Chapter Seven

"Jerrapy!"

Taylor couldn't move. He was frozen to the spot, like a deer caught in headlights. There, in the doorway, stood Gabriella Young. And she didn't look friendly. She was standing, glaring at him, with cold, hard eyes. Her arms were crossed defensively in front of her chest and she wasn't singing, dancing or clapping. In fact, she looked like she would rather be anywhere else than at a Hanson appearance. Not that it was much of an appearance. Ike and Zac were doing their best to keep the song going, but weren't doing very well.

Taylor gazed meaningfully at Gabbie, but she didn't return the look. Instead, she turned on the heel of her sandal, her short, lilac, flowered dress flaring out behind her.

Staring after her retreating shape, Taylor wrestled with his mind. Either stay here and watch the love of his life disappear forever, or run and figure out what the hell was going on. The choice was obvious.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor dropped the tambourine and ran, clearing the security barrier with a single leap and landing in the heaving mass that was the Oklahoma branch of the Hanson fan base. Pushing through screaming girl after screaming girl, Taylor finally emerged at the other side of the crowd. Dodging the security guard, he ran for the mall exit.

"Gabbie!" he yelled after the purposefully striding figure. "Gabbie! Please!"

She didn't turn round. Wishing he'd kept in better shape during his break, Taylor broke into a run. Eventually, he caught up with her in a back alleyway, grabbing her bare arm and spinning her round. "Gabbie," he wheezed breathlessly, leaning against the wall. "Talk to me…please."

"Why should I?" spat Gabbie, her blue eyes flashing angrily.

Taylor bit his lip. Why was Gabbie so mad at him? What had he done? All he remembered was a wonderful night, with a wonderful girl, doing wonderful things. He couldn't possibly think of a better way to lose his virginity than to someone that he felt so strongly about.

But looking at her now, she was definitely pissed at him for something. She looked so good, though, it hurt Taylor physically to see her mad at him. Her brown hair had been curled, falling in loose waves to her shoulders, grazing off the short sleeves of her fitted lilac gypsy style sundress. Her foot was tapping agitatedly, clad only in a white, heeled, strappy sandal. Her makeup was perfect, a million miles away from the hideous Lycra creature inside, the only flaw being a rivulet of mascara trickling slowly down her cheek with a lone tear.

"I didn’t know you were going to be here, you know," Gabbie spoke up harshly, jolting Taylor back to reality. "I came here to shop, not to see some underage gigolo and his gay ass band scat singing!"

Taylor reeled backwards, as if he'd been slapped. "You call me whatever the hell you like, but you leave my brothers out if this! And we don't scat sing!"

"Oh, yeah?" Gabbie crossed her arms across her chest defiantly. "So 'MMMBop' is a real word, is it?"

Taylor ignored her, knowing full well that 'MMMBop' was not in the English dictionary. Although, if their world domination plan went to schedule, it would be by the year 3009. "Gabbie, please. Tell me. What have I done? And calling me a gigolo? What's that all about?"

"Well, you slept with me and left me. Isn't that what gigolos do?" Gabbie turned her back on him, wiping away more tears threatening to spill over.

"Gabbie, I didn't leave you."

"Oh, so you drank an invisibility potion in the middle of the night, and you were actually there when I woke up?" asked Gabbie sarcastically.

"Don't get sassy. I woke up at three am. I kinda have an eleven pm curfew," Taylor explained.

"Which explains why you didn't leave a note," retorted Gabbie bitterly.

"Look, I just didn't think, okay?" Taylor threw up his hands in exasperation. "I was kinda thinking about saving my ass. You were asleep, I didn't want to wake you. I did whisper goodbye though."

"Oh, the generosity!" sneered Gabbie, rolling her eyes.

"Gabbie, I called!"

"You think a phonecall's enough?" demanded Gabbie. "Do you? Do you? The whole damn world thinks that a freakin' phonecall's enough! The whole damn world!" The tears started to fall now, more rapidly, leaving trails of mascara down her pale face.

Taylor blinked, not sure as to what had brought this sudden breakdown. "Gabbie?" he asked, pulling her close. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"The whole damn world!" yelled Gabbie, pounding her fists off Taylor's chest. "The whole damn world!" She continued to struggle. "The whole damn world! The whole damn world! The whole damn world… The whole… damn… world…" She trailed off, collapsing into Taylor's arms and crying her heart out.

