I woke up still sitting next to Zac on the couch. He had fallen asleep also and his head was rested in the back of the couch. Isaac and Sadie were asleep on the floor, Isaac's head resting on Sadie's lap and Sadie's head was against my knee. I giggled at the scene. We had all fallen asleep without even realizing it. I tried to sit up but Zac's arm was resting on my back and he was leaning into me a little so I found it impossible to do as I wanted without waking him up. I squinted at the clock in the kitchen and saw that it was 6:00 AM. I shook Zac lightly. He began to stir and opened his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked drowsily.

"It's 6 in the morning. What time are you guys leaving?" I asked in a low whisper so I wouldn't wake up the two on the floor.

"7:30..." he rubbed at his eyes and squinted at me. "We fell asleep like that?" he asked, a little amused.

"I guess so. Look at Sadie and Isaac." I pointed at them and he smiled at me.

"I guess they got to know each other."

"I guess so." I smiled back at him.

"Should we wake them up?"

"Well, do you think Isaac will have enough time to pack if he wakes up on his own?"

"Yeah, he packs light usually. Plus, all you have to do is close and lock those trunks and you're packed."

"Then, let them sleep. They look cute together."

"Don't you go mushy on me. I might have to do something drastic."

"Like what?" I smirked up at him.

"Well, I've been known to tickle very well..." I started to get up.

"No... I'm really ticklish... please don't..." I squealed as Zac began to chase me into the hallway. He caught up with me a minute later and began to tickle me. I giggled uncontrollably. Walker poked his head out of his hotel room and gave us a strange look. I was sprawled out on my side and Zac was leaning over me, tickling my side. He stopped when he saw Walker and gave him a cheesy grin.

"Hi, Dad."

"You two are the strangest teenagers I have ever met..." Walker laughed at us before disappearing back into his room. Zac began to tickle me again. A few minutes later, Taylor came out of his room and glared at us.

"We're trying to sleep in here." he stated.

"�We'? Who's in there with you, Tay?" Zac asked, finally letting up on me.

"Sheila, duh." Taylor gave him a look that said �Who else?' and went back into his room.

"Why is she in there? She's got her own damn room." Zac called after him. Taylor came back out.

"Why do you think?" he asked.

"Because you two are doing something naughty?"

"Very good."

"Asshole."

"Shit-head." Taylor went back into his room and shut the door loudly. Zac was still hovering over me so I sat up to get him off.

"You don't like his girlfriend do you?" I asked him as I tried to collect myself.

"Nope, she's a bitch."

"And why is she a bitch?"

"Because of her Tay never does anything with the family. He's always doing shit with her. And I really don't like the fact the he's screwing her. It makes me want to puke."

"So, you feel that she's taking Taylor away from you and your family?" I asked, sounding a bit like a therapist.

"What are you, my therapist?" he asked, sounding upset.

"No, but I'm your friend and I don't like it when you're unhappy." I answered as we both stood up and began to go back to the room.

"Well, don't worry about it. He'll dump her soon enough and then things will be back to normal. Hey, you want to go down to the lobby and get some breakfast before we have to go?"

"Sure. We should leave a note though."

"I need to change anyway. This is getting on my nerves." he pulled at the sweater I had told him to wear. I smirked at him and walked into the room.

"Then, you go change and I'll write the note." He walked off to the bedroom and I took a note pad that was laying on the kitchen counter and found a pen and wrote a short note. Then, I checked myself in the mirror, fixed my disheveled hair and smoothed my clothes. Zac appeared behind me in the mirror. I turned around to find he had changed and brushed his hair. I smiled up at him.

"Ready?" he asked as he took his hands out of his pockets. I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we walked to the elevator. By that time, I had concluded that the reason Zac always held my hand when we walked together was because he was scared that he might get mobbed and I'd get lost in the crowd or something. That was the only good explanation I could come up with besides the �he likes you,' voice that kept popping into my head. But, Zac couldn't like me for the simple reason that we were just friends and nothing more.

I brushed the thoughts out of my mind as we exited the elevator and entered the lobby. There was a small restaurant to the side of the lobby that served breakfast so we went to it and were seated. Unfortunately, we got a window seat. A few minutes into the meal, a few girls came up to the window and began to knock on it to get Zac's attention. He didn't look up from his menu. I waved to them and smiled, trying to act as if they were friends. They glared at me and continued to knock. I frowned and kicked Zac under the table. His head flew up in confusion.

"Can we go to another table or something? Those girls are getting on my nerves." I asked. glancing out the window to find that the couple girls had grown to about ten. Zac finally looked out the window and the girls began to scream. He smiled and waved and then hailed down a waiter.

"Hi, um... could we possibly be moved to a non-window table? Those girls are disturbing us."

"We could simply go outside and ask them to leave..." the waiter said.

"They won't, they're fans. They don't leave unless I leave."

