Zac Dentra turned to look at his friend.

"No it hasn't. Just a couple months ago."

"That's a while in my book."

The two laughed.

Roller blading and skateboarding to the mall. The mall was a ways away, far enough away that they should be having a sibling cater them there. Then again it's hard to have a catering service when the manager is out to kill you.

"Do I look okay to you? Like…not an attention attracter…no one is going to scream to me…."

They looked at Zac Hanson's wardrobe.

"Where did you get that stuff anyway? You are totally…not you. But it's cool."

"D man, I have oodles of clothing that haven't been worn since I was a toddler."

"You still fit in those??"

"No. But when I was a toddler Ike was my age."

"Ahh. Okay. Whatever."

The two of them headed foreward. Screwing off and joking.

"I just now look pale? You mean I haven't looked pale since the moment I pulled up at your place? I haven't looked sick since then? What's wrong with me!"

Isaac reached across the table and patted his brother on the shoulder.

"Tay. Take it easy, this is a good thing. Don't panick. Wait till her water breaks to do that."

Taylor rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah. You can be assured and easy and happy and great but I can't. You don't have a kid on the way."

Isaac shook his head.

"Maybe I can find you some valium, I think you need it."

"Very funny."

"Anyway. How's life treating my blue eyed heartthrob brother?"

"Same as always. Except the obvious baby thing."

"Oh. Nothing exciting since last week?"

"Oh I forgot. Zac literally picked up everything on his side of the room that was mine and deposited it in a neat little pile on top of my bed."

"At least it was a neat little pile, he could have just thrown it."

"You just crack me up Ike."

"I'm glad. Some one has to make light this whole 'terrible baby situation'."

"I didn't say it was terrible."

"Well you make it sound that way. And about Zac. I can't handle him any better then you can. The last person I would tell was mom and dad, but I think it may come down to that. And I still don't know what his problem is."

"Who knows what his problem is. All I know is that instead of throwing me nasty looks and insulting me under his breath there's nothing there. He doesn't even stare blankly. It's weird."

"He's playing mind games."

"Zac? Mind games? I don't think so. I think he's simply through with it. We'll release another album in the fall, maybe tour next summer. He'll be the same Zac everyone paints 'I love you' for across their faces and that'll be the end."

"You can't honestly think that's how it all works."

"Wouldn't life be so much more simple if it did. Like things were back to normal and none of this mess even started."

"I don’t know. If this hadn't happened then something else would have. I spose we'll get over it."

"There goes that 'don't care' sound again."

Isaac looked up from his lunch.

"What do you expect Tay. I already told you we can't do a thing about him. He's above us right now, sort of in this fight with authority but I think it goes way further then that. And I think what's already happened is going to stay that way. I don't think we're going to have the same Zac no matter what we do, we might get close, but close isn't the same."

Taylor swirled his straw around in his drink.

"I don't know. I just wish we could get away from it all and just sort of…know the new us."

"What do you mean."

"Just the three of us. No Zac Dentra. No Mercy. No Dorin, or Jeremy. No mom dad, jess or Mack. Just the three of us. We need to do something together that makes us see the way things are now and not see the way things were."

The two sat in silence.

"Any ideas."

Taylor shrugged.

"Not yet."

"Thanks asshole."

Jeremy frowned.

"Sorry. Not like I meant for you to retaliate so violently."

"You haven't had my day. So shut up and leave me alone."

Jeremy sighed.

"Ooo..kay."

Mercy walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge door.

Maybe this is a mind thing. She stood up and thought. Maybe the only reason I went to the fridge to get some yogurt was cause I always hear that when your pregnant you eat a lot. So maybe I just think I'm like that and I'm going to eat a whole bunch.

She looked down at her stomach.

Nagh.

Zac Hanson clapped his hand over Zac Dentra's mouth.

"That chick. She like, stared right at you! Shut up and stop making cow sounds!"

They both giggled.

The mall bench they had been sitting on had grown irritable and uncomfortable, so they had moved to the food court. Metal chairs with no padding weren't exactly better then wooden benches, but they got to eat at the same time as watching girls.

"One of these times I'm just going to jump up on the table, sing a couple chords of Mmmbop, yell 'Here's a Hanson!!' Jump down and run while you sit with a chinese noodle hangin' out of your mouth, trying to swallow it while your shortly surrounded by a group of young teenieboppers that only want to strip you and tie you to a wall in their basement."