"Taylor!! What the hell are you playing at?!"

Uh-oh… thought Taylor, raising his face from where it had been buried in Gabbie's mass of curls. "Ike…"

"Don't 'Ike' me!" fumed Isaac. His eyes rested on the crying girl in Taylor's arm and he lowered his voice. "What did you think you were doing? You could have been killed, Tay!" he hissed.

"Ike, it wasn't that bad," protested Taylor. "So I ran through some girls. I think they were all kinda stunned anyway."

"Mom and Dad are gonna annihilate you, Tay. Seriously, this time they're so mad! You need to come back. Now," he added meaningfully.

"Ike, I can't. You're gonna have to cover for me," replied Taylor, matter-of-factly.

"Cover for you? Nuh-uh. I'm not getting any deeper into this, Tay. No way."

"Fine," agreed Taylor. "Just say that you couldn't find me."

"Taylor, I dunno…"

"Please, Ike. You're my brother."

"No kidding. How'd I get stuck with an ass like you for a brother?" Isaac ruefully shook his head, and Taylor knew he had won.

"Thanks, Ike."

"Okay. Well, don't be too long… The longer you are, the louder the music you have to face."

Taylor nodded as Isaac ran away.

Gabbie sniffed. "You're so lucky, Tay. You have no idea how lucky you are…"

***

Later that night, Zac was sat on the front lawn, mindlessly playing with a ratty old tennis ball, rolling it across the grass between each of his hands. He had just had to get out of the house. Taylor still hadn’t come home, and to say that his parents were mad was the understatement of the millennium. Isaac was refusing to give any details as to where he thought Taylor might be, denying that he knew anything. Zac knew that he did know something, but he didn't know what. And he didn't really care at this particular moment. Taylor had been a right ass lately, and if he got grounded for the rest of his natural life, then he deserved it. Zac hoped for his sake, though, that he would come back soon. If Tay got grounded, he would be almost impossible to live with.

"Penny for them?"

Zac's head snapped up. "Huh?"

Libby smiled, sitting down and tucking her legs underneath her. "Your thoughts. A penny for them."

"Penny? Where d'you live? England?"

"God, Zac, it's just a saying!" Libby rolled her eyes. "What were you thinking about?"

"Taylor."

"Oh? Should I be jealous?"

Zac stared at her blankly. What was she getting at? Should she be jealous? Okay, so he knew she was kidding, but all the same, if it had been a girl Zac had been thinking about, would she have asked the same question? What did she have to be jealous about? Only girlfriends said stuff like that. Libby totally confused him; he wished she'd make her mind up. What exactly did she want from him?

"Zac?" She shifted closer to him. "You okay?"

Zac sighed. "Yeah. Just tired."

"How'd the appearance go?"

"Just peachy," replied Zac wearily. He didn't really want to go into details about the embarrassment after Taylor had taken off, or how idiotic he'd felt just standing there alone on the stage when Isaac darted after him. He was more than a little pissed at Taylor.

"Oh, Zac…" breathed Libby, lightly stroking his face. "It's okay."

Zac flinched at her touch and drew in his breath sharply. It was all he could do not to grab Libby round the waist and never let her go. But that would be inappropriate, not to mention dumb, after all the business with Corey. She did look gorgeous, though. Her brown hair was pulled back in a French braid, reaching halfway down her back. She was wearing denim cutoffs and a yellow spaghetti strap top, which complimented her golden tan. Her eyes were lightly shadowed in rose and her eyelashes lightly coated with black. Her lips matched her eyes, looking full and luscious as the setting sun reflected off the gloss.

Libby leaned closer. "Zac…" she repeated.

Zac started to tremble. He had no idea what he looked like on the outside, but on the inside, he was absolutely terrified.

She leaned over and pressed her lips against his, running her hand up and through his hair.

"Libby," mumbled Zac. "What about…"

"Shh!" she hissed, going deeper into the kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Zac didn't see any point in fighting it. He wanted it as much as she did, if not a whole lot more. He teased her tongue with his, darting it in and out of her mouth.

"Ooh, Lizard Boy!" giggled Libby, planting kisses on his eyes, nose, cheeks and forehead.

Zac smiled, letting her shower his face with kisses. She leant back down, pushing her moist, cherry flavored lips against his. Zac let himself be swept away by the kiss, although he wasn't sure that he should. Was Libby for real this time, or was Zac just setting himself up for a fall?

