Part I

"I AM YOUR FATHER YOU SHOULD RESPECT ME!" Her father roared before she heard him slam her body against the wall and hit her sister repeatedly.

This was all too normal for Shana she learned to just take it; it would make it easier on her.

Sometimes she would get beatings for ten minutes at a time. He loved beating the two girls. It was an obsession with him.

His heavy footsteps carried down the hall, and Shannon raced out of the room. Towards her father.

Shana grabbed her leg, stopping Shannon. "Let it go sis." She moaned as she wiped a trail of blood off her lip.

Shannon immediately stopped and aided her sister. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Shana replied.

"I swear the next time he hits you he's going down." Shannon said as she helped Shana to her feet.

"Same for you." Shana whimpered before entering their bedroom.

Shannon was not Shana's "real" sister. Her parents had died in car accident on the way to California.

She was in the car but luckily not hurt, just a small bruise on her emotions. The truth was that Shannon didn't want to go to California, she was dragged there, and she hated her parents for it.

The only kind thing that Shana's father did for anyone, was allow Shannon to live there. Shana's mother died two years before Shannon's did. Her mother died mysteriously and Shana believed her father did it, she hated him. Truly deep inside she did.

She was glad that her mother was dead, so she didn't have to feel the pain that her father inflicted on her.

And the only thing that kept her going was Shannon and music. DD was their one true love. Deciding Destiny, it was dream they both shared. This was their main dream. Their voices were beautiful and together it was a heavenly sound. Shana knew how to read music and play fragments of songs on her small keyboard, and Shannon could somewhat play guitar.

"Shana hurry up!" Shannon yelled to Shana.

Shana was coming out of the bathroom of the small gas station. Walking towards Shannon she tripped on a small item lying in the floor. She heard someone laugh at her.

Feeling embarrassed she looked up and saw Taylor and Isaac Hanson laughing and looking down at her.

The two boys extended their hand to help her up, Shana just stared at it, she could hardly move. Her body ached.

"Would you like help?" Isaac asked as he tried to stop laughing.

Shana smile stupidly at herself, Taylor embraced her hand, then she grabbed Isaac's.

They both helped her to her feet.

Shannon walked up, "What'd you do this time, tard?"

Shana laughed at herself even though she was in pain.

"Are you OK?" Taylor asked, looking her up and down.

Shana rubbed her lower back. She winced as tears rolled out from under her eyes from the searing pain that fanned out. It felt like sharp nails dragging down her spine.

Both boys looked at her in confusion, but Shannon knew what was wrong. She immediately told Shana to turn around.

Shannon was at Shana's back Taylor and Isaac were at her front. She lifted the back of her loose shirt to reveal a huge mass of bruises clustered on her back; complete with scars, cuts, and welts.

She dropped Shana's shirt when she heard Zac gasp in shock, awe, and sympathy for her.

"Oh, my god," Zac gasped.

Shana spun around and tried to conceal her back from him.

"What Zac?" Taylor asked as he stepped towards them.

"Her back!" Zac blurted out, then covered his mouth.

In that split second Taylor lifted her shirt, Shana shuddered. He softly touched her skin, and it twitched noticeably. Then he dropped her baggy shirt.

Isaac just stared in horror. He turned to Shannon, "Do you have them too?" He asked directly.

Shannon hung her head. "They're not as bad as her's." She murmured.

"Who did this?" Taylor softly asked Shannon.

Shannon looked up at him, "Her father."

Her answer was not very audible.

"Uhhh, nice meeting you, but we've got to go home now." Shana said trying to get out of the door.

Taylor seized her arm, Shana quickly shrugged him off.

"DON'T!" Shannon protested loudly.

"What?" He asked looking disgusted.

"She has them there too...." Shannon answered softly as she went to Shana's side.

Zac continued to stare at the two girls, then it dawned on him. He tapped Isaac on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear.

Both girls looked at him, wondering what Zac told him.

"I'm sorry, my name is Taylor; Tay for short. The tall one is Isaac, Ike for short. And the small one is Zac."

"I know Hanson. We're fans." Shana stated, "My mane is Shana, and this is Shannon Evans."

Isaac whispered something in Taylor's ear.

"So are you big fans?" Zac asked, making a useless effort to cover up what his brothers were doing.

"You could say, we have your c.d." Shannon stated looking at Isaac and Taylor.

"What are they doing?" Shana asked Zac.

Zac sighed, "We're going to take you to the local ER. I take it you haven't seen any doctors about this?................"

"Of course not." Shannon snapped.

"We can't, we've got to get home. I mean he'll be home waiting, and he's a very furious man." Shana started saying quickly.

"We know that, that's why we want to take you, I mean we don't know what kinda shape you two are in." Isaac informed them.

