Section One

     It had been one month. One month since they had moved up here and one month since her grandmother had died there. She sat beside the granite headstone and wiped at a tear that slid down her cheek. Tabitha had always been closest with her grandmother, the only person that had ever understood how she felt about certain things. Not even her own mother understood her. Her stepfather could have cared less about her. She might as well have been an orphan if it weren’t for her grandmother. Before she lost herself in too many tears, Tabitha laid down the small bouquet of flowers and the letter she had written saying how much she loved Grandma Lynn. She knew the cemetery’s keeper would just pick up the two, but at least she felt as if she had given her grandmother a little something in return for all her love.
     Standing she brushed little leaves and dirt from her jeans and then she stretched. Sitting by a headstone for an hour could make your legs and all cramp up. She picked up her book bag and started to head out of the graveyard. She walked with her head down and kept up a fast pace ... the graveyard did start to get a little creepy after dark. Just then she ran into someone. "Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry," she said to whomever it was.
     "Oh, no ... I should have been looking where I was going," a masculine voice said.
     Tabitha looked up finally at the person. She was amazed at who she saw. Taylor Hanson.
     He saw her surprised look and knew she recognized him. At the same moment he wished he knew who she was.
     For a moment neither of them spoke.
     "Um, I’m sorry again, um..." she sputtered.
     "No, really, it’s okay. I wasn’t looking where I was going at all." Then Taylor asked, "By the way, um, I know you know who I am ... but what’s your name?"
     Her eyes widened, Taylor wanted to know her name. "Tabitha," she replied softly.
     "Nice to meet you, Tabitha ... though this is a strange place to meet." Taylor fumbled for words. Normally he knew what to say, he had an explanation or comment for everything, but now he couldn’t think of anything at least semi-intelligent. He looked at this girl before him. She had sorta wavy, sorta curly red hair down to her shoulders, in the dimming of the evening light he saw she had dark brown eyes. She was wearing worn-in flares, they looked at least a year old, and a pink T-shirt with little purple flowers around the collar. Could this girl be the reason his heart fluttered and his mind couldn’t conjure up a thing to say?
     She smiled, "Yeah ... I never imagined meeting Taylor Hanson in a graveyard. It is pretty strange." Tabitha, like Taylor, was unsure of any way to make decent conversation. Her eyes were locked on Taylor; his blond hair that hung just above his shoulders now that he had cut it, his eyes glowed cerulean blue in the appearing moonlight. He fidgeted a little and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, which looked a bit small for him. But then again everything Taylor wore looked a bit small, even the navy blue and yellow shirt he wore now looked too tight.
     "So ... what brings you around?" He wanted to keep talking. It would keep him away from visiting the grave he had come to see.
     "Just visiting my grandma in a sense," she replied sadly. "She died three days after we moved here."
     "Oh," he looked down, "I’m sorry to hear that."
     Tabitha sighed. "Yeah, I miss her."
     For a moment the two locked eyes again. Both were at a loss for words. Taylor finally said, "You wanna walk with me? This place is spooky when I’m alone."
     Did she want to? Of course! Her response was a little calmer, "Sure. I know how that is."
     Taylor smiled. "Ok." He led the way through the headstones to a far corner of the graveyard. He stopped at a headstone shaped like an angel. Tabitha read the name on it and instantly she recognized it as the name she’d seen as the dedication of "With You In Your Dreams" on the inside cover of "Middle of Nowhere." This was their grandmother’s resting place.
     Taylor looked up at her. The realization in her eyes was clear. He reached over and touched her shoulder gently, "Are you okay?"
     Tabitha broke from her trance, "Oh, yeah. So this is where your grandma is buried too, huh?"
     Taylor smiled grimly, "Yeah ... what a weird thing to have in common."
     At that thought, Tabitha forgot they were in a cemetery and giggled. That’s when the two of them heard a voice shout.
     "Have you no respect!" Taylor recognized the voice as the voice of the cemetery keeper. He went nuts if he saw you even smile while you were in his cemetery. It was supposed to a place of grief and mourning, not of happy memories. "Teenagers ... think they can just take their happy little hormones anywhere..." they heard him mumble.
     Tabitha sighed, "Maybe I should get going anyway ... my parents will freak. Or be disappointed that I decided to come home."
     Taylor gave her a questioning look when she glanced up at him.
     "Nothing that you would want to hear," she said quietly.
     "Well, I do, maybe you can tell me while I walk you home." Taylor smiled at the look that appeared on her face.
     "If you really want to hear..."
     "Hey, if you don’t mind talking about it, I can listen. I may not have any advice or be able to tell you how to make things all better, but I can listen." Taylor smiled.
