"Dinners' in a few minutes!" Diana called out to Isaac, Zac, Peachy, and Danielle who were still in the pool.

"Okay mom," Zac called back.

Peachy pulled herself out of the pool followed by Isaac whose mood was beginning to get worse and worse with each and every passing minute. She grabbed one of the towels that had been layed out and dried herself off.

"You should so come to one of our concerts sometime," Zac said to Danielle.

"Yeah. Do you do a lot in this area?" She asked.

"Oh sure. Some of our best fans are out here on the west coast. We always love to come out and put on a show," Zac said. He began to pat himself dry as he continued. "We just got done with our Albertane tour late last year, and it was so cool. Because all those fans that we don't get to see during promotion, show up for the tour. It's great."

"You guys must be really famous," Danielle gushed. The smile on her face hadn't faded since she had got there.

"Well, sure. We don't really feel famous, but we do have a lot of cool fans."

"I've never met any famous people. Well, not 'real' famous people. I met Steven Curtis Chapman once, but that was because my dad made me go to his show. Sometimes I hate doing that stuff," Danielle said.

"Sometimes I hate having brothers," Isaac muttered under his breath. Peachy looked up at him questioningly and noted his attempt to mock Danielle. She couldn't tell if he was more upset with Zac or with Danielle. Her best guess was Zac. Since they had arrived back at the house, Zac and Danielle talked about everything, non stop. Danielle hadn't even seemed to make any attempt to get to know Isaac at all. She was getting to know everybody through Zac and all the stories he had to tell. Peachy looked up at Danielle and smiled sweetly. Danielle was nice. She seemed so innocent and naive and part of Peachy had this urge to protect her. She didn't know what from, but the urge to save this poor girl was overwhelming.

Zac pulled a brush stifly through his hair trying to appear presentable for the dinnder table. Usually, he would just go in his current state, but the guest that would be their was what motivated him to look nice. The mirror against the wall reflected a wet haired nicely dressed young man and he was satisfied with that.

"Aren't you coming to dinner?" Zac asked Taylor as he made his way over to his bed.

"I'm not hungry," Taylor said flatly as he continued reading his novel.

"Taylor, that's not fair. Just come and sit and pretend. You're acting so antisocial, and I'm officailly offended."

Taylor looked up at his younger brother and stifled a smile. He watched Zac walked out of the room and struggled against his feelings. He knew he'd have to face Peachy sooner or later, and it seemed that sooner was when it was going down. Taylor let out a sigh and bookmarked his book for quick reference. Dramatically, he heaved himself off the bed and placed his feet on the ground. Never had dinner been such a decision for him. Dinnertime was the one thing he held onto to keep himself grounded.

Taylor stood up in defeat and walked out of the room. Things couldn't be as bad as he thought between he and Peachy. Sometimes he had the tendency to overreact and this was one of those times, he thought.

When he reached the dining room, he was caught off guard by Danielle seated quietly between Zac and Isaac. He smiled at the glare in Isaac's eyes. Zac was chattering on and on to this girl and she seemed to enjoy every second of it. Suddenly Taylor knew Isaac's situation and his smile broadened a little. How it must suck to lose a girl to your younger brother.

"Taylor sit down," his father instructed from his seat at the head of the table. Taylor spotted an empty chair next to Jessica at the corner and sat down, proud of himself for avoiding Peachy's stare.

Diana brought out a bowl of spaghetti noodles and then a bowl of spaghetti sauce. Taylor was the first to dive right in. He watched Isaac out of the corner of his eye and made a mental note. Taylor couldn't go on with out reminding Isaac of Sally.

"Hey, Ike, remember my ex girlfriend Sally?" He said with a smile.

Isaac shot a look at his younger brother and began to defend himself.

"You guys were broken up!"

"Yeah, sure Ike, whatever," Taylor smiled. He couldn't resist.

Isaac sat up and filled his plate. They were broken up . . . right? He decided it was a waste of time to think about. He was just so upset with Zac. The way he had talked to her from the very start seemed nice and it made Isaac happy that they got along, but now, he was disgusted. She was 17 years old, flirting incessantly with a 13 year old. It made no logic sense to Isaac. It grossed him out.

"Mom, I made a bug house today," Mackenzie said slurping up his spaghetti.

"Oh, that's nice Mack. You're keeping it outside right?"

"Yeah, Jessi wouldn't let me bring it in the house. She said she was gonna break it, so I left it out by the sandbox."

Diana shot her eldest daughter a disaproving look and turned back to her son. "That's good. You can show me tomorrow."

