I awoke to find that Amy Lee was no longer in my arms. I looked out the window and saw her climbing into the tree house. I decided to make a picnic and surprise her. I got out there about twenty minutes later. I went through the woods so she wouldn’t see me. As I approached the tree house I heard her stuttering to say something. I got ready to leave but then I heard another voice say, “Amy, I know.” It was Beth. I knew this was a private conversation and I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but this interested me.
“About what?” Amy said defensively. ~What’s wrong honey? Whatever it is it’ll be ok. ~ I thought. I just wanted to go up there and hold her. ~I’ll wait till tonight. ~ I thought as I started to walk away.
“You and Zac.” I stopped instantly. ~What about Amy and Zac? ~ That caught my attention and I wasn’t about to leave. Beth’s last sentence was followed by silence. “I know you slept with him” ~WHOA!!! What the hell? ~ I was shocked. But I decided to give Amy a chance to defend herself.
“No I didn’t.” She said sternly. ~That’s my girl. ~ But after a little persuasion by Beth her story wasn’t the same. “It wasn’t supposed to happen!” She cried. ~Oh God no, please don’t let this be true. ~ Amy continued to cry and say how she couldn’t tell Beth because Zac was heartbroken and it would kill me and Care. ~Of course it’s going to kill me and Care but who gives a damn about how Zac feels? ~ She then began at the beginning, which I could’ve guessed was the New Year’s party. ~Damn Matt all to Hell! And what does she mean they continued to release their sexual energy?…~ I continued to eavesdrop.
“And the rest is history. I had sex with him, I took his virginity for God’s sake!!” ~OH MY GOD!!!! What…How could…Oh my God. ~ That was almost too much for me to handle but I couldn’t leave. That was in MN. ~What’s happened here?…Wait there’s more?…Damn right it would affect our relationship. It just fucking destroyed it…She told him WHAT!? That they’d still have…My God I think I’m going to die. ~ I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing. ~Wait, did she just say…that…she LOVED him?! My life is now over. ~
“But then I told him that if it happens it happens.” ~If it happens it happens?! JESUS CHRIST! What the hell was wrong with her? And we made love that night. Well don’t I feel special? Whatever, I feel like shit. How could she just jump from one to the other like that? ~
“I knew who I had to be with and it wasn’t Zac.” ~Better fucking believe it. She should’ve known that the whole time. She never should’ve gone to him to begin with dammit. Why was she crying when she told him? How could she go further—again? How? Wasn’t I good enough? ~ This was almost too much. ~Zac can’t love her, he had Care. Oh God, wait till Care finds out. ~
“Trying to survive each day as it comes to me. Hoping the guilt doesn’t kill me.” ~God, her depression. This could get out of hand. How can I fix this? No Taylor, she fucked your little brother. Don’t fix this, don’t forgive her. ~ “They honestly deserve to know, I understand that. But Care is my BEST friend and Tay is the love of my life. And I know that if Taylor or Care were to ever find out they’d leave me in a fucking instant.” ~Damn straight. ~ “I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t live without him or Care. He’s my life. God what do I do?” ~She should’ve thought about that before she started to fuck around with him. But wait, miscarriage? Oh no. Please God no. ~ I heard them coming down so I quietly made my way down the river so I could think.
“I can’t believe this. And a day before the Rosie show.” I was debating on whether or not I should talk to her, or Care, or hell, anyone about this as I cried in my hands out of anger, pain, sadness, and frustration. “If I talk to them now Amy’s depression might get out of hand, she could get suicidal, she could lose our baby.” I couldn’t let that happen. And if I brought it up with Zac or Isaac I’d be so pissed we couldn’t go on the Rosie Show. I wouldn’t be able to pretend that nothing was wrong. This was way too serious.
~My P.O.V~
After about twenty minutes of soaking in my bubble bath and snacking of fruit there was a slight knock on the door then it opened. Thank God it was from my room. “Hey honey.” Taylor said as he walked in. “Who’s been spoiling you?” He asked with a smile referring to my bath and fruit as he leaned over and kissed me softly.
“Beth, she said I should to keep myself relaxed. Especially since we’re going to leave for the Rosie show in a day.” I said as I watched him admire me.
~Taylor’s P.O.V~
“I know what you mean” I said as I again got angry, without showing it. ~How could she share that magnificent body with someone else?~ “I should really go.” I said getting up.
“Aren’t you going to stay a while with me?” She asked while pulling me closer. I kissed her but was still determined to go.
“We really shouldn’t do this now. Later, ok?” I said as I stroked her damp hair out of her face. ~Oh, those early memories before ANYTHING had gone wrong. I miss those days.~ I left Amy in the bathtub as I went in search of Care. “Hey Jess, have you seen Care?” I asked as I entered the kitchen.
“Yeah, she’s right outside.” I went outside to find her sitting on the balcony.