     Pleasant warmth passed over her and she blushed. Normally Tabitha tended to Zac of the band, but Taylor seemed genuine enough. And if she couldn’t have Zac, then Taylor was a good second. "All right, if you insist." She shifted her pack on her shoulders and the two began to make their way out.

~~**~~*~~**~~

     She couldn’t believe she was pouring her heart out to him like this ... after all, it had only been fifteen minutes since they’d met in the graveyard. But he was right, he did listen, he even offered theoretic answers to some of her questions. Which helped a little.
     They stopped in front of her house. Every light was off except the one in her parents’ room. They were up and she was sure to be grounded as soon as she walked in the door. After all, it was already after three (a good five hours after three) and she was supposed to be inside.
     "I’m not going in yet," she said turning to Taylor.
     He smiled. "I’m not leaving until I know you’re safe inside."
     "Then let’s go to your place," she said, her eyes widening at her own words.
     Taylor grinned, "That sounds like a good idea," he said. "You can meet the rest of ‘The Hanson Clan’."
     Tabitha smiled. "Okay..."
     "Well, are you coming?"
     "Yeah..."
     "Well, let’s go." To urge her on a little he took her hand and pulled her along. She giggled.
     As they walked, Taylor still didn’t let go of her hand. Not that she minded all that much, his hand had a strong feel to it. Kind of like he could protect her from anything...
     It wasn’t long before they reached his house; it was only two streets over from hers. Taylor went up to the door first and opened it for her. As he followed her into his house, he called out, "Mom, Dad! I’m home!" Instantaneously the room filled with people. Taylor and Tabitha were dodging kids. Taylor made sure to say hello and give a hug to each one. Then the two of them emerged into the kitchen. The latter two members of Hanson were sitting at the kitchen table deeply involved in a game of war.
     "Ha! Joker beats ace!" Zac cried triumphantly.
     But Isaac wasn’t paying attention; he had looked and noticed the two people standing before them. "You meet people at the strangest places, Tay," he said with a sideways grin.
     Taylor rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Guys, I would like you to meet Tabitha ... and yeah, we met at the cemetery, so..."
     Tabitha blushed and looked down at her feet.
     Zac laid down his cards and stood. "Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you, Tabitha," he said with a little bow of his head.
     She smiled and nodded, "The pleasure is all mine."
     Taylor didn’t like them getting all friendly with each other. He watched as the two locked eyes, much the same as he and she had earlier.
     Isaac saw Taylor’s reaction and decided it was time he introduced himself to get Tabitha’s mind from Zac. "Well, it’s nice to meet a new face around here," Isaac said and thankfully it turned her attention from Zac to him.
     She smiled, "It’s great to finally get to meet you," she replied. "My first real friends around here ... and they turn out to be my favorite band." Her face was lit up as if with a thousand little lights behind each feature.
     "So, what would you like to do?" Taylor asked her.
     Tabitha looked around the room, inevitably her eyes landing on Zac, but then she jerked them back to Taylor remembering after all that he was the reason for her being here. "I don’t know," she finally replied.
     "Well, we could watch a movie once our younger sibs go to bed," Zac suggested.
     Taylor narrowed his eyes at Zac. Tabitha looked between the two, she sensed something there but didn’t know what to make of it. "Nobody asked you, Zac," Taylor said snidely.
     Zac narrowed his eyes at Taylor. "Whatever, do what you want..." And he began to stalk out of the room.
     With a certain gleam in his eyes, Taylor said, "How about we watch a movie once our younger sibs go to bed?"
     Zac turned around and almost lunged for Taylor but Isaac caught him, "Let it go ... he found her so he thinks she’s his property for a while, just don’t worry over it." Zac snorted and left the room.
     Tabitha looked after him and when he was out of sight she turned back to Taylor. Her look read "what was that for?"
     Taylor shrugged. "Well, do you want to?"
     She nodded, "Okay, sounds cool."
     Neither of them knew what to say. Taylor fidgeted around, shifting back and forth on his feet. He tugged on his shirt and twisted the fingers of his left hand into his hair. Suddenly he pulled a chair from the table and sat down.
     Tabitha looked down at him unsure if she should do the same. "Sit down, it’ll be another thirty minutes before Mom puts everyone else to sleep."
     So she sat down at the table, and their eyes locked once again. It seemed they’d been doing that all night. Incidentally neither wanted to look away.
     Suddenly Isaac peeked his head into the kitchen, "Tay, can I speak to you?" he asked, hinting that he wanted to talk to him out of Tabitha’s hearing range.
     "Excuse me a moment," Taylor said graciously, he slid back in his chair, stood, and walked over to Isaac. "What is it?"
     "Why did you do that?" Isaac said with a stern stare.
     "Do what?" Taylor asked innocently.
     Isaac sighed and shook his head. "Taylor, you know what you did. You saw Zac was moving in on your ‘territory’ and you basically snapped his neck."
