“Zac, sweetie, are you sure you’re up to this?”

Zac sighed, throwing his bag into the back of the van. “Mom, I told you I’m fine.”

“Diana, quit worrying about him. He’s going to be okay.” Walker took his wife’s hand. “Come on, now. We’ve got the pleasant task of rounding up the kids.” He pulled her gently into the house.

“Saved by Dad,” Zac said, slumping against the side of the van.

Isaac shrugged. “You scared Mom, Zac. You scared us all.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Zac waved his hand. “It was just a one time thing…hopefully.”

Taylor looked at him, situating his own bag in the back. “Next time, don’t include the ‘hopefully.’”

“All right! Anybody have to go to the bathroom?” Walker waited for a reply. “Good! Everybody in!”

Everyone climbed into the van and buckled up. Soon they were on their way.

They arrived at their destination almost two hours later.

“Mommy, there are people outside again, looking at us.”

“Close the curtain, Mackie, and sit back.”

Mackie sighed, but did as he was told.

“Okay, kids, everyone out. Hurry now, before word gets around that we’re here,” Walker said, shutting off the car.

Isaac grabbed Zoë and got out of the van. Taylor, grasping Avery and Jessica’s hands, followed him, and Zac and Mackie were close behind. They only had to sign a few autographs before they made it to the room. Walker and Diana, carrying a few bags and packs, soon made it to the room, also. The bellboys would bring up the rest of the luggage shortly.

Zac plopped down on the bed, sighing. “What are we supposed to do all day?”

“Well, we’re going out to eat soon, so you boys can come with us if you’d like,” Diana said, walking to the door. “We’re leaving at six; if you’re coming, be at our room by then.”

Zac rolled over onto his back. “That’s not soon,” he said to no one in particular.

“I call shower,” Taylor said before Isaac could enter the bathroom.

Isaac rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He sat down in a chair and turned on the TV, flipping restlessly through the channels. After a few minutes, he turned it off and threw down the remote. “There’s nothing on.”

“I wanna do something,” Zac whined.

“Do you want to see if Mom and Dad will let us go to the mall or something?”

“You know they won’t let us; at least not without Mike. Why do we need him, anyway? If we wore our hats and stuff no one would know who we were, but when we have this big guy following us…”

“Stop complaining. It’s for our safety.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Zac rolled back over onto his stomach. It was easy to tell he was bored.

“Why don’t you go play with Mackie or something?”

Zac was quiet for a moment. “Well, I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.” He sat up and went in search of his younger brother.

The next day, the boys had to wake up early. Since the interview was going to be aired on national TV, they had to do a photo shoot. Walker took them, and Diana stayed at the hotel with the children.

Because of the early hour, there weren’t too many teenagers roaming in and around the hotel. The boys did have to sign a few autographs, though, before they made it out to the nondescript rented car.

The ride to the shoot was relatively quiet, seeing as how they were all too tired to really talk much. They began to perk up as they neared the set.

Zac looked out the window. “Geez, you would think that these girls would have enough sense to stay home, in bed. That’s where I would be.”

“What can I say?” Taylor said, yawning. “They love me.”

Isaac looked at him, smirking. “Oh, yes, you just look so sexy when you’ve just woken up and can barely keep your eyes open.”

“Shut up.”

With the help of a few security guards, Isaac, Taylor and Zac made it through the swarms of girls. The first half would be shot inside, and the second half would be shot outside. Then Hanson would go to the interview, which would air in a few days, and then go to another photo shoot.

For the next hour and a half, the boys posed, smiled, pouted, and played as instructed. By the time they were done, they were free to leave. Walker took them to McDonald’s for a quick breakfast, and then it was off to the interview.

The interview was important because people were beginning to forget who Hanson was. Or so they claimed. It sure didn’t look like it to Zac, not with all those girls.