"I will, and I caught a butterfly and then a worm, and then a roley poley. They're all friends in the house. They all share a bedroom, and they cook dinner together. I told them not to fight too," Mackenzie went on.

"You see that? He asked them not to fight," Isaac pointed out. "That means we fight too much, and he doesn't like it. This is like the story of the Jackson's. When Micheal would go out and talk to his rat. Sad. Mackie does the same thing with bugs."

Peachy laughed causing Taylor to look up, silently cursing himself when their eyes met. He hadn't meant for that to happen. It had been the first time he had heard her all evening, and it was like music. Sweet music that he felt shame in listening to.

Peachy let out a sigh when Taylor quickly averted his eyes. She couldn't understand why he was acting so different. She barely saw him all day and she couldn't shake the feeling he was avoiding her. It was only obvious. Even when she had run into him in the hall, he seemed to be in a hurry to get away from her. It hurt her feelings the way he seemed to think everything about her was worth avoiding.

She decided to ignore him and concentrate on eating her dinner and getting through the rest of the day. The tension in the room seemed so thick, but she knew she was probably the only one feeling it. Across from her Isaac picked at his food. Her heart went out to him. It was apparent he was ready to smack Zac, and if Danielle wasn't paying attention she might get smacked in the process.

"Mom, this is Danielle," Zac introduced. "My mom's name is Diana." He said to Danielle.

Danielle smiled with rosey cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you," Diana said warmly. "Are you a friend of Isaac's?"

"Yeah," Danielle said.

Isaac looked up and made eye contact with Zac. The glare he shot him could have killed a bird.

"Well, I'm glad you could have dinner with us," Diana said going back to her food.

"Guys, you need to go to bed early tonight. I want you up in time to be out of the house by 7:30 AM," Walker said to his three oldest sons.

"Why so early?" Taylor protested.

"Because, we'll have more time in the studio. You guys need to record those demos so we can get into the recording process, and right now, you boys seem to have your minds elsewhere."

Taylor let out a sigh and sat back in defeat.

"Dad that's stupid," Isaac cut in. "We have eight songs written that haven't even been recorded yet. And still have more coming."

"That's why we need to get them recorded so we can decide what's being put on the record," Their dad stood firm.

"I need my sleep," Zac cried dramatically.

Danielle giggled. Isaac glared at Zac. Zac glared back at Isaac. It seemed a never ending cycle.

"Peachy, you wanna come and watch the movie with me?" Isaac asked, poking his head in her room.

"Yeah, sure," Peachy put her journal down on her nightstand and stood to join Isaac. He was the only one who seemed to be paying any attention to her lately. After Danielle had gone home, and Isaac vowed to never again to see her, Zac had sulked to his room. The melodrama floating through the house made for good substance.

Isaac and Peachy sat on the couch and watched the movie. It was an old Disney movie that Avery and Mackenzie didn't get to finish when they went to bed.

"So what's up with Taylor?" Isaac asked Peachy.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Well, are you two mad at eachother? He was shooting daggers with his eyes tonight at dinner."

"I think he's just being Taylor," Peachy said. She wasn't about to go into it with Isaac. This was just going to remain between her and Taylor.

"Yeah, well sometimes Taylor doesn't act like himself, and tonight, I knew something was up. Just tell me," Isaac was ready to start guessing and he could sense Peachy's discomfort.

"Ike, it's nothing, I'm sure."

"Did you so something? Did you tell him you didn't like Val?"

Peachy looked at Isaac with annoyance, "Ike, I said it was nothing. Now just leave it alone."

Isaac huffed and leaned back on the couch. He wanted and needed to know what was going on between them, and it annoyed him that she wouldn't tell him. Taylor was usually, by nature, rather moody, and rude at times, but tonight, in the way he would look at Peachy, Isaac could tell something was up. Something maybe they both didn't want to admit.

Peachy was silently watching the movie, but Isaac could tell she was thinking instead of paying attention. He knew it was eating her. He knew she had to get it off her chest, but he couldn't understand why she wouldn't tell him.

"Please?" He tried.

"Isaac, I'm not telling you anything, so please, leave me alone about it."

"Can I guess?"

"Please, don't," she pleaded.

"Did he hit you?"

"No!"

"Did you hit him?"

"Shut up, Ike!"

"Did he steal something of yours'?" Isaac didn't know where he was going with this, he had no clue what was going on.

"Ike! Stop! I'm going to bed," Peachy stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Isaac puzzled.

"Who was yelling?" Zac asked walking in from the kitchen.

"Go away, I don't want to talk to you," Isaac said attempting to watch the movie.

"Damn you!" Zac stormed off.