Two Hearts Are Better Than One 3n1c1o

Two Hearts Are Better Than One

Rebecca Snyder

Copyright © 2012 by Rebecca Snyder.

ISBN:

Softcover Ebook

978-1-4797-5225-6 978-1-4797-5226-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Epilogue

Dearest Readers, I know what it’s like to sit down with a book and read for hours on end. To neglect your studies and social life, because of the rush you get when reading a novel. A while ago, I started having ideas for stories. Different stories, crazy stories… stories with no endings. I got a rush when I wrote. I was the character in the stories I created. I let my imagination run free and I was whoever I wanted to be. Of course, I also knew the feeling of when you finish reading a book. That satisfying sigh escaping you, lowering the book to your chest because it ended perfectly. No loose strings, no unhappy endings, just perfection. I like those stories. Sure, maybe I’m a sucker for happy endings and beautiful fairy tales. Some authors may want to stray from that idea. They may want to persuade you into thinking fairy tales aren’t real, and Cinderella never existed. And they’d be right… well, at least about Cinderella. Sure, fairy tales may seem far-fetched, but that’s just because our brains can’t grip the idea that happy endings come true… but our hearts know the truth. So getting back to my writing this book… I felt so accomplished when I finished it, and I couldn’t wait to share it with the world, with fellow readers, with fellow romance-lovers. People may not like the way I write, and others may love it. I can only say that I am proud of my work, and glad I can share it. There are some special people whom inspired this novel, and I have spent night and day thinking if I wanted to tell you, the readers, who they are. I have decided not to. Sure, some of you may be able to guess it. But for the others, do not feel excluded. I wrote this book to be read by you. No matter who this book was inspired by, it is my writing… and I want you to enjoy it. So when you’re reading it, please don’t think about anything but the characters and the plot line… and the story. Only the story.

Well, happy reading! [Rebecca Oh, and furthermore, if you don’t mind my adding… if you actually read this author’s note, thank you. I also know what it’s like to skip over this… now get to reading!

Chapter One

There is one thing that I absolutely cannot stand. Seriously. My mind starts buzzing and I begin to see black and white. Then my knees lock up and I can’t move. And at that point I start to feel faint and my stomach starts doing that weird flippy thing. And, well you get the idea… So why in the flippin’ fruitcakes was I here, looking down (way down) at the ground below me? I have no idea. No wait. I know why. It’s because my best friend (friend?!!) dragged me along. Like really, what was she thinking?! I’ve probably told her, at least a gazillion million times, that I absolutely. Positively. Completely. Do not like heights. You’d think she would’ve listened right? Wrong. Apparently, if I say I don’t like heights, then that is total lingo for I want to go hang-gliding! Well, guess what Morgan! I don’t. Okay, don’t get me wrong… Morgan is a great friend. It’s just, sometimes? It seems like she might’ve gone off the deep end. Literally. Like, one time, when we were at a Jack Logan’s pool party and… nevermind. Granted, this whole trip was partially my fault… I mean, it’s not like I told her I didn’t want to go (wait, yeah I did) . . . or practically begged her for us to stay at home (um, didn’t I do that?) . . . well anyways. After she told me she paid for the trip… I couldn’t say no. Morgan has always been a saver, not a spender… and, well, I know she would never book a trip that isn’t important to her (or if she knew she couldn’t get me to come along). But she could. And here we are. Well, here I am.

She had gone off the ledge first and I can hear her screaming and laughing. Funny… as I look down over the huge cliff I’m standing on, laughter is not the thing that comes to mind. My mind thoughts are more like: ‘how can I get out of here? No, I am doing this for Morgan. But she’s crazy. No she’s not. Yes she is. No she’s not. Yes she is. No… okay, yeah she is. But… whoa that is really high! I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I’m going to puke.’ Thankfully, my phone rings. Just as the dude is about to shove me off the giant cliff. I turn around to face the guy. “Phone call,” I say. “No calls,” he says meanly. “It’s important,” I tell him. Was it important? I checked who the caller was. Cousin Brian. It probably wasn’t important, but I was definitely taking it. “You lose your chance,” the guy says, nodding towards the open sky. I cringe. “That’s okay, I don’t mind,” I say lightly. “No refunds,” he tells me. Ouch. Well, I would just have to pay Morgan back later. I shrug my shoulders and he unhooks my ‘wings’. Then I walk a few feet, er, yards away (from the guy and the cliff) to sit on a rock (it is actually a really comfy rock). I take a deep breath and answer my phone. “Hello?” I say. “Hey Kels!” says Brian. “It’s me.” “Hey, Brian, what’s up?” I say happily, glad to hear from him.

“A lot,” he says. “That’s why I gave you a ring.” “Oh?” I ask… he sounded kind of serious for a moment there. “Yeah, I need to ask you a favor.” “What kind of favor are we talkin’?” “Nothing big,” he starts, “Well, okay, something big. But it honestly wouldn’t be too hard. Maybe. Probably…” “Brian, what are you wanting me to do?” I ask him, curious. “Well, I’ve got some boys I want you to watch… for a while.” “How long is a while?” “Two months, maybe more,” he says quickly, I can practically hear him cringing through the phone. I let it sink in. If it is the beginning of June now… that would take up my whole summer. “You know that would take up my whole summer right?” I ask him, knowing pretty well that he had figured that one out. “Listen Kels, I really need you to do this for me. I mean, I would take care of them myself but I have places to be and people to talk to. You know… business stuff. And besides, since you took a year off after highschool to work you should have a vacation this summer.” “First of all,” I tell him, “I was going to check out colleges this summer. You know, the place you go after highschool. And secondly, what sort of business stuff are we talking about? I mean, is it really so important that you have to ditch your responsibilities to these boys for the whole summer?” There was silence on the other line. “Your right. I guess I should explain,” he says. “That’d be nice.”

“These boys, well, they’re kinda, well, they’re a lot famous and I’m their agent. I need to keep them hidden from the press but I also need to keep the press happy with my presence. So what am I to do? Well, I thought I could take them to the ranch where no one would find them all summer. That way they could spend some quality time together… which they really need. And well, I thought maybe you could stay there with them because I know you love the ranch as much as I do and I know you would make sure the boys were kept safe. Plus you know every inch of the land and if one of them got lost…” “I know,” I sigh, “I would be able to find them.” “Precisely,” Brian says, sounding as though he’s beginning to relax. “But these fellows don’t even know me.” “But I know you,” says Brian. “Yeah, but is that enough?” “That’s a chance I am willing to take,” he says confidently. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask, still weighing my options. “Why not?”

Chapter Two

“These boys… they aren’t too much of a handle, right? Wait, and how many boys?” “Well, there’s five and I can explain more when you get here.” “But I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” I protest. “Haven’t you?” he asks. “Oh.” “Brian, I want to do it for you but, I don’t know… five boys?” “Kels, listen. These boys are going through a tough time and unfortunetely, I can’t be there for them. But you can. And you are the sweetest, nicest person I know. If anyone can help give these boys some guidance, it’s you.” “That’s kind of you to say, Brian but… I don’t know.” “Where are you right now?” “Huh?” I say, his question catching me completely off guard. “Where are you?” “Well, um…” I start. “Let me guess. You are doing another one of those crazy stunts with Morgan that you absolutely don’t want to do but she forces you into.” “Uh… yeah. Basically.” “Yeah,” he says. “And try to think how many of those she is going to make you go through this summer. Just try to imagine how many.” I didn’t want to. Like, I really didn’t want to.

“Ok, I’ll do it,” I say. “YES!” yells Brian. “You could’ve told me to hold the phone back from my ear drum!” I tell him, rubbing the ear that had just been yelled into. “Oh, sorry,” he says, not really sounding sorry at all. In fact, he sounded more like he wanted to laugh. “It’s not funny,” I tell him. “Yes, it is,” he says. I laugh. “Ok, maybe it is a little,” I say. We both laugh. “Alright, when should I meet you at the ranch?” I ask him. “How’s Friday at say… a little after eight P.M.?” It was Tuesday. “Perfect,” I tell him. “Awesome, see you then.” “You too.” I put my phone back in my pocket and head back to the professional looking building where I had signed in. I take a deep breath in and sigh. Now to break the news to Morgan.

I reach the small building where the nice information lady had told me the gliders went to and sure enough, saw Morgan, patiently waiting on one of the nice couches surrounding a burning fireplace. Every once in a while she would glance out the huge glass windows where you could see gliders flying in. No doubt she was waiting for me. I walk over and sit beside her. “Kelsey?!” she says. “I didn’t see you come in!” I look down. “You didn’t… go, did you?” she asks softly. I shake my head. “Why not?” “I just couldn’t do it,” I tell her. “I’m not the adventure type.” She laughs. “Everyone has a little adventure inside them,” she tells me. “Well I don’t,” I say, ready for a change of subject. “But hey, guess what.” “What?” she asks, clearly disappointed that I hadn’t hang-glided. “On my way back I got a call from Brian.” “Oh yeah?” she says, her eyes lighting up. She’d always had a crush on Brian since she was little. “Did he want you to tell me hi?” she asks, blushing. “Like always,” I say, smiling at her. “He also had a… favor to ask of me and I told him I would help him out. Since he is family and all. So it looks like I will be gone all summer.” “What?” Morgan says, looking down. “But I had so much planned!” “Well, maybe we can save everything for next summer,” I tell her.

“Maybe,” she says. “Hey, where are you going to be? While you’re doing this favor?” “Well, I guess I will really be all over. He wants me to help out with a lot so I don’t think I will end up staying in one place to long.” I hate lying to Morgan, but I can’t trust her to not show up with, like bungee cords or… well you get the idea. “Oh, well when are you leaving?” she asks. “This Friday,” I say. “And I still need to pack and everything.” (Everything including getting an airplane ticket) “Wow, that’s so soon,” she says. “Yep,” I say, not sure really what else to say. “I’m gonna miss you.” “I’m gonna miss you too Morgan,” I tell her, giving her a hug. “Come on, let’s head on back to my place. You can help me pack.” “Alright,” she says.

Chapter Three

I arrive at the ranch at exactly seven thirty. I’m glad to be there early. I want some time for myself for a bit before these boys come. I walk inside, after unlocking the front door with the key that was hidden in the hanging flowers, as usual. I set my stuff down on a chair and look around. Same old wonderful place. I knew Brian would be at least ten minutes late, but I was glad to have at least another thirty minutes to explore. Because this ranch was big. I mean, really big. On the main part, there is the three bedrooms, two bathrooms, the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then if you go farther out on either side you will find, on the north end, the library, the study, and a cozy room with only a fireplace and one long couch, and on the south end, a long room with a pool table, and the indoor pool. Then if you go down, you will find a fully finished, and furnished, basement. And if you go up, the attic. Of course, the only thing the attic is good for is storage. What else right?

While I am in the library looking around I hear the front door. Then I hear Brian yell, “Hey Kels! We’re here!” I run down the hall until I reach the door to the main house. Slowly, I open it and walk in. I close the door behind me, turn the corner, and see them. Let me tell you, they were not boys. Not one bit. Okay, no they weren’t girls either. But they weren’t boys. They were guys. And I’m pretty sure at least one

was older than me. Then I see Brian. “Brian!” I say happily. He turns at my voice and comes to give me a hug. “Where were you?” he asks. “Exploring,” I say with a smile. “Uh, can I talk to you?” “In one sec,” he says, then he turns to the guys (yeah, guys). “Fella’s, meet Kelsey. She’ll be the one watchin’ you while you stay here.” The guys’ expressions at that couldn’t be more incredulous. The one who looked to be the oldest blinks in surprise, the one next to him winks at me, the one who looked to be a bad boy rolls his eyes, then the other offers me a forced smile. Wait, didn’t Brian say five guys? Oh yeah, there’s the other one. The blond one was hiding behind the smiley one. “We don’t need watching,” says the bad boy one. “We’re old enough to look after ourselves.” “I don’t mind being watched,” says the flirt, winking again. I wonder if he was actually winking, or if he just had a bad twitch? “Now fellas,” says Brian, “Kelsey is here to make sure you don’t go and hurt yourself, ok? She knows the place like the back of her hand.” “Brian?” asks the smiley one with a cough. “Shouldn’t you introduce us?” Brian looks at me with surprise. “Don’t you know who they are?” he asks.

I think for a minute, then nod. “Five Way Street, right?” I say, looking to Brian. He smiles. “Yep. Kelsey, please welcome-” “Louis, Finn, Shane, Charlie, and Rylan,” I finish for him. “Yeah, I know.” “Oh, are you a fan of ours?” asks Charlie. “Yeah, I guess,” I say. “Huh,” says Finn. “So why aren’t you screaming like mad and trying to rip our shirts off?” I laugh. “You’re kidding right?” I say, then turn to Brian. “He’s kidding right?” Brian shakes his head. There is silence. “Okay,” I say slowly. “Brian, can I talk to you now?” “Oh yeah, sure,” he says, motioning me towards the kitchen.

“So what’s up?” he asks. “Brian! How old are those guys?!” “Lou’s 20, Shane’s 19, and the other three are 18… why?” “Brian,” I say slowly, “you said boys, not guys.” “Yeah?” asks Brian. “What’s your point?”

I sigh. “Brian, when you said boys, I assumed they were, I don’t know, below the age of ten,” I say. He laughs, then looks at me. “Oh, you’re serious. Well, see,” he starts slowly, “they act like boys. Since they became famous at a young age, they didn’t really have the chance to grow up. They were pushed into adulthood.” I sigh… I guess that made some sense. “Kels, please, if for nothing else, do this for me, ok?” Brian says, pleading. I knew this would mean the world to him… and I hated letting anyone down. “Fine,” I say. He starts to head back. “Wait a minute,” I say. “What should I know about these guys?” “Oh right,” says Brian. I roll my eyes. “Louis is the oldest and is usually the leader but he got a call from his, er, past girlfriend Lydia, the other day. That’s when he became all sad. I’m sure you can guess what the call was about.” I nod. “And then Shane,” Brian continues. “He is not the bad boy you might think he is. He’s just trying to quit smoking and having a hard time with the withdrawals.” I nod in understanding. “Then there’s Charlie,” Brian sighs. “He keeps feeling this pain in his right shoulder. He says it’s nothing, and that he just slept on it wrong… but it’s been a few weeks and I’m worried.” “Why don’t you take him to a doctor?” I ask.

“Charlie has a thing about doctors and hospitals,” Brian says. “But if it gets any worse…” I nod. “Rylan,” says Brian. “I don’t know what to do about him right now.” “What do you mean?” I ask. “He cut himself a few weeks back, when we were in his hometown in Dublin, Ireland. Now the only one he’ll talk to is Charlie,” says Brian. “Oh,” I say. “Yeah,” Brian says. “Okay.” “Finally Finn, well, you already know he’s a flirt,” Brian laughs. “Yeah, I gathered that,” I say. “But in truth,” Brian says, getting serious, “he’s hurting inside.” “Why?” I ask. “He’s watching the band fall apart and he doesn’t know what to do about it,” says Brian. “Oh,” I say (again). “Yeah,” says Brian. “Hey, I thought you said these guys weren’t a handful?” I say. “I did?” asks Brian. “Well, if I did, I lied.” He laughs. “No, but you’ll be fine. I know you will.”

“Thanks,” I tell him sarcastically. “Really.” We laugh. Then he tells me he has to go so we say goodbye. On his way to the door, he walks over to the guys to says goodbye to them. I look at the clock. It was already nine fifteen. Might as well get some sleep. Wait a second… if there were three bedrooms… six people. Ah, snap.

Chapter Four

I walk over to the guys. Louis has his head against the wall, eyes closed. Shane is shuffling his feet around on the floor. Charlie and Rylan are discussing something (who knows what), and Finn is looking around at the band, obviously with no clue what to do. “Ok, might as well get some rest tonight,” I say. “So who’s rooming with who?” “Char! Char!” yells Rylan. “Ry! Ry!” yells Charlie. I look over at the others. Shane rolls his eyes. “Okay, so I guess they’re rooming together,” I say. Finn looks between Louis and Shane, seeming unable to decide. “I’ll room with Kelsey,” says Louis, looking over at me. “As long as that’s alright with you?” I nod. “Looks like I’m rooming with you then, buddy!” says Finn, smiling at Shane. “Yippee,” says Shane sarcastically. We all grab our stuff and I show the guys the bedrooms. Luckily, they all have two beds in them. Charlie and Rylan get the first room, then Shane and Finn, and Louis and I get the very last one at the end of the hall. Louis places his stuff on the bed closest to the door, so I place my stuff on the

bed closest to the window. He pulls out his blanket, tossing it over the bed… I do the same with mine. I’m honestly not copying him… I’m just getting ready for bed. “Is that a quilt?” asks Louis, looking at my blanket. “Yep,” I say happily. “And I see you’re a fan of superman, huh?” “Oh yeah,” he says with no enthusiasm. “Big fan.” I don’t know how to continue the conversation, so I leave it at that. “I’m, uh, gonna go change and then check on the other guys,” I say. “Ok,” says Louis.

After I change I make my way to the first room and peek inside. I can make out Charlie on his bed, sleeping on his left shoulder… and on the other bed, I could see Rylan, curled up into a tight ball. I am not quite sure how that was comfortable, but hey, if he could get to sleep that way. Awesome. I check the next room and see the sleeping shapes of Finn and Shane. I could see Shane’s body shaking though, as if he was cold. I know it has to be the withdrawals though. I sigh… the poor kid. Finally I walk back to my room where Louis is laying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. I could make out the glistening of tear marks on his face. I sigh and sit on the edge of my bed. “You okay, Louis?” I ask softly. “I’m fine,” he sniffs, turning so his back was to me. “You wanna talk about it?” I ask.

No answer. I sigh. I felt a weird tug at my stomach. I never liked to see anyone upset, but this was different. It’s like I wanted to hold him close and push all his fears away. I shook the feeling away… it made me… uncomfortable. “Good night Louis.”

