SECTION THREE
DREW
I couldn't believe what I had been seeing the past couple of weeks. First Taylor drops Mel off after a forced date and isn't in a hurry to leave. Then the very next day he's over at her house and doesn't come running out like a bat out of hell. Things were just getting a little too weird. And even though Mel had told me things were okay I still had a suspicion that her and Taylor were more than okay.
Me and Zac were great. After our kiss it seemed like a way of life. Every time we saw each other we couldn't keep our hands, or lips for that matter, off each other. The night Taylor was over at Mel's "babysitting" her, Zac and I got a great idea. We thought it would be cool to plan a dinner for Mel and Tay. But we wouldn't be able to do it without some help. Our first call was to Ike.
"Hello?" I heard Ike's voice say.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked him.
"Nothing, I was just going to ask you the same thing."
"Well Zac and I were just talking and we thought it would be cool if we surprised Mel and Taylor with a dinner."
"Okay...what do you need to tell me that for if it was your idea?"
"Well we sort of need..."
"You sort of need what, Drew?"
"Your help."
"What? No way! Tay would kill me if he knew I was trying to hook him and Mel up!"
"Look, all we need from you is your car and persuasion powers."
"Please. Don't ask me to help you again. I can't. Like I said, Taylor would kill me."
"But Ike...please, all we need you to do is call Tay when we're ready for him and Mel to come home. Then we'll surprise them with the dinner."
"And that's all I have to do?"
"That's all, I promise. Just say yes."
"Okay."
'Great,' I thought after we hung up. Now all we had to do was plan.
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MEL
I was SO bored that day. I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do. Drew wasn't home, I had zero money, and I hadn't heard from Tay yet. Hey, it was around 6:30 now, he HAD to be home. I decided to call him up.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Tay?"
"Hey, Mel. I was hoping to hear from you. So how was your day?"
"Day? WHAT day? It was so boring. I had absolutely nothing to do. What about you?"
"I went hiking with some of the guys today. I'm gonna be feeling it in the morning."
"I like to hike," I hinted. I was joking, of course. I mean, I DID really like to hike, I mean--oh whatever!
Tay chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry. It was a guy thing, you know?"
"I know, I'm just picking on you. Seriously, though, we ought to go sometime. Just you and me."
"Really? You'd hike with me?"
"Sure! My dad is about the most nature-oriented person I know. We do it all the time. I've actually grown to like it."
"Wow, that's cool. Usually most girls--"
"--wouldn't be caught dead in the woods. I know. I think it's pathetic."
We shared a moment of silence and then Tay spoke up. "Hey, you wanna come over? I had a rough day and we could just curl up and watch a movie or something."
"Sure, sounds great. Um, who's all over there?"
"Just the family. Oh wait, I think Drew's here. I just heard Zac's tone of voice change downstairs, hold on." After a couple of seconds I heard Tay yell down the stairs. "Hey! Who's that?" After a few more seconds, Tay said to me, "Yeah, it's Drew. We'll just sneak off somewhere or something."
I laughed. "Yeah, really. So when do you want me to come over?"
"Soon? I really want to see you."
"Well then I'm gonna get off HERE so I can get THERE," I said. I hung up the phone and headed over to Tay's.
-------------------------------------------------
I rang the doorbell and Diana answered. "Hi, Mel, what brings you here?"
I smiled. "Oh, I was in the neighborhood--just thought I'd drop by."
She let me in. "Well it's nice to see you. Um, Tay just got back from a long hike about an hour ago, so he may be a little cranky. Do yourselves a favor and try to get along with each other," she said quietly.
"I'll do my best," I said.
Diana walked off and I walked the rest of the way in the room. Tay, Drew, and Zac were on the sofa and I sat beside Ike on the loveseat. "Oh god," said Ike. "Tay and Mel in the same room. Can't get boring now."
I gave him a sarcastic smile. "Very funny."
We all sat around and talked--okay, let me rephrase that--Drew, Zac, and Ike talked. Tay and I just stayed generally quiet.
I think we were both searching for the right time to get out of there. Finally, when the three of them weren't looking, Tay said silently to me, "Go to the tree house."
I pointed to myself and looked at him questioningly. He nodded.
"What about you?" I mouthed back.
"I'll be there in a minute."
I stood up and stretched. "Excuse me. I'm gonna step outside."
"Are you okay?" asked Drew.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little warm in here, that's all." I went out the door and around the back. I climbed up the tree house and sat there, waiting for Tay.
After a few minutes, he climbed up. I smiled. "How'd you get out?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Just left the room. It's my house."
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him. Then I started playing with the button on his pants. "Chicken?"
He laughed seductively and grabbed my hand. "No."
I smiled at him. "Yes, you are."
He started to tickle me. "No, I'm not."
I laughed hysterically. "Yes, you are!"
Tay started laughing, too. Soon he stopped tickling me and calmed down. "Okay, okay," he said, still smiling. He scooted closer to me and slid his hands up my shirt and stopped at the edge of my bra. "Chicken?"
"No," I said. "Getting a little daring, are we?"
"As daring as you'll let me." He slid his hands around my back and unhooked my bra. "Chicken?"
"No..."
"Who's the daring one now?" he asked.
I slid my bra off and put it down beside me. Tay grinned and started to slide his hands up my shirt again. I grabbed his hands. "Stop!"
"I thought you said you weren't chicken?"
"I'm not. But you can't have your cake and eat it, too."
"That is so cruel," he grinned.
"I know." I placed his hands around my waist and kissed him. He started to let his hands wander so I bit his lip.
He pulled away. "Hey. What was that for?"
"Let's not get too excited," I teased.
"Who said I was excited?"
"Oh! Okay," I said, pretending to be offended. "So I guess that's my cue to leave."
I moved toward the door and Tay tugged at my waist and pulled me back. "No. Don't go. I'm sorry."