***

"So, you wanna tell me what all that was about?" asked Taylor, setting down a cappuccino in front of Gabbie and a hot chocolate in front of himself.

Gabbie fiddled with the coffee house menu, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. She lifted the teaspoon and stirred it slowly in the froth on the coffee. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a small sip, leaving a creamy mustache on her upper lip.

Taylor picked up a napkin and leaned over, a small smile playing on his lips as he gently wiped away the white froth. "There," he grinned gently.

Gabbie smiled slightly. "Okay, I'll tell you. But you gotta keep it to yourself."

"I will, I will," Taylor assured her.

Gabbie sighed. "This is hard for me…"

"Take your time, honey," whispered Taylor gently, noticing the tears forming in the corners of Gabbie's eyes.

"I…I don't have a family," she choked out.

Taylor raised his eyebrows. "I thought you had two sisters and a brother, back in Ohio."

"I don't have anything back in Ohio. Except my Grams."

Taylor looked at her searchingly.

Gabbie swallowed and took a deep breath. "My mom kicked me out when I was fourteen. I got pregnant, and she just didn't wanna know."

"You're a mom?" squeaked Taylor.

Gabbie shook her head. "I miscarried. My womb was too weak, with me being so young. But I didn't care. I wanted rid of that baby. That stupid thing inside me that ruined my life, that took away my family. I just wanted it to die, and it did. I killed it, Tay. I'm a murderer."

Taylor shook his head firmly. He was in shock at this news, but he knew that he had to be strong for Gabbie. "No, Gabbie. Nobody can do that. You didn't do anything. So, do you still keep in touch with your family?"

"Tracey calls me. But I haven’t seen any of them since. They all think that a lousy phonecall's enough, Tay, they all think it. The whole damn world."

Taylor got up out of his seat, gathering Gabbie in his arms and holding her tight. "You'll be okay," he whispered. "It's all okay. Here, I want you to have this." He fiddled around his neck and produced a choker, a silver cross on a black rope. "It's my welfare charm. It looked after me. Now I want it to look after you." He fastened it round her neck.

"Oh, Tay, I don't know what to say." Gabbie clasped the pendant with her hand. "Thankyou."

"You don't have to thank me." Taylor took her hands.

Gabbie smiled up at him. "You wanna go to my place?"

Taylor looked surprised, but smiled along with her. "Sure do."

***

"Gabbie," whispered Taylor. "Gabbie!"

"Mmm?" Gabbie rolled over sleepily, covering her body with the sheets.

"I gotta go."

"Okay…what time is it?"

"Just eleven pm. Go back to sleep. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure," mumbled Gabbie, burying her face in the pillow again and pulling the sheets up around her neck.

Taylor quietly let himself out of Gabbie's apartment, and feeling an eerie sense of deja vu, began to run down the corridor and all the way to his house. As he jogged up the driveway, he noticed that all the lights in the house were still on.

"Shit!" he cursed, promptly tripping over a tennis ball that some idiot - most likely Zac - had left lying and falling flat on his face.

He picked himself up and dusted off his jeans, climbing the stairs to the porch and opening the door, preparing himself to get the biggest grounding imaginable.

Sure enough, as he gently closed the door behind him, he heard a grave, "Jordan Taylor Hanson. Here. Now," from the family room.

Groaning, he pushed the door open to find Mr and Mrs Hanson sitting side by side on the couch and Zac perched on the arm of the armchair, where Isaac was curled up. Mr Hanson aimed the remote at the TV and muted it. Some man and woman were now arguing soundlessly, waving their arms frantically. It looked like a soap opera, or a bad drama series.

"Guys," spoke up Mrs Hanson, looking to Isaac and Zac. "Could you excuse us, please?"

Zac and Isaac exchanged worried looks, knowing that Taylor was going to get in serious trouble. Zac was no longer pissed at him and actually felt for his brother, feeling extremely sorry for him. Isaac knew that Taylor deserved the punishment that he was about to be given, but still didn't envy the position he was in.

Together, Isaac and Zac got to their feet and left the room, both squeezing Taylor's arm as they passed him.

"Have a seat." Mr Hanson gestured to the now empty armchair and the other couch.

"Uh, no, thanks. I think I'll stand." Taylor edged nearer and nearer to the doorway, wishing that his parents would just get mad at him and get it over with.