     "I did nothing of the sort," Taylor scoffed.
     Again Isaac shook his head, and he watched as Tay’s eyes wandered back to Tabitha. She was looking at them ... well, more specifically at Taylor. "Taylor, just don’t make some big deal over this, don’t compete with Zac. A pretty face is no reason to argue over." ."
     "I did nothing of the sort," Taylor scoffed.
     Again Isaac shook his head, and he watched as Tay’s eyes wandered back to Tabitha. She was looking at them ... well, more specifically at Taylor. "Taylor, just don’t make some big deal over this, don’t compete with Zac. A pretty face is no reason to argue over."
     Taylor looked at Isaac disapprovingly. "Well, right now her face is prettier than most and Zac can just wait." Without another word he walked away and back over to Tabitha. "You know what, there’s been a slight change of plans ... how would like to just go sit out in the backyard instead?"
     She smiled; anything including Taylor at that moment was the best so she didn’t turn down the offer. "That sounds cool enough," she replied.
     Taylor nodded and the two walked outside into his backyard. It wasn’t anything special, just a normal backyard. It was freshly cut, and smelled of wet grass. Trees framed it on all sides like a natural fence and up above was a clear view of the stars. It was a clear, crisp night, just the right temperature for stargazing. Tabitha looked up at the sky ... an instant impulse to being outside. She always wished God had given her real wings to fly up there and get away from all her problems on the ground ... of course, it was only a wish and more often than not her wishes didn’t come true.
     "Hey," Taylor said trying to break her trance; he tugged at the leg of her jeans beckoning her to sit down.
     She sighed and took a seat on the ground beside him. As she sat there she unconsciously picked and pulled at the grass.
     "Is everything okay?" Taylor asked. He laid his hand gently on her knee.
     Tabitha looked at his hand and her eyes trailed up his arm to his face. "I’m okay," she said quietly. Her eyes left his face and lifted to the sky as if she were hoping to catch a glimpse of the heavens.
     "I don’t think everything is..." Taylor said. His hand was still on her knee and he gave it a gentle squeeze. "What’s on your mind?"
     With a lost look on her face, Tabitha said, "I don’t know ... I mean, I feel so alone. Ever since Grandma Lynn died... She was the only true family I had. I already told you my mom hates the fact that I was ever born and my stepfather doesn’t even acknowledge my existence half the time unless he’s ordering me around or hitting me."
     "You didn’t tell me he hit you," he said with wide eyes.
     Tabitha sighed; she’d slipped, too late to turn back now though. "He does, not often because I’m not home that much, but whenever he can he does."
     "And your mom doesn’t even try to stop him?"
     "No ... she ‘loves’ him, so she could care less if he loved me or killed me." Tears trailed to the corners of her eyes.
     Taylor scooted closer and laid a single finger against the edge of one of her eyes, a tear slid onto it and he wiped it away. "I wish I could tell you something other than to go to the police or something, but I can’t think of anything."
     "It’s ok," she said softly. "Not like they could do anything anyway."
     "But you shouldn’t just let him do that to you..." Taylor said thoughtfully.
     Tabitha sighed, now she really wished she hadn’t have said anything at all. "I know, Taylor ... just, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine."
     Taylor looked at her, that was the problem. He had to worry about it; he had to worry about her. They’d only known each other almost an hour and he felt something in him that made him suddenly care about any little thing she said. She was so beautiful, just sitting there in the moonlight. It hit her eyes in way making them sparkle like little jewels. She turned her head and they were locked in that familiar gaze again.
     Oh, she hated feeling like this! Tabitha just wanted to tell him everything, but if she told him too much he’d be too involved. And she’d just met him, so there wasn’t much justification in her telling him everything. She looked deeply into his eyes, sparkling sapphires they were. She clearly saw his perfectly curved lips, carnation pink in the moonlight.
     He wanted to, but did she want to? He couldn’t read her thoughts unfortunately, but he did see the way she began to move closer. Their lips were just about to meet when...
     "Hey, kids!" Zac said sitting down between the two of them. "How’s it going? Oh, and Tay, Mom wants you inside, now."
     "Well, what does Mom want?" Taylor asked scooting just a bit away from his brother.
     "I guess you’ll have to go in now to find out," Zac replied sarcastically with a big smile plastered on his face.
     Taylor got up reluctantly and glared at Zac, and as he walked to the house he kept looking back to make sure Zac wasn’t doing anything he wasn’t supposed to. As soon as Zac heard the screen door close, he turned to Tabitha and smiled hugely, "So what were you doing in the cemetery? It’s not the usual place people meet at ... most just go to the mall."
     "Well, I would have gone to mall but you know since I’m a vampire I can’t go out in sunlight..." She chuckled a little.