Zac Hanson grinned.

"Are any of them Model material…Could they pass for Pamela Anderson, could they play a lead roll in baywatch?"

"You sleaze."

They both went back to their eggrolls and Dr. Pepper.

"Oh my."

Zac Dentra pointed as a girl walked by.

"Mmm….yummy."

"Han you don't even."

"What! I was just saying this chinese is 'Mmm yummy.'!!"

They rolled their eyes.

"Oh look! Twins!"

Zac Hanson spun around.

"Twisted. Do you know what they could do to us! Look at their legs!"

"Say it a little louder Han."

They went back once again to eating.

"We need to spot one and follow it."

"Oh yes. 'No ma'am! We weren't following your daughter! Wow! That's a mighty large purse you got there!"

"Just eat so we can go."

They shoveled.

"Well you don't look so good."

"Thanks. I love it when people tell me that."

Diana frowned.

"I'm your mother, I'm supposed to tell you if your losing weight, you look like you haven't showered in a while, you stink. Anything like that."

"Oh, well trust me it's nothing like that."

She smiled, allowing him to sit on the sofa in peace.

The days events went by slowly, not much talk around the house, and when there was, it was brief and collected. His sisters ran from one room to the next, arguing at eachother for taking the others things, Mackenzie had managed to crash on the floor in front of the kitchen table, despite the coldness of the floor, and Zoe, had for once been a quiet baby.

As of now, Zac either remained in his room, completely alone, or with his best friend. In either relevancy, Taylor didn't like the way he was cutting off from his family, or his life.

"You going to have dinner with us tonight?"

"Of course mom. I always have dinner with you guys."

"Want to call Isaac and see if he wants to come over?"

Taylor smiled lightly.

"Mom. If you want Isaac to come over, his number is on the fridge. However, he's been working on a song he pulled out lately and I think he's real busy. Nothing but take out chinese and a coke for him."

She let out a sigh and turned back into the hallway, standing at the doorway of the girls bedroom and scolding them.

"When is Zac going to be home?"

Taylor shrugged, then turned his head towards his mother.

"He went to the mall."

Diana's eyes grew wide.

"He went to the mall? What's gotten into that boy?"

Taylor shrugged again.

"He's got 'D' with him. He should be fine. Anyway, he's a big boy according to his imagination."

Diana frowned.

"I still don't know what's up with you three."

"Mom. It's a long tiring story that I'd rather not breach. Can we drop it."

She sighed.

"I'll find out."

"On VH1's storytellers mom, wait till we're thirty."

She pointed a finger at him.

"Mom's know everything."

"Well, mom, when you know, tell me about it."

As she walked from the room she mumbled to herself.

Zac Dentra shoved a shoe into his friend.

"The whole point of this is to pull it off, not make fools of ourselves. See that group of girls over there. I bet they hate Hanson but will still giggle if you talk to them."

Zac Hanson smiled sheepishly.

"So what about you?"

"Han han han…..I didn't say I was going over, I said YOU were going over."

They chuckled quietly.

"Me, in the middle of some girls, by myself? They don't like me."

"Get out there dipstick."

Zac Dentra pushed his friend from the store where they were 'shopping' and watched as his friend walked to the window beside the girls.

Non chalantly he pointed to a pair of shoes.

"Do you like those? I like those. Wow."

The look on his face remained constant, and the three girls frowned and watched him.

"What about those?"

He turned to one of them while pointing to a platform shoe.

Two of the girls smiled and whispered to eachother.

He looked thoughtfully at another pair then turned to the same girl.

"Oh my, those are very very nice."

Looking back at her she smiled uneasily, nodding while he inquired her yet again.

Zac Dentra stood by a shoe rack and watched his friend. Laughing he couldn't help himself. Walking quickly over to Zac he rested his hands on his shoulders.

Turning to the three girls Zac Dentra put on a half smile and sighed.

"I'm really sorry ladies, my friend here, he's just hit his 'shoe' phase. He's in love with anything leather."

Still holding Zac Hanson by the shoulders, he began to turn him away.

"Wait a minute."

Both of them paused, looking back at the three girls questioningly with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yes?"

The girl that had spoken up fiddled with her pockets.

"Aren't you a Hanson?"