"I'm going to throw up," Amber mumbled rushing into the bathroom of our hotel room.

"Oh my gosh, Amber, sweetie," Cristin cried rushing in after her.

"What's going on over there," Zac asked through the cell phone.

"Amber's about to throw up. Never mind, she's throwing up now."

"Uh, okay. Tell her everything's going to be okay. I used to get nervous too, and it never really goes away, but once you get out into the crowd it all changes from negative to positive feelings and energy."

"Yeah, I'll tell her that. I should probably go though. I'm not feeling that well myself, and I need to just be able to be alone and focus until I go on stage.'

"Okay, Daph. Just remember - you guys will do fine. You have so much talent, and you are just going to amaze everyone in the audience tonight. Just try not to steal all of our fans - leave one or two, okay?"

"Alright, Zac," I laughed, "I promise."

"Bye, Princess. See you after the show if not before"

"Okay, babe. Bye."

*          *          *          *          *

"How you feelin', Shiye," Isaac asked me.

"I'm okay, Kermie. How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"You sure? I know you always get nervous before playing in Tulsa."

"Yeah, but I've been getting a little bit better as the years go on, and we do more shows for friends and family. I figure they haven't disowned us yet, and they probably wouldn't even if we did start to really suck."

I laughed. He had the most wonderful sense of humor. Sure, it was slightly dorky, but it was completely cute.

When more people found out about me and fans started recognizing me at events and trying to talk to me, well, I was asked a lot of weird questions. Some were way too personal, some were way too sexual - I just ignored those people and those questions, but there were a few people who I met who were really sweet.

One girl I had gotten close to asked me what it was like to be in love. I told her it was kind of hard to describe in words, and just told her that when she felt it she would know.

Then very sheepishly she asked me, "What do you love about Isaac? I don't mean to be rude. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I'm just curious though because most girls go for Taylor or Zac..."

Just the way she acted and talked, well, I knew I could trust her so I dished a bit.

"Well, for one thing, Ike is down with not being the favorite. He's cool and confident, and that's sexy. Plus his nose is damn cute, I don't care what anyone else says, it is. I just love his smile and his soft curly hair. I just love to run my fingers through his hair especially at night when I watch him sleep. His goofy sense of humor always seems to make me laugh. He's truly romantic and has the biggest, warmest heart. He tries so hard to make sure that everyone around him is safe. He will forever be the older brother, even when his brothers and sisters are married and have children of their own. Oh, and those lips of his - oh my god! Everything about him is just wonderful and perfect, even his ears. He's just the most amazing guy I've ever met, and he's all I've ever wanted and more..."

"Wow, that's just beautiful. Oh my gosh, you've made me cry. I can't wait until I feel that way for someone," the girl replied wiping the tears from her eyes.

As I relived that day, I found myself crying as well. I was so lucky to have Isaac.

"Shiye, honey, is something wrong," he asked concerned.

"Hmm," I replied snapping back into reality.

"Are you crying?"

"Oh, no," I lied, "I just had something stuck in my eye. I'm fine."

"You sure," Isaac pried.

"Yeah, I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied with a smile.

*          *          *          *          *

"How you doin', babe?" I asked Taylor as I watched him stare out the window at the small amount of fans that had gathered at the end of the driveway hoping to catch a glimpse of them when they left for the venue.

"I'm okay, Will. I'm just sort of nervous about us being in public."

"Oh," I muttered.

"No," he said sensing my pain as he turned towards me, "I didn't mean that I'm ashamed of you or anything. I just don't want people to hate you or want to cause you harm. I love you, Will, and I want everyone to accept you and just get over the fact that we are both guys, and see that you are one of the most wonderful people alive. You are a great friend and a great lover."

"Gosh, hearing you say that," he smiled.

"Will, they should have come out of my mouth a lot sooner. You have changed my life in so many ways, some of them I can't understand, or even remember, but I have no doubts that I'll love you forever."

"I love you, too, Tay," I whispered fighting back the tears as I kissed him.

