Taylor
Taylor sighed. He knew Bee had been watching him. He was rather surprised when he'd left, but glad he'd taken his advice.
He couldn't deal with anyone at the moment. But he knew he couldn't do it alone.
So, grudgingly, he finally pulled himself from the park bench maybe an hour later, and got back on his bike. Maybe he should go home for a while. Home, home. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go after all...
He started his bike, put his helmet on, and began to ride again. He made his way back to his old house.
Pulling up in the driveway, he hesitated after removing his helmet. Looking up at the house, he wiped his eyes again, then got off the bike. Leaving the helmet there, he made his way up to the front door.
And knocked.
Zac
Zac was just heading back to his room when he heard the knock at the door.
"I'll get it," he yelled.
Then he opened up the door.
"Tay! Look time no see."
Taylor
"Hey... Zac..." Taylor began quietly, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I ah... I need, to talk to someone. You know... over 17... not mom or dad."
He looked up and raised his eyebrows.
Zac
"Like that is it?" Zac asked.
He gestured for him to come in.
"C'mon, we can go downstairs and encourage Saku to climb up the scratching post."
Taylor
"Well... it's not exactly Saku-friendly material," Taylor shrugged as he stepped through the door.
He looked around, as if checking nothing had changed.
Zac
"Oh?" Zac asked.
He began heading downstairs to his bedroom.
"Then we'll talk in my room instead of his," he said.
Taylor
"Thanks man."
Taylor followed him down, and closed the door behind them.
"Where's the old one?"
Zac
"Ike? Probably up in his room on his computer," Zac replied.
He sat down on his bed.
"He's been working on something a lot lately and he won't tell anyone what it is. I'm seriously considering asking Jess to get in his dreams and find out. Or ask Avie to poke around in her head next time she visits. So, what's this about?"
Taylor
Taylor leant back against the wall and pulled the scarf from his neck.
"Ok, umm..."
Looking more than a little uncomfortable, he began counting off on his fingers.
"Ok, I'm going insane, I lost my virginity, I'm using my atom manipulation, and I hit Mouse this morning..."
He hesitated.
"Oh, and I drank blood. Willingly."
Zac
"Already insane. Lost it two years ago. Use it regularily. Don't hit girls and I'm not a vampire," Zac replied. "Actually, didn't think you were a vampire either."
The joking look disapated quickly as he though about vampires, and he turned his head to stare into a corner of the room.
Taylor
"I already practically the insane that you are. I'm talking rabid. Well, that's the ways Bets put it."
Taylor slid down to the floor.
"As in... making Mouse bleed then not remembering it the next morning."
He noticed the look on Zac's face and sighed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have..." he rubbed his face.
Zac
"No it's okay," Zac said. "I just... I miss Faith."
He paused.
"You weren't drunk or something I take it."
Taylor
Taylor just shook his head.
"And I wasn't drunk when I backhanded her across the face either."
He looked up at Zac and just watched him for a moment.
"Mind telling me what happened?"
Zac
Zac stared.
"You mean no one told you? I would have thought Mouse would have..." he trailed off. "Then, maybe not. New years. Faith, she... there's was... Some winged woman came after Brand at P3 and..."
He chewed his lip, fighting back tears.
Taylor
Taylor shrugged.
"I'm not overly informed on a lot of things lately," he said quietly.
He watched his brother again, then stood and made his way over to him.
"I guess you don't need to say much more," he said, sitting beside him, "but correct me if I'm wrong, because i've made a lot of stupid assumptions recently."
He held out his hand.
Zac
Zac nodded.
"It's okay," he said.
He sniffed.
"What's... what's this about backhanding Mouse?"
Taylor
Taylor watched him worriedly for a moment, before his gaze hit the floor.
"She was kinda going off about last night," he rubbed his nose.
"I went to bolt from the room in case something happened, but... she grabbed me. I guess... I guess I kinda felt cornered. After everything. I told her to let go, but she didn't, so..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Zac
"Ahh..." Zac replied.
