I paced the gray carpet of the gate area, nervously running my hands through my hair. I kept checking my watch every two minutes, but that only managed to make me even more nervous.

"Excuse me, miss?"

I stopped pacing and turned to the man sitting in a chair over by the big window, looking out at one of the runways. "Yes?"

"If you're waiting for the flight from L.A. to arrive, you've got some time to wait. Have a seat."

"But... " I looked at my watch, "I thought it was supposed to get in at 1:45? It's 1:30."

"Noooo, " He said slowly, "It's been delayed. Bad weather or something in L.A. They won't be here for another hour and a half."

"You're kidding me?"

"'Fraid not."

"Well this is just great." I dropped down into the chair that was closest to me. How could I have forgotten to check and see if it was coming in on time? Ah yes, probably because I was so worried about looking okay and making it here on time that I completely forgot. Figures.

It's been a whole three months since I was visiting the guys out in L.A. A whole three months since I've seen Zac. Whenever we talked on the phone now it was about basic stuff. Neither one of us ever brought up the subject of "us", and what exactly had gone on between "us" in L.A. Like the kiss at the airport for example. What was that you ask? Well, it was a kiss. A kiss that had meaning, yes, but it was something that shocked the life out of me, and made me even more afraid of telling him my true feelings. Does that make any sense? I apologize if it doesn't.

I propped my feet up on the chair next to me and leaned my head back. Time to wait...

* * *

"Is this seat taken?" I opened my eyes and saw a lady standing in front of me, her luggage at her feet.

"Uh... no, no it's not." I removed my feet from the chair next to me and placed them on the floor. "Sorry about that." I said as she sat down.

"It's no problem."

"Northwest Airlines would like to announce the arrival of flight 522 with service from Los Angeles, California. Passengers will be exiting through gate 34 in just a few moments."

I jumped up and looked out the window. The plane was pulling up to the jetway, which caused me to get nervous all over again. I walked over by gate 34 and stood with the small group of people who were waiting for other passengers.

The first person walked out and my heart about leapt into my throat. More people started coming out now, but still no sign of them. Prolonging it was just making things worse. I was about to sit down when a tall male with short curly hair and a baseball cap on came walking from the long jetway. I squealed and ran over to him. "Ike!"

"Kinsey!" He wrapped his free arm around me. "Hey!"

"Hi, so did you bring your brothers?" I asked, pulling away.

"I think so." He answered, turning to look behind him.

"Alright, where is she?" Taylor questioned, glancing around for Ike and I. "Ah-ha." He said upon seeing me, "I've found her."

I smiled and welcomed his hug. "Hey there."

"Howdy."

I saw Zac approaching over Taylor's shoulder and slowly pulled away. I smiled at him and reached my arms out for a hug. "Hiya, kid."

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before going in for a hug. "Hi."

We stared at each other for a few moments after pulling away. We would've stared longer if Taylor hadn't interrupted us.

"Let's go you two. There'll be plenty of time for that later." He winked at me and grabbed my hand, leading the way towards the exit.

* * *

"Oh to be home again." Isaac said, throwing his bags down in the foyer of their house. "Hello?" He called out, "Mom? Dad?"

"I don't think they're here right now." Taylor said, stumbling in behind Zac.

"It's too quiet." I noticed

"Well I'm gonna take advantage of this peace and quiet and go upstairs to take a nap in my nice, big, comfy bed." Zac trugged up the stairs slowly, his big duffel bad slung over his shoulder.

I looked at Ike and then Taylor, who had a what are you waiting for? GO! look on his face. I nodded and followed Zac up the stairs.

"You need some help with that?" I asked, referring to his bag he seemed to be having trouble carrying.

He stopped when he got to the top of the stairs and turned around to look back at me. "Do I look like I need help?"

"Well, yeah, that's kind of why I asked."

"I don't." He said, walking down the hall to his room.

I felt like turning around and walking back down the stairs. He obviously wanted to be alone right now, but the need I felt deep inside of me to be close to him wouldn't allow me to go back downstairs. Instead, I raced up the last couple of steps and headed down the hall to his room.

He was lying face down on his bed, arms and legs stretched out at his sides. I quietly went over to the bed and sat down on the end of it, debating whether or not I should say something or just leave him be.

"I didn't think you'd follow me." He mumbled into the mattress below him.

"Yeah, well... " I trailed off quietly

"Come." He patted the empty spot next to him, "Sleep."

