CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
DREW
"WHAT in the HELL did I just witness?" Drew asked, looking from Zac to Isaac, who was leaning in the sound booth doorway.
Ike and Zac glanced at each other, neither one of them obviously wanting to speak.
"My best friend just ran out of here, apparently away from Tay, in pure goddamn terror and neither one of you
are fucking concerned?? Is he hurting her??"
Ike continued to lean in the doorway, shaking his head. "I'm out of this one. I've done my fair share of the dramatics. It's on them now."
"WHAT is on them??"
Zac sighed. "Tay and Natalie's divorce will be finalized tomorrow. He found some kind of loophole in the system or something, I don't know--"
"Uh, no," said Ike. "In a situation like theirs, there is no loophole. I would have done the same thing he did."
Zac sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, running them through his hair. "Shit! Shit! I gotta go home. I gotta go deal with this." He stood up, rubbing his palms on his jeans. "How come very goddamn time there's some kind of crisis involving Tay and Mel, *I* somehow get the shit end of the stick? It ALWAYS ends up that way, I don't understand it!"
"Zac, just go home," Ike said. "I'll pray for you."
With that, Zac dashed out of the studio.
Drew stood up and face Ike. "So he did it. He finally got the balls to do it."
"It wasn't as easy as you think it should have been. You obviously don't know what he's been through
lately. He discovered the other day that Natalie wasn't even pregnant."
Drew gasped in shock.
"She never was pregnant. Faking the whole time. Faking this time, faking ten years ago. Not only was she never pregnant, but she can't even have kids at all. Never could."
Drew couldn't speak. When she finally found her voice, she managed a whisper. "How--how is he dealing with this?"
"I'm proud of him. I think he was done with the relationship awhile ago. He's kind of beating himself up, feeling like he's wasted a lifetime. Can't say I blame him. But he's taking it pretty well, I think. Better than I
expected."
"And...Mel doesn't know?"
Ike laughed. "Pretty sure she does now."
"This won't be pretty."
"At this point, who knows which direction it's going to go?"
"What if she rejects him?" Drew asked. She was kind of surprised to be asking that all, but she knew how Mel had been struggling with her feelings lately. Drew understood how she felt.
He shook his head. "She won't reject him. The two of them, they're tragic. And hopeless. Can't live with each other, can't live without each other. If they find a way to fuck it up this time, they might as well just Romeo and Juliet it and off themselves."
"IKE!"
"Sorry. Sorry. That was a bad analogy. But you see my point."
"They'd kill each other before they killed themselves."
Ike laughed hard. "I think you might be right."
Ike and Drew walked out the studio door and aimlessly started wandering down the street in downtown
Tulsa. There weren't very many places for Taylor and Mel to have gone and as hard as they had run out of the studio there was no way they had stopped to have a quiet conversation in either of their cars or at the
picnic table.
They were met halfway by...two homeless people? Drew burst out laughing, not able to help herself. "I would expect no less out of the two of you!"
Tay and Mel looked like a tornado had just come through. Grass in their hair, grass stains all over their clothes. Mel's jeans were ripped, Tay had a tear in his sleeve. "Shut up," Mel said, her pride obviously hurt. She began running her hands through her hair.
Tay glanced at the ground in embarrassment.
"Well nobody's bleeding," Ike observed. "That's a good sign."
"Not today," Tay said.
Mel looked at him and giggled.
"I don't even want to know," Drew said. The four of them began the walk back to the studio. "So," Drew continued. "What happens now?"
Tay and Mel looked at each other. "Um, we...just kinda go with it," Mel said.
Drew scoffed. "The two of you have never 'just gone with' anything."
Mel smiled. "We're in our thirties now. Things change."
"Not THAT much. Well, Tay...coming out of ten year relationship. Is it weird?"
"Jesus, Drew," Ike said. "Get right to the point, won't you?"
"It was gonna come up eventually!"
"Um...when you're used to the same thing and the same people for so long it can be a little strange first
coming out. But this feels different. It feels like...freedom, almost."
"You're not THAT free," Mel said in a threatening voice.
Tay laughed. "You know what I mean."
"I'm keeping my room," Drew said. "I don't give a shit what you guys do in that house, that room is mine."
Mel smiled. "Your room will always be your room. But no boys when we're not home."
All four of them laughed.