Chapter Five

Ah, the morning sun. The perfect thing to wake up… What is that noise? I get out of bed and walk out of the room, careful to close the door behind me. I walk out towards the living room and kitchen area and, yep, I figured that might be what I’d find. “I can’t believe your still alive,” I say to it. Oh by the way, the it I’m talking about? A raccoon. Yep. We call him Joe. When Brian and I were little, our grandpa used to get up early and one day, he got us up too and showed this guy to us. Apparently, he always comes around in the early morning when he knows someone is living here in the ranch. How he had figured out if we just arrived last night, I have no idea. But he has to be at least twenty by now. How long do raccoons live anyways? Suddenly I hear a door creak open. I would know that door anywhere. I spin around and see Charlie and Rylan staring at me, wide eyes. “AHH! RACCOON! RACCOON!” they both yell at the top of their lungs. “No, no!” I say quickly. “It’s okay!” Luckily, Joe (the raccoon) was used to this as sometimes my grandma had gotten up early too and screamed when she saw him. Unluckily, the guys’ screaming woke up all the other guys and they came racing out of their rooms. They all stop when they reach Charlie and Rylan. Then they look at me, and the raccoon, and also start to panic. “I’ll get a bat!” yells Finn.

“No! Stop!” I yell. “All of you just calm down!” They look at me, and thankfully stop. I sigh. “Thank you,” I say. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” “Um, Kelsey?” asks Louis. “You do know there is a raccoon… right there?” “Yes,” I say calmly. “His name is Joe.” “His… name?” asks Charlie. He looks like he is about to faint. “He won’t hurt you as long as you don’t hurt him,” I tell them, fixing a sandwich for Joe. “That’s all fine and dandy,” says Shane. “But why does he have a name? He doesn’t live here does he?” “No, of course not,” I say, finishing the sandwich. “Please tell me that’s for one of us,” says Finn, looking at the sandwich. “It’s Joe’s breakfast,” I say, walking over and placing the sandwich in front of Joe. He sniffs it, picks it up, and walks over to the back door. I walk over and open the door for him. “Did you… let him in?” asks Shane. “Oh no,” I say. “He can get in all by himself. We still aren’t really sure how.” “So, why does he have a name again? And why does he get his own breakfast?” asks Charlie. So I tell them the story about how Grandpa had first started feeding him and he had come every morning while someone was living there. While I tell them, I make some scrambled eggs and toast.

When the story is over I sit the stuff at the bar and out some plates and forks to the guys. The guys look surprised that there is food there, in front of them. “We could’ve helped,” Finn says. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t have been able to listen to my story,” I say.

When breakfast is over, the guys insist on cleaning everything up since I had made the food. “So what are we going to do today?” asks Shane when they are done. “You guys have a football or soccer ball with you?” I ask. “Yeah,” says Charlie. “Then take it out back and play outside,” I say, motioning towards the back door. “Yeah, ok,” says Louis. “I’m gonna go get dressed.” There’s a chorus of “Yeah, me too” ‘s. I go back to our room and get some clothes to change into.

Then the guys all head outside. When I get out there, they hadn’t moved. At all. “What are you guys waiting for?” I ask. “Kelsey?” says Finn. “Yeah, Finn?” I say. “Has this place always had so much land?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” I say, smiling. Then I grab the football out of Finn’s grip and ran off the deck. “So are you guys gonna play or what?” That brought them back to reality. Finn, Rylan, and Shane ran down after me. “Finn, go long,” I say, laughing.

Chapter Six

I play football with the guys for almost half an hour, and then I am way too exhausted for any more. I walk up on the deck where Charlie is standing looking out at the other guys. “Your shoulder’s bothering you again, isn’t it?” I ask. “Yeah,” he says. “It’s nothing much, just…” “Yeah,” I say, getting the sense he didn’t really want to talk about it. “You know, I didn’t pin you as the playing sports with the guys, feeding raccoons sort of girl,” says Charlie, catching me off guard. “Oh?” I say. “Yeah,” says Charlie. “I thought you were more of a family loving, sweet country girl.” “I am,” I say. He has surprise written on his face. “I’m very versatile,” I explain, smiling. “I bet,” he laughs, then he sighs. “You see Lou over there?” he asks me, motioning towards a shady spot farther away from everyone. I nod. “I suppose you know about his break up with Lydia, right?” I nod again, feeling a tad bit like a bobble head.

“He’s really broken up about that,” Charlie says. “I mean, normally, he would be out there with the guys organizing a mini touch football championship. But now? He’s just not the same. You know we tried to tell him that Lydia was only in it for herself, but he would just get upset with us and leave the room.” “Yeah,” I say. “Right now he probably feels like there’s no one he can trust anymore,” says Charlie. “Why do you say that?” I ask. “Well, first his father left, and then the band started falling apart, and now Lydia.” “So you see it too then?” I say. “With the band.” “Yeah, I see it,” says Charlie. “But I sure don’t know how to fix it. None of us do, ‘cept maybe Lou… and he’s too broken up about Lydia to do anything anyways.” “Yeah,” I say, not sure what else to say.

I need to think of something for the guys to do. And fast. Finn, Rylan, and Shane are getting bored of playing ball, Charlie was beginning to sigh… a lot, and I could see Lou walking, slowly, farther and farther away. “Hey, Charlie? How would you like a tour of the house?” I ask. He looks over at me with bright eyes. “That’d be great! Should we round up the others?” “Yeah,” I say.

Well, the tour went… well. I suppose.

The guys really like the indoor pool (obviously). Well, all except Shane. According to Finn, Shane can’t swim. He never learned. Which is why, when the guys ask me if we can all go swimming after lunch, I agree. I also tell Shane that he has to come too and I would be teaching him how to swim. It takes some persuading, but eventually he gives in. We decide to meet at the pool in twenty minutes. I get there in five. Which is why that’s where I am now. I made sure to turn all the lights on and that the pool was clean. Luckily it was. I sit on the edge of the diving board, waiting for the guys to arrive. They do, exactly fifteen minutes later. I could tell they had wanted to come sooner but decided against it. Finn was the first to see me. “Hey, Kels! What gives? Why no bikini?” he says, laughing. I smirk at him. (I am wearing a tight swimmer’s one-piece) And I am pretty sure he can see my curves just fine. Not that I look bad. I actually don’t. I used to swim a lot when I was younger and I’ve just always had a slim, slightly curvy body. “Very funny,” I say. “You’ll find I’m a bit more modest when it comes to swim wear.” “Obviously,” says Shane. “Are you modest, or are you trying to hide something?” asks Finn.

I smile, and stand. “If this is you trying to trick me into taking my suit off, it’s not working.” And at that, I plug my nose, suck in some air, and jump in.

When I resurface, everyone but Shane had jumped in too. I swim over to the shallow end. “Okay, Shane, come sit on the side here and just put your legs in the water to start,” I say gently. He looks a little nervous and I don’t want to make him more so. Once he is used to the water I tell him to come in and stand up. He is hesitant at first… “You’ll be fine,” I tell him. “Your taller than me and the water only comes to my waist, see?” He nods and comes in. Eventually I get him all the way in and Louis comes over to help too. We get Shane floating on his back and then kicking and using his arms. Finally he is able to swim around the shallow end of the pool. “You know it’s not that bad,” Shane says. I smile. Suddenly, Finn and Rylan come over and attack Shane, pulling him under the water. My eyes widen and I race over, trying to pull them off Shane. Louis and Charlie come to help pull them off as well.

Finally, we manage to get them off him. Shane gets up, but is coughing and not looking good. I get him out of the pool okay and get him a towel, then herd him back to his room, telling him to relax, then to go take a nice, warm shower. He just nods at me. I am unsure about leaving him in such a state, but I have to deal with Finn and Rylan. However, as I walk back to the pool, Finn and Rylan come sauntering out the door, heads down, muttering to themselves. When Rylan sees me, he gives a little squeal and hides behind Finn. Finn looks up and sees me but keeps walking. “Hey, wait a minute-” I start. “Don’t bother,” says Finn. “We already got it from Louis and Charlie.” My eyes widen in surprise. Did they now?

Chapter Seven

I walk back to the pool area and look through the glass door. Sure enough, Louis and Charlie are sitting on the edge of the pool, talking. I don’t really want to interrupt so I walk back out into the main house, grab some clothes and head to the bathroom to take a shower. When I’m done, I walk out to the kitchen and sit at the bar. Then I dial my cousin’s number. “Hello?” Brian says. “Hey Bri,” I say, hearing Lou and Charlie coming through the door to the main house. “Hey little cuz! So how’s it going? Are they behaving?” he asks. “It’s going well, I guess,” I say. “But that’s not why I called.” “Oh?” he says. “What’s up?” “You’ll never guess who’s still alive,” I say, smiling. “No!” says Brian, and I knew he had gotten it. “Yep. He was out here just this morning waiting for his breakfast,” I say, laughing. “He’s gotta be, what? Twenty years old, at least, right?” he asks. “At least,” I say. Brian laughs again, and then says he has to go, but he is glad I called. “See you later alligator,” I say into the phone.

“Not for a while, crocodile,” he says, laughing. Then I hang up and hear a sudden squeak from the hallway. I walk over and find Louis standing there. He looks at me calmly. “Were you listening in?” I ask. “Technically I could only hear you so…” I punch his shoulder, suddenly realizing he didn’t have a shirt on. “Not cool,” I tell him. “Well, I needed to talk to you,” he says. “And… ?” “Well the guys were wondering if we could have a movie night tonight. You know, with pizza,” he says. “Yeah sure, I’ll call and order it,” I say. “Ok,” says Louis, still looking bummed over Lydia.

When the pizza arrives I call out to the guys… “Pizza’s here!” They all come running. Then Finn turns on the TV and tells Rylan to pick out a movie. Suddenly, the news pops on about how Lydia Jennet is already moving on from her past boyfriend, Louis Thompson. Finn hurriedly tries to get to another channel, but he isn’t fast enough. The damage is done. Lou drops his plate of pizza and is quickly heading back to our

room, where he slams the door. I look at the guys. “Should we… ?” “Best not to disturb him at a time like this,” says Finn, looking sad. I sigh, and pick up Louis’ plate from off the floor. Rylan slowly slips in a movie and the rest of us sit down to watch it. “Finding Nemo?” I ask when the menu comes on. “For real?” “I love this movie,” says Rylan, looking hurt. I look over at him and smile. “Fish are friends, not food,” I say, laughing. Rylan laughs too. “Oh,” he says suddenly. “If I cry during this movie, please just pretend not to notice.” I smile and get up. “I’m gonna make some popcorn. Anybody wanna help?” “I’ll help,” says Finn. So Finn and I walk into the kitchen and I put the popcorn bag into the microwave and wait. I could tell Finn was looking at me. “What, Finn?” I ask. “I was just trying to figure out how old you are… ?” he says. “You only had to asked,” I tell him. “I’m nineteen.” He smiles.

“Ok,” he says. I would ask ‘Ok, what?’ but the microwave beeps, signaling that the popcorn was fully popped.

During the middle of the movie, Louis comes out and sits on the back of the couch between Finn and I. Finn sits up there with him and whispers something in his ear. Whatever he says makes Louis smile.

We all must have fallen asleep during one of the movies we had watched last night because when I open my eyes the next morning I find myself still on the couch. Charlie and Rylan are sleeping soundly on the floor. It looks as though Rylan had been pinned down by Charlie sometime during the night, but Rylan didn’t seem to mind. In the meantime, Shane is leaning against the couch from the floor, and Finn is curled up in a ball at the other end of the couch… which means… It is Louis who had fallen asleep on top of me… literally. His legs are still dangling off the back of the couch and his midsection is lying on my thighs. I nudge him a bit to wake him up, and when he does open his eyes, he almost slides off the couch. I grab the front of his t-shirt to stop him. “Thanks,” he says, his eyes wide. I nod and let go as he carefully moves off the couch. Rylan must have heard some of that because he’s like, “Eh, shush.” Louis looks at me and smiles, then walks over to Rylan’s ear and yells, as loudly as he can, “RYLAN, WAKE UP!!!”

Rylan was awake almost instantly. He starts to glare at Louis. “I’m gonna get you for that Lou,” he says. Lou just looks at him and laughs. “You’re a little stuck, Ry,” he says. Rylan looks down and sees Charlie’s legs over him. “Dude! Charlie!” he says, trying to move the legs. Suddenly, Charlie’s legs lock up. “What the-” says Rylan. “Oh, not again.” I’m confused. Louis looks over at me. “He locks up when he’s sleeping and you try to move him,” he tells me. “How does he do that?!” I ask. Lou shrugs.

Chapter Eight

Finally, after everyone is awake, Finn and Shane insist on making breakfast. So we have pancakes and toast. It is actually pretty delicious. Once breakfast is over Rylan turns the TV on again to see if he can find a cartoon channel. Unfortunetely, the news is on again and I guess they just can’t for the life of them stop talking about Miss Lydia Jennet. Louis walks off to be alone again. This time Finn goes after him to try and comfort him. I decide to go to the library to have some alone time. It is pretty nice, but after about half an hour I figure I’d better go back downstairs or else the guys might tear the house up. I didn’t know if they would do that or not… but the thought was scary, and I didn’t want it to happen.

Luckily, when I reach the main house, nothing is a mess. Shane, Rylan, and Charlie are watching Nickelodeon and Louis is still in his room. I figure Finn is in there with him, but then I see the bathroom door slightly ajar and I can hear quiet sobs coming from within. I look in and see Finn sitting on the floor, crying. I kneel next to him. “Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask.

“Why can’t they leave stories like that on the internet where people can actually try to avoid them?!” he asks. I knew what he was talking about. Louis and Lydia. “I don’t know,” I tell him truthfully. “The whole band is falling apart,” cries Finn softly. “Lou doesn’t care about anything but Lydia, Shane’s trying to quit smoking, Charlie is always in physical pain, and you probably know about Rylan.” I nod. “And I can’t do anything about it,” says Finn. “It’s okay,” I say. “That’s why I’m here. I’m going to fix everything.” “Are you a psychologist?” Finn asks, looking at me. I laugh. “No,” I tell him. “But as long as we work together, I’m sure things will work out ok.” “How can you be so sure?” he asks. “Because I’m a girl,” I tell him with a smile. “I know these things.” He laughs and wipes his eyes. “I guess.” I smile at him and get up to leave. “Hey Kelsey?” he says. I turn around. “Thanks.” I nod. “Sure,” I say. Then I leave him and go out to the kitchen to make a phone call. After that’s over, I make my way to my room and open the door.

Louis is sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands. “What gives?” I ask. He looks up at me and I can see the tear stains on his cheeks. “What?” he says. I walk over and sit beside him. “What gives?” I ask again. He looks confused so I thought I had better explain. “I just talked to Finn,” I tell him, “who was crying because his best friend can’t get a hold on life.” Lou looks down. “I didn’t mean to make him cry,” he says quietly. “I was just really, really upset about Lydia.” “Your still really upset,” I say. He puts his head in his hands again. “Yeah,” he mutters. “And that’s okay,” I say. “Just because your famous doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to take your time getting over a break up. That’s ok to do.” Louis looks up at me. “But Lydia doesn’t need that much time,” he says, his voice cracking as he says her name. I put my hand on his back. He flinches, but doesn’t pull away.

“That’s because Lydia wasn’t the right one for you,” I tell him, hoping the truth wouldn’t hurt too much. “It’s because she didn’t care. Once you take some time, you’ll realize that. Because once you find the right girl for you, she’ll care.” “But I thought she was the one,” Louis says quietly. “She wasn’t,” I say. “But I thought she was,” says Louis. “I thought that I knew she was. How will I know when the right one comes if I couldn’t even tell her apart?” “You’ll know,” I tell him. “I don’t really know how it works but I think you’ll just have, like, that tug in your gut, you know?” “Maybe,” says Louis. Suddenly Rylan rushes in. He looks at me. “Some of the channels on the TV don’t work anymore,” he says. “I know,” I tell him. “Figure out which ones.” “Okay,” he says and races back to the living room. “What was that all about?” asks Louis. I smile. “You’ll see.” Sure enough, about twenty seconds later Rylan comes rushing back in. “It’s all the channels with news about,” Rylan say slowly, looking at Louis, “celebrities like us.” “Good job,” I tell Rylan. He smiles and goes back out to the living room. Louis looks at me. “You did that, didn’t you?” he asks.

“Yes. Yes, I did,” I say proudly. Then I stand up and start for the door. “Hey Kels?” says Louis, coming over. “Yeah Lou?” I say. “Thanks,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets. “You’re very welcome,” I tell him. Then I go over and give him a hug because he looks as though he can really use one. “Everything will turn out ok,” I tell him. “You’ll see.” He didn’t say anything, just hugged me tighter.

Chapter Nine

It’s been two weeks. Exactly. Life has pretty much gotten into a sort of a schedule for us here at the ranch. We get up, give Joe breakfast, make breakfast, play outside, eat lunch, swim in the pool, call for pizza, watch a movie, fall asleep on couch. Yeah, I have a feeling we have all had a bit too much pizza in the past two weeks. It’s not healthy. Seriously. That’s why I decided that today I was going to go to the supermarket and get some real food to make. The guys wanted to come, but I wouldn’t let them, even if they wore there disguises. It was too risky. Which is why they stayed home. I asked Lou to keep an eye on them, just in case. He said he would. He seems to be doing better. Which is good. I couldn’t have asked for something better. It’s funny… the feeling I get when I think about Lou… I certainly don’t know what it is. But it feels nice… I like nice.

I smile as I walk through the supermarket bread aisle. The guys have been being good. Really good, and I love that they are starting to get the hang of living at the ranch. “Kelsey?” I hear. I turn around and my smile grows to a super grin. “Charlene! It’s so good to see you!” I say as the lady walks over to me with her shopping cart.

