Zac woke up to the sound of the shower running. He wondered why it was going so early, then remembered that the concert was that night. It was always hectic before concerts, so you had to get your showers in sometime during the morning.

Zac stretched his arms overhead. It wouldn’t be so bad today; they weren’t far from where they were giving the concert. That meant they would have a little more time than usual.

“You’re awake I see.”

Rolling over, Zac looked up. “You already took your shower?”

Taylor pushed back his damp hair. “Yeah, I’ve been up forever. You slept pretty late, considering.”

“I was tired.” Zac closed his eyes, sighing. The truth was he couldn’t go to sleep. He’d been up until close to three a.m., just sitting on the bed, sometimes on the floor, and doing nothing.”

“Really? Is that why you were up at two?”

“I wasn’t. I was sleeping.”

“I saw you.”

Zac opened his eyes. “You watch me while I sleep?”

Taylor rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes,” he said sarcastically, “you are just soooo fascinating when you sleep.” He threw his towel at Zac.

“What time is it, anyway?” Zac asked, rolling over to avoid the towel.

“It’s time for you to get your butt out of bed, that’s what time it is.”

“No, I think I’ll lay here a little longer.”

“Well, I don’t,” Walker said, coming into the room. “As soon as Isaac gets out of the shower, you’re next.”

“Yeah, all right.” Zac rested his head on the bed and felt his eyes closing. He was so tired…he could feel himself drifting off to sleep when suddenly an earthquake woke him up.

“Get up, get up! Shower’s open!” the ‘earthquake’ chirped happily.

“Ike,” Zac groaned. “Go away.”

“No, I don’t think so little bro. You gotta get up and take a shower while you can.”

“I know, I know.” Zac rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. He reached in and turned on the water, his eyes half open. He turned, closing the door, and screamed.

Taylor grinned. “Geez, I’m just brushing my teeth.”

“Tay.” Zac sighed, covering his eyes briefly. “You could have warned me.”

“Don’t worry. If you would have start stripping, I would have.” Taylor spit into the sink and walked toward the door, ruffling Zac’s hair. “Later.”

Zac leaned against the door, reaching down and locking it. Finally, he pushed himself up and pulled off his clothes. He stepped into the shower and closed the curtain; glad it was there. He looked down at his arm. Taylor had seen it.

Taylor stared back at him, his mouth open. “What…”

“It’s nothing, Tay, I swear.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing.” Taylor walked toward him. “Let me see.

Zac pushed down his sleeve. “It’s nothing, really.”

“Fine, then I guess you won’t mind telling me what happened.” Taylor leaned against the sink, crossing his arms and staring at Zac.

“Well, then I guess you won’t mind telling me why you lied to dad.”

“Lied to dad about what?”

“You said you ate breakfast yesterday. You didn’t. You threw it away. And, I also wanna know why you didn’t eat at Wendy’s today. And don’t tell me you don’t like their food, that’s bull.”

“Look, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah? Well, neither do you.” With that, Zac left the restroom.

Someone pounded on the door, breaking Zac from his memory.

“Zac! Hurry it up, will you?” Taylor yelled.

“I don’t think that being away from the mirror is going to hurt you,” Zac yelled back. There was silence on the other side.

Zac smirked and shook his head. He quickly finished up his shower and got out. He dressed and left the small bathroom, still drying your hair.

“In there long enough?” Isaac asked, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“No.” Zac walked past Isaac and over to his dad. “So, what are we doing today?”

“Well, not much actually. A little less than usual, seeing as how this is just one concert and that’s it. You guys actually get to chill almost an hour before the concert.”

“How’d you pull that off?”

“Hey, I’m the man!” Walker smiled at Zac.

“Sure you are, Dad.” Zac stood up. “Is Mom in your room?”

“Yeah, I think she’s going to go out for breakfast…you can go with her if you want.”

Zac opened the door and cautiously peeked out. Seeing that the coast was clear, he darted down the hall and into the room shared by his parents and younger siblings. “Hey, Mom.”

Diana looked up from the bed, where she was trying to dress a squirming Zoë. She smiled. “Hey, sweetie. Did you sleep okay? You look tired.”

“I slept fine. Dad says you’re going out for breakfast?”

“Yes, we are. Do you want to come with us?”

“I was thinking about it.” Zac scooped up Mackie, who was running toward the door. “Where are you going?”

“Probably to the International House of Pancakes. Will you ask Ike and Tay if they want to come too?”

“Yeah, sure.” He looked at Mackie. “Do you want to come with me to go see Ike and Tay?”

Mackie pondered the question for a moment. “Okay.”

“Wanna do something for me first?”

“What?”

“Look out the door and, if you see any girls, run back inside.”

Mackie made a face. “Girls are yucky.”

“You won’t be thinking that in a couple of years,” Zac said, laughing. He set Mackie down and watched him as he looked out into the hallway.

“All clear.” Mackie held up his hand to Zac.

Zac smiled at him and took the small hand. He led the little boy to his room. “Hey, Ike, Tay, Mom’s going to the International House of Pancakes for breakfast; you guys wanna come?”

“No, I think I’m just gonna find something here.”

Isaac looked at Taylor. “Yeah, me too.”

Zac saw the panicked look that crossed Taylor’s face. “Oh, come on, Ike. You never come with us anymore. What’s that about; you too cool now?”

Isaac rolled his eyes, so Zac squeezed Mackie’s hand lightly.

“Please, Ikey? I miss being with you.” Mackie pouted, turning his puppy dog eyes on Isaac.

Isaac finally sighed, relenting. “Okay, I’ll go with you guys.”

“Yay!” Mackie gave an exuberant cry and ran to Isaac, throwing his arms around his neck.

Taylor and Zac stifled their laughter.

Zac stood impatiently, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Dad? Can we go yet?”

Walker looked up from the papers. “Yeah, I suppose so.” He shut the binder. “Let’s go.”

He and Isaac, Taylor, and Isaac made their way to the car. Walker drove them the short distance to the hotel.

“I’ll be back in about half an hour. You boys better be ready.”

“We will be, Dad,” Isaac promised, ushering his brothers out.

The three boys ran up to their room, free to do almost whatever they wanted.

“Alright, come on guys, time to go!” Walker announced, opening the door.

“Okay, we’ll be down in a minute,” Isaac said, eyes still glued to the TV screen.

“10 minutes, or I’m back up here. We can’t be late for the concert,” Walker warned, and left as quickly as he had come.

Zac stood up and stretched. He grabbed a ponytail holder and brushed his hair back, loosing securing it. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.” When this provoked no response, he tried again. “Ike, shut off the TV, we have to go.”

Isaac sighed and stood up reluctantly, turning off the television.

“One down, one to go!” Zac said, turning to Taylor. “Come on, Tay, up!”

Taylor stood up slowly. He seemed to sway slightly.

“Tay? Taylor, are you okay?”

Taylor’s eyes rolled back in his head before closing, and Zac watched in horror as he crumpled.

Isaac reached out in a desperate attempt to grab him, but missed. He fell to his knees beside his unmoving brother. “Tay? Taylor!” He looked up. “Zac, go get dad! Hurry!”

It took Zac another moment to regain control of his limbs, then he raced out of the room to get his father.