"Well I haven't moved in yet," Tay said.
"What are you waiting on?" Drew asked.
Tay chuckled again. "We're just--one day at a time."
Drew looked across the way at Ike and they grinned each other. It was obvious they were both feeling some kind of relief for their brother and best friend.
_____________________________________________________
ZAC
Zac pulled into his driveway. Natalie's car was there. Zac turned off his car and let his forehead fall against the steering wheel. Why him? Women were drama anyway. Was he not thinking clearly when he decided to marry his sister-in-law's best friend? Anyone in their right mind could see that would spell nothing but trouble for him.
Today would surely prove it.
Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car and walked in his front door. To his surprise, Kate met him there. "Where are the kids?" he asked.
"I called your mother to come get them."
"With her here?" he asked, referring to Natalie.
"I met her in the driveway."
"I don't want her in my house."
"Zac. She's my best friend. We've been best friends for over twenty years. She's family."
"YOUR family, maybe. But I can't respect her as such."
"I know. What she did was bad--"
"Kate, do you KNOW what she did? I mean, really?"
"Yes. She told me. But Zac--"
"There's no defending her. Don't even try. She lied to my brother--to our entire family--for ten years. That's a long time!"
"Zac, what am I supposed to do? She needs someone."
"Then you can visit her at the sprawling ranch house that Tay left just for her. And he was way too generous with THAT."
Just then, behind Kate, Natalie meekly rounded the corner. "Zac..."
He could only stare at her. And he didn't even want to do that.
"Zac, please..."
"What do you want from me? I mean, what do you expect me to say right now? Taylor is my brother. What you did to him is completely unforgivable. And not just by me, but this entire family. You should probably kiss the ground Kate walks on because she's the only one who's even willing to look at you."
Zac almost felt sorry for Kate. He couldn't imagine the position she was in right now. He had to admit, he was a little surprised that even Kate hadn't disowned Natalie yet. Was it supposed to mean something that she hadn't?
Zac looked back at Kate and said quietly. "Look. I get what you're going through right now. But to be honest, until I can get my head clear of this, I don't want her in this house. It's too soon. I don't care if you spend every waking hour with her doing whatever it is you do. Do whatever you want. As long as it's not under this roof. Not right now."
He knew Kate couldn't argue with him. He could see it in her eyes that she was genuinely torn about her position between Natalie and Zac. He knew Kate well enough to know that she wasn't completely okay with what Natalie had done and she was obviously trying to cope as best she could. Zac wasn't sure how much longer their friendship was going to last and frankly he didn't care, as long as it didn't interfere with his marriage.
Going completely off in left field, Zac had to laugh on the inside at that last thought. Interfere with his marriage, huh? Like Drew was? Was she really, though? Or was she only interfering with Zac? Was there a difference? And on the same note, could he really order Kate around regarding the time she could spend with her best friend while he was running around with Drew? Was that fair? Was he a hypocrite?
"Um, I'll be in the office," Zac said in thought as he turned around and walked down the hallway.
And then he remembered and stopped himself, turning around. "Hold on a minute," he said, walking back toward Kate. Natalie was still standing there and he didn't care. "That little stunt you pulled today, calling Mel? That was completely uncalled for."
Kate looked at him, fear flashing across her face. "Uh, I didn't call Mel."
Zac's eyes widened in shock over his wife's blatant lie. He was so close to seeing red..."Seriously? Kate, I was sitting right there, I could hear your voice in the phone!"
Kate's eyes fell in shame. "Okay. I'm sorry. I jumped to conclusions before I got the whole story."
Zac glanced over Kate's shoulder at Natalie. "Considering the source, I'd be surprised if you were told anything that was actually true. Kate, that was extremely rude of you to do that to her and totally not your place to say anything. You may not like her and that's fine, that's on you. But she's MY friend and you upset
her very much. She literally ran out of the studio! She didn't even know! No fucking idea!"
"I didn't know she didn't know."
"You owe her an apology."
"I'm sorry! I over-reacted! My best friend is going through something traumatic right now and she needs me--"
"She doesn't need you to make a fool of yourself, butting into situations you have no business being in.
Look, I'm stressed out. I'm exhausted. I need time to chill. Again, I'll be in the office. You handle Natalie, what I said still stands. I'll go get the kids in a while."
