Walking up to the door, he pushed it open, shaking one more time to clear his thoughts.

"Hey Zac, nice to see you home for once."

Zac's dad barely looked up from his paper reading and then went back to his task.

Sniffing as he threw his coat on a hanger, he walked past his sisters arguing over the TV remote, he ran to the upstairs bathroom. Tossing his backpack by the door to his room, he went in. Quietly shutting the door, so as not to warn Isaac and Taylor he was home, he locked it. Staring at his reflection in the mirror he sighed.

His long blond locks hung in tired flat strands along his face. Most of them pulled back and angrily pushed behind his ears. His brown eyes were dilated to their fullest, and small circles formed under his eyes.

He couldn't believe he looked this shitty.

"Zac man, what the hell happened to you?"

He ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten it and turned on the cold water. After five nearly ten minutes of trying to get himself back together, he turned off the water.

"Come on Han snap to it."

Drying off his face and feeling somewhat more down to earth, he opened the door. Flipping off the light and stepping out.

"Good job Han, no older siblings in sight."

As he walked past his room, he heard the door swing open and he was suddenly pulled inside.

Taylor sat on the bed and Isaac had a firm grip on his collar.

"Ouch, Ike man, ease up on the grip there dude."

Isaac shoved his brother onto the bed, then walking over he pelted him across the shoulder.

"You little fuck."

Zac drew back. Isaac was a down to earth guy, he cusses sometimes, and not much, but this, this was so, unlike Ike.

"What?"

Isaac punched Zac again, this time hard enough to make him grunt.

"What the hell are you doing Ike! Christ! Was that called for?"

Isaac reached back at Taylor who handed him a small metal tin.

Zac's heart stopped.

Throwing the tin across the room and hitting Zac in the chest Isaac folded his arms over his chest.

Zac gulped.

"You little fuck."

Zac pulled himself up, sliding back against the wall.

"How could you even THINK of this?"

Zac looked over at Taylor, who sat, staring back, with a meaner look on his face then Isaac.

"It's not like it's, bad..."

Isaac lay another punch on his brother.

"Not bad!! How the Hell do you figure!"

Zac's heart was beating fast.

"What do you think mom is gonna think?"

Zac's head dropped. He placed his head in his hands and rested them on his knees.

"Mom doesn't have to know, either does dad."

"Not know? Not know? How can they not know? Zac they'd find out anyway, sooner or later."

"Later. They don't have to know now. They don't ever have to know Ike."

"Zac how could you?"

Taylor's first words seemed more hurt then angered.

"Didn't you see? Did you see what happened to Jem? What happened to Nikki? Look what can happen to you!"

Taylor sighed.

Zac leaned over, resting his head on his pillow.

"So what the hell am I supposed to do Zac?"

Taylor stood, walked to the door, with Isaac following, and together they stepped out.

"You're so ungrateful."

"Great, you guys?"

Dorin shrugged.

"Okay I guess."

Jeremy had not yet arrived with Zac, and Mercy wouldn't be able to make it until 5.

"How's Jem doing?"

Dorin shrugged again.

"He's home still. Still seeing Nikki."

"You okay with that?"

"I guess I am."

Josh reached over to a stack of papers and a few folders.

"There's actually a really big ask for you guys right now. I didn't realize it till I went out and talked."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, seems like there's tons of interviewers ready to kill for you, and awards too."

"What do you mean awards?"

Just then the door to the studio pulled open, and in stepped Zac, followed by Jeremy.

"Hey guys. Take a seat."

Josh pointed to two vacant seats sitting around the rectangular table.

Sitting down quietly, the two brothers pulled their coats off.

"Back on the subject, what kind of awards?"

Dorin's attention was fixed on his manager.

"Well, Mtv says that the Music video awards are coming up in about 5 months, they've also got the movie awards going on, the Grammy's say they wouldn't mind maybe a performance, and you've got Leno and Letterman on the edge of their seats."

"Letterman? The Grammy's?"

"Yeah, I was sort of shocked myself. There's a demand for you guys."

Josh sat back in his chair.

"Wow."

Jeremy sat forward, tapping his fingers on the table.

"Mtv?"

"Yeah, and they say your videos get tons of requests, as of now, you guys are in the top ten requested artists for interview. You guys need to get out, get known better. I think it'll help the sale of your old album, and once you get started on the new one, it'll definitely help the sales on that one too."

Zac sighed from his corner seat.

"We don't have to like, change or anything do we?"

Josh smiled. So like Zac to bring up the image thing.

"Well, no, but you can."

"So like, if I wanted to stop smiling, or I wanted to go naked I could?"

Dorin laughed.