It took about an hour to dress and fix up the boys for the interview. The interview itself lasted close to two hours with the same old questions: Do you have girlfriends? When’s the next album going to be out? Are you sure that none of you have girlfriends? Zac thought it was a total waste of time because only an hour would be aired, and most of the music questions would probably be edited out.

By the time the boys had changed and washed off the stage makeup, it was time to go out and sign autographs. They were supposed to have a twenty-minute break, but somehow it got cut out. Warily, they made their way out to the table and sat down.

An hour later, Zac thought his hand was going to fall off and was about sick of hearing girls profess their undying love for him and his brothers. He was also about to die in the long sleeved shirt he had insisted on wearing. He had been lucky so far: no one had thought it strange that he wanted to wear long sleeves.

“Okay, boys, let’s go.”

Taylor, Isaac, and Zac stood, grateful to be going. Of course, it took them another thirty minutes to get out of there. But they made it.

Zac climbed into the car and slouched down in the seat. “Oh, I am so tired.”

“Sit up, Zac. It’s not over yet.” Walker carefully drove out of the parking lot.

Despite the security, a few girls managed to run up to the car and bang on the windows. The boys exchanged uneasy glances and locked their doors before continuing to wave and smile.

Finally they made it through the masses and were on their way back to the hotel for a very quick, late lunch. Upon seeing the crowd, Walker decided that they wouldn’t have time for lunch if they had to go through all those girls. So he made for the nearest fast food stop, which just happened to be Wendy’s.

“What does everyone want?”

“Hamburger and fries,” Zac said quickly. He was starving.

“A number…one, I guess.”

“Taylor? What do you want?” Walker turned to his son.

“Oh…I don’t want anything…I don’t like Wendy’s.” Taylor stared out the window as he spoke.

“Did you eat breakfast?”

“Yes.”

Isaac and Zac exchanged glances. They both knew that Taylor had thrown it away, claiming he didn’t like it. They weren’t about to rat out their brother, though.

Walker studied Taylor for a moment. “Fine. I’ll get the food for Isaac and Zac, then I’ll go wherever you want and get you something.”

“Dad, I’m fine, okay? I’m not hungry.”

Walker was quiet a moment. “Don’t go anywhere, and lock the doors. I’ll be back soon.” He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

Zac and Isaac exchanged glances again, but kept their mouths shut.

“Tell me about it,” Taylor agreed.

“Well, at least it wasn’t as bad as when we came out with MMMBop,” interjected Isaac.

The three had just gotten done with the photo shoot. They were outside, walking around in the cement tunnels on the set, as Walker finished up inside.

“Speaking of mmmbop, wasn’t it Isaac who came up with that word? What’s that supposed to mean, anyway, Ike? I mean, it sounds kinda dirty,” Zac kidded.

Isaac reached out and, without even turning his head, playfully shoved Zac into the wall.

Zac had to stop himself from crying out as he slammed into the wall. “You punk,” he said, trying to force brightness in his voice, but it sounded forced even to him. “I’m not going to stand beside you anymore.” He walked around to stand on the other side of Taylor.

Taylor grinned, shaking his head. Soon though, he glanced over. “Zac, you’re bleeding!”

Zac glanced down and saw that red was gradually seeping through the clean, white material.

“Oh, sorry, guess I shoved you harder than I intended too.” Isaac started walking toward Zac. “Here, let me help.”

“No!” Zac practically shouted. “I mean,” he said, seeing the looks Isaac and Taylor were giving him, “it’s fine. I can take care of it. Be right back.” He took off in search of a bathroom. He finally found one.

He rolled up his shirtsleeve to reveal the bleeding cuts. The blood had smeared all over his arm. He quickly wet a few paper towels and cleaned it up. After the bleeding had stopped, he once again stood just marveling at the cuts. He felt he could stare at them for hours, but he wasn’t sure why they were so interesting.

“Zac, what’s-” Taylor started, bursting into the restroom. He stopped, catching site of Zac’s arm in the mirror.

Zac’s heart seemed to stop beating as he turned to stare fearfully at his brother.