He was silent for a moment.
"And what did happen last night?"
Taylor
Taylor gulped, then shrugged.
"I don't know," he said as he looked up at the door.
"Mouse remembers some of it... well, more than I do. But apparently she went wolf. The last thing I remember is umm... The blood rain. I went out in it."
He frowned to himself.
Zac
Zac shuddered.
"That rain was creepy," he said. "Okay, so something happened last night that you don't quite remember and then Mouse tried to talk to you about it this morning and you hit her?"
Taylor
"Actually I came down with the whole guilt thing," Taylor rubbed his shoulder, "the wolves told me what I did."
He raised his eyebrows.
"She went off at me because she saw herself as the victim. She was just... yelling. She threw a glass at the door. I just had to get out of there."
He shrugged.
"So, she grabbed my arm to stop me, and... I hit her."
Zac
"So.... what did you do then?" Zac asked. "Or don't I want to know and is that way you're avoiding telling me?"
Taylor
Taylor screwed his face up.
"You know..."
He made the necessary hand movements to get the message across.
Zac
"Go Tay," Zac grinned. "It's about time!"
Then he shook his head.
"So, you and Mouse had sex, but you don't remember and you weren't drunk. And you hurt Mouse in the process so when she tried to talk to you about it you hit her. Dude, please don't tell me you're becoming an abusive boyfriend."
Taylor
"You're not making this any easier," Taylor shook his head with a chuckle.
"And it's not just her I've been acting weird around lately. I'm even worrying myself."
He leant his chin on his hand, the respective elbow on his knee.
"I don't know what's going on."
Zac
Zac shrugged.
"And I don't have an explanation for you," he said. "But I tell you what you do need to do? Appologise to Mouse."
Taylor
"I wasn't really expecting to get an explanation," Taylor looked down again, his voice softening substancially.
"And if I apologize much more, she's going to get sick of hearing it. I can't... I can't face her again."
Zac
"So, you're going to run away like some sort of wuss from your responsibilities?" Zac asked. "She's your fiancee, Tay! Your fiancee!"
Taylor
"Well maybe not for much longer."
Taylor stood again, having trouble keeping still.
"I can't... I'm not afraid of her. I'm hardly even afraid of what I could do to her when i'm not in my right mind," he began, turning back.
"But whenever I'm with her, I am hurting her. And I don't know any way that I can stop hurting her. That includes Blakesley, Craig... you know that woman with wings? Any bet it was the same woman who turned up at our place last month. In her words, she's planning to eat my heart. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to me and... and either I couldn't protect Mouse, or if she was attacked just because I was there."
Zac
"Tay, the world does not revolve around you," Zac said. "So what if you attract trouble? It's Mouse's choice whether or not she stays with you. Her choice! And I'm guessing she's chosen to be with you. Just like I chose to stay with Faith, even though she... she attacts demons like a magent, and she chose to be with me even though I keep, well, you know."
Taylor
"I didn't mean the world revolves around me," Taylor frowned, "because my world revolves around her."
He ran his fingers through his hair.
"And I hate seeing her hurt. I hate having to watch what I'm constantly doing to her."
He rubbed his eyes, refusing to let any tears show.
Zac
"But you love her. And she loves you," Zac said. "And I'm not going to stand by and let you chicken out just because it's too hard! It's not freaking fair Taylor! Myra was murdered in front of Ike. Faith is... gone. And you're just going to chicken out like some lilly livered wuss? Damn it Tay!"
Zac stood up.
"You leave, you're doing us all an injustice! You understand that? Do you have any idea how much it hurts not having the one you love around? Do you really? Because I don't think you freakin do! You have to go back to her Tay. No matter what happens. Because the important thing is that you're together."
Taylor
Taylor just shook his head.
"I can't be cornered," he managed to say, "I'm only going to go crazy again. And I'd rather be here where you or Ike could thump me, than be... as you said."
He shrugged.
"An abusive boyfriend."
Zac
"Fine whatever," Zac said. "You should at least talk to her. She loves you. She deserves that much."
