Chapter 2

The room was totally dark when Taylor awoke except for the glowing numbers on the digital clock telling him he was in deep trouble.  "Shit!"  He jumped from the bed and stumbled over his own boot.  "Damn, where are my clothes?!"  He'd found his jeans and the white t-shirt he'd had on and the one boot he'd tripped over.  Well, I guess I'm gonna have to turn on the light, he thought.  He'd hoped he wouldn't have to disturb her.

"What's the matter?"  she said softly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.  But, I'm kind of glad I did...  I have to go and now I can say good bye to you in person instead of in a note."  He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

"Do you have to?" she was getting tears in her eyes.

"Yeah.  We gotta be in Cincinnati tomorrow."

She looked into his eyes.  "Taylor, I'll never forget you.  I'll love you forever."

And with that the tears spilled over.  "Oh man, don't cry!  I'm nobody special, don't cry over me.   You're beautiful and wonderful, don't cry over me.  You could have any guy you want.  You don't need some sixteen year old kid who doesn't have a life.  All I do is go, go, go.  I can't have a relationship 'cause it just doesn't work.   We can't have a relationship because it just wouldn't be fair..."  He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.  "This was not supposed to happen... God!  I really do have to go...  I'm sorry."  He said.   She didn't say anything more.  She just watched him put on his other boot and stand up.  He looked back at her one last time.  "I'm sorry..."   He went out the door and with a click he was gone.

It was now 4:13 according to his watch.  The elevator door opened with a ding and he entered the tiny room feeling like the biggest jerk in the world.   As it went up the four floors to where the Hanson's entourage were staying he was overcome with a sense of dread.  He hadn't meant to stay so long and he certainly hadn't meant to fall asleep.  And, he hadn't meant to cause her or himself such grief.

~~~~

Jason pushed the button on the elevator.  He had no choice now but to try and track down Taylor.  He knew he had to be in this building somewhere.   Isaac said that Taylor told him the girl was staying in the hotel.    "Man, I'm gonna kill him when I get ahold of him..."  He mumbled to himself.  Not only had he gotten himself in trouble, but now, Taylor had dragged his brothers and Jason into it with him.   "C'mon damn it!"   The elevator was taking forever considering it was four in the morning.  No sooner than the words had left his mouth the elevator stopped, the door opened and there stood a very sad looking Taylor.

~~~~

Diana was about to become frantic now, she had just gotten Jason out of bed.   She'd hoped he was with Taylor wherever he was but he hadn't seen him since they'd gotten back to the hotel that evening.  Being the boys bodyguard, Jason walked a thin line between loyalty to them and their parents, but the bottom line was if there was any question as to the boys' safety he'd have to talk it over with Walker and Diana and the guys knew that.  It wasn't often that they ducked out on him, only if they really didn't want their parents to know where they'd been and were willing to take the consequences for going out alone, whether that was getting mobbed by fans or getting caught by their mom and dad.

Walker had gone to bed just before she'd entered the boys' room and she'd wanted to let him sleep but once four o'clock had rolled around she didn't think she had a choice.  In fact, she was upset with herself for not waking him earlier, what if something had really happened to him?  Taylor was sixteen and big for his age, thin but with muscle and not nearly as fragile as he may have looked.  But, none of that mattered if someone had a weapon.  Arnold Swarzenegger couldn't hold his own against a gun no matter how small the person holding it.  Just as her mind was bringing up all kinds of horrible possibilities she saw Jason come around the corner of the hallway followed by her missing son.  Her joy at the sight of him was soon replaced by the urge to kill him herself.

"WHERE have you been?!  Hang on a minute, don't answer that yet."  She turned to Jason, "I'm so sorry to have had to wake you, thank you so much."

"It's ok, it's my job anyway."  He looked back at Taylor.  "See ya 'round..."  Taylor nodded.  Jason wasn't sure he would actually see him ever again though after seeing the looks on his parents faces.

Diana and Walker now faced Taylor without any other onlookers.  Isaac and Zac had retreated back to bed knowing their folks always liked to kill their children in private.  Besides, they'd already been put through enough for their part in the evening's festivities.

Walker spoke first.  "Taylor, you'd better have the best excuse you've ever come up with, it still won't matter, but, I just really need to hear what you can come up with."

At that point, Taylor figured it was no use trying to get out of it.  The truth would have to do.  "I fell asleep."

"I hope she was worth it."   His mother looked at him coldly.  "Because you will pay dearly for this.  Of the three of you, you are the one I have always trusted the most.  Isaac may be older but he's always had a weakness for girls, and Zac, well, he's Zac and never predictable, but I've always been able to count of you to do the right thing.  I'm so disappointed not only that you snuck off but for the reason you did it.  I thought I had raised you better than that."   With that, she walked back into her room.

