After what could be considered a fitful nights sleep at best, I'd woken up to the sound of banging coming from down my hall, echoing off the walls and into my room as I shook myself to wake up. Looking at the clock, noticing the late hour, the sunshine already pouring in through the blinds that covered the large window I pulled myself out of bed, reaching for my sweats, racking a hand through my hair. 'OPEN UP ISAAC!' the first signs of my bad headache from last night re-surfacing when Zac's voice rung in my ears loudly. Rubbing my eyes as I wandered down the hall, I stopped to look at my aching body in the vanity mirror hung over the mail table near the door. Even in the dim light of the hall I could see a red line down my cheek with blue and purple undertones creating a swollen mound around it. I wasn't as shocked as I thought I'd be , Tea had slapped me repeatedly with force and as I thought about it, I could feel her hand on me again, as I managed to put my foot in everything again. Zac was still banging like a maniac on the door, but I slowly raised my fingers to trail down the red scratch mark that her long acrylic nails had etched into my flesh on their way down. The pressure I applied on it made me wince, the pain ripple out through the bruises and up to the headache that was hanging over the front of my face. I don't know what shocked me more- the fact I couldn't push her away, or the fact I let her take her stress out on me. But I'm her boyfriend, her partner and ultimately the person she's supposed to be able to call upon for anything and everything. Stress, I have decided, was part of the anything and everything duty and I'm not going to stop trying to help her through this stressful time, just because of a scratch and a little bruise.

I looked through the peephole as I approached the door, seeing Zac in jeans and a navy hooded sweater, sneakers on his feet and his hair pulled back in an excruciatingly tight ponytail. He was resting against the doorframe, camping out until I opened the door. Sighing, I knew I had no choice but to talk to my younger sibling, who is obviously here because of the welt in my face. 'Zac, I was just about to get ready,' I sighed as I pulled the door open as Zac stood up straight at the sight of me, his expression blank. 'Bullshit-I doubt you'll be going anywhere today, or for the next few days with that on your face, now, are you going to let me in or am I going to have to ask you about this out in the hall?' as baulshy as he sounded and as much as i wanted to slam the door in his face, i stepped aside and let him push through, striding into the living room as i locked the door and followed him like i was the younger kid and he was my older sibling. He was stood looking out of the window as i sat down on the sofa, resting my feet up on the coffee table, waiting for him to start spouting accusations and words of worry, the only answer to all of it would be 'you don't understand,'

'What's really going on between you and Tea? A little bit more than turbulence, wouldn't you say?' he started, turning round to look at me, his hands nestled in the front pouch of his hooded sweatshirt. I couldn't look at him for i knew he'd read me like a book if i so much as blinked his way right now, it's frightening how I'm the smaller person now. 'I can still see the bruises on your shoulder,' he added as i watched him sit on the sofa opposite me out the corner of my eye, leaning forward resting his arms on his legs as i glanced to my shoulder then up to him. 'So what are you going to tell me? You think she's wrong for me, that you automatically think you know everything because of a couple of bruises?' i snapped back quietly as i bit my nails childishly. 'Taylor might have been fooled but come on Isaac- what's with the cat scratch? I just want to know that everything's okay, and if it's not-why not?' his tone shifted from forcefully anxious, to nervous and worried as I fiddled with the white drawstring tie of my sweats, not quite knowing what to say to him to assure him that I was okay-for I'm sure he'd not believe. 'What can I say to you Zac? Me and Tea are fine, she's a little stressed out about all these career moves and that's it-although I can't say anything that will make you believe I'm okay, seems you've already made your conclusion,' I admitted as he fell back into the sofa, loudly exhaling as I turned my head to focus my gaze out the window. 'First your shoulders black and blue, now your face? You expect me not to pick up on that Ike? You can say you got into a fight with a guy at a party, but the type of social-lite you two mix with are too refined for that. Just because she's stressed gives her no right to lash out at you,' he underlined, that mature side intelligence shining through again-he was so much easier to fool when he was 10.

'Again I say it's not like that Zac, okay so I didn't get in a punch up with some guy, but I didn't get in a punch up with Tea either! Zac, you know I love her very much, we have our ups and downs but really Zac, she's not hitting me-not in the way you think. I let myself in for it, deserve it when I act a little ignorant and don't give her enough support, she never means it she is always quick to apologize,' I was sitting forward now, my hand flinging everywhere expressively so he would just get off the case. By all means I should be flattered he cares enough to come round here and try and get to the bottom of it, but it's something I haven't even thought about yet here I sat telling him she always apologizes. The first lie to myself in a long time. I'm pretty much sided with the fact she doesn't realize what she's doing, the fact yesterday she lashed out then was all sweetness and light before she left, the way she threw that bowl of salad at me and hit my shoulder, only to have her curl up in my arms a few nights later totally ignorant when she saw the bruising. And I told her it didn't matter. Maybe that's two lies to myself then.

