"No mom, I haven't seen them. They didn't come here." Tim said,"If they stop by I'll send them home, okay? Bye."
Time hung up the phone and grabbed his cup of coffee and wandered into the living room. He sat down on the coffee table,"So, what now?"
Taylor looked at him, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep,"I don't know." Taylor said shaking his head.
He looked down at Erica. She had finally fallen asleep with her head on his chest after many hours of crying. He had felt funny telling her that everything would be okay. He didn't know that for sure and he would hate it if he was wrong. He prayed silently that he wasn't wrong.
Tim glanced over at Zac and Kerri who were fast asleep on his floor. Then his gaze shifted over to Isaac and Stacie who were sleeping peacefully on the other couch. These kids must have went through alot. he thought to himself.
"You have guts Taylor." Tim said out of nowhere.
Taylor looked at him in wonder. Tim had called him by his name. He had just entered the Twilight Zone.
"I know that you are going to stick around with her," Tim continued,"because you stood up to my father. That takes guts. You must really care about Erica. And that makes me more comfortable with you, you'll treat her good." he said staring at his little sister.
"I do care about her." Taylor said,"But with you okay with me and her does this mean that you don't hate me now?" he asked.
"No," Tim said sternly,"but I do respect you."
Taylor nodded. He would take what he could get.
Tim sighed,"You guys can stay for another day or two but, I can't keep hiding you. You have to go somewhere else or go home. I can get into alot of trouble for this." he told him before leaving the room.
Go home? Taylor thought wrapping his arms around Erica, We go home and Erica is pulled away from me.
A tear fell down his face when he realized that they had to go home. They had no money and they were so young, all of them. They couldn't live alone, they had to go back. He hugged Erica closer as he started to cry. If he lost her, he lost everything.
Erica woke up and picked her head up. Taylor was crying,"Taylor..." she whispered wrapping her arms around him.
He let out a couple of wimpers and sniffed,"Y...you know w...we have to go home."
Tears stung her eyes,"You know that they won't keep us apart. I won't let them and you won't let them." she assured him.
He let out a sob,"We can't s...stop them Erica y...you know that."
"Taylor, please." she said quietly as she reached for a tissue and wiped the tears off his cheeks,"Don't let them make you believe that. They want to beat us and we can't let them. I won't let them. Please, don't give in. I need you to stick with me Tay, don't let them get to you."
She kissed him gently and his chest heaved as he tried to stop crying. His heart was breaking in two,"We have to go h...home. W...we have to go now."
"We found the van." Kerri's mother said dropping onto the Hanson couch.
"And the kids?" Walker asked expectantly.
Kerri's father, Scott, shook his head no.
Diane shook her head,"John, it's all your fault."
"My fault?" he looked at his wife.
"Well think about it, you tried to pull Erica away from Taylor. Did you actually think she would be okay with it and not try to run?" Diane asked.
John looked away from her.
"My daughter is missing and it's because of you! She could be dead in a gutter somewhere!" she shrieked at him.
Stacie's mother, Jean, put her hand on Diane's shoulder,"They're together. I'm sure they're fine."
The front door clciked. All of the parents froze.
"Mom?" Isac called.
All of the parents ran into the front hall where the kids were standing.
"Oh thank God, my babies!" Diana cried.
They started to hug the kids.
"Wait." Taylor said timidly. All eyes were now on him. Erica gently squeezed his hand.
"Erica and I are prepared to leave or whatever if you guys will keep us apart. We don't have alot of money it's true," his eyes filled with tears and he snickered,"in fact we only have twenty-five bucks,but, well I could work or something..." he stuttered.
"We're not going to keep you apart." Diane said.
Taylor sighed in relief but Erica spoke up,"That's great mom, but it's actually up to dad."
Erica's father hung back.
"I've never asked you for alot dad," she said tears filling her eyes,"maybe an occasional smile of praise when I've done something note-worthy, a simple "I'm proud of you" would probably make my day. My whole life I've been struggling for you. I don't know exactly what I wanted you to show me. Attention, pride or maybe just love." She swallowed hard,"You've always taken alot away from me, obviously because it's your job to punish me, but I've always let you. I never challenged it and I've never questioned your ability to know what's best for me, until now."
John looked at her. Was this his daughter that he had raised up to be so strong and independent and now she turned against him?
"I care about Taylor alot dad, alot. He makes me feel good about myself. He's there to encourage me and be proud of me and happy for me. He holds me when I'm sad and he comforts me when I'm upset. He's there and you're not. And I'm there for him too."
Taylor put his arm around her Does she really mean all of that? he thought.
"You can take away alot of things dad. And I would probably never argue or fight about it. But I will not, not in a million years, let you take Taylor from me. Without him, I'm nothing."
Her dad stared at her,"I..." he stopped.
Everyone was staring him down, what was he supposed to say to his daughter that saw him as a failure?
"I'm sorry that you've never felt that I loved you or was proud of you. I am proud of you, I always am. I only try to do what's best for you. And I know how you feel about Taylor but, the punishment seems fair to me."
Erica gripped onto Taylor's sleeve. After all of that he's still going to keep us apart?
"John..." Diane started.