His father just looked at him.   "Well, I guess that hurt.  Go to bed.  Your mother and I will talk to you tomorrow about your punishment.  I'm sure you know you are grounded until further notice and I'm going to have to tell Jason and the others to report to us every time you go somewhere or it will cost them their jobs."

"Dad..."

"Don't talk to me right now.  I'll see you in the morning, actually, in about 2 hours."  He watched his father go into his room and shut the door."

"Good God, Tay, what were you thinking?!"  Isaac couldn't help but tell his brother " I told you so."

"Ike, I'm really not in the mood to talk to you about this... go to sleep."

"You were gone for like, five hours asshole!  Sorry we were worried about you!"

"You knew where I was!"

"Yeah, and if I remember right, you said, "I'm 16, how long can it take?"  What are you, Sting, now you can do it for 5 hours?!"

"Ike, I can't tell you how much I don't want to talk about this right now.  Please, can we just turn off the light and go to sleep?  We have to get up in 2 hours."

"Whatever...  How long are you grounded for?"

"Forever."  Taylor just looked out the window as Isaac turned out the light.

Zac had listened to first his parents, then Isaac give Taylor what for.  It wasn't that he didn't think Taylor deserved it all but he could tell that something had happened to make his brother pretty upset, something more than the dreaded "getting caught."  Ordinarily, he would have joined in and teased him but something told him this was not the time.  He had been genuinely worried about his brothers safety, after all, this was New York City, not Tulsa.  Everybody locked their doors here.   There were a lot of great people here but equally as many scary ones.  He listened to the sounds of his brothers.  Isaac's regular breathing let him know he was sleeping soundly and Taylor's stony silence let him know he wouldn't sleep at all probably.  "Tay?"

"Yeah?"

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yeah Zac, I'm sure."

"What happened?"

Tay's quiet sigh was telling.   "I don't know man...  .I just..."  He didn't finish.

"Was it something bad?" Zac asked.

"No, I just... shouldn't have done it, that's all."

"Was she nice?  I mean, did you like her and stuff?"

"Yeah...  It was sweet..."    Zac could suddenly see Taylor's face in that video they'd released, on the hill overlooking the ocean, the part all those girls talked about on the internet.   He knew his face probably looked the same right now even though he was at least 2 or 3 years older.   It was that dreamy look his brother often got.   Maybe that was what all the girls liked so much about him, that whole dreamy thing.  They could tell that he was a little bit different than most guys though he was just a typical teenaged boy most of the time.   It was that other part that came up with wonderful lyrics and beautiful melodies.

"Well, goodnight Tay, see ya tomorrow."

