they talked.
"Have you noticed my mom acting strange latley?" Taylor asked.
"You mean besides the fact that she's pregnant?" Erica asked.
"Yeah...wait! What? She's pregnant? When did this happen?" he asked wide-eyed.
"Taylor it's obvious. She's showing it and did you see how your parents kept softly murmuring to each other during diner? It was precious." she said getting a dreamy look on her face.
"Precious?" Taylor cut through her dream,"Another kid?"
Erica sighed as she wiped her wet hands on the seat of her pants,"I wouldn't expect you to understand." she told him and then left the room leaving a bewildered Taylor to dry the dishes.
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