In Isaac's car; Shannon sat in front with her head against the window. Taylor, Shana, and Zac were in the back.v Naturally Isaac was in the driver's seat driving.

Zac was staring out of the window, silent. Shana fell asleep. Her head rested on her shoulder.

Taylor stared at her, asking unanswerable questions to himself, 'Why would someone do that to their daughter, or even child for that matter? Where is their mother? Did he do it to their mother? Why them? What is this world coming to? How can I help them? I wonder if they're afraid to go home. What will he do when he finds out they were with us, and at the ER? Why can't I stop staring at her? Do I really like her or is it just.....Why are you flipping out about someone you just met? Why am I asking all these questions?'

Soon he noticed that his thoughts focused more on her. He shook his head and gazed out the window mindlessly.

Isaac didn't know what to think, but one question came up, 'I wonder what Shannon's thinking. Of course how she's going to get out of a beating when she returns home. I wonder what she's like... I want to get to know her, I will, I am.......Ahhhhh, What's my problem? Shut up Ike worry about it later. Keep your eyes on the road, answer these later, Isaac, and pay attention to the road. Yes, that's the road, don't think about it. Don't think about her.'

Shana woke and found Taylor staring at her. "Yes?" She asked him.

"Where's your mother?" Taylor asked abruptly.

Isaac looked at the two in the rear view mirror. Shannon and Zac listened but didn't move.

"She's dead." Shana said looking at the floorboard.

"I'm sorry I didn't kn......"

"How could you have." Shana stated quickly as she laid her head back and closed her eyes, "Now my turn to ask a question, why were you staring at me?"

"I was wondering what you were dreaming." He voiced looking at her.

Nothing more was said until they pulled in the parking lot of the hospital.

At the hospital Isaac raced to a pay phone, he dropped two quarters in the small machine. And dialed the number to the house they leased while in town.

"Yeah, let me speak to mom or dad... Jessie, I don't have time for this, let me speak to mom or dad.….. Mom I'm at St. Anthony's Hospital........ Calm down, it's okay, none of us are hurt......kinda hard toe xplain, just come down here... all right I will, get here ASAP, please." He hung up.

He walked over to where everyone was standing. "Tay, mom paged us a half-hour ago. She's ticked at you dude, I'd turn the pager on." Isaac uttered as he sat down.

Taylor took out his pager from his back pocket and turned it on.

"Is she coming?" Zac asked as he stood in front of Isaac.

Isaac nodded.

"Mackie, where's mom?" Taylor asked as he saw his little brother come around the corner.

"Taylor, what's going on here." He heard his dad's voice ask him.

Walker the boys' dad came around the corner followed by their mom Diana.

"Mom, Dad, I would like for you to meet Shana and Shannon Evans." Taylor introduced them.

"Hello." Diana said looking at them.

The two girls stood up and shook her hand, as well as Walker's.

"What is this about?" Walker asked again.

"We met them at a gas station, she fell in front of us and we helped her up," Isaac tried to explain.

"Okay, and..." Diana asked staring at them.

"Look at her back..." Taylor said as he looked at his mother.

Diana looked at Shana; she turned around and Diana lifted her shirt up. Diana nodded her head, as she placed the shirt softly on her skin. "How about you?" She asked Shannon.

Shannon turned around and Diana lifted her shirt too. There were not as many cuts, welts, and bruises, but it was still the same.

"All right we'll see what we can do." Diana said as she went to the admissions window. She took a clipboard of papers and filled them out with the help of the two girls. She learned many things about her son's new friends.

"When my dad finds out about this.... he'll....." Shana stated to Shannon.

"Do nothing." Isaac said as he came in the room.

Both girls knew what he would really do.

Diana entered in the room. "Would you like to tell me what's going on? What all happened....."

"Happens......" Shana said as she looked down, "It happens all the time."

"I guarantee it will happen when we get home." Shannon said mindlessly.

"Ike, please leave, hon." Diana said as she sat down in a close chair.

Isaac nodded and slowly walked out of the door.

"The doctor, said that you two were lucky not to have any broken bones." Diana took a sharp breath, "Shana, we need to bring this in the open, no more hiding it."

Shana hung her head and tears slowly slid down her face.

"What? What are you talking about?" Shannon asked with wide eyes.

"According to the doctor, Shana's father raped her." Diana voiced, looking at Shana.

"WHAT! NOT EVEN! NO, HE DIDN'T!!" Shannon declared as she looked at Shana in disbelief.

Shana didn't answer.

Shannon immediately got up and hugged Shana. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked softly.

"I didn't want to hurt you more." Shana answered honestly. Her voice breaking with emotion.

"You do understand that we are not going to allow you to go back there. Both of you. Now, excuse me, I'll leave you two to talk." Diana informed them before leaving the room.

The two girls talked indeed.

"They're just bruised, no big deal." Diana said as she took Zoe from Walkers arms.