“You too, darling,” says Charlene. “I didn’t know you were back in town.” “Yeah, I’m staying at the ranch for the summer. Brian’s treat,” I say, smiling. “That’s nice of him,” she says. “Where are your kids?” I ask. “At home with Greg,” she says, trying not to laugh. “Oh no,” I say happily. “Your poor husband.” “Oh for sure!” laughs Charlene. No longer able to hold it in. “How has your family been?” I ask when our laughter subsided. “Good, very good,” says Charlene. “So you said you’re staying all summer at the ranch huh?” “Yep,” I say. “All summer.” “Would you be willing to come over and watch the kids some days? If you’re not too busy of course,” she says. I smile. “I would love to watch your kids. You know I would. But I can’t leave the ranch. Would the kids be able to come over there?” “Oh darling! They’d love that! I’m sure they would!” “Awesome!” I say. “Alright, love,” she says. “I’ll give you a call sometime this week maybe, ok?” “Ok,” I say. And at that we parted ways.

I am in a very good mood as I reach the house. I am even singing a little, which I don’t doing in years. I grab the two bags of groceries that I had and took them inside. But when I unlock the door and step into the house, nothing could prepare me for what I found. Furniture is tipped over, a glass vase is broken on the floor, and paper balls are scattered all across the floor. Charlie and Rylan are talking about something in the kitchen and Shane has Finn in a headlock. This takes me a matter of seconds to take in, and when things , I let out a gasp and drop the groceries. All four guys freeze. “Uh-oh,” says Rylan. “What happened?” I ask very slowly. “Well, see,” says Finn, touching his neck that was probably sore. “We were having this paper war and things sorta got out of hand.” “Sorta?” I ask, making sure not to raise my voice. “Sorta?” I walk over to the broken glass. Then I look up at the guys. “Go to your rooms,” I say. “Now.” They look about to argue, but decide against it.

Someone must have gone and told Lou that I was back because as I start picking up groceries, he comes walking in.

“Oh, my,” he says, widening his eyes when he sees the mess. “Lou, why do you think I asked you to keep an eye on them?” I ask, my voice beginning to raise slightly. “Hmm? Why do you think I wanted you to make sure things stayed safe?” “I honestly had no-” “You had no idea? Really? Because I’m pretty sure if there is broken glass and furniture tipped over, you would’ve heard something.” He looks down. “Sorry,” he says. I look at him and sit on the (only) untipped piece of furniture. “No, I’m sorry,” I say. “It’s just that… I hate seeing this place a mess. I mean, I grew up here.” “Can I ask you something?” asks Lou. “Yeah, sure,” I say, looking up at him. He is walking over to a wall in the living room. I smile. I had wondered when someone was going to ask me about that. I walk over to stand beside him. “Why are all these pictures on the wall?” he asks. “This is my family tree,” I say. “Well, family wall. That’s what Brian and I call it.” “So the pictures are of your family?” Lou asks. “Yep,” I say. “Whenever there was pictures of the family laughing and having a good time, we would put them up here… to remind us of all the good times we used to have. And all the good times we will have in the future.” “I like that,” Lou says.

I look at him. “Me too,” I say. I point toward the top of the wall. “You see the black and white faded photos up there?” I ask. He nods. “Those are of family from way back when. Great-great-great-great grandparents,” I tell him. “And who are these people in this photo?” asks Lou, pointing to a picture almost in the center of the collage. I smile and unpin that picture to show him. “That’s Brian and me when we were little. And that’s our grandpa John… he, uh, he ed away last year.” “I’m sorry,” says Lou. “Yeah,” I say, pinning the picture back to the wall. “Was he the one who liked to feed Joe?” I look at him. “Yeah, he was,” I smile.

Chapter Ten

Lou helps me put the groceries away and then we start to clean up. First the paper balls, then the furniture… I walk toward the glass. “Why not you let me get the glass?” asks Lou. I hesitate. “I’d feel better if I was the one to clean it up,” he says. “Alright,” I tell him. I decide to start lunch. We were going to have sandwiches. Yum. “Hey Kels?” says Lou, sounding worried. “What is it?” I say. “There’s some blood on this piece. Not a lot but…” “You don’t think… ?” I say carefully. He looks over and raises his eyebrows.

“Rylan? Can I come in? I need to talk to you and Charlie,” I say to the closed door. Slowly I hear the door open. It was Charlie who had opened it. “What?” he asks.

I walk over to Rylan and hold up his arms. There aren’t any fresh marks, just three old ones that were still healing. I sigh in relief and start to leave. “Hey, what was that all about?” asks Charlie. I didn’t want Rylan getting upset so I try to talk quietly. “Lou found some blood on a piece of broken glass… I thought maybe…” I guess I didn’t speak quietly enough though because the next thing I know Rylan is lunging for me. I jump back in surprise. Charlie looks at me while trying to hold Rylan back. “Go,” he tells me. I hesitate. “I know you want to make things right, but at the moment I need to calm him down!” I nod and walk into the hall, shutting the door behind me. Now, I am not one to eavesdrop, but what I heard next was very curious. “Rylan! Calm down! She doesn’t know the truth about what happened, ok?!” The truth? What did he mean by that? I didn’t stick around to find out.

That same day I got a call from Brian. “Hey Brian, what’s up?” I say. “Hey Kels,” he says. “I need you and the boys to come to London. Just for a day. Just for an interview, actually. It’ll be the only time you have to leave the ranch, I promise.”

“London, England?” I ask. “Yep,” he says. “Brian,” I say slowly. “How exactly do you plan to get five famous guys to England without the press finding out where the left from?” “I’m sending their private jet,” Brian says. “You can leave tomorrow and be back by tomorrow night.” “Oh of course,” I say, rolling my eyes, “their private jet.” “Kelsey, I need them to be here,” says Brian. “Are you being serious?” I ask him. “Yes, I really am,” he says. “Tomorrow?” I ask. “Yes,” says Brian. “Fine,” I say. “We’ll be there. What time is the interview?” “Ten thirty in the LO Building,” says Brian. “And that means… ?” I ask. “The guys will know,” he says. “I gotta go. See you tomorrow.” “See ya,” I say.

That night for dinner I tell the guys about the interview. They seem pretty happy about it, going back to London that is. They must not like the ranch as much as I thought.

Before everyone goes to bed I ask Charlie if I can talk to him.

“If this is about Rylan, I’m not saying anything,” he says. “It’s not,” I promise (we could get to that some other time). “I want to know how your shoulder is feeling?” He sighs. “It’s fine. I assure you,” he says. “Really?” I ask, then pretend as though I was going to punch it. He pulls away quickly with a look of terror on his face. I pull my hand back and look at him with eyebrows raised. “Ok, fine,” he sighs. “It’s not… absolutely perfect.” “Are you sure you will be ok tomorrow with the plane ride and interview?” I ask. “Yes, I’ll be okay,” he says. “Alright, but if you start to feel any major pain, you let me know, do you hear me?” I say. “Loud and clear,” he smiles. “Good night MOTHER.” “Night.”

The plane ride over to England was… boring. No, not exhilarating, not super fun, not even sweet. It was absolutely, positively boring. Luckily, I slept for half the flight. When we finally arrive, we still have three hours before the interview so the guys decide to go to the park. Shane, Finn, and Rylan find a baseball and start tossing it around.

Lou goes to stand by himself… probably thinking about Lydia. Charlie goes to sit by himself on the ground so I walk over to sit with him. “Why aren’t you playing with the guys?” asks Charlie. “Not today,” I tell him. “Today I’m… I don’t know… I’m on edge.” “Because we’re in London?” I ask. He nods. “Yeah, I had a feeling that was it,” I say, smiling. We sit in silence for a while, just enjoying the gentle breeze. “Oh no,” Charlie says suddenly. “Not her…” “Not who?” I ask, looking around. “Lydia,” says Charlie.

Chapter Eleven

That’s when I see her, walking straight towards Louis. And yeah, he had seen her too. Worse, she had brought her new boyfriend along.

“Come on,” I tell Charlie. He follows me over as we make our way towards Louis. Luckily, we get there about the same time she does. “Hey, Lou!” she says, her words dripping with sour honey. “Funny seeing you here!” “We’re in a public park,” I say. She pretends not to notice me and continues talking to Louis. “Have you met my new boyfriend, Lou? His names Jack.” “Hi, Jack,” I say, looking at him. Now Lydia looks peeved at me since I keep talking. But Jack doesn’t seem to notice his girlfriend’s present mood. “Hi,” he says to me. “How’s it like?” I ask him. “Being that one’s play toy?” “Huh?” he asks. “She’s not as sweet as she-” “Enough,” Lydia interrupts, glaring at me. I smirk at her. “Jack, dear, why not you go back to the car. I’ll meet you there in a few.”

“Um, ok then,” he says, walking away. Then Lydia turns to me. “Who are you?” she snaps. “I’m nobody,” I tell her, looking her straight in the eye. “Yeah, you’re a nobody alright,” she says. “That’s not what I said,” I tell her. “That’s what you meant,” she says. “Is it now?” I ask. “So your good at telling what things mean then, are you?” “Oh, yes, the best,” she says. “Great,” I say. “So what would it mean if I called you a sl-” “Whoa, whoa, break it up,” says Finn, coming between us. “Were you about to call me what I think you were about to call me?” asks Lydia. “Was I?” I say, smirking at her. “You little bit-” “Now, now,” says Finn, coming between us again. “Oh back off, Finn,” Lydia says, pushing him. Unfortunetely, Finn isn’t prepared for the push so he falls into me and I fall into Louis and Louis falls into Charlie who falls into a tree… with his right shoulder. “MMM!!!” Charlie says with his mouth closed, trying to keep his agony inside. He falls to the ground holding his shoulder. I look at Finn.

“Get rid of Lydia,” I tell him. He nods and starts escorting Lydia away. Then I turn to Lou. “Help me with Charlie,” I tell him. He’s in a daze though so I clap my hands in front of his face. Luckily, that brings him back to reality. I bend down over Charlie. “Speak to me man,” I say. “How are you?” “Not… good Kelsey. Not good at all,” he says. “Charlie I hate to tell you this but…” I start. “Kelsey, it’s okay. Take me to the nearest hospital. Please,” he says. Then he blacks out. Louis and Shane help carry him to the car and then Finn drives us to the nearest hospital. Rylan keeps crying and asking if Charlie is going to be ok. “He’ll be fine Rylan. It’ll be ok,” I tell him over and over from the front seat.

Finally we make it to the hospital and they take Charlie into emergency right away. The rest of us wait in a small room. The hospital people want the guys to be in a separate waiting area since they’re famous and all. We actually fall asleep for a while, almost two hours. When I wake up, someone has their arms wrapped around me. Ah, Lou. Wait, why did Lou have his arms around me?

I try and pull away but he just reaches out and pulls me back. “No, Lou,” I whisper at him, still trying to wriggle free. “Let go.” “No Kels, please,” he mutters. I laugh lightly. For a moment I relax and really try to enjoy it. But then a thought comes to mind. I was in Louis Thompson’s arms. The Louis Thompson. This would not end well. I try to get free again, but Lou won’t let me. Under those lean muscles was some real strength! Finally I elbow his gut. Not too hard, but enough to make him let go. And he did let go. He lets go with a yelp and moves to the other end of the couch, his eyes still closed. Yes, we are in a hospital and we get to have a room with couches to wait for our friend. Pretty sweet. Suddenly a lady who looks like a nurse pokes her head in. “Is anyone awake?” she whispers. “I am,” I say, getting up. “Why not we talk out here.” I motion to the hall. She nods and leads me out. “So how is he?” I ask her. “Well, it looks like he had a really bad inflammatory-” “Um, simple please,” I say. “I’m still waking up from my nap.” “Alright, well, basically he hurt his shoulder pretty badly. He will need to stay here for about two days while we get things worked out with the doctors.”

“Ok. So then he will be cleared to go? In two days?” I ask. “Yes, well, probably. It could be up to four days,” she says. I sigh. “Would I be able to see him?” I ask. “Certainly,” she says, motioning me down the hall. “I’ll warn you though, he will still be a little loopy from the morphine we gave him for surgery.” “Surgery?” I ask. “Yes, when you brought him in the shoulder was so damaged we had to-” “Oh right, surgery,” I say. “So the two or four days is for him to recover?” “And to get things worked out with the doctors,” says the nurse. “Of course,” I say. “Here it is,” she says, stopping at a room. “Thanks,” I tell her. She nods and is off again down the hall, her heels clicking away.

Chapter Twelve

I walk in and see Charlie sitting up in the bed. “Hey Charlie,” I say. “How’re you feeling?” “Great!” he says. “Awesome! What are we having for dinner tonight?” “I don’t know, what do you think we should have?” “I don’t know,” he says, thinking. “You know when you came into mine and Rylan’s room the other day and you accused him of cutting?” “Yeah,” I say. “He got real upset.” “Yeah, I figured that out when he lunged for me.” “No, no. I mean upset. When you left he started crying,” says Charlie. Huh? Why would he cry? Charlie takes in a deep breath and sighs. “He didn’t do it, you know,” Charlie says. “What?” I say. “Listen Charlie, you’re a little loopy right now so…” “BUT HE DIDN’T DO IT! HIS BROTHER DID!” yells Charlie. I look at him. He claps his hands over his mouth. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

“No, that’s ok… his brother?” I ask. “Yep, Mason,” says Charlie. “He told Rylan some stuff Rylan didn’t like so Rylan called him a liar. Then they started to fight and Mason got a hold of Rylan’s knife and then he grabbed Rylan’s arm and cut him so we’d all believe that Rylan had done it himself.” “Oh,” I say, more than a little bit shocked. “I’m the only one who knows,” says Charlie proudly. “Rylan doesn’t think the other lads will believe him.” I run a hand through my hair. What was I going to do? Charlie laughs. “I know something else too,” he says. “And what’s that?” I smile. “It’s a secret,” he says sing-song like. “Oh yeah?” I ask. “Yeah!” he says happily. “It’s that Lou really really really likes-” At that very moment the nurse lady comes in. “Hi,” she says. “Miss? One of the boys in the other room woke up and was asking about you.” “Ok,” I say, walking towards her. “I’ll see you later, ok, Charlie?” “Ok!” he says. “Charlie?” I ask, looking back into the room. “Yeah?” “You aren’t going to anything you told me, are you?” I ask.

“ what now?” he asks, before leaning back on his pillow and going to sleep.

“There you are,” Lou says as I step back into our own waiting room. “Where were you?” “I was talking with Charlie,” I tell him. “How is he?” Lou asks. “He’ll be fine,” I say, then I told him what the nurse had told me. “So we have to stay here?” “I guess.” “I want to go back to the ranch,” Lou says. “I know, so do I,” I tell him, then I checked the time. “Hey, we need to get moving. It’s almost time for your guys’ interview.

“So Five Way Street, where have you been hiding yourselves lately?” asks the reporter lady. I already didn’t like her. “Who says we’re hiding?” asks Finn. “All your fans! Well, I see your missing a band member tonight. He couldn’t be bothered to show up then huh? How sad,” she says. “You might have to start calling yourselves Four Way Street!” She laughed with amusement. Does this lady want to make them upset?! She is sure making me upset. “He just had surgery on his shoulder!” exclaims Rylan. “Of course he isn’t

here!” “Oh did he?” the reporter says, scribbling it down. “Well, alright then. You know that’s what I want to hear. Information.” Silence. “What has everyone been up to?” the reporter asks. “We’ve all been dealing with different stuff,” says Shane. “We all just need time away to handle it.” “And that lady friend you brought with you today?” “A good friend,” says Finn. “She’s been helping us out.” “Just a friend huh? Nothing more? Are you sure about that?” she asks, glancing at Louis. I follow her gaze and realize that he has been watching me for some time. Of course, when our gazes met, he quickly looked away and back to the reporter. “Positive,” Lou says, forcing a smile. She nods and writes something else down on her clipboard. “Very well then,” she says. Then her gaze snaps to Rylan, who is wearing a long sleeve shirt. “Cold, Rylan?” Right away, Rylan tugs his sleeves further down. “N-no,” he mutters. “Then why the long sleeves my dear?” she asks him. “Oh he’s just insecure about his arms,” says Louis. Everyone turns to him in surprise. “I mean, the lad barely had any sun at all growing up in Ireland, and now being here in England? He’s whiter than Frosty the Snowman, aren’t you Ry?” “Yeah, yeah,” Rylan says. “I’m just so pale under these sleeves.”

The reporter lets out a sigh. I smile. She couldn’t get anything out of my boys. Wait, my boys? When did they become my boys? “Well Mr. Thompson, if you’re so keen on talking,” says the reporter. “Why don’t you tell us about your ex-girlfriend Lydia Jennet?” Oh no she didn’t. The playful light that had been in Lou’s eyes immediately darkened. “Not much to tell,” he says. “We couldn’t make it work. So we broke up.” “Lydia seems to have bounced back pretty quickly, don’t you think?” asks the reporter. Why I outta… “I guess,” says Louis. “She’s already on her second boyfriend since you, you know?” the reporter says excitedly. “How do you feel when you see news about her and Colin Phells?” Lou smiles a bit. “I don’t watch the news anymore,” he says. “It’s so boring.” “You think so?” asks the reporter. “Interesting… so Shane, how’s that smoking problem?” Shane shrugs. “I’m fighting it off,” he says. After that the reporter seems to give up. The questions she asks become the usual, boring questions and the guys relax a bit. Once the interview is over, the reporter leaves. Her heels click clicking down the hallway… reminding me of

the nurse at the hospital, and Charlie. Rylan smiles at Louis. “Thanks for covering for me, Lou,” he says. Louis ruffles Rylan’s hair. “Anytime mate,” he says. “Alright all,” I say, walking over. “How about we get some lunch? I’m starved.”