"Are you sure you don't want to be left alone? Because I can just... "

"I want you here." He cut me off, still patting the bed.

I crawled over to him and he turned on his side facing me. I brushed the hair out of his face and smiled at him before lowering myself to the bed and curling up next to him. His arm wrapped itself around my middle, hugging me close. I buried my face in his hair close to his chest, feeling that need to be as close to him as I could possibly get. I felt his lips kiss the top of my head lightly, almost like he didn't want me to know he was even doing it. I did though.

"God, Kins... " He trailed off with a sigh

"Hmm?" I mumbled

"It feels so good to be with you again. Holding you, touching you."

"I know. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." He paused. "Um... can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"I... well... before you left California, when we were at the airport - "

"You know what Zac? I'm really tired all of a sudden. Can it wait until later?" I wasn't all that tired, if you wanna know the truth. I knew what he was going to ask me and I wish I didn't have to lie, but I just wasn't ready to talk about that kiss. Not yet.

"Yeah." He said quietly, holding my head against his chest. "It can wait."

* * *

I opened my eyes slightly and turned over to face Zac, except that there was no Zac to be found. I knit my brow in confusion for a moment, then the sounds of kids playing could be heard from the backyard. I climbed out of bed and stumbled down the stairs, through the kitchen and towards the back patio door. I froze in the doorway. Everyone was out there. And by everyone, I mean EVERYONE. Walker, Diana, Jess, Avie, Mack, Zoe, and of course, the three eldest brothers. Walker stood in front of the grill fixing what looked to be hamburgers and hot dogs. Avie and Mack were swimming in the pool, Diana and Zoe were tossing a big bouncy ball back and forth, and Ike, Tay, Zac and Jess were playing basketball over on the court just to the right of the pool near the fence. I stood there in the doorway for a few moments, just watching everyone interact with each other. It amazed me how they all seemed to get along.

"AAAWWWWWW!!!" Taylor groaned after missing his shot. "So close!"

"Not close enough." Zac quipped

It was then I noticed his lovely attire. Or should I say, lack there of. The only thing he was wearing was a pair of tropical print board shirts. His chest was a golden brown from being out on the beach so much, and his long blonde hair had long since been tied back. And slightly messy, I might add, from having gone swimming. He looked up at me all of a sudden, then got the biggest smile on his face.

"Kinsey!" He called, "Come join us!"

Everyone turned to look at me, standing in the doorway. "Uhh... okay... " I walked outside and closed the patio door behind me, then went to join the small group on the court.

"Which team?" Zac asked, swiping the back of his hand across his forehead, trying to get rid some of the sweat.

"Uh... who's winning?"

"We are." Jess said, pointing at her and Zac

"Okay then I'll be on Ike and Tay's team."

"Alright! Chick on our team!" Taylor announced

I rolled my eyes. "Do you WAN'T me to change my mind?"

"No." He responded

"That's what I thought. Now... let's play."

 * * 

“You finished with that?” Zac asked, pointing to the half-eaten hamburger on my plate.

“Yeah.” I pushed my paper plate in his direction

“Cool.” He snatched it up and started eating it. “You full?”

“A little.”

“But you hardly ate anything!” He exclaimed, “A couple chips and half a hamburger aren’t much, Kins.”

“I’m just not hungry.”

He eyed me skeptically. “Oookay…”

Truth was, I wasn’t hungry because of him. It felt weird sitting next to him again after being apart for a three months. I was having a hard time keeping all my feelings inside and I wondered how much longer it would be before I let them all out.

“I’m gonna go see what Tay’s up to.” I said, spotting Taylor by the edge of the pool.

“Mm-hmm…” He nodded, his mouth full

I got up from the picnic table and headed over to the pool where Taylor sat, his feet dangling in the cool water. “Hey.” I said, “Mind if I sit with you?”

He looked up at me through his sunglasses. “Not at all.”

I slipped my sandals off and eased myself down onto the pavement, sliding my feet in the water. “I never really got the chance to ask you earlier, how was your flight?”

“Good.” He nodded, “It helped knowing that we were coming home.”

“I bet.”

He glanced behind him at Zac. “So ahh… how… are things?”

“Things… are… you know…” I trailed off

“Weird?”

“A little, yeah.”

“Do you ever plan on telling him or is this whole drama going to continue for another couple months to a year?” He asked, pushing his sunglasses up on his head as the evening sun disappeared behind a bunch of trees.

“I’m guessing it’s going to continue.” I responded

“Wonderful.”

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