"Taking lessons from Zac Hanson are ya?"

"Not something I take part in Door."

Josh pulled out more papers.

"Well you guys need to tell me what you want to do. I've got tons of requests, I'd like to stretch them out over a period, but I'd like to get a lot of them in."

Dorin nodded in thought.

"What time is it?"

Zac looked around the room to find a person with a watch.

"Five after Five."

"Where's Mey?"

"Probably with Taylor. They've been spending tons of time together lately."

"Lately? They always spend time together."

"Oh leave them alone Zac."

Dorin threw a pencil at his youngest sibling.

"What!"

"I think you're jealous."

Zac grinned.

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Umm. I'm not going to answer that one."

Mercy sat in the passenger's seat, yelling at Taylor and at any person that got in her way.

"Easy there, your like, on a role there."

She shot him an evil glance.

"I'm supposed to be there 15 minutes ago Tay!"

"I'm going as fast as the Tulsa City police will allow babes."

She thumped on the dashboard.

"Mey! Chill!"

She sighed, leaning back and staring out the window.

Taylor drove the busy streets until they came to the avenue, which held the studio.

Ironically finding a parking place in front of the building, she hopped out, turning and kissing him before she left.

"Call me when you get home."

She waved to him, entering the glass doors.

Zac jumped from his chair, embracing his sister in a brief hug.

"Uh, evening Zac?"

She sat, rubbing her hands together for warmth.

"It's still cold out there."

Dorin grinned.

"We were just talking about awards."

Mercy's eyes went wide.

"Awards!!"

The rest of the evening was spent talking of future plans.

Okay, so technically, he wasn't grounded, your brothers don't count unless your D. But he wasn't D. He was Zac Hanson, who had just done that stupid thing that you only do once in your life.

So they had caught him, he couldn't go out for, okay a month…or two. The worst thing though, was that he couldn't see D. Taylor and Ike knew that it wasn't just D's fault, and it wasn't primarily their little brother's either, but if he couldn't get to the drugs, then he couldn't do the drugs.

He jumped off his bed, clearing a space on the floor and pulled out a book.

"Stupid books."

Sitting Indian style, he opened it, reading, fairly uninvolved, he heard the front door close.

Standing up abruptly he listened.

His mom and dad had taken the younger kids to the mall for the day, and Isaac had gone over to Angie's place for the night. Taylor however, was out with Mercy, they were due for something, he didn't really know what. But he knew Taylor wasn't sposed to be home.

Stepping into the hall and peering down the stair well, he sighed.

Taylor threw himself on the sofa, placing his elbows on his knees and taking a deep breath. Lightly resting his head on his hands he sat.

Zac sat down, waiting curiously for some sign he wasn't quite sure was going to come from Taylor.

He was almost startled when his brother flung a shoe across the living room.

Sitting back, eyes wide, Zac shook his head.

Taylor stood up, stretched, then started for the stairs.

Zac jumped up, tip toeing to their room, and quietly shutting the door.

Jumping to his bed he sat back, acting like he had seen nothing.

The door pushed open, and Taylor walked in, pulling his hair back out of his face and sighing once again.

"Nice try Zac, but that shoe was about aimed at you."

Zac rolled his eyes. Somehow Taylor had aquired Dorin's senses. He could tell if Zac was looking at him from three rooms away.

"So what if I was. Not like you didn't look pissy."

"Didn't look pissy? Hmm. You should be one to talk Zac."

Zac scowled at his brother.

"Mom and dad suddenly took a little road trip up to our aunts place. They 'coincidentally' won't be back for a couple days."

"And this is bad?"

"Considering they didn't realize where they were going til they were half way there."

"Oh."

Taylor climbed up on his bed, folding his legs.

"So that means it's me Ike and you all weekend."

"Oh gee, tell me how you really feel."

"At the moment Zac, I really don't feel like having you as a brother."

"Oh that's really justified."

"Hell it's not."

"It is. You sort of, I don't know, did something that's entirely to stupid."

"Too stupid? Sort of like you and Mercy or something."

Taylor sat up.

"What does me and Mercy have to do with you and your pot head self?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Hey look, just because I happened to smoke pot for a while, doesn't mean it justifies you sleeping with her."

Taylor paused.

"How would you know whether or not I'm sleeping with Mey."

"Christ Tay!! How could you NOT be sleeping with her?"

Taylor looked away from Zac.

"So what's up with that. Is that stupid? What if mom were to find out about that?"

"She won't. And if she does, then I'll know who's ass to kick."

"Tay, you couldn't kick a horses ass."

"Screw you."

"Nope. I'm afraid I'll leave that to the opposite sex."

"Shit."