Chapter Thirteen

As we are at the restaurant about to be seated, Brian calls me. “Hey, guys, I gotta take this,” I tell them. They nod and follow the waiter. I answer the call. “Hello?” I say. “Hey cuz!” Brian says. “Brian, that reporter you made the guys deal with was a witch,” I tell him. “Really? Well, hey, I called to asked about Charlie. He’s in the hospital?” “Oh yeah. Yeah he is,” I say. “And why, may I ask, did I have to find out about it from said-witch-reporter?” “Oh my… um, oops,” I say, trying not to laugh. “Sorry, I had to get the guys to their interview and-” “Kels!” Brian laughed. “It’s okay. I know you aren’t cut out for this. Which is why I only wanted you out here for one day.” “Oh, yeah, well, that might have to change a bit,” I say. “Oh?” he asks. “Yeah, listen, why not you come to lunch with me and the guys and we can talk more then.” “Yeah, ok,” says Brian. So I tell him where we are and he says he’ll be there soon.

“Alright see you then,” I say. “Bye.”

“Well guys,” I say as I sit in my seat between Lou and Shane, “it looks as though Brian will be ing us.” “Awesome!” says Rylan. “I miss him.” “Yeah, he’s pretty great huh?” I ask. Rylan nods in agreement.

That night, we went to get a hotel room, since we would have to stay for the next two days (at least). When we get into the room, there are two beds and one couch. “I’ll sleep on the couch,” I say. “No, I can-” start Lou, Shane, Rylan, and Finn. But I stop them. “I don’t mind. Honestly,” I say. They look at me hesitantly while I observe the couch. I smile. “It’s a pullout couch too, see?” I say. “It’ll be perfect.” They all relax a bit and help me pull the bed out of the couch.

When we are getting ready for bed Finn looks over at me. “What Finn?” I ask. “I sleep naked,” he says. “You do not,” I laugh. “And besides, what’s two or three nights sleeping with

clothes on anyways?” “I don’t know,” says Finn. “It’s gonna be tough.” I smirk at him. “You’ll live.” Suddenly Shane comes out of the bathroom and goes for the TV remote. “No TV,” I say, eyeing him. “Oh right,” he says, ing Louis and where we were. Finally it is my turn in the bathroom and I take a nice, long shower. When I finally come out, all the guys are asleep. I smile. My smile soon fades however when I realize that the guys are not where they are supposed to be. Rylan and Shane are lying sideways on their bed, and Finn is lying diagonal across his and Lou’s bed. And where was… ? Oh no… And Lou had made himself comfortable on the right side of my pullout couch. You have to be kidding me. I knelt over him and to try and shake him awake, but with no luck. I sigh. It is getting later and I’m tired. Finally, I just gave up and lay down beside him. I told myself if he tried anything… wait… this was Lou… he wasn’t going to try anything. As I lay in bed that night, I can’t help but feel that same pull at my gut for Lou. I just can’t explain it. Maybe I didn’t want to explain it.

I sigh and go to sleep.

When I wake up I am surprised to see the sun shining through the window. It was nice. Waking up to the sun. Suddenly, something moved beside me. Oh right. Lou. I slowly sit up in the couch bed and pull myself up onto the floor. None of the guys are up yet so I close the curtains and order room service for breakfast. Before it comes, I walk around the room picking stuff up and getting things in order. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until the food comes but I had been singing while I worked. I laugh at my silliness. Then I put the food on the table and open the curtains all the way. That would get the guys up. “Wakey! Wakey!” I say in a singsong voice, sitting down at the table to eat. “I’m already awake,” says Lou, sitting up. I stiffen. “How long have you been awake?” I ask him. “Long enough to hear you singing,” he says, standing up. “Oh,” I say. He looks over at me. “Your pretty good actually,” he says. “Not that I thought you would be bad but… you’ve got a good voice.” I look over at him.

“Thanks,” I say. He sits down at the table. “You know,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you but… have you decided what career you’re going to have?” I look over at him again. “You really wanna know?” “Yeah,” he says, looking a little hurt that I would think he may not. “To tell you the truth, I’ve thought about a lot of things. A musician, a fashion designer, a professional photographer, even an actress. But none of them really clicked with me.” “Well, what do you really love to do?” Louis asks. I think about it and look at him. “Sing.” He raises his eyebrows at me, then laughs. “Well I certainly know how you feel,” he says. “I’m sure,” I say. Then the other guys came over to help themselves with whatever food was there. By the time everyone was finished, all the food was gone except for one pancake. “I’ll take that,” says Finn, reaching for it. Lou grabs it. “What if I want it?” he says. “I saw it first!” says Finn.

Lou laughs. “We can split it,” he says. Finn relaxes and nods.

Chapter Fourteen

After breakfast, we all head over to the hospital to see Charlie. He is doing better he says. “You know Kelsey was here yesterday talking to you when you woke up after surgery,” says Lou. “Oh?” asks Charlie. “I was pretty high on morphine yesterday.” “Tell me about it,” I say. “What did I tell you?” Charlie asks me. I pause. I couldn’t bring up the whole Rylan issue so… “Well,” I start, smiling, “you told me you had a big secret.” “And?” asks Charlie. I look over at Rylan and realize he was getting paler by the second. I had to speed things up. “You said the big secret was that Lou really, really, really likes-” I stop. “And that’s it. You didn’t finish because the nurse walked in to get me.” Lou looks at Charlie who smiles weakly back. I smile. “I guess Louis really, really, really likes something, that’s for sure,” I say calmly. “Or someone,” coughs Shane. Louis glares at him. “No, Lou doesn’t like anyone, right Lou?” I ask, looking at him.

“Uh, well, I-” “Exactly,” I smile.

We talk with Charlie some more about how the interview went and what a witch the reporter was and Charlie told us that Brian had stopped in to see him last night. Then he asked us what hotel we got and if there were enough beds for everyone. Before anyone could say anything I was like… “Speaking of beds… why is it that mine had someone in it last night?” I ask, eyeing the guys. They all put on fake smiles except Charlie, who didn’t know what I was talking about. “What do you mean?” asks Charlie. I explain to him what the situation had been last night when I came out of the shower. “Really?” says Charlie. “Did he now?” He look over at Lou, then at the other guys. “And you all helped him out didn’t you?” asks Charlie, smiling. “Wait, I’m confused,” I say. “What are we talking about now?” “You,” says Finn. “And Lou,” says Shane. “Well, yeah but… wait a minute. What about me and Lou?” “Lou, I believe that’s your cue,” coughs Shane.

“Louis?” I say cautiously. “Well, I had just wanted to tell you that…” Suddenly the nurse walks in. “That you being here with us guys has really helped us. A lot. So thanks,” he says, looking proud of himself. The other guys groan. I think I’m still missing something, but I decide to let it go. For now.

Two horribly long days later, we are on a plane back to the ranch. I am so glad. And I could tell the guys are too. “Do y’all think Joe missed us?” I ask them. “I don’t know ,” says Finn. “But I bet he missed you, Miss SandwichMaker.” “Yeah,” I laugh.

That night when we arrive back at the ranch, we are all so tired we go straight to our beds, not even bothering to change.

I wake up to something scratching at the bedroom door. I sigh. “It’s Joe, isn’t it?” asks Louis. I jump a bit because I didn’t think he would be awake.

“Yeah,” I say, flipping my feet over the side of the bed. I yawn, then hear the scratching again. “I’m coming Joe,” I say. “I’m coming.”

Once Joe had his food, I walked over to the couch and went back to sleep.

“Kelsey,” I hear Finn’s voice say. “Oh Kelsey… fellas, I don’t think she’s awake.” “I am now,” I say, opening my eyes. “Oh good!” says Finn. “So what should we do today?” “Um, have breakfast?” I say. Lou comes over and places a plate of food in my lap, then hands me a fork. “We already ate,” he explains. “Oh ok,” I say. “Well, what do you guys wanna do today?” “We don’t know,” says Charlie. “That’s why we are asking you,” says Shane. “How about fishing?” I ask, figuring they’d say no right away. “What’s fishing?” asks Rylan. I almost choke on my scrambled eggs. “Fishing is taking a fishing pole, sitting for hours on end, and being bored out of your mind,” says Shane. I raise my eyebrows at him.

“Is that what you think fishing is?” I ask him. “Have you ever done it?” “Well… no,” he says. “What would you say fishing is Kels?” asks Finn. “Fishing is spending time in nature, enjoying the gentle breezes as they come and go, and relaxing so long you feel drowsy in the noonday heat.” “Well I’m up for it,” says Charlie after a moment of silence. I look at him, about to say something. “Yes, I feel up for it,” he says, laughing. “My shoulder doesn’t even hurt anymore after those doctors mended it.” “I’m in too,” says Finn. “Me three,” says Rylan. “Alright I’ll go,” says Shane. I look at Lou. “I’m in,” he says, smiling.

Chapter Fifteen

After I have finished breakfast and gotten ready to go fishing, I get the guys to fetch the supplies from the storage unit out back. It is really just a little shed next to the house and I could hear a few of them say ‘ah, spider!’ But soon enough they have the equipment and are moving it out of the shed and we are off. After about two minutes of walking, the guys start to get edgy. “How far away is this pond?” asks Finn. “It’s a five minute walk from the house,” I tell him (again). “Are you sure?” asks Shane. “Positive.”

Luckily, the guys stop talking for long enough so when they do start up again, I can give them an answer they want to hear. “Are we there yet?” asks Rylan. “Yep,” I say. “Well, almost. See that ridge right up there?” The guys all nod. “The pond’s right up over that ridge.” At that they all start running towards it. “Don’t drop anything,” I yell after them.

When I finally catch up with them, they are all sitting along the edge of the pond, looking breathless. “Well finally!” says Finn when he sees me. “Took you long enough.” I just roll my eyes. Soon I have them all fishing. I even teach them how to relax. “I know how to relax,” insists Finn, leaning up against a tree. Suddenly he starts slipping down, slowly. “Oh yeah,” I laugh. “You know how to relax alright.” “Oh like your such an expert,” says Finn. “I was taught by the expert,” I say, slowly leaning back and resting my head underneath my hands. “Ah, the perfect fishing position.” The guys all follow my lead and slowly, the guys get the hang of it. I can’t help but notice how close I am to Louis. I just don’t get it. I’ve liked guys before but with Lou, I don’t know… it was different. It felt different. Eventually the guys caught onto the fishing too. It was great because I had them all set up in their own little spots. Which is why it was the perfect time for me to talk to Rylan.

“Hey Rylan,” I say, coming up and sitting beside him. “Hi Kelsey,” he says.

“Rylan, can I ask you something?” “Sure,” he says jokingly. “I can’t guarantee an answer, but you can ask.” “What is the truth about those cuts?” Rylan immediately tenses. “It was your brother, wasn’t it?” I say after a while. “How do you know?” Rylan asks. “Charlie told me while he was under the control of the morphine.” “Of course,” said Rylan. “You can always trust a guy to keep your secrets until he has to have surgery and they give him morphine.” “Do you wanna talk about it?” I ask. “No, I really don’t,” he says. “Alright let me rephrase that,” I say. “Let’s talk about it.” “I don’t want to talk about my brother,” he says. “Because of what he did?” I ask. “No,” says Rylan, surprising me, “because of what he told me.” “Why won’t you tell me?” I ask. “Why is Charlie the only one you trust?” Rylan looks at me. “Because they all leave. Everyone always leaves,” he explains sadly. “My family I never had, my girlfriend, and even Brian left. No one cares about me anymore because I’m just the weird one who cuts himself.” “I won’t leave,” I promise. “You don’t know that,” says Rylan.

“And neither do you,” I shot back. “Rylan, don’t you dare judge me. I want to help you, but you won’t let me in. I won’t leave ok? I promise you I won’t.” He looks at me for a while, unsure about trusting me. Finally he looks down. “He told me I was the reason our parents split,” Rylan says. “He told me I wasn’t his real brother. I was his half-brother. He said that mom and dad always argued because I wasn’t supposed to happen.” I reach over and pat his back. “He told me that and, well, I called him a liar. I mean, how would you react, right? “Well, it was the wrong way to go with Mason because, well, he’s got an anger issue. So when you make him mad, there is no turning back. “So of course when I called him a liar he was going to get mad. We started fighting and, well… he got a hold of my pocket knife. “Then he grabbed my arm and cut it. One, two, three. He did it because he wanted me to look like an outsider. And now look at me. I’m an outsider.” “Why won’t you tell the rest of the band the truth?” I ask. “I don’t think they’ll believe me. Charlie was the one who looked… trustworthy. That’s why I told him.” “You should tell them,” I say to him. “Maybe someday,” he says. “Yeah, maybe,” I say.

Chapter Sixteen

That evening, the fellas and I are watching a movie (Finding Nemo again) when the phone rings. I get up to get it while Rylan pauses the movie. “Hello?” I say. “Hi Kelsey darling!” Charlene. I smile. “Hey Charlene,” I say. “How’s my favorite babysitter?” she asks. “Wonderful,” I say. “Great!” she replies. “So would tomorrow work to bring the kids over? They’re dying to see you.” “Tomorrow would be perfect,” I say. “And I can’t wait to see them either.” “Awesome!” she says. “See you tomorrow then. I’ll drop them off around nine A.M. ok?” “That’s fine,” I tell her, still smiling. “See ya then.” She says goodbye and hangs up. I do the same and go back to sit on the couch. “Who was that?” asks Finn. “A friend,” I say. “Ooh, a friend,” says Finn, raising his eyebrows.

“Really?” I ask him, shaking my head. “Her name is Charlene.” “Ooh, so it’s like that is it?” asks Finn, going crazy with the eyebrows. “Shut up Finn,” says Shane, punching Finn in the shoulder. “What about tomorrow?” asks Rylan. “I used to babysit two of her kids,” I tell him. “She’s going to bring all four over tomorrow because she wants me to babysit them.” “How long are they staying here?” asks Charlie. “Probably all day,” I say. Some of the guys groan. “Um, why did you only babysit two?” asks Finn. “Because the younger two hadn’t been born yet,” I reply. “Oh,” he says. “So how old are they?” “All of them?” I ask. “Leah is ten, Drew is six, Austin is four, and Hope is two.” “That’s quite a range,” says Charlie, after some time. “Yep,” I say. “So can we play the movie now?” All the guys quickly nod, so Rylan presses play and Marlin & Dory reappear on the screen once more.

“We don’t have to be out there when the kids arrive, do we?” Charlie asks me before heading into his room for the night. I shake my head. “No,” I tell him. “And it might actually be better if you weren’t.”

He thinks about that and nods. “You’re probably right,” he says. “I’ll tell the guys.” I was going to tell him he didn’t have to but he was already off. I smile. If he wants to feel important, I’m not going to stop him.

I’m up at eight. I feed Joe and then make breakfast. I knock on the guys’ doors to tell them breakfast is ready and if they want to eat before the kids got there, they had better get out there now. Everyone but Lou came out to get some breakfast. By the time it is eight fifty, Lou had still not made an appearance. And by that time, all the other fellows are back in the privacy of their own rooms. Finally I put some food on a plate and take it in to Lou. He is still sleeping so I shake him a bit till he wakes up. “Hey,” I say. “I brought you some breakfast. You better eat it while it’s still warm.” “Thanks,” he says, wiping the sleep from his eyes. “I suppose the kids will be here-” Suddenly the doorbell rings. “Soon, yeah,” I laugh, then hurry to answer the door. I smile when I see the time. Charlene never fails to be exactly five minutes early for everything. As I open the door, two small figures rush toward me to give me a hug. Leah and Drew.

“Hi you two! I haven’t seen you in forever!” “We know,” says Drew. “That’s why we came to see you!” I smile at him. “And you, Leah?” I ask, looking at her. “Have you missed me?” She smiles. “Of course not!” Then we laugh and she gives me another hug. “Kelsey,” says Charlene, and I walk over to her. “This is Austin and Hope.” “Hi,” I say, waving to the two figures hidden behind their mother’s legs. Austin waves back shyly. “I’m four,” he says proudly. “Whoa!” I say, then turn to Hope. “And how old are you?” Hope holds up two fingers. “They’re both a little shy,” mutters Charlene. I smile. I could work with that.

Charlene tells me she will be back at three P.M. to pick up the kids. Leah and Drew ask if they can stay longer, while Austin walks around asking me what everything is. And Hope has tears in her eyes as she watches her mommy leave. Luckily I am prepared. I put the coloring books and colored pencils, crayons, and (washable) markers

onto the kitchen table. Hope is thrilled to be able to color. I hadn’t been quite sure how the older ones would react but they don’t seem to mind coloring and sit down at the table to color as well.

Chapter Seventeen

Eventually though, they tell me they are bored. I take Leah over to some CD’s and tell her she can choose one to play if she wants. She likes that idea and picks one out. She shows me the cover and I laugh at what she had chosen. But I quickly put it in for her. When the music starts blasting I laugh again, because you’ll never guess what CD it was. The guys’ first album, Once Upon A Night. All of a sudden, Leah looks over at me and motions for me to come over. I shake my head. I’m pretty sure she wants me to dance with her, like we used to. I look at the two boys and realize they won’t dance with her either. I feel bad and decide to head over. I take her hands and we start dancing like crazy. After a few songs, I reach over to Drew and drag him over and Leah brings in Austin. Just as I’m getting Drew to dance, I turn and all the guys are standing there watching me (I’m pretty sure they had come out to tell us to turn the music off). I don’t even flinch. I just laugh. They laugh too. Then Leah comes over and pokes me. I look at her. “Who are they?” she asks.

