"I’m in love." Isaac groaned as he pictured Taryn’s pretty face over and over again.
"Who’s the girl?" Taylor asked as he typed something on AOL.
Isaac leaned forward to see what he was typing

Tay Bear: Ike just said that he’s in love.
TaysAnge1: Hehe, who is it?

Taylor turned around. "So, Ike, who is it?"
"Taryn..." Isaac murmured. "Isn’t that the best name?"
"Ike, what has gotten into you?" Taylor murmured as he turned back to the computer screen.

Tay Bear: Man, Ike has it bad. The girl’s name is Taryn. He thinks it’s the best name.
TaysAnge1: What’s wrong with a name like Taryn?
Tay Bear: Nothing, Chris. It’s just that I’ve never seen Ike like thi
Tay Bear: s
Tay Bear: this
TaysAnge1: Tay, learn to type.
Tay Bear: L I can type! I just ain’t good!
TaysAnge1: I thought we were talking about Ike?
Tay Bear: Yeah, well...Hey, he really likes her, she likes him. (DUH!) Maybe we can...You know
TaysAnge1: Set them up? Hey, is Ike reading this?

Taylor turned around. "Ike, what are you doing, reading personal stuff?"
"When you’re writing stuff about me, I’m gonna read it." Isaac said, sticking his tounge out at Taylor.
"Well, uh...stop reading. Please." Taylor deliberately added ‘please’.
"Fine." Isaac stuck his lower lip out, and flounced on the top bunk.

Tay Bear: Nope, not reading anymore.
TaysAnge1: Oh, Ok.
Tay Bear: Hehe. I was just reading this story online, and for some reason, in every story the girl usually moves next door abruptly and 1 of us end up falling in love with her...usually me. Hehe.
TaysAnge1: Gee, how original. :P Hehe. Hey, shut up Tay, why, do you want me to move?
Tay-Bear: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO! NO! NO! You stay!
TaysAnge1: Got ya there, didn’t I, hun?
Tay Bear: Yeah, yeah. :P ::PFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT::
TaysAnge1: Oh, ::PFFTTTTTTTTTTTT:: yourself! :P
Tay Bear: Hehe. :D
TaysAnge1: Man I love you, Tay
Tay Bear: I love you more, Christene.
TaysAnge1: Okay.
Tay Bear: J hehe you’re a riot
TaysAnge1: Hehe...you’re a hoot
Tay Bear: Leo-lover
TaysAnge1: Jennifer Anniston lover
Tay Bear: Liv Tyler look-a-like
TaysAnge1: My Tay-Tay
Tay Bear: Don’t let anyone know that I let you call me Tay-Tay.
TaysAnge1: You’ll let me call you anything, dumbass. Excuse my French.
Tay Bear: Hehe
TaysAnge1: Oh poop. I gotta go. See you in fifteen minutes. We have to rehearse.
Tay Bear: Oh darn. I thought we would have a nice good and long vacation
TaysAnge1: Sorry honey. Work calls.
Taylor signed off just as the doorbell downstairs rang.

"Hey Dave." Zac stood on David’s doorstep.
"Hey man! Come in! What are ya doing here?" David asked, thoroughly surprised to see Zac.
"No reason," Zac stepped into the house.
"I thought you were doing Rosie?" David asked as he led Zac into the kitchen.
"Zac! How are you doing honey?" Susan asked, a smile on her face.
"Great, Susan. Thanks. Um...Dave, we finished with Rosie." Zac said.
"Oh uh...ya did? Oh..." David frowned slightly.
"Zac, can you and David try and get Kara to go out? She’s been inside for a while, and she never goes out." Susan said.
"Well, that’s part of the reason why I came here. Reagan and Christene are throwing a big party at their house tonight, and I wanted to know if Dave and Kara could come." Zac said.
David’s eyes became hopeful as he turned to his mother. "Please mom? PLEASE?"
Susan laughed. "Okay, honey, as long as Kara goes too."
"ALL RIGHT MAN!" David jumped up and high-fived Zac.
"But, only if you promise to come back by...." Susan looked at the clock.
"Mo-om!" David whined.
"12," Susan finished. "Are Harry and Janet home?"
"Um...yeah. I’m pretty sure they are." Zac said.
"All right then. When does the party start?" Susan asked.
"Ten after five." Zac glanced at the clock.
"Oh, then, you guys better get Kara outta that room...and fast! You have twenty minutes."