"It wasn’t a request, Taylor. It was an order," stated Mr Hanson calmly.

Taylor paled, sitting down on the edge of the seat. He hated the calm voice his father was using at the moment. This was the worst kind of anger. The yelling and things, that was okay, because when it was done, it was done. But this… This meant his father was very, very angry.

"Where have you been?" asked Mr Hanson, leaning backwards and folding his arms across his stomach.

"Uh…round at Jon's."

"Funny, when I phoned Mrs Rush, she said she hadn't seen you for a few weeks."

"Well, we weren't in Jon's house. So his mom wouldn't have seen us. We were in his treehouse. Playing, uh…playing Monopoly."

"Did you win?" Mr Hanson continued to speak in the horribly calm voice.

"Yeah. I bought all the stations." Taylor wondered whether or not this was the Spanish Inquisition.

"Jon hasn't got a treehouse, Taylor."

"He…uh…one was built for his birthday."

"Jon's birthday's in January."

"Yeah…uh…the weather was too bad to put it up until now."

"Taylor, get out of my sight."

"Huh?" Taylor stared blankly at his father.

"You heard. It's bad enough that you think you're important enough to disrupt an appearance for unknown reasons, but the fact that you're lying to us as well. What's happening to you, Taylor?"

"Nothing's happening to me!" yelled Taylor angrily. "What's your problem? You wanna keep me under ball and chain?! I do have a life, you know!"

"Don't answer back!" snapped Mrs Hanson.

"Mom!" screamed Taylor, caught unawares by Mrs Hanson suddenly adding her two cents in.

"Don't yell at your mother!" shouted Mr Hanson. "Now, get upstairs. And you, young man, are grounded until further notice!"

Taylor bit his lip, determined to stop the tears threatening to spill over from actually doing so. He got to his feet and shuffled out of the room, feeling completely knocked down. "I'm gonna take a shower!" he yelled behind him.

"You just do that!" shouted Mrs Hanson before turning to her husband, tears in her eyes. "I hate being so hard on him, Walker."

"I know," replied Mr Hanson quietly. "But we have to, Di. What he did…that's not acceptable. It hurt Ike, it hurt Zac, and it hurt the fans. He has to learn to appreciate how lucky he is. And he has to learn to respect us. I think some grounding will go down just fine."

***

"Okay, so are you in or out?" asked Matt.

"I'm out!" announced Corey, throwing down his cards.

"Steve?"

"I'm in."

"Jason?"

"Me too, man."

"Zac?"

"Nah, I'm out, Matt. I fold." Zac put down his cards and wandered upstairs.

"Hey, Zac, what's eating ya, man?" drawled Corey, joining him at the window seat, where Zac was watching the thunderstorm taking place outside.

"Nothing," muttered Zac, although it was painfully obvious that he was lying.

Corey was hardly the person he was going to talk to about Libby, was he? He seemed to have quite a crush on her, and, after the scene in the garden a few days before, Zac was sure the feelings weren't mutual. He and Libby hadn't seen each other since, but things had gotten pretty hot that night, until Zac had been called in. He hadn't had a minute's peace to call her or anything, because Taylor had been mooching round the house, bored out of his skull through the grounding.

"A girl, huh?" Corey grinned knowingly.

"Yeah."

"Anyone I know?"

"Nah," lied Zac. "Just a girl I met, uh, on tour."

"Zac, you guys left Planet Albertane last year."

"She's the kinda girl that sticks in your mind." Zac pulled his knees up to his chest, watching the rain stream down the windows.

"Yeah, I know the feeling. So, is she pretty?"

Zac nodded. "Gorgeous. Hey, hadn't we better get back down to the basement? I mean, this is your house and all, and poker can be a dangerous game."

"Not unless they start stripping," joked Corey.

"Then we go downstairs?"

"Nope, then we run! You wanna see Matt naked?"

Zac grimaced. "Not in this lifetime…"

Corey laughed. "So, what you gonna do 'bout this girl? Do you think you'll ever see her again?"

"Yeah, I will. It's definite." Zac shuddered as a bolt of lightning suddenly lit up the sky.

"Well, just ask her out," advised Corey simply. For a fifteen-year-old, he sure saw things in black and white…there were no gray areas in Corey Price's life.