Isaac looked at Taylor. "They can't go back home, Mom." He saved his brother from telling the obvious.

"I know Isaac." Diana said as she stared at Zoë, the newest member of the Hanson family, who was only a few months old.

Taylor sighed, Isaac pulled him off to the side. "Dude, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I heard mom's conversation with them." Isaac sighed as he looked down and then back up with hurt eyes. "Shana's dad raped her. I know how you feel about her, but all you can do is help her."

He hated to tell his brother this. He shouldn't have to. No one should have that happen to them.

Isaac placed his hand on Taylor's shoulder. Taylor tried to hold back his tears, and seeing this Diana walked up to them. "I heard the whole conversation, I know about it." Isaac said as he looked at the floor.

"I think you should tell them then." Diana replied softly.

Isaac sighed, "I will, just...uhhh give me some time Mom."

At that time the two girls came out of the room. "When are we going to get our stuff?" Shannon asked Diana.

"Soon, we have to straighten things out. You're staying the night at our place." Diana replied as she looked for Jessie and Zac.

They had ran off playing tag, it took the whole hospital three hours to find the two.

Shannon and Shana entered the house after Isaac, which was the last family member to enter.

Shana looked around as Shannon walked straight ahead looking at the fantastical setup in the house. Shana hated immense houses they made her feel apprehensive. Shannon wasn't that fond of them either.

They both sat down on the lavish couch after looking at the enormous living room.

"So what do you think?" Shannon asked turning to Shana.

Shana looked around. "You know how I feel about massive house." She said above a whisper.

"The rooms are much smaller." Zac said smiling as he entered the living room.

Shannon smiled and Shana grinned at him.

"Where are we sleeping?" Shannon asked.

"Probably in our room." Zac stated.

Shana nodded her head. At that time Jessica, walked in the living room and sat down on the couch beside Shannon.

She turned to the two girls and smiled brightly. "Hi, I'm Jessie. I'm the oldest sister of the family."

Shannon nodded, "Nice to meet you."

Shana smiled. "Same here."

"My other sister is around here somewhere." Jessie said as she got up.

"Oh, and if you see this huge, but really cool dude his name is James. That's Tay's bodyguard....... uhhh also whenever James comes around, Frank and Bill are close behind. Frank is..." Jessie got interrupted.

"My body guard." Zac informed them, "He's really cool. Ike's body guard, Bill is a little mental, but it doesn't seem to bother Ike.... so..."

Jessie laughed as she walked up the stairs at the far end of the living room.

Isaac walked into the living room followed by Taylor.

"Shannon, Shana, mom and dad needs to talk with you two." Isaac said as he leaned upon the wall to his right.

Taylor walked over and sat down on the couch as the girls got up.

They slowly walked in the dinning area, located right beside the living room.

"Sit down," Walker kindly offered.

Diana looked up from looking at her hands on the table.

"I'm so sorry to cause you any stress. I understand it's my problem and no one else..." Shana stated as her and Shannon sat down.

"Yeah, I mean, we thank you for what you've already done for us..." Shannon added.

"Your wrong, we want to help you, and we will support you until the end. Now, Diana and I have talked it over, and we are going to go to court with this. I know it's going to cause a lot of heartache, but you can't continue to live like that. And I imagine that you don't want to. Do you?" Walker kindly stated.

"No sir." Shannon agreed.

Shana nodded her head.

"We talked to our lawyer and she says that things like this happen all the time. There's one catch," Diana sighed," You might have to live in a foster home."

"NO WAY!" Shana objected. "I can't live with that."

"Would you object to...... living with us?" Diana asked after a long period of silence.

"Come on.... Come on......" Isaac begged, "Say yes, Say yes."

"Ike, dude, chill they will, I know they will." Taylor pleaded.

Zac laughed, "God, you guys are, unbelievable!"

"Won't that be a lot to handle, I mean you already have seven kids. Plus you travel a lot. Won't that....." Shannon reasoned.

"Not at all. We want you to." Diana smiled.

Shana sighed turning to Shannon, Shana replied, "We will."

Shannon grinned at Shana and Shana smiled back.

"Great that's all we wanted." Walker said as the girls got up from the table.

"Our lawyer will be here tomorrow." Diana informed them.

The girls nodded as they walked out of the dinning room.

Diana turned to Walker and smiled. He smiled back.

When Shannon and Shana entered the living room, they saw the oddest sight. Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were hugging each other.

Shannon turned to Shana and she saw that Shana was about to die laughing. Shannon ran up to the little group, she put her arms around Taylor and Zac. Shana ran up and put her arms around Isaac and Taylor.

"Why are we doing this?" Shannon asked, as she tried to hold back her laughter.

The three boys let go of each other, as well as the two girls.