I sat back down and looked at him. He sincerely thought he'd hurt me! I smiled at him. "You're so gullible."
"You mean you weren't really mad?"
"No!"
"All right. That's it!" Tay said. We began to wrestle in the tree house floor.
Things started getting a bit rough and I heard the boards creaking. "This thing's not gonna collapse, is it?" I asked.
"Jeez, I hope hot," said Tay.
"Wow, thanks for making me feel safe!"
Tay grinned. "Don't worry. It's okay. It's pretty sturdy." Then he leaned in and kissed me.
___________________________________________________________
DREW
I couldn't wait to get to Zac's house. We'd been away from each other for two days and only talked on the phone a few minutes. In between those days, I ran out to my car and drove over to Zac's after he called and demanded that I come over. I walked in the front, greeted by an all-too-happy Ike.
"Hey, Drew!" he said with a smile. "Zac's in the living room. He's been waiting there since you guys got off the phone."
I walked in the living room and sat beside Zac on the couch. He put his arm around me and kissed me on the lips. "It's good to see you," he said.
"Yeah," was all I could say.
Soon after we were joined by Taylor and Ike. Taylor sat down on the other side of Zac. We were talking when Mel walked in and sat beside Ike. "Oh god," Ike said. "Mel and Taylor in the same room, now this can't get boring!" I silently laughed at his remark. We had been talking for awhile when Mel went outside. A few minutes later Taylor left. Ike, Zac, and I talked for awhile and then I realized that Mel hadn't come back so Zac and I went outside looking for her.
"I guess they're not out here, huh?" Zac asked.
"I guess not," I said, walking back inside.
And then almost as soon as Zac and I had walked in his room, Taylor came bursting in. "Damn, Tay, don't you knock?" Zac asked as we sat on his bed. "I mean god knows what we could have been doing," Zac said, smiling at me suggestively.
"Zac!" I was so embarrassed. I could tell, though, that Taylor was in a hurry and didn't really care what Zac and I were doing. We could have been making out and having a "major grope fest," as Mel calls it, and he wouldn't have cared. After Taylor walked out of the room, Zac and I started planning the dinner for Tay and Mel.
______________________________________________________________
MEL
I decided to go ahead and head home after we'd almost gotten caught in the tree house. I could have SWORN I'd told Tay I was leaving. (I HAD to. If I'd have stayed any longer, something would have gone down that I wasn't ready for.) Well, obviously not, because just as I was about to get in my car, Tay came rushing out the front door.
"Mel!" he yelled, running toward me.
He looked panicked which made me panic. "Tay! What?"
"You're leaving?"
"What?"
"You're leaving already?"
I shoved him backwards. "Damn it, Tay! Don't scare me like that! Why do you always have to be so over dramatic?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You run out here, screaming my name with a look on your face like someone died--I about had a heart attack! And all you wanted to know was whether I was leaving or not?"
He gave me a Look. "Yeah, what's wrong with that? I mean, far be it for me to want to be with you," he said sarcastically. "But if it means so much to you to leave without even telling me then just go. I'll pretend like I never knew." He turned around and walked in the house.
I remember staring after him, thinking, 'What the hell?'
"Whatever," I said to myself as I got in my car and drove home. He could be such a child sometimes. Why couldn't he just be a man for once?
Thanks to Tay, I was set in a bad mood for the rest of the day. And I just knew that he was gonna call later and beg for forgiveness. But I was too annoyed to care. I just wouldn't answer the phone.
Drew came over later that night. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Oh, the usual," I said. "Tay's an asshole..."
"Ah," she said. "I get it. Another argument?"
"Yes. But you've heard about one, you've heard about them all, so I'm not gonna talk about it."
All of a sudden my phone rang. I let it ring.
"Aren't you gonna get that?" asked Drew.
"I'm not in the mood," I said. "Just let the machine get it."
So I did. And much to my dismay (mainly because Drew was there), it was Tay. "Mel," he said. "Mel, I know you're there. Would you just pick up the phone?" After a pause he let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I'm sorry I scared you and I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I was tired and it was kicking in and I was getting cranky--I didn't mean to snap at you. You didn't do anything wrong." There was another pause. "Well, I was just calling to apologize. So I hope you accept it. I'll, uh, talk to you later." Then he hung up. I wanted to cry. He sounded so sad!
Drew sat there gaping at the machine. "What was THAT?"
"Um...that was Tay," I said.
"I KNOW it was Tay. But--but he's apologizing! What's going on here? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Well...okay. We've talked about how we are toward each other and we're really sick of it. So we're trying to get along--we really are. But we keep pissing each other off and--hell, I don't know. We've grown up. I don't know..."
"What if you guys had a little help?"
"What do you mean?"
"You obviously can't do this on your own. You and Tay, I mean. What if Zac and Ike and I helped?"
"What could you do?"
"I don't know. We'll think of something."
------------------------------------------------
That night I lay in my bed but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't keep my mind off Tay. I didn't call him back and maybe I should have. I don't know...
My thoughts were interrupted by a constant tap on my window. What could that possibly be? I had a second story window!
I lay there thinking it would stop soon but it didn't. It was a constant tapping. I got out of bed, turned on my light, and slipped on a robe. By this time the tapping had stopped. For some reason I decided to turn off my light and turn on the desk lamp. Then I unlocked my window and opened it, poking my head outside.
It was Tay, standing below my window, a small pile of pebbles beside him on the ground. "Tay? Are you crazy? Do you know what time it is?" I whispered loudly.
"I couldn't sleep. Not until I talked to you," he said.
I sighed. I grabbed a flashlight and shined it on the ladder that Drew used to get to my room. "Climb up!"
A few minutes later, Tay was crawling through my window. I shut the window behind him then turned around to face him. He presented me with a daisy that had been freshly picked. "Did you get my message?" he asked.
