-Taylor-

Nicole read through the letter one last time before logging off, feeling the familiar longing for Tulsa that she always felt when reading a letter from Taylor. She had been in her new home, in her new town, for almost three weeks now. Ike, Tay, and Zac had been on tour for two weeks, and they seemed to be everywhere. Everyone had caught Hanson Fever. Everything reminded her of how much she missed them. But she was also incredibly happy for their success, because it was something that they had wanted for as long as she could remember.

After she had left Tulsa, she spent several days locked in her new room, doing nothing but thinking and feeling sorry for herself. But on the short-lived arrival of Ike, Tay, and Zac on her first Friday there, they had encouraged her to go out and make new friends, and enjoy her new life. So she had met a few people who lived in her new neighborhood and started hanging out with them, which was what she was doing at the moment.

"You really miss them, don't you?" her new friend Christen asked, sitting up on the bed across the room. She closed the magazine that she was looking at.

"Yeah," Nicole said, leaning back in her chair. She stood up and walked to one of the Hanson posters on her wall, tracing her finger along Isaac's picture jawline. Then she sighed and sank to the floor, her back to the wall, and looked sadly up at her new friend. Christen was almost a year older than Nicole, Ike's age, and she was very pretty. She had long, dark hair and cat-like green eyes that seemed to glow when she got excited about something.

"Well just think," Christen said, "they're going to be back in two weeks. You know the first thing Ike will do is drag everyone up here to see you. I only got to talk to him for a few hours Nic, but I can tell that he really loves you."

"I know," Nicole said, allowing a small smile to creep across her face.

"You're so lucky, you know that?" Christen said. "I wish that I could find a guy and stick with him." Nicole hadn't know Chris very long, but she already knew that with her looks and personality, Chris could have almost any guy that she wanted.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked curiously.

"Well," Chris said, rolling onto her side, "the longest relationship that I have ever had lasted for five weeks."

"Wow," Nicole said. "Why?"

"Well, I don't really know why, but I just get bored of the same guy so quickly," Chris said. "I always ending up going out with a guy, cheating on him a few weeks later, feeling guilty about it, 'fessing up, and breaking up. It's a sick pattern."

"You need to find a guy that you don't get bored of," Nicole said. "Someone who makes you happy.......if you find the right guy, you'll know."

"Well," Chris said with a grin, "as much as I want to find the right guy, I'm having plenty of harmless fun with the wrong ones."

"I know," Isaac said, anxiously turning the steering wheel and passing a slow-moving station wagon.

"Whoa Ike," Taylor said. "You're really excited about going to see Nic, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ike asked, grinning sheepishly at his younger brother. Taylor nodded and Ike shamefully shook his head. "I can't help it......I haven't seen her in four weeks."

"I know," Taylor said, his face darkening slightly. Isaac didn't notice his brother's quick mood-change until he heard Taylor sigh.

"What's wrong Tay?" he asked.

"I was just wondering if we're ever going to get used to this," Taylor said, staring out the window sadly. "I mean, this surely won't be the last time that we have to go away. And this probably won't be the longest amount of time that we're gone."

"I've thought about that too," Isaac said. "But Tay, those are the breaks. If we want to stick with this, with the music, then we're going to have to deal with the traveling and long hours and everything else. This is the best thing that's ever happened to us." As Isaac said this, a smile played across his face. "You know Tay," he said, "you should be saying all of this to me. I should be the one upset about being away from our friends and home."

"Why aren't you?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, I am," Isaac said. "I guess I've just learned to deal with it. Not that I don't think about Nicole all of the time.....I just wish that she could be doing all of this with us, not waiting to hear from us."

Taylor nodded and leaned back in his seat. The fact that Nicole had moved away and was hardly a part of his life anymore was tearing him up inside. For his whole life, he hadn't gone over a month without seeing her, or at least talking to her. She was his best friend, of course. But now they had to drive for an hour to see her, and when they talked over the phone, it was always a quick conversation because of long-distance. Sure, he could e-mail her whenever he wanted, but that just wasn't the same as seeing her face or hearing her voice. Nicole had been a huge part of Taylor's life for as long as he could remember, and now that part was missing.

He sat up straighter in his seat and unbuckled his seatbelt as Isaac pulled the minivan into Nicole's driveway. He could see her mother working in a garden behind the house. At least her parents have more free time to spend with her now, he thought to himself. But that didn't make the ache in his heart hurt any less. Taylor sighed inwardly and tried to pick up on some of the energy that Isaac was radiating as he climbed out of the car.

"Come on ProZac," he said, shaking his sleeping brother in the backseat. "You're starting to seem more like NyQuill since we've been traveling so much."

"Hmm...," Zac muttered sleepily, his dark eyes fluttering open. "Are we there yet Tay?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're at Nic's house and you're asleep in the back of the van," Taylor said. "Come on - you can go to bed early tonight. Let's go see Nic."

"Mmmm...okay," Zac mumbled, turning over in his seat. Taylor could see that this was going to be a harder task than he had thought. He grabed Zac around the waist and gently lifted him out of the van. Struggling under his younger brother's weight, he urged Zac to climb onto his back. Zac obeyed, and Taylor slowly walked him inside. Isaac followed behind them, carrying each boy's weekend luggage. He couldn't stand being behind Taylor, who was walking so slowly that Isaac thought he would burst with excitement if he waited any longer. Finally they reached the porch, and Taylor lifted his finger to ring the bell.

"Don't," Isaac said. "Let's surprize her!"