He held up his hand as a signal for her to stop talking,"But it only seems that way."
Everyone sighed in relief.
"You and Taylor belong together, and it hurts me." her father continued,"I hate watching you grow up and go off with boys. You don't need me for everything and I can't stand it. But Taylor's great and he's great to you. I just want you to be happy." He shoved his hands in his pockets,"I'm sorry that you think that I've let you down."
She smiled through tears and hugged her father,"I don't think that. I love you daddy."
He hugged his daughter back,"I love you too."
Stacie, Isaac, Kerri, Zac, Taylor and Erica all stood outside the Hanson house, Today was the day that they were leaving.
"Zac, I'm gonna miss you." Kerri said hugging him.
"I'll miss you too." he said holding her to him.
"And don't worry about missing my birthday because I'm missing yours too." Kerri told him.
"I know." he told her.
"Nothing will change with us." she said trying to convince herself.
"Well I hope things change, it would suck if we didn't get closer." he told her.
She pulled away and looked in his eyes,"Yeah."
"Okay, now lay one on me baby." Zac said.
Kerri giggled and then kissed him.
"Oh God, I'm going to miss you way too much." Stacie told Isaac as she wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm gonna miss you too." Isaac said.
"I don't think I can handle this." she said letting a tear fall.
Isaac nodded and whispered,"All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door, I'd hate to wake you up to say goodbye..."
Stacie laughed,"You've seen that movie way too many times."
"So kiss me and smile for me, let me know you'll wait for me, hold me like you'll never let me go." he sang.
She wrapped her arms around him even tighter.
"Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again."
Taylor looked at Erica and laughed,"Oh God, he's lost it.
She smiled and leaned against the van. He stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her hips and rested his forehead on hers and stared in her eyes,"Everything will work out for us, I promise. When I get back my main focus is us, alright?"
She nodded and put her hands on his chest,"I know we'll be fine.
He kissed her gently,"You're perfect, don't change." he whispered,"When I come back I want you just this way."
"Okay." she whispered back.
He kissed softly again and then snickered,"I'm horrible at goodbyes."
She smiled,"Do a great job out there. You know I'm so proud of you. I've never told you that before but, I am."
Taylor closed his eyes and sighed. She was only making it harder for him to get into that van with every word she uttered.
"I'm going to miss you." she said letting a tear fall.
He wiped the tear off her cheek,"Don't cry, please." he whispered.
Her chin quivered and a few more tears fell. He wrapped his arms around her warmly, a tear forming in his eyes.
"You can't go." she said burying her face in his shirt and clinging to him.
He wanted to agree with her and just stay with her here but, he couldn't,"I have to go. But we'll pull through this." he told her, running his hand through her hair.
She pulled away when she saw Isaac and Zac climbing into the van,"Go ahead." she said wiping her eye and pushing him towards the open door of the van.
He climbed in and stared at her sadly as he shut the door.
Erica felt Stacie's hand on her shoulder as they waved and blew a kiss or two to the boys. Walker started the van.
Zac and Isaac had a few tears in their eyes that refused to fall. Kerri's and Stacie's tears were falling like rain though.
They pulled off down the street,"Dad go back." Zac said.
We can't Zac, you'll see Kerri soon enough." Walker said.
All three of them slumped down in their seats.
"Don't worry boys," Diana told them,"we're going to have fun. They'll be here when you get back." she assured them.
Meanwhile, the girls walked slowly to Stacie's car so they could go back to Kerri's. They all slowly climbed in and slumped back in their seats. Stacie put her hand on the ignition and then stopped. Kerri was sniffling in the back and Erica was wiping the tears off of her cheeks.
"They're at Gate B12 right?" Stacie asked them starting the car.
Erica and Kerri glanced at each other and smiled.
"Boys, pick up your feet and quit dawdling." Mrs. Hanson scolded.
Zac grumbled and shifted his grip on the suitcase.
Isaac stopped. Did someone just call his name? He slowly turned around and scanned the crowd.
"What is it Ike?" Taylor asked stopping.
Isaac shook his head,"Nothing." and he kept walking. He checked over his shoulder a couple of times.
"You okay buddy?" Tay asked again.
"I swear Stacie is calling my name,"Isaac laughed,"I'm losing it."
It's alright, I feel like Erica is calling mine too. She's been calling it the whole drive here." Taylor chuckled.
They got to their gate and had a forty-five minute wait. They plopped down in some plastic airport chairs.
Zac sniffed,"Guys, I miss Kerri." he said letting a tear fall.
Isaac put his hand on Zac's shoulder,"It's..." he stopped and looked in the direction of the crowd,"God damnit do you hear that?" he yelled standing up.
"Isaac!" a faint voice called.
Zac and Taylor bolted up,"No way." Tay murmured.
All of a sudden Stacie, Erica and Kerri came running through the crowds of people towards Ike, Tay and Zac.
The boys all started to run towards them too. Stacie and Isaac reached each other first and started covering each other in kisses. Erica ran right into Taylor's arm and he picked her up off of the ground, holding her close. Zac and Kerri just hugged like they could never let go.
Diana and Walker glanced at each other. This was going to be one long plane ride.
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