*          *          *          *          *

The first show was over. We ran off the stage and back to the dressing room. As soon as we were done changing and showering I opened the door and ran out to go find Daphne. I went out the back door and immediately was soaked by a Super Soaker.

"DAPHNE!"

She laughed and dropped the empty gun running off. I started to chase after her.

Daphne jumped on our empty bus and tried to close the door on me, but she couldn't find the button in time. I got on just before the doors closed. She screamed and ran for the back of the bus. I chased her past the bunks and tackled her in front of the black leather couch. We lay there gasping for breath.

Suddenly everything seemed to slow down. I moved in and kissed her. It wasn't like the other kiss in the hotel room though. This kiss was more passionate. She reached her hand around the back of my neck, and we kind of sat up for a second just to fall back down. Our lips never parting. My hands moved to the bottom of her shirt and pushed up underneath it. I felt the cool skin of her stomach, and I licked her lips gently with my tongue. Daphne moaned her lips parting. Our tongues met and we began to French kiss. I heard the door to the bus open, and I heard people's voices, but I ignored them as I continued to kiss Daph and push my hands up her shirt. She moved her hands to my waist and began to run her hands up my back.

"Whoa," I heard Tay exclaim from behind me.

I rolled off Daphne and the two of us paled as we saw my Mom, Dad, Ike, Tay, Will, and Jammer all standing there looking at us. They were all in shock, except for Jammer who had a smirk on his face.

"I can explain," I said breaking the silence.

"Yes, and you will later," my mother said, "but first, Daphne, honey, I think it's time for you to leave."

"Mom! Don't do this! I'm not a baby anymore," I protested.

"No, it's okay, Zac," Daphne whispered squeezing my hand gently before standing up.

She passed by my family, and I watched as Jammer followed her off the bus. Will seemed to notice too and slowly made his way off the bus. Leaving me alone with my parents, my two older brothers and a whole lot of explaining.

*          *          *          *          *

I held back the tears as I raced off their bus and back towards mine. Just before I had reached our bus, my arm was jerked back and I turned to face Jammer.

"You're off the tour," he snapped.

"WHAT?!? YOU CAN'T DO THAT," I yelled.

"I am to look out for the well-being of my company's artists, and your group being on this tour can damage the well-being of my group. Therefore, I have the authority to ask your group to leave," he snarled.

"AUTHORITY?!? YOU DON'T OWN HIM, AND YOU SURE AS HELL DON'T OWN ME! SO YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME BECAUSE I REFUSE TO BE THREATENED, AND I REFUSE TO TAKE COMMANDS FROM A FAT-ASS PRICK LIKE YOU," I screamed.

"Daphne, may I remind you of the severity of this situation, may I also remind you of the legal actions my company can take against you if you try to slander Hanson's image."

"Whoa, okay. Look fatty, you may be able to talk to some little bimbos like that, but when you talk to me - you give me respect. If Zac and I making out would slander his image then that was a risk he wanted to take, and I would never ever try to hurt him or any of them. My lips are sealed about everything that happens between us because it is no one else's business. So stop picking on me or I'm going to call over my bodyguard, and you can talk to him because if he knew how you were treating me right now he would kick your ass."

"You don't have a bodyguard," Jammer hissed.

"Wanna bet? WILL, I NEED YOU!"

His eyes grew wide as he turned to see Will standing there.

"Is there a problem, Daph?"

"Yes, this fat man's trying to threaten me."

"Is this true," Will asked looking down at Jammer.

Jammer's face grew red with anger, and he stormed off yelling, "YOU TWO WILL REGRET THIS!!"

There was just something in the way he yelled those words that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

*          *          *          *          *

The busses were about to leave the venue for the night. I laid back in my bunk thinking about Zac and about the second kiss. The first one was just a hey, oops we kissed, but the second one was just... wow. I touched my lips gently with my fingertips. I had never kissed anyone like that. In fact, that was more like a make-out session then a kiss.