He came here for a thumping did he? At the rate Tay was going he'd be more than happy to oblige.
Taylor
"At the moment..." Taylor began as he opened the door, "I don't think she even wants to know me."
He left the room and made his way back upstairs.
"Dad?!" he called.
Zac
"How do you know unless you freaking ask her?" Zac shouted.
He ran after his brother and tackled him to the ground.
Taylor
"F#!+ing hell Zac!" Taylor exclaimed, sending an atomic shock down his brother's body to make him let go.
He rolled out from underneath him and launched himself to his feet.
"Don't f#!+ with me right now," he glared.
Zac
"You have no freaking idea how freaking lucky you are!" Zac yelled. "I'd kill to have Faith back. Do you understand that? I'd kill! Don't throw this away!"
Taylor
"Oh? You want to talk about killing?" Taylor's eyes went wild for a moment.
"Let's see... did you even know that two of your brothers were murderers? Betcha didn't."
Zac
"I don't care!" Zac shouted. "I lost Faith. I lost Faith! And now you're losing Mouse, because you're chicken. And ungrateful. And you obviously have no idea. You obviously don't love her nearly as much as you think you do because otherwise you wouldn't be so selfish!"
Taylor
"Ooooooh, selfish?" Taylor grinned.
"Now let's think about all the girls that actually thought you had an interest in them... No wait, that's too depressing."
Zac
"You know what? I've moved past that," Zac scowled. "But this isn't about me. This is about you. For once. At least I never hit Faith. At least... not without her permission..."
Taylor
"How do we know that now Faith's gone you won't go straight back to it?" Taylor raised his eyebrows.
"And if I hit Mouse, she probably deserved it. I don't see myself doing it otherwise. Think about it."
Zac
Zac shook his head.
"Y'know what? I don't know. I don't know that I won't but I'm sure as heck going to try not to. And if you honestly believe that you were justified in hitting you fiancee, then you are not the Taylor I know and I'm ashamed to call you my brother."
Taylor
"Well thank God, because I've been ashamed of you for two years," Taylor hit back.
"And good f#!+ing riddance to the old me."
Zac and Isaac
Zac glowered at him.
"Well, y'know what? At least I create life and don't abuse it."
Isaac poked his head in.
"Umm, something wrong?" he asked curiously.
Taylor
"Abuse it?!" Taylor's voice raised.
"Name one other person I've abused, Zac. Name one f#!+ing one. And Blakesley doesn't f#!+ing count."
Zac and Isaac
"Well, aparently you've murdered someone," Zac said sarcastically.
"Ooookay," Isaac said. "I think it's time for a time out."
Taylor
"What, Ronnie Burton? Lance's little brother?!" Taylor screwed his face up.
"They gave me s#i+ when I was younger. They gave you s#i+ when you were younger. The little bastard deserved everything he got!"
Zac and Isaac
"I remember when he died... wait..." Isaac said. "You killed him?"
Zac gave Taylor a strange look.
"Umm, Ike? I think Taylor wasn't kidding when he said he was going insane."
Taylor
"What?!" Taylor exclaimed, looking between them.
"Is it so hard to comprehend that your little girly, dorky, wussy brother killed someone?! Ike's killed twice, and God knows how many times you've contemplated it."
Zac and Isaac
"Ronnie died a long time ago, Tay," Isaac said softly. "We were just kids. And I only killed in self defence."
"So far I've only killed demons," Zac replied. "It's fun making their ichor boil."
Isaac stared at him.
"What?"
Taylor
"And you wonder why I never use my atom manipulation," Taylor's voice lowered from the yelling.
"Because that's what I used to f#!+ing kill him. And every time I even think of using it I see his death over and over again in my head."
He looked between them, then put his hands on his head.
"I give up. I f#!+ing give up. I can't do this anymore."
Zac and Isaac
"Umm, all of a sudden I believe him," Zac gulped.
"Tay?" Isaac asked in concern.
He walked over and tentatively put his hand on his shoulder.