“They’re my friends. They’re staying with me for a while,” I tell her. She smiles and nods. “We should get them dancing,” she says. I nod in agreement. “You get the one in the light blue smiley shirt,” I tell her. She nods. So we go over an drag both Finn and Rylan in. Eventually Finn and Rylan go over and drag the other guys in too. All of us dance like crazy. It’s great. Suddenly, the song changes again and a slow song comes on. Leah and I are dancing together, like usual, and she looks at me. I shrug and take her hands. Then we start slow dancing and laughing. We laugh more when we see Drew and Austin trying to slow dance together. All of a sudden, Lou comes over and interrupts us. “May I cut in?” he says, holding out a hand at me. Leah raises her eyebrows at me. “Sure,” she says slowly, smiling like crazy. I wrinkle my nose at her as she walks away, still looking at me with raised brows. Then I turn to Lou and put my hand in his. “To what do I owe this honor?” I ask him, smiling. “Well,” Lou starts. “I-”

Suddenly the music changes once again to an upbeat song. “What in the world?” I say, looking around. Then I see Hope holding the remote. She had changed it! I look at her with a grin. “Did you do that?” I ask. She giggles and nods. I wiggle my fingers at her… (tickle monster!) “Come here…” I say, walking towards her. She drops the remote with a squeal and takes off. When I catch up with her, I pick her up and she giggle screams. Then I put her down again and Drew comes over. “What is it bud?” I ask. “I’m hungry,” he says. I look at the clock and see that it is already eleven thirty. “You wanna have a picnic?” I ask him. “YEAH!” says Drew… and Austin… and Hope… and Leah. Oh and the guys. I laugh and pull the basket out of the closet. Then I begin with preparations. Luckily, it didn’t take me too long to prepare the food. When we start the hike, Charlie offers to carry the basket, but Lou takes it instead saying if Charlie has it, there won’t be anything left when I get it back.

And Finn says he would carry the blanket for Leah but she won’t hear of it. She tells him she can carry it herself just fine. Finn looks downhearted and Shane coughs ‘Denied’

It takes us exactly half an hour to walk to the spot where we have the picnic. Of course, I end up carrying Hope for almost the whole way and the guys keep complaining of dying of thirst or hunger or heat exhaustion or something. So when we finally make it to the right place, I am very very very grateful. Leah walks up and looks out at the view. “I don’t this place,” she says. I look out at the expanse of land below us. I had brought us to a small shaded spot on the edge of a mountain, which looked over numerous other mountains in the far distance. “I never brought you to this place before,” I tell her, going to stand beside her. “It’s beautiful,” she says. “I like to call it breathtaking,” I say. She smiles at me. “Yeah, that’d work too.”

Then Leah spreads the blanket across the ground, and helps me get out all the food. Charlie is the first to help himself to the food, of course. But Drew is a close second.

After we have finished lunch I let them play around a while, keeping a close eye on the younger two. After about an hour I tell them we need to head back. They protest at first, but eventually give in.

Chapter Eighteen

When we finally arrive back, it is a little after two thirty. I allow the kids to turn on the TV to watch one show before their mom comes to get them. Charlie and Rylan sit in there with them to make sure they behave. And Lou, Finn, and Shane help me put things away in the kitchen.

When everything is put away I tell the guys that they can go sit with the kids too. Finn and Shane decide to do that but Louis hangs back. “You’re really good with those kids,” he says. “Thanks,” I tell him. “So are you.” “Thanks,” he says. Then he looks at me again. “But seriously,” he says. “You are really really good. Those kids adore you. And you are… you’re absolutely brilliant with them.” I am about to say thanks when the doorbell rings. I check the clock. Yep, five minutes early. The guys all scramble to get to their rooms. Before I answer the door though, I call down the hall to Lou, who’s almost reached our door. “Yeah?” he says, turning around.

“Thanks.” He smiles. “You’re welcome.” Then I go to answer the door, turning the TV off on my way. I tell Charlene all about our day and then tell the kids goodbye. They are sad to go but happy to see their mom. As soon as they leave I call out to the guys. “Alright, they’re gone. You can come out now.”

Life goes on as usual for about a week. Then one day I walk outside in the early morning after I let Joe out. I brought a sweater because I knew it was going to be chilly. It was the middle of July, yes… but the middle of July meant the middle of summer. And that made me nervous. Because for us at the ranch, the middle of summer meant storm season. Storm season here only lasted about a week. But let me tell you, that one week could very well be the longest in your entire life. Here, storms meant tornados and flash floods. It meant stocking up in case you couldn’t leave your house (which I had done. I was very proud of myself for ing). But I am still worried, and I know the guys can tell. Just the other day, Louis asked me if something was bothering me, and the day after that, Charlie did the same.

I know I will have to tell them soon. I just don’t know how they will take it. I had called Brian just last night. “Just break it to them easy,” he had told me. “They’ll be fine.” I sigh. I’m not so sure. As I watch dark clouds start to move closer, I make my way inside. I have to tell them today.

About two hours later, the guys make their way into the kitchen, where I am sitting at the bar with my empty cup of what had been hot cocoa. Charlie looks out the back door. “Why is it still dark out?” he asks. “Yeah,” I say slowly. “I need to talk to you guys about that.” “It’s a big storm, isn’t it?” says Finn, starting to panic. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?” Shane punches him in the shoulder. “We aren’t gonna die,” he says, then looks over at me. “Right?” “Right,” I say. “But that is a big storm.” I motion to the stools around the bar. “Sit down,” I tell them. They do.

“Here at the ranch,” I say, beginning slowly, “we often have one week during the middle of July we call storm season. I’m sure you all can guess why that is.” “Because you get a lot of storms?” ask Finn, nodding at himself. “Genius,” mutters Shane, rolling his eyes. “Not just storms,” I say. “Big storms. Really big storms.” “How big?” asks Louis. I close my eyes. “Let’s just say there used to be a barn out there next to the house.” And there had been too. I playing in it with Brian when we were little. The year the storm had taken it was a really bad year with storms. I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad this year. “A whole barn?” asks Charlie, bringing me back to reality. I nod. “Did it have any animals in it?” asks Rylan. “No,” I tell him. “So… these storms?” says Louis. “What sort of storms are they?” “They can be anything from flash floods to tornados,” I say. “Ah, wonderful,” he says, walking over to look outside. “So why, may I ask, are we still here?” asks Shane. “Yeah,” says Finn. “Wouldn’t Brian want to get us out of here?” I shake my head. “I talked to Brian last night. He thinks we will be fine.”

“Fine?” asks Shane. “He thinks we’ll be fine?!” “Whoa, calm down,” I tell him. Then I thought of something. “Well hey,” I say. “Think about this… Joe has survived all these years. I’m sure we’ll be ok.” “Oh yeah, Joe!” says Rylan happily, starting to look less pale. “Wait, if Joe has survived, why are you making everything sound so bad?” asks Charlie. “In case it is,” I say. “Right,” says Finn. “Hey guys,” says Louis slowly. “You might wanna see this.” We all walk over to the back door and look out. The storm was moving fast. Really fast. Faster than I thought. “What did you say about flash floods?” asks Shane. “Come with me,” I say. “I wanna show you guys something.” I wash out my cup and put it away, then take the guys out into my grandfather’s study.

Chapter Nineteen

I flip on the light and walk over to the large map on the wall. It was a map of the entire ranch. “This is where we are,” I say, pointing to the center of the map. “And this,” I say, my finger sliding in a full circle around where I had just pointed, “is the valley we are in.” “What does that have to do with flash floods?” asks Shane. I walk to the other side of the room, where there is a map of the entire county. “This is where we are and this,” I say, pointing to a big lake farther south, “is Lake Wontaga. I’m guessing you guys can use your imagination as to what that lake is going to do when it rains a lot.” “It’s going to flood,” says Charlie. “Exactly,” I say. “What about that pond where we fished at?” asks Finn. “Does it ever flood?” “No,” I tell them. “And if it does, the water never reaches the ranch.” “So what are we supposed to do for a week?” asks Louis, who had been thinking. “Sit around and wait for the storms to ?” I look at them. “Basically.”

An hour later, I have the boys camping in what I like to call the ‘safe-room.’ What is really is, is the room with only a couch and a fireplace. During the other

seasons, I call it the ‘cozy room’ and the guys have been known to call it the ‘boring room.’ But it is located almost underground and there are no windows. So it is pretty much the safest place in the house during these sorts of storms. I had just come back from checking upstairs on the weather outside. It hadn’t gotten any lighter and I didn’t think it would anytime soon. “Any improvement?” asks Louis, who is waiting for me at the door when I return. I shake my head. “How long do these last again?” he asks. “Days,” I sigh. “Right.” “Um, why don’t we get a fire going,” I say. “I have a feeling the power might go out soon.” As I said it, the lights start to flicker and suddenly go out completely. Lou flipped the light switch down so the power wouldn’t suddenly come back on, especially if it was the middle of the night. I heard a little scream. “It’s alright, Rylan,” I say into the dark. Then I reach over to Lou and grab his hand. I make my way over to a small closet at the side of the room. “They should be in here somewhere,” I say, letting go of Lou’s hand to open the door and look inside. “What?”

“Flashlights,” I say triumphantly, pulling a pair out. I hand one to Lou and we turn them on. “Ok,” I say. “Now to get that fire going.”

The guys actually help me get the fire up and going. They do well and I am pretty proud of them. Finally it is starting to feel cozy in the room, and we turn the flashlights off to save their battery lives. Louis pats the seat next to him on the couch so I walk over and sit down. “Kels?” says Rylan from his sleeping bag on the floor. “Yeah, Ry?” I ask. “Will you tell us a story?” “Of what?” I ask him. “Of you,” he says. “You when you were growing up here.” “Alright,” I tell him. “And Kels?” he says. “Yeah?” I ask. “Can you make it a funny story?” “What other stories are there?” I ask, smiling. I hear Shane cough laugh at that. Then I begin… “When I was about seven, and Brian was twelve, we were spending the summer

here with our grandparents. It was the same week as this and we could tell Grandpa was worried, but he wouldn’t tell us why. Grandma had gone to the grocery store to get last minute supplies in case we became trapped.” “Kelsey, this isn’t a funny story,” says Rylan. “It will be,” I tell him, then continue. “Suddenly, we heard a loud rumbling noise and Grandpa’s eyes got wide. I asked ‘was that your stomach growling grandpa?’ and he smiled and said ‘no kell bell, that wasn’t my stomach.’ I would’ve asked him what it actually was but he hurried Brian and me down to this room right here. Grandpa got a fire going and then we all sat on the couch together.” “Kell bell, huh?” asks Finn. “Nice.” I throw a pillow at him. “Anyways,” I say, smiling. “The rumbling noise kept getting louder and louder and then suddenly, Brian and I heard something else.” “What was it?” asks Rylan, his eyes wide. “It was coming from inside the fireplace,” I tell him. “We said ‘grandpa, do you hear that?’ and Grandpa nodded at us and put his finger to his lips to signal we had to be quiet. Then he got up and got a flashlight, and put the fire out. He shined the light onto the fireplace as the noise got louder and louder and then suddenly THUD!” “What was it?” Rylan asks again. “Joe,” I say, smiling. They laugh. “I screamed at the top of my lungs,” I say. “And so did Brian.” They laugh at that too. “Then what happened?” asks Charlie. “Well,” I say. “Then my Grandpa put his hands on his hips and said ‘Why hello

there Joe.’” “I bet he did,” says Finn. “Your grandpa sounds super.” “Yeah, he was,” I say, then see the questioning gazes of the guys (well, all but Louis). “He ed away last year.” “Oh I’m sorry,” says Finn. “Me too,” says Shane. “He sounded really great,” says Charlie.

Chapter Twenty

“Will you tell us another story?” asks Rylan, looking up at me. I smile. “Sure. But this one didn’t take place here in the ranch. It took place at my Great Aunt’s apartment.” “Ooh,” says Rylan. “When Brian and I were younger,” I tell them, “we went down to our Great Aunt’s apartment, and we got to see our other two cousins. Aaron and Tessa. “Now we were really good friends with Aaron and Tessa. Of course, Aaron was better friends with Brian, and I with Tessa. But one day while we were there, Tessa and I got to talking. We decided we were going to do a spy mission. And you’ll never guess who our targets were…” “Aaron and Brian!” shouts Rylan. “Yep,” I say. “Now, in my Great Aunt’s apartment, there were two floors. On the upper level, there was two bedrooms, with a single bathroom across the hall from them. The one bedroom was Aaron’s and the other was Tessa’s. “Aaron had a big bedroom, with lots of space, but Tessa had a secret to her closet. There was a step in it.” “A step?” asks Shane. “Yeah,” I say. “A giant step. If you opened her closet door, it looked like a regular closet. But then if you stepped behind the clothes a few feet, there was a giant step, most of the time covered in blankets. “So Tessa and I walked slowly into her room, seeing the boys play cars in Aaron’s room. We quietly closed our door behind us… then went into the closet.

We climbed up onto the step ever so carefully and we pressed our ear as hard as we could against the wall. “And that wall went straight to the boys room, so we could hear exactly what was happening.” “What were they saying?” asks Rylan. “Not much,” I tell him. “I turned to Tessa beside me and I said ‘you hear the same thing I do right?’ Then she screwed up her nose and went ‘vroom vroom vroom’ as quietly as she could. I laughed and told her ‘exactly’ . . . then we sat up there thinking about what to do because the boys were being so boring. “Suddenly Tessa heard something and she pressed her ear against the wall leading to the hallway. She turned towards me and mouthed the word footsteps. We were so excited about having a new spy mission that my heart started pounding like crazy and then Tessa scrambled down to the floor and I followed. We pulled a blanket over us and waited. “Ever so slowly, we heard the bedroom door open. Then we heard the footsteps come closer and closer… until they were right outside the closet door. “We heard the door start to squeak open, and I was afraid my heart was going to burst. Tessa and I squeezed each other’s hands and waited. Suddenly we heard ‘Tessa, dear? Are you in here?’ We both sighed with relief. It was only Tessa’s mom. “Tessa and I poked our heads out from behind her clothes. Tessa looked up and said ‘hi, mom’ Her mom looked down and went ‘oh, there you are. Supper’s here, so you and Kelsey can come eat.’ I asked her ‘have you told the boys yet?’ And her mom looked at me and smiled, then shook her head. Tess and I raced downstairs before her mom even said one word to the boys. After all, we were having pizza and we wanted first dibs.” As I finish the story, I look around. All the guys are asleep. I’m not sure if they know it but… it is still morning. I decide not to wake them. When I start to move off the couch, I realize Louis is, in fact, not asleep at all. “That was a good story,” he says, looking over at me.

“Yeah,” I smile. “You have some interesting memories,” he says. “Indeed,” I say. Then I sigh and close my eyes a bit. “I’m not tired,” I tell him. “Of course not,” he says, leaning back against the couch. I lean over and rest my head against his shoulder. “I’m only going to rest for a few minutes,” I whisper. “Ok,” says Lou, his eyes already closed.

Chapter Twenty-One

We camp out in that room for the rest of the week. And our sleeping schedule is absolutely terrible. Of course we wouldn’t know it though because it is always dark out. Finally, the following Saturday, I wake up feeling good about the day. I had slept on the couch next to Louis again so I slowly slip out of the blanket and then gently pull it back over him. Once the blanket is on him, I reached out to touch his cheek but pulled back. What was I doing? I didn’t like Lou Thompson, did I?! I shake the feeling away and head upstairs. When I reach the kitchen, a most glorious sight beholds me. “Hello, Joe,” I say to the raccoon sitting patiently in the kitchen. He stands when he sees me. “Ready for your breakfast?” I ask him. I make him a small sandwich as usual, he picks it up, and I let him out. I slip on my shoes that are beside the door and walk outside myself. I sigh. The storms have ed… but they did a lot of damage. Our little shed is minus a roof, the stairs from the deck are missing, and there are tree branches everywhere.

I sigh again. Well, time to get to work.

“Alright, boys,” I say when I get back down to the cozy room. “Rise and shine.” “Is the sun out?” asks Charlie. I look at him and smile. “Indeed it is,” I say. “WOO!” he says, then falls back on his pillow. “It’s about time.” “Come on guys, wake up now,” I say again. “Can we go fishing again?” asks Rylan. “Maybe tomorrow,” I say. “What are we doing today?” asks Shane. “Go look out the back door and see if you can guess,” I say. Rylan and Charlie share a quick look and make a break for the door. “I bet I can guess without even moving,” says Finn. “Let’s see… lots of storms, lots of trees, big mess. And you want us to help clean it up?” “Pretty much,” I say. At that point, Rylan and Charlie come running back. “You guys should see the branches down out there!” says Charlie. “Some are huge!” Rylan exclaims. “Great,” says Finn.

“Alright guys, you’ve got ten minutes to meet me outside… and break!” I say. As I leave I know they will all sleep for another nine minutes, then rush to get outside.

“Ok boys,” I say, looking at my recruits. “Lou and Shane, you’re on shed duty. Charlie and Rylan, you’re on branch duty. And Finn? You and me are on deck duty.” The guys sigh more than once, but go to do their jobs. “Where are we going to find the wood to repair the shed?” asks Louis. “Extra wood and paint should be underneath a floor board in the shed,” I tell him. “Under a floor board?” asks Shane. “Yeah, Grandpa always said to keep it there in case something like this happened,” I say. “Right,” says Shane. “Ok then.” “I suppose we are going to need some wood then too, huh?” asks Finn, looking at me. “Yep, come on.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Soon enough, Finn and I have begun work on the deck. “You’re pretty good with tools,” I tell him, watching how he worked a hammer. “Thanks,” he says. “So are you.” “Did you learn from your dad or… are you just a natural talent?” I ask him. He laughs. “I learned from my step-dad. Him and me are actually closer than me and my real dad,” Finn says. “Oh,” I say, not sure what else to say. “Yeah, my dad left us when I was four,” he says. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m not,” Finn laughs. “My step-dad is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Well, besides this band.” “Yeah,” I smile. “Which, by the way,” he says, “I’ve been meaning to thank you for.” “What do you mean?” I ask him. “You fixed things,” he says. “I did?” I ask, not sure he was right. “Yeah,” he says. “Louis isn’t bummed about Lydia anymore, Shane’s doing better, Charlie’s shoulder healed nicely, Rylan seems way more open, and me, well, I don’t have to worry about the band anymore.”

“I guess you’re right,” I say. “I suppose this makes me a genius.” “Yeah,” laughs Finn. “Or the best psychologist ever.” We both laugh at that.