Shannon and Shana burst out laughing. "Did you hear the conversation?" Shannon asked. "Must have."

"Are you like happy that we're staying?" Shana asked.

"Very!" Zac exclaimed.

"Good, I would hate to think of what would have happened if you didn't want us to stay." Shannon laughed.

"Now show me where we are sleeping cause I'm tired." Shana asked.

Zac ran to the stairs, then up them, with Shana and Shannon close behind. He ran in the second door to the right. "Home sweet home." He said smiling as Taylor and Isaac entered the room too.

Isaac walked in the closet and dragged out about six to seven blankets. Taylor walked over and got three blankets from Isaac's pile. Isaac nodded.

"The top bunk is Ike's, the bottom bunk is Tay's, and of course you got my bed." Zac said as he pulled a small rollaway bed out from underneath the bunk bed.

"I wouldn't sleep on that." Isaac warned.

"He drools in his sleep." Taylor laughed.

"That's okay. Shana does that to." Shannon laughed.

"Uh, huh. Very funny." Shana smirked.

The three boys exited the room, after being asked about five times.

Shana sat down on the bottom bunk and Shannon watched her.

"What are you thinking about?" Shannon asked her sister as she got on the top bunk.

"Truthfully................. us, Hanson, my father, court, Diana, Walker..... Taylor..." Shana answered." You, what are thinking about?" Shana asked Shannon.

"How different our lives are going to be. I mean think about it....... no more beatings, no more living in silence, no more covering up." Shannon replied with a dreamy smile on her face.

Shana smiled to. "What do you think about Ike?" She asked softly.

"I think......... I think we can be come good friends... in time. I also think he be FINE!" She answered laughing.

Shana laughed. "Girl, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Shannon nodded. "Yes, you do,"

"I'd go crazy." Shana replied.

"I know. So would I." Shannon replied. "Have you smelled Isaac?"

"Uhhhh, no. I don't make it a habit to go around smelling people." Shana answered. "Why? Does he smell good?"

Shannon nodded. "Very good. What do you think about Tay?"

"I think he's sweet. I love his smile," Shana giggled, "Mmm, and even get me started on his eyes. And that voice!"

"Shana?"

"Hmmm, what?"

"You need help."

"We've been through this before. I know I need help, but until I can find some one that can help me, I can't do anything about it."

Shannon laughed, "Ya know I used to think that no one could help you but, I'm thinking, Tay might be able to, and if he can't, well then he can only make you worse."

Shana sighed "I know, I know."

"Ike, what do you think about Shannon?" Taylor managed to ask Isaac through Zac's snoring.

"I like her. She's..... She's..." Isaac sighed, "Shannon. I like her."

Taylor nodded his head." I think I'm in..... love..."

Isaac laughed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. It's not funny dude. I think I'm in love. I... don't know. Why is it every time I close my eyes she's there staring back at me? Why is it every time I hear her speak my heart falls? What if I want this to go on forever? Huh? I have to be in love." Taylor spoke as if he let his heart talk through him.

"Well, if you love her tell her." Isaac reasoned.

"Oh, I want to, but I can't seem to. I can't get it out. Last time I tried I think I scared her." Taylor said before he sighed.

"I think you can. After all there's always, 'Because I love you and I know that it's true.....or......"

Taylor laughed at his older brother.

"Big bang you hit me like a boomerang, light turns green my blood starts pumping....." Isaac sang.

"So you're saying 'A Minute Without You?' " Taylor asked. "Or 'Boomerang?' "

"Not exactly them, but give her a song......"

"IKE! You're a genius!" Taylor exclaimed sitting up from his make-shift bed.

Isaac laughed, "If that's what you want to call it."

"I know what I'm using.......... 'More Than Anything.' "

"Awww you're sooo sweet. So go type it or record it, and let me sleep. Please? Thank you."

"Ike, I'm going to ask a huge favor of you and Zac. So could you wake him up for me please?" Taylor begged as he left the living room.

"All right." Isaac agreed after debating it in his head. He reluctantly got up. He crawled over to Zac. "Zac wake up, please come on wake up." Isaac shook him.

Zac stirred. "What?" He cried.

"Remember that favor that we owe Tay? Well, we can get it done tonight."

"How?" He asked before opening his eyes.

"He wants to do a re-make of 'More Than Anything,' and he needs our help."

"Awww how sweet." Zac said before turned over.

"Come on dude please." Isaac begged.

"Ike, why are you begging? It's not to benefit you."

"He's gonna make us clean out that closet if we don't do it."

"The scary closet?" Zac asked cautiously.

"Yep."

At that second Zac was out of bed and ready.

"Thank God." Isaac said looking up.

Taylor walked back in the living room. "Ready?" He asked.

Isaac and Zac both nodded their heads.

"Good." Taylor said as he led them down into the basement at the left side of the dinning area.