"Where are we going anyway? I have to be home in an hour." Erica said putting her feet up on the dashboard.
"Why do you have to be home? Aren't your parents gone for the week?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, but Taylor's coming over." she said as she ran her hand through her hair.
"What's the deal with you and him anyway?" Mike asked as he turned left with the flow of traffic.
"What do you mean? He's my boyfriend." she said looking at him like he was the dumbest person alive.
"Well, if he's your boyfriend, why are you here with me?" he asked glancing at her.
"Because you said it was really important." she told him.
He grinned,"I did say that didn't I?"
She nodded and turned her head to look out of the window. The streetlight quickly glinted off of the gold locket that she wore on her neck.
"Where'd you get the locket?" Mike asked as he turned towards the park, he couldn't help but notice it.
Erica's hand absentmindedly found the locket that hung delicatley around her neck,"Taylor."
"Wow," Mike said sarcastically,"I wish I had that kind of person in my life. You know, someone to spoil me rotten." he explained as he raised his eyebrows.
"He doesn't spoil me." she said defensively.
"Question." Mike stated,"He has a job and buys you nice things, but do you do the same for him?" he asked.
"He doesn't spoil me." she repeated.
"Besides that fact," he continued,"that I doubt any effort even went into picking that out. It probably doesn't even symbolize anything." he shook his head.
"Shut-up Mike. Don't trash Taylor, and if you're going to anyway, don't do it around me!" she said heatedly.
"Woah," he snickered,"sounds like Taylor means alot to you. Hmm...so you lost it to him didn't you?" he asked.
"Excuse you, lost what?" she asked confused.
"Your virginity." he prodded.
"No!" she said defensively.
"That's good, at least someone in this car is a virgin." he mumbled.
Erica shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't want to talk about this, true he was a good friend but, she didn't want to share quite so much with him.
Mike sighed and pulled the car over,"Erica, I seriously have to tell you something." he started.
She stared at him,"Can't you talk while you drive?" she asked as she casually slid closer to the door.
"No," he said firmly,"I have to tell you how I feel about you. I may not be able to buy such nice, expensive things for you like Taylor does so I will admit that I am incredibly jealous but, I need you."
"Mike, please. We're friends." she told him.
"No," he said placing his hands on hers,"we could be so much more Erica. I need you so much more than he does. I would do anything for you, I would kill for you, I would kill myself for you. I would give you the stars, the moon, anything, if you will just give me the pleasure of being with you. Leave Taylor, he'll only break your heart. Be with me."
She pulled her hands out from under his,"Mike, you don't know what you're saying." she told him,"How about if you just come over later so we can talk more?"
"With Taylor there?" he asked quizically.
She sighed,"We'll invite a couple of people. It will be like a little miny party or something okay?"
"Okay." he agreed and then leaned over and kissed her. He had meant it to look completley innocent but once his lips touched hers, he made the kiss last longer.
Erica just sat there stunned. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do?
Mike pulled away when he realized that she wasn't kissing back,"Oh God, I am so sorry." he apologized.
Erica shrugged,"Whatever." she said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
He ran his hands through his hair and sat back in his seat and closed his eyes,"Please don't hate me for this. I am so sorry." he murmmered.
She shrugged again,"I don't hate you just, take me home okay?"
Damnit Mike! Erica thought as she plopped her jacket on a stool in the kitchen, Why'd you have to kiss me? I can't tell Taylor and you are making my life so fucking complicated!
The doorbell rang.
Erica jumped, Oh God that's Taylor. What do I say? Will he know what happened? she answered the door.
"Hey babe." he said stepping in and brushing his lips onto hers.
She stood there like a statue made of stone and smiled nervously,"Hi." Can he tell? she wondered.
"What's the matter?" he asked as if reading her mind.
"Nothing, I guess I'm just tired." she lied. Warning! He knows something's up! Change the subject! Quick!,"How are you?" she asked.
Taylor paused,"Okay, what's going on? Seriously Erica, what is going on?"
"What do you mean?" she said plastering a fake smile on her face.
Taylor leand in close and smelled her,"Well, you're not smoking again..." he muttered aloud.
Erica rolled her eyes and turned towards the kitchen,"Thanks for your vote of confidence, Tay." she said sarcastically.
Taylor followed her,"Okay I'm sorry. If you say you're just tired then I guess you're just tired."
"Thank you." she smiled as she pulled two water bottles from the fridge and handed one to Taylor.
He unscrewed the cap and took a sip. He listened to the unbelievable silence in the house,"Don't you hate staying here alone?" he asked.
She shrugged,"It has its moments."
"Such as?" he smiled.
"Well, with the rents gone, there's plenty of time, and space, to mess around in." she grinned slyly.
Taylor blushed and laughed,"You're such a tease."