"Yeah. So did Drew."
"She heard it?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I covered for us."
Tay sighed. "Look. I really am sorry. Really, really sorry."
"So am I," I said. "But I could have sworn I told you I was leaving."
"No, baby, you didn't," Tay said, placing his hands on my waist.
"I'm sorry. I left--I left because I didn't really...trust myself with you. And I'm not really ready to have sex yet."
"Oh, man, neither am I. I don't want you to feel like you have that kind of obligation to me. Please don't feel that way. I mean, sure, I wanna fool around a little, but by no means am I ready to go all the way. And even if I were, I'd wait for you."
I put my arms around his neck and smiled. "Really?"
Tay smiled back. "Yeah." Then he reached up and began twirling my hair around his fingers. "It was a stupid argument we got into anyway. Let's not do that again, okay?"
I pulled him close to me and kissed him. After a little bit, he pulled away and let his hands slip to the tie on my robe. He untied it and slipped it off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor, revealing the panties and the short-sleeved, cut-off t-shirt I had on underneath. Tay grinned and brushed the back of his hand across my stomach. "Is this what you wear to bed every night or did I just get lucky?"
"This is it. Why? Chicken?"
He shook his head. "No."
I pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his bare chest. I let my hands fall to his shoulders and run down his chest. "What about now?" I asked.
He drew in a sharp breath, closed his eyes, and grinned. "Not at all."
I ran my hands up his arms, squeezing his biceps, and on up to his shoulders again.
He put his hands on my back and pulled me close to him. Then we backed up onto the bed. We practically almost fell on the bed. We both laughed. "Shh!" he said, putting a finger to his lips and laughing. "We don't wanna wake your family. They don't know I'm here, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," I grinned. I pulled his face close and kissed him.
I bent my knee and let my foot slide up the back of his leg. He slid his hand up the same leg. "Ooh, your legs are so soft," he smiled.
"I just took a long bath before bed," I said.
"I can tell. You smell wonderful." He buried his face in my neck and spent a little time there. It made me giggle a little. I put an arm around his neck and ran the other one through his hair, caressing his leg with my foot. He let his hand slide up my waist and up my shirt until he touched my breast. And as much as I thought I should have, I didn't want to stop him. So I let him stay.
I didn't mean for us to go as far as we did. We didn't go quite all the way, but that night was the first time I'd ever gone down on a guy.
__________________________________________________________________
DREW
"Okay so for the last time let's go over this plan again," Zac said in a serious voice. "Ike, you're taking care of getting Taylor out of the house, right?" Zac asked. God, he was so hot when he was serious. I couldn't wait to get him alone.
"Drew. Drew." I felt Zac's hand on my shoulder. "What are we making again?"
I blushed at what he'd just said. "Um...baked ziti." Okay, if I could just get these thoughts out of my head, I'd be okay.
"So after Taylor leaves to go out and do whatever--" That's Ike's department and I wasn't sure what he was thinking about doing or if it would even work-- "Zac, you and I will go set up the table and chairs out back. Right?"
"Yeah. Then about 15 minutes later, Isaac will call Taylor and then Mel," Zac continued.
"Cool. So Friday night at dusk--"
"--Our plan will commence," Zac said in his best scary voice. We all laughed.
--------------------------------------------------
The week flew by and Friday was upon us. Taylor was walking out the door as I was coming in. 'Perfect,' I thought to myself. 'So far, so good.' As I walked through the door, Zac greeted me with a kiss.
"You ready for this?" I asked him.
"Oh, you know it, babe!" He smiled suggestively.
"Only you would take it that way," I heard Ike say from behind Zac.
"Hey!" Zac said. "Okay. Let's get going."
"I'll go put the dinner in the oven," I told Zac and Ike. "You guys go get the table and chairs, okay?" I sort of demanded. Hey, somebody had to get things going, right? Anything for Mel. I put the ziti in the oven and helped Ike and Zac with the table and chairs. We set them up about 6 feet from the back doors. I brought out a white, linen table cloth and put it over the perfectly round table. Zac and I set the table with the good China and silver and used fresh flowers as a centerpiece. You know, it's amazing what you can get done in such a short time frame with a Hanson as a close, personal friend. We used white candles as a finishing touch.
So everything was set up and ready. I had just turned off the oven when Ike called Taylor. I heard him talking on his end of the conversation. That man could be a con artist. "Tay, man, you gotta come home now," he said. A short pause. "Well I had the best idea for a song, you have to come now....okay, bye." He looked down at his hands, sort of disappointed-looking. "He'll be here in five."
Ike laughed. Zac hit him in the shoulder. "Damn it, Ike."
So now all we had to do was call Mel. She was so easy to persuade I was sure it wouldn't take any time at all. Once again, Ike worked his magic. "You have to come over...well Taylor had this really great idea for a song, then he got interrupted and now he has writer's block...yeah...we've all tried...yeah, we tried that, too...I'm telling you, Mel, nothing's working." He looked worried. "You will? Thanks, you're the best. Bye! She's on her way."
As fast as I could I wrote a note and taped it to the front door. Inside I wrote:
Taylor and Mel,
Surprise! We got ya! Please don't leave. Zac, Ike, and I spent a lot of time working on this dinner. At least try to get along long enough to eat.
Love ya lots!
Drew
P.S. Supper's in the oven.
About twenty minutes later Zac and I were sitting in the tree house almost about to give up hope when we heard the back door open. "Oh my god, Zac, they're actually talking!" I was shocked.
"I see they found our dinner," Zac smiled at me.
"I wonder what they're talking about?" I asked as they sat down at our perfect table for two.
_____________________________________________________________
MEL
We were in my room, making out, and it was going really REALLY well. Nothing, I mean NOTHING, could ruin this moment.