Once again, Zac headed down the hallway, this time nagged by the fact that his wife had lied to him. And then
felt guilty BECAUSE it nagged him.
_____________________________________________________
TAYLOR
Taylor's niece and nephew met him at the door and he grinned, scooping them up into a hug. Begging for
piggyback rides, he had to take a rain check as he hugged Zoe and asked her to watch over them for awhile so he could talk to their parents.
Meeting his parents in the living room, his mother wrapped her son in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here," she said in his ear. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too, Mom," he answered.
Walker and Diana sat on the sofa and Taylor sat in an armchair across from them, resting his elbows on his
knees. "Well, son. I have to say, we are completely flabbergasted at what has gone on here."
"You and me both," Tay said.
"I would sit here and tell you that I knew she was bad news from the beginning but I'm not going to keep
rubbing salt in the wound," Diana said.
"It wouldn't be anything I wasn't already thinking."
Diana sighed. "Honey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could fix this for you. A mother is supposed to be able to fix these things."
Tay smiled and shook his head. "There's really nothing to fix. And I wouldn't want it fixed. The way it happened sucks, yes, but everything happens for a reason. I just hate that it took this long."
"So what all did she get?" Walker asked, ever the businessman.
"Uh, when it's finalized tomorrow, she'll get everything."
Walker frowned. "How much of 'everything' is everything?"
"The house, almost all the contents. Her car. I gave her a lump sum settlement, no monthly alimony. There was really nothing she could demand, I had it all there in black and white. There's nothing out of that marriage I want to keep besides what I went in with."
Diana frowned, obviously hurt for her son. "How are you feeling?"
"Um..." Tay sat there in thought for a moment. "Uh, a little shock I guess. It's odd, I guess. I mean you think I'd be hurt or whatever but I'm more pissed than anything. And more so at myself."
His mother hesitated before she asked her next question. "Does Mel know?"
Amazingly, she didn't even have to be in the room for Tay to suddenly feel the calm. Just the mere mention
of her name put him at ease. He found himself smiling. "Yeah. She knows."
Walker tried to hide a smile and was nearly unsuccessful. "Why do I feel like you're seeing this as the shove you needed?"
The observation took Tay by surprise for a moment. "I genuinely was excited about the baby. And I am hurt a little about how she could use something like that to--but, yeah...I guess you could say maybe it was..."
"So you're just going to jump from one relationship right into another?"
"Walker!" Diana scolded.
"What? It's a legitimate question."
Tay laughed nervously. "I know what it looks like. But Mel and I have never been...conventional. You guys know that. We're going to take it slow. Believe me, I think she's scared to death right now."
"What's to be scared of?" Diana asked. "The two of you have been years in the making!"
"Uh, well, you know what she's been through. God knows I've put her through even more, I'm certainly not
innocent. So, yeah, the thought of jumping in scares her. I don't blame her. I'm lucky as hell to have her, I know."
"It does take a strong woman to put up with all your baggage," Walker joked.
Tay smiled shyly. "Gee, thanks."
Diana sighed. "Well, I'm glad that you're not...you know, taking this like I thought you might."
"I'm still kicking, Mom."
"I know. I was thinking more along the lines of padded walls. Lots of white."
Tay smirked at her. "Ha ha."
"So where's my daughter?"
"She's in there with the kids."
"No, I mean Mel."
Taylor blushed so hard he could feel it himself. "Um, she's at her house. She practically locked it down, won't let me near it. Says it's a mess. I told her I didn't care."
Walker laughed. "Wait till she gets a load of you."
"Good god, don't scare her off right now!" Taylor knew his father was referring to his housekeeping skills, which were non-existent more often than not.
"Where are you staying?" Diana asked. "Why don't you stay here? I'd love to have you around for awhile."
Taylor smiled, grateful for the invitation. "I'm in Ike's guest room. I'm looking for apartments right now."
"You don't want an apartment," Walker said. "No privacy, neighbors all over you all the time."
"It's only temporary."
"Well you always have a place here," his mother said. "You know that."
"I know. Thank you."
A while later, Taylor stepped off his parents' front porch and took a deep breath, breathing in the cool air
that was slowly creeping it's way into the season. He smiled to himself. It was a brand new day. A brand new Taylor. A brand new life.
He was scared to death but he'd never been more excited in his entire life.