"Fine. I'll see what I can do." The waiter left our table for a moment and went to talk to whom I assumed to be the manager. The �manager' walked up to our table and smiled apologetically.

"I'm very sorry for this disturbance, Mr. Hanson. Follow me to a new table where you won't be bothered." We followed him to a table in one corner of the restaurant with walls on either side. I looked back to see the fans all near tears. I shrugged and sat down.

"Thank you. Sorry for the hassle." Zac sat down also and the manager and the waiter both left us alone. We both returned to our menu's until we figured out what we wanted to eat. Then, the waiter came back and took our orders.

"So, you guys are going to Columbus next?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah.. for two days. Then... I have no idea where we'll be next... I never know.." he sighed and smiled at me.

"That's cool. At least you get to travel a lot. I'm stuck in my little town." I fiddled with the clothe napkin I had failed to put on my lap.

"I guess but sometimes it gets annoying. Like sometimes I just want to go home and sleep in my bed and not be bugged for a couple hours, you know? Like when I want to get away from Tay after we fight. But on a tour bus it's kind of hard unless you go to the other bus. Then, I have nothing to do because that bus is for the crew and stuff so there's nothing really in there like a Playstation or anything. I don't know, I just kind of get homesick sometimes I guess." he looked down at his glass of orange juice.

"I can see that. I'd wanna get away from Taylor too." I smirked at him. He smiled back at me and chuckled a little.

"I don't understand why he doesn't like you, though. I mean, sure, you threatened him but everybody does that to him and he did deserve it. I don't know what his problem is. He's retarded I guess." I laughed.

"Boy can you ever throw out an insult." I teased.

"Shut up! I'm just not in the mood to insult him right now. I'm a bit tired."

"Then, why are you up this early? You can go back up to the room and I'll bring your breakfast up with me when I'm done eating."I said in a bit of a concerned voice. He played with his straw and didn't look at me.

"No, Tay will be up by now and he wants to �talk' to me and I don't want to deal with his bitching right now. Besides, I'm not going to leave you down here all alone. You wouldn't be able to get back up to the room without the key."

"Then, why don't we just ask the waiter to turn our order into room service and I'll go back up with you? If you're tired, you need to get some rest."

"No. I'm fine. It's not like I'm going to fall asleep or anything. Let's just eat and then we can go back up to the room and hopefully Ike and Sadie will be awake by then so I won't have to deal with Tay."

"Okay, if that's what you want.." I was a little skeptical. I noticed light bags under his eyes. I could tell he needed sleep because he wasn't as sarcastic or lively as he usually was. But, I left it at that and changed the subject. "So, what do you think Taylor wants to talk to you about?" I asked casually.

"I don't know. Probably wants to bitch about something I did wrong, as usual."

"Well, since we have already concluded that he is an ass, you should just ignore his bitching and tell him to fuck off." I gave him a supportive smile as the food came. He laughed a little, still not looking at me as he began to eat. I sighed and began to nibble on my food. For some reason, I wasn't very hungry. This whole Zac fighting with Taylor thing just wasn't sitting well with me. I picked at my food, managing to eat a reasonable amount, enough to sustain me until lunch, and then shoved my plate away. I discovered that Zac wasn't very hungry either because he was picking at his food and shuffling it around his plate. After about a half hour of quiet between us, Zac finally looked up at me with a confused look on his face.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, still looking perplexed.

"Sure, anything."

"Why are you treating me so... normal. I mean, any other fan would have screamed and freaked out, kind of like Sadie did. But, you... you are acting like a real friend. I mean, your acting concerned about my fighting with Tay but you... aren't acting over-concerned like a fan would. And I mean, you are the first fan that has ever been mean to Tay. You're like one of my friends back home..." he smiled at me, before going back to his plate.

"Is that a compliment? I can answer why I didn't scream, because I've talked to you for so long on the phone that I'm just really comfortable around you so I treat you like a normal guy, besides the fact that you are a normal guy." I smiled back at him. He looked at me again with a funny expression on his face.

"Thanks." he smiled.

"Welcome."

"Are you hungry anymore?"

"Not really, you?"

"I lost my appetite. You want to go back up to the room and see if Ike and Sadie are awake yet?"

"Sure." we both stood up and grabbed each other's hands as we walked to the elevators, something that had become tradition for us. We traveled up to the 51st floor and got off. Jessica and Avery were out in the hallway, bugging the security guards and giggling. Zac pulled me towards them.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked in a humorous voice.

"Nothing." Avery giggled and tried to look innocent. Jessica was eyeing Zac and I's hands that were still inter-locked.

"Nothing? Really Avie? I think you were doing something. And I think you deserve to be tickled." he chased Avery down the hallway, catching up with her at the end of the hallway and attacking her with tickles. Jessica and I stood there, me watching them and her eyeing me.