After all the damage had been fixed, we have dinner. I had made sandwiches in the middle of the day for lunch since the damage wasn’t fixed at that time. Anyways… while we have dinner, I get to thinking. Shane is doing better. A lot better. I mean, it wasn’t that I didn’t like that… it was just. I don’t know… quick? As soon as dinner is over, Shane excuses himself and goes to walk around outside. I follow him. I can’t find him at first, but then the smell of smoke hits my nose. I round the corner and see him. “Kelsey, I uh-” “Had a lapse in judgement?” I ask as gently as I can. He looks down. “I was getting too edgy,” he says. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.” “Whenever you feel like that, you need to come talk to me, or one of the guys,” I tell him. “I know, I just-”

“Don’t want help,” I finish for him. He looks down. “Shane listen,” I say. “I know this is really really hard for you… but you have to be honest with yourself. The longer you wait to quit, the harder it’s going to be.” “I know,” he says. I sigh. “If you need someone to talk to, come to me, ok? Or go to one of the guys?” I say. “You’re right,” he says, throwing the smoke butt on the ground and stomping it out. Then he picks it up and throws it away. “I can do this.” “Good for you,” I say. He looks over at me. “Thank you,” he says. “Anytime,” I tell him. “Now, come on, I left the others in the kitchen… and who knows what they might get into.” Shane laughs and nods. Then we hurry back inside.

The next morning I get up early, feed Joe, and set out all the fishing equipment. I wait outside on the deck for the guys to get up. It takes about two hours. “Well, good morning sleepy-heads,” I say as the guys make their way out onto the deck.

“Why are you always up so early?” asks Louis. “Someone’s got to feed Joe,” I say. “Uh, what’s with all the fishing equipment?” asks Shane. Rylan looks at me with a big smile. “We’re going fishing today,” I say. “?” “YES! FISHING!” shouts Rylan, as the other four boys groan. “Oh come on,” I say. “One more day fishing isn’t going to kill you.” “It might,” says Finn. “It very well might.”

But the guys get ready to go anyways. And as we make our way toward the pond, I can tell that this is going to be an eventful day.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“KELSEY!” yells Charlie. “KELSEY I GOT ONE! NO WAIT… IT’S GOT ME!” I laugh and run over to help Charlie. Again. “Stand your ground, Charlie,” I say. “It’s just a fish.” “Just a fish?” he asks. “Just a fish? Do you want to tell it that or should I when it pulls me in?” “It’s not going to pull you in,” I say. “How do you know?” he asks. “Because you’re going to pull it out!” I say, helping him pull the rod. Suddenly there is a splash of water as the fish caught on the hook broke the surface. “YES!” yells Charlie. “Now, hold on,” I say, feeling his grip loosening. “Don’t let go of the line.” “Oh, right,” says Charlie, putting his focus back on the fishing pole. Slowly, Charlie pulls the fish out of the water. “Brilliant!” I say. “Whoa, he’s a big fella, isn’t he?” “He certainly is,” says Finn, coming over and patting Charlie’s belly. “Hey,” says Charlie, looking offended. “Not him, the fish,” I say, pulling the hook from the fish’s mouth. “And Charlie is not a big fella.”

I look over at them. “He’s a sweetheart.” Finn falls to the ground with laughter. “And you Finn,” I continue, “are a flirt. And not the good kind.” “Why thank you,” says Finn, jumping up to bow at me. I roll my eyes. “KELSEY!!! I GOT ONE!” yells Shane. I look at Charlie. “Put the fish back in the water like I taught you, ok?” He nods. Then I race over to Shane. His fish has to be bigger than Charlie’s though because he is being pulled into the water before I can reach him. “SHANE!” I yell, watching as he splashes into the pond. Louis is closer to him than me so he winds up his own line and throws it on the ground. Then he jumps in after Shane. But Shane… Shane was swimming. HE WAS SWIMMING! “WOO!” I yell. “GO SHANE!” He manages to get himself to the edge of the pond where I pull him out. Louis is right behind him with the fishing pole. “Line’s ripped,” he says. “Fish must’ve broken loose.” I shrug, then pull Lou out of the pond.

He sits the rod on the ground and looks at me with a twinkle in his eye. I realize he is all wet. “Oh no! No! No! No! No!” I yell, my voice getting louder and louder as I run with Lou chasing me. Eventually he catches up with me of course and wraps his arms around me. I scream, but don’t try to get free. “Lou,” I whine when he lets me go. “You made me all wet.” “Yes, I did,” he says happily. “Now where’s Finn?”

When we get back to the ranch, we are all soaked. “Hey,” I say, “why not we have a campfire and make s’mores.” “What are s’mores?” asks Finn. “A mixture of graham cracker, gooey marshmallow, and warm chocolate goodness,” says Louis, licking his lips. “I’m in.” “Me too,” says Finn. “And me,” says Shane. Charlie and Rylan also quickly agree. So we put the fishing gear away and start a campfire. “We should sing campfire songs,” whispers Rylan. “Yes we should,” I whisper back. “I have a guitar,” Rylan whispers eagerly. “You can get it if you want,” I tell him.

“Ok,” he whispers.

“Um, where is Rylan going? Isn’t he going to help?” asks Shane. “He’s going to get his guitar,” I say. “Why is Rylan going to get his guitar?” asks Shane with wide eyes. “Because we’re gonna sing campfire songs,” I say. “You have got to be kidding me,” he says. “Ah, come on Shane,” says Charlie. “It’ll be fun!” “Will not,” says Shane. “Will too!” says Finn. “Yeah, give it a try. Besides, if we sing, she has to sing,” says Louis, pointing at me, “and you should hear her voice.” The guys turn to look at me and I blush. “Really?” asks Finn. “You can sing?” “She can not only sing,” says Louis. “But sing well. Great even.” “No,” I say. “I’m not that good.” But Lou insists. “So, you’ve been holding out on us, huh?” asks Charlie. “Yeah, sure, let’s call it that,” I laugh.

Finally, Rylan comes back with his guitar and we make some s’mores.

I have two s’mores, which are delicious. Of course that’s nothing compared to the guys. They each have eight. Not wanting anyone else to ‘out-s’more’ them. I’m pretty sure Finn and Louis overdid it though. They are already starting to groan. After the s’mores are eaten, Rylan pulls out his guitar.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Ok,” I say. “Let’s start with… Da Moose Da Moose. We don’t really need a guitar for that.” “Da what, da what?” asks Finn. “Da Moose, Da Moose,” I say. “You’ve never heard of it?” All the guys shake their heads. “Oh that’s sad,” I say. “Ok, repeat after me.” “Da Moose, Da Moose,” I sang. “Da Moose, Da Moose,” they repeated slowly. “Swimming in da water,” I sang, making swimming motions with my hands. “Swimming in da water,” they repeated, making the same motions. All the guys are smiling now. “Eatin’ up his supper,” I sang, bringing my hands to my mouth in motions. “Eatin’ up his supper.” “Where did he go?” I sang, putting my hands in that motion. “Where did he go?” “He went to sleep,” I sang, putting my hands together and laying my head on them. “He went to sleep.” “Shark attack! Dodo dododo,” I sing, making chomping motions with my arms.

“Shark attack! Dodo dododo,” they sing, doing the same motions, and laughing. “Shark attack! Dodo dododo,” I sing again. “Shark attack! Dodo dododo,” they sing again. This time Louis uses the motions to pretend and bite off Finn’s head. Finn does the same back to Louis. “Da Moose, Da Moose,” I sing sadly. “Da Moose, Da Moose.” “Floating in da water,” I sing, making my hands float in the air. “Floating in da water.” “Not eatin’ his supper,” I sing, making a sad face. “Not eatin’ his supper.” “Where did he go?” “Where did he go?” “He de-com-posed.” “He de-com-posed.” “That’s it,” I say as we finish. “That was great,” laughs Louis. “Got any more like that?” asks Charlie. “How about A Boom Chicka Boom?” I ask, ing how fun that song is. “I don’t know it,” says Rylan, looking around. The other guys shake their heads. “Let’s do it,” says Finn. “Ok, repeat after me,” I say. “I said a boom chicka boom.”

“I said a boom chicka boom.” “I said a boom chicka boom.” “I said a boom chicka boom.” “I said a boom, chicka rocka, chicka rocka, chicka boom.” “I said a boom, chicka rocka, chicka rocka, chicka boom.” “Uh huh.” “Uh huh.” “Oh yeah.” “Oh yeah.” “Janitor style,” I said. “I said a broom sweepa broom.” “I said a broom sweepa broom.” “I said a broom sweepa broom.” “I said a broom sweepa broom.” “I said a broom sweepa mopa, sweepa mopa, sweepa broom.” “I said a broom sweepa mopa, sweepa mopa, sweepa broom.” “Uh huh.” “Uh huh.” “Oh yeah.” “Oh yeah.” “Valley girl style,” I said, laughing. “I said like boom chicka boom.” “I said like boom chicka boom,” they sing, trying to get the right accent. I almost

hit the ground with laughter. Louis and Finn had it down. “I said like boom chicka boom.” “I said like boom chicka boom.” “I said like boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom.” “I said like boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom.” “Uh huh.” “Uh huh.” “Oh yeah.” “Oh yeah.” I break out laughing. “That’s it,” I say, holding my stomach. “You guys were great.” “I told you she can sing,” says Lou, looking at Finn. “Yeah, she can,” he says. “Any more songs?” asks Charlie, smiling. I shake my head. “I know some more, but it’s your guys’ turn to choose,” I say. And choose they did.

Later that night, as I am climbing into bed, I smile. Today had been a really good day. I hear Louis come in a little bit later and climb into bed.

“Night, Lou,” I say. “Night—wait, Kelsey?” “Yeah?” I say, turning over to look at him. “I just… I wanted to say thanks,” he says. “You being here… I don’t know… it’s just making things better.” “I’m glad,” I tell him. “Yeah,” he smiles. “Night.” “Good night.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

I am up early again the next day. I know the guys will be up soon and will ask what we are going to do today. I honestly don’t have a clue. I have thought about taking them hiking, but it is supposed to rain. Suddenly, I have an idea and go to find some decks of cards in the study. “Ah ha!” I say, as I pull them out of one of the drawers. “Ah ha what?” says Louis, standing in the doorway with the other guys. I jump. “Decks of cards,” I say, showing them. “Yeah, two,” says Finn. “So?” “You guys ever played ERS before?” I ask, walking out to the kitchen. “Um, no,” says Shane. “But let me guess… you’re gonna teach us.” “Indeed I am!” I say, smiling. We all sit at the bar and I explain how to play while I go through the cards.

ERS (Egyptian Rat Screw)

How to play:

1) You need at least one deck of cards and two people 2) Remove the jokers from the deck(s) 3) Shuffle the deck(s) together 4) Distribute cards equally to all players until you (as a dealer) have no more 5) Sit in somewhat of a circle 6) Whoever dealt the cards starts 7) Flip a card out (so you are last to see it) and place in center 8) Person to dealer’s left does same, and so on (clockwise)

Rules: ACE = 4 cards KING = 3 cards QUEEN = 2 cards JACK = 1 card

Which means this:

If the person before you puts down a face card (say a queen), then you have two chances to put down a face card (ace, king, queen, or jack). If you get a face card on the first try (say a king), great. Then the person after you has three chances to put down a face card. If that person puts down all numbers, then you get the whole pile because it was your face card.

ALSO:

Sandwich = If there is a sandwich, that means that there were cards such as ‘queen’ ‘jack’ ‘queen’ OR ‘7’ ‘3’ ‘7’ . . . If there is a sandwich, you can slap the pile. Whoever’s hand is on the bottom of the pile slapped first, therefore, the entire pile is theirs

Double = If there is a double, that means that there were two cards that were the same in a row, such as ‘jack’ ‘jack’ or ‘7’ ‘7’ . . . If there is a double, you can slap the pile. And just like the sandwich, whoever’s hand is on the bottom of the pile slapped first, therefore, the entire pile is theirs.

IMPORTANT:

If you are playing with more than one other person, and no one has won yet (you win if you are the last person with all the cards), then you can slap-in.

That means that if you have no cards, and you see a sandwich or double, GO FOR IT!

That way, if you get it, you have cards again!

The guys catch on really fast. Like, seriously fast. They are good too. Really good. At one point in the game, I see a double and go for it. Of course, all the guys go for it too, and Louis happens to get his hand under mine. “You little duck,” I say. “Excuse me?” he laughs. “Oh sorry,” I say. “That’s what my friend Morgan used to say whenever we would play this and I got my hand under hers.” “You little duck,” says Finn, trying it out. “I like it.” We laugh.

We literally play that game for the entire morning. I am not kidding. We play game after game after game! Mostly because Louis keeps winning and Finn keeps saying ‘Come on! I need to play another game so I can win!’

Chapter Twenty-Six

Finally we just give up on Finn, telling him there’s no way he is going to win… ever. But Finn insists, so Louis stays and plays another game. The rest of us leave. The guys go sit on the couch to relax, but I want to swim. So I go to change and grab my towel. As I am walking through the living area, Louis looks up and sees me. “Where are you going?” he asks. “Swimming,” I say. “Where does it look like I’m going?” “I’ll come too,” Lou says, then he looks over at Finn and drops his cards on the pile. “I guess that means you win, Finn buddy.” Finn’s face brightened. “YES! I WON!” he yells excitedly. “Oh yeah, I’ll come too.” I laugh. I look around and realize that Shane, Charlie, and Rylan were gone as well. Probably changing.

When the guys get there, I am already lounging on a long floaty. I motion towards the closet where I had gotten it. “Help yourselves,” I say.

But Louis has other ideas. I saw it coming, I swear I did, but did I move? No. Louis drops his towel and jumps right towards me. I scream (duh). After he hits the water, I go down with him. When we both resurface, my floaty has floated away. I punch his arm. “Not cool,” I say. He just laughs. I swim over to the shallow end. “You think you’ll be ok, Shane?” I ask as Shane slips nervously into the pool. “Sure,” he says. “You saw me in the pond. I was a master.” I roll my eyes at him.

We swim for about two hours. Then I tell the guys that we need to get out or else we will shrivel up into nothingness. Shane shoots out of the pool like a rocket. “Not literally,” I say, laughing. “Technically, you don’t know that,” Shane points out. I think for a second. “Yeah I guess not,” I say. “So what movie should we watch?”

“FINDING NEMO!” yells Rylan. “Again?” I ask. The guys shrug. “Ok.”

So I order pizza and we watch Finding Nemo… again. When it is over, Rylan asks if we can watch it again and there is a chorus of five no!’s “Then what should we watch?” he asks, looking disappointed. I get up from my place on the couch to look at the movie selection. “How about… Pirates of the Caribbean?” I ask. “You like that movie?” asks Shane. I nod. “Yeah.” “Too scary,” says Rylan, coming over to look through movies with me. “What’s The Lion King about?” “You’ve never seen The Lion King?” I ask him, totally surprised. He shakes his head. “We’re watching it,” I say. “Is it scary?” he asks. “Um, I’m not gonna lie to you… some parts are a bit scary, yeah.” He thought for a minute.

“Ok.” So we watch The Lion King… until we fall asleep… in the living room… again. Good times.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When I wake up, I can tell I’m the first up. Like usual. I slowly move myself off the couch, and go make a sandwich for Joe, who is sniffing at Shane’s legs. “Come here Joe,” I say, setting the sandwich on the ground. He comes over to get it. After I let him out, I walk over to look at our calendar. And I realize something… it has been almost two months. I look over at the guys still sleeping. I didn’t want to it it but… I had gotten attached to them… and life wouldn’t be the same when they left. I sigh, then reach for the phone, slip on my shoes, and walk out to the deck. I dial Brian’s number. “Hello?” says Brian. “Hi,” I say. “Hey Kels! How’re things there?” he asks. “Good,” I tell him. “Really good. I need to ask you something though.” “Oh?” “Yeah, it’s about the guys.” “What have they done?” asks Brian. I laugh.

“Nothing, nothing,” I say. “They’ve been really good.” “Oh…” “I wanted to ask… well,” I start. “You know it’s been almost two months right?” I can hear Brian sigh. “Well, Kels,” he says finally, “I did tell you two months, didn’t I? So I guess if you want me to have someone else take them off your hands, I can…” “What?” I ask. “No, of course not! They love being here, and it’s been fun.” “Oh,” says Brian, sounding relieved. “So what’s this all about?” “I want to know how much more time I have with them… you know… being here and all.” Brian laughs. “Is that all?” he says. “Woo! You scared me for a minute there!” I laugh. “Yeah, I know,” I say. “Well, to tell you the truth,” he says. “I think you’ll have them for another month… at least till the end of August.” I could’ve done a Hip-Hip-Hooray at that! “Ok, thanks,” I say instead. “Yep, sure,” he says. “Oh, did Joe make it through the storms ok this year?” “Oh yeah,” I tell him. “Joe still comes every morning… hungry as ever.” “That’s great!” laughs Brian. Then he tells me he has to go and we say goodbye.

I walk back inside and hang the phone back on its charger. “Who was that?” asks Lou, causing me to jump. “Brian,” I tell him. “Did he call to ask for us back?” Lou asks, smiling. “Er, no,” I say, getting out some eggs to scramble. “Wait… did he call you?” asks Lou. I shake my head. “You called him?” he asks. I nod. “You want to get rid of us?” he asks me, his voice rising slightly. I turned towards him. “Of course not,” I say. “But that’s why you called, isn’t it?” he asks. “No,” I say, shaking my head. But it’s too late. Louis’ already storming away to our room, where he slams the door. I look over in the living room, and realize the guys had all just heard that. I put the spatula down that I was holding and walk over to them. “Stay back,” says Finn. “You’re not even going to hear me out?” I ask, incredulous. “Fine,” he says. “Speak.”

I smirk at him. “I did get up and call Brian,” I tell them. “Because I did look at the calendar and realized it had been nearly two months, which was how long Brian and I had agreed on.” “So you are leaving us,” says Rylan, his eyes wide.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I shake my head. “No,” I say. “I called to ask him if he knew how long it had been, and he told me that if I wanted to… hand you boys over, he would find someone else to look after you.” Rylan gives a whimper and starts to get up, but Charlie pulls him back. “Hold on,” Charlie says. I smile at him gratefully. “I tell Brian,” I continue, “that all I wanted to know is how much longer I had with you guys.” They all sigh with relief. “So how much?” asks Shane. “Till the end of August,” I smile. They all holler with happiness. I go back to my eggs but Charlie comes over and pats my shoulder. “Why don’t you let me do that,” he says. “You should go talk to Lou.” “But he just needs to cool down,” I say. Charlie shakes his head. “ our first day here? When I told you that everyone had left Louis in his life and he didn’t feel like he could trust anyone anymore?” I nod.