________________________________________________________
DREW
"WHAT in the HELL did I just witness?" Drew asked, looking from Zac to Isaac, who was leaning in the sound booth doorway.
Ike and Zac glanced at each other, neither one of them obviously wanting to speak.
"My best friend just ran out of here, apparently away from Tay, in pure goddamn terror and neither one of you
are fucking concerned?? Is he hurting her??"
Ike continued to lean in the doorway, shaking his head. "I'm out of this one. I've done my fair share of the dramatics. It's on them now."
"WHAT is on them??"
Zac sighed. "Tay and Natalie's divorce will be finalized tomorrow. He found some kind of loophole in the system or something, I don't know--"
"Uh, no," said Ike. "In a situation like theirs, there is no loophole. I would have done the same thing he did."
Zac sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, running them through his hair. "Shit! Shit! I gotta go home. I gotta go deal with this." He stood up, rubbing his palms on his jeans. "How come very goddamn time there's some kind of crisis involving Tay and Mel, *I* somehow get the shit end of the stick? It ALWAYS ends up that way, I don't understand it!"
"Zac, just go home," Ike said. "I'll pray for you."
With that, Zac dashed out of the studio.
Drew stood up and face Ike. "So he did it. He finally got the balls to do it."
"It wasn't as easy as you think it should have been. You obviously don't know what he's been through
lately. He discovered the other day that Natalie wasn't even pregnant."
Drew gasped in shock.
"She never was pregnant. Faking the whole time. Faking this time, faking ten years ago. Not only was she never pregnant, but she can't even have kids at all. Never could."
Drew couldn't speak. When she finally found her voice, she managed a whisper. "How--how is he dealing with this?"
"I'm proud of him. I think he was done with the relationship awhile ago. He's kind of beating himself up, feeling like he's wasted a lifetime. Can't say I blame him. But he's taking it pretty well, I think. Better than I
expected."
"And...Mel doesn't know?"
Ike laughed. "Pretty sure she does now."
"This won't be pretty."
"At this point, who knows which direction it's going to go?"
"What if she rejects him?" Drew asked. She was kind of surprised to be asking that all, but she knew how Mel had been struggling with her feelings lately. Drew understood how she felt.
He shook his head. "She won't reject him. The two of them, they're tragic. And hopeless. Can't live with each other, can't live without each other. If they find a way to fuck it up this time, they might as well just Romeo and Juliet it and off themselves."
"IKE!"
"Sorry. Sorry. That was a bad analogy. But you see my point."
"They'd kill each other before they killed themselves."
Ike laughed hard. "I think you might be right."
Ike and Drew walked out the studio door and aimlessly started wandering down the street in downtown
Tulsa. There weren't very many places for Taylor and Mel to have gone and as hard as they had run out of the studio there was no way they had stopped to have a quiet conversation in either of their cars or at the
picnic table.
They were met halfway by...two homeless people? Drew burst out laughing, not able to help herself. "I would expect no less out of the two of you!"
Tay and Mel looked like a tornado had just come through. Grass in their hair, grass stains all over their clothes. Mel's jeans were ripped, Tay had a tear in his sleeve. "Shut up," Mel said, her pride obviously hurt. She began running her hands through her hair.
Tay glanced at the ground in embarrassment.
"Well nobody's bleeding," Ike observed. "That's a good sign."
"Not today," Tay said.
Mel looked at him and giggled.
"I don't even want to know," Drew said. The four of them began the walk back to the studio. "So," Drew continued. "What happens now?"
Tay and Mel looked at each other. "Um, we...just kinda go with it," Mel said.
Drew scoffed. "The two of you have never 'just gone with' anything."
Mel smiled. "We're in our thirties now. Things change."
"Not THAT much. Well, Tay...coming out of ten year relationship. Is it weird?"
"Jesus, Drew," Ike said. "Get right to the point, won't you?"
"It was gonna come up eventually!"
"Um...when you're used to the same thing and the same people for so long it can be a little strange first
coming out. But this feels different. It feels like...freedom, almost."
"You're not THAT free," Mel said in a threatening voice.
Tay laughed. "You know what I mean."
"I'm keeping my room," Drew said. "I don't give a shit what you guys do in that house, that room is mine."
Mel smiled. "Your room will always be your room. But no boys when we're not home."
All four of them laughed.
"Well I haven't moved in yet," Tay said.