Taylor
"Don't touch me," Taylor threw his hand off and stepped away.
He turned around and covered his eyes with his hand.
"I'm in the middle of f#!+ing my life up, and I don't need to take you down with me."
Isaac and Zac
"Slight problem with that plan," Isaac said. "We're not going to let you stuff up your life."
He looked at Zac for his agreement.
"Nope, not a chance," Zac confirmed. "Not happening Tay."
Taylor
Taylor groaned, then went to sit down on a couch in the livingroom.
"It's already happening. I don't know how to stop it. No one does."
Isaac and Zac
"Just because you don't know how to doesn't mean there isn't a way," Zac nodded. "And we're gonna find it. So there."
"Exactly," Isaac grinned. "So, what exactly is the problem anyway?"
Taylor
Taylor gave him a look, then leant his head back against the couch.
"In what aspect?" he raised an eyebrow, "pick one, any one."
Isaac and Zac
"Well, here's what I know," Zac said. "Last night he had sex with Mouse. And he hurt her. And then he forgot about it unil Faf told him. Then Mouse tried to talk to him about it and he hit her. Now he's basically planning on leaving her."
Isaac raised an eyebrow as Zac scowlled.
"And on top of this, he thinks he's going insane and says he murdered Ronnie. Is that everything Tay?"
Taylor
Taylor glared at him, then looked away again.
"You forgot about the drinking blood," he chuckled, "not to mention everything with Blakesley and that woman... and Craig. Heck, throw Christian in too."
Isaac and Zac
"Okay so let me get this straight," Isaac said and counted off on his fingers. "Sex, insanity and violence. Is that all our bases covered?"
Zac snickered.
"Well, I think it's obvious what Tay needs when you put it that way. A holiday or a straight jacket."
Taylor
Taylor crossed his arms and glared at Zac again.
"Three words just doesn't seem to cover it," he said blandly, "although I'm not sure what the hell's missing."
Isaac and Zac
"I was being facecious. I can't speak for Zac," Isaac replied.
"Ike, you're always facecious."
"Uh huh, yeah that was an effective insult."
"Yes, yes I know. Hey! I know another word to add to your bases, Ike. Stress. We're coming back to the holiday thing."
"Zac, until the album is ready for release we practically are on holiday."
Zac opened up his mouth. Then closed it again.
Taylor
Taylor raised his eyebrows and just smirked at Zac, before seeming to have a sudden change in thought.
"No wait, that comes back to the straightjacket."
He rubbed his chin.
"Add claustrophobia tot hat list, Ike."
Isaac and Zac
"Okay. Sex, violence, insanity, stress and fear. Quite a collection we have going here," Isaac nodded. "Okay, now istead of trying to solve them all at one, why don't we do them one at a time?" Isaac suggested.
"Good idea. Let's start with sex," Zac nodded.
"Trust you to say that."
"Well, it is the easist one to deal with right now," and Zac got himself comfortable. "Okay so obviously you don't remember, so I can't ask you if she was good -"
Taylor
Taylor glared at Zac again.
"I am so close to f#!+ing hitting you right now," he admitted, "don't you dare talk about her as if that's all she's good for."
Isaac and Zac
"I'm with Tay on that one, Zac," Isaac said.
"Well of course you are," Zac said. "You're a virgin. And come to think of it, Tay didn't even remember the experience, so he may as well be a virgin too."
"Zac, we're coming back to the you have issues thing."
Taylor
"He's always had issues," Taylor almost snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Almost broke my freaking arm again tackling me."
Zac and Isaac
"Yeah, that would suck, wouldn't it? Then you'd have to use the other hand for wanking," Zac said.
"Zac!" Isaac exclaimed.
"See, this is why sex is important. Actually... I've changed my mind. I think you really do remember having sex with Mouse. It was just so terrible you've blocked the experience from your mind, and that's the real reason why you're leaving her."
Taylor
Taylor glared again, then gave him another atomic shock. Though, not as big as last time.