"Are you a fan?" she asked in a semi-snotty tone. I looked down at her.

"Somewhat. I'm more of a friend than a fan though. Why?"

"Because I hate fans." I was taken aback by this. I hadn't expected her to be so rude.

"Oh well, why do you hate them?"

"Because they're stupid, they're crazy, and they never leave us alone!"

"Oh, well they just want to get to know your brother's. They love their music as they should. You shouldn't hate them. You shouldn't hate anyone. Oh wait, there's one person you can hate but I won't tell you who he is because I'm not sure if you have the same relationship with him as Zac does."

"Tay? I heard about your little fight with him. That was kind of mean of you. He had a right to be mean to your friend. I mean, people cry if someone they love dies, not if they meet one of my brothers."

"You know what, little girl? You have been hanging around Taylor way too long. Why don't you start hanging out with Zac or Isaac? They're way better influences."

"Because they don't get annoyed by the fans? Well, they don't show their annoyance of the fans?" I turned around to see Taylor standing right behind me, looking pissed.

"No, because they have the decency and compassion to understand why some people could get emotional at times, unlike you." I shot back, giving him an evil look.

"You are a bitch."

"I'd rather be a bitch then an ass."

"Ouch, that hurt."

"Oh, poor baby... Grow up you freak of nature." I turned back around and walked into Zac's room, finding Isaac making some type of breakfast food in the kitchen and Sadie no where to be found. Apparently Taylor wasn't finished yet because he followed me.

"Look bitch, I don't know who you think you are but I'm not going to take your shit. Why don't you go back to your little hick town and stay away from Zac?" he said, backing me up into the bedroom.

"What do you care if I'm friends with Zac? You hate him anyway."

"I don't hate Zac. I don't like you, and if you're friends with Zac then I'll have to see your ugly face on occasion."

"Ooo, poor you, I have to see you on the cover of every magazine. Feel lucky you'll only have to see me a few---" his lips were on mine before I could finish my sentence. I was shocked by his actions. More than anything, I was shocked that I was actually kissing him back. His arms found their way around my waist as our kisses continued. I absently wrapped my arms around his neck. Our tongues collided, intensifying the kisses. We broke apart after a few minutes, breathless. I sat on a bed in shock, putting my head in my hands and trying to clear my thoughts. My mind was flashing a million different things at once and I needed to make sense of it all. I felt the bed creek as he sat down next to me, also in shock. "W-w-h-a-t w-w-a-s that?!" I stuttered when I was finally able to speak. We looked in each other's eyes, both confused.

"I have no idea! I don't know what came over me! Oh my God! Sheila's gonna kill me! Shit!" he fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. I glanced over at him. Just then, I heard voices in the living room.

"Where's G?" I heard Zac ask someone.

"She and Taylor wandered into the bedroom, fighting about something."Isaac responded. I heard soft footsteps on the carpet and looked at Taylor frantically. He jumped up along with me and we instantly began to throw insults at each other.

"Bitch." Taylor said, trying to act as if he was really mad.

"Shit head with no balls."

"Ouch, that one hurt."

"Not as much as me foot up your ass will."I countered.

"You wouldn't be able to see to aim the kick, you're head's too far up your ass!"

"You are just so good at insulting people, you know that?" I could sense that we were both about ready to dive at each other for another kiss so I looked over and sure enough, Zac was standing in the doorway watching us. I flicked Taylor off quickly before going to Zac and leading him out of the room. Taylor followed behind, giving me a look that clearly said �We need to talk later' before fake-storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him for affect. I almost cracked a smile at what a good actor he could be at times.

"You guys can really go at it." Zac commented with a smile. If he only knew...

"He just gets me so pissed!" I put on an angry face and went to sit on the couch. Isaac was sitting on the edge of it and eating some eggs he had made in the kitchen. I sat next to him and sniffed at his eggs. "Why didn't you just order room service?" I asked him.

"Nah, I felt like cooking it even though it tastes like shit."

"Not a very good cook, huh?"

"Not at all."

"Neither am I. Where's Sadie?"

"She's taking a shower."

"Oh, so you guys are hitting it off. You like her?"

"You're going to blab anything I tell you to her." he smirked before eating more of his eggs.

"No, I won't. I promise. Come on, it's obvious you like her."

"Yeah, but she's only sixteen and I'm nineteen, that's illegal."

"Only if someone presses charges. And I doubt anyone is going to press charges on you for liking her." I patted his shoulder and looked at the television to see what he was watching.

"Yeah, I guess so.. but I've never been very good at long distance relationships and the whole legal thing and everything.. I'm just not sure it would work out, you know?"

"Sure, but what have you got to lose?"

"My freedom for a couple years?"

"That's only if you have sex which I can pretty much guarantee won't happen."

"You are definitely right about that." he nodded his head as he took another bite.

"So, why not try it out?"

