"Wha-," she cried, spinning around and pulling off her headphones. She was now facing Isaac, her eyes still covered by Taylor, who was now sitting behind her. Zac obliviously rolled over on the floor. Isaac took this moment of Nicole's surprize to walk up to her, cup her chin, and kiss her like it was the last minute of his life. When he pulled back, Taylor uncovered her eyes.

"Ike!" she cried happily. Then she turned around to see who was behind her. "Tay!" she cried when she saw him. She pulled them both close in a hug. "Where's Zac?"

"Down there," Ike said, pointing to the floor beside the bed. She leaned over the side and peered down at the sleeping boy.

"He looks like an angel," she said dreamily. "Here, put him up on the bed. He shouldn't sleep on the floor." Isaac and Taylor gently pulled Zac onto the bed and Nicole tucked him under the comforter. "I missed you guys so much!" she said. "Did you have fun?"

"It was awesome," Taylor said. "But we really missed you too."

"We really, really missed you," Isaac lovingly corrected, lying down on the bed and resting his head on Nicole's knee.

"Is Zac okay?" Nicole asked, concerned. She had never seen Zac this tired in her whole life.

"Yeah," Taylor said. "We're all fighting to stay awake. We've been going non-stop for the whole month."

"I know!" Nicole said. "I watched you every time you were on TV in the United States.....I even taped you on my VCR," she said, blushing.

"Aren't you sweet," Taylor teased. "Dad videoed everything too. You have to come to Tulsa and watch sometime."

"Sure," Nicole said, longing for her old home. But she knew that she shouldn't dwell on that any more, so she decided to change the subject.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Isaac said, interrupting her thoughts. He unzipped a green duffel bag and pulled out a large plastic bag. "These are your presents from Europe," he said.

Nicole went through the whole bag and pulled out nearly twenty gorgeous souvenirs. There was jewelry, small sculptures, framed photos of the Hansons, and several Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood tee shirts.

"Thanks Ike," she said, placing the souvenirs on her dresser.

"Anytime," he replied, kissing her softly as she sat back down. She propped her head up on the pillow beside Zac's, and Isaac laid his head on her stomach. Taylor stretched out on Zac's other side, his head just above Zac's head, and gazed over at Nicole. He directed his eyes to Isaac, telling Nicole to look there too. When she did, she saw that he had fallen asleep, his head still resting on her stomach.

"You're cute when you're asleep too," Nicole told Taylor. She reached down and absently twirled a piece of Isaac's hair between her fingers.

"I missed you so much Nicole," Taylor said, sighing. "I - when are you coming back to Tulsa?" he blurted out.

"I'm coming to stay with you guys for a week, the last week of August," Nicole said. "That's in three weeks -"

"No," Taylor said, "I mean when are you coming back for good? I can't stand it anymore Nic. And you've only been gone for a month. How is this going to feel in two months, or three, or eight - if you stay here that long."

"Tay, I'm not staying longer than six months. I don't care if I have to walk to Tulsa and live in your garage. I hate living here as much as you hate me living here."

"Really?" Taylor asked. "But what about your parents?"

"They promised me a few days ago that we would move back to Tulsa at the beginning of January 1998," Nicole said.

"Man, even that seems so far away!" Taylor said. "Nic, I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you. That's just been on my mind all month and....."

"It's been on my mind too Tay," she said, sighing sadly. "I wish none of this had ever happened. I wish I still lived in Tulsa. I wish I could go on tour with you guys." Nicole stopped talking and gazed over at Taylor. He was curled up near the top of the bed, his angelic face only inches from hers. She reached up and brushed a lock of his hair from his forehead with her fingers and lightly kissed him on the nose. "Yeah, you are cute when you're asleep Taylor," she whispered before closing her eyes.

"WAKE UP YOU GUYS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Nicole sat up instantly and rolled over, causing Isaac to drop onto the carpet below the bed with a 'thud'. Taylor awoke at the thud, and proceded to bang his forehead on the headboard of the bed. He dizzily shook his head to clear it.

"Zac, what the hell?" Isaac asked, his face popping up from the side of the bed.

"Are you okay?" Nicole asked, pulling him back up. He nodded and everyone looked expectantly at Zac.

"What man?" Taylor asked, rubbing his bruised forehead.

"It's morning!" Zac cried, jumping out of bed. "I want a full tour of this place! And breakfast, pronto! Let's go, let's go, let's go! Come on people," he cried, running across the room and into the bathroom.

"That kid's a psycho," Taylor muttered under his breath. Isaac laughed and shook his head. Then the three got up and began to get dressed, giggling as Zac sang off-key in the shower.