Zac stared at me cautiously before leaving his seat to come and park his rear on the coffee table in front of me. He studied my face, his eyes full of worry as I started to feel uncomfortable at his gaze. Could he see through my lie? Can he tell I don't know why Tea does what she does to vent her stress in this way? Can he tell that she doesn't have a clue what she's done after she's done it? 'No one deserves to be lashed out at Isaac, especially the boyfriend, her loving and caring boyfriend at that-she can't just hit you and think that's an adequate way of venting her stress, Isaac it's not healthy and it's not right-you have to get out of it,' he pleaded as I got out of my seat and started to walk back towards the bedroom in search of a t-shirt to stop him from staring anymore at my shoulder. He followed behind me like a puppy dog as I looked through my draws to find a worn black t-shirt that I usually kept for Taylor when he stayed over. 'Isaac are you just going to block me out?' he urged as I pulled the shirt over my head, wincing a little as the fabric brushed my cheek before I turned to him with an exasperated sigh. 'Well I can't talk to you because I just don't know how to explain it-it's between me and Tea, I see no problem, so you shouldn't either, when you love someone Zac you learn to take the rough with the smooth, one day you'll get that,' Okay, I know I sounded harsh and rather rude when I know he was only concerned-but really there was no other way to say it too him. He looked a little dejected standing in the doorway to the large bedroom, his expression letting me know I'd managed to shut him up for a moment, yet he was still thinking overtime in his head. 'So I don't know what it's like, but rough with the smooth? Look at your face Isaac-that's more rough than it should be! I know you love Tea, you fell for her hard and it's two years on and where are you both? Still at the same place you both were a year ago,' It was so tempting to tell him to butt out, to go and play with his Lego or to go and bug Taylor, but standing before me was a 19 year old boy who was looking out for his brother and I felt terrible at having to tell him: 'Zac, maybe one day you'll understand love, I'm not talking down to you but my relationship with Tea is exactly that, with Tea. It doesn't have to be explained to anyone else, it's not designed to be. It's just a couple of bruises which will fade and that mean nothing-so please, I appreciate your concern but just trust me, please,' I walked up to him slowly, as he stared straight at me solemnly before he couldn't look me in the eye anymore as we stood face to face. 'She's going to hurt you more Isaac, but your right, I've come to my conclusion, jumped to it and I don't want to change it-you know where I am,'

Zac had walked away from me without a fight, but I hadn't managed to stop him from thinking the worst of the situation between me and Tea. I don't even think it's worth 'situation' status, it's a glitch but one that can be scaled down the more settled things become for her. It came to mind that maybe we should get away for a couple of days while I was still around, before the promotional tour started up again in a few weeks time. Weather she would take time out from castings is another matter- it couldn't do any harm to suggest it maybe, sometime to see if it would help calm us both. Just as I settled in front of the television with a stack of old movies , I spied the picture of Tea and I dressed up to the nines at our first 'red carpet' gathering. She had on a silver dress I'd bought for her in New York that Christmas, a large affair with petticoats- her hair was swept up in my favourite style-that of Audrey Hepburn. She was holding my hand for dear life as the metallic flashes of photographers went of on either side and nothing could beat our winning smiles. She had dreams in her eyes and they were all waiting to fall at her feet-she wasn't nearly half way to where she wanted to be, but she was on the right path. I was perfectly fine with what I had and my dreams were for filled for now, but she wanted more. Her modelling, her movie career-she wanted it all and she'd have it all no doubt. Just looking at her Latin features in that picture, her hand gripping mine still felt real to this day and it was right then I knew no one would ever understand us properly-I know I didn't want them too.

As I smiled to myself as I watched film after film, I felt my eyes dropping a little and was starting to wish I could just hold Tea right now, like the teddy I had when I was 5, I never let it go and protested when anyone took it away from me. I was too comfortable to move, so I decided to stop the video and just take a rest on the sofa-no doubt I'd wake and seek my bed out in the early hours. I glanced at the photo once more as I snuggled myself down on the sofa, a throw cushion supporting my head as I closed my eyes and let myself remember the Tea that would be home tomorrow, that I loved so very much.

'Hi, this is Tea and Isaac-neither of us can take your call right now, so If you'd leave your name number and a short message, we'll get back to you soon,'

'�.Isaac, it's me Tea-your probably in bed but I'm at the airport now waiting for an earlier flight home, I'm not staying another second in Orlando. The agency got me all the way over here just to tell me that they won't be giving me my usual contract, they've offered me 6 months and that's it! Can you believe it! They get me here for that! They say it's because they know I want to branch out into movies and film and they don't want the fuss of me buying out of my contract when I get a movie job! Bullshit, I told them they could forget it, I'm positively fuming, anger doesn't quite fit the bill. I'll be home tomorrow morning, Bye,'