Except Tay's dire need to answer that damn phone of his.
"Tay, let it ring," I said as I started kissing his neck.
"Baby, I can't. What if it's an emergency?"
I let go of him and turned over and laid on my stomach on my bed. I listened to his end of the conversation. "Now? Why?...Well I'm kind of in the middle of something...you do?...Dude, okay, I'll be there in about five minutes." He hung up the phone and turned to me. "Baby, I'm really sorry, but I gotta get home. Ike has a new song in mind and he needs me. You understand, don't you?"
"Sure, go ahead," I said. Of course I understood. But I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.
No sooner had Tay walked out the door when my phone rang. It was Ike. He told me that Tay had a major case of writer's block and that they couldn't help him. So I HAD to come over.
Of course I knew that wasn't true but I went anyway. Something was up and I intended to find out what it was.
I pulled in the driveway just as Tay was walking in the house. He heard me and turned around. I got out of the car and walked toward him. "Did Ike call you filling you with a load of crap, too?"
"Yeah," said Tay. He handed me Drew's note. "This pretty much says it."
I read the note and laughed. "At least we get a free meal. Come to think of it, I am hungry..."
We went inside and opened the oven. "I can't believe this," I said. "They set all this up and make us serve ourselves."
"Zac has a somewhat warped mind and when Ike's involved it doesn't get much better," said Tay as he pulled the dish out of the oven.
We carried it outside to a table set up with a white table cloth and candles. "What are they doing?" I asked.
"It's nice," said Tay. We sat down and Tay looked at the food in the dish. "What is it?" he whispered.
"I don't know. But it smells good." I took my fork and scooped some food on it. Then I held it out to Tay. "Here. You try it first."
He looked at the fork. "Uh, I don't know. You can. I'm feeling generous."
"Oh, just be a man and try it," I said, smiling. "I don't think it's gonna hurt you."
He gave me a Look and took the bite. After he swallowed, he smiled. "It's actually good. Here, YOU try it." He put some on his fork and fed it to me.
We decided we liked it and put some on our plates. We had a nice dinner that night. I enjoyed it. "Maybe we ought to keep more things secret," said Tay. "Free food."
"Yeah, really," I said. Things people would do for family and friends.
After we ate, we had a long conversation. We switched subjects a lot and it had gotten dark as we sat out there. I didn't care, though. I was having fun.
What I DID care about was that constant feeling that we were being watched.
_________________________________________________________
DREW
Everything went great and the dinner was somewhat of a success. Later that weekend we even saw Taylor and Mel trying to get along. But it was actually Zac and I who were missing on occasion.
We were over at my house that afternoon. "Zac. We have to stop, we've got to get back to your house. Your mom's probably wondering what is taking so long."
Zac sat up and rolled off of me. We had told Diana that we would come over to my house and grab some flour for a cake she was going to bake that day. It had been an hour since we had left. We barely made it through the door when Zac took his shirt off, revealing all of his incredible muscles. 'Wow,' was all I could think.
I walked into the kitchen to cool off. Sitting in the same room with Zac was unbearable with his shirt off. I was rummaging through my pantry when I felt Zac's arms around my waist. Then he started kissing my neck. I turned around and Zac kissed me passionately. I could have died. That was the best kiss I'd ever gotten. But one thing was still on my mind. Zac and I never officially said we were dating. Every time we were together it was great but the second we started talking about why we had never officially gotten together, Zac got on the defense.
"Hey. I couldn't stand to be away from you another second," he said between a kiss.
"But, really, Zac," I pushed him away. "We need to go." After another passionate kiss, that almost persuaded me to stay, we left.
------------------------------------------------
The cake that Diana had made was great. Zac and I had decided to go to a party since we were bored and felt like partying. The party was going to be at 7:30 sharp and Zac was getting ready when Taylor walked through the door. "Hey, Drew," he said with a smile. I still got a little star struck when he said that. I mean, here I was, standing at the foot of the stairs in the one and only Hanson's house.
"Hey, Taylor," I said as he walked past me. Then I thought, 'Why don't I call Mel and get her and Tay to go with us? "Taylor!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs and into his room. "Taylor!" I couldn't find him so I screamed his name. "Taylor!"
He came running in his room, followed by Ike and Zac. "Good god," Taylor said. "You sound like one of those girls that stand outside at concerts and scream 'I love you, Taylor!' Wow, you really had me going."
"Yeah," Ike said, out of breath. "You had me going, too."
"Yeah," was all Zac could say. Now that I had everyone's attention I could ask Taylor if he wanted to go to the party with me and Zac.
"Hey, Taylor, um do you want to go to a party with me and Zac tonight?" I asked, hoping he would say yes. And hoping that Mel would, too.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun. Hey, I'll call Mel, maybe she'll want to go, too," he said.
"Great!" I was so excited. Then it finally hit me, what Taylor had just said. HE was going to call Mel. Wait a second! "YOU'RE going to call Mel?" I asked him, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
"Yeah, why not?" he asked almost as if he hadn't heard what had just been said.
"Well, I could list a number of reasons. One, you don't like Mel. Two, you can't stand to be in the same room with each other. And three, well--" I paused, thinking of what to say. Maybe he really didn't mind calling her.
Zac interrupted my thoughts. "Tay, go ahead and call her if you want to."
"Call who?" Taylor asked like he had come out of a daydream or something.
"Mel, you dumbass," Zac said with a smart aleck attitude.
"Why would I call Mel? I can't stand her," he said. Finally! He was coming to his senses. I could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank god. I'll call her," I said.
Everybody met at the house and by an hour later we were at the party. We had a lot of fun. The house was huge! Zac and I had a great time dancing together. It brought us closer together. But still I couldn't get the thought out of my head that Zac and I weren't officially together. Something had to be done. Or said. And soon.