Zac gazed out of the window at the rain bouncing off the asphalt driveway and pondered what Corey had just said. Could he really just ask Libby out? He knew she liked him; she made that blatantly obvious, unless sticking your tongue down someone's throat was just a friendly gesture in Libby Land. Zac was new to this whole dating thing, and he had no clue how to go about asking a girl out. Did he go down on one knee, or was that just for marriage proposals? He thought back to the joke he'd made when he was younger. If he closed his eyes, he could still see and hear himself saying it now, looking a hell of a lot younger than he did now: When I fall in love, I hope I'm wearing kneepads... If only he'd known how true that would be to him a couple of years later. He had no idea love was so confusing…if that was even what he was feeling. He'd heard Isaac moaning countless times about not knowing if he loved someone, or just lusted after them. Taylor had his set ideas: You couldn't be in love unless that person loved you back. But how could Taylor be so certain that that was true? Who was he, Cupid? Did he make up the rules of love, if there were any at all? Zac shook his head, turning back to Corey. "You know what? I'll talk to her."

"Good man," grinned Corey, slugging his shoulder.

"I can only talk…man, how come girls are so damn confusing?!" He raked his hand through his hair.

"Not all of them…" Corey wiggled his eyebrows slyly.

"Oh, yeah?" Hugging a cushion to his stomach, Zac turned to face Corey. "Do tell…"

"I got a date."

Zac smiled. This was the first time he and Corey had really ever sat down to talk, and Zac was surprised at how easily the conversation was flowing. He hadn't thought that he and Corey had all that much in common. Maybe they really could get along properly. "Who with?" he asked, his eyes glittering, sharing the excitement with his friend.

"Libby Reynolds!" Corey exclaimed, his cheeks rosy and his own eyes shining.

Zac gulped. Libby Reynolds? As in his Libby Reynolds? Of course it is, Zac, he thought to himself bitterly. How many Libby Reynolds are there living in this part of Tulsa? "Libby?" he squeaked.

"Yeah, Zac, buddy, I can’t thank you enough for bringing her here that day. We really hit it off."

"When did you…uh, when did you see her?" Zac choked out. Maybe he and Corey had more in common than he'd first thought. Thankfully, Corey didn't seem to notice that Zac's caramel eyes were no longer glittering with excitement, but with tears.

"I met her at the grocery store, in the dairy products aisle. She said how much she'd enjoyed herself at the party, and asked me to go to the movie. We're gonna see 'She's All That'."

"Ugh, chick flick," muttered Zac.

"The only chick I'm interested in is the one I'm going with." Corey grinned even wider.

Zac couldn't take it any longer. "Look, man, I gotta go."

"It's only three-thirty," frowned Corey.

"I know, but I got this killer migraine," lied Zac. Well, it was only a half-lie. Suddenly, he really wasn't feeling too great.

"But it's pouring outside."

"I can take it. I'll see you later, Corey. Have fun on your date," he added bitterly.

"But, Zac, you might get struck by lightning!" yelled Corey.

All the better for me, thought Zac, bolting through the door.

***

"So we went into the movie theater, and there's only, like, his old girlfriend from Florida sitting there! She's like…"

Isaac smiled, listening to Rhia recounting the tale of one of her many dates with Jake Ryan. Her green eyes were dancing and the grin on her face seemed to be permanent.

"You hate him, don't you?" she asked flatly, suddenly stopping in the middle of her sentence.

"Huh?" Isaac snapped back to reality, making direct eye contact with Rhia. She looked hurt.

"Jake. You hate him."

"No, I don't," lied Isaac automatically.

"Ike, don't lie to me. You hate him. Why, Ike? Why can't you be happy for me? Jake's the best thing that ever happened to me. I… I think I love him, Ike. And the last thing I want is for you to resent it. Please, Ikey, try to get along with him…" She gazed up at him earnestly.

Isaac took her small hands in his. "Rhia, I don't hate him. He just kinda…rubs me up the wrong way. You don't like Honey, either."

"At least I'm civil to her. Whenever Jake comes into the room, you look like you want to run to Missouri!"

Isaac slipped his arm round her and pulled her close, leaning his head against hers. "Okay, I'll try."

Rhia broke into a huge grin. "You will?"

"Only because it's you."

"Oh, Ike, thankyou! God, I could kiss you!" Rhia exclaimed, her eyes dancing happily.

"You'd better not," replied a masculine voice from the doorway.

"Jake!" shrieked Rhia, running over to the door, flinging her arms round him and kissing him square on the mouth.