“Well, he had started trusting you,” Charlie explains, “and now he probably feels as though you ruined that trust.” “Oh,” I say in understanding. I hand him the spatula, and walk towards our room. I slowly open the door and walk inside, leaning back on the door as I close it. “I don’t want to talk to you right now,” says Louis. “Yeah well, I need to talk to you,” I tell him. “You’ve already said enough.” “No I haven’t,” I tell him. “You wouldn’t let me finish.” He looks up at me. “Oh, were you gonna tell me who the new person planned to watch us is? No thanks, I don’t want to know.” “That’s too bad,” I smile. “Cause she’s a real gem.” “Why are you laughing about this?” asks Louis, completely not getting it at all. I laugh. “I’m sorry,” I say, then look over at him. “Lou, its me.” “How can it be you?” he says, not looking at me. “Because I didn’t call to ask when Brian could take you back,” I say. “I called to ask how much longer I had with you.” He looks up at me. I’m smiling. “We get till the end of August,” I say. He jumps off his bed and walks over to me.

“I’m sorry,” he says. I laugh and let him pull me into a hug. “I need you to know you can trust me, ok?” I tell him. “I’m not going to leave.” He looks at me and smiles. “I know,” he says. “I’m sorry I was being such a weirdo.” I laugh. “It’s okay. Now we had better get out to the kitchen. Charlie’s making our breakfast.” “Oh no!” says Louis in fake fear. “He’s going to eat it all as well!” We laugh and run out to the kitchen. When we get there, the boys are all sitting at the bar eating eggs, and Charlie has his mouth full. Louis and I look at each other and break out laughing. “What?” asks Charlie once he’s swallowed his eggs… finally he shrugs. “I don’t get you two.”

“So what should we do today?” asks Rylan. “I thought,” I say, “that I could take you guys hiking today.” I smile at them. They look at me like I’m crazy. “Are you crazy?” asks Finn. “I don’t hike,” says Shane. “Oh come on,” I say. “It’ll be fun!”

“How long would we have to walk?” asks Charlie, holding his stomach. I look at him. “I think you had a bit too many eggs,” I say. He nods. “And I don’t know, it takes about an hour to get there.” “Where is there?” asks Louis. “The best view in all the valley,” I say. “But we saw that when we went on the picnic,” says Rylan. I laugh. “That view doesn’t even come close to what I want to show you,” I say. The guys still look weary. I sigh. “It will take longer, but we can go slow,” I say. “Alright,” says Lou with a smile. “I’m in.” The other fellows quickly agree to go as well, happy to have the old Louis back.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Are we almost there?” asks Finn after five minutes. “Finn, I hate to break it to you but… we’re not even a third of the way there,” I tell him. He groans. “Why don’t we play a game?” I ask. “ERS!” yells Rylan. “Oh… wait…” “I was thinking The Never Ending Story,” I say. “What’s that?” asks Louis. “Well,” I say, “one person starts the story and then someone else picks it up and it keeps going until we get to where we need to be.” “I’m in,” says Charlie. “Sounds like fun.” “Once upon a time,” I start, “there was a raccoon named Samson. Now Samson was an old, old raccoon but he could still give a youngster what for if he had too.” “One day,” says Lou, picking up the story, “the berries from Samson’s favorite berry bush were gone. He decided to climb the highest mountain in the valley to look for more.” “But Samson was old,” says Finn. “He missed his dear old, er, Mrs. Samson. He didn’t quite know what to do without her. For he had never taken a trip without her.” “But Samson really wanted those berries,” says Rylan. “He wanted ‘em so bad he just couldn’t bear not eatin’ ‘em. So he headed on up that mountain.”

“Halfway there, he stopped,” says Charlie. “He wondered if he should really continue without his dear old girl.” “But he decided he must,” says Shane. “After all, his old girl would’ve wanted him to have those berries.” “So he continues walking up the mountain,” I say, “when he sees…” “A crocodile,” says Lou with a smile. We all turn to him. “A what?!” everyone says. “Yeah, a crocodile,” he says, “and he goes over to the croc and says ‘were the shoes made because of you?’ and the croc goes ‘what?! Grrr, I don’t even like shoes’” “Then he races towards poor old Samson,” says Finn. “But Samson, even though he’s old, is still quick on his little paws. He outwits the crocodile and gets away.” “But he is very tired,” says Rylan. “He decides to find a tree to climb. Then he settles down for a nap.” “But suddenly a sent hits his nose,” says Charlie. “And his eyes go wide. It’s the berries!” “As he turns to look around in his tree,” says Shane, “he can’t see them, but he can certainly smell them.” “All of a sudden, it started to rain,” I say, “and the sent washed away. Poor old Samson stayed in the tree, asleep, until morning.”

The story of Samson continues… Samson not only, played with some butterflies (Lou’s idea), fell madly in love with a stray cat for a day (Finn), climbed the tallest tree in all the wild acre woods (Rylan), swam in the ocean to catch fish and came face to face with a

shark (Charlie), and wounded a twelve hundred pound bear (Shane), but many many more ridiculous things until finally… “And at the end of his long journey,” I say, “he finally reached the top of the highest mountain in all the valley.” At that we climbed up the last hill and came to rest on the exact spot where Samson had. “He didn’t find any berries,” I say, looking at the view before my eyes. “But because of what he saw, he never left. The… end.” “What did he see?” asks Finn, still climbing the last ridge. “This,” I say. “Hey wait a minute,” says Louis, coming over to me. “I thought you said that was a never ending story.” “Not anymore,” I laugh.

We stay up at that point all day. Playing ball, throwing rocks, and talking. Finally, Lou comes over and sits beside me, looking out at the view before us. “I can see why this is your favorite spot,” he says. I look over at him with surprise. “This is my second favorite spot,” I say. “What?” he asks. “How can there be a place better than this?” “I don’t know but there is,” I say, looking back out at the view. “Let me guess,” says Lou, “it takes two hours to get there.” “No,” I laugh. “From the house it takes about one minute. Thirty seconds if you run.”

“Are you serious?” he asks. I nod. “Why haven’t you shown us that yet?” he asks. I look at him. “Not even Brian knows about that place,” I whisper to him. “How can that be?” he asks. “It’s, well, it’s sort of hidden,” I say. “I found out about it because my grandpa showed me one day. He told me it was a special place and Brian couldn’t know about it. “I guess he knew that Brian would grow up to be some famous celebrity agent and I, well, I wouldn’t. “He told me… that the secret place. It was where he proposed to my grandma.” I closed my eyes. “He said ‘as the shine was shining down through the trees, she spun around, making me fall in love with her all over again. Then I got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me.’ “I asked him ‘what did she say?’ and he said ‘what do you think she said?’ ‘YES’ I whispered. He nodded.” I sigh. “I’ll never forget that day.”

Chapter Thirty

As we all walk back down the mountain, the story of Samson’s bird takes flight. “One day after Samson had died,” starts Louis. “Samson’s bird Tweetle was very sad. For her dear old friend Puff had died soon after Samson. And now she had no one to whisper her secrets to.” “So Tweetle went on a journey,” I say. “Past the mountains and beyond the hills. She knew that, one day… one day she will find a place to call home.” “But Tweetle couldn’t call just any place home,” says Rylan. “She had to find the perfect place. One with everything she wanted. Water, food, friends, trees. She had to have it all.” “So she went out on her journey to search for this perfect place,” says Charlie. “She searches far and wide. She searches high and low. And just when she is about to give up her search…” “The perfect place comes into view,” says Finn. “She drops down on a small bird bath there and takes a bath. Then some other birds drop by to talk with her and ask her who she is.” “She tells them she is from a big place with many mountains and huge trees. The other birds think it would be scary to live in such a place. But she laughs and says oh no, it’s very nice.”

When the story ends, Tweetle has changed her named to Jezebel (Lou), fallen in love with a bird named Junior (Finn), sat on a buffalo (Shane), had three baby birds named Polly, Lulu, and Mike (Charlie), and has a pet dog named Scruffy (Rylan). “And she lived happily ever after,” I say.

The guys laugh and we see the ranch. “YES!” cries Finn. “We made it!” Louis comes over to me. “Will you take me to the special place?” he asks, his eyes pleading. I’m hesitant at first, but then nod. “Hey Charlie,” I say, throwing him the key. “I gotta show Lou something. We’ll be right back.” “Okay,” Charlie says, winking at me. I smirk at him. “Come on,” I say to Lou. “Do you always lock the ranch when we leave?” he asks. “Yeah,” I say. “As a precaution.” “Huh, I don’t think there’s too many thieves around here you know. Just saying.” “Maybe, maybe not.” I walk to the back right corner of the ranch. “Is this it?” he asks. “No,” I laugh. Then I lean back into the corner and set my eyes straight. “Right through those trees there.”

“You want me to go through there?” asks Lou. We had come through the trees and were at a place where you had to squeeze through some bushes and pull back a sheet of vines.

“Yes,” I smile, taking his hand. He allows me to pull him through, but he keeps his eyes closed. Finally, we are through the vines and I tell Lou he can open his eyes. He squints one open, then gasps in amazement. Before his eyes is the most gorgeous sight he’d ever seen. A single tree set out from the others, with the sunlight shining down through it. It was… breathtaking. I spin around under the tree. “Isn’t it amazing?” I ask. Lou looks over at me and nods. “It’s brilliant.” I lay down on the ground, looking up into the tree. Lou lays next to me. We lay there in silence for a while. “Thank you for showing me this place,” Lou says. “You’re welcome,” I say. “Can I—can I ask you a question?” “Yeah, anything,” I say. “Why are you showing me this?” “Because you asked,” I say. “But you wouldn’t show Finn or Shane if they asked, would you?” “No, I guess not.” “So why are you showing it to me?” he asks again.

I think about that for a while. “Because I trust you,” I smile. “To keep it a secret.” “Huh,” he says, thinking. “Do you trust me?” I ask him. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah I do.”

“So does this mean you don’t trust Finn or Shane?” he asks, smiling over at me. “Of course I trust them!” I say, laughing. “I guess I just feel something more for you…” “Like trust?” he asks, still smiling. “Yes, something like trust,” I say.

We stay at the special place for two hours before heading back to the ranch. We would stay longer but I didn’t want the boys to do anything stupid in the house. As we walk back to the ranch, Lou tells me thanks again, for showing him the place. I am about to tell him ‘you’re welcome’ again when I walk in through the back door. Everything. Is. A. Mess. I gasp loudly and Lou is like ‘whoa… ‘ The guys are running around throwing baseballs, tennis balls, soccer balls, and basketballs at eachother. When they see me, they stop right away.

Rylan immediately drops the baseball he was about to throw. I survey the room. Furniture is tipped over (again), things are broken and shattered on the floor (again), and… oh no. My eyes dart to the wall of family photos. Blotches of photos had been knocked off. I walk over and see them scattered to the floor, some ripped and torn. I slowly pick up one in particular… holding my breath. It’s the one of Brian, me, and Grandpa. And it’s torn. Right. Down. The. Center. I feel a tear run down my cheek. I can’t do this anymore.

Chapter Thirty-One

I drop the photo and rush out the back door, feeling more tears starting to come. I needed a place to cry. Now. I rush back to my special place, going a back way. Once I am inside, I sit on the smooth rock beside the tree and let it all out. As I cry, thoughts kept coming into my head. How could the guys do this to me? To the ranch? Have they no decency? Why do I keep having these nagging feelings for Louis? I can’t like him! I can’t. Finally, as no more tears would come, I lie down in the grass and looked up into the tree as beams of sunlight came through, just as Louis and I had done minutes before.

Twenty minutes later, I hear a rustling in the bushes. At first I am slightly frightened, but then I hear a voice. “AH! Stupid branch,” it says. “Hi Louis,” I say as he came into view. “Hey, Kels,” he says, looking down at me. “You ok?” I know he can see the glistening of tear stains on my cheeks. I wipe my face and sit up.

“I will be.” “Here, I want to give you this,” he says, handing me a taped picture. As I turn it over, he sits down across from me. I smile weakly as I see what it is. It’s the picture of Brian, Grandpa, and me. “Is this your handy-work?” I ask him. He shakes his head. “I told the guys what that wall was all about after you left,” he says. “They felt real bad about messing it up like that. They still feel bad.” “No offense,” I say. “But they should feel bad. That’s the second time they’ve wrecked the ranch like that.” “Yeah,” he said. We sat in silence for a while. “They made you a video,” he says. I laugh. “They didn’t.” He nodded and pulled out his phone. “Here watch,” he says. “Hi Kelsey!” the four boys say on the screen. “We’re really sorry about wrecking the ranch,” says Charlie. “Again,” adds Rylan. “Here look,” says Finn, showing the camera around. “We even cleaned everything up ourselves this time.”

“And we made sure that all your pictures were back,” said Rylan. “Well, except for the one Lou has,” says Charlie. “And we saved a spot in the center for that one, see?” “We taped all the pictures we ripped,” says Finn. “We even put all the balls away,” says Rylan. “Louis might try to tell you he helped, but he didn’t,” says Shane. “I supervised,” I hear Louis say on the video. I smile. Then the boys come back to look at the screen again. “It won’t ever happen again,” says Finn. “We promise,” says Rylan, as the others nod. “Now we are going to send ourselves to our rooms,” says Charlie. “Shane, would you do the honors?” Shane nods. “Off to your rooms, the lot of you!” he shouts in a girly voice, then sulks away with the others to his room. Suddenly, Finn looks out from the hallway and says: “You are going to show that to her, right Lou?” “Get in your room,” says Lou with a laugh. Then the video cuts out. I smile. “I guess they’re sorry huh?” I say. Louis laughs and nods.

“Well, let’s go on back then,” I say, then think of something. “I have a surprise for you guys.”

When Lou and I get back, I am pleased to see that the ranch, is indeed, cleaned. The guys did a good job. “So what’s this surprise?” asks Lou. “Do you have a photo of the whole band together?” I ask. “Yeah, somewhere,” he says. “Find it, and bring it out here,” I say. Then I go to pin up the picture of Brian, Grandpa, and me, leaving a little room underneath it. Then I go knock on the guys’ doors. “Guys, I need to talk to you,” I say. “Come out to the living room.” They seem unsure about what is going on but do what I ask. Then Louis comes over to me while I’m still in the hall and hands me the picture. Then he kisses my cheek. “What was that for?” I ask him. “I think I know what you’re planning,” he smiles. “Do you now?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah,” he says, still smiling.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Well, fellas,” I say as I reach the living room. “What you did today was very wrong.” “We know,” says Shane. “We’re sorry,” says Charlie and Rylan. “You didn’t show her the video, did you Lou?” says Finn. “He did indeed show me the video,” I say. “Now if I can continue…” Finn looks down at his lap. I hide a smile. “As I was saying, what you did today was very wrong… however, because you’ve shown me that you can clean up after yourselves and take the responsibility like the adults you are… I have a surprise for you.” “Is it a puppy?” asks Rylan. I shake my head, and show them the photo I had in my hand. “This,” I say, “is going on the wall.” The look of joy on their faces said everything. “Lou, would you do the honors?” I ask. “Certainly,” he says, coming over to take the photo. The guys and I watch as Lou pins the photo underneath the one of Brian, Grandpa, and me. “Ta da,” he says as he finishes and turns around.

He takes a bow and I clap. “Thank you for that, Kelsey,” says Charlie. “You’re welcome,” I say. “Yeah, you didn’t have to do that,” says Shane. “But I wanted to,” I say. “Cause your awesome!” yells Rylan. “Group hug!”

“So who’s up for Finding Nemo again?” I ask as I set the pizza out. “Actually,” says Rylan, “I was hoping we could watch The Lion King again.” I smile. “Of course!” So we watch The Lion King, and don’t fall asleep. When it’s over, the guys want to watch another film. “No,” I say with a smile, “it is already ten o’clock! We are sleeping in our beds tonight!” They groan. “Do you really think the floor is comfier than your bed?” I ask Charlie. He thinks about it for a moment. “Yeah, your right,” he decides. “I’m all for the bed idea.” “Alright,” says Rylan. And the others eventually agree as well.

I am happy to sleep in my own bed again. At least it gets me away from sleeping on Lou’s shoulder. I still can’t shake the feeling I have for him. And today when he kissed my cheek? I shivered and touched the spot with my hand. I didn’t know a small thing like that could mean so much…

The next morning, I open my eyes slowly… only to find… A TURTLE! What was a turtle doing in my… it’s little pink tongue starts to come forward at me… I scream. Whoever is holding the turtle pulls it back quickly. I look over at Lou who was staring over, trying to decipher if this was a dream or not. I look at the turtle again and realize it is Charlie holding it. “Why don’t you like turtles?” he asks, sounding hurt. I saw Rylan standing beside him. I sigh. “I like turtles,” I say slowly, “I just don’t like being licked by them.” “Oh,” says Charlie, moving the turtle closer to me. I reach out my hand to pet his shell. “Two questions,” I say. “One, where did you find this little guy. And two, why are you up so early?” “Well,” says Rylan, “we found the turtle by the pond and-”

“You went to the pond?” I ask. Rylan nods. “And we aren’t up early,” he says, “it’s past ten.” I glance at the clock. “My, my, what do you know. It is,” I say. “Did anyone feed Joe?” “Yep, I did,” says Rylan proudly. “We can keep him right?” asks Charlie, looking lovingly at the turtle. I sigh and try to break it to him easy. “His home is in nature,” I say gently. “You’re gonna have to take him back.” Charlie looks at the turtle sadly, but nods. “Come on,” says Louis. “I’ll go back with you.”