"Okay, maybe I will. I'll ask her before we leave."

"Good. Is there a certain reason the TV isn't on?"

"I was listening to you and Tay fight. Why'd you guys stop for like five minutes?"

"We didn't.. we uh.. we were having a glaring contest sort of..." I looked away from Isaac and grabbed the remote to the TV. I flipped it on and turned to channel 11 for Author. Isaac didn't say anything else. Zac sat down on the floor in front of me and leaned against my legs. I sat up on the couch, feeling a bit on edge with the whole �Taylor thing'. Zac looked back at me and smiled. I smiled back.

"Um.. I'm gonna go outside and try to find a vending machine, I need a pop." I stood up and hurried out of the room. Taylor was chatting with one of the security guards but he stopped when he saw me leave the room. He started to walk to the elevators, giving a little gesture with his hand for me to follow him. I did, trying to act casual. When I met up with him at the elevator, we began to argue again, just so the guards wouldn't think anything was up. As soon as the doors to the elevators closed, we dove for each other and began to kiss heatedly. The elevator stopped a few floors bellow ours and we broke apart. An elderly couple walked into the elevator together and we separated, each of us on standing in opposite corners watching each other. The elderly couple got off at the lobby as did we. Taylor led me down a hallway to a small room that closely resembled a broom closet and shut and locked the door behind us. We began to kiss again, accidently bumping into shelves and boxes as we moved. I felt Taylor's warm hands begin to travel up the inside of my shirt, grazing my bare back. I found the will-power to pull apart from him and move a few feet away, wiping at my lips to try to get rid of his saliva that still lingered. I looked him in the eyes, seeing that he was just as confused as I was.

"What is with us?" he asked, sitting on an old, metal folding chair. I shook my head in confusion and sat on the floor.

"Are we insane?" I asked.

"I think so. We're supposed to be enemies, not whatever this is. We're supposed to argue, not kiss!"

"And you have a girlfriend! This is ridiculous! We have to stop this. Why don't we just stay out of each other's way until we both leave?" "Good idea. But wait, that won't be until 11:00. We have to leave later because one of the buses's tires were slashed for some weird reason and it's gonna take a while to replace them."

"We can avoid each other until then. You stay in your room and I'll stay in Zac's"

"Good plan. And we won't tell anyone this happened, right?"

"Right." We both stood up and started to grab the door handle at the same time. Our hands brushed against each other's and our eyes met and before we knew it we were at it again, leaning against the door as we kissed. Taylor's hands again traveled up the back of my shirt but I allowed it this time, not having enough strength to object at the moment. I began to pull at the edges of his shirt, bringing it up over his head and then smoothing my hands over his muscular chest as our lips met again. This was getting out of hand fast. Soon, he was pulling up my shirt and trying to unhook my bra. I finally got up the strength to pull away and we stood there, panting like dogs and looking at each other.

"This is getting out of hand." he said, still trying to control his breathing. I just nodded, not able to speak yet. "We definitely have to stop." I nodded again and reached for my shirt. Taylor grabbed his and we both re-dressed. Neither of us noticed that my shirt was inside-out and his was on backwards. We finally managed to get into the elevator without losing control again and we made sure to be as far away from each other as possible while we traveled up to the 51st floor. We both hurried out of the elevator and into the separate rooms without looking at each other or the guards. When I stepped into Zac's room, Sadie and Isaac were sitting on the couch, talking an Zac was sleeping on his bed. I smiled and decided sleep would be a good remedy for the crazy feelings I was having at that moment. I slipped into the other bed and sat there for a while, deep in thought about my feelings for Taylor.

"Hey, G?" I heard Zac whisper. I rolled over to my side and looked over at him. "Why were you gone so long? The vending machine is just around the corner." he asked, sounding a bit sleepy.

"I was being dumb and couldn't find it, then Taylor and I got into a huge fight in the hallway. I was so mad that I forgot all about the pop and came back here. Why? D'ya miss me?" I smiled over at him.

"Yeah, a little. Can I come over there?" he asked. I pulled up the comforter, inviting him in the bed with me. He scooted onto the bed with me and pulled the covers up to his chin. Even though it was probably 120 outside, the air conditioner made it freezing in the room.

"So, what's up?"

"Did you hear about the tires being slashed?"

"Yeah, bummer."

"At least we get to stay a little longer."

"Yeah... hey Zac?"

"Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?" I scrunched my forehead, concentrating on my point.

"Yeah, we talked about this earlier. Why?"

"No reason... I was just wondering. Are you still tired?"

"A little, why?"

"You want to go back to sleep?"

"Do you?"

"Sort of."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Night."I closed my eyes and snuggled into his side, trying to keep warm, the comforter was thin and wasn't much help in keeping warm against the air conditioner. Zac wrapped his arms around me in a friendly hug and we both fell asleep.


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