"How was your flight?" Diana asked, as the group walked into the door. Kris sighed, deciding not to answer this one.
"Besides the fact that Kris had never been on a plane before, rather well," Taylor answered. Diana immediately looked to Kris and forced a smile. Kris wondered how long and how much begging it took for her to relent in Kris coming to visit.
"It was your first time?" Walker asked. "I didn't even notice."
"When you talked to her she had finished hyperventilating," Zac added. Taylor took Kris's coat and hung it up on a rack.
"We all don't need to hear about my adventures on the plane, Zac."
"Come on, I'll show you around," Zac said, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room.
"I kinda wanted to do that, Zac," Taylor said. Kris turned to him with pleading eyes.
"Lighten up, Taylor. Let Zac show me around. You can introduce me to everyone I haven't met yet." Taylor gave her a look. "Come on."
"Fine." He followed the two of them out of the room. Zac went into detail about his home, impressing Kris with his knowledge of virtually nothing. She could tell that he was making half of it up, but he just smiled and insisted he knew what he was doing. It was more of a joke to make his home sound better than it was.
When they ran into the littler kids, Kris put her hand over Zac's mouth. "Let Taylor do it." Taylor stepped up. He got the job of introducing her to a total of four people while Zac got to explain all the rooms.
"Hey guys, this is Kris," Taylor said. "She's my girlfriend. Are you going to be nice to her?" The three children nodded. Taylor figured Zoe would be asleep at that point. "Kris, this is Jessie, Avery, and Mackie." Kris nodded, and noticed Avery was clutching a pretty doll.
"Who's that?" Kris asked, pointing to the doll.
"Abigail," Avery said. "She's my dolly." Kris nodded.
"How long have you had her?" Kris asked.
"Four years," the girl said, holding up four fingers. "Come here." Kris kneeled down in front of her. "Do you like my brother?" she whispered. Kris nodded enthusiastically. Avery looked up at Taylor, then back to Kris. "Ew!"
"Hey, he may not be that likable to you, but he's perfectly likable to me. Let me get settled in now, we can talk later. Do you have a tea set?" Kris asked. She nodded. "We can have a tea party." She looked over to Jessie. "You wanna join?"
"Nah."
"How about you?" she asked Mackie. "You wanna join the tea party?"
"I'm a boy, I don't do that." She smiled.
"Fine then, we'll get Taylor to come along."
"Uh, no thank you Kris. I have many, many other things to do."
"Come on, Taylor," Kris whined. "You have to join!"
"Tea parties are for girls, sorry." Kris smiled to Avery. Somehow, she knew exactly what Kris was thinking. Avery ran over to Taylor and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up to him.
"Please?" she asked, pouting. "Kris will be there and everything!" Taylor sighed.
"Fine, I'll join your stupid tea party." Avery giggled and let go of him. "Let's leave before I have to join something else," Taylor said. Kris waved bye to the three of them, and they walked off. "How did you do that?"
"I have ten nieces and nephews, dude. I know what I'm doing." She followed Zac up the stairs.
"I'm going to have to get you back for that." Kris didn't see Taylor point to the bathroom that was up ahead. Zac smiled, knowing what was going through Taylor's head.
"And here we have the famous bathroom," Zac said. Kris looked in. It wasn't much, but it was a good place to get someone back for something they did.
"Uh-oh."
Kris found herself being pushed into the bathroom by the both of them, and locked in. She began to pound on the door, out of sheer impulse. "Let me out! This isn't funny! It's really cramped in here!"
"It's a bathroom, idiot," Zac said. "It's supposed to be small." The two sat on the ground, their backs against the bathroom. Kris continued to pound on the wall and shout things in an attempt to be let out.
Isaac walked up not long after Kris was shut in the bathroom. "You guys back already? I didn't even notice." He heard the banging on the door. "I'm taking Kris is here."
"Isaac! Get them to let me out!" Kris screamed. "I don't like it in here."
"Why'd the put you in there in the first place?" Isaac asked
"I made Taylor join in a tea party I'm having with Avery later!" Kris said. " But it doesn't matter how I got in here, it's just that I'm in here and they won't let me out!" Kris kicked the door a few times. Taylor was immediately amazed by the strength she had, because he kicked the door slightly open a few times.
"Guys, I think that's enough," Isaac said, a slight smirk on his face. "I do understand that you're upset, Taylor, but that's no reason to lock your girlfriend in the bathroom."
"Yes it is."
"Let her out." Zac and Taylor exchanged looks. "Just do it before I kick your ass." They got out of the way and Kris fell out of the bathroom. She ran over to Isaac and toppled him over in a hug.