When they get back I have breakfast ready, and Finn, Shane, and I are already eating. “What took you so long?” asks Finn. “Charlie gave a whole speech telling the turtle farewell,” explains Louis with a twinkle in his eyes. “So long, faithful friend,” Rylan says in his best Charlie voice. “He was a very good buddy,” says Charlie softly. I pat his back. “So what are we going to do today?” asks Shane. “ that pool table we saw?” asks Louis.

“There’s a pool table here?” says Finn. Louis nods. “I’m gonna play that,” he smiles. All the guys quickly agree to play as well. I think they are all glad to have the real Louis back.

“Alright, who starts?” I ask the guys. “I will!” says Lou. Then he reaches down, squints his eyes, and shoots. Two balls go into the right places. “Well done!” I tell him. He wiggles his eyebrows at me.

Chapter Thirty-Three

After we play two games of pool, the first Louis had won, and the second Shane, the phone rings. Luckily we have one in that room, so I pick it up. “Hello?” I say. “Hey bud!” says Brian. “Hey Brian!” I say. The guys look over at Brian’s name, but continue setting up. “So,” says Brian. “I have news!” “Good or bad?” I ask. “Well, I don’t know,” he says. I laugh. “Alright, what is it?” “The first stop on the guys tour is going to be Dublin!” “Dublin, Ireland?” I ask quietly, moving out of the room so the guys can’t hear me. “Yeah!” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I ask, thinking of Rylan. “Of course I’m sure!” he says, then I hear some rustling, as if he is moving. “Alright sorry about the happy-act… I was in the room with all the executives and such. Yes Kels, I know what you mean. It could be bad for Rylan, but I don’t

know what else to do…” “It’ll be okay,” I say, not really sure if it will. “How do you know?” he asks. “Because I’m a girl,” I say. “I know these things.” He laughs. Then he says he has to go… another meeting.

As I walk back into the room, Louis is laying on the table with his head hanging off, looking at me upside down. “Hey Kels,” he says, smiling. “Hey, Lou,” I laugh. “So that was Brian, right?” asks Charlie. “What’d he say?” “Oh not much,” I say. “Just checking in.” “Really?” says Lou, raising one eyebrow. “Yep,” I say briskly, then I turn to Rylan. “Ry, can I talk to you for a sec?” “Uh, sure,” he says. I lead him upstairs and through the main house and into the library. “Why are we in here?” he asks as I close the library doors behind me (there are two). “And what is it you want to talk about?”

“Sit down,” I tell him. We both sit down on leather chair so we are across from each other.

“Is it really this bad?” he asks. “Brian didn’t call just to check up,” I explain. “Yeah, I kinda guessed that,” Rylan says. I nod. “He called to tell me where the first stop on your tour is going to be.” “Oh?” “Dublin, Ireland.” “Oh,” he says again, with a completely different reaction from the first. “Yeah.” “Did you ask him if he could change it?” Rylan asks. “Kind of,” I say. “What do you mean?” “I asked him if he was sure that was a good idea, and he said he wouldn’t be able to change it even if he didn’t like it.” “That’s what he said?” “Well… he said about Rylan you mean? Yeah I know… I just hope he’ll be alright.” “He said that?” asks Rylan. I nod. “He probably meant I hope Rylan doesn’t do something stupid again,” says Rylan, looking down. “I don’t believe this. I was just getting back into being part of the band again… now I’ll be an outsider. All over again.” “You need to tell them,” I say.

He looks up at me. “But what if they don’t believe me?” he asks. “I have faith that they will,” I say. “I mean, look at them. Louis is acting himself again. Shane is doing better. Charlie isn’t hurting anymore. And Finn doesn’t have to worry about the band any longer. Now it’s your turn.” “I guess your right but…” “You can take your time,” I tell him. “You don’t need to tell them now. Just when you’re ready.” “Thanks, Kelsey,” he says, looking over at me. I stand up and give him a hug. “Anytime Ry.”

When we get back into the main house, all the guys are lounging on the couch… on top of each other. Rylan gave a cry of joy and leapt on top to in. “OOH!” Lou yells. “Ry, have you gained any pounds lately?” Rylan laughs and starts to jump again. All the guys roll over and onto the floor. “So what did you need to talk to Ry about, Kels?” asks Charlie. “Oh nothing,” I say, making lunch.

After lunch, the guys decide to play ERS. But after a single game, Shane gets up and walks over to the living room. I find

this odd so I follow him over. “Can I talk to you?” he asks quietly when I am close enough to hear. I nod and walk towards the library. When we get there, I take him up to the loft so he can look outside. I sit on the leather couch that’s up there… then I wait for him to speak first. “I was just a kid,” he says finally. “My dad knew I was just a kid, but he didn’t care.” I figure he will continue on his own so I don’t say anything. “I was only five when he handed me a cigarette,” Shane says. “Only five. Mom took it away from me then and herded me back to my room. I didn’t understand why she was so upset. “As I got older, my dad kept offering me a cigarette, but soon enough I knew better than to take it. One night my mom and dad had a horrible argument. Then they kept having fights, more fights and more fights… I didn’t know what to do. “I took it. I took the cigarette. It was an escape. I would go outside and smoke, every night. “Eventually my mom found out and forced me to quit… which I did for a while. Then came the divorce.” “And you started up again?” I ask. He nods. “But I’ve quit now again,” he says. “I’m proud of you for that,” I tell him. “Thanks,” he smiles. “It’s better now though. With the band and all… I’m glad I can be myself again.” “Me too,” I tell him.

Then I stand up and give him a hug.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Two weeks go by and life returns to normal, well, as normal as it can given the circumstances. Then, one evening, while we are all sitting in the living room watching TV, Rylan takes the remote and turns it off. “Why’d you do that Ry?” asks Finn. “I think we need to have a tell-all,” Rylan says, not looking at anyone. I have a feeling I know what he means by that. “Yeah,” I agree. “It’s almost the end of August and I think you guys need to reconnect. So come on then who’s first?” “I’ll go,” says Shane, then he tells the boys what he had told me in the library a while ago. “And that’s why I started. But I’ve quit now. Honest I have.” “I believe you,” says Lou. “And I’m glad you told us.” “Yeah, me too,” says Finn. “I thought you had started because you wanted to look tough.” Shane wrinkles his brow at Finn. “Not that, er, you’re not tough, uh, just that,” Finn says hurriedly. I laugh. “Ok, who’s next?” I ask. “I want to go,” Charlie says. I nod, but wonder… what is his secret?

“I, um, I knew that my shoulder would need a doctor’s attention,” he says, surprising us all. “I just, well I hate doctors and…” “How did you know?” I ask him. “When I was a baby, I was born two weeks premature,” he says. “I’ve always had a faulty shoulder and my mom told me that one day, it would need surgery. I knew that day had come when it started hurting so bad… I guess I just didn’t want to face a doctor.” “So you knew that whole time?” asks Shane in disbelief. Charlie nods. “Why didn’t you tell any of us?” asks Lou. “Well, you were too busy worried about Lydia,” Charlie says. “And Shane was too worried about smoking, and Finn was so worried about the band, and Rylan was so worried about his family.” “Wait, why would Rylan be worried about his family?” asks Shane. Charlie’s eyes widen and his hands go over his mouth.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” says Charlie, looking apologetically at Rylan. Rylan smiles. “It’s okay mate, I was going to tell them soon anyways,” he says. “Tell us… what?” asks Finn. “That I didn’t cut myself,” Rylan says. “My brother did.” There is a moment of silence and then the guys explode with questions. “Wait, what do you mean your brother did?” asks Lou. “Are you sure, because I mean, well,” starts Shane.

“Your brother? You have a brother?” asks Finn. “Yes I’m sure,” says Rylan calmly. Then he explains to them what he had explained to me all those weeks ago. When he is finished, the guys can’t find the words to speak. “I didn’t want to tell any of you,” says Rylan, “because I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me.” “We’re your bandmates, Ry,” says Lou. “You can tell us anything.” “I know that now,” says Rylan, smiling. “Alright, my turn,” says Finn. “What’s your secret?” asks Shane. That’s what I want to know. “During this whole trip, I was very sad about the band falling apart,” says Finn. “And I couldn’t do anything about it.” Everyone laughs. “Finn, that was no secret,” I tell him. He looks at me sadly. “Oh,” he says. Then he brightens: “Then I believe it’s Lou’s turn! Louis!” Louis stops laughing abruptly. When he turns to look at me, he looks almost pale. “Are you okay?” I ask him. He smiles weakly, his eyes darting between the guys.

“Go on, Lou,” says Shane. “If you don’t tell her, I will.” “Tell me what?” I ask. “Um, well…” Louis starts. “Louis loves you!” shouts Finn. My eyes widen as I look at Louis.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Suddenly the phone rings and brings me back into reality. I get up to answer it. “I’m gonna kill you Finn!” says Louis. “Hello?” I say into the phone. “Hey Kels!” says Brian. “Um, I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” “Good news first please,” I tell him. “Well, uh, it’s the same news, just, you know, I don’t know how you’re gonna take it…” “What is it, Brian?” I ask. “The guys world tour starts in one week. Before that they need photo shoots and interviews and-” “What are you saying, Brian?” I ask, almost dreading the answer. Brian sighs. “There private jet will be there to pick them up in the morning. They leave tomorrow, Kels.” I drop the phone. I can’t help it, it just slips out. As it bangs against the floor, the noise from the living room stops. I slowly reach down and pick it up. “Brian?” I say into it. “Yeah Kels, I’m still here.”

“So how long, um, is this tour going to last?” I ask him, closing my eyes. “The entire year,” he says. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner, Kels. I just got the news myself.” “Yeah.” “I’m sorry,” he says again. “It’s ok,” I say, starting to shake slightly. “I’ll let them know.” Then Brian says goodbye and I hang up the phone. Slowly, I walk back over to the guys. “Um, I have some news for y’all,” I say, trying to sound sorta happy. “And the news is… ?” asks Finn. “Bad,” says Shane. “Seeing as she dropped the phone when she found out.” “Um, no, no, not bad, just-” Lou looks at me. “Spit it out, Kels,” he says. “Y’all are leaving tomorrow to go back to London and start your world tour. Brian said your private jet will be here by morning.” “By… morning?” says Charlie, dazed. “We leave… in the morning?” I nod. Finn sighs. “So what’s your secret Kels?” he asks. I laugh weakly. “I don’t want you guys to go.”

We decide to watch Finding Nemo one last time together. The guys insist that it won’t be the last time, but I find it significant anyhow. The guys all fall asleep during the movie, but I don’t. I am all worried about tomorrow, and saying goodbye. I need to think. Slowly, I get up and walk to my room to change into my swim suit. Then I make my way to the pool, tip-toeing through the living room. It isn’t no twenty minutes after I get into the pool when I hear Lou’s voice. “Kels, what are you doing?” he asks. He comes and sits on the edge of the pool, putting his legs in. “Thinking,” I say. “About what?” “You leaving tomorrow.” “I’ll be back.” “Not for a year.” “You don’t know that.” I swim over and sit beside him on the edge. “I have a question,” I say. “What?” he asks. “Do you really, honestly love me?” He thinks about it for a minute and nods.

“I really, honestly do.” “I think,” I say, looking into his eyes, “I love you too.” And as he leans closer, and our lips touch, I know I won’t be able to say goodbye.

The next morning I do though. I stand there waving, and crying, by the window. The guys said they would call every day to talk to me… but I know it won’t be the same. I think they know it too.

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Hey, Morgan,” I say into my phone as I reach my apartment after my flight home. “I’m back.” “What?! That’s wonderful!” she says. “Yeah,” I say sadly. “I guess.” “What’s wrong?” she asks. “Wait no, don’t tell me. I’m coming over there right now.” I laugh weakly. “Ok,” I say, but she had already hung up.

About fifteen minutes later, my doorbell rings. “Come in, Morgan,” I call. “Hey, sweetie,” she says, coming over to hug me. I am sitting on the couch, so it is kinda hard for her to do, but she manages. Then she sits down next to me. “So how was it?” she asks. I know I have to tell her the truth about where I had been. So I do. She actually takes it fairly well, I mean, seeing as I had lied to her and all. Then I tell her about Louis, and how he had to leave and that he had told me that he loved me. “Morgan, I think he’s the one,” I say. “The one?” she asks, her eyes widening. “Like, the, the one?”

I nod. “I didn’t think you found the one until you were in your thirties,” she says. I laugh. “I think that’s just you.” “You’re probably right,” she says. I sigh. “So what am I supposed to do?” I ask her. “About Louis?” she asks. I nod. She shrugs. “I’ve never been too good with men,” she its. I laugh. “It’s true!” she says. “I know,” I tell her. Then I sigh again, my mind drifting back to Louis.

Well, the guys keep their promise to call every day… at least for a while. Eventually though, the calls dwindle to every other day, and then once a week, and then only when they find the time. They are doing better though. As a band. I have seen someone interviewing them and they opened up about things. Not everything, everything, but the public now knows that:

Louis is completely over Lydia. Shane has quit smoking. Finn is as big a flirt as he’s ever been. Charlie’s shoulder is doing much better. And Rylan did not, in fact, cut himself. That last one shocks quite a few people. I think Twitter is still buzzing about it. But at least the word is out, and the guys are a band again. Together. I am happy for them, I truly am. But I miss them. I miss them a lot. Morgan takes me a bunch of places to try and get my mind off the guys and to make up for all the time we’d lost. All these things scare the heebie-jeebies out of me though. First there is sky-diving and water-skiing, then hang-gliding (again) and roller coaster riding, and even hot air balloon riding. But even those things can’t get my mind off the guys.

Suddenly, out of the blue, on December 19th, Brian calls me up. “Meet me at the ranch on the morning of the twenty-first,” he says. “Why?” I ask him, curious. “I have a surprise for you,” he says. I smile. “What kind of surprise?” I ask. “Too many questions,” Brian says, laughing.

“Ok, ok,” I say. “How are the guys?” “Missing you, like usual,” he says. “I miss them too,” I say, then add: “And you, of course.” “Of course,” says Brian. “So the morning of the twenty-first?” I say. “Yep!” he says happily. “See you then.” “See y-” But he had already hung up. I smile, and get myself a plane ticket.

As I make my way into the ranch, I know something is up. Brian’s truck is in the driveway and… I have a sneaky suspicion he hadn’t just driven himself over here. I hold my breath as I slowly open the front door and step inside. But as I walk in, I don’t see anyone. Interesting. I drop my stuff on the floor and hang up my coat. Then I walk over to the hallway. “Brian,” I call. Suddenly, I hear… a lot… of feet running, tripping, ah, running again. I smile, because I know for certain that all those feet do not belong to Brian. I look down the hall again and see them.

Lou is first, followed by Rylan, Shane, Finn, and Charlie. “Guys!” I yell in excitement. I can’t help it. They race over to me, Louis giving me a big hug, followed by everyone else. By the time Brian walks in, I am all hugged out, but I still walk over and give him a hug. He deserves it. “So you like my surprise?” he asks. “Yes, very much,” I say happily. “I thought you might,” he says.

Apparently the guys had only arrived the day before, so no decorations had been put up. We all get to work right away. Suddenly I think of something. “Brian, where am I going to sleep?” I ask. “In our room,” says Louis. “Where else?” I look at the guys in confusion. “Then where is Brian sleeping?” I ask. “On the couch,” says Brian, “in the cozy room.” I smile. “See,” I tell the guys, “he calls it the cozy room.” “It’s the boring room,” says Finn. “Period.” We all laugh.

That Christmas was the best I had in a long time.

Epilogue

ME & LOU

That Christmas Louis asked me out on our very first date. And then the following summer, we were back on the ranch when he proposed…

“Keep your eyes closed,” Lou said to me. I smiled, and kept them shut. Louis had my hand and was leading me somewhere. My entire childhood I had spent at the ranch, and I was so excited about Lou’s surprise I couldn’t even tell where we were going. Lou and I had been together almost six months, and they were the most splendid months ever. We had spent hours on end together. And if he was on tour, he called me… every night. What could I say? We were in love. Suddenly, Lou let go of my hand, bringing me back to reality. “Ok, open your eyes,” he said. I did. “Oh my…” I said, taking it all in. I was in my special place where my grandpa had proposed to my grandma, and the sun was shining through the tree making it perfect. I walked over to stand underneath the sun’s rays, feeling the warmth against my hands. It was amazing

and… and… I looked over at Lou who was . . . down on one knee, holding out a ring. I gasped and my hands flew to my mouth. “Will you do me the honor of being my bride?” he asked with a smile, and a twinkle in his eye. I looked down at him and grinned. “Yes!” I said. “Yes I will!” And at that he stood and slipped the ring on my finger.

When Brian found out, he practically gave us the ranch, saying it was a wedding present.

We were married that winter and are expecting our first child in November. It’s a boy.

RYLAN

Rylan got everything straightened out with his brother and his parents. He even got to meet his real dad… but he says we won’t be seeing his real dad much because he’s a jerk.

SHANE

Shane quit smoking for good and hasn’t touched a cigarette since. We are all very proud of him.

CHARLIE

Charlie never felt pain in his right shoulder again. Every time he comes over, he insists on playing football… with everyone. (Once he even went looking for Joe)

FINN

Finn was always such a flirt… until he met my best friend Morgan. She caught his attention quickly, and now he claims that she is the only one for him. (We’re still waiting to see a wedding ring)

MORGAN

Morgan and I still best friends and (lucky me) I get every detail from her when she and Finn go out on dates.

BRIAN

Brian is, well… Brian. He’s actually working on another album right now. Mine!

That’s right… the guys finally convinced him that my voice was amazing and, once he heard it, he was hooked.

LYDIA

Ah see, not much to tell here. Lydia went through six different boyfriends in the course of one year and, well, that kind of gave her a reputation. She hasn’t had another boyfriend since.

JOE

Joe is still going strong. In fact, we had a vet check him out and, according to her, he is almost 25 years old. (Most raccoons live only to about 14 years) He is a very rare specimen indeed.