“Hey!” I said happily.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” She asked.
“What?” I asked trying to seem confused.
“You tried too hard to sound happy so something’s wrong.” She said finally looking over at me.
“Could we go somewhere else to talk about it?” I asked sensing already that I was going to cry—again.
“It’s really serious isn’t it?” She asked getting down. I only nodded as I took out my truck keys. We got in and I drove to the river that Dad used to take us fishing at when we were younger. No one was there but I still led her further down the river to a clearing. I sat down and just thought for a minute. “Would you just tell me already?” She asked impatiently.
“Care, this is a highly sensitive subject. I have to tell you just right.” I said looking at the river first then into her eyes. Her eyes softened as she realized just how serious and hurt I was. After a few more moments I figured out how to tell her. “You remember New Year’s and the very first Truth question Amy got?”
“Yeah…” She said her brow knotting in confusion
“And how she said it wasn’t going to happen?
~Care’s P.O.V.~
~What the hell was he getting at? I know what he’s getting at I just don’t want to believe it.~ I slowly nodded my head. “It went further.” He said. “Even after Seven Minutes In Heaven. Care, that was just the beginning.” He looked over at me with understanding, sadness, and frustration in his eyes. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. I went into denial.
“What the hell are you talking about? Zac’s been nothing but faithful to me!” I yelled getting up. I started to walk away but Tay grabbed my arm. I never realized how strong he was.
“No he hasn’t!” He said sternly.
“Yes he has!!” I yelled louder.
“He slept with her Care! My fiancé and your boyfriend, my brother, had sex!!” He yelled crying. His chest heaving with ragged breaths.
~Taylor’s P.O.V.~
All of her muscles went limp and she fell to the ground crying hysterically. I crawled over to her and wrapped her in my arms as she continued to cry. “How could he do that? He let her take his virginity. That was supposed to be something special.” She cried into my chest. She sat silently for a few moments…then she got angry. “Oh I could kill the fucking bitch! How could she do that? She was supposed to be my best friend!” And she cried harder as she beat her firsts repeatedly into my shoulders.
“Shh….calm down.” I whispered.
“Calm down?! Jesus Taylor what are you on?! She slept with your brother!! Are you in some kind of denial? God I just want to kick her in the fucking head to let her know that was unacceptable. I don’t know about you but I’m gonna let her know just how wrong it was.” Care said as she started to get up. I couldn’t let her leave yet so, again, I grabbed her wrist.
“Wait, there’s more.” I said.
“More!? How could there possibly be more?!” She cried as she again fell into my shoulder. I tried to comfort her by running my fingers through her hair sighing deeply. She looked up at me and sniffled then put her head back down.
“Anyway, they both kinda ignored each other until the day before yesterday. That’s when Amy tried to tell him that it had to be over. But unfortunately she told him that if it happens again it happens. I couldn’t believe it. So that night they continued their affair but didn’t have sex. But then she talked to him again yesterday after having sex with me the night before.” Care sighed. “Yeah I know. But she said that when she woke up with me she knew she had to end it completely. But one thing I have to tell you is that they claim to love each other.”
“Oh GOD!!!! Now she really deserves to get it.” She said angrily but stayed in her position in my arms. “But I can’t.”
I sighed a deep sigh of relief. “That’s good because she really does regret it. And I’m not going to say a damn thing about it because, even now, I can tell that her depression is getting the best of her.” Care’s eyes fell. She knew about Amy’s depression as well as any of us. She knew this wasn’t good. “And she said that she honestly believes that she would lose both of us if we ever found out and then she’d just die. And we both know how serious those words are for her.” Care nodded slowly, her shoulders starting to shake with tears. “And speaking of dieing, if this stress and extreme guilt continues she could lose our baby—your God-baby.” She looked up at me with tearful eyes.
“My God-baby?” She asked shakily. I nodded.
“Yeah we decided awhile ago that we wanted you as the God-mother. She just wasn’t sure how to break it to the other girls.”
“Oh my God. What are we supposed to do?” She asked, now just as sad and worried as me.
“I don’t know. If we bring it up with her we have to be HIGHLY sensitive. But if Zac found out that we knew I have a feeling it’d ruin the band. I mean we’re going on Rosie in a day. We have to be getting along. Maybe if we just wait.”
“Yeah I suppose.” She said climbing out of my secure arms and standing up. I followed. “Hey Tay?” She started, turning towards me. “Thanks for telling me.” She kissed my cheek. “I know it was hard for you.” A surge of attraction went through me as her tender lips met my cheek but I wasn’t about to stoop to Amy’s level.
“Well, you deserved to know. The only reason I knew is because I overheard her talking to Beth.”
“Beth knows!?”
“Yeah but she won’t say anything.” I said as I took her hand and led her out of the woods, letting her hand fall from mine as soon as we got to the clearing.