"Was I interrupting something?" he asked, complete with a fake grin.

Isaac could tell that he was trying to make it sound like he was teasing, but the hard look he was giving Isaac made it crystal clear that he was warning him to stay away from his girlfriend.

"Of course not!" giggled Rhia.

"You guys looked pretty close," persisted Jake.

"We're just friends," replied Rhia, waving her hand dismissively. "How come you're here?" she asked, sitting down on the couch and pulling him down next to her.

"Just felt like seeing you," he stated matter-of-factly. "I didn't expect to find you sitting here all cuddled up with a famous rock star."

"Jake, honey, it's okay. It's only Ike. He's my best friend. He's also my brother's best friend. We've been friends forever."

"Yeah, well, I don't like finding him on the couch with his head on yours!"

"He's just like that. He's affectionate, and so am I."

"He's also still here," Isaac reminded them, waving his hand. "If you want to analyze my friendships with people, would you please wait till I'm gone? It's more polite," he joked, shrugging his shoulders.

Rhia laughed and Jake just looked at him like you would look at a bug that had just landed on your best dress jacket.

"So, Ivan, when are you going on tour again?" asked Jake.

"Uh, it's Isaac. And probably not for a while. We're kinda working on our second major release right now."

"Well, how come you're not doing it now?"

"We need a break," explained Isaac. "We had a pretty grueling tour last summer."

"But it's almost this summer," Jake pointed out in an icy tone.

"I know. But maybe when you're a major figure in the music business, you can dictate when we break and how long for." Isaac's eyes were flashing angrily.

Jake raised his eyebrows. "The music business isn't for me. Music's a bit…I dunno…gay… Real men are into sports."

"Is that so?" Isaac's voice grew dangerously quiet.

"Yes, that's so. One look at you would prove my theory."

Isaac balled his hands into fists, his jaw tightening.

"Uh, Ike, can you…um…help me with some drinks?" interjected Rhia, getting to her feet. She recognized the warning signs in Isaac, and he was definitely reaching breaking point. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Ikey."

With one last look at Jake, Isaac sighed and followed Rhia into the kitchen. As he sat down at the table, Rhia closed the door and leaned against it. "You okay?" she asked.

Isaac nodded wearily. "I wanted to punch him out so bad," he admitted.

"I know, honey," nodded Rhia soothingly.

"He was really pissing me."

Rhia nodded again. "I could tell. But, Ike, you gotta believe me. He isn't usually like that!"

"He's got one hell of a problem with me, then."

"Usually," continued Rhia, "he's the sweetest, most considerate guy around."

Isaac raised his eyebrows skeptically. "He looks about as sweet and considerate as Godzilla."

"Ike!" Rhia moved behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"He called me gay, Rhia. Which is a bit dumb, because only seconds before he was moaning cos he thought I was hitting on you. Which I would certainly not be doing if I was gay."

"Give him another chance, Ike. Please. For me. Tell you what, we'll double date!"

Isaac shook his head slowly. "Oh, no…"

"Please, Ike," begged Rhia desperately. "We can go for dinner. At that French place…Pierre Victoire's. You've been dying to try it. And if it's that bad, you can leave. Just give it a shot. Please. For me?"

"Oh, okay," grumbled Isaac. "Tuesday night?"

"Sure!" grinned Rhia happily.

"Well, I guess I better be going. I came to see you, not to get insulted by your ape of a boyfriend." He stood up, tightening the ponytail at the back of his neck.

Rhia smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "Thanks, Ike."

"No problem," he murmured, patting her awkwardly on the back.

"So…see you Tuesday night?"

"Yeah. Tuesday night."

***

Zac wiped his eyes and pushed open the front door, almost falling over a pair of shoes left lying in the hallway. He was soaking wet, having just run home in the torrential rain, and all his clothes were plastered against his body. But he didn't care. Slowly, he headed over to the stairs and wearily climbed them. He still felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. The last thing he'd expected Corey to say was that he had a date with Libby. After the way Libby had been all over him, he'd figured that the dared kiss between her and Corey had meant nothing. Then to find out that she'd asked him out. He shook his head. It was all too much. He pushed open the door to his room, flopping face-down on his bed.

"Hey!" Taylor sounded surprised at Zac's entrance. "You're soaked!"