"Night Zac."

~~~~

Morning came and with it all the craziness that went along with a family of nine about to take a trip somewhere.  The boys were trusted to pack everything and be ready with no help from their parents.  The younger children though, were another story.  Diana and Walker both had to help to get the small children and all the paraphernalia required to keep them clothed, fed, entertained and ready for a plane trip.   Even though they had all done it countless times before it could still be a daunting task.

Taylor's bags had been packed and ready by the door for forty-five minutes.  The normal talking and harassing of each other hadn't taken place this morning.   Zac was just about finished, just a small pile of clothes left that as far as he was concerned could be considered clean and therefore could go in his suitcase, but they just didn't seem to fit in there.   Taylor noticed his brother's struggle and came over to offer his assistance.  With Zachary sitting on it and Taylor zipping, soon the errant luggage was under control.   "Thanks man, I don't know what the deal was, it all came out of there."

"Well," Taylor answered him, "I think it was all folded when it went in there and now it's sort of... wadded."

"I guess.   Mom and Dad talk to you yet this morning?"

"Nope."

"Oh.  That's bad."

"Yeah, I know."  Taylor was quiet and Zac just looked at him.  When their eyes met Zac actually thought his big brother looked like he might just cry, not a regular occurrence and so one that made Zac concerned.   "Zac, if I asked you to do something for me, would you do it?"  Taylor had a serious look on his face.

"Oh no," Zac thought, "now what?"  "Tay, aren't we in enough trouble already?"

"It's nothing bad, just...  Could you slip a note under somebody's door for me?  It won't take but a couple minutes and I'll finish packing for you.   Please."

"Tay, I don't think Mom and Dad..."

Taylor cut him off  "Please."

Zac sighed.  "I know I'm gonna be sorry," he thought, "but I don't think I can say no to him right now.   He looks like crap."  "Give it here."

"Oh, thank you!  Thank you!"  Taylor grabbed Zac and hugged him.

"Don't make me change my mind here."

Taylor laughed and released Zac from the embrace.  "Here, room 803.  Take the stairs."

"What?!"

"You don't want to get mobbed."

"Alright, but you owe me."

"That makes two of us."  Isaac said as he entered the room passing Zac on his way out.  "Now, what are you getting yourself into?"

"Ike, just save it alright?  I'm sure Mom and Dad will make me pay for all my transgressions so you can just lay off, ok?"

"Whatever.  Don't forget they weren't real happy with me last night either because of you."

"I'm sorry about that..." Taylor softened.  "I swear I thought I'd be back in like, a half hour or somethin'..."

"Well what the hell happened?  Did she tie you up or something?"

"No.  She just wasn't what I expected... and now I feel like shit.  The next time I tell you I'm gonna go do something like that, you tie me up, ok?"  Isaac laughed, finally it looked like Taylor might survive whatever experience he had gone through the night before.  "Ike, you won't believe this, but..."  Suddenly he had second thoughts about telling his brother.

Isaac was looking at him.  "What?!  You can't just stop now!  What happened?"

Taylor looked back at him wondering what and how much to tell him.   "Well...  I think she was a virgin."

"What do you mean "was?"  Tay... are you sure?  Didn't you say she was like twenty-four or something?   She probably just told you that."

"No.  I don't think so, there was like... blood."

"Oh God, I don't think I want to hear anything more.  Why didn't you run away as fast as you could?"

"She was just really different from all the rest of them.  She was all quiet and calm.  Hell, do you know how long it's been since I met a girl and she didn't ask for my autograph?!"    He looked over at Isaac and smiled, "yeah, I guess you do, don't you?   I know I should have hightailed it out of there, but I just couldn't stop looking at her and listening to her.  You know what?   When they say they love us,  I think they really mean it.  They study us in interviews and videos and stuff until they feel like they know us.  It's almost creepy.    But, I feel like she really did love me because I feel like I broke up with her or something.  I just feel like a heel or like I used her, but really, it was the other way around.  All I ever wanted was to make music.  I never wanted girls freaking out over us.  I don't think she would have let me leave there without doing that."   Now he leaned in close to Isaac and almost in a whisper said, "she said she was saving herself for me."

Isaac looked wide eyed at him.  "Taylor, tell me the truth here, were you afraid of her?  I mean, is that why you stayed so long?  'Cause she wouldn't let you leave?"

"No!  Good grief, Ike!  She was about 5 feet tall and she probably weighed about as much as Jessie!  She couldn't have kept me there.  We just kept doing it and it got late and..."  He realized he had said way more than he had intended and his face flushed cherry red.

Isaac couldn't help it, he had to laugh.  "Alright, alright I get it.  I'll stop bugging you."   Taylor had set down on the bed.  Just then Zac came in.

Taylor looked up.  "Well, did you do it?"  He stood back up.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Did anybody see you?  Did you see her..."   His voice faded out.

"No man, it was all quiet.   Hey!  I thought you were gonna finish packing for me!"

"Now, why would he do that?"   Diana's voice interrupted the boys.   They all looked over to the doorway where she was standing.  She walked over to Taylor and put her arm around his waist and looked up at him.   "Why in the world would my darling son be doing the packing for his little brother?"   Now she looked at Zac and he hurriedly set about picking up CD's, Gameboy, and anything else he could get his hands on.   "So, Ike, did Taylor get enough ice for everyone last night?  As long as he was gone, he could have gotten enough ice to sink the Titanic, don't you think?"   Isaac looked at the clock.  7:10, they'd have to leave for the airport soon.  She rolled her eyes.  "Get everything in the hallway, your dad got a couple carts.  Tay, you carry Mackenzie.  Zac, you make sure Avery is set, she was in the tub a little while ago.  Ike, you help your dad with the luggage.  Let's Go!"  And with their orders given the boys were off.

~~~~

The airport was already crowded with girls eager to see the guys up close and personal.  Normally, Taylor smiled and waved to them but today he couldn't make himself look their way.   He just wanted to get on the plane and get as far away from New York City as fast as possible.  The luggage was checked in, tickets were in order, now all they had to do was get on the plane.  Mackie was fast asleep and feeling very heavy.  A flight attendant had told them to board before the other passengers to keep confusion and such to a minimum.  Taylor was the first on, he wanted to sit as far away from his parents as possible.  He sat next to the window and Jessica and Avery took the two seats next to him.

"Is Mom pissed at you?"  his oldest sister asked.

"Jess!  You shouldn't use words like that!"

"Whatever, just answer the question."

"Yeah"  Avery added, "she said if she had to look at you today she just might kill you and that you were gonna be grounded for the rest of your natural life."

He rolled his eyes, shifted Mackie to a more comfortable position and got his laptop out of his backpack.  By now everyone in their group was seated.  Just as he was about to turn it on he heard his mother's voice.   "What do you think you're doing?"  He looked up to see her.  She was standing in the aisle about to enter the seats behind him and his sisters.  Now everyone turned their attention to the two of them.   "No computers for a month."

"What!  Mom..."

"Ok, a month and a week!  Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Nope."  He closed the computer and put it in the hand she had held out to him.

"Thank you." She said.  He sighed as he looked out the window.  It was going to be a long flight.

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