     Zac grinned, "Really? So what’s your fave blood type? I think I’m A-negative, you wanna check?" He tilted his head and pushed his hair back from his neck.
     Outright laughing this time, Tabitha said, "I think I’ll pass, I’ve had my fill for the night."
     "What, my brother? I thought he was looking paler than normal when he walked in ... but, seriously, if you don’t mind my asking?"
     Tabitha sighed, now she would have to think about it all over again. "I was visiting my grandmother ... she died a little less than a month ago."
     Zac’s eyebrows raised, "Oh."
     "Not so interested in it anymore are you?" she asked leaning back. She picked her backpack off the ground and held it in her lap.
     "I didn’t say that," Zac replied. He smiled gently, realizing how fragile she seemed.
     Tabitha nodded. There wasn’t much she could say to that, after all, he hadn’t said he wasn’t interested anymore. Well, she didn’t have to say anything for at that moment Taylor emerged from the back door. He strode over to the two of them giving Zac a death glare. Isaac’s explanation of his actions was right, for the time being he considered Tabitha his. And that was all there was to it. So, he had "justification" in not wanting Zac moving in on his "territory."
     "All right, I’m back," Taylor said, he made sure to shove Zac away from Tabitha and squeeze in between them.
     Tabitha smiled, though she didn’t really know why. Zac looked about to kill Taylor, but he kept his cool remembering Isaac’s words. No need to start a fight. So he stood up, "Well, you peoples have fun, I’ll be in the house if you need me." And he walked off.
     "Believe me, we won’t need you," Taylor murmured under his breath. Then he turned back to Tabitha with a smile on his face.
     Sighing, Tabitha said reluctantly, "I think I should get going home if I want to be able to ever see you again." She stood up and brushed at her jeans then slung the backpack onto her shoulders.
     "Well, do you really have to go?" Taylor stood up beside her and gave her a puppy-dog eyed look.
     She smiled gently. "Yeah, I do. If I want to be able to ever leave the house again then I’ve got to go."
     "Well, I’ll walk you home then." He reached down and put his hand around hers.
     "No offense, Taylor ... but my parents will get the wrong ideas if they see you and that will only make things worse for me." She pulled her hand from his grasp and laid it against his cheek. "I’ll come see you tomorrow if possible though, ok?"
     Taylor nodded, his eyes lost somewhere deep in her lips. "All right then, goodnight and please be careful."
     She smiled. "I will."
     The two walked through the house to the front door and Tabitha said goodbye to the others of the family. Her eyes lingered on Zac before she turned and walked out the door.
     Zac watched her go and he watched Taylor retreat to his room. Now was his little chance. He pulled on his shoes quickly and snuck out the door once no one was looking. Thankfully Tabitha hadn’t gotten too much of a head start on him so he took to following her staying in the trees that lined the road.
     He was thankful for the streetlamps, if not for them there wouldn’t be any light for him to see her by. It was hard for him to not make a sound in the dead leaves, but thankfully he had on soft soled sneakers instead of his hiking boots. As he made his way behind her he listened to the tap, tap, tap of her shoes on the pavement. She walked with her head down, thick locks of her hair hung on either side of her head and bounced up and down with each of her steps. Her arms were folded around her as if she were hugging herself. When she looked up, there was a frightened air about her.
     Zac wished he knew what was wrong. But he had to be comfortable with the knowledge that maybe he was better off not knowing at the moment. Lost in his thoughts, he almost walked into a tree. Startled from his thinking, Zac looked at the tree stupidly for a moment then walked around it. That’s when he saw Tabitha had stopped.
     She stood just beyond the front yard of a modest two story brick house. All the lights were off except for one in the downstairs, and the only light from that one was the television light. It flashed bright and dim and bright and dim as he watched it. He saw her take a deep breath before walking across the front yard to the door. She opened it and instantly Zac heard:
     "Where in the hell have you been?! Do you know how long I’ve been sitting up waiting for you to get home? Do you even care, you inconsiderate little brat?!" It was a woman’s voice and by its similar tone to Tabitha’s he figured it was her mom.
     "No wonder she was by herself at the cemetery," Zac said aloud. He watched a little longer but then the front door was slammed shut. Tabitha’s mother’s yelling could still be heard through it.
     Sighing, Zac turned and headed for home.
     Taylor was standing just inside the window as Zac pulled himself through. "And where were you?" Taylor said raising an eyebrow and cocking his head.
     "So now you’re my mother?" Zac said sardonically. He pushed past Taylor and sat down on the bottom bunk bed.
     "You followed her home, didn’t you?" Taylor said with a toss of his hair. He placed his hands on his hips and glared down at Zac.
     "So what if I did?" Zac asked. He pulled his shoes off and tossed them to a corner of the bedroom.
     "Just stay away from her," Taylor remarked and he climbed the ladder into the top bunk.

*One day at a time...*