"Who's Marietta?" Skye asked too loudly, making an attempt to break the ice.
"You know Marietta Childers, right?" Skye shook her head. "The blond?" Again, Skye nodded slowly. "And I've been gone for the greater part of the past 3 years." Skye cracked a smile.
"Well, why does Zac want to play with her?"
"She's his latest love interest," Taylor crooned melodramatically.
"Aha," Skye said. Feeling a sudden burst of affection, she reached over and pinched his side. He laughed and jumped away. "Who's your latest love interest?"
He got quiet. "I don't...really...have one," he lied.
She smiled sadly; not because she pitied him, but because she wished he'd say her. "That's too bad."
"Not really," he shrugged. "I mean, I'm goin' off on tour and all so...what's the point? I won't see her for months anyhow."
"TOUR?!" Skye shouted, eyes wide with surprise. This hadn't been mentioned at all to her. "When?!"
"On Saturday," he said guiltily. "Did I...forget to tell you?"
"Yes!" she yelled. "Yes, you did!"
"I'm sorry," he said. "I just..."
"What? You were just trying to get me back for not telling you that I was supposedly in love with Randy, even though I'd never even seen him before?"
Taylor's eyes grew large. "No! No, that's not it! I just haven't talked to you since...since."
"Our fight," she said bitterly. "Where you accused me of never telling you anything anymore. Taylor, did you know about this then?"
"I...I..." he stammered. He did. He had known, and he had failed to tell her. He felt suddenly guilty.
"You did," she said, her eyes glistening with tears. "I just..." Her voice caught, and she swallowed hard on the lump fast forming in her throat. She tried to get control of her temper. "When will you be back?"
"They don't know," he shrugged. "I'll be home for Christmas, and hopefully this whole thing will be over by March or April."
"What if it goes really well?" she asked, knowing that March would be the tour at it's worst.
"May," he replied. He knew she knew the business - almost as well as he knew it, in fact.
"But you know that it could very well be like MON and last forever," she muttered.
"MON didn't last forever. We made it home, didn't we?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. She sniffled.
"Yeah, after I hadn't seen you except for a few little one-week intervals here and there for over a year."
He laughed, and stopped walking long enough to give her a hug. "I didn't get to see you either, so don't think you were the only one."
"Yeah, but you got to travel and see the world and see lots of 'cute chicks'," she said, enjoying his warm body, scent, and presence all around her. However, he was pulling away.
"What was the fun in it if I couldn't be there with you?" he asked, lightly. Her heart drummed in her chest.
"That's got to be the sweetest thing that's ever come out of your mouth," she said.
He shrugged. "Maybe I finally found someone to be sweet on."
She looked up at him, mouth agape. "Who? You just told me you didn't have a love interest!"
"I was just embarrassed to tell you that it was you," he said casually. She stopped dead in her tracks. His heart hammered in his chest, waiting to find out why she was giving him that look.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "If you don't...like me like that...I understand. Completely."
Instead, she just sobbed a bit, and gave him a big hug. Taylor was a bit shocked for a moment, but then sighed with relief. He slowly wrapped his arms around her. "I guess you're my love interest, too," she mumbled into his chest.
He chuckled softly. "So, are you coming to Ike's surprise party tomorrow night?"
She stepped away, and they began to walk down the street again. "Sure. He'll be 19? Gosh, that's so weird..."
"Tell me about it," he said. "It seems so completely unbelievable..."
It was as if nothing had been said. Conversation resumed as they began to discuss how weird it was to be growing up so fast. To them, it was the inevitable. They were still best friends, nothing had changed. But from any window of any of the surrounding houses, it was quite to the contrary. The couple were now much closer, and their hands were wrapped around each others. Their faces seemed to almost glow.