_____________________________________________________
DREW
I couldn't believe what I had been seeing the past couple of weeks. First Taylor drops Mel off after a forced date and isn't in a hurry to leave. Then the very next day he's over at her house and doesn't come running out like a bat out of hell. Things were just getting a little too weird. And even though Mel had told me things were okay I still had a suspicion that her and Taylor were more than okay.
Me and Zac were great. After our kiss it seemed like a way of life. Every time we saw each other we couldn't keep our hands, or lips for that matter, off each other. The night Taylor was over at Mel's "babysitting" her, Zac and I got a great idea. We thought it would be cool to plan a dinner for Mel and Tay. But we wouldn't be able to do it without some help. Our first call was to Ike.
"Hello?" I heard Ike's voice say.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked him.
"Nothing, I was just going to ask you the same thing."
"Well Zac and I were just talking and we thought it would be cool if we surprised Mel and Taylor with a dinner."
"Okay...what do you need to tell me that for if it was your idea?"
"Well we sort of need..."
"You sort of need what, Drew?"
"Your help."
"What? No way! Tay would kill me if he knew I was trying to hook him and Mel up!"
"Look, all we need from you is your car and persuasion powers."
"Please. Don't ask me to help you again. I can't. Like I said, Taylor would kill me."
"But Ike...please, all we need you to do is call Tay when we're ready for him and Mel to come home. Then we'll surprise them with the dinner."
"And that's all I have to do?"
"That's all, I promise. Just say yes."
"Okay."
'Great,' I thought after we hung up. Now all we had to do was plan.
_______________________________________________________________
MEL
I was SO bored that day. I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do. Drew wasn't home, I had zero money, and I hadn't heard from Tay yet. Hey, it was around 6:30 now, he HAD to be home. I decided to call him up.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Tay?"
"Hey, Mel. I was hoping to hear from you. So how was your day?"
"Day? WHAT day? It was so boring. I had absolutely nothing to do. What about you?"
"I went hiking with some of the guys today. I'm gonna be feeling it in the morning."
"I like to hike," I hinted. I was joking, of course. I mean, I DID really like to hike, I mean--oh whatever!
Tay chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry. It was a guy thing, you know?"
"I know, I'm just picking on you. Seriously, though, we ought to go sometime. Just you and me."
"Really? You'd hike with me?"
"Sure! My dad is about the most nature-oriented person I know. We do it all the time. I've actually grown to like it."
"Wow, that's cool. Usually most girls--"
"--wouldn't be caught dead in the woods. I know. I think it's pathetic."
We shared a moment of silence and then Tay spoke up. "Hey, you wanna come over? I had a rough day and we could just curl up and watch a movie or something."
"Sure, sounds great. Um, who's all over there?"
"Just the family. Oh wait, I think Drew's here. I just heard Zac's tone of voice change downstairs, hold on." After a couple of seconds I heard Tay yell down the stairs. "Hey! Who's that?" After a few more seconds, Tay said to me, "Yeah, it's Drew. We'll just sneak off somewhere or something."
I laughed. "Yeah, really. So when do you want me to come over?"
"Soon? I really want to see you."
"Well then I'm gonna get off HERE so I can get THERE," I said. I hung up the phone and headed over to Tay's.
-------------------------------------------------
I rang the doorbell and Diana answered. "Hi, Mel, what brings you here?"
I smiled. "Oh, I was in the neighborhood--just thought I'd drop by."
She let me in. "Well it's nice to see you. Um, Tay just got back from a long hike about an hour ago, so he may be a little cranky. Do yourselves a favor and try to get along with each other," she said quietly.
"I'll do my best," I said.
Diana walked off and I walked the rest of the way in the room. Tay, Drew, and Zac were on the sofa and I sat beside Ike on the loveseat. "Oh god," said Ike. "Tay and Mel in the same room. Can't get boring now."
I gave him a sarcastic smile. "Very funny."
We all sat around and talked--okay, let me rephrase that--Drew, Zac, and Ike talked. Tay and I just stayed generally quiet.
I think we were both searching for the right time to get out of there. Finally, when the three of them weren't looking, Tay said silently to me, "Go to the tree house."
I pointed to myself and looked at him questioningly. He nodded.
"What about you?" I mouthed back.
"I'll be there in a minute."
I stood up and stretched. "Excuse me. I'm gonna step outside."
"Are you okay?" asked Drew.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little warm in here, that's all." I went out the door and around the back. I climbed up the tree house and sat there, waiting for Tay.
After a few minutes, he climbed up. I smiled. "How'd you get out?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Just left the room. It's my house."
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him. Then I started playing with the button on his pants. "Chicken?"
He laughed seductively and grabbed my hand. "No."
I smiled at him. "Yes, you are."
He started to tickle me. "No, I'm not."
I laughed hysterically. "Yes, you are!"
Tay started laughing, too. Soon he stopped tickling me and calmed down. "Okay, okay," he said, still smiling. He scooted closer to me and slid his hands up my shirt and stopped at the edge of my bra. "Chicken?"
"No," I said. "Getting a little daring, are we?"
"As daring as you'll let me." He slid his hands around my back and unhooked my bra. "Chicken?"
"No..."
"Who's the daring one now?" he asked.
I slid my bra off and put it down beside me. Tay grinned and started to slide his hands up my shirt again. I grabbed his hands. "Stop!"
"I thought you said you weren't chicken?"
"I'm not. But you can't have your cake and eat it, too."
"That is so cruel," he grinned.
"I know." I placed his hands around my waist and kissed him. He started to let his hands wander so I bit his lip.
He pulled away. "Hey. What was that for?"
"Let's not get too excited," I teased.
"Who said I was excited?"
"Oh! Okay," I said, pretending to be offended. "So I guess that's my cue to leave."
I moved toward the door and Tay tugged at my waist and pulled me back. "No. Don't go. I'm sorry."