Erica shrugged and took a sip of her water bottle,"Hey, why don't you sleep over?" she asked out of nowhere,"Remember how we used to do that when we were little?" she asked.
"Yeah, but we're older now." he reminded her.
She put her hand on his shoulder,"Fine, then I guess I'll just have to stay in this big house," she traced her finger down his chest,"all alone." she pouted.
Taylor let out a heavy sigh,"I wish I could stay over."
She took his water bottle from him and placed it on the counter,"Who says you can't?" she asked nibbling his ear.
"My parents." he mumbled holding her closer to him.
She sighed and pulled away,"Nevermind then."
"Hey, but I have time right now." he told her latching his fingers on her belt loops.
"True," she smiled,"and we haven't seriously made out in four months, like you said."
"That does it!" he said ripping off his jacket,"Let's do it!"
She laughed at him as she put her water bottle back in the fridge,"We're not doing stuff in the kitchen. People eat food in here."
Taylor growled and picked Erica up in his arms,"Where to?" he asked as he ran from the kitchen.
"Tay, put me down!" she laughed.
He plopped on the couch,"How about here?" he asked.
She leapt up,"No, not the living room!" she laughed.
"Erica!" he whined laying down.
Erica sighed,"It's too hot in here though." she said as she unbuttoned a button on her shirt.
"I think it's just you." he smiled.
She rolled her eyes and turned up the stairs.
"Hey! Get back here!" Taylor leapt up chasing her.
She screeched and pounded up the stairs, him chasing her every step of the way. She burst into her room and shut the door. He burst through it after her.
"Playing hard to get huh?" he asked.
"Yup." she laughed backing up towards the wall.
He lunged forward and she jumped onto her bed and over to the other side. He jumped onto her bed and she bolted out of her room. He chased her down the hall and into her parents room,"Gotcha!" he yelled wrapping his arms around her waist.
She laughed as he pulled her onto her parents bed and climbed onto her,"Okay you got me. Now what?" she asked.
"Alright Stacie, so maybe I over-reacted slightly." Isaac apologized to the best of his ability without actually admitting that he was wrong for losing his temper.
"No, it's fine.I know you're under a lot of stress. I mean with touring coming up and your mom pregnant and..."
"And you keeping secrets from me." Isaac jumped in.
Stacie sighed,"It's just a really big thing Ike. I just have to wait until the right time..."
Isaac interrupted again,"Well, when is the right time? When I snap and start beating the crap out of people because I am frustrated? When everything in my life seems so perfect so that you can come in and knock it all away with a jumble of sentences?"
"Isaac, don't lose your temper again. We'll keep going in circles with this thing and it won't be helping anything." she told him as she got up off of the couch and walked into the kitchen.
"Once again, she walks away from the problem." Isaac announced to no one and threw his hands in the air. He didn't know what to do anymore.
"Okay Tay, that's enough." Erica breathed heavily trying to push Taylor off of her.
Taylor's lips pulled away from her neck,"Huh?"
"That's enough." she said sitting up and pushing him off of her.
"But, we barely did anything." he protested.
"Well sorry," Erica muttered sarcastically getting off of the bed,"besides I have people coming over."
Taylor threw his light blue flannel over his white t-shirt,"What people?" he asked absentmindedly.
"My friends." she replied simply.
"Who?" he asked more interested than ever.
"Taylor,"she sighed,"I have friends. You know you're not here all the time, and when you're gone..."
He cut her off,"Just jump down my throat why don't you? Don't get so defensive, I'm just curious."
"Oh," she paused,"well you can stay if you want." she offered as she smoothed down the bedspread.
"Uh, sure," he said hesitantly,"but only for a little while."
"Hmmm, just some people over huh?" Taylor asked over the loud music to Erica as he scanned all of the people in her house.
"So what." she said waving her hand to act as if it didn't bother her but, it did. She said a couple people, now how was she going to clean all of this up?
"Promise me you won't smoke." Taylor said to her out of nowhere.
"Okay." she nodded.
"Say I promise." he instructed making her look in his eyes.
"I promise." she told him without hesitation.
"Hi Erica," Samantha said bumping into her,"great party."
"Thanks." Erica replied.
Samantha's gaze shifted over to Taylor,"Well hi there." she smiled as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger.
"Hi." Taylor forced a smile as he surveyed the girl. Brown hair with bright blonde streaks? Ick! She had on way too much make-up in Taylor's opinion and she was practically naked. What a turn-off! What a ditz!
Samantha shot Erica a dirty look,"Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Erica rolled her eyes,"Taylor, this is Samantha."
"Or just plain Sam," she giggled as she twirled her hair,"aren't you in that band Handsome? You know, I think guitar playing is really sexy." she said touching his shoulder.
Taylor stepped back,"Actually it's Hanson and I play the keyboards."