"Thank you! I love you, I love you, I love you!" Isaac looked at her, and shook his head. She let him go and ran over to Taylor and Zac. "I'm going to fricken kill the two of you." She started smacking Taylor's arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Hey! I'm sorry! God, just stop hitting me." She stopped, giving him a look. "I'm really sorry�"
"No you're not."
"You're right, but I'll do what it takes to get you stop hitting me." She flung out her fist to hit him again, but he caught it. She looked at her fist in his, shocked. No one had ever made an attempt to stop her before, and he actually did stop her. "Don't do that again."
"You're the first person who's actually stopped me." He pulled her to him and hugged her. "I didn't know what to do."
"Try again." She smiled and socked him in the stomach. He fell back into a chair, the three other people in the room laughing. He shook it off and looked at her. "You are so dead." He got up and ran after her, since she darted from the room. Laughing and screaming, they ran through the house.
Kris ran throughout the entire house and finally back into the room where Zac and Isaac had stayed. Zac blocked her path so she darted into the bathroom, Taylor right after her. Zac shut the door and sat against it. Taylor grabbed Kristina around the waist and flipped her to face him.
"I got you."
"Whatcha gonna do about it now?" she asked. He shrugged, pulling her closer.
"Since we're stuck in here, we might as well take advantage of the situation." She smiled as he kissed her. "I missed having your undivided attention."
"I'm sorry, I just happen to find torturing Zac amusing." She kissed him again. He responded passionately, forcing her against the door. She hit it with a bang, but didn't seem to care. Outside, Zac jumped from the sudden noise. There wasn't any afterwards, and there hadn't been any beforehand. He jumped up, confused. He and Isaac watched as the door opened and two fell to the ground.
"Ow," Kris said. "Taylor get off me." Taylor rolled off her and laid on the floor next to her, not bothering to get up.
"Come on guys, get a room." Kris looked up to Zac.
"We had one until you decided to open the door."
"I didn't open it! It's an old door, there's problems with the locks. You lean against it and the door opens. Maybe I should have warned you." She groaned and sat up. "I will tell you this, there's lots of kiddies running around her, keep the groping to a minimum otherwise they won't hesitate to tell on you."
"Sheesh, Zac, thank you for letting me know that. It's not like I live here or anything," Taylor said, sitting up. "What would I do without you?"
"Well you seem to be spending more time with Kris then the rest of us so I figure I might as well let you know, just in case your hormones start flaring up and you rape her like she mentioned earlier�"
"Does my room have a lock on it?" Kris asked. "Cause I might have to watch out here�he does have a strange look in his eyes."
"It's only because I want you, Kris," he said, and kissed her neck. His brothers turned away in disgust.
"Not here, please!" Zac said. "I'm not in the mood to see that right now." When the two just started making out again, Zac and Isaac left. Zac, looking around, went into his room and into the closet. As long as Taylor stayed with Kris and Isaac didn't come in, he'd be alright. He dug through a few things and discarded a few old trinkets that weren't important anymore. He knew his brothers didn't even go in there anymore, there wasn't much in there anyway except for old junk.
Zac bit his lip and pulled out an old picture frame. He blew off the dust. God, how long had it been since he'd looked at it? The world was on fire, no one could save me but you�Strange what desire will make foolish people do�Zac nearly began to cry. His fingers trailed lightly over her smiling, happy face. The two of them, together, in Long Beach. The weather was so beautiful that she insisted that they take the drive to the beach. No matter if they had a bathing suit or not, she just wanted to go to stroll. I never dreamed that I'd meet someone like you�And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you�Back then they were nothing but happy. She was so beautiful. She probably still is beautiful. Zac sighed, it'd been eight months since they broke up. It still hurt, though. It still hurt more than he could think. No, I don't want to fall in love�This love is only gonna break your heart�
He was still in love with her. Hell, he never got over her. Whenever he blinked her picture flashed through his mind. He thought of their carefree days and their happy moments. Everything was that way, until that other guy came along. For a moment Zac felt for Brian. What a wicked game you play to make me feel this way�what a wicked thing to do to let me dream of you�He couldn't feel for Brian. His brother couldn't be happier now, with the love of his life right there. Too bad he was sharing her with someone else. What a wicked thing to say you never felt this way�what a wicked thing to do to make me dream of you�
Zac could still remember his name. That bastard that had absolutely nothing to do with it but everything to do with it. That 'bastard' was just an innocent victim. He was the same age as Zac and Gwen, but Zac had proven to look a lot older than he was. That 'bastard' was so afraid that Zac was going to kill him. And I don't wanna fall in love�this love is only gonna break you heart� Joshua.