"AH," Amber screamed.

I sat up hitting my head on the bunk above me.

"Ow," I mumbled rubbing my head as I climbed out of the bunk.

I was surprised to see Zac standing there before me. Amber was in her pajamas holding her heart.

"Oh my gosh, little Hanson boy. You almost gave me a heart attack. I swear my whole life just flashed before me," she said with a laugh.

"What's going on," Cristin asked drawing back the curtain to her bunk.

"I didn't mean to startle you. I was just here to talk to Daphne," Zac apologized.

I grabbed his hand.

"We'll be in the back," I told them dragging him off to the way back of the bus.

We sat down on the couch and just stared at each other for a while.

"What's up," I asked him.

He took a deep breath and then said, "I'm sorry if my family was a bit cold towards you when they walked in on us."

"Zac, it's perfectly alright. They found us making out. My family would have freaked out too!"

He grinned and commented, "We were making out, weren't we?"

"What," Amber said.

"You two made out," Cristin cried.

"DO YOU TWO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN EAVESDROP ON US," I yelled.

"I've already saved humanity for the night. My schedule is open," Amber replied.

"Is that a zit," Zac asked.

Amber's hands flew to her face.

"NO! Don't do that," Zac continued, "you'll just give it more oil to feed off of!"

Amber screamed and ran into the bathroom. Cristin sighed and followed her into the bathroom. I tried to hide a laugh.

"You shouldn't have done that. She's going to be freaking out for hours trying to find that zit," I told him.

"Good, so we'll have a few hours to talk."

"Okay, so where are we?"

"Uh, the back of your tour bus," he teased.

I smacked his arm.

"ZAC! You know what I mean," I said.

"Do I," he asked rubbing his arm.

"Zac, are we going out? Why did we just kiss?"

"Uh, well I thought we kissed because we both wanted to, but if you can think of another reason then -"

"Stop being a jackass and just tell me what the hell is going on," I said.

"You mean a lot to me. I feel really comfortable around you, but shaken up at the same time. You steady me, but you have me all unstable at the same time," Zac confessed.

"I feel the same way," I replied.

"I know how corny this is going to sound, and I just want to hit myself for asking, but... will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yeah," I whispered.

"Let's keep this a secret for a while, okay? We'll be the only ones to know so in case something goes wrong people won't pressure us to stay together or if everything's going right people can't try to separate us."

"Okay," I agreed.

He leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. Our tour bus started up.

"I have to get back to my bus. I'll see you at the next venue."

*          *          *          *          *

I started to make my way off Freezer Burn's tour bus when I heard Daphne call out for me.

"Zac?"

"Yeah," I replied turning back towards her.

"Um, if Jammer wanted could he get the group kicked off the tour?"

"No, we decide who opens for us. Why," I asked confused.

She ignored my question and continued, "Could he make us break up?"

"Of course not. Why? Did that fat prick say something to you?"

I felt my blood begin to boil. Her silence was all the answer I needed.

"I AM SO SICK OF HIM BUTTING INTO OUR LOVE LIVES," I screamed. Daphne looked very confused.

"Did he ever tell Ike and Shiye they couldn't be together," she asked.

"No, but Tay and Will ..." I stopped.

Images of New York and TRL flashed before me. I shook my head trying to focus. My head began to pound, and I steadied myself on the side of one of the bunks.

Daphne rushed over to me.

"Zac, are you okay?"

"I don't know. My head hurts," I muttered.

"Shh, it will be okay. Come on. I'll walk you back to your bus," she whispered.

We walked towards our bus, I noticed standing off in the distance that red haired woman again. She was in a suit. I blinked and opened my eyes again but she was still there.

"Daph, there's that woman again," I muttered.

"Huh, come on, we're almost there," she replied without even looking. I glanced over again and the woman was gone. I knew I needed to tell Taylor and Will.


On to Chapter Twenty-Seven

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Memories ... Of A Forgotten Past is Copyright © 2000 by Taylor W. Quest.
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