"Talk about being up yourself. Not everyone does as Zac does."
Zac and Isaac
"Would you knock that off?" Zac glowered.
"I think you deserved it," Isaac said.
"Well, it obvious isn't it? I mean, come on. If you actually loved her it wouldn't matter how bad the sex was, you wouldn't leave her because you loved her. So since you're leaving, then I conclude you don't love her. And the sex was probably bad. Although, I never would have thought Mouse would be bad in bed, so maybe it's just you."
Taylor
"Look," Taylor began, getting up again.
"I don't give a f#!+ if you bad mouth me, but bad mouth Mouse again and I'll have you f#!+ed up something bad," he threatened.
Isaac and Zac
"Why do you care so much?" Zac demanded. "One little fight and you're ready to leave her."
"Umm, okay so does bad language come under it's own category, or does it come under violence?" Isaac asked, trying to divert them.
Taylor
"You call domestic violence little?!" Taylor exclaimed.
"I could go to jail for that! And what if Dad found out?! I know Ike hardly got off manslaughter charges because of him!"
Isaac and Zac
"Self defense is self defense," Isaac shrugged.
"Oh please Tay," Zac sneered. "I bet you hardly touched her. Exaggerating as usual."
Taylor
"I almost threw her across the room," Taylor managed to say between his teeth.
"Want a demonstration?"
Isaac and Zac
"I believe the key word there was 'almost'," Zac replied. "And I don't need a demo. Ike's thrown me across the room before and he didn't even need to lift a finger."
Isaac tried not to smile.
Taylor
"Been there, done that," Taylor glanced at Isaac.
Then he chuckled.
"And you're a hell of a lot bigger than Mouse."
Isaac and Zac
"Hey, why are you laughing?" Zac objected. "You're supposed to get so angry that you go back home and profess your undying love for Mouse and otherwise make amends."
He gave a mock sigh and sat down.
"Curses! Folied again."
Isaac raised an eyebrow.
Taylor
"Ha!" Taylor declared.
"As if I'd let you run my life. And besides, on the subject of Ike, he's stronger than both us put together anyway. Actually... probably everyone in the house."
Isaac and Zac
"I see that my fans are not limited to my musical talents," Isaac joked.
"Don't chance the subject Tay!" Zac said. "You can't leave Mouse. I won't let you. I'll handcuff you to her if I have to. And that could improve the sex thing too actually. Very kinky."
Zac nodded knowledgably and Isaac whacked him over the head.
Taylor
Taylor jumped a little and closed his eyes, the reference of handcuffs bringing back unwanted memories.
He pointed at Ike.
"Except for the fact that you cheat," he raised one eyebrow.
Isaac and Zac
"Cheat?" Isaac repeated. "I don't cheat. Cheating is beneath me."
"Oh yeah? What about the time that -"
"It's not beneath Zac though."
"Hey!"
"Well it's true."
"I haven't cheated in a long time now. So there."
Taylor
"Ike cheats because he doesn't even need to open his eyes now."
Taylor chuckled softly, and sat down again.
Isaac and Zac
"That's not cheating, that's umm... expanding my craft," Isaac replied with a small smile.
"Sure, sure, whatever you need to say to make yourself feel better," Zac said.
Taylor
"That's cheating, because you have an advantage over others without telling them," Taylor pointed out, rubbing his hands together and raising his eyebrows.
Isaac and Zac
"If they ever bothered to experiment, they'd find out they have that same ability," Isaac replied. "Therefore it is not cheating."
"You go on believing that Ike, if it makes you feel better," Zac said.
Taylor
Taylor rolled his eyes.
"Cheat..." he chuckled, "bamboozle, beat, beguile, bilk, bleed, bunco, burn, caboodle, chisel, con, cozen, crib, cross, deceive, defraud, delude, diddle, do, double deal, double-cross, dupe, fast talk, finagle, fleece, flimflam, fudge, gouge, gyp, hoodwink, hose, jerk around, milk, mislead, ream, rip off, rook, rope in, sandbag, scam, screw, shaft, short, shuck, skin, stiff, sucker, swindle, take, take in, take out, trick, trim, two-time, victimize..."
