"God I love that sign," Taylor mumbled under his breath at the passing 'Welcome To Tulsa' sign on the side of the road. He counted the minutes until finally their kid-filled white van turned onto their street.

"Woo hoo!" Zac yelled. "We're home!"

"Home!" Mackie echoed. He raised his arms in the air the same way Zac had. The whole family erupted in laughter.

Zac let out a low whistle. "Who's the blond on the front porch?" he asked, elbowing Taylor.

"Whoa," Taylor breathed. "She said she was getting it highlighted, but she didn't say she was getting it that light." Zac pulled off his shades and continued to gaze at Nicole.

"Stop it man!" Taylor cried, shoving Zac playfully. "That's my girl you're starin' at!"

"Hold me back Ike," Zac joked. "She does have a thing for younger guys." He grinned at Taylor.

"Zac, I'm a year and a half younger than her. You're four years and a half younger. Big difference." Taylor tousled his younger brother's hair.

Their father parked the van in the garage, then Taylor and Zac shot out of the van and ran towards Nicole. Tay couldn't help but notice Ike, looking from the garage to the front porch, wondering what he should do. With a sigh Isaac turned and followed the younger kids into the garage.

Oh man, Taylor thought. I knew he wasn't over her. But maybe he was getting over her. Taylor decided to trust the latter, and continued his jog over to Nicole.

"Hey blondie," he said, twirling a piece of her golden streaks between his fingertips.

"It's lighter than I wanted it," she said sadly.

"It looks perfect," Taylor said, smiling at her. He gently cupped her chin and raised her face to his, kissing her softly. She returned the kiss with intensity, and soon they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat loudly.

"Zac Attack," Nicole said, giving Zac a hug.

"Hey Nic," Zac said, hugging her back.

"Ohmygosh, your voice!" she cried, pulling back and looking at him.

"Yeah," he said, laughing. "It's gonna change soon. And Tay's isn't even done yet!" he cried, giggling.

"Shut up man," Taylor said good-naturedly. He put his arm around Nic's shoulder and led her into the house behind Zac.

"So did you guys have fun?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," he said. "But I'm soooo tired." They sat down on the couch and Taylor rested his head on her shoulder.

"Well, it was so boring around here," she said. "I missed you guys so much. How long are you staying home?" He didn't reply. "Tay? Earth to Taylor!" She was greeted only by a groan as he turned and put the other side of his face into her shoulder. He was asleep.

"Zac?" he yelled up the stairs, trying not to disturb Nic and Tay.

"What?" Zac yelled from the direction of the girls' room. Ike sighed again. In a house full of people, the only one I can find to talk to is the worst listener. Oh, well. He stood and ran up the stairs. He walked in the direction of Jess and Avie's room, only to find Zac sprawled on the floor, playing a Gameboy while the girls played Barbies on a bed.

"I need somebody to talk to Z-man," Isaac explained. "You up for it?"

Zac looked up at Ike curiously. It was usually Tay who had the heart-to-heart talks with Ike. He wasn't going to pass this up for anything.

"Sure," he said, standing up. Isaac turned and went back downstairs, Zac at his heels.

They passed the couch and Isaac gazed at the scene that played before him. Taylor was sleeping peacefully with his head on Nicole's shoulder, and Nicole was the same with her head atop Taylor's. They both shared the same oblivious smile.

Zac crouched behind the couch to scare them awake, but the look in Ike's eye stopped him. He stood again and silently followed his oldest brother out the door. They walked through the yard and Zac was surprized when Isaac started climbing into the tree house. They hadn't come up here in ages.

But still he followed, and soon they were seated high in the wooden tree house. They were both silent for a moment while Isaac gathered his thoughts, but finally, to Zac's appreciation, he spoke.

"I miss her so much Zac," he said, looking out the small window into the sky.

"Who, Nic?" Zac asked.

"No, the tooth fairy." Zac drew in a quick breath, and Isaac shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry Zac. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just in a bad mood."

"It's okay," Zac said. "Keep talkin'"

"I don't know," Isaac said, looking back at Zac. "Sometimes when they're together, I don't mind at all. But then I start to miss her, and it just tears me apart that she's not with me anymore. And what makes it worse is that she's still around all of the time, and I can't be with her. I'm not making any sense, am I?" he asked, grinning sheepishly at Zac.

"Perfect sense," Zac said, smiling back. So Isaac kept going.

"It's so weird," Isaac said, "but sometimes I just hate myself for wanting her back. I mean, it's such a selfish thing for me to want."

Zac looked confused. "Why? It doesn't seem that selfish to me..."

"Well, look at it as if we were performing. We're up on stage, and all of those girls, or at least most of them, want us. I look out there, and that's what I think. It's like, look at all these girls I could have. But when Tay looks out into the crowd, all he could think about was the one girl he couldn't have. And now he's got her. I just feel so selfish for wanting to ruin that for him."

"Mmmm....," Zac said, understanding. "I guess I see what you're gettin' at."

"Taylor is so happy now," Isaac said. "He's got the girl he's always wanted, and she wants him too. And there's nothing in their way. But all I want to do is, like, pull them apart and take Nic back. I love her so much..."

They sat quietly for a moment, and it was Zac who broke the silence.

"Ike, can I say something?" he asked. Isaac nodded. "Well, I don't know if it's my place or anything, but you dragged me out here and asked for my opinion, so here it is. I know that we're all going to have things in our lives that we love. Ya know, it's parents, and pets, then friends, and finally there's girls.....Well, we aren't going to get to keep them all forever, no matter how much we love them. So we have to let them go. But if our relationships with them are truly meant to be, then they'll come back to us. It'll take time, but they'll come back to us if they're supposed to."

"So you mean-" Isaac started.

"No," Zac interrupted him. "I don't mean that I think Nicole will come back to you. Maybe she will. There's always that chance. But if I can continue what I was saying before..." he stopped for a second, eyeing his older brother. "Some of those things can't come back to us Ike, no matter how much we love them. Sometimes it's just not meant to be. We're going to leave some of them behind, and some of them are going to leave us behind. But in the end, we'll be left with whatever was meant to be with us. Ya see what I'm sayin'?"

Isaac sat quietly for what seemed like hours to Zac, but was really only about five minutes. He needed that time to absorb everything Zac had said. Finally, he responded.

"Thanks Zac," he said, reaching out for Zac's hand. Their hands met and locked in a firm grip for a second before Zac pulled Isaac into a hug. When they came apart, Isaac had a serene smile on his face, much as the ones that Nicole and Tay had on their faces as they slept.

"No prob," Zac said.

"Really Zac, I have to tell you something," Isaac said. "I figured that you were the last person I could talk to about this. And I'm really sorry about that. Because what you said made perfect sense. I think I understand everything now." Zac looked interested. "Care if I try it out on you?" Isaac asked.

"Go for it," Zac said.

"Well, like you said, Nicole is one of the things that I loved and I had to let go of. But this case is special. I had to let go of our love, but I get to hold on to our friendship. I'm probably lucky she doesn't hate me for kissing her best friend."

"On that note," Zac said, grinning, "what ever happened between you and Christen?"

"Well, we talked a few times last week," Isaac said. "I don't think there was as much there as we thought. We're just going to be friends."

"Well, then it's just you and me buddy," Zac said. "We're going to have to find some girls. There's got to be some good ones left."

"I hope Tay knows exactly how lucky he is," Isaac said, standing and walking toward the ladder.

"Trust me," Zac said, following him. "I think he knows."