Chapter 7

**AN: I don’t think I am in the position to take away Taylor’s virginity. It’s just wrong to write about it, fiction or not. Even though this is all freedom of speech, Taylor still has rights, and I respect that. I’m sure that the real Taylor Hanson has his values, one of them being, ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’. Adultery can mean many things, one being cheating in a marriage or relationship, two being having sex before marriage (hint, hint) and three being sexual immorality. I doubt Taylor would do anything before marriage because he has pretty high family values and religious faith in God.**

Zac frowned as he thoughtfully chewed on the end of his pencil. If it was anything he hated, it was Algebra.
Christene walked in the room and glanced at his paper. "X equals negative twenty two to the nineteenth over seventy one over ten."
"I hate you." Zac said playfully, shaking his head as he wrote down the answer.
"No you don’t." Christene laughed.
"Chris," Zac started off extremely slowly.
"What’s wrong?" Christene asked, a frown creasing her forehead.
"Um...I was wondering if....uh...you know.....you can talk to Kara? She’s about to fall apart any second. Kara’s not as strong as you." Zac said quietly.
"I wanted to do that." Christene said.
Zac started solving another algebra equation.
"M equals—"
"Don’t tell me." Zac interjected.
"Okay." Christene laughed, gave Zac a peck on the cheek then walked off, picking up Mackenzie along the way.
Zac smiled, looking after Christene, then turned back to the Algebra. "Man, not again!"

"Hi Zac!" Susan smiled brightly.
"Hi. Um...I was wondering—"
"Sure go up. Try and get her to come out of her room. She’s been holed up in there for a while," an expression of sympathy and sorrow lighted upon Susan’s pretty face. "Kara’s really dealing with this really bad. We’re thinking about sending her to a psychologist."
"Man. I don’t think she’s gonna like that."
"I think it’s for the best. Talk to her. If she doesn’t brighten up soon, shrink it is."
"I’ll do my best." Zac murmured.
"Hi Zac! Bye Zac!" David yelled as he ran through the kitchen, and out the door.
"Thanks Zac. I think what she needs now is a friend." Susan said, looking after her son.
"Okay."

Kara hugged the pillow tightly to her chest as she sobbed. Mom, Dad, I miss you SOOO much!
A timid knock on the door interrupted her thoughts as she hastily wiped at her eyes with her hands.
"Come in."
Zac poked his head into her room. "Hi. I was wonder—oh...um...you okay?"
Kara shrugged.
"Um...do you want me to go?"
"No it’s okay. I really don’t mind." Kara said and grabbed a Kleenex.
"Do you want me to get David or his mom or—"
"No!" Kara snapped. Zac recoiled, and she immediately felt bad. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to..."
"I know."
"Come in." Kara said softly.
Zac walked into the room and closed the door after him. "You wanna talk or something?"
"Yeah, I guess. I really need a shoulder to cry on right now." Kara said softly.
"I’m right here." Zac gave Kara a slight grin and sat down next to her, and was surprised when Kara threw her arms around him and rested her forehead on his shoulder, sobbing.
"Gosh, I-I-I m-miss her s-s-so much. It’s s-s-so h-h-hard to think that she’s gone. I m-mean, I n-never had a chance to t-tell her h-h-how m-much I l-loved her or a-a-a-appreciated her for e-every moment that she w-w-was with me, and n-now she’s gone and I n-never will." Kara sobbed, stumbling over her words. Her sobs seemed to be uncontrollable, so Zac just held her to his body.
"Kara, I need you to calm down okay? Calm down for me? Please?" Zac asked, pulling away from Kara, and resting his hands on her shoulders.
"I-I-I c-c-c-can’t!" Kara sobbed.
"Kara, I need you to calm down. Please calm down. For me, okay? I’m sure your mom wouldn’t of wanted this. Please Kara. Breathe deeply. Here’s a tissue. Come on, just breathe really deep. Try and get a hold of yourself. I hate to see you like this." Zac said gently but firmly.
Kara nodded as she pulled her brown hair away from her face and wiped her face with the Kleenex Zac handed her, and blew her nose with it before tossing it into the garbage can. She let out a soft sob and then seemed to sigh a little as her sobs subsided. She reached for him again, and this time she rested her cheek against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"Thanks so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. You’re a great friend Zac. I really appreciate this." Kara whispered.
"Sure. Anything for a friend," Zac said softly, and pulled away from Kara slowly. "Kara, I think it’s time you get out of this hole of a room."
"No, I really don’t think—"
"—That you’ll stay in this room for the rest of your life," Zac said brightly. "You’re coming to the Philbrook Art Center with me, so you better get ready in about ten minutes or I’m gonna come breaking down the door."
Kara was speechless for once. "What?"
"You heard me," Zac laughed and reached over to poke Kara playfully. "It’s time you see the sun. You’ve been in this room so long your hair is turning white. No I’m just kidding, but would you like to come with me to the Philbrook Art Center? It has Chinese jewelry and Indian art and all kinds of stuff. It’s awesome there. It has the best gardens."
Kara cracked a smile. "I’d love to."
"Okay, well then, I think it’s time you got ready then."