"What are you waiting on?" Drew asked.
Tay chuckled again. "We're just--one day at a time."
Drew looked across the way at Ike and they grinned each other. It was obvious they were both feeling some kind of relief for their brother and best friend.
_____________________________________________________
ZAC
Zac pulled into his driveway. Natalie's car was there. Zac turned off his car and let his forehead fall against the steering wheel. Why him? Women were drama anyway. Was he not thinking clearly when he decided to marry his sister-in-law's best friend? Anyone in their right mind could see that would spell nothing but trouble for him.
Today would surely prove it.
Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car and walked in his front door. To his surprise, Kate met him there. "Where are the kids?" he asked.
"I called your mother to come get them."
"With her here?" he asked, referring to Natalie.
"I met her in the driveway."
"I don't want her in my house."
"Zac. She's my best friend. We've been best friends for over twenty years. She's family."
"YOUR family, maybe. But I can't respect her as such."
"I know. What she did was bad--"
"Kate, do you KNOW what she did? I mean, really?"
"Yes. She told me. But Zac--"
"There's no defending her. Don't even try. She lied to my brother--to our entire family--for ten years. That's a long time!"
"Zac, what am I supposed to do? She needs someone."
"Then you can visit her at the sprawling ranch house that Tay left just for her. And he was way too generous with THAT."
Just then, behind Kate, Natalie meekly rounded the corner. "Zac..."
He could only stare at her. And he didn't even want to do that.
"Zac, please..."
"What do you want from me? I mean, what do you expect me to say right now? Taylor is my brother. What you did to him is completely unforgivable. And not just by me, but this entire family. You should probably kiss the ground Kate walks on because she's the only one who's even willing to look at you."
Zac almost felt sorry for Kate. He couldn't imagine the position she was in right now. He had to admit, he was a little surprised that even Kate hadn't disowned Natalie yet. Was it supposed to mean something that she hadn't?
Zac looked back at Kate and said quietly. "Look. I get what you're going through right now. But to be honest, until I can get my head clear of this, I don't want her in this house. It's too soon. I don't care if you spend every waking hour with her doing whatever it is you do. Do whatever you want. As long as it's not under this roof. Not right now."
He knew Kate couldn't argue with him. He could see it in her eyes that she was genuinely torn about her position between Natalie and Zac. He knew Kate well enough to know that she wasn't completely okay with what Natalie had done and she was obviously trying to cope as best she could. Zac wasn't sure how much longer their friendship was going to last and frankly he didn't care, as long as it didn't interfere with his marriage.
Going completely off in left field, Zac had to laugh on the inside at that last thought. Interfere with his marriage, huh? Like Drew was? Was she really, though? Or was she only interfering with Zac? Was there a difference? And on the same note, could he really order Kate around regarding the time she could spend with her best friend while he was running around with Drew? Was that fair? Was he a hypocrite?
"Um, I'll be in the office," Zac said in thought as he turned around and walked down the hallway.
And then he remembered and stopped himself, turning around. "Hold on a minute," he said, walking back toward Kate. Natalie was still standing there and he didn't care. "That little stunt you pulled today, calling Mel? That was completely uncalled for."
Kate looked at him, fear flashing across her face. "Uh, I didn't call Mel."
Zac's eyes widened in shock over his wife's blatant lie. He was so close to seeing red..."Seriously? Kate, I was sitting right there, I could hear your voice in the phone!"
Kate's eyes fell in shame. "Okay. I'm sorry. I jumped to conclusions before I got the whole story."
Zac glanced over Kate's shoulder at Natalie. "Considering the source, I'd be surprised if you were told anything that was actually true. Kate, that was extremely rude of you to do that to her and totally not your place to say anything. You may not like her and that's fine, that's on you. But she's MY friend and you upset
her very much. She literally ran out of the studio! She didn't even know! No fucking idea!"
"I didn't know she didn't know."
"You owe her an apology."
"I'm sorry! I over-reacted! My best friend is going through something traumatic right now and she needs me--"
"She doesn't need you to make a fool of yourself, butting into situations you have no business being in.
Look, I'm stressed out. I'm exhausted. I need time to chill. Again, I'll be in the office. You handle Natalie, what I said still stands. I'll go get the kids in a while."