I sat back down and looked at him. He sincerely thought he'd hurt me! I smiled at him. "You're so gullible."
"You mean you weren't really mad?"
"No!"
"All right. That's it!" Tay said. We began to wrestle in the tree house floor.
Things started getting a bit rough and I heard the boards creaking. "This thing's not gonna collapse, is it?" I asked.
"Jeez, I hope hot," said Tay.
"Wow, thanks for making me feel safe!"
Tay grinned. "Don't worry. It's okay. It's pretty sturdy." Then he leaned in and kissed me.
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DREW
I couldn't wait to get to Zac's house. We'd been away from each other for two days and only talked on the phone a few minutes. In between those days, I ran out to my car and drove over to Zac's after he called and demanded that I come over. I walked in the front, greeted by an all-too-happy Ike.
"Hey, Drew!" he said with a smile. "Zac's in the living room. He's been waiting there since you guys got off the phone."
I walked in the living room and sat beside Zac on the couch. He put his arm around me and kissed me on the lips. "It's good to see you," he said.
"Yeah," was all I could say.
Soon after we were joined by Taylor and Ike. Taylor sat down on the other side of Zac. We were talking when Mel walked in and sat beside Ike. "Oh god," Ike said. "Mel and Taylor in the same room, now this can't get boring!" I silently laughed at his remark. We had been talking for awhile when Mel went outside. A few minutes later Taylor left. Ike, Zac, and I talked for awhile and then I realized that Mel hadn't come back so Zac and I went outside looking for her.
"I guess they're not out here, huh?" Zac asked.
"I guess not," I said, walking back inside.
And then almost as soon as Zac and I had walked in his room, Taylor came bursting in. "Damn, Tay, don't you knock?" Zac asked as we sat on his bed. "I mean god knows what we could have been doing," Zac said, smiling at me suggestively.
"Zac!" I was so embarrassed. I could tell, though, that Taylor was in a hurry and didn't really care what Zac and I were doing. We could have been making out and having a "major grope fest," as Mel calls it, and he wouldn't have cared. After Taylor walked out of the room, Zac and I started planning the dinner for Tay and Mel.
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MEL
I decided to go ahead and head home after we'd almost gotten caught in the tree house. I could have SWORN I'd told Tay I was leaving. (I HAD to. If I'd have stayed any longer, something would have gone down that I wasn't ready for.) Well, obviously not, because just as I was about to get in my car, Tay came rushing out the front door.
"Mel!" he yelled, running toward me.
He looked panicked which made me panic. "Tay! What?"
"You're leaving?"
"What?"
"You're leaving already?"
I shoved him backwards. "Damn it, Tay! Don't scare me like that! Why do you always have to be so over dramatic?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You run out here, screaming my name with a look on your face like someone died--I about had a heart attack! And all you wanted to know was whether I was leaving or not?"
He gave me a Look. "Yeah, what's wrong with that? I mean, far be it for me to want to be with you," he said sarcastically. "But if it means so much to you to leave without even telling me then just go. I'll pretend like I never knew." He turned around and walked in the house.
I remember staring after him, thinking, 'What the hell?'
"Whatever," I said to myself as I got in my car and drove home. He could be such a child sometimes. Why couldn't he just be a man for once?
Thanks to Tay, I was set in a bad mood for the rest of the day. And I just knew that he was gonna call later and beg for forgiveness. But I was too annoyed to care. I just wouldn't answer the phone.
Drew came over later that night. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Oh, the usual," I said. "Tay's an asshole..."
"Ah," she said. "I get it. Another argument?"
"Yes. But you've heard about one, you've heard about them all, so I'm not gonna talk about it."
All of a sudden my phone rang. I let it ring.
"Aren't you gonna get that?" asked Drew.
"I'm not in the mood," I said. "Just let the machine get it."
So I did. And much to my dismay (mainly because Drew was there), it was Tay. "Mel," he said. "Mel, I know you're there. Would you just pick up the phone?" After a pause he let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I'm sorry I scared you and I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I was tired and it was kicking in and I was getting cranky--I didn't mean to snap at you. You didn't do anything wrong." There was another pause. "Well, I was just calling to apologize. So I hope you accept it. I'll, uh, talk to you later." Then he hung up. I wanted to cry. He sounded so sad!
Drew sat there gaping at the machine. "What was THAT?"
"Um...that was Tay," I said.
"I KNOW it was Tay. But--but he's apologizing! What's going on here? Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Well...okay. We've talked about how we are toward each other and we're really sick of it. So we're trying to get along--we really are. But we keep pissing each other off and--hell, I don't know. We've grown up. I don't know..."
"What if you guys had a little help?"
"What do you mean?"
"You obviously can't do this on your own. You and Tay, I mean. What if Zac and Ike and I helped?"
"What could you do?"
"I don't know. We'll think of something."
------------------------------------------------
That night I lay in my bed but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't keep my mind off Tay. I didn't call him back and maybe I should have. I don't know...
My thoughts were interrupted by a constant tap on my window. What could that possibly be? I had a second story window!
I lay there thinking it would stop soon but it didn't. It was a constant tapping. I got out of bed, turned on my light, and slipped on a robe. By this time the tapping had stopped. For some reason I decided to turn off my light and turn on the desk lamp. Then I unlocked my window and opened it, poking my head outside.
It was Tay, standing below my window, a small pile of pebbles beside him on the ground. "Tay? Are you crazy? Do you know what time it is?" I whispered loudly.
"I couldn't sleep. Not until I talked to you," he said.
I sighed. I grabbed a flashlight and shined it on the ladder that Drew used to get to my room. "Climb up!"
A few minutes later, Tay was crawling through my window. I shut the window behind him then turned around to face him. He presented me with a daisy that had been freshly picked. "Did you get my message?" he asked.