Taylor smiled as Zac and Kara climbed out of the car. "Have fun. I’ll pick you up at four."
"No, I’ll call you." Zac said.
"Sure. Okay," Taylor handed Zac two twenty dollar bills. "In case you run out."
"Thanks Tay. I’ll pay you back."
"No prob Bob, but keep it. I think you need it more than I do. Bye." Taylor smiled again and pulled away from the curb.
Zac stood staring after the car, a puzzled look on his face. "There are definitely gonna be strings attached."
"I don’t think so. Tay looks pretty nice."
"He is, but today he’s in some pretty darn good mood, and I don’t know what has gotten into him."
"Maybe he just wants to be nice." Kara suggested.
"I dunno. Come on." Zac shrugged.

"Whoa!! This is awesome!" Kara laughed.
"Told you. I’m always right." Zac crowed triumphantly.
"Someone has a big ego."
"Someone needs to keep their thoughts to themselves."
Zac and Kara both tried not to laugh, but pretty soon, they were both cracking up with laughter.
"Oh my GOD! It’s ZAC HANSON!" a scream across the museum yelled.
"Uh oh," Zac said slowly. "Houston, we have a problem. Get ready for a STAMPEDE!"
With that, Zac grabbed Kara’s hand and started running with her through the museum, both of them laughing as they zipped past startled tourists and museum-goers, ran past three startled security guards, and out into the gardens.
"Oh, man, I haven’t had this much fun since—" Kara was cut off by Zac.
"Don’t even think about it." Zac said breathlessly, holding up a hand to silence Kara.
"I wasn’t. I was gonna say that I haven’t had this much fun since the day me and three other friends spray painted my science teacher’s house." A silly grin crept overKara’s face.
"You did what?" A surprised smile slipped onto Zac’s face, his brown eyes lighting up.
"You heard me."
"Kara Evans SPRAY PAINTED her science teacher’s house. I can’t believe this. It’s so...so...so...WEIRD!" Zac laughed and sat down against a tree. Kara sank down against the tree next to him, the bark rough against her back, leaning against him a little.
"Well, it was just a prank. We didn’t get caught though." Kara grinned, but the smile left her face as Zac looked down at her, his eyes soft and caring. He started to lean in as she tilted her head a little. Their lips touched for a moment, then Kara jerked away and seemed to fly into the other direction.
"Oh gosh, I’m so sorry." Zac stammered.
"I can’t, I’m the one that’s sorry. I just can’t do it, Zac." Kara whispered.
"I am so sorry." Zac stammered again.
"It’s not you, it’s really not you. It’s Michael—" Kara paled as the word died on her lips. She realized that she had gone too far, said too much, and she instantly turned away, trembling slightly. Kara flinched and jerked away when Zac’s hand lighted upon her shoulder.
"Michael. Was that someone that you used to see?" Zac asked softly.
"Yes, and I regret every minute of it!" Kara snapped, and brushed past Zac.
"Kara, Kara, Kara, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ask! Kara! I just wanted to—"
"They were all the same. Every single one of them. They all said the same things, promised me the same things, then decide that I wasn’t good enough for them and dumped me. Michael, I wish I never met Michael, the bastard! You wanna know what he did to me?" Kara’s eyes were on fire.
"Kara, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to..." Zac whispered.
"Well, too bad, because you’re gonna hear this. We were dating for about seven months then you know what he does? I go on vacation for three days, I come back and he’s already slept with about four girls that I used to be friends with, thank you very much for being so committed and honest Michael." Kara said sarcastically.
Zac didn’t say anything.
"And I really cared about him too. I thought I loved him! I seriously did! Man, I can’t believe that I did. I hate him!" Kara’s outburst stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Her eyes softened and she walked towards Zac a little, who backed away. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—"
"I know," Zac said softly, then took Kara into his arms. "I know what you mean."

Chapter 8

"We’re throwing a party in your honor, Kara." David said, beaming.
"Who’s ‘we’?" Kara asked.
"Christene, Reagan, Zac, Tay, Ike, and me."
"Oh. What time is it starting?"
"In about three hours."