Isaac and Zac
Isaac stared at him.
"What happened, Tay? Did you swallow a thesaurus or something?" He asked.
"Maybe Mouse threw it at him," Zac suggested.
Taylor
Taylor's glare once again settled on Zac.
"Doest thou need assistance in removing thy head from thy ass?" he asked politely.
Isaac and Zac
"Doest thou need assistance in getting thy life sorted out?" Zac retorted.
"Okay, gentlemen. Okay not so gentlemen. No fighting," Isaac spoked up.
Taylor
Taylor growled and turned away from Zac.
"Been there, done that too."
Isaac and Zac
"Well, these things happen," Isaac said.
"They don't if you -" Zac began.
"No, Zac, can it. You can't expect Tay to get over something bad in a few minutes that only happened this morning."
Taylor
"It wasn't just this morning," Taylor raised his eyebrows.
He started picking at his nails.
Isaac and Zac
"Wasn't just this morning?" Isaac repeated. "How long has this being going on?"
"I think he just means last night as well," Zac said.
Taylor
"My mind's been f#!+ed for a long time," Taylor continued fidgeting.
"And I was five when Ronnie died. On... well, before Christmas I grabbed Mouse by shoulders and yelled at her. And I've always had claustrophobia."
He hesitated with a frown.
"I think I covered it."
Isaac and Zac
"And you never thought to tell anyone?" Isaac asked quietly. "Tay, I..."
He sighed.
"What he's trying to say is that we're not only you're brothers, we're your friends," Zac interjected. "And if you don't tell us these things, we can't help you."
"Exactly."
"See? I was right."
Taylor
"I thought I could handle it," Taylor replied quietly.
"And well... you knew some things. Those headaches I had when I got back from Craig were only the start of something. And you knew about claustrophobia... why do you think the 'Weird' video was so hard?"
Isaac and Zac
"I know," Zac said. "But that's no excuse not to tell us the other stuff."
He crossed his arms across his chest.
"Okay, so you've found out you couldn't handle it," Isaac said. "And now we're going to help you every way we can, okay Tay?"
Taylor
"Which will be about nothing," Taylor rolled his eyes.
"I don't see how you can cure anything apart from the strees thing, and I don't even see how I'm stressed. Well, apart from the whole not knowing what's happening thing."
Isaac and Zac
"Don't you worry about that, it'll just make you more stressed," Zac advised.
Isaac chuckled.
"We'll figure something out. But in the meantime, lunch should good right about now," he said.
Taylor
"Is that all you ever think about?" Taylor raised his eyebrows, before suddenly feeling dizzy.
"Woah..."
He put a hand out to rest on the couch, before fainting back into it.
Isaac and Zac
"Tay?" Isaac asked. "Taylor are you okay?"
"Of course he's not okay. He just fainted!" Zac exclaimed.
Taylor
Taylor groaned softly, beginning to hear their voices as he awoke. He made it out as Isaac and Zac, before managing to squeeze his eyes open.
"Oh man..." he moaned, rolling onto his back and covering his face with his hands, "what the heck just happened?"
Isaac and Zac
"We were talking about your infinite number of problems and then you fainted," Zac nodded. "I didn't realise the burden was quite that heavy."
Isaac shook his head.
"Zac, always the joker."
"Got that right mister."
"Uh huh. You okay Tay?"
Taylor
Taylor frowned and sat up a little, looking around.
"Why am I in the livingroom?" he asked suddenly, "I was just..."
He looked awkwardly up at Zac, then at Ike.
"And when did you get here?"
Zac and Isaac
"Umm Tay? You came over here a few minutes ago," Zac answered. "You were all upset about hitting Mouse and drinking blood and loosing your virginity and not remembering it. Personally, I'd be upset if I didn't remember loosing my virginity either."
"Zac you have issues."
"We've established this Ike."