"Yeah. So did Drew."
"She heard it?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I covered for us."
Tay sighed. "Look. I really am sorry. Really, really sorry."
"So am I," I said. "But I could have sworn I told you I was leaving."
"No, baby, you didn't," Tay said, placing his hands on my waist.
"I'm sorry. I left--I left because I didn't really...trust myself with you. And I'm not really ready to have sex yet."
"Oh, man, neither am I. I don't want you to feel like you have that kind of obligation to me. Please don't feel that way. I mean, sure, I wanna fool around a little, but by no means am I ready to go all the way. And even if I were, I'd wait for you."
I put my arms around his neck and smiled. "Really?"
Tay smiled back. "Yeah." Then he reached up and began twirling my hair around his fingers. "It was a stupid argument we got into anyway. Let's not do that again, okay?"
I pulled him close to me and kissed him. After a little bit, he pulled away and let his hands slip to the tie on my robe. He untied it and slipped it off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor, revealing the panties and the short-sleeved, cut-off t-shirt I had on underneath. Tay grinned and brushed the back of his hand across my stomach. "Is this what you wear to bed every night or did I just get lucky?"
"This is it. Why? Chicken?"
He shook his head. "No."
I pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his bare chest. I let my hands fall to his shoulders and run down his chest. "What about now?" I asked.
He drew in a sharp breath, closed his eyes, and grinned. "Not at all."
I ran my hands up his arms, squeezing his biceps, and on up to his shoulders again.
He put his hands on my back and pulled me close to him. Then we backed up onto the bed. We practically almost fell on the bed. We both laughed. "Shh!" he said, putting a finger to his lips and laughing. "We don't wanna wake your family. They don't know I'm here, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," I grinned. I pulled his face close and kissed him.
I bent my knee and let my foot slide up the back of his leg. He slid his hand up the same leg. "Ooh, your legs are so soft," he smiled.
"I just took a long bath before bed," I said.
"I can tell. You smell wonderful." He buried his face in my neck and spent a little time there. It made me giggle a little. I put an arm around his neck and ran the other one through his hair, caressing his leg with my foot. He let his hand slide up my waist and up my shirt until he touched my breast. And as much as I thought I should have, I didn't want to stop him. So I let him stay.
I didn't mean for us to go as far as we did. We didn't go quite all the way, but that night was the first time I'd ever gone down on a guy.
__________________________________________________________________
DREW
"Okay so for the last time let's go over this plan again," Zac said in a serious voice. "Ike, you're taking care of getting Taylor out of the house, right?" Zac asked. God, he was so hot when he was serious. I couldn't wait to get him alone.
"Drew. Drew." I felt Zac's hand on my shoulder. "What are we making again?"
I blushed at what he'd just said. "Um...baked ziti." Okay, if I could just get these thoughts out of my head, I'd be okay.
"So after Taylor leaves to go out and do whatever--" That's Ike's department and I wasn't sure what he was thinking about doing or if it would even work-- "Zac, you and I will go set up the table and chairs out back. Right?"
"Yeah. Then about 15 minutes later, Isaac will call Taylor and then Mel," Zac continued.
"Cool. So Friday night at dusk--"
"--Our plan will commence," Zac said in his best scary voice. We all laughed.
--------------------------------------------------
The week flew by and Friday was upon us. Taylor was walking out the door as I was coming in. 'Perfect,' I thought to myself. 'So far, so good.' As I walked through the door, Zac greeted me with a kiss.
"You ready for this?" I asked him.
"Oh, you know it, babe!" He smiled suggestively.
"Only you would take it that way," I heard Ike say from behind Zac.
"Hey!" Zac said. "Okay. Let's get going."
"I'll go put the dinner in the oven," I told Zac and Ike. "You guys go get the table and chairs, okay?" I sort of demanded. Hey, somebody had to get things going, right? Anything for Mel. I put the ziti in the oven and helped Ike and Zac with the table and chairs. We set them up about 6 feet from the back doors. I brought out a white, linen table cloth and put it over the perfectly round table. Zac and I set the table with the good China and silver and used fresh flowers as a centerpiece. You know, it's amazing what you can get done in such a short time frame with a Hanson as a close, personal friend. We used white candles as a finishing touch.
So everything was set up and ready. I had just turned off the oven when Ike called Taylor. I heard him talking on his end of the conversation. That man could be a con artist. "Tay, man, you gotta come home now," he said. A short pause. "Well I had the best idea for a song, you have to come now....okay, bye." He looked down at his hands, sort of disappointed-looking. "He'll be here in five."
Ike laughed. Zac hit him in the shoulder. "Damn it, Ike."
So now all we had to do was call Mel. She was so easy to persuade I was sure it wouldn't take any time at all. Once again, Ike worked his magic. "You have to come over...well Taylor had this really great idea for a song, then he got interrupted and now he has writer's block...yeah...we've all tried...yeah, we tried that, too...I'm telling you, Mel, nothing's working." He looked worried. "You will? Thanks, you're the best. Bye! She's on her way."
As fast as I could I wrote a note and taped it to the front door. Inside I wrote:
Taylor and Mel,
Surprise! We got ya! Please don't leave. Zac, Ike, and I spent a lot of time working on this dinner. At least try to get along long enough to eat.
Love ya lots!
Drew
P.S. Supper's in the oven.
About twenty minutes later Zac and I were sitting in the tree house almost about to give up hope when we heard the back door open. "Oh my god, Zac, they're actually talking!" I was shocked.
"I see they found our dinner," Zac smiled at me.
"I wonder what they're talking about?" I asked as they sat down at our perfect table for two.
_____________________________________________________________
MEL
We were in my room, making out, and it was going really REALLY well. Nothing, I mean NOTHING, could ruin this moment.
Except Tay's dire need to answer that damn phone of his.