"Hi." Zac smiled shyly at Kara.
"Hi. Sorry about earlier."
"Hmm....I don’t even remember." Zac laughed.
Christene walked into the room, and set a pitcher of punch on the table. She located Taylor and went over to him, closing her hands over his eyes playfully.
"Hi Chris." Taylor said, smiling.
Christene laughed and kissed the back of Taylor’s neck. "Aww man, you knew it was me!"
"Don’t I always?" Taylor smiled as he turned around to face Christene.
"Hey Chris!" Ashley grinned at Christene.
"Hey Ash!" Christene called back, waving a little.
"Hey, Christene, um, who’s doing deejay tonight?" Zac asked.
"Oh uh, Reagan hired like, some deejay person dude to do the stuff." Christene said simply.
"She did?"
"Why’d she do that?"
Taylor and Zac said on the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Um...she hired a friend and stuff. He’s doing it for free."
"Oh, okay." Zac nodded, as he turned and headed over into the recreational room where the dancing was going on. He headed towards the deejay and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Whoa! Yo! You’re that Hanson dude, right?" the guy asked.
"Yeah. I’m Zac."
"Cool. I’m Matt. This is cool. Hot girls and celebrities." Matt grinned ear-to-ear.
"Yeah, well..."
"You know that babe over there?" Matt pointed to someone.
Zac squinted a little, and saw a goddess with golden hair talking to Isaac. "I think that’s Taryn. I’m not sure. Ike...I mean Isaac’s been raving about her for a while."
"Taryn? Wow that’s a cool name. You know how HOT she is?" Matt asked, staring at her.
"Umm...no I didn’t really notice...Hey, man, I was wondering if you could play a song..."
"Sure! What would you like?"
"Um..." Zac frowned and thought for a moment. "Hey, what’s a good song to tell someone that you’ll never hurt them and stuff and you’re not like all the past people?"
"A girl?" Matt looked at Zac, smiling a little.
"Uh...yeah." Zac said slowly.
"Well, there are a few, but—"
"What’s that song by the Backstreet Boys that was like, I’ll never make you cry or whatever?" Zac interrupted.
"Um...I think it’s ‘I’ll Never Break Your Heart’," Matt laughed a little. "Man, that song drove me crazy. It was on MTV so much back in 98."
"Oh yeah!"
"Would you like to dedicate it to anyone?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, could you dedicate it to Kara Evans?"
"Hi Kara." Zac grinned.
"Hi. Sorry about earlier. I was being a real brat." Kara said.
"No, it’s okay. I completely understand." Zac said.
"I’m so sorry I took it out on you."
"Hey, it’s okay. I said that already."
Kara watched the dancing going on for a while. The song soon turned into a slow song.
"Kara Evans, if you’re out there, this song is for you." The deejay announced.
Kara stared wide-eyed at Zac. "Zac..."
"Would you like to dance?" Zac offered a hand to Kara who nodded, dazed and took it. He pressed his lips against her fingers.
"I saw Leo DICRAPIO do that in Titanic and I always wanted to do it."
Kara nodded, dazed. "Oh...um...."
He pulled her into his embrace, slowly swaying to the music.
"Zac...I...I..."
"Shhh...listen to the music. It tells a story."

Girl, I know you’re hurting
Right now you feel like you could never love again
Now all I ask is for a chance
To prove that I love you

"Oh my—"
"Shhh..."

From the first day
That I saw your smiling face
Honey, I knew that we
Would be together forever

"Zac, I can’t believe—"
"I know. Just listen." Zac whispered.
Kara felt her lower lip tremble slightly, but she fought to control the tears.

Ooh and I asked you out
You said no
But I found out
Darling, that you’d been hurt
You felt that
You’d never love again

"Zac—"
"Shhh. Just listen, Kara."

I deserve a try
Honey, just once
Give me a chance
And I’ll prove this all wrong
You walked in
You were so quick to judge
But honey, he’s nothing like me

Kara felt tears sting her eyes as she clung to Zac, swaying to the music.

I’ll never break your heart
I’ll never make you cry
I’d rather die
Than live without you
I’ll give you all of me
Honey that’s no lie

Kara let out a long, shaky sigh, not believing that this was really happening. She couldn’t let it happen, couldn’t let herself do it again, but she was failing. She was falling in love all over again, and she couldn’t stop.

I’ll never break your heart
I’ll never make you cry
I’d rather die
Than live without you
I’ll give you all of me
Honey that’s no lie

"Zac, why?" Kara asked.
"Kara, you have to know that my standards and values are sure as heck a lot higher than any other of the guys that you’ve probably gone out with. I’ve got faith in God, and I go by his rules. I think that what Michael did to you was just wrong. He’s a fool for hurting you, and I’d like to punch his lights out." Zac said softly.
"You really mean it?"
"More than you’ll ever know."
 

As time goes by
You will get to know me
A little more better
Girl that’s the way love goes baby, baby

"You’re not lying?"
"As Taylor would’ve said to Christene, ‘I can never lie to you’."

And I know you’re afraid to let
Your feelings show
And I understand
But girl it’s time to let go
Girl it’s time to let go

"Do you really think that this will get you anywhere with me?"
"Nope, I’m just hoping."

I deserve a try honey, just once
Give me a chance
And I’ll prove this all wrong

"You walked in you were so quick to judge, but honey he’s nothing like me, darling why can’t you see," Zac sang into Kara’s ear softly. "I’ll never break your heart, I’ll never make you cry, I’d rather die, than live without you, I’ll give you all of me, honey that’s no lie..."