"Hi," mumbled Zac, his voice muffled by the comforter. "State the obvious, why don't you?"

"What's up?" Taylor put down his magazine and walked over to Zac's bed. Sitting down, he placed his hand on Zac's back. "You okay, little buddy?"

Zac rolled over, tears forming in his eyes again.

"What happened?" asked Taylor, gently.

Zac shook his head, sitting up. He didn’t trust himself to speak without exploding into tears. And to get himself worked up over a girl he barely even knew any more, well, that was just pathetic.

"Zac? You're crying." Taylor spoke softly as if he were afraid to upset Zac further.

Zac wiped his cheek and, to his surprise, the back of his hand came away wet. He hadn't even noticed that the tears had spilled over.

"What is it?" pressed Taylor cautiously. He was worried that pushing Zac too far to talk to him would make him all the more upset.

"I'm being silly." Zac sniffed, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

Taylor frowned at Zac's apparent lack of hygiene concern. "If it's getting you this upset, then it's not silly, Zac." Taylor watched as Zac's eyes began to water again, and he knew what he had to do. "Come here," he whispered, wrapping both arms around his soggy little brother.

Zac returned the embrace, burying his face in Taylor's shoulder.

"Are you ready to talk yet?" asked Taylor, rubbing Zac's back slightly.

Zac pulled away, nodding. "It's Libby. She was over here that night you ran out of the mall. She kissed me again."

"Oh? That's good. Isn't it?"

"I thought… Then I was talking to Corey, and…uh…he has a date with her…sometime this week, I guess."

Taylor winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah, I know," sniffed Zac, smiling ruefully.

"So she asked him out, after she came on to you?"

"Looks like it." Zac rested his chin in his hands.

"You really liked her, didn't you?" Taylor looked at his younger brother sympathetically.

Zac bit on his lip, lowering his eyes for a few moments. "Yeah," he finally replied. "Yeah, I did."

"Oh, Zac, it's complicated, huh?"

"You said it," muttered Zac.

"But it's also fun, right?" Taylor spread his hands.

Zac grinned. "Yeah…"

"Okay, so you gotta take the good with the bad. I know it's easy for me to say right now, but I have no idea what's going on in Libby's head. And you know what?" He reached out, putting his hand on Zac's shoulder. "I bet she doesn't either."

Zac smiled, putting his hand on top of his brother's. "Thanks, Tay."

"No problem. You know what you need?"

"What?"

"Look at the time." Taylor pointed to the clock.

Zac grinned.

Together, they yelled, "Jerrapy!"

For some reason, whatever their problems were in life, watching the guests on the Jerry Springer show made everything insane to them seem perfectly normal compared to the people on the TV screen.

After running downstairs, they clicked on the TV in the den to hear Jerry Springer introduce his first guests.

"Lemme get this straight…" spoke up Zac after five minutes. "That guy's dating his aunt?"

"Yeah…and she's still married to his uncle!"

"So, right, if he marries his aunt, his cousins are also gonna be his step-kids?" Zac's eyes widened.

"Yeah…oh, God, no!" Taylor gestured wildly at the TV set. "He's gonna propose!"

Sure enough, the guy on the TV got down on one knee and took out a ring box. The aunt accepted his marriage proposal, then he proceeded to ask his uncle to be his best man.

"That is pure insanity!" gasped Zac. "Being the best man at your ex-wife's wedding is weird enough, but when it's your nephew and your ex-wife… It'd be like me marrying Jessie or something!"

Jessica's head snapped up from the corner of the room, where she was reading a magazine. "Uh, Zac, no offense or anything, I mean, I love you and all, but…uh…that's never gonna happen." She looked totally sickened by the thought. "Gross," she added.

Zac and Taylor started to laugh.

"I could be your best man!" crowed Taylor.

"And Avie could be the maid of honor!" Zac could hardly speak from laughing so hard.

"And Zoë could scatter petals!" Tears of laughter were streaming down Taylor's face as he tried to imagine the scene.

"What about Ike?" Zac managed to ask.

"He could be the vicar!"

"That's it!" yelled Jessica, jumping up to her feet. "You two are absolutely disgusting!" With that, she ran out of the room, and her footsteps could be heard thundering upstairs, then a door slamming.

"Oh, well, there'd be one good thing about you marrying her," giggled Taylor.

"What?"

"She wouldn't have to worry about getting new personalized stationary!"

Chapter Eight
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