"Oops," she covered her mouth and giggled,"my bad."
Just then Mike walked over,"Erica, come here, I have to show you something." he said grabbing onto her arm. He stopped pulling her along when he saw Taylor,"Taylor?" he asked.
Taylor grimmaced and looked Mike over,"Yeah, and that would make you the infamous Mike."
Mike snickered and shrugged,"I guess so, whatever, you know."
Taylor crossed his arms,"No, actually I don't know."
Erica coughed,"What did you have to show me Mike?"
"Oh, it's so cool! Alex brought it and we set it up in back!" he exclaimed and then turned to Taylor,"I'm just going to borrow her for a second."
Taylor was about to protest when Samantha grabbed his arm,"Oh cool! Then I can talk to Taylor about the drums!"
"Keyboards." he corrected.
She giggled,"Whatever."
Mike winked at Samantha,"Ok Sam, you keep him busy." he laughed.
Samantha winked back and giggled again. Mike took Erica's hand and pulled her away. She looked over her shoulder at Taylor and shrugged.
Taylor was about to follow when Samantha stepped in his way,"So, like, how do you remember all the notes to every song?" she asked.
Taylor inwardly groaned and glanced at his watch.
Stacie pulled up in front of the Hanson house to let Ike out.
"Is Erica having a party?" he asked staring at her house.
Stacie glanced over,"Oh shit." she mumbled turning off the engine and getting out of the car.
Isaac climbed out of the car too,"Aren't her parents gone?" he asked confused.
Stacie started to make her way across the street. She was walking so fast that Isaac had to run to catch up to her,"Hold on Stacie, what are you doing?" he asked grabbing her arm.
"I'm going to break up the party." she replied simply, slipping out of Isaac's grasp.
Some kids were streaming out of the backyard with beers in their hands. One of them put his keys in the air,"I'm driving!"
Isaac grabbed the kids keys,"Hey, don't drink and drive."
The drunken kid laughed at him and snatched his keys back,"Back off girlie man."
The other drunken kids burst out into hysterical laughter as they stumbled to the car.
Isaac looked pitifully at Stacie. She smiled,"Ike, there are way to many kids here thatare drinking and going to drive. You can't save them all." she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house,"Come on."
"So then I was like, Nicole, no way those are two different shades of pink. And she was like no, and I was all like hello? Fashion vitim anyone?" Samantha said.
Taylor mocked shock,"That's hideous, two different shades of pink! She shold be shot!"
Samantha smiled and twirled her hair,"Well duh, I totally told her that. And she tried to wear platforms and I was like, that is so two weeks ago and she was all like..."
Taylor glanced up to see Isaac and Stacie passing by, he jumped up and grabbed his brother,"Ike! Thank God! God bless you!" he said.
Samantha rushed quickly to Taylor's side,"Where are you going?"
Taylor stepped behind Ike,"Sam, this is Ike, he plays the guitar." Taylor introduced.
She smiled seductivley,"You know," she said moving closer to Ike,"guitar playing is really sexy."
Isaac forced a smile,"Um, well uh, thanks I guess."
Stacie walkeed over and grabbed Isaac and Taylor,"Back off bitch!" she yelled at Samantha and pushed her way back through the crowd.
"Stacie, you're my savior!" Taylor sighed.
Stacie paid no attention,"Where's Erica?"
"She went out back with Mike about,"he glanced at his watch,"twenty minutes of pure hell ago!"
Isaac snickered at Taylor's exaggeration.
Taylor glanced at him,"You think it's funny? Did you know that there were two shades of pink?! Pink is pink! It has no shade! It's all pink!" he cried.
"Out back? Shit, she's probably getting drunk." Stacie groaned.
"But of course no one on the face of this earth besides that ditz Samantha would know that there were two shades of pink," he babbled,"and about platforms too. She's the expert on those too. Why don't you ask her Ike?" He turned his attention to Stacie,"No she's not getting drunk because I made her promise that she wouldn't." he said exasperated.
Stacie glared at him,"You made her promise not to drink?" she asked.
Taylor looked thoughtful,"I made her promise not to smoke but, it's all the same."
Stacie dropped her head in her hands,"No, it's not. You left her a loop-hole."
"A what?" Isaac asked as he stepped back towards the wall to avoid a kid who was making a mad dash for the bathroom with his hand over his mouth.
Stacie looked at him,"A loop-hole. It's when you're not specific enough. She promised she wouldn't smoke but not that she wouldn't drink."
"Yeah, but it's only been twenty minutes." Taylor pointed out.
"That is more than enough time." she replied,"Okay, Isaac go out front and make sure that these kids are at least somewhat capable to drive. Taylor?"
"Yeah?" he asked as he watched Isaac head off.
"Turn this music off, I don't care how, just get it off. I'll find Erica. Tell anyone you see that the party is over!"
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