"Tay, let it ring," I said as I started kissing his neck.
"Baby, I can't. What if it's an emergency?"
I let go of him and turned over and laid on my stomach on my bed. I listened to his end of the conversation. "Now? Why?...Well I'm kind of in the middle of something...you do?...Dude, okay, I'll be there in about five minutes." He hung up the phone and turned to me. "Baby, I'm really sorry, but I gotta get home. Ike has a new song in mind and he needs me. You understand, don't you?"
"Sure, go ahead," I said. Of course I understood. But I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.
No sooner had Tay walked out the door when my phone rang. It was Ike. He told me that Tay had a major case of writer's block and that they couldn't help him. So I HAD to come over.
Of course I knew that wasn't true but I went anyway. Something was up and I intended to find out what it was.
I pulled in the driveway just as Tay was walking in the house. He heard me and turned around. I got out of the car and walked toward him. "Did Ike call you filling you with a load of crap, too?"
"Yeah," said Tay. He handed me Drew's note. "This pretty much says it."
I read the note and laughed. "At least we get a free meal. Come to think of it, I am hungry..."
We went inside and opened the oven. "I can't believe this," I said. "They set all this up and make us serve ourselves."
"Zac has a somewhat warped mind and when Ike's involved it doesn't get much better," said Tay as he pulled the dish out of the oven.
We carried it outside to a table set up with a white table cloth and candles. "What are they doing?" I asked.
"It's nice," said Tay. We sat down and Tay looked at the food in the dish. "What is it?" he whispered.
"I don't know. But it smells good." I took my fork and scooped some food on it. Then I held it out to Tay. "Here. You try it first."
He looked at the fork. "Uh, I don't know. You can. I'm feeling generous."
"Oh, just be a man and try it," I said, smiling. "I don't think it's gonna hurt you."
He gave me a Look and took the bite. After he swallowed, he smiled. "It's actually good. Here, YOU try it." He put some on his fork and fed it to me.
We decided we liked it and put some on our plates. We had a nice dinner that night. I enjoyed it. "Maybe we ought to keep more things secret," said Tay. "Free food."
"Yeah, really," I said. Things people would do for family and friends.
After we ate, we had a long conversation. We switched subjects a lot and it had gotten dark as we sat out there. I didn't care, though. I was having fun.
What I DID care about was that constant feeling that we were being watched.
_________________________________________________________
DREW
Everything went great and the dinner was somewhat of a success. Later that weekend we even saw Taylor and Mel trying to get along. But it was actually Zac and I who were missing on occasion.
We were over at my house that afternoon. "Zac. We have to stop, we've got to get back to your house. Your mom's probably wondering what is taking so long."
Zac sat up and rolled off of me. We had told Diana that we would come over to my house and grab some flour for a cake she was going to bake that day. It had been an hour since we had left. We barely made it through the door when Zac took his shirt off, revealing all of his incredible muscles. 'Wow,' was all I could think.
I walked into the kitchen to cool off. Sitting in the same room with Zac was unbearable with his shirt off. I was rummaging through my pantry when I felt Zac's arms around my waist. Then he started kissing my neck. I turned around and Zac kissed me passionately. I could have died. That was the best kiss I'd ever gotten. But one thing was still on my mind. Zac and I never officially said we were dating. Every time we were together it was great but the second we started talking about why we had never officially gotten together, Zac got on the defense.
"Hey. I couldn't stand to be away from you another second," he said between a kiss.
"But, really, Zac," I pushed him away. "We need to go." After another passionate kiss, that almost persuaded me to stay, we left.
------------------------------------------------
The cake that Diana had made was great. Zac and I had decided to go to a party since we were bored and felt like partying. The party was going to be at 7:30 sharp and Zac was getting ready when Taylor walked through the door. "Hey, Drew," he said with a smile. I still got a little star struck when he said that. I mean, here I was, standing at the foot of the stairs in the one and only Hanson's house.
"Hey, Taylor," I said as he walked past me. Then I thought, 'Why don't I call Mel and get her and Tay to go with us? "Taylor!" I yelled as I ran up the stairs and into his room. "Taylor!" I couldn't find him so I screamed his name. "Taylor!"
He came running in his room, followed by Ike and Zac. "Good god," Taylor said. "You sound like one of those girls that stand outside at concerts and scream 'I love you, Taylor!' Wow, you really had me going."
"Yeah," Ike said, out of breath. "You had me going, too."
"Yeah," was all Zac could say. Now that I had everyone's attention I could ask Taylor if he wanted to go to the party with me and Zac.
"Hey, Taylor, um do you want to go to a party with me and Zac tonight?" I asked, hoping he would say yes. And hoping that Mel would, too.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun. Hey, I'll call Mel, maybe she'll want to go, too," he said.
"Great!" I was so excited. Then it finally hit me, what Taylor had just said. HE was going to call Mel. Wait a second! "YOU'RE going to call Mel?" I asked him, wondering what the hell he was talking about.
"Yeah, why not?" he asked almost as if he hadn't heard what had just been said.
"Well, I could list a number of reasons. One, you don't like Mel. Two, you can't stand to be in the same room with each other. And three, well--" I paused, thinking of what to say. Maybe he really didn't mind calling her.
Zac interrupted my thoughts. "Tay, go ahead and call her if you want to."
"Call who?" Taylor asked like he had come out of a daydream or something.
"Mel, you dumbass," Zac said with a smart aleck attitude.
"Why would I call Mel? I can't stand her," he said. Finally! He was coming to his senses. I could breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank god. I'll call her," I said.
Everybody met at the house and by an hour later we were at the party. We had a lot of fun. The house was huge! Zac and I had a great time dancing together. It brought us closer together. But still I couldn't get the thought out of my head that Zac and I weren't officially together. Something had to be done. Or said. And soon.
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