::Flashback, Eight months previous::
Zac knocked and stepped in the door to Gwen's house. He'd been there so many times that he didn't even have to wait to be let in. Even though their visits were few and far between, whenever he was in town he stopped by. Gwen's mother appeared from the kitchen, and smiled to see Zac.
"Oh Zac I've missed you! Where've you been all this time?" Zac smiled and hugged the woman.
"Everywhere. Everywhere but where I wanna be. We're stuck here recording and I just got some free time so I figured I'd stop by. I missed you too, Megan." Megan released him, and looked up at him.
"You've grown again. You must be nearing six foot by now." Zac nodded. "You look too old to still be thirteen. Are you going to be fourteen soon?"
"October." She sighed.
"You look too good for your age. If I didn't know better I'd think you were in your late teens. But you got such a baby face," she said, and put his face in her hand. He laughed. Despite everything Gwen had said, he loved Megan with all his heart. She was just a wonderful woman. "If you were older and I wasn't married�"
"Where is Rick anyway?" Megan rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Somewhere. I really need to start keeping tabs on that man."
"So is Gwen home or am I stuck here talking to you?" Zac teased. "And we both know that's a fate worse than death."
"She's in her room." Zac smiled and headed off in that direction of the house. Suddenly Megan remembered something. "But she's really not up to talking to anyone right now, I really think you should come back later."
"What's wrong?" Megan looked at Zac. He was so innocent. She couldn't lie to him, that was just one thing that she didn't care for in him. "Megan? Is there something going on that I should know about?" She looked down at her hands, fidgeting like an adult really shouldn't.
"I think you should go in there and find out what your girlfriend's been doing." Zac gave her a strange look. He walked over to Gwen's room and opened the door. The first thing he saw was Gwen, his girlfriend, his best friend, making out on the bed with another guy. He gasped, trying not to draw attention. Immediately his heart shattered and he felt like crying. Gwen looked over just in time to see Zac close the door.
Not prepared at all for the flood of feelings that washed over him, Zac raced to the door. Gwen, now having leaving her room, ran after him. She met up with him outside the house, on the sidewalk. "Zac�" She ran in front of him and stopped him. He couldn't look at her. "Zac I'm sorry."
"No you're not." He turned away, taking in a shaky breath. When he realized she wasn't about to go away, he decided to speak. "How could you?"
"You've been gone forever, Zac. How can you expect me to just sit here and do absolutely nothing? I sit here for days, hoping you'd call but you don't. Nothing's the same anymore. Nothing is the same, Zac. It'll never be the same. I'm not the type of person who can wait and wait and wait until you come back."
"I loved you, Gwen," Zac said. "I trusted you. The least you could have done is said that you didn't want it anymore. You could of ended it so many times. Don't blame me for something you could of prevented."
"I still love you!" she said. "But there's nothing I can do about it now."
"Sure there is. Goodbye, Gwen. Have a nice life with that puny little bastard."
"You don't know Joshua at all! He's better for me anyway." Zac rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Whatever. Do what you want with him, you don't concern me anymore. I used to think that there was no me without you, but I'll learn to live with it." He walked away.
"I still love you." He turned around.
"Fuck you." He took her away from his sight and walked off, his heart broken and tears pouring down his face.
::End Flashback::
World was on fire no one could save me but you�strange what desire will make foolish people do� Zac realized the tears falling onto the picture frame. She'd caused the tears. She'd given it to him, the picture and the frame, and the loneliness. Figures, the frame said 'together forever' on the rim. What bullshit that was. I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you�I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you�
He still loved her. He still missed her. At that time he couldn't picture his life without her. Now he was forcing himself to forget her. No, I don't wanna fall in love�This love is only gonna break your heart� Now he was forcing himself to not let any of this affect him. He'd forgotten all about her, until the episode with Brian, Taylor, and Kris showed up. Nobody loves no one� He loved her.
"Zac? Are you in here?" Taylor asked, poking his head in the door. Kris appeared behind him. Immediately Zac dried his tears and turned to face the two of them. "Hey, what's wrong?" The picture frame that he was trying to hide fell out of his hands and crashed onto the floor of the closet, making a loud noise.
"Shit," he said, and turned around. He didn't care anymore, both of them knew all about Gwen so they might as well see a picture of her. He bent over and picked up the picture. Sighing, he walked over to the door and showed Taylor the frame. "This is Gwen." Kris walked around Taylor so she could get a better look at the picture.
"Zac, she's beautiful," Kris said.
"I know. I got lucky." Kris smiled and looked at the picture. Zac looked so different, it was hard to tell they were the same person. She noted the 'together forever' on the frame of the picture. "She gave me this a bit after we started to date."