"Yeah, well, I think you should do something about it."
Taylor
Taylor frowned and put his hand to his forehead.
"This is... weird. We were in Zac's room..." he began, pointing at him, "talking... and then..."
He hesitated, dropping his hand.
"Damn."
Isaac and Zac
"And then we got into an argument about you leaving Mouse. And then Ike showed up," Zac said.
"You're really senstive about that, huh Zac?"
"Yes, yes I am."
Taylor
"Well... I don't remember, anything," Taylor insisted, "I don't even know if... what I was saying was the truth."
He ran his fingers through his hair and pursed his lips.
"So umm... what happened? Apart from that?"
Isaac and Zac
"Umm you were doing an oh woe is me act -"
"Zac -"
"And we decided we were going to help you, even after you accused us of not knowing how -"
"Why are you being so snippy?"
"And yeah, that's about it, I thinks..."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated again, his eyes falling to the floor.
He'd obviously done something to piss Zac off for a start.
"Umm... sorry," he began again, "for, whatever. If I did something..." he cut himself off.
Zac and Isaac
"Naw you didn't do anything wrong. Well you did, but not to us," Zac said. "It's Mousey I feel sorry for."
"Still upset about Faith," Isaac explained.
"You were still upset about Myra for six months."
"I never said it was unjustified."
Taylor
"Oh God..."
Taylor groaned and leant back into the chair again, covering his eyes.
Isaac and Zac
"Actually I think I feel sorry for Ronnie too. I mean okay I have no idea who Ronnie is, but -"
"Well, you were what? 2 or something when he died," Isaac pointed out.
Taylor
Taylor's eyes widened, and he dropped his hand.
He just stared at Zac.
"Ronnie who? What about him?"
Isaac and Zac
"Ronnie Burton," Isaac said. "You told us you killed him."
"Ha! You didn't remember telling us and you were never planning to!" Zac figured.
Taylor
Taylor's eyes darted between the two, a look of realization crossing his face.
"I... oh $hi+."
His eyes fell to the floor for a moment, before shooting up to Ike again.
"You won't tell anyone, right? Please?" he begged.
Isaac
"It was a long time ago," Isaac said. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us."
He sat down next to him.
"It must have been quite a burden to have all these years."
Taylor
"It's not lightening," Taylor shook his head.
He glanced at Zac, then looked down at his hands.
"I mean... his family never knew... what really happened or anything."
Isaac and Zac
"No, they didn't," Isaac said. "And neither has anyone else, but you."
"Well, a telepath might know," Zac mused.
"Not helping, Zac."
"Sorry."
Taylor
"If they did, wouldn't they have told someone?" Taylor pointed out with a bit of a shiver.
"God..."
He rubbed his face again and leant his head in his hand.
Isaac and Zac
"Well you were what? 5?" Isaac suggested. "But you do raise a good point."
"Dun worry Tay. We know now. We'll look after ya," Zac nodded.
Taylor
"Thanks," Taylor replied quietly.
Then he took a deep breath yet.
"Have I talked to Dad yet, and for that metter, is he home?"
Isaac and Zac
"Nope haven't spoken to Dad and I think he's out anyway," Isaac said. "I think... I don't know."
"That's because you've been locked up in your room all day. Working on what exactly, may I ask?" Zac said.
"No, you may not."
Taylor
Taylor raised an eyebrow.
"I'm gonna ask Dad if I can stay here for a while," he sighed, "but I don't really have anywhere else to go."
He stretched his arms and stood up.
"Mind if I use the piano for a bit?"
Isaac and Zac
"I see no reason why not," Isaac said.
"I stil think you should go back home to Mouse," Zac muttered.
Taylor
Taylor glanced at Zac, then turned away.
"Either of you can join me if you want," he offered, "I might be here a while."
And headed for the rec room.
Isaac and Zac
"We should have a practice," Zac said to Ike, "or would you'd rather work on your secret project?"
Isaac laughed.
"Let's go play."
And they follwoed their brother to the rec room.