Once again, Zac headed down the hallway, this time nagged by the fact that his wife had lied to him. And then
felt guilty BECAUSE it nagged him.
_____________________________________________________
TAYLOR
Taylor's niece and nephew met him at the door and he grinned, scooping them up into a hug. Begging for
piggyback rides, he had to take a rain check as he hugged Zoe and asked her to watch over them for awhile so he could talk to their parents.
Meeting his parents in the living room, his mother wrapped her son in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here," she said in his ear. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too, Mom," he answered.
Walker and Diana sat on the sofa and Taylor sat in an armchair across from them, resting his elbows on his
knees. "Well, son. I have to say, we are completely flabbergasted at what has gone on here."
"You and me both," Tay said.
"I would sit here and tell you that I knew she was bad news from the beginning but I'm not going to keep
rubbing salt in the wound," Diana said.
"It wouldn't be anything I wasn't already thinking."
Diana sighed. "Honey, I'm so sorry. I wish I could fix this for you. A mother is supposed to be able to fix these things."
Tay smiled and shook his head. "There's really nothing to fix. And I wouldn't want it fixed. The way it happened sucks, yes, but everything happens for a reason. I just hate that it took this long."
"So what all did she get?" Walker asked, ever the businessman.
"Uh, when it's finalized tomorrow, she'll get everything."
Walker frowned. "How much of 'everything' is everything?"
"The house, almost all the contents. Her car. I gave her a lump sum settlement, no monthly alimony. There was really nothing she could demand, I had it all there in black and white. There's nothing out of that marriage I want to keep besides what I went in with."
Diana frowned, obviously hurt for her son. "How are you feeling?"
"Um..." Tay sat there in thought for a moment. "Uh, a little shock I guess. It's odd, I guess. I mean you think I'd be hurt or whatever but I'm more pissed than anything. And more so at myself."
His mother hesitated before she asked her next question. "Does Mel know?"
Amazingly, she didn't even have to be in the room for Tay to suddenly feel the calm. Just the mere mention
of her name put him at ease. He found himself smiling. "Yeah. She knows."
Walker tried to hide a smile and was nearly unsuccessful. "Why do I feel like you're seeing this as the shove you needed?"
The observation took Tay by surprise for a moment. "I genuinely was excited about the baby. And I am hurt a little about how she could use something like that to--but, yeah...I guess you could say maybe it was..."
"So you're just going to jump from one relationship right into another?"
"Walker!" Diana scolded.
"What? It's a legitimate question."
Tay laughed nervously. "I know what it looks like. But Mel and I have never been...conventional. You guys know that. We're going to take it slow. Believe me, I think she's scared to death right now."
"What's to be scared of?" Diana asked. "The two of you have been years in the making!"
"Uh, well, you know what she's been through. God knows I've put her through even more, I'm certainly not
innocent. So, yeah, the thought of jumping in scares her. I don't blame her. I'm lucky as hell to have her, I know."
"It does take a strong woman to put up with all your baggage," Walker joked.
Tay smiled shyly. "Gee, thanks."
Diana sighed. "Well, I'm glad that you're not...you know, taking this like I thought you might."
"I'm still kicking, Mom."
"I know. I was thinking more along the lines of padded walls. Lots of white."
Tay smirked at her. "Ha ha."
"So where's my daughter?"
"She's in there with the kids."
"No, I mean Mel."
Taylor blushed so hard he could feel it himself. "Um, she's at her house. She practically locked it down, won't let me near it. Says it's a mess. I told her I didn't care."
Walker laughed. "Wait till she gets a load of you."
"Good god, don't scare her off right now!" Taylor knew his father was referring to his housekeeping skills, which were non-existent more often than not.
"Where are you staying?" Diana asked. "Why don't you stay here? I'd love to have you around for awhile."
Taylor smiled, grateful for the invitation. "I'm in Ike's guest room. I'm looking for apartments right now."
"You don't want an apartment," Walker said. "No privacy, neighbors all over you all the time."
"It's only temporary."
"Well you always have a place here," his mother said. "You know that."
"I know. Thank you."
A while later, Taylor stepped off his parents' front porch and took a deep breath, breathing in the cool air
that was slowly creeping it's way into the season. He smiled to himself. It was a brand new day. A brand new Taylor. A brand new life.
He was scared to death but he'd never been more excited in his entire life.
________________________________________________________