"How long ago was this? You look so different."
"About two years ago." Her eyes widened in a bit of disbelief, but she only shrugged it off. If she didn't know better, she would of thought these were two different people. Kris noticed how vulnerable he seemed. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets to stop them from shaking, and it was obvious he had been crying. He wasn't trying to cover it up anymore.
"Are you alright?" Kris asked. He looked away and shook his head. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"No, but I will anyway." He walked over to a bed and flopped face down on it. Kris, already feeling deeply troubled by his whole experience, walked over and sat down on the edge. She ran her fingernails over his back, knowing it comforted every other person she knew. "Everything about her was just so perfect that the first time I met her I knew I had to have her."
"What's her name again?" Kris asked. She'd only heard it a few times, and her memory wasn't exactly the greatest asset about her.
"Gwen," Zac said, picking a piece of fuzz off the comforter and flicking it off the bed. "Gwendlyn Adrian Ashton. God, she was just everything to me." Zac closed his eyes, picturing her in his mind. "And lately all I can do is think about her."
"Why do you think that is?" Zac didn't wanna say it. "Come on, you can tell me."
"It's because you're here." Kris's hand over his back suddenly stopped. "I didn't wanna say anything but I knew it from the beginning. Ever since I found out about you and Brian all I could think about was her. It was just everything about her came back whenever Taylor talked about you, or whenever he was on the phone with you. Every time I heard your name all I can think about is Gwen." Kris looked over to find some kind of help from Taylor, but he'd left already. She figured he would. Not really knowing what to do, she climbed over him and laid on the bed next to him. He opened his eyes to find her staring back at him.
"I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do about that."
"Kris, you need to get rid of Brian before he ends up like me. I don't care how he treats you, I don't care if he was the worst person in the world, I don't want anyone turning out like me. It's not easy at all to get over that. I'm still not over it and it happened eight months ago."
"As much as I care about you, Zac, I don't need you telling me what to do with my problems."
"I just don't want anyone to get hurt."
"But it'll hurt me." Kris drew in a quick, shaky breath. "As much as I love Taylor, I still love Brian with all my heart."
"Then why are you doing this?" Zac asked. "If you're not doing it to Brian, you're doing it to Taylor."
"Taylor knows that Brian is just there when he's not. That's all he is to me."
"But you just said you loved him with all your heart." She closed her eyes. "Taylor thinks that, just because you're feeding it to him. He doesn't know how much you care about Brian at all�but it still hurts him. As selfish as it may seem to you, he just wants you to himself. A girlfriend is not something he should have to share with someone else. I know the look on his face when you happen to have Brian over when he calls. I recognize that look. He's hurting inside because you won't let go of someone who doesn't deserve you."
"There's not much I can do about that."
"Yes there is. You can say goodbye to Brian and just center yourself on Taylor. He loves you so much, Kris. It hurts him to see you with someone else and it hurts me. When are you going to let it up?" She opened her eyes, looking at him. Her eyes were glazed over with tears. "Please tell me you're planning on letting go of him."
"Which one?"
"Someone. One of them. I don't really care which, because you're hurting my brother either way. As his brother, I would have you choose Taylor, especially because of the supposed horror stories you have with Brian. As a friend I'd have you choose Brian."
"Why?"
"I don't know. There's always that possibility that he could change."
"I way always told never to go out with someone thinking you could change him," Kris said. "I guess I never listened to that." Kris noticed Avery walk up to the door. She sat up. "I'll be over there in a minute, alright?" Avery nodded. "Go find your brother." Avery walked off and Kris looked down to Zac. "Are you going to be alright?"
"I don't know how much that helped�we kinda got into your problems."
"We'll talk all about her later. Right now I have to force Taylor into a tea party." Zac smiled. "Hold on until I get back, alright?" She tried to climb over him again, but he pulled her down in a hug. "Uff�thanks, Zac."
"You know you like it."
"You're turning out to be a really good friend, Zac."
"Well, I try." She gave him a look. "You're pretty cool yourself. I thought any of the girls Taylor would bring home would be as stuck up as he can be."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah but you proved to be different."
"That's where I specialize."
"So are you going to help me out here?"
"Well, you can either wait or spill your problems to Taylor, Avery and me over imaginary tea."
"I don't think so."
"Come on. I've never had one of these before, it's not like I know what I'm doing. That's why I had Taylor come along. I'm just kinda hoping he'd been dragged to one before."
"Taylor can do everything in his power to get out of arguments and punishment, but for some reason he can't weasel out of a tea party with his sister." Kris shrugged and smiled.
"Come on."
"Fine."
Musical Credit goes to Chris Isaak (Wicked Game)